#and it adds more flavor and then you can fish it out easily) anyway i trim it but i still leave SOME fat on it bc thats what you do but

[bunnyb34r]

I think I finally figured out how to make beef roasts not taste like shit (they taste so gamey to me compared to cuts like stew meat/beef tips or steaks).

Crockpot on high for 6 hours, heavily season. Put your carrots, potatoes, whatever root veggies you add to your liking. Cover with water. Take out and put in the oven with a little of the "broth" from the crockpot. Either bake at 375°f for 30 min or broil until crispy and brown. Let cool/rest for 10 min. While the meat is in the oven, use the "broth" to make gravy and either put the gravy back in the crockpot with the veggies, or leave it all separate. Enjoy

It was the best fucking roast I've had in a long time man 🤤

[nomoregoldfish]

Imagine Pacho Sends You as a Gift to (Spy on) Amado 2/3

This is getting out of hand again, smh. (Not really) Warning: everyone loves Pacho. Un-betaed, I’ll post the entire thing on AO3 later. For now, you can find part 1 here.

Amado is occupied with all sorts of business affairs after you land in DF, leaving you to his younger brother Vicente. You quickly learn Vicente is in charge of security of all cartel business, that's something, you assume.

When asked why you don't go to Juárez directly, Vicente tells you Amado has several meetings with some important figures in DF. You have to figure out a way to infiltrate the plaza to learn more about Amado, staying at a luxury apartment owned by the narcos won't get you anything useful.

"She's crazy!" Vicente's whining when Amado finally shows up late that night, "She woke up at 5 in the morning for a fucking jog and dragged my ass to a wet market before it even opened. And that's not the end of it, she bought so much fish and my car still smells like a stinky fish tank right now."

Vicente is a bit exaggerating but you do have a fruitful trip to the local market. 

"Yet you finished everything she cooked." Amado points at the empty plates on the dining table, not annoyed at all.

"Do you have some leftovers?" The tall Mexican turns to you. Vicente interrupts, "No, we ate all salmon sashimi because Ryoko said salmon has to be served as fresh as possible, and I ate all wasabi. Oh man, that shit is hotter than serrano peppers. But don't worry, we have a lot of more fish in the jacuzzi." Right, it comes handy to have more than one bathtub in the luxury apartment.

Finally Amado sends away his bratty little brother. Then it's just the two of you. 

"I've got something for you." You remember to smile, which seems to work fine as Amado approaches. "All done?" He asks, you haven't figured it out what he's asking about, the dishes? Yes. Then the Mexican lowers your ponytail, running his fingers through your hair. 

"You don't wanna hair in your grilled pacific saury." You joke, bringing him another set of hot meal you specifically make for him.

"Tell me more about it." Amado takes a large bite, looking satisfied and more relaxed.

You two are chatting over some mezcal and a plate of edamame afterwards. Amado asks about your day, and trades some anecdotes about Vicente when you tentatively ask about his. The fucker is smart and vigilant. 

"I have to tell you something," Okay, you get his full attention, "The bluefin tuna you ate three days ago wasn't served in the best condition. Pacho wanted a show, everything grand and pretty, so I had to cut the red part of the fish and make a bright-colored akami plate right away. It's meaty and chewy, which should have been aged for three days in the fridge to allow the texture to soften and release more flavor," You opens the fridge, showing Amado several chunks of tuna you already cut out, "You can have friends over in three days, I bought enough for a full table."

"What about the pink ones?" He seems genuinely interested. You continue to explain that different parts of tuna offer variable tastes from super fatty pink otoro around the head and collar to chutoro, mixture of fat and meat from the back and belly.

To your surprise, Amado asks for a slice of the fat part, "You said it's the most expensive one. I shouldn't waste your hard-earned money, right?" Both of you laugh.

You take a really fat cut. When you're looking for a plate and the soy sauce, Amado just eats it from your hand. Your fingers are freezing from the tuna and when he swallows them with the slice, the hot and soft sensation around fucking turns you on like nothing else. The sashimi-hater even licks your fingers a few more times, "to clean the fat."

As he claimed, "It's better."

"Now you're gonna show me how you destroy my jacuzzi on day one."

You feel great sitting by the edge of the jacuzzi a.k.a. your temporary fish tank and checking out all the aquatic animals you bought earlier.

"It could've been us in it." What a tease. You laugh then get up, "I don't think it's a good idea to get naked with lobsters and octopuses." 

"Wait," Amado turns you around, still sitting by the edge, "Let me make it up for you."

When Amado decides to give you a head, you simply don't say no. It's like sitting on his face because you can barely stand still. He notices then pulls you closer. The lips used to wrap around your fingers now make you feel like in heaven, and God bless his fucking tongue. The Mexican is driving you mad.

"Shh, you wake up the octopus." You're at the tipping point and the fucker pauses. You open your eyes, an octopus is on the move, two tentacles approaching the edge of the jacuzzi, sucker rings very close to your bare legs.

Then imagine Amado gets up and pushes you up against the tiles in the shower, silencing you with a rough kiss. You taste yourself, and something raw, could be the tuna or the cigarettes he smokes. You get even more aroused by that. 

You're desperate for more of his touch. So you grab his big hand and put it between your thighs, and he's willing to comply. 

This is too much. You cum just after a few rubs against him.  

"I'm sorry for the other night. You're a genius." Amado's playing dirty, sweet-talking while he continues to rub against your oversensitive part, "Would you do me favor? I'm thinking about hosting a few guests, somewhere private, the tuna will be ready by Friday, right?"

You can't believe he falls for the trick. This could be an important business meeting and you're gonna be there.

"Sure. Can I ask something in return?" You already come to your senses while giving Amado a painfully slow handjob.

"Anything you want. Flowers? Jewelry? Cars? I have some better collections than Pacho's Corvette C4. Too flashy." Amado offers generously.

You can't help laughing, "Gosh, how could men make everything a dick comparison contest?"

"You saw his dick?" Amado bites your lower lips. He's rock hard, throbbing.

"I thought you did, too. You two seem very close. I mean, Pacho is a gorgeous man." You keep going, and teasing. You enjoy the fact that you just plant something really dirty in Amado's head. You bet he's having an imaginary threesome with you and Pacho. Not a bad idea though.

By the time you make him come, the Mexican almost forgets what you're asking.

"I ask 'Do you have some dumbbells?' I need my daily training and I don't have time to find a new gym here. What? How do you think I'm able to handle a 150lbs tuna in a line of work mostly for men?" You give Amado a little squeeze before licking it off.

You have a dream that night, being penetrated by Amado in some warm water while a giant octopus sucks you off. You wake up with wetness down there.

You visit several Japanese restaurants in town, unsurprisingly boring. You get the idea that local middle-class see Japanese cuisine as an exotic and cultural novelty. 

You even invite Amado to have lunch at one of those restaurants during his break. He frowns at the food after the first bite, "You can't do this to me."

What? "Asking me to eat this crap is inhumane. I'm spoiled." Amado makes it sound like you're the bad guy, but these smiling eyes give him away. He looks at you the way that makes you feel wanted.

You two end up eating cheap Mexican street food and that's where you find some early blossoms of jacarandas with excitement.

"You want those?" Amado asks, picking up some dried petals from the street. All you can think of is jacarandas flower could be an interesting alternative to sakura, which adds a domestic touch to the food you're gonna prepare for Friday. 

"Yes, please." Amado must find it weird but he just nods.

Once being brought to the outskirt location of the private meeting, you spend more time making rearrangement of the decor, trying to create an authentic Japanese ryotei experience. 

You call Amado once for extra resources. It's tricky because you don't know if you're in a position to ask anything when he's away, busy.

"I'm glad you called. I may not be an Asian culture fanatic like Pacho but I promise you will have anything you want. Whatever rare shit he's bought you, just name it. I'll have an entire Boeing 727 team ready to fly it in from every fucking corner of the world." Yeah, the dick measuring thing is still going on. 

What you don't mention is that you're also glad to hear his voice. "Will you come over?" You almost let it slip, "I mean, to see if you like everything."

"No. I trust you," Amado pauses, "I'll be an hour early."

"Mind the traffic." Bright laughter breaks from the other end of the line.

And thanks to the highly efficient Carrillo Air Express, stuff you request is brought to you the next day including a whole box of violet jacarandas petals.

You ask for a guest list before starting to set the table. "Just set tables for eight people." Vicente clearly has no idea of being a host. You explain that it's part of your job to make sure no one is allergic to seafood. "How the fuck do I know that?" The young man is still complaining.

"Don't worry. Give me a list. I'll look for their office numbers, call their secretaries and find out."

Vicente is easily convinced. You get what you want, a list of high-up politicians and business executives. Not sure how this is relevant but you memorize the names and companies anyway.

Amado makes his arrival almost cinematic. With a chopper still swirling outside, the man in black steps out from the driving seat on the right and waves to you like a king. 

"You're early." You can hide your smile this time.

"Because someone suggested I should 'mind the traffic.' It happens I've owned a few choppers." The fucker looks like a dashing pilot out Hollywood movies. 

You joke that he's nothing like what Pacho used to say, "Low-profile my ass." 

"Oh, Pacho talks about me?"

"Stop. I'm really not interested in which one of you has a bigger dick."

Later Amado hands you a wrapped frame. "I heard you're looking for some Japanese art for decoration. I don't know anything about art but..."

You can't believe he brings you a shunga, tradition Japanese erotic painting, depicting a giant octopus performing oral on a woman with pink tentacles all over her naked body. "You're ridiculous." You frown, it's too explicit you're not sure if it's appropriate for such an occasion.

"I saw something similar at Pacho's house. Well, minus the woman. Just boys." The cheeky bastard winks at you, "You're also serving octopus sashimi tonight? It's a fit then." That's how a print of the famous Octopus and Girl Diver ends up in the main room.

Dinner starts at 8 and everything is ready. You're asked to briefly introduce each dish to the guests when one's presented. Guests praise everything from the chopstick rest made of porcelain with traditional Mexican patterns, to the floral-shaped bream sashimi slices. The tuna sushi is a hit, everyone loves it. You give Amado a knowing smirk when you catch him taking a few himself. The octopus sashimi is a bit tricky but the guests are so "polite", they still pretend to enjoy the exotic food. 

The rest of the time you stay outside the room. You hear things but not in a coherent manner. Amado mentions NAFTA, export-oriented furniture and auto parts factories in Juárez, and two of them are head of the biggest tequila exporters of the country. Nothing makes sense for the drug business. Is the most successful Mexican drug trafficker gonna shift to other legitimate businesses? That might have an impact on Pacho's business.

When dessert is brought to the table, everyone wows — the improvised jacarandas mochi with dried petals is a nice surprise to end the dinner. You tell them the story that instead of the much-anticipated sakura which wasn't well-adjusted to the Mexican weather, how jacarandas was introduced to Mexico City by a Japanese gardener in the 1930s. All the guests finish their plates while giving you a few nods.

Amado seems very pleased with everything you've done. He lowers his voice to ask you to wait for him afterwards.

"Where are we going?" You ask through the headphones. Seems Amado is flying you back to downtown DF.

The Mexican smirks, "To the sky."

You finally land atop the roof of a skyscraper, "This is the tallest building in Mexico." Amado holds you tight when you exit the chopper. The wind at night in early January is insane, let alone you're 700ft above the ground.

It must be some five-star hotel but turns out it's an office building of Pemex, Mexico's state-owned oil company. WTAF? "Put it this way, the biggest exporters of the country hang out sometimes." Amado's sense of humor is something you didn't expect, "Well, I'm not saying they bring as many unattached US dollars as I do, not even close."

When you let the fact sink in — that the Juárez cartel probably earns twice as much as the biggest oil company in the country through exporting "goods," having access to a secret suite on the top floor of the Pemex Tower is not surprising at all.

"You bring people here often?" You ask when Amado pops a bottle of wine. The city view from the 54th floor is stunning.

"I didn't know you're the jealous type." He brings you a glass. You two stand in front the giant window, raising your glasses like you're celebrating. 

"You haven't asked what we're celebrating." Amado takes a step closer.

You put index finger on his lips, which are incredibly soft. Immediately remind you last time you kissed, "I don't want to get myself killed in a foreign country."

"Did Pacho teach you that? Not asking questions, just do your thing." Amado starts kissing your hand.

"Oh, my God. You're so obsessed with him, and it's kinda cute."

"Nonsense." The Mexican disagrees, and turns to the window. 

You sets both of your glasses aside, then leads Amado to the bed. You get undressed first, lying on the bed, waiting.

"You're sure this is something you want?" You ask, completely stripped. Amado stares at your flat-chested body like the first time he found out who you are. 

"You make it sound like I haven't sleep with supermodels. That funny?" The fucker tickles you, "You have no idea..."

Imagine Amado makes you feel adored, marking every inch of your body with his big hands and soft lips. He takes time, mapping your body till he finds the most sensitive spots and makes you moan, shivering.

"Let me warm you up." Amado probably thinks you're cold, so he spoons you. The long limbs of his are like tentacles wrapped around you, fuck, you can feel his erection grinding against you.

You're so wet for Amado. When he finally pushes in from behind, neither of you can resist the sensation.

"Wanted to do this to you the whole week. You're such a fucking tease, aren't you? Dropped at my door in that kimono robe then left without letting me even touch you." Amado pounds into you, with hand reaching your little bean from behind, making you a total mess.

 "Why didn't you make me stay then?" You're nearly breathless, "Is it...because it's within Pacho's territory?" You obviously cross some line with that. The thrusts become harder, feels like Amado is gonna fuck you senseless.

You're not sure if Pacho wants to know you are talking about him when you reach orgasm. 

You decide to leave it out before you pass out.

[stressedspidergirlsfandomblog]

Content Warnings: Heavy discussions around consent. Implications Geralt isn’t really clear on what all enthusiastic consent is. (no, Dandelion and Yennefer are not part of this problem in this fic, ever, at any point.) 

When Yennefer and Dandelion return, Geralt wakes and Ciri slips free of his embrace. She helps them unsaddle their horses and picket them alongside Kelpie and Roach. Yennefer watches as Geralt gets up stiffly, and her violet eyes look around the small copse. The fire is well fed, perhaps a larger blaze than he might normally build. The rock hadn’t been there before, and two sets of clothing are laid out on it. They don’t quite fit, sleeves and legs dangling off the edges and parts overlapping. They look mostly dry. His hair has that look it gets when he hasn’t brushed it out after it gets wet. Ciri looks a little bedraggled, too, but considerably more chipper.

“No, don’t touch that,” she reminds the bard as he settles with a wicker basket by the fire. “That’s not for you, not all of it. The sweet buns are for Geralt.” She can’t help but smile when her lover perks up considerably at her words. “They might still be warm, provided he hasn’t let all the heat out rummaging around in there. I found two.”

He descends hastily upon the wicker basket, ignoring the bard’s attempts to slap his hands away as he pulls two small rounds of bread coated in cinnamon and sugar from the handkerchief wrapping up all the baked goods. Hungry, he holds back from devouring the treat, forcing himself to savor them. It’s rare to even find breads made like this.

Ciri giggles at the picture he makes, both hands full, eyes closed in bliss as he eats the rolls.

“Leave him be,” Yennefer tells her, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Get something to eat. Did you both fall into the stream training?” she asks.

“No, I suggested the cold water would be good for his leg, it was bothering him. I then told him I’d dump him in for his own good. So he dumped me in, instead.”

“And decided to come in after you?”

“Well, he dumped us both.”

Dandelion allows her to dig through the basket as she pleases, smiling at her. “I’ve eaten, take what you want. Some of this is for tomorrow, though, so try not to eat it all, or let Geralt. We have other things for dinner.” He sets the basket down and sits at Geralt’s side, gently rubbing his back. Initially, Geralt moves one of the pastries closer to his chest, expecting some kind of attempt to take them, before he opens his eyes and realizes Dandelion just wants to be near him. He leans in contentedly, carefully licking his fingers clean of any lingering sugar before starting the second bun.

“You can be such a simple creature,” Dandelion teases him, kissing his cheek. “A warm place to sleep, a full belly, and you’re easily pleased.”

“Not all of us can demand everything, whether we have need of it or not,” Geralt tells him, tearing himself away from the confection long enough to form a rational thought. It’s been years since he’s eaten one of these, and he’d determined he wasn’t going to waste any of the time eating one with unpleasantness such as thinking.

Yennefer settles next to him on his other side. She can tell from how he’s moving he’s warm enough, but all the same she sees no reason not to be close to him. Ciri had helped herself to a few jam tarts and a doughnut before sitting across the fire from them to eat. She gently tips Geralt’s chin up and over so he’s looking at her and she smiles at him. “You’ve got sugar on your face,” she tells him. Before he can reach up to brush it off, she teasingly licks his cheek and laughs when she catches his thought about mutations and blushing. “I’ve almost got it all,” she tells him, kissing his other cheek, and then finally his lips. He tastes of cinnamon.  

“We should get the tents pitched,” Dandelion says when the witcher and sorceress pull apart. “At least, the tents people can sleep in,” he smiles widely.

“As if you haven’t pitched your own,” Yennefer sniffs delicately.

“Ciri, help us set up the camp,” Geralt tells her, getting up with a soft groan. He’s glad he has his cloak on because it hides exactly what Dandelion had been mocking him for. Not that the affliction lasts long. He’s tired, and the prospect of dealing with the tentpoles doesn’t much appeal to him.

In short order both tents are up, bedrolls are inside, and Geralt resists the urge to crawl into his. They haven’t eaten dinner yet, the sun isn’t even properly setting. It’s too early to be this worn out. Yennefer is warming cider over the fire and he sniffs appreciatively. Clove, cardamom, maybe, definitely allspice, and the warm smell of apples. The hot drink goes down easily when she passes him a cup and he settles next to her again, leaning into her.

“I’m tired, Yen,” he tells her.

“We’re all tired, Geralt,” she informs him dryly.

“No, not like that,” he protests sleepily.

“Then take a nap, I don’t see what good telling me is supposed to do.”

“It doesn’t feel right,” he adds grumpily, not sure why she isn’t more alarmed. He doesn’t need as much sleep as a normal man. He’s used to living rough on the road. There’s no reason for this.

“Perhaps you’ve been making stupid choices that prevent you from getting enough rest. Such as dunking yourself in an icy stream after spending fuck knows how much time training with Ciri?”

He snorts in irritation and hands her the now-empty cup back before moving to sit with Dandelion in hopes of finding a more sympathetic ear. The bard is happy to stroke his hair and allow him to curl up close. Ciri had chosen to work on her wrist exercises again after making sure the camp was properly ready. Geralt falls asleep under Dandelion’s sympathetic ministrations and dozes pleasantly until the bard wakes him for dinner.

Ciri had taken over cooking since Yennefer preferred not to. Unaided she’d caught some more fresh fish and had added them to a small pot with water and fresh vegetables and seasoning over the fire. It’s not much of a stew, being far too thick, but the pot wasn’t big enough to hold more water, and what mattered was the food was hot, cooked the whole way through, and had some flavor to it. Dandelion helps ladle out portions of the food and Geralt kisses Ciri’s forehead in thanks. They sit together as they eat, blowing on the food to cool it in companionable silence.

Dandelion takes empty bowls from them when they’re done, amused to find both the witcher and his cub licking out the insides after having licked the spoons clean. He’ll rinse them in the river and scour them out with sand before returning them. “Did you not get enough, I think there’s a bit more,” he teases.

“I’m alright,” Geralt says. Unless there really is more and Ciri doesn’t want it. He looks at her and she shakes her head. He gets up to investigate. When no one else wants the leftovers in the pot he recovers his spoon from the bard and takes the pot to sit back down and finish it off. He shivers involuntarily when Dandelion runs a hand lightly down his spine. It feels good and he leans into it. Amused, the bard tenses his hand a little, lightly scratching up and down his witcher’s back. When Geralt finishes eating Dandelion takes the small pot and heads to the stream to wash their dishes.

“I am going to take Ciri to feel out some ley lines,” Yennefer tells Geralt idly. “We’ll try and stay within earshot of you, so you don’t get too concerned. They’re close. But I doubt we’ll be able to hear you if you’re the one making the noise. If the camp is attacked-” she passes him a small vial -” throw this onto the fire. It’ll send up a flare that will warn us. We will not come for you and Dandelion,” she tells him quietly. Ciri isn’t listening, busy cleaning her sword. “I will take her somewhere safe, and I expect you to do the same.”

“I know,” he tells her quietly, taking the vial. It’s what they had talked about months ago, when they were still searching for the girl. Split up and run. Keep Ciri away from Nilfgaard at all costs. Geralt was ready to die for it. Dandelion had said he would prefer not to, but would die for her, too. Yennefer had survived many unpleasant things and felt she would survive more. What she could not survive would be the loss of her daughter. She did not truly believe anyone could kill Geralt anyway and was far less worried about losing him in a fight. If he knew Ciri was safe he would go to ground and take the bard with him. They would be fine. She would create a kestrel and find him again, and they would reunite.

Geralt presses a kiss to her cheek and she turns her face to kiss him properly. She knows he would take her right there by the fire if not for Ciri just a few feet away. When she’s left the fire with their daughter, she hopes he’ll take advantage of that time to fool around with the bard. He could use the release. She lightly runs a hand up the inside of his leg, and he shivers.

“Yen.”

“Yes?” she asks him cheekily, kissing under his jaw. “You’ll be alone soon enough. And you’ll hear when we’re coming back,” she reminds him. She lightly draws circles higher and higher up the inside of his thigh and he makes a soft wheezing sound in protest. “Think of me while you touch yourself,” she tells him quietly, and kisses his cheek before standing up. With her normal human ears she can hear Dandelion approaching and feels it’s safe to take Ciri with her. “Ciri, come along. We might be able to get some of your magic back. Or at least see if you can still have visions. Something to help us keep ahead of the armies.”

“Coming.”

“Bring the sword, you never know.”

“Yes, Yennefer.”

She gives Geralt a look that makes his shirt feel too small and he leans forward to hide his arousal. His head snaps around when Dandelion walks out of the treeline and steps on a twig.

“Easy,” the bard holds his hands up to show all he’s armed with is their dinner dishes. Which he then lays out by the fire so they’ll dry and be ready to repack as quickly as possible. “Happy to see me?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

Geralt rolls his eyes in response but leans in closer to the bard. He has a quick internal debate with himself about the best methods for all of this. If they go into the tent and are surprised, he might not get the vial into the fire. If they take too long and Yennefer and Ciri head back, they will lose valuable time scrambling into the tent. He doesn’t hear anyone around them, and as Yennefer promised he can still barely hear her and Ciri. When his awareness of them doesn’t grow fainter, he has a feeling they’ve stopped moving. “They won’t be back for a bit,” he shrugs.

“Oh, I see. So, we have limited time, is what you’re telling me,” Dandelion smiles and slips between Geralt’s legs to press their hips together and kiss him soundly.

“We won’t have much time to clean up after, either,” Geralt tells him with a hint of concern.

“Handkerchiefs should help us with that.” The bard has already worked the laces of Geralt’s pants open, “Any other concerns I should address before we start?”

“That’s all I can think of, currently,” Geralt points out, already struggling to tear his focus away from the bard’s fingers down the front of his pants. “Tent, let’s go in the tent,” he protests, feeling his hips shudder forward of their own volition.

“Hurry up and carry me then, I’ve got you how I like you,” Dandelion teases him, kissing up the side of his neck. Geralt groans in irritation and does as Dandelion tells him, dragging the other man up by his knees. His legs shake as he walks because he can barely concentrate.

“Don’t make me drop you,” he whispers, almost embarrassed.

“In this case, if you did, I wouldn’t be able to be angry. I’d just have to make sure I did whatever I’d done, again, rather a lot of times, but when you were seated or lying down.”

They make it into the tent without much incident, Geralt working Dandelion’s shirt halfway up his chest out of his way and then dragging his pants off. They move against each other for a little while, needing the physicality of it, needing to be able to kiss and touch each other without letting up.

“I’m afraid this will be somewhat dismally short,” Dandelion murmurs against Geralt’s skin as the witcher rubs their bodies against each other. “If you don’t slow down.”

“That was the point,” Geralt offers, and lets out a little gasp when the bard reaches between them to touch far lower than he had been. “I don’t know when they’re coming back,” he reminds the other man.

“Right then,” Dandelion agrees easily enough. They’d been wanting each other for quite some time. He wouldn’t complain. They’d have time again. He knows what Geralt likes and knows what will tip him over the edge as quickly as possible. He quickly puts one hand in the witcher’s hair to gently grip it, and to occasionally do his best to run his fingers through it before gripping Geralt by the back of the neck and pulling his face in closer. He’s already so near the edge it doesn’t take much more than a kiss at the hollow of his throat to send him falling.

Geralt doesn’t need much longer before pleasure swamps him, running up his spine and making his muscles weak. “Fuck,” he comments as he flops down beside his lover. Normally he would have had no issue dropping himself down onto Dandelion directly, heedless of the mess. He’s somewhat sure he can hear Yennefer and Ciri’s voices getting a bit louder, and he doesn’t have time to clean himself up and change clothes.

“Don’t go out just yet,” Dandelion catches him by the wrist when he starts to shift to get up. The bard mops himself up quickly and discards the fabric to the side of their bedrolls. He’ll get to it in the morning. He grabs another square of fabric and dampens it with water from the canteen he likes to keep by him at all times and hooks Geralt under the knee. “This will be a bit cold, still,” he apologizes and wipes sweat from Geralt’s face and neck, their skin warming the water on the fabric before he quickly passes it over Geralt’s groin.

Almost embarrassed when he twitches at the touch, half wishing they could go again. The bard was right, that had been short. But he had needed it. Badly. He presses his lips to Dandelion’s in thanks.

“Go’n, get out there and straighten out your hair some. You can say I retired early if you want.”

“It’s too early to sleep,” Geralt protests.

“Yennefer will know exactly what happened no matter what we do, but Ciri doesn’t need to. I’ll work on my music in here.”

“With no lights? Are you…do you not want to be out here with me when they come back?”

“No, no, love, that’s not it. I’m a bigger mess than you, that’s all. It’ll take me longer to clean up.” He’s done his best to wipe their mess out of the hair covering his torso, but he’s not sure he’ll have gotten it all out. Not without a bath. “Here, if you can get to the water and back before they do, rinse out the old kerchiefs and bring them back for me, alright?”

Geralt nods and grabs them up, fixing his breeches one handed as he exits the tent. He doesn’t sense anything. No jingle of tack, no horses, no footsteps other than those of the women. Relieved, he hurries to the water, rinses the handkerchiefs as quickly as possible, squeezes them out, and rushes back to the tent.

Dandelion manages to make himself presentable in time, and they’re both barely settled by the fire by the time Ciri and Yennefer walk back into the light of the flames. Geralt, feeling very much like he had as a boy when he’d narrowly escaped punishment, tries not to laugh. The stress of it makes his shoulders shake anyway, and he rubs at his face. Dandelion notices him starting to lose his composure and starts laughing, which sets Geralt off, too.

“What’s so funny?” Ciri asks, looking over her clothes and touching her hair.

“Nothing to do with us,” Yennefer assures her, hiding a smile. “Just enjoy them being silly. It’s hard enough to find time for small joys.” She kisses the top of Ciri’s head and hugs her tightly for a moment. “Get ready to rest, we’ve had a long day.”

Ciri goes into the tent first, unsurprised to see Yennefer go over to Geralt. She’ll say goodnight to him before she goes to sleep.

Geralt glances up at the sorceress with a smile, the laughter having wound down to the occasional burst of chuckles. She sits at his side for a few moments, stroking a lock of hair back from his face. He kisses her cheek and nuzzles her, seeking a few moments of closeness with her. While she would have liked to have had a few hurried moments in a tent with him, too, she doesn’t begrudge them any. He seems better. The grueling pace and constant fear had worn them all down.

“I love you,” he tells her simply, meeting her eyes. She smiles, and says it back without hesitation. She watches as Dandelion gets up to give them a few moments, shifting around some of their things.

She kisses Geralt gently, just to be close, just to touch, just for a little, just to have him to herself for a few moments. He tangles his fingers in her hair, deeply content. His little family is safe, and with him. He isn’t alone. Yennefer breaks away first, gently smoothing his hair one last time. “I need to rest,” she tells him, kissing his cheek.

He nods, an ache in his chest. The weather is cooling and he works to bank the fire as Dandelion does a final check of the campsite before crawling into their tent. Geralt looks around the small clearing, listening for anything other than the usual wildlife sounds. He hears nothing. Smells nothing other than the usual things.

With nothing else to do, he makes one last round past the horses to affectionately give Roach a good scratch under her jaw and along her cheek before crawling into the tent. Dandelion has moved things around so it will be easy for Geralt to join him, and the witcher smiles fondly in appreciation.

**

They break camp first thing in the morning, eating the leftover pastries for breakfast. After a few hours of riding Geralt gets noticeably tenser, and he dismounts and hands his reins to Yennefer before disappearing into the brush.

“Bad food?” Dandelion asks in concern.

“No, he thinks he’s noticed something.” She cranes her neck to look around her mount, there’s plenty of hoofprints all over, but it’s a well-traveled road. Rickety cart tracks, footprints, hoofprints, even what might very well be dog prints, too. “You forget he can’t really get sick from what he eats or drinks. Not that he’d eat spoiled food, he can smell it long before it’s fully turned.” He had on several occasions turned his nose up to different types of seafood that should have been relatively fresh. He had not been wrong to do so, as others had found out. Yennefer had learned after the first time to reject the same things he did. Unless she just happened to know it was a food he preferred not to eat.

Geralt comes back to them silently, holding out a few things in his hands to Yennefer. She looks them over and nods. Dandelion cranes to look, annoyed he isn’t being included.

“What’s that?” Ciri asks, also protesting being ignored.

“Signs of soldiers,” Yennefer explains. “Be quiet so we can think.”

“We’ll need to split up,” Geralt says in a hoarse voice. It feels like he’s having his heart ripped in two. “You’ll have to take her.”

“No, Geralt, she should stay with you.”

“No, you can portal her out of danger if it becomes necessary. I can lay a false trail better, and I have less aura to trace. The bard and I can play stupid. They know you trained her and oversaw her in the Temple. As far as they know I’ve never been near her. Not really. Not until the Tower fell.”

“Geralt.”

“I know.”

“I hate this.”

“And I don’t?”

Yennefer leans into kiss him soundly for a few moments, and he hugs her to him tightly. “I love you,” she reminds him.

“I love you, too,” he tells her, throat squeezing. He kisses her again before stepping over to Ciri, watching Kelpie from the corner of his eye in case she tries to bite him. He lightly grips her ankle in the stirrup, finding he has no words for her.

“What is happening?” she asks him. “I couldn’t hear everything; did you say split up?” her voice rises in pitch to almost a scream. He frowns, as if this isn’t hard enough without some sort of awful emotional display.

“Do as Yennefer says the minute she says it. Like we taught you in the Keep, don’t shame me,” he tells her, and hates himself. This isn’t the way to do this. He steps back from Kelpie, allowing her to dismount. He hugs her tightly to him, kissing the side of her head and feeling tears soak into his shirt. “We’ll be together soon. Yennefer and I have it worked out. I know how to find her. And you.” He can barely force another word out, but he knows it’s important. “People linked by destiny will always find each other,” he promises.

“I love you, Geralt. Find me soon.”

“I will. I promise,” he reassures her, kissing the top of her head.

“Mount up, Ciri,” Yennefer says after a few moments of looking around, her horse fractious under her, sensing her mood. “We have to go.”

Ciri chokes back a sob and Geralt cups her cheek. “Control, Ciri. It’s all about control. Weep when it’s safe. Go now, we’ll hide your trail.” He looks back at Dandelion. “Unless you’d prefer to go with them?” he asks, half realizing no one had asked the bard what he’d like.

“No, someone should stay with you in case you’re injured. And I know to run like a frightened rabbit at the first sign of a fight. Don’t worry on my account. I’ll be fine.” He smiles when Ciri gives him a hug and kisses her cheek before watching her mount back up on her horse. “Be safe, Ciri.”

“I will,” she says firmly, drying her eyes. There’s no reason to cry at all, they’ll be fine and reunited as soon as possible. She will do Geralt proud.

**

             Split up from Ciri and Yennefer, he and Dandelion have done their best to leave a false trail for Nilfgaard. They’ve managed to escape all the soldiers trailing them, for all that Geralt had acquired a new scar or two thanks to Nilfgaard’s finest. They’re a day away from their rendezvous point, and Geralt is chafing at the delay.

Dandelion curls up at his side, huddling close. It’s chilly even with the fire. He presses kisses over Geralt’s cheek and neck, trying to distract him from his worries. “Yennefer is a very capable murderer, Geralt. She’ll keep Ciri safe.”            

“I lost her the last time we split up. We should never have done it again,” he says uneasily, shifting to try and get comfortable, pulling away from Dandelion’s affections. He doesn’t deserve comfort until he knows his… until he knows she’s safe. He can’t focus on anything other than worrying about his cub right now. And how vile he is that he let Yennefer take her again, knowing the risks. He’s missing half his heart.

“Geralt, we can’t travel anymore tonight, the horses are exhausted.” He teases the laces on the witcher’s clothes. “And you need to rest some, too, so you don’t fall off Roach tomorrow.”

“Hmm,” Geralt turns away, effectively shutting down the troubadour’s attempts to distract him.  He tugs the laces tight on his shirt again, unsure how sex is going to help him rest. Not that he feels like pointing that out to the insouciant bard.

“I thought,” Dandelion says softly, pulling away, “that things might be different now. I’m sorry, Geralt.” He does his best to mask the hurt in his voice. It’s not exactly easy. He’s wanted Geralt for years, and he’d thought months ago when they started their journey to find Ciri that it had changed everything.

He twists back to look at the bard, who is absolutely miserable. “Hmm?” He’s speechless. Things are very different now. He knows where Ciri is, or he did. He’s had her with him, he has Yennefer too, more than ever it feels. And he has Dandelion in new ways. He loves the way the bard kisses him, and the way he and Yennefer work together in bed.

“I thought when Yennefer… I thought perhaps you… but I see now it was for her wasn’t it? I’m sorry then. I wouldn’t have been part of it.”

“What are you talking about?” Geralt asks, sitting up. He faces the bard, head tilted slightly and brow crinkled in concern.

“We’ve been closer, but I see it’s only when Yennefer is around. I’m sorry I took it as something you wanted on your own. I don’t force my affections on people.”

“That’s all you’ve done,” Geralt counters. “But I’ve never minded.” He glances at the bard, breathing deeply. “I … there’s no reason for anything right now.”

“What?” Dandelion stares at him, his scent picking up hints of anger.

“I don’t know what you want from me, right now. But I don’t think I can give it.”

“I think you know exactly what I want, and you’re not making much sense. Not that I think I want it anymore.”

With a shake of his head to clear it, he knows he’s just making a mess of things. “You know I’m just a simple Witcher, no good with words. Let me… let me try and explain. But grant me some patience. I don’t make my living writing words and feelings. And it’s not as if I have feelings, as you know.”

The bard snorts. “Fine, I will grant you some patience. But only because…because I…” ‘Because I love you.’ He looks down at his hands, frustrated. Geralt has to have some feelings. Otherwise he wouldn’t get annoyed so easily. Nor would he love so obviously and so deeply. “I think it’s time you stopped pretending you don’t feel, Geralt.”

“The mutations change us, bard,” he says, because he has to believe it somewhat. Otherwise why does he do the things he does? Why does he deny himself what he wants so badly all the time, if he feels just like any other human? And if he feels like a human does, why do other humans hate him so much? No, he must be different, he must be ‘other.’ He’s a mutation, and a freak, and unluckily enough he’d survived the trials. Or luckily. Some days he really isn’t sure. Not that he thinks he’d undo any of it. If he was human he would have died long before Dandelion walked the continent, Ciri, too. And he never would have met Yennefer.

Perhaps if he’d been left to live a normal life, he would have found a simple love, and a simple job, and raised children with his wife. He would have died after a normal lifespan, and his only scars would have been given to him by his trade.

“I know that they do, they make you stronger, your eyes are like cats’ eyes, I see that. The stress of it bleached the hair on your head,” Dandelion points out. “Although not the rest of your hair, I’ve always wondered why that was.”

Geralt simply shrugs, he’s never contemplated why it’s only the hair on his scalp that changed. No one’s ever much said anything about his hair either way unless it’s been filthy. And usually even then, no one cares other than to be mocking or callous. Disgusting witcher, covered in guts and filth, good thing he isn’t human so he doesn’t mind. Vile creature that he is, no human would tolerate that, no matter the payout.  “I’m not human, anymore, Dandelion.”

“Oh, absolute bullshit, Geralt. You get hurt, you bleed, you hunger, you eat, you lust, you fuck, you tire, you sleep, just like any other human.”

“Or monster.”

“You care for Ciri like she was from your own flesh and blood.”

“She’s my responsibility.”

“And you love her.”

Geralt just stares at him, helpless. To deny loving Ciri feels like it would be worse than drowning, and he’s told Yennefer he loves her. How hard can it be to admit to loving another person? He’s admitted to having friends and feeling friendship. Openly, and more than once. But can he truly feel love? Was Istredd wrong all those years ago? “Dandelion…” His voice breaks, “Why are you asking me these things?”

“Because I love you!” the bard snaps, hating that he’s hurt Geralt. He’s never backed down before, and he doesn’t intend to start now. They’re either together even without Yennefer, or they aren’t together at all. He rubs at his eyes brusquely, irritated that he’s getting upset at all.

“Dandelion, I… You’re my best friend,” he says pitifully. “Of course… I…” Why can he say it to Yennefer, and no one else? Is it because of Istredd, Geralt wonders, sick to his stomach? Just leftover feelings that don’t truly exist anymore, can he tell Yennefer because it would hurt her less if Istredd was right? It would poison all he has with Dandelion, good and bad. He tries to force out words, throat and jaw working, but no sound coming out. “I don’t know, I don’t know what I feel or don’t feel, I don’t know what’s real or what’s been taken from me, I,” his jaw clenches and his throat squeezes. All he can do is hold out a hand in supplication to the bard.

Dandelion looks at him and sees the genuine pain in the witcher’s eyes. He takes Geralt’s hand without hesitation, holding it and feeling it tremble.

“I don’t know what to say to you that’s true, instead of just what I would like to be true. I should hate myself forever if I lied to you or betrayed you.”

“Hate is a feeling Geralt. Like, wanting, all of those are feelings. Tell me what you think you feel right now, for me, and I won’t hold it against you if later it isn’t true anymore.”

Geralt’s lip trembles, and he clenches his jaw again, before opening his mouth and then shutting it with a grimace. “Dandelion,” he whispers miserably. “I… I would die for you, I would take any injuries, I would do whatever it took to keep you safe.” He licks his lip, trying to find the words, because it seems inadequate to just say ‘I love you’ after all that. But what else is there to be said? What else does the bard want to hear but: “I love you,” he finally forces out. Nothing else will come, and nothing else makes any sense to say. Some part of him hates that he might just be saying it to keep the bard close. His life would be dimmer without the troubadour at his side. Quieter, and far less friendly. His throat works for a few more seconds, and he thinks he might be sick. Witchers don’t have feelings. Witchers aren’t made for anything other than killing monsters until they slow down and die. They aren’t made to love. “If this is what you want,” he mumbles, and starts unlacing his pants.

“What? No, I mean, I have, but not right now, not like this. Geralt, stop it.”

The witcher’s hands freeze on the laces, and he stares at the bard in confusion. “Isn’t that why we’re having this conversation in the first place? If I’d known turning you down would upset you so much, I wouldn’t have.”

“What, Geralt, no,” Dandelion splutters. “If you didn’t want to do it, then you shouldn’t have done, we don’t have to now, either.”

“It’s fine,” Geralt hasn’t started working on his clothes again, but he’s not sure what to do. “If it’s what will please you, then I’ll do it.”

“Oh, oh no, absolutely not!” Dandelion tells him, eyes rounding in horror.

“I -you said you wanted, I don’t understand.”

“You? Can you hear yourself?! Can you bloody well -Geralt! I-I-it’s not about me it’s about us! If you don’t, do you have any idea? Does Yennefer know-I just, what!?” The bard backs up some, his heart breaking in a thousand different ways. “Did you, earlier, did you want that at all?”

Geralt looks at him across the fire, expression inscrutable. “Yennefer’s never asked me to do anything I didn’t want to. Or was unwilling to.”

“Did you or did you not want to be with both of us, that time by the fire?”

“I did,” Geralt says slowly. “Yennefer knew before I did, but I did.”

“And the time a bit ago now, in the tents? You were aroused before I even got back did she…did she tell you, did she…was it her idea?”

“She suggested something, but I wasn’t unwilling. I enjoy being with you.” Geralt tilts his head in confusion. Why would any of this be upsetting? “Frankly, she suggested something slightly different than what happened.” She had recommended he touch himself.

“I think I might be sick,” he mumbles, rubbing at his face and rumpling his hair. “Oh gods, Geralt.”

“What’s wrong, bard?” Geralt drops his hands, and when he tries to get closer to Dandelion, it hurts him to see the other man move back.

“Are you even capable of understanding?” He asks in horror. “Oh, Melitele’s hoary tits, Geralt, oh, this is horrid.”

“I don’t-did you not want me?” he asks, confused. “I thought, you were mad at me, because I didn’t want to fuck. What… what just happened?”

“I love you, Geralt. I do. This isn’t about that, this is me coming to understand that all the times you don’t say anything, you aren’t saying yes, you’re probably saying no, and people aren’t hearing you. I’m not hearing you. I’m learning you are even more horrible at expressing yourself than I previously thought. So, right this minute, no, I don’t want you. Not like that. I very much wish you could understand, for your own sake, why that’s so horrible. That you don’t… you don’t speak up, do you? You could have hated it, you could have hated having me inside you and you wouldn’t have said anything because you think that’s what you have to do?”

“It didn’t matter, you weren’t hurting me. I liked it, I wanted you.”

“That’s, see half of that is fine. I would never hurt you on purpose, especially not during sex. And then, it did matter. It did matter very much. I’m relieved to know you wanted me and enjoyed the experience! How many people Geralt? How many people have you slept with who made you do things you didn’t want to?”

When the witcher won’t meet his gaze, Dandelion tries not to vomit.

“How many people have you had sex with that you didn’t want to?” He can’t believe he’s asking; no answer would make him happy. “Gods, Geralt. Is it usually a transaction for you? Just do something because humans do it? Or -”

“Do you ask all your whores this, too?”

“What? Geralt, you’re not a prosti- have you had sex for money?”

“Not money,” Geralt shrugs uncomfortably. He’s done things, plenty of things he did not want to do if it meant saving a life. He had said yes, the transaction was done. “It’s an exchange, everyone gets what they want.”

“No! No, they do not! Even whores have limits! They’re allowed to say no, or their madame or master should be out to stop you if you go too far! There’s limits! Do you even know yours? Do you even truly know what you want? Would you say it? Would you tell me to stop if I was making you uncomfortable?”

“You’re making me uncomfortable, and I’d like you to stop,” Geralt tells him weakly.

“Not about this, if I had my cock in you, would you say anything, or would you just grit your teeth and bear it?!”

“You’re crying,” Geralt tells him, decidedly confused.

“I suppose that I am, but that doesn’t answer my question, my love.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me, not on purpose. So, if it was an accident, I’ll heal. Why bother? It’s just easier to let you take your pleasure.”

“I’m going to vomit, don’t touch me,” the bard wards him off. “Sweet Melitele, I could have… Does… Does Yennefer know you’re like this?”

“She reads minds, Dandelion. She can’t help it, especially when we’re…close.”

“So, she stops if something bothers you without you ever having to say anything?”

“She’s never even started to do anything that bothered me,” he shrugs. She’s picked some uncomfortable places to do the deed, but it had caused him no harm and worse things had happened to him. Thank Melitele they’d finally broken that damned unicorn.

“She’s never had to see this firsthand, has she? She has no idea what you’re willing to do?”

“She knows. When I first met her, I offered myself to her, for however long she wanted in whatever capacity. To save you.”

“Oh god, what happened?”

“We just talked,” Geralt shrugged. “Rare to have that, I thought perhaps I’d sold myself into a lifetime of slavery. And then when she said one night, I wasn’t sure what…just conversation. Was all she wanted.” Then of course, she had sent him to do her dirty work under the influence of a spell.

“You, I can’t sleep with you knowing that you can’t say ‘no’.”

“I say ‘no’ all the time, you just don’t listen.”

“Okay, I admit some of that’s wrong of me, but it’s not about sexual things, Geralt. That’s very different. You know that. Your first kill was a rapist, you told me. You were drunk, so perhaps you fudged the details, but you told me. I’ve seen you kill thirteen men, by yourself, for busying themselves with a farm girl no one else would have tried to help. You have to know it’s wrong or it wouldn’t bother-oh. Oh I see. Oh, oh I’m going to be sick.”  

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Geralt says helplessly.

“It’s not, oh it’s not like that, love, it’s not,” Dandelion promises. “You won’t make the connection and if I do it, you’ll just get mad. But I promise, I will try and listen better when you say ‘no’. For any reason. I’m so sorry.”

“It, no one much listens but Ciri. It doesn’t seem to much matter.”

“Oh, but it should. We’ve done wrong, there. Oh Geralt, I’m sorry. I will try and listen better, I will try and do better. I can’t promise to not push these conversations with you, they have to be had. But in other ways, I can do better in other ways, I promise.”

“I forgive you.”

“Oh, don’t say that, you have no idea what I’m even sorry for. Not really. When you understand, say it when you understand and it’ll mean something.”

“I wish you weren’t odd right now,” Geralt tells him uneasily.

“I’m always odd, Geralt, it’s part of my charm. I should very much like to hug you even though you won’t understand why.”

“You’ve never really asked before,” Geralt shrugs.

“And I see that was wrong, I had no idea… may I? I don’t know if it will comfort or reassure you, but I’d like it to.”

“I don’t…yes, of course you can, I don’t need comfort, I…” he gives up and holds out his arms. The bard sits next to him and enfolds him in a hug. He had no idea Dandelion could make himself so large. He only ever seems to do that on stage when he performs. This is some other kind of magic. He lets the bard snuffle and hiccup a little, knowing the other man is fighting back tears. It terrifies him. “I’d rather you just fucked me than go through this again.”

“Oh gods, you’ve missed the point entirely, I don’t know how to get you to… you’re so dense,” Dandelion tells him crossly. “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“And really mean it. With all your heart.”

“Are you going to make fun of me?” the Witcher asks nervously.

“No. I am completely serious.”

“Then I promise.”

“You will not have sex with me unless you absolutely want to. Not you think I want it so you do, but on your own terms. And if something isn’t pleasurable for you, doesn’t feel right, you’ll say something. Promise me.”

“I promise.” Geralt feels utterly bewildered.

“Mean it, Geralt. Like nothing you’ve promised before.”

“I do. I will…. I don’t understand. But I promise. Can you please stop with this? You’re upsetting me. And yourself.”

“For now. For now, I’ll put it aside.”  He kisses the side of Geralt’s head tenderly, deeply concerned about him. How many times, he wonders? How many? The bard holds the witcher for a while, stroking his hair more to soothe himself, at this point. Geralt’s only in distress because Dandelion is.

Dandelion kneels between Geralt’s legs, his back to the fire. He can see the witcher’s pupils are huge, taking in all the light they can. It’s never once bothered him to see those eyes reflect the light in the dark. In fact it’s usually a comfort to know Geralt is close, watching for him in the shadows, protecting him from the monsters. He gently presses a kiss to Geralt’s lips, and then his forehead. Geralt leans in and presses his forehead to Dandelion’s. The witcher gently thumbs the last of the tears off the bard’s face.

Neither one of them is sure what changes, but in spite of the chill, they’re pulling at each other’s clothes, kissing hard and fast. The bard groans and hums as the witcher divests him of his pants before dragging him onto his lap. They move against each other, messy and artlessly, seeking closeness just as much as each other.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Really do this? You’re not just doing this because of earlier?”

Geralt pulls away slightly, “You put the idea in my head. And… I want more,” he whispers, unsure if that’s okay. “You’ve…” he feels oddly embarrassed. He’s never cared much about these kinds of things before. It doesn’t seem shameful, so much as fragile. If he talks about it too obviously it will be gone. “I want you,” he tries to explain.

“You have me, Geralt,” Dandelion assures him, too blinded by lust to really catch his meaning. It’s good that Geralt seems to want it of his own accord. Not that he can be too sure, but Geralt did start it, and is pursuing it. Dandelion isn’t pushing anything. So, he continues to relax into it.

“Please,” he croaks, not sure how to even ask. He’s never wanted to have sex with a man before, and as such isn’t sure how to explain what he wants.  

“Ah,” the bard catches on after a few more rounds of soft kissing. “Of course,” he kisses his witcher’s collarbone. “Just hold still until I tell you,” he half asks half tells Geralt. He waits until the other man nods, meeting his eyes in the dim glow of the fire. “Give me two seconds,” he promises, and hops up to grab something from his saddle bags.

When he returns with a small vial, he pops the cork and pours some of the contents into his palm. He strokes the witcher gently for a few moments, “you do want me,” he mumbles, almost surprised. It hardly took any effort on his part to ensure the other man was ready, too.

Geralt nips at his neck lightly in response, half annoyed, half amused. “Why else have I been kissing you like this or rutting with you in the dirt?”

“Is that what we’re calling it? Rutting?” Dandelion asks idly, easing himself down slowly.

“No,” Geralt closes his eyes. “It’s much more isn’t it?” he asks tentatively.

“I should say so,” Dandelion says tightly, the back of his thighs resting on the top of Geralt’s. “Don’t even twitch yet,” he threatens, wagging a finger in Geralt’s face.

The witcher’s only response is to catch his hand and kiss his palm. He doesn’t take orders from anyone. However, he can be patient. And so he waits until the bard starts to move slowly on his own. He whines softly, low down in his throat, kissing Dandelion’s neck and chest. Carefully, he leans back, bracing his palms on the ground to give them both a little more stability. The bard uses Geralt’s shoulders and sometimes his chest for balance. When he can, he leans in and they kiss as though if they stopped, they’d cease to breathe.

They find their balance, the bard constantly mumbling sweet nothings to Geralt between kisses. Unsure of what to do with all the compliments, Geralt hardly responds. Not that he thinks he could have focused long enough to come up with a coherent answer. As it is, he’s having enough trouble breathing, and he groans realizing their time like this is coming to an end, for now at least.

“Dandelion,” he moans softly, trying to warn him he won’t hold out much longer.

“I’m right there with you, Geralt,” Dandelion promises, breathing raggedly.

“Stay with me,” the witcher whispers, fingertips digging into the earth.

“As long as you want,” Dandelion agrees, head tipped back. His eyes close and he tangles a hand into Geralt’s hair, bringing their foreheads together gently. Geralt’s back arches slightly and he moans again, the hand on the bard’s hip squeezing almost hard enough to bruise.

Spent, he remembers their first time together, and stays where he is, knowing that after, right after, Geralt likes to stay close. He wraps his legs around the witcher’s waist, settling in more comfortably. He allows Geralt to nuzzle and kiss him, basking in the affection. He lets his hands run over the witcher’s chest and arms, up over his shoulders, and smooths the sex touseled hair back from Geralt’s face. “I love the way you look in the firelight,” he admits, forgetting how uncomfortable that comment will make the witcher. “The red and orange across your skin, bright against the shadows, it’s such a beautiful combination.”

Geralt looks away, but doesn’t push the bard from his lap, either. Instead, he rests his head on Dandelion’s shoulder, doing his best to just ignore it. He wants to say, ‘don’t ruin this, just let it be.’ But then the bard’s indignation and urge to fight would kick in and he would ruin it. And he’d be an unpleasant travelling companion for the next day, to boot.

They sit like that for a while, until the chill and discomfort starts to overcome them. With minimal commentary they clean up and set their bedding together to curl in for the night. All of that work proves to be a waste of time when the bard notices the witcher is enjoying being close to him under the blankets. They take their time the second round, exploring each other’s bodies and enjoying each other far more.

Geralt sighs, looking around them after, the sky is the grey of pre-dawn, “I thought you wanted me to rest.” Not that he’s complaining. His tone is amused, not annoyed.

“Well I had to distract you; we both know you weren’t going to do any sleeping anyway. As it is, we can start breaking camp soon and be on our way. That should please you, should it not?” He arches an eyebrow.

He sits up with a huff, and tugs the bard over to him, right up against his body, ignoring the way the bard’s breathing catches in excitement. While Geralt is fairly sure he could stand to go again, Dandelion’s right and they should break camp soon. “I think you know plenty of what pleases me,” he agrees. Perhaps they can just be close, and kiss for a bit. Until the sky is a little lighter. The horses don’t like moving about when it’s too dark. Skittish useless creatures at times.

“Oh, I am far too sore for another round,” the bard protests.

“Did I hurt you?”

“Of course not, but still there’s only so much pounding a mortal can take,” he smiles.

“I don’t think I would like another round, either,” Geralt points out, and Dandelion strokes him gently beneath the blankets as if checking to see if he’s telling the truth.

“Ah, so you’d just like me to kiss you? I suppose, if I must,” he laughs.

Geralt pulls back just a bit. “You mustn’t do much of anything,” he shrugs. “At least not with me.”

With a nod, he realizes he cannot tease the witcher this way. Not anymore. “Geralt, I enjoy kissing you, and we have a bit before the sun is fully up. Do you truly think I would turn you down?”

He looks away, and shrugs before looking back. “You mightn’t be in the mood,” he suggests.

“Provided there is no reason I can’t, I think I would always be in the mood,” Dandelion smiles. On some level, it comforts him to know Geralt understands the idea of wanting something, and not forcing it on another person. He just doesn’t understand it in context of himself. Which is less comforting.

Geralt gives him a faint smile back, barely visible in the firelight. He can see the fire burning down to coals, but the sun is just creating the horizon. He looks over the bard’s shoulder, and his pupils shrink in the light of the sun. He’d pulled away for a moment, to watch the witcher breathe in the sunrise, watches his pupils shrink and the gold fill his eyes. The sun catches them and the bard loses his breath. “You’re beautiful.”

Geralt jerks away, eyes wide in confusion. “And you’re drunk,” he counters roughly, pupils slitted against the dawn light.

“Geralt, we’ve been on the road all night, like we have for the past two nights, and not a drop of alcohol between us for over a week. We just fucked, twice no less, and you know full well I’ve had nought to drink in days. What’s wrong with you?”

“Then you rolled in some herbal plant,” he pulls away further, grabbing up his clothes up from the ground. He stands and begins dressing, pulling up his breeches and buttoning them. Looking for his shirt he sees it in a bush a few feet away and hopes the bard will have recovered his senses by the time they’re dressed. Beautiful.

“Geralt, I’m serious,” Dandelion says in a soft voice. He hasn’t made a move to get dressed, sitting naked on their bedroll. He’s so confused. He’d said a great many complimentary things during sex and the Witcher hadn’t protested once. “Geralt… Come over here please.”

Something in Dandelion’s voice gives the Witcher pause and he turns to look at the bard. He still sits there one hand out slightly before he drops it, not willing to beg anymore.

With a groan Geralt walks back to the bedroll, handing the poet his shirt. “Did you drink bad water?” He asks more sympathetically. There’s got to be some reason for this new idiocy.

“Geralt, why do you think so many women want to fuck you? The novelty of it and nothing else?” He can’t believe they’ve gone backwards on this so quickly. How does this happen? “You aren’t a monster!”

Thankful that the mutations prevent him from blushing, he presses his palm against the other man’s forehead. “You don’t seem to be sick. Get dressed. We’ll catch up to Yen and Ciri soon if we hurry.”

“Geralt, I’m not moving until you sit down and face me and take this seriously.”

“Then I’ll leave you behind.”

“So be it.”

Growling in frustration he presses Dandelions shirt against his chest. “I could make you dress and tie you to the saddle.”

“You wouldn’t. It would be less work just to talk to me. You’re usually quite practical.”

“Fine,” Geralt snaps, dropping to the bedroll and facing the bard. Their knees touch and he leans in. “Fine. You are not inebriated or otherwise ill.” He knows that. He’s known that the whole time he just can’t make himself believe that.

Dandelion reaches out and cups Geralt’s face with his palms. “Your eyes catch the light like they’re holding the sun itself.” He smooths the witcher’s hair back from his forehead gently, tracing fine scars over his skin and into his scalp. “These don’t disfigure you, they’re hardly visible. You’ve got good cheekbones, and a jawline worthy of any hero in any story,” his fingers moving over the planes of Geralt’s face along with his words. “When it’s clean, your hair is quite lovely, too,” he adds dryly. “I’m surprised to admit I like it especially in contrast to Yennefer’s. It’s a bit like the night sky if I might wax poetical. Your hair looks like the stars when it’s against hers.”

Geralt rolls his eyes, uncomfortable with being teased and starts to pull away, only to stop when the bard grips his chin hard.

“There is nothing truly unusual about your appearance other than your eyes. Regardless of how you feel about yourself, plenty of men have white or grey hair. It does no harm to their looks.”

“Dandelion, I’m a mutant. These looks are because I’m an abomination. The sharpness of my teeth, my face, the fact the sinews show up against my skin even when I’m eating well, I’m always pale. It’s obvious when you see me I’m not fully human. It’s not just my hair and eyes, my whole body has changed.” It had been excruciating. Everything had burned, he had felt broken and raw, and had wished it hadn’t happened. Now, he’s used to it. Used to his heightened senses, used to his new appearance, used to the way people stare at him and stink of fear. “I’m a mutant, nothing you say changes that or undoes it.”

“I’ve heard what Yennefer says when you call yourself that. I’m going to tell her you were at it again.” He keeps Geralt’s chin in his hand and kisses him gently. He ignores the witcher’s obvious discomfort as he kisses his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, eyelids, and forehead. “There is nothing ugly about you, other than your negative attitude,” Dandelion informs him, kissing him on the forehead again. “And while sometimes I enjoy your wit, I do not have any intention to tolerate any stupidity from you. We both know you’re not a simpleton. Even when you pretend to be simply because people assume you are. I know you’ve read books, and studied. Even if some of it was just to impress that she-devil of yours.”

Geralt doesn’t know what to do about anything Dandelion is saying. So he just waits patiently for it to stop. When it looks like the bard is winding up for another speech that will make him even more uncomfortable, he decides to put a stop to more speechifying. In a single swift movement, he leans forward and presses his mouth over the poet’s, pushing him flat back onto the bedroll.

“Geralt!” Dandelion protests, pushing him back. The Witcher pulls away in consternation. “You do not get to fuck your way into winning an argument!”

“Then why did you stay naked?”

“To convince you of my sincerity and openness and to help charm you into agreeing with me, of course!”

“I think your cock agrees with me,” Geralt says dryly, still working to change the subject and get himself out of the conversation.

Dandelion slaps the bedding in irritation. “I don’t see how my cock wanting you would prove me wrong!” It takes him a few seconds of blustering to find his point. “I find you attractive, and you fucking me senseless will not change my mind Geralt!” Rising up on his knees to tap the Witcher on the chest, “however at this point you have clearly set us both up for a good fuck, and now that you’re going to tell me we have to press on to catch up to Ciri and Yennefer and don’t have time to pause-”

This time he lets the Witcher silence him with kisses and lets the witcher push him flat. This time he works the buttons loose and pushes the witcher’s pants down over his hips.

After the Witcher had fucked him senseless, for the third time in less than a day, he looks at him. “I don’t retract any of my earlier arguments. I just want you to know.”

“Then can you shut up about it so we can go catch up to the others?”

“I’m still telling Yennefer.”

“She’ll laugh at you.” Geralt does up his pants and starts gathering up their things as Dandelion dresses.

[lomappreciationblog]

Happy 21st anniversary Legend of Mana!

Thanks to Twitter I found out its the 21st anniversary of my most favorite game EVER (also kinda sad about the fact that I didn’t know and I don’t have anything prepared for it asdfggghgg) Check out the hashtag  #聖剣LOM21周年 to see so many wonderful artworks!

(Also my brain is kind of cooked at the moment so the rest of this will probably be an incoherent mess, but anyway,gushing about LoM below)

Anyway, the least I can do is to reminisce about how I got into LoM in the first place. I grew up watching my brother play LoM on the PS1 but I never got to play it myself, ironically (I sort of...accidentally erased all his save files at one time, so he made sure I didn’t touch his more important games)

Still, LoM stuck with me all those years and I got the opportunity to play it for myself in high school - and I fell in love with the music, the art, the stories! It’s such a beautiful, mysterious game, in many ways it’s like a picture book come to life. 

First things first, the soundtrack is god-tier and for me remains as Yoko Shimomura’s finest work. Blue Gloom, Dream of Distant Days, Beautiful Colored World, the Wind Sings of a Journey and The Gloaming are my top tracks, but I can honestly listen to the full soundtrack over and over again. 

The art...take a quick look at this blog and you’ll know I’m obsessed with the art. I know Shinichi Kameoka is one of the artists, but I’m not sure if he is the lead designer, but in any case his art style is just so good and to this day Hero is still one of my most favorite protagonist designs. The characters have so many intricate details that I want to cry drawing them because it’s a pain (Monique and Elle being the worst offenders for how beautiful their flower wings are) but even with that their sprites are really pretty and very expressive. I’m just so in love with the fact that even one-time characters are so well-designed (Crystalle!) But even with all the pretty and elegant character designs you get stuff like animated dove teapots (Teapo), Boinks and Basket Fish. Just...a fish in a basket. With legs. And it works! I want that kind of world, where you have tragic and epic stories like the Jumi Arc and then you also have a story about this jerk fish strutting around in a basket.

Okay, so the stories - three big story arcs to choose from, the Dragon Arc, the Jumi Arc, and the Star-Crossed Lovers Arc, only one of which is necessary to get to the ending. First couple of times playing the game I only finished the Dragon Arc because it’s the most obvious - the Jumi Arc my brother looked the walkthrough up to, and the Star-Crossed Lovers I stumbled on and miraculously finished without a guide. And there are the smaller sequential quests, like Niccolo’s Business Unusual, Gilbert’s Love quests (which are linked to my absolute favorite quests about Monique and Elle), the Pirates and Digger quests...and character quests for Lisa, Bud, Li’l Cactus...so many stories in varied flavors. Some light and happy, some nonsensical, some tragic and heartbreaking...there’s a quest for every mood. 

Gameplay-wise I can’t really comment well on it since I don’t get hung on the technical stuff. I like the battles well enough, it can get so stupidly fun with the flashy special techniques and the moves. That being said, the AI for your companions and pets aren’t really great. There also very technical aspects to the game I never understood. This is mostly the smithing/forging, and how to determine on your own where to place the artifacts, which I understand has something to do with the spirits influence but I never figured it out myself. I understand that some people do have fun with the smithing for all its technicality, and honestly you can do without it in a normal playthrough, so no need to get bothered about it. 

Now, the big question - would I want this game remade/remastered? The thing is, I hold LoM to such a high standard that I’d be very, very critical of any attempt to remake it. I would wish that they won’t turn the game 3d because the painted backgrounds and sprites have so much charm to them...but if a dev team remakes the game with 3d models and environments, I will have to beg that they do everything within their power to keep the art style. It’s part of what makes LoM the gem it is and I’d be furious if that was changed. Otherwise, I don’t really see anything that a remake/remaster can add. I would want to see LoM again so a new playerbase can experience it, but I’m just so worried at how easily that can fall flat. 

Well, that’s my enthusiastic rambling for the day, may you all walk with the Mana Goddess and find the cows inside your mind. Happy 21st anniversary, LoM!

[kyogre-blue]

Nanowrimo, day 15 (wc 1843)

Sinbad laughed, cheerful and light-hearted. “Madam, there are still two more courses! I haven’t even told you yet what we are offering!” 

The main course was the black elder moose meat, each of the small pieces full of flavor. A mouthwatering aroma rose from the plates as they were set onto the table. Surreptitiously, Alibaba finally released the small bit of magic keeping them warm. 

Amon was definitely going to un-choose him for this. 

“How is it?” Sinbad asked as Octavia carefully placed a piece into her mouth and chewed. It was a rhetorical question, and pressing for praise would have just appeared lacking in confidence. “Naturally, we would not consider something as simple as a few ingredients to be worth Madam’s time. To draw the interest of Madam’s esteemed customers and everyone in the city, more is needed.

“Ingredients, recipes and setting — we will provide all of it. Madam, let’s create a new sensation all through Napolia. How does that sound?” 

Finishing the last piece of the meat and taking a sip of her drink to wash it down, Madam Octavia smiled slightly. “You’ve certainly thought through it. Almost enough to make it seem like your original intent and not a fallback,” she said, aiming again at their weaknesses. “But such foreign ingredients, recipes and decorations — there is no guarantee they will be popular. My business is doing quite well. Why should I take a risk on this?” 

The main course was cleared away, and the desert was set in front of them. Abusing a djinn’s power again, it was a soft frozen treat with a flavor Alibaba still couldn’t understand but which made you want to take another bite to taste it again. 

Sinbad leaned forward. “Isn’t it better to gamble on taking the lead instead of just chasing after trends?” 

Alibaba, who had been moving back to his position in the background, winced. Not at the harsh sound of a desert dish being struck by a silver spoon, something that the well-cultured Madam Octavia had avoided the entire meal through, but at Sinbad’s misstep that prompted it. Even without looking, he could imagine how frigid the proprietess’s expression would be. 

Although he maintained his composure well, there was a faint twitch at the corner of Sinbad’s mouth, giving away his consternation as he realized the same thing. 

Originally, all of this had been just to drive up the value of their sale and improve their bargaining position. Whether or not they would be making it hadn’t really been in question. But if the madam flew into a rage, then… 

“Surely a businesswoman of Madam’s caliber is also aware of this,” Sinbad pressed on, recovering. “It is better to be an innovator than to simply ride the tide. It is because of Madam’s expertise and deep knowledge of the city and the people that it will be possible to seize the initiative, and everything we provide will naturally still rely on Madam’s alterations to create the best effect.” 

“Oh? Is that so…” she drew out. “So you’re counting on me?” But even so, her expression had thawed slightly. 

“Let’s say it will be a mutually beneficial partnership,” Sinbad said. 

The negotiations were back on track and, sharing a business smile, the two owners enjoyed their desert. And, as the meal came to a close, it was time for the real battle to begin. 

“Since you’re looking to enter the trading union, I’ll give you 1000 gold for the whole thing,” Madam Octavia said, naming the first price. 

There were many schools of thought about whether it was better to bid first or let the other party put out the first price. Was it better to seize the initiative and control the flow from the start, as Sinbad usually espoused? Or was it better to wait and observe, gaining as much information as possible based on what your opponent offers? 

In this case, Alibaba suspected that Madam Olivia had gone first just to avoid letting the young greenhorn in front of her put out a completely unacceptable figure. She wasn’t necessarily wrong. Sinbad and everyone in his group had a very skewed idea of how much anything was worth, if they had any idea at all. 

Using the trading union’s membership fee, the madam provided a working base they could understand. However, Alibaba knew that she was also completely scamming them. 

...But this was Sinbad’s matter, so it wasn’t his place to say. 

Sinbad laughed. “It’s very kind of Madam to consider our position, but the membership fee is no issue for us,” he said. “Since Madam will be taking on a risk and in hopes of future cooperation, we’ll be satisfied with about… ten times that amount.” 

“Young man, you are really quite brazen,” Madam Octavia commented. “Twice my offer, as a favor to a junior…” 

And thus, the battle had begun. 

~.~ 

In the end, Sinbad hadn’t wished to draw the negotiations out too long, so he had called it perhaps slightly prematurely. However, he seemed satisfied with the outcome. He had traded Rametoto from Valefor’s treasure, especially the magic tools Alibaba cautioned him against selling on the open market, and it had been done in bulk, so it was difficult to even tell whether they had made back the cost of the materials or how much they might have gained. 

To the untrained ear, the sheer number of coins involved sounded extremely impressive. They had been given bank notes, but if it had been actual coins, perhaps even Rurumu and Hinahoho would have found it difficult to carry. 

The atmosphere was unbreat as Sindria Trading Company’s representatives, plus one, headed back to their newly acquired headquarters. They had done well for themselves in their first business deal, and Madam Octavia had even written off the cost of their reservations as a gesture of good will. 

“So,” Sinbad said as the streets around them emptied, “how did I do?” 

He had been humming cheerily, and there was still a smile on his lips as he glanced at Alibaba. 

“Are you sure you want to hear it?” his friend wondered.

“I can handle it! How badly did she rip us off?” 

The others too turned to listen with interest. Alibaba could only sigh, tugging open the narrow collar of his borrowed shirt. “Well, first, you tried to strike at her weak spot because she’d been doing the same, right? But that kind of thing goes badly with people who have a strong pride. She was doing it to test you, a newcomer, and it was her right as a senior to be disdainful. But if you start shooting back, it’s just too disrespectful.” 

“Mm. I got that feeling,” Sinbad agreed, sighing and shrugging lightly. 

“Elders feel respect is their due, and some are not flexible about propriety,” Rurumu agreed. 

“Flirting with her would be even more disrespectful,” Alibaba added dryly. 

And that definitely something Sinbad had tried, before Alibaba forcefully made every lamp in the room flicker for a moment. He had been ready to kick him in the shin too, but that might have been too obvious and not fitting for the role of a servant he was playing. 

“You didn’t have to be like that. I was just going to compliment her!” Sinbad protested. “Who doesn’t love a compliment?” 

“And that’s why you were holding both her hands?” 

Sulkily, Sinbad waved away the troublesome topic. 

“Aside from that?” Alibaba went on. “It was pretty obvious you were just guessing on how much money to ask for. She just didn’t point it out because it was useful to her.” Unlike every other weakness, which she ruthlessly exposed to undercut them and their credibility. 

“What do you think would have been a good number?” Sinbad asked. 

Despite the criticisms, he didn’t show any sign of displeasure or wounded pride. His ability to always look forward and continue on his path was truly amazing. 

“I also don’t know,” Alibaba admitted. “I’ve never sold as a supplier for a restaurant, I don’t know the going price for rare ingredients, I don’t even know the usual prices at the Octavium. I doubt you could have found out all that in time for this meeting anyway. The bigger problem is that you set a one-off price for the entire set — ingredients, recipes, and decorations — without even discussing how much you’re providing. That she agreed without asking is a pretty clear idea that you’re underselling. She was willing to pay that much just for the idea.” 

Sinbad’s eyes slowly widened, and he slapped a hand to his forehead, grimacing. 

For him, the entirety of their perishable goods were a single matter to deal with quickly and with as few losses as possible. There was never a question of just selling part of it, so he didn’t think too much about how much there was. 

But for a restaurant, whether it was enough for twenty customers, one hundred, or thousands was a big matter. 

“Right. You didn’t mention how many fish you’re selling, or how large they are. Well, it would make more sense to discuss it in terms of how many dishes could be created,” Alibaba said. “You could have said, ‘We are providing enough for four thousand individual dishes. Let’s say five gold coins each, for a total of twenty thousand. Of course, since these are unique, limited quantity dishes, Madam will determine the final selling price to the public…’ Then add a separate bulk fee for the recipes and the decorations.” 

“Five gold coins for a dish?” Ja’far muttered. 

“If it really becomes a trend, the nobility will easily pay several times that,” Alibaba said. “It’s an unheard of, priceless experience. How much the final product sells for is entirely up to her skills as a businesswoman.” 

“How much do we have?” Sinbad wondered, his eyebrows furrowing in thought as he tried to think back to their cargo. “It can’t be that much?” 

“Did you see the size of the plates? A single fish would be several dozen dishes, at the very least. This is just an example though, I haven’t thought about the numbers,” Alibaba said. He smiled. “Even if you know the basic skills of trade, the details of a market are important too. That’s part of why breaking into a new market is so difficult even for powerful companies.” 

Groaning, Sinbad let his head loll bonelessly. “I underestimated the world of business too much,” he mumbled. 

“That’s right!” Alibaba laughed. “Don’t look down on merchants! ...Well, that aside, you did well controlling the negotiations. Keeping so calm and confident, especially when you don’t have all the cards, is amazing.” 

In fact, Sinbad had done exceptionally well for someone with no background in trade, or business, or restaurants for that matter. Within a few months, once he gained the experience necessary, he would doubtlessly become a terror on the market. 

“As expected of Sindria’s founder!” Alibaba praised. 

Sinbad grinned back. “Just watch,” he said, “this is just the beginning!” 

[auncyen]

Overload, pt 2

Pt 1

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Who’s ready for dessert?

This weekend we’re all about desserts! So Kid Cat and I got together to make some yummy desserts from our favorite food vlogs - which came out great! Here’s the rundown on what we made:

Granny Tee’s Butter Cake by Granny Tee After the success of Granny Tee’s smoked fish, I just had to try another recipe. Kid Cat and I never had butter cake before so it was worth a try, especially since Granny Tee’s looks so good! I have to say, it came out pretty good! Turns out that there’s a type of butter cake that’s called gooey butter cake and I think that’s what Granny Tee’s version is.

The texture is quite interesting - not something you’d expect of a cake. It’s gooey and dense, as well as sweet and buttery. Like Granny Tee, we dusted it with powdered sugar and garnished it with berries for a pop of color and flavor. I love the final outcome and it tastes as good as it looks!

Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Eclairs by Emilia Eats I just recently discovered this channel thanks to Robin. I’m pretty much caught up with her videos and they’re entertaining! It was a bit hard watching the older ones with Serena in them (Robin mentioned that Serena had her own vlog channel that she updated frequently - which I will check out when I’m ready). The video with this recipe - an old favorite according to Emilia - happens to feature Selene as a helper. So its a cook and chat type video where they talk about their favorite chocolate desserts and Emilia teaches us about eclairs.

While Kid Cat and I are familiar with chocolate eclairs and vanilla eclairs, we’ve never had chocolate vanilla swirl. This is my third time making eclairs and the basics are about the same from what I remember. The filling is made from scratch and it’s so rich and flavorful - the perfect balance of vanilla and chocolate! It definitely gives a bit of an extra touch to an already great dessert! We also decorated the eclairs like in the video because Emilia’s all about making it look cute and pretty and that was a lot of fun!

Mocha Cheesecake by kawaiisweetsnoms I’ve been a longtime follower of kawaiisweetnoms/Michele and her desserts always looks so decadent! I’ll be honest, I’ve always been intimidated by Michele a bit because her recipes are a bit more advanced. However this one is more in our scope. Not to mention I’m curious as to how a mocha cheesecake would taste!

This is a dessert that you have to take time to enjoy. Each bite is packed with rich chocolatey mocha goodness! It’s quite dense like the butter cake but don’t let the thinness fool you. We also garnished with berries, which perfectly cuts into the sweetness and bold flavor of the cheesecake. This is totally a treat yourself for a super special occasion type of dessert!

Chai Citrus Cake by Cupcake Hoarder Kid Cat brought this to my attention and after seeing the video, I was intrigued. There were so many recipes I wanted to try out since everything looked so good! It took a while but we narrowed down the recipes before using a randomizer to choose the winner. I am definitely trying more of their cupcake recipes in the future!

This recipe has a lot of steps - but it’s worth it in the end! There’s a lot of flavors that meld together to create something new. Who knew that chai spices and citrus  can go together so well! Plus the recipe uses an entire orange - well, except the white part of the skin - which is new to me. This cake goes very well with a hot cup of black tea!

Guilt-Free Donuts by Healthy Kitsch I’ll admit, we were a bit sketchy about this one since it’s a bit unconventional. But we wanted to challenge ourselves and maybe make something a bit healthier but still satisfying our sweet tooth. Kid Cat came across this recipe by this popular vegan health food vlogger. I watched some of her videos and I appreciate how real and honest she is. While her recipes are vegan, she also provides non-vegan substitutes because she wants to promote her recipes and make them accessible to everyone no matter what kind of lifestyle they follow. Her donut recipe is the most popular so we decided to go with that. Like she said, the ingredients for this recipe are easily accessible and affordable. And there’s nothing in there that will make us question the taste. 

Aside from substituting things like flour and sugar, it’s pretty much like any other donut recipe. And instead of frying - which we wouldn’t do anyway since we don’t have a deep fryer - the donuts are baked. As for the end result - they pretty much taste like donuts but a lot less sweeter and a bit more lighter. We also made the glaze to along with it and that adds a bit of sweetness that perfectly compliments the donut without being too overpoweringly sugary.

junebug|previous|ao3|next 

[hardeepcox]

The Chronicles of Hardeep Cox - Bangkok pt 1

Intro

Hi my name is Hardeep Cox, I may or may not be a guy born to an Indian mom and a white guy from Boston in the DMV area. Then again I may or may not be just an extremely immature adult with a ridiculous sense of humor. Quick warning: if you are easily offended then I suggest you just exit this shit right now and idk go watch cable tv or something.

I am writing this as we prepare for our first legit night out in Bangkok, as I and a dude named Paper awkwardly wait for my dad to finish showering so we can head out. Tonight’s destination is Above Eleven, but I’ll explain more later on. Let’s begin with our arrival.

Flight and Night 1

After about 20 hours of flying we met up with Paper, our guide/family friend (on my dad’s side). Paper picked us up from the airport and helped us hail a cab. My first impression of Bangkok when I stepped outside of the airport was that it seemed so similar to Los Angeles, I guess because of the weather and vegetation. Anyways, the cab dropped us off at the Doubletree where an enormous wooden figure of a football (soccer) sat in the lobby. To my unbelievable surprise, it turned out that Paper was actually going to be staying in the hotel room with us because he lives outside of the city (my dad of course manages to leave out important details like this when planning trips). Because of the timezone change we were hungry upon arrival, at 3 in the damn morning. So we did what any idiot American tourist would do, we went to 7 Eleven. I had to accept the fact that chili and cheese quarter pounders would no longer be an option, so I went with the spicy basil rice and fish sauce. I gotta say that it was pretty good, even though it was spicy as hell. After crushing my first meal in Thailand, we did our best to sleep for the next couple of hours.

Day 1

Sleep deprived but feeling ready to roll, we got ready and headed downstairs for breakfast. The buffet included the usual American stuff, sushi, dim sum, and some freshly made Thai dishes.The dim sum was by far my favorite, and today it was Chinese egg tarts.

We went to some Buddhist temples, hundreds of years old. There were so many Chinese tourists, and so many lame pictures being taken by them (sitting down in lotus position next to a statue of the Buddha, a chick looking dramatically and diagonally down at the floor while her boyfriend takes a picture for her instagram and you KNOW she’s gonna add some kind of bullshit philosophical caption to it). It was hard to get into the spiritual groove with all these tourists, and the only places where I could feel peace was in the praying rooms where I wish that I could have stayed longer. The best part was the Wat Phra Ram, literally the place where they filmed one of my favorite childhood movies Mortal Kombat. It was totally unexpected and spontaneous, the most interesting part about it was the dog that had managed to sneak up into the actual ruins and seemed to be searching for something at a calm pace. My pathetic attempts to whistle loud enough for the dog to hear me led me to run around the ruins hoping to catch a glimpse of it. I heard it howl a couple of times after that and I’ll always wonder why, maybe its spirit led it to the ruins to discover a link to a past life. Who knew I would have accidentally stepped into the Netherealm, but too bad I couldn't meet Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Liu Kang's dead brother (if you don't get this reference please find a time machine and go back in time to 1995, break into a Hollywood video, steal a copy of Mortal Kombat, watch it, go back into the time machine, return to the present time, and punch yourself in the fucking face).

Tired as hell we walked around markets near the Chao Phra Ya river, they were pretty generic developing country markets and I was extremely tired so I just wanted to go back to the hotel and pass out. We tried some sticky rice dessert that was pretty good so we bought some, and my dumbass ate my entire portion in the cab and felt even more like a piece of shit after. We made a stop for some roadside Pad Thai, it was delicious but again I was exhausted. Back in the cab again I pretty much passed out from exhaustion.

Night 2

I woke maybe 45 minutes later still in the cab but the sun was setting and the nocturnal city was coming alive. Suddenly it dawned on me that we had to be in Chinatown and my street-mode immediately turned on. After driving us through some beautifully sketchy streets, our cab driver dropped us off at a main road. All the lights made it look like it was an attempt at giving it a times square feel. I was now totally awake and ready for more exploring, and after walking for a bit we walked by a Chinese restaurant (Chinatown in Bangkok is an extremely fast-paced environment full of beautiful chaos, if you can’t keep up you might as well stay in your comfy apartment and drink lattes or something). The menu had so many choices, but no combination fried rice, general tso’s chicken, or lo mein (at this point I realized that I should just forget about these options because I’m not gonna find this delicious diabetes-maximus anymore). I got the egg noodles with roasted duck for $2, and the portion was just right for me since I was still full from that sticky rice and exhausted from the jetlag. Before the food coma took over, we took a tuk tuk to the nearest metro train station and made our way back to the hotel. The metro was actually very organized and technologically advanced, the DC metro could learn a thing or two from it. Because of the timezone change, the beers, sticky rice, and random stuff that I had eaten, I hadn’t really used the bathroom all day. Walking from the metro to the hotel at some point became truly difficult and I had tell myself just breathe man don’t shit yourself on your first night in Bangkok goddammit.

Now back at the hotel and totally relieved, our night actually began.

Nocturnal Adventure

We started out at the Queen Bee, a little bar across the street with shitty mojitos but a damn good blues band. From there we went to a place that my dad would not stop mentioning, Above Eleven, a local Peruvian restaurant. Probably one of the coolest restaurants that I’ve honestly ever been to. This was some upper class bougie shit as the kids say, but the view of the city was breathtaking and the food was absolutely delicious (and I am a picky fuck when it comes to flavors). The Peruvian food was authentic, the Pisco Sour was legit, and we got to meet Chef Omar Frank Maruy. Chef Maruy is the Japanese-Peruvian chef in charge of keeping the food quality at Above Eleven at its exquisite level. After downing a few Pisco sours, and devouring a few dishes (ceviche, jalea, and anticucho) we made our way to Havana Social. I could tell this place was throwing a good party as we walked to the entrance which was a random door in an alley with working girls in the corner. Too bad some of us were wearing shorts so we were ultimately denied entrance. Bummed out we walked to the nearest bar, Oskar, and had Lavender Pisco Sours. Seriously so creative and surprisingly delicious!

After downing these drinks we basically gave up and made our way back to the hotel. Maybe like 5 minutes away from the hotel we walked past a really sketchy alley and I shit you not, my dad says “let’s go into a small street shithole bar!” He’s already walking towards it so Paper and I say fuck it and we join him, plus I mean come on I gotta watch my dad’s back since hookers have been flirting with him for the past 25 minutes. We walk in and of course all these chicks are so psyched to see us, a very pretty hostess welcomes us so we sit at the bar and get some Tiger beers. With Youtube as our DJ, we start sipping on beers and my dad is just having a blast with these two chicks. They try to flirt with me but I’m like meh, I’ve honestly seen hotter escorts in Lima. Then one of them says, “I’m gonna bring my sister for you.” I’m like ok cool whatever, totally unimpressed as I watch my dad party at this little bar. This chick brings the pretty hostess over and introduces her as her “sister”, and I notice dude this girl is actually super cute and obviously not an actual escort. Me and her are both like uhh… hi? She’s not sure how to interact with idiot foreigners, but I can tell and I am just my usual super chill self with her. She gets a jack and coke, and I continue sipping on my Tiger. Her name is May, I was like “is it pronounced like the month May, or is it Mai like my?” She looked at me like if I was a dumbass but she was playful about it, and I start crushing on this chick because I mean duh I am a fucking idiot and I do shit like this. This all ended with a bill of almost $200 USD, an escort angry at us for not taking her back to our hotel, and me DJ’ing some old school reggaeton on their Youtube. As we made our way back to the hotel we ran into into girls selling booze on the sidewalk in what seemed like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo but cut in half the long way, and the girls turned the bottom half of the car into a mini-bar. As I took a whiz on a street corner, Paper points out that dude there is a toilet at this mini-bar on the sidewalk! I look behind a little curtain next to the mini-bar and there is in fact a toilet there, I mean not connected to any plumbing or anything, just literally a tiny toilet placed on the sidewalk. Did I whiz into this tiny toilet like 20 minutes later? Yes. Did I drink a few too many rum and cokes at this sidewalk mini-bar? Yes. Did I have any idea of what the hell to expect the next day? Hell no.

Night 3 - Let’s try not to die tonight shall we?

I’m skipping to Night 3 because the highlight of Day 2 is just me holding a lemur (by the way lemurs are freakin adorable and they have actual fingers and thumbs!), and realizing that my dad should move to the Thai countryside cuz he is actually genuinely happy there (he greeted random people from a canoe, including a naked fat guy who was in the middle of a soapy bath in the river).

On Night 3 we make another attempt at Havana Social (if there ever is a place with reggaeton and Cuban rum then you’ll probably find me there). The entrance is the #1 coolest that I have seen in my life so far, some dude gives you a code and you punch it into an old phone-booth, this then unlocks an old door next to it which you push open and find a little piece of Havana hidden within Bangkok. So there I am doing my thing downing Cuba Libres, dancing, and laughing at tourists dancing like idiots when I notice three pretty cute chicks dancing near us. I am not the most extroverted dude, but when I hear Latin music the beast is then awakened and I just let it take me places. So I slither over to these girls and pull off some of my signature moves, including one borrowed from my grandpa which I call the Egyptian knife hands. One of the chicks starts dancing with me and my first thought is “wow my dad is watching me spit some legit game, now I AM THE MASTER!” But anyways yeah we dancin and shiet. Suddenly she asks if I wanna go with her and her friends to another club, I thought it was a bad idea but the rum and Daddy Yankee had me saying “yeah screw it let’s go.” The four of us leave the club and somehow fit into a tuk tuk that says VIP on the seat and one of the girls say it’s free! RED FLAG - free shit usually comes with a price later on, and these girls seemed way too excited to have me along. One of the girls pulls out a wrapper with a bunch of pills and puts one in my mouth, my first thought is oh fuck I’m about to get roofied, or flooried, dammit Zack Galifianakis! I pretend to swallow the pill, then I look over into the street and spit this shit out. The girl is like are you feeling okay? I’m like yeah I’m great (meanwhile internally trying to think of an escape plan without freaking out)! We get to this club called Mixx, and this party is poppin. Every tourist is dancing with a local, and I’m thinking wow is every girl at a club in Bangkok an escort… like every single damn one?! My phone only has internet if there is wifi, and I tell the girl that I wanna call my friends to come but I need the wifi password so she hooked me up with her hotspot. Instead of figuring out how to use the wifi to escape, I’m in the bathroom FB messaging my friends back in the states how I almost got roofied and that I’m probably gonna die cuz I mean that is a brilliant idea right? I go back out there and one of the girls goes “if you wanna hang out with me it’s gonna be 3000 baht (like almost $100 USD).” Since I don’t wanna die I go “okay sounds good, let’s hang out every day this week okay?” Her eyes brighten up and she has a huge smile on her face, she tells her friend who then makes a face like “we did it bitch!” I’m thinking okay thank god I’m not gonna wake up tomorrow in a tub full of ice with my internal organs missing because they wanna take all my money throughout the week. Suddenly the Thai DJ starts playing the cumbia song “Colegiala”, and it was at this exact moment that I knew that everything would be okay! I stopped freaking out and danced the night away, didn’t sleep that night, and somehow found a really nice cab driver to take me back to my hotel afterwards (he charged me 300 baht but had no change so I just gave him my 1000 baht bill, really nice guy and really grateful). Yep definitely not doing that again, from now on I will assume every chick at a club in Bangkok is an escort. If you are asking yourself if I hit up that girl again to hang out and continuously pay her $100 USD throughout the week, the answer is dude of course not wtf.

[motokiesta]

How to make Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup Easily

The ingredients

For 4 servings: 5 mins to make.

Water (2 cups for 4 bowl servings)

Kayanoya Dashi pack (1) 

Dried seaweed wakame (1 tablespoon)

Tofu (1/4 from the 14oz pack)

Miso paste (2 tablespoons)

*These measurements are just what I like and they can vary depending on how you like it done.

The Direction

Here are the easy 6 steps

Put Kayanoya Dashi-bag into the water and turn the grill to start boiling the water.

Add tofu whenever!

Add Dried Seaweed wakame into the pot once it’s boiling

Turn off the heat and add Miso Paste.

Taste it

Serve it with the meal

#1. Put Kayanoya Dashi-bag into the water and turn the grill to start boiling the water.

This is my favorite Dashi bag from Kayanoya.

My favorite flavor is this roasted ago (flying fish)

But if you don’t like fish, there are other flavor as well but this is the best for miso soup.

The key is to put a dashi bag while it’s still cold.

There are other Dashi types available in powder, too.

You can use whatever you like and easy for you but I love this Kayanoya Dashi.

You can get them thru Amazon or from Kayanoya USA

It tastes so good and easy!!

#2. Add tofu whenever!

You can put it in while it’s still cold or warm. It really does not matter when. Just give enough time to make sure tofu becomes warm at the end.

Really NO NEED TO COOk TOFU anyway. Dice the tofu with a knife to make cubes of your desired size.

#3. Add Dried Seaweed wakame into the pot once it’s boiling

Wakame really does not need to cook. It just needs to get moistured.

It will get bigger once you put it in the water for a while.

I add it towards the end because I like the little fresh wakame crunchiness and don’t like it too soft.

Use Something like the below pic for Easy Miso Soup cooking-it’s Dried Seaweed (wakame)

You should be able to find this in the Asian Grocery market or Amazon even.

We use it sometimes to add to the salad after soaking into the water for a while and drain the water out.

Very good on Salad with any dressings.

#4. Turn off the heat and add Miso Paste.

Once it’s boiled and warmed up everything, make sure to turn the fire off.

And then, add about 2 tablespoons of miso paste into the water.

Use a ladle and make sure you mix inside the ladle to make sure it’s being mixed well.

We don’t ever wanna boil and lose the Miso to retain the miso’s great flavor.

That is why we turn the fire off.

#5. Taste it

If you like it to have more flavor, add more miso paste!

If you made it too strong, add water!

That is completely OK!

#6. Serve it with the meal

We usually enjoy Miso Soup with the meal.

Not as the appetizer “soup”.

Many times in Japanese restaurants, Miso soup comes before the meal.

That is not the right way to serve Miso Soup.

Miso Soup compliments the dinner and it’s not an appetizer.

Kayanoya Original Dashi Stock Powder (8g packets x 30)

[tnerb90]

6/22

Left off on my "slip day" but also need to add; we went to Jeremiah's after dinner and it was my suggestion. Wanted a sugar free icee for dessert. Perfect. It's just ice and sugar free syrup/flavoring probably. And they had sour apple my fav flav. Perfect. Except as I started eating it, out of curiosity I googled sugar free italian ice. It was luigis or some shit but it was like 30-50 ish carbs. So I was like wtf. Reddit confirmed that it has something carby in it. I don't understand. But I was already eating it. I almost had a moment of denial. I was like "it's sugar free, how the hell can it really have that many carbs?" But I looked up Jeremiah's specifically and saw the nutritional page. Sure enough it was similar to the other. Moment of truth. I stopped eating and told Ashton what I realized. Put it in the freezer. At the time I was probably a smidge disappointed but nothing too bad. I really could've gone either way and continued to finish it and it probably wouldn't have been a huge deal. But looking in retrospect I'm glad I decided not to.

Yesterday, I got completely back on track. Had eggs and cheese for breakfast. Lunch was BLT and broccoli, and salad. I just took the bread off and had a bacon/ham/salad with broccoli. It was very good. I went to publix after work almost on a whim. But decided to make spicy fish taco bowls. We had been talking about doing that. So I got the ingreds and made them. Cauliflower rice, tilapia (with cayenne/chipotle to spice it up), hot salsa, guac, and shred cheese. So fucking good. I also found some keto ice creams. First was breyers carb smart. Their rocky road used to be my go-to dessert and I would pack that shit into a coffee mug. But they don't make that anymore. only vanilla and recently chocolate, which are fine (seriously not complaining as far as keto ice cream goes). But noticed a new flavor peanut butter and got stoked. Haven't tried it yet. Wonder if I could put my own toppings in to make the flavors more complex. Like sugar free chocolate chips? Nuts? Sf choc syrup? Idk. A lot to think about lol.

But anyway, I also found "Enlightened" which I read was good on Reddit. They were bogo too. So I picked up 4 pints of those to sample. We had sort of a taste test with all 4 yesterday. Def better than Halo top and it got the job done. Each pint was 8 net carbs total or below. Which is amazing if I ever get a "binge" moment and won't feel too guilty. I figured we might do that yesterday because I'm used to downing a pint of Ben and Jerry's easily. Even though this stuff was pretty good, it was just "not-good" enough to have a few bites and put it away haha. Didn't have an urge to finish it. Ashton actually did the same. So yesterday, definitely got back fully on track which is great.

Today I didn't have the energy to make eggs and I actually found these frozen breakfast sandwiches with egg rounds as the 'bread'. It's not perfect since I think it was like 7 net carbs per. It wasn't that great tasting nor filling but it was tasty enough. Probably won't be a go-to shopping item.

I started feeling pretty stressed/hungry after my phonecall with a resident's father. He seemed appreciative of me but also frustrated at the lack progress and laid some pretty heavy challenges on the case. I'm still stressed thinking about it. Then I went to talk to Heather about another case (who isn't even mine btw) that is also stressing me out. Heather did mention to me that HR is working on some paperwork for my raise and it would be ready sooner or later. She made another "unless you quit" joke. Is she reading my mind? Lol. She said "I think you'll be happy with it." Makes me somewhat optimistic, somewhat primed to be disappointed. Happy enough not to consider quitting would be 60,000. Acceptable would be 55k. I'm worried it'll be realistically 52k and I'll feel lowballed. Idk dude. It almost makes me feel more stressed to think about staying. It means I have to confront the situation with this resident, the bills of another resident. More change and constant expectations from paying parents. When she said HR paperwork I instantly thought it meant a possible title promotion too, like manager of PHP or some shit. But she may have just meant paperwork indicating the raise in salary. Sighhhhhh. Glad I have this Tx appointment on Thursday. I need it.

Feeling so tense and nervous right now. Do I need to lower my dose of concerta? I'm like jittery. I need to go to the gym after work.

[thehungrykat1]

Canadian Steakhouse Pop-Up at The Test Kitchen

The Test Kitchen by celebrity chef Josh Boutwood recently hosted a Canadian Steakhouse Pop-up from March 9 to 11, 2021 featuring the exquisite flavors of Canadian Beef. For three days, Chef Josh Boutwood masterfully crafted a series of special dishes from mouthwatering appetizers to delectable seafood and awesome steaks.

The Steakhouse Pop-Up at The Test Kitchen was held in partnership with Canadian Beef and the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines which invited me to join the festivities last week. I had just attended one of their events in December (Canadian Roast and Toast Dinner) at Ikomai and Tochi in Makati, but knowing how much I love Canadian beef and their flavorful steaks, this was an invitation I couldn’t refuse.

The Test Kitchen has evolved from being just a tasting room where Chef Josh Boutwood introduces his culinary inventions to a proper restaurant located at the ground floor of One Rockwell’s East Tower in Makati. The restaurant has a spacious al fresco dining area which is very much suited for the times.

If you want to see Chef Boutwood and the other chefs in action, you can choose to sit at the indoor tables with a full view of the open kitchen. The place has a casual yet also sophisticated ambiance, where friends and family can hang out and safely enjoy the food and drinks.

I always make sure that the restaurants where I dine in are following all the necessary health standards and protocols. Social distancing is strictly followed here at The Test Kitchen, with disinfectants readily available on every table. Envelopes are also provided for face masks and utensils are enclosed in their own sanitized pouches as well.

We started with some of their specialty cocktails. The Fireball (P390) is a combination of fireball whiskey, coffee, rosemary, and cucumber. I had the Ungava Tepache (P390) with its blend of ungava gin, tepache, and pineapples. Complimentary breads were also served on the table together with butter.

For our first appetizer course, the Beef Tartar (P560) was definitely a revelation. This beautifully plated starter comes with raw Canadian beef tartare blended with onions and caraway. The maple and soy cured egg sits prettily on top balancing a fennel lavash. Break the egg open and mix it with the beef to create a creamy and colorful dish.

We also had some Mussels (P490) served with garlic bread. These Canadian mussels are sautéed in white wine, garlic, and parsley. I loved dipping my bread inside the bowl to seep up the savoury flavors of the mussels.

I was surprised with the Canadian Scallop Mousseline (P290) which was unlike any scallop dish I had tried before. The mousseline cream is topped with flying fish roe sauce and dill oil. The result is a salty scallop mousse that you can eat by itself or put on some bread for a winning combination.

But the main attraction at the Canadian Steakhouse Pop-Up is, of course, the steak! We ordered the Canadian Angus Ribeye (24oz-P5200) together with truffled mashed potato and creamed spinach as our side dishes.

No matter how many times I have eaten Canadian beef, I still cannot get enough of it. Chef Boutwood’s own version is simply magnificent. The beef is cooked medium with a crusty outer skin but the inner portions are so tender and juicy. Chef Josh Boutwood is really known for serving delicious and meaty steaks, so this collaboration with Canadian Beef is really a gift for foodies.

So what makes Canada Beef exceptional anyway? They say that it is Canada itself - the land where the cattle is raised and its cold climate, rich grasslands, fields, and stunning landscape which makes it highly-suitable for farming. Canada is a sprawling land that stretches over more than seven time zones and is one of the leading beef-producing nations in the world. It is their community of farmers and ranchers who tend to the cattle with values and respect that make Canadian beef truly a cut above the rest.

There’s really no need to add anything else to the steak because Canadian beef is already so flavorful, but all the steaks at The Test Kitchen are served with house mustard, chimichurri and The Test Kitchen steak sauce. So it’s up to you how you want to enjoy your steak.

We also got to taste some of Canada’s seafood as well. The Seabass (P1795) is another exceptional dish served with Tuscan kale and housemade XO sauce. I could not believe how soft and tender this seabass was. Every bite was truly wonderful and I could not have had a better surf and turf combination with the Canadian Angus ribeye steak.

For dessert, we had the Apple Cobler (P390) made with Canadian apples and topped with Vanilla ice cream. We also had the Ice Wine Custard with Blueberries (P220) which was made with wild blueberries harvested from over 10,000 acres in Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The Ice Wine is also a popular sweet beverage in Canada and I enjoyed having it incorporated in this dessert.

The Embassy of Canada in the Philippines is also participating in the 1st virtual World Food Expo (WOFEX) Spring trade show from March 20 to 29, 2021. As a major participant of the show, they have organized a number of events to showcase the best of Canada’s food and its strengths as an education destination. These are the Philippines-Canada Culinary Cup on March 24-25, the first virtual culinary competition featuring students and faculty of Philippine and Canadian schools; the Canadian Gastronomy Masterclass on March 26 where you can savour the best of Canada’s food industry through a virtual showcase of Canadian beef, pork, seafood, potatoes and wines; and finally the Study Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts in Canada Masterclass on March 27 featuring a series of presentations delivered by 12 Canadian schools that offer programs in hospitality, tourism and culinary arts. You can join these exciting events for free by registering on this link: https://forms.gle/G9S6AyDHQGFSVCaw7.

Thank you Ms. Angel Cachuela and my friends from the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines for another mouthwatering evening with Canadian Beef. I’m glad to see that more and more restaurants are now beginning to offer Canadian beef on their menu so I can easily indulge in my meaty cravings.

Canadian Steakhouse Pop-Up at The Test Kitchen

Ground Floor, One Rockwell East Tower, Makati

(0977) 288-5751

www.facebook.com/thetestkitchenmnl

[suncakemom]

Pickled Herring Recipe

Pickling isn’t just for cucumbers! Tasty and flavorful pickled herring recipe that can be used on any fish that fits into the jar of can be sliced up!

As I most recently have some time, I had been searching on the web last week. On the lookout for new, intriguing ideas, inspiring dishes that We have never used before, to surprise my loved ones with. Searching for a while but couldn’t come across lots of interesting things. Just before I thought to give up on it, I came across this delightful and easy treat simply by chance on Suncakemom. The dessert seemed so delicious on its pic, it required immediate action.

It absolutely was simple enough to imagine how it’s created, how it tastes and just how much my hubby might want it. Mind you, it is quite simple to impress the man in terms of treats. Anyway, I visited the webpage and used the precise instuctions that were accompanied by nice snap shots of the process. It really makes life rather easy. I can imagine that it’s a bit of a effort to shoot photographs in the middle of baking in the kitchen as you ordinarily have gross hands thus i really appreciate the commitment she put in to make this post .

Having said that I am empowered presenting my very own formulas in the same way. Many thanks for the concept.

I was tweaking the original recipe create it for the taste of my loved ones. I’ve got to say that it was a terrific success. They enjoyed the flavor, the consistency and loved getting a sweet like this in the middle of a lively week. They quite simply wanted lots more, a lot more. Thus next time I am not going to make the same miscalculation. I am going to multiply the quantity .

Thanks to suncakemom for the delicous Recipe For Pickled Herring.

Make the brine by dissolving the salt in warm water then cooling it down again. If we aren’t bothered by the smell and have enough space simply covering the fish slices in salt would do as well.

Gut the fish and remove the heads.

Boning is not necessary if we aren’t bothered about the spin which is a bit crunchy. Some like it others don’t.

Rinse the pieces of fish well then place them into the brine in the fridge or under the brine in case of using dry salt.

After about a day take them out then rinse them off the salt. The flesh need to be firm to the touch now as if it’s cooked dry otherwise it needs to go back under the brine for a day more.

Fill the middle of the jar up with the onion slices.

Place the fish slices into our favorite jar or any container where it will be completely submerged when the pickling liquid is added in.

Add the sliced onion, garlic, black pepper, mustard seed, salt and any other optional ingredients we wish for.

Fill up the jar with half vinegar and half water mixture.

Put the lid on then place the jar into the fridge for another day.

In case the liquid gets very cloudy that means the brining and rinsing process wasn’t really successful. Eat it up in a couple of days until it’s still edible.

If the brining process was successful we can store our pickled herring or sardines in the fridge for up to a month easily. Maybe even more but who can wait that long to try?

[recipesfromdc]

Weird things DC does in the kitchen

So when I was at my friend’s house this weekend, I asked him a few questions as I helped him cook that it didn’t occur to me may be...odd. Also, I’m supposed to be doing a writing project, but I don’t feel like it, so have some random cooking things instead. 

So here are a bunch of random little tips that no one asked for.

Saving leftovers for stocks or broths

There are a few major benefits to this:

You can more easily control the flavor of the broth.

You cause less waste in areas where you cannot 

I save almost all of the odds and ends from all of the vegetables I use in a large zip-top bag I keep in the freezer. Whenever I use vegetables, I wash all of them very thoroughly - very thoroughly - and trim off all of the root ends. I use what I need and instead of throwing away pieces, I store them in this bag. This includes onion skins, onion “butts”, celery, herb stems, carrot and potato peels, etc. Ones I don’t use are green vegetables like broccoli or asparagus as they can lend bitterness to your resulting broth or stock. 

This also works with chicken carcasses, leftover bone-in meats, and shellfish carcasses like shrimp and lobster. 

My rule of thumb is to always keep “likes” together: vegetables always stay with vegetables, beef always stays with beef, chicken always stays with chicken, etc. Yes, you can definitely mix and match meats and seafood and vegetables, but you can’t un-mix them. 

Your frozen items can be stored from 3-6 months depending on the temperature of your freezer. If you cook regularly like I do, you fill up the bag pretty quickly. 

When it comes time to actually make the stock or broth, you more or less just boil it down. I like to fill a stock pot with my stock/broth ingredients of choice, cover with water, add a lot more water, and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, I cover and let simmer for a few hours and check up on it. I add seasonings as needed and determine whether or not I want to boil it down longer - depending on what I’m using it for, the flavor and colour, etc. 

For things like meats on bones, I sometimes roast them before I boil them down. Additional flavors that are very nice to add: smoked ham hock, smoked neck bones, roasted bone marrow, roasted garlic, or other roasted vegetables (not necessarily your scraps). 

Cheesecloth, pantyhose, paper towels, and coffee filters 

So this actually was an idea I had based on a funny story from my cousins, a pair of twins...we’ll call them boy-twin and girl-twin. 

Boy-twin had a friend that had a garden full of lilikoi bushes, so much so that he had absolutely no idea what to do with them. He of course offers some to boy-twin...and by “some” he meant literal boxes of fresh lilikoi. After the novelty wore off, boy-twin had no fucking clue what to do with them so he made lilikoi juice, lilikoi jam, and lilikoi syrup. 

Thing is, lilikoi has a lot of weird fleshy insides and a lot of weird little seeds inside so all of the things he wanted to make needed to be strained and cheesecloth is expensive. 

So he got the bright idea after watching girl-twin getting ready for work in her skirt and blouse and pantyhose. Depending on what you’re using it for, pantyhose makes a great strainer that you can reuse. Just...get new ones. Don’t use a pair you’ve already worn please, for the love of all that is holy. 

Anyway, boy-twin realized that if he bought a pair of knee-highs, he could dump sliced lilikoi inside and mush it around so only the juice came out...or he could stretch them across a metal hoop like a fishing net and pour syrup and what-have-you through it to catch the weird fleshy bits and seeds. 

On that note, when I was making a peach-bourbon drink, I needed to strain my concoction and...didn’t feel like going out to buy pantyhose or stockings. 

Cue paper towels and coffee filters: they’re cheaper and more likely to be found in the average household than cheesecloth and do a pretty good job of straining things out. Depending on how much liquid I’m straining, I line a chinoise or a small strainer with it and slowly pour my concoction through. Sometimes it may take some time but it does catch a lot of the fine particulates that I hadn’t expected it to catch. 

I use coffee filters for finer things that don’t have a lot of large, pulpy bits and paper towels if I do. 

Anyway, done ranting about random cooking things. I’m going to bed. 

Hopefully at least a little bit of this was interesting or helpful. :)

~DC

[044-eu]

Paella recipe

Paella recipe ingredients for 4/6 people

Being a single dish, that is, a single course, I recommend to make it abundant. 500 grams of rice 1 whole chicken 200 grams of diced pork pulp 150 grams of spicy sausage 100 grams salami 400 grams of mussels 200 grams of shrimp 200 grams of shrimp tails 200 grams squid cut into rings a dozen whole langoustines 2 peppers 200 grams of peas 1 onion 2 cloves garlic 2 bay leaves 700 grams of chopped tomatoes 1 saffron saffron sachet olive oil chopped chilli nut broth Salt Pepper To cook the paella, use the special wide and low-edge iron paella with two semi-circular handles or a very large circular iron pan that can then go into the oven.

Preparing Paella

Clean, wash and cut the chicken into small pieces, add the diced pork and cook for about twenty minutes all in a little olive oil, (4/5 tablespoons). After twenty minutes remove the pieces of meat from the pot and set aside. In the same cooking bottom cook the spicy sausage cut into small pieces and the salami always in pieces. After about ten minutes remove the meat from the cooking bottom and add it to the chicken and pork. Add a little oil to the remaining cooking bottom and cook a finely chopped onion until it becomes colored along with the garlic cloves that you will have crushed with a fork. Garlic cloves after browned should be removed. Now add the peeled tomatoes in pieces with the chopped chilli. Season with salt, pepper and cook for half an hour. Meanwhile, prepare the mussels, which will be washed and brushed thoroughly. Put them in a pan, cover and put on the heat until they are open. Half you remove from the valves and add them to the meat you have already cooked, the other half leave them in the valves because they will garnish the surface of our paella. The peppers should also be cooked lightly on the grill, so that the skin can be removed, after which the seeds are removed from strips or dice. Let's move on to the fish. Put the shrimp in a bowl, the shrimp tails the squid with a little olive oil and cook for 5 minutes turning often. Now let's take a large pan and put the chicken meat, pork, sausage, salami, peas, chopped peppers, bay leaf. Add at least a litre of broth and let it cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes we also add the fish we cooked before and the mussels that we removed from the valves and let it cook for 10 minutes more. Meanwhile, in our paella or circular iron pan, heat half a glass of olive oil, put the rice and toast lightly using a wooden spoon. Just lightly toasted add the mixture of tomatoes you had prepared before and mix it with the rice adding a little broth at a time. Melt the saffron bag in a tablespoon of broth and add it to the rice, stirring well. Incorporate all this plan plan add all the other ingredients with the cooking broth that was advanced and adding a little more broth if serving until the rice is cooked. At this point, the mussels with the valves we had left before and the langoustines that you have previously cooked on the grill are placed on the surface of the paella. Put the bowl in the already hot static oven at 180 degrees and let it cook for 5 minutes. Now our paella is ready to be brought to the table and enjoyed. The wine suitable for this dish is a dry white served cold, and this is my favorite, although someone since there is also meat in the recipe prefers a good full-bodied red.

Paella designation

Its name: paella comes from the pan in which this recipe was prepared. It is a low-edged iron pan with two opposite grips. This dish consisting of rice, meats, fish, vegetables, cured meats, aromas and everything the cook considers appropriate to mix, is considered by foreigners a kind of emblem of Spanish cuisine, while authoritative Spanish writers call paella a dish impossible to classify, some call it baroque, but by many Spanish chefs it is considered a curiosity for tourists. True is however that inherited from the period of Arab domination that Spain has suffered, many recipes of baked rice were imported, but in each using only certain elements, that is, only fish or only meat or only vegetables, The different Spanish regional cuisines made treasure of these recipes have modified them by inserting and mixing together the various elements, making them a unique dish complete with many variants. The most common and cooked in Spain is the Valencian paella, then the mixed one, both meat and fish, but given the success that has gained species with foreigners led other regions to launch their own paella, so the Catalan paella was born , the Paella of Alicante, the paella navarrina etc. These are recipes subject to many variants that we will analyze later. Common voices indicate the birth of this specialty around the fifteenth century and it was the lunch of the peasants, not rich as it happened later but were used the inductors of the countryside combined with rice. Traditionally paella is eaten at lunch and not dinner and is the Sunday dish for Spaniards. Its place of origin is thought to be the extensive Albufera swamp, south of Valencia, where for centuries the ideal rice is grown for this preparation and many other ingredients of paella can also be found. It is thought that the original recipe included in addition to rice, only meat, chicken or rabbit and vegetables, then peasant and not marinara. I have found various legends on the web regarding the origin of this dish and other curiosities, but I do not know how much they can be trusted. I propose them anyway because I found them very intriguing. According to one of these one day in an inn in southern Spain he stopped to refuel a beautiful princess. The host enchanted by his beauty wanted to make a dish that was sensational, then I start to mix with saffron rice the most disparate ingredients, from meat to fish, to vegetables to aromas. When the princess asked him the name of that dish that she liked so much the host who could not give it a name said simply pa ella, which in Spanish means to her. Another curious anecdote of dubious provenance, refers to the period of occupation of Valencia by Napoleonic troops. There was a general in the city French who especially loved paella. This general promises the release of a Valencian prisoner every variant of paella that will make him taste. The camp's cooks armed themselves with fantasy and churned out many variations, they are said to have managed to get more than 150 people liberal. One more curiosity: the largest paella in the world. In 1992 the world's largest paella was cooked by a restaurateur in Valencia. The paella measured twenty meters in diameter and on that occasion about 100,000 people were served. The Spaniards even dedicated a day to paella. In fact, march 27 is celebrated the international Spanish Paella Day, a day on which in Spain everyone prepares paella, coinciding with the beginning of spring and evokes warm, sunny terraces, convivial companies gathered around this specialty, cook and enjoy outdoors if possible.

Let's start with rice

It is important for the success of our paella to choose the right rice. The original recipe tells us the rice called Bomba. In Spain there are three areas where this type of rice is grown with a controlled origin. The Ebro Delta in Tarragona province, calasparra in Murcia and the Albufera swamp south of Valencia. This type of rice is suitable for all types of paella, whether meat or fish, vegetables or mixed. It absorbs more water than other types of rice, thus better retaining the flavors of ingredients and other important quality, it keeps cooking very well even if you exceed the recommended cooking time. The grain has a round and white look. It is not very easily found in Italy and is very expensive even in Spain, however in Italy we have risi that are very close to this and can make up for it. So I recommend a parboiled an arborium or a carnaroli. Perfect laughs for our risottos but also good for paella. A very welcome variant will be to use black rice called Venus. It is a variety of Italian rice that was born at the end of the last century around Vercelli through a cross between an Asian variety of black rice and a variety of the Padana Plain. It certainly turns out to be an exotic and unconventional choice, but it seems the ideal rice for the mixed paella of meat and fish, so much so that even the Spaniards have discovered it and use it. I wanted to do a try using Basmati rice which is an elongated rice and I found it great for paella for its fragrant and aromatic taste and whose beans remain separate and solid.

Fish paella or paella de marisco

Only fish is used in this type of paella. Mainly shellfish and shellfish hence the name Marismus (mollusk). Mussels, squid, shrimp, langoustines, but also clams, crabs or fish that offers the market, everything goes well for this preparation. In this recipe the rice is flavored not only with saffron but also with paprika. The basic recipe does not include vegetables except tomato garlic and onion, but inserted in the middle of cooking you can put peas and peppers. Instead of the broth in this variety they use the water that comes out of the pot opening of mussels, or the comic of fish or crustaceans that is the cooking bottom of the fish and crustaceans that we use for our paella. Serve the marisco paella with slices of lemon.

Vegetarian Paella

In this particular paella you use seasonal vegetables, and therefore can vary depending on the period in which you prepare. So peas, cauliflower, carrots, white spanish beans, artichokes, peppers and green beans. But champignon mushrooms or other types and other vegetables are also fine. For the bottom of cooking, onion, garlic, tomatoes and for the aromas, paprika, saffron and parsley. It is a fairly fast preparation and very tasty and healthy.

Paella of Alicante

In this variant you use rabbit and chicken meat that are cut into not very large pieces and browned with a little butter along with the sliced sausage. Set aside and add the garlic cloves and chopped onion to the cooking bottom. When the garlic is golden, remove it and add the tomatoes, chicken and rabbit. Cook the rice for about ten minutes in the heated paella with the oil, uniting the meat broth a little at a time. Add the meat and cook for another 5 minutes. Beat 4 eggs in a bowl with a little salt and pepper and pour over the rice over the heat. Place the slices of sausage on top of the garnish. Put it in the oven at 200 degrees for about ten minutes and serve hot.

the original Valencian

It is not very easy to find it, you prefer the most complete variants. But initially the Valencian paella was made up of meat, snails and vegetables and not fish as many now prefer. So in addition to rice, chicken, rabbit, snails. White Spanish beans and green beans as vegetables. For the bottom of cooking, always the usual, tomato, onion and garlic. The cooking is the same, only the ingredients change. This is the oldest and most classic Spanish paella. A voice in the word deserves sangria that even if it is not purely a wine (or more simply a preparation) suitable for our pans, it is the necessary completion to this tasty dish. So have a good appetite. Read the full article

[longforgottenunofficial]

The Pet Cemeteries

Yes, there are two.  Imagineer Kim Irvine (daughter of "Madame Leota" Leota Toombs) came up with the idea for the first one in the early 1980's.  Not a lot of time and effort went into the project.  Kim just purchased off-the-shelf yard statues of a dog, cat, skunk, and frog (complete with mouth hole for squirting water) and had Imagineer Chris Goosman compose some macabre epitaphs for the pedestals.  They were put in the vacant yard on the north side of the HM, alongside the wheelchair access path, reportedly to give them something to look at over there.

(pic by Monstersgoboo)

BIG JAKE Here lies my good dog Jake. Chasing a toad down a well was his one mistake. In memoriam MISS KITTY After losing eight lives you still had no fear. You caught a snake in your ninth and that's why you're here. R.I.P. BULLY You didn't drink, you didn't smoke. I just can't figure what made you croak. In loving memory of our pet STRIPEY You may be departed, But your presence will always linger on. Everyone seemed to like this little HM secret, so in 1993 they put another one in the front yard.

It has proven so popular that they subsequently added similar pet cemeteries to the WDW and Tokyo HMs. And so on. Those are the well-known facts, familiar to most Mansionites, if not to the general public.  Beyond that basic history, no one has bothered to say much.  But Long-Forgotten readers are a tough and discriminating audience.  They ask, nay, demand more.  Pry up those rocks and see what's crawling around underneath. A new addition came to the original pet cemetery in the summer of 2016. They needed to add another exhaust vent for the train tunnel going behind the HM and decided to make a virtue of necessity by disguising the vent as a crypt. So far so good, but the crypt is in the pet cemetery, and they made it up as a goofy, elephant grave. The crypt itself is tolerable, falling within the wide embrace of Victorian eccentricity (which, after all, gave us elephant foot umbrella stands), but that trunk looks absolutely awful. How can anyone over the age of eight, let alone Disney Imagineering, look at the exterior and landscaping of the Anaheim HM and conclude that it is an appropriate venue for this sort of zany kookiness? Barf. This looks like a refugee from the execrable queue in Orlando, disaffectionately known in these parts as PLQ:

Sometime around October a plaque appeared on the front:

More cutsie-wootsie stuff, ill-suited to the dignified exterior of the HM. And I hadn't noticed the mouse in previous photos, so I'll point to it now as part of the whole package. Anyway, bleahh. I'm only glad all of this is in a place generally unseen and easily ignored. I look forward to spending a lot of time forgetting it exists. As I said in the last post, I'm not a huge fan of the PC.  I think most purists and traditionalists see it as an unwelcome intrusion of sheer fantasy before the attraction even begins and would happily see it gone.  That's more or less been my position too, and yet I can't get worked up about it.  Something about the pet cemetery is okay, and it's time to figure out why.  Let's take a closer look. Much of the front yard version simply repeats the formula of the old one.  Once again you've got a lot of store-bought statuary sitting on pedestals with macabre epitaphs.  In fact, two of the statues (the frog and the skunk) are virtually identical to their back yard counterparts, although they have new names and texts.  The main difference out here is that some dates are attached.  The frog is "Old Flybait" ("He croaked, August 9 1869") and the skunk is "Beloved Lilac" ("Long on curiosity...Short on common scents, 1847").  There's also "Rosie" ("She was a poor little pig, but she bought the farm, 1849") and a dog named "Buddy" ("Our friend until the end"). The latter may be a long-overdue tribute to Buddy Baker, the musical genius behind the HM score.  The dating formula is obvious in the case of Old Flybait; it's exactly 100 years before the HM opening day, and this suggests that the other dates are really cryptic references to 1947 and 1949, probably the birth years of the Imagineers involved. There's nothing terribly out of place in any of these examples.  They are all of a piece.  We can easily imagine one or several family members in the mansion's long history being animal lovers and burying their pets out front, complete with whimsical epitaphs.  Even if the choice of animals is eccentric in some cases, there is nothing surreal involved, not even anything supernatural. In one case, however, these conventional statues are arranged in such a way as to suggest that the animals involved have business to conduct in the afterlife.

There is a clever thematic continuity between this cluster and some of the relationships you encounter inside the house.  Imagine the graveyard executioner, a man who in life wielded the power of death but who has now followed his victims into the grave.  It's called irony.  Better still, imagine the cat as Constance and the birds as her husbands, and you can feel the same chemistry at work.  No one forms a partnership with Death so powerful and so lasting as to avoid the same fate as Death's other victims.  It's a classic statement, made at least three times in the attraction, starting with this tableau.  I think the cat-and-bird set is perhaps the high water mark of the pet cemeteries. There is, however, a whole other set of grave markers.  These are original WDI designs, and they have a more fantastical flavor.  I suspect that it is these that rub some fans the wrong way.  There's Fi Fi the dog, with her cruciform tombstone made of crossed bones and her portrait with crossed-X eyes (like in the funnies).  This piece is significant for reasons that have nothing to do with the intentions of the designers.  It represents a change in the general culture between 1969 and 1993, but that will be the topic of another post.  For the moment, I'll simply note that it is the only cross-shaped headstone in the entire attraction, including all of the scale models and all of Marc Davis's concept art. The other weird monuments are for a snake, a bat, a rat, a fish, and a spider.  The pieces are nothing if not stylish.

It's a good deal harder to imagine these as simply the products of animal lovers in the Mansion's history.  The style of the monuments themselves is too bizarre.  Perhaps we are to imagine not merely animal lovers, but insane animal lovers, if we want to keep these within the imaginative realm of a real house with a history of real occupants—which is the starting point of the HM voyage. If imagining these pet monuments as items designed by crazy family members seems a stretch, then these freaky-deaky things simply don't belong here.  For me, there are enough tales of nutball Victorians to keep it all just barely within bounds. As if to illustrate exactly that point, Craig Conley sent me in November of 2016 the following clipping from a 1913 edition of Popular Mechanics,noting an 1855 grave marker for a fish.

Okay, even if we are not necessarily in the realm of fantasy, you still wonder what the original Imagineers were shooting for.  In one of the Long-Forgotten threads at Micechat, someone argued that pieces like Freddie the Bat were inspired by Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, which would eventually take over the whole Mansion every Fall and Winter, of course.  If you compare concept art for Freddie with typical NBC artwork, the similar look and feel is indeed striking.

But the dating is against it.  NBC was released the same year the pet cemetery was installed: 1993.  Better to look elsewhere for inspiration for this fantastic and surreal streak.  [Edit: But see new evidence below.]  As a matter of fact, the original HM Imagineers did kick around some lunatic pet ideas for the HM.  Ken Anderson toyed with having a man-eating octopus in a pit in the middle of a room in his 1957 Ghost House.  Which is pretty . . . out there.

Then there's this delightful but unused Marc Davis gag:

But if we're looking for justification for adding an element of the strange and fantastic to the Haunted Mansion, the obvious place to look is in Rolly Crump's unused "Museum of the Weird" designs.  Do I detect a whiff of the Museum in the pet cemetery? (Or *sniff* is that just a dead fish?)

Very, very few people know this, but Rolly actually designed some bizarre tombstones for the HM.  Where they would have been used, I can't imagine, but it must be admitted that Freddie the Bat has nothing on Velma Wingspan when it comes to eccentricity, and isn't the spidery lettering style used on the pet cemetery stones just a teeny weeny bit reminiscent of Rolly's "Museum" font?

"But even if Ken, Marc, and Rolly kicked these kinds of ideas around, they ultimately decided NOT to go in that direction, so even if the pet cemetery Imagineers were drawing inspiration from those guys, they also overrode their judgment by going ahead with this kind of thing." Yeah, I hear that, and it's a good point, but I still take some comfort in the idea that the newer Imagineers respected and revered the original masters and sought to draw inspiration from their work.  And anyway, since the pet cemetery, even at its most surreal, can be placed within the imaginative orbit of the Mansion, I've decided to call a truce on this one. New Evidence for Tim Burton's Influence One of our "Anonymous" commenters directs our attention to a short 1984 film by Tim Burton, Frankenweenie, produced by Walt Disney pictures.  Reportedly, Disney fired Burton after making it, claiming he had wasted company resources and had produced a film too dark for Disney to use.  It later had video and DVD releases. Well, SOMEONE at Disney liked the film.  There can be little doubt that it was a direct influence on the front yard pet cemetery.  The film is a parody/homage to Frankenstein, so there are important graveyard scenes—in a pet graveyard.  It appears also in the film's opening titles.

Fifi's tombstone at Disneyland is obviously taken almost directly from this movie.

There are several bone-cruciform tombstones in the Frankenweenie cemetery, but "Sparky" is the main animal character in the film. 

Even the shape of Fifi's head and the "X's" for her eyes may havebeen inspired by various other tombstones seen in the film.

Then there's "Earl."

There are also tombstones for a goldfish and a snake in the Burton graveyard.

This raises the distinct possibility that Imagineers (or at least Kim Irvine) were aware of Burton's work on Nightmare while it was in production and saw some of the models, and so possibly that artwork was an additional influence on the style of the 1993 HM pet cemetery. A big thanks goes to "Anonymous" for the tip.

Originally Posted: Monday, July 19, 2010 Original Link: [x]

[applecut3-blog]

paleo energy balls

These paleo energy balls made with almond butter and dates have saved my life last month while following a strict paleo diet. Not only do they make a great snack (or I’ve even had them at breakfast too) but they have 100% helped satisfy my sweet tooth! They’re free of grains, dairy or refined sweeteners. Plus with the addition of collagen protein, they also have a nice little boost of protein.

Reflecting back on last month, I have to say transitioning to eating paleo for a whole month was both hard and easy at the same time.

Easy Parts of Eating Paleo

The easy part for me was coming up with paleo recipes to make. When you think about it, paleo cooking is as basic as it gets. It’s a lot of simple ingredients (meats, fish, poultry, veggies, fruits, eggs, nuts and seeds.) So dinner often looked something like just tossing a bowl of root veggies with herbs, salt and avocado oil and roasting them. Plus a pan of roasted chicken thighs and a green salad with a paleo friendly dressing. Nothing fancy, but pretty much delicious! I made paleo shepherd’s pie a few times (rave reviews on that) and meatloaf without any breadcrumbs. But what I am saying is, there is no lack of paleo recipes to choose from!

Here are a couple paleo cookbooks I bought and enjoyed last month. (These are affiliate links.)

Also on the easy list was feeling satisfied. I did not have any problems feeling hungry. Using intuitive eating, I was able to listen to my hunger, and eat enough to satisfy. My weight has remained steady. I did find that a bigger than normal breakfast really helped me not turn into an afternoon snack monster. I also found that having a tin of almonds, a banana or some of these paleo energy bites handy was a good way to make sure I had something paleo-friendly if hunger struck when I was out and about.

Challenges of the Paleo Diet

On the “hard” side of the equation, eating paleo meant that I spend more time in the kitchen. On the paleo diet, pretty much everything is made from scratch. And without dairy or grains, I had to spend time making alternatives. For example, when I made cauliflower mashed potatoes, instead of splashing in some yogurt, butter or buttermilk, I had to take the time to make a batch of cashew cream. The difference was subtle, but the number of dirty dishes in the sink don’t lie!

Another challenge while cooking and eating a paleo diet for the month of January, was produce management! This was a bigger issue than I thought it would be. Usually when I plan our meals, we have a protein, a veggie and a grain. But with paleo, we’d have a protein and two veggies. Often more! So we basically had double the veggies on hand at all times. Plus instead of snacking on crackers and such, we filled the counter with fresh fruit. All of that produce takes up a lot of grocery cart and fridge space! That’s not something I could have anticipated and was an eye opener.

Budget wise, I was really worried that paleo was going to be way more expensive than our already high grocery bill, but I found that it actually all worked out. I tried to stick with less expensive cuts of meat (slow cooking roasts and braising meats and ground meats.) The real reason it wasn’t more expensive is because instead of buying expensive convenience breakfasts and snacks, I was making them from scratch. Plus every day, I made two extra servings for dinner so Jase and I had a lunch as well. That means no lunch trips to Panera for Jase, and we stayed on track.

The last thing I would say was satisfying my sweet cravings. I am not a huge sweet person, but after lunch I do like to have a cup of tea and a little something sweet. I found myself digging into the dried fruit on multiple occasions!  That’s how I got turned on to these Paleo Energy Balls. They are naturally sweet and paleo approved because they do not have any refined sugar, dairy or grains.

How to Make Paleo Energy Balls

Dates: I like to use Medjool Dates to make these energy bites. They are very soft so the break into a smoother paste very easily. I find the dates that come pre-chopped and coated in starch are too hard. Plus, I’ve been keeping a package of Medjools on hand for simple snacking anyway. Make sure you keep them in the fridge. They have a higher moisture content and will start to go bad if left at room temperature for a long time.

Remove the papery blossom end of the date if it is still attached. That’s where it was attached to the date palm, and it looks like a little brown disk attached to the flatter end of the date. Then slice lengthwise until your knife hits the pit. Pry the date open and take the pit out. To make sure the dates don’t get stuck in your food processor, cut them into a couple pieces.

Blast the date pieces in the food processor with almond flour and coconut flour. I added these to add bulk to the energy balls. The coconut flour is very absorbent, so make sure you only add 2 tablespoons! The flours will help keep the dates from clumping together too much so you can add the remaining ingredients and they will disperse evenly.

Next add in the almond butter. Look for almond butter that is made with almonds and salt only. The kind with palm shortening is too solid and will result in more dry energy balls.

Along with the almond butter add in maple syrup and collagen protein. Collagen protein is a great way to add a little bit of needed protein to these without altering the texture or flavor. The maple syrup helps the mixture come together. Plus salt which really seals the deal why these are so delicious.

Once the dough is ground up completely evenly, then check it to see if it will come together. Just pinch a little bit and if it comes together as a dough, you’re ready to rock and rollllll. As in roll the date mixture into balls.

To finish them off, I made a combo of sliced almonds, salt and toasted coconut and coated the balls in it. This is not necessary, but I like texture it adds. Note: if the mixture doesn’t stick, you can roll the balls in a tiny bit of maple syrup to first.

How to Store Paleo Energy Snack Balls

To store these snack bites, stack them in a small resealable container.

I like to use glass snap top containers so the food doesn’t come in contact with plastic.

Keep them refrigerated.

They will keep for up to five days. Ours never lasted longer than that because we loved them so much!

QUESTIONS Have you tried the paleo diet?

What are your challenges with eating paleo?

What has been easy about eating paleo?

More Paleo Recipes To Try

Coconut Apricot Fig Bites

Paleo Egg Muffins

Sweet and Spicy Nuts

Maple Roasted Plantains

Garlic Almond Kale Chips

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Description

These paleo energy balls have saved my life last month while following a strict paleo diet. Not only do they make a great snack (or I’ve even had them at breakfast too) but they have 100% helped satisfy my sweet tooth! They’re free of grains, dairy or refined sweeteners. Plus with the addition of collagen protein, they also have a nice little boost of protein.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons cup toasted sliced almonds, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut, toasted

½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt, divided

1 cup medjool dates, pitted and cut into pieces (about 10 dates)

½ cup almond flour

2 tablespoons coconut flour

¼ cup almond butter

2 scoops collagen

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, plus more if necessary

Instructions

Combine sliced almonds, toasted coconut and ¼ teaspoon salt in a shallow dish. Set aside.

Place dates, almond flour and coconut flour in a food processor, and pulse to chop. Add almond butter, collagen, maple syrup and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Process, scraping sides as necessary, until the mixture is evenly ground. Check to see if the mixture will come together by squeezing a bit of the dough. If it doesn’t, add one to two more teaspoons maple syrup and pulse again.

Form into 12 balls. Roll balls in the almond and coconut mixture. If mixture doesn’t stick, add first roll the batch of balls in a bowl with a tiny bit of maple syrup to lightly coat them. Then roll in the mixture.

Store in a glass storage container and refrigerate up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 ball

Calories: 126

Fat: 5 g

Carbohydrates: 20 g

Fiber: 6 g

Protein: 3 g

Keywords: paleo,snack,treat,dessert,breakfast,dates,almonds,coconut,diary free,protein,grain free,wheat free,gluten free,energy balls

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Source: https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/paleo-energy-balls/