@futurebird

There is a thing called Edinburgh rock which is somewhat translucent, very brittle and flaky. Closely resembling mica.

It is vile.

@futurebird Candy canes aren’t so popular outside the US, I think. They’re a poor relation to a proper stick of rock, imo.

Growing up I always associated Christmas with chocolate coins and cheap foil-covered chocolate Santa decorations you would hang on the tree before eating.

@Nickiquote @futurebird Okay but chocolates don't work in hot glue guns like candy canes do.

@lionelb

Some of the worst foods on earth are old time candies that survive only on nostalgia for suffering.

@futurebird lots of old-timey stuff tastes quite good when you get the accurate ingredients and process. (E.g., marshmallow is a real flavour and actually good, if you're willing to do the labour-intensive part involving roots.)

There are also a bunch of things that taste a lot better when you aren't getting enough of something in your regular diet. (Or are just plain hungry, which was more common in former days, or are doing heavy manual labour as a matter of course.)

@lionelb

@graydon @lionelb

"There are also a bunch of things that taste a lot better when you aren't getting enough of something in your regular diet. (Or are just plain hungry, which was more common in former days, or are doing heavy manual labour as a matter of course.)"

This is what I assume all of those recipes from the 50s about putting meat chunks in gelatin are about.

@futurebird @graydon @lionelb

i'm convinced that those recipes exist because everyone smoked and so they had no taste buds.

@msbellows @Nickiquote

You WHAT.

@burnitdown @futurebird @lionelb "Everyone smokes" really changes the palate.

One of the things I lament about my present geographic location is that no one does Danish style bacon; the available actual bacon (= water not an ingredient) is apparently being done with love and care by a forty-something three pack a day smoker trying to re-create that magical first-bacon moment when they were five years old and eating bacon cooked over a wood fire started with gasoline.

@futurebird @msbellows @Nickiquote That was exactly my reaction.

And now my head is spinning, wondering how to use hot melted candy canes for the greater good this season... 0_o

@raynetoday @futurebird @Nickiquote Pro tip: NOT sex play. It's HOT!

@graydon @futurebird @lionelb

i hope he fails. that sounds vomit-tastic.

@burnitdown It's less "strong smokey notes" than "a protracted fanfare of smoke"; it's not awful, but it would only work for me if the bacon were being used as a flavourant in a larger dish like bacon and buckwheat.

@futurebird @lionelb

Holiday Question:

Does anyone *like* candy canes? Peppermint sticks?

What makes a candy cane or peppermint stick "good?"

I recently got a candy in a card that was more like a "U" than a "J" ... It was ... chewy. But not on purpose. Aren't they shaped that way so you can hang them on the tree?

I know there are defenders of EVERY candy no matter how heinous so speak up!

(If you don't have candy canes are there any strange winter candies where you live?)

@graydon @futurebird @lionelb i rarely even eat bacon anymore. maybe if i ever get to go camping again, and we cook some over a fire with some maple syrup. that's the shit. otherwise... bacon was so overdone for like five years back in the 2010s, i just don't really care for it anymore, and the way it's produced these days, it's a health hazard to eat it anyway. i'd much rather have smoked tofu. i'm not even vegetarian, but the food often has so much more flavour than "i cooked the meat with no spices and nothing added, how is it?"

@futurebird I like them. Not as much as wintergreen

@lionelb

Some of the worst foods on earth are old time candies that survive only on nostalgia for suffering.

@futurebird @lionelb when I was a kid in NJ in the 1970s, there were candies called “buttery mint puffs” that I loved

@glasspusher @futurebird @lionelb the ones they would just have in a dish at the cash register at the diner?

And then they had to stick a dirty spoon in there to discourage you just reaching in the bowl with your fingers?

And then they started individually wrapping them in packs of two?

I love those things

@glasspusher @futurebird @lionelb the ones they would just have in a dish at the cash register at the diner?

And then they had to stick a dirty spoon in there to discourage you just reaching in the bowl with your fingers?

And then they started individually wrapping them in packs of two?

I love those things