Hmm Weekly for February 25, 2021

WHICH WAY IS UP? DEP’T.

ONE OF THE central, and usually most antagonizing, functions of the contemporary internet is the way it enables people to tell other people they're wrong about something. But there's a nice way to do it, and that way is demonstrated by our favorite website of the week, Iceberger.

Iceberger is dedicated to teaching its users that the most popular dramatic depictions of icebergs—as little floating mountains with great vertical pillars stretching underwater below them—are not #actually how floating bodies of ice behave. It does this not by shaming or quote-tweeting you, but by inviting you to draw your own iceberg on a simple scene of water and sky, so you can watch how it settles into a stable orientation. [Fig. 1]

The interface is easy and intuitive. The results are not necessarily intuitive! It's easy enough to grasp the basic popular-iceberg-image debunking principle: ice wants to float with its long axis parallel to the surface. [Figs. 2-4]

But once you get that, the natural next step is to start drawing weird icebergs in the belief that, armed with your new expertise, you can make them go a certain way. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. One propeller-shaped iceberg might rotate a considerable distance before settling; another, thanks to minor variations in freehand doodling, might just sit down where it started. [Fig. 5]

You find yourself testing your wits in an open-ended struggle of man against nature, or against a quick and dirty two-dimensional approximation of nature. There are mysteries in these waters. [Fig. 6]

Don't just read about it—go  draw an iceberg! [Fig. 7]

Another Week, Another HMM WEEKLY

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SANDWICH RECIPES DEP’T.

WE PRESENT recipes for sandwiches from Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes, Copyright 1916, by David McKay, Publisher, and now in the public domain for the delectation of all, written by Marion Harris Neil, M.C.A., former Cookery Editor, The Ladies’ Home Journal, author of How to Cook in Casserole Dishes, Candies and Bonbons and How to Make Them, Canning, Preserving and Pickling, and The Something-Different Dish.

The word sandwich suggests something appetizing and tempting, and if one is disappointed at the mere sight of the dish then the sandwich has failed in its mission. So keep in mind in preparing these little tempters to have the bread cut thin, with no ragged edges

CARMEN SANDWICHES
4 slices cold boiled ham
8 slices buttered bread
4 skinned and sliced tomatoes
1/4 pint (1/2 cup) chopped English walnut meats
Cream cheese
Mayonnaise dressing
Lettuce leaves
Green onions

Trim the crusts from the slices of bread, and on four slices place a slice of boiled ham and spread over with mayonnaise dressing. Over these put the remaining slices of bread, buttered sides up, and on these spread the cheese; then place thinly sliced tomatoes on the top. Cover generously with mayonnaise dressing, sprinkle over with the nuts, and serve on crisp lettuce leaves garnished with green onions.

CHEESE AND CAVIAR SANDWICHES
Buttered bread
Cream cheese
Cream
Caviar
Black pepper

Butter some thin slices of white bread; soften some cream cheese with cream until it spreads easily; spread this on the buttered bread, and on this spread a little caviar. Spread both sides of the sandwich with butter and cheese, but only one side with caviar. Season with pepper. Trim the crusts from the slices and cut them into dainty shapes with cutters.
Another caviar sandwich.—Mix one-half can of caviar with one teaspoonful of onion-juice and one teaspoonful of lemon-juice. Spread between thin rounds of buttered bread or crackers.
Or, add chopped nut meats or chopped olives to caviar, mix with a little sherry wine, and use as a filling for sandwiches

CHEESE AND JELLY SANDWICHES
Cream cheese
Currant jelly
Blanched and chopped pistachio nuts
Buttered bread

Stamp out thin slices of white bread with a cutter. Butter and spread half of these with cream cheese and currant jelly mixed to a pink cream. On the top place a second round of bread buttered and sprinkled with the chopped nuts.
Another cheese recipe.—Chop some canned pineapple fine and drain off the juice. Spread bread thinly with cream cheese, sprinkle with the chopped pineapple, and press together. Cut in thin, slender strips.
A delicious sandwich filling may be made by mixing orange marmalade, finely chopped pecan-nut meats, and cream cheese. Spread this mixture between slices of buttered whole-wheat bread and cut in long narrow sandwiches

If you decide to prepare and enjoy any of the above items, kindly send a picture to us at hmmweekly@substack.com.

HMM WEEKLY IS written by Tom Scocca, editor, and Joe MacOnion-juice, creative director. If you enjoy Hmm Weekly, please let a friend know about it! If you're reading this because someone forwarded it to you, we invite you to sign up for a copy of your own right now. Thanks for reading, and any time you want, email us at hmmweekly@substack.com.