#Dough Store Reviews

[doughstore]

Dough Store Reviews

Dough Store. Think Nike, think Yeezy, think Cactus Jack. For the best in sneakers, slides, dunks, shoes and clothing, you can reinvent your aesthetic with one trip to this new Broadbeach store! Want to deck yourself out with a new skateboard, hoodie, bandana, cap and pair of kicks, all from the same brand? Look no further than Cactus Jack. Designed and built with skaters in mind, Cactus Jack loves an urban, inner-city vibe, and their apparel reflects that. However, don’t be surprised when you see Travis Scott-inspired logos, graffiti-covered prints and hikers’ association emblems sitting comfortably alongside one another. Cactus Jack straddles their metro city-slicker chic with nostalgic mountaineering paraphernalia, and they do it well. Trust you’ll enjoy not one, but ten of the products you find of theirs online. Is there any brand more iconic today than Yeezy? We think not. The brainchild of Adidas and Kanye West, Yeezy steps outside conventionality with innovative slide and sneaker designs that have quickly become world-famous. Yeezy’s best offerings right now are the understated, pastel-coloured Yeezy slides, which you can pick up in green glow, enflame orange, resin, soot, pure and bone. If you’re after Yeezy sneakers, the Yeezy Boost 350 and Yeezy Boost 700 collections are a great place to start. Alternatively, if you want to make a bold, brash and brilliant statement to the world, get yourself a pair of Yeezy foam runners.

Dough store

[sunflowersandsapphires]

Congrats Sapph 👏 How about a Sunflower for Matt where Matt surprises Reader with a baked treat (store bought or homemade is up to you) after an awful, terrible, no good, very bad day?

Trudging towards your apartment door, your feet ached terribly. You’d been running around all day, mimicking a chicken with its head cut off no doubt, trying to meet your employer's impossible standards as you approached the end of the quarter. The stress of the month was palpable within your office, keeping you and your coworkers huddled in cubicles--ready to snap at any passing distractions.

You'd forgone many simple comforts in order to meet deadlines this week, which had steadily worsened your mood. Morning coffee with Matt. Slow, ambling walks to work, stopping for a pastry or a bagel from the corner deli. Even the pleasure of taking time to eat your lunch, rather than wolfing it down at your desk while tediously reviewing an Excel spreadsheet.

Your mornings were starting earlier than ever, forcing you to press a hasty kiss to Matt's cheek before you dashed into the dawn-lit city without him. Nights had become equally unsatisfying, tension at work leaving you so strung out you shoveled a slapped-together bowl of leftovers into your mouth before collapsing into bed before Matt even left the office.

Matt, always the loving boyfriend, hadn't complained once--instead leaving supportive messages on your phone and stocking the fridge with take out. Being forced to neglect your criminally compassionate partner was slowly breaking your heart.

A few more days and the madness would be over. The thought made you want to sob; the light at the end of the tunnel still seemed impossibly far away.

Sliding your rusted key into the lock, you unlatched the bolt and shouldered into the apartment. Toeing off your shoes, you inhaled shakily, tears building on your waterline. With dragging footsteps, you rounded the corner into your studio and gaped.

”What..the..fuck?“

The exasperated question meandered through the destroyed space as you stood staring at the mess. Your kitchen was in ruins. Flour and sugar coated your counters, used mixing bowls were strewn across every flat surface, and there was another pile of dishes in your sink. Eyes flitting around the room, you verified that you hadn't somehow broken into a neighbor's place.

As far as you knew, your place had been comfortably disheveled this morning. Chaotic but organized. What on earth had happened when you were at work? Had the pilsbury dough boy been murdered in your home?

Rage tangling with the confusion in your chest, you stalked towards the mess, swiping a finger through the residue on your countertops. Before you could decide whether to laugh or cry at your own misfortune, the door opened, making you jump.

Down the hallway, bearing a bashful smile, was Matt.

”I am so sorry, sweetheart. I lost track of time.” Pacing over to you, Matt extended his arms, letting you fall against him. The paper bag in his left hand crinkled as he tightened the embrace. ”I will clean all of this up, I promise.“

”Um, what..what are you doing here?“ You settled on a less frustrated question, knowing Matt's explanation would probably wash your anger away.

”I was hoping to have a snack ready for you when you got home. You've been having such a tough few weeks, I wanted to do something for you. So I called your mom for that pumpkin cake recipe you like so much.“ One hand kneading your back, Matt unwrapped the parcel with his other hand. ”But your nutmeg was expired and I wanted it to be perfect so I--“

”You're making a pumpkin roll?“ You asked in surprise, your vision blurring with tears as your emotions overwhelmed you.

”I was trying!“ Matt chuckled, planting a kiss on the top of your head. ”I'm so sorry about the mess. I didn't mean to stress you out.“

”You didn't.“ You sniffled, tears falling in earnest now. ”I mean, maybe at first, but I don't care about the dishes now. You're just...“

Reluctantly allowing Matt to step away from you, your eyes fluttered shut as he brushed the damp trails from your cheeks with his fingertips. ”I'm just what?“ Matt smirked, clearly holding back an affectionate laugh.

Diving back into his chest, you nuzzled his shoulder with a sigh. ”Perfect, Matt. You're perfect. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Why don't you go turn something on the TV while I finish in the kitchen?”

Nearly groaning at how heavenly Matt's suggestion sounded, you pecked his lips before pulling away. “Sit with me once it's in the oven?”

“Of course, love.” Pressing a final kiss to your forehead, Matt whisked off to finish what he'd started, leaving you to stare after him with a look of gratitude.

[pinkluver93]

Words Left Unsaid

A continuation of my KehXReader fic "Is This Jealousy I'm Feeling?" Enjoy!

“Ovenist….you’re attracted to me in some way, aren’t you?” 

Ovenist….Ovenist…. 

“Ovenist, you okay?” 

You look up and Nasir, the special agent helping you with the case, is looking at you oddly. You nod. “Yeah, I just got lost in thought for a minute….” 

You had called him to talk about the new evidence you’d found at Keh’s shop. He had come as soon as he could, since it’s busy at the WPA and it’s like he’s the only one there most of the time. It’s been a week since you investigated Keh, and you’ve reviewed all your notes. Now you two are reviewing the stack of papers you found. 

“I think it’s some sort of….manifesto or something.” 

Nasir studies it for a few minutes, looking at the pages. He nods with certainty and gives a determined smile. “So this appears to be a mockup for a pizza chain Keh is starting.” 

You look at him confused. “A mockup?” 

Nasir smiles. “Yes, it seems that he’s planning to expand his pre-existing pizza parlor into a chain…but it’s not called ‘Ambrosia’ now, it’s called….” He looks at the top of the paper. “Keh-lifornia Pizza Kitchen. Hmm, sounds familiar….” 

You nod. “Yeah, I suppose. I wonder if that’s why he might’ve stolen the dough. Maybe he’s using the notoriety from getting the dough to start his chain?” 

Nasir smiles. “Intriguing perspective, and it could be true, given his past….but I would talk to him and see what he has to say about it, since it could be motivation. Let’s keep our focus on the other suspects as well.” 

You nod. “Okay.” 

“Do you have anything else to show me or tell me?” 

You shake your head ‘no’. 

“Cool, call me if you want to talk about a suspect or show me a piece of evidence.” With that, Nasir leaves, and you get lost in thought. Not just about the case, but Keh’s words still linger in your head. 

How am I supposed to continue investigating Keh if he’s caught on to the fact that I kinda like him? Ever since PizzaPalooza ended, I’ve had these butterflies in my stomach I can’t control, and I SWORE I wouldn’t say anything! Ugh, why did I have to let him know how I felt about Angelica deep down? And how he shouldn’t be with her? What do I- 

“Hello? Can I get an All-Dressed Pizza? Can I also get it well done?” 

You snap out of your thoughts once again to take your customer’s order and move on with your day as usual. 

At close, you print the daily sales receipt from your tablet. It was considerably low; you had only completed one ZaZoom order and had to do 2 refunds.  

You document the day’s sales on the Pizza City Portal, where every ovenist had to input sales to show whether they are making enough to stay in business or not. You start to think about some aspects of the case you hadn’t thought of before and you grab your notebook and your special pen. Your notebook sits by you but your pen is not in its usual spot.  

What the-where's my special pen?? 

You move everything around in your reach by your shop counter-receipt paper boxes, your store’s lost and found box (which hasn’t been emptied since you opened and is filled to the brim), and some of your personal belongings...but your pen is nowhere to be found. 

Soon enough, you have searched your entire restaurant, from the kitchen to the one-person bathroom, and you have no luck. Your heart sinks as you pack up your things, lock the store and walk to your car. As you open your car door, you hear footsteps behind you, and prepare for the worst... 

....but instead of a robber’s voice, it’s a gentle, familiar voice.. 

“Ovenist?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“Ovenist?” 

You close your car door in shock and the first thing you see is a shadow..albeit a very tall shadow. Next you look at who the shadow belongs to..... 

“Dr. Keh? What are you doing here?” 

He reaches into his lab coat pocket and takes something out to show you.... 

Your eyes widen. “Wait, is that-? My pen!” 

You mentally cheer, studying the golden fountain pen with a certain name engraved in it. You reach out to grab it, but pull your hand back.... 

“Hmm...” 

Keh looks at you confused. “What’s the matter? You don’t want your pen? You only tore 3 quarters of your miniscule shop down looking for it...” 

You do a double-take. “Wait what?” 

“Incase you weren’t aware,” Keh starts. “Every business in this city, yours included, is not only under 24/7 constant surveillance, but it is also public record and uploaded to the WPA website nightly.” 

You stand there, stunned. “Wow....that’s crazy...” 

Keh snorts. “Yes, I’m not really rather fond of being constantly under scrutiny, but that’s the cost of having a business in this city, and...it does have benefits..” 

“Yeah...” You absentmindedly say. “Wait, you see benefits of this?” 

Keh smiles. “Yes, it was rather fun watching you destroy a good portion of your store only to spend your time to put it back the way it was again. It was better than watching TV, dare I say.” 

You cross your arms and frown. “Real funny. That pen was very special to me, okay? The fact that I lost it and the thought that some member of the Deep Dish Gang had stolen it from me really messed with me.” 

Keh was still holding the pen and nodded. “I wasn’t laughing at the fact that you lost something valuable and meaningful to you, Ovenist. I was merely laughing at you destroying your store for any reason whatsoever. I cherish my belongings as much as anyone.” 

You nod solemnly, taking the pen from his hands. For a moment, your fingers touch his fingertips, which have a strong but silky-soft texture. It felt like a smooth lotion had just been applied to them. You think you saw Keh slightly blush at the contact, which you would’ve never seen if not for the bright street light by your car. “Well thank you for keeping it safe for me. I really appreciate it.” 

While he tried to hide his blushing cheeks, he coughed. “Well uh...you’re quite welcome.” 

“Do I owe you anything in return?” 

Keh raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” 

You slightly smile. “Well it’s just....whenever you do or want to do something nice for me, you expect something in return, like with the artichokes. So I was just asking....” 

Keh looks at you for a minute, then nods. “I see. Well, you dropped it when you quickly left my shop so I knew it was yours. I studied it and knew it was very special to you.” 

You look up at him in confusion. “But....why didn’t you come by if you knew it was mine? You waited until now to come....”  

Keh put both of his hands in his pant pockets and looked down a bit, then looked at you in the eyes again. “Well, we’re not exactly on good terms, Ovenist, given our history overall. I feared you would think I stole it if I brought it to you. I was originally going to have someone send it to you anonymously....” 

“Anonymously? Well why didn’t you go through with it?” 

Keh put his hands on hips and studied you. “Because for once, I wanted you to think of me as...well...” 

You look him in his eyes. “What?” 

“I wanted you to think I was a good guy, okay? I wanted you to...well, think at least somewhat highly of me...” 

You blush a bit. “But....why me? Why not the other Ovenists?” 

Keh rolls his eyes. “I could care less what Cicero thinks, I REALLY don’t care what Alicante thinks....but you, Ovenist....I don’t know. For some reason, you’re different.” 

You start to fiddle your special pen in your fingers and shyly look up at him. “I’m....different?” 

“I can’t explain it, but....yes.” Keh says. “For once in my life, I’ve found a puzzle I was never able to solve, and that’s you, Ovenist.” 

Now is your turn to snort. “You could’ve fooled me! You’re always so mean to me....” 

Keh swallows and nods. “Yes, and....I deeply regret it. I’m sorry. I’ve been trained since I was a youth to be incredibly competitive and ruthless, and.....because of that, I-” 

You both hear a group of tourists approaching, walking down the street.  

You widen your eyes. “I think we better go our separate ways for now. I’m sure you don’t want anyone spreading rumors, right?” 

Keh nods. “Yes, I agree. Though I think the Pizzagram hashtags are already trending....” 

You both get in your cars and drive away before the tourists see you both together.... 

[octuscle]

CHAVTF - Smart casual

Michael and Charles were sent shopping. The dress code for the dinner was explicitly "sporty-casual". Just like for the boat tour yesterday evening. Their understanding of casual was a summery three-piece suit with an open shirt. The colleagues with whom they were teambuilding understood it to mean jeans and a T-shirt.

If their boss hadn't insisted that the two of them wear something else, they would have come in a suit again tonight. So after the last group meeting, the two had to run off and find something to wear. Both agreed that jeans and a T-shirt were not their style and that they would only need the clothes for this one evening. So spending too much money seemed unnecessary. Google showed a store near their hotel called CHAVTF with good reviews. That's where the two headed. The first impression was immediately repulsive. The store attendant was wearing army pants with combat boots and a worn-out tank top. But the two didn't have time to look for anything else. They now had to buy something for tonight in fifteen minutes.

Oi mates, the clerk greeted them. Are ya lookin' for somethin' in particular? Michael said they were going on a pub tour today and needed something suitable.

"Sure, mates! Me fuckin' name is like jack. Trust me, us'll find just the reel thin'. Dee ya also go to normal pubs? Or are ya strictly gay on the road?"

Michael said he wasn't sure. But probably mostly gay.

"Cool, that'll get ya undressed, i'll brin' ya somethin'."

Michael gave Charles a kiss and a slap on his butt and the two stripped in the open locker room.

Jack asked if they preferred jockstraps or boxers. "Jockstrap," Michael replied. "Fuckin' nothin'" replied Charles. Jack laughed, tossed them both some soccer socks and handed Michael a jockstrap.

"Cool haircuts ya got ther, mates. Is like the rest of ya 'ody anarl shorn as ya neck?" Michael laughed, holding his arms behind his head and showing off the bush under his armpits. "Nit canny, mate" Jack laughed again and came up with a pair of leather jeans for Charles and a pair of bleached jeans for Michael.

"Ya guys train hard for ya 'odies, or is like workin' on the docks enough to get a 'ody like that?"

"Nah, mate! just haulin' loads ain't enough. It takes regular 'oxin' trainin' to get an arse n' a six pack like that"

"Sure, i get it! all that 'eer in the evenin' needs to be worked off too, after all."

Mike and Chuck stroked each other's board-hard washboard bellies and French-kissed deeply.

"Hey, the place isn't closed yet. Ne way sex while i still havta work!"

Chuck grabbed Jack's crotch and told him to lock the door quickly then. He wouldn't be able to hold back much longer.

Jack tossed them both T-shirts, locked the door, and returned with a pair of DocMartens for Mike and a pair of combat boots for Chuck. And while the two of them got down on their knees to lace up the shoes, Jack got his dick out of his pants. Mike and Chuck promptly responded and began sucking Jack's balls.

"Hehehe, this like isn't the first time ya two hav done this like, huh? Dee ya guys always work together as hustlers? Or 'an ya be 'ooked separately?"

"Sure ya 'an get us separately" replied chuck. "But the other one watches n' jerks off" Mike added n' started suckin' jack's cock.

"Fuck, ya guys are mint! Why are ya still workin' on the docks anyway. As hustlers ya must be earnin' yourselves silly."

"Mate, us're just gay too. Just 'an't handle money. What us earn, us drink or gamble away."

And Mike added that cigarettes are not free. Whether he would get at least one for the blowjob.

Mike and Chuck were satisfied. Jack was always generous when they needed new clothes. And as a rule, he also found them good customers. In the hotel diagonally across the street there was such a nerd event. Some of the snobby guys would surely spend dough for a night with the two of them.

[queer-whatchamacallit]

New oc just dropped, talk to me about herrrrr

(All text written in the photo will be included in this long-winded list of everything I know about her)

Isabella/Bella/Bells Terzi

She/her

23

Enneagram 2

Mostly Romani, a lot of family initially from Turkey

Living with her parents who have pretty much always been hands off if not straight up neglectful

Family split mainly between Illinois and Louisiana

Has always been very loud and brash

Similar to Richie, has some weird word choices, says things how she thinks it without regard for whether the other person will understand

Has always been very active, bit of an adrenaline junkie

In high school, treated her volleyball team like family

Was a little more wild and into it than some other girls but they definitely thought of her like family too

Then, junior year, during the season, she got transverse myelitis and could no longer be on the team

Especially with it being such a fucked up time for her, it bothered her that they continued to bond and hang out together in a way she couldn’t

She isolated herself from them, and they tried to fit her back in, but she just dug her heels in further

By senior year, she had fallen in with a much different group that she never really connected with like she did her volleyball team

All of the stress along with the distraction of always feeling pins and needles through her legs tanked her grades, and she ended up kind of lost after graduation

She went from working at a Dairy Queen to a furniture store then it was The Beef that stuck

She got hired at 19 because Mikey could tell from her interview that she would be a blast to have around and hired her on the spot without figuring out any logistics of her chair, including whether she could even get to her station (barely)

She was hired with Marcus, and they instantly hit it off

She did not however hit it off with Tina, she reminded her a little too much of the kids she met in her horrendous job search in Napkins

They got off on the wrong foot, but they definitely got used to each other

She has this sort of tray that attaches to her chair, so if she’s just kneading dough or something, she can camp out closer to everyone else

She had this sort of challenge with Mikey going all the way back to the interview for him to come up with a joke about her she’s never heard

Almost a year later, he did it with “Oh shit, you’re trademarked and everything? Should I have been copyright claimed or someshit for hiring you?” When she told him about her transverse myelitis (TM)

She’s never been the best at deescalation, especially when she’s also pissed off, so her and Michael were definitely not great to have near each other at times

Because she seems so little (she’s really 5’7”/Carmy height), it shocks people that she has absurd, insane upper body strength

She loves arm wrestling people because of this, especially big strong guys

She has beaten Richie, Chuckie, Chi-Chi and Ebra (easily), but Mike and Marcus remain undefeated

She beat Tina and was way too smug about it

Saw what was happening to Mike, and became really abrasive toward him about it “Knock it off, stop being a pussy, and get your ass up” type of deal

Thinks about that a lot, especially since Carmy came to run The Beef

Was definitely uneasy at first, but didn’t mind the changes too much

Loves cooking for people, bringing joy, comfort food specifically

Didn’t super vibe with Sydney, seemed like she wanted to change too much, and Bella was definitely on Richie’s side for that one

Once managed to convince Carmy to do an arm wrestle, and he lost, but it was unclear whether he gave up to stop wasting time or if he really just has that weird bodybuilder muscle without much strength to it

Was kind of obsessed with Carmy’s additions to the dinner menu, just straight up Italian comfort food

With Review, everyone’s positive character arcs are what fucked them up (Marcus finding a passion in baking so he makes donuts instead of cakes and Tina brings Louie because she thinks he can learn here like she did), and her contribution was being more comfortable staying home on days where the pins and needles in her legs turn into definite pain

So she comes back, and suddenly, everyone’s inexplicably on edge

Then she’s the one to spot the fire Carmy started and yells for someone to get the extinguisher

But after they start talking about renovations, she gets kind of worried

It sounds less and less like the home she’s found The Beef to be, especially the menu

When they do the renovations, she gets a lot more space and her own shortened desk space and stove, and it heals her worries a bit, knowing that she’s still included in their plans for the future

She’s happy for Marcus, but she feels like she’s missing something when she tries his dishes, they’re great but they don’t make her happy

Throughout season 3, she struggles to keep up with Marcus’ exponential growth and strongly considers quitting, but she doesn’t want to leave the family she’s found

(And just like every other thing in season 3, we’ll be left in suspense to see how it resolves in season 4 lmao)

I only learned transverse myelitis existed today, so if I got anything wrong about it or more generally, the wheelchair user experience, I’d love to learn more and correct it

But yeah, I feel very strongly about her and I think you should too. I might even write a fic about her, we’ll see

[ghostofasecretary]

Pumpkin's Grief Disaster Cookies

yesterday morning my grandpa died, and i wore as close to all-black as i could to work, and i came home and made cookies without a recipe

they're pumpkin walnut! they're tasty! the yield is about 15 per batch, and they take about 15 minutes to bake at 410F. you'll probably want 2 cookie sheets or an extra large one to minimize the long cooking time, but thankfully these are tasty right out of the oven. housemate reviews: "Oh wow! That is so lovely, actually, I would never have guessed you made these without a plan." "It's so good!" they have a cakey, fluffy, chewy bit with a lightly crunchy bottom edge. you can customize the chewiness to crunch ratio a bit (see the picture at the end of the post for reference), but 410 is my personal favorite. i'm going to put the polished recipe before the cut and my actual recipe development process/personal notes below. i want to note that this was inspired by justine_snacks' pumpkin tiramisu cookie recipe, the short for which i saw in the parking lot after getting home from seeing friends, as well as knowing that you really do not need egg in pumpkin recipes after i made her pumpkin bars with chai caramel and cardamom crumble for thanksgiving. (that is the most extra, labor intensive baking recipe i've ever made, and one of my friends described them as the lembas of sweets and is still working on the leftovers. very complex and tasty.) my cookies are less flavorful than i'm sure the tiramisu ones are, but they're wholesome and light and comforting. i do think a pumpkin spice or maple glaze would be really lovely if you wanted them to be sweeter wet ingredients: - 140g unsweetened pumpkin puree - 175g white granulated sugar - 75g dark brown sugar - 1 stick unsalted butter, lightly softened - 1 stick salted butter, lightly softened - 60g unflavored greek yogurt (if the whey has separated since the last time you opened your container, that's fine, just pour it in and then add some of the normal yogurt till you get to 60g) dry ingredients: - approximately 310g white all purpose flour - 30g walnuts (could definitely use more) - 2 teaspoons baking powder fictitious, untried instructions for how a reasonable person might assemble these ingredients: 1. cream butter, sugar and pumpkin puree, until the butter has separated and no large chunks remain; there should still be visible spots of butter and the consistency should be very liquidy

2. lightly fold in yogurt with stand or hand mixer

3. mix together 200g of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder; fold together with a spatula, as the dough will be too sticky for your mixer

4. add 30g walnut and another, i dunno, 100-120g of flour; fold till you get a dense, slightly sticky dough (still easily handled) that tastes like it will be good when baked. it should look something like this:

5. chill batter for 15-20 minutes; preheat oven to 410

6. scoop onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet with an ordinary tablespoon or a large cookie scoop if you have one

7. bake for 14-16 minutes (15 was about right for me, but you might check them earlier). a toothpick or fork inserted into the largest part should come out almost entirely clean and the bottom should be a light golden brown

8. chill on a baking sheet before storing; enjoy hot or cold! the cookies will soften over time, so enjoying them the night of or day after baking is best.

anyways, that's it for Fictional Recipe town, see below for how to actually recreate what i did last night

get home around 4pm and decide to use up the pumpkin puree left over from your thanksgiving baking in something. (thanksgiving baking is also the only reason you have both salted and unsalted butter in your fridge)

dump pumpkin on top of two sticks of unsoftened butter, just straight out of the fridge

put frantically back into jar so you can weigh it, like, at least vaguely. the scale showed exactly 140g but it could be lying because this was A Mess

let butter soften; take out your feelings by slapping it real hard with a spatula

sort 200g chana dal and 150g red lentils on a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 400, which is probably a baking temperature, who knows, whatever!

add sugar

use hand mixer to cream butter, sugar, and pumpkin together till your liquid only has medium-small clumps of butter instead of huge ones. consider that you could continue mixing until it looks fluffy and nice. refuse

thoroughly wash and strain lentils and soak in a large mason jar

lick the batter off the ~wire whips~

add 200 (actually 205) g flour; stir

then add 30g walnuts and decide that since Justine Snacks' recipe had marscapone, yogurt is probably a good idea. dump the separated whey of your greek yogurt into the bowl along with the walnuts, about 8 grams, and then scoop out more yogurt-y yogurt till you get to 60g

add 2tsp baking powder directly to your disaster; stir

decide it needs more flour

at this point, stop noticing the numbers on your food scale

add, uh. 75g flour? fold

then add 50g flour? maybe 25g? 33?? i did not really take enough note

fold

taste batter; decide it is acceptably edible

start cooking lentils; chill batter till you're done cleaning dishes

nevermind, actually change out of your work clothes and put on your headphones and put soap in your dishes and then line sheet with parchment paper and scoop onto the sheet with a tablespoon and your hands. these are fairly large cookies but i at no point measured the pre-cooked weight of any of my dough balls or the post-cooked weight

set in oven and go bake 7 min at 400

wash dishes

take cookies out at 7 minutes; they are wildly overbaked

set a timer for 3 minutes; bake for 3.5 because you got distracted washing dishes

poke with fork; the cookie will completely fall apart in the center; eat the central goop. salmonella from flour the WHOMST and anyway you already ate it raw

stick back in the oven for another 3 minutes

put lentils in a pot with a tsp of turmeric and some canola oil; start boiling

cookies still look sad after 3 minutes but the edges are getting golden! go for another 2

NOW the fork comes out clean. so, nice crispy edge + clean toothpick after 15.5! however that is so long. let's gradually try, um. 410?

bake for 10 minutes; eat one of the first cookies

take out after 10 minutes; they have a noticeable edge now but the center turns to Destroyed Goop again with a fork

turn lentil heat down slightly and take away some of the scum; realize you still failed to get all the sus lentils out of your batch

feed one of the first batch to your housemate

after another 2 minutes the cookies are STILL GOOP

burn your finger putting them back in the oven; rinse with water

bake for another 2 minutes

...nope, that's still underbaked. 4 me.

1 minute later, well, that was 15 minutes, only 30 seconds less than 400. bottom looks darker. weird

decide that you want a cookie that COOKS QUICKLY, so even though the edges will probably darken too fast and they could burn, crank the oven up to 425

start very slowly peeling onions for your dal

wrestle with the by now VERY chill dough; thankfully given the amount of butter it softens well

put your 3 cookies on the sheet; bake for 7 minutes

roughly dice the first 2 onion halves

rinse your hands, check the cookies. wow the edges look much darker than either of the first two batches

set timer for another 3 minutes

dice the next half onion

...the bottoms are burning and the center OOZES goop. the top of these guys just looks. so underbaked

heat 3ish tbsp canola oil in skillet; move lentils to the back burner so you have room to take the cookies out on the stovetop

set timer for another 2 minutes

welp. that is going to burn. switch oven off and chill while you start getting the rest of your dal together. finishing dicing onion, start dicing tomatoes (about 280g of each), after onion is chopped put in 1tsp mustard seeds and 1tsp cumin seeds and a 1" ish piece of cinnamon and a bay leaf and one snapped dry red chili in your hot oil

then very roughly dice some ginger

turn stove down and add said ginger

then stick your onion in and cook for around five minutes

stick cookies back in the chilling oven for, idk, 2 minutes? 5?

finish dicing tomato

add tomato and cook

add a dash of cinnamon, a dash of turmeric, 1tsp cumin power, 1/4 tsp coriander powder, 3/4tsp kashmiri red chili powder, 3/4 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp salt and cook with the tomato on low heat

your mom calls to talk about your flight back home for the funeral; talk to her and also your grandma.

feel sad and add lentils slowly to pot with spices

bring to a delicate boil

taste, decide it needs some extra something, and add about a tsp garam masala and stir. also a dash more cinnamon powder

did i mention the cookies are now all chilling on the drying rack? that's happening

heat 1tbsp unsalted butter and then add 1.25tsp mustard seeds; let splutter; temper dal

turn off the heat

try one of the crispy cookies (425 batch) and feed to your other housemate, who likes them despite not seeming like a huge dessert person

decide that fresh-ish as they are this bottom is too crispy and the rest of the cookie is too detached from it, texturallly; go for 410 then next time you do something like this and accept the long cooking time

pour dal over 45g spinach to wilt it; eat and enjoy

make your housemate also eat some dal

do dishes till about 9:30

go to bed with extreme reluctance

plan to share your cookies with IRL friends and also the internet

grief is weird. my grandpa is dead. cookies are good.

here are the 400 at 15.5 minutes (bottom right), 410 at 15 (bottom left), and 425 at 12 + cooling oven time (top), so you can see what i mean about the bottoms being different colors:

there's lots of tumblr posts that are like "cooking is done by feel, baking is a SCIENCE" and i'm sure that's true if you care a lot about quality but. like. baking can be as chaotic as you want it to be. at the end you will, if nothing else, have sweet goop. and at best you'll have taken an awful day and a lot of sadness and made a recipe you're glad to share.

happy Friday!

[sunnytuliptime]

Hey All! I made a thing! It’s my first thing!

This moodboard is for @yxtkiwiyxt ‘s 'Never Have I Ever' challenge. I was given Frankie and the SFW prompt: Never Have I Ever…made dinner for someone.

Thanks to so many amazing writers here, I immediately envisioned the following scene in my head to inspire my moodboard-

Frankie responded to the prompt. “Bullshit!” Santi countered immediately. “Flipping burgers on the grill doesn’t count, Frankie,” countered Benny. Frankie sighed. He’d brought home pizza for movie night, snuck out early in the morning to grab your favorite latte and pastry from the bakery down the street before you woke up. But, actually making something? Nope. He pulled his hat off and ran his fingers through his brown locks before returning the hat. Another sigh. It’s not that he didn’t want to make you dinner. You deserved it but he did not believe his skills were worthy enough. He set aside his concern and decided. He was going to make you dinner. As he planned the menu, he took short cuts- fresh pasta from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, French bread from the bakery, bag Caesar salad he doctored up with shredded Parmesan and ground pepper, and frozen cookie dough he cut into hearts with a cookie cutter he borrowed from Will’s girlfriend. So, yes, there were shortcuts. But the sauce…he poured his heart and soul into the sauce. He made it from scratch after reviewing dozens of recipes he Googled online. He chopped, cooked, and simmered the same recipe at least 5 times until he decided it was ready for you.

If this inspires you - tag me! Would love to read it!

[mariacallous]

Shirley Temple may have liked animal crackers in her soup, but if she were Jewish, I’d bet shekels to sufganiyot that she would have preferred shkedei marak.

Also calledmandlach or mandlen in Yiddish, shkedei marak (which means ‘soup almonds’ in Hebrew) is the broad term for croutons of diverse forms that are used as an accompaniment or garnish for soups and stews. However, because of their exterior resemblance to nuts, they are affectionately and most popularly known as “soup nuts.” 

Like “grape nuts,” “soup nuts” do not contain legumes. Soup nuts are thought to have originated in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine as a workaround of sorts to enjoy some (unleavened) starch with your soup during Passover. Their savory, crunchy mouthfeel eventually led them to be a staple accoutrement year-round, and prominent Jewish food manufacturers began adding them permanently to their product lines. Although for decades the Osem brand had the corner on the market with regards to mass-produced soup nuts, other companies, such as Vita and Knorr now offer competing varieties. Today, you can even get your soup nuts fix on Amazon, with the added bonus of reading pithy reviews, such as: “kind of like Jewish oyster crackers, but kosher.”

While soup nuts traditionally are formed to look like petite nuts, they have appeared as rings, stars and fish (take that, goy Goldfish!). 

If you love shkedei marak, but don’t favor store-bought versions, DIY soup nuts require minimal culinary prowess. The most basic recipes call for eggs, matzah meal (or wheat flour) and vegetable shortening or oil. Once you have assembled the dough, simply roll it by hand into small balls and bake on a parchment-lined sheet on high heat until the surface of the spheres is a cozy chocolate brown. You can also deep-fry your dough balls to produce a terrific circumferential crisp that stays crunchy even when fully immersed in broth. Season with salt and pepper, though for additional dimensions of botanical flavor, I suggest dried garlic or rosemary. 

Soup nuts are considered a comfort food in the collective Jewish culinary consciousness, and are often nostalgically referenced in popular media. For example, in Jermon Charyn’s crime novel, “Elsinore,” former hitman Sidney Holden bonds with Brian Calendar over his enjoyment of “soup with special little nuts.”

Soup nuts (as the name implies) are intended to be scattered over soup, and due to their versatile pareve status, can be liberally sprinkled over dairy, as well as meat-based broths. Manischewitz, however, encourages its customers to branch out with regards to deploying soup nuts, and sprinkle over salads and even desserts (their packaging includes a recipe for mandlen strawberry trifle). And while soup nuts are ostensibly a side-note to soup, their toothsome flavor and addictive texture has led them to evolve to the status of stand-alone snack. In other words, it is totes kosher to chow down on shkedei marak in and of themselves — no spoon required. 

[hopefulcakes]

January 17th

I'm going to start off with one of my favorite cookie recipes, I think beginning with something I feel confident about is the right way to go. I guess I should also talk about what I'm even doing with this blog. Last year was full of violence and trauma in my life, and I thought of this project (is it a project) a couple days ago. I want to spend intentional time healing from the bullshit by specifically focusing on good news in the present. Seeking out positive stories and making a treat to celebrate it, and then writing about the recipe and the news. I think I'll focus more on reviewing the recipe, with a short blurb or simply a link to the good news. Everyone absorbs news differently, and maybe you don't even want to deal with the news right now; that's cool too. A goal for tiny, quiet happy baking. Now, onto the recipe! This is such an interesting one, from the Momofuku Milk Bar in NY, though I cannot figure out why the owner, Christina Tosi, decided to add "momofuku" into the name.. after further research, she apparently co-owns the Momofuku company with David Chang, who is another famous chef that owns the Momofuku Noodle Bar! The rabbit hole goes way down. Anyways, the Milk Bar website is hostile, difficult to read, filled with ads and pop-ups, etc, so I get my recipe from thekitchn (https://www.thekitchn.com/christina-tosis-162171#post-recipe-10842) and honestly I've printed so many recipes from this site. They're great, and the website accessibility is good. The recipe itself calls for freeze-dried corn, but I never have that-- I don't love getting ingredients that I only use for one recipe, so I just do 100g of the corn flour. I use masa harina instead of unprocessed corn flour, it's a lot easier on the body/digestion and the flavor is incredible. The nixtimalization process is super interesting, you can learn about the Nahuatl process here: https://masienda.com/blogs/learn/nixtamal-guide

Then I roll it into a loaf, even though the recipe says to scoop it into individual drops at this point. I think it's too warm to really work with, and I don't have the fridge space to cool the scoops on a flat surface. So I just roll it up and let it sit in the fridge overnight, and cut it into slices the next day. It works like the pre-made sugar cookie rolls you get at the store, except ten times better and grainy with delicious corn. Hell yeah.

Okaaaaaay they came out too flat, they did this the last time I made them too. I was watching a cooking video today (credit to Clair Saffitz) and it said that that can happen if the top doesn't have time to form, the cookie is spreading too quickly due to heat or the baking powder or butter ratio. So! I increased the heat for the second half of the cookies, to see if that is better or worse. I grew up cooking but I am a little less versed in the science of baking, so I have no idea if this will improve or worsen the problem :)

Guess what? I am a fool! I realized it as I was pulling out the second batch that came out as flat as the first.. I am the problem here. I was trying to remember what I did differently when I was first making these versus now, and why they aren't thicker and crackly on top. And I figured it out!!! It is because I sliced them into disks instead of doing the cookie scoop! I switched over because scooping the dough once it has cooled in the fridge is a terrible time, it's so hard and hurts a lot lol but doing it when the dough is room temp required fridge space that I don't have BUT that shape is important because it doesn't give it a head start on spreading like the disks do! Glad I sorted that out at the very end of making these. Oh well, I will simply have to eat them and make them again soon. The good news I have been mulling over while making these is the Tik Tok migration to Xiaohongshu, and the amazing anti-xenophobia that has come out of it. XHS has welcomed people in, cultural exchange is happening at light speed, and language learners are having a field day. Thank fuck. I'm so glad to see US citizens pushing back against sweeping bans, making large movements quickly and unanimously, and how the language of memes is evolving rapidly as it moves across language barriers it previously wasn't crossing. Fuck yeah x2. See previous post for more details on the good news aspect!

[klaudia2646]

Merry Christmas 🎄

As a review, it’s been so busy I’ve hardly had a time to rest in between.

Got an Apple Watch for Christmas. I got it actually last Wednesday. Got the boys some sweatshirts. They look really good although I got Lou a XXL and it’s still a bit tight.

Weather has been warmer than usual but nasty, drizzling and very foggy. We went to the Mexican store to get the dough for the pastelitos and they had sugar cane! Crazy!

Family came. Andrew, Little Bit and the little man arrived on the 23rd and Michael arrived on the 24th. Had a good dinner on Christmas Eve.

[mediaevalmusereads]

Let's Make Bread! By Ken Forkish and Sarah Becan. Ten Speed Graphic, 2024.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: comic book, cookbook

Series: N/A

Summary: An accessible and easy-to-follow comic book cookbook for baking delicious breads, featuring a basic universal method, guidelines for maintaining a sourdough starter, and recipes for classic loaves and fun new riffs, from the beloved author of Flour Water Salt Yeast New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Ken Forkish adapts his expert bread baking tips and recipes from Evolutions in Bread and Flour Water Salt Yeast for the fun, beginner-friendly comic book cookbook format. With comics artist Sarah Becan’s lively and colorful illustrations, Let’s Make Bread! invites readers to embark on the journey of making bread with this new visual twist. Forkish and Becan provide valuable tips for the first-time breadmaker, from the necessary equipment and ingredients to the basic eight-step bread method. They explain how to start, feed, maintain, and share a sourdough starter and include valuable troubleshooting tips for temperature, dough texture, proofing, and more. They also present seventeen gold-standard recipes for both traditional and customizable loaves, including The Saturday Bread, The Standard, Corn Kernel Bread, and Raisin-Pecan Bread, and more! Pairing foolproof techniques and recipes with an exciting and inviting comic format, Let’s Make Bread! is an enjoyable guide to making your own perfect loaf at home.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: none?

I picked up this book and one other (to be reviewed later) at a local comic book store that had a display of comics focusing on food. As both an artist and a baker, I was intrigued, so I bought this one along with a comic about dumplings.

Overall, I think this is an accessible book that makes bread making less intimidating. I enjoyed learning about how flour is made and the reasons behind certain techniques or chemical reactions; it meant that I understood what was happening in the recipe, not just following steps without really knowing why.

Becan's art is also very helpful. It's colorful and simple, which means that it's eye-catching and exciting. But also, the art clearly illustrates all the various techniques, which means that that the reader can easily follow the instructions.

In full disclosure, I haven't made any bread from the recipes in this book, but having made bread before, I don't see how any of the recipes could go awry. Forkish's instructions are clear and encouraging, motivating the reader to try different things and not to worry about messing up.

TL;DR: Let's Make Bread! Is a colorful comic book that makes bread-making feel less intimidating. If you find bread recipes books to be overwhelming, you might find the simplified feeling of this comic to be more accessible.

[doughstore]

Dough Store Reviews

Dough Store. Think Nike, think Yeezy, think Cactus Jack. For the best in sneakers, slides, dunks, shoes and clothing, you can reinvent your aesthetic with one trip to this new Broadbeach store! Want to deck yourself out with a new skateboard, hoodie, bandana, cap and pair of kicks, all from the same brand? Look no further than Cactus Jack. Designed and built with skaters in mind, Cactus Jack loves an urban, inner-city vibe, and their apparel reflects that. However, don’t be surprised when you see Travis Scott-inspired logos, graffiti-covered prints and hikers’ association emblems sitting comfortably alongside one another. Cactus Jack straddles their metro city-slicker chic with nostalgic mountaineering paraphernalia, and they do it well. Trust you’ll enjoy not one, but ten of the products you find of theirs online. Is there any brand more iconic today than Yeezy? We think not. The brainchild of Adidas and Kanye West, Yeezy steps outside conventionality with innovative slide and sneaker designs that have quickly become world-famous. Yeezy’s best offerings right now are the understated, pastel-coloured Yeezy slides, which you can pick up in green glow, enflame orange, resin, soot, pure and bone. If you’re after Yeezy sneakers, the Yeezy Boost 350 and Yeezy Boost 700 collections are a great place to start. Alternatively, if you want to make a bold, brash and brilliant statement to the world, get yourself a pair of Yeezy foam runners.

Dough Store Reviews

[snkts]

The local Asian market was packed, shoppers pushing metal carts between wide aisles of various goods and ingredients. A low din of voices bounced off the metal and concrete surfaces, mingling with the hum of the refrigerators. They bought vegetables, tofu, and mushrooms in the produce section; the fancy thin sliced beef at the butcher; and various other items for hotpot that night, and frozen mochi to have for desert. Logan looked between items with a discerning eye, often reading their ingredient list, but Mikoto lacked the skill to tell what defined his choices. But they chatted as they shopped and Mikoto liked getting to see the myriad of cultures represented in the supermarket: Japanese, but also Korean, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, and so on. There was even a seafood section with fresh fish and crabs and squid.

On the far side of the store, as they were looping out of the freezer section, they passed a series of vendors selling food and meals: sushi, ramen, fried rice, and noodles. But Mikoto paused at one stall, drawing short. Behind some glass, one of the vendors was flipping small fish shaped pieces of dough around a metal pan and then stuffing them with various sweet feelings. Mikoto reached out to hook her hand around Logan's wrist, drawing his attention.

"Look! They're making Taiyaki!"

It hadn’t taken him long to realise that Academy City didn’t teach the kids it housed to be adults. They didn’t want functional adults. They wanted weapons. And weapons didn’t need to be able to take care of themselves. In fact, if they could, that was bad. It made it easier for them to leave. That meant all the money and time you put into them went to waste. The people who ‘made’ those weapons didn’t like wasting resources. Logan had decided that those people could go fuck themselves. 

Mikoto didn’t know how to cook. He did. He could teach her, so he was going to teach her. They’d start small and work their way up - he wasn’t gonna get her any Michelin stars, but she’d be able to provide for herself. He’d made the executive decision that they were starting with foods she’d be more comfortable with. They’d had a few basic lessons so far, and all had gone well. She was a smart kid. The hardest part was just getting her to stop thinking about exact measurements and calculations. That wasn’t cooking. (He wished he’d had a camera the first time she asked him for a measurement for the garlic and he told her ‘whatever feels right’.) But she was making progress, and so he figured he’d show her something halfway between easy and intermediate: Hotpot. They could make the soup case themselves, and then the veggies would test her knife skills (he’d promised, no claws). A way to review the basics she’d learned so far, introduce the concept of poaching, and also just have a good meal. Hotpot was good. 

Logan was looking through the list in his hand, double-checking to make sure they had everything they needed. He’d almost finished up when she speaks and catches his attention. Marketplaces were always… Difficult, for him to navigate the way he did most places. Bright colours everywhere. Vendors calling out and patrons holding conversations creating a cacophony of sound. Foods and flowers and people filling the air with clouds of scent. The air was so thick with spices and sugars that he could taste them with every breath. If he wasn’t careful, it could be disorienting, overwhelming. It was also the best place to get ingredients when he couldn’t take a joyride in the Blackbird. In this case, it was worth the effort. 

But right now, Mikoto isn’t thinking about their ingredients. She was thinking about a stall that had caught her eye. … Well, he supposed he couldn’t blame her. They had been out a while. And they’d been thinking about food the entire time… He stood there for a moment, watching the vendors at work, focusing on the sound of frying dough and the smell of sweet red bean paste. He glances back at the list in his hand, then back to the vendors. Then he folds up the little paper and stuffs it into his pocket. 

“Alright, fine.” He said, pulling out his wallet. If she was gonna twist his arm. “But you get one. We just got all this crap, don't ruin your dinner.” And he hands her enough money for two. Okay, so maybe he was a little hungry. And taiyaki was good.

[grison-in-space]

while I'm reviewing dog shit, I just got a few Pupsicles for the monsters and I'm actually quite impressed? Like, fuck all the overpriced paraphernalia, spherical ice cube trays will work fine, and the premade treats are basically peanut butter cookie dough lumps. CM wanted the "alpha pack" with all the premade stuff and honestly you can get by without any of that, although having shelf stable premade filling treats is pretty convenient.

But the toy itself is so far great. Sturdy rubber, unscrews nicely to be easily washable, all three of my dogs found it difficult enough to take some time to get the filling out but also were capable of cleaning the whole filling instead of leaving a plug in the base like my Kongs always do. And it's dishwasher safe. Love that. I have a spherical ice cube set coming in with a box for storing your ice cubes in your freezer, and I'm absolutely going to use that to freeze all kinds of things for later use: canned dog food, peanut butter, yogurt, broth, maybe soaked kibble. And then you can just throw the frozen snack lump in it and save on freezer space. Disentangling the filling and the toy itself is great.

I got XL ones and Matilda in particular seems to really enjoy the extra heft and weight, but Ls would probably have been fine for Benton and Tribble could have been happy with a Medium. I will probably grab a couple more in a few months for the snack rotation at work, since my current workflow involves bringing a snack for Tilly so she can settle herself down as we come into the office four days a week and that's a bit much to do with just one Pupsicles AND have three at home so everyone can have one where jealousy might crop up.

I have a referral code somewhere if anyone wants one, btw.

[frangipani-wanderlust]

Tagged by @morfinwen

Three non-romantic duos: Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent (DC Comics), Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson (Stargate: SG-1), Peter and Edmund (The Chronicles Of Narnia)

A ship that might surprise others: I don't know if Harry/Luna is really all that surprising? But I really liked those two together and think they would've made a great couple.

Last song: "Destroyer" by Geoff Knorr from the Civilzation: Beyond Earth soundtrack

Last Film: I genuinely don't remember what movie I watched last. I'm planning on rewatching iRobot soon, though.

Currently reading: TCIC/TLETS Less Than Full Access Manual. This is an exceptionally boring manual on how to execute searches and read the results from the Texas Law Enforcment Telecommunications System (TLETS) but I have realized, to my dismay, that despite passing my certification on this, I'm going to need to review the information again to make sure it really, properly sticks in my brain. Utter agony.

Currently watching: I'm between binges at the moment.

Currently consuming: Um...I just snarffed some grilled chicken strips from the store? Is that what this is asking?

Currently craving: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge. I usually make this every year around Christmas, so it's getting to be about that time.

I will tag @secretwriterstudentjaune and @thatsastepladder. But if you read this and do it and tag me, I will add you on to the post, so it will look like you were always tagged all a long and after a month or two, no one will know any better.

[angeloparker]

*does this to you*

OMG. First of all, I accept. But also - you know what I think this means it is time for? A return of our favorite series that helped set this friendship in motion:

A Need to Knead, Part 5:

The weather outside was grey and dreary and as he stared out the window, he couldn’t help but think it was simply a reflection of the storm brewing inside of him. His friends and family were worried, noticing a shift in his demeanor. He’d lost track of how many times he had poured all of his focus, care, and attention into his love only for it to disappear and be carried away from him (or rather, bake and be carried to a paying customer). And each time, he felt his heart harden over — like old bread that hadn’t been properly stored and gone stale. How many more times could he find his love just to say goodbye to it? Should he just give up? “Hey, Primo!” The gruff shout captured his attention and he turned to see the owner of the pizzeria looking at him. “Come see this." Not truly interested, but knowing this was how he paid the bills between matches, he followed the man with his bushy mustache. He was immediately taken aback when he found it sitting in his kitchen. A monstrosity of gleaming metal and buttons. “It’s a machine to help make the dough so you don’t have to waste your time making it by hand anymore. Our profits are going to go through the roof when we can serve more people.” Luigi froze, aghast with horror. A machine? A machine to do what he did? What made his dough special was the love and care he poured into it — what made the final product the best pizza in the city was a result of his craftsmanship. It brought joy to others — if Yelp reviews were any indication. He couldn’t simply turn his back on it. What would he focus on instead? Sauce. He scoffed, his nonna would crawl up from the grave and smack him upside the head with her shoe if she knew he altered that recipe. And that was when it dawned on him. When he realized that all of his doubts about his will to go on this way were now answered. What made his love so special was the love he put into. And while he felt lost without it, he realized it too would be lost without him. And that by allowing people to enjoy the fruits of his labor he was inviting them in to share that love, to feel it as their own. Saying goodbye would still be bittersweet, but if he could touch even one person with the love he felt every time he worked the dough with his hand — perhaps it was worth it. “No,” he finally said stubbornly. “No, I will not use this — this monstrosity!” His boss looked at him in irritation. “Didn’t you hear what I said about profits?” “I will not sacrifice my lo —” he broke off, not trusting the man in front of him to understand his true feelings. “My long years honing my craft to use a machine instead. You must choose - me or this machine.” And at the end of the day, when he cleared out his work locker, making sure the pack the preferred brand of yeast he always purchased himself as he preferred it to what his now former employer provided, he walked out the door for the last time with his head held high. For a moment, he turned wistfully back at the building where so many of their memories had been made. But he would never let those memories go, he would hold them and create more — venturing out into the world to continue doing what he loved for his love and to share it with the world.