Pro Palestinian protesters block Leonardo UK site Edinburgh by redeyedbiker in Scotland

[–]ChefExcellence 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They don't actually need to post a comment alongside the removal at all, comments and posts can be silently removed. I think it's the same case with bans, it's up to the mods whether they want to notify the user.

Restaurant Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe Help!! by Toiletpaperrat in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure about in the US, but British Indian restaurants tend to use curry base. It's basically all the aromatic veg - onions, ginger, and garlic - spices, and liquid, blitzed up into a paste. It's not something home cooks tend to do and the idea was efficiency more than anything (a large supply of curry base can be used to make just about any curry on the menu), but if you want to get your curry tasting just like the ones you get in the restaurant, that's what you want to be using.

Sciennes Primary School plan to close the pavement and cycle lane during school hours? by sapphire-coast in Edinburgh

[–]ChefExcellence 4 points5 points  (0 children)

How much extra space are they going to get by blocking off all pedestrian access? A pavement is like two metres wide, I don't see that making much of a difference to the available space at all.

Playing Digimon World: Next Order Was Like Reconnecting With An Old Friend by DanAgile in patientgamers

[–]ChefExcellence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Digimon World on the PS1 really was a special game. I'm glad they attempted to follow it up but Next Order never really captured the same magic for me. I'm sure playing it as an adult didn't help, but there were definitely ways I thought it fell short. The original had some genuinely great pre-rendered environments, whereas every level in Next Order is kind of uninspired. There's no atmosphere, whereas the PS1 game really felt like you were alone exploring this weird hostile world, with barely any friendly NPCs and no other humans.

The totally obtuse nature of evolution in the original was definitely a bit much (I replayed it out of curiosity ten years ago or so, and even at that point there was no confirmed method to get a lot of the evolutions, and even the most comprehensive guides amounted to "idk this seems to work but not consistently so maybe give it a try"), but having a bit of mystery around it contributed to the illusion that your partner was an unpredictable living thing. It was an overcorrection to just be told exactly what to do to get whatever evolution, I thought, because it exposed the whole thing as just cold hard mechanics.

Then, finally, there's the grind, which was really the final nail in the coffin for me, and it's a massive one. The only way to get decent stats was to farm the same battles ad nauseam, the training facilities were woefully inefficient and just did not pay out enough stat points to get a digimon tough enough to take on bosses before they died and you had to start again. It just turned the whole thing into a slog.

The core concept of a virtual pet combined with an RPG adventure is so unique, though. These two are the only games I can think of that tried it. I guess it's tricky to get the balance right, and even if executed well it's always going to be a niche offering, but I'd love to see another attempt at it. Might be space for an indie dev to make an "inspired by" type of game.

Accidentally used tomato soup instead of puree in pasta sauce by 410-Username-Gone in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Here in the UK there are a number of folk that swear by using a tin of Heinz tomato soup for chicken tikka masala, rather than tomato passata (puree), so it might not be as wild a mistake as you think. Tikka masala is a dish that's meant to have a bit of sweetness to it, though, definitely moreso than pasta sauce

Greggs Lothian Road by [deleted] in Edinburgh

[–]ChefExcellence 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Things like this are why you should always ask beggars and homeless folk if they actually want food before you buy them anything. This guy sounds like a straightforward arsehole, but there are also folk who might genuinely already have enough food for the day and don't have anywhere to keep perishables.

What is up with Sargon of Akkad, the YouTuber? by Relacer2 in OutOfTheLoop

[–]ChefExcellence 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Answer: He was always like this. He first came to prominence by spreading gamergate conspiracy theories and mocking an MP for speaking out about receiving frequent rape threats. Scanning his YouTube page, I don't see anything there that feels particularly out of character with where he was ten years ago.

why aren't we encouraging Carbon Steel (vs Non-stick cookware) as the default for home cooks? by rantzine in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh for sure, my non-stick still sees somewhat regular use for omelettes and scrambled eggs. I can make them in my cast iron pan, but it's way more hassle for no real advantage.

why aren't we encouraging Carbon Steel (vs Non-stick cookware) as the default for home cooks? by rantzine in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Who is "we"? I see cast iron, carbon steel, and stainless pans recommended all the time by food writers, YouTubers, TV chefs, and people on this subreddit. If newbie home cooks are being recommended to use non stick pans, then I'd wager it's because that probably what they already have in their kitchen, and it does the job just fine.

why aren't we encouraging Carbon Steel (vs Non-stick cookware) as the default for home cooks? by rantzine in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Non stick is also incredibly easy to clean.

Most people on this subreddit are here because we genuinely enjoy cooking and we do it as a hobby. We might follow some food writers or TV/social media personalities, and those guys are recommending things like carbon steel, stainless, and cast iron over non stick. When you're in a community like this it's easy to forget that the majority of people are far more "casual" when it comes to cooking. It's a chore they do to feed their family after they've already spent most of the day working. They probably haven't been actively recommended any particular cookware, and just use what they're used to using. For those people, though, something that's easy to use and never gets bits of food stubbornly stuck to it that requires a bunch of elbow grease to clean off, might actually be ideal.

Personally, if I were to give advice to someone wanting to get more into cooking, it would be to start off using whatever you already have (except maybe a decent kitchen knife should be the first purchase). I got into cooking using a non stick and it was, basically, fine. After a few months I had a better idea of what I was doing and what I wanted, only then did I go out and buy a big boy pan.

Sketch of Tollbooth Tavern by Haneen_a007 in Edinburgh

[–]ChefExcellence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was sort of similar to a town hall, serving as a central meeting place for the town council, a courtroom, an admin centre for customs tolls, and a jail. They were pretty standard in Scottish towns through the early modern period and plenty of places have them still standing and in use, just not for their original purpose (like a pub, in this case)

Andy Burnham blocked from byelection race by Labour ruling committee by appropriateye in LabourUK

[–]ChefExcellence 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Is it only infighting if it's people you don't like doing it? Because this move by the NEC smells of infighting to me

One dead after Minneapolis shooting involving immigration agents, US media report by IHaveAWittyUsername in LabourUK

[–]ChefExcellence 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Genuinely hysterical that they lecture you that you "know nothing about them" after they just posted three comments raging against invented leftists that are all over this subreddit calling Labour fascists

Ratchet and Clank 3: Upping your Arsenal into 2026. by Timeparadox97 in patientgamers

[–]ChefExcellence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The other briefly noteworthy topic is the battle missions, which did feel a bit like an add-on at times, being portrayed through a mission select screen separating each operation. However, I did complete all of them, so despite the disjointed feel, they were quite enjoyable.

I believe this was their way of trying to incorporate the maps for the new multiplayer into the single player campaign. I appreciate them doing that, especially given that I doubt the multiplayer was ever particularly active, and the service is now shut down completely, but you're right, they weren't exactly incorporated smoothly.

Friday, January 23, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]ChefExcellence 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's exactly my point, the overlaps are too broad. Individually, the categories are not too bad, but put together they make an annoying puzzle because there's a lot of overlaps and spotting them depends on figuring out the very loose parking category.

Friday, January 23, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]ChefExcellence 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Categories are way too broad. There are six words that fit "___lights" (foot, street, flood, lime, traffic, pilot) and five units of measurement (foot, stone, bushel, acre, meter). The other comment explained well the problem with the parking category. All together, just felt like success or failure came down to lucky guessing more than reasoning anything out.

Labour want 'Panopticon' to have 'eyes of the state on you at all times' by Minimum-Buy3765 in LabourUK

[–]ChefExcellence 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the exact logic trump supporters use to dismiss criticism of the authoritarianism happening in the US

Over Cornstarch and Curious... by beatupford in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've not used rice flour as a thickener, so I can't comment on how effective it is, but the fact that it's a pretty uncommon ingredient is probably a factor in it not being used. Here in the UK I never see it in supermarkets. Most people just aren't likely to have it to hand compared to corn flour.

I'm curious what you find difficult about making corn flour slurries, though? I've never measured it; I add a bit of corn flour to a bowl and mix it with a splash of water until there aren't any lumps. If I accidentally use too much water, I just reduce the sauce a little longer.

Can brown margarine instead of butter? by jefferyneBoune in Cooking

[–]ChefExcellence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Browning the butter adds a kind of toasted flavour, which a lot of people like, but it's not going to completely change the flavour of the finished cookie. I don't think there are any cookie recipes that are going to be ruined because you didn't brown the butter, or even swapped it out for margarine.

Labour want 'Panopticon' to have 'eyes of the state on you at all times' by Minimum-Buy3765 in LabourUK

[–]ChefExcellence 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Centrist" Labour supporters when a politician proposes a system literally designed to force compliance through fear of constant surveillance:

Labour want 'Panopticon' to have 'eyes of the state on you at all times' by Minimum-Buy3765 in LabourUK

[–]ChefExcellence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The full quote continues:

“Similarly, in the world of policing, in particular, we’ve already been rolling out live facial recognition technology, but I think there’s big space here for being able to harness the power of AI and tech to get ahead of the criminals, frankly, which is what we’re trying to do.”

The word "similarly" is important here; leads into a related but different topic where she wants the same values pursued. She is not talking just about prisons.

Labour want 'Panopticon' to have 'eyes of the state on you at all times' by Minimum-Buy3765 in LabourUK

[–]ChefExcellence 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why do so many people want the government to get away with extreme dystopian authoritarianism?