• 19 Posts
  • 25 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: June 19th, 2023

help-circle











  • So uh, I’m more of a DDG a problem when I got it, then fix it that way kind of expert, so I don’t exactly remember. I looked in the LS rules, looked in my browser history, can’t find it. I remember only being annoyed because it was because I had to switch to safari to buy something, and with no blockers to save me, I kept getting these system-wide notifications. Me being an idiot is one of the reasons I asked the question if people were updating for security reasons.


  • I’ll probably regret saying, but I’ve been running High Sierra forever, and plan to keep doing so. Every time I’ve upgraded, I’ve run into problems and either lost the software I bought, or upgraded to the new versions which took away features I needed and added ones I didn’t (looking at you, Scrivener).

    I run Little Snitch and generally feel pretty secure with that. Caught an annoying notification attack just the other day. Not sure why upgrading to a new system is needed, but happy to have my ignorance un-ignored.







  • I make a lot of beef (or lamb) stew without any seasoning (except for two bay leaves) in the instapot (which I resisted as a “dumb gadget” for way too long). It gets frozen and when I’m ready, I just add things to the meat, and you’d never know it was frozen.

    In this case, I had pre-reduced red-wine and roast-garlic sauce sitting in the fridge. Added some tomato paste and then some brown sugar, when it seemed like the wine was a bit sour. If I had an orange, I would have added some zest, that’s a nice trick.

    And butter. Because butter solves anything.






  • It’s not so much a recipe, but a series of secrets.

    Usually I caramelise the onions in a mix of butter, olive oil, ground fennel seeds and salt. To really make it work, I let them cook for about 30-45 minutes at low heat and covered. You’ll know when they’re done.

    Then I add stock. I use a fond de légumes which I make in bulk and freeze, but any stock will do. But the three secret ingredients I found are brewer’s yeast (which you add, and then dissolves), port wine and fish sauce. Really makes a great soup. And though it doesn’t sound authentic, it tastes like it is.

    Top with garlic croutons (you can also rub garlic on dried bread), then for me a mix of beaufort, gouda and aged gouda, and put under the broiler. Sounds elaborate, but soup freezes nicely.