Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I find in the US if you ask for well done it is about the equivalent of medium in the UK.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Similar to asking for spicy, spicy in the US is equivalent to mild in the UK generally speaking. However there is no hard and fast rule. In UK Korma is mild everywhere you go and Vindaloo is extra spicy everywhere.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I never got why very spicy food is considered to be good by some? I like to enjoy my food not suffer pain from it. Is it some kind of macho thing?

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

It is not uncommon for my "rare" steaks to be medium-rare or even medium. On one memorable occasion the steak I ordered "rare" arrived as a very solid "well-done", .... with a little plastic flag stuck in it saying "Rare". :rofl:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I don't think everybody has the same reaction. I've tasted food that made other people choke and cry and it just didn't effect me like that.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Agreed. Mrs P says curries are too hot and won't eat them, but we had an appetizer of cured meats at a farm to table restaurant in DC a few years ago and one of the meats was a chilli-cured ham - Mrs P loved it, but for me it was pure heat that just numbed my taste buds it was so hot! :eek:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I can eat curries, hot peppers, chilies and jalapenos with no problem. Love them and ask for extra. I have to be very careful with wasabi and horseradish though. :scaredhair:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

YYuuuukkk ! :ohmy:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I certainly don't react well to very hot spicy food.

"There are two factors at play in the level of spice perceived in any given food: the amount of capsaicin in the peppers, and the sensitivity of your mouth's receptors to that capsaicin."

"Capsaicin; 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related compounds are called capsaicinoids and are produced as secondary metabolites by chili peppers, probably as deterrents against certain mammals and fungi] Pure capsaicin is a volatile, hydrophobic, colorless, odorless, crystalline to waxy compound."

An element designed as a deterrent can't be good.

The sensitivity of my mouth must be very high, because I don't enjoy it at all.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Wasabi and horseradish are a different kind of hot. Like proper English mustard - remove the skin off the inside of your nose hot. Now, I can handle all of them but I much prefer the kind of heat that comes from hot peppers, chilies, etc.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Never tried it. Strawberry cheesecake however :sneaky:

I love a spicy food and have gone all the way to trying ghost chilies (I've only had it twice though - once through peanuts and once in an actual curry).

Wasabi is yummy with sushi too :nod:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

M&S blackcurrant cheesecake is the shit. I'm going to personally eat at least three of them when we go over to the UK next year.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

As I thought. How can I trust the word of anyone who doesn't like pumpkin cheesecake that raw steak tastes good.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I never mentioned pumpkin cheesecake, I've never had it.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I like pumpkin spice coffee, that has to count for something?

And RARE (not raw :lol:) steak is the stuff of legends :starsmile: (add black peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes and asparagus to your satisfaction too).

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Something, something, do you have a pH of 10 ... ?

:scarper:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I see what you did there.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-SSTGFKv-L.jpg

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

That is indeed a redeeming quality

If it's rare it is raw to me. :lol: Have tried it can't stand the taste or texture of rare steak. Just can't eat it.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

You forgot Whatsapp groups Snapchat & using the hashtag #instagood #picoftheday
Last I heard Becky was missing. I hope she turns up safe and well :sneaky:

Good good.

But well done is pretty much rubber :eek:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

:p

Does having at least two slices of pumpkin pie every year over Thanksgiving buy a pass?

I'll admit the whole pumpkin thing isn't a flavour I actively seek out and it will never, ever, displace strawberries for a cheesecake topping out here where the humble ribes nigrum has been deemed a pest (even if my lovely wife managed to find some, inexplicably Downton Abbey branded blackcurrant jam for me for Xmas), I don't hate it with the passion of a thousand burning suns like a lot of people seem to either.

Granted, apple and cherry top the pie charts (NO PUN INTENDED) for me every time, but slather enough whipped cream on there and pumpkin pie is more than palatable. **** off with sweet potato pie though, that shit is rank.

It's OK to like your steak whatever way you want to like it. For me, the rarer it is the better it tastes, but WGAF what I think?

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

:goodpost: and coffee (but not Stollen ;))

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Stollen has raisins, we've covered that - Nutek is welcome to all of it.

My wife doesn't like coffee, so since we never have it around the house, I have just got used to not drinking it, but when I do, I usually like it black and unsweetened, unless it's really rank and I have no other option, then cream and sugar can rescue the flavor somewhat.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I still haven't got used to all this syrup stuff people put in coffee. Syrup is for ice cream and milk shakes , not coffee

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

I don't see why not.

Each to their own. Fortunately we can all get it just the way we like it.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Have you ever asked yourself why some plants produce nicotine or caffeine? The answer is illuminating. :eek:

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

or why willow bark contains a form of pain killer

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

or THC , don't forget the PNW people

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

THC is thought to have a different purpose (similar, but different target), the same purpose as capsaicinoids.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

No but I know they can be harmful?

Caffeine can have both positive and negative health effects.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Can now also earn you a DUI in California.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-solano-county

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

How does that even work? Surely any judge worth his salt will dismiss that case right away.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Does California have DUI or DUII laws like in Oregon?

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Some states call it DWI (Driving while intoxicated), which implies it's something other than alcohol. I think this is what Illinois does.

But caffeine? That's total BS. It's a mild diuretic, and non-narcotic stimulant and unless needing to piss constantly somehow impairs your driving to the point of being as dangerous as being ****ing drunk, this case needs to be dropped like a mentally unstable girlfriend.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

This is some jumped up little cop abusing his power against someone who cut him up. I am very much anti Police after my experience in the US. They are too many power happy little j#$ks here. Very different to the UK. I agree the vast majority appear to be nice people, until the situation occurs when they have opinions that are not in line with the law.

I was almost arrested and charged with theft for raising a credit card dispute for faulty goods. It cost me money to pay an attorney and the Police pulled charges after I paid the Chief of Police off.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

It sucks but the reality is, during a traffic stop, the best thing to do is to keep quiet and speak only when spoken to, answer questions only when asked but otherwise sit and wait to see what the ticket is going to be. In rare cases, you may get a warning, in most cases you'll get the standard ticket for whatever it is you were stopped for but if you get in any way arsey or belligerent, you might end up with a few additional items tacked on and ticket/court costs are high enough as it is, it's just not worth it.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

Yeah, we had a very shitty experience with the US police too. Completely different experience to the UK police. The entire US system worries me now.

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For a country than spends much of its time banging on about freedom, it certainly seems to get off on unchecked authoritarianism.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

This is what my approach would be if ever the situation arose.

Answering "Do You Know Why I Stopped You?" is like walking into a booby trap.

Re: All I want for Christmas is..
 

https://s23.postimg.org/aytths7i3/An...cohol_meme.jpg
(edited as it had a naughty word in it).

But seriously though, I try and avoid law enforcement as much as possible :sneaky: