Journey to the West

[muckefuck]

Bleagh! A piddly sprinkling of snow is poor compensation for a 40-degree plunge in the mercury. Sometimes it's no wonder Chicagoans treat every winter as some new curse laid upon our undeserving heads.

I have a living room again, by force majeure. monshu came over on Saturday and brought his moral weight to bear on me even while snoring in the bedroom. You can see the birchwood top of my dining room table and the gleaming white tiles of the kitchen floor. Tonight, I hope to have the butcherblock in place and beginning oiling it. None of my so-called "friends" felt it necessary to point out that I could just use Mazola and didn't need to run to Despot for something froofy in a can. So now FAIR WARNING: Anyone else found witholding valuable home improvement advice will be Dealt With--and at a time when I am not feeling supernaturally forgiving on account of being full of fantastic food.

You see, e. and bunj had us out to their place in Transfluviana (as monshu and dubbed it when I was explaining to him the milestones on the route) yesterday. In a CTA bus that was being pounded by rain, monshu asked me, "Why are we going out there again?" It turns out the answer is ALL THE LAMB CHOPS YOU CAN EAT. bunj actually stood in the rain with an umbrella full of smoke over a gas grill that quickly became grease-powered due to the renderings from the chops. They ended up as tender as peameal bacon and I ate them like they were porkchops. We also discovered that the only way to serve green peas is with lots of CURED HAM. On top of all that, there was flan.

And that wasn't all we scored! Thankfully, I remembered to bring along their anniversary gifts, so the exchange wasn't too lopsided, but--to put things in completely impartial transactional terms--I gave them two rocks and walked away with a set of tools, an electric drill, a wine rack, a crock, Japanese sweets, and a bottle of Rioja. (Of those things, only the drill has to go back.) Historically speaking, I'm the unscrupulous Boston trader and they're like the Tlingits or something.

Comments

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

None of my so-called "friends" felt it necessary to point out that I could just use Mazola and didn't need to run to Despot for something froofy in a can.

I didn't know! I always buy the froofy in a can.

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure you do want to use something "froofroo" if mineral oil can be called that. Food based oil just doesn't seem like a good idea...
But you know, kitchen advice passed down through generations may not be all that reliable.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I did some quick web research and found sites that advise against using food oils, since they will give the wood a rancid odour. Of course, these sites then go ahead to plug their brand of special butcher block oil.

Mineral oil sounds like a good compromise. Like food oils, it also doesn't require a special trip to a housewares store.

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

Mineral oil is pretty standard for cutting boards, unfinished wood furniture that you were too lazy to finish yourself, cleaning water-damaged legs on finished furniture after a flood...

[fengshui.livejournal.com]

BTW, what is the reasoning behind oiling cutting boards? Is the block unfinished enough that it might give off splinters, or is there some other reason?

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

to talk out of my ass now:

well, sometimes they just look really really dry. Kinda like they might
give splinters soon, or just warp strangely. Unfinished wood does slowly just dry out, so you're replacing those oils. It's more of an aesthetic thing really, especially for a butcher's block which will generally be visible in the kitchen (when it's not covered in junk mail).

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I thought it was to protect the wood. Oil fills up the pores in the wood and provides a barrier so that the juices from whatever you're cooking don't seep in and go bad--or rot the wood.

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

Historically speaking, I'm the unscrupulous Boston trader and they're like the Tlingits or something.

Just as long as this doesn't mean that either:

a) you and your buddies decide it's just easier to kill bunj next Thanksgiving and take all their stuff, rather than do an exchange.

b) bunj is going to be seen dancing around a fire in only a doeskin loincloth.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

b) bunj is going to be seen dancing around a fire in only a doeskin loincloth.

That might be what leads him and his buddies to kill me next Thanksgiving.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Deerskin isn't bunj's style--he's a gentle, pacifistic nature boy, in touch with Mother Earth. He'd wear a loincloth of leaves.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Well, leaves and tape. But only the once. I'm sure someone still has pictures.

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

They might not have the patience to wait till next Thanksgiving, for that matter!