Hola, Sneakers. Welcome to Episode 473 – our special 2020 Boxing Day edition!
And, of course, Boxing Day means Ian and David are joined by another member of the Dedrick clan: Jason Dedrick!!
They had a big, long, fun discussion, but our editor doesn’t feel like re-listening to the show he recorded a couple of hours ago to tell you exactly what they talked about. Trust us, it’s a lot of fun!!!
Thanks for listening.
Question of the week: What do you cook for your holiday dinner?
Sub-question of the week: More importantly, is turkey dry? (Asks Ian.)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We had lamb for dinner this year. It was kinda ‘meh’. 🙂
I’m kidding of course! We’re vegan, and if there’s one thing vegans NEVER do, it’s drone on and on about how great it is to be vegan until everyone else is sick of us.
However, since you ask…
My wife Diane made her signature nut roast with steamed sprouts and cashew cream sauce, while I roasted a tray of potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnips with garlic, rosemary and harissa. I also contributed gravy and mayo.
For pudding, Diane served what she described as ‘topsy-turvy trifle’. This turned out to be a regular, plant-based trifle, only she’d forgotten to put a layer of crushed biscuits in at the start, so we had them sprinkled on top instead. Cue clean plates and full bellies all round.
I hope everyone else had as good a meal, and as much fine company as these strange times allow. Happy 2021 when it comes, to dragsters and sneakers alike!
For Christmas dinner we made a turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, a Finnish carrot-and-rice casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon bits and a chocolate Yule Log. My sister and I also made lefse (LEF-sah) which is a Norwegian flatbread that our aunt used to make. When she got older, she started needing help so we’d have a lefse-making party at her house with her and her sons’ wives. Since her passing a few years ago, we’ve been carrying on the tradition.
We also did a Christmas Eve dinner. My sister made a tourtière. I made a Baby Yoda Pavlova with a lime curd and an apple, raisin and cranberry compote. That may seem like a goofy theme for a Christmas dessert, but the sci-fi and fantasy trope of “Special Child in Peril” does have Biblical parallels in the stories of Baby Moses in the basket on the Nile, and Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt with Baby Jesus.
The only turkey I ever have is either ground turkey mixed into something else or proper turkey prepared by other people. My sister’s boyfriend’s family makes deep-fried turkey every Thanksgiving, and that seems to keep the moisture in pretty well. It’s surprisingly good – it’s not breaded or anything, just regular turkey but cooked in a pot of oil instead of an oven. Of course, you’re also risking explosion if you do it wrong, so that’s probably best left to those who know what they’re doing.
I hate cooking, so I usually leave it to others to handle the holiday meals. 2020 being 2020, I didn’t do much for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I did the same for both holidays: I got a frozen turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes dinner and microwaved that. So glamorous!
I had intended to ask this at the end of my email, but it got so long that I forgot… but I did want to ask: how do you record the podcast, both before and during the pandemic? Hopefully that isn’t too boring a question to answer on the show. But I have been curious for a while what kind of mics, software, and other hardware you use. I’m particularly interested in this silence-analyzing thing you use. I think I understand fairly well what it’s doing, but I’m curious what app/plug-in it actually is.
Hope everyone has a happy new year!
As you read last episode’s comments, I realized I was the only one who didn’t wish you both a Merry Christmas. So I guess I’m an ass for that. I’ll properly wish you both a Happy New Year in a way to make up for omitting any Christmas message. I think I speak for us all when I applaud your success of bringing us Sneaky Dragon all the way through 2020, not an easy task so we all Thank You greatly.
I REALLY enjoy Jason as a guest, he’s funny and lively. Too bad Boxing Day only comes once a year, I like his contributions to the podcast. If you’re reading this Jason, great job!!
Nice romp through all your Star Wars grievances guys, my head was spinning by the end of that segment. If there was ever a podcast that I wish I were a part of, this was it. Being a lifetime card carrying member of the Star Wars Fan Club, please direct any questions towards me if needed. David prefers one source to defer to, let me be that one source for you, I have almost 44 years experience.
Ian was correct about the Sarlacc, it feeds off its prey as a source of survival and becomes a living hell for those who are its victims. C3PO translates Jabba the Hutt’s words to Luke and Han in “Return of the Jedi” that “You’ll be slowly digested over a thousand years in the Pit of Carkoon.” There have been a few stories concerning Boba Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc. If I remember correctly, one was in the comics where he either crawled out and was grafted to several other bodies from being “digested” along with them but survived because of his armor. There was another story too where he remotely positioned the Slave I to lower a grappling cable into the pit and pull him out. Either way, he’s back and on top of Star Wars fandom once again.
Boba, who you mentioned was introduced in a cartoon on the one-time aired “Star Wars Holiday Special” was also the Kenner mail-in figure offer in 1979. This kind of mysterious character did fascinate fans with a kind of “less is more” sensation, kind of the way Darth Maul did the same way twenty years later. But Boba’s really huge claim to fame is the highly sought after prototype of the Kenner figure offered in 1978, the one that actually shoots the missile from his backpack. Just this past July, the figure sold at auction for a quarter of a million dollars, the holy grail of Star Wars collectibles. The Boba Fett figure that collectors received did not fire the missile due to safety measures, only a dozen or so of the rocket firing prototype Boba Fett figures exist.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/rare-holy-grail-boba-fett-action-figure-hits/story?id=71398333
Now that my nerdism is out of the way, I’ll confess that neither I nor Susan have ever cooked a turkey. We let my Dad, who is quite a cook, make the bird if needed. Due to the scaling down of gatherings this year we did not have my Dad’s turkey, he’s quite busy caring for my Mom who has recently had multiple surgeries and relies on him for help. When Dad does cook for us all, his secret is to brine the turkey hours in advance and he swears by this process. He attempts to educate Susan and I on how to brine our own turkey, but we haven’t the need to make such a huge meal for just us. I will admit though, his turkey is tender and always perfectly cooked, so he’s onto something with this brining method.
Instead of turkey this year, my Dad still cooked but he made everything in advance when he had time and much less for just the few of us who visited Christmas Day. We had his stuffed ricotta shells with homemade sauce and meatballs, my Grandmother’s recipe. He also bought a small turkey breast and some stuffing, cheesy potato casserole and macaroni & cheese for the sides. Most of what was leftover went home with my Brother, who is legally blind, so he doesn’t have to make trips walking to the store for awhile!
Once again, Thanks for making the extra effort for all of us, it’s not something you have to do…but we’re glad for all your work. We all enjoy these podcast so very much!
Hi guys, we had beef this year, served with potatoes roasted in goose fat, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, roast parsnips, peas, carrots and gravy. If we go for turkey we usually get a turkey crown which is popular in the UK as it’s a bit of a cheat and easier to carve. My favourite part of Christmas dinner is Christmas pudding, I know a lot of people don’t seem to like it but I have been known to buy several puddings to eat over the entire Christmas season. Served with brandy butter and double cream! By the time I’ve eaten this I have long past the point of being comfortable, yet still find room in the evening for my special corner joint of ham, which I cook in advance a stock of molasses, black treacle, bay leaf, mace blades, allspice, cloves and orange peel, then glazed with brandy, orange zest and brown sugar. After all this comes my traditional January diet.