Allan James Vestal
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ajv.bsky.social
Allan James Vestal
@ajv.bsky.social
4.8K followers 1.9K following 860 posts
Journalism, code & politics. Food idiot acolyte and ALX ward system anti-apologist.

(Crunchin' those numbers — and probably something with bacon on it too.)

He/Him.
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ajv.bsky.social
A Food Idiot’s Thanksgiving, Part II: Leftover mashed potatoes Boxty (potato pancake) with sour cream, caramelized apples, cranberry gastrique (well, kinda) and sage-butter crisped French fried onions.
A sheet pan with ten boxty pancakes (mashed potatoes with flour, grated potato, buttermilk, scallion and flour). I might make them thinner next time, and some of the first few were *learning opportunities* in how to shape them, but these look and taste pretty great as-is — and I had to ration how much of our mashed potato stock I was diverting from the general leftovers pool. One of those Boxty pancakes on a plate, surrounded by toppings: Shredded cheese, sour cream, caramelized diced apples, scallions, sage-butter crisped French fried onions left over from a green bean casserole. Not pictured: The cranberry sauce-orange-red wine vinegar gastrique, which firmed up into more of a jelly and needed a little more TLC on the hob to go back to being drizzle-able. The boxty dish, fully assembled (served to four people alongside leftover Greek salad from Thanksgiving).
November 30, 2025 at 11:44 PM
ajv.bsky.social
Hat tip to @samer.is, who had a similar idea yesterday, and to an article by Kenji López-Alt insisting that stuffing waffles really do need small amounts of both gravy and syrup.

(And apologies to the Waffle Wanter for so rudely depriving him of these concoctions.)
Flash the German Shepherd (my sister’s) looks forlornly at the camera with the waffle ingredients in the background. This dog ate a bowl of turkey in 40 seconds on Thanksgiving Day, so he doth protest too much.
November 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
ajv.bsky.social
A Food Idiot’s Thanksgiving, Part I:
Stuffing–Turducken* waffle with sage-infused maple syrup, gravy, crisped lemon-pepper turkey skin and pecan gremolata.

With apologies to my long-suffering wife (and my parents’ waffle iron) this took my love of turkey dressing to an even higher level.
A food idiot’s unholy fever dream of a Thanksgiving waffle, cooked and just about to be removed from the waffle iron. Plates, batter and various kitchen implements surround it. Two quarters of that waffle on a plate, surrounded by the toppings that will adorn it: sage maple syrup, pecan gremolata, gravy and crisped turkey skins. The waffle dish, fully assembled.
November 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
ajv.bsky.social
From The Top Rope meme, featuring Pipenv (the people’s champ).
September 25, 2025 at 3:28 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Pickles? I feel like Sir Alex chose his regnal name already.

(This store is great, please now take all of my money)
A regal, foot-feathered pigeon sits atop his chosen perch — an Amtrak sign which bears the name “Alex.”
August 20, 2025 at 2:10 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Sir Alex, in the golden hour.

Someone tossed him a few berries. He was curious, but ultimately not interested.
A Very Fancy Bird, clearly hatching some plot or another. The same Very Fancy Bird, angled further away from the camera. He has a greenish sheen on the back of his neck and you can see the long feathers that drape over his feet. The same Very Fancy Bird, walking away from a blueberry he decided was intriguing but not worth the effort. His feathered feet are even more visible in this photo.
August 7, 2025 at 11:35 AM
ajv.bsky.social
VFB (I’m trying to make Sir Alex a thing, personally) was feeling a little shy from the adoring fans today!
A Very Fancy Bird taking refuge in the rafters of the train station. Not pictured: about four food containers and two water dishes set out for him.
August 5, 2025 at 11:47 PM
ajv.bsky.social
The real captain, just behind me in the second picture Jen posted (and perhaps @travisaniles.bsky.social’s twin, from the looks of it):

“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. Only 30 souls in your hands. No sweat.”

Would still recommend.
A scruffy young (ish?) man and his lovely wife, sailing on Lake Michigan in the golden hour. The man is hanging onto a rope he’s been assured several times isn’t load-bearing. The same scruffy young (ish?) man, hanging onto the same rope on the same sailboat, which was built by a married couple and then sailed around the globe twice before landing in the Great Lakes. (Truly, it’s got a great story!) Smile: cracked, like the New Glarus Spotted Cow in hand.
July 31, 2025 at 1:01 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Well, if I must…
Another seasonal special bagel from Call Your Mother (the same strawberries, strawberry cream cheese and Nutella on a challah bagel). The “Challah at Your Mama,” as the menu calls it.
May 25, 2025 at 4:42 PM
ajv.bsky.social
We shall fight on the beaches!

We shall fight on the landing grounds!

We shall fight in the pizza parlors!

(staff whispers to the PM)

(muffled mic) Wait. Really? It’s all just full of pizza?

We shall fight them in some pizza parlors!

And then the others!

We shall *never* hyphenate Del Ray!
Sir Winston Churchill, noted proponent of the Alexandria Empire
April 21, 2025 at 3:31 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Best capture of the footage aired by WRC:
January 30, 2025 at 3:37 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Sounds great! Hotdish night over here too (but ours is leftovers from our snowstorm cooking frenzy).
Fresh-from-the-oven Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish circa two days ago. Leftover forecast: super promising.
January 9, 2025 at 1:10 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Ehh. It sunk a little, still a quality bake in my book.
Cheddar, thyme and chive loaf that may have fallen in on itself just a bit after the initial photo was taken — but which is a) fully baked and b) fully entaste-ilated.
January 6, 2025 at 5:45 AM
ajv.bsky.social
“But how will I know we’re back in Alexandria?”
Negroni, focaccia and crudo, somehow enjoyed on a certain ALX establishment’s patio on the 30th day of December. Hot boozy cider and a marcona almond tart being enjoyed on the same patio. Nearby the remnants of a prosciutto, arugula, parmesan and balsamic pizza await devouring for lunch tomorrow. A dog named Gouda waits patiently for her pizza.
December 31, 2024 at 12:07 AM
ajv.bsky.social
About time we proposed common-sense, Midwestern solutions to our dessert shortage.

Shout out to Taco John’s and their Apple Grande, a true pioneer in this space [and, um, did].
Advertisement for Taco John’s Apple Grande, a sensible dessert that “features a cinnamon-sugar tortilla topped with warm apple filling, cheddar cheese and cinnamon/candy spice.”
December 28, 2024 at 5:37 PM
ajv.bsky.social
Also:
An earlier skeet of Joe's, altered to ask, "Who up doxxing their meat hook-up?"
December 23, 2024 at 5:26 PM
ajv.bsky.social
Oh good! Finally someone On Here who’s specifically seeking the type of content I post.
BAD TAKE is now following me.
December 15, 2024 at 3:19 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Belatedly glad I didn’t make this impulse purchase at Hy-Vee just before Thanksgiving…
A shelf at The Finest Grocery Chain In America’s Middle West, featuring six-packs of something called Donna’s Pickle Beer. It holds itself out to be “The finest brine,” and promises that I will “Relish every sip. “
December 11, 2024 at 1:50 AM
ajv.bsky.social
@jenvestal.bsky.social This you?
A text-message thread. Player 1: "I think we need to buy and immediately freeze a bunch of these" Player 2: "Holy god" Player 2: "Which ones?" Jen — oops, Player 1: "I mean pylsur, Gruyère, chistorra and possibly sesame chicken" An email forwarded to your dashing hero by one Jennifer Vestal today. Subject line: "Are you a Chorizohead?"
November 23, 2024 at 1:56 AM
ajv.bsky.social
So knowing that, how would ALX have chosen its council under a ward syste---

Oh hey, would you look at that?

[45/still some]
A table of how Allan's proposed wards would have voted in the 2024 general election for city council. In all eight wards, all six Democrats would have been elected. The Republican and Independent candidates finished seventh through ninth in all wards.
November 11, 2024 at 3:35 AM
ajv.bsky.social
So. Voters chose one Independent candidate in three precincts, one Republican in one precinct and one Independent in that same precinct.

That means, in the 29 remaining precincts, the voters chose all Democrats to be on council.

What's the outlook for wards, then?

(Brief pause...)

[43/some]
A map showing precincts that voted for Roy Byrd to be on council (shaded pink). The farthest east and south of those, the City Hall precinct, also voted for the other Republican and Independent candidate to be on council as two of their other six votes.
November 11, 2024 at 2:32 AM
ajv.bsky.social
Byrd won the George Mason School precinct, particularly highlighted in his shade of blue here.

He also placed in the top six at City Hall (earning the #2 berth) and Temple Beth El (#5).

[41/some]
A map of Alexandria's 32 precincts showing where Roy Byrd won the #1 spot — or won a place in the top six — in the general election for city council in November 2024. One area — between Russell Road, Braddock Road, Cameron Mills Road and Glebe Road (with a little hopping between those last two) is solidly blue. This was the precinct Byrd won. City Hall precinct in Old Town is a lighter blue, as is Temple Beth El further west. These are where Byrd "placed" for our purposes — if the city had voted like these precincts, he'd have won a spot on council.
November 11, 2024 at 2:32 AM
ajv.bsky.social
So ... how did everything shake out?

Well, all six Democrats won election, and it wasn't particularly close.

The six Dems all got between 12,000 and 15,400 votes.

The next highest vote-getter got less than 7,300 votes.

[38/several]
A table showing the vote counts in the general election for Alexandria city council in November. Sarah Bagley won the most votes of any candidate, with (currently) 15,351 votes. The candidate who had the lowest votes but was still elected won 12,145 votes — a gap of 3,206 between first and sixth place. The next highest-finishing candidate won 7,263 votes — a gap of 4,882 votes between sixth and seventh place.
November 11, 2024 at 2:07 AM
ajv.bsky.social
They wouldn't have voted particularly well if you're Amy Jackson, it turns out.

Gaskins would have won each. By closer margins, to be fair — just >7 pts in the top 4 precincts and just >11 pts in the top 8 — but again, we would have gotten the same top-line result here as citywide.

[27/many]
A table showing how the four precincts most favorable to Vice Mayor Amy Jackson would have voted in the Democratic primary for Mayor in June, relative to the other precincts citywide and the entire city's vote count. Gaskins would have won this "ward" by 2,600 votes, or 7.35 percent. A table showing how the eight precincts most favorable to Vice Mayor Amy Jackson would have voted in the Democratic primary for Mayor in June, relative to the other precincts citywide and the entire city's vote count. Gaskins would have won this "ward" by 5,717 votes, or just over 11 percent.
November 11, 2024 at 12:39 AM
ajv.bsky.social
To get to the top 8, you'd add (still ordered):

- City Hall
- Charles Barrett Center
- Blessed Sacrament Church
- Douglas MacArthur School

So .. how would those wards based on political views and not geography have voted?

[26/many]
A similar map, expanded to show the eight precincts where Jackson had the highest vote share in the primary. In addition to what was shaded in the prior image, City Hall precinct near the waterfront has been shaded in, and three other precincts in the city's center have as well.
November 11, 2024 at 12:39 AM