Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Tomato Sauce

My son is at college and wanted my recipe for pasta sauce. So I texted it to him, and I realized I never did a post about the sauce I make all the time. 

It's a mainstay of my kitchen. If you wanted to make it just for one person, all the ingredients would be cut in half. 

Ingredients

2 cans of crushed tomatoes - I prefer the crushed toms (short for tomatoes) from Aldi

1 yellow onion, chopped finely 

3-8 cloves of garlic (depending on how much garlic you want to go with), chopped finely

Dried basil 

Dried oregano (I typically use these in a 2 to 1 ratio)

4-6 TB of butter (usually the Aldi Irish butter)

2-3 bay leaves

Smidge of red pepper flakes

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Process

Cover the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat it to a little under medium-high heat. Add in the onion, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and cook for approximately 10 minutes until the onion is tender. Adjust the heat to just under medium. Add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1-2 minutes. 

Dump in the crushed toms, add the butter, add the basil and oregano, and kick the heat down to somewhere between medium-low and low. Add salt and pepper. 

Partially cover the pot with a lid, so there's just a crack on the side. I usually cook it down anywhere from 2-4 hours while checking on it from time to time and tasting, so it's just cooking gently. 

In some cases, instead of just using onion, I sometimes use a mirepoix by adding one stalk of celery and one carrot, both of which are chopped finely. 

Or I'll add in cooked Italian sausage or ground beef. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I got this image and quotation from some dude's Bluesky posting. It's true. 

Poltico has a good article about how gas prices are hopefully a major issue that voters take into account when they vote in the midterms: "A 'Sleeper Issue' in Red States This Fall: Diesel Prices." 

I've written about this important issue in a previous post: "Musing of the Moment: US Debt, Gas Prices, & Inflation." 

I agree with the professor quoted in the Politico article about how the Democrats are not seizing on this issue like they should. They need to talk less about "oligarchs and the billionaires" and more about pocketbook issues related to high gas prices, inflation, and food safety. 

Keep it simple stupid: Talk about affordability issues. 

MAME: Making America More Expensive

I'm in Week 2 of my basic writing class that I'm teaching, and based on the results of my second reading quiz, I can already tell who has a strong chance of passing the class and who is more likely not to pass. 

Reading what I assign, paying attention, and coming to class on time make a difference.

Random Notes from a Crank

The Other 98%

I got that image from one of my social media accounts. It is deadly accurate. 

In a not surprising outcome, Canadian universities are actively recruiting professors from American universities to go up North: "Canada Hires 48 Scholars Away from Top Universities." 

That article comes from The New York Times. 

A newspaper I used to have a subscription to, The Washington Post, is sending me a couple of emails a week to get me back. I cancelled my subscription after Bezos interfering with the editorial board backing Kamala Harris for the presidency. 

It's sad to see the decline of that once great newspaper. 

In what is a deliciously rich case of situational irony, a stupid right winger got his ass deported: "Milo Yiannopoulos, Right-Wing Agitator, Deported Home to U.K." 

One of my favorite writers, Wendell Berry, passed away: "Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America's Agrarian Past, Dies at 92." 

I mainly read his non-fiction and some of his poetry. Later in his life, my Dad really enjoyed reading his fiction. 

Music Friday: "Information Overload"

This morning I was listening to the 1990 release Time's Up by Living Colour. 

Here's a gem from that album. What a great band. 

Random Notes from a Crank

President Adolf has restarted his trade war with Canada. Read all about it in "What Canadian Goods Will Take Trump's 50% Tariffs" in The New York Times. 

Having spent some time in Victoria, BC this month, I noticed that quite a few homes were flying the Canadian flag. I also saw some bumper stickers with the maple-leaf flag on it saying, "Not for Sale." 

A notoriously nice populace is motivated and mobilized. A common refrain I got from cashiers the short time I was there in Victoria was, "No worries." 

I'd also use that phrase if I had universal health care. 

And the one liquor store I visited near my eldest kid's apartment had very little bourbon. It looked like it only had what was left before the ban on U.S. liquor imports happened. 

Whether Canadians will go back to buying American beer, wine, and liquor remains to be seen: "'A Bad Taste in My Mouth': Will Canadians Buy U.S. Booze Again?"

With new tariffs being imposed by with this dumbass administration, I suspect the boycotts on American juice will remain. 

And as NPR reports, PM Carney isn't messing around: "As Canada Readies Retalitory Tariffs, Mark Carney Says His Nation Is 'At War' with U.S." 

The concerns are real about data centers. If a political candidate wants to go across party lines, oppose the building of data centers: "The Data Center Backlash Bursts into the Midterms." 

Music Friday: "Semi-Charmed Life"

It's a true sign that the marketers are going after your age group when a song you listened to and liked in your 20s is being used in a commercial. 

That's the case with Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life." 

Musing of the Moment: U.S. Debt, Gas Prices, & Inflation

 

Here's one of the many gas pumps I visited as we drove back from Victoria, British Columbia after taking our oldest kid there for their start to graduate school. 

As The New York Times reports that the U.S. is in debt up to $40 trillion dollars, see "U.S. Debt Hits $40 Trillion as America's Borrowing Binge Continues," everyday Americans are getting screwed by sky-high gas prices and inflation. 

Moscow Don and MAGA are really MAME. 

Making America More Expensive

Americans are getting gouged at the pumps because of this stupid war the US has no business being in. And that price per gallon above isn't even close to the diesel price that are directly connected to all kinds of shipping costs.

As Americans suffer difficult economic consequences because of the Iran War, the feckless Republican cowards in the House and Senate do nothing to hold the current administration accountable.

Instead, the complicit cowards will kiss the ass and lick the Florsheims of a very dangerous, clownish, narcissistic, boorish, moronic mountebank.

I hope the mid-terms are a reckoning for good.

Music Friday: "doom"

I read an article about the musical artist Steve Lacy in The New Yorker and decided to check him out. 

He was described as someone who mixes hip hop, R&B, and alternative rock, and that mix sounded interesting. 

Here's "doom" from the his most recent release Oh yeah? 

Music Friday: "Won't You Come Out Tonight"

I listened to a lot of SiriusXM's Spectrum a lot over the past week because Mrs. Nasty and I drove out to Victoria, British Columbia to move our eldest daughter there for grad school. 

This song isn't my favorite on his new album, but it's concise, positive song. 

Music Friday: "Breathe"

For whatever reason, videos of this band playing this song have found their way into my TikTok feed. 

I remember hearing this song at parties in the 90s. It's hard not liking this song. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Here are some factoids from the past few Harper's Indexes:

• Estimated capital investment to create one permanent job in a U.S. data center: $52,000,000
• To create one permanent job in any other sector of the U.S. economy: $322,000
• Estimated number of public comments submitted to the Trump Administration on its White House ballroom proposal: 32,000
• Percentage of those comments that were positive: 1
• Percentage of non-probationary employees laid off since Trump took office who worked in scientific agencies: 35
• Percentage of Americans who view their fellow citizens morally good: 1/2
• Of Canadians who do: 9/10
• Estimated number of protests that took place  in the United States in the first year of Trump's first term: 10,873
• In the first year of his second term: 39,154
• Estimated percentage by which immigrants to the United States pay more in taxes, on average, than U.S.-born citizens: 17
• Portion of Italians who say that when asked what them proud of their country, mention art and culture: 2/5
• Of Americans who do: 1/50

America, you can do better. Create really good jobs, stop the stupid ballroom, respect and fund science, embrace immigrants, and do better with art and culture. 

Those stats show us not as the United States but rather as Dumbfuckistan. 

If you're interested in the data center boondoggles, Mother Jones has a great in-depth article about data centers and AI titled "Empire Builders" with the subtitle of "How the American Oligarchy Went Hyperscale," which is the title on the magazine's website. 

motherjones.com

In the July issue of Harper's, there's an article titled "Happy Fucking Birthday: An Exhausted America Turns Two Hundred and Fifty." 

That title sums up my attitude toward to the 250th anniversary of our nation's beginning. 

Music Friday: "Masks Off"

Jesse Welles came out with a new album recently. I've been enjoying it. 

Here's the album's title track.  

Musing of the Moment: World Cup Final from a Spurs Perspective

from The Athletic

Spain dominated the match and held Argentina to zero shots on goal. Heck, Argentina only mounted a mere three shots to Spain's twenty, eleven of which were on target. 

Spain had plenty of chances, and the Spaniards were the clearly superior squad. 

For how much footballing talent that country has, I'm surprised this win is only their second World Cup. 

From a Tottenham Hotspur supporter's perspective, I love that Pedro Porro made the cross that Williams headed to Ferran Torres for the winning goal. Porro made himself a mainstay of the team after not starting the first game (if I remember correctly). 

He sent some perfectly weighted passes Yamal's way on a number of occasions. He worked well with the right winger to pose a serious offensive threat. 

I was surprised that Romero got pulled out of the squad. I know he was on a yellow card, but he's probably one of the best center backs in world football. 

Sensei came in at the 101 minute. 

I love that President Adolf was booed by the crowd: "Trump Booed by World Cup Final Crowd, Takes Part in Trophy Presentation." 

Regardless, it appears Tottenham made a good decision on signing Porro to a long-term contract. 

COYS. 

Music Friday: "Wonderwall"

I'm posting in regret of England's terrible loss to Argentina in the World Cup. 

Random Notes from a Crank

In anticipation of the Argentina vs. England World Cup match, here's the Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on the Falklands War. 

For Father's Day I got this away England kit. Mrs. Nasty got it from OkayJersey, which has great prices. 

I'm thinking about getting the Tottenham away kit for this upcoming season, and I like last season's home kit for Roma. 

The BBC has a good article about the failure of self-checkout machines: "'It Hasn't Delivered': The Spectacular Failure of Self-Checkout Technology." 

I hate those things. 

I'd rather just interact with a human. Plus, there's a great deal of discussion about how businesses are losing all kinds of money because of theft, among other issues. 

However, will businesses persist with self-checkout lanes because of the sunk-cost fallacy?