#before i’d have eaten beef and potatoes and the dessert

[timoswerner]

nah i need heavy snow on the 29th/30th so that i can’t get to this fucking wedding

[th3okamid3monart]

Things I’m going to miss this Holidays

There are a couple of traditions we do in my family that I havent seen in other places and with one search on the internet I realize that most of the things we do are from my own country + some that we make up ourselves. 

So Im going to share them here because... Well, there’s a big-ass chance I wont be able to do them this Christmas nor New years. 

NOTE: When I say ‘my family’ in a lot of this, I mean ALL my family. Which means, all my grandparents, all my aunts, all my uncles, all my cousins, and, yes, EVEN my great grandaparents, cousins, uncles, aunts and more. Because we all know each other and we even make a party once a year for my dad’s side of the family 

Here I go:

Las Posadas

There’s this thing that we do at one of my grandparents’ house that involves singing a carol about the time Maria and Jose were looking for a place to stay to rest before travel far away for the birth of Jesus. It is a song which is singed by 2 groups, one that is inside and the other that’s outside. What we do is the following: One group goes inside a room in the house while the other stays outside the door, the group outside sings one part and the other sings the other. We go back and forward until we finish the song. It is pretty funny because no one sings well and its just like a bunch of grown ups practically screaming but we always end up chuckling. I used to think it was pointless and boring but that was because I was an edgy potato, after I enter University i began to enjoy more things and be happier. This is going to be the second time I wont be with my complete family for Christmas and now its all the family who wont be able to go to my grandparents house for a celebration. 

12 grapes, 12 wishes

In both sides of my family we usually fill up 12 grapes in a cup and give everyone 1 cup each. I dont remember what exactly the grapes meant or the story about the wishes but it’s supposedly like before it strikes 12 am on New Years, we have to eat our grapes while also wishing for something. I remember when I was younger I’d wish for peace on the world or that everything went well for everyone. I think I’m going to buy a bigger bag of grapes this year. 

Something that was funny was that everyone would just... Stuff their mouths with grapes, mostly my cousins and I, just to see how many we could fit. Not everyone wished for many things in the family because I think we all feel we had and have enough. If my family does this again on their own, I’m pretty certain their wishes would be to be able to meet with the family. 

Piñata

Every year since I was little, my grandparents buy a piñata to smash before or during Christmas. They find it such a good activity for cousins and even for my aunts, my mom and uncle. They literally havent stopped buying them, the oldest grandchild in that side of the family its in her 30s, but they still buy a piñata. I think its mostly for the youngest which are below 16, never the less, its still super funny and hilarious because we go from youngest to oldest. By the time it gets to my brother, its still intact, he only swings it once and its completely DESTROYED. We just have a lot of fun, and sometimes we make my mom or my aunts to hit it. My mom wasnt as cheery when I was a kid, but now she laughs more and when it comes to the piñata she laughs and enjoys her time even more. 

Games 

Like any gathering, all cousins bring up something we can do to entertain ourselves. At first they were toys my grandparents had for us, then it was videogames and now... Its board games. My bro is the one obsess with different boardgames and DnD and other card games. So, about 5 years ago he began bringing boardgames for all cousins to play along. We either talk with each other or try to destroy each other with any game there is. Videogames are fun but we all find it a drag to bring the console to the place, besides we usually get so busy with each others banter and weird conversations that we just forget about the videogames all together. 

At my other grandparents house it becomes W I L D. Last time someone brough a beer pong table and they all began to take shots with mezcal (I’m trying to not drink a lot of the time ever since I puked one time. If I drink its light things like wine and only one glass). Then my aunts play music and began to sing and everyone follows up, and... Well last time they began to dance.... And all my cousins were very embarassed and I was hella confused. Suffice to say, my dad’s side of the family are super freakishly energetic and wild, while my mom’s side is more of a geeky, nerdy vibe with a lot of meme stuff and political conversations at times (Oh yeah, we talk a lot of different political stuff, but guess what? It never derails into a fight. I note this due to always reading people’s talks ending with fights and stuff and that kinda weirds me out a bit at times) 

Dinners 

I don’t remember the time exactly, probably since I was 15 maybe, my dad and I turned into the designated ‘chefs’. Every year we’ve been deciding and preparing foods for each house. We make the main course while my aunts do the sides (although sometimes it becomes like 3 main courses with 2 sides). Im waaaaaaaaay into the cooking and I try to make it perfect each year. I kinda chillaxed a bit with some foods because it wasnt that big of a deal. Besides the main course, I also decide to make a dessert and sometimes they arent eaten because my families have some sugar regulations. They are stored and kept after Christmas because thats better than eating it all in one sitting and having sugar poisoning (AKA, high sugar that needs a fast Insuline injection afterwards). 

It is always fun to make food with my dad, and to make the famous Tamales from my grandma’s recipe. Last time i think we made around 400? Between green salsa chicken, red salsa beef and pork, and some that were like... its like an adobe, its with achiote and orange juice. It was very tasty. We usually make a lot and freeze them. THEY ARENT COOKED, they are raw and then frozen. Every time we take some out, we make them with vapor, takes around 2 hours and they are always tasty. I remember I made a batch all by myself, I made the feelings, I mixed the masa, and I assemble 100 by my own, the rest was thankfully made by my parents. And it was the best when I gave some to my grandma and she told me that they were super good. Of course, I made a couple mistakes, Im not perfect but she still enjoyed it with the salsa I made. Maybe I can still make some this year and give each family a batch. 

Aunt’s cookies

Every year, every god damn year... We all wait for one thing... It’s not the presents, its not the food... Its the cookies. The motherfucking cookies. My aunt has made this cookies since I was a kid, and we all fought to get a bunch of them. She has made choco chip with nuts cookies every year without missing. And they always end before Christmas even hits. She once gave me frozen batch so I can cook them at home and she told me ‘Dont tell anybody’. Of course I cannot not tell anyone since I live with my parents and siblings but when I made them I made sure to make them when my dad wasnt home. Not only because Im a gluttonous fuck but because my dad is diabetic and he shouldnt be eating anything like that. 

It used to be a battle royal between my cousins, now its a battle against my uncles cause they LOVE TO FUCKING HIDE THE BIG ASS CONTAINER. I swear, i only got 1 or 2 god damn cookies last time. 

Breakfast at...Lunch at...

After Christmas, we always go eat at my grandparents house. Always. And it’s, most of the time, Menudo. The most delicious food you can make with cow stomach. It’s my grandpa’s recipe and it’s always good. Meanwhile, we lunch at my grandma’s house the leftovers of yesterdays dinner which it varies if its turkey or pork but it always ends up as a torta. Delicious, leftover, tortas. 

We end up... SUPER CONSTIPATED because you eat menudo with bread, and you make tortas with bread, and we all eat bread and like... A LOT. Its hella good but well... THERE ARE CONCEQUENCES!! 

I think thats all, at least the most relevant parts. There’s also The Toast of El Bohemio, the stupidity and over eating i do for fun for some cousins, the conversations that go from super deep to stupidity with cousins, the music we play, the hugs... 

THE HUGS

When its the New Year, we scream out HAPPY NEW YEAR. And we proceed to hug each and everyone, one time I waited to see everyone and they all were very very happy. Its something I didnt realize before, but that was a happy thing all the time. Last year we event celebrated with other family, most of this reunions are compose with the nuclear family, but we arent shy about involving more family or friends. So last year not only included some family and their friends, we also included a 2 new members of the family: My newborn cousin and my cousin’s now husband. 

It was like.. One of the best beginnings... Which kind of... didnt prepared us for what this...sucky year. 

I’m sure we’ll make it ok... I sure hope so, I wanna see my grandparents again... I wanna see my baby cousin, he is babbling and has already learned to walk. The little dude doesnt have cousins to play with anymore, I wanna make sure he doesnt confuse me by his aunt ajjajajaja. I want to talk to my cousins, I want to hug them and scream with them and eat with them all. 

But maybe this year it wont happen, and I rather it not happening than loosing any of them. 

Right now I cant smell, and everything hurts, but it kinda helps ease things when i remember this and when I think they all are still kinda healthy. 

Maybe when it all passes we can make a march reunion, to celebrate my grandma’s birthday. In the meantime, I’m going to try to get better and wish for this Christmas to not suck now that It’s only my main family and I. 

Hope everyone is safe, I hope you can at least see your parents or siblings. I hope you dont get sick nor have to spend time at a hospital or anything. I hope all who are, get help and dont get worse. I hope you all get better. 

Hope you have Happy Holidays. 

[purkinje-effect]

The Anatomy of Melancholy, 41

Table of Contents. Second Instar, Chapter 8. Go to previous. Go to next. In a wasteland survival fic, does this chapter constitute schmoop?

________________________________

Locked up in his head as they walked along the modular concrete hallways of the Research and Development wing, ‘Choly had just shared with Angel what Olivia had described of the base, and their plans for the next day. He wanted to avoid this building as much as possible.

“Sir, allow me to take you across grounds,” Angel insisted alongside him. “You just installed these handles and footrests on me, and you should--”

“--I’m fhhine,” he slurred, waving a hand at the Handy. “Just trying to draft the order of... how to go about settling back in. How to cover the least distance. Optimize the path to a bed, if I can.”

“You don’t seem fine, but I won’t press it... Perhaps you’d like to start with the enlisted barracks, and work your way over to the officers’ barracks? You could... start things off with a nice, hot shower? Hm-hm?”

He stuttered awe under his breath in Russian, and tried to ignore any suggestion that he looked as inebriated as he felt.

“They have hot water?” he mouthed at Angel.

“Deenwood hosts so many things! Come along now. It’s already past nineteenth hour, and you’ve told Miss Olivia that we’ll rejoin at sixth tomorrow. We must get you washed and dressed and fed.” It chortled anxiously. “Thank you, for at least letting me escort you.”

“There’s just something about being on base again that’s making me feel... right,” he defended, implicitly begging that it let him enjoy the moment. “You’re more than just my mobility, Angel. So much more.”

Halfway across the courtyard, a Mister Gutsy intercepted them.

“Captain,” it grunted in affirmative. “I’ve been tasked with running errands for you tonight. Give the order.”

“Ah, yes... Green Three?” he fielded, gauging by the white lettering on its dull green side. He’d never really noticed non-personnel G.A. robots went by designations, but it made sense. “I... I suppose it’s gauche for me to be on base in anything but uniform, all things considered. Could you outfit me fresh?”

“Yes, Sir!” G-3′s triplicate golden ocular lenses scrutinized his form before stiffening in place. “Measurements taken.”

“That’s all for now. Angel and I are headed to the showers at the enlisted barracks.”

“Deliver the uniform to Mister Handy nicknamed Angel, at the enlisted barracks’ baths. Roger.” It sped off toward the storage building which stood between the R&D wing they’d just exited and the Robotics wing--the only three hangar-like concrete structures on the property.

The two of them arrived at the enlisted barracks at the North end of the property. To the left lay the soldiers’ quarters, while to the right lay the community showers. The enlisted mess hall stood separate from this building behind it. Without hesitation he turned right, then right again into the men’s side, and handed Angel his cane so that he could disrobe. He deposited his Pip-Boy, visor, orthotics, hairpins, and clothing on a bench in the changing area. The notion of a working shower possessed him, carrying one step in front of the last, and before he knew it, he was turning the handle and standing directly under the water without even testing the temperature first, or checking that he was, in fact, all alone with Angel keeping watch.

Soon both the water and his relieved bliss ran hot down his cheeks. He shut his trembling eyes and lifted his face to the apparent water pressure. He left his mouth open a moment to trap water, which he squirted out for effect. After some time his head dipped, to let the hot water stream down his aching neck and back. Angel eventually interrupted his detachment from reality. Being handed his toiletries got him crying like at a wedding.

Lathering his hair, ‘Choly thought to his initial impression to encountering Olivia again like this. Her smart style with one side shaved that apparently compensated for a balding patch, her thick phlegmatic voice, her exposed turbinates, her... her... He really was attracted to ghouls now, wasn’t he? He remembered his promise to Angel--use Rad-X--and ribald notions of both Olivia and Hawthorne alike melted him apart where he stood.

He stood. Angel was right. He didn’t remember standing this much in a day, in months. His blood pressure didn’t feel like it had dipped or spiked. His posture didn’t feel especially infirm. He still ached, and the cane still made the going easier... but he didn’t quite feel himself.

I should be crumpled over by now, bathing on a folding chair, he reasoned. I spent my morning repairing Bogey. It told me about the Rust Devils. I blew an hour on a bucket of golf balls. I traveled nearly two hours atop Angel without stopping, and avoided a Rust Devil attack right when we got to Chelmsford. I found out one of my coworkers survived and is still alive, and we got drunk... “And now I’m standing in the first hot shower I’ve had in two hundred years, waiting for the water to run cold and slap me in the face so I wake up. Too much for one day. Too much in so many ways.”

When he finally turned the water off, he dried himself and sat on the bench in the changing area. The Gutsy had brought a folded khaki uniform and a set of skivvies to match, combat boots in his size, and also a navy bathrobe. He slipped on the tee, underwear, and robe once his skin was dry enough, but didn’t tie the waist. His eyes widened as he toweled at his hair.

“Or maybe the problem is, I feel exactly like myself.”

He favored the ankle stability of a boot, over low quarters like his oxfords. Lacking confirmation that any living persons but Olivia and himself existed on this base, he remained in the bathrobe for the rest of the night. As he put his Pip-Boy back on, he noticed his orthotics, Vault Suit, and Pharm Corps coat had gone missing, only because his nameplate and bars lay on the bench atop the folded fresh uniform.

“Did G-3 take my effects, Angel?” he called.

“G-3 said that it waited until you had a convenient time to change clothes, to take them. It boasted that it knew a thing or two about getting out blood stains. As do I ! I tried to tell it that I could operate laundry equipment with my sensors disabled, but it insisted that I stay by you, as your escort.” Angel reentered the baths to hover before him. “My word, Sir. I... I have to say how good it is to be back at Deenwood. We robots might have our exceptions with one another, but we were a complex and thriving network of chums. Just as you befriended your colleagues.”

‘Choly stared at the rectangular brooch of metal and brightly dyed embroidered ribbon, signifying ten years of stripes and pips mounted together. What did he really have to show for his decade of service? His throat caught at length, until he pinned his nameplate and bars to the robe in lieu of his coat.

“I... didn’t have friends,” he finally said in passing, starting toward the front door. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Finally hungry enough to do something about it. Shall we see if the officers’ mess hall’s furnished?”

They crossed South to the officers’ side of the property in the brisk night air. Entering the mess hall, he encountered a modestly cozy arrangement of vinyl-upholstered chrome chairs in sets of four at eight round tables. Large fake potted plants tucked themselves to each corner, and beside each support column. To one side of the space, he’d have found the beverage offerings, while to the other, he found an à la carte window winged by a pair of Eat-O-Tronic machines. In one, he found MREs, and in the other, he would have found desserts. After his experience with the pharmacy break room, it relieved him to find no moldy remains in the vending slots; in the same stroke, he praised the base’s stockpile of perfectly preserved rations. He eagerly selected the beef tips and mashed potatoes package, but before he could get it open, the Mister Handy at the window hemmed and held out a pincer.

“Monsieur, if I could get that for you,” it began, in a French accent.

“...Yes, of course.” He handed it over dumbly. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure!” In a flash, it produced a tray with the now-heated contents of the MRE on a plate, including the instant cocoa packet. “Bon appetit!”

“...I could have... Oh, no matter.” Angel zipped over to at least pull the chair for ‘Choly. “Sir, while you dine, I’d love the chance to catch up with Louis, if I may. I’ll be within earshot.” It didn’t await confirmation before darting behind the swinging door in the far corner.

The potatoes couldn’t help tasting like cardboard two hundred years later, but the beef tendered up like it had never been preserved in a jerky-like state, and the gravy had him lolling back in the chair to savor it. The soy-based cocoa struck him as an innocent indulgence amid the options he’d had in prior months. The hot mug in his hands comforted him, and he couldn’t help but smile dopily at hearing the two Mister Handies in the kitchen chatting and laughing unintelligibly.

Angel’s not lonely here.

'Choly took his tray back to the window once he was done, and he and Angel thanked Louis and bid it goodnight. The walk from the mess hall was short, but was incumbent of the most anticipated part of the night for him. The officers’ residential block was a set of three identical rows of twelve two-story rowhouses apiece. Habitually, he walked up the three steps of the second row’s third door, like always, and opened the front door on bated breath. Standing in the entryway, he flicked on the light switch to find the electricity worked, and he smiled in distraction as he took in the thick layer of dust on every surface. The dark green velour couch and armchair were still there, as were the hanging floor lamp, the coffee table, and the kitchen table and chairs.

“I have my work cut out for me,” Angel beamed. It shut the door behind them and immediately set to dusting off the living room.

Compulsion seized him again, and he mounted the creaking stairs at a persistent, lurching pace until he stood in the doorway of what had once been his bedroom. The queen size mattress lay bare before him, in tact. His throat caught again, aghast, and he slumped against the door frame to gawk. It took a few tries before he successfully swallowed. Angel came up behind him after a spell.

“Oh Sir, are you all right?”

He looked to it with a haunted desperation.

“Nothing has felt this right since I thawed.”

He sniffed, and leveraged with his cane to stand fully again. He requested a canister of water, his toothbrush and toothpaste, mouthwash, and hairbrush, which Angel obliged, and he vanished into the upstairs bathroom closing the door behind him.

As he brushed his teeth, he stared at himself in the hoary glass mounted on the wall. A single crack ran from one corner to the other, right through the middle, but for the most part, the mirror functioned like a mirror. He nearly felt like the whole base had been transfigured by some perverse stasis just like he had, all but sheltered from the end of the world and here awaiting him all this time. He shivered and cinched his robe, then spat and moved on to the mouthwash.

Simple hygiene really is a luxury now, isn’t it? he thought to himself as he rinsed his face.

He came out of the bathroom to find that Angel had made his bed with the hospital blanket and pillows before vanishing back downstairs. He sat on the edge of the bed to remove his boots and socks, and brushed out his hair which had finally dried by then. The brush went to the nightstand, and he hung the robe on the hook on the bathroom door. He turned out the lights, and passed out face-down in anticipation of the first quality sleep he’d gotten in two hundred years.

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[losingitinjersey]

Keto Vacation was a success!!!!  Well, I haven’t weighed myself so who knows if it’s really successful but I’m super proud of how strict I was the entire time and how I continued to make low carb choice after choice.  

In pictures you’ll see a pancake BUT it’s a low carb pancake at around 5 carbs for that one fluffy beauty.  Kinda worth it, kinda not.  

The hardest night was Wednesday when we went out to dinner in Fort Bragg and, remember my fellow keto-ers on the trip?  Yeah, they abandoned me that night.  We had four baskets of bread delivered to our table of eight and they all chowed down on dessert at the end.  But not I!!  I enjoyed the antipasto appetizer and my meal of gorgonzola and pancetta stuffed flank steak with not a single bite of dessert.  I was actually pretty bitter this dinner but I kept sipping my water and tried not to look too envious.  

Thursday we drove to Chico (my home for 15 glorious years before my husband ripped me away to Virginia) where I surprised literally everyone at a big community BBQ event.  It was SO much fun!!!  Made me miss home that much more.  You’ll see my dinner plate at the BBQ where I loaded up with salad, some coleslaw and pulled pork without the deliciousness that is BBQ sauce.  

Friday morning I went out to breakfast at one of my favorite haunts where I ordered a chicken apple hash with eggs (requesting no potatoes and no bread) along with a small french press of liquid gold.  That night we ate at Kevin’s parent’s house where I was starving since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I grabbed two chickens and a bunch of salad.  

AND - what you’ve all been waiting for - I SAW @zerocarb TODAY!!  Well, I guess technically yesterday since I’m blogging at 5 a.m. from the SFO airport.  But I haven’t slept yet so it still feels like just a few hours ago!!!!!  

I took Bart and arrived about 10 minutes from where she was staying and after having quite a few directionally challenging moments I finally started walking in the right direction and arrived at her hotel mere moments before she pulled up!  

I was starving since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast (it was now like 6:30/7?) so we walked to where we had dinner reservations and got some small plates to share at the sister restaurant next door.  Check out the gorgeous spread that we dined on!!!!  All keto goodness!  It was seriously incredible food.  Not only did we have literally fabulous conversation but she was amazing at choosing superb food so I highly recommend you snag some time and meals with her if you’re able to.  

THEN it was time for dinner!!  I ordered Red Wine Braised Beef Cheeks!  WHAT?!  I know.  But it was soooo tender and good!!  I was pretty full from our appetizers so I only ate half my dish and was excited to share the leftovers with Kevin when I got home (which didn’t happen since when he went to dive into it we discovered they gave us someone elses leftovers.  RUDE).  I skipped out on dessert (check her page when she posts so you can see what goodness she got!!) but got some coffee with cream to help me stay awake since I was leaving for the airport at 2:45 a.m.  

I swear, we talked nonstop the entire time and it was so effortless!!  It felt like I knew her for years.  Our waiter even commented that we had beautiful smiles and how well we got along together.  Obviously, I had to inform him that we had just met for the very first time a few hours ago!  

Our time was over far too quickly and before we knew it we were at the Bart station.  I tried to walk her to her hotel because I felt safer since I’d been in SF many times before but she assured me that she was from NYC and this was nothing.  HA!  So she walked me to Bart and I made her promise to text me when she got to her hotel (which she did NOT.  Don’t worry, I checked in on her and she just got distracted).  I rode home on a very crowded Bart train making me feel like I was living the City life.  

Now, Kevin and I are about to board our flight to start our trip back home where I’ll be desperate to wake up Monday morning to weigh myself and see how I did.  Not excited about work on Monday but I’m sure my 100+ emails will keep me busy.  

Thanks for following along my keto vacation adventures!  

[nightcoremoon]

when I graduated high school and got a job and discovered the adulthood freedom that is “oh my god I can buy fast food literally whenever I want” but had not yet discovered the adulthood consequences that are “oh my god if I eat any fast food my intestines will literally explode”, I went to taco bell 4 times a week. every week.

grillers (beef nacho, chipotle chicken, and loaded baked potato), mini quesadillas, fritos, beefy potato, black bean, pizza, doritos, meximelt, CARAMEL APPLE EMPANADA T.T but it’s fine, it’s fine, they’re realizing it was a completely fucking stupid idea to cut their menu in half when literally everybody was ordering 10,000% more fast food and are now bringing back more than just the skeletal remains of something that can’t even try to pretend to be mexican inspired anymore. anyway.

I ate across the entire menu. they even recognized me. and then I moved to a different job… that had another Taco Bell right nearby. and then I moved to another different job that had 2. and then I moved to ANOTHER different job literally right next to the first one and went back to my old friends. and then covid happened and I haven’t been there since. but guess what, there’s a Taco Bell on the way home from my current job. now, for this year’s New Years resolution I decided enough is enough I am eating too much fast food, too much grease and fat and cholesterol and sodium and sugar, and I need to cut it down. this was January. and until this month I was so so successful. I went to Taco Bell in January (which was nothing special since I’d gone several times the winter before), Burger King in February, McDonald’s in march (shamrock shake obviously) and Wendy’s the moment April rolled around. I was set. then I watched critikal’s fast food tier list. they talked about raising cane’s and there’s one right across from my job so I went there (it was okay- the chicken was alright, the fries were alright, the bread was alright, the lemonade was alright, but the sauce was phenomenal… but I prefer DQ gravy and the chicken and the fries and the bread and the drinks and also they have ice cream so fuck you raising cane’s). and then I ordered jets pizza. so I broke the chain. oh well. I did 3 months, next year I’ll do 4 months. reasonable goal setting! so that’s what brought me to Taco Bell today.

I love my standard order (because they only have like a dozen things left anymore and half of them taste bad) which is a chicken quesadilla w/ a baja blast, 2 chipotle chicken melts, 2 spicy potato soft tacos, and one extra item (usually a cheesy gordita crunch, dorito taco, beefy 5 layer, or a chalupa, sometimes I’ll get the 2 chalupas instead of the quesadilla), and a box combo w/ a normie mountain dew (if the one with the chalupa the beefy 5 layer the dorito taco and the chips n cheese is there it’s literally perfect so I get the gordita) for leftovers (the “what are Taco Bell leftovers?” meme is fucking stupid, the beefy 5 layer is the best reheated food on the planet second only to lasagna) because that’s two meals worth of food at once and I don’t hate myself that bad. maybe I’ll get a cheesy fiesta potatoes if I’m feeling particularly spicy that day. I’d get a Cinnabon 4 pack but THEY DONT SELL THAT ANYMORE 😡 and I’m not getting two 2-packs because I’m not ordering two desserts. and I’d get a caramel apple empanada but… 😥😰😭

so yeah I know what you’re thinking. holy shit that’s a lot of food. and you’re absolutely right. that’s a ludicrous amount of food. and when I ate it once or twice a month it was immensely satisfying. BUT I still want to restrict my intake so I didn’t order that much. my plan was to just get the quesadilla combo, the melts, the potatoes, and just not get the box or the extra item. that was my plan. things did not go according to plan. nacho fries… are genuinely the most delicious french fry I have ever eaten. arby’s curly fries don’t count because that’s not fair, culver’s fries only win with ketchup, and rally’s fries don’t even count as edible. I haven’t tried hardee’s a&w’s popeye’s church’s innout’s whataburger’s jackinthebox’s (and chick fil a is a) evil and b) massively overrated) but from my experience the nacho seasoning elevates it beyond fry status (and I love Taco Bell’s shitty queso).

so I got the nacho fry box (comes with a beefy 5 layer… satisfactory). and I ate all of it. it wasn’t that much total.

that was 12 hours ago.

I wrote this entire post from the bathroom.

I feel like death.

TL;DR my body forgot how to digest Taco Bell. …---…

[ginger-and-mint]

How about ficlet where a nice vampire and his human boyfriend spend the night in the estate of an Enemy Vampire Hunter to allay his suspicions about them...which includes the poor, underfed vampire having to finish an immense meal of human food. He remains calm, eats everything, gives no sign of discomfort, and walks with his boyfriend back to their room, where he collapses on the bed because his poor belly isn't used to holding solid food and the boyfriend comforts him.

So I’ve decided that this is the same vampire from this thing I wrote before. His name is now Theo(dore).

Here’s some hasty backstory for him:

shortly after being turned, he was taken in by a group called the Coven, who taught him how to survive as a vampire.

the Coven’s schtick is that rather than exsanguinating random innocents, they create hit lists of people who’ve committed crimes and their members prey exclusively from this list as a form of vigilante justice.

eventually something happens which sours Theo to acting as judge, jury, and executioner and he leaves the Coven.

around the same time (possibly relatedly? idk yet) he meets Darren, who becomes his boyfriend

now he’s sort of living in the shadows, hiding from the Coven and other people who want to kill him, ‘cause being a lone vampire is dangerous….

CW: mentions of blood-drinking (implied to be fatal) and nausea.

Theo knew she was a vampire hunter. It was neither ignorance nor stupidity that got him to the point where he was sitting at her dining table with a fake smile plastered on his temporarily-defanged face.

The whole Coven had been terrified of her. After all, she was like something straight out of primetime TV—a successful lawyer living in a beautiful suburban home with her husband and three golden retrievers. She volunteered with underprivileged kids, made generous annual donations to the local animal shelter, and in her spare time, she tracked down vampires and killed them dead.

“If anyone in this city’s gonna kill you, it’s Selena Chang,” one of Theo’s old Coven buddies had once said. “She’s ruthless. She worms her way into your social sphere and flips the lid on your coffin, so to speak. She’s so bad that if she started tracking you tomorrow, you’d be out of the Coven until you could shake her. If you could shake her.”

“Shit, really?” Theo had said. “What would I do?”

“You’d figure something out. Or not.” A toothy grin. “The only thing you can do is convince her you’re not a vampire. Ignore her and she’ll stake you in your sleep. Try to reason with her and she’ll sweetly agree to let you go, and then stake you in your sleep. Basically, one wrong move and you’re dead meat.”

Theo had thought about that a lot since leaving the Coven. One of his small comforts was that he didn’t have much of a social sphere these days, unless you counted the late-night clerk at the corner shop where he regularly went to buy ground beef and aspirin. But he’d forgotten about Darren.

Darren still had a normal life. He didn’t think twice when a friendly new face showed up at his aerobics class and struck up a conversation. One evening, Theo had gone over to Darren’s place and found the face of his nightmares sitting on his boyfriend’s sofa with a glass of blood-red wine.

She had invited them over for dinner a week later. “My husband loves to cook. He’ll be delighted to have guests.”

“That’s kind of you, but um… the buses stop running your way pretty early,” Theo had said nervously. “And we, uh, we don’t have a car.”

“Oh, that’s no trouble,” she’d said with a smile. “You can stay the night in our guest room. We have plenty of space.”

And that’s how Theo had ended up staring down a plate mounded high with vegetarian lasagna, steamed broccoli, and creamy mashed potatoes. There was a big basket of rolls on the table and chocolate cake had been promised for dessert.

It was probably delicious. From the look on Darren’s face, the smell must’ve been irresistible. But Theo’s body reacted to it as though he were looking at a plate of spare car parts. No water in his mouth. No desire in his guts. Just a vague nauseous hunger. He’d sucked as much juice as he could from a packet of cheap ground beef that morning, but that’d been like a drop in an empty, empty bucket.

“Well, everyone,” said Selena Chang with an impenetrable smile, “dig in!”

Theo put a lump of lasagna in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. It felt like a pebble dropping into his stomach, but he sighed and smiled as though it had been delicious.

Everything was packed with garlic, of course. There were whole cloves of it in the lasagna and the potatoes had been whipped with garlic butter. Garlic wasn’t gonna kill him, but it wasn’t gonna make him feel very good either. He’d learned that very soon after he’d been bitten, when he’d woken up in the middle of the night ravaged by bloodthirst. At the time he’d mistaken it for desperate hunger and so he’d dug some garlic bread out of the freezer and devoured the whole thing. God, he’d never been so sick.

From the way his stomach was starting to feel, he guessed today would probably smash that record. But Selena Chang was staring him down and he wasn’t ready to die yet.

So he smiled and talked and ate and hurt and hurt and hurt.

- - -

As soon as the guest room door shut behind them, Theo collapsed backwards onto the bed, groaning.

“Are you okay?” Darren asked.

“Urghhhh. No.” Theo wrapped an arm over his stomach. “I can’t believe I got everything down, ugh. Feels like I’ve eaten rocks.”

“That was a lot of food. Even I’ve got a bit of a bellyache from it. Those potatoes were heavy. And that cake was—”

“Oh god, shut up. Ughhh. I need—I can’t—can you—?”

“Of course.” Darren pushed Theo’s hands away and unfastened the belt he was struggling with.

Theo groaned as his belly surged outward. It felt more like a nauseous wave rolling through his stomach than a relief. “Ohhhh, god… d’you think she’ll stake me through the heart if I puke all over her guest room?”

“Probably. Just for ruining these fabulous Egyptian cotton sheets.” Darren sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked Theo’s hair. “You did so good back there.”

“Yeah? You think I convinced her?”

“Absolutely. I almost believed you were having the best meal of your life. You didn’t look uncomfortable at all.”

“Huh. Guess I’m better actor than my high school drama teacher gave me credit for…. Oh my god, I feel so sick! Like I’m stuffed full of garbage.” Theo put a hand to the side of his belly. It was swollen. Nothing compared to how full and round it used to look after he’d had a proper feeding, but that was a different kind of swollen than this nauseous, achy misery. That was a wonderful, contented, satiated sort of swollenness….

He dropped his voice to a whisper. “I want blood.”

Darren put his hand over Theo’s, gently rubbing the bloated belly. “You want to put more into this thing?”

“I could fit a couple raw steaks in there. God, I really could.” Theo had to swallow the saliva that had filled his mouth. His stomach gurgled—stuffed full and yet still so, so hungry….

Darren stared down at him, eyes soft. “Theo… if you need to, you know I’d let you—”

“No way. I already took from you last week, I’m not gonna—”

“But I’d let you.”

“No. You need it more than I do.” He paused, taking a quick breath. “I can’t, anyway. My stomach is upset as hell and if I puke blood under this roof, I’m as good as dead.”

Darren’s fingers slipped down from Theo’s belly to one of his jutting hipbones. They slowly traced up to where his ribs were showing through his skin.

“You need a proper meal,” he said quietly. “I can see you wasting away. You can’t survive on beef drippings and a pint or two from me every other week.”

“Yeah, well, what I am supposed to do? Climb through a window and drain the nearest helpless virgin? If I take anyone from the Coven’s hit list, they’ll find me, and you know I don’t want to be like them anymore—”

“I know.” Darren slipped down to lie on the bed next to Theo. “We’ll figure something out.”

“If I murder any more people, I’d deserve a stake through the heart! I can’t let myself—”

“Theo! We’ll figure something out! Okay?”

Theo shut his mouth. He briefly considered the word we and what a beautiful, wonderful word it was.

“But we’re not gonna figure out anything out tonight, are we?” Darren went on.

Theo cleared his throat. “Maybe we could figure out how to settle a stomach that hasn’t handled any solid food in over a year?”

Darren carefully pushed up Theo’s shirt and planted a kiss on the crest of his churning belly. “There. Did that make you feel better?”

Theo let out a short, painful laugh. “Try a hand on my belly and a kiss on my mouth,” he said, and he sighed as Darren obliged.

[fanficwriter013]

The Tower Holiday Special - Part Two

The Tower Holiday Special: An Avengers Fanfic

Part One | Two

Word Count: 4610

Warnings:   Fluffy fluff.  Some funny dialogue.

Synopsis:   After Tony announces to the world that the Avengers are in a polyamorous relationship together, things become tense.  Elly decides that they could use some holiday cheer and gets all their friends involved.

Author’s Note: As promised part 2, and you only had to wait less than twenty-four hours for it. Written with the salted carmel Sagittarian @emilyevanston. Happy, Merry Festivus.

Holiday Special - Part Two

Since joining the Avengers, Wanda had not had really had anyone to celebrate Hanukkah or any of her holidays with.  It was something that she did with Pietro until they’d unwittingly signed their bodies over to HYDRA.  She still celebrated, but you could tell she missed Pietro.

Because we were celebrating a holiday, when normally they didn’t, I wanted to make sure she knew she wasn’t alone.  That I was her family and if she wanted to have someone to share that with I could be that person.

So on the first day of Hanukkah, I spent the morning cooking latkes, sufganiyot and kugel and left them to cool while I went up to work.  After work, I showered and got dressed and headed over to Wanda’s apartment laden down with food and gifts.  I knocked on her door and heard the words, ‘Just a minute, sweetheart.’  In my mind as the sound of things being hastily moved around happened inside.

The door opened and Wanda popped her head out.

“Happy Hanukkah!”  I said with a big stupid grin on my face and holding up the plates of food.  “I’ve been cooking.”

Wanda kissed my cheek and took the plate stepping out of the doorway so I could come in.  “Thank you.  You didn’t have to do that you know?”

“I know I didn’t.  But I love you, and it’s your holiday.  You’re celebrating ours with us, so…”  I held up two small wrapped gifts.

Wanda put the food down on the coffee table and we both sat down on the couch.  She curled herself into me and took the presents, kissing me on the tip of the nose.  “You’re too sweet.”

“I can’t tell you how hard it was to keep this a secret,”  I said as she opened up the dreidel and gelt.  “I thought we could play.  I know, it’s for kids or whatever, but…”

Wanda put her finger on my lips.  “I could tell you were hiding something when you started singing ‘Sucker for Pain in your head at random times.”  She said.  “And it sounds good, sweetheart.  I would love to do that.”

I let out a sigh of relief as Wanda picked up a latkes and tore a piece off.  “You know there’s better ways to keep things secret from me.  You can ask me not to snoop around.  Or there’s Natasha’s favorite.  Thinking in other languages.”

“I don’t know any other languages.”  I joked, “So earworms it is.”

Wanda rolled her eyes.

We spent the night eating and playing and she taught me the song to sing as she lit the candle.  The following day Sam joined us.  Then Nat and Bucky.  Then Vision.  By the eighth day, the whole group had come to celebrate too.  Wanda and I spent the day teaching Vis to cook.  It felt like something had shifted in the group.  Like they’d discovered that there was another level to what being a family was.

Gift hunting for Tony wasn’t as easy as I had hoped.  For real, what do you buy a guy who has billions of dollars?  He’s not the most sentimental person in the world either.  In fact, the Iron Suits and his cars are the only things that he seems to hold on to.

I kept thinking, I can’t just get him lingerie for me.  That’s so lazy.  Then I got it in my head, the first real date we went on was to Shake Shack.  Maybe I could buy Shake Shack.  I mean, how much money could it be?  It’s a small shack that makes burgers.

Turns out a lot.  It costs a lot.  Not for that venue.  That venue wasn’t for sale.  Nor were any.  It was a publicly listed company.  So then I had it in my head that I’d buy him shares.  However, the shares weren’t exactly cheap and I knew he wouldn’t be happy with just some shares.  He’d want controlling shares.

So after speaking with his lawyers and accountants and everyone giving me the go ahead because it was a growing business with steadily growing share rates I went to see Tony.  Really feeling confident.  Okay, so I wasn’t buying him this exactly, I was investing his money.  My gift was an investment into something that meant something to us.

So I headed into his lab.  He was right in the zone.  Hyper-focused on whatever he was working on.  I went up behind him and just rested my chin on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist waiting for him to acknowledge me.  To my surprise, it happened really fast.  He immediately started closing what he was working on down.   “Hey, no no. You said we weren't supposed to know anything about these things before we did the gift exchange.”

“Oh was that a gift thing?  I didn’t look.  Is it for me?  Did you get me?”  I babbled excitedly.

“It was a gift thing. Not for you.”  Tony said.  “Besides, you were the one that made all these rules.”

“Okay.  Well, I didn't look.  So it's all good.  No surprises ruined.”  I said kissing his cheek and stepping back so he could turn around.  He spun in his chair and wrapped his arms around my waist looking up at him.  It was in this very moment that I realized how fucking insane what I was about to ask for actually was.  “I kind of have... fuck... I don't even know how to ask for this.”

“Whoa, that sounds like something I would say.”  Tony teased.  “What's going on? Do you need lawyers? Your own suit?”

I had a vision of myself flying around and being part of the team in my own version of the Iron Man armor.  I liked how it looked and for a moment I was completely distracted from what I went in there for.  “Is my own suit an option?”  I asked, looking around the room at the different suits.  “No.  Shut up, Elly.”  I said shaking my head to clear it of thoughts of being a new superhero.  “I need money.  Like a lot.   A lot of money.”

Tony looked at me with a mix of curiosity and excitement.  I knew what was going through his head.  I never asked for money.  I hated taking money.  He was about to get the thing he wanted.  He could spoil me for a change.  “What's a lot of money?”

“A hundred million and some change,”  I said spewing the words out as fast as I could and regretting saying it immediately.  I dropped my eyes and tried to pull away from him.  “No never mind.  This is dumb.  I don't even know why I thought this was a good idea.”

He tightened his arms around me.  “Hey, wait.  You know that’s nothing to me right?  It’s like $10 for you.  Pocket change.  No big deal at all.  I just need to get my checkbook.”

I looked at him like he’d lost his fucking mind.  I felt like I’d lost mine that’s for sure.  “You’re not even going to ask what it’s for?”

“No, why would I?’  He asked.  “I told you, it's ten dollars. Not a big deal. I have it, I can give it to you. I'm just really excited that you're finally asking me for money. Wait, that didn't sound right.”

I laughed and buried my face in his neck.  I felt really overwhelmed and unworthy.  I don’t even know where the feeling of unworthiness came from.  It’s not like I’d gotten into some serious trouble.  I’d just had a dumb investment plan.  Still, this man loved me so much that I could ask for more money than most people earned in a year and not even ask me what I needed it for.  He just trusted I wasn’t hiding anything bad from him.  “I love you so much, you know?”

Tony pulled me a little tighter to him and kissed me on the top of the head.  “I know, love you too.”  He said, patting my butt.  “Now let me go so I can go get my checkbook.”

****

The preparation for Christmas dinner started about three days before with Wanda and I, making desserts.  We then cooked pretty much constantly all the way through until the last dish was set on the conference room table completed.  I have never cooked so much food in my life.  There was a mixture of things that included traditional things, like Turkey (there were two full birds served hot and one small turkey roll I’d cooked the night before so Wanda had one), a Ham that was hot and one served cold, potatoes prepared like 4 different ways, green beans, carrots, gravy.  We had cold seafood like shrimp, oysters and smoked salmon.  There were three different kinds of vegetarian imitations meats, including a fake turkey made to look like a turkey.  We had traditional dishes from Eastern Europe like beef salad, and sarmale from Romania and Sokovia and Bobal’ki and Kutya from Russia.

We’d gone overboard but there were a lot of us.  Our family group of Steve, Bucky, Tony, Bruce, Clint, Sam, Wanda, Natasha and myself.  Our little part-timer Thor and his brother Loki.  Rhodey, Phil, Maria, and Scott were there too.  I had no doubt most of it would get eaten.

While Wanda and I had been cooking most of the others had been volunteering in shelters around town.  So by the time that the last dish hit the table we were all so ready to eat.

“I can't believe we pulled this off.  I've never cooked for this many of you at once.  Merry Christmas, everyone.”  I said collapsing into a seat.  “Who wants to carve?”

“Steve should do it,”  Nat said.  “Unless someone else really wants to.”

“I agree with you, Nat.  Any objections?”  I said, picking up the carving knife and offering it to Steve.

Steve glanced around the table.  “Come on, Cap.  No, not Cap.  Who are you now?  The tramp?”  Tony teased.

Steve took the knife from me trying to ignore Tony and started to carve.  “Alright, everyone.  Don't hold back.”  I said when he was done and grabbed a terrine full of potatoes.  

The room broke down into noise and chaos as everyone started to help themselves and dishes got passed around the table.

“Have you spoken to Cassie yet today?”  I asked Scott when our plates were full.

Scott shook his head.  “Not yet. I was going to do a video call in later.  Maybe see if Santa could make an appearance.”

“Oh, that will be so cute.   I bet she'll love that.”  I said.  How good of a dad Scott was always made me happy.  Even though he didn’t always make the best life choices he loved and adored that girl and given that so few people at the table had a decent father, having a friend who was one made me really happy.

He nodded at me, a huge smile on his face and a mouth full of turkey.  “That's the plan.”

I looked over at the two gods.  Loki was picking at a plate of seafood like he expected that they might be poisoned while Thor had a Turkey leg in one hand and was shoveling ham into his mouth and a huge smile on his face.  “How is it?  Different to food on Asgard I guess.”  I asked.

“Much different, but it is enjoyable, Lady Elly. Thank you for your efforts on putting together this feast.”  Thor boomed, sweeping his hands around the room.

I felt myself blush again.  Thor has this effect on me and even though we weren’t strangers anymore, he still could make me blush at the drop of a hat.  “Thank you, Thor.”

“What is that on your face?”  Clint teased, point his potato laden fork at me.

I flicked a pea at him, my face growing even hotter.  “Shut up.”

“Hey now, that's how you start a food fight.”  Clint joked.  “Do you want to start a food fight?”

“No.  I do not want to start a food fight.  Do you know how long I've been cooking this stuff?  I started yesterday.”  I snarked.  

“We actually started a few days ago,”  Wanda said, looking over at us.  “All that baking and then the prep work, and the stuff that needed to set to taste good.”

“Yeah, true.  So no food fights.  At least not until you've all eaten more than you can physically fit inside you.”  I said with a nod.

“That can’t include both of us,”  Bucky said indicating to himself and Steve.  “Because we can eat about half of this together.”

“You forget there's still dessert on the common floor.  And oh my god, we went overboard.  Like there is something from everywhere.  There's pies and cakes and puddings and tarts.  A Yule Log.  have you ever seen a Yule Log?  Anyway... We can eat dessert with the gift swap.”  I rambled

“Okay, so then we need to save some room. Got it.”  Sam teased.

“More food for the food fight,”  Clint added.

“Cookies.  There's cookies.  Oh, there's a thing called a pavlova.  I had to put some things in the walk-in fridge in the cafeteria.”  I continued.

Steve rubbed my leg under the table.  “El, you really went overboard here. But thank you for everything.”

“You're welcome,”  I replied, linking my fingers with his.  “I just... I wanted it to be special you know?”

“I understand.”  He said giving me a soft smile.  “Still, thank you.”

I looked around at everyone.  I felt really happy and loved.  Quite proud of what I’d managed to pull this off.  “Maybe we should have a toast or something?”

“Think that'd be all you, doll,”  Bucky said.

“Alright,”  I said, thinking for a second.  “Well, first of all, I guess I just want to say, how weird it's been since I met you guys.  But I wouldn't change it at all.  I love you all.  And I appreciate that you all made time to come join us for the holiday.  I know most of you already know I call you family, but here right now it's like one big extended family.  So to family.” I said raising my glass.  Everyone raised their glasses, repeating 'to family' as glasses clinked together.

****

After dinner, we cleared up and headed down to the common room.  Dessert was served.  There was way too much, but a lot of people do work in the tower so I was pretty confident it would all end up in someone’s stomach eventually.  We sat around the coffee table.  Some people in chairs, some on the floor.  Clint perched on the back of the couch.  

The room was lit mostly by the fairy lights and the lights of the city filtering in through the window and we all sat eating our desserts and drinking things like hot cocoa and eggnog.  It felt quite magical really.  I looked over at the pile of presents and back to the others.

“Okay, I don't want to go first.  Who's going first?”  I asked.

“Might as well just do this and get it over with,”  Clint said.  He got up and grabbed an envelope and tossed it at Loki. Loki glared at it, and then Clint, before picking it up and opening it. There was the briefest of moments where his jaw dropped before he composed himself.

“You like it?  What did you get?”  I asked Loki knowing full well what the answer was, but wanting to hear him say it out loud.

“It's tickets to a play about me. And it's an alright gift from a Midgardian.”  He answered.  “Does that mean I have to go now?”

I gave a nod and the corners of his mouth downturned ever so slightly. He got up and picked up a big box that had been wrapped in his signature colors of green and gold. He turned around and his eyes swept the room before he handed the gift to Hill. She took the box and opens it cautiously.

“Gotta admit, kinda scared about this one.”  I half-joked.

“Why do you think I'm opening it like this? I don't want something to jump out and stab me.”  Hill joked.  I sat forward in my seat to see better.  She opened the box and stared at what was inside for a moment.

“It's not poisonous. You can take it out of the box.” Loki said.  Hill looked at him before pulling out a beautiful ornamental helmet.

Sam started to laugh earning a glare from Loki.  “Sorry, I'm just thinking about that time. And you had that helmet on.”  He said, in between laughs.  “How it was squishing your brain.”

“Alright, smartass shove it,”  Hill said and turned to Loki.  “Thank you. It’s really lovely.”  She went and picked up a small box from the pile and handed it to Bruce.  “Okay, you can let me know if this isn't something that you'd like and I can swap out some stuff. I had this whole list for you.”

Bruce sorted through the things in the box.  “Hill, this is already like five different things,”  Bruce said.  There was a paper gift certificate, a photo of a well outside a small village, another of a newly constructed hospital, and yet another photo of a condemned building.

“That last one is for Hulk.”  She said.

“Oh my god. You got him somewhere to smash?”  I asked looking at her. “That’s genius.”

“I know. I tried. Plus the place is coming down anyway, so perfectly safe and helpful.”  She said

“I don't even have the words to begin to express enough gratitude. Thanks, Maria.”  Bruce said, looking really touched.

“Man, you are good at gift giving, Hill,”I say putting my hand on my heart.

“Should have taken my bow when I had the chance.”  She laughed.

“Okay, so I got Bucky. And you are not an easy person to get a gift for. So, uh, if you don't like it, you can tell me and I can fix it.  Although, I kinda did the same thing Hill did.”  Bruce said, fidgeting with his hands as he grabbed a small box and handed it to Bucky.

“Remember, Bruce. It's the thought that counts.”  Bucky said as he opened the box.  Inside were VIP tickets to the Natural History Museum, along with VIP tickets to the most recent Neil DeGrasse Tyson tour. Bucky looks at them for a moment before smiling at Bruce.  “These are awesome. Thank you so much.”

“Oh man! I am super jealous, Bucky.”  I said, bouncing in my seat a little.

“Play your cards right, doll. Just maybe.” Bucky teased.  “Okay, so, you guys are never going to guess who I got.”  He said, getting up to grab a big box.  He handed it to Sam grinning.

Sam looked at the box and then glared up at Bucky.  “I don't like your face,”  Sam said, suspiciously as he opened the box.  His jaw set and he pulled out a steering wheel.

“You know because I stole yours? Get it?”  Bucky asked, trying to stifle laughter.

I laughed loudly.  “You do bring it up a lot, Sammy.”

“Doesn't mean that's a suitable Christmas gift,”  Sam said, sticking the steering wheel back in the box.

“And that would be what this is for,”  Bucky said, handing Sam a smaller box.

Sam gave Bucky a look as he opened the box, and pulled out a brand new tactical knife.  “Now this is what I'm talkin ‘bout.”

“Because you're a punk that attacks HYDRA with a knife,”  Bucky explained.

Sam patted Bucky on the shoulder before grabbing a gift bag and passing it to Wanda, kissing her softly before sitting back down again.  Wanda pulled out a canvas with a print of her and Pietro on it. Her eyes started to water as she looked at it.  Natasha put her arm around Wanda’s shoulder and kissed her on top of the head.  Wanda then pulled out a matching canvas but this time of one of the rare photos of us together, not them as superheroes or doing a public appearance.  But just, as the family we were.  Jammed together, arms wrapped around each other as Bucky tried to reach out as far as he could to get us all into the shot.  “Come here, you big softie,”  Wanda said, bursting into tears and launching herself at Sam.  He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her, holding her to him.  “You’re too sweet.”  She mumbled against his skin.

“Only for my little witch. Don't go getting ideas about me being soft.”  Sam whispered.

“That’s what she said.”  Clint teased.

“Clint! Stop ruining moments!”  I said throwing a hazelnut at him.

He caught it in his mouth and shrugged.  “Come on, I wasn't the only one that thought it.”

Wanda sat down on Sam’s lap and curled into him before waving her hand.  A small box was carried over to me.  I took it and looked it over.  “Oh no, if it’s from Wanda I’m going to cry.”

“Yes, you are. But they'll be good tears.”  Wanda said.

I open the box to see a bracelet with 9 charms each represents one of them. Mjolnir for Thor, a Shield for Steve and so on.  My eyes well up.  “Oh my god Wanda.”  I squeaked and moved to her, hugging her tightly.  “It’s perfect. Can you help me put it on.”

“I can,” ��Wanda replied, as she took the bracelet and wrapped it around my wrist and closed the clasp.  “I'm glad you liked it.”

I kiss her deeply but briefly sending her the feelings of love I had.  “I love it. And I love you.”  I said.  “Okay, my turn.”  I got up and grabbed two wrapped boxes.  I handed him the garment one first.  “This is for later,”  I said.  He opened it and looked inside before looking back up at me and raising his eyebrow.

“Naughty girl.”  He teased.

I ran my tongue over my top lip and quirked an eyebrow at him before handing over the wrapped prospectus.  “Also, I made an investment for you.”

“Did you really ask me for money from me to just earn me more money?  That’s not how that’s supposed to work.”   He said as he unwrapped the parcel.  He looked it over and laughed.  “Sentimental are we?”

I immediately started to second guess it again.  Of course, this was a terrible gift.  “Yeah. I thought now you know it will never go anywhere. You’re the controlling shareholder. You don’t like it? I checked with your accountants and lawyers. It’s been steadily growing…”  I babbled.

“Hey, come here,”  Tony said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into his lap.  “I love it, and I love you.”  He whispered into my ear.  “Don't go pulling that self-doubt stuff, That's my game.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.  “I love you too.”

“Alright, my turn,”  Tony said, pulling out his phone from his pocket and opening up a picture collage that he projected out as a hologram.  “Okay, so most of the stuff I got. You can't really put it in a box.  So this is all for you, Red.  You’ll find it in various places in the tower.

“You didn't. This is all… You went way overboard, Stark.”  Nat gasped.  “An Iron Widow suit, and a whole bunch of stuff for my spiders. Did you build this terrarium, too?”

“I did, super fancy one of a kind spider world,”  Tony answered.  “I know how you feel about those spiders.”

I nuzzled into Tony’s neck and rubbed his thigh.  “That is so cool,”  I whispered.

“Thanks,”  Tony said, resting a hand on my knee.

“Alright, Lang. Your turn.”  Nat handing over an enormous gift-wrapped in Black Widow paper.

He opened it up to find a framed photo of the team in action, Scott in his Giant-Man state.  Along with that was a small action figure of each of them.  “Oh man, this is so cool!”  Scott babbled excitedly.  “I can recreate the fight with, Cassie.”

“I’m glad you like it, bug,”  Natasha said with a smile.

Scott messed around with the toys for a moment before he realized that everyone was staring at him.   “Oh, I got Vision.”  He said, jumping up and getting out a small gift bag. He handed it to Vision.

Vision pulled out a weird headband and turned it over in his hands.  “It's an electromagnetic frequency device.” Vision said.

“Yeah, it'll let you talk to the ants,”  Scott said with a nod.

“That will be very fascinating.   I look forward to learning more about them.  Thank you, Mr. Lang.”  Vision said.  He put the headband back into the bag and floated over, picking up two rectangular gifts and bringing them to Thor.  Thor opened them one at a time.  Both were books.  One detailed Norse Mythology and the other a history of Earth from the time he was last here until now.

“That is very thoughtful. Thank you, friend.”  Thor said looking the books over.  He put them down picking up a long thin gift and handing it to Rhodey.  “Machine of war, I drew you.”

Rhodey took it with a laugh and opened it.  Inside was an ornate Asgardian Sword with Gold Hilt.

“Woah! That’s beautiful.”  I said.

“Yes, it is.”  Rhodey agreed.  “Thank you, Thor. I'll put this on my sword wall.  Rhodey said, getting up and handing a big gift bag to Steve.

You have a sword wall?”  I asked as Steve started opening his gift.

“Well, I do now anyway”  Rhodey joked.

Steve opens the bag and Bucky cracked up laughing.  “A parachute, because you obviously need one. Good one Rhodes.”  Bucky wheezed.  The rest of us all started laughing too.

“Alright, I get it. I deserved that. Very funny, you guys.”  Steve said

Rhodey held up a finger.  “I got you a real gift.”  He said, handing him a medium sized box.

Steve opened it a little hesitantly and revealed an array of art supplies. He looked up at Rhodey and gave him a big smile.  “Thank you, I never would have been able to afford something like this back in the day.  It means a lot.”

“Does that mean we're going to see more art from you, Steve?”  I asked.

“It's a possibility,”  Steve answered.  “It's been a while, though. Not sure how it would look. Okay, Phil. You're up.”  He grabbed a small box and handed it to Coulson.  “I think you’ll like this one.”

Phil opened it and a small smirk crossed his face.  “Vintage Captain America cards.”  He said, picking them up.  “And they're signed.  Thanks, Cap.”  The two embraced, patting each other on the back.

“Well, figured you earned them. You did die trying and all.”  Steve teased.

“Thank you, Steve,”  Phil said with a smile.  “Okay, archer. You're up. But this isn't to be opened in front of the masses.” He handed Clint a box, and Clint peeked inside.  His eyes went wide and he shut the lid.  “Holy shit.”  He said.  “Alright, I already went, so is that everyone?”

“Yep.  That's everyone.  I think that means Christmas is over, everyone.”  I answered, scrunching my nose.

“Alright. We did it, and we didn't kill anyone.”  Sam joked.  

“That's what he said.”  Clint teases.

“Well, that was my best family Christmas yet.  Thanks, everyone.  I really appreciate you humoring me.”  I said, ignoring Clint.

“Even with the birdbrain?”  Natasha asked.

I nodded.   “Surprisingly yeah.”

[primortravel]

New Post has been published on https://primortravel.com/20-traditional-polish-foods-to-try-in-poland-or-at-home/

20 Traditional Polish Foods to Try in Poland or At Home

Ready to take a tour of traditional food in Poland? You’ve got everything from your standard fare that’s been eaten in Poland for generations to dishes that even molecular gastronomist Ferran Adrià would applaud. On your next trip there, make sure you try some of the following food in Poland.

I have to say: before I left for my trip to Poland, my idea of Polish cuisine was pierogi and kielbasa. While I did find those traditional Polish foods aplenty, I also was surprised by the diversity of other foods in Poland, including some pretty amazing contemporary cuisine at cutting-edge restaurants.

Must-Try Traditional Polish Foods

This post was originally written by Susan Guillory and has been updated by The Planet D with even more delicious Polish dishes.

1. Pierogi

Pierogi is a must-try food in Poland

You won’t get far in Poland without running into a pierogi, and believe me, you won’t mind. Eating Pierogi’s in Poland is like eating dumplings are in Asia, or empanadas in South or Central America: flat dough discs stuffed with delightful fillings and then boiled. At the restaurant Zapiecek, which seems to be as ubiquitous as TGIFriday’s in the US (though much tastier in my humble opinion), we also sampled fried pierogi, which, frankly, I preferred.

The most common pierogi are filled with beef, though you’ll find both sweet and savory fillings like twaróg cheese, (a type of cottage cheese) lentils, turkey and carrots, mushrooms, and even fruit or jams. Served with a side of sour cream for savory pierogies or powdered sugar, butter, or even whipped cream for sweet pierogies.

Red Barszcz (Borscht)

Red Barszcs with noodles

Red Barszcz is a Polish beet soup that is similar to borscht of eastern European countries like Russia and Ukraine. (We at a lot of Goulash on the Mongol Rally). Traditional borscht is usually made from cabbage and contains meat and tomatoes while the Polish version of barszcz is meatless and is a basic beet broth soup that is red in color. You can really put anything in you like and it is often served with potatoes and vegetables. Note: White Barszcz is similar but uses fermented rye flour or sour rye bread base. Make your own Barszcz with this authentic European recipe.

Zurek

One soup we had over and over again in Poland (not that I minded) was Zurek, or sour bread soup. It was tangy and creamy, and at Hotel Bristol’s Marconi Restaurant — which got my vote for the best zurek — it also had a quail’s egg and bits of ham.

Nalesniki

Nalesniki is a Polish crepe similar to French crepes. They can be filled with whatever you like and are often eaten as breakfast food. But they can be filled with other ingredients like sauerkraut, cheese, meats, and mushrooms. Popular sweet fillings are jams, fruit, and cottage cheese can also be used. See how to make Nalesniki at home with this recipe.

Krokiety

Krokiety is stuffed Nalesniki (crepes) that are battered with breadcrumbs and fried to perfection. These Polish Croquettes are stuffed with mushrooms and fried onions and are usually served with Barszcz. A traditional Christmas Eve dish, they can also be stuffed with any meat or cabbage. But they aren’t only eaten at Christmas, Korkiety can be found in most Polish food restaurants and food stands. Polish foodies blog has a good recipe to follow.

Mizeria

Mizeria is a refreshing Polish cucumber salad. The term Mizeria means misery in Polish but this salad is anything but miserable. This creamy cucumber salad is made with sour cream, vinegar, fresh dill and salt and sugar.

Salatka Jarzynowa

Another type of Polish salad is Salatka Jarzynowa made of boiled carrots and potatoes. Mix these main ingredients with mayonnaise, pickled cucumbers and peas, and onions. You can also add boiled eggs for some protein.

Rosol

Rosol is a Polish chicken soup that is served on special occasions. Like your grandma’s chicken soup, Rosol is also eaten when feeling under the weather for the ultimate comfort food. The chicken broth is served with noodles, carrots, parsley, and other herbs and spices.

Placki Ziemniaczane (Potato Pancakes)

Mmm mmm good. These Polish potato pancakes are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The easy to prepare recipe makes it a staple in Polish cuisine. Grate potatoes and add eggs and onions and then fry them up in oil for a quick and easy meal. Serve with a side of sour cream and you have a delicious snack. The Polish Housewife shares a couple of recipes here.

Makowiec (Polish Poppy Seed Roll)

Makowiec (strucla makowa) is rolled dough filled with your choice of filling with the main filling being poppyseed. Add butter, sugar, walnuts and raisins and you have a sweet and delicious treat. You can find these poppy seed rolls at any bakery in Poland. And it is often served on holidays like Christmas and Easter. Learn how to make this yummy treat at the Spruce Eats.

Paczki

Another sweet treat to add to your Polish dinner party is Paczki. Paczki are the Polish version of doughnuts. Deep-fried dough is usually filled with jams, fruit, or custards and sprinkled with powdered sugar. People started baking Paczki on Fat Thursday to use up the lard, eggs, and fruit to prepare for the fasting of Lent.

Bison Grass Vodka

At home, I could take or leave vodka, but once I had my first szarlotka (also known as tatanka) beverage upon arrival, there was no going back. Poland is proud of its vodka and will argue to the grave that they — not Russia — invented it and then perfected it. Zubrowka is the brand of choice because of one unique flavor: bison grass. The grass gives the vodka its distinct mellow vanilla flavor, and even decorates the inside of the bottle.

Mix Zubrowka with apple juice, and you have the szarlotka. It helps if you have the amazing light apple juice you can find in Poland rather than the artificial stuff in the US.

Burning Rose Dessert

If you’re like me, you skip dessert at the end of the meal simply because there’s no room in your tummy. But after my fellow travel writers and I saw the cloud-like Burning Rose being delivered to a nearby table at Krakow’s Szaragez, we changed our tune. The clouds turned out to be cotton candy, which was lit on fire to melt to a dish of raspberry parfait. The actual dessert was as good as the performance!

Kabanosy

Kabanosy (kabanos) is a Polish sausage. This long thin strip of sausage is often touted as the finest meat stick in the world. The process of salting and curing this sausage can take from 3 months to one year. It got its name from the nickname given to the young fat pigs (kabanek) that are raised in Eastern Poland with a diet of mostly potatoes.

Golabki – Polish Cabbage Rolls

You can’t visit Eastern Europe without tasting traditional cabbage rolls. Golabki consists of boiled cabbage stuffed with minced meat, rice, and chopped onions. Smother them with a tomato sauce for savory goodness. Check out the Polonist for the ingredients and how to make it.

Bigos – Hunter’s Stew

Bigos is a Polish meat stew and shredded cabbage and sauerkraut. You can really put anything you like in it from different meats to sausages or no meat at all. Slow cook it with mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes and let the aromas seep into your house. Check it out here.

Kopytka

Kopytka is potato dumplings that are popular in southern Poland. They can be eaten as a side dish or as a main meal. Their diamond shape is said to resemble little hooves. Similar to Italian Gnocci, Kopytka can be served any way you like. Top them with tomato sauce, saute them with garlic, mushrooms and onions, top them with buttered breadcrumbs, or even make them a sweet treat with powdered sugar. Get this mashed potato dumpling recipe to make at home.

Kotlet Schabowy (Breaded Pork Cutlets)

kotlet schabowy is similar to Schnitzel

Kotlet Schabowy is a breaded pork chop that reminded me of Schnitzel in Germany or Austria. This main course dish is made of pork that is pounded to a thin piece of meat, breaded with bread crumbs and flour and an egg and then cooked in oil over high heat. Serve with Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes and you have the perfect Sunday afternoon meal.

Gulasz (Goulash)

This comfort food is a Polish stew similar to Goulash you’ll find in Hungary. Gulasz is a meat stew usually made with beef, onions, and tomatoes with a dash of paprika. It can be served over boiled potatoes or noodles and with a side of fresh baked bread. Polish Meals has a good easy to follow recipe here.

Steak Tartare

On our last night in Warsaw, I swore I wouldn’t eat meat again. As amazing as the food had been, I was meated out. But then I saw steak tartare being prepared tableside at Stary Dom, and I knew I was a goner. The chef, in his 60s, I’d guess, prepares between 150 and 200 steak tartare servings each day! First, he deftly chops the steak, then mixes in mushrooms, fried onions, seasonings, and other goodies. The portion was way more than we could eat! I hated leaving it, but what can you do in a country that is so generous with its portions?

Poland surprised me in many ways, not the least of which was its memorable cuisine. Do you like Polish food? What is your favorite dish?

Photos by Susan Guillory and the following:

Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons – krokiety

Steven Depolo from Grand Rapids, MI, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons – cabbage rolls

Kuruni, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons – Golabki

Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mariuszjbie, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons -Mizeria

JanKokular, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons – crepes

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[morebedsidebooks]

10 Dishes to Celebrate What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Cooking comic meshing slice-of-life series What Did You Eat Yesterday by Fumi Yoshinaga has been ongoing for over a decade. To celebrate I thought I’d share 10 dishes I’ve prepared from the comic, nearly all which are not difficult to shop for ingredients or make yourself.

 Volume 1

Strawberry Jam

Perfect for when strawberries are abundant and on sale, you’ll probably make a batch more than once as it will quickly be eaten.

Oven-roasted chicken, German potatoes with leeks, Tosa-style sesame-dressed broccoli, and Tofu and wakame miso soup

This dinner menu was indeed not difficult to prepare (though it does require some Asian ingredients) and is as delicious as featured.

Volume 2

Milky Agar Cubes with Brown sugar syrup

Perfect in the summer this refreshing, sweet dessert has only five ingredients. This dish did take me a few tries before coming out just right despite my familiarity with agar. I’m unsure if there was a conversion problem or the original recipe requires some adjustment itself. Still it is worth trying to make.

Volume 3

Side-dish and Snack-dish Crepes

If you can expend a bit of effort this sweet and savory French inspired menu makes a wonderful brunch.

Volume 4

Caramel-simmered Apples

A tasty breakfast or snack item, I tend to make this in autumn in lieu of time consuming apple butter.

Volume 5

Banana Pound Cake

Useful for when you have extra bananas sitting around a little too long, it of course does make the kitchen smell nice as it bakes.

Volume 6

Corned beef and onion toast, Worcestershire fried cabbage, Banana yogurt, and coffee Kenji au lait

A substantial, western style breakfast menu that should be eagerly devoured.

Volume 7

Earl-grey Milk Tea Sorbet

A simple yet sophisticated frozen delight that could be enjoyed any time of year but, also fits in well at the end of year holidays.

Volume 8

Rum Raisin Brownies and Black Tea

A more self-indulgent and refined chocolate dessert suitable for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day. (Incidentally in the series there is mention about the cost as the recipe does require large amounts of butter, nuts, and rum raisins.)

Volume 12

American Apple Muffins and Coffee

These delectable pastries can be made in under an hour.

What Did You Eat Yesterday is available in English in print currently with 12 volumes, translated by Maya Rosewood (1-3), Yoshito Hinton (3-8), and Jocelyn Allen (9-12) from Vertical Comics.

[vickisventures]

All Work and No Play...

This picture is of the Hynes Event Center here and shows a portion of the set up we did for the dinner show.

Winter Texans GO HOME! (Just kidding)  If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have a job but this week was our first week that we felt like we earned our keep.  I’m not a fan!  HA!  We knew it was coming and it will be like this for the next 3-4 work weeks we have left here.  We set up for another craft fair which is brutal.  Then we had a dinner show with 50 tables…a dance…happy hour…and just the regular other stuff.  We were grateful that the other 2 tables and chairs couples had to help us set up and tear down the craft fair because it took us all 1.5 hours to do.  Imagine what it’d be like if it was just 2 couples doing it all! I’d like to say that Sunday is coming BUT we have a major concert here next week and we have to help the other couples set up and tear it down so although it’s our week off, we still have 2 days we have to do some work.  They told us that would happen but now that it’s here…it stinks, especially after this week.  But as I mentioned before, we only have 4 full work weeks left, so we’ll survive.  

The weather is finally feeling like what I think Winter Texans come down here for.  I really was beginning to question their judgement! The last couple of weeks have been nice…almost always windy but cooler temps and some sun.  Aspen and I have spent many hours outside and that is where we prefer to be!  

I mentioned on Facebook that dad, mom, Steve and I ate at an interesting restaurant in Brownsville, Emilia’s Restaurant.  Steve found it online and it’s a popular place.  The menu was completely in Spanish and dad read online that most of the wait staff spoke little English.  No worries!  Dad ordered “la lengua.” Mom and I had a combo Mexican plate, and Steve had “sopes” which was NOT what I thought it’d be.  It was a combination of beef, potatoes, and some spices all cooked together and eaten on tortillas.  He said it was good.  Everyone but I tried dad’s meal.  I just couldn’t knowing what it was…they all agreed it was very good.  (In fact, mom and dad went there again before they returned to Missouri and mom ordered it this time!)   They also served us soup before the meal arrived and then we had a choice of flan or some kind of cake for dessert.  Needless to say, we were stuffed!  I think we’re going to take a break from Mexican food and try a pizza joint tonight that was recommended to us.  

People are still arriving. I think I saw 4 rigs come in just today! Seems kind of late for people to be leaving their winter locations and coming here but I’m sure everyone has their own reasons.  That’s all I’ve got for today…pretty routine stuff.  All this work is cutting into my “fun time!”  HA!

[lilylink9-blog]

Seoul Mates At Soul Dining, Surry Hills

Soul Dining is a Modern Korean restaurant on Devonshire Street in Surry Hills. Inside the charcoal concrete walled restaurant is a menu made up of items like Kingfish in Kimchi water, Spicy Pork Jaffles, Ashed Chicken and Blood Sausage Croquettes with influences from China and Germany as well as Korea.

"I'm running 10 minutes late," messages Girl Next Door as I walk into the Soul Dining on Devonshire in Surry Hills. She has woken up with the flu and tells me that she completely forgot we were catching up today (!!). It was only when I messaged her that I'd see her soon that she threw on some clothes and got in an Uber and made her way there. That 10 minutes gives me time to look through the menu.

Soul Dining is a modern Korean restaurant owned by couple Illa Kim and Daero Lee. Inside the walls are painted charcoal and I'm sitting at the curved end of a blue velvet banquette. There is one single outdoor table for anyone that wants privacy or to bring a dog. It sits on the construction zone that is currently Devonshire Street.

Service is super friendly and accommodating by the restaurant manager Hyunchul Kim. I've already taken a look at the menu online and decided on some things that I really want to try but are then persuaded by Kim to give the tasting menu a go for $65 a person as it features most of the things that I want (plus the prawns that I'll order separately).

Illa says, "Kim (restaurant manager) and us, we used to be flatmates and we always wanted to open a restaurant together. We used to dream about what kind of a restaurant when we had our weekly dinners at home with too many glasses of wine. We didn’t plan on doing a Korean restaurant, we just wanted to do something that represents what we are and what’s in our memories. Naturally a lot of the dishes have Korean influences but sometimes also German as I grew up in Germany. We basically do whatever we feel like and what we think we understand well. What is most important, we always try to have our own interpretation of a dish."

Girl Next Door arrives and orders a pot of lemongrass and ginger tea to soothe her throat while we nibble on the first bites of bread. The rice bread is toasted on one side and has a spongey, chewy texture and is fermented with a milky, sparkling rice wine called makgeolli that acts much like a sourdough starter. I love makgeolli and the flavour really comes through and the texture is soft, light but also bouncy. "I could eat a dozen of those," says Girl Next Door, her appetite returning quickly. Indeed, so could I.

Kingfish in Kimchi Water

The first dish from the menu to arrive is the kingfish in kimchi water. The kimchi water is designed to neutralise the aroma of kingfish and is made using their own white kimchi or Doenjang fermented soybean paste. In comparison to Japanese miso doenjang is stronger and more aromatic. The kingfish is served with dabs of avocado puree and, radishes, jalapeno and flying fish roe.

Wagyu Tartare

Kim sets this down and explains that tartare isn't just for the French and that Koreans have been doing tartare for many years too. In Korea it is called "Yukhoe". Korean yukhoe is made with hand chopped beef, singo pear, egg yolk, chilli, watermelon radish fish sauce and plenty of sesame oil. To the side is a seaweed cracker brushed with sticky rice paste that is then flash fried that gives the beef a seafoody quality to it. It's good although I do find singo pear does tend to water down tartare a little bit and I prefer more concentrated flavours.

Kim's Eggplant

The eggplant is served in four pieces and is melting and soft underneath a blanket of tomato jam, anchovy paste and reggiano cheese. It's surprisingly sweet and I go back for seconds of this as it has the comforting qualities of both well cooked eggplant and plenty of cheese.

Curly Corn on The Cob

I have never seen corn served or cooked like this before. The corn is boiled, fried and then grilled and served as a quarter of a cob cut lengthways. This makes is very easy to eat and it's delicious. It is brushed with garlic butter and then comes with a generous sprinkling of pistachios and a pot of creme fraiche. The pistachios are an interesting choice, they suit it although you do have to spread the creme fraiche on the corn to make them stick.

Pickled Stuffed Fried Chilli

These pickled chillies have quite a history. A 4 week history to be exact. That's the amount of time it takes to pickle these chillies in a soy brine. They are then stuffed with cream cheese and served with kim chi with an extra pot of ranch dressing because why not and ranch dressing is the best. This gives the lightly spicy chillies an additional creaminess and light tanginess too.

Char Grilled Octopus

Octopus is all over menus in Sydney and has varying degrees of success. This is one of the great ones. The octopus is tender and smoky and served with a silky smooth squid ink mash, gochujang chilli sauce and a house made aioli with dill sprigs.

Rice cakes with truffle cream

Our next dish is a dish that the kitchen sent out because they just received their first truffle of the season from Tasmania. Normally the rice cakes are chilli glazed but here they are served in a cream sauce with chicken stock with freshly shaved truffles on top. If you like truffle gnocchi this is the dish for you. As they are early season truffles, the flavour is quite light but the aroma is there. The texture is like a slightly chewier gnocchi and we mop up the sauce with the bread.

King Prawn XO $20

OK so the tasting menu is comprehensive but I was curious to see what the King Prawn XO was like. Kim explains that the XO is more a soffritto than an XO made with tomato, garlic and chilli with plenty of capsicum. The prawn heads are cooked separately and are tossed in butter and then fried. It comes with a puffy, airy "not so flatbread" on the side which we puncture and use to wrap the prawn meat in and swish around the bowl of sticky rice cakes with truffle cream. But my favourite bit of the dish? Those crunchy prawn heads!

Barbecue Beef Short Rib

I saved my favourite savoury dish for last. The barbecue beef short rib is an ode to meaty deliciousness. The beef short rib is sous vide and then barbecued and finished with a galbi glaze (a sauce made with dark soy and singo pear that breaks down meat to make it tender).

The beef takes 12 hours to cook and is luscious and simply melts in the mouth. The potato pave are crispy and a nice textural contrast. Considering how much we had eaten I must confess one thing: I ate four pieces of this and would have kept going except I was sharing.

Panna Cotta

It's dessert time and there are two on the tasting menu. The panna cotta is inspired by a Korean cereal called Jolly Pong. It's a wheat based cereal not dissimilar to honey puffs and the panna cotta itself is made of a milk soaked in the cereal. It's a lovely, mild dessert that has a nice panna cotta wobble to it.

Cinnamon donut apple thyme vanilla ice cream

But hands down my favourite dessert is the apple hottoek or cinnamon sugar donut topped with caramelised apple slices served with a thyme vanilla ice cream. First let's talk about this donut pancake. There is regular wheat and glutinous flour so it has a gorgeously chewy texture to it. The sweetness is juuust right, not overly sweet but sweet enough. Plus the thyme vanilla ice cream is creamy heaven. "Can I order 10 of these to take with me?" I ask, picturing a blissful afternoon inside by the heater watching tv and making my way through a pile of these...

So tell me Dear Reader, do you eat prawn heads? And do you ever completely forget when you are meeting someone?

This meal was independently paid for.

204 Devonshire St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Lunch: Thursday to Saturday 12pm-3pm Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday 5pm-11pm souldining.com/

Source: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2019/06/24/soul-dining-surry-hills/

[siemprelluvia]

This week we’re talking about food! (Doesn’t it all look awesome?)

So here’s the thing about food: There’s a lot that I haven’t gotten to try yet, and a lot that I haven’t gotten pictures of yet. But that’s okay, I’m going with what I’ve got!

Food, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to represent culture. The ingredients in a dish and the methods used to prepare it can say a lot about where you’re from and what you’re accustomed to. How you serve that dish, what time of the year and what setting you eat it in, and who you serve it to can tell stories about social structure, day to day life, holidays, family... anything, really. Everything comes from context.

The context I have observed in my homestay is this: breakfast is served at 7:30, but you don’t have to eat right away. Lunch comes between 11:30 and 2pm, and that serve time depends on what you’re doing in the day. Dinner is at 7:30. You can eat early or you can eat late, but the food is ready and waiting at 7:30. Meals can be eaten individually or as a group- the only one that is consistently eaten as a group is dinner. Also, the television is on at most meals. It’s usually playing the news in the morning and a gameshow called EEG at night. At 8 pm, the telenovelas start. And Gaby loves to watch them with you as you finish your dinner.

Some recurring trends I’ve noticed are the ingredients. Avocado, mainly. Probably around half of the meals I’ve eaten have contained avocado in some way, shape, or form. Frankly, I’m thrilled. I love avocado. (Fun fact! Avocado is called plata in Peru) I’ve also noticed tons of tomatoes. Also a favorite of mine. Tomatoes get sliced up fresh and placed in salad- both cooked and fresh- or layered on sandwiches, or served up as a garnish. Tomatoes are everywhere. I see a splash of red in my food and it’s most definitely a tomato. And on the topic of tomatoes, I’ll mention ketchup- it’s sweet! Ketchup in the US is kind of a vinegary flavor that highlights the acidity of tomatoes. Here, the second ingredient is sugar. Far from being a bad flavor, sweet ketchup actually pairs great with mayonnaise- which usually has some lime juice in it!

 And now for an A-to-Z of some of the highlights of Peruvian cuisine!

 Ají de gallina: shredded chicken in a creamy yellow sauce made from yellow chilis (ají amarillo), cheese, and milk. Often served with bread or boiled potatoes, occasionally garnished with walnuts. I had this for the first time over boiled potatoes in Chincha, and it was absolutely delicious! Not at all spicy, but full of wonderful chicken, cheese, and ají flavors.

 Alfajores: crumbly sandwich cookies made of flour or cornstarch cookies filled with manjar blanco (caramel-like, similar to dulce de leche, a reduction of milk and sugar) and covered in powdered sugar. I haven’t had any Peruvian alfajores yet, but I have made them before! If you like shortbread cookies and caramel, these are the treat for you.

 Anticuchos: popular street food (and favorite of Carlos). Cuts of stew meat or beef heart marinated in vinegar and spices such as cumin, ají, and garlic that are skewered and grilled. Often served with boiled potatoes or bread. I haven’t tried any yet, but I fully intend to before I leave!

 Arroz con leche: rice pudding! My favorite iteration of this so far is arroz zambito- rice pudding kissed by the sun. It’s traditional rice pudding that is sweetened by chancaca and flavored with coconut, raisin, and aniseed. We were served arroz zambito when we went to Mundo Libre in Pachacamac. It’s a warm dessert, but the perfect end to a meal.

 Causa: a potato dish usually made as a potato cake or stuffed roll. Yellow potatoes blended with oil, lime juice, and ají amarillo are used to make a paste, which is the causa itself. The type of causa I had in Chincha was a roll stuffed with shredded chicken, served cold. An odd experience, but very good.

 Ceviche: an extremely popular seafood dish, characteristic of coastal regions such as Lima. I haven’t eaten any ceviche yet, as it is seafood, but I’ve heard it’s quite good if you enjoy fish. There are many different types of ceviche, but they are typically made from fresh raw fish that has been cured in citrus juice and spiced with ají or chili peppers.

 Chicha morada: classic Peruvian beverage made from purple corn. Made with sugar, cinnamon, and clove, and served with pretty much any meal you choose. Takes a little getting used to, but absolutely delicious! Personally, I think it pairs best with savory meals.

 Chicarrones: fried pork belly or intestines. In Peru,  it is boiled with seasoning until no water remains, then fried in its own fat. I haven’t had them yet, but they’re another popular street food and favorite of Carlos.

 Chifa: a Peruvian take on Chinese cuisine! Think of all the Chinese food you have in the United States… and make it sweeter. I’ve had Chifa one time since I’ve been here and honestly… I mostly ate the wontons. Everything was really good, but the wontons were excellent. Also, chifa tends to be served with Inca Kola!

 Churros: best found at a street cart in Parque Kennedy. There are tons of different types of curros, but my favorite are hot and filled with melted manjar blanco. S/. 2.50 in Parque Kennedy and worth every centimento.

 Cuy: guinea pig. Straight up guinea pig. Again, not something I’ve eaten yet. It’s a big food source in the Andes, but less so here on the coast. Give me a few days- I’m headed to Cusco and I’m going to try it.

 Empanadas: stuffed bread/pastry that can be baked or fried. Empanadas can have a ton of different types of fillings. I’ve had chicken and I’ve had cheese, and they’re all delicious. One curious thing about the chicken empanadas is that they nearly always have quail eggs inside with the chicken filling. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s good.

 Inca Kola: practically the national drink of Peru. Seriously. Inca Kola was made in Peru in 1935 and has since exploded throughout Latin America. The true flavor of Inca Kola is lemon verbena, but everyone tastes it slightly different. The flavor is commonly referred to as cotton candy or bubblegum. It’s definitely a drink that needs some adjusting to. After three weeks, I’ve found that Inca Kola is probably my favorite soft drink. It smells like bubblegum and tastes like… well, tastes like Inca Kola.

 Lomo saltado: beef stir fry typically served with rice. Can also be made with chicken (which I prefer). The meat is thinly sliced and fried with onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, and ají amarillo. Each time I’ve gotten any type of saltado, it also has French fries. And each time I’ve gotten saltado, it’s been delicious.

 Mazamorra morada: a popular dessert  made from purple corn and fruit. I haven’t eaten any yet, but it supposedly tastes like blackberry pie filling. It tends to be thickened with flour or corn starch and spices with cinnamon and cloves (like chicha morada) and served cold.

 Papa a la huancaína: a cold dish that consists of boiled potato slices covered in Huancaína sauce. The sauce is yellow and creamy, as its base is the ají amarillo pepper. It is often served with hard-boiled egg quarters, a black olive, lettuce leaves, and tomato slices. Typically an appetizer and not a main dish. I’ve had these potatoes several times, and each time it surprises me that they’re cold. Even so, they are by far one of the most tasty and iconic foods I’ve had here in Peru.

 Papa rellena: a type of croquette. In Peru it is a baked potato dough filled with chopped beef, onions, eggs, and whole black olives, with cumin and other spices. Once stuffed, the potato ball is deep-fried and is served with an accompanying ‘salsa criolla’ or ají sauce. We had papas rellenas for dinner a few days back, and while they were a little odd, they were pretty good. I could definitely get more behind this dish if it had slightly less black olives.

 Picarones: vaguely circular pieces of deep-fried dough. Kind of like a donut, actually, but crispy and covered in honey. Picarones are served hot from the fryer, but the honey is always cold. I’ve had street picarones and I’ve had restaurant picarones and both are delicious. I fully intend to find a recipe and attempt to make some back home.

 Pisco sour: the actual national drink of Peru. Though I am of legal drinking age here in Peru and I have had a couple of drinks in safe company, I have not tried pisco sour. I’m not sure if I will while I’m here, but I’d like to find a way to brink some pisco back to the states so I can mix up the drink for my parents. Pisco sour is a cocktail. The base liquor is pisco, which is mixed with fresh-squeezed lime juice, simple syrup, and egg whites. These ingredients are shook in a cocktail shaker with ice, then poured into a glass (sans ice) and garnished with Angostura bitters. Served straight up.

 Tejas: a dumpling-shaped sweet created in the Ica region. The filling is typically a whole walnut and manjar blanco, and the exterior is a sugar-based shell similar to fondant. There are versions of tejas that are accurately named chocotejas, as the exterior is made up of a chocolate shell instead of a sugar one. I got to try some chocotejas this past weekend when I was in Ica, and they were excellent! If I thought they could survive three more weeks and a plane ride to the US, I would have gotten some to bring home.

[mamasgonewalkabout-blog]

Into The Mystic

Sailing Magnetic Island (Aka Maggie) – Apr 23, 2018

DISCLAIMER: If you hate seeing my ridiculous, lop-sided grin and reading a bunch of self-congratulating drivel, this blog is NOT for you! Consider yourself well warned!

As I’ve mentioned before, I am constantly embroiled in some sort of internal tug of war. Being intrigued, yet cautious (dare I say afraid). Adventuresome, yet stuck. Energetic, yet lazy. Young at heart, old in body!! I’d like to think I’m not the only one?? There’s a constant inner argument of what is or is not: Possible. Proper. Realistic. Folly. Stupid. Silly. Dangerous. Brave. Cowardly.

Sorry, went off on a bit of a tangent there. I blame sunstroke 😉 And the fact that I managed to accomplish many of my ‘be-brave-and-just-do-it’ moments yesterday. *I understand that most, if not all, of the things that I have never tried and/or been afraid of are old hat, or inconsequential, to many. I’m not looking for a medal, or kudos for doing something considered natural for most human beings! I guess I just want to record my journey and have something to look back on when I’m feeling the coward, or incapable of trying something new. And who knows, for as many who may shake their head at the triviality of it all, there may be just one who finds inspiration – hence my sharing.

Welcome aboard the Big Mama. She’s a beautiful boat and home to 3 of the nicest people you’ll meet. Lisa, Stuart and their son Fletcher (and their little dog too!). They ooze exactly what you’d imagine true ‘island cool’ to be. Sailors to the core. And the other 2 families that joined us for the day (both from other parts of Oz) were super friendly as well.

The morning started off with coffee and fresh scones (with jam & whipped cream). *OMG I could’ve eaten an entire platter! (There will be no pictures of food as we were too busy eating it! Sorry) Then it was over to another part of the Island to a private beach to go for a swim, kayak or paddle board.

Here comes first “Big Decision” moment. The sailboat couldn’t make it too close to shore (John says we were about 50 or so meters out? Sure, okay I’ll take it) So, we could either swim in or Stu would motor us in on the dingy.

  INTERNAL DIALOGUE:

“The water may be beautiful, BUT you still can’t see what’s going on below”

“It’s not that far, and look, others are doing it!”

“You are NOT a strong swimmer, remember? You sink like a stone. Your dog paddle is like something out of a ‘how not to swim’ demo in an after-school special”

“But the water is super salty and you can actually float here!”

“Go ahead, make a fool out of yourself and need rescuing half way across.”

SCREW IT! Let’s do this!

The real beautiful thing about this moment was that I did not attempt to race to shore, imagining the giant <insert your worst nightmare creature here> coming up to take a chunk out of me. I just floated along (so much salt, I don’t think I could’ve drowned it I’d wanted too!) and made my way across. The water was so warm. Like a liquid cocoon. And I made it to the beach. Victory is mine!

Then I started eyeing up those Stand Up Paddleboards. Like surfing, I’ve wanted to try them as well. Something about gliding over the water on your own steam. I ask Stu “What’s the trick to those?” he had a one-word answer, “Relax”. Huh? Okay, fair enough.

I watched the others for a bit. Now, watching most everyone’s multiple attempts produce wobbling and falling into the water (including Mr. I-Stood-Up-Surfing), did not inspire confidence! And that’s the truth! But, by God I was going to TRY. “Big Decision Moment” #2

I clambered onto the board and onto my knees. Okay, that wasn’t so bad. Using the paddle for leverage and balance in front of me (as I’d watched in Youtube videos LOL) I took a deep breath, took Stu’s advice “Relax” and pushed myself up. With one push I WAS UP. And it felt AWESOME. And, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel great to hear my compatriots hooting & hollering their congratulations behind me as I began paddling about. I even managed to ‘dismount’ with some sort of grace as well, I might add 😉

So, I practiced a while longer and PADDLED my way back, that 50+ meters to the boat. Now, if I may add a wee bit of humility here (going for total honesty of course!) As I approached the boat Lisa and Stu were having a good laugh. Apparently, I was BACKWARDS on the board AND I was also holding the paddle BACKWARDS. (No wonder it took all my energy! Huh!) So, my paddling dyslexia made things harder than they needed be, but I still did it. I shall take that embarrassment and turn it into a major success. BOOM!

Back on the boat, we were now invited to try Boomnetting. I’d never heard of it before. The idea of purposefully lowering myself into a large fishing net and being dragged along the water behind a boat (the word ‘bait’ comes to mind) had never really been on my Bucketlist, I must say. “Big Decision Moment” #3 Climbing into a giant net and hanging on for dear life. Why the hell not? I’m on a roll!

Back on the boat Lisa produced a feast of a lunch that can only be described as crazy delicious (where IS that thesaurus??) Baked Spanish mackerel with lemon, potato salad, a red beet coleslaw (reminded me a bit of my Oma’s Italian Salad, that pink color) green salad, chicken skewers, beef skewers and warm fresh rolls with butter. How she managed all that in that little galley kitchen –my hat’s off to you, lady! I then proceeded to plop myself, unceremoniously, into one of the many comfy beanbag chairs to digest as we sailed off to find a good snorkel spot on the fringing reef.

Next up: VERY, VERY OPEN WATER SNORKELING. “Big Decision Moment” #4 There is something very different about snorkeling near shore and snorkeling out in the middle of the Big Blue Ocean. I did it and I’m glad I did. The reef is RIGHT THERE underneath, some of the larger sea grass nearly touching me (eek!) My heart pounded the whole time and I got the hiccups (hiccups through a snorkel, sounds ridiculous btw!!) but I saw some amazing shaped coral and plenty of colorful fish.

Side note: As I was putting on my flippers, I turned to Stu “Am I putting these on the right feet? I’ve been known to do things backasswards you know?” He called me a ‘cheeky American’. Funny guy!

And then we proceeded to sail back. The water was definitely choppier than when we’d left and we did some rockin’ and rollin’, that’s for sure! Big Moment for My Tummy – I did not get seasick (as I thought I might) Even managed to scarf down some cookies and fruit for dessert. I just might be a pro, people! LMAO

It was an amazing day filled with adventure and camaraderie. 

And, I have to thank John for his support & playing photographer( so I would have ‘proof’ of my momentous accomplishments). He just shakes his head and let’s me do my thing, and that’s a major accomplishment for him! The patience of Job, that guy!

Anyways, I am tired and sore as I type. Even adventurous souls need a bit of R&R now and again. Nothing Ibuprofen and an afternoon by the pool won’t cure.

Big hugs to all and to all a good night! xoxoxo

[cuisinedupark]

Trying out a Paleo Diet

I am going to post something unique this time with my diet which I’ve never heard of or tried before.

A Paleo Diet!! Some of you may or may not be familiar with it.

Anyway, a paleo diet(or paleolithic diet) is designed to resemble what human hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago.(Healthline.com)

You can only eat food that our ancestors used to eat before the farming era had begun.

There are several studies that says this diet can help you lose a significant amount of weight and a good way to stay healthy.

However, my biggest reason to start this one was that it looked relatively easy for me to tolerate this diet scheme. (I am not a big fan of dieting although I may need one right now…)

I actually did try my best to follow the rule and let’s see how it went!!

[Had to shop for Paleo menus]

What are the examples of typical daily menus? 

Surprisingly enough, even under the same name of “paleo diet”, there were some varieties amongst the websites and organizations. I think that difference comes from the point of view of write, for instance could pre-historic mankind had a chance to eat legumes or not? Maybe some of them had and the others might not have had a chance to.

After looking over a number of websites, I had picked Healthline(https://www.healthline.com/) to follow the guidelines because the website seemed to be more focused on heath perspective and it is run by medical teams.

Based on Healthline’s recommendations, here is the list of what I should and should not eat.(https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/paleo-diet-meal-plan-and-menu)

The most difficult challenge or I could say a disaster for me was not being able to have any rice, bread or any soft drinks. Again, I really tried hard to go through and let’s see how I had survived through such a tragedy! 😊

Provide one recipe that you have created (using standard recipe format) that utilizes the concepts discussed

Around the end of the week trying out the paleo diet, since I did not get much chance to have any flour or rice based carbohydrates, I felt like I needed to fulfill my body with something. Carbo in potatoes was not much of help although my wife who grew up in Germany seemed to have no problem at all with potatoes!!

 I really needed a hot pot that would refresh me and it still had to be in the line with paleo diet. Then I came up with “Jun-Bok-Sam-Gye-Tang” or “Ginseng Chicken Soup with Abalones” in English. Ginseng and abalone(Jun-bok in Korean) are two major ingredients used in traditional Korean recipes when there’s a need to heal or refresh someone.

Then again, it struck me hard that I had to have some type of allergies to complete my assignments. Abalone would be one of the main ingredients in the soup and also one of my favourites but I decided to have(?) a crustacean allergy for the day and had to avoid it.

Here is a hot pot which is very paleo recipe with the chickens!!

Korean Style Chicken Soup Ingredients(1-2 servings)

- 1 whole chicken(I had to buy separated parts due to corona virus over buying. No whole chickens could be found anywhere. I used 2 breasts and 2 legs with back attached) - Milk vetch root(황기) 25 g - Senticosus(오가피) 10 g - Kalopanax tree(엄나무) 20 g - Oriental Raisin Tree(헛개나무) 20 g - Dried Dates(말린대추) 5 g - Mulberry Tree(상지) 10 g - 1 Head of Garlic(approximately 10~12 cloves) - 3 litres of Cold Water - 1 sprig of Ginseng.(Not added here because wild ginseng is very rare and most of them are farm grown) - 1 abalone(Not added here because of crustacean allergy)

Instruments

- Chef knife / butchering knife - Cutting board - Heavy bottomed pot - Metal bowl

Mis en Place

Recipe

1. Wash and clean your chicken. Leave the skin on for a thicker aroma of the soup. 2. Prepare a heavy bottomed pot with 3 litres of cold water. 3. Put all the tree branches and herbs in and bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes covered with a lid.

4. After 30 min, the stock will look yellowish and it’s time to put the chicken and garlic in.

5. Keep simmering for another 45 minutes with the lid on. 6. Skim the oil from time to time and take out the chicken and strain the soup out with a strainer or simply take out the ingredients from the pot.

7. Season the stock with salt and black pepper. 8. Serve chicken with the soup.

I had to cook for the kids that day so I just took out the chicken and cut them into small pieces so they could pick up and eat them with only a bit of soup under the meat. I had saved the soup to make a porridge for the kids and did not use it that day(and also forgot to take a photo later on...sigh...). 

Furthermore, because of my crustacean allergy, I could not add abalone to it!! Then again, I might be able to use beef “knee knuckle” instead of abalone to add more flavour to the soup. I may try to make it when this corona crisis is over.

Anyway, the original soup using a whole chicken should look like this(without abalone).

[Photo from the website of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea]

It may be hard to say I had created everything because Korean people are very familiar with this type of dishes. 

A website run by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea introduces an original recipe of chicken soup which contains ginseng, sweet rice, milk vetch root, dried dates, green onions and garlic.(http://www.kocis.go.kr/koreanet/view.do?seq=6117&page=2&pageSize=10&photoPageSize=6&totalCount=0&searchType=&searchText=%EC%82%BC%EA%B3%84%ED%83%95&RN=12&cateCode=) 

I had tried to stick to the concept of paleo diet so I used all kinds of trees and herbs which are often used in traditional Korean dishes. Due to those branches and herbs, it gives more woody and herbal aroma than original chicken soup.

Keep a 7 day log of your eating habits based on your diet choice.

It was not easy but I tried very hard to stick to this paleo diet. I did fail to meet the guidelines once or twice but I would like to say that I did complete the task!!

Let’s take a look at what I had eaten during the week.

Day 1.  B. Sweet Potato, Pear, Apple, Banana, 1 cup of Almond Milk L. Steamed Chicken Legs, Kimchi D. Chicken Salad

Day 2. B. Sweet Potato, Boiled Egg, Apple, 1 cup of Almond Milk L. Santa Fe Power Bowl from school.(FAILED - so many wheat) D. Salmon, Trout steak cooked at school.(without beans) 

Day 3. B. Sweet Potato, Apple, Banana, 1 cup of Almond Milk L. Mashed potato, Small Salad, Leftover beef and chicken. D. Grilled pork belly, Leftover salmon and trout steaks, Seaweed soup

Day 4. B. Tomato, Banana, Boiled egg, Mango, Pear, Kimchi soup L. Steamed Kimchi with pork D. Grilled pork shoulder, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage

Day 5. B. Apple, Tomato, Banana, Boiled egg, Honey L. Spicy pork grill, Cucumber, Cabbage D. Egg fries, Kimchi soup

Day 6. B. Sweet potato, Apple, Banana, Boiled egg, 1 cup of almond milk L. Leftover pork, Pan fried potato, Tomato stew D. Chicken supreme with mashed potato/spinach

Day 7. B. Sweet potato, Apple, Banan, 1 cup of almond milk L. Korean Style Chicken Soup(Sam-gye-tang without much of broth) D. Roasted Potatoes.

IT’S FINISHED!!!!! YAY!!!

My experience review at the end of the week.

After 1 week of paleo diet, my first thought was “It’s finally over!!”.

It did not seem to be too hard when I thought about it, but changing eating behaviour suddenly seemed to be much harder task than I thought.

You could still eat meat, vegetables and fruits.

However, not being able to have any type of wheat, rice, noodles or breads made me very uncomfortable during the meal. The thought of “Just one bite of a bread” or “Just one spoon of steamed rice” made me more difficult to overcome the desire.

I was not surprised to find out that I had not lost 1 kg of my weight because I had to eat more to than the usual meal because I wanted starch so bad.

However, surprisingly enough, not drinking any soft drinks or processed sweets made me feel very light and comfortable in a way.

What I am thinking is that I may try to stick to paleo diet but would allow myself just a bit of carbohydrates or sweets - maybe once a week or so.

Some advice or ideas that would allow myself to maintain my dietary choice and be a chef.

Like I said earlier, I believe keeping up the pace seems to be the most important rule in a diet. By the end of the week, my thirst for a coke and rice/bread had exceeded the limit I could bear and it felt like I could never do it again.

Then again, after a couple of days later, I could feel a bit of difference in my physical condition. It was not dramatically huge because I’d only done it for a week but I could sense that my condition had been better while doing the diet.

So, I came to conclusion that I should think of keeping this diet under a couple of conditions, minimizing

1. consumption of rice or flour - approximately 1/2~1/4 of what I used to consume. 2. soft beverages - only available on weekends.

As a chef, I would change some of the recipes I already have to use less of flour or wheat.

Example 1. Dried Pasta - Decrease the amount of dried pasta to 40 g per portion from 80 g and serve more fruits for desserts. - Or could use zucchini/squash noodles instead of flour based pasta noodles.

Example 2. Steamed Rice - On average, 1 bowl of steamed rice in Korea weighs about 200 g  - I would serve only 100 g of steamed rice - Steamed or fried seeds may be a good substitute for the other 100 g

Would I continue with my choice?

Absolutely!

I am thinking of my revised version of paleo diet when market supply comes back to normal. Just as much as I care about my health, I am a type of person who wants a good, delicious meal and not just healthy meal.

Now, would you like to join me?

[tgr489]

Last days

Friday morning. Therapy day. The flat was busy and it seemed everyone was on the same path to getting out the door by 8. Someone had made coffee so I grabbed some and went and sat in the lounge. I started reading the news but gave up is it was so depressing. Too many problems and no one wants to collaborate and just fucking help. One by one my flatmates departed for their busy days. I had an hour to kill before it was my turn to head out so I grabbed another hit of caffeine and made a mental note of what I was gonna do with my weekend. All the plans I made at that time went out the window. 

I was showered  and getting dressed when I heard Sky calling me from the lounge so wandered out to see what was up. She asked if I needed company to my session, which I didn’t really knowing what I was like last week, but I didn’t want to turn her down so I said ‘sure’, and then apologised in advance for what I may be like. She was cool with that and went to pack her bag. 

Arriving at my shrink’s building I realised I’d not thought of anything I was supposed to so was a little anxious I’d get a hard time so got a little grumpy. I pointed Sky towards a cafe down the street and said I’d see her there after, and apologised again in case I was a basket case on my return. She just said to stop apologising and walked off, leaving me to head on in.

My session with Mr Shrink was ok today so I won’t dwell on it. Didn’t get too much of a hard time for not doing my homework, I’m paying the bills so it’s on me. We spoke about my week and what I’d been up to, how much I’d thought of Elise, what triggered the thoughts, how did they make me feel and stuff. I told him all about it but he told me the stuff I need to write down, and to try and think of a colour to associate to the feeling. Not sure what that will bring to the table but will give it a go. 

Afterwards I joined Sky in the coffee shop and asked what she wanted to do for her last day. She wanted to head up town and take some photos then get a nice dinner, her treat for spending the week with her. She asked how my time was and I just said it was alright, better than last week. 

I said we could go see my friend Harvey, he lives on the upper west side, maybe get some lunch with him and then maybe go to Harlem if she was up for that. She was so we headed off. We had fun on the subway, I don’t ride the train very often but when I do there’s always a slightly special person along for the ride. This journey was no different and the large lady in the neon spandex shouting into her phone had most people cringing and fearful she’d pounce on them at any moment. It was bad because we were trying sooo hard not to laugh but not really succeeding. Sky was trying to take photos of her but faking it that she was taking them of me. I don’t like having my picture taken so was horrified at what she showed me when we got to Harv’s and asked her to delete them. She declined and said they were really good and I’m very photogenic. I said whatever, I know I’ll never see them again. 

Harv was great and very pleased to see me back in town. He’s one of my few friends that came out to see me in LA and the only one that knew everything about me and Elise. He’s a very cool dude who’s had plenty of his own shit to deal with in the past and my troubles seem like small potatoes by comparison. He couldn’t take his eyes off Sky, kept wanting to cuddle her and telling her she’d found a good man in me. I kept telling him we weren’t together, she was Lucy’s cousin and leaving town the next day but it was lost on him. She looked tiny in his embrace, he is a man mountain at 6.7 and I have no idea what he weighs but it would be a lot. He doesn’t look over weight at all, just big, everything about him is big, like a giant. We cracked a beer and had a smoke and he was asking how I’d been and how was the trip. Told him all about the trip but stayed away from Elise because I didn’t want to bring it up when Sky was around, I’ll catch up with him again soon enough for that. 

He had no food in so we killed two birds and took his dog for a walk to the store. Sky was totally freaked when his dog came out the bedroom. I don’t know what she was expecting but a bull mastiff probably wasn’t it. We walked over to the park for the dog to do it’s business then grabbed some food in the deli. He gave us a ride up to Harlem and told us if we fancied it later he was playing a gig we could go along to. Said I’d think about it. We wandered the streets and took in the Studio Museum, which pretty much sucked up the afternoon. There’s some great photos in that joint and well worth a visit. My mind was totally taken off all my troubles and I didn’t really want the day to end as we were having a good time. Seeing things through Sky’s eyes was quite liberating, young big fresh eyes full of wonder and amazement. 

On the way back we discussed cuisines for dinner without settling on anything. She wasn’t particularly fussed and I will eat anything. When we got home I set about looking for a somewhere nice which was fairly close but couldn’t settle on anything, plus the realisation it was Friday night and getting a table anywhere decent may be tricky. I called Jase to see if he could think of anywhere, as he dines out a lot with clients. He said to leave it with him and he would sort something out with the concierge company his place uses.  He called back a little later with news of a table at Indochine, not bad at all. I relayed the good news to Sky and as there were a couple of hours to kill we had plenty of time to think about what to wear.

I kept it simple in the end, black jeans a Comme de Garçon shirt and my old skool Reebok Insta-Pump Fury sneakers, cool and stylish without being overly dressy was my thinking. I grabbed a brew and sat in the lounge to wait for the girl. When she came out I can only say she dressed up well. A simple black sleeveless top, a pretty short skirt without being obscene and some chunky heeled black biker type boots. Said she’d tried on loads of Luce’s thinks but everything was a little big, so no high heels. I told her she looked really good which I think embarrassed her. For me it was the make up that completed the look. She never wears any so to see her with some on was a little strange. It was minimal but done well, cool eyes and dark dark red lipstick, she looked killer, and with the tight leather biker jacket she was rocking. It almost felt like a date and I found myself become really nervous I’d do or say the wrong thing. Stupid. 

The restaurant was cool, and we had a pretty nice table. We took our time over the menu indulging in a few cocktails whilst we made our choices. Our mission was to choose 2 starters and 2 mains each then omit one from each course and share everything. We ended up with crab cakes, fried squid, summer rolls and sea bass, lotus salad, shaking beef, along with rice and veg. We took the waiters recommendation for wine and got into some chat and we having a great time. Our food arrived and it was then that I noticed the couple on the table next us, and they were not happy campers. They were involved in a heated conversation and trying hard not to be rowdy. He was the angrier and pissed at something, she couldn’t really get a word in. We had a bit of a chuckle as we set about eating the wonderful looking food on our table and got back to our own conversation. 

The empty plates went and more came, along with another great wine recommendation from the waiter, and the evening carried along its merry way. As we discussed what the next year might bring to each of us. Sky - passing her finals, me - world peace. What can I say I’m an optimist. With all our food eaten we sat back to reflect on the meal, both agreeing it was fantastic. Sky asked what I thought the next couple’s problem was. I replied with forgotten anniversary. She said no because the aggression would be from the woman not the guy. She then began making up dialog for their conversation, which I happily joined in on and we casually thought up the most random shit for their woes. Our waiter returned a while later asking about desserts, to which we had differing answers. Doesn’t that always happen? He left menus and turned to clear the next table and it was hard to not hear the guy complaining about the food, poor service, blah blah, blah. Thought he was being a dick as our food was truly amazing and the service attentive without being intrusive. We ordered desserts in the end and had to listen to the guy explain to the manager why he didn’t want to pay for most of the bill while we waited. Felt really bad for the waiter because he was really good, why are some people just nasty? Thank fuck they left shortly after, the atmosphere around our tables seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Desserts were great and the waiter tried hard to sell us another bottle of wine but we were done, so I asked for the bill. When it came Sky tried to grab it but I said it would be my treat. My rationale was she was a student and I’m working of sorts. She didn’t like it so I said she could pay for a taxi home to make up for it. Then she confessed to not wanting to go home just yet and maybe we could go dance off some of the food. I was pretty stuffed too so it seemed like a good idea. We ordered a couple more cocktails and discussed options. Sky asked if we could take Harv upon his offer, but I said not really as it was way uptown. We settled on the Marquee, why not. I asked the waiter to order us a cab and went about paying the bill, which was pretty hefty with all the drinks we’d had. I paid up and left the guy a 40% tip for his outstanding service, and for having to deal with Mr and Mrs moody. He thanked me and said to ask for a friend at one of the bars in the club, mention his name and he’ll look after us. I thanked him again and we left, crossing the freezing sidewalk to our warm transportation. Sky said I shouldn’t have given such a large tip but I wouldn’t hear if it. People that work in hospitality have to often deal with truly horrendous people and still be courteous. Besides it’s only money, you can’t take it with you, so you should enjoy it while you have it. 

The club was heaving and the music good, Sky was bouncing around almost immediately. We got drinks and went for a walk around to get the lay of the land and find our friends bar. We found it, and our man, fairly easily and he gave us some cocktails gratis, nice. Then he asked if I wanted ‘something to get the party really going’. Why not. He told me to meet him by the sofas in 15 and disappeared. Buying gear is never the nicest thing to do in public, but sometimes necessary. We ended up with some really good MDMA that we danced off over the next few hours, laughing and joking and really getting into the night. We danced for hours staring at each other, lost to everything else. When the DJ dropped Simon Says by the one Pharoahe Monch it was classic, with Sky interpreting the explicit lyrics through her routine. I was having such an amazing time, right up until she said she wanted to go home. I tried to talk her out of it but she said she was flying the next day and wanted to try and get some sleep in, so reluctantly I let her lead me out of the club. 

We talked about her time in the US all the way home, up the stairs and into the flat. She didn’t want to leave because she was having a great time but realistic of the fact it was just a holiday.  She was dreading the journey to the airport so I offered to accompany her, if Lucy wasn’t, and poured us some Bushmills for a nightcap. I told her she was always welcome to come back and stay whenever, and even said she should bring her boyfriend and he was a lucky man to have such a great girl. That slightly embarrassed look sept over her face again so I apologised, then took it back and said I shouldn’t need to apologise for pointing out when someone I know is really great. She stared at me, didn’t say anything, just looking out at me with those big blue eyes. I was about to question what the matter was when she said ‘You could be lucky too, you know’. I gave a questioning look at her, then the penny dropped at what she’d said, and the realisation must’ve been obvious to her, then she had a strange look on her face before burying it in her whisky and finishing it off. I had a thousand thoughts running through my head at that moment in time, but the primary one was ‘what’s the right thing to do here?’ But instead I said ‘you have a boyfriend,’ and skulled my drink thinking of getting another. ‘I know,’ she stated ‘but he’s thousand of miles away and will never know, and doesn’t need to.’ Then after a brief pause, ‘what goes on tour stays on tour. Do you fancy another drink?’ She got up and headed to the kitchen and left me to my racing thoughts. She was right, but it felt wrong, but not wrong. We’d spent so much time together and I realised I had some real feelings for her and of course I wanted to have sex with her. Why wouldn’t I, she was fun, young and very beautiful. Someone in the flat would find out and it would get back to Lucy, she’d give me a hard time. She came back and gave me my glass and sat down opposite me on the floor. ‘Look, I’ve had a really good time since you arrived. You’ve been so kind and have gone out of your way to make sure I had a good time and today and tonight have been one of the best dates I’ve ever had. I want to round that out by spending the night with you because I’ll probably never see you again.’ She was right, we had spent some good time together and the proposed ending did seem befitting of that. 

Is it polite to turn down a girl offering sex? Us guys get knocked back all the time so are well rehearsed in dealing with rejection, but for pretty girls, if it happens, must be quite a knock. With my mind still racing, and to avoid the awkwardness I said ‘Let’s go to bed, but I’m not sure anything should happen.’ In my room she stripped to her underwear, looked jaw dropping sexy, and climbed into bed. I did the same and we cuddled up to warm ourselves from the cold sheets. I was still a little high and sex at that moment would’ve been pretty good, but I needed to tell her what I was thinking, so I laid it out. I’d just been involved with someone with another partner, a husband even, and doing it again when that has really fucked me up seemed like not helping my problems. She agreed but said she wanted nothing else from me and wouldn’t get in touch, it would just be goodbye holiday sex. I saw her reasoning, so I turned and kissed her. We never had sex, but over the course of a couple of hours did lots of kissing and foreplay. I fell asleep with her half dropped over me, it was so nice to have the naked embrace of another human being again, I almost felt like crying.

I woke up around 11 and not hearing any noises from the flat unpeeled the girl from me and crept to the kitchen to get some iced water for us. On my way back I saw Nic in the lounge reading but I don’t think she saw me, I felt guilty already. I climbed back into bed and cuddled up again, and she gave a lovely sigh of appreciation. We lay in bed for about an hour, her raising of what I was gonna get up to for the weekend. I had no plans. She said for me to use the time and sort out my photos. I couldn’t believe she remembered, from the first days we’d spent together. She added ‘you should also tidy up your bedroom, you have so much stuff in here’. She was right, I do, but it all has a purpose. I defended myself by saying it was an eclectic collection, but I wasn’t fooling her. From the bed she was pointing out things on the shelves and making enquires as to their purpose and/or benefit. I think gave a good account of my hoarding but she wasn’t buying it. We eventually got up and showered. She packed and I made pancakes for brunch. No one was around to say goodbye so she wrote Lucy a note and we took a taxi to the airport. As one would expect it was busy, she had some time to kill so we grabbed a coffee, both feeling a somewhat jaded. Not much was said, it didn’t need to be. It was then time for her to go. She bent to get something from her bag and her headphone cable caught around one of the clips, stripping the plug from the wire as she sat up. ‘Fuck!’ was all she could say. They were totally busted. I asked if she had a spare set, which she didn’t, but said she’d get some airside. We walked to the gate and once there I gave her a big hug and slipped my pod beats headphones round her neck whilst kissing her on the cheek. ‘Something to remember me by.’ She thanked me, for them and everything else, kissed me and walked off. I watched her go to the doors, savouring every last second. Just as she was about to walk through she turned and waved, then shouted ‘Next time you will fuck me!’ Then spun around and was gone, leaving me to deal with the shame and stares from so many people.

I made a quick exit to the taxi stand and rode back to town watching the world through the window, feeling a little empty inside, the journey made all the harder with no tunes to listen to. I made some polite conversation with the family on the floor above us whilst walking up the stairs, but was glad when I got to my door as I wasn’t feeling talkative. No one was home thankfully so I went to my room, sat on my couch and got stoned, with a plan to not leave the place until Monday. The feeling was green.

Later Gator

[shareyoursmile]

Reviews: Sabor serves some of the bes...

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Reviews: Sabor serves some of the bes...

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The Telegraph’s Michael Deacon has an outstanding meal at Steve Drake’s Sorrel in Dorking

I ordered the ‘Discovery’ tasting menu. It began with two exquisite snacks: filo pastry with mackerel, and the creamiest broccoli mousse with kiwi.

The first course proper was another mousse, this time pumpkin, with smoked paprika, Parmesan and parsley: melty, sweet and crunchy. Next: scallop, smoked cauliflower, cucumber and curry cannelloni. Again, a tiny swirling blizzard of competing textures and flavours: soft, crunchy, savoury, sweet.

Chicory, samphire, pork cheek, blood orange and chervil: the least remarkable thing on the menu, by virtue of being merely good. The salt-baked beetroot, by contrast, was excellent. Tangy, tingly, salty and sweet. (I know I keep saying sweet, but virtually all the dishes had some element of sweetness. From here on, assume a dish is at least partly sweet unless stated otherwise.)

A lissom poached monkfish (not sweet!) was followed by duck, date and a peculiar concoction on the side called liver meringue. Then a cheese dish that looked like a miniature bakewell tart: the inevitable sweetness offset by the stinky, glowering brutishness of the Barkham Blue cheese.

Two puddings. First, something called Carrot Tobacco. Imagine a sugary Shredded Wheat, the size of a thumbnail, but made from dehydrated carrot and served on a blob of ice cream. I guarantee it tastes much better than it sounds. Pudding number two: the burstingly fruity Blackberry Waldorf.

There’s lots to love at Sabor in London’s W1, says The Guardian’s Grace Dent, and lots that could be a little better, but it’s still some of the best Spanish food in Great Britain

Two plump, shiny gambas come in an oily garlic slick for £8. A plate of freshly blanched purple sprouting broccoli comes with a beurre blanc so sumptuous that I eat it like a belted galloway let loose among the petunias. But I’m less struck by the frit mariner, a puzzling plate of soft onion, aubergine and pepper with white fish and two prawns hiding sporadically in its midst and located only via autopsy. And white pepper is scattered liberally on many of the dishes. But I fell in love with the bombas de chocolas, a trio of saucy praline- and hazelnut-flecked doughnuts: teeth-encrustingly naughty. I love the rhubarb and mascarpone tartaleta much less, despite the deftness of its pastry bed and the freshness of all its innards. It was a too-tart tartlette.

There’s lots to love here, and lots that could be a little better. But it’s still – and this is testament to Barragán and Etura – some of the best Spanish food in Great Britain.

About £40 a head, plus drinks and service. Food: 8/10; atmosphere: 7/10; service: 8/10

The Sunday Times’s Marina O’Loughlin wants to love Bryn Williams at Somerset House on London’s Strand

The recipient of a cauliflower steak dish (yes, of course there’s a cauliflower steak dish) — an intimidatingly large slab of the vegetable, charred from the grill, dotted with fat, sweet, golden raisins and salted fresh grapes, served with a side dish of the richest, creamiest, cheesiest polenta I’ve eaten outside Piedmont — is still rhapsodising about it days later. I’m moved to swoop a chunky, golden-crusted chip through the polenta and am suitably ashamed: double-carbing, the most pleasurable transgression. Williams can certainly cook.

And he has a firecracker, if occasionally magpie, creativity too: I’ve seen compressed watermelon with seafood before, initially a Thomas Keller signature, I think, now adopted by everyone from Simon Hulstone in Torquay to Quay in Sydney. But the version here is an absolute blast of freshness, the fruit transformed by its dehydration, the crab sweet, perky, enchanting, a frond or two of salty sea asparagus and a slick of herbed oil the savoury base notes that hold it all together.

I want to love Bryn Williams at Somerset House, but what I feel is more a kind of awed respect. The staff all behave as though a smile or a bit of a chat might crack their cool. This is with the very notable exception of Federica, a Neapolitan charmer who radiates warmth and welcome like a walking ray of sunshine. She’s evangelical about Williams, recounting every stage of his “celebrity” while talking us into ordering a “lav-and-er” dessert I’d never have contemplated otherwise. It turns out to be astonishing: shards of crisp, lavender-scented meringue, lemon syllabub of clean, airy sharpness, suave, mauve blueberry ice cream: none of it too sweet, all of it a showstopper.

Total: For two, including 12.5% service charge £121

The Times’s Giles Coren is impressed by the Woodspeen in Berkshire

I had a crab risotto off the special menu, not cheap at £18 and pretty small, but beautifully made, the grains firm and lively but gritless, the crabmeat fresh and sweet, juicy little brown shrimps in there, beads of cauliflower, olive oil, spot of balsamic. Esther had their own-smoked salmon, perfectly cured, sliced vertically, muscular and fat with slivers of yellow and red pickled beetroot, blobs of goat curd, strips of Granny Smith, a wonderful riot of colour in bleakest, snow-bound winter. As was the roasted scallop with its chorizo and broccoli.

The bass was a picture: fat white flesh wobbling beneath a crisped silvery brown top, sitting on plump beans in a bright white chowder, basil leaves, some orange of pumpkin … And a tranche of cod was equally impressive, sitting on rounds of braised onion and scattered with tiny brown shrimp.

Cooking: 7; service: 8; score: 7.5. Price: £75/head

Studio 88 near London’s Leicester Square is brilliant except for the food, according to The Observer’s Jay Rayner

The service is terrific. Managing table service cheerfully when 80% of the room is on their feet dancing, as they were from about 8.10pm, is not easy. This lot managed it with grace and professionalism. What’s more, they had to do so in the face of adversity, which is to say, the notion that putting food in paper cones, placed in spindly holders, is a good one. It isn’t. Each time they served us with a cone they made a point of putting it directly into our hands.

It took me a while to work out why. If they put them on the table they would invariably fall over, as the only one they placed down did, spilling its contents. Sadly, they replaced it, which meant we got to try their take on salmon tartare. It involved avocado, olives, currants, coconut and despair. Mine. If someone had made this for me at 3am from what was lurking at the back of the fridge, I’d have understood. But to pay someone to do it seemed to me like a terrible error of judgment.

Crab croquettes were mostly potato and had a “Mum’s gone to Iceland because she hates me” quality. They were served completely tepid, which is unsurprising given they were in a paper cone. The worst of these tepid dishes was an extra sharing platter of dim sum at a shocking £20, which reminded me of those sold in a well-known Asian supermarket chain. They’d been allowed to cool and coagulate until they were stuck to the slate they had been served on. Maybe they were trying to save us from eating them. We pushed the slate aside and leapt up to dance to Don’t Stop Me Now.

Meal for two, including glass of prosecco: £50

Fay Maschler reviews Bowling Bird in London’s Farringdon in the Evening Standard, a restaurant “agreeably timeless and happy in its own skin”

Meat cooking is at the restaurant’s heart. I’ll be going back to eat one of the cuts of beef, probably the côte de boeuf with roasted shallots and sea salt, but I can tell you now about exceptionally well-flavoured rack of Borders lamb, its fat rubbed with cumin and caraway and little dots of black olive caramel providing sweet-savoury punctuation. Wild haunch of venison hung, says its recipient, almost to the point of being able to canter back to the forest, is also notable — and munificently served.

Fish dishes tried include chargrilled — few items escape that fate — octopus served with beetroot, paper-thin slices of raw mooli and alfalfa sprouts; king prawns, also grilled, accompanied by lemongrass aioli; and dish of the day of Sardinian fregola cooked with tomatoes, garnished with a pair of langoustines and zhooshed up with ’nduja. A dessert shared is tarte Tatin, where the pastry could be puffier but the caramelised apples are excellent.

Rating: 3/5

HOTELS

Tom Chesshyre of The Times enjoys the creative design of the newly launched boutique inn, the Cow in Dalbury Lees, Derbyshire

The Cow is full of surprises. The bar comes with strange stools made from tractor seats and milk churns. A table to one side is fashioned out of an old butcher’s block. Furniture and fittings have been artfully constructed from reclaimed wood and shiny sheets of copper and zinc. The reclaimed wood look continues in the rooms, which have a pared-down style and (slightly comical) paintings of cows on the walls. Old machine parts have been cleverly transformed into lamps and some rooms have cowhide chairs to go with desks made from reclaimed wood.

Most food is sourced within 30 miles and it’s served either in the bar or in a small dining section with a fireplace. The menu mainly comprises small plates such as stilton and plum rarebit, marmalade-glazed chipolatas with chutney, and baked aubergine. The idea is to order two or three each and share, or have a couple to share as a starter and then one of the larger plates. I do the latter, enjoying the hot smoked salmon flatbread (like a little pizza) and potato croquettes to start, followed by a fine pheasant casserole and, for pudding, a sweet Bakewell trifle with cherries and almond sponge.

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