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Food Thread: Social Media Recipes And Blending Bourbon...The End Of Our Civilization?

Strata....breakfast casserole...savory bread pudding...

Whatever you want to call it, it is easy, can feed a large number of people, and best of all can be made in advance! Because I was a bit tired of cooking after Rosh Hashanah dinner, and I knew that I would have to feed a gaggle the next morning.

But what was the impetus for making this particular dish? Well! I had it at a friends' home last month, and it was delicious! Actually, I think hers was better than mine, but in my defense it was my first attempt, so I have an excuse.

My next version will be a bit different...I think I used too much bread and not enough egg, and I laid the sour cream on top a bit too thick. I also might sneak some bacon into the recipe, because...well...BACON!

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Social Media is in many ways a tremendously corrosive influence on our culture, in particular its ability to magnify trivial, tiny trends into seemingly massive movements. And don't get me started on its destruction of our attention spans!

One thing I am unsure about though, is the explosion in cooking reels and videos. On one hand, it sure is fun to see other people's culinary creations. On the other hand, a lot of those people are shitty cooks but better videographers, so their crap food looks halfway appetizing.

The younger brat saw a recipe for potatoes on her social media feed, and demanded that we (she) make it for Rosh Hashanah. And I will freely admit that it was good! Not great, and it definitely needs work, but it's a good start.

But they looked spectacular in the video!

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I like Bourbon! And it is a broad category of spirit, so there are styles for pretty much everyone in every price category. But $100 for a bottle is a lot of money, and it had better be something damned special.

This New $100 Bourbon Blends 3 of Kentucky's Most Coveted Whiskeys in One Bottle

This makes me suspicious that it is a marketing ploy rather than an honest attempt at making something special. Why tempt fate with three popular whiskeys in one bottle? That sounds like it could turn out to be a muddy mess without any character.

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And speaking of booze marketing!

Here's a serious question. Why would anyone pay a premium for vodka? Any flavor is distilled out of it by design. That's why you can make it with just about any vegetation that can be fermented. It's essentially an alcoholic additive for juices and liqueurs. It's a commodity.

Grey Goose? It's for suckers and poseurs.

CHANGE MY MIND

-- Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at September 06, 2026 04:36 PM (vRDYl)

I think this is a very good point, and one that we have discussed in the past. I do think that there are minor differences between the various starches that different companies use to make their vodka, and someone with a good palate can probably detect the difference. But I agree that it doesn't translate into quality differences!

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Here's a dish from my youth, and one that I am immensely pleased I no longer have to eat! Classic Stuffed Peppers just doesn't make any sense. The texture of the cooked pepper isn't particularly pleasant when left whole, and it doesn't add anything to the dish other than a sturdy vessel in which to put some boring filling.

Why?

Now...get off my lawn!

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Don't show these to CBD.

Deep Fried Cat Food

NyQuil Chicken

Okay, you can show them to CBD but make sure any weapons are out of reach.

-- Posted by: Robert at September 06, 2026 06:02 PM (ERsao)
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The great garlic experiment of 2025-2026 was a resounding...meh. Send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

About the Bourbon Bubble...I think it has burst, but the category is also suffering from the inflation that affected everything else (Thanks Biden!). I think the sweet spot is still $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.

The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!