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[wombat]

I don't know how we didn't notice.  But it might be all of a piece with things like, I just noticed that a magazine I renewed in February stopped coming in February, and I just found a jug of buttermilk in the fridge that expired in August.

[linnea]

I don't know how we didn't notice.  But it might be all of a piece with things like, I just noticed that a magazine I renewed in February stopped coming in February, and I just found a jug of buttermilk in the fridge that expired in August.

What is...buttermilk? I mean, I have heard of it but I've never heard of anybody just straight-up drinking a glass of buttermilk. Do you drink it? Or did you buy it for baking and just forget about it?

[CortJstr]

My mom and grandma buy a carton of buttermilk every Saturday morning when they go grocery shopping. They then come home and drink the whole thing between them for lunch. They often put a little pepper on top. My grandma will then point out that in the good old days buttermilk had little chunks of butter floating in it.

[linnea]

argh. Since I have been back, I have taken to buying lottery tickets almost weekly. At $2 a week, it's not that costly. But after going to my office Christmas party and not winning so much as a poinsettia in the raffle...I'm starting to really understand just how huge the odds are and how fallacious gambler's logic can be.

Every time I check the numbers, I realize that I need to focus even harder on living happily on a budget. Unless I stop spending, budget wisely, and stick to the plan, I'm doomed.

[AlohaDawg]

Um, yeah.

That's the idea.

Also, buttermilk is not too bad actually. Lots of Indian things call for it.

[littlefallsmets]

I have to humbly disagree here.

Buttermilk is nearly as nasty as the concept of mushrooms.

[AlohaDawg]

Gee, that must be why no one eats mushrooms and why they are so hard to find in the grocery store.

[AugustWest]

RE: Newspapers

Despite my prior discourse to the contrary, we have done the Sunday only paper thing forever.  Mrs. West gets up on Sunday morning and goes to the Kroger wherein she purchases a paper and Sunday breakfast.  She buys it for the "guts", i.e. the coupons and advertising circulars.  I get to read the rest of it and to do the Sunday crossword while I'm watching TV on Sunday night (preferably football).


RE: Buttermilk

Buttermilk rocks.  It's great for cooking and great for drinking.  Linnea, I can forgive your ignorance of buttermilk, but LFM, you have been decanned for hatin' on the buttermilk, you dang Yankee.

[Arachno-capitalist]

ok see this is what happens when theres more than one conversation and Im too lazy to parse it all.
Up to and including August's last post, I thought there was serious discussion about advising the lady to use the sunday paper to solve the toilet paper problem. Then August was going on about his wife using the coupons and him using the rest... while watching football. Im not trying to make a haha, im serious. I thought you all had lost your fuck*ng minds.

[littlefallsmets]

Well, we have, y'know.

But that's hardly the proper evidence.

[jaydub]

My grandfather used to drink buttermilk.  He was as yankee as all get-out (aside from not being from New England - Iowa and Seattle mostly).  I tried it once and had a similar sort of experience as the day I tried baking chocolate.  It might look like something tasty (eggnog), but that stuff is vile.

[Lister]

Buttermilk is a good ingredient in things.  It makes excellent cornbread, and is a nice base for building a crust on soon-to-be fried chicken.

It is not a thing for drinking on its own.  Really.

Slightly more on-topic, the difference in the chances of winning the lottery between buying one ticket and buying 0 tickets is so small that it's within the statistical margin of error.  That said, I'll buy a ticket or five when the jackpot value is higher than the odds of winning.  It's a nice thing to dream about*.

There are a lot of little expenses that add up if you let them -- taking my lunch in to work 2 or 3 days a week saves, in my case, about $4 per meal (and usually tastes better).  I skip the vending machines too if I can.  By not buying two sodas a day I save $20 or so a month.  For some reason, 20-oz soda bottles cost ten cents less than 2-liter soda bottles.  I just refill them and do the same with water bottles.  Two big pre-made chicken caesar salads cost $10, but making them myself costs $4 or less.  Heck, buying unflavored couscous in bulk saves me something like $1 an ounce over the preflavored types, AND there's less packaging to deal with.  While I love how convenient those Uncle Ben's flavored microwavable rice pouches are, those things cost some amazing premium over even the really high-quality dry rice.

Oh yeah, do you have a grocery store 'club card?'  You don't actually have to fill those forms out when you get one.  Just do it at a busy time and ask if you can send the form in later -- boom, you get to save money without tying your shopping history to any personally-identifying information.

Okay, it's 3:30 am and I need to go to bed.

* I plan to purchase and renovate a duplex to live in while I'm scouting for a location for my dream home.  This home will not be very big, but it will be built to exceptional specifications, with 8-inch outer walls and solar panels.  Also I will begin funding an endowment with the goal of sustaining a good $100000 in charity funds off of investment returns alone.  Also I will purchase billboards that say "PUT THE PHONE DOWN AND DRIVE."

[wombat]

I buy the buttermilk to make pancakes. And sometimes scones. But now I'm wondering if I should try drinking some just for the hell of it.

[linnea]

I just woke up from an excruciating dream. I dreamt that I was at Whole Foods or something, having a retardedly expensive sandwich and grelicious pickle spears. In the dream, I ate three pickles, and then I woke up. I wanted to cry with rage when I realized that I could not just get up and drive over there. Hell, I can't even go to the damn grocery store and buy some pickles. BLAST!

Also, LFM, mushrooms are delicious. Here is a recipe that Kelli taught me. You will probably hate it.

1 carton of mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
1 yellow or sweet onion, diced
1 cup of red wine
2 teaspoons "Better Than Boullion" paste from the jar, or a bullion cube.
Olive oil and butter

Heat a medium skillet over high-medium heat. While the skillet heats, dissolve the bullion into the red wine and set aside. Once the skillet heats up, add about a tablespoon of olive oil and a pat of butter. Add the diced onions and saute until they are softened and beginning to caramelize (darken). Add the mushrooms and saute until softened. Stir in the wine/boullion mixture to deglaze the pan and leave on high-medium to help the sauce reduce, stirring frequently. This should take about 5 minutes, longer if you have used more ingredients. Once the sauce looks like it's thickening nicely, reduce to low heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes.

This is an amazing topping for marinated, grilled steak and mashed potatoes. God, it is so delicious. Just make sure you don't use too much bullion (i.e., I used a heaping tablespoon and it was far too much), or else it gets extremely salty.

[theinevitable]

as long as we are talking about recipes and cooking...

when making eggs over-easy, how do you flip the egg over without the yolk sliding off? I ended up with basically a yolk separate from the rest of the egg, and then I got frustrated with trying to get the whites back on top of the yolks and just mashed everything up until it was just "egg." Is there a trick, or just "practice"?