Nostr notes by amanda, pastry paladin

"Organized religion" is such a useless concept ALL ...

2026-10-18T18:10:21Z

"Organized religion" is such a useless concept

ALL RELIGIONS ARE ORGANIZED

Anyway, tl;dr of today's "units of measurement" rant: ...

2026-05-07T23:06:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…gx89
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Anyway, tl;dr of today's "units of measurement" rant:

Use whatever units you want, but don't act like metric VOLUME is "more accurate" than US customary WEIGHT (if you do this, I will make fun of you)

For an old-school homebaking recipe like the Nanaimo bar, I would ...

2026-05-07T22:59:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…t7r8
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For an old-school homebaking recipe like the Nanaimo bar, I would actually argue that it's undesirable to standardize the recipe with official weights.

Where you WOULD want to standardize the recipe is if you were making them in a bakery/cafe setting, and you wanted hundreds and hundreds of them to come out the same every time, even if your staff turn over. Thus the "Marigold Cafe's Famous Homemade Nanaimo Bar" has its own standard, but THE Nanaimo Bar is democratic.

The Nanaimo bar is an old-school homebaking recipe (it's from ...

2026-05-07T22:49:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…2lk0
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The Nanaimo bar is an old-school homebaking recipe (it's from the 1950s). The original uses cups and tablespoons. Because everyone who makes the recipe may be using slightly different techniques, the resulting bars will be slightly different, even using metric units.

Converting the original recipe from volume to weight will standardize the result. But this was originally a homebaking recipe, and no one owns the "correct" weight conversion. In other words, there is no standard.

"Finely chopped" is subjective. Depending on HOW fine ...

2026-05-07T22:38:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…xx0x
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"Finely chopped" is subjective. Depending on HOW fine your almonds are chopped, they will measure differently in volume. For this, weight is best.

Coconut, on the other hand, comes in several varieties: sweetened, unsweetened, chips, dessiccated, shredded, etc. Depending on the style and brand, they will measure differently in both weight and volume. (Sweetened coconut is heavier than unsweetened, even if both are about the same volume.) For this, specify the style of coconut to be used.

Dry ingredients like flour, cocoa, and so forth are best measured ...

2026-05-07T22:33:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…yflc
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Dry ingredients like flour, cocoa, and so forth are best measured in weight. If you scoop the ingredient with the measuring cup instead of gently spooning it in, you will pack the cup, increasing the weight of the ingredient. This is true whether you're using ounces or grams.

Volume measurements (cups or milliliters) are a handy shortcut for liquids, or ingredients that don't compress (like white sugar).

For something like coconut or finely chopped almonds, you run into a different problem.

I'm not done If you're not a baker, or you don't ...

2026-05-07T22:29:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…qhmw
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I'm not done

If you're not a baker, or you don't understand what the problem is here, the usual complaint against US-style volume measurements (cups, tablespoons, etc) is that they're "inaccurate" compared to metric. This actually isn't true: "cups" and "tablespoons" and so forth are standardized units of measurement.

Where the "inaccuracy" allegations are TRUE is when you compare volume (cups) to weight (ounces). The reason for this is that some ingredients compress, which alters the weight.

People will see a recipe in pounds and ounces and say "but ...

2026-05-07T22:20:05Z

People will see a recipe in pounds and ounces and say "but that's so imprecise! you should use metric like the rest of the world!"

and then measure coconut in milliliters

"Problems with authority" is such a weird, wrong ...

2025-04-18T14:57:46Z

"Problems with authority" is such a weird, wrong assessment. "Problems with authoritarianism" is probably more accurate in 99% of cases.

Like, I have no issue following instructions or submitting to a chain of command IF AND ONLY IF those above me have proven themselves to be worthy of my deference. Are they kind? Are they trustworthy? Do they know what they're doing? Can they defeat me in a duel?

It's just that the answer to any/all of those questions is usually "no"

This picture is extra funny with my new knowledge: Sometimes male ...

2025-02-20T20:17:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…6w3k
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This picture is extra funny with my new knowledge:

Sometimes male turkeys will attack parked cars, because they think they're rival males

Which must have been why these male turkeys were strutting around with their feathers puffed out. They're in neutral gang territory, gotta act tough tho

Turkeys! In the parking garage ...

2025-02-20T13:53:12Z

Turkeys! In the parking garage

What (educated, licensed) deliverance practitioners have figured ...

2024-12-17T19:36:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…ke5k
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What (educated, licensed) deliverance practitioners have figured out is that people will say things like "my dad was possessed by a demon, and he abused me, and passed on a demon of alcoholism" or something. So using the language of demons, generational curses, deliverance, and the power of the Holy Spirit, the practitioner is able to help the patient exorcise their demon.

To you it may be "trauma," but to this person it's a demon! Respect that!

The bullshit way to think about demon possession vs. mental ...

2024-12-17T19:32:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…kg6h
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The bullshit way to think about demon possession vs. mental illness goes something like

"The ignorant medievals/savages/evangelicals think that they have demons, but what they REALLY have is schizophrenia! We've solved this problem with cold secular Western empiricism! Submit to the DSM and be cured!"

Like, if someone comes to a healthcare practitioner and says they have demons, the response should be more like "what problems are the demons causing for you?"

Someone on reddit asked if there are "progressive" ...

2024-12-17T19:28:38Z

Someone on reddit asked if there are "progressive" deliverance ministries, and I got to be like "what you want is a licensed therapist who practices deliverance. Here's how to find such a practitioner on the Psychology Today website"

Yes, this is a thing! I learned about it several years ago from a Lisa Ling documentary, and it isn't for me, but I remember being really moved by the synthesis of science and spirituality (she said, Episcopalianly)

St. Matthias the Apostle, patron saint of alcoholics, made at the ...

2024-12-14T18:50:54Z

St. Matthias the Apostle, patron saint of alcoholics, made at the request of a friend in recovery to distribute at our parish's Recovery Eucharist next month.

Matthias is known only as the apostle who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The open hand gesture symbolizes trust and sincerity but also says "no thanks," and in his other hand he is holding a sobriety chip marked with the Roman numeral 12.

Nostr event nevent1qqswd6w295cjverftrez43cx67vxfhmxdqhk9yj3kvtcm2p2jxq3xfqzyrmp4hxflmwstd7g0zkcujy8xl8jpxtr33lxlxnx6m47up795a5m5cextz5

2024-11-23T02:55:25Z

TIL that "demesne" is the same as "domain"

My wife suggested that I make some "less niche" designs ...

2024-11-21T20:25:27Z

My wife suggested that I make some "less niche" designs for my sticker shop, which I had been thinking about doing, but wasn't sure what to make. She suggested a rainbow Canterbury cross, and I liked that idea so much that I also made a couple of black and white ones. I'll probably have the rainbow one printed in matte, and the black and white ones in holo. Who knows, I might also print the rainbow one in holo. We've got options.

i know shipping to Australia is expensive, but I get most of my ...

2024-11-17T03:40:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…yk7c
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i know shipping to Australia is expensive, but I get most of my books cheap on Thriftbooks!

Finished "The Ties That Bound" 10/10, no notes, ...

2024-11-17T02:48:14Z

Finished "The Ties That Bound"

10/10, no notes, definitely worth a read if you're at all interested in medieval history, English history, social/economic history, or the history of families and communities

I had been looking for exit strategies before this, and I'm ...

2024-11-04T21:06:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…ec6d
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I had been looking for exit strategies before this, and I'm not even mad about it. Like, I'm mad at how bullshit it all is, but I'm not mad about leaving Whole Foods. The only reason I ever shopped there was because I had an employee discount. It's a ridiculous place and everyone there has been miserable ever since Amazon bought the company.

My wife and her coworker suspect that someone caught wind of my union efforts and smothered them in the cradle.

Guess who has two thumbs and got fired from Whole Foods for ...

2024-11-04T20:36:38Z

Guess who has two thumbs and got fired from Whole Foods for removing cake scraps from the building!

🙃👍👍

We got gay saints! We got trans saints! We got saints who ...

2024-10-29T15:07:27Z

We got gay saints! We got trans saints! We got saints who don't like labels!

It's All Saints season, and from now through November 3, you can get 20% off your order in my shop with the code ALLSAINTS24.

I draw saints and turn them into high-quality waterproof vinyl stickers. Each individual saint sticker is USD $4 and comes with a unique prayer that I wrote, plus a QR code that will take you a bunch of additional background lore on my website. I ship worldwide!

https://shop.faithfulheretic.church/