Is it so terribe to – ask – for a ride for a 20 minute errand every three or four months?

ie like "I need a ride to this place I can't get to by bus some time in the next 2 days, 20 minutes there & back including me buying the thing"

Is this an onerous burden or is the requestee kind of being a little bitch?

This does not seem like a terrible request to me.

do you ask the same person every time? I do this, but I try to spread it around.

I haven't asked this particular person since April. No one else I know is in town and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask but apparently I am a slovenly ass.

this is not a big deal then, and they are being a tight-ass.

person has issues with you unrelated to errand running

But WHAT ARE THEY?

Not your fault, whatever they are.

fuck em

if i may be so bold

you didn't ask for this ride on christmas day or something, did you?

http://www.ai-dealer.com/Gift_Wrapped_Car.jpg

caek, no, yesterday, met with a bitter NO and a bitchy email two hours ago.

How can I get a baking rack? blargh.

Obviously the person you asked is suffering from pussy warts.

I should have more sympathy for those with pussy issues! We've all learned an important lesson today and that is: try not to imagine hideous, disease-riddled vulvas.

what do you need the baking rack for exactly? you might be able to improvise something until you find a friend who isn't a dipshit

that mental image made me choke on my pussy snorkel xp

Baking a duck, ms. zay.

fuck baking a duck

;]

Obviously the person you asked is suffering from pussy warts.

― ^likes black girls (HI DERE), Wednesday, December 24, 2008 4:52 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

OMG this is even more gross since the friend is a DUDE!!!!!

>Ó

(that is an angry duck)

I don't know that for sure. Not about the angry duck but the friend xp.

Duck is gfreat! Cut off the skin and cook off the fat and use that for something delicious then deep fry the skings and call them DUCK RINDS and eat them!

{:ö:}

pussy warts

But no it's totally a reasonable a request, the ride thing.

xpost WAU!!!!!!!

i have roasted a duck without a baking rack before. you have to create some solid tin foil platforms to kind of balance either end of the duck -- it does work though.

also, is there a grocery store nearer to you that you can get to without aid of this person's vehicle? some grocery stores have cheapo racks, and disposable foil baking pans that also can work for this!

i just picked up my magical maple-syrup-fed duk & foie gras today!!!!!

trying to figure out how the hell to do it tho... gonna do a confit with the legs and simmer up the magret and roast the rest... and sear the foie gras... but im intimidated!!

This person doesn't sound like a very good friend I think I would throw them in the bin

do they have taxis in your town

any person who responds to the asking of a favor by sending a bitchy e-mail the day afterwards should be slapped into dementia by the apes from 2001

I mean what the fuck I live and work in goddamn Washington Douche Cunt and I cannot imagine a single person I work with or know personally that I could ask a favor of and get such a response

Abbott, I say dump this bitchy "friend". It's reasonable to refuse a request by saying "sorry I can't because I have family stuff to take care of right now" or whatever. But sending someone an e-mail FFS?! What's next, a formal written warning followed by termination of employment? &*$%!!! I can sympathise with this because I have to spend Christmas in a house with (among other people) someone who will go on an hour long rant when asked for a similar favour.

It's a difficult time of year. I'm sure the friend is probably totally stressed out about something that is NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU and you just happened to be the last thing that stood on some already fractured nerves. Cut them some slack, get a ride off someone else, and bring it up again in the New Year, when thing are calmer, saying, like, "I understand that Xmas is really stressful, but you were more than a bit bitchy to me back then, can we talk about it rationally now?"

I try not to hold anything anyone does at this time of year against them.

don't bake the duck, boil it in coca cola
http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=12167

don't sear the foie gras, just spread it on toast made from good bread, hopefully with a glass of sweet-ish white wine like sauternes or gewurstraminer

also realize it is so filling and so goddamn good that this constitutes an entire course by itself!

Abbott, you strike me as an exceptionally polite person so your friend's attitude seems anal and stingy to me.

anal warts?

wtf. i'd drive you. if you would be willing to drive with a woman who has a temp license. man, i'd LOVE to drive you! every day!

don't sear the foie gras, just spread it on toast made from good bread, hopefully with a glass of sweet-ish white wine like sauternes or gewurstraminer

also realize it is so filling and so goddamn good that this constitutes an entire course by itself!

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, December 24, 2008 12:26 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this came straight from the mouth of a cook at APDC and im inclined to trust them since they know more about FG than i will ever. HOWEVS i will take yr advice too and reserve some for spreadin'.

i have a FUCKLOAD of it. i may even post a picture.

well searing is one way to have it and you may prefer it. the way i described is how virtually anyone from the countryside in france will eat it.

three christmases ago i was in the pyrenees for christmas eve and we had LOTS and LOTS of foie gras, all of it cold and all of it spread on toast. that was preceded by oysters and little spicy sausages (and prunes wrapped in bacon) and was in turn followed by smoked salmon on buttered bread, then turkey and vegetables, then salad, then cheese and more bread, then cake and cognac and coffee!!

a good accompaniment to the f.g. especially if you don't have sweet white wine is some dried apricots or figs

Once when I was in grad school, I asked a good friend of mine who was also a grad (whom I still see!) for a ride to get something or another. Her car was broken down so it didn't happen, but another grad dude in the same office saw fit to tear me a new one over it, lambasting me that I should take public transportation instead.

Dude had some kinda serious inferiority complex, tho. He insisted that he could type faster with 2-finger hunt-n-peck than anyone in the office, I guess, to make up for the fact that he sucked at math.

well searing is one way to have it and you may prefer it. the way i described is how virtually anyone from the countryside in france will eat it.

three christmases ago i was in the pyrenees for christmas eve and we had LOTS and LOTS of foie gras, all of it cold and all of it spread on toast. that was preceded by oysters and little spicy sausages (and prunes wrapped in bacon) and was in turn followed by smoked salmon on buttered bread, then turkey and vegetables, then salad, then cheese and more bread, then cake and cognac and coffee!!

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, December 24, 2008 4:20 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

magnificent!!

yeah, it lasted until 2am!! and what was crazy is that the next day - christmas day - we had the EXACT SAME MEAL at about 1pm, except with lamb instead of turkey. i actually couldn't make it and went to bed halfway through.

i have just been told that "foie frais" (as opposed to foie gras) actually should be cooked, usually with some kind of fruit like kiwi

im siked about this, i wonder how the maple flavour is going to come out in the foie.

just a shot in the dark.. AWESOMELY??

sorry to hijack thred Abbott - i hope u find solution to the consequences of your grinchy friend

dude no way I prefer to talk about >Ó honestly!

Yeah I am pretty sure it is just this person. ie last time I asked for a ride, in April, she did give it to me. At 9 p.m. to go to the drugstore bcz we were both dying of the flu & needed some stuff. Ten minutes after getting home I got this email: Hey, I appreciate that you say you're sick, but we were in bed just then. We'd rather be your friends than parents.

:O

fuck her

seriously, who the fuck needs that bullshit.

anyone who takes a reasonable, polite request for a favor as a full-blown trespass of their personal boundaries like that needs to get their head checked for real

"i'd rather you be my friend than a condescending hosebeast

but it looks as though you've made your choice"

anyone who takes a reasonable, polite request for a favor as a full-blown trespass of their personal boundaries like that needs to get their head checked for real

― the magic length of god (elmo argonaut), Wednesday, December 24, 2008 5:24 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

especially the pharmacy thing, where she went ALONG with the request and then later tried to make abbott feel bad about it ughhh

Thx y'all – I FIGURED that I was not being unreasonable but I had like no external verification of this & my paranoia knows no bounds.

Back to substitute >Ó baking rack, I like Ally's idea of some tin foil pillars onto which one hoists the duck like it's a tiny, baking idol. Any other ideas?

yeah, the weird thing is i can understand the thought process behind that ("if i say no, abbott will hate me and i'll look like a jerk," followed by resentment when actually performing the action and the irresistible temptation to make sure abbott knew JUST HOW INCONVENIENT IT WAS)...but it makes you look like so much more of a jerk than a simple "no" would have. (xpost)

good luck with the duck.

but you know, some people have trouble asserting themselves and saying 'no' but their failure to establish boundaries only leads to them feeling put-upon and resentful and taking it out on the people they agreed to help. they suck.

ohhh what an asshole you need to kick her to the curb, abbott

so the purpose of the baking rack is to allow the air to circulate around the bird and crisp all the skin up nice and let the fat render and drip away from the bird, yes? it depends on what you have on hand but maybe using cookie cutters or the rings from mason jars and improvising a rack that way? the foil idea sounds good too but i would worry about keeping bird securely in place when it goes in and especially when it comes out of the oven

i am not suggesting you make duck cookies, rather arrange the cookie cutters or jar lids or whatever in the backing pan and setting the duck on top?

anyone who takes a reasonable, polite request for a favor as a full-blown trespass of their personal boundaries like that needs to get their head checked for real

― the magic length of god (elmo argonaut), Wednesday, 24 December 2008 17:24 (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"i'd rather you be my friend than a condescending hosebeast

but it looks as though you've made your choice"

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 24 December 2008 17:25 (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^do concur

I have an inkling what kind of person this lady is and I would personally avoid her. She sounds insufferable, Abbott.

slocki, I have never tried raw foie gras (just the plain unprocessed liver?), but have seared successfully. Cast iron pan (or other metal, but not non-stick b/c can't be made hot enough) nice and hot, toss on a thick slice of liver, flip after 15 sec, wait 15 more, and done. Deglaze pan w/ bourbon or dark rum = delicious sauce.

Abbott, I roast duck w/o a rack all the time, but I like the confit-like way the meat gets in the back, oysters, and thighs. You could just ball up foil in the bottom of the pan instead of using a rack - all you want to do is elevate the carcass so the fat drips off. But agreed, the person who refused you a ride is a not worthy to be called your friend.

Passive-aggressive bullshit over such a tiny favour just breaks me out in a rash of OH PLEASE. Willpower issues or not, you don't tell a friend yes with one side of your mouth and no with the other. My temper would probably have gotten the better of me and I would have told her it was a good thing she was not a parent, because kids who get mixed messages from mom and dad turn out about as well as she clearly has.

Honestly, show her the shit-can.

"Establishing boundaries" and all is cool and tolly understandable, BUT the same people you meet on the way up you meet on the way down and it's just easier and oh NICER to be nice. Everybody needs the tiniest bit of help sometimes, etc.

I.e., be careful about whether/how you turn someone down 'cause you may end up way too sick to go to the pharmacy or the duck-supplies store yourself and NEED ABBOTT to do ya a solid in return sometime.

Passive-aggressive friend can go hang.

Aside, I would love to see pictures of the resulting duck feast.

It's not an unreasonable request, but if I weren't really tight with the person I'd probably just offer something in exchange (gas money or pizza or something) because I hate feeling like I owe mufuckas.

It's not an unreasonable request but perhaps this person has never had a favor from you? It's a two way street, and I know that I've had "friends" that only seemed to contact me when they wanted something.

>Ó

C=

Back to substitute >Ó baking rack, I like Ally's idea of some tin foil pillars onto which one hoists the duck like it's a tiny, baking idol. Any other ideas?

Maybe an interlocking arrangement of forks and knives could provide a raised platform. I suspect the foil will collapse during cooking.

And as for Abbott's friend, I think Yoda said it best: "There is either do or don't do, there is no sending of nasty-grams afterwards."

Your friend is a dick, but... why can't you just take public transportation?

raw foie gras (just the plain unprocessed liver?)

there's three kinds i think; cuit (cooked), mi-cuit (sorta cooked), and whatever raw is, cru i guess - all can be spread cold on toast

the cooking is usually to add some flavor that wasn't there before. the lovely emma b's aunt boils foie gras in a bag along with brandy and apricots before bringing it over to someone's house

why didn't I taste foie gras before I went vegetarian? :*(

I am having the idea of opening a bunch of mandarin orange cans, saving the tuna, cutting out the tops & bottoms, removing the labels, and setting the duck on top of the cans.

And yes, I've done favors for her – I drove 140 miles total through the desert to pick up her husband, who'd tilted his motorcycle, while she was at work...and I always give her gas money...I gave her Valium when she was out of her presciption...I gave her a La-Z-Boy chair (admittedly this was just getting rid of stuff). Yeah, I think it's over.

I mean saving or eating the mandarin oranges, not tuna, unless there is a factory mixup. Tuna, mandarin oranges and canned chili are the only canned foods I buy, hence the mix-up.

(Picking up her husband was back when I had a car, and I got/asked for nothing in return. I mean sheesh. Oil well.)

people who - ask – for a ride for a 20 minute errand every three or four months are the most disgusting savages in the world imo

Save that duck fat and roast potatoes/carrots/parsnips/etc in it - so so good.

tracer, I am so wanting some foie gras of any sort right now - apricots + brandy, whoa.

I gave her Valium when she was out of her presciption

RUN AWAY DO NOT LOOK BACK

I always give her gas money

okay she literally has nothing to complain about. that email she sent you is vile. wtf wtf wtf

dude s1ocki after all my challops about how to eat foie gras guess how the lovely emma b's parents made it for us today: foie frais SEARED

they then told me that totally raw foie gras (fois frais) HAS to be seared

oops!! sorry if that's what you had - i should have asked

i did however find out what the non-cuit and non-mi-cuit yet not actually totally raw foie gras is - it's raw but packed in salt, and the salt sort of semi-cooks it in some mysterious way

that's what i thought!

ya i was reading about salt cooking... takes a while but sounds delicious. or you can sort of poach it for a terrine?

i just cut off the duck's legs for my confit... they look insane. will post a pic in a sec!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/3135505335_d324c2e1e1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/3135505469_c4af295c98.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3251/3136327890_dc7b2cdf7c.jpg

my dad made a GOOSE last night

was it good, the goose

yes, the goose was good, maybe a little overcooked--its an interesting meat i dont really know how to describe it except to say that its little like duck, but darker. the fatty bits are the best, as usual.

it was particularly good w/ the baked apples

i didnt know there were baked apples

yes, a goose, and also baked apples

natch

today is duck day!!

im pretty psyched for you

me too.. so far menu is:

duck legs confit (kind of an appetizer cuz there's obv only two, and 6 people... but they've been chilling in salt & bay leaves & garlic since yday)
roast duck with root veggies
seared FG on sweet portuguese bread, with maple apples on the side
a citrussy salad to cut all that fat
uh

some other stuff
it's gonna be wicked

Is it terrible to ask? Never. But, when you ask a favor, you must always allow for the answer to be 'no'. That's why you ask, instead of barging in and demanding the favor.

However, a bitchy 'no' is always going to leave a nasty taste. This person's answer seems to have been extra bitchy, so you have every reason to feel bad at that aspect of the exchange.

My duck turned out freaking perfect.

did the mandarin can plan work?

"mandarin can plan" rhymes, all I need now are some words that rhyme with "duck"

usufruct?

guys