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24 November 2014

Your Quite Interesting Challenge: An idea for another weekly participation: early in the week a topic, question, or task is proposed. One has all week to participate and a "best answer" is picked, either by obviousness, defended nomination, or vote. There will be points. There will be prizes.
Your goal: to be quite interesting.

Your inaugural challenge is[More:]

A TOPIC

Your topic is
FOOD

Your answer is in whatever form you like. Memories of your first Thanksgiving? A list of your favorite/most hated foods? Photos of your alleged creations? Facts about the deadliest potato? Anecdote about how a friend once got a sugared deep fried lard balls recipe printed in the paper, causing many angry letters from people who actually tried it?

Your only constraints are that you find it quite interesting and think we will find it quite interesting.

I was going to go for "two truths and a lie" with a topic, or even just tell a story, but I figure, try and keep it simple and see if anyone bites. Already, I'm thinking people will be turned off by the idea of "It's not just 'Tell me a story involving a potato chip.' I'm confused! This is too complicated."

I'm almost positive you've all eaten food. What are you looking forward to? What is a cloudberry? Is the wasp the tastiest part of a fig? Have you tried Marilyn Monroe's stuffing recipe? Did that exploding sound come from the kitchen? Is that a link to most fool proof recipe for pancakes?

I haven't even hit post and I'm exasperated by low expectations. Laughter, tears, inspiration, absurdity, good gravy, just be interesting.
posted by: ethylene at: 19:59 | 10 comments
"Your only constraints are that you find it quite interesting and think we will find it quite interesting."

Shit girl, Thanksgiving? That's a non memory for me.

Really I can't dig up one memory of it at all.

Ok. On preview one but it is not one at all I will share on a public forum. FUCK! I forgot that 'till now.

So thanks.
posted by arse_hat 25 November | 03:21
A coworker of mine once issued a challenge to come up with the "funniest food name." The winner was "head cheese."
posted by JanetLand 25 November | 10:23
I provide herein my standard response to food questions, the recipe for the World's Best Fudge. Condition: no prizes, points, or favorites, please. The Story of the Fudge is that many years ago, when I was a total sugar addict and friends with my law firm's librarian, that seasonal time of year came around and she snuck into my office and left a canister of The Fudge. One bite and I was a goner. I ate the whole canister's worth at one sitting, then staggered off, filled with The Fudge, to find her and beg for the recipe. Since then, I periodically have made a list of fudge recipients, to whom I give a card and a single piece of The Fudge, wrapped in plastic wrap tied with a little curly ribbon. No one ever gets over the indescribable experience of consuming The Fudge. Yes, it is that good. Recipe:

World's Best Fudge Recipe

Mixture 1
3 cups white granulated sugar
1 stick butter
1 tsp salt (optional, unnec. with salted butter)
1 can EVAPORATED milk

Mixture 2
18 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
18 full sized marshmallows
1 cup chopped nuts (optional, I never use)
2 tsp vanilla

Prepare mixture 2 in separate large bowl and set aside. Combine mixture 1 in saucepan. Bring to boil. Boil exactly 6 minutes, STIRRING CONSTANTLY, and from the bottom. Remove from heat.

Add mixture 2 to saucepan. Stir VIGOROUSLY until marshmallows melt.

Pour into 9 x 12 or so buttered pan. Cool. Cut.
posted by bearwife 25 November | 12:50
Quite Interesting you say? Is somebody auditioning to be the MetaChat Stephen Fry? (Because I am dead wrong frequently enough to qualify as the MetaChat Alan Davies)

As for the topic at hand, I must yield to the superior contribution of Lionel Bart for "Oliver!" (the movie): "Food, Glorious Food!"
posted by oneswellfoop 25 November | 18:14
I'm not sure how it is the designated "stupid" guy on a show remembers facts about the Ottoman Empire. I'm also not sure how arsehat decided the topic was Thanksgiving. I get the feeling Stephen would enjoy a good snuggle with Alan but be cripplingly embarrassed about it. Just because I got to catch up on all of QI and I feel like talking about it, Stephen did seem far more mean and short a couple series ago, which looked a lot like he was really depressed, which it turns out he was, which makes me wonder.

I'm sure they've had food related episodes, but I can't think of anything off hand. Expanding on bits in my post, when I found out about the whole wasp fig thing, it just added to how odd figs are, which I find interesting. Not only is it really a flower but needs actual animal parts. The idea of vegans eschewing them seems silly as the wasps are as "willing" as a nursing mother and breast milk is deemed okay, but then I've never talked with any real vegans who can explain the reasoning behind what they are going besides claiming to be vegan. I've also never run into true ideal driven vegetarians who live outside a place where it is an easy option who didn't have some kind of OCD or anxiety disorder. But I've run into lots of people who think you can call yourself a vegetarian and eat chicken, and in one case just the skin of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Food is a weird and broad topic. It's very weird how some people can run around thinking things like allergies aren't real while others are very much the food police on far less exigent matters and how some people don't respect other people's food "rules" like it's an affront that people think and live differently, meanwhile lots of people don't even have the option on what to eat or if they eat.

Food. Lots to chew on, metaphorically. Maybe I should have picked trees. Frankincense. That a weird tree. Let's see if this posts.
posted by ethylene 25 November | 19:21
Oh, I wanted to say something about weird British "chocolate" but I have to figure out if I can endure grocery shopping. There is a madhouse quality to shopping lately. "Holidays," indeed. I felt obligated to pick up a few things yesterday because I stumbled into a deserted outlet mall. Be it the timing or weather, such a thing will not be seen again this year. I'm wondering if I can avoid grocery shopping entirely, but I may need something to hurl at the computer place if they still haven't fixed my computer by tomorrow. Used batteries might not send the right message.
posted by ethylene 25 November | 19:33
Maybe if you wrapped the batteries in a nice vellum and on the inside wrote an encouraging message along the lines of, "Even these used up, drained, emptied batteries have been of more use in repairing my computer than you have managed."
posted by apoch 25 November | 20:31
It's fixed AND in my possession! I scarcely believe it.
Two foods that may be funnier than head cheese, pickle and cockaleekie.
posted by ethylene 26 November | 21:55
Funny Food? Well Pickle and Cockaleekie get points from the "anything with a K in it is funny" rule (as does the little pickle known as a Gherkin)...

Of course, there's also that classic that gets chuckles in the UK and LOLs in the USofA.
≡ Click to see image ≡

..or the worst-named sauce ever:
≡ Click to see image ≡
(at least the worst that isn't intentional - some of those specialty hot sauces get rather offensive in describing how hot they are)

Also good for a laugh: the Marshmallow and peanut butter sandwich known as "fluffernutter", the NorthEast US dessert treat called "whoopie pies", and, especially for this season (and remembering the 'K' rule) "the turducken".

Laughing while you're eating burns calories, right?
posted by oneswellfoop 26 November | 23:16
French Pschitt soda...didn't try it because there wasn't a diet kind.

Daddy says my grandmother and her second husband served smoked turkey one year, don't think he approved.
posted by brujita 27 November | 01:07

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