Is Mark Schauer a Better Cook than Cindy McCain?

You’ve no doubt heard that Cindy McCain got caught–again–plagiarizing someone else’s recipes.

Frankly, I’m not really sure why we insist our candidates’ spouses prove their authenticity by whipping out family recipes they may or may not have (though you’d think Cindy might just avoid getting in trouble the next time by revealing Budweiser’s recipe for piss-water).

But I do think there’s something to be said for candidates who can negotiate the banal world of everyday existence. When the spouse of the $100,000,000 Sugar Momma tells Ohioans that the crummy economy is all in their heads, and when the President needs the press corps to tell him that gas is (was) approaching $4 a gallon, it’s gratifying to know that some politicians can still negotiate the little errands that you and I run on a daily basis.

Which is why I think this video of Blue America-endorsed candidate for MI’s 7th Congressional District, Mark Schauer, is so cool. Mark’s making his wife’s pasty recipe (for the uninformed, a "pasty"–with a soft "a": paasty–is the hand-held pot pie that MI’s Upper Peninsula is famous for). And doing so damned competently. If you had any doubt he’s used this recipe once or twice before, those doubts will be answered by the way he crimps the pie-crust.

And just as importantly, he does the shopping too, knowing from experience which onion to get for the recipe (if this were mr. emptywheel, at the point he got the onion bin, he’d be likely to call me to figure out exactly what we needed).

Now, they’ve re-released this YouTube as part of a fundraising gig: Mark’s going to pick one donor out of a hat; not only will he make pasty for that donor, but he’ll do the dishes, too. So if you’re local to MI’s 7th CD, see if you can win a pasty from MI 7th’s next Congressman. But if you’re just feeling the need to support better Democrats this week (I know I am), donate through Blue America.

Cindy’s abject failure to produce her own cookie recipe will likely have little effect on whether her husband decides to "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." But having a Congressman who knows his way around the average grocery store would sure be a welcome addition to MI’s congressional delegation.

image_print
115 replies
  1. DeadLast says:

    Hey, Cindy’s recipe will be some type of beer-batter cookie. After all she does to lobby for the alcohol industry. She has even pissed of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). The big question is, if elected, how will John McCain keep his interests separate from his wife and son?

  2. bmaz says:

    Mr. Wheel can find the onion bin? Do NOT impart your method of training to Mrs. bmaz. I know where the liquor aisle is, that’s enough.

    • emptywheel says:

      We shop at either a small co-op or a small butcher plus vegetable shop. Basically one large room in each case, so it’d be hard to miss the onions.

      Plus, there’s no liquor in these two places to distract him.

        • bmaz says:

          Aye.

          On a crying note (we were talking onions) cboldt reports that Hanoi Harry Reid has filed the first cloture motion on FISA. Because you can never be in too big of a rush to screw the Constitution, 4th Amendment and proletariat you know.

        • emptywheel says:

          It’s being scheduled based on Obama’s schedule. He’ll be in the Senate on Thursday PM, so this wlil give Dodd and Feingold to talk for 30 hours before Obama votes against immunity (if Reid even manages a separate vote for that) and for the bill.

        • bmaz says:

          That is just dandy. Just where exactly in that little kabuki schedule is Obama’s hard work, hard work I tell ya, to see that retro immunity is excised from the bill?

  3. TobyWollin says:

    and I’ll bet Mark knows how to use a computer also – another piece of ‘activities of daily living’. Now, I’m not sure if ‘making pasties’ is part of the skill set that president’s need, but I think familiarity with food, how it’s cooked, how you buy it, how much it costs and where it comes from would definitely be a plus for any candidate.

  4. Mauimom says:

    Because you “told me to,” I’m hoppin’ on over to Blue America to send Mark a little change.

    Just sent Vic Wulsin a small amount. She’s polling ahead of Mean Jean Schmidt. Tune up that chorus of “Ding, dong the witch is dead.”

    And just got off the phone with Mikulski’s office, to register the feelings of the FOUR voters in this household about FISA. When asked the Senator’s position, the phone answerer said “she hasn’t made a statement yet.” Yeah, right: she’s been wrong on this issue from the get-go.

  5. FormerFed says:

    EW, do you think any of us guys would actually pick an onion without help from our better half? Although in a pinch (as in, I left my cell phone at home) I have always tried to get a Vitalia.

    Certainly agree on your description of Bud. I used to drink the stuff (horrors!!) in my younger days before I discovered Newcastle and Fat Tire and Chimay.

    • darclay says:

      I’d rather have wine personally and I don’t have to ask about how to choose and onion never have as I’m not married, lol. Anyone watching c-span # oil spec. Dingle was great!

    • emptywheel says:

      Mining culture. Right now, pasties are basically tourist food. But it is one of MI’s few regional meals. Aside from cherry-related products. (mr. emptywheel may not be able to pick an onion, but he just picked a colander full of cherries off of one of our cherry trees yesterday, so I should actually brag about his hunting and gathering capabilities.

      • Drumman says:

        I like pasties there good I pick onions pretty fair also but give Mr EW an at aboy for the cherry hunt and go mark

  6. billinturkey says:

    You have more than one kind of onion over there?

    OT – but I’ve been giving the question of WTF were the House leadership thinking in bringing up Telco immunity againsome thought. Is there any possibility that rather than being worried about looking weak on security, they were worried (threatened with) the Telco’s putting a bunch of money into 527s in time for November? Especially given that Obama seems to be going for unilateral disarmament.

    Given that one of Obama’s big advantages for November is the way he has outraised McCain, maybe that’s something he’d have been loath to see undermined.

  7. Mary says:

    Speaking of cookies:

    http://www.law.com/jsp/article…..2422475875

    DC Cir overturns combatant finding for Chinese Uighur. Govt concedes it never had any evidence he was a combatant agains the US of any kind or that he ever ahd any plans or desires to be a combatant against the US.

    • FormerFed says:

      And as I understand this, it was rendered without the latest SCOTUS decision. What is so pathetic is that a bunch of the GITMO prisoners will ultimately be released outright or on time served if brought to trial.

  8. wavpeac says:

    We really don’t have anyone to represent us. Bottom line. Our representatives don’t “represent” us.

    Representative democracy undone by unchecked capitalism.

    We cannot change what we don’t accept.

  9. wavpeac says:

    Yep and I’ll bet those newly released detainees will have truly patriotic feelings toward out beloved US of A.

    And then when they get caught in an attack Mcsame will say “I told you they were bad people and we should have tortured and killed ‘em.”

    I am humming the national anthym right now.

    • skdadl says:

      Someone has probably linked to this Seton Hall Law report before, but I think it’s important to get this lodged in people’s memories:

      On June 12, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting opinion on the ruling stated that “[a]t least 30 of those prisoners hitherto released from Guantánamo Bay have returned to the battlefield.” The statistic was endorsed by a Senate Minority Report issued June 26, 2007, which cites a media outlet, CNN. CNN, in turn, named the DoD as its source. The “30” number, however, was corrected in a DoD press release issued in July 2007, and a DoD document submitted to the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2008 abandons the claim entirely.

      Bad judge. Very bad.

      • bmaz says:

        I’ll be honest, Bates’ apparent position is in keeping with, for the most part, centuries of informal precedent in these types of issues, and is exactly what anybody who has even cursorily looked at the courts’ record over the years would have predicted, and indeed did predict. I say informal precedent because the courts have always shied away from these questions, and have done it so effectively that there is little formal precedent. He is right in that Congress has all the power they need to remedy the problem, they are just too weak and self centerd to have the guts to use it. This isn’t on John Bates, it is squarely on Nancy Pelosi and the other Leadersheep.

        • BayStateLibrul says:

          Agreed, but I hate Bates, the bastard anywhichway, cuz he ruled against
          the Wilson’s…

    • hackworth says:

      The way Bushco works, he’s probably the other Bates’s brother or cousin. Silly when subpoenas are ignored? You or I would have been arrested immediately.

  10. skdadl says:

    I didn’t know who Mark Schauer was before, but I will remember him now. That is excellent technique. You watch him and you just know, this man has done this before. Beautiful crimp.

  11. bobschacht says:

    Hey EW,
    Part of my heritage is from Cornwall, England, and Cornish pasties are in my Mother’s book of favorite recipes. Cornish miners took them to work, and they keep warm for a long time.

    Thanks for keeping us informed about people who have not lost touch with their roots, and whose heads are in the right place!

    Bob in HI
    Temporarily in Madison, WI

  12. skdadl says:

    My apologies to anyone with a peanut allergy (and I mean that), but the greatest cookie recipe of all time imho is Mrs Rombauer and Mrs Becker’s peanut butter cookie recipe from the Joy of Cooking. (Add a whole peanut to the top of each cookie before you bake.)

    Why don’t all the first-lady candidates just cite Mrs Rombauer and Mrs Becker? There aren’t many better just-folks pedigrees.

  13. BoxTurtle says:

    I was really shocked to discover how many of my Mom’s secret recipes came off of the sides of the boxes.

    Boxturtle (Sometimes, the professionals DO know what they’re doing)

    • PJEvans says:

      Most of our family favorites came from ‘Good Housekeeping’ in the 50s and 60s. Some from ‘Sunset’, too, and the Pillsbury bakeoff.
      Heck, I think some of my grandmother’s recipes were from magazines or boxes or someplace (and handwritten on cards). It’s a good way to get tested-and-reliable stuff. (The only bad lemonade recipe I ever tried was in JoC: it called for about three times as much sugar as it really needs. The best one is in that old GH book: the lemon rinds get simmered in sugar syrup, and the juice and more water are added to that.)

      • emptywheel says:

        I had a weird experience a while back.

        I was born in Endicott NY (mom and dad were both IBMers). Was raised eating beef, marinated and skewered with veggies. We called them Speedies, but once I moved away when I was six, I thought it was just a family thing.

        So now I live a half mile from Zingermans’ sitdown restaurant. They try to do all the best local specialties from around the country, but with the best ingredients (Zingermans is universally hated by North Carolinans because you can’t make good grits from high quality corn).

        Anyway, I usually go for dinner. But I went for lunch a while back. And sure enough, on the recipe, they had Endicott Speedies.

        I had no clue it was a local dish, I guess.

        Funny. They don’t serve pasties.

        • Drumman says:

          I never heard them called that in Ann Arbor we always called them shiskabob spelling might not be right

        • Rayne says:

          Shish kebab is the middle eastern dish of grilled marinated meats on a skewer. Almost every culture around the world has some variant, since meat-on-a-stick-over-flames is one of the most primitive ways to cook meat.

          Greeks and Cypriots would refer to this dish as souvlaki and would serve it in a flat bread or with rice; the Italians would call it spiedino or spiedini. As the region of New York from which EW hails had a large number of Italian immigrants, it’s no surprise that locals enjoyned “spiedies.”

          earlofhuntingdon — thanks for the links to the recipes. Interesting that the one only calls for turnips and no potatoes with the meat. I like the Cornish one, but one would have to use a good quality well-marbled cut of beef in it, probably not enough to say “don’t use stew meat”, if you were really expecting a gravy inside the pie.

          A pity that Zingerman’s doesn’t have a pasty, but perhaps that’s simply good politics since there are so many variants. Surely they must have some other savory handpie, since they are about as common and primitive as meat-on-a-stick-over-flames (Cornish pasties, German bierock, Russian pirozhki, Chinese xian bing…). Man, I would vote for a candidate who could make a good xian bing in a heartbeat.

        • bmaz says:

          From FDL

          Way late and haven’t hit the comments, but lhp, this is why I’ve been beating on the drum whenever anyone makes the “foreign to foreign means gov can listen away at will.

          The only Sup Ct reference to being able to forego a warrant had to do specifically with intelligence interceptions of communications involving an agent of a foreign power, and this was tied specifically to the differing purpose of intelligence communications and the fact that they are not to be used for criminal prosecutions.

          NOW – what we have is not only the fact that they have done away with the foreign power issue, but that they have misused “the wall” arguments to also break down any bar to use of the information for criminal purposes.

          So there’s a lovely double whammy. Granted, the opening of the door to get a FISA warrant when they wouldn’t qualify for a Crim warrant was already opened, but the way this is being chip, chip, chipped away, all with Congressional complicity, is just freaking STUNNING.

          And the Democratic party OWNS this horrible surveillance state approach now.

          The Democrats have owned the damn thing since they agreed en masse to pass the extension to the PAA. Even after the passage of the PAA last August, the Dems possessed the out that they were lied to, given fraudulent intel and information, and goaded into a vote before vacation with the fraudulent threat of an imminent terrorist attack. They had the standing to knock all of it back. But by the time they signed on to the extension, they had all the information, knew about the fraud, and had good enough information on the full stunning extent of the Bushco lawlessness that had been ongoing since 9/11, if not before. so they signed on to the extension anyway, thus legitimizing and ratifying the whole crock of shit. At that point, they established that the truth and law did not matter. The rest since then is just the predictable continuation of that moment when the die was set.

  14. MarieRoget says:

    Mark Schauer vid is great. Good on you, Sen. Schauer! Actually, in my experience some men are good cooks who enjoy being in a kitchen, & there are plenty of women who prefer not to cook much, my former sisters-in-law among them. Give Cindy McCain short hair, & she’d fit right in that family- privileged Repubs all.

    My sig other Kiwi & I originally met @ Grand Central Market in downtown L.A. in one of the produce areas. He politely turned to me & asked, “Excuse me, but is a baking potato different than this one I’ve got here?” Turned out he knew the difference, knows his onions & scallions, cooks a mean omelette w/home fries etc. It was a scorching summer day downtown (not unlike today) & he later admitted he’d been staring “like a loon” @ my legs due to wearing some shorts. Felt he had to say something before I pegged him for a stalker type…

  15. Mary says:

    18 – I may be really wrong and will have to look at the procedural recitation, but I think in essence that there was some “benefit” of Bouemdiene in that the reason the appellate court was able to issue the opinion was because of that ruling.

    I think (but this isn’t for reliance – just trying to clear cobwebs here) that several of the Uighurs had lower court decisions that had gone up on appeal when the MCA pretty much halted the progress of those cases. I think that’s why this was able to be issued so quickly – it had already been pretty far down the pike when the MCA (maybe Parhat can send a thank you note to the Dems who helped with that little gem) put a stop to things.

    This is why I laughed at the wingnut talking point that Boumediene was going to “slow down the process for detainees to get their freedom” that was trotted out. Regular ol detainees weren’t looking at any kind of trials at all at GITMO, just being held forever and ever, and their exisiting habeas petitions were the way for them to get a shot at justice.

    Next question – if he was never an enemy combatant, what happens to the Article 49 violations involved in Bush having him disappeared out of country for years?

    Ok – real next question – where does he go? ANd what kind of waiver do the criminals holding him get him to sign off on before he does go?

  16. nomolos says:

    22 years ago we rebuilt this old house in which we live. The kitchen is the largest room with expansive counters designed to enable my spouse and myself to cook together. We try to cook together as many times (breakfast lunch and dinner….. and cocktails of course) as we can and have a great time experimenting, tasting and helping each other develop great food. The “occasional” bottle of wine has been known to be consumed during preparation for dinner. Cooking/baking is great therapy in my experience.

  17. Ishmael says:

    While on the topic of cookies, I recall in 1992 that Hillary Clinton tried to defy the cookie imperative when she said that she “…. could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas”, but decided instead to pursue her profession while Bill was governor. 16 years later an African American or a woman can be the Democratic nominee (not so sure about Republican), but it still seems like kitchen skills are part of the Presidential resume (remember how McRib’s barbecue made him a regular guy to the media?)

  18. Mary says:

    Jiminee Christmas

    Now the NYT is running a story that the US Ambassador to Albania was involved in a plot by the Albanian defense ministrer “to remove evidence of illegal Chinese origins on ammunition being shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a Miami Beach arms-dealing company”

  19. RAMA says:

    Frankly, I’m not really sure why we insist our candidates’ spouses prove their authenticity by whipping out family recipes they may or may not have

    Actually, we don’t. It’s the candidates who seem to want to play this game. Would anyone think any less (than they already do) of John McCain’s trophy wife if she simply said, “I don’t bake much myself, but I really like the way the cookies made with the recipe on the back of the Hershey chocolate chip package taste”? Of course, she’d have to admit that (1) she doesn’t bake (big deal); and (2) that she knows the Toll House Cookie recipe is on the back of the Hershey chocolate chip package (something with which she’s probably totally unfamiliar—but she’s got people who ought to know that). Just a little honesty, that’s all we want…

  20. Mary says:

    53 – to tie my two OTs together, years back when other Chinese Uighurs had been declared to be not enemy combatants and THEIR case was going to go up on appeal (pre-MCA) and it looked like any half competent appellate panel would order their release, the loyal Bushies rushed in to prevent that war crimes charge and find a country to ship the Uighurs so they could moot the appeal.

    The country that did Bush and his DOJ and his Pentagon crew that favor?

    Albania.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4979466.stm

    Two of the men, Abu Bakker Qassim and A’del Abdu al-Hakim, had taken their bid for freedom all the way to the US Supreme Court.

    The Bush administration did not want to admit them to the US, and was seeking another country to take them.


    The move to Albania meant the US government could, “avoid having to answer in court for keeping innocent men in jail,” lawyer Barbara Olshansky said.

      • BayStateLibrul says:

        Then, the Dems should arrest the duo, and say “Bates made us do it”?
        Good game at the Fens… Haren is slick…

      • bmaz says:

        That is exactly what they should do.

        Haren better be good, because the young talent we gave Oakland for him are kicking ass and taking names up in the Bay area.

  21. Leen says:

    John Bolton is a better cook than both of them. This warmonger has been “cookin” up lies about Iran for a long time.

    Bolton: Israel will attack Iran before next President sworn in
    Stephen C. Webster
    Published: Monday June 23, 2008

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._0623.html

  22. dosido says:

    That’s it. I don’t want townhall debates, I want an Iron Chef cookoff to see who can crimp the crust.

  23. Rayne says:

    Amusing; every Yooper family has a different technique at making da’ pasty, eh?

    Mine always made them like large hand pies, in the half-moon shape; they also made them with ground chuck, mixed with 2 parts potatoes, 1 part carrots, 1/2 part onion and 1/2 part rutabaga (because some of the picky family members aren’t much on ‘bagies).

    The neighbor family made their pasties in cake pans, 8-1/2 x 13 oblong pans, with tiny dice of meat, carrots, potatoes, ‘bagies and onions; they were particularly tasty because they used their own home grown potatoes and carrots.

    I guess I haven’t seen pasties assembled the way Schauer did it, with the different components layered on, although I have seen the pie pan technique. Interesting.

    Wish I could go to the Pasty Fest (thanks for the link, ffein!), but I’ll be at Art on the Rocks in Marquette that weekend, no time for a side trip to Calumet. Would be great if somebody took some snaps of the Pasty Fest for da’ Pasty Cam, though, eh?

    • bmaz says:

      Congratulations! You are qualified to run for President! Or be married to someone running for President. Or something.

      • Rayne says:

        Nah. Only qualified to be a senior adviser to the President when one of my kids makes the grade.

        Although I’m senior adviser to the president of a manufacturing firm, who just called minutes ago from Mumbai, India, to say his flight was uneventful and that he missed us already. Heh.

        In this respect, I do feel sorry for poor little Sugar Mama McCain; it must be hell to be expected to be perfect and not be, while having to rationalize your whole adult life that your husband’s distance both physical and emotion is just a necessary “deployment”. And no amount of money will replace human intimacy; it might even buy you cooking school, but for whom are you going to cook? Some cranky old man who will call you a truly wretched name in public on one of his infrequent trips with you?

        • bmaz says:

          Yeah, well, I don’t think she was having any problem with that until all the scrutiny of the Presidential campaign. Big John was never around and had hi own “escapes” in DC. She has got to be one edgy woman about now though.

  24. Mary says:

    58 – yeah, and I think there was a more recent article on that as well. But no one ever seems to put those guys on tv the way they put mouthfrothers. Or Goldsmith for that matter, who would still have these guys in lockup if he had his way.

    Interesting how dead set the guys who made the torture trip to GITMO are to keep possible plaintiffs as far away from courts as possible (now that they don’t have Comey to invoke state secrets to shut down cases for them). In Jan of 2005, Chertoff got put in charge of Homeland Security. Going back to your linked article, bmaz, in 2005 after the bad rulings were coming out that the Uighurs were being held for no damn good reason, the US thought about maybe releasing them to the US.

    “One of the problems we’ve encountered is that they say, ‘Why doesn’t the U.S. take some of these people?’ ” said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, who has lobbied European governments to accept some of the Uighurs and other Guantánamo detainees.

    U.S. officials said they considered that possibility. But two officials said the idea was shot down in 2005 by the Department of Homeland Security, which argued that the men would be barred from entering the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act because they had been linked to a terrorist group or received “military-type training” from a group engaged in terrorism.

    Hmmmmmmmm, who at DHS might have had reason to worry about being individually named in a lawsuit invoked by torture victims released from GITMO? Or a War Crimes Act suit brought for an Article 49 severe breach of the GCs? Oh, and in 2005, we were having all the DOJ fun, keeping Padilla in torture detention and having Rumsfeld repeat “worst of the worst” until he hypnotized the reporters.

    Proud moments in American Nowstory.

  25. bmaz says:

    Oh goody. Hanoi Harry Reid is now pushing Bush’s judicial nominations since he is just about done greasing the skids for the Bush Immunity and Citizen Privacy Invasion Act:

    “Sen. Reid is working to have the Senate confirm a number of judges as early as Tuesday afternoon, consistent with our efforts to treat President Bush’s judicial nominees with more respect than President Clinton’s nominees received from a Republican Senate,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

    I wonder what legislation Reid is working so furiously to free up? Bush’s Attack Iran Bill? Bush’s Social Security Elimination Bill? Bush’s Privatization of the DOJ and No-Bid Contract to the Federalist Society Bill?

    • Rayne says:

      Thanks for that. Looks like I need to bug out and do some homework since three of those judges named in that article are for Michigan seats.

  26. Mary says:

    68 – Doncha just wonder what the WH has on him? Why, exactly, are Bush’s judicial nominees deserving of more respect than Clinton’s were?

    The guy who got what I have never seen (the ABA unqualified stamp!) and the tortureprogram architect and their kith and kin – Reid feels the need to salaam before them?
    Whatever.

    • bmaz says:

      The pattern of conduct is simply stupifying. And the fact that Reid has no compunction whatsoever in announcing this right in the middle of the FISA sellout is both mind blowing and depressing. Infuriating too. These leaders are Democrats right? Because it is my inclination that, at least as to significant legislation, what they shepherd through is almost all uniformly contrary to the wishes of the majority of their party, and an awful lot of contrary to the wishes of the majority of the entire country. Please list for me the significant things they have accomplished that their core voters wanted. But that same list for the wishes of the opposition and Cheney/Bush is teeming with items.

  27. rosalind says:

    “consistent with our efforts to treat President Bush’s judicial nominees with more respect than President Clinton’s nominees received from a Republican Senate”

    i’ve been trying really hard to take the long view, marathon not a sprint, accentuate the positive etc etc,…but that sentence hit me like a kick in the gut.

    karl & co. taunt the democrats to do their job.
    the courts pointedly suggest the democrats do their job.
    and captain quisling declines.

  28. PJEvans says:

    I’d dearly love to get into some file cabinets in DC. Or at least one man-sized safe. The secrets inside must be mind-blowing, judging by their effects on Congressional Ds.

  29. Hmmm says:

    OT — I’m a little confused (…quelle surprise!…) by the possible linkage between FISA revision passage and the AIPAC thing that klynn and other folks have been suggesting. I’m just not seeing any powerful party’s motivations and outcomes aligning. In fact — if the revison would make the surveillance of agents of foreign powers legal, even while within the US, and even if they are US persons, then that would seem to constitute an endorsement of US counterespionage operations to spying on the AIPAC spies. And since the bill wouldn’t make any of the information so obtained admissible in a court of law anyway (or would it?), how could it help the AIPAC accused by removing evidence? Or is more that AIPAC defendants allege the whole prosecution is fruit of a FISA/PAA-forbidden tree of warrantless wiretapping? (Did I mention I’m confused?)

    • Hmmm says:

      Shorter me: Is there a deal to pass the FISA revision in exchange for publicly exposing the AIPAC operation and its mainly R (though some D) operatives inside the USG? The R brand is at an absolute nadir, so from their POV there’ll never be a better time for it to come out.

  30. earlofhuntingdon says:

    82 and counting comments and EW hasn’t yet posted her own UP/Cornish pasty recipe? Enquiring minds want to know! I’d hate to have to ask the BBC; theirs would be all potatoes and no meat.

    • emptywheel says:

      DOn’t have one. As I stated above, I’m not a native Michigander, and have never lived near the UP.

      Our family recipes are: potato salad, turkey (with bacon), and ice tea. And within my own little two-person family, sourdough pancakes, pie, and “Testament to my Love (TTML) Burritos.”

        • Rayne says:

          Agreed — especially the backstory for reverse engineering purposes.

          Would like to know how to avoid those situations wherein certain recipes acquire names of their own by which the spouse may request regular caloric proof of undying love and affection.

          Requests for Raynie’s dry rub ribs or kalua pork already cause too many schedule interruptions and weight gain…

        • emptywheel says:

          TTML: mr. emptywheel’s favorite ingredients. So potatoes (Irishman) and butternut squash, cumin, serrano peppers, and chicken broth, along with black beans and cheese. And cilantro if you remember toget it from the store.

        • MarieRoget says:

          Thanx. Interesting combo. Casa Roget burritos are usually more like LooHoo’s description @ 102- whatever’s in the fridge, but minus the Tabasco & add red chile flake & chipotle sauce.

        • Rayne says:

          That is an interesting combo — wouldn’t have guessed squash.

          We’re big on breakfast burritos here, but just as likely to make with leftover steak, chicken, pork and sometimes fish. Mmm. Pan grilled tilapia with queso fresco, salsa verde (Mrs. Renfro’s), chopped scallions and lettuce.

  31. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Never ask your team to do something you’re not willing to lead them in.

    Here are two recipes, though I’ve only made the first. Neither are my invention, but both are easy. I prefer sliced vegetables and finely cubed meat. The second recipe calls for turnips only (an acquired taste), no potatoes, and minced or ground beef. Turnip and swede (potatoes optional) without the meat for vegetarians.

    http://www.greenchronicle.com/….._pasty.htm
    http://www.blagger.co.uk/in-th…..ty-recipe/

    • LabDancer says:

      Well folks- apart adding that particular versatility that only onion varietals can provide I should think these two entries pretty much end this contest.

      So to conclude the festivities on a Wagnerian high:

      I believe I am do not err in urging all of us to join in with a hearty rendition of the Prize Winning Song:

      http://www.metrolyrics.com/she…..opers.html

      followed immediately by a fitting salute by one who- as we know only too well- is uppermost in our hearts & minds ….& spleens …sphincters…bunions…

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_Clown

  32. bmaz says:

    Well, finally our government has a plan to protect us from chemical and biological weapons. Yep, you guessed it, the Pentagon is covertly monitoring a distillery in Scottland making Scotch. I feel safer already.

    Bruichladdich Distillery Company, which makes single-malt whiskey and allows Internet users to monitor its distillery via webcam, has found that a Pentagon agency has taken an out-sized interest in its operations. It turns out the Defense Threat Reduction Agency was closely watching its operations. “The distillery discovered the additional interest after the DTRA emailed to complain that the distillery’s webcam was out of action,” Computing, a U.K. publication reports. “When Bruichladdich asked why the agency was interested in a distillery in a remote Scottish location, the agency said that the process of manufacturing chemical weapons and distilling whiskey were very similar so it was using the Bruichladdich web site to train its operatives.”

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Reminds me of a certain city (about to host a few games) where we set up new offices. We took measures to prevent unwanted monitoring of communications, anecdotally a perennial problem. A day or two later, we received a friendly call to let us know that if we didn’t stop employing those security measures, we might find our phone service suffering intermittent or complete disruption.

      As for the Scots, that “free for internet users” license would not, of course, include commercial uses, such as training government operatives in how to construct or sabotage chemical plants. I’m sure that Bruichladdich was pleased to offer paid tuition at the same rates AT&T charges for its cooperation with domestic spying. And I’m pleased that our tax dollars are contributing to the continued production of fine, rare Scotch whisky. I wonder if the Pentagon pays by cash (traditionally delivered on pallets), check or credit card, or by ordering larger amounts of whisky at full retail, avoiding a line item for “monitoring expenses”?

      • skdadl says:

        Och, it’s good to wake up laughing. That’s some cheek from the DTRA. Bruichladdich don’t seem to have thought of your wrinkle, EOH, although they have brought out a new malt called WMD: whiskey of mass distinction.

        (I couldn’t get the webcams to work; perhaps I’ll try later, although it’s midday in Scotland now. I’ve seen a few distilleries in my time although I’ve never been to Islay so not that one. The old ones are places of great beauty; perhaps they will instil a sense of wonder and humility in the DTRA students, although I know that’s a lot to ask.)

  33. bmaz says:

    And for Ishmael should he stop by. From the Arizona Republic:

    The Arizona Department of Public Safety seized over $600,000 in cash near Flagstaff over the weekend.

    An officer on Friday pulled over a vehicle for failing to signal for a lane change on Interstate 40 near Flagstaff. “Gabby”, a canine officer, discovered $602,473 hidden in a suitcase in the trunk, according to a DPS press release.

    Randy Durham, 32, reportedly told authorities he was traveling from Atlanta to Las Vegas. He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

    “This shows the length to which the drug cartels will go in order to get their dealers and distributors across the country,” DPS director Roger Vanderpool said. “Our officers that patrol the section of Interstate 40 that runs through Arizona are always vigilant as they make these traffic stops.”

    Anybody detect any problems with this bust? Jeebus. Just in case anybody wonders why I say that the FAA will just about polish off what little is left of the 4th Amendment because the rest of it is already pretty much gone, this is an illustration. The only people that have any expectation of privacy from unreasonably invasive search and seizure are now Congressmen such as Jefferson. The rest of us, not so much.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Failing to signal a lane change on an interstate and the police stop the vehicle? Slow day, or was the patrolman was behind on his quota?

      What does the police report leave out? How do we get probable cause for a search via stopping a vehicle for a minor moving violation? Or have our Supremes told us that a vehicle search (w/ drug/currency(?) sniffing dogs) is permissible in connection with any vehicle stop?

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        What I didn’t see was mention that the dog alerted to the presence of contraband – “justifying” a warrantless search – prior to the search, or some other basis for PC. I-40 near Flagstaff has such heavy “drug traffic” that patrolman routinely travel with sniffers?

        I especially liked the loaded description about money “hidden in a suitcase in the trunk”. Along with the socks and underwear? “Hidden” usually means packed into the rocker panels or the spare tire. To be “hidden” in a suitcase, it would have had to have been sewn into the lining. A little question begging by the reporter, perhaps?

        • bmaz says:

          Heh. You have picked up on the critical questions pretty much. I don’t know anything more than what I linked there, that is the extent of the info so far. But unlike Senate procedural rules and whatnot, where I am just half faking it along with everybody else, I have some background in this type of law and events. And this story stinks of all kinds of manure. Yes there are a certain number of county sheriff and state DPS cops that travel with K9s. Damn curious how they are always conveniently in the right place at the right time though, because there are not that many of them. In my book, the dog should stay in the car unless there is some probable cause to use it in this kind of situation, and there sure wasn’t from what we see here so far. My book has been laughed at by SCOTUS though and it is just hunky dory to randomly use the dog in any stop. Even given that, what the hell did Fido alert to? Money? That doesn’t cut it. My guess is they will say there was some residual odor of contraband even if they found none present; and that the dog’s alert to that was “reasonable” and thus the search was fine.

          You ask what the police report will say. That is the real problem, it will say whatever they need it to say to justify the stop, search,seizure and arrest. Pretty much all DPS cruisers have video cameras now, I wonder if there wasn’t a glitch so that, gee whiz, it didn’t quite catch everything. Fair bet. We shall see. I think there is almost a 100% chance that this was a pretext stop, and that the cops had information they are not admitting and just are making up crap to justify the traffic stop. Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets pulled over for failure to signal a lane change on a fucking interstate unless they literally sideswiped the cop in the process. This story is patently impossible to believe. Lastly, you ask:

          Or have our Supremes told us that a vehicle search (w/ drug/currency(?) sniffing dogs) is permissible in connection with any vehicle stop?

          Yes, as a matter of fact they actually literally have done just that. Precisely what I have been whining about all this time about the overarching significance of the FISA Amendment Act in that it is killing about the only patina of meaning left to the viability of the 4th Amendment. It may be kind of symbolic really, but the symbolism of this death blow is really powerful to those who live and practice in the criminal law field. And the clear signal is that it is gone. That is why any victory on it, especially the retroactive immunity bit, is so important. What it says is that the 4th is so totally arcane and worthless that not only will it not protect you in the future, but our government and courts will not even see fit to honor it when it was in effect; they just change the rules and poof it’s gone. Retroactively. Symbolic, maybe; supremely important, absolutely.

        • PJEvans says:

          bmaz, the sheriffs here in LA do dog passes through the trains at random intervals – I think they’re after explosives, mostly, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find the dogs also could alert on drugs.
          They also have just started a random bag check program: you have to walk through the check to get to the platform, but they won’t necessarily stop you. If they were checking for teh stoopid, there are several passengers who would have been busted.

          I may, later today, put up the recipe for a meat and veggie dish that sounds like it’s related to pasties. Potato, onion, turnip, carrot(s), celery, yogurt-or-sour-cream. Gotta type it first.

        • bmaz says:

          Despite all protestations to the contrary, the Red Squads live on in your sheriff’s department. I actually had a former lieutenant admit it on the record back in the late 90s.

        • PJEvans says:

          I’m not surprised. I’ve heard that if you’re black, you don’t want to be arrested by the LAPD, and if you’re brown, you don’t want to be arrested by the sheriffs. I’ve heard of some pretty blatant racism elsewhere, in the recent past.
          As individuals, they can be really nice people, but as groups, they’re closer to gangs.

    • LabDancer says:

      “Ethicists”? Trial lawyers don’ need no stinkin’ ETHICS in porn cases.

      The very first case to which I was assigned as a baby lawyer involved assisting in defending against charges of distributing pornographic materials. This was at a time in the history of our species when such materials were invariably reproduced for ease of distribution on film or paper- though about a decade beyond the point where prosecuting authorities felt comfortable in taking such cases before juries where the materials were purely literary.

      The leader of our defense team [Though far from extraordinary in these inflated times, it was one lawyer beyond large enough to satisfy the client that its- his- lawyers were appropriately impressed by its- his- importance in the public discourse generally & the depth of its- his- commitment to promoting at least some aspects of a few freedoms it- he- of course we- & optimally the jury- associate with maintaining the vitality of democratic government- the slight amount of excess being embodied in me.] – having so far as I had seen demonstrated no greater familiarity with or interest in the material in question than one may gain from passing one’s hand over the outside of a manila file folder containing copies of the two high gloss publications containing the allegedly criminal material

      [He was well known for never referring to such materials as other than “periodicals”- as in the one line of questions he never failed to raise with the obligatory expert on artistic expression- typically a faculty member from a local college or university- a grouping into which he never failed to impress on the jury that comprised- depending for the most part on information from the main local distributor- some mix of TIME LIFE NEWSWEEK USNEWS&WORLDREPORT READERS DIGEST SPORTS ILLUSTRATED & the like – plus invariably the most popular one locally on human portraiture- & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC of course- as distinct from “journals” such as scholarly & academic quarterlies with high-minded treatments of the works of for example DH Lawrence employing words like “metaphor”- His personal favorite as in “Now Doctor Smith could you please explain to the ladies & gentlemen of the jury the critical importance of the concept of metaphor in establishing our literature & our common language- throwing in both the LONDON & NEW YORK TIMES for their book review sections. Quite apart from any forensic value establishing these categories held I believe it may have helped him retain a necessary level of dignity for the lengthy & principled disquisitions connecting New Testament expressions of Christian tolerance & the undoubted need to secure the Constitution leading to a necessary license for artistic expression- & a certain self-respect]

      & holding to the quaint idea that one must never overlook the possibility that the material in issue might fall within whatever might be the prevailing standards of the particular community –

      assigned to me the task of conducting a detailed review of his several thousands of such periodicals accumulated from previous cases, surveying the local news agents to update that data base, & opining on how the evident trends in national or regional mores & communitarian tolerance of the same required ‘adjustments’ to the local standard & the dimensions of the same.

      That assignment consumed large parts of the first five months of my legal career – & to a lesser extent took from the lives several dozen colleagues, friends & even family members a number of hours for which I was grateful & as I recall none begrudged.

      It seemed to me that for the most part we put on a quite a compelling show- for at least eight of the nine men on the jury. With most if not all other types of criminal charges thats enough to ensure that enough hold out for acquittal that they sway the rest to reach such a verdict. But in this case each periodical contained one depiction implying exploitation of a child-like female with a twisted bit of physically impossible horror the artist may have imagined- or so our client urged on us- clearly indicated the particular work was meant as parody. Maybe so: but apparently too few- if any- of those worldly male jurors was moved sufficiently to hold out for a concept as ephemeral as parody against the unmistakable outrage among the 3 female jurors.

      We won enough of those cases to temper local standards for prosecution [Losing doesn’t do much for getting re-elected.] & lost enough to put the publishers into a learning curve to avoid coupling the artistic expressions of their photographers with implications of torture & enforced degradation- some of which they achieved by adding sufficiently clear markings of fantasy & parody & satire- & with images of children being involved at all- & within a decade the larger publications were no longer targeted for prosecution.

      In the greater scheme of things I can see some value in educating a jury of the statistical probability that a significant percentage of the population surfs the Net after kiddie porn. But a significant percentage of the population voted for Bush & continues to support him & according to polls an even larger percentage expects to vote the for Republican candidate for president as well & the extent of support for them should not excuse the crimes of Bush & his Republican co-conspirators & the complicity of Senator McCain. Whether or not you approve of the idea of prosecuting porn- trials of porn charges seem unique in motivating juries to endorse a superhuman ideal.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Porn-related allegations are mother’s milk to the Base, regardless of how much repression, incest and cheating goes on there. And regardless of how hypocritical are the celibate and cerebral CongressCritters who hawk it to them.

        As much as I dislike guugle’s (I like to confound their search s/w) privacy and records retention policies, using their Central Valley-sized search records database to establish local (or even national) obsession with virtual sex – apart from justifying the Base’s obsession with ending it – has the potential to expose some of that hypocrisy.

  34. AZ Matt says:

    From WaPo

    Report Says Partisanship Reigned in Justice Department Hiring Program

    By Carrie Johnson
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Tuesday, June 24, 2008; Page A07

    High-ranking political appointees at the Justice Department labored to stock a prestigious hiring program with young conservatives in a five-year-long attempt to reshape the department’s ranks, according to an inspector general’s report to be released today.

    The report will trace the effort to 2002, early in the Bush administration, when key advisers to then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft moved to exert more control over the program to hire rookie lawyers and summer interns, according to two people familiar with the probe.

    The honors program, which each year places about 150 law school graduates with top credentials in a rotation of Justice jobs, historically had operated under the control of senior career officials. Shifting control of the program to Ashcroft’s advisers prompted charges of partisanship from law professors and former government lawyers who had worked under Democratic administrations.

    Mark Corallo, a Justice spokesman during Ashcroft’s tenure, has said that the overhaul was intended to broaden candidate pools and include students from a range of law schools, not only Ivy League institutions. The strategy persisted until tension among political appointees and career staff members came to a head in mid-2007.

    • MarieRoget says:

      I just read that, too, Matt. Does this mean that Glenn Fine is finally ready to start releasing the reports on politicization @ DOJ? Let’s hope so.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Only the WaPoo would consider it news that Bush’s Justice [sic] Department engages in illegal partisan hiring for positions in its career bureaucracy. Only they would be dumbfounded to learn that Bush does that across the federal government, especially in the newly union membership-bereft DHS. Only the Wapoo would imagine Bush hired a Regent University grad as the government’s chief hiring officer for their talent.

  35. Loo Hoo. says:

    I’m guessing EW’s TTML burritos consist of whatever leftovers are around, flavored with Tabasco.

  36. Mary says:

    91 – Interesting story, thanks for the link.

    89 – the really funny part is Defense Threat Reduction Agency emailing them to complain about the webcam going down. 89/92 – lotus at folo put up this piece the other day, The saga of Caroline Brown relating some of what Lawrence Wright recently told Ira Glass about surveillance of his (Wright’s) calls.

    I wish Wright had been part of that 6th Cir case that got shot down for lack of standing. And I wonder how Wright begins to tell sources they can safely talk to him.

    Aside from the surveillance of such known terrorist terms as Caroline and Brown and the people who use them in their communications, Wright also offered up this info:

    Before 9/11, he said, the whole FBI had exactly eight agents able to speak Arabic or Farsi, Pashto, Dari, or any of the other regional languages that al Qaeda members use. Guess how many they have now, seven years later.

    Nine.

  37. PJEvans says:

    The promised recipe:

    Bitka

    2 tbsp butter or margarine
    2 medium onions, chopped
    1 1/2 lb lean ground beef (Mom used 3/4 to 1 lb)
    1 medium potato, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
    1 medium turnip, peeled and cut in 1/4 inch cubes
    3 medium carrots, cut in 1/4 inch slices
    2 stalks celery, cut in 1/4 inch slices
    1/4 tsp caraway seed
    1 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp paprika
    1/8 tsp pepper
    1 cup yogurt or sour cream
    1 tbsp flour
    1 tbsp chopped parsley

    In a large skillet (frying pan) with a lid, melt the butter over medium-high heat.
    Add the onion and stir occasionally until limp.
    Add the ground beef; break apart while cooking until browned, about 5 minutes.
    Stir in the veggies and seasonings.
    Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low; cover and cook until the veggies are just tender, about 25 minutes. (If it starts to scorch, add a tbsp of water.)
    Stir together the yogurt and flour, stir into the beef and veg and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring.
    Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with parsley.

Comments are closed.