Emchap's Shit from the Internet 09/15/21 š
On Sunday I went to the first indoors party Iāve been to possibly since New Yearās Eve 2019. (Shoutout Grilled Cheese Party, truly a great note to go out on.) I had previously joined the 20ās and 30ās Facebook group for a local synagogue on the assumption that it would probably include some non-hiking ways to meet people, and a few weeks ago a woman posted an invite to a ācollaborative cookingā event she was hosting in which people would come over and cook Ashkenazi food (sheās going through various Jewish cuisines every few weeks). I thought about it and figured that might be fun, since I know I can cook at least some Ashkenazi food, and so I RSVPād yes.
I did message her beforehand to ask if it was okay if I could comeāthereās always a weird thing with public events that are not like Big Festivals where on some level you are just like going to a strangerās dinner party or whateverāand she said as long as I was vaccinated, sheād be happy to have me. She seemed friendly, there was a clearly-defined activity in which I could be helpful, and so off I went.
I was the first person to show up, which is generally my way at parties even when Iām trying to avoid it, and both hosts were polite about the fact that a sweaty woman wandered into their house while they were still setting up. I learned more about how they met each other and chatted about The Vlog Brothers with the second person to arrive (sporting a Pizza John hoodie), and eventually set myself up with a box grater shredding potatoes, which is honestly a solid way to make oneself useful.
The latkes came out well; I was tickled to be asked if it was a family recipe since a) no, it wasnāt, it was the Smitten Kitchen one with eyeballed ingredients b) all latke recipes are basically the same recipe, itās a potato fritter, I think I just put more salt in than they were anticipating. Others made noodle kugel and borscht and egg drop soup; there was a chicken stew made by someone who didnāt realize that the Sephardic cooking dinner was next time and got yelled at for getting to use flavors others than salt. I had fun playing Jackbox games on the couch and was reminded of college.
When I was telling my dad about the event afterwards, he somewhat incredulously asked if Iād just gone to a strangerās party without knowing anyone. I think he meant it in a āyou are less socially anxious than the baseline Chapmanā way, though there was perhaps a valid āgood job not getting stranger dangeredā subtext. But people are mostly nice to strangers at parties in adulthood, it feels like, particularly if theyāre the sort of people to post on young adult religious group Facebook pages. It was a fun night, and I hope to be able to go to another one. It did prompt me to buy some potatoes to have on hand should I want to make latkes again, now that itās cold.
Shit to read
Letās hear it for YouTube dads, the main way in which I learn to do household tasks. Thanks for showing me how to connect an oven power cord to the oven, YouTube dads.
On looking at how your family might have been different with legal abortion in place.
Dear Prudence drama. (For the most part I like Danny Laveryās podcast advice, though many of his answers in-column were confusing. That said I think most Slate advice is bad, most of the time, which is kind of its charm.)
A lovely article about big British friend groups.
Tech deals with fashion in the most irritating possible way, but it does mean that nobody knows how to evaluate womenās fashion and I can show up to client meetings in tie-dye jumpsuits and nobody really knows if thatās weird or not and they let it slide.
Watch the new LuLaRoe documentary, obvi.
I really, really liked this piece about beautiful, completely de-sexed bodies becoming the American cinematic norm and how it spills out into the rest of our lives. Tech body optimization culture is a fucking plague.
Do I feel bad for Ben Platt at this point for sure but also lol.
Shit to eat
Peel a potato. A big one.
Grate the potato on a box grater.
Take a small onion or half a normal one, and cut off the ends and peel it. Grate that too.
Sprinkle some salt on top, dump into a dish towel or a cheese cloth or a bar towel, and squeeze squeeze squeeze.
Leave the potatoes in the cloth for a moment and use wherever you were grating them into to stir up an egg, a quarter cup (or eyeballed similar amount) of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, some pepper, and some more salt. Stir that all up.
Toss the potato/onion back in, and mash it all together with your hands.
At this point you can fry a small one up to test the seasoning, but I usually just eat a little bit of the batter because Iām gross. Likely you will need more salt.
Heat up a skillet with olive oil. Once the oil is hot, drop the latkes in by the spoonful, and cook until brown on each side.
Serve them with sour cream that you squeeze lemon juice into; stir in dill and salt. Itās good.
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchenās latke recipe.)
Shit to watch
Kacey Musgraves divorce album yesssssss.