Romanian Food: cozonac

by | Aug 14, 2020 | Food & Drink, Recipes | 259 comments

Hello and welcome to the next installment of recipes from the fine cuisine of Romania in particular and Central-Eastern Europe in general, because, as I said before, I doubt anyone knows where these recipes originated, despite many claiming them. Today we have cozonac, which is a traditional desert. It is mostly made for Christmas and Easter, although it does not have strict religious associations, more like feast day associations. I have the recipe and some pictures, which I will use. The results in this case – the pictures – are not the best ever, but we use what we have. This is to do with the fact that my mom usually makes these in the family, but this time I helped. And such are the results.

Cozonac is basically a pastry like a sweet bread (not to be confused with lymphatic glands) with various fillings. In this day and age, the usual fillings are cocoa/chocolate, walnut or rahat (Turkish delight), or any combination of them. And a bunch more things to be honest. In this case, we used a mix of walnut and cocoa, although I am not sure one can source walnuts in the savage lands of the Americas.

The way my mom usually does it is as follows. To start things off, add 150 g fresh yeast in a little warm milk, a teaspoon of sugar and a few tablespoons of flour and let it activate, should double in volume pretty fast.

For the pastry, you will need: 6 egg yolks; 1 kg white flour, some high protein one like 12% or better is preferred, sifted; 400 ml milk, 100 ml sour cream, 250 g sugar; 150 g of lard, 100 g of oil; the lard melted over low heat. Any fat can be used, butter or just oil. Lemon zest. And some extract of rum and vanilla, I don’t know if these are used in the US.

Mix the oil and lard in a pot and melt the lard.

Add the milk, egg, sour cream, and vanilla/rum extract to the flour and sugar and mix well to incorporate.

Add the yeast, mix in and then knead the dough. When the dough is homogenous, add the fat bit by bit while kneading. Usually knead for 15 minutes, adding 50 g of fat every 3 or so.  The dough should end up like a bread dough in consistency, and should form small bubbles. You can add a handful of raisins if that is your thing. I would not myself. Let this rest for about an hour so the yeast can do its thing.

Slightly oil a work surface and, for reasons unknown to me, take the dough out of the bowl and slam it a dozen times or so on the work surface.

For the filling you need the whites of the eggs, 500 g rough ground walnut, 3-4 tablespoons cocoa, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, some more rum/vanilla extract. Foam the egg whites with a pinch of salt and incorporating the 2-3 tablespoons of sugar in the process. Split the whites in two parts. Half should be then mixed with 150 g of walnut and the 3 tablespoons of cocoa, the other half with just 150g of walnut. Add rum/vanilla to taste.

The dough in our case was split 40 40 20, give or take. At this point, there are two different techniques. One gets fluffier pastry, one gets more even filling distribution.

Use 40% to make a sheet of pastry, cover with a layer of walnut filling, sprinkle 100 g of dry ground walnut on top of it and roll.

 

Take a second 40% piece of dough and make two thinner and somewhat smaller sheets. Cover each with filling, roll and then braid together the two dough cylinders.

 

Place in a baking tray lined with parchment, of appropriate shape, and let rise 30 more minutes.

Take one more beaten egg and use as a wash, brush over the top of the cozonac. Bake at 165 C for 50 minutes or so. Here we use the poke it with a stick method to see it is done.

The final 20% dough is usually used to make cheese pastry. 200 g cream cheese mid with 100 g sour cream, 2 tablespoon sugar, 2 whole eggs, some resins. Mix well. In a round oven safe pot lined with parchment put dough on the bottom and sides to create a container for the filling and add the filling. Make a dough X on top and bake for 40 minutes at 165. C

For all of these some people add orange zest, or various spices. That is all to taste. We like it simpler and as such do not really add spices besides the vanilla and rum extract.

This is of course one of those things in which most families do it their way so there is no standard recipe. For a different example as to proportion of ingredients, I will end the post with an alternative recipe. This one makes a richer pastry, and it is famous, although I am not sure anyone actually does it this way. It comes from a writer and noted gourmand from the 1920s by the name Pastorel Teodoreanu.

 

For 400 grams of flour, which is the base of the thing, you use 20 egg yolks, 30 grams yeast, 30 ml rum, 125 ml milk, 65 g butter, 30 ml oil, 120 g sugar, vanilla. The filling is a mix of 150 g candied orange peel, 70 g raisins mixed together with 30 ml of rum. I am partial to the walnut filling, so I doubt I would like this very much.

Anyway, cozonac.

About The Author

PieInTheSky

PieInTheSky

Mind your own business you nosy buggers

259 Comments

  1. Brochettaward

    Peasant food.

  2. Sensei

    I’m good to try any of the varieties!

    What drinks do you traditionally pair them with? At least here coffee would seem to work.

    • PieInTheSky

      Well there is a old saying

      One of the great things in life is cozonac and red wine. The only thing better is just red wine…

      There is no standard pairing. Or maybe a glass of cold milk. Or some wine.

      • Sean

        Served by itself? Any toppings common?

      • PieInTheSky

        no toppings. Usually it is served after the main course and people drink whatever they were drinking before…

    • CPRM

      Cognac?

  3. Count Potato

    “some resins”

    Pine sap, nylon, epoxy, I like to mix it up.

    • PieInTheSky

      raisins

      • SEA SMITH

        HE KNOW THAT. HE ONLY KIDDING.

        SEE EVERYONE TONIGHT! HA!

  4. R C Dean

    for reasons unknown to me, take the dough out of the bowl and slam it a dozen times or so on the work surface.

    You have to show it who’s boss?

    That looks really good. In the unlikely event we travel to Europe again, I’m thinking Mittel Europe may get our Yankee tourist dollars.

    • Bobarian LMD

      I believe slamming the dough helps with air bubble dispersion.

      You don’t want big voids.

    • Akira

      That’s the “slap and fold”, typically used by bakers to improve gluten development in very wet doughs.

  5. CPRM

    Carbs that aren’t beer or a hotdog/hamburger bun are gross.

    • UnCivilServant

      It’s like I don’t even know you.

      • CPRM

        You’re right, I forgot tortillas and if you’re short on cash some white bread.

      • CPRM

        ..and potatoes, but not gross sweet potatoes…

    • Sean

      If you’re going to defile your body with excess carbs, at least make it cornbread.

      • CPRM

        Only Johnny cake slathered in butter, and then only one small piece.

    • commodious spittoon

      Beer has bread value but bread has no beer value.

  6. Bobarian LMD

    No one said there would be so much math.

    Recipes should all be in volume measurements.

    American volume measurements.

    How many cups is 500g of flour?

    Sounds like it would be delicious. I’m usually not a walnut fan but this seems more toward the baklava type of use which is good.

    My Ma would put big chunks of walnut in her cookies; just so I wouldn’t eat them all (I contend).

    • PieInTheSky

      for dry ingredients by weight is more accurate

    • Nephilium

      Weight is the proper way to measure ingredients. And I would put this more in the Babka category then baklava.

      • robc

        Volume is fine for liquid ingredients.

      • PieInTheSky

        well I said dry myself 🙂

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        volume is fine as long as you can get the necessary precision. I weigh the water for my pizza dough recipe because it needs to be 365+/-5g to start. I don’t have any vessel that holds that volume of water that is able to give me that level of precision.

      • UnCivilServant

        Here’s a little secret – most recipes don’t require that much precision.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Small digital kitchen scales are cheap. Once you have one, you’ll find plenty of uses for them.

  7. Nephilium

    I am not sure one can source walnuts in the savage lands of the Americas.

    The grocery store. Either in shell in the bulk bins, or already shelled in the baking aisle (whole, crushed, halved, or diced).

    • robc

      Or go to your grandparents farm and pick them.

    • Rhywun
      • juris imprudent

        I’m not dancing until the big fish are frying.

      • Rhywun

        /I wasn’t serious

      • juris imprudent
      • Hyperion

        Yeah, I love the sound of big fish frying. But this is a minnow, a minnow no one has ever heard of. Can we at least get that one asshole and his girlfriend Gumby?

      • Ozymandias

        Clinesmith was no minnow.

      • Ozymandias

        I should add, however, that he is small only by comparison to the fact that this was done with the explicit approval of the sitting POTUS (OCriminal) and his closest advisors. By comparison, yes, Clinesmith is a foot soldier, but everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing and understood that the whole purpose was to go after an opposition candidate. They all hated Trump so much, however, that they went willingly along. I hope Clinesmith gets it good and hard in prison, but that’s probably unlikely.

      • Hyperion

        Looks like a ninner to me. Throw it back!

        Seriously never heard of the guy. Can we at least someone who is well known? What was the guys name who was sexting his GF Gumby and said ‘there’s no there there’? He’ll do for a keeper to start.

      • Ozymandias

        Consider this, Hype: would you have a “minnow” doing the underlying work for the FISA warrant on Carter Page? Or doctoring up emails in order to throw off FBI folks who were asking about Page’s history Clinesmith’s supervisor was Peter Strzok.
        I only protest against it because you’re making the DemOp Media’s case for them that this is a “big nothing-burger,” but view it however you want.

      • Hyperion

        “Peter Strzok”

        That’s him! The Gumby grabber!

        I was half jesting, you know?

        I did not know that, but I hope they can at least get Clinesmith to sell Stdork down the river. He can fap to Gumby when he’s in the pokey.

        I just want the Jailer, when he slams the door shut to say ‘Now there’s a there and there it is!’.

      • TARDIS

        A few Clintonectomies would be good. Mother always said, “If you’re going to dream, dream big.” I’d like to see a mass confessioningᵀᴹ to the DOJ for immunity/reduced sentences.

    • Hyperion

      Deputy (dep-oo-tee) dawg is pretending to do something.

    • Ozymandias

      I’m always interested in what’s being pled to – that’s frequently the “tell” for what’s going on. Under 1001(a)(3) Clinesmith could get some time – up to 5 or 8, depending upon how integral they view the thing he altered to the FISA process – but the charging document is pretty damning. No matter how the media tries to spin it, they included very specific facts about what he did, as well as text and email messages to other people. One of them is particularly damning: Clinesmith’s reply after being asked if he was going to leave when Trump won: “Vive le resistance” was his answer.

      This could very well be the beginning of something seismic, but I’m not holding my breath. This site, however, has done a marvelous job of putting the jigsaw pieces together from existing public documents and it’s just… I don’t know, it’s at least as bad as you can imagine, however. Very likely worse. Click on the links in the article and you realize this whole thing has been every conspiracy theorists’ worst fever dream multiplied by about 500. A cabal of folks at DoJ, on orders from the White House and other very, very senior officials in the FBI and Intel Agencies used every bit of the national security apparatus to go after Trump. Mueller’s Team was part of the attempted coverup, too.

      https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/08/11/igor-danchenko-and-a-34-month-long-doj-fbi-cover-up-operation/

      • Hyperion

        It was a coup. Is that illegal?

  8. R C Dean

    Well, well. After months of grunting and straining, the elephant craps out a gnat.

    A mid-ranker, at best, whose crimes have been public knowledge for, what, a year, plead guilty. The lowest of the low hanging fruit has finally been harvested.

    A top FBI lawyer who fabricated evidence in a federal spy warrant against Trump campaign affiliate Carter Page is expected to plead guilty to federal charges brought by U.S. Attorney John Durham. Kevin Clinesmith, who is expected to admit to deliberately fabricating evidence in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant application, used to spy on a former campaign affiliate of President Donald Trump, was a top attorney in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) and a key agency attorney under fired former FBI Director James Comey.

    They could have bagged and tagged him at least a year ago. No indication of whether there was a deal and he rolled over on anyone, which is the only conceivable justification for the delay.

    Yay, I guess.

    • CPRM

      He was the mastermind. It has been dealt with. Barr got them libs good. Time to move along. Nothing else to see, no reasonable prosecutor…

    • Drake

      I was a bit more optimistic. We’ll see.

      • R C Dean

        Its still a little early to write Durham off. I’m not particularly optimistic, but I’ve been wrong before.

      • DEG

        I’m cynical. I’ll believe that something big comes out of Durham’s work or the Swamp gets drained when I see it.

      • Hyperion

        Barr is part of the swamp, we may as well forget about this. Deputy Dawg did his promise to Trump, he really got em. Now it’s time for him to take a nap and gain another 100 lbs in those pork jowels.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      It is more than I thought would happen. I thought no one would be held to account. Hopefully, he did roll on someone, or he doesn’t commit suicide by means of two .25s to the back of the head if he did snitch.

  9. OBJ FRANKELSON

    My Slovene grandmother and her family did something similar with the walnut filling. They did not do as much fancy twisting though. Super delicious!

      • PieInTheSky

        I like the look of our stuff better

    • The Other Kevin

      My Slovak grandma used to make those, and my mom still does. We called them nut rolls. Usually they have either apple or poppy seed filling.

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        My Slovak wife makes a lot of stuff like that too. She’s making pletenky right now.

  10. Fourscore

    Pie, that all looks so good. I ‘m thinking lots of calories that old folks may not need but what the hell, covid’s gonna catch us anyway, right?

    Thanks. Now I’m Hongry(ier)

    • commodious spittoon

      And if the ‘vid or the riots don’t, the years of depression ushered in by Democrat mismanagement surely will.

      • juris imprudent

        Shut up and pay your property taxes on that pile of rubble. And don’t you dare think of cleaning it up without a permit!

      • Fourscore

        You’ve heard the expression, “You couldn’t pay me to live there”

        Well, that’s where I live and I still have to pay for it.

    • PieInTheSky

      I ‘m thinking lots of calories that old folks may not need – well as long as you keep active you can say you are bulking.

  11. kinnath

    thanks for the recipe

  12. Idle Hands

    JFC these people live in a fantasy world.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/how-to-test-every-american-for-covid-19-every-day/615217/

    So here is what May 2021 could look like: Vaccines are rolling out. You haven’t gotten your dose yet, but you are no longer social distancing. When your daughter walks into her classroom, she briefly removes her mask and spits into a plastic bag; so do all the other children and the teacher. The bag is then driven across three states and delivered to the nearest Ginkgo processing facility. When you arrive at work, you spit into a plastic cup, then step outside to drink coffee. In 15 minutes, you get a text: You passed your daily screen and may proceed into the office. You still wear your mask at your desk, and you try to avoid common areas, but local infection levels are down in the single digits. That night, you and your family meet your parents at a restaurant, and before you proceed inside, you all take another contagiousness test. It’s normal, now, to see the little cups of saliva and saline solution, each holding a strip of color-changing paper, sitting on tables near the entrance of every public place. And before you fall asleep, you get a text message from the school district. Nobody in your daughter’s class tested positive this morning—instruction can happen in person tomorrow.

    how bout no? Life isn’t worth living in this hellscape of a society. Not only that but fuck that noise the margins just do not exist in business to do that. These people are legitimately insane. I get the scientist who are selling the testing kits thinking this is a good idea but that’s about it.

    • CPRM

      Science is the new magic, because the magic of economics hath forsaken us.

      • Bobarian LMD

        There is no technical obstacle to that vision.

        Not a vision. That is a fucking nightmare.

        “Let’s make the all-star team of people in this field, pay them whatever they need to be paid, put billions of dollars in, and get a working test in a month that could be truly scalable. Take it out of the free-market, capitalistic world and say: ‘This is a national emergency’—which,” he said, “it is.”

        OFFS! Now I wish the ‘rona were a lot worse, so that it would take out assholes like this.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        An incredibly expensive nightmare at that. These people can go to hell.

      • Hyperion

        It’s a good thing that they’re totally living in la la land. They’ve already tried pushing bullshit like this at organizational levels, and I’ve seen the result of that. People will not go for this sort of violation of their privacy. Not even progs. I’ve seen town halls, I’ve seen the surveys and polls. This sort of shit has already been soundly rejected. It’s a fucking non-starter, thank God.

        But the people pushing this Orwellian bullshit? Their hell should be to live in a world where they are forcefully interrogated, poked, and prodded every day continuously, every single waking moment of their miserable day.

    • Fourscore

      Next, the test for intestinal worms. Bring a sample or make a sample. Can’t be to careful.

    • Brochettaward

      You just want to see Grandma dead.

      • CPRM

        I agree, he only wants my dead grandmas to die.

      • CPRM

        I agree, he only wants my dead grandmas to die.

    • invisible finger

      OKTHXBYE. I’d rather be a hunter-gatherer.

      • Idle Hands

        south dakota sounds better and better.

    • invisible finger

      And if you test positive, you get a yellow star to wear and are transferred to a special colony.

      • Idle Hands

        Think of it more like a temporary holding camp.

      • Bobarian LMD

        It’s just like going to a luxury spa.

        The showers are to die for!

      • Rhywun

        A bullet in the head would be easier on society.

    • Viking1865

      “the margins just do not exist in business to do that”

      One of my Office Progs is actually a pretty smart dude. He’s sort of backed into a corner now where he realizes the lockdowns were a huge overreaction but he still has to signal hard for TEAM SCIENCE. So his latest TEAM SCIENCE talking point is “we need a million contact tracers, then we can reopen”.

      So I, of course, point that the entire United States military has 1.3 million servicemen. So he wants to add an entire federal department 75% the size of the DOD and this is supposedly a “rational and moderate” step.

      • invisible finger

        He sounds pretty stupid to me. Might be smart about his one narrow area and completely stupid about everything else in the world. Like 90% of the doctors I’ve ever met.

      • Idle Hands

        the other thing this article is tacitly admitting is there will be no vaccine in time for May of next year. Once I again I ask what is really the point of this? we flattened the curve we are on the otherside of this in most places, what are we trying to suppress at this point? There are real problems at this point where we don’t even have enough wild virus to test a control group to further develop a vaccine.

      • DEG

        Sounds like some relatives of mine that plan to wear masks, wear gloves, maintain Leper Length, and limit social interactions until there is a vaccine.

        It doesn’t matter what I say to them. “We just don’t want to get the virus!”

        Sigh.

      • invisible finger

        “the” virus. Good grief.

    • The Other Kevin

      Here’s my version of May 2021. People have long since grown fatigued of all the fear mongering. The virus has eased up and run its course just like every other germ in the history of mankind. Even though some people are still getting sick and dying, the population has accepted that risk just like they have accepted deaths from car crashes.

      There is such a thing as “quality of life” that these people keep ignoring.

      • Idle Hands

        Kids going back to school and people seeing actual fans in football stadiums in the fall will go a long way for many.

      • R C Dean

        people seeing actual fans in football stadiums in the fall

        Is anybody planning to do that? I haven’t been paying attention, since I’ve pretty much written football off.

      • Idle Hands

        Jerry Jones has said he wants fans and MLS has allowed fans to attend the games in Texas. Also there is 0 chance the SEC doesn’t allow fans in the stands. 0. There would be riots.

      • Bobarian LMD

        MLS naturally loans itself to social distancing, since there aren’t any fans.

      • invisible finger

        There is more football besides NFL/NCAA D-1

      • robc

        I think the SEC/ACC/Big12 are gonna play. Probably.

        And someone will win a national title and rub it in Ohio States face. Probably Clemson or Alabama, so no different than a normal year, but maybe not.

      • robc

        It bothers me to put a $ value on life, but it exists. We make the choices every day. But some people just can’t get past that hangup and refuse to accept reality.

      • PieInTheSky

        If you had to chose between getting a billion dollars or 20 years of world peace, 0 wars, what would you choose?

      • robc

        Neither, I saw that Simpson’s halloween episode.

      • robc

        Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons.

      • Fourscore

        OJ worked Halloween? That is scary.

      • Rhywun

        If it’s a continuation of the current situation, no contest. I’ll give you my bank account number.

      • Gustave Lytton

        $1b is barely a round error in the annual DoD budget, yet alone 20 years of them. That would be a no brainer.

    • R C Dean

      JFC. That’s supposed to be optimistic? That sounds more dystopian hellhole to me.

      local infection levels are down in the single digits

      I don’t believe the level of active infections has exceeded the low single digits even without your Orwellian fantasy.

    • R C Dean

      you are no longer social distancing. When your daughter walks into her classroom, she briefly removes her mask

      Well, which is it?

      spits into a plastic bag; so do all the other children and the teacher.

      Why is everybody spitting into the same bag?

      The bag is then driven across three states

      Counting AZ, that would mean the damn bag doesn’t get where its going for a day,

      • invisible finger

        Plus, why on earth would there be all this folderol and only a handful of processing sites.

        I suppose asking “why” is racist nowadays.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Prepub paper, May 2022: excessive spitting in public communal settings and lack of sanitation led to current drug resistant tuberculosis epidemic current raging through the US and other countries.

      • Bobarian LMD

        *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*

    • Nephilium

      Remember when Gattaca came out and it was considered a dystopian nightmare?

      • PieInTheSky

        was it though?

      • mrfamous

        All I know is that given what would become of Jude Law, he shouldn’t have given Ethan Hawke any hair at all.

    • Ted S.

      Let’s make all the government-sector employees do this every day for a year before inflicting it on the private sector.

    • Hyperion

      The Atlantic is now worse than the Guardian. They jumped the proggy shark, fuggitaboutit!

  13. CPRM

    That rayzorfister guy needs to WD-40 his fuckin chair.
    *looks at his view count*
    *looks at my view count*
    Or maybe I need to make my chair annoyingly creeky.

  14. DEG

    This looks delicious.

  15. Fatty Bolger

    Just like with orphan factory workers, beating the dough toughens it up some.

    This looks amazing, I may have to try making it some day.

  16. robc

    Just had a dishwasher repairman. Main guy, no mask. Assistant, mask.

    Just interesting.

    • Sean

      Just had a dishwasher repairman

      “Dear Penthouse, I never thought I’d be writing…”

      • Bobarian LMD

        With fava beans and a nice chiante?

      • CPRM

        Don’t forget the sultry Assistant.

    • PieInTheSky

      dishwasher – how bourgeois

      • invisible finger

        The ‘vid took all his orphans.

      • TARDIS

        That’s a lie. They were all asymptomatic. He drank them and spreads the virus at night.

      • R C Dean

        Maybe the guy was there to repair an orphan? Ever think of that, smart guy?

    • salted earth

      Not wearing a mask is a privilege of status?

  17. PieInTheSky

    Romanian government decided to extend the time outdoor bars an restaurants need to close form 2300 to midnight… But Romania is one of the leaders in covid cases apparently.

    • invisible finger

      Vampires hardest hit

    • invisible finger

      Is it really a surprise a bat virus is rampant in Romania??

      • Bobarian LMD

        What is surprising is they aren’t already immune.

    • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

      Shouldn’t you gain immunity by drinking the blood of someone who has already had the virus? Sounds like science to me.

  18. salted earth

    Looks good Pie. Do you do all of the kneading in the bowl?

    • PieInTheSky

      Yes. I did like 25% of it my mom did most of the work. I assume it can be done in a processor

    • robc

      Democrats gonna democrat. That took a 40 year break, but they are right back to where they were before.

      • Bobarian LMD

        California, separate but equal?

      • robc

        Can we just make them separate?

      • Hyperion

        Cascadia Mega Fault Rupture 2020!

    • PieInTheSky

      well whites have no one to blame but themselves. Also sell while the real estate market is still high and get the fuck out…

    • invisible finger

      Moral bankruptcy goes hand-in-hand with fiscal bankruptcy.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      If whites start identifying based on race, and they will if this kind of thing continues, there’s going to be serious trouble in this country.

      • Drake

        Self-hate is the only motivation I can think of for whites to vote Democrat.

        And yes, white racial politics is coming. It’s inevitable now and why the left keeps scare-mongering over white-supremist boogie-men.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Probably so. ☹️

        Just like how the Nazis were a reaction to the leftist insurrections of the late WWI/early 20’s.

      • PieInTheSky

        so in the end you blame ((()))

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The worst part is that all of this stuff is completely unnecessary but people respond to incentives in predictable ways. It’s a shame.

    • Suthenboy

      Not sure how changing state law will affect federal civil rights laws….but it’s good for them to let us know who is who.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Federal civil rights laws…for now. Just like in California, those can change.

      • Drake

        Those change based on who runs the DOJ.

      • Rhywun

        “As California goes, so goes the country.”

        Been hearing this my entire life.

      • juris imprudent

        Well if we’d just push the bastards into the sea.

      • TARDIS

        Why do you want to pollute the sea? I say fertilize the soil with commie ashes.

      • R C Dean

        CA is planning anti-white discrimination, which has been de facto legal for a generation.

      • Rhywun

        It is curious they find the need to make it explicit given that they do it already without anyone blinking.

        Makes you wonder what else they have planned.

    • leon

      IDK how things work in California, but in civilized places, constitutional changes can only be proposed by the legislature, and then ratified by the people in a general vote.

      • UnCivilServant

        In Commifornia, the Attorney General writes the description for the ballot.

        For example, the legislative proposal to remove the property tax cap will appear as “A Measure to remove road funding restrictions.” or somesuch.

        The repeal of the antidiscrimination clause will get something like:

        “A measure to redress issues with historic racism.”

  19. Gustave Lytton

    And some extract of rum and vanilla, I don’t know if these are used in the US.

    Yes, vanilla is commonly used. Rum extract less so, but still available in any grocery’s spices aisle.

    High protein flour is sold as bread flour, also available in any grocery. Well, before covid. It’s mostly available again.

    • robc

      Why use Rum extract instead of just using rum?

    • Bobarian LMD

      A lot of vanilla extract ain’t real vanilla though.

      • PieInTheSky

        most of the cheap one isn’t. I assume one could use real vanilla but I don’t know how much

      • Rhywun

        I always see both at the store. I don’t bake so I don’t mind paying 10x as much for the real thing just to use a few drops for the occasional mixed drink.

  20. leon

    I often say “Politics is just the Kardashians, but for people who think they are better than you”, I was thinking about it, and tell me, How was Joe Biden picking his VP any different than The Bachelor but for people who mean to control you?

    • Bobarian LMD

      We didn’t get to see Fauxcahontas cry and run out of the room when she didn’t get a rose?

      • leon

        So not even as entertaining.

    • Fatty Bolger

      When you get fucked on The Bachelor it’s usually consensual.

    • juris imprudent

      The DNC just announced the entertainment line-up for the convention. No one can say politics isn’t entertainment with a straight face.

      • Rhywun

        Programming for the event will air Monday through Thursday from 9 to 11 p.m. EDT.

        OFFS.

      • invisible finger

        Stephen Stills is the only one I’d consider “entertainment”.

      • Grosspatzer

        For what it’s worth, I concur.

      • Suthenboy

        That picture at the top…what the fuck is that?

      • leon

        I think its the Icon for “The HIll”

      • juris imprudent

        That’s a multi-Grammy winner baby!

      • R C Dean

        The pop tart du jour.

      • Suthenboy

        It makes me think of some of the court characters from The Hunger Games.

      • Grosspatzer

        Monday night will feature “a unique performance of our National Anthem” from a 57-person youth choir, with each member representing “one of the 57 states and territories as they perform from remote locations across the nation,” the convention’s statement said.

        Sounds tasty. I’ve always been a fan of Heinz products.

      • Rhywun

        They better be kneeling.

      • Pope Jimbo

        A choir?! In these Days of Rona?

    • PieInTheSky

      Hey I keep telling people wee need to find a stargate to a perfectly earth like planet and move there to form libertopia

    • Rhywun

      Recent reporting, however, indicates that AT&T is also financially supporting elected officials that promote racism, bigotry, and other efforts that run counter to the message AT&T portrays more publicly.

      *snort*

      How un-self-aware can you be?

  21. one true athena

    Looks delicious! I may try a half recipe since it looks like a lot of dough.

    Are the tablespoons a precise measurement or just “big spoon in the drawer” amount?

    • PieInTheSky

      just “big spoon in the drawer” amount

    • PieInTheSky

      my mom never precisely measured things until I ask her for a recipe to post here

    • PieInTheSky

      But in this case tablespoon can better be translated as to taste, especially sugar

  22. Viking1865

    A lot of the skepticism of voter fraud claims has been based on the idea that state governments are neutral in the federal elections, even considering party affiliation. I don’t think this is true.

    Every single state around the country has suffered budget shortfalls due to their panic and lockdowns. They all have every incentive in the world to offload the financial burden of these fuckups to the federal government.

    Based on a quick Google, it would only cost 30 or 40 billion for a Democrat Congress and White House to clear the red ink out of the four or five crucial swing states that will decide the election. That is a massive incentive for not only the party hacks but also the supposedly apolitical employees to look the other way to any kind of ballot irregularity. It doesn’t need to be any kind of grand conspiracy, all that is required is for the party hacks to issue the instructions, and for the worker bees to think about the looming possibility of budget cuts if the feds don’t bail out the states.

    • Rhywun

      It doesn’t need to be any kind of grand conspiracy

      ^this, which is why the left constantly decries any suggestion of a fix as a “grand conspiracy”.

      • Fatty Bolger

        All conspiracies, and conspiracy theories, are right-wing.

    • Ted S.

      I thought South Dakota had a surplus.

  23. Rhywun

    Today in too local:

    Rose, whose district includes all of Staten Island and part of southern Brooklyn, has cultivated an image as a moderate, but Trump dismissed that claim.

    I just got campaign mail from this guy today showing him all decked out in his military garb, touting his service, etc. etc. He has constant TV commercials calling his opponent a “fraud” etc. No adverts from her; I assume she’ll be outspent 10-to-1 but at least she walks the streets near me unlike this guy.

    Dude, your desperation is showing.

    • Viking1865

      My contempt for Republican leaning moderates who will vote for a Democrat under the premise that if he or she served in the military it must mean they are some kind of moderate is really fucking high. That was how Rahm Emanuel swept in the Blue Dogs who lined up and voted for Obamacare. He picked all these younger people with no history of leftist activism, and got as many people who served overseas as possible.

      When push comes to shove, when its time to create some brand new perpetual taxation monstrosity, the “moderates” always fall in line. There is no such thing as a pro-life Democrat, a fiscally conservative Democrat, or a pro-gun Democrat. They always fucking do what they are told by Nancy Pelosi.

      We already have a massive welfare state. That already exists. If you think we need publicly funded healthcare and education and welfare, well welcome to the Great Society. It turned fifty fucking six this year chief. Vote Republican, because Republicans think whatever the Democrats of about 10 years ago supported is the proper level of government.

      • Rhywun

        The funny thing is I didn’t even know about “his service” until I got that mail. I didn’t vote, or pay the slightest attention to the contest. I don’t recall any campaign advertising. I just assumed he squeaked by with the rest of the “blue wave” that won GOP districts.

      • Akira

        Vote Republican, because Republicans think whatever the Democrats of about 10 years ago supported is the proper level of government.

        Yet, the DNC and corporate media act like the Republican Party is run by Murray Rothbard’s ghost.

  24. leon

    Just got a notification that “Former FBI Lawyer” is expected to plead guilty in the Trump Russia collusion debacle. I.E the guy who falsified the email to a Judge. I take it that this is all that will happen and this is the dedicated sacrifice so that Barr can preserve the holy institutions of the FBI and Justice Department.

    • invisible finger

      I think there will be more, maybe no blockbusters, but more. And the more there are, the more the MSM will ignore them.

  25. Viking1865

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/393996/#respond

    9th Circuit strikes down CA’s “large capacity” magazine ban. 2-1, with the Chief Judge dissenting.

    From the comments:

    Judge Callahan is a Bush 43 appointee.
    Judge Lee is a Donald Trump appointee
    Chief Judge Lynn is a Bill Clinton appointee.

    Elections have consequences, vote accordingly.

    • leon

      We should stop calling them Judges, and just call them Political referees.

      “Well looks like our case got assigned to two Left and one right wing Political referree, hope you enjoyed saying you have gun rights”
      “Well looks like our case got assigned to two right and one left wing Political refferee, hope you enjoyed saying you had 4th amendment rights”

    • Hyperion

      The law is unconstitutional, just like all other firearm restrictions. That being said, it’s also stupid, anyone who can get good at swapping magazines quickly, just circumvented that stupidity already.

  26. Hyperion

    Damn, that looks good as always, Pie.

    I have to show this to my white slave hand maiden… urrr, I mean wife, and she if she can replicate it. That or we’ll have to plan an expedition to Romania, as soon as we can leave the country again.

  27. KibbledKristen

    Why did I read this with 3 hours to go til dinner? Now I’m just going to have to shove something in my gullet to stop the grumbling.

    • Idle Hands

      plus the science shows you can’t catch covid while you are ingesting food.

    • Hyperion

      “The “center” of American politics will always be wherever the Democratic Party’s nominees happen to stand.”

      *Stalin blushes*

    • Rhywun

      He’s one of their best writers.

      According to GovTrack, Harris’s record in the Senate, in fact, is more liberal than that of self-proclaimed democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.

      ?

    • Viking1865

      The only thing that bugs me about that is that shes white, honestly.

      If a black woman wants to get rich absolving white lefties of their guilt, then knock yourself out. But I cannot fucking believe that people are paying a white upper middle class American woman, the most privileged creature to ever exist in all of human history, to lecture them about privilege.

      • Hyperion

        It’s projection, it always is, and she assumes everyone is just like her, projection and narcissism combined is a bad combination.

      • The Other Kevin

        I can’t stand that she’s a big part of a movement that’s undoing 50 years of civil rights progress, and intentionally causing division and hatred, but people are just throwing money at her.

      • Hyperion

        Those people throwing money at her, are her, they’re the same people and they love feeling ‘everyone is just like me!’.

        When I first moved to MD and started making some friends, one guy I had made friends with, we were just out having a beer and talking and some political issue came up, can’t remember what.

        But I’ll just say this, with exceptions, most people here who label themselves ‘conservative’ are not the same as those folks in flyover who label themselves conservative. Most ‘conservatives’ here are people who will vote for Bernie Sanders and can be convinced that any unconstitutional law is OK because reasons. But they don’t like them dope smokers and they’ll keep their capitalism even while voting against it.

        So I said to him something like the following:

        You know those people out there in flyover, you know the rednecks. *he chuckes* Those people do not think like you do. I know those people, I lived with them for half my life, I understand them, I know where they are coming from. You don’t understand them and you probably will not because you live in a bubble and you probably feel comfortable there and don’t want to know, it’s much easier to just think of them as dumb rednecks and that makes ya’ll feel superior.

        You should have seen the look on this guy’s face. It was just ‘WTF?’ did this guy just say to me?, lol. Anyway we’re still friends, but he’s still an east coast conservative, IOW not a conservative.

      • UnCivilServant

        Where are you that you are finding Bernie Bro ‘Conservatives’?

      • Hyperion

        You know where I am. Are you trying to say that there are no supposed conservatives here who have not said they will vote for Bernie? You’re way off, you don’t know any blue state conservatives, almost all of them have severe untreatable TDS.

        The real question may be ‘where are you’?

      • UnCivilServant

        No I don’t have a clue where you are.

      • Hyperion

        Baltimore. Does that explain it?

      • UnCivilServant

        In that context, I suppose it would be easier to find people who adopt the label without the principles.

      • Hyperion

        It would be hard NOT to find them. Ask Juris there, he’s been to Balmer, he knows that I’m talking bout.

        Most GOP voters around here… I was listening to conversations last year before the election while just walking around the hood. As it goes here, this is a pretty conservative neighborhood. A typical conversation would go like this:

        Well, I don’t know why they can’t find a nice conservative, you know, like that Jeb Bush? Yeah, I know, Jeb’s so nice, I’d vote for him, not like that Donald Trump, he’s just mean!

        No further explanation needed. Jeb Bush, Mittens, those are conservatives to these folk.

      • juris imprudent

        Best description of Andy Harris I’ve ever heard, other than my own which is two words: obnoxious asshole.

      • dontreadonme

        I have known him for over 30 years and would say that is a very succinct and accurate description.

      • juris imprudent

        I think this is the best summary.

        People have been mocking DiAngelo. We should be in awe of her instead. She’s the absolute master of this, a P. T. Barnum for our time. As detailed in a New York Times Magazine piece (from which the six examples I mentioned above are drawn), DiAngelo is a great American capitalist marketing genius, up there with the inventor of the pet rock or the people who figured out how to get rich by creating prestige brands of water. Like them, she didn’t invent anything useful, didn’t do any noteworthy work whatsoever. She simply exploited an opportunity. Someday there will be a wing devoted to her in the Marketers’ Hall of Fame. No, they’ll rename the whole institution for her. She’s that good.

      • The Other Kevin

        “In the Times Magazine profile, which was over a year in the making, DiAngelo proves to be a dazzlingly contemporary cross between a charismatic religious leader and a therapist. Does a televangelist ever tell you that you are without sin and no longer need to listen to his appeals? Not if he wants to keep up the payments on his fleet of Jaguars. “

      • The Other Kevin

        Apparently one of the points in her books is that “trying to help” people of other races is white privilege. So donating any of that money to scholarships or things like that would be bad. Aw shucks, no choice but to keep all that money herself!

      • Rhywun

        Except the people and organizations throwing their money at her are using her screed to take power over their (white) friends and employees. People are losing their jobs over this shit. She is evil.

    • Sean

      …and gone.

    • R C Dean

      I’m thinking I probably need an AR. But this is the stupidest possible time to get one and get ammo for one.

      Unless the Dems win in November, in which case this is the stupidest time not to get one. If the Dems win the Presidency, I don’t see how they House or fail to win the Senate, and then, well, look at VA. Game over, man. Game over!

      Just checked .308 prices. The only one available that I am interested in is over $2.00\ round. And I’m actually considering it. Fucking .410 is hard to get. Jeebus. If the ammo market is a leading indicator, well, We. Are. Fucked.

      • Sean

        You know what’s fun?

        AR pistol in 7.62×39. And it’s still affordable to feed right now.

        Just saying…

      • EvilSheldon

        Rainier Arms has some Arsenal AK clones in stock for ~$1200, which is about the baseline price for a good AK. Worth looking at…

      • Sean

        GF may not have a job to go back to in September. She told me to be good about no big purchases for now.

      • juris imprudent

        As profitable as the business is at the moment, they really ought to invest in a few more politicians – the kind that stay bought.

      • TARDIS

        So the 200 rounds for $225 I bought a month ago are a bargain now???

      • R C Dean

        I think any ammo bought a month ago is a Bargain now.

        And I misspoke – it was just under $2.00\ round.

      • EvilSheldon

        I love ARs and think that everyone should have one. But you have *something* you can fight with, right? At this point, it might be wiser to prioritize practicing and training with the guns you already have…

      • R C Dean

        M1A, Beretta 1301, Para-Ordnance .45, Sig 9 mm. Hopefully, I will have an honor guard for my entrance to Valhalla.

        I don’t need-need an AR. For the first time, I’m just kinda wishing I had one.

      • Akira

        Before the boating accident, I was more of an AK man. I even ordered 1000 rounds of ammo before the ‘Rona panic started (which was unfortunately on the boat as well). I even had an AR receiver in case I ever wanted to build one, but it’s probably rusted at the bottom of the lake now.

      • R C Dean

        And, just got the bill for this year’s furniture acquisition. No, there will be no more new guns at the Casa Dean.

      • R C Dean

        But the scene of the catastrophic firefight will be first class. Just the best. Hollywood set designers will weep at the crime scene photos.

      • UnCivilServant

        I was going to ask if it was suitably bulletproof furnature.

    • Hyperion

      Yikes

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Those semi-public employees are above reproach so it’s all good.

      • Hyperion

        It’s just one more reason to abolish public unions, as if we needed more reasons.

      • Grosspatzer

        Beat me to it. “Pay us tribute, or else…”.

    • R C Dean

      Jeebus. The people handling the mail on ballots the Dems are demanding just announced they want the Dem to win.

      And nothing will be done. It’s like giving one party sole control of ballot security. Nothing to see here, etc.

      And you wonder why I worry about the Dems sweeping the table.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Don’t they give an endorsement every time?

      • R C Dean

        Probably, but it used to not matter. This year, they will be, effectively, ballot security for a huge chunk of the election. For the first time, although it’s been trending that way.

      • TARDIS

        So can Trumpy Bear sue to prevent mail-in ballots based on USPS corruption?

    • Rhywun

      Wow.

      To be fair, we knew that was coming.

      But, wow.

    • EvilSheldon

      Strict Scrutiny. Huh.

      Prediction – it’ll be reversed en banc. Still a solid ruling, but it won’t last.

      • R C Dean

        Exactly my prediction, as well.

      • leon

        Or this ^^

    • leon

      I’m sure the state will appeal, and then Roberts will deign to take a SCOTUS Case and shoot it down.

  28. Ted S.

    Poor Rhywun. Lewandowski hasn’t scored.

    • Rhywun

      I may watch the repeat. No spoilers.

      • UnCivilServant

        But how are you supposed to make a FWD Honda look absurd?