Is there a term for a gathering of trees in an open field?
  • asterisk asterisk 7mo ago 100%

    Spinney is a nice word for a smallish gathering of trees, alongside copse, coppice, etc. I'm not aware of a term for one specifically in an open field, though.

    7
  • Edit: (What do you call this dish?)
  • asterisk asterisk 10mo ago 100%

    Apart from the hole, that could be chicken on a raft, an old Royal Navy dish.

    3
  • How to make sourdough without messing with starter every day?
  • asterisk asterisk 10mo ago 100%

    I haven't tried it myself yet, but you can get yeast improvers , a powdered 'mother yeast' that claims similar results to sourdough.

    I have a starter in the fridge that I only use once every two or three weeks, and have not had any mould problems; perhaps you just have to be only a little less lazy to keep a viable one, and feed on that sort of a schedule?

    I agree though, that making sourdough bread can be a nuisance time-management-wise until you find some sort of rhythm that suits you.

    4
  • While living in Southampton and working at a local newspaper, photographer Rachel Adams, to her delight, discovered a new generation of Morris dancers performing at pubs, events and festivals. The fresh choreographed figures jumping up and down to music, clad in costumes covered in bells, and waving handkerchiefs and bashing sticks sparked her curiosity. She wanted to know more about what these young people found so intriguing about this English folk tradition, which usually has a bad reputation.

    19
    1
    Do you have a mantra that keeps you going through tough times?
  • asterisk asterisk 12mo ago 100%

    I can't go on. I'll go on.

    (Samuel Beckett)

    6
  • We're thinking about merging some of the cooking/food communities, want to get your input
  • asterisk asterisk 12mo ago 100%

    I think it's a very good idea, and I can't see any obvious disadvantages except, perhaps, the loss of posting and comment history from the currently existing communities.

    Maybe also consider merging !foodporn@lemmy.world ? That one seems to be quite general too, and posts often become discussions of how to cook the showcased dish (plus I really dislike the name of the community).

    7
  • "There's a thing that I don't know what is" - Is this correct grammar?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    I don't think I've come across that before, but I'd say it depends on what is meant:

    • I don't know what that thing is.
    • There is a thing, but I don't know what it is.
    • There is a thing such that I don't know what it is. I.e., I do not know what all things are.

    There may well be some other ones, but I don't know what they might be.

    4
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAS
    Jump
    Do you keep recipes somewhere? A recipe book, an app, notes? How do you organize your recipes?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    I use emacs's org-mode for most recipes and notes, some written out, some links to web pages.

    As well as that, I have a piece of paper stuck inside a cupboard door with ingredient ratios for things such as pastry, béchamel, vinaigrette, etc.

    3
  • "Initials" by "Florian Körner", licensed under "CC0 1.0". / Remix of the original. - Created with dicebear.comInitialsFlorian Körnerhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearAS
    Jump
    Why do you find enjoyment in cooking?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    I very much enjoy the extraordinary nexus of art, science, technology, and technique afforded by cooking. And how this all occasionally comes together into something delicious and beautiful.

    But what I really enjoy most of all is feeding my family and friends, and seeing the happiness it brings, if that doesn't seem too twee.

    I also can not abide washing up, so I enjoy the division of labour where I cook and someone else does the dishes.

    2
  • What are your favorite umami ingredients to add to a dish?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Yes, it is a famously polarizing taste, but a small amount in something hefty like a ragout adds umami without adding too much of the marmite flavour. I'm vegetarian, and find it's really handy for adding meatiness to such things.

    If you try it and like it, do try marmite spaghetti.

    4
  • What are your favorite umami ingredients to add to a dish?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Miso, Marmite, MSG, and Maggi are all good.

    Not all at once, though.

    5
  • Is there any form of printer that isn't a complete con-job or scam?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 85%

    I have a Xerox colour laser printer that I'm very happy with: accepts off-brand toner, speaks postscript, good quality printing, no problems at all. I've also been very happy with Brother laser printers in the past.

    5
  • What's a book you really enjoyed, that you feel like no one else on lemmy has read?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature by C C Bombaugh, one of my favourite reads, feels like it might be an obscure book.

    4
  • TIL that America is one of the few cultures with insults for smart people
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Swot is a venerable and frequently used word, derived from the word sweat. Neek is what's current with my children's generation (South London): it's a portmanteau of nerd and geek, apparently. Spod may well be regionally and temporally specific, as it's what I used to be called in SW England in the 1980s.

    5
  • TIL that America is one of the few cultures with insults for smart people
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 97%

    These kinds of insults definitely exist here in the UK too, e.g., swot, spod, as well as geek, neek, nerd, etc. I don't think these are imported from the US, as they've been around for a long time. Perhaps a manifestation of anglo-saxon anti-intellectualism?

    44
  • The Latte Maker
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    It reminds me of Vermeer's Milkmaid. Not Renaissance either, but a beautiful photograph never the less. Accidental Baroque?

    2
  • What pen & ink are you using today?
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    A red Majohn A1 with a Pilot VP stub nib in place of the standard EF nib, Lamy Peridot ink.

    6
  • "Curly" apostrophe
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    That's interesting. I wonder why we're getting different results.

    Different versions of xetex, perhaps? I'm using

    XeTeX, Version 3.14159265-2.6-0.999992 (TeX Live 2020/Debian) (preloaded format=xelatex)

    A little out of date, as I haven't got around to updating my Debian yet.

    1
  • "Curly" apostrophe
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Did you try my minimal example? I don't use xelatex, but I've just tried running it on my example code and the output is the same as with pdflatex.

    2
  • "Curly" apostrophe
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Isn’t that what you get if you use the ’ character for apostrophes? For example:

    \documentclass{article}
    \begin{document}
    My apostrophe's curly. Or is it?
    \end{document}
    
    
    3
  • "Curly" apostrophe
  • asterisk asterisk 1y ago 100%

    Isn't that what you get if you use the ' character for apostrophes? For example:

     \documentclass{article}
     \begin{document}
     My apostrophe's curly. Or is it?
     \end{document}
    
    1