ranch dressing
― spacedaddy, Saturday, 16 July 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link
each person at the table adding dressing to their own salad from the bottle
― Tracer Hand, Saturday, 16 July 2022 22:05 (one year ago) link
The not using electric kettles is weird. I can’t remember having a non electric kettle in like the last 2 decades. Do USA’ians really not use them?? Poor people.
― Jeff, Saturday, 16 July 2022 22:20 (one year ago) link
I crank on the gas burner (I believe y'all call it a "hob"?) every morning, it's true
however, our roommate uses an electric kettle upstairs for her morning coffee.
― thinkmanship (sleeve), Saturday, 16 July 2022 22:47 (one year ago) link
I'll probably get an electric kettle soon, but the reason I haven't yet is just that I don't really have room for it. The regular water kettle just lives on the burner of my gas stove. Counter space is precious.
― beard papa, Sunday, 17 July 2022 02:13 (one year ago) link
Also, no one I know drinks tea regularly. (Probably bc it is disappointment juice?)
― Je55e, Sunday, 17 July 2022 03:59 (one year ago) link
I come across more "instant hot water" devices in the usa. We have an electric kettle used for some coffee styles and tea. I think they are popular. You can buy one at Target.
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Sunday, 17 July 2022 05:21 (one year ago) link
this thread is about american things iircnot european things
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 17 July 2022 09:39 (one year ago) link
Ranch dressing is everywhere, but french dressing feels secretly more american. Ketchup base, cups of sugar, etc.
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Sunday, 17 July 2022 14:33 (one year ago) link
usa thing: good mexican food outside of mexico
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Sunday, 17 July 2022 14:40 (one year ago) link
Also, no one I know drinks tea regularly. (Probably bc it is disappointment juice?) _The not using electric kettles is weird. I can’t remember having a non electric kettle in like the last 2 decades. Do USA’ians really not use them?? Poor people._What do you use it for?
― Jeff, Sunday, 17 July 2022 15:35 (one year ago) link
feel like we've been over the electric kettle thing a million times and why it makes sense that they haven't caught on in the US (much, anyway - my tea-obsessed mother has used one for many years)
― ✖, Sunday, 17 July 2022 15:54 (one year ago) link
It's such an internet dead horse but I still don't get why it is such a big deal. Like, water is water. It gets heated. It doesn't taste different based on the method of heating. If you can't detect a difference in a blind taste test you should maybe just be quiet on this boring shibboleth for a while.
My kitchen is tiny and very short of both counter space and electrical outlets, hence I hate single-use appliances.
― your marshmallows may vary (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 17 July 2022 17:28 (one year ago) link
It doesn't taste different based on the method of heating. If you can't detect a difference in a blind taste test you should maybe just be quiet on this boring shibboleth for a while.
🧐
― Vance Vance Devolution (sic), Sunday, 17 July 2022 18:00 (one year ago) link
I proof pizza dough in our electric kettle
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Sunday, 17 July 2022 18:56 (one year ago) link
brown some london broil in the ole kettle
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Sunday, 17 July 2022 19:01 (one year ago) link
if you heat water in the microwave it's either not hot enough or it has boiled itself all over the inside of your microwave
― Sudden Birdnet Thus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 17 July 2022 19:24 (one year ago) link
I've always been a microwave refusist but could do with borrowing one for tomorrow
― calzino, Sunday, 17 July 2022 19:29 (one year ago) link
word
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 17 July 2022 20:16 (one year ago) link
key to microwave happiness is getting the smallest one possible that just sits on the counter. A large microwave hanging over the stove with an ersatz fan will be the death of all kitchen goodtimes.
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 18 July 2022 00:58 (one year ago) link
If you have a stove you can put a teakettle (or even a saucepan) on it, twist the knob, boom, hot water. Like, it's already there, it's the same device that you use to make other things hot. This is not even a little bit complicated.
― your marshmallows may vary (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 18 July 2022 01:06 (one year ago) link
I can’t think of one thing I would use a microwave for that my toaster oven/stove-top won’t do better. Haven’t had one in decades.
― beard papa, Monday, 18 July 2022 01:56 (one year ago) link
― your marshmallows may vary (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, July 17, 2022 8:06 PM (fifty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
An electric kettle boils much faster, and some of them will also keep the water hot.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 18 July 2022 02:07 (one year ago) link
― joygoat, Monday, 18 July 2022 02:29 (one year ago) link
Also, no one I know drinks tea regularly. lies!!!unless you have disavowed knowing me
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, 18 July 2022 21:18 (one year ago) link
i also use the electric kettle to make coffee
yeah electric kettle is significantly better for pour over or french press, even your most basic, non-gooseneck one.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 18 July 2022 21:20 (one year ago) link
i hate that i'm getting into this but if you're content to let the water boil more slowly (which many are not) then idk what kind of magic water your electric kettle is producing that makes "significantly better" coffee
maybe this whole conversation is an American thing
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 18 July 2022 22:58 (one year ago) link
It's an ILX thing.
― Tom D: I was in the army (Tom D.), Monday, 18 July 2022 23:01 (one year ago) link
boiling shit on the stove is for boring ass nerds who are going to wait around for a fuckin cup of american ass bullshit tea with no milk because it aint worth delivered any quickquick boil electric kettles are galaxy brain so you can get to steeping asap abd enjoy your good cup of tea NOW instead of lateri don’t know why it needs to be explained but you all invite this beating every single fucking time if you dont get why you its because dont know and therfore you deserve to make your water in a fucking pot on the fucking stove or an asinine whistling goddamn kettle THEY SUCK AND THEY ARENT WORTH THE TIME WHAT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 02:02 (one year ago) link
^my favorite Wu-Tang skit
― We were clothed, except for Caan, who was naked. Don't know why. (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 02:09 (one year ago) link
is there like a video where I can see this competition side by side with a timer?
― thinkmanship (sleeve), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 03:16 (one year ago) link
also this dispute ignores the voltage difference, which is why US electric kettles are um less than ideal at 120V
― thinkmanship (sleeve), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 03:17 (one year ago) link
Just plug the kettle into two 120V outlets that are 180 degrees out of phase.
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 05:16 (one year ago) link
I actually have a friend who hacked a UK 230V kettle to run on US 240V power, but it's tricky
― thinkmanship (sleeve), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 14:58 (one year ago) link
Kettle Cookery
― Kim Kimberly, Friday, 22 July 2022 04:29 (one year ago) link
the sauce will cover the element
― Herby Dutch Baby (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 22 July 2022 06:23 (one year ago) link
summa cum laude
― ledge, Wednesday, 23 November 2022 11:02 (one year ago) link
Are stingy/stinging nettles not a think in the USA? I see lots of poison ivy talk, but not much mention of nettles.
― a hallan shaker loon (dowd), Sunday, 18 December 2022 20:53 (one year ago) link
We have them in California. My horse tries to eat them!
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Sunday, 18 December 2022 22:12 (one year ago) link
Not native to North America, it was "introduced" there - though why anyone would bother I know not
― Gulf VAR Syndrome (Tom D.), Sunday, 18 December 2022 22:18 (one year ago) link
here in the Pacific Northwest we eat them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle_soup
― sleeve, Sunday, 18 December 2022 23:27 (one year ago) link
Stinging nettles are known to have a high nutritional value, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamins A and B.[1] Historically, one of the easy ways of consuming nettles is either through a soup or a tea because the boiling water deactivates the nettle from stinging
― sleeve, Sunday, 18 December 2022 23:28 (one year ago) link
and may I add
Today, nettle soup is mostly eaten in Scandinavia, Iran, Ireland, and Eastern Europe, with regional differences in recipe; however historically consumption of nettles was more widespread.
― sleeve, Sunday, 18 December 2022 23:29 (one year ago) link
I know there was a section on them being introduced to the Americas in the book Ecological Imperialism by Alfred Crosby. Talked about how they can reformat broken ground and stuff. Good way of anchoring nitrogen or something to that effect. I read the book in the mid 00ies so I can't remember if it gives a specific way the nettles arrived just that weeds and vermin tended to travel with other transport. So probably odd seeds on things and onboard infestation.
I did hear about nettle usage by Native Americans but they were pretty dynamic in ability to adapt to new phenomena, horses only arrived in teh 15th or 16th century too. Legacy of the Spanish at least the herds of mustangs or whatever taht were recorded as used.
― Stevolende, Monday, 19 December 2022 00:35 (one year ago) link
nettles remind me of the fairy/folk tale where the sister knits vests of nettles for a bunch of swans who turn into her brothers and carry her on a net (of nettles?) to some area for safety
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, 20 December 2022 00:57 (one year ago) link
maybe it's the other way around -- they turn into swans, carry her over some large body of water, and then she knits the vests and turns them back into brothers
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, 20 December 2022 01:11 (one year ago) link
They have a long, long history of being used for textiles. They're processed in the same way flax is, iirc.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Tuesday, 20 December 2022 01:42 (one year ago) link
Roman soldiers stationed in Northern lands (like Britain) were said to beat themselves with nettles to keep warm.
We have the plant "stinging nettles" here, but there is also a completely different creature called a nettle - an aquatic jellyfish that stings. https://www.vims.edu/bayinfo/jellyfish/guide/bay_nettle.php
They are plentiful in Chesapeake Bay, and you want to be careful about swimming near them. Hence lots of people who want to swim in the Bay put out "nettle nets" - basically a big mesh circle with a floating rim. You swim inside it; the nettles presumably stay outside.
I was pretty far into my adolescence when I cleared up the confusion.
In the woods, you had to be careful of stinging nettles in the underbrush. When swimming in open water, you needed to be careful of stinging nettles in the water. I knew both of these things. I must have been an extremely confused child; perhaps I thought they had an aquatic and a terrestrial life cycle, like amphibians?
Compare anemone: also refers to a stinging animal and a completely unrelated plant.
― Cirque de Soleil Moon Frye (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 20 December 2022 01:45 (one year ago) link
Some of our friends bought a nettle net this summer! It was pretty nice, but you still had to get yourself out into deep enough water to swim. I think they are mostly purchased by people to use off the back of their boats. We used SUPS and kayaks to ferry kids out to the deeper water - some of whom would dangle their legs over the side and get stung anyway. Way to go, kids!
When I was growing up, we had nettle patches all over the woods and every summer I would invariably brush against some and end up in screaming pain for 10 minutes or so.
― peace, man, Tuesday, 20 December 2022 02:17 (one year ago) link