Sgian-dubh

It's probably one of the easiest recipes ever - I am a very, very lazy cook, by the way - and an all time American favorite. I honestly do not remember where it comes from anymore, but it doesn't matter. The steel cut oats -not the fine type! - and a swirl of honey on top are the more than welcome Scottish twist. They add a bit of extra crunch to an otherwise foolproof, almost intuitive recipe.

For six hefty servings, you will need:

A - For the filling: 1 pound (500 grams) raspberries - I always use frozen then thawed fruit, because they are easier to work with -, 1 Tablespoon (15 grams) caster sugar, 1 Tablespoon ( 15 grams - resist the temptation to add more!) cornstarch. Adding the juice of half a lemon is optional and a matter of personal taste.

B - For the topping: 1 1/2 cup (225 grams) all purpose flour, 1 stick (110 grams) unsalted butter - the best kind you can get and I always recommend Irish butter, just because it is the best you can get in my world - cut into small pieces, 1/3 cup (75 grams) brown/Demerara sugar, packed, 1/3 cup (75 grams) steel cut oats, a hefty swirl of your favorite honey, which will caramelize in the process. I forgot it, but you shouldn't.

Preheat the oven at 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).

Deal with the filling first. In a buttered and dusted (with flour) pie dish, put the raspberries, then add the sugar and cornstarch. Mix until just combined, not more. Allow to sit while you make the topping. Chemistry will do its trick.

Make the topping, gently mixing the flour, the butter, the oats and the sugar with your fingertips. You should obtain a crumbly consistency. If unsure, use two forks like you'd use those bear claws barbecue utensils.

Top the filling with the flour and oats mixture. Swirl honey on top - liberally.

Bake for 40 minutes in a preheated oven or until golden brown and bubbly. Let cool, serve warm. You can add a scoop of your favorite ice cream (coffee, for me).

You're welcome.

Wishing all our American shippers a Happy Fourth of July, I am reminded of the last part of FDR's 1941 State of the Union address:

'In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want--which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

To that new order we oppose the greater conception--the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.

Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change -- in a perpetual peaceful revolution -- a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions--without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.'

(Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Annual Message to Congress, 1941)

The above affirmations are the necessary complement to a simple phrase that changed mankind forever. And helped shape a nation, while also bringing hope to millions across borders and throughout time:

'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'

(The United States Declaration of Independence - July 4th, 1776)

Every single year I read those few paragraphs together and I am grateful that these words exist, that brave men chose to put them on paper. And that countless other brave women and men made them a part of their everyday lives. Relentlessly. Passionately. Definitively.

All the rest is politics, of course. Irrespective of how irritating or even worrying the current state of play might look, these extraordinary simple truths and their irresistible spirit will never be obliterated.

Dear Worried Anon,

I am not worried at all and you would do better not inferring, here. Since I suppose you were Pearl of Great Price's rather insistent Anon, I also suppose I hit a nerve and I am not displeased.

You seem to be the worried - and tastelessly nosey! - one, by the way. You know as well as I do that Pearl of Great Price always took S for a mild idiot, a highly functioning alcoholic and a hopeless womanizer. Newbies would do well perusing her archives: they are very telling.

I don't file Barnyard Bimbo's stories on my laptop, by the way. I was sent those screenshots by a friend who obviously had them on her phone, in a language I do not use for my apps. Sloppy as charged, again. And in bad faith, too.

Anyways, who is more delusional, here: me -for being able to bring facts to the table, even if you dislike them? Or someone who apparently has a staunch belief an angel named Moroni (seriously?) appeared to a guy named Joseph Smith in an orchard?

I could have avoided this personal reference. I chose not to, because I am pretty much done playing nice to people like you and Pearl of Great Price. Especially when they went personal and insulted me first.

I don't give a flying fuck, either about you or her. So never come back.

Again, you have been fooled by your own Anons, honey:

Your Anon and my post were about the Barnyard Bimbo Instagram Stories. Not about the Spanish Fan Instagram post.

My audacity stems from years of following your dirty little secret, your online shenanigans. Nothing more, but nothing less.

It's business. Nothing personal. Not my problem if you took it that way.

Why are you people so damned sloppy, anyways?

Never wrote they were in Spain. Get a grip and some balls, too.

This Anon was received by a well-known Anti account - many, hopefully unaware, shippers reblog without even a second thought - this evening. It comes exactly on point with S's Mallorca IG story and reads like this:

I am surprised the host did not check, or ask around. And I am surprised even more, given the stalking/obsessive reputation of that particular blogger.

Anyways, the two IG stories Anon could have referred to are these two reposts, from last Tuesday (06/30):

The IG account bio is not very conclusive:

It also links to one of those suspicious casino webpages - but hey, intelligence was never Barnyard Bimbo's forte. Still, their Threads bio is very clear about the creators' whereabouts:

The account is based in Germany. Not exactly Spain, isn't it?

The second and last IG story repost is this one:

This time, it's also very clear. But hey, why not let the masses dream, or in this case, emptily speculate?

Now let's see where Mrs. Bombonato is based, shall we?

Milan. Perhaps to Anon's surprise, that is not Spain, either.

I mean, I get it. Placing Missouri or North Dakota on a blank map is one of my ideas of intellectual terror, for sure. However, unlike Anon and their unsuspecting host, I am not ready to make a fool of myself in public over this. I prefer to double-check my own stupidity and believe a day when I did not learn anything new is a lost day.

And no, it's nowhere near Spain. But I suppose the Bullshit Story was too good to pass, wasn't it?

It was not a hippo on a scooter, it was a moose. My bad.

Because July 1st is Canada Day.

Canada is a formidable country with warm and witty people - wonderful personal memories that - yes! - do include Nova Scotia, too. It does not deserve this general sentiment, but here we are.