Hiccups And Hangovers, Redux – And Freegans!

Two sealed quarts of yogurt sat in a fridge, one dated October 11, 2015, the other July 17, 2017.  Which to choose?  I was looking for something to blend cocoa powder into — I only Cook Like A Guy™, but even a guy can dump cocoa powder into yogurt — and decided to be sensible and use the older one first.  The minute I tasted it I knew I had made a mistake — it needed sweetener.  Plain yogurt and plain cocoa powder?  C’mon!  So I added Erithrytol, (available here, if you want to try it).  I won’t lie to you and say it was the best thing I ever ate, but how many things are?  Next time, maybe a little lighter on the cocoa powder, a little heavier on the Erithrytol.  Cooking is an art, not a science.  (Baking, I’m told, is a science but I use my oven for storage.)

I’m telling you this because I had a nice response to Friday’s Hiccups and Hangovers post.

▹ Erich Almasy: “When you don’t have lime and salt or eggs, sit up and raise your arms straight in the air above your head. Stretches the diaphragm which stops the source of hiccups.  Preventing hangovers: half a glass of milk and two aspirin before sleep. Has never failed.”

▹ Mike Rutkaus: “Congrats on the Egg Beaters.  I should have documented this, but I had good never-frozen unopened always-refrigerated paper carton buttermilk at least three, maybe four years old.”

▹ Tom Bolger: “Good advice on the Advil after drinking and before bed. I would contend that most hangover symptoms are caused by dehydration. As such, one should drink at least 8 oz of water with that Advil, preferably 16+ oz. And another 16+ oz on the nightstand. Yes, this will likely cause a trip to the bathroom way before you’re ready to get up but it will also allow you to drink additional water in the middle of the night to rehydrate so you might not have to take more Advil in the morning.”

Just when I was about to despair that no women care about hangovers or fine cuisine, Tom Foley, though not a woman himself, directed me to this that I assumed, as I started reading, had been written by a man.  But no!

“A bit, well, raw,” Tom warned — I’ll say! (so I’m warning you, too) — “but thought you might enjoy.”

Indeed: “How I Became the Dumpster Dog (or, How I Saved $30,000 in 8 Months).”

I learned a new term: “freegan.”  And signed up for her raunchy, funny, money-saving blog.

And then, on a roll of sorts, Tom also recommended this compelling review of Jessica Bruder’s wonderful NOMADLAND: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, the book I’m listening to now, that you might enjoy this weekend.  An apt companion to Hillbilly Elegy.

Have a great weekend, whatever you read. Wear sunscreen!  Commit to vote!  And, in the blanket admonition of my late great mother (I just feel the need to throw this in), “Don’t do anything strange.”