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Thursday Evening Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 07:56:19 PM EST
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    Thursday Evening Open Thread | 25 comments (25 topical)

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    My son cracks me up (none / 0) (#1)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 08:33:13 PM EST
    Being ten he just buried his nose in my hair, sniffs and says mmmmmmmmmmm.  Then he says, "I take you used shampoo?"  I would think that would be a given but then a ten year boy came to live in my house and soap and shampoo are no longer a given.  Then he tells me that my hair smells like banana with a hint of pizza and he's dead serious.

    Banana? Pizza? (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Zorba on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 08:45:15 PM EST
    LOL!  What have you been using on your hair, Tracy?

    Parent
    From the point of view of a 10-yr-old boy (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Peter G on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 08:48:26 PM EST
    there can hardly be a higher compliment than banana and pizza!  Warning to MT's neighbors:  Lock up your daughters ... ladykiller comin'.

    Parent
    Well, lock up your tropical fruit (none / 0) (#4)
    by Cream City on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:02:58 PM EST
    and pizzas, anyway.

    Parent
    Ha. Reminds me of my son (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Cream City on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:07:08 PM EST
    at about 12, saying something uncharacteristic in that it indicated that he actually had noticed what I was wearing.  And said something nice about it.
    And then his sister said, "you're flirting, and with mom!"

    He replied that he was just practicing, so that he could be ready to flirt with "real girls."

    Watch out.  He got pretty good at it!

    Parent

    I once sang in an opera that involved (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:18:13 PM EST
    a boy choir and a group of very sexy belly dancers (don't ask!)  The boy choir had to stand around quietly and just watch while the dance was going on.  I can tell you it was absolutely clear which of these boy sopranos' voices were about to change by the reaction to the dancers.  Most of the boys were bored, muttered comments to each other, looked around, scratched, etc.  But the eyes of a small number were bugging out as they watched intently.

    Funny thing to see some were totally children and some were closing in on not being children anymore.

    Parent

    Can't peg the name of the opera. Help. (none / 0) (#12)
    by oculus on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:22:05 PM EST


    Parent
    Bernstein's "Mass" (none / 0) (#20)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 08:58:35 AM EST
    The dancers weren't actually belly dancers, but were dressed more or less similarly and very sexy and sinuous in their dance.

    Parent
    Is there a cross between (none / 0) (#6)
    by nycstray on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:08:43 PM EST
    apples and pears? I just got 3 pieces of fruit in my CSA basket that are shaped like pears but seem to have a cross/coloring of apple/pear skin . . . hmmm . . .

    Well (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 10:00:26 PM EST
    Could be a red anjou....  but there are apple/pears too, yummy chinese and supposed to be good for the stomach...

    Parent
    Thank you! (none / 0) (#8)
    by nycstray on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:15:25 PM EST
    totally looks like the red anjou. I didn't want to slice into them until I knew what they were. They all look ripe, so I'll have one with breakfast in the AM and plan a dinner meal with the other 2 :)

    I've also been getting some really yummy red/blush fleshed apples . . . . among other things :)

    Never got one of these in the different variety of pears in NY.


    Parent

    You know that pears (none / 0) (#11)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:21:51 PM EST
    only ripen after they're picked, right?  Terrible to waste a great pear by trying to eat it before it's ready.

    I have two old pear trees on my property that have rather small, hard, greenish pears (not Seckel pears, alas) that never ripen before or after picking, just go from hard and green to rot.  I recently learned there are varieties of pears called something like "poaching pears" that don't ripen but stay hard for cooking, so this year I'm about to try poaching these and see what they're like.

    So frustrating to have all those seemingly indedible pears every fall!

    Parent

    Guess I've been lucky :) (none / 0) (#13)
    by nycstray on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:48:50 PM EST
    I was never a pear person until they started showing up in my CSA shares. I usually processed them (lots of Seckels in NY) after they sat for a day or three (just luck by what I had to deal with in the name of produce). I processed them to use in pies, tarts, glazes, etc.

    So how long should I leave these out before using/eating? How do I tell? They sure are pretty!

    Parent

    A ripe pear (none / 0) (#22)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 09:06:33 AM EST
    is a thing of great joy, IMO.

    It's a little tricky to figure out when they're just right because they do go downhill fast once they're ready.  But the key is to gently press the top of the pear, at the stem end.  If it gives a little, it's ripe.

    I've actually never had just-picked pears, so my experience is only with store-bought and I don't know whether they treat them with something to retard ripening or not.  But with those anyway, it's usually two to four days.

    I think this is one of those trial-and-error things until you get the sense of it.

    Of course, if you're going to poach them, you want to do it before they ripen.

    Parent

    The hard pears (none / 0) (#14)
    by Molly Pitcher on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:49:25 PM EST
    are 'preserving pears.'  I grew up with a couple of those trees.  The pears take a long time to cook and I am not sure I have the recipe, but the results are heavenly.  Cannot find the pears now, even tho I am within a couple of hundred miles of my old home.  Bought pear preserves are nothing like as good.

    The other kids and I would eat the pears after spitting out the peeling (which my dog would happily wolf down).

    Parent

    possible recipe (none / 0) (#15)
    by Molly Pitcher on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:56:10 PM EST
    6 lbs pears
    10 cups sugar
    4 tablespoons lemon juice

    Directions:
    Peel and dice pears. Put in large pot and cover with sugar. Let set overnight. The next day, add lemon juice and bring to a rapid boil. Turn heat to low and let slow cook 5 to 6 hours, till it turns light brown. Bring back to a boil and quickly ladle into jars. Process for 20 minutes in boiling water bath.

    Parent

    Thanks very much! (none / 0) (#21)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 09:01:41 AM EST
    Do you remember what the name of the variety was, by any chance?

    Parent
    I cqn only guess (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by Molly Pitcher on Sat Aug 21, 2010 at 10:26:48 AM EST
    that these are the hard preserving (or 'poaching' pears) as in the original comment.  I never knew a special name for the pear trees we had.  They were certainly not 'eating' pears, even tho we kids chewed on them.  The cooking time is very long, which seems right.  I got the recipe by googling; there are quite a few 'lost' recipes--even some taken from 1930's ads (found a whiskey co. eggnog recipe that I had misplaced).  You will also find comments from people who tried the recipe.  If you try it, test for tenderness as you go--the pears will remain in chunks, bathed in delicious syrup.

    Parent
    interesting! (none / 0) (#16)
    by nycstray on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:57:04 PM EST
    my dog would prob love the peels :)

    I like learning about the "old" versions of fruit/produce. I'm trying to grow some and my LL and her partner are also supplying me with many (as did my NY farmers). Right now I'm getting some great blush apples, which I fell in love with in NY from an old orchard. My dog and parrot also like the blush apples, when I decide to share ;)

    Parent

    The older apple varieties (none / 0) (#23)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 09:14:24 AM EST
    are way superior to the newer ones, to my taste.  There are a lot of small orchards in my area that still grow the old ones, lucky me.  The only old favorite I haven't been able to find here is Winesap, my all-time favorite eating apple.  It's grown a lot in Pennsylvania, but not here for some reason.

    I remember my family falling in love with McIntosh when we moved to the Boston suburbs when I was a kid in the late '50s.  But then the big growers, as usual, began messing with them and the variety sold in the stores became very inferior and I stopped eating them.  And then when I moved here to VT, somebody gave me a McIntosh and I was overjoyed to rediscover the intense, zesty flavor I'd loved about them as a child.

    I have a very old McIntosh tree on my property, too, and in good years, I can get enough decent fruit for a pie or two and some jars of divine applesauce.

    Parent

    Or it could be . . . (none / 0) (#10)
    by nycstray on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 11:21:37 PM EST
    the red bartlett that is mentioned in your link. Which would make sense in timing :)

    Thanks again!

    Parent

    My Favorite (none / 0) (#17)
    by squeaky on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 01:06:31 AM EST
    Are Comice Also delicious poached in red wine sauce, a fall favorite.

    Parent
    Confederate Flag Burning Day (none / 0) (#18)
    by squeaky on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 01:18:31 AM EST
    Don't get your hoop-skirt panties in a twist; the power behind "September 12 is Burn a Confederate Flag Day" is the wonderful satirist Jesus General.

    Burn the Confederate Flag Day is a protest against the right's exploitation of racial prejudice for political gain. We urge you to burn the Confederate flag, a long-time symbol of racial hatred, on Sept 12, the date when the racially-divisive Tea Party holds its annual hate fest.

    C&L

    Perverse Pleasure Friday... (none / 0) (#19)
    by kdog on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 08:54:25 AM EST
    Somebody stole a SWAT van from the Bloomington Indiana PD...well played anonymous outlaw!

    TOLERANCE (none / 0) (#24)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri Aug 20, 2010 at 10:00:30 AM EST
    as we thrash about awash in hate and intolerance it might be good to see what tolerance looks like.
    Thursday Evening Open Thread | 25 comments (25 topical)

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