Happy Sunday folks!
C’mon in.
Before we get going on today’s menu I wanted to give you a little insight on the day-to-day work experience of your humble narrator.
Let’s start with distance. Seems kind of important considering that I use the LA freeway system to commute to and from my job.
The distance between home and work is 17.7 miles. Each fucking way.
I’ve used surface streets in the past to make this drive and while it does lower your basic stress level – which is mighty goddamn important! – it takes twice as long as the freeways.
If you haven’t experienced the outright fucking JOY of using the LA freeway system, let’s just say it’s the old motherfucking west. Dog eat dog. Every motherfucker for him/herself.
It’s shit, it’s a grind, it’s pure fucking insanity and I get to do it 5 days a week. EACH WAY!
Good days and I can make the drive in under 25 minutes. Bad days can take over an hour. Average days are about 35-40 minutes.
These are minutes of my life. Or my “aging ass still working 40 hours a week away from home” life.
Add that shit up.
The real punch right in the dick is, apart from the 8 years we lived in El Segundo, I’ve been making this same daily commute since…
1998
I bring all of this up because I just went under the 3 year 5 month timeframe to retirement.
I.E. If I keep the same job and continue to live in the same place, I’m going to continue to make that drive, lose those minutes and create that anxiety on the motherfucking freeways for that same length of time as well.
Could you do that?
Or would your ass do everything possible to gain those hours back and try to eliminate that absolute fucking chaos from your Monday through Friday existence?
Yeah. Me too.
I’ve been trying for the last month or so to relocate back to my old home in El Segundo, which is the actual city where my job is located.
Thought I might have had it too.
Twice!
It fell through both times for various reasons.
The biggest reason this is proving to be a challenge is that the rents in El Segundo have gone up, I shit you negative, about $1,000 per month since the pandemic.
Shit, they’ve gone up probably 500 bucks a month just since the fires in January.
Let’s do some quick calculations. Between the Palisades fire and the Eaton (Altadena) fire there were 12,000 homes, structures, schools etc burned and lost. So all of these displaced people needed to find permanent or temporary housing. For the record, Altadena is very much an LA community. I know because my girl lost her former house in Altadena.
For reference, Pacific Palisades is circled in blue and El Segundo is circled in red here and Pedro is ALLLL the way at the bottom of the map. Altadena would be just north of Pasadena if it were listed here.
So all of these people needing homes, maybe looking for a beach community and the rents just happened to increase exponentially?
You wouldn’t think a group of people as noble as realtors would have something to do with that would you?
Why, that would be COLLUSION!
People?
That is fucked up.
While I still have my feelers out there for a possible relocation, I’m not getting my hopes too high. I’ll keep waiting for the “Goldilocks” apartment chance but in the meantime, just know I’m out there. Driving those freeways, feeling that stress and losing those minutes every goddamn week.
Then again? I’m banking a shitload of cash while doing it.
Ehh, I’ll make it.
Shit, sorry!
Welcome to Sunday Gravy everyone!
It’s June and time to get ready for beach season.
Does anyone here really get ready for beach season? Shit man, I live on the goddamn beach and never go.
What I’m driving at is we have a crazy healthy dish for you that doubles down the delightfulness by being ding dong delicious at the same time.
WEE!
Of course the inspiration for our meal was this.
Yep. That’s the good shit. Bought at YYZ duty free. Real Canadian Maple syrup. Pure. The uncut shit.
Of COURSE we had to use this in a recipe. Sure I went through a bunch of ideas, lots of desserts but eventually settled on our menu today.
Especially since this…
Is pretty much the only other ingredient for the sauce. That kicks ALL of the ass.
Maple Dijon Salmon!
recipe courtesy of somethingnutritiousblog.com
1.5 lbs salmon fillet
Salt & pepper
Maple Dijon Glaze
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
Handful of fresh herbs, chopped- I used parsley
Speaking of, whip up that sauce real quick.
That is a brilliant idea for such a simple sauce with the pungency of the mustard and the sugary sweet maple syrup.
Now this meal comes together fast, fast, fast so let’s get our prep work out of the way first.
Our side dish today is perfection. You’re going to want to make this shit time and time again.
Herbed rice!
recipe courtesy of yourhomebasedmom.com
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp salt
black pepper a few grinds
1 tsp garlic minced
3 cup chicken broth
1½ cup rice
1/2 tsp rosemary, basil, thyme, dill (use less dill), oregano, or parsley – use your favorite combo. I used fresh rosemary, parsley and thyme as I am wont to do.
Small mince on that onion and garlic please.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pretty critical step to avoid sticking and a possibility of leaving yourself with a clean up disaster on par with the Exxon Valdez.
Our salmon will bake on that.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
We will be using fresh parsley for the rice and also in the sauce for the salmon.
Nice thing about this much parsley is I can toss what I don’t use into the freezer and then grab a handful when I make my weekly veggie stock for my workday soups and just toss that shit right on in there.
Handy!
Let’s go ahead and prep our star protein.
Price first.
Not too terrible of a price considering this is about 1 1/2 pounds of “wild caught” salmon, if you believe in fairy tales.
Now let’s see what she looks like.
Pretty.
That will work for our application.
Salt and pepper your salmon, then go ahead and make, then apply the sauce. Set this whole thing aside for the moment.
Let’s get our rice started since it cooks longer than the salmon.
Add the butter to a small pot, heat, then add in the onion and garlic.
Cook just until golden then add in a cup of rinsed white rice.
You know, I never really bothered rinsing my rice in the past.
It’s true. Just measured and tossed it in the pot. The rinsing really does reduce the overall stickiness of the rice and we want that today.
Cook the rice until it is golden brown and aromatic.
Next add in the chicken stock and the fresh herbs. It was about a tablespoon of parsley, 1/2 tablespoon of diced rosemary and equal amount of fresh thyme.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low, cover and cook undisturbed for 20 minutes. When done, give a few stirs and let rest for about 5 minutes to allow the rice to finish absorbing the stock.
It should look like this.
This rice is goddamn dynamite all on its own and was a perfect accompaniment to the fish. Just delicious! Say you have a leftover piece of chicken, make this rice to serve with it. That would be killer. This shit works with ANY protein. A keeper.
While the rice is cooking get the salmon in the oven. Cook at 375 for 15-18 minutes.
When done?
See what I was saying about the clean-up factor. That’s maple syrup on there.
Fuck, do I love parchment paper.
Let’s plate our meal already.
Oh shit. That will do.
And look how healthy we’re being. Got your standard side spinach salad, our salmon and our rice.
That salmon is wonderful. It’s super moist. Almost like the glaze worked as a crust to keep the moisture inside. It’s tender and flaky with the kiss of sweetness from the maple, the tang from the dijon.
Hell yes. Serve this shit to anyone even if some dumb motherfucker says they don’t like fish, let them try this. This is a paradigm shifter.
Sorry about that last bit. All this talk about commuting kicked my work week brain on for a second.
This is worthy of a bookmark kids. Trust me.
This week’s “fun” holidays courtesy of A Bit of Good News: “June 8 is International Knit in Public Day, World Oceans Day, National Best Friends Day, National Upsy Daisy Day, Ghostbusters Day, Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day, Strawberry Cheesecake Day and Young Eagles Day.”
Looks like I just missed Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day.
In case you missed it.
Much more strategic placement.
Appreciate you good folks. Impressive that you all listen to my ramblings and yet still come back each week.
That’s so fucking cool.
Let’s do this again next Sunday, shall we?
Until then…
What’s with those hideous Spanish uniforms.
Apparently the team is sponsored by Donovan. (Quite Right)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb3WpOJvsug
phew, at least it wasn’t Coldplay.
https://youtu.be/yKNxeF4KMsY?si=GwQuCWH5wh03KEh9
PORTUGAL!
Ronaldo pouting like the bitch that he is.
Extra time in the Nation’s League final! It’s like taking off from a scooter chewing pharmacy CBD edibles
Hey Cards, how bout not hitting our Japanese star.
Did someone nawt pay da bills?
..
I did more today than I wanted to or had planned. Worked right through my bike riding time. I need to get off of this corrosive household chores carousel.
Saw the Three Men and a Baby movie listing and thought that 2001: A Space Odyssey should have been pared down to Monkey Fever Dream.
When you said “Monkey Fever Dream” I thought you were talking about that mysterious pox infection that Buddy Cole’s Halftime Show was suffering from last year.
I love a simple and delicious salmon recipe! I bake mine in the oven too, easy peasy. Sometimes I just schmear pesto on it, keeps it from drying out.
Has anyone read or heard of a good book/series (fiction) regarding a second American Civil War?
Fashion in Paris is so incomprehensible. Robert Kraft is in the crowd at Roland Garros and the woman next to him is wearing this outfit. In June!
Crime scene investigation was sooooooooo 2023.
He wants to let everyone know he shoots a heavy crescendo.
Does the dress inflate immediately on contact with water or is there a cord you have to pull?
Vice President JD Vance Weighs in on Trey Hendrickson’s Future, Contract Talks With Cincinnati Bengals
“I hope so. Here’s what I’ll say to Trey, if you’re watching this show. If you’re a Republican, I will show up to a Bengals game and take a photo with you if you sign on with the Bengals,” Vance said. “And if you’re a Democrat, I’ll stay the hell away. Just sign with the Bengals because we got a chance, man. I say this every year, but with Burrow, with Ja’Marr Chase, if we get our defense and our offensive line, we could have a true championship run.”
Me to JD Vance:
You realize the Bengals are even MORE doomed than usual now, right?
THERE’S A DOOMIER LEVEL OF DOOM?!
I know, it’s surprising, but this is the guy who killed the Pope we’re talking about here
Couchfucker out here pouring a bucket of cold water onto the candle of sympathy I normally keep lit for Bengals fans.
Bengals fans are like Charlie Brown except with less likability and probability of success.
It’s a low bar, but you do have to most likeable and successful pro-football franchise in Ohio!
Bengals belong in Liberty University, Penn State, Baylor conference.
They’d finish 4th.
With that defense, yes. Final scores would be
54-50
45-42
61-58
Rents have gone up all over California, although I’m sure the LA fires mean it’s worse there.
I’ve also been thinking of moving to shorten my driving time, although in my case it’s to and from the barn and the gym. I’m looking mostly in Gilroy, which should be a less expensive area than where I live now but I’m finding 1 brs that cost about the same permonth as my 2 br.
There are also a bunch of people who built ADUs and try to rent them for way over market. Think a 300sqft closet without a kitchen and about a million extra restrictions costing $3k/month. You can get a luxury apt twice the size for less. Who rents these things?
Gilroy is nice. Had a former girlfriend’s dad who lived in Dublin. Also nice. Bit far from the city still.
The only place I go in SF is the airport, and then I drive up to the North bay maybe 4 or 5 times a year. Everything else is in San Jose or further south. Gilroy or Morgan Hill are perfect location-wise and Morgan Hill actually has a cute downtown now. Wouldn’t mind San Jose as long as there’s parking, I don’t need my car broken into again
One supposes the LA contingent is all rollin’ down Rodeo with a shotgun?
It’s called Obama Blvd now.
Rodeo Road in City of L.A. (pronounced RO-dee-oh) is now Obama Blvd.
Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills (pronounced Ro-DAY-oh) is still Rodeo Drive.
I support the protests but I think the gubmnt is going to use this an excuse to crackdown even harder.
If the government really wanted to crack down on illegal immigrants they’d be non-stop raiding chicken plants in Arkansas, pig plants in Iowa, and meat-packing plants in the Dakotas, but if they do that they won’t get the protests they need to call in the National Guard to crack libtards heads, and they might upset the economies in red states that rely on illegal immigrants to keep their businesses going, but really don’t want to admit that.
Best thing the people in LA can do right now is go home. Let the Guard et al stand around with their thumbs in their asses looking stupid.
I mean, they’re doing that too. Noem just raised the ICE arrest quota and they’re grabbing all the rule abiding people with jobs who are following the legal processes because they know where they are and know they won’t fight back
Good, I hope they keep doing that. Not because I’m against hard-woking immigrants regardless of their legal status, (it’s just that I don’t trust anyone who works hard), but because I want all these red state assholes to see what happens when the work force they’ve not-so-secretly been relying on for decades goes away.
I’m convinced there’s a solid 40% of the electorate that’s so into the Trump cult that they won’t care. We just need to hope that the Dems or (please please please) a viable 3rd party can find a candidate that’s even kinda likeable and doesn’t think they need to campaign as diet Nazis to win over swing voters
I think that 40% can easily be shrunk to 20%. When George W. Bush got re-elected amidst a pointless war that had already gone sour I thought he had half of America as his ride-or-die. But once his economic policies started hitting their wallets, they abandoned him in droves. If Trump continues to yank the American economy around like it’s on a string, eventually that string is going to break and he’ll be in the exact same boat.
We need Josh Shapiro/AOC as the ticket, under the banner: Time to Get Shit DONE.
It’s the only idea I have, but at least it’s persistent.
Yes, I’m sure a ticket made up of a Jewish fella and a woman, both from the northeast, would do quite well in today’s America.
But AOC is hot (and not leading the ticket), and she knows how to SELL. Essential politician assets. Plus Shapiro is very direct.
MoT plus prominent progressive is the only way I see to short-circuit the Israel/Palestine stuff from ripping the coalition (I bet this was responsible for at least 2% swing in 2024) apart even further.
Yeah, it’s gonna be like when everyone I met outside the state was asking me if I was afraid to go into SF. Nothing we do in Commiefornia will move opinion elsewhere in the country
Or to kill innocent peoples.
People throwing stones/bricks at every car passing, police, gov or just private citizens which I have seen several of the protestors do, they are not innocent, please blow them away. Indescrimately throwing bricks at cars which may have children or other innocents in them deserves the death penalty.
So a typical Sunday morning?
Nice Buddy, I love salmon and am always looking for new ways to prepare it. It’s occurred to me that I will absolutely not miss daily driving.
/this morning
Wife: “Should I buy these cooling sheets?”
Me: “Are you thinking it would relieve those hot flashes due to…[can’t think of the word* but goes for it anyway] nepotism…?”
Wife: “What? [laughs] You mean ‘menopause?”
Me: “Yeah…menopause.”
*been happening with increasing frequency
Don’t worry, you’re just old and dying.
One of us, one of us, *cough, cough* what was I doing?
I made coffee this morning, when the pot was ready I went to the fridge and filled it up with water. Sat down and had a sip and realized what I had done. I’m losing it.
Between Mark Davis, Jim Irsay, Woody (and now Brick) Johnson, etc. sometimes it feels like NFL stands for Nepotism Football League.
Get her one of these. Get yourself one too. They are the best. https://bedjet.com/
I NEED THIS THING!!!
Nepotism? Hot flashes are a tool of the capitalistic patriarchy to keep women down and sweaty. And not in the fun way, comrade!
This looks delicious and easy to make. That’s totally my jam.
About rice prep: Madre, 85, would bash her cellphone on my head if she found out that I consort with unwashed rice traffickers. To her credit, race would have nothing to do with it.
Always wash rice then use the water for your plants.
This sounds fantastic. Good job YR.
re: LA Housing
One easy metric that may be measured in homebuikding (including apartments) has been — Is Market Inventory at Pre-Pandemic levels? Basically– we know the pandemic was fucked. How close to subjectively unfucking each market are we?
That is, “Austin was one of the first housing markets to reach pre-pandemic Inventory. Nationally, Austin was first makret to see sales (count and pricing) regress.”
Inventory, of note, is not adjusted from 2019. Because this data point becomes less important near Inventory = 2019 Inventory levels. And the term “unfucked” is relative to a “balanced” market, rather than Webster’s definition of fucked.
Anyways, one quarter into the Arbitrary Depression, nearly every US market is above prepandemic Inventory levels but also is still seeing high prices inexplicably stick — Las Vegas, NV.
Because Vegas is the closest market to LA. There is not decent old stock in Vegas and, at that price point, the broke residents consume that share. Then you’ve just got the constant overflow of people from LA moving to the house closest to their work in Orange County at whatever relative value.
So i guess what I’m saying is: LA is in the condition I see our National.Parks enjoying come 2027.
Also, no one has ever told me they are from Lake Balboa.
I wrote all this before getting to the recipe. Sourry!
But, to give YR certain props, this is how AI should be writing to deliver clear recipes.
“…It was about a tablespoon of parsley, 1/2 tablespoon of diced rosemary and equal amount of fresh thyme.”
Magnificent writing right there.
I rented a 1 bedroom apt there in the late aughts. It was cheap and a 10 minute drive to my work.