u/gimmeluvin

I just got done with my 4th of July brisket. Low and slow they say. Ok fine. I started out in the smoker. Three and a half hours at 250ish. Things were looking ok but I was getting concerned about drying out, so I pulled it in order to braise it the rest of the way.

I set the oven at 225 and popped the brisket in with meat thermometer. The cool thing is the probe is app connected and it monitors the temperature inside the oven as well as inside the meat.

So imagine my surprise to see the temperature averaging almost 250F. In order to get the oven temp down to 225 I had to turn it all the way down to 210F.

And then it all started making sense why some of my previous chicken dishes had come out dry and over done. So now I know my oven is not accurately calibrated and I need to dial in a lower temperature.

The principles of human rights have no borders. The principle of compassion has no borders. The principle of dignity has no borders.

Why, then, do we continue to cling to or repurpose language that has always been centered on nations? Why not abondon that language in favor of language that reflects a commitment to the greater good of all mankind, regardless of nation?

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Today I went shopping for meat to barbecue for July 4. While walking up and down the aisles I stopped to look at some sale tags sticking out of a shelf of canned goods. A moment later an older woman pushed her cart into the aisle and started lookign at the same section. I apologized for being in the way and scooted over to make room for her so we could both browse for bargains.

I should say that I was dressed in a neon pink tank top, white denim shorts and sperry canvas sneakers. and i have facial hair. and i'm a guy. A born-with-a-penis guy.

As I said I excused myself and she replied "that's OK ma'am. I'm just looking".

Ma'am.

Ma'am.

You should know this is far from the first time this has happened to me. And my response is always the same. I just keep interacting without acknowledging the mistake, with the assumption that, as I say more stuff, they will hear my male sounding voice and they will realize their error.

We went on to have a whole conversation about the way prices have gotten out of control. I wished her a good day and she said "you have a good day too ma'am."

Ma'am.

Ma'am.

I'm not bothered by it. In fact I find it pretty amusing. I walked to my car laughing. It's just inexplicable to me that someone can look at me, hear my voice, see my facial hair, and still not get it right.

It's June an the goddamn bugs are eating my ass alive. I have bites on my wrist, upper thigh, calf and back. Those are just from yesterday after spending ten minutes outside. That's after I just got the other six bites healed from last week. One of the fuckers actually started getting infected.

What pisses me off, almost as much as the insane itching, is that I never seem to catch the bite when it's happening. It's like invisible creatures are attacking me and the next thing I know I'm trying to dig a hole in my arm from the goddamn itching.

FUCK YOU BUGS!

For the last several months, ever since I discovered this sub, I've been enjoying the amusing, sometimes even poetic accounts shared by various people of various backgrounds and experiences.

And it has been my pleasure, on several occasions, to contribute my own experiences. Yesterday was such an occasion.

Well something intriguing resulted. Some responded to my story, saying they didn't believe it. One went so far as to suggest it had been authored by chatGPT.... This I found intriguing.

Apparently I write like one of the machines! How can I not be amused by that! Frankly it's not the first time a post of mine had evoked such a reaction. In fact in some small way I feel complimented. For whatever others may think of the technology, I find some aspects of AI incredibly impressive.

Anyway, I contemplated replying but I couldn't think of a single thing to say to an unbeliever that would make any difference. Debating the veracity of a story I knew to be my real lived experience with a stranger who had decided it was fake seemed, to me, as pointless as the story itself had been!

It felt , I don't know, surreal or circular or some other word I cannot conjure... this compounding of pointlessness. Intriguing and amusing.

And so I rushed back to tell the pointless story of how my pointless story evoked refutation, the debating of which would be pointless.

And then I went on living.

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Just a suggestion for anyone who has some left over smoked or barbecued beef ribs.

I took a simple pack of instant noodles and prepared them with water and about half of the chicken spice packet. I added a sprinkle of Weber brand Chicago steak seasoning, a splash of worchestershire, and a few chunks of cut up beef ribs, including the delicious bark.

After everything had steeped I poured off most of the broth and added a bit of water because I don't like things too salty.

The result was not impressive to look at, but it was loaded with flavor and the beef was so nice and tender and fatty and went well with the noodles.

The year? Mid 2000s.

The place? The conference room of a business in a major, international metropolitan center.

The issue? He stood before us, speaking in his usual monotone, spitting facts and figures relevant to whatever the project was that concerned us all. He stood before us, not with any particular confidence that might be interpreted as arrogance, but with the steady self-assuredness that comes with routine and repitition.

And he stood before us with unzipped pants.

To be fair, I have done my share of crotch watching and meat gazing. This wasn't that. The man's groin was eye level. There was no escaping the view.

I am absolutely certain I cannot have been the only one to notice. There were four of us in that room.

It begs the question, if someone had been so inclined as to have informed the poor fellow of his.... exposure, what possible approach could have been taken?

In retrospect, I don't feel there was anything any of us could have done other than to surrender to the moment and let it drift and flutter in the breeze.

And that's exactly what we did.

for what feels like the ten millionth time, i am wiping the greasy sweat from the bridge of my nose and pushing my glasses up on my face so that i can see clearly.

earlier, for what felt like the ten millionth time, i scratched the random itch on my arm that felt like something unseen had bitten me.

i expect that, later, for what will feel like the ten millionth time, i will carry plates and forks and spoons and bowls and cups from my bed to my sink in an effort to declutter and behave like a human.

ten million sneezes and coughs. ten million scratches and burps. ten million breaths. ten million unfelt beats of a heart i have never laid eyes upon.

repetition is the stuff of existence. an unsung hero and unrecognized villain.

no point. just what is.

I'll start with this confession: I am not latino.

BUT menudo is one thing I can eat morning , noon and night week after week! Seriously I can have it for breakfast and still go back for more at dinner time. So it became essential for me to learn how to make it myself. I will also add I have a somewhat sensitive digestive tract, struggling with gerd in the more challenging of times.

I say that to say I am no great lover of spice. Everything has to be mild! This is what led me to develop what for me has become my staple menudo recipe.

My last batch took 4.5 hours of prep and cook time.

• 3lb scalded honeycomb beef tripe
• 1 medium onion
• 8 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 qt homemade chicken stock
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 4 beef bouillon cubes (instead of beef feet)
• 6 packets unflavored gelatin (instead of beef feet)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 15 oz cans of white hominy
• 6-8 dried guajillo peppers
• Tiny pinch of ground clove
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• Salt to taste

Preparing the tripe: Bleached scalded tripe tends to retain somewhat of a bleach odor. To get rid of that do the following

• In a large soup pot add a couple of tablespoons of salt and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to at least a half gallon of water.

• Bring to a rolling boil

• Add the tripe. No need to rinse because you will discard this boil water

• Cover the pot and boil on medium high for 15 minutes

• Using tongs, remove the tripe to a large bowl to cool so that you can cut it into pieces

• Discard the boil water and rinse the soup pot

• While the tripe is cooling, fill the soup pot with 3/4 gallon of water.

• Add the quart of chicken stock, bouillon, oregano, bay leaves and clove.

• Chop the onion and add to the pot

• Place the soup pot over medium heat

• Using kitchen shears and a knife, cut the tripe into small pieces. I like to cut into half inch wide strips across the muscle grain and then cut those strips into inch long pieces.

• Add the tripe to the soup pot.

• Cover and simmer at low to medium heat for 2 hours

Here's where the spice levelcontrol comes in for me

• Cut open the Guajillo peppers and discard the seeds and the stem

• Cut the peppers into smaller pieces and place in a sauce pot that is large enough for a bottle and a half of water

• Bring the peppers to a low boil and allow to boil for 20 minutes. This helps to remove and dilute the capsacin (heat generating compound)

• I use a nutri bullet for blending the next part

• Remove the pieces of pepper from the water and add to a blender or bullet

• Add 6 to 8 cloves of fresh garlic to the blender

• Add 16 oz of water to the blender

• Blend the pepper/garlic mixture until smooth

• Strain the mixture into a large bowl and discard the pulp

• You may choose to reserve the boil liquid if you can find a use for spicy pepper water. I haven't yet found a use for it.

• Pour the strained pepper slurry into the soup pot

• Sprinkle in the 6 packets of unflavored gelatin. there's no need to bloom it first as it will disperse during the next couple of hours of simmering

• Add the 1 tsp ofvinegar

• Drain the liquid from the 2 cans of hominy and add to the pot

• Simmer for an hour.

• Test the tenderness of the tripe. It should be nice and tender by now.

• Remove the lid and simmer for another hour to reduce the volume of soup until the liquid just covers the meat.

• Test the broth and adjust the salt to taste

• Remove from heat and serve or portion into containers for freezing. Allow to cool before placing in the refrigerator or freezer.

That's how I do it. It seems like a lot of steps but really it is very simple.

Traditional recipes include beef feet but I leave those out because I find them to be sometimes a bit slimy once cooked. The unflavored gelatin and beef bouillon takes their place, adding body.

I hope you enjoy this version of menudo and you let me know if you try making it.

Tubi delivers lots of surprises, and Philadelphia Story is no exception!

Classic witty fast-paced silver screen comedy is expertly realized by legends Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and my favorite, Cary Grant.

Please treat yourself!

I spent the morning doing yard work. My lawn has been a disaster since I bought this place. It's more weeds than grass. Over the last several weeks I've been treating for the bugs that have left me covered with bumps and the weeds that have attached sticky burrs to my shoes, pants and everything else they touch.

I finally reached the point where I'm preparing the ground to spread new grass seed right before the rain that's due. It's thirsty work.

I came inside, stripped out of my work clothes and headed to the fridge. What do drink....

I retrieved a bottle of Corona, the only beer I drink. But I wanted to spice it up. So I grabbed a big old beer mug and got to work:

• A generous splash of St Germaine
• A double splash of triple sec
• A splash of Seagram's gin, because it's bottom shelf but adequate for mixing
• And a couple of ounces of bottled water to lighten the load.

Then I poured in the Corona. Let me just say, it is refreshing as fuck. I'm feeling pretty good right now.