First, make your favorite cake recipe in two 9-inch cake pans. I chose carrot, because Duh, from Mark Bittman’s How To Bake Everything book — it has a lot of crushed pineapple in it. On a sheet-cake cardboard, which I had a five-pack of, leftover from a years-old experiment with making a blighted gingerbread house, place one layer about two-thirds of the way down. Cut ears out of the second layer and place the leftover piece at the bottom, like so:
Frost it all over with your favorite frosting. We went with the classic cream cheese:
Then, bunny it up:
And that is how you make an Easter dessert. I can’t believe that we spent all those years with a little girl in the house and this is the first year I’ve made one. Oh well, it’s never too late. It looks a little like a child helped with the decoration, doesn’t it? Things to remember for next time: Make a separate batch of icing for piping the details, because the cream cheese was too creamy to pipe very well. Also: Be more creative, but I was specifically requested to make jelly-bean eyes, so that’s what I did. Also might try toasting the coconut for a brown bunny.
The rest of the meal was fine, but simple — smoked a turkey breast on the grill, mac/cheese and a nice potato salad. And the traditional nibbles beforehand:
I love deviled eggs. Why don’t I make them more often?
So that was my Easter. I drank too much wine, had an afternoon nap, and went for a bike ride after. The weather was perfect — clear and sunny, warm but not too. I hope yours was as pleasant.
The weekend being what it was, I paid little attention to what news there was this weekend, except that Michigan is No. 1 in the country in new Covid cases, and had an eye-popping number Saturday — 8,413. We should change our name to New Variants, because that appears to be what’s driving all this. My second shot is Thursday. Can’t come soon enough.
OK, then, Monday commences. Let’s get through the week.
Linda said on April 5, 2021 at 8:56 am
My second shot is Thursday too. Good luck to both of us!
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alex said on April 5, 2021 at 8:56 am
Unfrosted it looks like the Playboy bunny.
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Dorothy said on April 5, 2021 at 9:09 am
Somewhere there exists a picture of my sister Chrissy and I making that same cake, but it was circa 1969 or so. Chris looks a little wan – I think she was feeling under the weather that day.
We had a smallish ham, sweet potatoes and roasted cauliflower for a lovely dinner around 5:30. Before that I bound a new quilt and sat outside soaking up some rays a few times while I watched Nestle romp with Bayley, who was visiting next door. It was all delightful until Bayley dragged out a dead rabbit (what was left of it) from under our deck. Bayley’s mom Maryalice was polite and asked me for a bag so she could toss the deceased, who was missing its head and a leg or two. But there was one leg left so we identified it easily. Sad day for that poor bunny who, as luck would have it, was not the one tasked with delivering treats throughout my neighborhood.
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Suzanne said on April 5, 2021 at 9:11 am
I had my second shot on Friday. No side effects other than a sore arm. Next full moon, we’ll see if I start howling…
We had our Easter lunch at home with ham slices cooked in milk, French potato salad, and Lidia Bastianch’s Carrot Salad with Pine Nuts and Raisins. Dessert was cookies I baked a week or so ago. Oh, and I also made a type of Challah bread with rum soaked raisins in it, which was quite good. And wine, of course, wine.
Then we visited elderly parents, which is always…interesting.
I went for a 2 mile walk in the afternoon because the weather was gorgeous.
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Julie Robinson said on April 5, 2021 at 9:32 am
My second shot is Wednesday, and I’ll make sure to request the microchip, ha.
We’ve made that bunny cake before, and well done on getting it cut without crumbling into a sticky mess. Mom requested cheesecake and we took the easy way out with one from Costco, enhanced by dribbling warm raspberry jam over it. ‘Twas beautiful here too; a delightful day.
We found the movie Booksmart at the library–has anyone seen it? It was nothing like what I expected, hilariously funny, and the farthest thing from any parties I ever went to.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 5, 2021 at 10:09 am
Playboy bunny logo was profile, wasn’t it?
Deviled eggs: recipe please?
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 10:15 am
A very nice lasagna, salad, and plum torte here. Both sons present. They did some gardening planting borlotti beans, radishes, assorted greens and bee and butterfly attracting flowers.
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Heather said on April 5, 2021 at 10:27 am
Nice bun. Wasn’t really feeling like making Easter dinner for one, nor was I very hungry. But I did meet some friends at the park (beautiful day here in Chicago in the upper 60s) for wine, cheese, and charcuterie. And Cadbury Mini Eggs, my Easter chocolate of choice.
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Deborah said on April 5, 2021 at 10:42 am
No special meal here, but I’m designating April as Salad Month. I wanted to do that in March but it was too cold, salads didn’t seem right. Yesterday’s salad was with apples and manchego cheese strips, a few other things too on baby spinach leaves with a simple olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing. Today’s salad will have blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing but I haven’t determined the other ingredients yet. My husband leaves tomorrow to visit his mother and I’m sending him off with his favorite, a Brussels sprout salad, it has kale, bacon, dried cranberries and walnuts, lemon and olive oil dressing. He’s driving and not stopping anywhere except for gas and one night at an inn.
My husband is designing an area rug for our place here in Chicago, he designed one for our cabin and had it made by a weaver in Taos. We think we might use the same weaver, haven’t been able to find anyone local yet. If any of you Chicago peeps know a good weaver, please let me know.
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 10:54 am
The NYT recipe for kale salad with lemon, garlic, parmesan and croutons is the household fave here.
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Jakash said on April 5, 2021 at 11:13 am
Cute cake. Toasted coconut used to be one of my go-to donuts at the double D. But untoasted is fine, too.
We watched Booksmart a while back. (It’s free on Hulu, and rent-able from Amazon and elsewhere, for those scoring at home.) Yeah, we thought it was pretty fun, too, Julie. It was directed by Olivia Wilde.
We got our second shots on Friday, as well, Suzanne. Pfizer. Having been warned here by LAMary and alex, I was a little concerned about the possible effects. My arm hurt for a day and then yesterday I just kinda felt sick in general — congested, achy — but it seems to have passed. If I’ve dodged the digestive component, I’ll be happy. My wife was fine, except for a little arm pain for a few hours afterward.
This unseasonable weather is okay by me. Trees blooming, spring flowers coming up, birds chirping. It’s happening, people! We’ve gone on a couple bike rides — much earlier than in a normal year.
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Deborah said on April 5, 2021 at 11:16 am
I subscribe to Emily Nunn’s newsletter called “The Department of Salad” has good recipes and entertaining writing. Also Mark Bittman has that great list of 100 salads, it was in the NYT years ago. There are millions of ways to make salad. When I get back to Santa Fe I’m going to get one of those stackable hydroponic gizmos to grow greens, I think the brand is called Farmstand, something like that. Nothing better than fresh greens.
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Deborah said on April 5, 2021 at 11:23 am
Here’s a link to the Farmstand product, actually the company is called Lettucegrow. https://www.lettucegrow.com/the-farmstand There are also a bunch of DIY ways to make something like that, but I think the Farmstand looks nice, very sculptural. So it’s art that grows food, to me.
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Julie Robinson said on April 5, 2021 at 11:51 am
We’ve been looking at those too, Deborah, but haven’t made a decision yet. We’re holding off on planters, furniture for the lanai, etc, until the construction project is done. It’s going to be chaos until then.
Having no little ones around, we dyed a perfunctory six eggs, and will make then into deviled eggs or egg salad in a day or so, probably egg salad. The answer to Nancy’s question on why she doesn’t make deviled eggs more frequently is that they are a PITA.
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Connie said on April 5, 2021 at 12:01 pm
Moderna second tomorrow, and most pleased to learn that daughter gets her first on Wednesday.
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 12:40 pm
I gave my son a sprouting frame for Christmas. You can order mats that have seeds embedded in them and you put the mat in the frame and water it, give sunlight. He shares my fondness for sprouts like radish, pea, arugula. Even if all you have around is some iceberg lettuce and a tomato a handfull of radish sprouts really improve it. Good on sandwiches too. Cucumber salad with lemon, olive oil and pea sprouts is great too. The sprout frame company just gives you box for your rows of sprouts and offers for some stupid amount a wooden frame to set it in. We put one together ourselves from some scrap redwood and it looks great.
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Jeff Borden said on April 5, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Anyone –especially Catholics– remember the lamb cakes? My mom and my aunts passed around a metallic mold to make these things, but I remember being reminded to watch out for the toothpicks embedded in the cake to keep it from falling apart. They were more trouble than they were worth.
We had chopped up lobster tales with a great peppery sauce over linguine. I had a glass of single malt Scotch for desert. Both my baseball teams won. And Stanford took the women’s NCAA basketball championship over Arizona. Tonight, we might witness one of the greatest men’s championship games ever between Gonzaga and Baylor. If you haven’t seen or heard how the Zags won Saturday, seek out the video. A shot heaved from half-court a nanosecond before the buzzer goes off. . .amazing.
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Scout said on April 5, 2021 at 12:54 pm
Bunny cake – nailed it. Super cute and now I want to bake one.
I had my second Pfizer vax a week ago. I had a headache and fatigue for a few days but I’m fine now. I’m so looking forward to seeing my grandies again in two weeks.
Our son and his partner who live in LA drove in for the weekend. They have each had their first shots and they live in total quarantine. They are the only family members besides my parents with which we have felt safe. Games were played, hot tubbing happened and much wine was consumed. We were sad to see them go.
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Deborah said on April 5, 2021 at 12:55 pm
I’ve seen those sprout frames and would like to get one for Santa Fe, I don’t have room for it in Chicago. I buy sunflower and pea sprouts and love them.
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Little Bird said on April 5, 2021 at 1:08 pm
New Mexico just opened the vaccine to anyone over 16. And I STILL can’t get an appointment. The kind lady at the CVS customer service line said that the website should allow me to be considered eligible by tomorrow sometime. As of now since I’m under 60 and am not considered essential anywhere, I can’t sign up. But I do have a degenerative genetic disorder that plays hell with my immune system. I’ve been feeling like I’m entirely invisible. I’m on four separate lists, waiting for my eligibility and I just want to get the damned shot already.
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Jakash said on April 5, 2021 at 2:03 pm
That’s outrageous and I can only imagine how frustrating it must be, Little Bird. It’s amazing how scattershot the whole vaccine rollout has been and continues to be. Yesterday’s Tribune front page had an article about how lots of people are driving from Chicago to get vaccines in Quincy, Illinois, located 5 hours away on the Mississippi River.
Awkward pivot to what I was going to post…
Those of a certain age among the NNC Commentariat may enjoy this column looking back at some of the electronic and mechanical ersatz sports games of yesteryear, as I did.
“Some of those old-school games from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s rocked — but some sucked. … Case in point: electric football. There was nothing electric about electric football other than the fact you plugged it in.”
…
“I’d say about 60% of my Bas-Ket shots sailed over the backboard and landed somewhere on the shag carpeting in the living room. Still, when you sank a shot, it was pretty cool.” Indeed.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment-and-culture/2021/4/5/22366820/electric-football-tabletop-hockey-sure-shot-bas-ket-pong-strat-o-matic-games-sports
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Jeff Borden said on April 5, 2021 at 2:46 pm
Jakash,
I laughed my head off at that story, too. One of my buddies had the “electric” football game. We’d line up our players, flip the switch and then watch them run willy-nilly while the “field” vibrated. I kind of remember them being very loud, too.
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ROGirl said on April 5, 2021 at 3:05 pm
Julie, Booksmart was great. I watched the Chicago 7 movie over the weekend. Typical Aaron Sorkin affair, but not bad. Why all the British actors in these roles, though?
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Jeff Borden said on April 5, 2021 at 3:40 pm
I hear Matt Gaetz is very concerned the investigations into his behavior might keep him from attending the high school prom this year.
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 3:43 pm
Try arugula and radish sprouts. Radish especially. A BLT with the addition of some radish sprouts is a wonderful thing.
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Julie Robinson said on April 5, 2021 at 4:11 pm
We still have a food co-op and it’s a great place to buy spices in bulk for way cheap, and also sprout seeds. I just use a mason jar for sprouting.
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Peter said on April 5, 2021 at 4:20 pm
Julie @ 5 – silly, the vaccine already comes with a chip, You have to ask for the chip free version! I, OTOH, am asking for extra chips – they’re so tasty!
LB @ 20 – My lovely wife and I have heart conditions and are both over 60, and had no luck getting an appointment, until my brother-in-law told me to check the obese box, and when I did I was able to get next day appointments. He says that no one checks, and let’s be honest, who isn’t toting around a few extra pounds these days?
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 4:41 pm
We owned one of those lamb cake pans when I was growing up. My grandmother saw a lamb cake at someone’s home and asked where she got the pan. We got one and it was never used. I’m ok with that.
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beb said on April 5, 2021 at 4:50 pm
The last pic of the Easter bunny cake – I couldn’t tell if it was wearing a bowtie or was having open-heart surgery….
The thing about deviled eggs is that you can buy pre-cooked and shelled eggs from any grocery. All you have to do is slice them in half, pop out the yoke and blend it with mayo and spices. Scoop into a plastic bag. cut off a corner and instant pipping bag to fill the cups. The PITA part of deviled eggs was always the cooking and peeling. So much time and so much fiddly work.
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Little Bird said on April 5, 2021 at 4:55 pm
Peter, I did check that box. And the one for immunocompromised. What’s particularly irksome is my 29 year old neighbor got his first shot a week or so ago. The only reason it doesn’t actually piss me off is that he’s as immunocompromised as I am.
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Dorothy said on April 5, 2021 at 5:11 pm
Deviled eggs are delicious and I hate peeling hard boiled eggs. But I’ll do it anyway just because I’m bullheaded that way. I mash the yolks with a fork, add some mayo, a splash of pickle juice, some salt and pepper, and then I don’t even bother with a piping bag. I just use a spoon to put the yellow goo back in the hollowed out whites. Yes mine are messy as hell but who cares? We’re eating them, not wearing them as lapel pins on a suit coat!
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 5:26 pm
Dorothy, no Colman’s dry mustard? That’s the whole point of deviled eggs. I have a one pound can of Colman’s in my pantry. That’s a big tin.
I know I must give the appearance of living to share NYT recipes but the recipe for Eli Zabar’s egg salad sandwich is worth investigating.
https://britishfooddepot.com/colmans-mustard-powder-large-tin-454g-best-before-end-of-apr-2021/
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ROGirl said on April 5, 2021 at 5:54 pm
I love deviled eggs but my cholesterol is high, so I’m no longer able to indulge. Mayo, mustard and lots of dill, some paprika for color. That’s all I used.
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Peter said on April 5, 2021 at 6:25 pm
Little Bird – DANG! Hoping the authorities will see the error of their ways and get you a shot real soon.
LA Mary – a one pound can of Colmans? DANG! That’s some mustard love right there.
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Icarus said on April 5, 2021 at 6:38 pm
Little Bird: I heard of a hack that allegedly works. You have to be on a Desktop and set your clock to the next day. Then try to make an appointment somewhere (Walgreens, CVS, etc). Apparently, this works. YMMV
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 6:50 pm
I’ve got an in house brit who loves the Colmans. I grew up using in in deviled eggs and home made mayo too. I haven’t made it in a while but I used to make my grandmother’s mustard pickles too.
Here’s an interesting story from the New Yorker. It has nothing to do with mustard or eggs.
https://tinyurl.com/4b9cjsbs
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LAMary said on April 5, 2021 at 7:20 pm
It just occurred to me that my grandmother also used Colman’s to make mustard plasters. If you had congestion she would threaten you with a mustard plaster, made with flannel and mustard and God knows what else.
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Sherri said on April 5, 2021 at 7:20 pm
Alexandra Petri on Gaetz: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/05/matt-gaetz-photos-should-not-happen-more-than-once/
Little Bird, I joined a local Facebook group of people sharing leads on vaccine appointments; you might try looking for help there. It was through leads on that group that I got my appointment tomorrow. Signing up through my health care provider took five days for a response and offered me an appointment a week later, and signing up for a couple of mass vax sites hasn’t gotten any response. So I get my first Moderna shot tomorrow.
And I’m only eligible because I have high blood pressure and I’m technically obese. Otherwise I’d still be waiting.
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Little Bird said on April 5, 2021 at 9:34 pm
As per deviled eggs…. I tend to use non fat Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, celery chopped pretty fine, kosher dills chopped fine, and sprinkled with paprika then chives.
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Mark P said on April 5, 2021 at 10:11 pm
My wife and I are deep into the freezer-to-table movement. For our Easter dinner, I had a chicken and rice dish with cheese sauce and additional grated extra sharp Cheddar. My wife had a chicken and broccoli dish with a light alfredo sauce. For dessert we had some frozen peanut butter cups.
I can never get deviled eggs like my mother made. For some reason, no one wants to put enough dill pickle in them. They need that little sharp kick.
We are coming up on our second week since our second shot. The hospital that we go to all to frequently invited anyone who had been a patient and met the requirements at the time (65 and older) to schedule an appointment. We had no trouble scheduling; in fact, their schedules were never full. Neither of us felt any effects from the vaccinations other than a slightly sore arm.
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Deborah said on April 5, 2021 at 11:00 pm
Hoo boy, my husband and I just finished watching the last episode of season 5 of The Bureau. I’m emotionally drained. What a fantastic series. I watched season 1- 4 on my iPad then I got the full set on DVD and watched them again with my husband so we could watch it on a large screen TV together and I watched season 5 that way with him for the first time. I was going to watch season 5 again by myself while my husband is out of town visiting his mother but now I don’t think so, I need some time to recuperate. It’s a fantastic series, one of the best I’ve ever seen, but the last 2 episodes tied all the loose ends together and was so emotionally draining I don’t think I can do it for awhile. I highly recommend the series but brace yourself for the last two episodes. Whew.
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Beobachter said on April 6, 2021 at 12:29 am
Was able to schedule 2 appointments last week.
Many Swiss German Covid words use the
compound prefix “impf”, from Impfung (vaccination) and impfen (to
vaccinate). So I have an Impfticket (shades of Willie Wonka) to my
Impfzentrum, a big tent next to one of Zurich’s largest hospitals.
9 days ago Kanton Zurich opened up online registration (based on age,
health, and profession you are assigned to groups A through T), and
then began allowing specific groups to sign up for Impftermine
(appointments) based on vaccine supplies. Supplies are allocated from
the Army to 26 Kantons on a demographic basis. Kanton Zurich has
the most people, but more young-ens, so it’s always listed as the ‘red
light’ (think tail lights, cabooses, or, if you follow the Tour de
France, ‘lanterne rouge’) in the vaccine rankings.
Group A is 75+ and nursing home workers. Not so old politicians were
Impfdraengler (aggressive drivers, line jumpers) claiming being on the
board of directors made them workers.
When a group may request an appointment is a secret – I just
happened to check the web site one morning, and discovered it was
opened for group C (65+) – 2.5 hours after I printed my Impfticket,
the official Swiss Alert app announced the availability for groups C
to E.
THE BUG (using Nancy’s term from some time ago) juice? Could be
Pfizer-BioNtech (the German label often used to emphasize the Turkish
immigrant couples’ company who developed the vaccine). It also
stresses the German 400 million Euro funding (in US$ terms, 470 Dolly
Partons). But based on the 4-week apart jab schedule (and me loving to
write this), probably the Funky Cold Moderna.
Kanton Zurich currently has 4 Impfzentren, fortunately mine is a 10
minute stroll away!
Oh, and the longest German Covid word so far?
Anderthalbmetergesellschaft for 1.5 meter distance society
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Dexter Friend said on April 6, 2021 at 2:24 am
It was about 57 years ago I watched a “McHale’s Navy” episode in which Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn) and his lackey lieutenant, Elroy Carpenter (Bob Hastings) were worried about McHale (Ernest Borgnine) stealing the fresh eggs and fresh butter coming in from New Caledonia, that the officers were to have for Easter breakfast. The captain said “Every sailor’s dream is to have fresh eggs fried in fresh butter on Easter morning.” I never forgot that, and when I could, I always fried fresh eggs in fresh butter on Easter morning. So I did, here in 2021. And on my first tour of Universal Studios in LA, in 1970, Bob Hastings was our tour greeter. He was very cool and just magnanimous. Apparently he was in between acting gigs.
I have decided to visit daughter Vanessa in Commercial Point on the 4th of July unless the 4th surge shuts us all down again. I know people are moving about, flying everywhere, visiting loved ones, but these numbers are frightening. When the CDC still says to avoid unnecessary travel, even if double-vaccinated, I guess I take it seriously. I am damn, goddam sick and tired of it, wanting to go to a few places, and two of these places are in Michigan, one in Williamston, the other near Caro. Graves of two comrades, of long-ago army buddies, which I keep putting off visiting. Well, three more months of waiting and then I will go do a few things.
Oh…Social Security people are supposed to get the stimulus deposit on April 7. “Get My Payment”, the government site to track this, says I don’t exist, and offers no place to go to straighten out the mistake. What a bunch of shit.
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Dorothy said on April 6, 2021 at 6:26 am
Mustard! DUH! I forgot – yes I usually put a squirt or three of bottled mustard into my deviled eggs concoction. I’m not a fan of condiments. I do not use any on sandwiches. Wet bread or buns does not appeal to me in the least. I eat hot dogs plain. Yes, I know I’m a freak. I don’t use ketchup, mustard, mayo, relish, etc. I put mayo in potato salad or macaroni salad (or deviled eggs). But mostly I avoid anything condiment-y. Does malt vinegar count? I use that on fish and french fries. And ranch dressing is a fine alternative to ketchup for fries, too. Go ahead – make fun of me. I’ve heard it all!
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Deborah said on April 6, 2021 at 8:51 am
We have a thread winner!! Beobachter!
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Suzanne said on April 6, 2021 at 9:15 am
Anderthalbmetergesellschaft!
What a great word!!
Although I am not a fan of Baylor U, as an Indiana grad, I am happy to see IU’s 1976 team’s undefeated record stay intact.
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Heather said on April 6, 2021 at 9:28 am
A friend of mine made a lamb cake for Easter! She’s very proud of her Polish heritage and they are a must.
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snarkworth said on April 6, 2021 at 10:18 am
I get my second jab this Friday. Two weeks after that, you’ll find me in a sailor suit smooching nurses in Times Square.
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Julie Robinson said on April 6, 2021 at 10:25 am
Beobachter for sure for the win, and a fascinating look at how other countries are handling vaccine distribution. My morning paper told me that Haiti, with a population of 11 million souls, does not have a single vaccine dose. It’s not just that they are poor; somehow the government didn’t apply in time for not one but two programs that would have given them vaccine. All the churches who want to send their teenagers there on mission projects so they have pictures with cute kids? Get busy on this instead.
Suzanne, D was actively cheering for Baylor for the very same reason. I was on campus for both the perfect season in ’76 and the one-loss season in ’75. My bf and I drove around a bit to watch the craziness afterwards (no burned cars), and when I got home my roommates were watching the Oscars and were clueless that IU had won. That’s what I loved about a big school, plenty of space for everyone.
It’s supposed to be sunny and 80° today but it’s taking it’s sweet time. Right now it’s cloudy and 61°. Hmpf.
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LAMary said on April 6, 2021 at 10:44 am
Beobachter, I once had a tedious discussion with my now ex husband about the difference between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. I believe your posting has somewhat cleared that up for me and makes me believe I was right thirty years ago. I did not know my husband when he was in Switzerland, but I understand his nickname when he was there was käsefüße.
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JodiP said on April 6, 2021 at 11:01 am
That was super interesting seeing how the vaccine is being handled in Zurich. I also find it really upsetting that even though we knew it was going to be a huge need, and COVAX was formed to address it, that very few vaccines are getting to poor nations. It’s straight up racism.
On a lighter note, the January issue of Smithsonian Magazine had this great article on the state of American craft. I loved how they featured many artists who are black, Asian and indigenous. The American Craft Council has a yearly show in St. Paul, and they write a bit about how that organization got started.
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Sherri said on April 6, 2021 at 12:53 pm
I can not cheer for Baylor. Their athletic department should have been nuked several times over, for covering up sexual assault and murder.
But in the women’s tournament, Stanford won the championship for the first time in 29 years, giving coach Tara Vanderveer her 3rd title.
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LAMary said on April 6, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Sherri, Gonzaga had it’s share of sexual abuse coverup problems too.
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Jessica Weissman said on April 6, 2021 at 1:27 pm
I tested a recipe for deviled eggs with hummus in the yolk mixture for the Washington Post a few years ago. It was terrific.
Family story: For years Louise and I held large parties to watch the Takoma Park 4th of July parade. One year Louise thought we didn’t have enough food so she decided to make deviled eggs. Her oldest sister Chris took one look at the eggs in the boiling water and announced “Louise, you can’t make deviled eggs unless you have a plan. You’ve gotta have a plan.” Then Chris took over the operation, presumably drawing on some deviled egg plan she had in her head. The whole thing became a running joke.
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Julie Robinson said on April 6, 2021 at 1:40 pm
Sherri, wasn’t that why Scott Drew was brought in? Coached at Valparaiso University, considered squeaky clean? I confess I have no idea if he’s been able to overcome the entrenched atmosphere there.
Listening to Tara Vanderveer, she mentioned how proud she was of the way the women on her team negotiated their way through the difficulties of practicing and playing during the pandemic. She said there had not been a single positive Covid test. I think she used the word mature.
snarkworth, pics or it didn’t happen!
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Deborah said on April 6, 2021 at 2:43 pm
I had never heard of a University called Gonzaga. Whenever I read it on Twitter or wherever in regard to a basketball game I thought they were referring to a specific player on the team with that name.
I went out for walk a bit ago, first time without any jacket in a while, I was hot in a long sleeved shirt. 79 degrees and sunny here. There’s a big film shoot happening on State a couple of blocks south of Lincoln Park, don’t know if it’s a TV show or movie, but there was a guy roaming around with a yellow vest that said “Covid Manager”. I didn’t see any celebrities.
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Suzanne said on April 6, 2021 at 2:57 pm
I knew Baylor had athletic dept sex abuse issues (Ken Starr was president, remember, and he seems to like that sort of thing) but I didn’t know that about Gonzaga.
Interesting that they are both Christian faith based schools, isn’t it?
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Deborah said on April 6, 2021 at 2:58 pm
This seems to be the current playbook for what John Boehner calls the Chaos Caucus https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26184/page-images/26184-images.pdf
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Sherri said on April 6, 2021 at 4:28 pm
LAMary, I didn’t mean to imply that I was cheering for Gonzaga. I didn’t watch any of the men’s tournament.
And yes, Scott Drew’s squeaky clean image was used to help Baylor basketball recover from the particular Dave Bliss stench, but the sexual assault stuff was systemic.
Baylor’s women’s basketball coach, Kim Mulkey, when she lost in the tournament this year, began her postgame press conference by saying that the NCAA should stop COVID testing of the athletes because it would be terrible if an athlete didn’t get to play in the Final Four because of a positive test.
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Mark P said on April 6, 2021 at 4:33 pm
Shorter “University” in my hometown Rome, Ga, is owned and operated by the Southern Baptist Convention. An executive was accused of inappropriate touching (think Donald T***p’s favorite grabbing area). He resigned, she was fired. But then, they are Baptists. No one has ever accused them of being Christians.
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LAMary said on April 6, 2021 at 4:58 pm
Covid manager is a job created for the pandemic. I know more than one movie or TV person whose job mostly disappeared with the pandemic so they took the covid manager training. Now they are on any site where there is filming going on to make sure everyone follows the rules.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 6, 2021 at 5:04 pm
Harry Lillis Crosby, Jr. attended Gonzaga’s high school, and the college for three years but no degree completed; they fixed him up with an honorary degree after he got famous as Der Bingle. I’ve never been there, but I believe they have a big Bing Crosby archive and museum on campus.
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Julie Robinson said on April 6, 2021 at 5:23 pm
Adia Barnes, coach of the women’s runner up Arizona, pumped milk at halftime because she has a six month old daughter. The woman is a warrior.
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Deborah said on April 6, 2021 at 5:26 pm
I’m going to go out and buy a six pack of Coke. I haven’t done that in years because, caffeine and sugar. They made caffeine free diet Coke for a while but I haven’t seen it for a long time. It will sit in the refrigerator until someone who can tolerate caffeine and sugar visits but I don’t care. Also I’m going down to our storage unit and dig out my Nike’s. I can’t help Delta though. Who else needs a boost?
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Mark P said on April 6, 2021 at 5:52 pm
We get caffeine-free Diet Coke all the time. We can almost always find it at Walmart, sorry to say. And decaffeinated tea, too. My wife offered to send you some if you can’t find it, but I assume the real point is just to buy it, so we’ll get extra here.
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Deborah said on April 6, 2021 at 6:12 pm
This is excellent https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/05/matt-gaetz-photos-should-not-happen-more-than-once/#click=https://t.co/CddvHijrPQ
I love my husband like crazy, but he left this morning to drive to see his almost 102 year old mother and I have to admit I’m enjoying myself. We have been together 24/7 for months and months (and months) in basically one big room and I finally get to have some “me” time. I get to listen to podcasts without earbuds, eat when and what I want etc etc etc. all the things one has to compromise in a marriage. Granted there have been limited forays out into the world without him but being together as long and as relentless as this pandemic has provided has been strange. I’m sure he’s enjoying his time on the road as much as I am but of course I will be happy to see him when he returns.
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Suzanne said on April 6, 2021 at 6:38 pm
This is a really interesting thread about something I have given very little thought.
https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1379467753568935936?s=21
It talks about “inadvertent algorithmic cruelty”.
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alex said on April 6, 2021 at 7:50 pm
I can’t see Gonzaga without thinking gazonga.
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Little Bird said on April 6, 2021 at 8:01 pm
I always think of gorgonzola…
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Colleen said on April 6, 2021 at 8:26 pm
Deborah, I feel ya. Steve is my favorite person to hang out with, but we both work from home in the same room. He has sports radio on allll day and I am plugged in with earbuds listening to my stuff. So I also like the little breaks when he’s out running errands or something.
I’m sure I annoy him too, but he would never say it. I, otoh….
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Julie Robinson said on April 6, 2021 at 9:03 pm
Yup. It’s been a long time, and I do miss having my audio books all day. So I listen on headphones but get annoyed looks when I need to stop the book before I’m ready to talk.
OTOH, my opinion of morning TV shows could not be lower, and for those he willingly dons earphones.
So I guess it evens out.
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Jeff Borden said on April 6, 2021 at 10:36 pm
Deborah,
Cosmo is my passport to my own private world. I treasure those hours.
My wife has been the most overwhelmingly positive influence in my life. But I can’t deny wanting to get into the car –alone– and heading for an ocean.
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Dexter Friend said on April 7, 2021 at 2:26 am
The revelation that Trump had a button on his desk in The Oval Office signalling a flunky to fetch another Diet Coke reminded me of LBJ having a fountain hook-up there for the old drink Fresca. Many pols loved that stuff. Years ago I told here of how I served U.S. Senator Birch Bayh, D-IN, two cans of Fresca at a banquet at DeKalb High School when he came there in 1968 to campaign for HHH. The Senator ignored his plate of meat and mashed and peas but loved that Fresca.
I loved watching the entire NCAA Men’s games and the Final Four of the Women’s. I missed many earlier women’s games because I didn’t know they were playing where and when, lazy on my part.
Our local Major League pitcher, Matt Wisler of the San Francisco Giants, was rocked for a home run tonight. He keeps bouncing from team to team, but for five years has found jobs. He makes 1.15 million dollars for this season, like 40 times less than the superstars make, but I follow his career as I saw him pitch here in town when he was a high schooler.
A pretty good Netflixer is “The Serpent” about a very nasty murdering crooked gems thief. It’s a thriller.
And pardon-beggar Gaetz is staring at a future in prison. I do believe he is heading to stir after all this settles down.
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LAMary said on April 7, 2021 at 5:51 pm
I haven’t had any alone time is waaaaay too long. I even miss being alone in my car. As soon as I can see out of my right eye again, I’m driving. Anywhere. And singing along with the radio, loudly. The in house brit and my 27 year old son are nice people but I need to breathe.
Deborah, I can’t handle the taste of diet soda anymore. Or soda in general. Lots of water, sparkling or still, mixed with cranberry juice or a squeeze of lime.
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