303 thoughts on “S. T. Joshi Rails Against Ending Use of Lovecraft Bust on World Fantasy Award”

1. Ia! Ia! Crocker f’thagn!

   Cat: There are “all edges” brownie pans. Think Geek sells them. Lots of corners.

2. Needs more Shoggoth.

   I find that more than a dash or so makes the end result too squamous for most tastes.

3. Fine, I’ll say it–I don’t like the brownie edges. I like the soft squishy middle.

4. Same here. I really want the inverse of that pan I linked to.

5. Replace the butter with cold-pressed tangerine olive oil (I use Pasolivio’s) for a really nice chocolate-orange brownie.

   I also recently attempted bacon-chocolate brownies using crisped bacon and Vosges bacon-chocolate. It didn’t quite work – next time I will make maple-syrup candied bacon.

6. And for squishy brownies, use a silicone loaf tin for extra depth.

7. > “Same here. I really want the inverse of that pan I linked to.”

   Yup. I see that pan and think, why would I only want to make the worse brownies?

8. I think the quick after-battle triple chocolate cake from Patricia Wrede’s Enchanted Forest books is on-topic here, as well as being delicious.

9. I will see your Nekonomicons and Hello Cthulhus and raise you Nyaruko-san and its horrifyingly numerous siblings and sequels.

10. PIMM : “And why not? Runequest elves were basically ambulatory vegetables. Probably loaded with vitamins and fiber.”

    And then there were the recipes for walktapi stew. Serves however many you need…

11. If anyone knows a brownies recipe that would please both chocolate fans (like my partner) and people who just don’t like chocolate all that much (like me) I’m all ears.

    Only, not literally. Considering the Lovecraft theme I thought I ought to specify that.

12. In addition to the other reasons that have been mentioned (e.g. winners discussed in other threads), there’s one fairly big reason I think this is getting a lot of discussion. It’s extremely unusual! The WFAs are awarded every year, routinely. But changing the statue is very definitely not something that happens every year! I’ve been in fandom for decades, and I can’t remember a comparable event!

    I’m actually more of an SF fan than a fantasy fan, so the WFAs aren’t the highlight of my year or anything. Still, I’m going to try to remember the name of the winner the next time I’m shopping for books. In the long term, the winner is a lot more interesting, even to me. But here and now, this curious and unprecedented event is what has me intrigued.

    That said, I’d happily post my recipe for Shoggoth cupcakes, but I don’t want to responsible for the results if some of you try to follow it. Too many of you still own Euclidean cupcake trays! 😀

13. TooManyJens on November 11, 2015 at 3:26 pm said:I really want the inverse of that pan I linked to.

    Ok, if you’re sure…

    I’ll just take that pan, the Baker’s Edge, and then open the round window, stick your non-stick pan though (using the Long Tongs :D:D:D) twist it through 180 of our degrees, and withdraw. (Close and relock the window, repeat the necessary incantations…)

    Now instead of having 3 dimensions and 11 edges, your brownies will have 3 edges, 11 dimensions and ancient rugose squamous intelligences!

    Yum!

14. Cassy B: You take the recipe on the box and underbake ’em just a little so that the brownies stay moist and fudgy.

    You add a small (4-ounce) can of diced green chilis. If you’re sure everyone likes that, you can experiment by using a 7-ounce can the next time.

15. Meredith, there are ‘blondies’ (white chocolate brownies).

16. Niall McAuley on November 11, 2015 at 3:58 pm said:
    TooManyJens on November 11, 2015 at 3:26 pm said:I really want the inverse of that pan I linked to.

    Ok, if you’re sure…

    I’ll just take that pan, the Baker’s Edge, and then open the round window, stick your non-stick pan though (using the Long Tongs :D:D:D) twist it through 180 of our degrees, and withdraw. (Close and relock the window, repeat the necessary incantations…)

    Now instead of having 3 dimensions and 11 edges, your brownies will have 3 edges, 11 dimensions and ancient rugose squamous intelligences!

    Yum!

    Just make sure you bite it before it bites you.

17. Off-topic a bit, but I think it’s odd that anyone would think 4 oz and 7 oz cans of chilis are a thing, instead of just buying some chilis.

    (OK, I think ozs are odd too, especially 7 ozs, but anyhoo…)

    Is the canning stage important? Does it make chilis less rugose and squamous?

18. Blondies aren’t actually white chocolate brownies — they’re made with vanilla and brown sugar, but no chocolate (unless you feel like adding chocolate chips).

    I grew up knowing them as “butterscotch brownies,” and found out years later they were more widely known as blondies.

    But they’re delicious, and chocolate-free.

19. @P J Evans

    Sadly my partner’s opinion of white chocolate cannot be shared in polite company, so they’re not really an option.

20. Some of us are quite fond of white chocolate.

21. Off-topic a bit, but I think it’s odd that anyone would think 4 oz and 7 oz cans of chilis are a thing, instead of just buying some chilis.

    Your local supermarket doesn’t have peppers in the produce section?

22. Niall McAuley on November 11, 2015 at 4:21 pm said:

    Off-topic a bit, but I think it’s odd that anyone would think 4 oz and 7 oz cans of chilis are a thing, instead of just buying some chilis.

    There’s also a texture difference — fresh chiles would be a lot crunchier than the canned. Myself, I might add some cayenne pepper instead — that’d give the heat without being quite so … vegetal … as actual pieces of chile.

23. My local supermarket has no section named “produce”.

    But thinking about what is where, I believe I have seen “Old El Paso” jalapenos sliced in a can on a shelf beside all the other “Old El Paso” brand fake mexican food.

    So, the fact that I have never bought it does not mean it is not on the shelf.

24. @Darrell Schweitzer: I expect your comment was a drive-by, but a couple of notes regardless.

    1) You mention some (named) white cult leaders and corrupted descendents of fine New England families. Does the bundling of anti-white racism and anxiety about the decline of anglo-saxon stock in the era of Oswald Spengler and Lothrop Stoddard confound you somehow? This was the standard promo pack in the scientific-racist’s service offerings.

    2) “The Horror at Red Hook” has a named white cult leader? Awesome. Meanwhile, essentially an entire non-Anglo-Saxon neighborhood is portrayed as populated by nameless untermenschen so dedicated to the depravity of the cult that the just and only solution is to destroy it utterly.

    3) You mention Joshi’s racial heritage. Joshi is free to make his own decisions how personally he wants to take Lovecraft’s expressed abomination of the idea of Joshi’s personhood. As are Daniel Jose Older, Nnedi Okefor, Gary Farber (Hi Gary!) and everyone else consigned to subhumanity in Lovecraft’s work. Joshi’s personal reaction is not trumps.

25. @Kurt Busiek

    Hmm, trying them without the white chocolate might provide a bit of the brownies hit. Might give that a go, then.

    @Peace

    I like white chocolate, actually, but as an ingredient for making baked goods that more than just me will eat it isn’t all that useful. Since one of my medications is doing its very best to try and make me pack weight onto joints that can’t really cope with it, baked goods that are only for me aren’t a terribly good idea. I’ve also had to give up banana cake. *weeps*

26. Blondies aren’t white chocolate brownies, they’re butterscotch brownies. An entirely different thing.

27. My local supermarket has no section named “produce”.

    That seems odd. I’ve never seen a supermarket without at least some produce.

28. @Aaron

    What do you mean by “produce”? I’ve never seen that as a label in a supermarket but it might just be called something else here.

29. Blondies (You could put chocolate chips in half.)

    And my Dad’s recipe for Banana Oat Bran Muffins. Might fill the Banana Cake niche. You can add chopped walnuts if you wish.

    3-4 Bananas
    1 Egg
    ¼ Cup Milk
    2 Tablespoons oil
    1 Cup Oat Bran
    1 Cup Flour
    ¼ Cup Sugar
    2 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
    ½ Teaspoon Salt

    Mix all wet ingredients together first, then add dry.
    Bake at 400 degrees, 20 – 25 minutes

    In the US, 1 cup is half a pint (Yes, we do use fluid ounce measures for dry ingredients, why do you ask?)

    ETA: Produce in the USA is fresh fruit and veg.

    ETA, ETA – These are USA style muffin made in little cup cake tins. Do you have stuff like that in Britian?

30. Meredith: What do you mean by “produce”? I’ve never seen that as a label in a supermarket but it might just be called something else here.

    The “Produce” (PRO-doose) section is where the fresh fruits and vegetables are displayed for purchase.

31. @ULTRAGOTHA

    Thanks! We have US style muffins (we call them American muffins, usually, because we have English muffins that are very different), which require a larger tin size, and cupcake tins, which are smaller and more, um, cupcake sized. Assuming my cupcake size is the same as your cupcake size. Brown sugar as the flavouring for blondies ought to work well for both of us, and those banana muffins look very tasty. And will be mine all miiiine mwahahahahaaaa.

    @JJ

    See, I would have called that the fresh fruit and veg section. I also would never have expected it to be pronounced like that (I’d say it prod-use).

32. Oops! I’d better be more clear–

    The blondies are baked in the same pan as brownies are baked in.

    Banana Oat Bran Muffins are baked in cupcake tins with (or without, your choice) papers. Cupcake tins (smaller) would be better. I actually have teeny tiny tins that I make very small muffins in, but they work just as well in the larger cupcake tins. But not, I think, in the half-the-size-of-your-head sized tins that our American muffins seem to have mutated into (all American muffins used to be cupcake sized once upon a time).

    I wonder if our English Muffins are the same as your English Muffins? Not at all like American muffins. I make little pizzas with English Muffins.

    Oh, and baking soda is bicarbonate of soda.

33. @ULTRAGOTHA

    Right, yep, gotcha. Cupcakes are usually still smallish here (although the popularity of places like the Hummingbird Bakery with American-style cupcakes is leading them in the muffin sized direction) so an ordinary cupcake pan should be fine.

    I think the muffins are the same (while more recently the packaging sometimes specifies English, that’s only since cakey American Muffins turned up and got popular) – at least, googling English Muffin didn’t find anything that looked deeply weird. 🙂 I’d usually just eat them toasted with butter and a sweet spread like jam or honey. Have you got crumpets?

34. We don’t have crumpets except in rare specialty shops. I don’t think I’ve ever had one even in Britain.

    We eat English Muffins toasted with butter and jam as well. Though when I say “we” I mean Americans who are not me. I am not a jam person. Unless it’s lingonberry on meat balls.

35. Cassy B: If this thread was filled with nothing but brownie recipes, THEN I’d be surprised.

    You realize, of course, that this thread was taken over by brownie recipes just to thwart you. 😉

36. Red Wombat wrote:
    …wait. WAIT! Lurkertype gave me an idea!

    PLUSH UGLY HEADS!

    Oh, but that would inevitably lead to… CHIA LOVECRAFT!

    (Someone apparently made an actual Chia Cthulhu, but it was a one-off for a spoof TV commercial.)

37. @ULTRAGOTHA

    Really? Only in specialty shops? They’re typical supermarket fare here. They produce optimal butter melting. 😀 I think I’ve seen people make mini pizzas with them, too, although I’ve never tried it (I’m particular about pizza – I only really like thin crusts). Funny which things crossover and which don’t.

38. The Guardian has picked up Joshi’s flounce.

39. I like English Muffin pizzas because the soak up ALL the tomato sauce.

    Otherwise, I’m a fan of Thin Crust, too.

40. Meredith on November 11, 2015 at 6:47 pm said:
    @ULTRAGOTHA

    Right, yep, gotcha. Cupcakes are usually still smallish here (although the popularity of places like the Hummingbird Bakery with American-style cupcakes is leading them in the muffin sized direction) so an ordinary cupcake pan should be fine.

    I think the muffins are the same (while more recently the packaging sometimes specifies English, that’s only since cakey American Muffins turned up and got popular) – at least, googling English Muffin didn’t find anything that looked deeply weird. 🙂 I’d usually just eat them toasted with butter and a sweet spread like jam or honey. Have you got crumpets?

    Our English muffins are approximately the diameter of a tin of tuna, and something around an inch thick – so flat and two-sided.
    They are designed to be split horizontally, to produce two thinner muffin halves.
    Properly they are pulled apart, rather than sliced, to produce craggy bits, then toasted and eaten with whatever.
    Muffins are more similar to cupcakes, though usually a heartier thing, with more options for adding nuts or fruits or veggies or pretty much anything.
    If I were cutting a muffin to butter it, I would slice it down the middle vertically, so each piece had some muffin top.
    So here English Muffins are an actual thing of their own, not a smaller as opposed to a larger (American style?) muffin, but rather something else -a chewy, bread-like object, sometimes even made of whole wheat or sourdough, and not itself sweet.

    Crumpets exist as a semi-exotic offering if you dig up a recipe, or you can track them down as a special thing.
    I can buy them fresh locally.
    They come all sealed up in a wrapping festooned with Union Jacks so I’ll know they are the real thing, presumably.
    They are larger and flatter and spongier than English muffins, but seem perhaps to be a similar concept, except they don’t look as if they are intended to split horizontally.
    But, I imagine they are to be toasted and buttered, with things like jam or honey as options.

41. I love how two separate comment threads both ended up being foody. 🙂

42. JJ on November 11, 2015 at 7:01 pm said:
    Cassy B: If this thread was filled with nothing but brownie recipes, THEN I’d be surprised.

    You realize, of course, that this thread was taken over by brownie recipes just to thwart you. ?

    We have uncovered vengeful Lovecraftian brownies.

43. @Lauowolf

    Yup, crumpets and (English) muffins are a very similar size and shape, and both savoury, although muffins are a bread and crumpets are closer to pancake batter, whereas American muffins look very much like oversized cupcakes with a moister squishier crumblier texture. You wouldn’t split a crumpet since unlike muffins there’s only a base on one side, but you eat them both basically the same way. They’re both broadly associated with “tea time” here. American muffins are mostly the province of coffee shops like Starbucks (who used to do a strawberry and white chocolate one that I was pretty much obsessed with) but supermarkets usually stock them, too. Blueberry is the most common flavour of American muffin available.

    @Bruce Baugh

    Filers are almost as easily distracted by food as they are by books and brackets. 🙂 It comes in handy, from time to time. Mostly when I either want to create a distraction or get new recipes. Also just because food is fun to talk about.

    @Vivien

    I’m afraid you stepped on something of a sore point. There have been quite a few people who like to come here (or say in their own space) and tell us we don’t like books, or don’t like a particular author, or whatever (examples can be found in the previous comment thread on this subject, actually; Beale sent his followers here and most of them were convinced we hated Lovecraft), and it has got extremely tiresome. Anything that even looks like it suggests anything of the sort is unlikely to be taken well at this point, since, well, we talk about books a lot.

    The problem with the winner announcement threads as far as discussion goes is that they’re either long after some people have read the books (because they started after the nomination announcements, or even read them before that), and many of those will have already had discussions about them, or before others have read them (because the winner post prompted them to go looking) which means that it hits at the wrong point for discussion for nearly everyone. Sadly, that probably makes Filer discussion of nominees a bit tricky to find, but that doesn’t mean Filers are discussing things wrong. It just means that things get discussed when they get discussed.

44. Bruce Baugh: I love how two separate comment threads both ended up being foody. 🙂

    Clearly, our priorities are all wrong. We should be talking about the WFA winners. 😛

45. For extra decadence, take your favorite brownie recipe (I favor a chewy brownie, with fudgy as a second choice, over any cake abomination) and, after scooping the batter into the baking pan and leveling it out, take mini peanut butter cups (the Trader Joe’s ones are good, although definitely on the sweet side) and poke them down into the batter (you want to aim for shallow enough that they’re not touching the bottom of the pan yet deep enough that the batter flows over the tops of the PB cups). You can either space them regularly, so that each brownie has one PB cup in its middle, or you can poke them in randomly. Bake as usual. (Try to remember where the PB cups are so you don’t poke one when doing the toothpick test for doneness.)

46. I’m a little too scared to try it, but I want you all to know that there is actually a recipe for Cthulhu Cupcakes out there. It calls for Mountain Dew Energy Drink as one of the ingredients, which is the part that really scares me.

    (For those who may not be familiar with US perversions, Mountain Dew is a florescent-green soft drink with lots of caffeine. Mountain Dew Energy Drink is probably related somehow, but I’m not sure of the details. Probably less carbonation.)

47. For those blessed with a Trader Joe nearby, my favorite brownie mix is Truffle Brownie Mix.

    Sooo good, chewy, fudgy with chocolate chips.

48. I think it was a shame that Vivien decided to start the subject as a rebuke that people weren’t already discussing what she wanted them to, since if she’d just asked what people thought of the winners (and nominees) that would have worked just fine. People like talking about stuff they’ve read, but people are rarely keen on being told they should have already been doing so (especially when they have done in the past but apparently that didn’t count).

49. As far as my husband and I have been able to determine by use of the Mountain Dew Wiki (this is a real thing that exists in the world), Mountain Dew Energy is the version that’s sold in several European countries. It’s made with real sugar instead of HFCS, and its color is even more unfortunate than that of US Mountain Dew, bearing a stronger resemblance to urine.

50. Lauowolf : “We have uncovered vengeful Lovecraftian brownies.”

    In Soviet R’yleh, brownie eat YOU!

Comments are closed.