Subj: 386 poisoning + picni

recently made a spicy ratatouille

(as with most Mediterranean stuff), it's pretty mild.

It's one of those dishes that can certainly be made more piquant
than normal and turn out very nice.

Most of the Hatch chiles I've encountered are pretty mild -
none approaching what I'd be inclined to call a hot pepper.

We need a term to describe a chile that has discernible heat but is in
the lower end of the heat spectrum.

Statler & Waldorf
Bigallet Viriana China-China Amer

A French orange flavoured amaro. Interesting. It's not available
locally but I shall search for it when I'm in Alberta next month.

Subj: 387 more picnic food ^2

You can thank your lucky stars, about the oatmeal part,

I generally like oatmeal

That Scottish heritage will get you every time.

In defence of much maligned porridge, some tips.

-1- the one kind worth making is slow cooking large flake rolled
oats. Avoid quick and especially the instant variety.

-2- Salt the water.

-3- Use more liquid and cook for less time than the package calls
for. The flakes should be fully hydrated and soft but not boiled
into gluey sludge. It should be a thick but still a somewhat runny
gruel.

-4- Don't eat it plain but enrich with fruit, nuts, sweeteners and
sweet baking spices. Some classic combinations: walnut, banana and
maple syrup, honey-almond, and apple, raisin, cinnamon and brown sugar.

-5- Milk and cream are definitely unnecessary.

-6- Only make it in cold weather.

Subj: 388 nasty was was nasty

Pizza Hut / nowhere to visit barring extenuating circumstances
such as trying to get a beer near Yellowknife airport.

Some time after we had that beer the place changed hands and really
went downhill. So much for franchise consistency. I haven't been
back for years.

Subj: 390 First dinner at Forge

don't know of any culture that celebrates new year around now.
Perhaps some Australian aboriginal peoples, for whom this is
springtime?

Well there is Rosh Hashanah just over and Diwali coming up soon. We
have enough South Asians of various flavours in Yellowknife that
Diwali is a real thing here.

Interesting that the Japanese more often celebrate western new
year's rather than eastern.

They adopted the Gregorian calendar a long time ago but still
celebrate the Lunar New Year as well.

Silly Rabbit
mint bitters

Is mint bitters really a thing?

Subj: 393 La Ferte-St. Aubin

the car told us we had to fuel now! / 44.78 liters (vs.) the
capacity of the tank was 45.0 liters

North American cars including European imports seem to have a built
in margin for error for careless drivers but European gauges are
extremely accurate. I learned this the hard way while driving my
brother's restored ancient Sunbeam Alpine.


Cheers

Jim


... The best way to have $1M for retirement is to already have $1M now

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