Althouse: At the Red Leaf Café...

November 4, 2009

At the Red Leaf Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

21 comments:

kentuckyliz said...: I'm a redhead.; 11/4/09, 12:48 PM
Unknown said...: Love redheads.

Blondes, too.

In any case, beautiful image, Ann. This is what's loveliest about Fall - the bright sun behind the rainbows on the trees.; 11/4/09, 12:50 PM
kentuckyliz said...: My town is past its peak in color now, we've moved on to autumn drab.

However, here is a pic of its blazing glory.; 11/4/09, 12:58 PM
traditionalguy said...: There are men who are blondes, but when they grow beards they turn out to have red beards.This is another reason to aways smile even when serious, so as not to frighten children.; 11/4/09, 12:58 PM
traditionalguy said...: I see Lizburg has a McDonalds for nightlife among all the beautiful fall leaves changing colors.; 11/4/09, 1:01 PM
Paul said...: Oh my goodness! Ravishing as usual, Ann. I come for the conversation, but what really grabs me are the photographs, especially of flowers and things like these leaves. Thank you!!; 11/4/09, 1:18 PM
kentuckyliz said...: The town is bigger than it seems...there's always more around the next mountain.

WV hagone
The name of the First Lady's Plane.; 11/4/09, 1:19 PM
former law student said...: Back when my hair had pigment, I had a reddish-blond beard.

The Friedman column today is on military outsourcing.

In the late 90s I toured an Army base. I was surprised to see older guys in boonie hats policing the area as they used to say.

My host said those were retirees under contract -- that actual soldiers were too valuable to assign to menial tasks. He also spoke of "Combat Arms" as some arcane specialty, not what the bulk of soldiers do. This jibed with what my friend the ancient Guardie told me -- that NG troops were more likely to serve abroad than Regular Army.

What is our country coming to?

We also saw a general planting flowers along his walkway.; 11/4/09, 1:19 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Here I speak American English where fries mean chips and chips mean crisps. I've been experimenting with this since I was ten. A bit slow on the uptake I still managed to learn that freezing has its advantages, but turns out that's because the fries were cooked twice, not because they were frozen. However if the freezer has a defrost feature, that can be used to advantage in ridding the fries of excess moisture, which is the desired goal -- fluffy inside, crispy outside, but not too much moisture because that would be just plain bad. So it's a trick. Coax some of the moisture to the surface then lift it away. You also want to get rid of the surface starch which just goofs it all up in both cases, fries and chips, which means the extra steps of rinsing and towel drying, but the result is worth the effort. I've even used a salad spinner.

I'm interested in a dehydrator for this purpose along with the other good reasons to own one.

I'm also interested in a desiccator with a vacuum pump for this specific reason, but that's going off the scientific edge a bit just for fries. For now, I must settle for the freezer with its defrost. I'll even keep the freezer door opened for as long as it takes to activate the fan to make sure it's pulling out moisture and not just sitting there freezing uncovered.

Then, after all that, daringly toss the cold or frozen potatoes into slightly overheated oil with the certainty the temperature will quickly drop upon contact. It's dramatic. Have the pot filled to less than half way with oil -- wouldn't do to start a fire.

French fries

Potato chips; 11/4/09, 1:25 PM
traditionalguy said...: FLS...You must not have toured Ft Bragg, NC. Those guys are combat ready all of the time with the mission to be dropped behind enemy lines anywhere in the world on 48 hours notice. That causes a conumdrum for the enemy of whether to attack the tankless light infantry 82nd hat they have surrounded or to just surrender to them because they have seen the end that swiftly comes to Regimes that try to wipe out 20,000 young Americans who never surrender themselves. At least it worked that way until President Dithers became our decision maker in DC that needs an extremely good reason to protect American lives spending money that could have been sent to SEIU and ACORN to help the needy deadbeats and their Czars.; 11/4/09, 1:32 PM
TosaGuy said...: Friedman brings up some good points, but he neglected to mention a very important fact why this is occuring.

Congress caps the number of servicemembers in the military. A limited force that is overtasked will find a way to expand its capabilities.; 11/4/09, 1:39 PM
Angst said...: I'm OK with gingers, but give me a blond any day -

They are easier to find in the dark.; 11/4/09, 2:09 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Mmmm.... pass the potato chips!; 11/4/09, 2:25 PM
Triangle Man said...: @Chip

Cook's Illustrated did an article on french fries in July (2009). They achieved crispy fries without double frying by starting with room temperature oil and frying for 25 minutes.

"We were inspired by a method attributed to Michelin-starred French chef Jöel Robuchon. This recipe skipped the rinsing and soaking steps and submerged the spuds in a few cups of room temperature, or “cold” oil, before frying over high heat until browned."; 11/4/09, 2:42 PM
Unknown said...: Depends on how you look :); 11/4/09, 2:42 PM
ricpic said...: A Prayer For The Sane

Red to purple and back to red,
May they never into blue tread.; 11/4/09, 3:24 PM
Hazy Dave said...: Red Leaves by Tom Verlaine.; 11/4/09, 3:40 PM
Penny said...: About fall tree colors...Unlike orange and yellow leaves which had those colors all along, covered up by the green of chlorophyll, red leaves turn that way in fall because of food trapped in the leaf. Brown leaves also turn that way in the fall, but because of trapped waste.; 11/4/09, 4:01 PM
rhhardin said...: Roadside shoe today.

Nearby its camouflaged mate.

Later at home, be-treed evening sky with dog.; 11/4/09, 4:09 PM
bagoh20 said...: "The times they are a changin'."; 11/4/09, 6:13 PM
rhhardin said...: Armstrong and Getty offend Google VP of TIght-Assed User Interfaces Merissa Mayer (real audio, 5 segments) today.

Apparently one host googling "merissa mayer nude" while she was giving her unpaid ad for handy google search tips counts as sexual harassment.

Angry emails exchanged. Lawyers mentioned.

"Being a female executive, she did not find that funny."; 11/4/09, 6:24 PM