What aren’t you willing to believe. A heart graffitied fuchsia on the street, a missive from another life. Remember the stem of lavender you found in a used copy of Bishop’s poems, a verse underlined: The world is a mist. And then the world is minute and vast and clear. Suddenly, across the aisle a woman with your mother’s bracelets, her left wrist all shimmer and gold, you almost winced. Coincidence is the great mystery of the human mind but so is the trans-oceanic reach of Shah Rukh Khan’s slow blink. Each of us wants a hint, a song that dares us to look inside. True, it takes whimsy and ego to believe the universe will tap your shoulder in the middle of a random afternoon. That t-shirt on a stranger’s chest, a bumper sticker on the highway upstate. Truth isn’t going anywhere. It’s your eyes passing by.
I’m making Peppermint Bark for gifts today, so you go to Breaking News USA, read whatever you want, and bookmark the page if you care to. It’s a fine resource, that’s for sure! (I don’t know why the link says Breaking Test on WP’s embed.) Everyone enjoy your day! BBL.
(I’m not sure my bark will be as uniform as this photo shows. However, it will taste as good, because how can it not?)
I’ve been following this cook and author on Substack, though I don’t read her often. I know she’s there! She shares Sri Lankan dishes. Maybe you’ll like this, maybe you’ll find some other recipe you enjoy, on her page.
(Urad and Chana Dals are available online with regular stores, or your own lentils and split chickpeas may be substituted. I use all lentils; I love hummus, don’t care for the unsmashed whole legume!)
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Potato masala: the antidote to boring, bland potatoes by Ranji Thangiah
A deceptively easy recipe that packs a flavour punchRead on Substack
This recipe for potato masala is my antidote to boring, bland potatoes.
When it comes to potatoes, they need to pop because, unless they are fried into chips or cooked with spices, I find potatoes deeply boring.
I know many people love potatoes and consider them the ultimate comfort food. Yet, I can’t muster up the enthusiasm to start cooking potatoes if all I’m going to do is add a bit of butter and salt.
I’m haunted by memories of my school dinners. I lived in dread of the weekly helping of mashed potatoes. School mash was served up dry and lumpy, likely to get stuck in your throat. It was always accompanied by a tedious minced meat pie and green beans boiled to a pale, sickly green.
And then there was Smash. This 1970s “wonder food” found its way into our kitchen because it negated the need for boiling and peeling potatoes. As kids, we fell for the charm of the Smash aliens, who popped up on our TV screens to convince us to eat rehydrated potato granules, trading flavor and nutrition for convenience.
Nowadays, if I’m going to make potatoes, my style is to rev up the flavor and make them pop.
This potato masala recipe is deceptively easy and quick to make. The dals, which don’t need pre-soaking, and the cashew nuts give this dish a pleasant and satisfying crunch. You need to add this recipe to your collection for those times when you want your potatoes to pack a flavor punch.
Make potato masala to stuff your freshly made dosa, serve as a side with a plateful of curries, or enjoy it with a fried egg and a generous dollop of lime pickle.
How to make potato masala
Utensils
Have the following to hand: a saucepan for boiling the potatoes and a large frying pan.
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients
400g new potatoes skins on (chop the larger ones in half)
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
1 green chilli, finely chopped – remove the seeds to reduce the heat
1 red onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves chopped
10g ginger, chopped
½ tsp turmeric
A pinch of salt
1 tsp cashew nuts, chopped
A few coriander leaves for garnish
First boil the potatoes until tender. Drain drain then set aside.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, spoon in the dals, fry for a minute then add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they start to crackle, add the curry leaves and chilli, fry for two minutes then add the onion followed by the garlic and ginger.
Add the potatoes stir into the spices and when the onions start to become translucent sprinkle over the turmeric and salt. Stir the cashew nuts, and continue to stir until the turmeric covers the potatoes evenly. When the cashew nuts start to brown, take off the heat, garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately.
Donald Trump’s latest grift is cologne which can be added to the long line of other useless crap bearing his name, like Trump sneakers, Trump watches, Trump guitars, Trump coins, Trump stock, Donald Trump Jr, etc. Like most things Trump, there are no refunds. Trump learned that with Jr. Naturally, all proceeds go directly to Donald Trump.
Trump announced the “fragrance” on his shitty social media platform with a photo of him sitting a seat away from First Lady Jill Biden. This is a sign that Trump will take credit for all of President Joe Biden’s accomplishments, just like he did with President Obama’s accomplishments. Why didn’t he put his wife in the post instead of Dr. Jill Biden? Maybe Melania already learned to sit several seats away from Donald…or is often the case, several states.
The new cologne costs $199.00 and comes in fragrances for men and women, because why should women be left out of the grifting? It’s called “Fight Fight Fight” because Trump can’t remember anything longer than three syllables. In case you’re a Republican, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation having a vowel sound that’s with or without surrounding consonants. For example, “Space Force” has two syllables. “Build the wall” is three syllables. “Cult” is one syllable. “Lock her up,” “Send them back, and “Daddy’s home,” each contain three syllables. Who knew syllables could be creepy and racist?
Trump said this cologne is a “great gift for the family,” if your family wants to wear cologne from a bottle that looks like a Pez dispenser. Yes, Trump’s head is the bottle cap, jowls and all.
So, what does the cologne smell like? The website for it doesn’t describe the odor…er, fragrance, but let’s take a few guesses. It could possibly smell like Russian hookers, Cheetos, golden showers, a Trump diaper, six-day worn tightie-whities, shitshow, dumpster fire, Stormy Daniels after 18 hours on a porn set, Ivanka, the inside of Putin’s ass, classified documents, the inside of Trump sneakers, hair spray, Big Macs, ketchup, KFC, Elon, covfefe, etc, etc.
And like most Trump merch, the cologne is a conflict of interest. Of course, America doesn’t care about corruption anymore. It’s also guaranteed to be cheaply made and ridiculously overpriced like Trump shoes, Trump watches, Trump guitars, Donald Trump Jr, etc.
I do think it’s a good idea to spray something on MAGAts so you’ll know when one is in your vicinity. My biggest concern is that the Oklahoma Department of Education will force every public school student in the state to be covered in Trump funk.
Good luck to Trump trying to sell this smelly shit to people who haven’t discovered soap yet.
On another note:
I patted myself on the back two blogs ago about my ability to produce a daily cartoon while traveling, which is HAAAAAARD. Not only did I produce a new cartoon every day on my trip, but I think created some good ones.
The cartoon I drew on the flight between Reykjavik and London made The Washington Post before I even went to sleep that night.
And I found out yesterday that not one, but TWO of the cartoons I produced during my trip were published by Newsweek Japan. How about that? Cartoons I drew in Europe were published in Asia.
It’s always fun to see your work in another language, especially Japanese since it’s so artful in text. This cartoon was drawn in London. I didn’t know the Japanese could appreciate something so dark.
This cartoon was drawn in Dublin. As Lester Burnham said in the film American Beauty, “I rule.”
Scottie's Playtime 