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bellasweetwriting · 4 years

Text

Hometown

spencer reid x f.reader

(not my gif)

masterlist

plot: the team is dying to meet Spencer’s new girlfriend, not knowing how different you are from him

warnings: my writing, this is a mess in its entirerly idek what I did I had an idea and I just went with it with no plan, oh and pure fluff

word count: 3,5k

"How does she look like?" Asked Garcia to Spencer as he tried to ignore all of the team on his neck, trying to find out the most they can about the doctor's new girlfriend. "Is she brunette? Or blonde? You have a thing for blondes."

"I don't have— why do you guys care anyway?" He tried to defend himself and make them stop asking more questions. "I have a girlfriend, so what?"

"So what?" Repeated Morgan, sitting on top of the paperwork Spencer was filling, making the doctor even more annoyed. "You have a girlfriend, pretty boy! It's a national matter. We are going to find out how she looks like you want it or not."

And that was going to happen sooner than Reid would want to, because when Hotch announced the new case and told them that the place where they were going.

Your hometown.

"Oh crap," Spencer murmured to himself when Hotch revealed the location, making the rest of the team look at him.

Morgan was the one who connected the dots as he knew that Reid's girlfriend wasn't from the city.

"We are visiting Pretty Boy's girlfriend's house, everybody."

He continued to shook his head; this couldn't be happening.

Hotch had to pick up this case on purpose. The only logical explanation for the tragedy that this was for the doctor.

During the whole trip, Emily and Morgan were constantly interrogating Spencer about his girlfriend.

"What does she do? Is she younger? Is she older?" Questioned Emily, but Spencer had his eyes on his book, ignoring their questions.

"Hey!" Exclaimed Hotch, grabbing everyone's attention. "Garcia booked our rooms in the inn of the town. The sheriff told us that there isn't enough room for us in the police station, and the manager welcomed us to install ourselves in the event hall."

"You spoke to the manager?" Questioned Spencer in a low tone, catching Prentiss and Morgan's attention.

"Garcia did," replied Hotch, looking at his phone.

"It's the manager, isn't it?" Asked Emily with a smile, but Spencer returned to his reading. "We are definitely going to meet her, kid, you can't hide behind your books forever."

"I can try," answered Reid, knowing that Emily was right.

They were going to meet you at some point.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Spencer!" Exclaimed a woman as she ran towards the doctor and hugged him. "Long time, no see."

"Hey Amanda, how are you doing?" Asked her Reid, knowing that his friends were watching. "How is your little boy?"

"He's doing great. I want to know how you are. Who are these people you brought with you?" Questioned Amanda, looking at the team behind Spencer.

"It's my team. I work for the FBI, remember? We are here on a case."

"A case? What happened?"

But Spencer wasn't able to answer because he was interrupted by the sound of the door of the kitchen opening. From there, the chef and the receptionist got out, one following the other.

"I am not going to cook for six more people! That's it!"

"For God's sake. For the last time, the manager asked for it, we listen," explained the receptionist, who looked around to see the FBI team watching the scene. "They are here!" Yelled in a whisper, making the chef turn around, tiredly.

"Great. Vegetarians?" Everybody shook their heads. "Good! Then I don't have to change the menu."

"We weren't expecting you to do it. Oh my God, Doctor Reid!" Exclaimed the receptionist, making the chef look at the doctor too. Both men smiled at the sight of Reid. "Long time, no see."

"It's good to see you too," said Spencer with a smile. "May the team and I install in the event hall, Seb?"

The receptionist, Seb, nodded.

"Of course, of course. Welcome to the Florence Inn. My name is Sebastian. I'll be available if you have any questions. Doctor Reid, you know the way?"

"Yeah, I'll guide them. Guys, follow me."

"Do I call the owner to let her know you are here, Doctor?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'll just say hi if I see her around. Hey, Sergio!" The chef, Sergio, raised his eyebrows. "Is there any coffee for the team?"

"For you, sir Reid, anything, I'll be right back with hot coffee and food for your team."

"Thank you, Sergio." Spencer turned around and smiled at Amanda. "I need to go now. We'll catch up later."

Spencer guided the team towards the event hall, where the tables were already accommodated for them. Spencer knew that the minute you heard they were coming, you did everything possible to made them as comfortable as possible.

"Reid, do you know everyone in this hotel?" Asked JJ to him, and he nodded.

"Mostly, yeah," he replied, "they are good people."

"That actually can help us with the case," added Hotch, "the people here trust you."

Spencer was feeling every second more uncomfortable with this case. He's tried for the nine months you've been dating to keep his work and your relationship as separate as possible.

Guess they were joining for the first time.

"Ok, we know the unsub is a male and that he isn't choosing these victims randomly," affirmed Rossi.

"The victimology is all over the place," added Morgan, looking at the physical characteristics of the three victims. "These victims have nothing in common."

"The patron has to go further than the physical, more with the relationship between them," explained Spencer. "This is a man with a project. He is probably not killing for the pleasure of it, more for a particular goal."

"Why do the town people not know about the killings. That woman that said hi to Reid had no idea of why we were here," pointed Emily.

"Probably that's work of the mayor, Mister Downley," replied Reid. "He tries to keep everything that can affect the town's tourism under the table. It has always been that way. And it is actually surprising that they don't know about it. It's a small town. Everyone knows everyone."

"We should interview the mayor and the media," affirmed Hotch, and he always had the last word. "Anyone that is trying to keep this in private could be a suspect."

At that moment, Sergio and his cookers appeared with the food and coffee they promised, making the team stay quiet as they gave out the food.

"Here is your coffee, sir Reid. A quarter cup of coffee every five pounds of sugar." Reid laughed while the chef left the cup in front of him.

"Leave the doctor alone, Sergio," asked Seb to the chef, making Sergio roll his eyes and leave the hall. "Doctor Reid, Sheriff Christen called. He is waiting for you and your team at the police station. Whenever you are ready."

"Thanks, Seb." The team started grabbing their things to go to the station. "Tell Sergio that the coffee and the food are great."

"Yes, Doctor, and also, your team has the best rooms at the inn. Owner's orders. Do you want me to tell her anything?"

"Just thank you," replied Spencer, grabbing his bag, "thanks, Seb."

"Anything for you, Doctor."

Spencer walked away next to the team, who was staring at him curiously.

"What?" He asked.

"They call you sir, they know how do you drink your coffee, they prepare the best rooms for you and your friends," pointed out Emily as you were walking. "Or they love you..."

"Or, they love your girlfriend," interrupted Morgan.

"Can we just focus on the case, please?" Begged Spencer as he walked towards the SUVs. "Don't read between unexistent lines, ok?"

"He is hiding something," whispered Morgan.

"Definitely," replied Hotch before entering the car.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Doctor Spencer Reid," said the sheriff standing up. He was a man between his fifties and sixties, with a grumpy face and a hoarse voice. "It's always a pleasure to see you in this old town."

"Hello, sheriff," interrupted Hotch. "I'm SSA Hotchner, we spoke on the phone."

"Oh, of course, right. I'm Sheriff Christen, this is my crew. Sorry that you had to install in at the inn. It's just that here we don't have any space. But I assume the owner is glad to see you, Doc."

"Haven't talked to her yet. Why did you call us?"

"Right, we did a suspect list with all the people in town that have criminal records, as you told us. We have thirty-five names, any idea how to shorten that list?"

"Our unsub is most likely in his 30s, obviously male, probably have been charged with robbery. We are not looking for a sexual sadist here since the killings lack any sexual motive," explained Hotch, and the sheriff nodded, telling his deputy.

Spencer sat down on a chair, waiting for no one else to say hi to him in front of the team. He loved these people so much, but he wanted to stay focus on the case, and he couldn't if he was going to have every person in town recognizing him and greeting him.

You were loved in your home town. These people that learned how to love Spencer grew up with you, and they truly liked the doctor for you. They noticed how he makes you happy, and how, for the last nine months, you've been smiling more.

"Hey, Spencer."

"Howdie, doc."

"Hey," Spencer murmured to the cops as they passed. Morgan noticed this and decided to approach Reid, sitting next to him.

"Why don't you want us to meet your girlfriend? Clearly, she's loved here."

Reid exhaled, looking at his colleague, giving up.

"Fine, but please, don't... don't act surprised when you meet her, ok? Just act normal. And tell everyone."

Morgan nodded, confused. What did he mean with "surprised"? Why would he react that way

"Guys, let's go back to the inn, there's someone I want you to meet."

"We are finally going to meet the famous lady?" Questioned Rossi, and Spencer nodded slowly. "Then let's go."

"Shouldn't we work the case?"

"We are installed in the inn anyway, so just follow me."

JJ and Emily approached Morgan, and he told them what Reid told him.

The team had no idea what Spencer meant with "surprised," and most of them didn't want to know anyway. They were just too excited to meet the girl they've been hearing so many amazing stories about

The BAU arrived at the inn. JJ could notice how Spencer's hands started trembling: he was nervous.

"B-But... But Miss Y/N!" They heard Sebastian exclaim. To the distance, the team could identify the receptionist following a tall woman with curly hair as she walked quickly. It was you. "Miss Y/N, we can't let Mayor Downley have the party here at the inn! He is a messy, messy man. He is going to leave a complete disaster, and you, miss, are well aware that this is not a place for that kind of event."

"God, Seb, have you tried drinking herbal tea in the morning instead of coffee?" You asked him as you chuckled. The sound of your soft laugh grabbed the doctor's attention.

Spencer quickly turned around to look at his friends, desperation clearly showing in his face.

"Here she comes," he whispered.

"That is...?" Started to ask Morgan but was interrupted by the memory of Spencer telling him to not act surprised.

You stepped into the hall, connecting your eyes with Spencer's eyes, immediately smiling.

"You look tired." It's the thing you say, confusing your boyfriend. "Did Sergio offered you coffee? Did you offer Spencer coffee, Seb?"

"I did, indeed, boss."

"I already drank coffee, babe," whispered Reid, trying not to blush. "Y/N, I want you to meet my friends."

"What? Sure, coming in a sec. Seb, could you ask Amanda to tell Charlie to pick up my car? I forgot I came by foot today."

"I saw your car outside, Y/N," interrupted Spencer, now confusing you.

"Charlie brought it this morning, Miss," reminded you Seb, and you nodded.

"God, where do I have the head? Thanks, Seb." You smiled at him before walking towards Spencer. "I've been trying to talk to you all morning, but we keep missing each other."

"Y/N," he said with his calming voice. You liked hearing someone that actually was calmed once in a while, especially him. "These are my friends. Rossi, Hotch, JJ, Morgan, and Emily." He introduced you to them, and you nodded. "Guys, this is my girlfriend."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Y/N," you greeted them, giggling. "I'm sorry if I seem distracted. My toes are where my head is supposed to be and the other way around. It's just that, you wouldn't believe; Mayor Downley wants to have this found raiser at the inn to distract the people from the bodies that were found. Did you hear?"

"That's why I'm here actually, babe," whispered Spencer.

"Why would you be here to see dead bodies? Oh right! FBI!" You exclaimed as you remember. "I'm so sorry, guys, you've caught me in a terrible day."

"It's alright, Y/N," assured you Hotch. "What were you saying about the mayor?"

"What I was saying about..." you repeated in a whispered before remembering. "Oh, yeah. So the murders in the area are really frightening the people. So our mayor decided, at the last minute, to make a found raiser raise money for the funerals of the deceased. I think it is a runaway where the clothing shop is going to show their last collection. It's a very last-minute thing, and I, apparently, is the only one with enough space to welcome all the freaking town."

"Do you know why the mayor would want to do this?"

"Well, Downley always takes advantage of terrible events in town and throws a party to cease the panic," you tried to explain quickly. "Last time, some people stole from Charlie's diner, and here I was, organizing a silent auction on a random Thursday." You started accomodating Spencer's tie involuntarily. "He wants to be Gatsby, but I'm the one with the mansion."

You always had to be doing something; you couldn't stay still for a second. That's the reason Spencer was attracted to you in the first place. He saw a girl trying to do seven things at the same time while trying to fix five other problems, and he had to help you. Then, he fell for you eloquent and extrovert personality, and how anywhere you went, you made friends.

You two were complete opposites, and both of you truly loved that.

"But don't get me wrong: mayor Downley is a great guy."

"What is mister Downley's first name, Y/N?" You tried to remember it while you cleaned Spencer's shirt.

You were doing unconsciously, and he knew, but still let you. He knew that keeping your hands busy was the only way you could focus. So he let you touch his hair and fix his sleeves all the time.

"If I'm not wrong, I think it is John."

"There is a Frank Downley in our list," mentioned Morgan.

"That would be his nephew, Frankie. He works at the grocery store, he is the manager there. I went to school with him."

"How was he at school?"

"Quiet, kind of a loner. Mister Downley would spend hours and hours in the counselor's office, talking to the counselor about Frankie's social behavior. Everyone in school knew about it. I tried to be friends with him, but I think he didn't like me."

Emily took from the case files some pictures and showed them to you. Spencer held your hand as you stared at the photographs of the victims.

"Do you recognize any of these people?"

"Well, of course, we went to school together. Good people. That's Amelie, and that's Jack, and this one right here is Gabriel, funny guy. Why?"

"Y/N," murmured Spencer to you, "those are the victims. The bodies that were found."

Suddenly, for the first time in so long, you stopped moving. Like, at all.

"What?"

"You didn't know?"

"I heard some rumors about one of the victims being my age, but... it can't be. Who would do this?"

"Y/N, I want you to tell us everything about Frank Downley."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"And that's it, I mean, maybe some of the employers at the inn can tell you more about him. As I told you, I didn't know him that well. He never liked me, or anyone, in fact. He was always alone; he didn't talk in class; he would skip periods every now or then, but I truly don't remember anything more." You looked at Spencer. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Y/N, you gave us more than enough to understand him." That calmed voice again. "I bet you are busy with the found raiser stuff. Hey, do you mind if the team and I assist and watch the runaway?"

"You guys are more than welcomed."

At that moment, Charlie appeared and tried to pass between the BAU.

"Sorry to interrupt the Men in Black fan club reunion. Y/N, I brought my toolbox."

"Dirty!" You exclaimed in a joke, making Charlie roll his eyes. "The runaway is going to be in the event hall."

"Where the hell is that?" You sighed.

"I'll be right back. I'll tell Sergio to serve you some coffee, for every one of you," you told the team before looking at your friend Charlie. "Follow me, handyman."

Charlie looked at Spencer.

"Hey, Doc, I tried that physics thing for the dispenser at the diner and worked just fine."

"Glad to help, Charlie."

"Hey, I don't pay you to socialize," you defended as you walked away, Charlie following you.

"You don't pay me at all!" He defended.

The team looked over at Spencer. Your life was so clearly different from theirs, and Spencer knew that the team will realize the same thing.

"Well, there's that," whispered the doctor, standing up. "You already met her."

"Yeah, we did," agreed Morgan, "why didn't you want us to meet her before?"

"She's great, Reid," affirmed Emily, "a little bit unfocused, talks a bit fast, and clearly an extrovert, but she's sweet. And owns an inn."

"And she is gorgeous," added JJ, "why were you so nervous?"

Not even Spencer knew the answer to that question.

"She's different, you know? Her life is different than mine. She's continually moving. It's so difficult for me to make her stay still. She has to be doing something all the time. I've never seen her not talking, or not making random jokes and doing pop culture references I don't understand most of the time. Her life is so fast compared to mine that it's so slow. I don't know, maybe I thought you weren't going to see her the way I see her."

"Who cares what we think, Reid?" questioned Rossi.

"I do. I spend 24 hours every day with you, guys, you are my family. I care about what you think."

Morgan hugged Reid even though he knew Spencer wasn't much of a hugger, but he did anyway. And the rest of the team joined.

"I don't like this," mumbled Spencer.

"Shut up, pretty boy," shushed him, Morgan.

After a few seconds, they broke apart, smiling at each other.

"Let's catch this killer and go home," said Hotch softly, "but we can't leave without getting to know Y/N better."

"Yeah, you are already part of her family; it's time she is part of ours."

--------------------------------------------------------

"And that's how Spencer asked me to be his girlfriend. In this exact spot!" You exclaimed, pointing the counter of Charlie's diner. "As I was swallowing my cheeseburger."

"Well, that sounds romantic," commented Rossi, sarcastically.

"It was very poetic, Rossi, don't misjudge," you told him, making the man laugh. "It doesn't happen any day, and less in this smelly diner."

"Ok, out," interrupted Charlie, making everyone complain between laughs. "You are terrifying my costumers and insulting my diner."

"Weren't you hearing, Charlie Chaplin? I was just saying that Spencer asked me to be his girlfriend here. You should be proud that such an important event happened in your diner," you defended as Spencer kissed you cheek. You grabbed your now second cup of coffee and started drinking. "You should put it on the menu."

"That's it, don't talk to me for the rest of the night. You are giving me a headache."

"Mission accomplished then," you whispered with a smile.

"Is he always this serious?" Asked JJ, and you nodded.

"And you haven't seen him on Christmas. He is indeed the town's Grinch."

"They have a Hotch!" Yelled Rossi, making Spencer almost spill his coffee.

"Haha, hilarious," said Hotch with sarcasm, making the team burst into laughter

Spencer slowly leaned in next to your ear and whispered:

"So, do you like them?"

"Yeah, I have no idea why you were so nervous for me to meet them; they are great. You have a really nice family."

Spencer smiled, kissing your cheek softly before looking at the team again with happiness on his eyes.

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds x reader #fanfic #reader #y/n

691 notes · View notes

nicostolemybones · 5 years

Note

Solangelo

I answered in short fics for each question!

1. Who Reaches Out To New Neighbours

“Nico, what on Earth are you doing,” Will asked, snaking his arms around Nico’s waist and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of Nico’s neck.

“There’s a moving truck which means new people. I don’t like people,” Nico replied, taking Will’s hands.

“So you’re stalking them from the window?”

“I’m observing,” Nico corrected, and Will sighed, gently turning Nico around in his arms and cupping his cheek in his hand.

“I know it unnerves you, but it’s going to be okay,” he said gently, “I’ll go round to see them, scope them out. I’m sure they’ll be nice people, and if not, we stick to ourselves, okay?” There was a small pause.

“You’re going to bake them cookies, aren’t you?”

“Yep, I’m gonna bake them cookies.”

“What if they’re psychopathic murderers, Will,” Nico whined dramatically, “what if they’re cannibals and they eat you after they eat your cookies, Will, you need to poison the cookies!”

“Oh my gods, Nico,” Will sighed in exasperation, “They’re not gonna eat us, you’d probably bite them if they tried because you’re like a freaking really grumpy cat, di Angelo!” Will smushed Nico’s cheeks, who tried his best at a murder glare. Will merely giggled and glowed, booping his nose. “Boop!” Nico snapped playfully at Will’s finger, who yelped in surprise and put on a fake hurt glare whilst Nico smirked smugly. “I’m gonna go bake cookies for the neighbours!”

2. Who Remembers To Buy Healthy Food

“WILL!” Nico yelled, and Will came skidding into the kitchen.

“What’s happened?”

“What is this?” Nico held up a bag full of salad ingredients on the end of a spatula, holding it at arm’s length.

“Healthy food.”

“I don’t want it, I don’t like it, I want to set it on fire.”

“No setting the food on fire, Nico! I’m making a stir fry, I figured I should make it colourful and healthy,” Will explained calmly with a small smile.

“But it’s yucky vegetables!” Nico protested, staring at the bag of healthy food like it had personally offended him.

“No, they’re delicious, and without them, you will literally slowly die of disease.”

“At least I would have tasted something better than cardboard!”

Will sighed heavily. “If I deep fry it will you eat the veg-”

“Yes!”

3. Who Remembers To Buy Junk Food?

Will was awoken by clattering downstairs. Convinced he was about to be murdered, he reached for Nico, but he found the space beside him unoccupied. With a heavy sigh, Will trudged downstairs, grabbing the bow and arrow he kept on the stairwell and loading an arrow ready. He turned on his glow, ready to attack- and screamed.

“Gods Nico! Don’t just do that! What are you doing down here? Is that McDonald’s?!”

Nico froze, a nugget hanging out of his mouth and eyes iridescently reflecting like a cat’s. “No,” Nico lied round the nugget.

“It’s like four am, holy shit Nico,” Will groaned, “I can’t believe you!”

Nico blinked, staring for a moment, before taking the nugget out of his mouth and holding it out. “Nugget?”

“I’ll make you into a nugget in a minute,” Will grumbled, turning on the light and sitting at the table. Will slid a bag over to Will, who peered inside, more than happy to see a quarter pounder inside. “Gods I love you. McDonald’s at 4am.”

“Only because I know you forget to eat after a night shift and somebody has to feed you.”

4. Who Fixes The Oven When It Breaks

“NICO!” Will yelled, and Nico skidded into the kitchen on his socks. “Is the cooker meant to do that?”

“Do what?”

“That.” Will pointed to where there was a plastic plate and utensils melted onto the hob.

“Will. How? How did you do this? How? This is worse than the time you set the spaghetti on fire!”

“I was trying to reheat my jacket potatoes on the hob and I left and then the plate was goo!”

Nico facepalmed hard. “You’re meant to put stuff in the Microwave, Will, good old Chef Mike! Of course plastic will melt on the hob! You’re supposed to have a brain cell! Idiota!”

“Sorry,” Will pouted, “I really can’t cook.”

“You silly sunshine,” Nico teased affectionately, wrapping his arms around Will and swaying slightly, “I’ll have to teach you to cook as soon as we get Leo to fix it. I’ll teach you how to cook real food, not this bland muck, then you won’t be living off hospital food all the time. In the meantime, how about we order a takeaway? You can choose and I’ll pay.” Nico pressed a loving kiss to his cheek to let him know that he wasn’t mad at Will for accidentally ruining the cooker.

“Any takeaway?”

“Anything you want. Now go sit down and I’ll do you some tea, you’re probably stressed about the cooker and you need to take care of yourself.”

5. Who Waters Their Plants/ Feeds Their Pets?

“Will,” Nico interrupted, “Are you talking to a houseplant.”

“And singing to it!” Will beamed, and Nico sighed, smiling to himself.

“That’s adorable Will.”

“Thank you! I watered it but I felt bad about forgetting to water it yesterday so I wrote it an apology song. Did you feed the pets?”

“Oh my god, stop being adorable you dork,” Nico huffed, standing on his toes to rest his elbow on Will’s shoulder. Will bent down to allow Nico to do so. “And I did. The cat hissed at me because I gave it the wrong flavour and the dog slobbered all over my face and proceeded to eat the cat’s food. It reminds me of you.”

“I have never slobbered on your face, I just licked it once when I was drunk and happened to drool on your cheek a little! Anyway, you’re only saying this because you know you’re just like the cat.” Nico hissed for effect, and Will giggled, resuming serenading the plants. Nico discreetly pulled his headphones on- Will loved to sing, bless his heart, he just wasn’t very good at it. But Nico never wanted him to stop, because his whole face lit up and it was worth the damage to his ears.

6. Who Wakes Up Earlier

Nico was rudely awoken at the asscrack of dawn by Will’s heavy stomping around the bedroom. Nico groaned in protest, burying himself into the covers. He scooted over to the still warm patch where Will had been sleeping and inhaled the scent of Will on the pillow. “What time is it,” he mumbled incoherently, and Will bounced towards the bed, kneeling down and gently stroking Nico’s hair.

“It’s six am, I just got back from a two hour jog.”

“Oh my gods,” Nico grumbled, pulling the covers over his face, “it’s too early, Will, come back to bed!”

“But I’m already awake!”

“And I didn’t fall asleep until half three, get back into bed so we can cuddle, you’re warm and I’m tired.”

“Sorry, Neeks,” Will said softly, “but I have an early shift at the hospital and I need to be there in an hour, but I’m off work tomorrow, so, we’ll stay up late with a movie and fall asleep together and I’ll stay in bed to cuddle until you wake up, and then I’ll do you breakfast in bed and we can cuddle some more and do whatever you want. We can take a bubble bath together with some candles and massage oils, just spend some time relaxing and pampering each other. Although maybe the candles shouldn’t be on the side of the bath in case the water knocks them down again.”

“Goodnight,” Nico groaned, and Will laughed softly, melodically, pressing a lingering kiss to Nico’s forehead.

“You go back to sleep, call if you need me, okay? I love you.”

“Love you too,” Nico murmured, burying his face into Will’s pillow.

7. Who Makes The Bed

“Nico,” Will murmured, and Nico groaned from underneath his blanket mound.

“What?”

“You stole all the blankets and I’m cold.”

“Here,” Nico mumbled, throwing one of his blankets to Will.

“Nico, there’s popcorn stuck to this,” Will grimaced. Nico whined tiredly. “We haven’t had popcorn since last month.

“Don’t care,” Nico protested tiredly.

“You need to make the bed.”

“You need to make the bed,” Nico retorted.

“I do!” Will protested, sitting up. Nico whined in protest at the shift, sitting up besides Will with a tired groan, his face in his hands.

“When?”

“I changed the sheets just a few days ago!” Will protested

“Not according to the popcorn,” Nico grumbled.

“Have we cleaned anything recently?”

“I ate the cereal out of the box this morning when I couldn’t sleep because we have no clean bowls.”

“I have no idea how to make the bed,” Will confessed, and Nico squinted at him through tired eyes.

“Neither do I.”

“Maybe we should have learned this before moving in together.”

“Mhm,” Nico mumbled in agreement, diving back under the blankets, “I’ll get the ghosts to do it.”

“What ghosts?”

“Never mind.”

“Nico, what ghosts?”

“Goodnight, W ill.”

“Nico, I’m scared.”

“Then cuddle me.”

8. Who Makes The Coffee

Nico threw himself into one of the dining room chairs, his hair sticking up in all manner of directions, tangled and generally looking like a bird’s nest. He groaned loudly, flopping his head onto the table with a thud and another groan. “Morning, sunshine!” Will grinned, and Nico looked up just long enough to hiss in pain as his eyes were assaulted with neon yellow spandex. Nico whined agonisingly in response, realising that the table was suddenly very comfortable indeed, closing his eyes. He heard the sound of Will getting the mugs out of the cupboard and the kettle being put on to boil.

“Coffee?” he asked hopefully, and Will laughed softly.

“I know it won’t wake you up much, but it is chilly and it’ll warm you up.”

“If I have coffee, I might go back to sleep.”

“Usually I’d say yes you should, but you slept a solid ten hours, that’s oversleeping, that’s why you’re so sleepy. So, once you’ve had your coffee and you’re comfortable but you’ve had the time to wake up a little, we’re just gonna have a lazy day and we’re gonna cuddle on the sofa.” Nico mumbled in appreciation, drifting off a little until he heard Will gently place the mug of coffee by him on the table. “Wake up, sleepy head,” Will said softly, running his fingers through Nico’s hair. Nico lifted his head up and pressed his lips to Will’s in a slow, lazy kiss, smiling in appreciation of the coffee.

9. Who Burns Breakfast

Nico woke to the sound of the fire alarm ringing in his ears. He grumbled rolling out of bed and almost falling back asleep on the floor, slowly trudging downstairs to an all-too-familar sight: Will at the stove and smoke everywhere. Nico coughed, opening the windows and wetting a cloth under the sink, holding it over his mouth and nose to avoid the smoke. He wet another and handed it to Will. “What did you do this time?”

“I tried to make toast.”

“Why is there a frying pan on the stove?”

“To make the toast.”

“For Hades’s sake Will, there’s a toaster.”

“I just put the bread in the pan dry and then it stuck and started to burn and I don’t know how but it caught on fire and then the bread turned to ashes and the fire’s just embers.” Nico sighed, picking up the broomstick they used to turn the smoke alarm off, leading Will to the living room.

“I appreciate you trying Will, but I’d very much like to live without you burning the house, so leave breakfast to me until you learn how to cook. Let’s eat dry ramen noodles instead. For future reference, you put the bread in the toaster and push the lever down and when it pops up you wait a few seconds for it to cool, put it on a plate, then spread the butter. Okay?”

10. How Do They Let Each Other Know They’re Leaving The House?

“Nico,” Will called softly, kneeling by the bed, and Nico groaned loudly from beneath the covers. “Nico babe, I’m popping to the shops, I’ll be back in half an hour okay? I’ve left the TV on for you, and I washed your favourite blanket last night, it’s time to wake up now, so why don’t you go downstairs. If you fall asleep on the couch I’ll wake you when I get back okay?” Will kissed the top of his head and Nico mumbled in response, and Will left for work

---

“WILL!”

“WHAT?”

“WILL!”

“WHAT?!”

“WILL!”

“I’M IN THE SHOWER, ASSHOLE!”

“I’M GOING TO MCDONALDS YOU FUCKNUGGET, DO YOU WANT ANYTHING?”

“FRIES, NOW FUCK OFF!”

“YOU FUCK OFF!”

“JUST FUCK OFF AND BRING ME BACK MY FRIES!”

11. How Do They Greet Each Other When One Of Them Gets Home?

“I’m back!” Will called, locking the door behind him and pulling off his coat, catching his breath. Then the smell of dinner hit him, and he’d never been more hungry. He took his shoes off and scrambled to the kitchen, where Nico was just pulling a lasagne out of the oven.

“Go get changed into your pyjamas,” Nico said, “I’ll dish up, just go.” Will smiled softly and quickly kissed Nico’s cheek, making his way upstairs to change into his cotton pyjamas. He put his most comfortable slippers on and made his way back downstairs, where Nico had lit some candles and sprinkled a few rose petals on the table. Will blushed as Nico pulled out his chair for him, placing his plate in front of him. “After a double shift you deserve a nice romantic night. Once you’ve eaten, I’ll run you a bubble bath, with all those essential oils and bath bombs you like so much, then I’ll give you a massage to work all that tension out.”

“Aww, Nico,” Will smiled smittenly, “this is so romantic and sweet of you! But I think I’ll be too tired to give you anything in return…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nico said softly, “you’ve had a long day, I don’t expect anything tonight. I just wanna pamper you and take care of you. We can just cuddle together. Wanna talk about your day? When you called me at lunch I figured you sounded stressed, and I’d like to hear about it.”

“I lost a patient,” Will admitted, slowly eating his lasagne. It tasted amazing, comforting, and Will found himself feeling open and honest. “I know it wasn’t my fault, they had end stage lung cancer, but I cried a little.”

“Hey,” Nico said gently, reaching across the table to take Will’s hand, and Will put his fork down, sobbing into his hand. “Hey, come here,” Nico soothed, standing up and making his way over to Will, gently hugging him, “I know you did everything you could to help, and I know you made their last few minutes comfortable and calming. It’s gonna be okay, Will, just cry it all out.”

---

“WILL I’M BACK!” Nico shouted, and Will skidded to the door, tackling Nico in a flying hug. Nico laughed, backing into the wall for balance. “It’s nice to see you too, Will.”

“A whole day,” Will said against his shoulder, “I missed you. Bed was cold without you. Couldn’t sleep. I tried to watch a horror movie to remind me of you but I just got spooked without you.”

“I’m back now,” Nico smiled, hugging back tightly. Will hummed contentedly, inhaling Nico’s scent and lightly nibbling the flesh of his neck. Nico sighed blissfully, guiding Will’s chin up and gently kissing him. Will pressed Nico closer to the wall, kissing him slowly.

“I missed you,” Will said again.

“And I missed you too,” Nico smiled, playing with the curls at the nape of Will’s neck. Will kissed him again, letting it linger for a little longer until Nico pulled away. “Let me get showered and changed before you get all clingy with me, okay?”

“What? Sorry, I didn’t hear the part after the part where you’re getting naked.”

“Will,” Nico chuckled, “ I was gone a day, do you know how adorable you are when you get all needy?”

“I missed you,” Will protested, hugging Nico again. Nico sighed, smiling softly.

“I love you too but I smell of brimstone and blood, I smell gross, let me get clean and changed into something comfortable and then I’m all yours for the night.”

12. Who Brings Home Little Gifts Like Flowers/ Chocolates More Often?

“What’s this,” Will asked curiously.

“Open it,” Nico said with a small smile. Will looked at him curiously, and opened the small box. It was empty, so Will picked it up, frowning, examining the velvet box.

“Nico, there’s nothing insi…” Will cut himself off the moment he looked to wear Nico had been standing, because he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand. “Oh my gods…”

“I know I don’t get you much, because I don’t exactly have a paid job, and I know you’re always getting me little gifts all the time and bringing me back cool bones you find in your run through the forests, and I love the way you try and always fail to cook for me and you get all pouty and sad because you just want to make me happy, and I wanted to make you see just how happy you make me, Will. I want you to have my mother’s ring, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So William Solace, will you be my husband now and forever? Will you marry me?”

“Oh my gods, Nico,” Will gasped, “yes, of course! Oh my gods… I love you!”

“I love you too,” Nico replied with a smile, placing the ring on Will’s finger, “speaking of you love me, I’m stuck and I can’t get back up off the floor, help me.” Will giggled, carefully helping Nico up off the floor and pulling him into a hug.

“It’s funny,” Will smiled, “because I just went out and brought a ring for you too. I was gonna propose during dinner.”

“Oh my gods,” Nico grinned, laughing softly, and Will pulled the ring from his pocket. “Yes,” Nico smiled, letting Will place it on his finger and leaning up to give him a slow, loving kiss. Both men were crying a little but hey, who wouldn’t?

13. Who Picks The Movie For Movie Night?

“What are we watching?” Will asked, settling with his feet up and a bowl of popcorn on his stomach. Nico held up two DVDs and Will shook his head. Nico sighed, digging through the box and holding up two more. Will made a noise of consideration before shaking his head again. The process repeated until Will had picked a pile of ten movies. Nico sorted through them, picking out three of them.

“I like these,” Nico said, and Will cocked his head to the side in consideration.

“Eh… I’m not sure…”

“Will,” Nico groaned, “it’s been twenty minutes and you’ve already ate half of the popcorn to yourself!”

“Wait, this was meant to share?”

“Yeah,” Nico huffed, sorting through the pile of movies and holding one up. “This?”

“Perfect,” Will smiled, and Nico set up the DVD, before finally joining Will on the sofa and curling into his side. He smiled sweetly, kissing Will, who let go of the popcorn to hold Nico comfortably. With a small snicker, Nico stole the bowl of popcorn and sat on the floor, hunched over it like a gremlin and shovelling it into his mouth. “Hey!” Will protested, and Nico almost choked laughing. Will dove onto the carpet, attempting to grab the bowl back off Nico, who threw a piece at Will’s head. Instead of watching the film, the great popcorn war of 2019 ensued.

14. Their Favourite Kind Of Movie To Watch

Will screamed, grabbing Nico’s arm and pressing himself loser to Nico, almost crushing him. “Will,” Nico protested, wrestling him slightly to get them comfortable and readjust the blanket, “that was the funny part!”

“Nico, his guts are all over the floor!”

“I know,” Nico chuckled, “the circular saw just cut right through him! Gutted like a fish! Did you see the blood spray all over the nurse’s face?”

“You’re twisted!” Will replied, settling back into his side and stress eating chocolate, “why do I agree to watch these again?”

“Because you like the cuddles,” Nico replied, “and the kisses afterwards when you’re hopped up on adrenaline-” Nico burst out laughing as Will heard a scream and chopping noises.

“Oh my gods,” Will cringed, “I know I like horror and gore, but I’m not even sure this is legal!”

“It’s not,” Nico replied, “only in Russia.”

“Nico, I’m scarred for life.”

“I won’t let anyone murder you like that, Will,” Nico reassured, “that’s my job.”

“I’m scared,” Will whined, “turn it off.” Nico sighed, turning it off and turning to Will, cupping his face in his hands.

“I am so, so sorry,” Nico began gently, “I didn’t realise it would distress you so much otherwise I would not have put it on for you. Are you okay?”

“I need a hug,” Will whimpered, and Nico immediately wrapped him in his arms.

“No more illegal films, I promise. Only regular horror, because you like watching that more than I do.”

“Yeah,” Will agreed, and Nico rubbed soothing circles on his back.

“We’ll sleep with the lights on,” Nico soothed, kissing the top of Will’s head. “Hey, you’re shaking.”

“I’ll be okay,” Will replied, “just keep holding me and I’ll be okay. You make me feel safe, Nico.”

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” Nico reassured, rocking them slightly, “I’m right here. I’ve got you. Next time we watch Dracula, you love that.”

“Yeah, it’s my favourite,” Will replied, burying his face in Nico’s chest.

15. Who First Suggests A Pillow Fort?

,”Will,” Nico began as Will piled yet another freshly washed and dried blanket into Nico’s arms, “can we built a nest with these?”

“A nest?” Will questioned, the corner of his mouth jumping up.

“Like a blanket fort, but a permanent one, with loads of cushions. Most of these blankets are old and we have new ones, and it would be really romantic to sit in there. We can decorate it with fairy lights and we can watch Netflix in there or make out! Please?”

“Nico, I am an overgrown child, I am never gonna turn down the opportunity to make a blanket fort! Never! I could be fifty and I will still want a blanket fort!” Nico giggled, and Will grinned mischievously. “I got a load of unused cushions in the closet we can use for the floor, and I have lots of soft pillows too.”

“Have I told you how much I love you lately? Because I really love you.”

“I love you too, little boo,” Will replied, and Nico blushed at the nickname and smiled.

16. Who Builds The Pillow Fort?

Needs to be higher,” Nico said, and Will secured the bungee cord to the hook on the wall. “That’s about right,” he said, and Will looked at the frame and nodded.

“Now for the floor,” Will said, and he and Nico began to lay out pillows, piling them up until they had a soft floor, laying a blanket over it. Nico sat in the middle, looking up at the frame, and Will checked the feel of the frame to make sure it wouldn’t collapse. It could handle enough pressure, so Will started with the blanket walls that were against the wall, tying the ends to the chord and making sure the bottom was tucked in under the floor, sewing to the frame once he was satisfied with the positioning.

Nico looked at the pile of blankets still left, and Will stepped back to analyse the frame. They’d used bungee chords and thick strips of cut up denim to make a frame sturdy enough for a permanent blanket fort. Will carefully placed the first blanket underneath, tying and sewing it to the frame so it draped from the centre outwards, but not too low. Nico looked up, poking it and tugging it lightly, and Will set out on putting the third side on. He carefully tied and sewed it like before, and Nico was almost inclined to go to sleep, quite enjoying his minimal contributions despite it being his idea.

Next came the front of the fort, which was more tricky and Nico had to help position them so that they could be tied back like curtains and pulled shut. Nico had to hold everything in place whilst Will secured it, and then there was only the top blanket to go. Will had even gone to the length of installing a hook to the ceiling, to suspend the top blanket from and make it into a point at the top. Once it was secured to the bungee chord, it didn’t take long for Will to sew it to the frame. He stepped back to the door to admire his handiwork- it was right in the corner next to the window, the third blanket wall facing into the room and the entrance facing the sofa barely a foot away- it seemed nice and private. Nico was already hooking up all the fairy lights and arranging the cushions by the time Will crawled in- and it was a lot bigger than he thought.

“This is so cosy,” Nico commented, leaning against the wall with popcorn, his laptop on the pillow floor. It was really soft to sit.

“It’s so private in here, so intimate,” Will commented, and Nico smiled, putting the popcorn and laptop aside in favour of kissing Will.

“I can’t believe we’re grown adults and we made a pillow fort,” Nico commented between kisses, laying down and pulling Will to lay beside him.

“Worth it though,” Will replied with a smile, cuddling into Nico, “our own little escape, a private corner for us to hide and relax and have fun.” Nico giggled softly, melting into the lazy cuddles and kisses Will was eager to offer.

17. Who Tries To Distract The Other During A Movie.

“Nico, stop that,” Will said absently, picking up another handful of popcorn, eyes transfixed to the screen. Nico doubled his attention seeking efforts by prodding Will in the ribs. “Nico, I’m watching this.” Nico snickered, poking him in the ribs again, but Will simply ignored him, so Nico upped his game and started tickling Will.

Will shrieked, pushing Nico’s freezing hands away, and Nico laughed, moving his hands up Will’s shirt to tickle his bare skin. Will whined in protest and squirmed, unable to stop the stream of laughter that followed. He playfully wrestled Nico, putting him in a headlock, and Nico tried to twist, his foot somehow ending up by Will’s ear. They ended up in fits of giggles, just collapsing onto each other with uncontrollable laughter. They shared soft kisses and light touches, still tickling each other and laughing between kisses, enjoying the feeling of being young again, being childish again, because after a long week of serious adulting, it felt good to unwind.

---

It started out with Will lightly tracing his finger on the back of Nico’s hand, which tickled, but didn’t stop Nico from concentrating on the movie. Then Will’s fingers started to trace patterns up and down his arm, enough to give him goose bumps and shiver a few times, but Nico had decided this was now a game of chicken and he was not gonna back down. As a result of Nico ignoring Will, Will only tried harder to distract Nico, and by the time Will was kneading his thigh and nibbling his earlobe, Nico was finding it difficult to hold back a soft moan. Will giggled, reaching over to turn the film off, giggling triumphantly when Nico wrapped his arms around Will, sighing happily as Will kissed down his neck. “What about the film, Will,” Nico protested, although he didn’t care about the film anymore, not when Will took his bottom lip between his teeth, tugging on it. Nico whined, whimpering when Will swiped his tongue across Nico’s lips. “I can’t believe you distracted me so easily, Will,” Nico huffed, and Will giggled against his lips. Nico figured they could watch the film another day- Will was in a good mood and Nico fully intended to make the most of it. After all, time spent with a busy husband who spent so long was work was precious, and intimate moments full of love and passion of any kind were always going to be so much better than any horror film anyway. Especially after Will had completed a week of double shifts and night shifts and Nico had been busy in the underworld when Will was home. Nico figured they had to make up for lost time, and he certainly didn’t mind missing the film in favour of a little fun.

18. Who Falls Asleep First

Nico was, through lack of a better word, one heck of a sleepy boy. He stayed up late, often had nightmares and interrupted sleep, so most evenings they didn’t even make it to the bedroom before Nico would get so comfortable he ended up drifting off to sleep. Even at mealtimes Nico had been known to yawn and rest his head on the table, and start snoring gently, with his cheek pressed into the table, barely on the chair. Nico fell asleep almost every time they settled in front of the TV for the evening, with the fireplace heating the room gently and fluffy socks, in one of Will’s hoodies that was more like a tent for Nico and comfortable cotton pyjamas, Nico would always fall asleep pressed into Will’s side and gathered up in his arms, and Will would gently braid Nico’s hair for him.

But today was different. After being left to his own devices to wake himself up in the morning when Will had been called into work early because of a road traffic collision, Nico had decided it a good idea to sleep in until five pm. So by midnight, Will was getting sleepy, and Nico wasn’t even twelve hours into his day. Will was very clearly fighting his sleepiness, but he kept nodding off and squinting and blinking at the TV, yawning every few seconds, until finally, he was lulled into a peaceful slumber, laying over Nico like a lizard on a rock, crushing him. Nico didn’t mind too much, gently braiding Will’s hair. He was rather cute like this, Nico thought.

19. Who Is Big Spoon/ Little Spoon

“I’m cold,” Nico whined, pressing closer to Will’s side. Will laughed lightly, rubbing his hand up and down Nico’s arm.

“Then maybe you should put your pants on,” Will suggested.

“Maybe I don’t wanna put my pants on,” Nico protested, leaning over Will and over the side of the bed, retrieving Will’s hoodie up off the floor and pulling it over his head. Will laughed softly as Nico nestled back under the covers. Nico rested his head on Will’s chest, resting his hand over his belly and pushing his leg in between Will’s thighs. Will wrapped his arm around Nico, resting it on his waist, kissing the top of his head and holding him close. Nico hummed contentedly, staying in that position for a while, until he realised it wasn’t very comfortable and rolled over. Will immediately curled around him, pulling him closer until their backs were pressed together. He buried his face between Nico’s shoulder blades, and Nico intertwined his fingers with Will’s.

“Goodnight, Nico,” Will said softly, and Nico whined tiredly in response. Will pressed a gentle kiss into his shoulder, and Nico lifted his head up. Will laid his arm across Nico’s pillow, and Nico rested his head on Will’s arm, adjusting slightly to press more tightly into the heat of Will’s bare chest.

“You’re really warm,” Nico mumbled, and Will squeezed Nico’s hand.

“I love you, Nico.”

“I love you too, Will.”

---

Waking up with sunrise was never pleasant for Will- he always energised quickly, barely able to get back to sleep. He shifted slightly, realising he was right by the edge of the bed and trapped in place. Nico’s leg was wrapped around his waist, Nico’s foot pressing into the front of Will’s thigh. Nico’s arm was slung over his shoulder lazily, and Nico’s face was buried into the nape of his neck, his soft breaths tickling him slightly, holding him protectively. It seemed the human backpack would not be letting Will out of bed, but Will didn’t mind. He pulled Nico’s arm under his own arm, tangling their fingers together like they always did. It wasn’t very often that they were able to cuddle in the night. In fact, there was a second bed in the room, because Nico was prone to night terrors from PTSD, and sometimes he thrashed around a lot in his sleep, so cuddling like this was a luxury Will intended to make the most of. He was glad Nico seemed to have a restful sleep, so he let himself relax, remembering all the sweet nothings and giggles and surprises of the night before. He craned his neck, content to see Nico still wearing his hoodie. Will reached down to the floor to pull his phone from his jeans pocket- he had an email from the hospital, but it was only a reminder of the new junior doctors who would be coming in. Will was a registrar, training to be a consultant. Nico shifted slightly, his heel jamming into a rather painful place. Will hissed and groaned in pain, removing Nico’s foot from around him and cradling the damaged goods, but Nico just threw his leg back over Will’s waist, this time jamming his foot right into Will’s bladder.

“Nico,” Will called, and Nico whined in protest at being woken up. “Nico, I have to pee, can you let go?”

“Five more minutes,” Nico protested, pulling him closer and nestling into his back.

“Your foot is on my bladder.” Nico whined, reluctantly detangling himself from Will, pulling him to face him so he could kiss him good morning.

“Leave the bathroom light on and make me a coffee,” Nico mumbled, and Will smiled softly, looking for his boxers on the floor.

“Of course,” Will replied, before looking at how tiny and adorable and warm Nico looked in Will’s grey hoodie. “Oh, and you can keep my hoodie. You look adorable,” he said, smiling to himself as Nico blushed.

#heroes of olympus #nico di angelo x will solace #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #nico di angelo #pjo #pjoverse #solangelo #trials of apollo #will solace #nico x will #nicohasahappymeal #solangelo fanfic #pjo fic #will solace x nico di angelo #will × nico #solangelo fluff #ask

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life-on-the-spectrum · 5 years

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For the plant-eaters who just followed me,

HI! :D Nice to meet you all! Been talking things over with my husband and our buddy, and taking stock of the stuff we already have in our pantries. Looks like this week will be veg-a-table’s oatmeal-raisin porridge and/or plain old fruit bits for breakfasts, lunches modified from the awesome Korean yummies that our school chef makes, and variations on a theme of what my husband has dubbed “Bowls of Slightly Less Boring” for suppers.

For the first week, I’ve compromised with the husband (who will NOT be going completely plant-based) and we’ll be having pizza once. Only once. Not three times, Darling, I know how much you love it but it turns your intestines to goo each time... I digress.

It’s a process, but at least we’re formally giving up fast food burgers. We live a block away from Burger King and a pizza place, and... it’s been bad, because we’re super-lazy when it comes to food. But we all feel like shit. Two of us are gaining weight, one of us is having major health issues, and I personally am more than a little disgusted by the idea of eating dead animals (if not by the flavor).

So here we are. In our little Korean town, we have no ovens to work from, just microwaves and single-burner stoves. And rice-cookers. We don't have canned or frozen food. We don’t have access to “replacement” foods like vegan cheeses and fake chicken nuggets. I’m not sad about that last part, the replacements kind of freak me out, so whatever.

But it’s time the three of us learn to cook real food. From scratch. Whee-ha!

#whole food plant based #vegan #veganism

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thefearlessgastronomist · 5 years

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Cookbooks I’m Excited to Dive into in 2019

Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat & Cravings: Hungry for More

BY CHRISSY TEIGEN

I used to be indifferent to Chrissy Teigen. She was that lady married to John Legend and a television personality (what exactly does she do on Lip Sync Battle anways?)... but that that was about it. I didn’t even know or remember her as a model.

Then her cookbooks came out. I don’t know what it is about her recipes, but I think everyone was just as surprised as me at the success of Chrissy’s cookbooks. And naturally, their popularity piqued my interest. While many ingredients and meal ideas are day-to-day staples (like pork chops or mac+cheese), the spicy twists and Thai turns on various foods truly are recipes for food you want to eat. Paging through both books, I’m fairly certain I said “Yum” or “I want to try that” for just about every recipe. Not to mention, her humor makes her so incredibly personable.

Pull Up a Chair: Recipes from My Family to Yours

BY TIFFANI THIESSEN

I’ve mentioned Tiffani before, but let me do it again.

The first recipe of hers that I tried in my own kitchen was the Blackberry Jam portrayed on her show, and it became an instant hit (I even gave small jars away as parting gifts for a family get together; it is amazing on vanilla ice cream). As simple as making jam may be, I knew then that I wanted to try more of her recipes. I immediately ordered her cookbook when it was released.

Some of her recipes I might consider slightly posh, but trust me when I say they still easily doable and sound absolutely delicious. Just remind me to try her Grilled Artichokes again, now that I actually know how to properly eat them. *facepalm* Also, her hostess flair comes through in the last section of the book called “Picture Perfect Parties” – which has menu, decor ideas, and other such notes for hosting various types of get-togethers (i.e. tailgates, brunches, family campouts, etc.)

The Home Cook: Recipes to Know by Heart

BY ALEX GUARNASCHELLI

Over the years watching Food Network and Cooking Channel, I’ve really become a fan of Alex Guarnaschelli. She’s a fellow Italian (Italians have an unspoken bond lol), the first female to win Iron Chef and the second overall female Iron Chef (after Cat Cora), but really... the lady just knows her stuff. When I heard that she was releasing a cookbook, I was super excited to get my hands on it. Yes, me being excited about books of any form is a recurring theme for me.

One thing I look forward to in Alex’s cookbook – as well as with Giada’s down below – is experiencing how a fellow Italian does Italian food (although that is merely a portion of The Home Chef). We all have our own interpretations of Italian dishes based on our individual backgrounds. But I suppose that could be true of many cultures and many dishes.

Also mildly prevalent in Alex’s cookbook is the sort of... “upscale” demeanor that I might associate with professionally educated chefs. It’s not many cookbooks you find recipes for bouillabaisse, unless they trained went to culinary school or studied in France – or in Alex’s case, the two combined (she attended La Varenne Cooking School in Burgundy, France).

Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering

BY JOANNA GAINES

I always try to resist the charm of Chip and Joanna Gaines... but guys, it’s really hard. And, not gonna lie, a lot of the merchandise from their line at Target is SO PRETTY and on my wishlist 😍 Damn you, Gaines’s.

While I am not entirely into the modern farmhouse aesthetic showcased on Fixer Upper or loosely included in their Target line, I am really feeling the down-to-earth homey recipes that Joanna shares in Magnolia Table. Many have that “fresh from the farm” Southern feel (based on her childhood in Kansas), where a handful of others include her Korean and Lebanese heritage.

Eat What You Watch: A Cookbook for Movie Lovers

BY ANDREW REA

I discovered this book at work and I absolutely LOVE the concept! In fact, I’ve been plotting a project for myself with a similar concept (more on this later).

Eat What You Watch encompasses 40 recipes to help recreate the amazing food moments in film – butterbeer from Harry Potter, the apple strudel from Inglorious Basterds, the titular ratatouille from Ratatouille. Essentially, this cookbook is the PERFECT way to combine my two favorite things. And I’ll get to watch some new movies in the process 😋

Giada’s Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita

BY GIADA DE LAURENTIIS

I have an... interesting connection to Giada de Laurentiis.

Noooo, no it’s not just because of our shared Italian heritage (she was born in Rome!), but rather a foodie experience I had a few years ago.

In late 2016, I traveled to Las Vegas with my aunt for her birthday. As a special birthday meal, we dined at Giada’s namesake restaurant on Vegas Strip. Sparing you the details, I think this was actually the first fancy-ish and refined dining experience I’ve ever really had. I spared no expense and splurged as much as I could, from appetizer to dessert. I really don’t know how to explain it properly but Giada just holds a special place in my and my aunt’s hearts thanks to this experience we shared. Later on, I even planned and together we cooked an entire meal inspired by our experience, utilizing Giada’s own recipes from her website Giadzy.

Unlike her other books, however, I felt that this one was more authentic. There are the people that want “everyday” and “weeknight” recipes for oversimplified meals, but Giada’s Italy to me just felt more... real. More Giada than her other titles. And, as I mentioned along with Alex Guarnaschelli’s book, I look forward to tasting Giada’s interpretation of Italian food, especially knowing that Giada’s recipes incorporate a Californian flare, spawning by her childhood in Los Angeles.

Bread Illustrated BY AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN

This cookbook is part of my ever-evolving desire to cook more items from scratch. As an Italian (I know I know, I’ve already mentioned this too much in this post), there are two things we (or at least I) really love as eaters: pasta and bread. It seems only natural for me to be excited to utilize this book. And, of course, it makes the house smell amazing! There’s nothing like the aroma of baked goods. I am always so fascinated by how varying measurements of flour, yeast, and wet ingredients can create beautifully diverse loaves of bread.

Mediterranean Cookbook

EDITED BY MARIE-PIERRE MOINE

A final repetition of this concept – Mediterranean Cookbook is another way I want to discover Italian food interpretation. However, this title is also much, much more than that. The Greek, Spanish, Andalusian, etc. foods within Mediterranean Cookbook allow me to uncover the flavors of the entire region, flavors that go well beyond Italy. I just might have to get over my distaste for olives to tackle this one.

Equally as entertaining will be trying to understand and use the titles of dishes – most, if not all of them, are not in English. But, if anything, I consider it a way to immerse myself into the culture of each dish.

Regions include (listed in the index): Middle East, North Africa, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Sicily, Greece, and Turkey.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Book of Greens: A Cook's Compendium by Jenn Louis with Kathleen Squires In a strange turn of events, I've taken an interest in *gasp* salads and vegetables and healthier foods 😝 And while I also purchased The Vegetable Butcher by Cara Mangini a couple years ago, I knew it couldn't hurt to get my hands on a book just about greens; how to select, break down, cook them AND what flavors pair well with them. Let's be real, I just love any book that is essentially an encyclopedia for chefs. Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Sara Quessenberry & Kate Merker Now that I have two Instant Pots in my possession (a 3-quart and an 8-quart), it is now a matter of actually using them. My first meal from the Pot was butternut squash soup, and I have since experimented with hard boiled eggs, a pot roast, and chicken breast (both from frozen!) that all turned out wonderfully... but I would definitely love to add more to my Instant Pot reportoire. I may still enjoy cooking the old fashioned way, but you can't deny how well the Instant Pot works. The Kinfolk Table: Recipes for Small Gatherings by Nathan Williams I got this book as an absolute steal at a garage sale; I think I literally only paid 10 cents. I may not read Kinfolk Magazine, but I was immediately drawn to the beautiful composition and cultural aspects of it. Not only does the cookbook encompass recipes from around the world, but also the stories that inspired them from the people who shared them. Although The Kinfolk Table is divided into Brooklyn, Copenhagen, The English Countryside, Portland (Oregon), and "The Wandering Table," the book's contributors span the entire globe.

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lillianfromaccounting · 6 years

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Finally getting around to this!

Was tagged by @cenobitic-anchorite (thank you!)

Putting this under a read more, because I wrote a lot.

1. What is your favorite movie? My answer to this is always Sleeping Beauty because it was the first movie that I stayed up watching with no adults. Like I must have been around 7 and my older cousin was 12 and we stayed up watching it after all the adults went to sleep. So for me, it signified some sort of independence. (On another note, that same cousin and I also stayed up to watch Pretty Woman before I realized what was going on in that movie.)

I know sometimes it’s a cop out answer, because I really can’t pick a favorite live action movie. There’s too many and I love a lot of them. Also, usually, when I say Sleeping Beauty, based on the other person’s reaction, I can tell if they’ll be compatible and/or get my vibe or not.

2. If you had to drastically change your hair, how would you cut it and what color would you dye it? I want rainbow hair, but I can’t have that where I work. I’ve been saying I’ve wanted to dye it red for several months now, but haven’t made the appointment yet (long story, but also mostly me dragging my feet). I’ve ALWAYS wanted a pixie cut, but have always been told that my face shape isn’t good for it (I did it senior year of college and there were people who flat out told me never to get that hair cut again). I’ll do it again, when I feel like I have the energy to maintain it.

3. Can you drive a manual transmission car? lol, no. I can just barely drive an automatic. (Fact: I got my license at age 23 and didn’t regularly drive until 32.)

4. What’s your favorite thing to cook or bake? Why? Is there a word limit to this? Cuz we’ll be here a few days. lol Favorite thing to bake is scones because I love scones. I also love to bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. And anything with a short pastry, so pies, tarts. I LOVE making sweet danishes. Oh crumb cakes. Oooh it’s season for fresh cranberries. I make a really good cranberry lime crumb cake. Cake, in just about every variation (rounds, sheet, cup, etc.) I like these because they’re delicious (and very few bakeries make them well, and I’m a dessert snob. If I’m eating it, it better be worth the calories. I’m also very particular about my cake to frosting/crumb ratio). Also, fact: I suck at baking regular cookies. I can do it, but they never look right and I’m pretty sure I’m screwing up the ratio of dry to wet ingredients or the butter’s not cold enough or something, but yeah, my cookies always look seriously deformed. (yes, I’ve seen that chart that troubleshoots cookies. No, it hasn’t helped.)

Favorite thing to cook. Hm... go to comfort stuff: penne vodka, but really, I like trying new recipes.

5. How old were you when you got your ears pierced (if your ears aren’t pierced, do you want to get them pierced? The first time I got my ears pierced, I think I was in 8th grade, so 13-ish. After the initial however long it was that you’re supposed to keep them in, I got lazy so I didn’t keep earrings in all the time (and they hurt my ears), so the holes apparently closed. I got them re-pierced in sophomore or junior year of high school and again, after a little while, they closed again. I was thinking about getting them re-pierced again.

6. Do you like Thanksgiving? Why or why not? I LOVE Thanksgiving. Yes, the historical aspect can go to hell, but personally, I love Thanksgiving. So growing up, being Chinese, we never celebrated American Thanksgiving. When I was about 13, I got a bread making book from the Scholastic book fair and discovered that we had a working oven (Chinese people don’t cook with ovens. We have a wok and a rice cooker. That’s really all you need.). Anyway, I started baking bread and it was amazing.

Also, our local supermarket would do the holiday promotion of if you spend $X, you can get a free holiday protein, and being a household of 8 (sometimes 10), we hit that spending threshold very, very quickly. So one year, I told my mom that we’re getting a turkey, instead of the ham that she likes. She was skeptical, but I was hell bent on celebrating American Thanksgiving and figuring out what this whole turkey hoopla was about.

I started cooking a Thanksgiving feast for my family (immediate and extended) from the age of 14. I did a sticky rice stuffing in the bird. Mashed sweet potatoes (no marshmallow. it’s sweet enough by itself.) I always made a lasagna (with cheese from DiPalo’s, where I would wait hours on line for our order) or another pasta dish. We did Chinese vegetables. And every year, we would pick new recipes we’d want to try. By ‘we’, I mean me. I would pick new recipes that I’d want to try and my three younger siblings would be obligatory sous chefs. And since bread baking happened in the wee early hours of the morning, we would have it for breakfast. So then I expanded the menu to include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It became an all day thing and I was (and still am) obsessed.

Oh, it probably also helped to know that I come from a very large extended family and everyone would come through our house during holidays. Usually, it’s because my family hosted the mah jong parties, so we were kinda party central. My biggest Thanksgiving, we had about 50 people cycle through the house that day, so I had to make sure I had food enough for 50 people. Growing up, I’m pretty sure we never had less than 30. (It’s been a shock for me these past several years when we’ve hosted less than 20 people on turkey day.)

Then, my siblings would find recipes that they want to try, and Thanksgiving was this day where we would try food. Not all the recipes worked out, but no one ever got sick or food poisoning (oh man, I have stories from adjacent family members). But yeah. It’s an insane production and I love every minute of it (especially since my mom did the clean up, because bless that woman, she messed up Jiffy corn bread mix when she tried to bake, so she sticks to cleaning).

Anyway, after I got married, I demanded Thanksgiving, which my in-laws didn’t care about because they were getting it catered anyway. But I found out the hard way that they’ve sucked the soul out of my Thanksgiving festivities. One person demanded Stove Top (over fresh sausage dressing?!??!!). Fine. Another prefers roasted turkey (as opposed to smoked or fried). Year after year, they keep telling me to make less food, because they don’t enjoy watching me cook (they think I work too hard, but they also don’t understand that I’m having the time of my life).

At this point, I know that in order to get back to the Thanksgiving that I want to celebrate, it will be after that generation has passed. It’s fine.

I used to start planning my Thanksgiving menu in March, studying recipes and picking and choosing stuff up until like two weeks before hand. Ever since the kids came along, that excitement has also waned. But I’m excited for this year. There will be apple cider mimosas. And I’m roasting a savory pumpkin. And there will be artichokes. Oh and one of my good friends went to Dominique Ansel Kitchen’s pie night this year and had a poached pear chocolate pie that she said was divine. I am attempting to recreate it based on her descriptions of the textures and her pictures. This is what I live for.

(where the fuck is that barney stinson challenge accepted gif when you need it?)

and yes, this year will be my 24th year cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

7. If you could live in the world of one film, which one would you pick? Oh man. D2: The Mighty Ducks. Ok, I lied. I do have a favorite live action movie. I wish I had a more creative answer to this. Yeah, Harry Potter’s world would be cool. Yeah, I identify with hobbits. Any of the Star Treks would also be good in terms of universes. But I want Adam Banks to teach (13-14 year old) me how to ice skate.

8. What kind of pet have you never had, but have always wanted? lol one of my bffs and I always wanted a baby panda.

9. If you won the huge lottery, what would be the first 3 things you’d do?Get a good fucking lawyer, set up a shell foundation so it’s not listed in mine or my husband’s name, prepare to disappear after a couple of years of acting normal. Then, for the more fun three, pay off debt, travel, get a house somewhere the fuck else.

Ceno’s answer was too perfect, so I left it, mainly because I’d pretty much do the same. I’d buy my parents a new house and hire a chauffeur for them. Also @katiekeysburg will get a chauffeur. And I’d throw money at teleportation research. And fund a bunch of gofundmes.

10. Have you ever gotten a tattoo? What is it? If you haven’t, do you want one? I do not have any but I’ve always wanted one of my Chinese name above my ankle and I’ve always wanted the pi character somewhere (debated various locations). One day, when I get the guts to. (and when it’s seasonally appropriate to get one above my ankle, cuz omg I never knew about the various care required while it heals.)

11. What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? hahaha um. Probably calling the cops on an online friend who I thought was going to kill himself, but he really wasn’t (but I didn’t know that). (hey kids, don’t put your addresses in your aol profiles--yes I’m ancient.) actually, I’ve done my share to stupid aol/online shit. it will probably come back to haunt me if i ever run for public office or marry a celebrity.

Ok, real stupid thing. I’m a severe klutz, and one time I walked off a raised cement slab (like the kind that statues would sit on) and sprained my ankle. It was probably 3 inches off the ground on the side that I got on it, but it was further off the ground on the other side, so when I got off the slab, I misjudged where to put my foot and I rolled my ankle. Ended up at the ER and they put me in a soft cast. I had to have crutches to get around campus and this one guy who I don’t even know his name, picked me up and carried me up the campus hill (we had a really big hill), and it was against my consent. I did NOT want him to pick me up. It was terrible. Anyway, I rolled my ankle by walking. I have tons of stupid shit. How much time you got?

I was also pretty pretentious when I was younger. (I might still be. I’m not as self aware as I wish to be.) I once asked an Italian friend to try my tomato sauce and asked him what was missing because it didn’t taste right. (I know. I was so gross. You learn from your own grossness though.)

What other stupidity? I fawned over boys. My bff gave me a copy of The Giving Tree in college (I had never read it before) as a metaphor of how much of myself I gave to this toxic dude. I sobbed reading it for the first time.

In hindsight, not getting my license at 17 was a pretty stupid move too. But that also had to do with life circumstances.

OH. Turning down an interview for an internship with my dream company at the time, because I had already accepted an internship position with another company.

Trying to explain to my MBA ethics class how my industry worked only to get it mansplained back to me (pretty stupid of me to have tried in the first place).

Going for my MBA was also a pretty stupid move in the holistic view of my life.

12. Have you accomplished your New Year’s Resolution for 2018? I honestly don’t remember if I even made resolutions, so I’m going to say hard no.

13. If you could get any degree from any school, free of charge, what would you pick? Criminal Psychology. Ceno, we can go to school together! (this reminds me I need to catch up on last week’s Criminal Minds) Another option would be anything in the forensics sciences. I would also like to learn massage therapy. And I want to take that artisan bread breaking course at the Institute of Culinary Education.

I forget how many people I’m supposed to tag. @katiekeysburg @daisyjm75 @steverogersnotebook

#personal #long post #tagged #this was fun #if only to explain my love of thanksgiving

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bladesofyuri · 6 years

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Blades’s Get Fit Diet: What I’m Eating, Tips, and Recipes

Follow-up of this post as requested. =)

Disclaimer: As it’s stated in the original post, you have to find something that works for you. What works for me may not be the same, though if you haven’t found a way to eat that seems to be working to your benefit, you might give this a try. As a side note, I’m not vegan and am not knowledgable enough with vegan diets to suggest good alternatives to these meals.

Obviously, if you have an allergy to or cannot eat some or any of these foods, don’t try them.

Below you’ll find some of my favorites for snacks and meals. Some are healthier than others, but hey. We’re being realistic here, and so far eating like this is helping me. It’s also very similar to how I was eating when I reached my fittest at seventeen. There are also tons of other options out there, but these are the things I either make or get most regularly. This is also how I was eating when I reached my fittest before, so hopefully, they can help you too.

Some of these below are my own recipes. None are complicated, which in my mind is a definite plus!

Breakfast Options:

Ham (or Turkey) and Poached Egg Avocado Toast and a Side

This is pretty much exactly as it sounds. Toast a slice of whole wheat bread to your liking (no butter), cover with 1/2 mashed avocado, and an egg poached to your liking. I like to place the ham (or your choice of meat) on the toast before I put it into the oven, which makes it nice and warm and extra delicious once the other ingredients are added on. Lightly sprinkle sea salt and pepper over the top. I also like to sprinkle a bit of paprika over it. For a side, opt for the second half of the avocado, your choice of fruit (I like a banana with mine) or a small mixed fruit bowl, and if you’re really feeling hungry, add a small, lean yogurt (something like a Yoplait Light or Greek yogurt works well).

Note: You can also turn this into just a plain, toasted sandwich if you wish, though the less bread you eat, the better. For the sandwich option, I like to add spinach and tomato.

Egg Beaters and Turkey (Breakfast Burrito Filling Only, No Tortilla)

Only the most skilled and dedicated chef can properly prepare this meal.

I’m joking. You buy a carton of egg beaters (of your choosing), put a dash of olive oil in a pan to prevent sticking, pour as much of the egg into it as you like, and stir regularly to scramble to your liking. When there’s very little “runniness” left, throw some thinly-sliced turkey (I use a regular, oven-roasted turkey breast from the deli section of the store) or ham in with it and mix with eggs until they’re cooked just how you like them. In all seriousness, this takes absolutely no time whatsoever to prepare and it’s amazing. You can also cheat just a bit and add a small pinch of cheese over the top. I like to eat it just like that, but you can also add your choice of salsa to really bump it up a notch. This is also my current go-to late-night snack, though my portion size is smaller for snacks. You can also add onions and peppers to this mix, though note that egg beaters also has a southwestern option with peppers already in them.

Note: You can also scramble the egg beaters to your liking and whip up some turkey bacon or a couple slices of low-sodium bacon to have with it.

Egg Beaters Omelette

An omelette with as many veggies (I like onion, peppers, tomato, and spinach) as you want plus your choice of lean meat. I recommend not using cheese at all, but if you must, go light on it.

BLT Breakfast Salad

Breakfast Stuffed Peppers (I skip the cheese, but if you’d like to add cheese than go ahead, just maybe go a bit lighter than this recipe suggests)

On the Go:

Egg White Grill - Chick-fil-A (without hashbrowns)

Southwest Wrap - Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Lunch and Dinner Options:

Whole Wheat Pita (Turkey OR Ham OR Chicken)

Whole wheat pita with your choice of lean deli meat, a dash of mayonnaise, and as many vegetables as you like.

Whole Grain Chicken Southwest Wrap

Whole wheat tortilla, a dash of chipotle mayo, chicken seasoned to taste. Note: For seasonings, I use paprika, ground cumin, a pinch of cayenne pepper, minced garlic OR garlic powder, ground black pepper, and a pinch of sea salt. I cut up bell peppers and onion and prepare them with the chicken. I typically prepare three chicken breasts at once in my slow cooker in this way.

Turkey and Swiss Lettuce Wrap

Just like it sounds. Your choice of lean deli turkey and swiss cheese with tomato, onion, and any additional veggies you’d like to add. I change up the condiments I use on this regularly. Sometimes, it’s just a hint of mayo. Others, it’s avocado (can I consider that a condiment? I will in this case).

Meal Prepped Salad (I like the Southwest one, but skip the cucumber)

Cajun Blackened Chicken (A Blades Favorite!)

I love this recipe for so many reasons. This chicken goes with EVERYTHING--veggies, potato, on a salad (my personal recommendation) and really packs that delicious, juicy punch we so often lack when we’re trying to eat well. I’m a bit heavier with my spices than what’s recommended here, though other than the amount I use of each I stick to this recipe to a T. That’s something you can just kind of figure out through trial and error. Note: I use chicken breast tenderloins for this and make the whole pack at once. This is a great meal prep recipe! My favorite thing to do is to put it on a salad with fiesta corn and light ranch, but you can also serve it with steamed or grilled vegetables. Or, if you want to be really unhealthy, fried squash (in olive oil and with a dash of seasoned salt). You can also use this same recipe in the crockpot, and while it won’t give you quite that same “blackened” effect, it’s still very good. Remember I did say not all of these were as healthy as others, but hey.

Grilled Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Cilantro Sauce

I admit I haven’t tried this yet, but my bodybuilder friend who loves to cook says it’s fantastic and it’s definitely on my list.

Slow Cooker Caesar Chicken

Lean chicken breasts topped with onion and minced garlic. Seasoned with sea salt, oregano, basil, and a dash of paprika. I like to get a caesar salad pack and put the chicken over the top with just a dash of parmesean, a little added paprika, and caesar dressing on the side. Note: You can add hard-boiled eggs if you like!

Quick Eats: (Note: Not big on these because they’re expensive and the portions are small, but if you need something quick and convenient...)

Annie Chun’s Entres (I like the Thai style green curry)

Tasty Bites (add proteins and vegetables of your choosing)

Healthy Choice Meals of Your Choosing

On the Go:

Chick-fil-A: Grilled Sandwich (NO fries, opt for side salad, fruit cup, or no side), Spicy Southwest Salad, or Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap

Chipotle or Q’doba: Kids’ portion quesadilla or burrito bowl (without rice or ask them to go easy on the rice). Grilled chicken or shrimp. Opt for light or no cheese and no sour cream. Go for guacamole. Pile the veggies on at will.

Kentucky Fried Chicken: grilled chicken breast with green beans. Note: This is messy and not exactly “quick,” but it’s a good meal that you don’t have to cook.

Panda Express: String bean chicken and mixed veggies.

Subway: Offers pretty straightforward menu guides in each store, but I recommend the 6″ turkey on wheat. Turkey, American cheese, and your choice of veggies with light mayo. If you’d like chips, opt for baked. Salads are also a good option here.

Snacks:

Fruits or steamed veggies. You can eat a lot with little to no consequence.

1 slice of whole wheat toast + peanut butter + banana

Greek yogurt

Refried or Black Beans with Salsa

Hard-boiled eggs

Guacamole Deviled Eggs (I skip the lemon/lime)

Fruit Smoothie (nonfat milk, vanilla or plain Greek yogurt, fruits of your choosing, dash of Stevia)

*As always, drink plenty of water throughout the day. It really will help you feel better! Avoid sugary and soft drinks.

#follow-up #healthy eating #healthy lifestyle #recipes #food #unrelated #fitness #note: I hit the proteins and the weights really hard #bladesofyuribabbles

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sarahlwlee · 4 years

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31 Stories in 31 Days: Food

What is this? As part of celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May), I am writing a story a day about my experiences as a Chinese Malaysian immigrant in America. My friends and family have provided numerous one-word prompts to help me create these stories. Today’s word prompt was contributed by Kim O. and the word is “Food”. Thank you Kim for your contribution and thank you everyone who stopped by to read my story today.

When I came to Kalamazoo for college in the fall, I made sure to pack a small cylinder porcelain pot with beautiful blue and pink flower imprints in my suitcase. It was the one piece of home I really wanted with me because I wanted to cook all those delicious soups my mom made, even the Chinese herbal tonic soups she made for me every month to ensure my body was balanced after my monthly period. This porcelain pot contained many of those soups that I had learned to make and was eager to put those skills to use during the winter months when I came to America.

I lived in a suite for four in a dorm on college campus. A suite meant two rooms sharing access to one bathroom, with two people per room. My roommate and suite mates were white women who were sophomores in elementary education major and at the time had not traveled anywhere beyond Kalamazoo. Many of them came from smaller towns around Kalamazoo such as Bangor and this was their first time in a “big city.” Living with a roommate presented a lot of challenges. We didn’t see eye to eye on how our room should be set up nor ground rules about being considerate when someone was sleeping.

The day she moved in, I didn’t know she was arriving. I had made plans that day to attend an international students gathering on campus. So I met her at a glance to say hi to her and her parents, and said I’ll check-in with her when I get back. After the gathering, I came back to the room completely overhauled. Before she moved in, I had set up my desk, bed and laptop the way I liked it and near the window. When I returned, my bed had become a bunk bed and I had the bottom bunk which had a sagging metal bar above my head. My computer and wires were pulled out from the wall and laid in disarray on my desk. Her parents had moved my desk to face the wall away from the window to make space for an oversized loveseat, a microwave that sat on top of a small refrigerator and a television on her dresser that was the same level as her top bunk.

I was really angry when I saw the layout of the room and how the space was built to suit her. As a young college kid, trying to navigate a new environment, a full class schedule and attempting to make friends, I did my best in that moment to brush this frustration off and accept what she had done to the room. After all she did allow me to use the microwave, refrigerator, loveseat and television at any time. Over the weeks, I noticed she liked watching television late into the night and dozing off to sleep with the television still on. I had morning classes at 8am and this routine started to get old because I wasn’t getting a full night’s sleep with the bright light emitting from the television and the low hum of the television’s white noise.

One night, without my knowledge, she had invited a boy to sleep in her bed in our room. She did not inform me about his stay and I was more so shocked when I woke up in the morning to find a guy brushing his teeth in our bathroom. I learned that this boy wasn’t even her boyfriend, but a guy involved in a triangle tryst she was trying to win over in competition with a girl named Amber, whom she had gone to high school with. Once again, I brushed this overwhelming frustration off and let this incident go because I didn’t want to get into argument with her.

As winter drew near, I decided to bring out my porcelain pot along with the herbal tonic spices that my mother had mailed to me and make the soup in my little rice cooker I had just purchased from Meijer. Cafeteria food started to wane on me and I was beginning to lose my appetite because I started to fall sick. I knew the tonic soup would cure my bodily ailments and also have a little taste of home. I gathered the ingredients into the rice cooker with a good amount of water, press the button to start and the cooking process began. The fragrance of the soup started to fill the air and I was eager to let my fellow Malaysian friend, Pei, who lived in the same dorm at the end of the hall, know that I was making this amazing soup. So I walked down to her room to let her know and she was just as ecstatic. She walked with me back to my room only to hear a lot of yelling from my room. More specifically what I heard, “What is that smell??” “Did something die in here?” I was worried something was wrong with our bathroom because we had been experiencing some plumbing issues.

When we entered my room, I noticed my suite mate was walking around my room tracing the source of the smell to my rice cooker. She turned to me and asked, “What is this?” I replied, “It’s a Chinese herbal soup from home.” My roommate walked in from my suite mates’ room holding her nose gasping for air, “You can’t be cooking this crap in our room. It stinks like hell and you need to take this outside. What made you think you could do this?” I responded to her, “I’m so sorry, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. It won’t happen again.” In my head I was furious for all the times she had microwave broccoli Mac and Cheese and ridiculous food smells would linger in the room every time she used the microwave and I had never complained about it. I didn’t have the energy to argue with my roommate and I just brushed it off. Pei helped me pick up my rice cooker, while I grabbed my utensils as well as other ingredients and moved it to the common area kitchen located one floor down. I ate my soup in silence that night in the cold common area kitchen. Pei went back to her room because her mom started to call her cellphone. I cried while I ate each spoonful of the soup, not only because I missed home but how miserable I felt living in this dorm room with people who were not interested in me as a person. Never had I felt so rejected and hurt by this experience.

Later one of my friends from the international students group mentioned they wanted to move out of the dorms and find an apartment off-campus. I was desperate to get out of the dorm and teamed up with different people to find an apartment. I broke my dorm lease (an 8-month contract) after a semester (4 months) and moved out to a two-bedroom spacious apartment with one of my friends, Charlize, from Malaysia. I was so excited for this new venture and hoped that I would find more reprieve in a room of my own with a friend I trusted.

What I didn’t realize was my new apartment mate did not like anything to do with Chinese and Malaysians, even though she was a Chinese Malaysian. She embraced all things related to American culture including how she talked, what she ate, how she dressed and who she dated. When I talked about making rice or learning to cook some Chinese dishes that reminded me of home, she would suggest something else like ordering pizza delivery or microwaved frozen salmon. The bare minimum Asian thing she would eat was the cheap ramen packets we bought from Meijer. Charlize was my only friend on campus and the only counsel I trusted when we were living together. During our time together, she advised me to leave all things Chinese and Malaysian behind because it was holding me back from making friends, especially boys. She hated when I would my pen behind my ear and told me to stop doing that if I wanted to seem cooler and more appealing to American boys.

With her constant nagging of my appearance and behavior, I started to abandon attempts in cooking Chinese or Malaysian food and made food that she liked only. In addition I did a lot of stupid things to my hair and wardrobe that I regretted. Even my accent disappeared because I wanted to match the American accent so desperately just so I could hang out with Charlize’s friends. She never invited me to hang out with her American friends because I was an embarrassment and her fraternity/sorority friends did not like foreigners. Of course I was puzzled because she was a foreigner too. However all the physical changes she did to herself made her pass for what some people might say “almost white.”

Charlize moved out after living with me for five months. She had applied for a college transfer to New York and had planned on this all along without telling me in advance. When she left, I was stuck with the apartment lease as the sole tenant and it was summer. One of the hardest times of the year to find a roommate. That year, I picked up my first job on campus as a Western Herald staff writer for the Arts & Entertainment section to help pay my bills and make ends meet. I took every writing assignment that was available even the one’s that nobody was interested in doing, regardless of tight deadlines or extra research it required.

Today I am so proud of the food I am able to cook and I am not eager on becoming more white. I happy to be me, a Chinese Malaysian immigrant living in America. My recipe repertoire has grown from oven baked nuggets and ramen to Malaysian cuisine such as nasi lemak, chicken curry, pork dumplings and so much more. In fact, I have learned a lot about Italian cuisine through working with Chef John Korycki at Zazios and a variety of cultural cuisines through YouTube cooking channels. My learning lesson from this reflection is always be an active participant in your own decisions, otherwise someone else will make them for you and you will not like it. This aptly applies to many of the conflicts described here. If I had actively engaged in what displeased me, I would and should have expressed my frustration as tactfully as I could to achieve some form of resolution. I didn’t know how important this was until later in my working life — how conflict management and being an active participant is important in reaching a resolution.

Never again will I brush off my gut instinct and I will be bold to express my thoughts and feelings because I am my own best advocate of me.

#aapi #aapiheritagemonth #aapihm #chinese #food #immigrant #collegelife #growingpains

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nitaescence · 7 years

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The Return of Superman - JM

BTS members as fathers in The Return of Superman show

Jimin x Reader Genre : Fluff Word Count : 3228

Author’s Note -

It includes interviews and shootings.

*…* : sentences edited on the final images.

Bold : cameras’ position in the house or outside.

Italics : dialogues.

/…/ : Time.

(…) : Sound effects.

[…] : camera movements

About Time

Building

/9:00 AM/

*This time let's visit a new family*

Living-room/Door Entrance/Kitchen/Play-room

*No one can be spotted by our cameras*

*Whose house is it?*

*House seems extra silent today*

Children Bedroom

*The clue is in the bedroom*

Two beds are put aside in which two little bodies lay tangled in their blankets. In the pitch darkness, some movements are seen and heard.

*One of the house owners is awake*

[zoom on the child face] *His name is Park Chang Min*

The little boy stretches and sits up, still dazed. After a while, he gets up and leaves his bedroom.

Living-room

[zoom on his head] *Cute bed head* (amazement)

He walks in the living-room, noticing several removal settled cameras and freezes in his tracks. *Frozen* He stares blankly at them and then smiles, waving. *Hello, little one* (amazement)

Kitchen

He opens the fridge and goes to fetch one of the dining-table's chairs, placing it in front of the fridge before climbing on it. *Is he in charge of breakfast today?*

Parents Bedroom

The parents are not moving an inch *Still asleep* *Zzzz*

Kitchen

Chang Min opens one of the drawers a bit too roughly, causing the pans in it to shake up. *Too loud*

Parents Bedroom

The noise awakes one of the parents straight away. The person gets up and shuffles out of the room to get to the origin of the ruckus.

[zoom on the naked torso] *He is a muscular man* *Is he the new superman?*

Living-room

He walks in the living-room, leading directly to the kitchen.

'Chang Min-ah', he says in a throaty voice.

Kitchen

The little boy turns his head towards his interlocutor, surprised. [slow motion] *Oh, no! He's in trouble* Then smiles sheepishly. *Who is he smiling at?*

[zoom on the stranger's face] *It's famous idol Park Ji Min!* (amazement) [pictures/videos of him performing with the members and alone in concerts and shows] *He debuted in worldwide known K-Pop group BTS in 2013* [videos of him dancing] *He masters sexy dance moves* [videos of him singing] *He has great vocals too* [videos/pictures of him in interviews] * He also has a very cute side*

'What are you doing?' Asks Ji Min, walking to his son.

Chang Min closes the drawer and walks to hug his dad's legs, 'Were you trying to cook breakfast?'

Jimin crouches and takes his son in his arms *Cuddly morning for the son and his dad*(amazement)

'Is your sister still asleep?' Ji Min asks, walking behind the counter.

'Yes.' answers Chang Min, walking away.

'Don't wake her up.'

Children Bedroom

[zoom on Chang Min's sister sleepy face] *Don't wake me up now* (amazement)

Kitchen

Chang Min takes a seat on one of the dinning-table's chairs, watching his dad.

'What do you want to eat, Chang Min-ih?'

'Rice.'

'Rice?' Ji Min opens the rice cooker. [zoom on it] *Empty* Ji Min smiles dumbfounded and closes the cooker. 'There's no rice.' (laughs)

'No rice? Then... cereals?' suggests Min Jun, bending over the table.

'I think mom got rid of it... I'll make something else.' *Doesn't loose his cool* Ji Min opens the fridge and takes out eggs, sausages and fried kimchi. He also takes out pans that he sets on the gas cooker.

'Wait, this isn't right. How do I make it work ?' He pushes some of the cooker's buttons, trying to turn it on.

'Do you want me to call mom?'

'No, I can do it.' laughs Ji Min, eyes glued to the cooker as his fingers work on it.

Chang Min stares at his father *Dad's totally clueless* (laughs)

'How many eggs do I need?' wonders Ji Min by himself once he's managed to operate the cooker.

Children Bedroom

A long whine interrupts house's silence.

Kitchen

Chang Min's head turns toward the corridor leading to his bedroom.

'Your sister's awake.' notices Ji Min breaking eggs in the pan.

Chang Min leaves his spot to join his sister.

Children Bedroom

'Jay-ah!' He calls going up on the bed next to her, 'You're awake?'

'Mom.' She whines turning on her side.

'Dad is awake, come.' Says Chang Min gently yanking on her arm.

The two children leave the room.

Living-room

Chang Min leads the way to his father while the little girl rubs her tired eyes with her tiny fists.

[Zoom on his sister's face] * 36-month-old Park Jay is awake* (amazement)

Kitchen

Ji Min looks up and smiles as soon as he notices her. *Daddy smile*

'Jay-ah, did you sleep well?'

The little girl waddles to her father, a pout on her face. He squats down only for a second to hug her, to prevent the cooking food from burning, earning a whine from Jay who puts her hands in the air.

'I cannot hold you now, I'm cooking. Go wait for me with your brother.' Jay starts to whimper while Chang Min joins them, 'Chang Min, take her away so she won't get burned.'

'Come with me.' The young boy takes her hand and leads her to the living-room, where he's displayed some of their toys to play with until their father is done cooking.

Ji Min looks at them from time to time, happy that Chang Min has managed to calm her down . *Calm and peaceful Dad*

Parents Bedroom

The second adult wakes up and leaves the room after folding the blankets and heads to the bathroom to wash up *Mom is awake*

Ji Min - Hello, I'm idol singer Park Ji Min. This is my first born Chang Min...

Chang Min – Hello and her name is Jay. She's my sister. *cute big brother*

Ji Min – Jay, say hello.

Jay – Hello. *shy little sister*

Ji Min – This is my family an-

Jay – Dad!

Ji Min – Just a second, Jay.

Chang Min – Shh, dad is speaking. Shh!

Ji Min – Chang Min is six-

Chang Min – Where is she going?

Ji Min – Jay, come back. (laughs)

[couple pictures] *The couple met in 2019 and got married three years later. [baby pictures] Chang Min was conceived during their honeymoon and three years later they've welcomed their daughter, Jay.* (amazement) [pictures of hundredth-day-old Jay anniversary] *This cute family live in happiness*

Ji Min – 'When Chang Min was born, I wanted to spend a lot of time with him despite my busy schedule but it wasn't always easy. I'd like to spend even more time with him and his sister by making a lot of memories and this broadcast is the good opportunity. [pictures of the couple's wedding and their everyday life] I still feel guilty when I think about my wife raising Chang Min alone. I'm always thankful and sorry about that. Thankfully, Chang Min grew as a responsible son and loving brother and is always willing to help. I want my wife to take as much rest as she'll need and make up for the lost time.'

Living-room

[zoom on her face] *It's beautiful Y/N*

'Mom!' exclaims Jay while Min Jun gets up to hug her.

Ji Min looks at her, bringing breakfast's last finishing touches. Y/N sits down, kisses and cuddles her children. *The family is full of love this morning* Jay sits between her legs while Y/N yawn, eyes half-closed. *Mom came home late last night because of work*

'I feel so sore,' She rubs her neck. 'Look at that,' She says looking at her husband, a smile on her face, 'Chef Ji Min.'

'Stop it' He chuckles.

'Mom, look!' shouts Jay, seeking her mom's attention.

'Breakfast's ready!' calls Ji Min.

The family gets up to sit around the dining-table. [zoom on the table] (amazement) *Chef Ji Min's meals look delicious* All the family eats happily, gobbling down all the food. *Nothing's left*

Ji Min gets up to bring some fruits.

'Jay, do you like mango or me better?' asks Chang Min.

'You.' She points her index finger towards him.

'Do you like Mom better or Chang Min better?' questions Y/N.

'Mom' answers Jay in a heartbeat, making Chang Min to stare at blankly and Ji Min to chuckle at him.

'Do you like Mom better or Dad better?' continues Y/N.

'Dad!'

Y/N fakess crying

'Mom.' She corrects

'What about Chang Min?' Inquires her mother.

'Should I leave? I'm leaving.' says the little boy

'No!' Chang Min goes to hug his sister.

*Jay can't live without Chang Min*

'What have you planned on doing today?' asks Y/N, wiping Jay's mouth.

'We're going to the swimming pool.' answers Ji Min earning squeals and giggles of joy from his son.

'We're going to swim?' He asks, throwing his fists in the air.

'Yes, you, me and Jay. We'll have fun.'

'What about mom?' Suddenly asks Chang Min.

'Mom? She's going to rest with her friends, I guess.'

Chang Min, sat between his parents, stretches his hand to his mother for her to hold, a sad look on his face. *Mom needs a vacation*

Living-room

/10:36 AM/

'Lie down.' Says Ji Min to Y/N, coming back from their bedroom with one bottle of body lotion followed closely by Jay who's sucking her thumb. Chang Min is sat next to his mother, watching cartoons. *Ji Min will give Y/N a massage* Ji Min raises her pants up to her thighs and begins massaging Y/N's legs and feet. Jay stands still next to him, watching his actions.

'You want to help me? Jay-ah.' asks Ji Min smiling at her, 'Massage here.' He raises Y/N's shirt, exposing her lower back. Jay squats down and draws her hand close to her mom.

'Ow! Don't pinch me', complains Y/N, raising and turning her head to the side, making Jay laugh. (laughs)

'I want to help.' cries Chang Min sitting next to his father.

'Let's fold Mom.' suggest Ji Min, raising his wife's legs. Chang Min follows his lead. Ji Min steps aside to let his son work, 'That's it, stretch mom. Press here, Chang Min. Chang Min. Here, the end of toes. Good.' Chang Min leans down and Y/N lets out another shout.

*Hard! Puts all his weight on it*

'Wait, that's too hard.'

'Endure it, honey.' supports Ji Min, tilting his head to the side to look at Y/N.

'Ow, who's that?' she suddenly exclaims when Jay starts pressing with her feet on her back.

*Poor mom is tortured by her little ones*

'Done!' announces the little girl, running away.

'Wait, no! Guys do a bit more!' Y/N demands looking at her children who've fled. Ji Min resumes his position and massaging.

'I'm going to work hard until Mom tells me that's enough.' He says, kneading her back muscles.

'That's enough.' shouts Jay, coming back next to her parents.

'Mom has to say it.' says Ji Min to her.

'This feels nice.' comments Y/N.

'Ok, sit up now.' Says Ji Min sitting back on his heels, 'Take deep breaths.' He helps stretching her arms and shoulders.

Entrance Door

/11:07 AM/

*The family is ready to leave*

Ji Min helps Jay to put on her coat while Y/N walks to them crouching down.

'I'm going to miss you a lot, mom.' says Chang Min, taking his mother in his arms. Y/N hugs him back, pulling him on her knees.

'I'm going to miss you lots too, Chang Min-ih.' *Loving*

'Let's leave now!' He shouts all of sudden, leaving his mother shocked. *shock*

Ji Min straightens and Jay walks away, following her brother out of the apartment. Y/N stands up still shocked walking to Ji Min, '“I'm going to miss you mom. Let's leave!”' she mocks earning a chuckle from Ji Min.

'Be careful on your way,' She says, her voice muffled in Ji Min's sweater as he hugs her, 'Bye.'

Ji Min walks out and Y/N peers her head outside, 'Bye, kids!'

Y/N – Yes, it's their first time alone with their father. Thinking of going to the water park with Dad, he said he was so excited. I asked if he didn't need me and if he could have fun with Dad. He told me not to worry and Jay happily bid me farewell, leaving me without a worry.They've grown so much.

Swimming Pool

/02:16 PM/

*The family's arrived at the water park where they can play in water*

Changing-rooms

[slow-motion] *Who's making an entrance like a model?* Ji Min and the kids appear walking out of the changing rooms. Jay is wearing a pink dolphin swimsuit and Chang Min's is a tiger. Ji Min is carrying their buoys *Will they enjoy swimming* They walk passed the cameras * Jay & Chang Min's fashion show*

Near the pools

'Be careful, Jay. You can slip.' warns her brother, taking her hand. *He's being extra careful around water* (amazement)

'Guys! Easy,' Ji Min catches up with them, taking Jay's other hand before they reach the first pool. Chang Min dips the tip of his feet in the water, smiling excited. *Checking the temperature first*

'We need to warm up before we enter the water.' Ji Min jumps first inside the water and faces his children who watch him by the side of the pool. [Ji Min's feet in the water] *Water is shallow there* *A safe space for small kids to enjoy water* He starts by twisting his knees then his wrists. The kids follow him but Jay has some trouble because of her armlets. [zoom on her] *Her arms are too short*

Ji Min takes Chang Min in his arms and dives him in the water, making sure he can reach the bottom. Then, he turns towards Jay who seems reluctant.

'Come here, Jay.' Beckons Ji Min, opening his arms, 'I'll hold you, I won't drop you.'

The little girl walks carefully to her father, looking at the water. Ji Min catches her and she tightens her grip on his shirt. [zoom on her fist] He gradually dives in, looking at her reaction.

'I am scared!' she whimpers, wiggling her feet. [feet moving relentlessly] *feet don't touch the floor*

Ji Min tries to loose her grip on him, Min Jun appears with an inflatable noodle that Ji Min takes, 'Here. Grab this.'

'No.' panics Jay as she feels Ji Min backing from her.

'You won't dive, just take it. Look at Chang Min.' The little boy is happily swimming around them, smiling to his sister who watches him unsure.

'Wow, Chang Min! You're doing well.' praises Ji Min. *He’s as happy as a lark* (amazement)

Chang Min paddles hurriedly, 'Don't go too far.' says Ji Min to him, walking in the pool, 'Oh. The water gets deep here.'

He tries several times to dive Jay inside the water but his daughter doesn't want to let go of him. 'Let's try something.' He turns Jay around in his arms, causing the little girl to whimper. *He wants her to be comfortable in the water*

'No. Dad, I'm scared.' quavered Jay.

'It's okay, I'll just put you on me.' Ji Min presses Jay's back against him as he lays on his back in the water but she can't seem to relax and raises her head, afraid she'll drown. Ji Min swims next to Chang Min who has found an older male friend in a buoy. Ji Min smiles as he watches him interacts with the boy.

[zoom on the boy's face] 'Chang Min-ah! You're teaching him? Are you a swimming teacher?' (laughs)

After a while Ji Min goes near the edge and takes Jay out of the water, making her standing still. As soon as Ji Min puts her on the wet tiles, she stretches her arms to him, not willing to leave his arms. But Ji Min doesn't notice and dives to wet his hair, resulting in his daughter crying when she sees him disappearing under the water. He resurfaces, smiling to her and reassures her.

'Okay, Jay. Do you want to jump? Jump in my arms.' He says, taking a few steps away from the edge and from her.

'No,no. Come back.' She whines leaning forward to reach for him.

'Trust me and jump, you can do it.' He tries a second time but she's not having any of it. Min Jun swims next to them, 'Let's try with Chang Min.' He takes his son out of the water, 'Chang Min, jump in the water to show her.'

'Jay, look at me!' The boy backs away a little and runs to jump with a big -splash- in the water. *Her brother sets the example* His sister watches him with scared eyes and rubs her face when some of the water splatter on it. Chang Min resurfaces smiling at her, 'Have you seen me? Jay-ah!'

'See? He's fine. It's fun, try it.' says Ji Min turning to her. Her eyes goes back and forth between the water and her Dad. She asks him to come and take her. Ji Min comes closer but let a bit of space between him and her.

'Come on,' Much more closer than before, Jay's feet are bending over the edge, 'That's it, now jump!' Jay bends her legs and jumps, catching Ji Min's neck. She's smiling, relieved to be in his arms again, 'You see. Nothing goes wrong if your trust me.' He puts her back on the edge, much to her dismay, 'Let's try again.'

'No.'

'You already did it. One last time.' This time, Jay jumps immediately making Ji Min and Chang Min, who's stayed close, explode with joy. 'Again!' (laughs)

'Dad.' she whines, clinging on his shirt.

'I promise you, it's the last time.' He says reaching for the edge with his fingers, pulling on his arm. She jumps a third time, squealing when she lands in his arms. [zoom on her face] *No longer afraid* 'Shall we try diving?' he asks, wiping her face.

'I don't want to.' (laughs)

'Try swimming on your own.' He makes her lie on her front. 'Look at Chang Min doing it.' *She's adjusted to the water*

'Jay, kick your legs like me.' He says while showing her how. She mimics him as Ji Min moves her a little onwards.

The siblings have fun with their father. *Now, they're able to play together*

'Should we go on the slide?' suggests Ji Min, looking at the other children going down a yellow and white slide.

'Yes!' shouts Chang Min, leading the way. Ji Min takes Jay in his arms and follows his son. They arrive and stop behind three children already waiting for their turn. Chang Min slides first, turning to smile at Ji Min as soon as he's reached the bottom.

'Okay, Jay it's your turn.' He gives his daughter to the woman in charge of the slide. The woman sits her and positions her correctly, 'Do you want me to wait for you at the end?' She nods and Ji Min slides down while Chang Min has already left to slide a second time. 'Jay-yah, I'm here! Slide!' encourages Ji Min, clapping his hands together.

The woman pushes the girl gently. Jay moves forward, water splashing on her as she slides down and her arms raised in the air to balance herself. Ji Min instantly grabs her and congratulates her, happy to see his daughter having fun. She points at Chang Min as he slides down and then points towards the top to go down again. *She forgets her fear thanks to her dad* (cooing)

End of Day 1.

#bts scenarios #bts jimin #bts park jimin #park jimin #jimin #bts fluff #jimin fluff #The Return of Superman #bangtan sonyeondan

570 notes · View notes

shysweetthing · 7 years

Note

I love your financial posts. I am curious what your opinion is on items other than clothes and cars, as far as how much to spend? Like food, kitchen/household supplies, technology, furniture, so on? Like I got that brand names/aesthetics are pretty low priority for you compared to longevity/maintenance, but like, where do you draw the line and for what sort of things? What if it's something that needs time rather than cash to fix, for example a knife that dulls easily?

These are huge categories of things, and there is no real rule for “how much to spend” because it depends on who you are, what you need, how much money you have, and what you’re trying to accomplish.

If you have not surmised from my fics containing thousand word recipes and various posts on eggs and cooking with dashi, and perhaps the first chapter of the fic I just posted which lovingly detailing a perfectly coursed breakfast menu, I really, really like food. And cooking. And food.

I have strong feelings about kitchen equipment and food, PARTICULARLY knives. (I have strong feelings about most things, but particularly strong feelings about food-related things). I also have an unusual amount of kitchen gadgetry–if you read my onsen katsudon post, you’ll realize that I have an immersion circulator, for instance. So I obviously am not going to preach extreme sparsity in the kitchen.

So…massive post about kitchen gadgets and food below the jump.

Random thoughts on kitchen gadgets!

Unless you’re a chef, you don’t need a knife set; you need ONE EXTREMELY GOOD CHEF’S KNIFE. 70% of the knives in any given knife block don’t get used, and 20% only get used because the one knife you do use isn’t clean. Don’t put it in the dishwasher. Don’t let it jostle around in the random crap drawer and get the edge jostled. Hone it on a regular basis. You need to get your knife sharpened when it gets dull (every year or so), and this costs like maybe $7-12. This is the holy grail of knives, but this will do.

It is worth it to pay money for a good knife. Good knives make cooking easier by about eleventy billion percent. Good knives also mean you use less pressure while cooking, which means you’re less likely to cut yourself and have to go to the ER for stitches–an outcome that would probably swamp any savings you might have on the actual knife itself.

It is also worth it to watch some basic YouTube videos on knife skills for that same reason. (As a general rule, buy kitchen equipment at your skill level, not above it.)

By contrast, there is a lot of kitchen equipment that quite a few people actually really don’t need–food processors and stand mixers come to mind. Yes, many people use some of these things some of the time, and some people use some of these things all the time. But if you would only ever use your fancy KitchenAid stand mixer to make whipped cream twice a year, I have a horrifying suggestion for you: get a wire whisk and whip your cream by hand. It really doesn’t take as long as you think it will.

Likewise, food processors–I guess some people use these all the time? But many people get food processors because they should have them, and rarely use them, if ever, because it turns out that while they may chop things faster they’re a lot harder to clean than a knife, and if you have a good knife and decent knife skills, unless you’re cooking for a bloody army, you don’t need it and aren’t going to use it. At the fast and small end, you can use them for home-making pesto, which is definitely useful, but if you have a good blender you can do it there, too.

Here’s my set of kitchen gadgets that I use on a semi-regular basis: blender, rice cooker, waffle iron, immersion circulator. Some people will ditch the immersion circulator in favor of a slow cooker; most rice cookers double as slow cookers. I also have a travel rice cooker that I bring on business trips.

I started with really super-basic versions of all of these things, and then, as those super-basic versions gave up the ghost, replaced them one-by-one, first with really decent medium-quality versions of themselves, and then, as those lasted longer, with the holy grail versions.

Random thoughts about food

Food spending is something I have only recently started to get a handle on, in large part because food is such a deep and emotional subject. I’m still not all the way there, but I’ve learned a lot in the last couple of years, and maybe the things I have learned will be helpful to others.

I’m going to beg your pardon for going into emotional things that may not seem relevant here, but I for me–and possibly for others, which is why I’m detailing it here–spending the right amount of money on food has been very closely related to my emotional relationship with food.

Food is very important. Money is a consideration in purchasing food, but it is not the only consideration. Food is the source of health. You need to be eating a properly balanced diet. If you aren’t, you’ll get tired more easily. You’ll feel sick. You’ll be more prone to developing certain diseases. These things are costly, and you need to take them into consideration.

Food is also (very often) a social activity. It is a time for families and friends to get together and talk about their day. It is (for me) an expression of love–something I can do for the people I care about that shows my caring, because I absolutely hate having to express myself verbally on these kinds of points. One of the ways that I personally say “I care about you” is to spend seventeen hours perfecting a recipe just so I can make something that is utterly delicious. This is particularly true for some members of my family with food sensitivities/dietary restrictions–being able to make delicious things that they would never imagine they could eat just see the look on their face makes me really, really happy.

Food is an emotional activity. Tastes can tap into memories. They can bring up nostalgia. They can bring up bad memories. Eating can be comfort; it can also be a way to hurt yourself.

What you put into yourself is very, very important–it should taste good, nourish you, and feed your soul. I just really, really believe in food, okay?

But. Our society sends us so many bullshit messages about food and our relationship with it. People get told that they can’t eat fats, or carbs, or this kind of meat, or soy protein, and if you eat too much you’re doing it wrong and if you eat too little you’re doing it wrong, and if you spend too much on food you’re an avocado-toast devouring wastrel who will never own a home, and if you spend too little on food you deserve the health disaster that is inevitably coming your way.

Over the course of my life, society and an array of health/diet-oriented books told me that my body was my enemy and the only way to transcend it was to ignore what it was telling me–to ignore hunger, to ignore cravings, to ignore the emotional response food brings in me, to treat these things as pariah, and to see myself as a weak, bad person because I hunger, crave, and respond emotionally.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve started working specifically with a food therapist, and I’ve started to unravel some of this. It has been a deeply emotional process.

And so let me say, with all the love I have in me, FUCK THIS SHIT. My body is not the enemy. Food is not the enemy. And yes, this is relevant to spending–learning to love myself and my relationship with food instead of hate it has helped me save money.

You’ll see why in a little bit.

A couple of years ago, I sat down to figure out how to spend less on food. At the time, I was spending an absolutely ridiculous amount on food–something like $125/week per person. (I’m going to use this as the measure of food–$$/week/person–because it’s most generalizable across the board. I think the national average is something like $50/week/person.) While this wasn’t breaking my budget, I have depressive episodes that really dampen my productivity and earning capacity, and I knew I was due for one, and *cough* I figured it would behoove me to tighten the budget where I could as much as possible.

That meant I had to figure out my pain points in food. At first blush, my thought was–I shouldn’t spend much less money than this, this is the kind of food I should be eating. I was buying lots of vegetables–organic, for the ones where it makes a big different. I bought organic meat, because it’s not laden with antibiotics. Et cetera.

Then I noticed a second thing: I was throwing out a lot of food.

Sure, I was making use of some of it. But I didn’t want to spend time cooking every day, and so I didn’t. Worse, I was purchasing the food I thought I should eat, and not the food I wanted to eat–meaning that my motivation to actually sit down and prepare the food I thought I should eat was weak, and so instead of making the planned uninspiring meal for the day, I would tell myself, “oh, I’ll make that for tomorrow” and then I’d get pizza.

In other words, I was lying to myself about what I actually wanted to eat, because I felt I should eat a certain way. Because I was lying to myself, I was spending money buying food that I was only ever going to hypothetically eat. Spending money for something that is going to get tossed is not a good financial decision. Because I couldn’t admit that I was lying to myself and didn’t want to eat the food I was purchasing, I was eating out more, which is both expensive and rather less healthy than just being fucking honest in the first place.

One additional thing that is specific to me, but that other people share, is this–even if I picked food I liked, and wanted to make, and usually would make, if I was having a really bad week depression-wise, I would not be arsed to take the 45 minutes to prepare it because depression sucks. This meant I was buying food while depressed that there was no chance in hell I would make.

In other words, the fundamental reason I was spending so much money on food is that I was buying food for a different person than I was. To fix the problem, I had to figure out who I was, and how to buy food for me and not this hypothetical always-health-conscious, never-makes-a-mistake, always-cooks-every-meal person I was pretending to be.

It’s taken me about eighteen months to get to the point where I have a food strategy that works for me. Here’s what I’ve come to as my guiding principles.

1. I deserve to eat food I want to eat.2. I deserve to eat well-balanced meals with a variety of foods.3. While I occasionally like going all out on cooking, I mostly want to spend about ten minutes on dinner prep because nobody has time for that shit on a regular basis.

My strategy has basically three components for me, but it will vary for everyone because what you like to eat is…up to you.

Component One: Protein.

I like eating meat. I particularly like fatty meats–chicken thighs over breasts, what have you. But I don’t need to, or even want to, eat a lot of it.

Solution: What I do is prepare meats in large quantity, and then portion them out into three to four ounce per person servings, and then freeze these. Thus, for instance, I’ll braise an entire lamb leg very slowly, and then weigh it into meal-sized bags. Or I’ll make a giant pot of butter chicken. Or turn a butt-roast into carnitas. Or cut up chicken thighs into pieces, and put three ounces per person into bags and freeze them. Or I’ll simmer several pounds of pork belly into chashu pork (https://www.justonecookbook.com/homemade-chashu/) and then set it aside in two ounce servings for person–two ounces because it is SO fatty that the satiety from a few ounces goes a very long way.

The night before, I take whatever it is I’m going to be making and move it from the freezer to the fridge.

Then for dinner, I microwave it. Or, in the case of the chicken thighs, turn on the oven broiler, skewer the chicken pieces, and make yakitori (recipe here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/yakitori/). Or, toss it into ramen broth. Or sometimes I’ll just scramble a bunch of eggs because eggs are delicious.

Things that go in the freezer are things that take 2-10 minutes of prep, max.

Three ounces is enough to satisfy me; two minutes is enough time that I don’t have to think about it.

At this point, I have a Costco membership, which means I can buy organic meat in bulk. That helps lower the price on things substantially.

Component Two: Fruits and vegetables.

I also like eating fruits and vegetables. That being said, I like variety, and unless you’re feeding an army, it takes freaking forever to get through the general amount of vegetables you can purchase from the store.

Solution: What I do is pick 3-4 vegetable side dishes every week. The rules are that the side dishes must vary in color and preparation method, and that I have to want to eat them.

So, for instance, this week my side dishes are: Quick salt-pickled cucumbers (these are pickled, and they’re green). Seasoned soy bean sprouts (these are blanched/boiled, and they’re white and yellow). Stir-fried eggplant (Using this recipe, http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2011/09/gaji-bokkeum-stir-fried-eggplants.html; these are purple). And a tomato salad seasoned with olive oil and red yuzu kosho (these are red and raw).

I also get fruits of different colors, too. The rules are the same–I have to get things I like. This week I have navel oranges and these utterly delicious peony grapes that make me want to break down and weep every time I eat them. It’s usually ¼ of an orange per person + about ½ handful of grapes at the end of each meal.

Component Three: Rice.

Look, I’m Asian, and yes, it’s stereotypical, but steamed rice is delicious and people have been eating it forever around the world, and plus, if you have a programmable rice cooker you can set it up way ahead of time and boom, rice is ready right at dinner time.

Here’s how a typical week works.

I do most of the work on Saturday.

On Saturday, I assess the state of my freezer. Do I need to add anything to my store of meals? If so, I’ll put that first on my list for the week. Sometimes I won’t need to add anything. I’ll round everything else out on the basis of what I have in there. My projected meals will look something like this: lamb / eggs / carnitas / pork belly ramen / yakitori / butter chicken / mapo tofu

I’ll also figure out my vegetable side dishes, and list all the ingredients needed to make them.

I go shopping. I come home. If I need to make something to add to the freezer, I make it. While I’m doing that, I also make my three to four vegetable side dishes and set them in the freezer. (I also make miso soup and some extra dashi; here’s why I make dashi.)

The assessment, planning, shopping, cooking, and parceling out the food I’ve just made takes me around 3-4 hours.

Thereafter, the production of dinner on every day other than Saturday looks like this:

Put whatever protein I have in the microwave/under the broiler/etc.Put rice in a bowl.Add small bits of vegetable side dishes to the bowl on top of the rice, taking up approximately 2/3rds of surface area.Put now finished protein on top of rice. Put on table.Microwave miso soup. Add seaweed to it. Plonk on table.Wash/cut fruit; put on plate.Take things for tomorrow’s dinner out of freezer and put it in fridge.

Dinner now takes approximately 3 minutes of morning prep to set up the rice, and 2-10 minutes to assemble. It consists of some kind of protein, rice, tons of vegetables, miso soup, and fruit.

There is a crapload of variety. It’s delicious. It’s nutritious. I don’t have so much of any one vegetable on my plate at any one time that I get tired of it, and I rotate weekly.

I have other things I do for variety’s sake–for instance, I made a huge quantity of this (https://www.justonecookbook.com/vegetarian-ramen/) up until just before the point where you add the soy milk, and then froze this in tiny packets as ramen base. Now if I want incredibly fucking delicious ramen, all I need to do is take my bag of ramen base out of the fridge, add soy milk and dashi, boil frozen ramen, add pork belly and a bunch of vegetables, and boom. FUCKING DELICIOUS RAMEN.

I’ll also sometimes make katsudon, because katsudon. And so forth.

In terms of cost, because I’m using the vegetables I buy for all the meals, I’m not buying a cabbage and throwing about ¾ of it because damn it is hard to eat an entire cabbage. (I grew up in a family of nine, and it was not hard for us to eat an entire cabbage then, but I am not currently in a family of nine.) Because I’m buying organic meat in bulk, I’m paying as little as possible for it, and because I’m freezing it until just before I use it, I’m not wasting it.

At this point, I probably only have to make a replacement for something in the fridge approximately once every 2 weeks. I’m eating better than I’ve ever eaten before. I’m eating out much less. On those weeks when I’m struggling with depression/have heavier workloads than most, I don’t even bother to try and replenish the freezer stuff, and I go to the Korean grocery store (I’m lucky enough to have one near me) and instead of making my side dishes, I just grab a handful of their pre-made ones, because my strategy is flexible enough to allow me to be the person I am on a regular basis.

The first few weeks when I started doing this, my costs–because I was putting two sets of things in the freezer every week, and because I had no freezer meals to draw off of–were fairly high, probably like $75/week/person, which is still higher than the national average, but less than I was spending before.

At this point, my costs per week are about $35/week/person. This is more than some people spend, but below the national average, and that’s pretty cool, considering that I’m still eating organic meats, and many organic vegetables.

Your solution to this may not look like my solution to this–your pain points are different, and you are different. But for me, I couldn’t start to get a handle on either my food spending or my eating habits until I started buying food for the person I was, not the person society told me I should be.

I also want to point out–again–that there are several items of privilege in this post that should not be assumed to be universal. First, in order to build up a solid store of freezer-stuffs, to the point where you can sustain a $35/week/person grocery bill, you need to be able to overspend the national average for a couple of months. Second, you have to be able to get yourself to a grocery store that sells organic stuff, and if you live in a food desert, it’s hard enough just finding a store that sells fresh vegetables, period. Third, I have a CostCo membership–I live less than a mile from a CostCo, and this isn’t open to everyone. Fourth, I live very close to multiple Asian grocery stores, and I really couldn’t eat delicious food regularly if I had to scramble to find broad bean paste or miso or the ingredients for dashi, or if I had to buy them from grocery stores that largely cater to white people and overcharge on these items by massive amounts if they even carry them. Fifth, I have a reasonably large freezer that is extremely reliable. Sixth, me and my family members are reasonably open to eating a wide variety of foods and have few food allergies or sensitivities. Seventh, I have one day a week that I can reasonably devote a large chunk of to food preparation.

There are other things, too–those are just the ones that jumped out to me upon immediate inspection. So my typical reminder again–this is what has worked for me. I’m telling you because it might work for you, and if it can help, that’s great. But please don’t lecture people with this post, because there are many ways that this strategy depends heavily on privileged statuses.

#food tw #finance stuff #depression tw #kitchen gadgets

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Healthy Choice Steamers Cooking Directions

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