The Sword and Laser discussion

Last month we were nomming with our ears, but now we are back to nomming with our... uhm.... we are back to "traditional" nomming!

So what foods, snacks, drinks or other treats are you enjoying while reading "The Shining Girls"? Are there any food items in the book that stand out? Anything inspired by the novel?

And as we haven't done it in a while we are asking ChatGPT for a cocktail recommendation. And it proposes:

The Shining Elixir:

Ingredients:

1 oz Aperol
2 oz Lillet Blanc
3 oz sparkling water
Orange twist for garnish
Instructions:

Fill a glass with ice cubes.
Pour Aperol and Lillet Blanc over the ice.
Top with sparkling water and gently stir.
Garnish with a twist of orange peel, expressing the oils over the drink before dropping it in.
Sip and enjoy

iirc there’s a scene where someone gets a plate of spaghetti dumped over their head, so perhaps spaghetti would be a good choice of nom!

Chat GPT recommended Spaghetti with Garlic Butter, Grated Lemon Zest and Crispy Chili Oil...

Anyone feel like tripe?

Dan and Kirby do cover baseball for the paper. So the staples of baseball would be:

Hotdogs and beer.

Steve wrote: "Anyone feel like tripe?"

I thought about making this joke and wavered on whether or not it was too far. Anyhoo, this book is too much for me to think about nomming in regards to any part of it. But hey, gallows humor, why not.

Doesn't Kirby bribe people with day old doughnuts? Sounds good to me.

Chris K. wrote: "Doesn't Kirby bribe people with day old doughnuts? Sounds good to me."

She couldn't bribe me with those. 😕

America's worst contribution to world cuisine is cold doughnuts covered with overly sweet crap 😕

Y'all weird 😜

Freshly baked with cinnamon and a light dusting of sugar is the only way to have doughnuts, while they are still hot. 😎

The best donuts are eaten once a year with strawberry jelly filling and powdered sugar dusting. Eaten while saying "Ich bin ein Berliner"

I think we need Tassie Dave to do a cookbook! "The Tasmanian Miner's Guide to Gourmet Pastry."

Now I was those cinnabons made with a pound of butter.

Steve wrote: "Anyone feel like tripe?" oooo… I haven’t had a tripe feed for a couple years, maybe when I get back East this summer I’ll find someone to make it for me.

Jan wrote: "The best donuts are eaten once a year with strawberry jelly filling and powdered sugar dusting. Eaten while saying "Ich bin ein Berliner""

I could get behind celebrating historical urban legends 😜

"We are all Jelly Doughnuts"

What makes me feel old, is that I was 1 when that speech was made 😕

John (Taloni) wrote: "I think we need Tassie Dave to do a cookbook! "The Tasmanian Miner's Guide to Gourmet Pastry.""

No-one needs a cookbook based on what Tassie miners eat 😉

Jan wrote: "The best donuts are eaten once a year with strawberry jelly filling and powdered sugar dusting. Eaten while saying "Ich bin ein Berliner""

Have you listened to the speech? There's JFK talking in English with his near-impenetrable accent. Then he peels off "Ich bin Ein Berliner" in that same accent and the crowd waits a moment, then cheers. I've never been able to find out for sure, but I always figured the Berlin people heard it and understood what he meant after a needing a moment to think about it. Or maybe a translator clued them in.

Tassie Dave wrote: "No-one needs a cookbook based on what Tassie miners eat 😉"

So how many version of pasties do you have? I'm not too far from where a lot of Welsh immigrated over and settled to help mine. And when I go over in that direction, I always try to pick up some. So tasty.

Tasmanian miners have Pasties that go in both directions.

John (Nevets) wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "No-one needs a cookbook based on what Tassie miners eat 😉"

So how many version of pasties do you have? I'm not too far from where a lot of Welsh immigrated over and settled to ..."

I’m intrigued by this, since in the UK pasties are a Cornish tradition… did the Welsh emigrants adopt them in a spirit of pan-Celtic solidarity? Is there a Welsh pasty tradition that has been lost in the homeland but preserved overseas?

John (Taloni) wrote: "Have you listened to the speech? There's JFK talking in English with his near-impenetrable accent. Then he peels off "Ich bin Ein Berliner" in that same accent and the crowd waits a moment, then cheers. I've never been able to find out for sure, but I always figured the Berlin people heard it and understood what he meant after a needing a moment to think about it. Or maybe a translator clued them in."

Oh sorry! I didn't mean to confuse: It's a myth that JFK said "I am a jelly filled donut"! He did say "I am a citizen of Berlin", no doubt about that!

The people of Berlin knew what he meant and there is no confusion about what he meant anywhere in Germany.

While a "Berliner" is also a jelly-filled donut, it's mainly a term for a person from Berlin. And in Berlin, where he held his speech, the term for a jelly filled donut is actually a "Pfannkuchen" and in other parts of Germany it's for example "Krapfen".

Sorry for the confusion!

Ruth wrote: "John (Nevets) wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "No-one needs a cookbook based on what Tassie miners eat 😉"

So how many version of pasties do you have? I'm not too far from where a lot of Welsh immigrate..."

Doh, I messed that up. It was Cornish immigrants, not Welsh ones. I’ve been watching “Welcome to Wrexham” lately, and think I just had Welsh miners on my mind. Apparently the Cornish miners came over in the mid 1800’s and brought the dish with them then. And it got very incorporated in the area. The one article I read said the biggest difference between a Cornish pastie, and a U.P. (The area nearish me) one is that in a Cornish one the vegetables are sliced, where in a U.P. one they are diced. I don’t know if I would even notice that if not told.

^^ Wait, really? I had always heard it that the article changed the meaning. That is, "Ich bin Berliner" would be "I am a Berliner" where as "Ich bin ein Berliner" would be the jelly donut named after the city. So when JFK used the article (so I have always read in the past) he confused the meaning. I have really, actually never heard it that his usage was correct.

Stan from South Park voice: I learned something today...

John (Taloni) wrote: "^^Wait, really? I had always heard it that the article changed the meaning. That is, "Ich bin Berliner" would be "I am a Berliner" where as "Ich bin ein Berliner" would be the jelly donut named after the city. So when JFK used the article (so I have always read in the past) he confused the meaning. I have really, actually never heard it that his usage was correct."

Germans were actually never aware before the internet this myth existed. The thing is, while normally when you want so say you are from somewhere you would not use the article, in the context of the speech, it's the absolutely right thing to do. Using the "ein" he is stressing that he is standing with the people of Berlin and he is one of them. In fact, there's some discussion that JFK didn't quite know how much solidarity he was pronouncing in his speech using the translation, as the version with the "ein" is way more powerful in German.

John (Nevets) wrote: "Ruth wrote: "John (Nevets) wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "No-one needs a cookbook based on what Tassie miners eat 😉"

Doh, I messed that up. It was Cornish immigrants, not Welsh ones. I’ve been watching “Welcome to Wrexham” lately, and think I just had Welsh miners on my mind. "

Never mind, an easy mistake to make (unless you're Welsh or Cornish...) My Grandma is Cornish and a real stickler for authenticity in pasties. Yes, in a truly authentic Cornish pasty the vegetables and meat must be sliced, not diced, and they are placed in layers - irrc it's potatoes on the bottom, followed by turnips or swede (rutabaga), followed by onions, followed by meat (lamb or beef) on the top. The pasty can contain a sweet filling eg stewed apples at one end, but it must never contain carrots or peas. There is also controversy over how the pasty is crimped (on the side or the top - my Grandma insists side crimping is how she and generations of Cornish pasty makers have done it, but the authorities think it must be top-crimped). The authorities are, in this case, obviously wrong.

Then there's the controversy over how you prepare scones... (it's jam first if you're West of the Tamar, in geographical location or in your heart. And it's pronounced 'scon' not 'scoan').

Now I'm feeling hungry...

In the south east of England, we pronounce it 'sconé'.

I always thought pasties were something completely different. And you don't eat them.

Any sort of Chicago food. :). Hungry now.

Calvey wrote: "Any sort of Chicago food. :). Hungry now."

A Chicago style hotdog...

You could have that soup in pastry they call a deep-dish pizza (which is an abomination and definitely not a pizza).

I would hunt up Oberweis butter pecan ice cream.

Not much else that is unique to Chicago..

Italian Beefs, South side thin pizza,

But yah I will take a Maxwell Street dog...and we can calll it a day. ok 2 or 3.

I'm one of those odd ducks that does like the Chicago Style Deep Dish. The weird part is, in most other cases the sauce is probably my least favorite part of a pizza. Who knows why.

And while a Chicago style dog is great, but I would take a soggy Italian Beef with giardiniera peppers over it any day of the week.

The book doesn't state how devoted Rachel and Kirby are to their Jewish faith, but some of that Chicago food may have to be kosher.

I was reading in the Tribune that the Beefs might take over as Chicago sandwich, but which ones! I guess it is a bit of push from The Bear.

I love the Beefs, wet, but no peppers. Especially from Chickies.

Oaken wrote: "I always thought pasties were something completely different. And you don't eat them."

Sounds like a choking hazard to me!