Finally got around to making crumpets. I thought about trying to do DIY rings from tuna cans but today's cans are don't lend themselves to being made into a ring. The old ones were a open cylinder with a sealing lid on the top and one on the bottom. You could remove both and get a serviceable ring. The body and the bottom of the new cans are a single piece and only the top lid can be easily removed. Picked these up at a thrift shop: [image: 20251230_171152.jpg] Interesting little beggars. Like English muffins, they are cooked in a skillet but the batter is more like pancake batter than a dough, hence the need for a ring. The leavening agent is baking powder (or soda, depending on the recipe). I think my baking powder is old and has lost its oomph. I didn't get the numerous bubbles one expects in a crumpet. Still, they were pretty tasty and not bad for my first attempt: [image: 20251230_171135.jpg] eta: This King Arthur recipe looks better than the one I used. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2020/03/23/sourdough-crumpets Will try it out for round 2 of crumpets.

Someone on the overnight thread (that I frequent) posted this video last night as a point of possible interest to the members. Turns out, it's not Sir David Attenborough at all, it's AI posing as him. A fake! It pisses me off that this is allowed. Meanwhile, the "creators" (thieves, imo) rake in ad revenue for themselves and YT. Link to video

Thanks for the link to that video, @wtg. I did have that option enabled, but while I was on that page I noticed at the bottom of the screen it said I'd opted to never save passwords for google and earthlink. I don't remember doing that, but I deleted both sites and it appears that might have been responsible because I use my Google account to log into Disqus. Ok then, I'm on Brave for another trial run! eta, it didn't last long. It continues to log me out of Disqus if I so much as refresh the page or open a new tab. Ugh. eta, I might be on another trial run. If I turn off fingerprinting for that specific website, it seems to behave.

@wtg said in “I’m a very aesthetic person”: it’s just shameless self-promotion. Or a huge branding exercise at the expense of the American public Both.

On a related note…Hard to believe this is the first baby born in this little Italian town in the last 30 years. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/26/italian-village-first-baby-in-30-years

This is an annual event not far from me, a celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. https://www.chicagocatholic.com/photos/-/article/2025/12/23/frigid-temps-no-match-for-guadalupe-pilgrims

This must excite so many hi-tech villains and intelligence apparatus.

[image: 1767003209739-20251229_083604-resized.jpg] Hellebore are blooming

Iran is part of the global nuclear monitoring agency. Israel isn't. Israel refuses to say whether it has nuclear weapons or not when the world has known since the time of the Kennedy administration that it does have them. Fears are not facts. Insinuations are not facts. Accurate, concrete intelligence represents facts. I don't have a reason to think that there isn't fear mongering and war mongering happening now on the part of the powers that be who have openly, publicly been announcing their intent to go to war with Iran for decades now.

I've decided to change the bar pendant with crosses to this cross pendant. https://athenagaia.com/products/silver-faced-greek-cross-small You can get a sense of what it looks like in three dimensions by looking at this cross pendant. https://athenagaia.com/products/rustic-center-stone-silver-greek-cross-small

His point seems to be things have changed over 60 years. A 25 to 30 year old doesn't share all the cultural touchstones of my generation. Go figure. Maybe he should play assisted living facilities.

@piano-dad Congrats to the family! For Christmas I love pulling out the china (my mom’s Noritake Oriental, bamboo motif) and her silverplate (service for 12; we have sterling for 8 from her uncle, but that’s not enough). It’s like playing dress up for the house. I don’t mind hand washing it all after guests go home. My kids stay and help with the clean up.

In a nearby suburb, a critter does what it was born to do. https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-1acbbiqidajexr23

@Piano-Dad said in Who’s decorating for the holidays?: Not me. We're out in Las Vegas preparing to welcome granddaughter Raven on New Year's Eve! Ahem. Is there something you’d like to announce?