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[Freddie]

Page Two

[ChasSmith]

Good morning, all.

[bk]

Must go back to sleep shortly.

[ChasSmith]

The Sondheim set y'all are referring to -- is that the LP box set with the photo of him at the piano in front of a bookshelf full of scores (or is it recordings?) behind him?

Without going down to check right now, I'm thinking that was indeed a BOMC set. I found mine at God only knows what secondhand store or record fair or tag sale or estate sale back in the late 1990s. Years later I was very lucky finding a sealed copy of the NY set, I believe on eBay.

I'm betting that any CDs floating around there are LP transfers, not official releases. But tell me if I'm wrong.

[bk]

My Facebook User Privacy Claim filed in 2023 has been approved. So sayeth the email I just received. The settlement was for 725 million. Most of that, of course, will go to the lawyers. According to what I've read, the payments to US will depend on how long we've been on Facebook. I've been on a LONG time, maybe since 2008, maybe even earlier - whenever the big shift from MySpace to Facebook happened. Actually, I can pinpoint it exactly with the Adriana mysteries - the first book is all MySpace. A year later with the second book, it's all Facebook. Yep, I had to have gotten on Facebook in late 2007. So, maybe I'll get a little more than the thirty bucks they're saying the median payment will be. Can't remember how I chose to get it - bank or gift card (probably) or PayPal.

[bk]

No, from what I can see, the CDs were not LP transfers but legit BOMC CDs. These things, however, can be very convoluted, paperwork-wise.

[bk]

If anyone has the CD sets handy, send to me as WAV files so I can hear what's what.

[John G.]

Good morning, all.

[ChasSmith]

TOD

We grew up on the name brands, but I couldn't tell you which was the most prominent one in our house.

In my California years I used to try the occasional "natural" one from the health food stores, but I never did a good job of stirring and recombining the oil and it was never very satisfying. Then a decade or so ago, I made a concerted effort to get it right. I like to low-carb it when possible, and the idea of "pure" peanut butter certainly appeals, so I bought Smucker's Natural for a while, and more or less perfected my technique: 

Stir until your arm is ready to drop off. Dig down into the jar and do your best to blend the upper and lower regions together. When you can go no further without passing out, make the PB&J sandwich you've been craving and promptly refrigerate the peanut butter. Keep that jar in the fridge. If you did a decent job of it, the oil will not separate again. If it's too cold and stiff when you take it out to use it, open it and let it sit for five minutes and it'll soften just fine. Don't forget to re-refrigerate it. Sometimes as you get to the bottom of a jar, the peanut butter will seem drier. If you let that stay out and soften, it improves it. I think that's a result of our imperfect recombining techniques. Probably best to briefly re-stir it when we're halfway through the jar.

Several years ago my usual store Shop Rite started carrying the "Bowl & Basket" store brand of most foods. Some are duds, but they have "natural" peanut butters (both creamy and chunky) that are delicious, so those are my cherce now and I'm 100% happy with them.

Side note:  I was in Trader Joe's recently and tried their equivalent "natural" which is labeled as using unblanched peanuts. I thought that sounded fine, but in fact, I didn't love the flavor. So, nice try, but I'm sticking with Shop Rite's.

[ChasSmith]

There's no question we grew up on grape jelly with the peanut butter. That seems to have been the universal thing. Nowadays, as a discerning adult (picture me poring over the supermarket shelves, monocle and all), I far prefer other flavors of jams and spreads. In fact, one day last year I made a grape jelly PB&J. It was certainly "okay", but I would no longer choose that. Strawberry's my go-to now, raspberry's fine. I find those bolder flavors work best with peanut butter, but I love 'em all so I save the more delicate ones for toast, etc.

[ChasSmith]

This morning. at 7:30 EST, I was unable to log on.

That happened to me around then, when I first tried from the phone. It finally worked after a couple of minutes. I've noticed it being a little slow on the posting or page-turning.

[ChasSmith]

Last night, after having digested two (2) movies in the AIP beach party series, the evening was still young and I needed ... something. I took a look at the current "to watch" pile, and right on top was A Patch of Blue which I believe was due to BK posting something about it recently, and that seemed just the ticket.

What a magnificent film. Beautiful in every respect, and uncompromising, with not a single mis-step. I mean, not one. It's the kind of 1960s picture fraught with land mines, especially when viewed from 60 years in the future. I kept waiting for maybe one little cringe moment, from the director or the script or the acting, anything at all. But no. It is perfection.

[John G.]

We always had whatever peanut butter was cheapest or had the best coupon - as long as it was good enough for baking. That usually meant JIF or Peter Pan. And it was almost always crunchy. We would regularly have it in sandwiches with Mom’s homemade strawberry jam.

[John G.]

I don’t remember Skippy peanut butter ever being in the house.

[Freddie]

The peanut butter confrontation scene from BACK TO THE BEACH

Bobby tells his mom Annette about his hatred of Peanut Butter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKUq6LkYfCw

[ChasSmith]

I love English muffins. They were always a special treat.

My mom would make little quickie pizzas with them, briefly toasted in the oven with a slice of cheese (probably just American), pepperoni, and who knows, maybe that was all, or maybe a sprinkling of oregano or something. I don't remember any kind of tomato sauce on them, but for pizza "sliders", who cares. Or I'm just forgetting.

Always loved English muffins toasted with butter (fill those nooks and crannies!) and honey. Or with cinnamon sugar. These always seemed even more perfect and delicious on the muffins than on ordinary bread. I'm not sure I've had peanut butter on them, but there's no reason why not. I'll remember that next time.

The one time I didn't like an English muffin was in a room service breakfast at an Omni outside of Dallas, near Carrollton, on a trip to our office. They were huge, thick, and just didn't have the magic of those I'd always had from the store or elsewhere. I have no idea what those would have been. For all I know, it was some common variety that I just hadn't had before.

[Rodzinski]

We alternated between Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan, probably based on price. Couldn’t really have jelly in a brown bag lunch as it tended to soak through the bread. I still like peanut butter with any kind of quality jam or preserves. But I avoid palm oils in the big brands now. In fact, we mostly have almond butter nowadays.

[Rodzinski]

DR RODZINSKI didn't our mutual friend who has disappeared from the face of this earth name his daughter after the Turtles song - Eleanor?

Your memory is on point. Last I knew, the wife and daughter moved to Japan where Ellie identified as “Mack.”

[ChasSmith]

It's very possible that my parents, too, bought whatever was the cheapest on a given day. I will ask my sister if she remembers whether we were a "one brand" household or if it varied.

[Rodzinski]

The days of shopping and having the weekly newspaper supplement of “deals” with you and making decisions based on that or coupons you’d clipped….

[Rodzinski]

Can’t send kids to school with peanut butter or almond butter these days. Sunflower butter is ok, but my kids aren’t into any nut butters anyway, so they get grilled cheeses I make each morning.

[ChasSmith]

Connection Problems
Sorry, SMF was unable to connect to the database. This may be caused by the server being busy. Please try again later.

EDIT:  Having to wait after hitting 'Reply' and after hitting 'Save' is definitely a thing right now.

[ChasSmith]

Can’t send kids to school with peanut butter or almond butter these days. Sunflower butter is ok, but my kids aren’t into any nut butters anyway, so they get grilled cheeses I make each morning.

Grilled cheeses!!!? Just send a few over here, if you don't mind.

But the cautions re: nuts these days. Holy moly, it's a different world out there. Not having kids, one does not think of so many of these things.

[Jrand75]

LOL DR FREDDIE.

[Jrand75]

Strawberry jam.

[Jrand75]

It seems to me I have that NYC cd somewhere - purchased at a thrift shop....who knows where it might be?

[Rodzinski]

Closing the book on White Whale, they did manage to license one other song that made the top 20, this Spanish-language hit for Rene & Rene.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F6p1XIdM6Ks&pp=ygUkcmVuZSBhbmQgcmVuZSBsbyBtdWNobyBxdWUgdGUgcXVpZXJv

[Rodzinski]

My dad, who was in every other way, a guy who went to work and came home while mom handled the household stuff, made our school lunches every single day. That was for 5 kids at some points.

[John G.]

Annie Lamott had a bit in her book on writing about the times when Dad would make PB&J sandwiches. They were always strange. He would use apricot jam or something that weirded her out. It was a discussion that would always get people talking.

[John G.]

I used Lamott’s story while talking with people at an assisted living facility. All of the people were Depression Era kids. Their dads never made a sandwich—ever. And they were lucky to have a sandwich at all. And they didn’t want to remember those days.