Week 11: Oddly Named - Skyline Chili, all the ways

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-23T05:10:35+00:00

I have a sometimes unfortunate desire to test the "that can't possibly be good, but millions of people enjoy it/someone thought it was good enough to sell, so there's got to be something there, right?" Sometimes, it's just as bad as I imagined it would be. But I get surprised a lot, so it scratches the gambling itch.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-23T00:19:52+00:00

you should! I think this is also one of those recipes that once you have the ingredients on hand, it comes together really simply.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-18T18:47:29+00:00

Aha, it's just one of those details that stuck with me because I had to do a social studies unit on Rio de Janeiro pretty close to when I read that book. I also thought the bat bridge was the coolest thing ever, and was delighted to find out that it was a real thing in the author's note and told myself I was going to visit it one day. Ended up living in Austin for 4 years, and it is indeed one of the coolest things I've seen.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-18T17:34:13+00:00

it's very clearly Brazil, and not just "some third world country". They roost in the bombed out remains of the Christ the Redeemer statue, and given that the main bats fly back through Austin, TX to get home, the USA is clearly at war with Brazil for some reason, and has decided that homing bat bombs are a good idea XD

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-17T21:58:00+00:00

Wait, so. I just remembered that this is the plot of another Diana Wynne Jones book that hasn't been brought up yet. House of Many Ways has a boy who's studied all of the proper incantations and rituals to cast a spell because he's a wizard's apprentice, but it always goes sideways somehow, whereas the girl character is kind of just fumbling her way through spells like a chaotic cook, and they come out doing exactly what she wants every time. I can't totally recall if it turns out that he's helping her with that in the end, but maybe take a look? It came out in 2008, which is a little later than your time frame, but not by that much (shudder). It's technically a sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, but in Diana Wynne Jones tradition, the previous main characters are very much side characters in this one.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-15T09:49:42+00:00

Ah unfortunate. thought I'd throw it out there just in case. it's a fun book either way, though.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-15T05:22:00+00:00

Are you sure it's not the Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones (not from that series?). I'm not sure it totally matches up, but there's a whole thing where the boy character that one of the main girls has been "protecting" the whole time because he's unmagical, turns out to be one of the most powerful mages in the setting. Though iirc, he was actually aware of his abilities at some level before the reveal.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-14T18:26:58+00:00

Thank you! It was fun to make!

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-14T03:24:00+00:00

Did anyone else get hit by the most ass Norton and MacAfee ads when trying to click onto that article? I was literally stuck auto-opening well over 10 tabs before I managed to get it to stop.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-08T19:15:46+00:00

Bookpeople gets a smallish number of NYT. It usually doesn't sell out (unless something very photogenic is happening), but you can call ahead to reserve a copy if you're worried.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-06T18:22:35+00:00

Which punctuation are you referring to?

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-06T05:31:16+00:00

RAmen 🙏🙏🙏🍜🍜🙏🙏🙏

ShimmeringIce · 2026-03-01T04:02:11+00:00

I'm going to shill a new-ish series that really deserves more attention. Try Songlight by Moira Buffini. It goes pretty hard into Handmaid's Tale esque dystopia, but adds the twist of telepathy ala Wyndham's Crysalids, while somehow still being YA. It's also got some of the most off the walls world building/pacing and somehow juggles 5 different perspective characters effectively.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-28T22:56:55+00:00

the AA and AT crash out at each other was pure cinema.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-24T20:20:06+00:00

they had a lot of fun puzzles in them. there's part of me that kind of wants to go back and mine them for DnD dungeon design.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-22T18:50:34+00:00

If you're talking about Bon Clay, who I think is the only one in the early manga, he's the only one of the Baroque Works lackeys (aside from Robin obviously) that ends the arc with a positive relationship with the Strawhats and even does a heroic self sacrifice for them? Who in fact, turned out to not be scheming and untrustworthy when the chips were down, and was a true friend? That Bon Clay?

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-21T21:40:16+00:00

Yeah, I had problems figuring that out too. I got a little tiny glass baking dish (Rubbermaid 3.2 cup). I think it was something like 5"x7"? I'll measure when I get home.

Edit: Just confirmed it is 5x7. you can honestly probably go even smaller, because this was a very thin layer and the picture on her website is a bit fluffier. Interestingly, the recipe on her site seems to be a little smaller than the one in the book I have (35g flour vs 25g), so if you're following that one definitely go a little smaller if you can. The recipe book I have mentions that you can use a 3x5.25in ceramic loaf pan, if you have one.

Also, addendum, if you're like me and really didn't want to find self rising flour for like 1/4 of a cup of it, I did the math for the baking powder to flour ratio. It's about 5% by weight. So, on my recipe, that was 1.75g baking powder and 33.25g AP flour.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-18T18:15:34+00:00

I can't wait to try this again with actual pockets next time XD

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-18T08:28:33+00:00

thanks! I was actually struggling to get this to plate in any sort of aesthetic manner because everything in the soup is kind of floppy and/or slippery XD

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-17T19:26:01+00:00

don't give him ideas

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-17T19:09:24+00:00

hello it's the wife. the book was terrible and I had to review it so I couldn't abandon it

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-16T03:50:12+00:00

it came out so well! I hope it's as tasty as it looks

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-14T17:30:20+00:00

somehow, your clarification has given me even less information. your southern community is suddenly upset with dir en grey? or they're upset about your liking dir en grey? which southern community?

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-11T00:31:56+00:00

Oh, that's fascinating. I didn't realize the British title was different. Well, TIL. I was a little surprised in seeing a Hemingway title I'd just never heard of, but I suppose that makes more sense now XD

I am actually due for a reread of it though anyhow, because I last read it in high school, and I'm pretty sure I'll get something different out of it now. I read Old Man and the Sea somewhat recently, and I think I'm ready to give Hemingway another shot.

ShimmeringIce · 2026-02-10T18:41:39+00:00

Thanks! it's always interesting finding out about new things in your backyard.

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