When I was a kid in Sault Ste. Siberia, after opening our presents at our house xmas morning, we went to my grandparents’ house for breakfast (and more presents) and then had xmas dinner at either their house or my aunt and uncle’s house. Both much larger houses than our shabby little Superior St. bungalow.

At some point in the day, the aplets and cotlets would get put out. Some relative or friend in the PacNW sent my grandparents a box every year. I *thought* they came from a company called Harry and David.

Fast forward about a gazillion years. I started getting Harry & David spam. It was NOT the result of searching for aplets and cotlets. I liked them fine as a kid but they are certainly not something I would seek out. And actually, although I didn’t do an extensive search, I didn’t find aplets and cotlets on their website although I did see them on *other* companies’ websites. This blows my brain a bit but not enough to spend any time researching it.

But Harry & David does have some interesting stuff and I have occasionally ordered things like brie en croute or lobster pot pie from them. These are really good but one of the problems with ordering perishable stuff online is that it comes with TONS of packaging and, in yesterday’s package, dry ice. A BIG bag of dry ice. I don’t really know anything much about dry ice except that it can cause frost bite. The plastic bag it came in noted that as it melts, if it is in an enclosed container, it can cause an explosion. I dunno if that was possible in this situation but since the plastic bag was closed up tight (and I am a big chicken), I cut a hole in it and set it in a big bowl to let it melt. Or uh, sublimate, see the P.S.

Of course when the GG came home from wherever he was, he was all excited about the dry ice and decided he wanted it in a cocktail, which is shown here. As a Certified Mad Scientist, he *does* know about dry ice. The cocktail makes a good photo op but in the end it made a pretty big mess and I was relieved when it completely melted sublimated this morning.

And yes, it’s completely possible that I can obtain brie en croute right here in town. Not sure about lobster pot pie…

P.S. I asked the Mad Scientist where the dry ice went. His reply was, “to the basement.” Whut? I got this detailed reply (which I asked him to write out and email to me): Dry ice is 100% Carbon Dioxide, which is about 52 grams per cubic foot at room temperature. Carbon Dioxide is more dense (heavier) than air. Air is roughly 36 grams per cubic foot and is approximately 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 0.9% Argon, 0.04% Carbon Dioxide, and other stuff. Consequently, when it sublimes into a gas (transforms directly into a gas from a solid without becoming a liquid) from solid dry ice, it makes a very entertaining gaseous fog that falls to the kitchen floor, then drifts across the kitchen floor to the basement steps. The CO2 goes down into the basement. Eventually it dissipates and magically goes away.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2023 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.