#also the water w whipped cream is a true story

[sporadictimetravelgarden]

ATLA characters favorite cafe drinks

aang: unsweetened iced green tea. very chill, very nice, almost always brings one of his pets with him, and doesn’t mind at all when we all lose our minds over how freaking cute appa (the dog) and momo (the cat) are. appa will come with a leash, but he brings momo in a baby carriage, and its just as cute as you think it is. during his can’t-stop-won’t-stop-sleep-is-for-the-weak phase he orders a black coffee, takes a sip, and cries. he switches to lattes until he learns to sleep again.

katara: iced coffee with brown sugar syrup in the summer, hot caramel macchiato in the winter. she always asks for a water with whatever she drinks bc hydrate or diedrate.

sokka: he simply does not have a favorite and/or usual. one day he’ll come in and order an iced mocha made with heavy cream. another day he’ll just order an earl grey and have it refilled every couple hours. he’s that one college kid in the corner on his laptop for almost as long as my shift. one time i ended up in a ten minute conversation with him about the industrial revolution or something that only ended when i realized i suddenly had a line to deal with.

toph: i don’t know her favorite, but i know that one time she ordered water, no ice, with whipped cream. i’m sure she appreciates the fact that its been months and i still think of that interaction.

suki: brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso. sometimes she comes in and gets drinks for the rest of the kyoshi warriors but she’s so nice and tips so i don’t mind making the like twelve beverages with various alternative milks she orders.

zuko: pre-redemption? cold brew with three shots of espresso and no water and no ice. i fear him, i worry for him, and he’s the reason i checked the legal limit of caffeine i’m able to give to customers. if he dies young i’ll feel partially responsible, but he’s kind of a dick, so maybe not. post-redemption? extra hot herbal tea with honey. he asks me to put it in the microwave to make it hotter. i still fear him, but in a different way. 

azula: a cortado. she is the only person in my four years of barista-ing who has ever ordered it, and the only reason i know what tf that is.

[bewitchingbooktours]

Avalon: a Heartwarming True Cat Story by Vanessa Morgan - Deck the Halls with Books Holiday Extravaganza

EGG NOG RECIPES FOR YOU... AND YOUR CAT

 No Christmas is ever complete without at least one serving of Egg Nog, the holiday-themed cocktail drink that is popular in the United States and Canada. It is a frothy beverage that contains milk, cream, and eggs. You can combine this mixture with other ingredients such as alcohol, sugar, and spices. It is best served chilled.

You can easily modify the Egg Nog recipe below to be vegan-friendly (by replacing the eggs with silken tofu and by using almond milk instead of cow's milk).

When I was in my twenties, I used to buy Egg Nog in the supermarket at Christmas-time. Nowadays, however, I prefer to make it myself.

My cat Avalon used to go all crazy whenever I pulled out the Egg Nog, so I started by making a cat-friendly version, just for him. It may sound a little crazy, but trust me on this one... Kitty Egg Nog is sure to please even the most discerning palates, and your cat will be eternally grateful to you for it.

On top of that, we are celebrating the French edition release of Avalon's memoir, so we should all indulge a little extra this year, don't you agree?

Here's what you need to make Egg Nog for both you and your cat.

Egg Nog for you

Ingredients:

2 cups of milk

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla powder

1/8 tablespoon nutmeg

¼ cup cream

If you like it sweet, you can add three tablespoons of sugar. Also, I usually make Egg Nog without alcohol, but if I do add some, I prefer to add rum over any other type. 

Preparation:

Beat the eggs until smooth

Add the milk, cream, vanilla powder, and nutmeg (and any other ingredients)

Put everything in the blender

Serve chilled

Egg Nog for your cat

 Ingredients:

200 ml cat milk

1 egg yolk

1 pinch of turmeric (don't use cinnamon as it can be toxic to cats)

A little whipped cream

Preparation:

Put all ingredients in the blender, and blend until smooth

Serve in small portions, as it is a heavy drink, even without the alcohol.

Warning! Don't use real milk for your cat's Egg Nog. After all, the lactose in cow's milk may cause diarrhea and other digestive problems in cats.

Let me know in the comments if you will be making Egg Nog for yourself and your cat this year.

Enjoy!

Avalon: a Heartwarming True Cat Story

Vanessa Morgan

Genre:  Memoir / Cats

Date of Publication:  June 4, 2015 

ISBN:1511863633 

ASIN: B00XC1NE4I 

Number of pages:134 pages 

Word Count: 31.468 words

Cover Artist: Gilles Vranckx

Tagline:  Some cats need nine lives to make a difference. Avalon only needed one.

Book Description:

From Amazon bestselling author Vanessa Morgan, Avalon is the heartwarming and once-in-a-lifetime love story of a girl and her neurotic Turkish Van cat.

With humor, the author details how Avalon made other creatures cringe in distress whenever he was around, how he threw her dates out by means of special techniques, and how he rendered it almost impossible for her to leave the house. 

Avalon was so incorrigible that even the landlord ordered to get rid of him. But beneath Avalon's demonic boisterousness, Vanessa recognized her own flaws and insecurities, and she understood that abandoning Avalon would be the worst she could do to him. Thanks to her unswerving loyalty, Avalon transformed into a tender feline and even landed a major role in a horror movie. In turn, Avalon made it his mission to be there for his human companion.

Avalon is a memoir for anyone who has ever been obsessively in love with a pet.

Avalon is also available in French.

Amazon US      Amazon FR

Filming of The Strangers Outside took place in August and September 2010. Avalon joined the set for two days. The location: a vacation cabin in the woods of Sint-Katelijne-Waver, a place where shadows came alive and danced with the rare patches of light. The perfect site for a horror movie.

Outside the vacation cabin, the film crew prepared for action. Camera tripods and lights were set up. An actor in monk clothes smoked his last cigarette before the shoot.

Two large tables with food and drinks sat in the shade, each bottle of water labeled with the name of an actor or crew member. Avalon had a bottle all for himself.

Avalon was remarkably at ease on set. He examined the vacation cabin for about half an hour, sniffing his way through the dusty corners, before settling into a deep sleep on the couch.

While everyone fawned over Avalon and fed him snacks from the buffet table, the director gave us a quick rundown of the scene to come. “The camera focuses on Avalon lying on the coffee table. In the background, through the windows, we see actors Pierre Lekeux and Iulia Nastase arriving home. Avalon follows their movements with his head as they move from one side of the house to the other. When the front door opens, Avalon jumps off the table to greet them.”

“Avalon won’t do that,” I said. “Just like children, cats are uncontrollable. It’s a great idea for a scene, but I’m afraid you’ll have to come up with something less demanding.”

Apparently, I didn’t know my cat very well, because Avalon did exactly what was expected of him.

The scene was shot several times in a row and Avalon never missed a beat.

In another scene, while eating his Schesir dinner, Avalon suddenly had to look up in panic. The fear in his eyes looked genuine. He was perfect.

Sitting at the dining table, actor Pierre Lekeux watched Avalon with incomprehensibility and admiration, shaking his head in denial. “I need at least twenty minutes to prepare a scene, to enter a certain state of mind. But this cat nails it in a matter of seconds. Avalon’s the best actor on set. He’s even better than me.”

Pierre was right. Avalon had this air--he carried himself in a certain way, very much aware of his charisma. He was a natural performer. A miniature star.

About the Author:

Vanessa Morgan is the editor of the movie reference guides When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampire Movies, and Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children. She also has had one cat book (Avalon) and four supernatural thrillers (Drowned Sorrow, The Strangers Outside, A Good Man, and Clowders) published. Three of her stories have been turned into movies. She has written for myriad Belgian magazines and newspapers and introduces movie screenings at several European film festivals. She is also a programmer for the Offscreen Film Festival in Belgium. When she's not working on her latest book, you can find her reading, watching movies, eating out, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats.

Blog: https://www.traveling-cats.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eeriestories

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2890032.Vanessa_Morgan 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Vanessa-Morgan/100068728236816/ 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[dramioneficrecommendations]

Best Draco/Hermione Fics Dramione Shippers Read in 2020

A few days ago, I asked you what were the best Dramione fics you'd read in 2020. Here's the huge list of your excellent recs (in alphabetical order):

A Creature Most Unusual by JMilz: Draco Malfoy is on a mission. Unfortunately, Hermione Granger catches him in the act. When she sees that he has adopted a rather unusual magical creature, she becomes determined to make sure he takes care of it. Little does she know, the animal may hold her key to eternal glory . . . and a whirlwind romance. M, 9 Chapters, 24,460 Words

A Little More Alive, Far Less Lost by MGL_Dramione_Lover: After Draco's post-war trial, he finds himself attending his 8th year at Hogwarts with Hermione. As remorse and acceptance replace anger and hate, the old enemies begin a friendship that sparks into much more than they ever hoped for. Hermione's goal as Head Girl is to banish old prejudices and unite the school while Draco's only wish is to become a man worthy of her love. M, 22 Chapters, 84,823

A New Light by mithrilstarlight: Draco spent six years doing his best to keep his head down. Then he runs into Hermione Granger. Turns out, they actually have a lot in common.Chapters posted M/W/F. T, 18 Chapters, 33,876 Words

A Second Look by RiverWriter: Her best friend's life was a mess and she would have done anything to make things better for him and his sons. So, when she found her former enemy in a similar situation her heart went out to him as well... and the beautiful blond baby in his arms didn't hurt his case. It was certainly enough for her to give him a second look. M, 30 Chapters, 127,243 Words

All that is Rare by smithandbarrowman: In the wizarding world, it has long been assumed that men are Alphas and women are Omegas. However, when Hermione Granger discovers that assumptions are rarely factual, her status as one of only a handful of female alphas that has ever existed has men falling at her feet.But there’s only one man she wants, and like the male alphas before her, the hunt is on until he bears her mark. E, 31 Chapters, 119,755 Words

All the Wrong Things by LovesBitca8: Sequel to "The Right Thing to Do" - Draco's POV. Part 2 of the "Rights and Wrongs" series. E, 24 Chapters, 160,297 Words

All You Want by senlinyu: Eighth Year at Hogwarts was supposed to be Hermione’s. And it is, just not in the way she expects. Omegaverse fic. E, 36 Chapters, 172,651

apples & cream by LovesBitca8: She could have taken her things and gone through his Floo without a word. She could have ignored him on Monday morning, as though last night had been no more than a fever dream and too much Firewhisky. But she’d come back to bed. Inspired by the lovely NikitaJuice's "apples & cream." E, 1 Chapter, 1,426 Words

Beginning and End by mightbewriting: Years. Broken into months into weeks into days—into hours, minutes, seconds—into moments. Simple at one end, complex at the other. In Draco’s experience, moments, even when simple, had a habit of becoming irretrievable. Moments grew, stretched, multiplied into ages and eras that defined whole stretches of measurable time. Draco regretted several moments in his life, some within his control, some without: all of them irretrievable in nature. At a certain point, wedged between ‘what-ifs’ of his own devising, he’d stopped trying to keep track of those regrettable moments: now and then, pushing and pulling, coming and going, beginning and end. Moments were only moments for just as long. After that, he had no control. A Draco POV prequel to Wait and Hope. E, 48 Chapters, 242,100 Words

Bells on a Hill by HeyJude19: Left by his fiancée a month before the ceremony, Draco never got his dream wedding, so agreeing to assist Granger with her own wedding planning to distract himself from his broken engagement seems like a great idea—though Draco probably shouldn't fall in love with the bride-to-be. Based very (very) loosely on The Wedding Singer. T, WIP

Bending Light by scullymurphy: Draco Malfoy was in exile, though they called it protection. It was the summer after sixth year and he'd taken Dumbledore's offer, defected to the other side and been sent away to a small town in Italy for his troubles. No magic, few rules, and not a lot to do - until Hermione Granger showed up. M, WIP

Break for me by Ada_P_Rix: COMPLETE _______________ "-I told them this wouldn’t work.” He cut in through gritted teeth as he kept his eyes on Hermione, making her pulse quicken and she couldn’t help but clench her thighs together at the rough, husky tone of his voice. He didn’t miss it; his eyes landed on her thighs and they darkened even further. “I can’t help her when all I feel like I want to do is pin her down and fuck her into the mattress.” _______________ Hermione gets into a little accident at work and is infected with a hybrid potion created to cause certain heightened side effects. Draco offers to stick around to give his work partner a little support ... if he can Occlude long enough to resist her... E, 7 Chapters, 45,107 Words

Breath Mints / Battle Scars by Onyx_and_Elm: For a moment, she's almost giddy. Because Draco Malfoy's been ruined by this war and he's as out of place as she is and — yes, he has scars too. He's got an even bigger one. She wonders whether one day they'll compare sizes. E, 51 Chapters, 148,908 Words

Bring Him to His Knees by Musyc: Draco is on the case of a murderer, but to investigate, he needs a fake relationship - and a kink club play partner. When Hermione volunteers to take the role, both do their best to maintain the lie without letting each other know the truth: neither of them are acting. E, WIP

Calendar Boys by anne_ammons, Nadiapolyakova (Rijaya83): She had thrown out the idea on a lark, but now Hermione Granger was tasked with bringing the charity calendar to life. What was one more thing on her list? An art/writing collaboration between nadiapolyakova and anne_ammons - twelve photos and a piece of the story behind them. M, WIP

Cherry Mint by dirtymudblood: "He could smell her. Even multiple train cars away, he could smell her. Except, Draco didn’t know who she was. He ignored his natural instincts to pant like a dog and follow the scent to the omega in the beginning stages of heat. Instead he willed himself to rub his knuckles against the rough wood of the table in front of him." E, 27 Chapters, 58,081 Words

Dark Water and Dying Eyebrights by bexchan: One of them is desperately trying to remember their past while the other is forever trying to escape theirs. It's seven years after the war and Draco has managed to avoid almost everyone from Hogwarts, living a lonely life on a small island, far away from the wizarding community. But a familiar face in a cafe window capsizes his world into chaos. Dramione. EWE. Memory fic. M, WIP

Difficult by provocative envy: COMPLETE: "I should," I repeated. "But I don't want to." And then he smiled, and I was wrecked. HG/DM. M, 30 Chapters, 87,041 Words

Don't Look Back by Onyx_and_Elm: It’s the smell of it. Chemical. Bitter and sharp as a raw edge on metal. Just a hint of it as she passes him at breakfast — but enough to stop her dead, mid-step. There is Wolfsbane in his tea. E, WIP

Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time by monsterleadmehome: She scoffs. “If you must know, he ‘elected’ me because he thinks our shared animosity will keep you in check. He’s also not worried about you trying to shag me as a distraction.” He leans back, stubbing out his cigarette on the banister. His eyes rove over her from crown to toe and back. She lifts her chin and tries not to shiver. “Well, he’s right about that.” Lucius Malfoy hires Hermione Granger to whip his son into shape so he can find a pure-blood bride and receive his inheritance. What could go wrong? E, 10 Chapters, 48,092 Words

Draco's Gift by TriDogMom: Draco gives Hermione a gift because of an instructional YouTube video. M, 1 Chapter, 1,705 Words

Dragon in the Dark by GracefulLioness: The battle is won, Voldemort is dead, but the war is far from over. In the new Death Eater regime, Draco Malfoy does what he must to survive and keep his mother safe. Now a highly trained assassin, Draco has learned to think of his targets as inhuman beings, but when he is tasked with killing someone from his past, he can no longer hide from the horrors of the world around him. E, 31 Chapters, 164,782 Words

For a Present Under the Tree by grace_lou_freebush: When Draco and Hermione eloped, the Wizarding World turned against them. Hermione is stuck in a low level, low paying Ministry job with no hope of upward movement. Draco can't even convince someone to hire him. Now, it's Christmas, and Draco knows Hermione deserves the world - or at the least a Christmas gift. He finds the perfect hair comb to replace the horrid Muggle brush she's been making due with, and he'll do anything to afford the paltry present so he can have something to put under the Christmas tree for his wife. Making a beeline for the jewelry box containing the hair combs, Draco rifled through them, landing on an ivory comb with queen anne rose carvings and gold filigree detailing. He brought it to the startled shopkeeper and set it down gently. Pulling his sixth generation Malfoy heirloom pocket watch from his coat, he shoved it in the wizard's face without second guessing himself. "I would like to make an exchange." E, 1 Chapter, 10,141 Words

Fortuitous by MrsRen: Recently divorced Draco doesn't believe in the ideology of having one true love. He certainly doesn't expect to meet his match in a Halloween themed coffee shop, but fate has a peculiar way of giving you just what you need. M, 13 Chapters, 93,695 Words

Fuck, Marry, Avada by Lilian_Silver: Some years after the war, the gang meets up at the Leaky to play a silly game, with very real consequences. E, 1 Chapter, 3,106 Words

Give Me An Hour by RZZMG: As the war continues to rage on around them, Hermione Granger decides to seduce fellow Order Member, Draco Malfoy, one night while at Grimmauld Place... and everything between them changes after that. Fic follows the "five times" trope, and is dedicated to raspberryjukebox. One-shot. A/U-Extended War scenario. Dramione. Drama-Romance-Hot Shag! COMPLETE! M, 1 Chapter, 3,251 Words

Good Girl by arabellaleyes: Hermione is tired of their normal routine in the bedroom. What will happen when she asks Draco to spice things up? One-shot. Complete. M, 1 Chapter, 9,000 Words

Hindsight by floorcoaster: It's a New Year and Hermione decides it's time to make some changes. T, 12 Chapters, 167,694 Words

How to Love Thy Neighbour by WhatSoMalfoy: After her relationship with Ron falls apart, Hermione attempts to juggle a personal muggle life with a professional wizarding one. After encountering her high school nemesis in the most unlikely place, Hermione adds another ball to the juggling mix. M, 14 Chapters, 41,992 Words

How to Move On by longdistance: It's been nearly a decade since the war. A long time since she locked herself away. A long time since he faced his mistakes. She's what he wants. He's what she needs. It's time for both of them to figure out how to move on. M, WIP

Hydrotherapy by eilonwy: Draco finds a trip to the showers after playing Quidditch... enlightening. E, 2 Chapters, 7,163 Words

I Choose You by melanoradrood: At the end of Fifth Year, Hermione finds out why It is that none have approached her with a Marital Contract, the only way she can remain in the Wizarding World after Graduation. It has already been signed by her Magical Guardian, someone she has never met - she is to be the next Lady Malfoy. A year and a half later, she is a married witch, but still, Draco Malfoy, who had chosen her above all others, had not spoken of it. In fact, they barely spoke at all. And when trouble heads their way, Hermione means to change that. Really, she means to change a lot of things. E, 5 Chapters, 24,527 Words

Isolation by Bex-chan: He can't leave the room. Her room. And it's all the Order's fault. Confined to a small space with only the Mudblood for company, something's going to give. Maybe his sanity. Maybe not. "There," she spat. "Now your Blood's filthy too!" DM/HG. PostHBP. Now complete with epilogue. M, 49 Chapters, 284,050 Words

It Happened in Egypt by bionically: Wandless in Egypt: Draco's stranded in Egypt, but luckily, there's a Granger in sight. Now, if only he could be prevented from strangling her. Fun times abroad: It was supposed to be a leisurely solo trip down the Nile. Hermione didn't factor in one blond man from her past and all his drama. Then, of course, there's the fact that everyone's after him. Much hilarity ensues. Maybe. *** A rom-com adventure/mystery featuring two unwilling partners on the run from Lucius Malfoy, alien-hunters, Muggle police, and local wizards engaged in a civil war. T, WIP

Love and Other Misfortunes by senlinyu: Draco Malfoy is dying. He's part-Veela and needs his mate to survive. Post-war, Hermione Granger is a workaholic, up to her eyeballs in legal activism on behalf of Magical Beings, and hasn't yet noticed that Malfoy is the Magical Being who needs her most. “Because I don’t want to be saved by you just because you feel like you have to.” He was properly furious now. “I’m in love with you." Hermione stared at him. She knew but somehow hearing him say it made the air shimmer with magic. "I’m in love with you,” he said again, despairingly. “And that means I want you to be as happy as you possibly can. And you won’t be, not with me.” M, 23 Chapters, 98,584 Words 

Manacled by senlinyu: Harry Potter is dead. In the aftermath of the war, in order to strengthen the might of the magical world, Voldemort enacts a repopulation effort. Hermione Granger has an Order secret, lost but hidden in her mind, so she is sent as an enslaved surrogate to the High Reeve until her mind can be cracked.Now illustrated by Avendell. E, 77 Chapters, 370,473 Words

Measure Of A Man by inadaze22: To truly know someone is to differentiate between who they once were, who they are now, and who they're capable of being. Hermione realises the duality of one man as she rectifies what she knows of the past and begins to understand the pieces of who Draco Malfoy is now: a father, a son, and a man. E, WIP

Meet the Malfoys by raven_maiden: 4 Works, 21, 442 Words

of flavoured names and coloured sounds by Pink Panda (Ejacyeolation): "He doesn’t question it at first, the fact that sounds have colours and words have flavours. He grows up with it, grows up seeing powerful ruptures of colour when his mother plays the piano and softer, translucent bursts when the people around him speak. His father’s voice fills his vision with sombre oranges and lilacs while his mother’s is a pleasant mix of delicate greens, blues, and greys. The word father tastes like wet wood and the word mother tastes like the pumpkin juice the house-elves frequently serve him."In which Draco just wants to know what colour Hermione's moans would be. He also wants to know if her skin would taste as sweet as her surname or maybe as intoxicating as her given name. E, 2 Chapters, 10,351

Once Upon a Night by longdistance: One night will change everything. M, 17 Chapters, 57,444 Words

One and Done by PacificRimbaud: Hermione Granger has a career she loves, friends she can depend on, and a nice set of hand towels for her new flat. She's single and tired of tiresome men, but that doesn't stop her from wearing beautiful lingerie underneath her serious Ministry skirts. Or having pictures taken in naughty knickers. Just once. For herself. Draco Malfoy doesn't get upset at the sight of blood, which is good, because he sees a lot of it. What he doesn't see a lot of is Hermione Granger in her unmentionables. Usually. A series of meetings and mix-ups in which one cannot possibly mean done. E, 4 Chapters, 35,011 Words

Our shared silence by Vofastudum: She wakes up one morning and everyone is just gone, vanished like they never existed at all. Everyone but Him. And in this silent solitude, he's all she has. Hermione and Draco alone in empty castle. Mystery and a plot twist you didn't see coming! EDITED 10/2020 M, 17 Chapters, 40,149 Words

Pinned by bionically: Draco doesn't know what he's expecting when he follows Blaise down a dark alley, but it certainly isn't this. For a man with an addictive personality, this isn't going to turn out well. Assigned trope: Voyeurism *** Or, a chance encounter with a frizzy-haired witch from his misbegotten past in the last place anyone should have expected to see her sets Draco's disordered life on its ear. The path to redemption is truly paved with unexpected surprises. E, 20 Chapters, 110,886 Words

Really Sell It by RoseHarperMaxwell: Draco's having a rough eighth year, and Hermione's going to make it better for him. "Well, it’s clear what needs to happen.” She gripped his chin, tilting his head to make sure she hadn’t missed any injuries, before looking straight into his eyes. “You’re my boyfriend now.” *Featuring fake dating, exhibitionism, and sex-positive Hermione Granger. Submission for Farewell to Summer: The 31 Flavors of Smut Fest. E, 1 Chapters, 7,612 Words

Remain Nameless by HeyJude19: How did it feel? It felt like he was barely holding it together. She, of all people, should shun him. Or yell at him. Curse him. Spit at him. Take out her wand and blast him off the face of the earth. It was crushing guilt and relief and confusion all at once when he looked at Hermione Granger. The monotony of Draco’s daily routine had become both a lifeline and a noose. But this new habit of grabbing coffee with Hermione Granger is quickly becoming a reason to get out of bed and is unfortunately forcing him to re-evaluate his inconsequential existence. Hermione is living her life in fragments, separate pieces scattered about, and she can’t find a way to step back and let the full picture form. Why are morning meetings with Draco Malfoy the only thing that make sense anymore? E, 51 Chapters, 312,315 Words

Remember Us As War (but call us forgiveness) by Anyaparadox: Following the devastation of the Battle of Hogwarts, The Wizarding Population Growth Act is put into effect. All witches and wizards will be matched with their most compatible partner. Failure to comply will not be tolerated. Survival is key. Hermione reminds herself of this. Survival. She can fix this, if only she can survive. The war has made this a task she is equipped for. Marrying Draco Malfoy will hardly be the worst thing she's ever endured. M, WIP

Ring A Ring O' Roses by Gallivant: Dark Magic, Dark Wizards and a mysterious and deadly Dark Flux, which, in the wrong hands, has the terrifying potential to mass-murder Muggles and Muggle-borns ... It’s been fourteen years since the end of the Second Wizarding War and the Wizarding World is settled, stable and seemingly safe… Hermione Weasley has it all: a loving family, a successful career - and happiness… of sorts. But a series of unexpected events is about to turn her life upside-down, threatening those she loves, fatally undermining the peace between worlds that has prevailed for centuries … changing life as she knows it, possibly forever. If working with Draco Malfoy was the last thing Hermione Weasley ever wanted, falling for your enemy was the least expected. A quest to thwart a magical weapon of mass destruction has devastating consequences. A race to save the world, becomes a race to save themselves… M, 65 Chapters, 527,141 Chapters

Set Fire to the Rain by HarleyQuinn1317: What happens when the one you're destined for is the last person you should ever be with... When the Ministry of Magic asks for volunteers for their Marriage Initiative, Hermione Granger must come to terms with the one terrible deed she committed during the Second Wizarding War. Can she find it in her heart to forgive herself and finally learn to let love in? E, WIP

Sex and Occlumency by Graendoll: Hermione didn't escape from the war unscathed, and when she finally decides on a solution to her problems she's left to explore it on her own. A chance encounter with Draco Malfoy sets her world on it's head and leads her down a path towards healing that she would never have anticipated. E, 18 Chapters, 65,079 Words

The Art of Seating Etiquette by inadaze22: Hermione believes that every problem has a solution, and that solution can be found in a book. That is, until Draco starts sitting to her right every Friday. She has no answers until help comes in the form of an unlikely source: Ron Weasley. E, 1 Chapter, 9,734 Words

The Auction by LovesBitca8: In the wake of the Dark Lord’s triumph over Harry Potter, the defeated must learn their new place. Hermione Granger, former Golden Girl, has been captured and reduced to human chattel. Sold to the highest bidder as the top prize at an auction of Order members and sympathizers, she is thrust into the rabid, waiting hands of the Death Eaters. But despite the horrors of Voldemort’s new world, help—and hope—seem to arise from the most unlikely of places. PART 3 of the RIGHTS AND WRONGS series. E, 41 Chapters, 325,702 Words

The Binding by Curly_Kay: “Okay, what we know so far.” Hermione listed, "One, our magic is drawing us together. Two, we can use each other’s wands. Three, there were actual sparks when you touched me."After an infant binding ritual magically joins Hermione and Draco to counteract the Black family blood curse, they must navigate the secret binding through their years together at Hogwarts. E, 35 Chapters, 175,451 Words

The Carnal Club by Ada_P_Rix: COMPLETE The Halloween Ball is fast approaching with Hermione at the helm.... What a delightful time to suddenly learn of a centuries old secret sex-game club that is currently ran by a Blonde haired Slytherin. Oh, and it only happens once a year every October, when the winner takes all at the Halloween Ball ...The First Rule of Carnal Club: You do not talk about Carnal Club. E, 8 Chapters, 43,306 Words

The Disappearances of Draco Malfoy by Speechwriter (batmansymbol): The night that Harry and Dumbledore return from the cave, the Death Eaters are delayed from reaching the top of the Astronomy Tower for one more minute. Draco Malfoy lowers his wand. A Deathly Hallows rewrite in which Draco accepts Dumbledore's offer to fake his death and go into hiding with the Order of the Phoenix. T, WIP

The Erised Effect by Ada_P_Rix: Hermione and Pansy work in a shop together. Draco, Harry, Theo and Blaise all work together at the Ministry. They all meet up every Friday at the pub to have drinks. Pansy has a new fantasy potion that she likes to call 'The Erised Effect' that she's keen to try out on willing participants ... Boys are so easy to manipulate when alcohol is involved .... E, 13 Chapters, 88,852 Words

The Fallout by everythursday: Hermione learns about growing up through the redemption of Draco Malfoy. E, 49 Chapters, 310,229 Words

The Figures of Figuring Out by Vofastudum: You were the biggest riddle in my life. You were the one I couldn't figure out. You were the only thing I couldn't find a pattern to. You were something I couldn't look up from any book. Unwritten, with no instructions. And I was used to finding solutions! Post-war eight-year secret romance. Edited 12/2020 M, 13 Chapters, 26,951 Words

The Flat in Bath by Ada_P_Rix: Loosely inspired by 365 Days...-- Malfoy grabbed her chin, forcing her to look directly at him. “Don’t you dare, Granger...” He told her roughly as his intense gaze bored into her own. “I fucking forbid you to come until I’ve had enough of you...” Draco caught her cheeks now between the fingers of his free hand and then snapped her head to the side and licked her earlobe, trailing down to her jawline. “...one flutter of those delicious walls of yours and you’re going to wish you never opened your legs for me.” -- __________________ Hermione is kidnapped during a raid and taken captive by someone who doesn't plan on 'torturing' her in the conventional way... E, WIP

The Gloriana Set by ThebeMoon: The War is won, and Hermione Granger is back at Hogwarts as an “Eighth Year”, feeling reckless and determined to shed her prim bookworm persona. She will do as she pleases, and anyone who doesn’t like it will see the business end of her wand. Also returning is Draco Malfoy, universally hated but determined to restore his family’s name. Hermione’s hopes for a quiet school year are quickly dashed as she contends with mischievous First Years, killer plants, enchanted hair accessories, a totally inappropriate Moaning Myrtle, renegade Death Eaters, a nice vampire, a poorly named study group, a depraved party, and mysterious, threatening blood messages on the castle walls. We have redemption, partial redemption and (sadly or hilariously) no redemption at all. Throw in a snarky, disturbingly attractive Draco with his own secret agenda, and we have a very slow-burn Dramione with a side of who-dun-it. COMPLETE! M, 81 Chapters, 271,830 Words

The Library of Alexandria by senlinyu: The Library of Alexandria is not for just any witch or wizard. Many bookworms may try but few are permitted to pass through its doors. The books residing there are ancient and powerful and, if one happens to make a mistake, the consequences can be rather—novel. E, 6 Chapters, 26,383 Words

The List by AureliaBlack90: After her divorce, Hermione decides to get out of town to recover from the pain of her lost relationship and the miscarriage she suffered a year previously. She arrives in the Cotswolds depressed and aimless but compiles a list of things to do that she hopes will help her get back on her feet. In the midst of her journey to find healing she keeps running into Draco Malfoy, who is nothing like she remembered him. He invites her into his world, and Hermione finds exactly what she was looking for - in the place she least expected it. E, 10 Chapters, 70,526 Words

The Manuscript by alexandra_emerson: Five 1/2 years after the war, in the middle of a big fight with Draco, Hermione finds a manuscript. It’s a retelling of her and Draco’s love story, written by him. She never realized how much he was struggling before she read his words. Snippet: I could spend my whole life apologizing to you Hermione, and it would never be enough. Post-war, angst-filled Dramione with a happy ending. M, 21 Chapters, 154,918 Words

The Memory of You by PotionChemist: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger fell in love against all odds, but there was one big problem — he was already married. Pressured, Hermione does something she promised herself she would never do again and erases their affair from his memory. Completely devastated, she avoids seeing Draco or the Malfoys at all costs. But is their love too strong? Are they inevitable? What will happen if he finds out about their previous relationship? E, WIP

The Mountain and The Sea by AlexisDanaan: Hermione Granger was perfectly happy with her life, her job as a Healer Trainee, her ugly cat and her cute little house in the countryside. And then Draco Malfoy had to go and mess that all up, typical git. Post-Hogwarts, EWE, OOC, creature!fic. E, 12 Chapters, 40,441 Words

The Nietzsche Classes by Beringae: The Ministry takes action against the remaining prejudice in the wizarding society and asks Hermione for help. “What do you want? Money? Power? Name your price, Granger. I’m not about to let pride get in my way when an Azkaban sentence is on the line.” M, 15 Chapters, 45,807 Words

The Phoenix Potion by FedonCiadale: Twenty years after the battle of Hogwarts.... Harry is head auror and is worried about cases where Muggleborn children meet with accidents, Ron is a famous Quidditch keeper. Both haven't talked to Hermione for ages and certainly not to her husband, Draco Malfoy. Narcissa Malfoy struggles with a curse, and Neville and Luna try to stay friends with all. The key to solving the problems may lie in the past, a time nobody really wants to revisit and some can't. T, 111 Chapters, 237,745 Words

The Potioneers by omnenomnom: They need each other unfortunately. Hermione has tricked Draco under her tutelage, arrogant attitude and all. But she would be simple to think he would accept it quietly. They have both have secrets to hide, old wounds better left to fester, and a world full of mermaids, dragons, and magic to explore. T, 53 Chapters, 196,559 Words

The Pretense by Colubrina: Voldemort died, but the Death Eaters live on. Hermione Granger traded herself to Draco Malfoy in exchange for safe passage for core Order members. Now he's pretending to love her, Narcissa is pretending to believe that, and Hermione is walking a tightrope behind enemy lines as she figures out what is going on. Unfortunately, people fall off tightropes. (no non-con) T, 50 Chapters, 108,164 Words

The Right Thing To Do by LovesBitca8: Hermione felt the pounding in her ears again. She would see him for the first time since the Great Hall, gaunt and stricken at the Slytherin table with his mother clutching his arm. She hadn't meant to look for him. Not in the corridors, not beneath the white sheets of the fallen, not on the way to the Chamber of Secrets with Ron, but she was a stupid girl. E, 36 Chapters, 174,911 Words

The Seven Year Witch by TheLastLynx: A boy and a girl have been meeting – coincidentally – for seven summers. While they pretty much hate one another most of the year, for those secret summer moments, they manage to see each other in a different light. But will that be enough to bring them together? A Dramione story about growing up and changing perspective, told along - and in-between - the lines of canon. M, WIP

Thirty Times Lucky by galfoy: "Granger, I can't hire you on any longer," Draco said. Hermione stared at him. Losing her job might actually mean losing the War, and she had to bargain, but there was literally nothing she had that he would want. Or was there? M, 2 Chapters, 7,128 Words

Traditions by raven_maiden: She straddled him slowly, still biting her lip, her hands on his shoulders. He held her hips tightly as he stared up at her. “So beautiful,” he whispered, and she flushed prettily, like she always did from his compliments. “You never need to hide from me.” ** Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy fell in love during the war. One year later, they're heading home for the holidays so he can finally meet her parents. There's just one teeny little problem: her parents think they're both Muggles. E, 14 Chapters, 68,767 Words

Waifs and Strays by Kyonomiko: War leaves a lot of orphans in its wake. Hermione is one, by her own hand, and she struggles with the realities of her situation. When she finds an orphaned familiar, it seems meant to be, giving and receiving comfort helping to heal her fractured heart. Unfortunately, the animal is actually a wizard, and he has his own issues. M, 31 Chapters, 118,152 Words

What You Think Is Right by icepower55: Six years after the war, Hermione parents are dying and her marriage to Draco is crumbling. Nothing seems logical in her life anymore. Her healer tells her to start writing about it, so she does, as a way to figure things out, and remind herself along the way. Hell is proximity without intimacy -Dante's Inferno M, WIP

When the Bell Tolls by everythursday: As a Dark revival begins to rise four years after the war, Hermione Granger is placed on the assignment of putting an end to them – and her first task is to recruit the Ministry's best hope and last option in the form of Draco Malfoy. E, 20 Chapters, 148,033 Words

Wreck by JMilz: Serving as Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger is finally at the peak of her career. With a beautiful family, a successful book, and the public on her side, her life should be a fairytale. Unfortunately, there is trouble in paradise, and when Draco Malfoy pays her a visit, she begins recalling their history and questioning her marriage. The reality is: every relationship is hard. M, 53 Chapters, 187,992 Words

Thanks to every person who contributed (I hope I've mentioned everyone. If not, let me know. 😊): @certified-arsehole @fedonciadale kiwim22 @really-sad-devil-guy endless-musings @headfullofnargles @pinksunsets-world @rosseliz01 @dramioneden @all-consuming @elricsister @injailoutsoon12 reclusivebird @mariakov81 @notthatchhavi @mordanbooqs @haaatch @hpsassenach @ybaeby @farmgirl-in @coyg-81 @eiramrelyat metterschling-plus-two @a-maidens-fantasy @sansacat @vofastudum @lexayeon @1800-rewrite @aneiria-writes @anonymouslydramione 

It took much longer to compile this list than I thought it would. Hopefully, I didn’t skip anything. 🙈

Happy New Year. May it be better than the previous one and full of great Dramione fics and fanarts! 🥳🥳🥳

And here’s the 2019 list: https://dramioneficrecommendations.tumblr.com/post/190216354767/what-is-the-best-dramione-fic-you-read-in-2019

[lantern-hill]

things i learned and thoughts I thought in january

bubble tea shops use white tea and you can get a similar taste to it by adding two teaspoons of sugar and a shot of milk to white tea

the difference between plaid and checkered

how to tuck shirts into pants

how to tuck cardigans into pants

how to make a bomb-ass salad

what fruits and vegetables are seasonal where I live

Willow Smith’s music is bomb

how to poach eggs (in theory)

Use three pots of water when water-colour painting so you rinse off warm and cool colours in different pots and make it easier to avoid getting muddy colours

ink looks really cool when it gets on your hands and gets in the little cracks and crevices in your skin

nothing will make you feel more Dark Academia than ink-stained fingers from loading up your fountain pen

more relaxing yt channels: JunsKitchen, Rachel And Jun, Jun Yoshizuki,  서담SEODAM, y.na.homecafe

the mens section of thrift stores >>>>>> the women's section

Jenna Marbles *chefs kiss*

“Hunting Warhead” is a sad and dark but very entertaining and interesting podcast about child abuse and the dark web

“Let’s Not Meet” is a true horror podcast that gives me my horror junkie fix without the crippling terror bc everyone in the stories makes it out alive (since they lived to tell the tale.) I could never watch horror movies, even though I love horror, because I hated that there was no escape. 

(except The Turn Of The Screw with Michelle Dockery. might not be v. highbrow but its a fun, psychologically horrific time)

서담SEODAM’s tangerine jelly recipe video is the most satisfying thing I have ever watched/heard

a bubble tea place near my house with the cheapest tea around (3$ for original milk w/ bubbles) has another branch run by a ytber who vlogs it 

get  👏 off  👏 your   👏 phone  👏 or  👏 computer

a part of all you do is yours to keep to yourself and treasure. As fun as it is to share things about yourself there is real joy in knowing you have a life that exists completely separately of others.

apply for every job, you lose nothing

Walmart sells notebooks that are literally just black blank books with relatively thick paper. Great for feeling dark academia. Also Ichiban Living sells very simplistic muji-style brown paperback ntotebooks

Google Sheets has a great Monthly Budget template that if filled out properly automatically calculates how much you saved that month and the % increase in your total savings. (you’re probably selling your soul to google by using it tho fair warning)

If you whisk milk really fast or blend it a little before pouring it into your coffee, you get a latte-like effect.

If you put whipped cream on your coffee and then lightly sprinkle it with sugar, the sugar will sit on top of the cream and when you drink you’ll be drinking coffee through a filter of whipped cream and sugar. *chefs kiss* delicious

i have really nice coworkers 

Dividing up all the material you have to review for the exam between the days leading up to the exam and then doing the allotted review every day is v. effective

simplistic bullet journalling works SO MUCH BETTER (for me) than complicated stuff

get  👏 out  👏 of  👏 the  👏 house  👏 and  👏 go  👏 exploring

places to go for introverts who should really start exploring a bit more: the library, a library farther away than your local library, the nicest library in your neighbourhood/city, cafe crawl (pick 6-10 local cafes and just explore them. Take pictures inside if the owners are okay with it.) bookstore crawl (same thing). nice long walks, 

If you live in Toronto and you are a bookish person or a history person, go to The Monkey’s Paw and bring 3$ for the book vending machine

If you live in Toronto, go to the Philosopher’s Walk. Any season is good but best are in the middle of winter, middle of summer, or middle of fall

do your skincare research

they should make dishwashing gloves that are just covered in scotch on the outside

read more cookbooks, read about food, develop a connection with it beyond it being a necessity

[whatmack]

I LOVE YOUR NEIL TWIN HC!!!!! It's my one reason to live now, I'm addicted and you write it really good! If you were considering writing more (but it's absolutely not an imposition, do whatever you want with this, you're amazing either way) maybe just him and Neil bonding? Or Andrew warming up to him? That'd be nice, I mean, what is Andrew even thinking here?

can you pls hmu w/ some of that good good neil & liam content? ((and maybe andrew bein a tad jealous bc neil’s spending so much time w/ his brother but also he’s not jealous andrew minyard does not get jealous and if you dare imply that then you must not fear death))

!!!! Andrew’s reaction is GREAT to think about, isn’t it? Let’s have some angst(YOU’RE BOTH SO NICE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MUCH LOVE)

This café has the worst coffee on campus, which is to say,it has coffee pretentious about the place it comes from, boasting citrus notesor whatever the fuck else is trending and meaningless. It just tastes bitter toAndrew; they never put in enough whipped cream. He buys two cups and dumps thetoppings from one into the other, tossing the leftover dregs into the trash canon his way to the table. Neil makes the pinched face that means he’s disapprovingof Andrew’s sugar intake. Or maybe his money wastage. Andrew slurps obnoxiouslyat his whipped cream until Neil sighs and looks away.Liam takes his coffee with milk, which makes him different from Neil, who takesit with nothing. Andrew keeps a running list of their similarities anddifferences, and gets a thrill of satisfaction every time he finds some new waythey diverge. He realizes it’s him trying to cope with the wholeness of a truthhe hadn’t known, that’s so close to his—that’s so close to Neil, and reflectiveof himself. Andrew can pick apart his own mechanisms now, break them down toengine grease, but that doesn’t mean he’s inclined to stop them. He shakes hishanging arm to feel the comforting weight of his knives. With a flick of hiswrist this problem could be resolved.

Except that it wouldn’t be, because the world is harsh and complicated. Andrew shovesNeil down into a chair instead—hates how Neil goes willingly—drops into theseat next to him and props his feet up on the metal table. His pile of whippedcream wobbles dangerously. Andrew licks up the dollop that fell onto his handand points at Liam across the table.“Talk.”“Bad cop and bad cop, is it?” Allison says, rolling her eyes. Andrew flips heroff. She knew when she invited him here that he wouldn’t be polite—he’s neverpolite—so he doesn’t bother telling her. Her own coffee (two pumps of caramel,non-fat milk, his brain supplies pointlessly) steams mightily before her. Fallis settling in. Andrew makes a mental note to get Neil a pair of gloves thenext time he’s in the vicinity of a department store. Neil’s hands were chappedto bleeding last winter.(It hadn’t been his business, then. It is now.)(God, he’s so annoying.)Andrew kicks the leg of Neil’s chair. Neil turns to him, squint-eyed in query.There’s a gutter-wet leaf on the table the same color as his eyelashes. Andrewslurps up more whipped cream and opens his mouth to show Neil the mess. Neil’snose wrinkles in disgust. His squint softens to fondness. Andrew looks at Liam instead.“I thought the point of this was to have no witnesses,” Liam says, speaking toAllison but staring at Andrew. His face is so like Neil’s, but not, even withoutthe scars; it’s like someone made Neil into a mask and put him on, and tried topass himself off as the real thing. Andrew wonders if that’s what Neil thinkswhen he looks at Aaron. Andrew kicks Neil’s chair again so he won’t keepwondering stupid, useless things. The metal clang sounds like the grate of hisheart. “Andrew’s not a witness,” Allison says. “He’s a lie detector.” You can tell when Neil is lying, she’dsaid to Andrew, so come along and tell mewhen Liam is. Andrew had neglected to point out all the times he’d failedto notice Neil’s lies, been blinded by his own desire for what Neil said to betrue, and told Allison she could go to hell and take Liam with her. Differences,differences everywhere, but never a drop to drink. Allison had said, Neil’s coming, and Andrew had followedher out the door.Neil has swayed towards Liam, heads bowed together, hair featheringover their foreheads in a repetition that never stops. It reflects back andback on itself, becoming the swoop of their nose, the hitching gesture of theirshoulder. Andrew wonders if they have any of the same scars. The Butcher hadseemed the sort to like that kind of symmetry.Fucker. Andrew shakes his arm again. Knives, check. “Well?” says Allison.“Give us a minute,” Neil says. Us, us,like being born together means anything. The blood of the covenant and the waterof the womb are both steeped in shit. Neil’s hand is in Liam’s hand, grippingtight against the table. Andrew hopes they cut off each other’s circulation. He finishes his whipped cream. The only thing left is the bitter citrus coffee.He flicks the side of the cup until it falls off the table, splattering acrossthe concrete patio. Allison tsks athim. Neil isn’t paying attention. Liam is a fuckhead.He’s mine, mine, mine, get off him. (I didn’t know you had a brother.)(I know. Andrew, I’m sorry.)(I don’t care.)“What do you want to know?” Liam asks finally, in that accent that cuts out allthe vowels. “I’m not giving you a whole…life story.” His hand slices throughthe air. It’s Neil’s gesture. Give itback. Mine, mine. Allison makes a noise of disgust. It’s either at Liam or thecoffee, which she’s just taken a sip of. “I don’t want that. What I want is youto tell the truth. And the truth I want is what the fuck you think you’re doinghere.”“Allison,” Neil chides, leaning even closer to his brother. Allison doesn’tlook guilty, but she does take another sip of her drink. Andrew clenches hishands into fists. He knows Neil sees. He didn’t try to hide it. “I’m here to reunite with my brother. Isn’t that enough?” Liam’s voice gains atinge of frustration, but it might be feigned. The best lies have some of thetruth. Neil makes a soothing noise and Andrew imagines slamming his fist into–No.Stop.Don’t hurt Neil don’t hurt himBreathe. There you are, Andrew. You’re back with me? I’m very proud of you.At some point Andrew has closed his eyes. He blinks them back open. Liam istalking. Neil is not. Andrew never thought he’d hate it so much, hearing Neilfinally shut up.“We thought it would be harder to find us if we separated,” Liam tells Allison.His hand is still clenched in Neil’s, the same shade of white-knuckled. “Wewere…almost right. Our father found one. I’m…” he tilts his head towards Neil,and Neil’s face goes tight-pain-sorrow-sympathy in the space of a moment.Andrew thinks it might be an apology, and the acceptance of it. Neil’s anidiot. Andrew would have made Liam beg. He still will, come to think of it.Allison makes a rude noise, like a fart mixed with a yappy dog. “So what’s withthe whole Tiny Tim act? You’re here. You saw Neil. Congratulations.” “Do you have siblings, Allison?”“No,” she says. Everyone at the table carefully doesn’t look at Andrew. (I heard a thing from Mom today, AJ, you know what it was?)Stop.Breathe.Knives.“Then I don’t expect you to understand.” Liam swallows. Neil does, too. Does heeven realize when he’s a mirror? “I need… he’s my twin. We can’t be taken away from each other again.”“And you need us to like you for that?”“Yes,” says Liam, and the frustrationthis time sounds real.  “Don’t yourealize how your team acts? You’re a closed group, and Neil’s inside. Being inthe same place isn’t the same as being together.”The worst part is, Andrew understands. His life has been defined by lines thatseem invisible unless you’re on the opposite side of them. Monsters and theupperclassmen. Foxes and the rest of the student body. Two-parent household and…none.Andrew needs to feel Neil’s skin under his own. The warmth of him. The weightof his reality. It is weakness, needing another. Andrew takes his feet downfrom the table, stomping them on the ground to cover his shuffle to press theside of his calf along Neil’s. Neil sucks in a breath and leaves his leg there.Always so eager for what Andrew gives him. Acting like it’s always Andrew giving,and never him taking away.Andrew needs more whipped cream. He also needs a drink.Allison says, “If you want us to let you in, you have to prove you’re one ofus.”“How?”“Not sure,” she says. Her coffee is almost gone. “That part’s not my problem.”“I’m supposed to figure it out myself?”Neil murmurs and squeezes Liam’s hand. Of course Neil will help him. Of courseNeil will get his happy little twin back and everything will be great for them.Andrew wants to curl his fingers in Neil’s collar and say, you need me, remember? But maybe that’s not the truth.Not anymore.

[tripstations]

Panniers and pasta: a foodie cycling tour in northern Italy | Travel

We had been on the road for a month. Our final descent out of Switzerland was breathtaking and, as we raced down the mountain, it felt like we were leaving winter behind us. Road markings flashed beneath us. We were fast; the weight of loaded panniers adding momentum. Thawing snow lined our route, glistening as it melted on either side of the tarmac. We shared the road with drivers who passed leaving plenty of room to spare, some acknowledging us with a polite nod or raised palm.

Italy was now visible. Our fifth country in as many weeks. As we freewheeled, we chatted about how cycling across borders reduces culture shock: you travel so slowly that countries simply dissolve into one another. That theory was instantly shattered as we crossed into Italy. Everything transformed within metres. The energy of the traffic around us changed: horns blared as drivers sped out of Como in the early evening light, some offering a cheery shout of “bravo” or “buon viaggio”. But, after an initial jolt at the border, it only took a day or two to adjust to local driving styles, something that was repeated in all the countries that we would later pass through.

We are not the first to write that our main memories of Italy revolve around food. The blood oranges given to us by a cheery Milanese traffic warden who stopped to chat in the sunshine; cheese and honey breads in the open-fronted delis of Pavia; pizza and Aperol spritz in more places than we could name; and, of course, wonderful home-cooked food with the people who hosted us.

After passing south through Lombardy, we headed east along the Po river, eventually reaching Luzzara, a small town just over the Emilia-Romagna border. Our one night there was a Willy Wonka-esque dream come true for hungry cyclists. We were guests of Luca, a keen cyclist and sculptor who owns the gelateria in the centre of town, and Andrea, a dancer. They were two of many people we met through Warmshowers, a hosting app that’s like Couchsurfing for cyclists (see below).

We were shown straight to the table, already laid with a basket of fresh bread. Having clocked up close to 100km, we were ravenous and craving carbohydrates. A veteran of several cycle tours himself, Luca knew what to expect. He presented plate after plate of homemade pumpkin ravioli with a knowing smile. We didn’t finish eating until close to midnight. And then, after a digestivo of limoncello, Andrea asked: “Do you want to see the ice-cream?”

The streets were empty, lit by sodium-orange street lamps. We walked as a gang of four, beaming like excited children on every step to the shop. Luca had his keys ready. He drew up the shutter, flicked on the lights and laughed as a neon list of flavours lit up on the wall behind him.

Cream of the crop … hosts and gelateria owners Luca and Andrea. Photograph: Ruth Newton

Soon we were behind the counter watching Luca demonstrate how to whip up ice-cream from scratch. He was in his element, a true craftsman. He handed us a box of tiny coloured spoons. “Try whatever you like. Try everything!’’ We didn’t attempt to hide our excitement. We were kids breaking into a sweetshop for a midnight feast with our new friends. Our working lives back in London couldn’t have felt further away.

Italy in spring turned out to be a perfect match for us. After battling snowstorms in Germany and climbing the Swiss Alps, the flat lands lining the River Po were a welcome break – a fortnight of fair- weather cycling to reward us for a month of drama. The river snaked east, twisting and widening gradually alongside us. For the first time since leaving the UK, we could cover more than 100km a day and still have enough energy to go exploring in the evenings.

And while the lack of gradients could get monotonous, the accompanying wildlife more than made up for it. Flamingos made stick-figure silhouettes above the silver waters of the Venice lagoon, and families of curious beaver-ish animals grazed the banks. We later learnt that these furry bystanders are called nutria (coypu in English) and considered a huge pest in Italy, but for us they’ll always be the “beaver-rats”, unofficial mascots cheering us on as we rolled past.

Road less travelled … the Po valley made for great spring cycling. Photograph: Oli Townsend

We were also fuelled by pizza, espressos and the kindness of locals. Our appetites had developed to monstrous extremes but, luckily, everyone we met seemed to want to feed us. Perhaps none more so than Alberto and Sabrina near Piove di Sacco, east of Padua. We arrived at Easter and were invited to join their family for the Sunday feast.

We felt distinctly British as 17 family members from three generations piled around the dinner table, talking loudly over each other with exaggerated hand gestures and huge amounts of love. We devoured plates of homemade lasagne, black rice salad, bread and olives, more pasta and, last but not least, Nonna Maria’s delicious almond cake. The mothers and grandmothers kept entreating us to “mangia, mangia!”, while the grandfathers continued topping up our glasses with grappa. By the end of it, we were well and truly part of the family and completely stuffed. At least half of the party fell asleep in the sun after dinner, only to be roused by the smell of yet another espresso.

Nonna Maria, maker of delicious almond cake. Photograph: Ruth Newton

We moved more slowly as we headed off north, heavier from the feast and a weekend off our bikes. As with many families we met along the way, Alberto and Sabrina had urged us to stay longer than planned, and it was hard to get moving again. We could have happily remained with them for a week, playing volleyball with their eight-year-old daughter and planting seeds in their huge greenhouse.

But we knew we had to pedal on. We wanted to reach Turkey during Ramadan, and the Pamir Highway in central Asia by mid to late summer, when the weather would be temperate. We reminded ourselves of that as we packed and repacked our panniers and trundled into the early morning light.

As happened with most of the 22 countries we cycled across, the main thing we remember about Italy is the people. The Italian tendency towards openness and unquestioning hospitality seems to be in their bones and, hopefully, we’ve picked up a pinch of this on our travels. Now that we are back in the UK, we’re looking forward to hosting people ourselves. We can’t offer midnight tours of ice-cream parlours, but we can lay on a feast and share stories well into the night. And, unsurprisingly, Nonna Maria didn’t let us leave without the recipe for her famous almond cake, for when hungry cyclists happen to stop by. • Eurostar crossings to Lille from £44 one-way, plus £30 per bike

Warmshowers ‘Couchsurfing for cyclists’

Hosts Karin and Martin in the Netherlands. Photograph: Ruth Newton

“Join Warmshowers” was the best piece of advice given to us before we set off on our 11-month tour. In short, Warmshowers is a global “hospitality network for cycle tourers”. Like Couchsurfing, it relies on the goodwill of people offering a bed for the night to passing strangers, with the expectation that they will repay the gesture to other cyclists in future.

Warmshowers offered so much more than somewhere to crash; it became an integral part of our trip. It was a window into the communities we cycled through and the start of many friendships.

To join Warmshowers, cyclists register and create a profile, stating whether they’re on the road or offering to host. Each profile tells you everything you need to know as a passing cyclist, from the languages spoken to the distance to the nearest bike mechanic. After each stay, hosts and tourers post feedback, which allows the network to self-monitor.

There are 132,000 Warmshowers members in 161 countries, and we stayed with over 70 of the 79,000 hosts on the course of our trip. In Europe alone, our journey was made so much richer by the people we met through the network: Karin and Martin in Holland, who borrowed a van to rescue us from a brutal February headwind; Roberto in Italy, who entered us into an all-night table-football tournament against local carabinieri; and Rory in Croatia, who gave us a personalised tour of his island.

At the end of our European leg, we stayed with Kathi and Isky in Istanbul for five days before crossing the Bosphorus and continuing east into Asia. We couldn’t have bought these experiences if we tried – they are some of our fondest memories of the trip. Now, when people ask us for advice on cycle touring, Warmshowers is the first word we say. • warmshowers.org

The post Panniers and pasta: a foodie cycling tour in northern Italy | Travel appeared first on Tripstations.

from Tripstations http://bit.ly/2WvzWmy via IFTTT

[btalisman]

Maria and macarons – Happy baker!

So my friend Maria wanted to learn to make macarons – like me she had tried on and off. Honestly, it takes one good macaron class, the right recipe and learn one teach one and off you go to success. What’s your macaron making tip?

Like many French recipes, the macaron is few ingredients and lots of technique. Hints to my success in no particular order (my macarons are by no means perfected – but still appreciated my all who partake):

Use a French recipe – my first one was not from a French person. The god of macarons in

Took me a bit to find a photo of Hermé with this smirk let alone a smile

France is Pierre Hermé and his recipes are readily available on the internet. This is a great post from Dessert First using not only the recipe but hints from SF Cooking School.

Always, but always, “age” your eggs. I separate my eggs from my yolks a week before and then let them stand at room temp two days prior to baking. This breaks the albumen and allows for a better meringue when you need it most.

Mise en place is essential – there are steps in macaron making that will not wait for measuring, cooking….see how macaron can be zen. The mise is part of the zen – the prep part. #gallery-0-8 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-8 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-8 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-8 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Macaron shells

Maria and macarons c’est finis – Happy baker!

Macaron w Maria

Macaron Shells

Chocolate & Berry Jam

Lemon, mocha, chocolate pistachio and berry cream

Essential tool

Hermé’s recipe is based on an Italian meringue that is egg whites whipped to soft peaks with simple syrup (sugar and water) boiled to 118F. This my friends is an entire post of it’s own and also readily available on the internet. Try making macarons with “uncooked” meringue and let me know how it works for you – cause I never got it to work.

Use gel or powder coloring – that liquid food coloring from the grocery story added to egg whites does not work. And always use more color than you think you’ll need – remember you are going to add a massive amount of WHITE egg whites and it will dilute your color – dramatically.

Hermé macaron

Piping macaron shells does not require a template of circles but it does require practice and it’s fun. So practice away – unless you are working in the Hermé kitchen doing these 8 hours a day – expect a few rejects. And any true friend who won’t help you try a new filling on a reject is not a true friend who should be grateful you are making macarons and sharing with them at all.

Oven temp makes a difference – like it does for any recipe – this more than others cause they’re macarons! And they’re made of egg whites and sugar and they cook quickly and burn easily. If you can smell them – they’re probably over cooked.

Use a digital scale – Measure everything – this like many pastry recipes is not an eye ball it kind of thang.

Let the lava flow – when you combine the meringue with the almond flour and sugar – when mixed properly and enough – it should have the consistency of a lava flow – not faster or slower. This will be the test as to how your shell piping will go. Too loose = soup. Too hard = won’t get through the piping bag. Stop mixing when you get to lava…..I do this by hand not in an electric mixer.

Let the “skin” form – I have done it both ways – without letting the macaron shells “rest” before baking and with a rest. I find the classic macaron “foot” is guaranteed if everything else is followed. Yes there are people on the internet who say it doesn’t matter – I respectfully disagree.

Macaron shells freeze! Yes make a bunch, freeze and fill as needed. Show up with a hostess gift that will wow them!

Patience grasshopper – macaron making takes time and patience. It can be very zen if you don’t rush and don’t get frustrated.

This is a great weekend project. Or one day on the weekend. I make a bunch of shells freeze them and then make a couple batches of small fillings as I need for a friends party, dinner or make someone feel special.

What’s your macaron tip or learning?

  Talisman Post: Zen & the Art of the Macaron w @mariamartello @pierrehermé @anitachu #fundraisingnot So my friend Maria wanted to learn to make macarons - like me she had tried on and off.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: A Revived 1920s Ballet Will Be a Surreal Confection of Candy and Kitsch

Betsy McBride as Swirl Girl in Whipped Cream (photo by Ruven Afanador; images courtesy of American Ballet Theatre)

A Gibson girl with a perfectly coiffed Vidal Sassoon bob wearing a ballgown made of slabs of meat and sausage links; a wide-eyed, silver-haired, childlike waif half submerged in a body of water containing amoebas, protozoa, body parts, and a foetus; Amanda Seyfried as a lady with ermine (in this case, it’s a dead cat) and Katy Perry posing like Titian’s Venus in a “Garden of Earthly Delights” settings — these are just a few examples of the works of pop-surrealist painter Mark Ryden, who, in his 30-year career, brought the lowbrow art movement out of the underground circuit of Southern California and into the mainstream.

So when American Ballet Theatre’s choreographer and artist-in-residence Alexei Ratmansky and artistic director Kevin McKenzie decided to revive Richard Strauss’s surrealist and saccharine ballet Whipped Cream (called Schlagobers when it was originally performed in Vienna in 1924), Ryden was the ideal candidate to create the set and costumes. The libretto features a boy who just received his confirmation venturing into a pastry shop and overdosing on sugar. His excesses cause him to hallucinate, and his delirium takes the shape of a massive whirl of whipped cream emerging from an outsized bowl. He then finds himself at the hospital under the ministration of doctors and begs to be saved by Princess Praline, Princess Tea Flower, and Prince Coffee. Liquors, who are also part of this royal contingent, seduce the medical staff into a drunken stupor, and the ballet ends with an apotheosis of sweets — the original also contains a riot of lowly pastries pacified by vats of beer.

Sketch courtesy of Mark Ryden

Ryden joins a rich tradition of surrealists dabbling in theater work: Salvador Dalí worked on a production of Le Tristan Fou, Dorothy Tanning did the costumes for Balanchine’s The Night Shadow, and Ernst and Miró worked on Diaghilev’s Romeo et Juliette, just to name a few.

This is a first for Ryden, who had no previous experience with theater design save for the dioramas in his “Gay 90s” series, which came with backdrops, stagings, props, costumes, and even miniature light switches. For Whipped Cream, he worked with costume designer Holly Hynes and set designer Camellia Koo, who translated his artwork into sets, props, and danceable gear. “I could never have begun to do this project without their experience and expertise to back up my complete lack of experience and knowledge,” he told Hyperallergic, with more than a hint of modesty. Hynes, who has designed costumes for five American Ballet Theatre productions, was careful to stay true to Ryden’s art and not getting caught up in the theatricality that is part of designing for the stage. To her, the experience was akin to being a midwife. “Mark did all the work making the baby,” she told Hyperallergic, “I just [helped] him birth it.”

In order to avoid undue influence, he didn’t extensively research Ada Nigrin’s original costumes for the Strauss production, which stand out for their elaborate Art Deco elements. Instead, he went straight to the source: “The first thing I did when this project came up was to get a CD of the music,” he said. “The music is wonderful… It contains such a great variety of feelings and moods, from exciting marches to very dreamy ethereal passages. It was fun to listen in the dark and imagine what might be on stage.”

Scenery being produced (image ©Joanna Ebenstein/Cernunnos)

What he imagined was a candy-colored dreamscape paired with his trademark surrealism. Swirl Girl wears a puffy pale pink number that reproduces the swish of icing. Princess Praline (who will be danced by Sarah Lane, Misty Copeland, and Cassandra Trenary) wears a coral-pink tutu with a candy-striped bodice and a matching skirt dotted with white pom-poms meant to represent sugar sprinkles. The costume for Princess Tea Flower (danced by Stella Abrera, Gillian Murphy, Isabella Boylston, and Hee Seo) is more elaborate, in that it reproduces the shape of the tea flower in a realistic fashion: The skirt has rows of olive-green leaves punctuated with blossoms, while the bodice comes with petals that are hand-painted, bedazzled, and face upward. That was Hynes’s favorite item to work on, and the fact that the petals were designed to be positioned that particular way created a unique set of challenges: “When the yoke or basque of the tutu connects to the bodice, we had to but the skirt on top of the bodice, which is the complete opposite of a traditional tutu,” she explained. “I love shaking up tradition, so this was a blast.”

Stella Abrera as Princess Tea Flower in Whipped Cream (photo by Doug Gifford; image courtesy of American Ballet Theatre)

If those costumes seem straightforwardly pretty and cute, that does not apply to all of Ryden’s creations for the production. In fact, for the “Whipped Cream Waltz,” the ensemble number at the end of Act I that Strauss envisioned as a riff on the traditional Ballet Blancs such as the swans in Swan Lake, the wilis in Gisele, or the snowflakes in the Nutcracker, Ryden did not create the expected billowy white tutus. Instead, he looked to Japan’s Zentai fashion, which consists of unitards covering the entire body. “My Whipped Cream ballerinas are a take-off on that theme,” he said. “We added a transparent soft cape made of the most beautiful and fascinating fabric. It is so weightless that it gently moves through the air as if it were made of smoke.”

Mark Ryden’s signature elements are widely present in his artwork for the ballet: The ballerinas are drawn in the style of his wide-eyed waifs; the color pink, from candy-coral to cooler hues, has been used generously in both costumes and sets; the sets themselves feature elaborate trompe l’oeil versions of the moldings and engravings that Ryden favors for the frames of his paintings, and the yak — a big, doll-eyed white beast not unlike the luck dragon in The Neverending Story, to whom Ryden devoted his entire “Snow Yak” series in 2008 — plays an important role in the boy’s hallucination. There are many more of his trademarks, but both Ryden and Koo kept mum about the specifics. “You will just have to come see the show and try to find them all!” said Koo.

Character studies. #abtWhippedCream @abtofficial @segerstromarts

A post shared by Mark Ryden (@markryden) on Mar 10, 2017 at 7:52am PST

#abtWhippedCream @abtofficial @segerstromarts

A post shared by Mark Ryden (@markryden) on Mar 9, 2017 at 10:04am PST

Koo also has words of awe for the production’s builders and scenic artists who were tasked with recapturing Ryden’s painting style. “I do not just mean that they can copy inch for inch Mark’s very detailed final colored artwork,” she said. “It is through their own genius artistry that they really capture Mark’s style and joy and spirit in all of the details, which truly give life and vibrancy to the painted elements of the beautiful world that Mark has created.”

A lowbrow artist is the ideal complement to Whipped Cream, as today’s audiences are more keen to understand the mix of high and low art that puzzled theatergoers and critics during the ballet’s original run. In fact, the production was unanimously panned when it premiered: It was called derivative, banal, derisory, inartistic, of poor taste, and, above all, kitschy. “This whipped-cream morsel is, however, not so easy to digest,” wrote Viennese critic Heinrich Kralik. Perhaps understandably, the ballet’s outsized budget and escapist theme clashed with wartorn 1920s Vienna. “People always expect ideas from me, big things,” Strauss confessed in a letter to his friend Romain Rolland, who won the 1915 Nobel Prize in Literature. “Haven’t I the right, after all, to write what music I please? I cannot bear the tragedy of the present time. I want to create joy, I need it.”

Sketch courtesy of Mark Ryden

While working on his designs, Ryden, a defender of the use of kitsch in art, found himself sharing that mindset. “The use of beauty and joy in art is often judged to be kitsch,” he explained. “I don’t fear the use of kitsch in my art. I believe kitsch is a domain that holds the powerful universal archetypes of the collective consciousness.”

With few productions to date (40 performances in Vienna in the 1920s, a premiere in Breslau, a Vienna Symphony and Volksopera production in 1964, a Milanese reenactment at Teatro Nuovo sponsored by a gelateria in 1989, and a revival at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich in late 2014) and such high-profile artistic collaboration, Whipped Cream has the potential, McKenzie reckons, to become a new classic. “Very few people have heard the score, very few people have heard of the tale,” he explains. “So it’s an all new experience. For the people who believe that ballet isn’t necessarily for them, the draw of the artwork, the fact that it is a fantasy tale and it leans ostensibly toward theater [more] than ballet, may produce an entirely new audience.” He sees Whipped Cream as ABT’s own Wizard of Oz. Does this mean Ryden came up with elements as iconic as the yellow brick road, the bedazzled slippers, or the gleaming towers of Emerald City? He is perhaps overly cautious about such enthusiasm. “I guess only time will tell if something in particular stands out and resonates,” he said. “The everlasting endurance of the ruby red slippers is not the kind of thing I feel you can predict or consciously create.”

Sketch courtesy of Mark Ryden

American Ballet Theatre’s Whipped Cream will be performed at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts (600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, California) from March 15 to March 19. A New York run at the Metropolitan Opera House (30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York) will follow from May 22 to July 1.

The Art of Whipped Cream will be shown at Paul Kasmin Gallery (515 W 27th St), opening May 20.

The post A Revived 1920s Ballet Will Be a Surreal Confection of Candy and Kitsch appeared first on Hyperallergic.

from Hyperallergic http://ift.tt/2mECif7 via IFTTT