Jeremy Cherfas

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Clarke’s Third Law.

This morning, sitting outside a cafe that was actually closed because of the lockdown here, Syncthing made a believer of me.

I enjoyed, if that’s the right word, giving blood and then plasma regularly in the UK. Since moving to Italy, I have tried a couple of times to donate, but they won’t have me, on the grounds that I lived in the UK during BSE. I know I shouldn’t, but I take it personally.

@clinklucy magnificent supper to end a miserable day. Can’t wait. pesos

They don’t look like much, but they tasted great, ricotta with rosemary butter, because the sage has vanished. pesos

Just the thing after a full day in front of a screen. pesos

Grano arso is effectively smoked flour, although I don’t know whether they smoke the flour or scorch the grain, as history suggests. Either way it makes a beautifully dark loaf with a smoky aroma and sweetish crumb. pesos

Cultural quickie this morning to the lovely church of Sant’Onofrio on the Gianicolo. pesos

The internet couldn’t make its mind up. Cut an X. Cut a Y. Just a slit will do. Round the equator. Round the poles. Boil, steam, roast, microwave.

So, back to basics.

MTAOFC says to peel a strip (I cut a slit) put them in cold water, bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Then pull them out three at a time and peel. And by golly if it wasn’t pretty much OK. Better than boiling for longer and better than roasting.

#chestnuts pesos

I’d really like to know what @rachelaliceroddy thinks of the great bucatini shortage and, even more, the great bucatini infatuation, which has been all over the internets and which I mentioned in the latest issue of Eat This Newsletter (link in bio). pesos

On the beach again. pesos

Probably mature enough. pesos

I rant often about podcast web pages that hide their audio behind layers of obfuscation. It makes trialling an episode in huffduffer.com impossible. But ones I subscribe to, like @5x15stories, that can’t even supply a decent feed are beyond my understanding.

After the gloomiest and dankest of days, this! pesos

Such strange weather. pesos

Tidiness certainly can be over-rated, although less so in the physical space than in digital space where searching is so much fast. Or, as I used to say of one long-term partner:

“A place for everything, and everything in a place.”

Absolutely fascinating, and just a teeny bit disquieting. I love the idea of a fish-filled moat to keep them in. I’ll probably stick this in the next newsletter.

Some interesting ideas, to be sure.

Seen yesterday, while gathering winter fuel (pine cones), a trio of Earth stars. First time I’ve seen them in the wild. There were oysters too, on downed pines, but not enough to bother gathering.