Kissing Pancakes & Flipping Babies

[Guest]

Speaking of ridicule... I thought it was "normal" and "American" to eat peanut butter and maple syrup on my pancakes... until I did it in front of someone who wasn't a family member.

How was I to know the peanut butter/maple syrup fetish was a family thing?!


Oh yes, and Gauche, crepes are not pancakes. Bleh.

Yum Yum McKenna. My hubby thought I was nuts the first time that I did that. Now, he'll do it for me if he is the one cooking the pancakes. To me, a pancake just isn't a pancake without peanut butter.

Of course, hubby also thought I was nuts when I mentioned putting Rotel (nacho cheese dip for those who don't know) on pizza... until he tried it, lol.

CM

 

[Guest]

Ha ha ha. For Gauche:

Perdita (my own invention)

 

[minsue]

Where did you grow up, Min? How did tortillas enter your childhood? My ma made them from scratch every morning. She tried to teach me but mine never came out round.

Perdita

p.s. love the AV (though I miss frumpy ladybug goosey)

I'm one of the few who were born in Arizona & actually stayed there. (I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Wow! I've never met a native!" like we're some kind of species.) I didn't grow up with real tortillas, though. What I mean when I say tortillas are those paper-thin, dry storebought kind. The first time I had a soft, warm, thick (in comparison) homemade tortilla I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They are truly delicious, but don't work well slathered in mayo rolled up like a burrito stuffed with deli meat & cheese. For that, the boring storebought tortillas can't be beat.

Frumpy ladybug goose will be back. I've been trying to distract myself from RL by playing with the photo editing software on my computer. I'll tire of it eventually.

- Mindy

 

[McKenna]

.

 

[Guest]

The first time I had a soft, warm, thick (in comparison) homemade tortilla I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Given that Mexicans and other Sp. speakers are the majority here, homemade tortillas are in stores here, only diff. is they're not warm when bought.

My older son just moved to AZ, Min. I'm truly happy for him, he's at a great time in his life, but I miss him already. Glad to know, though, that you're there.

Perdita

 

[gauchecritic]

Re: Re: How presumptuous

And this is why Americans just LOVE the British...


NOT.

-McKenna, with smilies and PLENTY of eye-rolling.

Yes you do, go on, admit it. Especially Og.

Gauche

 

[McKenna]

.

 

[minsue]

Given that Mexicans and other Sp. speakers are the majority here, homemade tortillas are in stores here, only diff. is they're not warm when bought.

My older son just moved to AZ, Min. I'm truly happy for him, he's at a great time in his life, but I miss him already. Glad to know, though, that you're there.

Perdita

Tell him not to worry, he can get homemade tortillas in many of the stores in AZ. As for the storebought, Arizona brand is my favorite. He should definitely stay away from most grocery store brands as they are so dry they fall apart when you roll them.

Where did he move to? Why did he move here? Why does everybody keep moving here? The desert is beautiful, but the cities are not & the weather is only nice 3 months out of the year. I'd leave myself, but the only area I have any interest in moving to is the Pacific Northwest and my husband hates rain with a passion. (Needless to say, he is not an AZ native. )

- Mindy

ps to Gauche - I readily admit I love you Brits. I'm really not sure why, though. Something about the smug overconfidence just gets me...

 

[oggbashan]

Re: Re: Re: Re: How presumptuous

Who could resist all that charm, (read: unfounded arrogance) and wit (read: somewhat entertaining slap-stick humor)?

My God, I'm nearly giddy with desire.

I'm glad to hear it but my RL arrogance is founded on a family history going back long before Columbus thought he had discovered America. Some of my RL ancestors gave Caesar's Legions a bloody nose. (We had to run for it when he turned up in person)

As for my namesake, he survived Noah's Flood by riding on the roof of the Ark. Since I'm still around now I think my arrogance has a good foundation.

Whether either of them could resist McKenna - not sure.

Og

 

[Guest]

Oh my, when I read arrogance I thought Mack was referring to Gauche.

Perdita

 

[McKenna]

.

 

[Madame Manga]

I only make tortillas (flour, not corn) when I want sopaipillas, and when you put enough cinnamon sugar on something it doesn't matter what shape they are. Otherwise, the ones from the Mercado are just fine. Interestingly, my family definition of pancakes is usually cornmeal (yellow, stone-ground) rather than white-flour flapjacks.

MM

 

[oggbashan]

So, when was the last time he stood at the gates and roared "You Shall Not Pass!" to said dignities?

...or just said "Nay."

When Mrs Thatcher, when Prime Minister, wanted to reduce the Lord Mayor's powers.

He asked for help from the Freemen of London. He was entitled to summon them to attend with musket and pike whenever the City's liberties are threatened.

Mrs Thatcher found out that half her Ministers were Freemen of the City of London. So were most of the Members of Parliament of all parties, the House of Lords and even her chauffeur. More importantly, most of the funds for her political party came from Freemen.

The suggestion to reduce the Lord Mayor's powers were dropped.

In the 19th century the City Council wanted to elect a Jew as Lord Mayor. That was against the law. They elected him anyway. The House of Parliament removed him and called a new election. The City elected the same man again; and again; and again until the law was changed. They insisted that the law was changed not only to include Jews, but Protestants not members of the Church of England and shockingly (for the time) Roman Catholics.

Women have been able to be "Freemen", and therefore electors, of the city of London in their own right since the Middle Ages. Everyone else took a bit longer.

Og

(Son and brother of Freemen - couldn't be bothered personally. I don't want to drive my sheep across London Bridge which is the only right Freemen now have.)

 

[Guest]

Ogg, that's very interesting. Is a Freeman simply that, literally? What makes a non-freeman? Has there ever been a female Lord Mayor? Do you have any sheep?

Perdita

 

[oggbashan]

Ogg, that's very interesting. Is a Freeman simply that, literally? What makes a non-freeman? Has there ever been a female Lord Mayor? Do you have any sheep?

Perdita

A Freeman, not just of the City of London but of any chartered borough town, is a person who is of free status i.e. not serf or villein and who has the right to own property and trade in that town. Freemen are made by being sons of Freemen, or by serving an apprenticeship to a Freeman, or (whisper it quietly) by purchase in hard cash.

Freemen were usually members of a Guild as well. Widows of Freemen who were Masters of their own shop or business became Freemen and Guildmembers or they could not continue to trade. Then women became freemen by themselves by being apprenticed. The City of London Guilds are still important and own significant property in The Square Mile (The City of London) which is the financial heart of London.

I don't think there has been a female Lord Mayor yet but the rumour is that there might be one in 2007/8. Few women have had a spare couple of million pounds to waste on being Lord Mayor or if they have they have better uses for the money. Female Lord Mayors of other cities were and are not unusual. Or black, asian, Muslim and/or whatever. Other Lord Mayors have allowances for entertainment but do not spend anything like the Lord Mayor of London.

"Lord Mayors" are for cities. "Mayors" are for towns. Cities usually have cathedrals.

No. I do not have sheep. If 1. I wanted to be a Freeman and 2. I wanted to drive my sheep across London Bridge, or Tower Bridge or Blackfriars Bridge - I would borrow some. That is what the last Freeman did a few years ago.

The county of Kent has just appointed a black Chief Constable. That is a first.

Another interesting aside. When there were serfs and villeins, if one ran away from his master, he could work for a Freeman, even as a cook's helper, in a charter borough for a year and a day and then would be free. His master would have lost him forever. He would not be a Freeman of that town, just free. He could later become a Freeman if he worked at it or bought the right.

Honorary Freemen are different. They are given the Freedom of x City by vote of the City Council. They are rare, usually no more than one or two a year, and are given as a great honour. Nelson Mandela is an Honorary Freeman of the City of London. Honorary Freemen do not have to turn out with pike and musket. If they want to drive sheep the City would probably provide the sheep, the shepherd, and the man to sweep up afterwards.

Og

 

[Linbido]

Thank you Og. You have given me yet another reason to love that quirky little island of yours.

 

[shereads]

Re: pancake breakfasts

I agree that a good drunkfest amongst the candidates would be quite telling, but as this could link them to such things as alcoholoism it would be highly unlikely to ever take place.

How about injecting them with a truth serum? Or giving nitrous oxide?

I was thinking of something a little more along the lines of a pie-eating contest...no better yet, hot dogs...I figure it would be nice to see how much convoluted crap they could swallow of their own accord, and would give me a good indication of how much shit they could justify forcing down my throat for the next four years.

I like the concept and loved the movie (Stand By Me) but again, we're back to carbohydrates. Unless it's a bunless wiener competition, which is still clogging the arteries of whichever candidate might have some value.

How about a competion like "Fear Factor," (another U.S. reality show, like "Survivor" but with dangerous stunts like leaping from the roof of a moving truck onto a train, etc., as well as gross-out contests like eating the most worms.) There would be a food element, a courage in adversity element, and there should probably also be a quiz on current events.

OOPS This just in - John Kerry's hair has won the Iowa Caucus. Proof that hair cannot be too tall, at least not in America's white rural middle-class Nordic cross-section.

 

[shereads]

Reminds me of my favorite breakfast growing up, McKenna. Toast slathered with peanut butter while still warm (so the peanut butter gets good & melty), cut into bite size squares, and coated with light caro syrup. I didn't know how odd that was, either, until a friend spent the night and was thouroughly disgusted come morning.

- Mindy

Lord help me. Haven't thought of this food for a while. I used to help crew a friend's diving boat and have seen many borderline-seasick passengers pushed over into the green zone on the barf-o-meter by the sight of the Dive Master's lunch: every day, the same sandwich: bologne with peanut butter and mayonnaise on white bread.

Yes, what I said.

pink round cold lunchmeat

peanut butter

big gobs of Kraft mayonnaise, oozing out from the edges of the sandwich along with the peanut butter, every time he took a bite of the sandwich.

One time, my friend who was captaining the boat asked saw one of that day's Sandwich Witnesses running for the head.

"No," he yelled, "If you're going to throw up, do it over the rail."

She did, but it was the wong rail - the rail that surrounded the glass viewing bottom. Sandwich Boy got to clean it up. Sometimes justice, unlike that sandwich, is sweet.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Re: Re: pancake breakfasts

How about injecting them with a truth serum? Or giving nitrous oxide?

I like the concept and loved the movie (Stand By Me) but again, we're back to carbohydrates. Unless it's a bunless wiener competition, which is still clogging the arteries of whichever candidate might have some value.

How about a competion like "Fear Factor," (another U.S. reality show, like "Survivor" but with dangerous stunts like leaping from the roof of a moving truck onto a train, etc., as well as gross-out contests like eating the most worms.) There would be a food element, a courage in adversity element, and there should probably also be a quiz on current events.

OOPS This just in - John Kerry's hair has won the Iowa Caucus. Proof that hair cannot be too tall, at least not in America's white rural middle-class Nordic cross-section.

truth serum has potential...but would probably prove ineffective due to the high absorbtion level allowed by excessive intake of pancakes *sigh*

Fear Factor would be entertaining, but I find that the peolpe with the most courage, a distaste for hissing cockroaches and the most intellect are not the victors at show's end...sort of defeating the purpose, I think, but would be highly entertaining no doubt!

Not to mention the fact that helicopters and water are usually involved which blows the tall hair category to bits and you know how important that is...

As for hot dog induced clogged arteries, maybe it would do us some good if they dropped dead after two years thus limiting the amount of time they had to destroy that which we hold so dear.

just a thought or 4
-E

 

[shereads]

No. I do not have sheep. If 1. I wanted to be a Freeman and 2. I wanted to drive my sheep across London Bridge, or Tower Bridge or Blackfriars Bridge - I would borrow some. That is what the last Freeman did a few years ago.


Another interesting aside. When there were serfs and villeins, if one ran away from his master, he could work for a Freeman, even as a cook's helper, in a charter borough for a year and a day and then would be free. His master would have lost him forever. He would not be a Freeman of that town, just free. He could later become a Freeman if he worked at it or bought the right.

Well, we still haven't replaced the pancake breakfast with a more reasonable method of selecting a presidential candidate, but I think Og has provided two good ideas:

1) The candidates run away and hide for a year, like your serfs and villeins; they support themselves by finding jobs as cook's helpers or whatever. The ones whose identitites remain hidden for a year and a day are finalists and can move on to step 2, assuming they haven't been seized in an INS raid on Walmart and deported. The "finding a job" part of this is key. It will help build character.

2) Phase 2: Give each candidate a herd of sheep and see who can get all of his across a bridge and into a corral first. The candidates will object to the difficulty of the contest, but if we change the title to "Lord President" I think the'll go for it.

 

[gauchecritic]

2) Phase 2: Give each candidate a herd of sheep and see who can get all of his across a bridge and into a corral first. The candidates will object to the difficulty of the contest, but if we change the title to "Lord President" I think the'll go for it.

You could even use your very own 'London Bridge' (as opposed to Tower Bridge hehe)

Gauche

 

[shereads]

You could even use your very own 'London Bridge' (as opposed to Tower Bridge hehe)

Gauche

Good idea, Gauche. Minsue lives in Arizona; she can organize the herding event. Get the local Navajo tribes to donate sheep in exchange for new schools, a medical clinic or some colorful beads.

 

[oggbashan]

London Bridge

Did you know that the bridges to the City of London - London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge - were not built as public works or with government money but by a medieval charity?

The Bridge Commissioners own land. The proceeds of the rents and leases pays for the bridges and their maintenance. And then they SOLD a used bridge to Americans. Who says that old institutions can't innovate?

They even sold the remains of the previous bridge (the one that Shakespeare used) for sea defences in the Thames estuary. Some stones of the original bridge can still be seen in coastal towns.

If London Bridge fell down tomorrow, then could build another one out of their cash reserves, except they would not have to. Their bridges are insured by Lloyds of London - where else?

Og

 

[shereads]

I love you Brits. Can we have the Big Ben for our moon?

 

[minsue]

Good idea, Gauche. Minsue lives in Arizona; she can organize the herding event. Get the local Navajo tribes to donate sheep in exchange for new schools, a medical clinic or some colorful beads.

I'm thinking it would be much more fun to herd the tourists. We've got lots of training for that.

- Mindy