Please wait...
Not sure id make that assumption. When i was a kid in middle school/early HS, it would have been quite easy to hide a jug or 2 downstairs in the crawlspace. Even easier since i "lived" in the "basement" and the access door was right there beside my TV ( was a tri level thing, not a true basement, but meant the crawlspace under the living room was easily accessible from my floor level ). They would have never noticed it.
( and that crawl space is a story for another day and another room.. )
Tue Jul 21 2026 09:02:33 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarIf a 16-year old wants to drink, and goes to the trouble to home-brew
instead of just stealing big brother's ID, I say let 'im drink.
Yeah. And if he's got the setup at home, his parents are ok with it, all the more reason to let him drink.
I would get there just before she got off, so we would eat when we got home.
Even back in the late 80s when my future first wife was working the
drive thru. Going to pick her up, I'd order a taco, id get bag full of
Did you eat the taco in the car, or did you wait until you got home?
I would get there just before she got off, so we would eat when we got
home. [36m
That's odd, I figure she would get off *after* you ate the taco.
Burger king just went woke :
" The Your Way Champion is a "reimagined restaurant manager role designed to empower restaurant leaders and put the guest experience first," Burger King announced in a news release. The champion will wear a dedicated uniform and serve as a point person for customers, overseeing order customization and satisfaction. "
Designation a particular "Champion" is a woke thing.
Sat Aug 01 2026 10:42:22 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarHow is that woke?
I make spaghetti - it is my mother's recipe. It isn't Italian. I overcook the pasta. Most call for 9 minutes to be al dente. I go 11 minutes, at full boil, until the starch starts to boil off and the noodles are soft - like a comfort food - like mashed potatoes. I get BULK Italian seasoning - and I add all the green spices I can find. I add tomatoes, olives, mushrooms and lots of celery. It is actually more like a Washington State goulash. The base sauce is the same for both. I make it in quart pots, and I simmer it all day once I get it all mixed in. Diced onions, bay leaves. There are other things in there too.
But the secret is to squeeze out the ground beef between your thumb and forefinger into the smallest chunks possible, then to dice them up with your spatula as you brown them - not into a paste - but into the smallest chunks possible. Season them. But they should basically be "taco meat". But the ratio is pretty large - like, 2 pounds to 2 large base jars of pasta sauce..
My wife recently tried to do it herself without my assistance. She didn't add enough Italian seasoning or green spices. She said I "overspice". She also didn't cook the noodles long enough, and she didn't break the meat down enough. She mixed it in with too much pasta to too little sauce - and as we ate it, she said, "I did something wrong..."
Yeah... You didn't listen to me. Hers was just a little flat. A bit bland. It wasn't terrible. But mine is WAAAAY better. And my mom's was better yet.
Definitely not a traditional Italian sunday sauce in any way ... but it does sound tasty!
The closest us wops get to what you're describing might be a Bolognese. More herbs than the standard tomato sauce, and loose meat cooked directly into the sauce rather than made into meatballs. Now there's a sauce that everyone does differently. Some just go with meat and tomatoes and herbs, others add carrots and/or celery, I've seen it done with beef stock or worcestershire sauce and some babagalootz even add cream to it, but if you make it right you don't need that because it's rich enough.
And you're right, that method transforms what would otherwise be a simple plate of pasta into a real comfort food.
Yup. That is what I do... carrots sometimes - but I like them... um... shredded like almost spaghetti noodles... and they should be simmered until they're very soft. Even the celery starts to break down where it is more flavor than texture with "snap". Everything is pretty soft.
The Worcestershire or cream sounds delicious, too. I might have to play with that. I do know that with leftovers, my mom would pour a couple of tablespoons of milk into the bowl before microwaving it to "refresh" it, and it worked wonders - so... I think she was onto something that you know about.
Fri Aug 07 2026 09:17:49 EDT from IGnatius T FoobarDefinitely not a traditional Italian sunday sauce in any way ... but it does sound tasty!
The closest us wops get to what you're describing might be a Bolognese. More herbs than the standard tomato sauce, and loose meat cooked directly into the sauce rather than made into meatballs. Now there's a sauce that everyone does differently. Some just go with meat and tomatoes and herbs, others add carrots and/or celery, I've seen it done with beef stock or worcestershire sauce and some babagalootz even add cream to it, but if you make it right you don't need that because it's rich enough.
And you're right, that method transforms what would otherwise be a simple plate of pasta into a real comfort food.
There was no cream but I did add some grated pecorino cheese, which added some dairy and gave it depth of flavor. And just for kicks I threw in a splash of vodka. I know, red wine is more traditional, and I do use it, but the secret chemistry is that there are flavor compounds in tomatoes that can be unlocked by alcohol.
(Yes, the lore is true, "it cooks off". But not before unlocking those flavor compounds. There might be a few micro-ounces left but nothing detectable.
So I'd say you can safely serve it to a recovering alcoholic, but not to someone with an allergy.)
Tonight we mixed up a few glasses of cola from a syrup sent my some crazy loon in Indiana.
Tasty-cola!
Glad you liked it. So far nearly everyone who has tried it does. Its not a clone of anything really and is unique, but i think its great.
For what its worth, its got 12 separate flavor components.. yes. 12.
For that reason it took me forever to make a batch of flavor. Had to boil it all down, filter bla bla.. And sometimes a batch didn't come out right due to the variables. The consolation is flavor lasts quite a while before i had to make more, since its a small amount in each batch of final syrup ( 2.5 tablespoons per 1/2 gallon of sweet water ). That was until that one 'ahhh' moment one weekend.. "um just making essential oils.. why don't i just buy the stuff instead" ( turns out, that is what all the 'craft' soda people do to. ) Took a while and several total fails to get the amounts right ( since we are talking in some cases a fraction of a ml ), since it was a different animal than cooking it down myself, but once i did, its now easy to reproduce and i dont spend an entire weekend doing it. AND its cheaper since they can by the raw materials in bulk and i was just hitting up the local grocery store.
And ya, i keep the sweet down. That was a part of the reason i went down this road years ago, too much sugar is not good for you so its why its 1/2 sweetener. Going with 1/2 sugar alone, wasn't enough, but its such a small amount of sweetener to make up for the difference it was well worth the reduced 'health badness' ( i cant say better for you.. just less bad.. ). And ya, that took a bit of experimentation too, so it wasn't obviously sweetener. Turns out sodastream did the same thing, in the same way. Tho im sure for them it was cost, and marketing.
It's not going to appeal to unsophisticated cola drinkers who just want the syrupy sweetness of their HFCS pepsi or coke. This seems like it is what cola was supposed to taste like when it was created, you get the subtle flavors of the spices and extracts that are in it rather than a wall of sweet.