Social Thread

[kimpossible]

I thought I heard something once abount how you use words as part of your job... Probably pure rumor.

[kimpossible]

Mapo Tofu v 2.0

Some commenters on the recipe said it was better with 1.5x the sauce, so instead of reducing the amount of peppercorn, I increased the sauce and added no extra salt. To my dismay the dish was somehow even saltier, to the point it seemed inedible, until I remembered that I forgot to add the sesame oil. I don't know how, but somehow that cut the salt flavor. Very strange.

The peppercorn still leaves a slight numbing on my tongue after eating, but again, it's much better than the pork stir fry experience and fades much faster.

And then I did a shamefully American thing and added a smidgen of sugar, for which I will not apologize because it acted as a flavor enhancer the way salt usually does but couldn't here because it was already so salty.

[Telleo]

FYI dessert tonighl was half a coffee shop cookie because I might have set my GF's kitchen a tiny bit on fire.

[Harb]

FYI dessert tonight was half a coffee shop cookie because I might have set my GF's kitchen a tiny bit on fire.

There's some dang fine coffee shop cookies in your neck of the woods, hopefully it was one of those.

In my experience setting things a tiny bit on fire seems to be an inevitability. As long as it's not the actual GF, a beloved pet (ass hole pets are somewhat okay), or a family heirloom kitchen (totally a thing), it's just a good lesson to have more wine around for dousing and recovery.

[kimpossible]

FYI dessert tonight was half a coffee shop cookie because I might have set my GF's kitchen a tiny bit on fire.

There's some dang fine coffee shop cookies in your neck of the woods, hopefully it was one of those.

In my experience setting things a tiny bit on fire seems to be an inevitability. As long as it's not the actual GF, a beloved pet (ass hole pets are somewhat okay), or a family heirloom kitchen (totally a thing), it's just a good lesson to have more wine around for dousing and recovery.

http://www.auntiesrumcakes.com/best-rum-cake-ever/

[Harb]

http://www.auntiesrumcakes.com/best-rum-cake-ever/

This is amazing. I'm making whiskey cakes.

[Keirador]

NK Jemisin update: the third book in the Broken Earth trilogy, The Stone Sky, has been nominated for a Hugo in Best Novel, commonly considered the top prize. This follows The Obelisk Gate's Hugo win in 2017 and The Broken Earth's Hugo win in 2016. She's already an historic writer as the first black woman to ever win the Hugo for Best Novel (and obviously the first black woman to win two, but that's just gilding the lily), but a third win would add quite a bit more groundbreaking accomplishments to her laurels. She would be tied for third in earning the most Hugo wins for Best Novel, she would become the only author ever to win the Hugo in three consecutive years, and she would become (I believe) the only author ever to write a series and to have each and every installment in that series win a Hugo.

She's a rull good writer, y'all. It's mind-boggling enough that she put out a full-length novel every year for three years. If she wins this final Hugo, and I suspect she will, she didn't just put out a novel every year for three years, she put out the best novel every year for three years.

[Zoomzip]

Let me know if you want to go PM on this. I found the series well worthwhile, and books 1 and 2 are great, but book 3 was merely good.

[Keirador]

Let me know if you want to go PM on this. I found the series well worthwhile, and books 1 and 2 are great, but book 3 was merely good.

I actually found book 2 the weakest of the set, but still fantastic. I can definitely see finding book 3 to be a somewhat surprising departure, but like. . . something weird was gonna happen if any satisfactory explanation to her variety of mysteries was ever gonna be forthcoming.

[Harb]

Let me know if you want to go PM on this. I found the series well worthwhile, and books 1 and 2 are great, but book 3 was merely good.

No spoilers, but I thought 3 lingered on the social commentary a little long at the expense of the story. At the same time, the message and Jemisin's ability to present her commentary in such a moving and powerful way continues to stun me throughout. I don't really remember a lot of parts of the story that I enjoyed as much as the other books, but I definitely remember feeling all the feels.

Also happy to chat more via PM.