Sign me up for overkill! Plus there can be flavor variety, have the chips be a darker or lighter chocolate than the brownie.

It’s their shtick, I’ve seen them around before. Though I wish people wouldn’t downvote their otherwise on-topic comments.

I looove some pecans and/or walnuts in my brownies, especially if toasted first. Disagree that you can’t taste them and I like the textural variety.

If it’s a texture thing for you, how do you feel about chocolate chips in your brownies?

Perfect logic, this is now my explanation and I’m sticking to it.

I’d like to think I’ve got a pretty adventurous palette, and I’ve tried all kinds of fruits with chocolate; fresh, dried, in various preparations, and while some are tolerable, is just tolerable really what you want when reaching for a treat?

I was about to use your mention of cherries and say that a German chocolate cake is far superior to a black forest cake, but that had me realize - is coconut a fruit? Perhaps I’ve got one exception…

That’s fair, I’m not sure if it’s just something I noticed recently and it’s hard to spot in pictures.

Late September:

Mid November:

Even if it is new, I know pigment changes in young cats is normal. Probably just being an overly concerned cat mom ._.’

But only on the one side and newly developed?

Nope, her name’s Sofrito (or Sofi for short).

I learn something new every day.

Hah true that! Cardboard and packing paper are some of her favorite things to play with, and we’ll often let her tear boxes up a bit before recycling.

Everyone knows that cats are liquid, but I think they also exhibit gaseous properties, in that they are capable of expanding to fill any available space. No matter how large the bed, it will never be enough.

Nah that’s the mycelium being all fluffy.

Oh you’re right, it’s not against the rules and I haven’t reported it or anything. There’s a whole discussion that could be had about the many issues of AI, but with this specific example, my main ick is the authenticity of the joke and the implications for misinformation.

The image could have been a comic version of the same “strip joint skeleton Halloween decoration” and still been funny, but the idea of someone actually putting in the effort to build it in their yard adds to the humor. For me, the generation is almost good enough to look real at a quick glance, but the sense of something being off and subsequent realization that I’ve been “fooled” into thinking it was a real photo kills that humor and leaves a sour feeling.

It also concerns me that as AI image generation gets better, the easy tells become harder and harder to spot. This picture is harmless, but imagine the potential damage of a better fake image of a more scandalous topic.

I couldn’t figure out the limb positions on the stripper, and the more I looked, the more obvious this is AI. Funny idea, too bad it’s generated slop.

Her name is Sofrito, and we also call her the Purrito Bandito. Previous nicknames while in kittenhood included noddlebones (she tended to flop when picked up), ragamuffin, and fetid moppet.

Truly a magnificent creature lording over her domain.

Oooh yum, I’m a sucker for capers but haven’t ever had them in a risotto. Love how the black of the risotto jives with the sunflower plate 🌻

She’s gotten a little bit of supervised porch time, my husband and I plan on training her the same way we’ve trained our first cat, Mirepoix.

Mira loves her supervised outside time and understands when we ask “you wanna go outside?” She’ll generally stay in the garden with us (occasionally she’ll push her luck and wander a little) and knows when we say “inside!” that it’s time to go in.

Oh of course! I kept an eye on the local lost pet listings and had her checked for a microchip, no luck with either.

I don’t know how long a young kitten can go without food, but she was extremely skinny, had fleas and worms, and with how matted her fur was with leaves and filth, she really didn’t look like she’d been taken care of. 😢

Hah! Well you’ve hit the nail on the head, I’m in California and clam chowder with good fresh clams is a rare treat.

I use canned clams in my chowder, and I usually reach for some fatty pork product to render fat for sauteing the veggies and as a finishing garnish (I once splurged on some guanciale, but wasn’t a discernable enough upgrade to be worth repeating). Interesting to know that the chowder isn’t traditionally thick. I can’t think of a single time I’ve had it at a restaurant where it wasn’t, which is why I was adding extra thickeners to try to match that expectation.