Die Hard is most definitely a Christmas movie, episode II

Five years ago, UaKS definitively established that "Die Hard" is, in fact, a Christmas movie. No further proof is required, but we have some more anyway, once again thanks to my buddy Ed:

 

This is a Hans Gruber/Nakatomi Plaza advent calendar. Every day, you move Hans down another floor until he finally goes splat on Christmas Eve.

What better way to usher in and enjoy the true meaning of the Christmas season? Be of good cheer.

   

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I don't know if anyone needs a recipe for roasted carrots, but this is actually a pretty good method for just about any vegetable you want to roast, so it's good to learn it once and know how to do it for roasting whatever veggies your heart may desire. You can kind of see from the bottom photo that I served this with a whipped tahini, but I still haven't got that recipe where I want it. If you want to try, this recipe by Kali Jago is a good place to start.  

 

Dark-Roasted Carrots

Inspired by Good Things (2025) by Samin Nosrat

Time: ~45 minutes

The instructions call for roll-cutting the carrots, which is really simple once you’ve tried it, but you can just cut the carrots into 1-inch rounds if you don’t want to have a growth mindset and learn something new.

2 pounds carrots, washed
Extra-virgin olive oil 
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Ground cumin
Chile flakes

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 425 degrees.
    2. Peel the carrots (unless you’re Moriah), then trim the ends. Roll-cut the carrots as follows: Hold your knife at a 45-degree angle to a carrot. Starting about an inch from the skinny end of the carrot, make a cut. Roll the carrot a quarter-turn away from you so that the longest point of the carrot is on top. Still holding your knife at a 45-degree angle, move your knife over an inch and make another cut. Cut the whole carrot up that way, then repeat with the remaining carrots. If one end of a carrot is much fatter than the skinny end (no judgment), you may want to cut the last one or two pieces from the fatter end in half, once you’ve roll-cut them, to ensure that the pieces all cook at the same rate. 
     3. Move the carrots to a large bowl. Toss with enough oil to coat the carrots, then sprinkle generously with salt and toss again. Sprinkle with cumin and chile flakes to taste, then toss again.
    4. Spread out on a 13-by-18-inch (half sheet) baking pan. Roast until the tips of the carrots are very dark brown and a paring knife slides in and out easily, about 25 to 30 minutes, giving the carrots a quick stir every 10 minutes or so.