#a spinach is worth just 1

[hauntingblue]

Mosf realistic thing in the sims is selling an avocado for 15 simoleons

[flintandpyrite]

I finally made a saag paneer that tastes as good as the restaurant kind and I had to write it down

Adapted from the serious eats vegan saag recipe except obviously it's not vegan. But trust me! tofu cooked this way tastes way better than any store-bought paneer I've tried, don't ask me why, it just does.

1 lb firm tofu

2 tbls miso paste

1/2 a lemon worth of juice

salt

pepper

neutral oil

1/2 a large red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, minced

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 dried red chili

1 cardamom pod, crushed

1/2 large tomato or 1 roma tomato, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

20-24 oz frozen spinach or a mix of frozen spinach and frozen mustard greens

2 tbls plain full-fat yogurt

1/4 cup heavy cream

For the tofu:

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a bowl, mix the miso paste, lemon juice, and 1 tbls oil with a fork until homogeneous.

Press the tofu between some paper towels to get the moisture out, then cut it into cubes, about 3/4" on each side. Add the cubes to the miso mixture and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place some parchment paper on a sheet pan and spread the tofu cube over the parchment in a single layer. Bake for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until the tofu is firm and slightly toasted.

For the sauce:

Heat a heavy frying pan (I used a 10" cast iron) over medium heat and add 2 tbls neutral oil. When sizzling hot, add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the ginger and garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the cumin seeds and cardamom pod and stir again. Allow this to cook until it starts to stick to the pan slightly, about another 5 minutes.

Add the tomato dice and stir to unstick any of the onion mixture from the pan. Cook until there is no more liquid in the pan and the tomatoes are falling apart, about 5-6 minutes.

Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and red pepper to the pan and stir to mix. Add the thawed greens and stir to distribute the spices. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the greens are warm and cooked to your taste.

turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt, 1 tablespoon at a time, until fully mixed. This will prevent it from clumping. Then add the heavy cream and stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Finally, add the tofu cubes and stir to distribute them. Serve with dal masoor chilla, rice, and turmeric chutney.

[unexpectedyarns]

Tired of the prices of fast food skyrocketing from greedflation while the food gets worse (as if it were possible) due to enshittification?

I will show you how to make a deli-grade sandwich for $2.54.

I make these 6 at a time. It takes about 20 minutes to make and wrap all 6.

Lunch to grab and go for the whole week (or just to grab at home when you're low on spoons) - or with a bowl of hot soup, they make a good supper.

NIKKI's $2.54

$8 DELI SANDWICHES

Thin sliced ham 1lb $4 (use half) $2

1/2lb Genoa or spicy salami 3

1/2lb sliced chicken/Turkey breast 3

Sliced cheese package of your choice 3

Ciabatta rolls, croissants, hamburger buns) 3

1/4 jar of sliced pickles ($4 jar) 1

1/2 onion, sliced thin (6 in a bag $3) .25

$15.25 / 6 sandwiches = $2.54

NO TOMATOES, SPINACH, OR LETTUCE. THEY GET YUCKY IN A DAY OR TWO.

You will also need:

Any sandwich dressing you want (Italian dressing, ranch, Mayo, yellow or brown mustard)

Parchment paper or waxed paper or blank newsprint (rolls of this can be bought super cheap at a paper supplier. Last you a year or more).

Rubber bands

Lay out the buns. Dress the top of each bun and press it to the bottom half to distribute dressing.

Put a slice of cheese on each half.

Put 2 slices of chicken or Turkey breast folded in half

Lay some pieces of onion around. (Stage 1)

Add two slices of salami.

Add pickles. (Stage 2)

Take 4 thin slices of ham and fold each slice in half and half again. (Stage 3)

Put the top cheese and bun on (stage 4)

Cut rectangles of parchment/waxed paper/newsprint.

Lay the sandwich a little over a sandwich width away from the corner nearest to you but lined up with the far corner.

Bring the front of the paper up over the sandwich snugly and fold in the right corner, also snugly.

Fold the sandwich over toward the far corner, then fold the left corner over what is now the bottom of the sandwich, tightly.

Roll the sandwich the rest of the way toward the far corner, then secure the wrapping with a rubber band. Save your rubber bands and reuse them.

IT IS IMPORTANT to wrap the sandwich tightly because that will meld all the layers together so they don't slide around later when you eat it.

Now you have nearly a week's worth of sandwiches. You spent a little over $15, which isn't even 2 days worth of sandwiches out of a window.

YOU'RE WELCOME!

[cerastes]

It’s great that IS4 will have better distributed and more “fun” oriented intensifiers (called ‘Natures’ in this case, until they release an official term, if they change it). Waves in IS3 were, to be frank, rather shoddily implemented, starting with the way Arts damage gets kneecapped horribly bad. In IS4, it’s instead a general, smaller Damage Reduction for both Phys and Arts.

The Hope handicap in IS3 was the reason a good amount of people didn’t really even try or stuck to People Skills squad: it was too early, too much

3* non-reserves cost 1 Hope. That immediately changes how IS is played at a fundamental level: Kroos 3* is a great addition to any team because of her innate good damage, spinach compatibility, and 0 cost… But is she worth that precious 1 Hope when your 6* mainliners will cost a whooping 7 Hope? Suddenly that Reserve Sniper seems a whole lot better at 0 cost. It’s a pretty big ask at Waves 4: Even if you only consider Waves 7 as the max difficulty for the purposes of scoring, that’s still way early to throw such a huge change into the mix. Nature 6 seems more apt, and note it only affects 4* and up. I think it’s a step in the right direction; at Waves 4, using Reserves is fine, but at Waves 13 and up, by the time enemies receive their Floor 2 buffs, that’s already a stat heft the Reserves will struggle to compete with, and they have no Skill to even the field. Yes, Waves 8 and above is flexing and testing your own limits, but this can and should also be fun, and getting Hope-starved so badly is a huge turn off to a lot of people, so they use People Skills squad. Then they get bored because using anything but People Skills squad on Waves 4 and above means dealing with the Hope drought.

I also would like if they made Natures more apparent in the UI tbh. This is definitely not an HG blunder, but a concerning amount of people didn’t know (maybe don’t know) that there’s a ladder of difficulties in IS3, because AK players hate reading or are allergic to tutorial text or some other phenomenon, so I had plenty of anons saying IS3 was easier than IS2 and in the same ask asking what these Waves I spoke of were.

All in all, I hope IS4 ends up feeling better than IS3. I do like IS3, but it was a bit of a letdown, to be dorothy frank. I think the Seaborn aesthetic was not really used to its fullest (maps are boring slates of light blue with a pretty boring bgm). It was fun grinding out the Week 1 Waves 15 clear, but after that, it didn’t grab me nearly as hard as IS2 did with it’s excellent aesthetic and replayability.

When it comes to bosses and minibosses: IS3 minibosses are kiiiinda mid. IS2’s Golem and Jetman are fun, the Clown was scary depending on your build, the… Shooty dude was mid, and IS3 midbosses feel like him for the most part.

I like Highmore Boss more than Phantom Boss, I think Highmore is a really good boss and map. Last Knight is the single most miserable boss to fight in the game and very boring even when you know what to do, and somehow worse than Big Sad Lock. Ishar-mla is fine, not bad, not very good, just fine, which is a bit of a letdown for me, considering Mouthpiece is one of my favorite bosses in the game. Jury’s still out on Boss #4, hope it’s good, Playwright isn’t phenomenal but he’s good.

My thoughts on the state of IS3. Though these are various criticisms I have for it, I do wish to note: it’s still a fun mode, and I think a great learning experience: balancing a roguelike or roguelite is not easy and it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but it’s still a fun game mode.

[itsbenedict]

From the beginning | Previously | Coin standings | 4/18 | 2/2

Adea, with the finely-honed mom skill of Bothering Customer Service People, decides to loudly play NOSE KARATE GAMES ASK TO SEE MANAGER, but no one responds- she attracts the attention of some glitch-ghosts before Walter slaps a wing over her mouth.

He suggests that ELECTRIC BOLT LEFT US they COLLECT BUTTERFLIES, herding them together into one of those dense swarms that seems to allow them to reach the fennec fox who keeps dropping off supplies for them. It's not a bad idea- but it's tricky to corral loose butterflies in a ghost-crowded juice bar without antagonizing some ghosts.

The two of you split up, and- well, Adea gets sort of attacked by some of the ghosts she ticked off. They phase right through the both of you, but there's a chilling sensation and a loss of motor control involved, your limbs flailing involuntarily as they do so. It's disconcerting, and Adea takes a couple hits to her Soul Integrity from smacking against tables and the like, but otherwise things go much smoother than might be expected of a bug-corralling operation in an extremely haunted room.

The swarm, this time, doesn't reveal a fennec, but rather a tired looking cat polishing a glass at the bar. They can't say they've ever been asked to serve drinks to a cloud of butterflies before, but they appear to take the whole affair in an uncanny stride, and accept the CAFÉ VOUCHER. It's good for 20 Coin's worth of the house menu:

Some newfangled experimental INHALED FOODS that come in compressed air canisters (2)

A SPRINGLIKE CARD that resembles something from hanafuda but isn't quite the right season (2)

A tulpa of a little pony who embodies the spirit of generosity, so you always have a MIND RARITY at hand (2)

You could get poked with a cocktail umbrella. "YOW," SHRIEK US, because that toothpick end is pointy. (2)

Ever want to be traumatized by fae teaching you math? Now TRIG FAIRY TRAUMA can be yours, for only (2)

Jack wants to just get in the car and drive, but I BUCKLE UP, JACK. It's the law. (5)

There's a DOMINANT ICICLE hanging over the bar that's clearly the boss of all the other icicles. (4)

They sell SELTZERS, APTLY, by the sea shore. Or, shorter: by the sea, sure. Sheesh. (1)

There's a bee waiting in line to order behind you. It's going to be the BEE'S TURN next. (1)

Ol' Zed over there on the house piano is playing ZED'S TUNE, but he takes requests, for (1)

And lastly, if you're boring or watching your weight, you can always just order some SPINACH SALADS (2).

(All of these options restore hunger at least proportional to their cost, but may have other effects. How much of each the 20-Coin voucher will buy will be determined by the spread of results on this poll, rather than chosen by a single winner. You can also choose to PORT POLYTHEISTS and spend your own Coin to purchase extra rations.)

Continued

[paldean-sandwich-rater]

A sandwich.

It contains ice cream, whipped cream, sponge cake, meat balls, broccoli, pineapple, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, rice, noodles, mac and cheese, bacon, beef jerky, dried fish, seaweed, one of every Pokemon berry, jam, olive oil, lotus, dragon fruit, ravioli, ramen, tempura, teriyaki chicken, macaroons, escargots, mint, pepper, salt, sugar, croquettes, pickles, apples, avocados, sausages, bell peppers, grapes, pizza, a donut, cheese, more cheese, even more cheese, mushrooms, mustard, olives, a fried egg, a scrambled egg, blueberries, a poached egg, chawanmushi, a red bean bun, mochi, bbq sauce, chicken nuggets, french fries, takoyaki, pancakes, mackerel, salmon, coffee beans, spinach, a tiny bit of corn cream soup, ramensanga, fettucine alfredo, a plain bagel, pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, sweet potato, yam, potato, scallions, scallops, squid, crab stick, fish balls, fish cakes, oyster sauce, silken tofu, barley, cereal, paprika, oysters, red snapper, sea bass, plums, bean sprouts, garlic, string cheese, camembert, swiss cheese, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, yogurt, brinjal, a macdonald’s happy meal (without the toy and the packaging of course), truffles, caviar, tapioca balls, fried chicken, century eggs, cake sprinkles, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, milk tea (just a tinge), coffee (also a tinge), pudding, pumpkin, honey, mutton, mashed potatoes, bananas, icelandic fermented shark that they bury in the ground for months, raisins, dried mangoes, a drop of water, jelly, nata de coco, prunes, roasted pork, rosemary, bee pollen, peas, deer meat, rabbit meat, fish maw, ham, turkey, m&ms, chub, fufu, watermelon, winter melon, rock melon, coffee jelly, cacao, carrots, blueberries, black tea, dumplings, carrot cake, beetroot, purple cabbage, corn, celery, edamame, red beans, black beans, green beans, kidney beans, cashews, peanuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, chickpeas, almonds, daikon, MSG, tamales, anchovies, tabbouleh, lions mane mushroom, chicken of the woods, kelp, octopus, durian, kimchi, crème fraîche, popcorn, cotton candy, everything bagel seasoning, capers, pears, marinara sauce, bittercress, butter cream, every single iteration of galarian curry, sushi, sashimi, kale and a very very specific ramen bowl (without the actual bowl) from a very particular shop located in Iwatodai.

And the top and bottom buns are somehow made from 50 different kinds of bread in a checker box pattern.

It comes with a picture.

Ingredients: I am not typing all of that out again. What the fuck.

Smell: You’ve taken an entire food court’s worth of food and made it into a sandwich. This isn’t even possible. Why am I considering this. 3/5

Taste: How do you eat this. 2/5

Texture: You get like 5 different foods every bite. This is not balanced. There is no harmony. This sandwich is the embodiment of disorder and chaos. 1/5

Presentation: The fact that this even looks sandwich adjacent is a fucking miracle. You don’t get full points though. Because I don’t like you. 3/5

Would Chunk Eat It?: He would eat maybe 1/50th of it. So no. 1/5

Final Score: 2/5

Critic’s Notes: Why would you waste this much food. Just host a party. Donate it. Something fucking anything I am begging at this point.

[shoku-and-awe]

Don't mind me, just saving some salad recipes I heard on NPR

Vidal's salad aka Jay's dad (serves four people)

Ingredients: 1 pound of green beans, 3/4 pounds of tomatoes, 1 hard-boiled egg, pinch of salt, and splash of fish sauce.

Blanche the green beans: Cook them in boiling salted water for about three to five minutes (until they are cooked so they have a little give when you bite them). They should be sweet and bright green.

Put green beans in cold water to stop them from cooking.

Slice the tomatoes any way you want.

Add tomatoes to green beans.

Option to add a hard-boiled egg on top as well.

Season with salt and add a little drizzle of fish sauce.

Annette Sacksteder's bowl of life salad (makes about four days worth of salad)

Clean and assemble:

2 heads of lettuce such as romaine

1 bunch of spinach

1/2 bunch of rainbow chard (raw is ok)

1/3 bunch of cilantro

1/3 bunch of parsley

6 radishes including their greens

1 grated carrot

1 grated beet

1 cup of red or green cabbage

[speedlimit15]

i made the most amazing sandwich just now

recipe below lol

2 pieces of long sourdough lightly toasted for bread

right out of the toaster spread one side of each piece with a thin layer of butter, let that cool while you do the rest of this stuff

smash/chop one clove fresh garlic and a sprigs worth of rosemary leaves (like 1-2tbsp i suppose)

hopefully you have a boiled egg, if not boil one real quick: bring water to a nice strong boil FIRST then gently drop cold egg into boiling water for 5min:soft 7min:med 9min:hard then place in bowl of ice or very cold water for a while

now go back to your toast. it should be fairly room temp by now and the little bit of butter should be fully soaked up, so go ahead and spread a thin layer of mayo on there. if you’re out of mayo, and you have an egg and 1/4 cup of oil and a lemon or lime and some salt (and a whisk or hand mixer or immersion blender to make it easier), no you’re not out of mayo, go look up a five minute recipe, you will have very good mayo once you follow that

anyway, hopefully you have pesto. if so, use a spoon to put a little on each slice of toast and use the back of the spoon to spread it around thinly on top of the mayo. if not, whatever, no big deal, chopped fresh basil leaves will also work well here, but either way sprinkle your fresh garlic and rosemary mixture evenly over top of this. crack some black pepper all over that shit and parmesan if you’re fancy

put some spinach or other leafy green on one side of the toast. this will be your bed for your eggs and also a nice leaf for your body to enjoy. optional tomato/onion here as well if you have and like them

now go ahead and peel your boiled egg if you haven’t, then cut it in half and then each half into halves. do this over the sandwich to make sure no egg drops on the floor or counter or whatever especially if it’s boiled softer. arrange the pieces nicely on the toast, you can add a second egg if your toast is big enough

ok, so we’re almost done. sprinkle a little salt on the egg pieces, pepper too, parmesan if you’re like me, then take extra virgin olive oil and BARELY zigzag it across that sandwich. like a light drizzle at most you know. then do the same with some balsamic vinegar. you can also skip the oil and vinegar and use a premixed vinaigrette

then put your second piece of toast on top and you’re done! if it’s more than 5 inches across i suggest cutting it in half to make it more manageable

this is called jess’s fancy egg salad sandwich

[fastwiemagie]

My favourite salad (with a little bit of everything)

You need:

bag of mixed greens (I like to have rucola (dictionary says it's called arugula in English? Though rucola is Italian I think.. so idk you may know that one too!) and baby spinach in it, for example)

2-3 handfuls pasta of your choice (I like to use one's with fancy shapes for this salad, but it's not necessary)

smoked tofu (my favourite is Black forest tofu by Taifun, but you can use other tofu flavours as well)

can of chickpeas

3-4 little pickles (if you have bigger ones, you need less)

6-7 dried tomatoes in oil

half a big cucumber or 2-3 snack cucumbers (i like the snack ones but are a bit more expensive usually)

1 or 2 apples

add whatever else strikes your fancy! I've added walnuts before, blueberries, grilled vegetables I had leftover from a BBQ, etc. I've put edamame in this time for example.

For the dressing you'll need:

water

1-2 table spoons of lemon juice

1-2 table spoons of sweet-sour mustard (also works with spicier mustard though, I just like the sweet-sour kind most)

1-2 table spoons of agave syrup (you can use honey if you're not vegan)

1 table spoon of soy sauce

1-2 table spoons of (apple) vinegar (can use any vinegar though, just add a bit sour & acidic flavour)

binch of salt if it tastes too sweet

really make the dressing to your taste, I like these combinations.

I'll also drizzle some olive oil on top of the salad

For the salad ingredients: chop everything finely, even the mixed greens salad! It just incorporates better with the other ingredients if you chop it smaller as well. Cook the pasta until well done and fry the tofu.

You can prepare this salad in advance for your work lunch and bring it in a container with you. And enjoy! :)

@worth-beyond-a-number-scale asked to be tagged if I end up posting some of my favourite recipes, so here you go friend!

[smolandweirdwriter]

Serafina and the Black Cloak Reread Thoughts

I forgot that the book takes place in 1899 for some reason, but regardless I'm very eager to see how that's handled (since I read it when I was much younger, I doubt I would have picked up on that). but I mean that's just fascinating given the history of the civil war (Cornelius Vanderbilt was a union man--not in it himself, but donated a giant steamship worth about 1 million USD). Also fun fact: George Vanderbilt paid his staff New York wages, which were higher than Asheville wages-- up to the equivalent of $73-ish dollars for the highest working members.

sera and her pa are adorable! little serafina not wanting to eat her veggies is my favorite thing & in a modern au he would definitely be the kinda guy to mix spinach into her brownies to try and trick her into eating vegetables

also serafina first line: "Did." do with that what you will

can serafina get rabies? she says she's been bitten by rats before...

love the sprinkling of 1890s southern dialect lmao

SHE'S THE CRC!

I forgot how good the imagery in this book is!! the descriptions of sounds and nature are incredible!!

mr Vanderbilt has over 22 THOUSAND BOOKS that's the kinda life goal I aspire to

serafina made up stories after reading she's just like me for

au where serafina is a PI & part-time novelist perchance?? (Braeden is a vet ofc)

Sera's pa: if anybody ever asks you who you are or where you're from, you don't answer, got it?

Sera: got it

Sera, the second she meets Braeden: hi I'm serafina here's my social security number

OH BRAEDEN FIRST DESCRIPTION WHAT "... or she'd see their twelve-year-old nephew riding his horse across the grounds, with his sleek black dog running alongside." (p. 12)

"Sometimes she dreamed of wearing fancy dresses and ribbons in her hair and shiny shoes on her feet" props to Robert Beatty for not making her have internalized misogyny and hating "girlie" things. the main fight scene is done in a dress if I recall and I'm so ready to read it

she mentions Braeden a lot (calls him "the young master" or "the nephew" but still, good foreshadowing)

awww poor sera wants a real family but also loves her pa *sigh* EMOTIONAL CONFLICT

sera describing the basement as "hers"!!!

the butler's 11 year old assistant gobbling cookies in the middle of the night is so real im sorry. but also sera standing in the shadow watching him & pretending they're friends chatting is gonna make me cry

oooh the rats and bugs all fleeing from cracks in the walls when the man in the black cloak arrives!!!

mr Thorne first line: "Don't worry. We're going right in here..." creepy lil shit

"her legs felt like explosions of speed" idk why but that line made me laugh. the book is so well-written but for some reason that line just feels very, idk, childish? it kinda took me out of the experience but maybe that's just me

"friends had to help friends. she didn't know much about life, but she knew that." she doesn't even know the girl but considers them friends and wants to help her. serafina seems to think Braeden is kinder than she is, but honestly I don't think that's true. I think Braeden is more willing to trust people, but serafina is more willing to sympathize with them, & I think she has preconceptions of people in power being bad (mr v, mr Thorne-- though the latter turned out to be true--rowena, etc) which turns out false

"A tall man in a black cloak and hood, his hands stained with blood" we have our first Mr Thorne description folks!!

"Just stay still, and this will all be over," he said, pulling her toward him. Serafina suddenly realized she'd made a dreadful mistake. This was far more than she could handle." oh god the places my mind instantly went to? dark, awful places. this book is disturbing and I'm inly 19 pages in-- how did I read this so gleefully as a kid?

"...as if the man wasn't of his own mind but possessed by a demented, ravenous demon" I don't quite remember but isn't it true that the cloak can speak to the wearer? so did it take over mr Thorne at some point? did hearing that voice all the time affect him and further corrupt him? did he ever get confused when he took the cloak off, maybe in the beginning, and think perhaps he didn't want to put it back on again, but in the end the urge for power and youth was too great? oooh angsty fanfic ideas.....

"Death was so near that she could see its blackness and hear the screams of the children who had gone before." this book is so dark how is it for children???? it's incredible I love it

ik she's looking for a place to hide from a guy trying to pull our her soul but her thought process when searching for a hiding spot reminds me of playing hide n seek

"She was the CRC. No trap or weapon or evil man was going to catch her." hELL YEAH

ahhhh description of serafina. collar bones that don't connect to other bones --> cats have a detached collar bone. four toes not five--> cats again. (also as a kid who was tiny and short and having been thought practically dead at birth, serafina was always inspiring to me)

"Mice are timid and prone to panic-induced mistakes at key moments. Just stay still little mouse, [she thought]." oooh nice callback to this exact thought about mice when she's hunting rats earlier

Also did I mention how much I love the chapter titles being encircled in brambles that form the shape of her face or a panther?? that's just cool. if I can actually write something good enough to be published, I'd love to have something like that

Babe wake up new slang just dropped: “gnawin’ on leather” 

Her pa doesn’t like mr poe gives “my dad won’t let us watch horror movies so you have to sneak them over in a different dvd cover if we’re gonna watch a horror movie when you sleep over later tonight” omg rowena & serafina girltime au?? (Lol sorry)

Oooooh the dynamo’s busted I wonder what thaaat meeeaannnssss (hehehe)

Biltmore being one of the few homes to have electricity is a nice reminder of the time period

“she’d been trying to follow [her pa’s] rules at least some of the time” lol

“Spotting an upholstered chair she felt an overwhelming desire to run her fingernails over the plush fabric” REAL

Her being shocked at flower vases & the idea of flowers INSIDE the house is so funny

Awwww poor sera, looking for her momma and siblings everywhere…

Serafina is super smart. just putting that out there. She’s brilliant and I love her

Oop the first description of Edith Vanderbilt kinda gives chatgpt-generated ngl (obviously it wasn’t bc it predates chatgpt & shitty ai writing generators, & this book is SO MUCH BETTER than anything an AI could generate regardless) 

“A refined and attractive woman, Mrs. Vanderbilt had a pale complexion and a full head of dark hair, and she seemed at ease in her role of hostess as she moved through the room.” Idk what about this makes me think “AI generated” but it just DOES

“Serafina loved to climb the tapestries at night and run her fingernails down through the soft fabric” AGAIN SHES SO REAL FOR THIS

OHOHOHO MR THORNE NAMEDROP:

“I’m sure that most of you already know Mr. Montgomery Thorne,”… Mrs. Vanderbilt said with a gentle sweep of her arm toward a gentleman. “He has graciously offered to play [the violin] for us today.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Vanderbilt,” Mr. Thorne said with a smile as he stepped forward. ... To Serafina, who’d been listening to Biltmore’s visitors her entire life, he didn’t sound like he came from the mountains of North Carolina, or from New York like the Vanderbilts. He spoke with the accent of a southern gentleman, maybe from Georgia or South Carolina.”

Serafina having an eye for fashion was NOT what I was expecting from this reread lol (she describes mr t’s outfit then says “all of which she thought went nicely with his silvery-black hair and perfectly trimmed sideburns”)

Hmmm interesting she actually sympathizes with/likes mr Thorne at first?? I did nOT recall that

Lol serafina liking to watch mr Thorne’s fingers move as he plays and wanting to pounce on them is so Cat of her

OMG BRAEDEN BRAEDEN BRAEDEN BRAEDEN

Apparently he looks “sickly, a little frail even” which I do not recall, but hes also got “watchful, sensitive brown eyes” and “a rather fetching tussle of wavy brown hair”

“Are you lost?” WE GOT IT WE GOT THE LINE but more importantly we got the NEXT LINE which is “May I help you find your way?” And hes described as not timid or shy but also not overly confident which I LOVE (fun fact this line is very similar to one of the characters of my other favorite kid’s book series, Keefe Sencen’s “you must be lost” line)

Lol Braeden always sharing his food with Gideon annoys the chefs i LOVE him

OMG HE BOWS TO HER WHEN SHE GIVES HIM HIS NAME LIKE SHE’S A PROPER LADY!!!!! MEN!!!! TAKE NOTES!!!!!! THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE!!!

Name drop at last, missing girl’s name is Clara Brahms. Honestly I’m a little sad Clara isnt a recurring character later on. Braeden, Serafina, and Clara could’ve been a good trio 

OOOOHH “She had heard the servants in the kitchen joke that their master must have secretly found the Fountain of Youth” what a NICE SET UP for how the black cloak keeps people young & serafina’s suspicion of mr Vanderbilt

Mr Vanderbilt: *wears dress shoes to go riding*

serafina: criminal activity right there. Lock him up

Least accurate part of this book is the implication that serafina uses a hairbrush lmao

New slang: spit nails (means be really mad)

“I’m twelve years old. I’m grown up.” Mmmm not quite, but I agree with the spirit!

“Just tell me what’s wrong with me. I want to know. Why are you ashamed of me?” scuse me, I’ll just be over here… crying… in the corner

Ohhhh serafina back story… she could’ve had 3 siblings (AU where all of her siblings survive, but they’re humans too & her pa raises them all???)

The midwives wouldn’t even help a baby??? And the nuns were so mean for what? Like at least consolidate the man, he’s trying to keep a child alive, don’t just tell him “it’s going to die. You should kill it now” who DOES THAT??

It’s so funny to me that serafina didn’t realize she was the baby in the story until after it was over. i get that it’s a kids book but still!

Oooooh nature v nurture very nice very nice

Oh wow I forgot serafina was almost kidnapped when she was probably around 2-3ish (her pa says she was walking/wandering around, so I assume it’s around that time?)

“It’s plain to see that you’re not like other girls” WOW sera’s pa just went there lmao

Ok so when I was first reading this, I remember shipping Leandra and serafina’s pa SO HARD and wanting her to have a proper mother-daughter-father type family, yknow? 

The implication that bright/stereotypically “good” things can ensnare your soul too is so fascinating. That good things can be bad for you too… fascinating

“Her pa had told her to leave them to it, that it wasn’t any of her business, that they weren’t her kin, but who was he to say who was kin and who wasn’t? He stole babies out of the woods!” Help why is this so funny 😭 

Ooohhh she wants to find Braeden! And she keeps thinking of Clara as her friend. I’m so annoyed Clara wasn’t brought back now ugh

Awwww she’s wondering if she can think of Braeden as a friend

Awww poor serafina 

Serafina: *sees dress shoes* THE DEVIL’S APPAREL!!!

Huh apparently there’s a concealed door to the right of the fireplace in the billiard room? Wonder if that’s true

Oooh and it leads to the smoking room, with a similar one leading to the gun room. VERY curious if this was made up for the sake of the story or not

Haha serafina spitting on the back of her hand and using it to wipe her face and hair is so Cat

Serafina loves closets lol 

HES ARRIVED!!!!!!!! BRAEDEN!!!!!

Help why is this whole page so funny 😭

Serafina canonically climbing up a tree to get away from a dog and staying there until her pa got a ladder to get her down is so Cat I can’t

“[Shadows…] [which] reminded her of griffins, chimeras, and other twisted creatures of the night which were half one thing and half another.” OOOOH good foreshadowing!!!

I like this part

when he asks why he’s never seen her and she says “maybe you’ve seen me before and you’ve just forgotten” and he says “I WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED YOU”!!!!

hearinf him say her name has tremendous power over her!!!! I’m going to be sick 😍

smolandweirdwriter reblogged trialserrors Pinned Postsilversickles-deactivated202101 This blog is a safe space.Nazis, TERFs, pedophiles, bigots, Tr*mp supporters, Islamophobes, exclusionists, queerphobes, and anyone who can’t reblog this post, etc, do not interact. I will block you.emo-bunny-1317 FollowHell yeah!#safe space

smolandweirdwriter reblogged smolandweirdwriter Serafina and the Black Cloak Reread Thoughts: chapter Nine and TenMr Vanderbilt: you’ve got to be a man, BraedenSerafina, in the corner, under her breath: yOU’vE gOT tO bE A MaN, bRAeDeNMr Vanderbilt: *gives Braeden some well intentioned, albeit slightly sexist, advice* Serafina: MURDERERNice allusion to Mr thorne’s skill at everything being suspicious Chapter 10 was creepy af (I mean it does take place in a graveyard soo)Cloven Smith has a creepy gravestone, & google told me nothing about him, so I doubt he was realSerafina: *sees a grave to two women* oh these must be sisters me: WIVESAnyway now I wanna write an au about Mary and Margaret being witches or catamounts or something WE FOUND THE GLADEscarred-serafina-fan Djffjjfjvjgnng I'm gonna assume sisters since they were nine but that's freaking funny lolsmolandweirdwriter oh my god I didn’t even read the dates 😭 I’m so stupid

smolandweirdwriter Serafina and the Black Cloak Reread Thoughts: chapter Nine and TenMr Vanderbilt: you’ve got to be a man, BraedenSerafina, in the corner, under her breath: yOU’vE gOT tO bE A MaN, bRAeDeNMr Vanderbilt: *gives Braeden some well intentioned, albeit slightly sexist, advice* Serafina: MURDERERNice allusion to Mr thorne’s skill at everything being suspicious Chapter 10 was creepy af (I mean it does take place in a graveyard soo)Cloven Smith has a creepy gravestone, & google told me nothing about him, so I doubt he was realSerafina: *sees a grave to two women* oh these must be sisters me: WIVESAnyway now I wanna write an au about Mary and Margaret being witches or catamounts or something WE FOUND THE GLADE#serafina and the black cloak#serafina and the black cloak reread

smolandweirdwriter

Serafina and The Black Cloak Reread Thoughts: Chapter Seven and Eight

I got bored so my thoughts will be on two chapters at once now (so this goes faster)

Braeden is canonically a horse girl

lol serafina is scared of horses

mr crankshod is a lil sus (I say like I’ve never read the book before)

still. I don’t like him

me personally I would not walk into the forest at night but 🤷

no bc lowkey I hate bugs. I’d be thinking about them walking all over me the whole time (UNFORTUNATELY, I do love camping and nature. Just not the bugs. Which yes yes I know biodiversity they’re good for the environment et cetera et cetera. I wish I loved them— I never kill them in the house or anything, I take them outside, but I just don’t like them

Sera and Gidean trusting each other!!

oooh when Braeden freezes when he gets scared, nice allusion to how the rats/scared creatures freeze

They’re allies!!!

something I find very interesting is that to serafina EVERYONE can be separated into Friend or Foe. Clara and Nolan, whom she barely knows? Friends.

Braeden is such a horse girl

ooooh he’s helping her into the carriage like a GENTLEMAN

“I’m sorry there aren’t any blankets,” Braeden said. “Not even a good cloak to sleep under.”

”I’ll pass on the cloak, thank you,” Serafina said with a smile, and Braeden laughed.

they’re so 12 year old coded lol

Braeden backstory!! & emotions

Mr Vanderbilt: you’ve got to be a man, Braeden

Serafina, in the corner, under her breath: yOU’vE gOT tO bE A MaN, bRAeDeN

Mr Vanderbilt: *gives Braeden some well intentioned, albeit slightly sexist, advice* Serafina: MURDERER

Nice allusion to Mr thorne’s skill at everything being suspicious

Chapter 10 was creepy af (I mean it does take place in a graveyard soo)

Cloven Smith has a creepy gravestone, & google told me nothing about him, so I doubt he was real

Serafina: *sees a grave to two women* oh these must be sisters

me: WIVES

me, realizing they’re nine: … Childhood lovers who could never fall in love properly because they never grew up?

me, sighing: sisters

Anyway now I wanna write an au about Mary and Margaret being witches or catamounts or something

WE FOUND THE GLADE

WE MET SERAFINAS SIBLINGS!!!!

AND LEANDRA!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!

oooh is a creature of the night good or bad? Or is right/wrong/good/bad something we need to decide for ourselves?? Fascinating implications & queries for a kids book

”why do I deserve a present?” “Because we’re friends, right?” SO CUTE!!!!!!

braeden being loud af in the tunnels lol

braeden hanging 30 feet in the air lol

serafina wanting to knock the pieces of the chess set over to watch them fall is so Cat (yes that is what I dub the term)

lmaoooo Mr Thorne calling Mr Rostanov “daddy” aged SO WELL

serafina: let’s go through peoples stuff

braeden: let’s not

Braeden as they go through every room: I like this guy! He can’t be evil! I like this guy too! And this guy!

Serafina: you like too many people

Raphael Room, Van Dyck Room, Sheraton Room, Old English Room, Morland Room

Love knowing this is actually true!!

“The pumpkin pie, like all pumpkin pie, looked like something a dog would eat” UH! I beg your pardon?? Pumpkin pie is DELICIOUS

Serafina softening to Mr Vanderbilt and seeing how much he cares for his staff and guests!!

Ooooh Mr Thorne is getting sick!!!

Haha Braeden saving serafina from getting her eardrums ruptured

ohhhhh he’s playing the piano because clara is good with the piano

Braeden somehow knowing what kind of food serafina likes and bringing it to her is friend goals

GUYS Braeden says that Mr Thorne owned an estate “before the war between the states.” That’s the civil war, in 1861. It’s been almost 38 years since then. But Mr Thorne isn’t described as an old man at all. But he couldn’t be a fully grown adult and own property 38 years ago but still appear as if he’s in his 40s. Right??

but also Mr Thorne’s death is sooooo overdue. Child murdering evil plantation-owning racist piece of shit got what he deserved

UGH all the descriptions of the night and the stars and nature make me SO MAD I live in a giant polluted city

A good couple pages:

“The time for sneaking and hiding was over. She was going to make sure one man in particular saw her. And tonight was the night. The Chief Rat Catcher had a job to do.” (Ch 19, p225) YES SERAFINA!!!!!

“She… kept lacing her dress up her back with shaky fingers, but she was having a terrible go of it. Normal girls must have extremely long and bendy arms to do this every night, she thought. Help she’s so funny 😭

“She hated walking straight. And she hated walking slow.” REAL

“She was a China doll, and she was a wraith, in and out of shadows, a girl in between.” Very nice

oooohhhhhh she’s hoping the mountain Lion will show up to kill him. I didn’t realize that the first time i read this

“Come out, my dear child, before I become angry with you.” Thanks to @secretly-a-catamount for telling me Thorne was meant to be a warning to children about child predators because now I SEE IT even more clearly than I did earlier

”At that moment, all the power and ferocity of closed motherhood came ripping out of the woods.” YESSIR

GIDEAN TO THE RESCUE!!!

”she was mightily perturbed he hadn’t stayed dead” 💀 😭

yesyesyesyes die rat bastard!!!!! Mr Thorne is dead!!!!! Let’s go!!!!!

LEANDRA!!!!!

Braeden putting together a search party for serafina and sending gidean out ahead is so perfect and wonderful

Am I the only one somewhat perplexed that all Mrs&Mr Vanderbilt did was send down some beds? Like why not give them a proper room even in the servant’s floor or something? Idk

“There are few skills more important than picking good friends.” — Mr Vanderbilt, the man who befriended Mr Thorne 😂

ahhhh I loved this book. I can’t WAIT to reread the rest!

[unhonestlymirror]

Rating food of the countries I've been to, from West to East:

Disclaimer: it's veeery subjective

***

Spain🇪🇸 : 7/10. It's okay. I expected their fish and seafood to be better, tho. A LOT of relatively cheap fresh juices, 10/10 for health. They also make surprisingly amazing pasta and surprisingly average paella.

France🇫🇷: 9/10. Never visited cafes or restaurants there, but Carrefour has an incredible variety of good meat. I love their pineapple pie, too. There are a lot of products for vegetarians, Muslims, and, in general, different people who have different eating styles. There's a lot to see. And omg, their bazaar days are something worth attending: I still regret that I never tried clams with white wine.

UK🇬🇧 : 6/10. Not impressed. Something tells me that they deliberately make fish-n-chips that terrible. But I absolutely loved the strawberries under hot chocolate, which was sold by two cheerful Polish girls near Madam Tussaud museum.

Switzerland 🇨🇭: 6/10. Migros has nice buns with spinach and those Japanese "sandwiches", overall, your whole salary is gonna be spent on food. (Lithuania core lol😭) McDonald's there SUCKS.

Norway🇳🇴: 4/10. I expected a lot for some reason. Prices gonna cause you a heart attack, the quality is gonna give you a second heart attack. Also!!! THERE WAS NO FISH IN THE SHOPS EXCEPT THE CANNED!!! I was deeply injured. Norwegian salmon is super popular in Ukraine, how can they not have any normal fish in the big supermarkets...

Germany🇩🇪: 1/10. I may be just unlucky, but every time I visit Germany and pick a random cafe with lots of people(!), it has the worst food I've ever tasted in my life. It's like that scene from Desperate Housewives: "Really? A woman who orders Chinese food for Christmas dinner cooked a pineapple pie?" I understand now why Ukrainian women often marry Germans. My heart bleeds when I see what exactly you eat. I want to cover you with a blanket and cook you a normal soup.

Czech Republic 🇨🇿: 7/10. The soup was nice, ставлю вподобайку👍

Poland🇵🇱 : 8/10. Soup in bread, my beloved. Doughnuts were some kind of overcooked in oil, tho.

Montenegro🇲🇪: 10/10. I love you. I love your salads, your seafood, and I LOVE YOUR LEMON ICECREAM!!!!!

Slovakia🇸🇰: 7/10. I don't really remember what I ate, I am sorry. But I was really impressed with your supermarkets for some reason. Gotta visit it again.

Hungary🇭🇺: 6/10. It was my first time I've ever tried street food, and I liked it. You guys know how to cook meat.

Greece🇬🇷: 7/10. One day, I'll find the guy who can cook Karavidopsiha and beg them to cook it once again. Nice fish!!! I remember your arbutus honey as old women remember their best lovers. But. One time, a man served my family with unpeeled shrimps in batter. :/ What the hell was that? Is that some kind of a national dish I'm not aware of? Minus three points for such bullying.

Cyprus 🇨🇾: 7/10. I shouldn't be obsessed with your carob tree pastille that much.

Lithuania🇱🇹: 10/10. I love you. Although, I'd love to spend less money on food too. I love your Maxima and Rimi and Iki. I love your cafes. I love your bakery, I love your cocktails, I looooooove your soups, and I love your Asian food too. It's very easy to become an alcoholic with such delicious wines and tinctures.

Latvia🇱🇻: 11/10. Oh my god. Oh my god. I'm on my knees. Your cream chanterelle soup and Lidl croissants and marinated onion and šašlyk and fish and dairy products🛐🛐🛐. You guys know how to serve. I've never seen such pretty food designs anywhere. And of course, Lido. It brings me in tears of joy and makes me remember Puzata Hata. No, for real, is there any dish you don't know how to cook?

Finland🇫🇮: 7/10. That's okay. Nice street food.

Belarus ⚪️🔴⚪️: 9/10. Oh my dear Belarus, you're gonna be the best chef in Europe once you're free from russia. I wish I ate more machanka and drank your pine tincture when I had the chance. I love your chicory, it's a bit greyish, but it's much more delicious than an average chicory. Delicious meat in the shops. Other food is soviet-like, which makes me nauseous.

Ukraine 🇺🇦: ♾️/10. Вітчизно моя! Ти як здоров'я, наскільки ти цінна, тільки той знає, хто тебе втратив. I don't know if my favourite shops still work. I loved every single cafe I've been to, yes, even that shitty prorussian Mafia and Eurasia. I loved Puzata Hata. I loved Khlibna Kava, and its amazing cherry cupcakes. I loved Moloko Vid Fermera. I loved little kiosks with fresh Makadamia nuts and huge variety of vegetables and fruits. I loved Flagman and Silpo, Lvivśki croissants, and chocolate shops. I loved my seafood store. I loved giant frappes in Shevchenko Park. I loved my Continent with its old classical French background songs. I love my Japanese food stores. There are so many places I love. I used to find my bazaar so ugly and dirty, but I would give everything to buy the sea ​​buckthorn jam from the cheerful old lady. But it's not gonna happen. My bazaar was shelled by russians to the ground.

Turkey🇹🇷: 9/10. Your Katmer, seafood soup and baked shrimps(?) are something 🛐.

Jordan🇯🇴: 7/10. Nice! You cook paella better than Spain, be proud of yourself. Although, I'd love to not be scared for my life as a woman all the time. Your bazaar seemed very interesting, but unfortunately, I don't speak Arabic. And I am a woman, which also sucks, I guess. I was totally covered in black, except for the face and hair, and people still stared at me like on a zoo exponate. McDonald's kinda sucks too, but not as much as in Switzerland.

Egypt🇪🇬: 7/10. It's okay. I've tasted only hotel food.

Sakartvelo🇬🇪 : 10/10. Our guide forgot about our existence, and we had to find any source of food to not die from hunger, so we went to your local bazaar and asked to fry some cheap fish. It had lots of bones, and I hate fish with bones, but I ate it all, and it tasted amazing.

Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦: 6/10. Most of the week, I just cooked some simple spiceless products like pasta and eggs from the small store. You are far from the level of grocery stores in Turkey. Although, your cold orange juice bottle saved my life from dying in the middle of the desert.

Qazaqstan 🇰🇿: 7/10. I don't really remember your supermarkets, I guess they were okay. But your bazaars are definitely something worth attending. Millions of varieties of honey with millions of tastes and very salty hard cheese Kurt.

[the-oceankin-collective]

Salty recipes

For a taste of the ocean.

Vegetarian recipes

1. Salted caramel popcorn

I’ve personally had this and it’s delicious

2. Chocolate covered potato chips

Yet another one I have had. it’s a bit of a acquired taste

3. mozzarella sticks

Yet another one I have had. they are best freshly cooked

4. Pasta with garlic and oil

For this if you don’t have/want spinach

Just add some salt.

Meat recipes

1. Sausage, kale and chilli pasta

Add some salt and it should be delicious.

2. Salt cod with root vegetables, cream and bacon.

I haven’t tried this but it sounds good

3. Steak and ale pie

It tastes good. But Personally I’m not fond of meat

Hope you find something you like.

(🦭mod Zeph)

[grayve-mistake]

that one grilled cheese post got me thinkin about how a lot of people just make instant ramen as it is without adding much to it and I wanna point out that the key to making it more interesting (and more nutritionally balanced if it's something you're eating a lot of long-term) lies in understanding the basics of traditional/restaurant style ramen. There are basically three fundamental steps to making good ramen:

1. Some kind of flavored oil. You can use something more traditional like chili oil or sesame oil, but really if you're just worried about making a good meal on a budget you can use any kind as long as it has some kind of aromatic flavor to it. Any oil that's been simmered with a bit of garlic or onion works just fine [or honestly... if you're really not feelin the extra effort that day you can just add a little bit of melted butter because butter makes everything taste good. you didn't hear this from me, don't tell the food purists]. This just adds a little bit of depth to the flavor that makes it stand out.

2. A good broth. I know instant ramen comes with a seasoning packet for the broth, but adding that to some vegetable stock makes the flavor a lot deeper and more satisfying than if you just add it to some water. You can use vegetable broth, chicken broth, beef broth, etc from the grocery store and that'll do just fine (I'm vegetarian so I like my vegetable stock), or you can rinse and boil any vegetable scraps you have from other recipes to make your own (you can save carrot ends, vegetable peels, etc etc in the fridge for this, or you can use whole vegetables for the broth, whatever works). If you'd like you can also add in your own spices and seasonings instead of just the packet. Just use something besides plain water, I know it's a little extra money but it's worth it, promise. A little bit of soy sauce in the broth also goes a long way. Also, if you want to make the broth a little richer.... add a little bit of milk or half n half. it makes it creamy and it's awesome with the flavored oil from the first step. For spicy ramen I love adding just a little bit of sugar or honey for a sweet and spicy effect, but it's up to you.

3. (and most importantly) toppings. Literally just anything you have in your fridge works for this honestly. Spinach? Cheese? Eggs? mushrooms??? throw it all in while the noodles are boiling in the broth. (if you want a poached egg just crack it over the noodles once it stars boiling and then put a lid over the pot. the steam cooks the top of the egg. If you wait just long enough to see the top of the egg turn white and then take the ramen off the heat right away the yolk will be runny, but if that's not your thing you can wait a little bit longer.) My favorite toppings vary but generally I like to have a protein (tofu, eggs, mushrooms, a meat substitute, etc etc), an aromatic (green onion and garlic are my favorites), and some kind of vegetable (spinach, carrot, corn, etc), and then optionally something else for a bit of extra texture like crispy fried onion or seaweed (you can find seaweed in the asian food section of most grocery stores from my experience for not a lot. You can go completely wild with the toppings though. Just about anything on ramen can be good if you set your mind to it. You can use more expensive authentic ingredients or you can use whatever you can find at your local stores or whatever you got at the food bank if you're like me.

Once you've figured out what ingredients you want to use, basically you just do the following steps: pour your broth into a pot and bring it up to a boil. Add in your seasoning packet if you'd like. [Optionally, add in your half n half or milk as well. if it's half n half add a tbsp or two, if it's milk add a little more.] Add in your noodles. When the noodles have started to cook, add in any of your toppings that you'd like to cook or soak up to flavors of the broth. [If the toppings don't need cooking, arrange them on the ramen right before the last step]. simmer for a couple minutes, then carefully pour into a bowl. Lastly, pour your aromatic oil over the noodles. That's it! One pot, not a lot of cook time, and a good way to liven up your ramen if you're tired of your usual method. And that's how even on a bit of a budget I can make ramen that looks like this;

Have fun!

[itsbenedict]

From the beginning | Previously | Coin standings | 4/18 | 2/2

(one of those was my own vote, which I'll be discounting here in order to make the prices line up.)

The bartender prepares various things for you- a TRIG FAIRY TRAUMA FRUITY MARGARITA for Adea, who has had a long fucking day and is in dire need of a drink. You also nosh on some SPINACH SALADS CHIPS AND SALSA, which for no reason you can discern appears to improve your LINKED CLASS by 1 apiece. You also stow away some juice mixers, which the bar sells separately in a I BUCKLE UP, JACK BULK JUICE PACK, as emergency rations which are worth 8 hunger to the 5 Coin. The SELTZERS, APTLY SALTY PRETZELS increase your SUMO ID levels, making you want to bulk up and wrestle- and the BEE'S TURN BEER NUTS are reserved for Adea because Walter can't stand the texture of the red peanut skins.

You also buy some DOMINANT ICICLES MEDICINAL TONICS, which... are just a marketing gimmick for some gin and tonic. Apparently formulated with the original quinine blend and not the sweeter, modern blend, the tonic water ostensibly fights off malaria. Assuming malaria is an issue you've got to worry about in this place. There's some restorative effect- 1 Soul Integrity apiece, so Walter opts to drink some down just in case- but actual medical attention apparently isn't something this bar provides.

(Some people across the bar apparently really dig your "swarm of butterflies" vibes, and buy you some free drinks and snacks. This should keep you up for a while!)

Adea then starts trying to chat up the bar patrons via the butterflies... but quickly discovers that the butterflies seem to garble any nontransactional communication. If it's not about buying or selling, speech gets lost in a haze of barely-meaningful sounds. It's not going to be easy to, say, call the city guard for help this way. Communicating with the real world properly will take a little more effort.

So... you've defeated the LONE THERMOSTATS, and FULLY ROBEd LILY. You've got a few different options, now:

HOWDY, A FAMINE!: Dig up more information about your situation and how to return to reality, by employing the FILIAL TWINS or NETTLE SPECIMEN to access networks and explore files, and maybe FIGHT THY RELIC in the process.

PALAVER THEME: Explore unreached areas of the city... somehow, in search of your daughter. There's no more links on the map, but perhaps there's other routes to unexplored areas where you might RADDER YOUTH FUNGI? Or maybe there's something at the fennec shop that might help.

YOU UNHEARD OWLS: You're both still pretty beat up and unstable, and your Soul Integrity could use a recharge. You may want to prioritize this in case of danger. (Healing to full would cost... like, 77 Coin's worth of patches, or using the Defrag Point at the steampunk spires and spending rations at a similar rate. Or maybe there's some easier way? ...Or maybe you just won't encounter any more real danger.)

Continued | 8/18 | 22/23

[kcrossvine-art]

Good morn/noon/evening/after-you-woke-up! Now, I want you to imagine we are in a beige and light oak dressed kitchen, theres a plastic bowl artfully place on the island you bump your toes and hips on, and in that plastic bowl is plastic fruit, and on that plastic fruit is a decades worth of dead skin dust built up. It smells like vanilla perfume from the dollar store. On the 32-inch TV screen PBS is playing episodes of the coming of age drama 'Arthur'. We're cooking 'Stones Inna Swamp' from the Redwall Cookbook- And now a word from us kids…

(You can find the original recipe at the bottom if you’d like to follow along)-

MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS

SO, “what goes in to a Stones Inna Swamp?” YOU MIGHT ASKWELL for ya soup base-

White beans

Kidney beans

Vegetable oil

Onion

Celery stalks

Garlic

Sliced mushrooms

Green bell peppers

Vegetable stock

Chopped tomatoes

Parsley

Paprika

Salt and pepper

Canned beans might work well if you dont want to soak overnight, just thoroughly rinse and dry them first. And for ya dumplin's-

Rolled oats

Breadcrumbs (preferably whole wheat)

Parsley

Margarine

Cheddar Cheese

Do be careful making these, the dish caked to the pan like ive never seen anything before.

AND, “what does Stones Inna Swamp taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASK

Its a, it feels like adult babyfood, almost?

The 'dumplings'- they taste like meatballs??

This recipe would probably taste better with Regular Meatballs but these are mice so its understandable

Theres less liquid at the end than the 'swamp' name would imply

Texture similar to a mash

Most flavor comes from the aromatic ingredients

Could deal with a bit more spice

The vegetables could also go for a nice sear or roast beforehand

Pairs well with a gelatin desert and sparkly water

The dish your white parent makes when they do something 'experimental'

. The dumplings dont have a measurement for the salt, I did what felt right and I'd say it came out to maybe ¼ cup salt? . Water measurement for dumplings is way way too little, do the tablespoons and then also half cup. . Where margarine called for, used butter

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

It gives off the air of when your children complain about taco tuesdays, but they cant cook for themselves and your partner refuses to learn, so you pick something out from pinterest that says "Healthy Veggie Sunday Dinner Done in 10 Minutes!". Its not bad in the traditional sense, its bad in the sense that it brings not much good. This may partially be a neurodivergent thing but the amount of soft textures just fucks with my brain.

I feel like I'm eating joker mush. The cheese is a nice touch though!

From start time to serving time, it took about 2 hours, but that could be cut down with experience. I would highly recommend either cooking the parsley dumplings separately and then adding per serving, or serving and eating immediately, because they Will get soggy and they Will fall apart over time.

 The flavor itself is very nice and savory, the more salt  you add the more itd taste like meat I think! As usual, please do feel free to add more spices than listed. I could see smoked paprika, cumin, and sautéd spinach going enhancing this a fair bit. I think if I were to make this in the future i would fry the dumplings before adding them in with the soup, to give it more texture and 'body'.

I give this recipe a wham-bam-ghost-you-ma'am of 3/10 (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) And now back to our show...

🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁

Bean Soup Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried white beans

1/2 cup dried kidney beans

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups (1 large) sliced onion

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 1/2 cups (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

1 cup vegetable stock (or 1 cup water and 1/2 cube vegetable bouillon)

1 can (14 ounces) chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon paprika

Salt and pepper, to taste

Parsley Dumpling Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (preferably whole wheat)

2 teaspoons chopped parsley

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Soup Method:

To make the soup, soak the dried beans in water overnight.

Drain the soaked beans and transfer them to a large pot. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Boil the beans for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer until the beans are completely cooked, 40 to 50 minutes more. Drain.

In a large, preferably nonstick frying pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 more minutes.

Add the beans, stock, tomatoes, parsley and paprika. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, cover partially, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dumplings Method:

To make the dumplings, stir together the oats, breadcrumbs, parsley and salt in a bowl. Add the margarine and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until evenly distributed. Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of cold water, until the mixture just forms a dough.

Form the dough into twelve 1 '/2-inch round dumplings. Add the dumplings to the bean mixture and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, turning the dumplings after 10 minutes, until they are cooked through, another 20 to 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with the grated cheese and serve.

[foodandfolklore]

Gaia Burger Recipe

I got the idea for this recipe watching Youtuber Pro Home Cooks, and their recent video about how to get more leafy greens into your food. One recipe that stood out was the "Garden" Burger, where you make a veggie and lentil patty. However, the video doesn't really have measurements beyond what you briefly see on screen. So I decided to try my own version with a few tweeks. I gotta say, it was good, and I wanna share the recipe with you.

Need: 1 cup split lentils (any colour) 1 can chickpeas At lest one head of any leafy green (Romain, Kale, Spinach, Arugula, whatever) 1/2 cup of flour (any) 2 eggs (these are to help bind the patties together. You can use egg substitute if you're vegan) Optional Seasonings -Minced or Crushed Garlic (about 2 cloves worth) -1 Tbsp Onion Power -2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast -Salt and pepper to taste

Cook up your lentils on stove top according to directions. You may choose to cook your own dried chickpeas rather than using canned. Cup of dried chickpeas should get what you need, just remember to soak them overnight before boiling to ensure they are nice and soft. You can also try using other kinds of beans like pinto beans or whatever you had on hand.

Once your lentils are cooked, drain them well. Now blanch your greens. Again, you can use any leafy green for this; I used a combination of Romain lettuce and spinach since that's what I had on hand. But you can use pretty much any leafy green.

After a minute or two of boiling, remove you greens from the hot water and hit them with cold water or ice bath. Once they are cool enough to handle, take a handful and squeeze out the excess water. Now chop up your greens with a knife.

Add your lentils, chickpeas, and chopped greens into a mixing bowl. Now you wanna manhandle it. Combine everything well, mashing some of the soft lentils and separating some large clumps of cooked greens so they spread out better.

Now you'll want to add your eggs, flour, and seasonings. I use garlic, onion powder, and Nutritional Yeast to help with the savory flavor. But you may choose to add other seasonings instead like fish sauce, Worcestershire, soy sauce, nori, ect.

Mix well with your hands until everything is well coated and combined.

Heat a pan on medium heat. Take a handful of the mixture and form a ball that's around the size of a tennis ball. Plop your ball on your pan and carefully smoosh down to flatten it. Fry for a few minutes until it starts to brown, than flip and cook on the other side.

Assemble

Toast your burger bun in the pan or in the toaster. Add some preferred sauce to your buns. I used mayo, but you can try mustard. My SO liked the BBQ sauce.

Now place your cooked patty on the bun. You can add lettuce, Fried egg, pickles, cheese, Onions, jalapenos; my fav was pickles :P Top with the other half of the bun and boom: 1 Gaia Burger.

This burger will not only taste satisfying, it will also leave you feeling full and nurtured for hours.