for january, its a bit hot

Question:

Is it just me, or has Barbie's bust size decreased in circumference? My niece is a Bratz person (shudders), but she has a few, and I was disconcerted to see Barbie may have had a breast reduction.

This is the kind of thing that's ruining our country and leading to the death of the porn industry. Where will girls get unrealistic body expectations if Barbie isn't there to model impossible proportions, where will our underfunded plastic surgeons get the money to buy that yacht they've been saving up for?

I'm worried. I am very, very worried.

Also, I have a picture of my Thanksgiving turkey below the cut!

Turkey

This turkey is in the traditional Turkey Pan of Five Billion YEars of Use because my sister stole the nice one for her 'casserole'. No bitterness. My pan is far superior, with many years of grueling oven use, leading to that blackened glow of health.

(plz send me a new turkey pan for my birthday w/lipgloss!)

Comments

[vic-ramsey.livejournal.com]

Yes, a couple of years ago they redesigned Barbie to have a smaller bust size and a bigger hip size.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I have never felt so betrayed in my life.

[deadlychameleon.livejournal.com]

*drools on your turkey*

[seperis.livejournal.com]

It was a truly inspired turkey. Perhaps my best yet. Perhaps the best ever cooked.

If only I had a worthy presentation dish.

[deadlychameleon.livejournal.com]

http://www.surlatable.com/category/cookware/casseroles+%26+ovens.do

[deadlychameleon.livejournal.com]

Come on, you know you need a $540 copper roasting pan.

[ratcreature]

Huh. It actually looks different from a roasted goose. This explains why in the Donald Duck comics, which in German translations has them eating goose rather than the original turkey because people eat goose for a holiday roast not turkey (making the comics vaguely disturbing btw, what with there actually being geese in their extended family like Gladstone Gander or Gus Goose), the roasted goose never quite looked right. I don't think I've ever seen a whole turkey roast in RL...

[seperis.livejournal.com]

You know, I have never had either goose or duck. My mother is vaguely disturbed by non-chicken/turkey/game hen fowl (bad experience with my grandmother's roast duck, from what I understand).

It's on my list of things to try one day.

[ratcreature]

I've had turkey, like bits of it, legs and breasts, but I never liked it much when I still ate meat, because it was fairly bland and boring. Kind of the tofu of the meat selection. And maybe my mother wasn't great at preparing it, but it tended to be fairly dry too, not quite as dry as rabbit or hare (though at least I liked the taste of these two), but still to dry for my liking. Goose OTOH is really delicious, duck too, but I liked goose better.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Turkey breast is like sawdust in the dryness. Gah. Turkey has a flavor, but it's really necessary to prep it first to get it to work, and the lack of fat really does work against that. Hence, adding fat, so speak.

With turkey, I have a Plan.

I soak it overnight in a salt and sugar and herb brine, then loosen the skin on the breast before roasting and put herbed butter between the skin and meat, then I baste, baste, baste. I also like glazing it; the last three years with apricot-ginger, but I want to see what it does with cranberry or raspberry or peach.

When that's done, it's just--to me--fantastic. Even without the glaze, I like that the meat is both fantastically tender and really *really* good, deeply appropriate for both soup and sandwich-making purposes.

[ratcreature]

Turkey has a flavor, but it's really necessary to prep it first to get it to work,

Just like tofu, as I said. *G* You have to soak that in spices and fry it in fat to make it taste good as well.

Goose OTOH comes with it's own fat. I mean, from what I've observed in the holiday bird preparations the fat from the goose will drip from it in copious amounts when it's being roasted and the meat will still be deliciously juicy. You remove some of the fat while roasting for later use (like as goose lard) or the sauce from the drippings will get far too fatty. So I think that my mother was mostly familiar with goose as the model for preparation of big birds and their parts may have worked against turkey in her hands.

[miss-porcupine.livejournal.com]

Hey, all of my pots and pans have the blackened glow of health and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Sadly, my white KitchenAid does not look as pretty as yours. It is about as old as my teeth and shows more wear. But it is loved. Oh, is it loved.

Clearly, I ascribe to the Velveteen Rabbit school of cookware.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Me too. The only really shiny stuff any of us have is the Christmas-only festive plates and serving dishes tenderly wrapped in paper in the attic.

Though my favorite pan is this massive, massive black cast-iron thing we got at a garage sale. It's heavy enough to use as a weapon and solid black and has to be oiled and scrubbed carefully, but nothing does better frying (or in fact, makes fantastic cornbread). It's like the uberpan of everything--I have suspicion it is actually The Pan of Everything.

Oh Kitchen-Aid. To be fair, mine is only a few years old, but everyone I know who has one has had it forever and ever and still works like a dream. *hugs mixer* It is the Ubermixer.

(Though. Have you seen the industrial Kitchen-Aid mixers? Oh my God. They have more functions and attachments than I am able to recognize. It's a little frightening.)

[miss-porcupine.livejournal.com]

My KitchenAid is +25 years old (i.e., all metal and officially Not Made Like That Anymore). I have inherited it and a wide plethora of attachments I use with varying degrees of infrequentness. (Okay, so the sausage-making bits haven't even been touched in almost twenty years.) I do intend to start grinding my own meat this year; all those recalls and whatnot... I bake almost weekly and for that alone, though, it is worth its weight.

[lillian13.livejournal.com]

Oh, for a kitchen big enough for a KitchenAid mixer. (sets hope on the fall move)

I think you're only allowed to get presentation platters for wedding presents. It may be why I will never own one.

I now have a desire to reach into the picture and make giblet gravy. Mmmmm.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I have often thought that I might get married if I could be sure everyone would shop off a Kitchen-Aid list I'd provide. Sure, husband, whatever, but oh my God the awesome kitchen appliances.

It would almost be worth it. Not entirely, but almost.

Also, tomorrow *should* be okay. I have checked to make sure that there are no relatives in need of assistance and that I will have clean jeans. Any chance of stopping by Barnes and Noble? My dad wants a new Stephen King book--I have him Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to tide him over, but he's in a book-crave and sadly, even the extra Sherlock books I have lying around aren't quite hitting the spot.

[lillian13.livejournal.com]

Oh God, yes. A Cuisinart. (drools)

Sure. We'll be by BookPeople, but it's not like there aren't other stores we can hit (I really need to go to Sparks to load up on snarky birthday cards.) Heck, we can pick up the King at a Sams Club...

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Sorry I just had to stop when I saw the Death of Rats - not often he gets to be seen even in lj-land *g*

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... in a previous run of the reality show Project Runway, the gang had to design a gown for a "more youthful" version of Barbie created for a younger girl-demographic, and you could see she had a smaller bust size than regular Barbie. I wonder if you might not have seen this version? Because the folks at Mattel don't like to mess with Classic Barbie's design as that might diminish her sales.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

No, it's the one on her floor, but girlnamedpixley illustrates below.

Seriously, that was a wierd moment staring at her and thinking, wait, that's not right....

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

My mind is blown! This could be why Mattel is in trouble and the Bratz dolls have made such in-roads in sales.

Ya know, now that I think of it, my fav fashion doll as a kid was Francie, Barbie's MODern cousin, not Barbie. According to the Wikipedia article on Francie, she was shorter than Barbie, and I remember she had a way smaller bust with a rather boyish figure, with less of the traditional Barbie hourglass figure. (Twiggy was the hottest super-model at the time.) It sounds like today's Barbie is going for a Francie look!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francie_(Barbie_doll)

[girlnamedpixley.livejournal.com]

You're not imagining things. Not only did they reduce her breasts, they made her waist slightly bigger and her legs slightly shorter. It's a travesty!!! What next? Acne Barbie? Size 10 Feet Barbie? Double Chin Barbie? I don't need that much realism in my iconistic toys. Sheesh. You know if I weren't already positive that Ken was gay anyway I'd suspect the smaller boobs and bigger waist was behind his leaving.

ETA picture...(also the website says she was given a "fuller face") *snort*

[seperis.livejournal.com]

SIZE TEN FEET!

Man, have you ever relaly stared at a Bratz doll? *twitch* They completely freak me out; everything is removable! You find little leg-feet *everywhere*. It's like a very adorable yet deeply creepy massacre in my niece's room sometimes.

[lexii314.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA!!!! Dude Bratz sales have been beating out Barbie for the last 5 years. They had to change her.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

PS KEN WAS TOTALLY GAY. DRAW ON BEARD AND MUSTACHE? MIGHT AS WELL GIVE HIM A PASTA MAKER.

[that_mireille]

My Ken had stick-on sideburns. But I liked him because he had hair, not plastic. It made him look even more gay, but I was four, what did I care?

Oh, the Seventies.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Heh. It's very weird that the new "more realistic" figure leaves me staring at the screen with a "but that's not right..." feeling. I grew up used to the crazy-crazy hip-to-waist curve.

[gournay.livejournal.com]

My last barbie was one of those "new" once. She couldn't wear any other dresses than the one she came in. I was so disappointed.
Remember the science chick on the vulcano planet in SGA? Blond girl? She kinda looks like barbie.

for January, it's a bit hot

[maxinemayer.livejournal.com]

To get back to basics - Barbie be damned - that turkey of yours looks like it tastes delicious!!! Love, max