Beth Butler (u/beth_butler75)

Posts

Grandma's pierogi dough is supposed to be sticky?? I messed it up for 10 years

So I've been making my grandma's pierogi recipe since I was like 20 and always thought the dough was way too sticky to work with. I kept adding more flour to the point where they came out tough and kinda rubbery every time. Last week my aunt watched me in the kitchen and literally grabbed my wrist mid-flour-pour. She said grandma always kept the dough soft and just used extra flour on the table instead. Made a fresh batch the right way and my god the texture was completely different. Soft chewy pillows instead of those hard little hockey pucks I've been serving for a decade. Now I feel like I owe everyone in my family an apology for all those bad pierogis I've been passing off as authentic. Has anyone else discovered they were doing a family recipe completely backwards for years?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

beth_butler75•4d ago

The 5am flight vs the red-eye debate - which actually saves more?

I started trying to save cash on flights last year and found two camps online. The early birds swear by 5am departures because you avoid surge pricing on tickets and can nap on the plane. But I tested both on a trip to Denver in February - the 5am flight cost $89 but I spent $35 on coffee and breakfast bars at the airport to stay awake. The red-eye was $78 but I crashed at a buddy's place instead of paying for a hostel that night. So which strategy has actually worked better for you guys - the early riser or the night owl route? I'm trying to plan a trip to Austin in June and want to know what really saves.

2 comments

c/cable-installers•

beth_butler75•26d ago

Why does nobody talk about how terrible attics in Florida are for running cable

Was up in a house near Tampa last week and nearly passed out from the heat before I even got the first line fished through because the insulation was packed so tight you couldn't see the trusses.

2 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

The grease difference after switching to Park PolyLube on my shop bikes

I used to just use whatever generic bearing grease I had laying around for bottom bracket and headset jobs. About 3 months ago I ran out and grabbed a tub of Park Tool PolyLube 1000 on a whim. The before and after is honestly pretty wild. On a customer's old Trek that had that sticky brown stuff in it, the fresh PolyLube made the bearings spin noticeably smoother and quieter after just a week of riding. I think the main thing is how it stays put and doesn't wash out in wet weather. My shop is in Portland so we see a ton of rain, and bikes with the generic stuff come back feeling gritty way faster. Has anyone else noticed a big difference switching to a specific grease brand for longevity?

2 comments

c/baking-fails-and-wins•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

My mother in law swore by butter instead of shortening in pie crust

She told me for years that butter makes a flakier crust than shortening. I finally tried her method last Thanksgiving for my apple pie. The dough was a sticky mess and fell apart when I tried to roll it out. I ended up with a crumbly, greasy bottom that looked like a mess. The pie tasted fine but the crust just crumbled into pieces on the plate. Has anyone else had luck with an all butter pie crust or am I missing a trick?

2 comments

c/ask-anything•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

Hot take: People keep calling every kind of cloud a 'nimbus' and it drives me nuts

I was at a BBQ last Saturday and my buddy pointed at a flat gray sky and said 'look at those nimbus clouds.' Actually those were stratus clouds. Nimbus means rain-bearing, so a nimbostratus is a rain cloud that's flat and layered. I started noticing people mix this up all the time online and in real life. Has anyone else had to correct a friend on cloud types or am I just being too picky?

3 comments

c/camera-repairers•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

Saw a Nikon F2 clunking away on a job site yesterday and realized my repair bench used to see one of those every couple months back in the 90s

Now it's all digital circuit boards and ribbon cables that snap if you breathe on them, and I wonder how many of those old mechanical shutters will just sit in closets until someone finally tosses them out.

2 comments

c/alternate-ending-ideas•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

That scene in The Shining where Jack chops through the door always bothered me

I just read that the actual layout of the Overlook Hotel's kitchen from the book would have made it physically impossible for Wendy to get cornered like that. The pantry had two exits per the original floor plans Kubrick supposedly ignored. Anyone else notice how often movie endings hinge on bad architecture?

2 comments

c/cnc-operators•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

Question about those cheap digital calipers from the online marketplace

I lost a whole afternoon and a $120 aluminum blank because the battery died mid-measure and it reset to zero. Anyone have a brand they trust that won't ghost you like that?

2 comments

c/digital-nomad-life•

beth_butler75•1mo ago

Heads up about using just your phone hotspot for work in Medellin

I saw three people at my co-working space get booted from video calls because the network got overloaded. What's your backup plan when the local internet goes down?

2 comments

Posts

Grandma's pierogi dough is supposed to be sticky?? I messed it up for 10 years

The 5am flight vs the red-eye debate - which actually saves more?

Why does nobody talk about how terrible attics in Florida are for running cable

The grease difference after switching to Park PolyLube on my shop bikes

My mother in law swore by butter instead of shortening in pie crust

Hot take: People keep calling every kind of cloud a 'nimbus' and it drives me nuts

Saw a Nikon F2 clunking away on a job site yesterday and realized my repair bench used to see one of those every couple months back in the 90s

That scene in The Shining where Jack chops through the door always bothered me

Question about those cheap digital calipers from the online marketplace

Heads up about using just your phone hotspot for work in Medellin

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