#an excellent tater

[cosmicelite]

✏️ //For Zarb to draw any of my muses he’s interacted with so far

Send me✏️ for my muse to draw your muse.

well, he thinks hes done a fine job at drawing her.

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

Currently sitting in the waiting room at the vet. The receptionist is confirming appointments for next week.

Heard them cheerfully say, "Alright, we'll see Tater Tot on Wednesday."

I am absolutely delighted by this. 😄

[tropicalsleet]

Some Sunny-Side Up side characters. Sunny-Side Characters if you will. Coming up with their silly names was fun. Since I can actually type as much as I want on Tumblr, I can finally describe them a lil more.

Nap (European wildcat): He used to be Sunny's coworker before he moved away to the city, and they're both the same age. He still drops by the town every once in a while to visit.

Tater (goat) and Tot (deer): This pair of gals are regulars at Sunny's store. They do all sorts of home improvement jobs as a side gig when they're not busy with college.

East (rat): Also a regular at Sunny's store. He works production at a theater, so he often drops by to buy paint for whatever new props the play requires.

Sepal (rabbit): She's Barker's grandmother, who works as a cashier at the local grocery store. She has an impish sense of humor.

Weld (ferret): The town's chief and Level's father. Due to the town's population being mostly elderly people, he's worried what will become of the town in the future. He's had a rivalry with Stamps since their school days.

Hash (dog) and Brown (dog): They work with Jam and do most of the grunt work during paint deliveries to restock the various stores in the area. Despite being a bumbling pair, they've never dropped a single can of paint.

Level (ferret): Weld's daughter, only a few years younger than Sunny and Nap. She works at the local café during summer breaks. She's unsure what she wants to do and has changed majors a few times. She knows her father hopes she'll take on the town chief mantle.

Fluss (European wildcat): Nap's grandmother, who took care of raising him since he was a baby. She owns the local café and an excellent cook. Despite her age, retirement hasn't crossed her mind.

[molagboop]

The following has been rotating in my head like rotisserie chicken for a while now:

What the heck did little Samus eat during her time on Zebes?? What plants and/or meats there would be safe for human consumption (unless Old Bird had human food imported)?

Most of Zebes' fruit and nut-bearing plants are safe for consumption. If you can deal with the thorns or chemically pacify them for a short spell, Cacatac bear fruit with a rather pleasant floral taste.

Flesh-eating bacteria introduced to Zebes by zoomers (which are native to Tallon IV) killed off a good chunk of edible animals, though there were still quite a few beasties that prime for chow time.

The Beetom possesses legs full of succulent meat not unlike earthly crabs. Their nutrient rich eyes are also a delicacy.

If you can find and neutralize them, Geega are edible. Remove the horns and venom sacs, and you can roast them like big grubs. The wings make a nice crispy treat.

Kiru Giru were hunted by the Thoha in the old days. Unfortunately, Samus hasn't had the opportunity to taste one: Norfair's just too far down for robots to reliably go hunting.

Kago are delicious skewered and roasted. Their soft red hives are delicious raw, but can also be used in a lush stew.

Every part of the humble Mellow can be eaten, save for the mandibles and carapace.

Tangle vine fruit is, in fact, edible: unfortunately, the Thoha have not had the opportunity to harvest it in years. With the correct kit, the vines ensnaring the fruit can be chemically manipulated into releasing their hold on it.

Owtch are prized for the tangy meat within their shells.

Puyo are sort of like amoeboid colonies or some form of slime mold: puyo slime can be used as a thickening agent or a catalyst in jelly creation. The puyo itself gives off a strange flavor: not disgusting, mind you, but certainly strange by human standards. Each color variant tastes different. Not exactly palatable to most on their own, but they have their uses. In the old days, they were domesticated in Maridia, and the mostly-docile white variant was bred. You can also grow puyo colonies like sourdough starter. The colony can be controlled by changing the environment in the enclosure, and separating globs from the bucket every now and again is vital to colony maintenance. Old Bird kept a puyo colony for culinary purposes.

Every part of the Reo (except the talons on the end of the pincers) can be used. Crispy sauteed wings, sour but nutritious eyes, and the juicy meat within the carapace make excellent fare for a hunter willing to deal with them.

Ripper meat can be difficult to reach due to that hard shell. Nabbing the tasty flesh inside is as simple as putting them in a pot, placing the pot in a freezer for several hours, and waiting for the shells to pop open. They're like reverse oysters. You can crack the red ones open like a coconut if you're strong enough.

Sbugs are tasty treats. Opportunistic scavengers, you can trap them by leaving smelly bait or fabricated meat out. Cook 'em or eat 'em raw: they're an all-rounder snack and a handy side all in one.

The sciser is a pushover crustacean with sweet meat. Put bait in a specially made cage-pot and wait for a few to fall into it. Boil or roast and enjoy with your preferred seasoning. Grey Voice enjoys them salted and herbed.

Skultera are a pain in the rear end to hunt for the Thoha these days, so they usually don't bother. In the old days, skultera were small potatoes. Would indubitably taste good with them, too. Get those taters buttered and mashed, filet the fish, and fry it or sear up a skultera steak with herbed honey garlic sauce or a buttery meunièr...

Squeept are edible, but not feasible for the elderly Thoha to hunt these days. Claw meat is soft, while the body meat, while gristly, makes good fare for soup. The body meat is commonly boiled for soup stock to infuse the meal with the flavor and nutrient profile, then discarded before serving.

Tatori are like real-life turtles. They can be fried bone-in (or out), cooked in stews and soups, roasted, barbecued... you name it. Tatori gravy is delicious with dumplings or grains like rice.

Waver flesh is nutritious and earthy. The muscles enabling them to open and close their shells are gamey with a bit of an umami tang. The eyes are jiggly and jelly: delightful to children. Discard the pincers from the plate and use them to make utensils later. Wavers can be roasted whole in-shell or taken apart.

Yards are small pincer-laden molluscs. Broil them in butter or sauce, in or out of the shell.

Meat is a little scarce under the zeela's hooded shell, but the eyeballs are soft and very appealing fried.

Zoa are like shrimp with large claws. Salty meat with a hint of sweetness: the eyes are a little bland, but seasoning makes them more palatable. Zoa were commonly boiled or roasted. The claw meat is the tastiest part.

This is what a zoa looks like, for those who can't make out the details from the tiny sprite.

In the absence of folks available to hunt down edible fauna, meat products can be synthesized. Many of the Thoha have trouble slaying living creatures, so they're content to make do with such things. Despite this, they have defense robots that can be programmed to bring back animals to be processed for culinary use (meat and eye removed from a fresh Beetom carcass by way of machinery, DIY with your hands, etc. It's easy for many Thoha elders to handle something that's already dead: killing it by hand is the hard part for them).

The Thoha are staunch pacifists, so they make a huge deal out of thanking any slain animals for the meat they provide, and try to use every part of the beast in some capacity. For example, once cleaned of organic matter and sanitized, Beetom shells can be used to make jewelry, and boiled to fashion other household objects or soap. Yard shells make gorgeous adornments, but can also be lacquered for use as vessels to hold fluids and other oddities.

Meaty food is a little limited by the time Samus is brought to Zebes (thanks zoomers), and the Thoha are too old to be cavorting in the more dangerous regions by themselves, but they had methods for subduing and cooking some of their native beasts.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #194

I did A WHOLE LOT OF STUFF today. And I wish I could tell you all about it all at the same time simultaneously, but I don't live in a space where that's possible, so I guess I'll have to settle for starting at the beginning.

Actually, no. I'm going to start at the end. And then I'm going to move to the beginning! Here's a doodle I made today!

Please go easy on me; it's been a number of years since last I doodled with multiple media (or at all, really, with any kind of seriousness), and Sharpie isn't exactly the most forgiving medium...

Anyway! Back to the beginning! I cooked a food!!! This is broccoli, pan-fried in butter, with garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and the leftover goat cheese from that time when I made mashed taters when R visited my house!

...And here are a couple of the steak I cooked. Br was visiting, and she said she always wanted to try a tomahawk steak, so I got one and tried to figure out how to cook it!

This was super simple, actually. All you gotta do is stick it on some parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and stick it in the oven at 225 degrees F (or like 107 degrees C) for 30 minutes, take it out, flip it, and then stick it back in for another 30 minutes. Once that's done, you season it however you like on both sides (in this case, my classic mix of salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder), and then sear it on a griddle. Sometime while I was cooking, J went out to play laser tag. M wasn't hungry.

I also made bok choy, pan-fried in a little butter and chopped garlic:

You gotta be careful with bok choy; if you cook it for too long, it becomes terribly, horribly bitter.

But! I didn't cook it for too long! And so this is the plate of awesome deliciousness that resulted from all of this:

It all turned out really excellently. Br went back for a second helping of everything! I wish I could have given you a plate of this.

Br boiled water for tea for us, too. I got a new kind of vanilla rose tea that I think might be suitable to include along with your necklace. I got two tins so that I could test one and ensure that it is the same as the one that I am familiar with. It's the same brand, and they say it's the same flavor, it's just that this one comes in a nice tin instead of in a paper box.

The flavors are a little bit different. At first, I was displeased because I didn't expect that. But on further evaluation, I decided that I think I like the new one a little better. But I have to test them side-by-side to know for sure which one, if either, is superior.

Once Br and I were done eating, she suggested that we play a game in which we take turns doodling on a sketchbook page. Br is an amazing artist, and I haven't doodled with any kind of seriousness in a while, so when I was presented with the blank page, I felt pretty daunted. And especially when she reassured me that I could doodle whatever I like, my mind flooded with so many options that I got overwhelmed and didn't know what to pick.

So after a while, I thought, "Well I'm good at doodling eyeballs." Because Br had noted that my facial expression was very interesting as I tried contemplating things during my feelings of overwhelm. J keeps telling me that my eyes get like saucers sometimes, so I imagined that that's what I was doing (my face does things without my knowledge or consent, I guess...). So I decided to draw an eyeball, and before I knew it... well...

Whoops. Hahaha...

This one is done in a combination of mechanical pencil and Sharpie marker; I have a collection of different Sharpie colors because... I don't know why. They're pretty, I guess. I pulled out all the blues and also my metallic silver for it.

Here's a bigger picture of the doodle:

I doodled the eye first. And then I doodled the feather. Br doodled the abstract flowery squiggle in between; isn't it cool???

Here's a close-up of the feather. It's not the best-est, probably. I still kinda like it though:

Br got tired though, so we both decided to take a short nap. I had several very interesting dreams, and when I woke, I felt compelled to draw what I saw. But I am not going to show those images.

Instead, I will show you a couple pictures of the sky I took right before I took a nap with Br:

I'll also show you what I did with the eye doodle after I discovered that Br had brought her Nupastels:

Oh hey! We're back at the beginning of the letter! Hahahaha...

Hey, Sephiroth? Have you ever tried to doodle? If you have, what sorts of things do you like to draw? I tend to like doodling organic things, but some people like to doodle buildings, and some like to do abstract shapes, and others like to do geometric things, or landscapes, or any number of things. So... what would you draw? What sorts of things do you imagine?

Once J got back, he, Br, and I watched the Steven Universe movie, because Br had just gotten through the original animated series, and so the movie is up next. J and I have already seen it. I hope someday you'll get to see it; I think you'd find Spinel extremely relatable for a variety of reasons.

...Please try to get an ending like hers, okay?

You can find people who will treat you better. Not everyone is like the people who raised you. You can find some of those people who will treat you better, people who want you around, right here at my house. Pop by for a visit if you're ever in the neighborhood, okay? We can make you tasty snacks.

...I guess I'll end this one here. It's getting pretty late, and I wanna go to bed.

I love you. Please stay safe out there, okay? Because I'm gonna write again tomorrow, and you wouldn't wanna miss out on all my weird, delightful shenanigans, right? All the weird, delightful shenanigans that comes with living my version of an ordinary life. All the weird, delightful shenanigans that you can have, too, if you make choices that bring you there.

Your friend, Lumine

[melancholic-pigeon]

@sugarspunfaerie OKAY

Shortcut scalloped potatoes (kosher and non-kosher versions)!

INGREDIENTS:

Potatoes (I like gold best; maybe 6-8 of medium to large size?)

Heavy cream (make sure it's heavy; you're using this in place of a roux and light cream won't work)

Diced onions (optional but yum)

Diced ham or bacon (optional but yum, non-kosher obviously)

Shredded cheese for topping (optional but yum)

SUPPLIES:

a large glass casserole dish

an oven

A paring knife

Kitchen shears (optional but convenient)

A Y-peeler (optional but convenient)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Prep your taters! I waffle on whether I peel them or not because peeling is a pain, but wash them extra well if you leave it. Slice each potato into medallions, about ¼ inch or half a cm thick, but it doesn't matter too much.

Take your casserole dish and alternate: a single layer of potato medallions, onions*, meat*, and enough heavy cream to cover the other ingredients. Repeat until the dish is almost full, ending on a layer of potatoes. If you want to sprinkle cheese on top, do it now.

Bake until aromatic and golden brown and bubbly on top—your oven may vary, but it usually takes mine about 80-90 minutes.

It's a lot faster and easier to prep. It does tend to separate a little upon reheating, but! It makes excellent leftover potato soup. Bonus recipe under the cut. :D

*disregard if you're making them veg!

Leftover Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:

leftover potatoes of some kind (I've done this with mashed, scalloped, roasted, loaded hash browns...the options are kinda endless!)

Milk

seasoning of your choice (I like italian seasoning and mustard!)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine your leftover potatoes in a saucepan with the other ingredients.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

I hope these help someone :3

[trivialbob]

Today was scorching hot and very sunny. I doused myself with suncreen, filled a backpack with water, more sunscreen, and dental floss, and went over to the "Great Minnesota Get-Together," otherwise know as the annual Minnesota State Fair.

When I arrived at 10:00 AM the place was packed. If you do not revel in big crowds, sweaty people, fried food, food on a stick, high food and drink prices, farm animals, or tractors, this place is not for you. I can tolerate this mixture of things if I go to the fair every few years.

Lots of people. Did I already say that?

Getting there is easy if one takes a bus. $5 buys a round trip ticket from one of several park-and-rides around the cities. Both the bus ticket and the admission ticket can be purchased online ahead of time. Very easy.

People watching is excellent. Food smells are delightful. The assortment of eats is interesting. It would never have occurred to me to make deep-fried pickles. I didn't try them but I heard some people raving about how good they were.

French fries and huge tubs of chocolate cookies are popular and available in several stands. I shudder thinking what a nutrition label on those cookies would look like. It likely would indicate a serving size as "one small bite" just so the amounts of sugar, sodium, and fat didn't exceed 200% of the recommended daily allowance.

For my lunch I tried the HotDish-on-a-Stick. Hot Dish is a Minnesota thing, made with a tater tot topping over a mixture of meat, cream of mushroom soup, and maybe some veggies. The stand selling hotdish-on-a-stick didn't have a line of people. That is not a good sign. It did have a sign explaining what you got for $7 (a bargain compared to other food stands).

I liked the concept, but results didn't work for me. It tasted like deep fried batter. The mushroom-hamburger dipping sauce was too salty, and I only dipped into it one time.

Some food stands had enormous lines. There must have been 150 people waiting for a new-this-year doughnut stand. "The Doughnut" was $5. Based on the long line, they easily could charged more. The Peanut Butter Cream doughnut was $10. At that price I would have thought it would be served on a stick. This stand had me curious, but I wasn't going to wait in that line.

On Machinery Hill there were collections of vintage farm and garden tractors. Very cool. There were also lots of trucks, modern lawn equipment, side-by-sides, ATVs, and travel trailers on display. I sat on a swell little John Deer tractors and made revving noises with my mouth, much like I did as a 5-year-old in Sears stores long, long ago. I thought it was funny, but an actual 5-year-old boy today looked at me and backed away.

There are also a lot of the "as seen on TV" displays, selling items you didn't know you had to have!

The 4H people had farm displays. I like those kids. The Miracle of Birth Center had newborn calves, chicks, goats, and lambs.

After several hours of walking around my feet were burning and my back hurt a little. As I made my way back to the gate where the buses were, I stopped to try some deep fried mac and cheese bites and have a beer. Those bites were delicious. The beer, while a little pricey, was extremely refreshing and frankly worth the price in that heat.

I plopped into a seat on the articulated bus. The air conditioning worked very well. I actually started to nod off as we waited to leave.

Four blondes and a brunette get on a bus...

No, this isn't a joke. It really happened. As my bus started to pull away and take us back to our cars, an adorable young woman, the brunette, walked up to the driver.

"Wait, where does this bus go?" She apparently missed the large banners with park-and-ride names and the those same names flashing on the bus LED signs.

The driver explained that we were going to the Bloomington park and ride, next to the Mall of America.

The brunette turned to her similarly cute cohorts, the four blondes with nearly identical haircuts, who sat midway down the bus.

"What bus did we take to get here?"

The other four came up to the front of the bus. They discussed it. I heard one blonde say she was sure they had not parked in Bloomington.

"Ohmygosh, will let us get off this bus?"

We hadn't left the parking area yet so the driver politely said he could do that. The brunette turned to address the rest of the passengers.

"I'm so sorry you guys, to make you wait like that." (It had been under a minute.)

Everyone said it was no problem and wished them well finding the correct bus. I smiled, then dozed off for the ride to Bloomington.

[venerablehoney]

What’s your favorite form of potato? Like, maybe top 10?

Excellent question: mashed, grilled, little colorful potatoes baked, whole large potatoes baked, fried, hashbrowns, french fries, tater tots, potato salad hehe

[love-and-hisses]

It's #Thlurrrrpsday, and please admire Starling and Tater/Plover's excellent form. Rufous and Wren are impressed! (Yes, there was Churu involved in the making of this picture.)

[nrccookingclubofficial]

I really liked to cook before I came to NRC. Do you have any recipes that would be good on a budget? Crowley cut the funding again and I'm starting to get a little tired of the Ramen :(

For some easy generally affordable dishes I'd say things like sloppy joes, casseroles (especially ones with tater tot or instant rice bases) , leftovers soup (save up leftover veg and meat from other dishes and throw them in a pot or slowcooker if you have one), tuna melts, buttered noodles or other pastas, Goulash, loaded grits, and things like mug cakes/ Brownies and good for a treat.

And some advice is look for what is in season, as its often more affordable, shop for clearance (especially with produce), shop bulk bins if you can, because it's more sustainable and have more control over how much you buy and therefore can get just what you need, and often is cheaper, look in papers and online for coupons you and clip, and look for substitutions if a ingredient has a shortage (ie The liquid from canned chickpeas for eggs (chickpeas are also an excellent, affordable protein) when baking), and look for gardens stands and split bulk goods (for example at a garden stand I have that recently they had flats of cucumbers or strawberries for less than 10 bucks, which is a steal to split or for preserving if you have the space

(Ooc: checkout ysac for funny videos that do actually help with recipes and cooking and there's a lot that can help on a budget)

[violetrose-art]

Old Man Wickles: As if you getting the lead in 'My Fair Lady' wasn't enough! Jacobo: I was an excellent Eliza! You were too acty! Old Man Wickles: And stealing my tater tots! Jacobo: You kept saying you felt puffy!

[breathingxspace]

Excuse me if this has been asked before, or has no answer, but what's in a thrice-fried pie?

Excellent question!

A Thrice Fried Pie (Tri-Pie if your tongue doesn't twist that way) can be made with a variety of the different fillings. The formula is this:

Start with a fried food (french fries, tater tots, hushpuppies, chicken nuggets, churros, mozzarella sticks. anything that's delicious and bad for you) that's your filling and the first of the three fryings.

Wrap this filling in a dough. You can throw some sauce or cheese or chocolate chips in there too if you want. Then you fry the whole thing to cook the dough. That's the second frying.

Then you dip the whole thing in a light batter and fry it again. That's the third frying.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a dipping sauce of your choice. I'd recommend a pineapple-habenero hot sauce or malt vinegar.

And ask the vendor for extra"crispies". The third fry sheds in the frying oil and makes these little crunchy whispy bits of fried batter that are absolutely delicious. You usually get some with the pie itself but if you ask they'll throw the extras in and they're nearly as good as the pie itself.

[pbandjesse]

Me and Jess are sitting in the Japan pavilion in Epcot after a very very long day. We are waiting on fireworks. I am having such a a great time even though at some points today I was in so much pain I thought I was going to fall apart. But Jess did such a good job breaking up our day and making sure we got a good break. I am having such a fun trip.

We got to bed last night after washing hair and getting cozy. We werent able to get the Disney Plus to log in so instead we watched the story book version of Rapunzel they had in the TV and Jess was asleep before the 13 minutes was up. It took me a little longer but not much.

And it was a pretty great sleep. Excellent excellent pillows. I was tired but I felt pretty good. I would be better once I had some caffeine.

We got dressed and I braided my hair. Jess curled hers a little. And things were good. We were both a little unsure about how cold it was or our shoes but we made our choices and headed to breakfast.

When we got there we realized we could mobile order. So after we figured that out we didn't have to wait to to long before our food was ready. A coffee and a soda helped. It was interesting to learn how the soda cups have an RFID chip in the bottom to track your refills. And we decided that I should get the reusable mug for the week because it will be a better deal in the end. But that would be at dinner. For the morning I got a paper cup, we shared eggs and tater tots and Jess got waffles. It was a good meal and kept us on budget.

I went to use the bathroom and smashed my arm between the stall door and the toilet paper holder and it hurt so much. I was still holding it by the time I got back to the table. Ouch.

But it was time to go. We walked to the bus stop. The line was crazy long. But we were in a good mood and it was fine to wait.

The problem would arise when 6 Animal Kingdom buses came before an Epcot did and everyone was a little frustrated and upset. We were fine but we were also a little stressed. The Epcot buses would be an issue all day. I was very motivated to get to what Jess wanted to get to first before the park opened so I was focused.

The bus we got on was very full and we were a little squished. But it wasn't a long ride and once we got to the park, after going through security and using the bathroom, we got into Epcot! I was so excited.

We needed to get to France to try and get on the Remy ride. I was trying to make Jess power walk. But in the end it did not matter. Because the line was two counties over it was so long! We were not going to wait in that.

(Had to pause for an hour to watch the fireworks. Now we are waiting for the bus)

So instead we started walking around the world. And it was really neat! I knew I would like this one but I only had some small memories of what Epcot was like. For some reason I had completely forgotten it had a water front. And it was like a full circle. Not what I had in my mind. But it was so cool seeing everything.

I liked Mexico a lot. Way more then I expected. The ring carver souvenir stand wouldn't be open until noon so we had time to kill. We would still start in Mexico though with a boat ride where Donald duck was missing.

Here is my honest feedback of all the rides we went on today: Disney needs to not rely on screens. Whenever there were animatronics it was incredible and engaging, from the simple ones to the realistic, it was incredible. But when there were screens filling in for part of the set dressing or storyline it was so stupid. Like just not enjoyable at all. And I'm not talking about the overhead 360 screens that are immersive. I'm talking about the almost TV projector screens. Thankfully not everything is screen heavy.

I really did enjoy our first ride. And just walking around. We decided to head back to spaceship earth to try the ride inside the ball. And it was probably my favorite of the entire day. We had to wait outside for a while but it wasn't a terribly long time. Which is very good because it was freezing.

It ended up being incredibly windy and that wind was icy cold. I am really really glad I wore this fleece because I would have been miserable. My face was so cold. Thankfully the rest of me was fine. I had decided at the last minute to put on tights and that was such a good call. Saved my day for sure.

Jess was still a bit cold. So after our next ride, where we got to learn about living with the land and plant and fish farming techniques, Jess would buy a sweatshirt. She was a lot more comfortable after that.

We got to add to a painting at the festival. Jess did 5 squares of yellow and I did 5 of a grey blue green tone. It was a lot of fun to get to be a part of the art. And we'll get to see it later and know where we helped because I made sure to ask. It was really nice to have an activity.

Back to spaceship earth. This was my favorite ride. I loved that it was going back in time. For some reason I thought it was talking about the future. So I really was just tickled seeing all the different historical scenes and marveled at how the animatronics moved. They took our pictures and used us in a little animation on the screen in our car which was hilarious because we didn't know the picture was happening so we both looked so silly. There was an incredible star part. We went backwards for a little which was probably the most uncomfortable part. But it was just so cool. I loved it.

We would go in a few shops. I got a baby panda that I had such a visceral reaction to. He's pink!! I carried him in my pocket.

And had a lot of fun trading pins. We each had 12 to trade away from what my mom gathered for us. And I think I have made some excellent selections. I am really pleased and it's been a really fun little task.

Jess said that she is enjoying how I'm interacting and looking at the spaces. She's been here so many times so she is mostly just following where I want to explore. Which lead is to see the 360 video about Canada. Which was honestly pretty cool. And it gave us a little break sitting down when no one was hsing the handicap bench. I even slipped off my shoes to stretch my feet in the ground using some of my old ballet stretched and it helped a lot.

We would head back to Mexico to order our rings. Jess got 'mood' and I got 'jesse' and 'soft' (James thought that it would be funny to have a metal ring say soft.) And the woman was really nice. She sent us back inside the Mexico pavilion to pay.

And when we were in there the nice man, Carlos, at the counter pulled out his guitar and played happy birthday at me and then!! He let me go through his social box of pins for trading and I got an orange bird pin from the flower festival last year and it's my most special pin now. He was so sweet. I really appreciated it.

We were struggling with food though. That was for sure the hardest thing today. When Jess has been here for the food and wine festival there were so many options. But there was almost nothing we could have. It either has bread or meat. And it was super discouraging because today was the day we didn't make a reservation for anything. I was at least able to get a grilled cheese and soup and a piece of chiffon mousse. And Jess was able to have some of the soap and the mousse and that held us together. It was actually really fabulous and gave me a second wind for sure. Between the food and the caffeinated crystal lite I brought with me, I was solid for the next couple hours.

We would wander around the world and eventually pick up our rings. Which I love. But my fingers were a little swollen from walking around so I almost got the one stuck on my finger and had a very scary moment but I would get it off before it was a problem. Once my hands weren't so swollen later I was able to wear them no problem. Though I may take a file the the band later because the edge is just a smidge sharp. Still an excellent gift to myself.

Jess would have some risotto from Canada. Which I did not like the texture of but I was glad she got to eat. We would wander in and out of shops and I was having a blast. But I was getting pretty tired. The sun would perk up and the wind would calm down for a bit and it would get almost to warm for a few minutes. But honestly that was not as uncomfortable as the cold had been. I just took off my fleece and was only slightly to warm in my tights.

And that would last for that long. We decided that we were both pretty low on energy. And we should start heading back. I realized that we were maybe 45 minutes past our energy levels and my feet started hurting so wildly bad. My ankle has been rubbing all morning but it got to a spot where I was just. Struggling. And my struggling made me want to speed walk to get to sitting but Jess was all locked up and going very slow. Which was understandable but I was frustrated because my feet were hurting so bad. It felt like standing on knives (little mermaid reference). But we struggled through and got to our bus and it wasn't even a very long wait.

I was thrilled to be sitting. And the sitting helped give me the little bit of relief to walk back to our hotel. We were both so stiff and it was kind of horrible.

Once I was out of my tights and socks and put on my little toe separators things, we both laid backwards on our beds with our feet on the headboards to try and get the blood to not make them swell and I think it helped a lot. After 20 or so minutes of that I turned around and fell asleep.

Jess let me sleep until 5. I was not thrilled about waking up but she was already dressed so it was clear she let me rest longer and so I pulled myself together. Which was tough. I was still very tired. But I got redressed and we had some huge laughs and things felt right again even if we were both just a little prickly.

Dinner would help. We tried ordering the mobile order from our room. But this did not make things quicker. Annoying. I did get my refillable cup and it's great. I think it will be a good souvenir plus cost per use it is absolutely worth it for me. And our dinner of pizza, fries, gluten free chicken strips, carrots, and celery was actually really great. We had so many sauces. And it was fun people watching. A little child even came up to me to tell me a joke and I told her one back. She has been driving her mother crazy repeating the same knock knock over and over. I was glad to give a slight distraction.

Getting back to Epcot was difficult. We had another multiple Animal Kingdom buses but it made even less sense because animal Kingdom closes at 6! It was after 6! Why are they going there? The answer really is they make a loop and will keep picking people up but it was still frustrating.

The family next to us was funny. There tween daughter was a city girl who was being extra and she did a very very bad cartwheel and I clapped for her and it was just so silly. They gave us on waiting for Epcot and went to Disney springs instead. But we stuck it out and the bus would eventually come. Honestly it worked out because the other family near us forgot their backpack in the restaurant and the mom had to book it running across the parking lot. And she made it back in time. Excellent.

We would get back to Epcot at 7. And it was great. We were able to basically walk onto the finding Nemo ride. Which relied on screens way to much but ended in an actual aquarium and that was amazing.

Jess would go take a break and I would explore all the fish and seahorses by myself. I sat in the tank window to watch the dolphins and got to see manatees for I think the first time ever. They were sleeping but it was still really cool.

Despite how tired we had been I was a really doing great. That rest was perfect. We got popcorn. I don't love popcorn that much but Jess does. It was still fun to snack. And we got to go the other direction. Towards Morocco, the UK, Italy, and Japan. And it was so fun.

Japan was probably my favorite store and I showed so much restraint and didn't buy anything. Jess got one blind box. It is a little cat holding a shrimp. Very on brand.

It was getting late. And the fireworks start at 9. The next thing we wanted to eat was a sushi donut and a strawberry mochi. And they were right there. And at this point there was no line! Incredible.

While we were waiting for the order to come out I suggested finding a bench and posting up for the fireworks. I ran away from her to commander the open bench I saw. And once she brought the food over the mochi was so good! It would have been improved by more strawberry pieces but was still excellent. Jess said the sushi donut was just fine. More a novelty but fine.

We aren't sure the bench was right for fireworks. So we kept running around the area to scope out a better place. We sat and waited and I started this post. Which I am now finishing in our hotel room.

In the end it didn't matter where our bench was.

Once the fireworks started we realized we had a building mostly in the way. So a few minutes in we moved closer to stand and watch. And it was. Incredible. Like I was almost crying incredible. It was about 15 minutes and the music and the way they even used the smoke to bounce light and the ideas about human connection and love. They made firework hearts?? I was enthralled. I may not get Mickey Mouse but I get this. And this was incredible.

And that was it. That was the end of the park day. Except not really. We still had to walk across the world to get to the buses. And I was in such a lovely mood I decided to speed run us getting some pictures together. It is a struggle with crowds. But most people were gone and so we found a few places with nice architecture and I snapped some shots and we got to hear the staff silly singing to each other and it was just so much fun.

We got out of the park and got on the 3rd bus. Didn't even have to wait that long. We weren't able to sit together but that was okay. I wrote my post and soon enough we were back. I was in pain again but it wasn't so bad. And now I'm going to take a shower and we are going to put on a movie and we will sleep.

Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom! We better not have as much struggle with the buses. But also we are going to sleep in an extra hour. I am looking forward to a day filled with creatures and critters and Jess says more rides. I am excited.

I love you all so much. Until next time!!

[slasheru]

hi hello im one of the new people from the games for gaza bundle. slasher u IMMEDIATELY caught my eye, im so passionate about horror and especially slasher films so an entire game where i get to live out slasher college? its like a dream come true. tate sealed the deal for me with all his horror film obsessive rambling weirdness, like i started shaking i wanted him so bad. played the game like nonstop from yesterday night to this morning. ALL of the characters are magnetically attractive and easy to love, plus a fascinating developing story about the mysterious vandal and the attempted murders. (my bet is on horsemike since hes kind of a dick.) you have an excellent understanding of what your audience wants in a game, from the character archetypes and storylines to things like thorough gender/sex/presentation customization, clothing and accesories, fun minigames (like student hunting 101) and repetitive tasks for stable income. (thank god.) amazing work thus far. cant wait to see how everything develops. 💜

aaaa thank you so much, that means a lot!!! And welcome to the Tater Thots squad :')))) and thank you especially for the biggest game dev compliment I might've ever gotten, ever, LOL :')))))))))))

[bigbadfrostwolf]

Well, it's been a little over a week since our little "Potato Tony" was born (and it was initially a struggle to get Bean to call him by his real name) so I figured I might as well update anyone interested.

Little Tater was born last Monday, March 6th at 9:16pm. Delivery was quick and uneventful. I still can't believe I waited until I was 9cm to get an epidural. To be honest, I was completely in denial that I was in transition because I legitimately thought my labor would take longer (and because I was so damn determined to finally get to eat a Jimmy John's sandwich... of which, I ate two bites, promptly vomited, and asked my nurse to start the fluid bolus for my epidural haha). If I had known I was that far along already, I probably would have opted to go without one, but ultimately I don't regret doing it. All in all, it was a good experience and my coworkers took excellent care of us while we were in the hospital.

Since coming home on Wednesday, it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Tater had his first appointment with his pediatrician on Friday and she heard a heart murmur so she consulted a pediatric cardiologist. My husband was absolutely beside himself even though I tried to reassure him that lots of babies have murmurs and many of them grow out of them. He doesn't have any other symptoms so that was reassuring. He also has a sacral dimple (so did Bean when he was born) that we'll get an ultrasound of when he gets a little bigger, but the pediatrician was more concerned about the murmur. Then over the weekend, Bean started getting sick again so we suspected he has yet another ear infection.

We took Tater to the cardiologist yesterday for an echo. He does have a small ventricular septal defect (hole in his heart), but the cardiologist said due to the size and location, she's hopeful that it will close on its own as he grows. In the meantime, they'll track his weight (he's already a little past his birth weight) and have us come back regularly for follow-ups so we go back for another echo next month. While we were there, my mom took Bean to the doctor for me and he does indeed have another double ear infection. So I called this morning to schedule him an appointment with an ENT to discuss possible tube placement but the earliest they could get him in was early May.

So it's been... busy. I'm glad I had such an easy delivery because I definitely don't feel like I've been able to rest and recover as much as I should, but I knew it was going to be more difficult this time around with a 3.5yo to look after. Bean has been acting out a bit, but for the most part has been adjusting well and is pretty smitten with his brother.

[nooomagnus]

potato poll op here: tater tots are mini hashbrowns change my mind! genuinely want to hear your reasoning :)

omg sorry for the delay esteemed potato poll op

(for context the poll grouped tater tots/hashbrowns as one potato option (potatoption?) to which i objected in the tags)

excellent poll 10/10

2. i usually make hashbrowns from like frozen shredded potatoes which allows u a lot of mix-ins. my typical is scallions and lots of garlic powder

but like. u could go full on caramelized onion. u could add cheese! herbs! leeks! bacon! onion/cilantro/chili and squeeze a lotta lime on top when done. the world is your hashbrown

3. BUT if you usually have the preformed hashbrown patties (also delicious don't get me wrong) 100% agreed those are giant tater tots and they are delicious for it