#arvethli

Some PO Box bounty to share with you all! 

@arvethli got in touch a while ago about sending me some scorched almonds from Aotearoa/New Zealand, and I said that would be lovely but could you send an envelope of Kiwi Dip mix too? Because my love of Kiwi Dip is new and delicious, and look what I got, two boxes of scorched almonds (don’t worry, I will be sharing!) and MUCH DIP MIX! Plus I included some of the packaging because I thought Mighty Ape was funny :D

@comfyb also sent me some chocolate covered almonds (look, it made it in time for Christmas!), delightful dotty socks, and a wonderful card from molipola on Etsy. Truly the most Mood of cards! And I will always accept gifts of milk chocolate almonds, they keep forever and most people will happily snack upon them. 

Lastly, some lovely Halloween-in-November cards, from @nightshadezombie and @scifigrl47. I am loving how the cards are basically inverses of each other with a Dearborn-like kitty and a Polk-like Kitty. 

Evaporated milk is probably the closest American product but it does not appear thick enough since only 40% the water is reduced out.

elladoraevans on this post 

It looks like sweetened condensed milk, which sounds horrifying with onion soup mix.

kruthie73 on this post

The can (and consistency of the contents) in the video looks like Media Crema. It’s a Nestle product and, in my area at least, can often be found in the Mexican section of regular grocery stores.

Kiwis on various discussion boards have confirmed evaporated milk is too thin and condensed milk is too sweet, and I think neither have the right fat content, but they’re closer than say, normal cream. Media Crema does look closer than either, though I’m given to understand it might also be rather thin for the purpose. Still, it’s on my list to try. 

bonnie131313 on this post

A friend who moved back after years in New Zealand tells me that Nestle Extra Thick Cream is a good substitute and available here in the USA. I don't often see it at the market but you can order it online.

Oh, that one I hadn’t heard of! I’ll look into it. 

femalesafetyhazard on this post

Layers, huh? Like... like an onion? :P

I was thinking like a Seven Layer Dip but yours is way funnier :D

arvethli on this post

You clearly just need to visit NZ @copperbadge so that you can go moose hunting while eating onion dip.

weird, all the skin peeled off my hands exactly one time in my life and i freaked out and went to the doc xD they just shrugged and said probably dermatitis tho

Yeah, usually exfoliative keratoylsis is chronic; also if it peeled off the backs of your hands at all it probably wasn’t that, since it only affects the palms and insides of the fingers. Stress can do that though, and sometimes allergies too! 

arvethli replied to your post “kenna-girl replied to your post “Because I have exfoliative...”

Omg that foot cream is the BEST moisturizer. I got some when I visited the US and I love it so much. Gonna have to order some more online.

I hate moisturizers in general, because I don’t like having greasy stuff on my hands, but like, if I have to, at least it’s a really effective one, so I have to use it less often :D 

warm-honeyys replied to your post “Because I have exfoliative keratolysis, where moisture on the hands...”

there's a name for it!? i thought i was just....defective. because no-one else in my life has this condition. thank you so much!

Yeah, I thought I was just having a really bad dry skin episode, which was partially also because it appears to be seasonal in my case (it pops up primarily in the autumn-winter and winter-spring transition periods, when it’s clammy and humid out. 

It’s actually somewhat common I think, but because usually it’s pretty mild and not painful, nobody much talks about it. I’ve run into tons of people who have it and didn’t know. 

ifiknewiwouldtellyou replied to your post “Because I have exfoliative keratolysis, where moisture on the hands...”

Wait wait wait..I have all the eczemas, including dishydrotic the palms (worsened by washing) but...would this explain the painless, non-itchy full-sole foot peeling I get? Gods, my skin is all sorts of stupid.

compromised-by-castiel replied to your post “kenna-girl replied to your post “Because I have exfoliative...”

oooooooooooh is that what it's called? I have that on my feet, for ages I thought I had athletes foot or something that wouldn't go away

It’s not as common on the soles of the feet, but yes, what you both have could very well be exfoliative keratolysis. I don’t have it on my feet so you may want to google for what to do in specific, and definitely bring it up with your doctor the next time you see them, but you could try slathering the affected areas with a moisturizer with uric or lactic acid a few times a day and see if it improves. 

maplerosekisses replied to your post “Because I have exfoliative keratolysis, where moisture on the hands...”

You know, I never considered that this would cause immunocompromise, but it seems obvious now, and helps explain why my mom is perpetually sick. She works with toddlers (the main reason she gets sick), but she also has this, and it happens more often since this started. Her dermatologist also told her there's a common ingredient in most wet wipes that can make it worse, which...again, toddlers.

Yeah, I never really took the “immunocompromise” part seriously because it’s just a layer of dermis, but apparently it’s more serious than I realized when I first figured it out years ago (also of course as you get older it can get more important). 

@copperbadge ahhh so THAT'S where the terrifying crack fic is hidden on ao3 

In the 1950s! Kind of makes sense, in a way, doesn’t it? 

blackcatcuddles replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

"Fried onion burgers" its fried onions. On a burger. How it it special??? Is that specifically an Oklahoma thing? Does no other state fry onions for burgers?

I assumed from the photo the onions were somehow embedded in the burger after being fried, like a smashburger was smashed ONTO them. 

bluedancingkittykat reblogged your link and added:

Hot Dish is delicious how dare u

I mean, it’s delicious, sure, but it’s a bit heavy in the gut. 

storyhoard replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

maryland's gotta be crab cakes and fries with old bay on em. probably old bay on the crab too.

I feel like Maryland’s should really just be “old bay snorted straight from the tin”. 

thewittiestpartition replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

Nashville hot chicken was just made up to give the state "a food" says my Nashville peeps.

I mean, if you lean in hard enough, that ceases to matter. I invented the Gary Style hot dog to bring more tourists to Gary, Indiana. It hasn’t worked, but I remain loyal to the idea. 

mustanglegends replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

Hot dogs are what Georgia's known for (particularly from the Varsity).

This I would never have guessed! And now I know where to go if I’m ever in Atlanta. 

perkigothii-geekius replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

Dungeness crab my seattleite ass, smoked salmon is what you want in WA

I think the idea there is that crab doesn’t travel as well as smoked salmon, which you can get pretty much anywhere because smoking preserves it. But honestly if given the choice I would prefer smoked salmon. 

nemathia replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

When my fam moved away from WV, I was so bewildered about the lack of pepperoni rolls, anywhere. I had to make my own lol

I had never had one until my first visit to Pittsburgh, and now it’s not a real visit to PGH without one. 

eletaniia replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

After 10 years and probably hundreds of burritos, I believe that is the correct answer for California. Sushi is too ... urban? but you can get a solid burrito just about anywhere. Georgia should indeed be pecan pie as someone else already noted.

That’s the thing, though, you can get a solid burrito anywhere, including many places outside California. That said, the same is true of sushi, so I withdraw that suggestion. I think really we need to hunker down and consider what you can only get in California or what you can only get the BEST of in California.

The answer might be sourdough. Or extra-strong weed edibles. 

tonyystarks replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

This list is homophobic for having so much shellfish on it because I, a gay, am allergic to shellfish

I have bad news for you about the entire east coast of America, my homosexual friend. 

junietwohundred replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

You eat the Coney at American (NOT LAFAYETTE) and then walk 10 minutes to the new Buddy's and get the pizza. Mischief managed.

I know I’m old because I love this idea even as I’m horrified at the heartburn this will inspire. 

dignitywhatdignity replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

Sam, you said Sheetz when you meant Wawa.

I SAID WHAT I SAID. (I like Wawa too, mind you, but Sheetz is a different, almost psychedelic level of food.) 

zephyrmacabee replied to your link “Blue crabs and Cuban sandwiches: The one food you should try in each...”

You can make your own sugar on snow.

We learnt a bit of environmental science stuff on our school bush trips, but yeah they were a weird mix of colonial history (learn how to eat like loggers did!), bushcraft and native forest info. On the geography front I did learn a LOT about volcanoes, but I think that was more my own interest than classes?

Nope, not in NM!

Yeah that’s fair. I imagine you got more like, desert stuff?

thunderboltsortofapenny replied to your post “okay wait so do y’all NOT learn about the different kind of wetlands...”

It's definitely a Florida thing.

But I'm guessing I was taught more about tornadoes and blizzards than you were, so it evens out?

arvethli replied to your post “okay wait so do y’all NOT learn about the different kind of wetlands...”

Didn't learn about wetlands, but did get taught local bush survival skills (because a high number of people die in the NZ wilderness despite a lack of predators. Hypothermia is a bitch.)

We learned a bit about tornadoes but mostly bundled under hurricane weather conditions and not as standalone dangers. We don’t know shit about blizzards though. But the stuff about wetlands was more part of our geography and science courses rather than emergency preparedness.

bifilthatonthatseson replied to your post “okay wait so do y’all NOT learn about the different kind of wetlands...”

This sounds like when I learned that not every elementary school had the snake guy come each year to show everyone the difference between coral and king snakes. Florida elementary schools know what's important here.