CUISINE

Fucking hell Sin- thats grim. Im afraid this is the sort of thing that would put me off the States to live in, you have so many gun even chickens in your own garden aren't safe.

I hope you get the bastards.

I don't have an issue with guns I love my guns but it's ignorant idiots like the one who shot my duck in a residential neighborhood that pisses me off. I mean I'm trained on gun safety and know how to handle myself with one. If I wan't duck for dinner I'll have it. BUT whomever shot her just shot her it hit her right leg and up through her muscle by her wing. Definitely not a killing shot which means whomever fired the gun at her has no clue what they are doing. Not to mention it's a type of duck that is solely domesticated here. They don't look the same as a wild duck. It's just one more reason why I dislike people

I mean I'm trained on gun safety and know how to handle myself with one.- Sin

My problem there Sin is, that whilst I don't for a moment doubt you, when I look about my own country, at the petty crime that goes on, vandalism, harassment, gangs, drunken stabbings, and then there's the unseen stuff thats always seeming to be going on; domestic abuse behind the curtains, child abuse, blackmail, occasional murder and the like- it occurs to me that folks like you might be outnumbered by at least 10-1 by the worlds fuckwits.

And you live in a country where the fuckwits are all armed.

That doesn't seem a good idea to me.

that is why I am armed LOL

That must be American irony!

I grew up around guns my whole life so they for me are just a part of life. I was shooting handguns and rifles at the age of 9 or 10. So its just a way of life for me. It's sad that all these idiots in america make us all seem like a bunch of shoot em up happy rednecks. but yeah it is Ironic that I have guns to protect me from the morons who don't know any better and give gun owners a bad rap. That and I enjoy target shooting, gets a lot of the days stress out.

I have no issue with their proper use, we used to shoot rabbits to eat when we were camping with the scouts, 2.2 rifles. Couldn't do that these days mind you. Guns are illegal here, you even need a license for an air gun (after some moron shot a baby in a pram with one and killed it) .
But thats not to say there aren't guns. Certain people are allowed to have them for their profession- farmers, games keepers and the like.
And you are allowed to hold a gun for sporting purposes- that requires a license, membership of a registered gun club and regular unannounced spot checks to see that the weapon is being stored in the appropriate locked up gun cabinet you said it would be with the ammo kept locked up somewhere separately.
And each weapon can have its own subset of rules, for example-

'Shot gun cartridges containing five or more shot, none of which exceeds .36 inch in diameter, which can only be purchased on production of a Shot Gun Certificate.'

And there are guns on licensed shooting estates, for grouse season- big part of our tourist trade at that time of year.

And I cant help but wondering if this approach might explain why there has been 1 massacre in the last 60 years involving a firearm in a school here, and in the same 60 years there have been 73 in America, thats more than one a year, even taking into account population difference thats a lot- add in malls, gangs, domestic homicides- its not that I think everyone should have guns taken away from them- its just that I think making it so easy for everyone to have a gun is not a good idea.

I have no gun, nor do I need one as only cops, security companies, some farmers have them around me. Criminals too - but generally they shoot each other. Not totally gun-crime free here, but close enough for my liking. Guns turn too many cowards into killers.

People, people. Let's stick to matters of importance.



(Kidding. Carry on. )

I love to drench my cooking in olive oil (and garlic of course), this entertaining video is a wake-up call, I suppose.



BTW, a recent study has shown that close to 70% of extra virgin olive oil sold in supermarkets in the US is highly adulterated, even to the point of being completely fake. Most of the questionable stuff comes from Europe; california brands are safer. Of the major EVO brands, Pompeian seems to be pure. All the other big brands (Bertolli, Colavita, etc) are adulterated.

Yeah, I remember them doing a test about that here, and experts put 2/3 of the extra virgin brands at only virgin quality or less.

It's worse than that: other oils are mixed in, chlorophyll and other flavorings are added. All of this would be fine if labelled as an oil blend, but instead it says extra virgin olive oil.

Some of the fakes could not be told apart from EVOO even by professional olive oil tasters. That's how well it's done. Probably largely harmless, but still fraudulent.

Wow. Well, I guess everything is bigger in America. Even olive oil mislabeling problems.

Reposting for new page in case anyone wonders what were talking about.

halfwise wrote:I love to drench my cooking in olive oil (and garlic of course), this entertaining video is a wake-up call, I suppose.



BTW, a recent study has shown that close to 70% of extra virgin olive oil sold in supermarkets in the US is highly adulterated, even to the point of being completely fake.  Most of the questionable stuff comes from Europe; california brands are safer.  Of the major EVO brands, Pompeian seems to be pure.  All the other big brands (Bertolli, Colavita, etc) are adulterated.

Bluebottle wrote:Wow. Well, I guess everything is bigger in America. Even olive oil mislabeling problems.

I think it's just as bad in Europe: remember, most of the fraudulent oil was from European companies.

True, though us being in the eea and not the eu keeps us kind of seperate. And if you actually get a proper product, the mediterranean is still the heartland of olive oil production.

I made a Thai dinner with cashews and plenty of beg.It was comforting and I had strong Italian coffee with it.

Sushi.

it should be ok if its got DOP written on the bottle.

So I have a friend who is a vegetarian (although she eats fish), except for one day a year where she eats meat, which she has termed Meat Day.  (The following day is unofficially termed indigestion day. )  She has a party at her house where everyone brings meat dishes.  I made meatballs as well as sauce and brought little rolls to eat as mini-meatball subs, which went over pretty well based on how few I had left, despite making a ton.  The friend who hosted made a really tasty ham, and there were a few other people who had inventive ways of incorporating meat into dishes, including cookies with bacon set into the icing and kale sauteed in bacon grease. It's a fun little emerging tradition.

Sounds a good deal for all of you. She get's her Meat Day, and the rest of you get to eat meat all year and yet have Meat Day too.

Although..

Eldorion wrote:including cookies with bacon set into the icing and kale sauteed in bacon grease.

The recent American fad of bacon with sweets is just wrong. Much as I love bacon, I will never ever buy into this cultural abomination.

(though the Turkish preparation of chicken pastry dusted with cinnamon and sugar works quite well.)

I would say the same..

Although bacon and blueberry jam on pancakes is amazing.

I do find it a little weird, but it's not that different than bacon with breakfast, as Blue points out. The cookies didn't have very much bacon on them though, and they were really good on their own.

Yeah, though we don't have pancakes for breakfast here really. (Dinner, rather.) But it does show there is something to say for the combination.