adding a pint of water ...
I'd also tamp down the cabbage every few days
to make sure it remains completely covered with brine.

One fool proof way to tamp down the cabbage and keep it submerged so
long as the container has a wide enough neck is to lay a teacup
saucer or a bread and butter plate on the cabbage and weigh that
down with a clean, smooth, fist sized rock that has been previously sterilised in the oven.

I'd heard of that. I'd also heard of rocks improperly
chosen and exploding in the oven during the necessary
intermediate stage! Put a geode in a fire and see what
happens.

... New Cocktail: Shipwreck... Cutty Sark on the rocks

Good one. The joke, not the Cutty Sark.

+

Why aren't your power companies burying their lines

there's a lot of rather closely packed neighborhoods here

But you are already burying your sewer, water and natural gas lines.
So why not power, telephone and cable?

Probably because the first set of utilities were done
before the second set, and the providers are always
keen on whatever method allows for more short-term
profit. Doing the more recent set underground would
require additional digging, which costs more. The
result can be catastrophic, but the decisionmakers
of yesteryear made their nest egg and had their
community centers named after them and are dead, so
no recourse against them is possible.

there's also the risk of people digging and cutting into the
buried lines...

Very small. It hasn't happened once here in 15 years whereas
powerlines going down from wind, ice buildup or falling trees is at
the very least an once a year affair in most places.

I'd say close to zero when it's made clear that the
excavators will be responsible for whatever trouble
they cause. Hand trenching okay, backhoes not so much.
The DigSafe program helps a bit.

Also the lines are protected by sturdy conduit.

And that.

Something new to me that I plan to try:
Title: Chinese Velveting: An Introduction To Water-Velveting

I prefer oil velveting, but that may just be because
of tradition. I tried water velveting once, and it sort
of worked.

... In New Jersey, they cook hotdogs in deep fryers. Nuff said.

It's a rare and wonderful hot dog whose exalted
quality would be compromised by deep frying.

A sausage recipe from a place I'll be visiting a
couple weeks from now -

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.01

Title: Nuernberger Rostbratwuerste
Categories: Pork/ham, German, Veal
Yield: 6 servings

500 g Pork (not too fat) 1/2 ts Marjoram
150 g Veal Salt to taste
1/4 ts Finely chopped caraway seed Natural sausage casing,
(not ground) Ca. 1/2" diameter
1/4 ts Nutmeg

Coarsely chop the pork and veal on a cutting board (should be a bit
coarser
than ground meat), combine with caraway seed, nutmeg, marjoram and salt.
Fill into the carefully cleaned sausage casing; twist casing to form a
sausage every 3 1/4". The bratwurst tastes best when browned on all sides
over charcoal. Excellent with sauerkraut and a German country style rye
bread. As a drink to go with it, a hearty beer is recommended.

From: Kulinarische Streifzuege durch Franken, sigloch edition, 1980,
ISBN 3 8003 0147 4, translated for you by Volkhart Baumgaertner

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