Matthew Rowley
@mbrowley.bsky.social
Write | Lift | Travel | James Beard finalist | Past Southern Foodways Alliance board | Contributing editor, Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails | 🏡 San Diego | Typos no extra charge.
Val knows what’s up. This just came, a nice note about my ginger pie.
It’s not too late. You could make one for Thanksgiving. Or, you know…the weekend, a birthday, your cat’s quinceañera. You don’t really need an excuse. Just make one when the mood hits.
Link to the recipe ⬇️
It’s not too late. You could make one for Thanksgiving. Or, you know…the weekend, a birthday, your cat’s quinceañera. You don’t really need an excuse. Just make one when the mood hits.
Link to the recipe ⬇️
November 26, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Val knows what’s up. This just came, a nice note about my ginger pie.
It’s not too late. You could make one for Thanksgiving. Or, you know…the weekend, a birthday, your cat’s quinceañera. You don’t really need an excuse. Just make one when the mood hits.
Link to the recipe ⬇️
It’s not too late. You could make one for Thanksgiving. Or, you know…the weekend, a birthday, your cat’s quinceañera. You don’t really need an excuse. Just make one when the mood hits.
Link to the recipe ⬇️
Had it all spellchecked and everything.
Realized that my experience made it imperative that I not get in on that action.
Anyway, I should probably go get milk before the shops turn busy today. The good stuff. 6% fat. Treat yo self.
Realized that my experience made it imperative that I not get in on that action.
Anyway, I should probably go get milk before the shops turn busy today. The good stuff. 6% fat. Treat yo self.
November 26, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Had it all spellchecked and everything.
Realized that my experience made it imperative that I not get in on that action.
Anyway, I should probably go get milk before the shops turn busy today. The good stuff. 6% fat. Treat yo self.
Realized that my experience made it imperative that I not get in on that action.
Anyway, I should probably go get milk before the shops turn busy today. The good stuff. 6% fat. Treat yo self.
Today is a good day to clean out accumulated crumbs or counter detritus that may have ended up in your flatware/smallware kitchen drawers. (a) s’dirty (b) attracts critters (c) gives aunties visiting for Thanksgiving reason to talk about you when you leave the room, mostly w eyebrows and pursed lips
November 26, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Today is a good day to clean out accumulated crumbs or counter detritus that may have ended up in your flatware/smallware kitchen drawers. (a) s’dirty (b) attracts critters (c) gives aunties visiting for Thanksgiving reason to talk about you when you leave the room, mostly w eyebrows and pursed lips
Oh, come ON.
There’s no way the Jack in the Box goon squad didn’t understand exactly what they were doing.
There’s no way the Jack in the Box goon squad didn’t understand exactly what they were doing.
November 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Oh, come ON.
There’s no way the Jack in the Box goon squad didn’t understand exactly what they were doing.
There’s no way the Jack in the Box goon squad didn’t understand exactly what they were doing.
We, a now-dogless couple, watched Good Boy this weekend. A horror story told mostly from a devoted dog’s POV. It’s short: 75 minutes. That pup was, indeed, a good boy.
Ignore my husband’s “JFC wtf was THAT?” enquiry. It’s a good little film.
And now I want a dog again.
Ignore my husband’s “JFC wtf was THAT?” enquiry. It’s a good little film.
And now I want a dog again.
Good Boy - Official Trailer | HD | IFC Films
YouTube video by IFC Films
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 4:41 PM
We, a now-dogless couple, watched Good Boy this weekend. A horror story told mostly from a devoted dog’s POV. It’s short: 75 minutes. That pup was, indeed, a good boy.
Ignore my husband’s “JFC wtf was THAT?” enquiry. It’s a good little film.
And now I want a dog again.
Ignore my husband’s “JFC wtf was THAT?” enquiry. It’s a good little film.
And now I want a dog again.
Welp. After 35 years, my workhorse deep fryer/slow cooker combo has died. Time to set him out to pasture.
Any of you fry daddies/mamís have a model recommendation for a home-sized deep fryer? (Air fryers are a separate convo.) Doesn’t have to multitask—just looking for a solid, reliable deep fryer.
Any of you fry daddies/mamís have a model recommendation for a home-sized deep fryer? (Air fryers are a separate convo.) Doesn’t have to multitask—just looking for a solid, reliable deep fryer.
November 25, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Welp. After 35 years, my workhorse deep fryer/slow cooker combo has died. Time to set him out to pasture.
Any of you fry daddies/mamís have a model recommendation for a home-sized deep fryer? (Air fryers are a separate convo.) Doesn’t have to multitask—just looking for a solid, reliable deep fryer.
Any of you fry daddies/mamís have a model recommendation for a home-sized deep fryer? (Air fryers are a separate convo.) Doesn’t have to multitask—just looking for a solid, reliable deep fryer.
Don’t take this bait. From authors to drinks, music to sex, fashion to pets, not everyone is into what you’re into. We didn’t contort ourselves into delusional special little boxes to get where we are. No biggie. Find people who dig the things you do and refrain from shitting on those who don’t.
As someone who is this guy's age I can tell you 100% that if you were into Pixies, Nirvana, 120 Minutes stuff, etc. but didn't like the Beatles you had to have worked hard to contort yourself into that special little box. Your enemy, if you absolutely needed one, was hair metal. GTFO here with this.
November 24, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Don’t take this bait. From authors to drinks, music to sex, fashion to pets, not everyone is into what you’re into. We didn’t contort ourselves into delusional special little boxes to get where we are. No biggie. Find people who dig the things you do and refrain from shitting on those who don’t.
Costco sells 908g pecan halves for about $15. Every Autumn, I use unbroken halves for an elaborate confection. The thing is, some are always broken and only 70-80% are usable for it.
So if you buy Kirkland pecans for pies, candies, etc that require perfect, unbroken halves, plan accordingly.
So if you buy Kirkland pecans for pies, candies, etc that require perfect, unbroken halves, plan accordingly.
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Costco sells 908g pecan halves for about $15. Every Autumn, I use unbroken halves for an elaborate confection. The thing is, some are always broken and only 70-80% are usable for it.
So if you buy Kirkland pecans for pies, candies, etc that require perfect, unbroken halves, plan accordingly.
So if you buy Kirkland pecans for pies, candies, etc that require perfect, unbroken halves, plan accordingly.
In this episode, Carol, Daryl, and Rick Stein set down in Naples where mussels aren’t the only thing awaiting them. Vincent Cassel guest stars.
November 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
In this episode, Carol, Daryl, and Rick Stein set down in Naples where mussels aren’t the only thing awaiting them. Vincent Cassel guest stars.
I have acquired, as I do from time to time, a box of sausage.
November 21, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I have acquired, as I do from time to time, a box of sausage.
And they’re thundering down the stretch—OpenAI by a nose, Anthropic gaining, Google charging hard—when GOOD LORD here come Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes flying up the outside rail! The tech titans stumble—POETRY TAKES THE LEAD!—and at the wire it’s the poets by a mile!
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 1:26 PM
And they’re thundering down the stretch—OpenAI by a nose, Anthropic gaining, Google charging hard—when GOOD LORD here come Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes flying up the outside rail! The tech titans stumble—POETRY TAKES THE LEAD!—and at the wire it’s the poets by a mile!
I never want to know a day
that's under sixty degrees
I'd rather have it eighty,
ninety,
one hundred's a breeze
~ Heat Miser
(goes almost without saying: Fahrenheit, not centigrade. He’s a miser, not a monster)
that's under sixty degrees
I'd rather have it eighty,
ninety,
one hundred's a breeze
~ Heat Miser
(goes almost without saying: Fahrenheit, not centigrade. He’s a miser, not a monster)
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I never want to know a day
that's under sixty degrees
I'd rather have it eighty,
ninety,
one hundred's a breeze
~ Heat Miser
(goes almost without saying: Fahrenheit, not centigrade. He’s a miser, not a monster)
that's under sixty degrees
I'd rather have it eighty,
ninety,
one hundred's a breeze
~ Heat Miser
(goes almost without saying: Fahrenheit, not centigrade. He’s a miser, not a monster)
Egg noodles for green chile and chicken soup.
November 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Egg noodles for green chile and chicken soup.
Bit on the nose with the subtitle.
Julia Davis as Franny Cradock, a haughty midcentury British restaurant, critic, and television cook. Mark Gattis in monocle and cravat is the perfect side. She was big in the UK for some years, not particularly well known in the US.
Julia Davis as Franny Cradock, a haughty midcentury British restaurant, critic, and television cook. Mark Gattis in monocle and cravat is the perfect side. She was big in the UK for some years, not particularly well known in the US.
November 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Bit on the nose with the subtitle.
Julia Davis as Franny Cradock, a haughty midcentury British restaurant, critic, and television cook. Mark Gattis in monocle and cravat is the perfect side. She was big in the UK for some years, not particularly well known in the US.
Julia Davis as Franny Cradock, a haughty midcentury British restaurant, critic, and television cook. Mark Gattis in monocle and cravat is the perfect side. She was big in the UK for some years, not particularly well known in the US.
Voice from the kitchen: Lard.
Me in the office, pausing music: You what?
VFTK: Lard.
MITO:
VFTK: You bought—
MITO: Oh, right. Yeah.
He rounds the corner into the office.
VITO: What for?
MITO: Pies. Schnitzel. Maybe tamales.
VITO: People don’t use lard in pie.
MITO: I assure you, they do.
Me in the office, pausing music: You what?
VFTK: Lard.
MITO:
VFTK: You bought—
MITO: Oh, right. Yeah.
He rounds the corner into the office.
VITO: What for?
MITO: Pies. Schnitzel. Maybe tamales.
VITO: People don’t use lard in pie.
MITO: I assure you, they do.
November 19, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Voice from the kitchen: Lard.
Me in the office, pausing music: You what?
VFTK: Lard.
MITO:
VFTK: You bought—
MITO: Oh, right. Yeah.
He rounds the corner into the office.
VITO: What for?
MITO: Pies. Schnitzel. Maybe tamales.
VITO: People don’t use lard in pie.
MITO: I assure you, they do.
Me in the office, pausing music: You what?
VFTK: Lard.
MITO:
VFTK: You bought—
MITO: Oh, right. Yeah.
He rounds the corner into the office.
VITO: What for?
MITO: Pies. Schnitzel. Maybe tamales.
VITO: People don’t use lard in pie.
MITO: I assure you, they do.
“Though it's painful to admit, throughout its history, steak has been co-opted by assholes…”
~ @timhayward.bsky.social Steak: The Whole Story (2024)
(reading while awaiting car repairs)
~ @timhayward.bsky.social Steak: The Whole Story (2024)
(reading while awaiting car repairs)
November 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
“Though it's painful to admit, throughout its history, steak has been co-opted by assholes…”
~ @timhayward.bsky.social Steak: The Whole Story (2024)
(reading while awaiting car repairs)
~ @timhayward.bsky.social Steak: The Whole Story (2024)
(reading while awaiting car repairs)
A few pages from Pedro Reyes (2024) La Republica Democratica del Cerdo: a glossary of carnitas bits; a small essay on pozole (typical of the writing); queso de puerco (not real queso) formed/drained in a tompeate/basket; a chilorio recipe.
Happy with this one.
ISBN: 9786075980126
Happy with this one.
ISBN: 9786075980126
November 18, 2025 at 7:21 PM
A few pages from Pedro Reyes (2024) La Republica Democratica del Cerdo: a glossary of carnitas bits; a small essay on pozole (typical of the writing); queso de puerco (not real queso) formed/drained in a tompeate/basket; a chilorio recipe.
Happy with this one.
ISBN: 9786075980126
Happy with this one.
ISBN: 9786075980126
More cold weather cooking.
Made a pot of (mostly) New Mexico red chile sauce for chicken and quesillo enchiladas. My only adjustment was to include a single Pasilla de Oaxaca because I’d just scored a supply in Oaxaca. Added a great smoky backnote to the sauce.
Made a pot of (mostly) New Mexico red chile sauce for chicken and quesillo enchiladas. My only adjustment was to include a single Pasilla de Oaxaca because I’d just scored a supply in Oaxaca. Added a great smoky backnote to the sauce.
November 17, 2025 at 3:02 PM
More cold weather cooking.
Made a pot of (mostly) New Mexico red chile sauce for chicken and quesillo enchiladas. My only adjustment was to include a single Pasilla de Oaxaca because I’d just scored a supply in Oaxaca. Added a great smoky backnote to the sauce.
Made a pot of (mostly) New Mexico red chile sauce for chicken and quesillo enchiladas. My only adjustment was to include a single Pasilla de Oaxaca because I’d just scored a supply in Oaxaca. Added a great smoky backnote to the sauce.
64°F in San Diego. Me and the boys on our way to retrieve the wool socks, sweaters, flannel sheets, hurricane shirts, and hot whiskey thermoses.
November 16, 2025 at 9:32 PM
64°F in San Diego. Me and the boys on our way to retrieve the wool socks, sweaters, flannel sheets, hurricane shirts, and hot whiskey thermoses.
Thanksgiving dinner mostly planned. Now just rummaging through sweets/baking/pudding/ice cream books to see if anything looks better than my regular ginger pie.
November 16, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Thanksgiving dinner mostly planned. Now just rummaging through sweets/baking/pudding/ice cream books to see if anything looks better than my regular ginger pie.
This cold, wet day has me in a mood for comfort. It’s early in the season for a pot of Boilo, but not egregiously so. My dad’s family settled in Pennsylvania coal country; this hot whiskey comes from there. If you can read them, my handwritten notes on Boilo follows. First up: Four Queens whiskey.
November 15, 2025 at 9:59 PM
This cold, wet day has me in a mood for comfort. It’s early in the season for a pot of Boilo, but not egregiously so. My dad’s family settled in Pennsylvania coal country; this hot whiskey comes from there. If you can read them, my handwritten notes on Boilo follows. First up: Four Queens whiskey.
It’s been drizzling and mizzling for a day and a half, but San Diego‘s hard, proper rain just began slamming us a few minutes ago.
Best give the cliffs and canyons wide berth for a week or so.
Best give the cliffs and canyons wide berth for a week or so.
November 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
It’s been drizzling and mizzling for a day and a half, but San Diego‘s hard, proper rain just began slamming us a few minutes ago.
Best give the cliffs and canyons wide berth for a week or so.
Best give the cliffs and canyons wide berth for a week or so.
Tongs are provided. Use the tongs.
November 14, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Tongs are provided. Use the tongs.
San Diego lunch break.
November 14, 2025 at 9:17 PM
San Diego lunch break.