#diy severed hands pie

[smurf-ffxiv]

( i already answered all of that on twitter, so i'm posting it here for archival )

1. "What's their name ?"

Smurf is what the other kids called him and he stuck with it. Kett is the name of the orphanage he grew up in.

His government name is Lkhagvajargal Khatayin, but he has never used it once in his life.

2. "Race and Main Class/job"

He's a Xaela Au Ra, maining Dancer. He used to be a pugilist, but switched after traumatic events in his life.

He practices Free-Form Kriegstanz, which works the same as the regular one, but is danced however the user chooses.

3. "A striking feature ?"

He's pretty banged up, covered in scars, has a boxer's nose and is missing half a horn. I'm guessing when you meet him for the first time, you go "jesus, has this guy been hit by several cars ?"

4. "Their age ?"

As of Dawntrail, he's 29.

5. "Their personality ?"

Smurf is pretty easy-going and airheaded on a day-to-day basis. He's extroverted, laughs too loud and grips things too hard. The only times where he shuts up is when he's tired (toddler energy), or he's sad.

6. "Their clothing ?"

Smurf is a DIY master and will reuse literally anything he can find. He makes his own shirts or vests out of old stuff, thrifts, or trades stuff. I often joke that his shirts are too tight cause he can't find his size often.

7. "How was their childhood ?"

Pretty happy, all things considering. Money was almost non-existent, but he had his brother, sister and other orphanage kids to bond and spend time with.

He got into a lot of trouble often bcause he stole anything that wasn't bolted to the floor.

8. "Their goals ?"

As of current events in his life, there's a few :

close The New Pit

get better

find out where he's from biologically

kiss boyfriend (repeatable quest)

9. "How do they make a living ?"

Smurf is a mercenary ; he smacks stuff for money. If the offers are leager, he also does construction, heavy lifting, and general tasks.

He makes good money from it and lives within his means, but gives a lot of his earnings to the orphanage.

10. "Their favorite food ?"

He's a big fan of a certain shop Battered Fish in Limsa, but prefers Aergswys' Eel Pie for the nostalgic effect.

If he's training / in aether deficit and he needs a top-up fast, he will often consume a concerning amount of eggs.

1. "Their worst fear ?"

Killing everyone he loves with his own hands.

Alternatively, going back into The Pit.

12. "They have hobbies ?"

Apart from the obvious dancing and eating, he likes to people-watch, listen to loud music in basements huddled with other sweaty people, and swimming.

13. "Which is their favored party role ?"

DPS, obviously, but he's so large that he can tank stuff if needed. As a dancer, yes.

14. "Their talents ?"

Smurf is an excellent melee fighter. He analyses fight patterns very quickly, can dodge at a fantastic speed, and does not hesitate to fight dirty (pocket sand type of stuff).

Sadly, he doesn't go too much into it, because he's afraid of himself.

15. "Is it a native of Eorzea ? What is their hometown ?"

WELL

Limsa is his hometown because he's lived in it since he was a baby, but he was born somewhere else.

I can't really say where right now, because it's something i'll eventually touch on in lore comics later.

16. "Their parents ?"

His adoptive mother is Aergswys, the carer for the orphanage. They have an excellent relationship and he goes often for food, helping with the kids, and get nagged ("your flat is a pigsty, why do i never meet your boyfriend, dress better you oaf")

17. "Their siblings ?"

MMA Superhero and Weird Unsettling Freak /s

Leto and Toon, the twins, were raised in the same orphanage and arrived at roughly the same time. They consider each other like true family and love each other unconditionally.

18. "Other family ?"

Rude fruity father /s

I'll touch up more on Charle in another question but Smurf and him have developed a strong father-son type relationship, call each other often, and discuss about life issues.

19. "What do they think of love ?"

That he's not deserving of it, but that he wants it very hard nonetheless. Smurf is a very emotional person (albeit repressed), and just discovered what it means to experience the kindness of other people. He's afraid to get used to it.

20. "And sex ?"

He liked to have sex before The Pit, he got completely isolated from it in The Pit, and got out with all of his delayed libido he didn't knew what to do with. Smurf loves to have sex, especially if it's someone he loves. He also almost never tires.

21. "Thoughts about gil ?"

He wants as little of it as possible, bar from living costs.

Gil is associated with The Pit, and very bad memories. It's tainted forever for him. He will never save or hoard any money as long as he's alive, and never ever chase it.

22. "Their faith ?"

He did hold some beliefs for Llymlaen by cultural habit, but never was a fervent practicioner.

He still keeps some traditions out of superstition, especially when he travels by boat.

23. "They have enemies ?"

Keen Lotus, the New Pit owner and widow of the former owner, has made it her life's mission to find Smurf back and to make him pay for what he has done to her husband.

24. "Their role models ?"

When Smurf was at a low point in his life, after getting out of the Pit, Charlemeaux found him and taught him the Kriegstanz as a form of therapy. Since then, Smurf holds him in the highest regard and tries to be a man he can be proud of.

25. "Their fondest memory ?"

The day he finally mastered the Kriegstanz and realized he could do things he never thought he'd achieve was a pretty high point in his life.

He also smiles often thinking on moments with his family, or his first kiss with Morrog.

26. "Their biggest flaw ?"

His guilt.

He is so traumatized by what happened that he imagines his trauma and guilt as a complete different person, who whispers shame and self-loathing in his brain when he feels down.

The Little Voice takes over when he is overwhelmed, aswell.

27. "Their beliefs ?"

Family, above all. He will fight tooth and nail to keep the ones he loves safe, especially from himself.

He also believes capitalism is poisoned and anyone obsessed by greed is someone that needs to be avoided at all costs.

28. "Thought on allied societies ?"

He helped with just a few during MSQ (Leto did most of them), but he liked to be allowed to be a part of societies he didn't know much of, help them in their endeavors, and discover things he never knew about.

29. "Their greatest regret ?"

Accepting the offer a man made him out of greed, and having to kill a thousand people because of it. If he could, he would go back in time, refuse, and live a normal life.

The Little Voice implies that he would do it all again.

30. "Any secrets ?"

Every kid in the Kett Orphanage has a bracelet that they dye when they like someone.

Smurf dyed his after his first meeting with Morrog and never told him a word of it (Black for his hair, Blue for his eyes).

Thank you for reading all that if you're still here, have a Dawntrail Cake :

[lillslillslilly]

CHAPTER TWO

Chapter two

She had spent the last fourteen hours kneading dough and mixing batter and rolling out mix until her hands locked, her head was light from dehydration and her stomach was practically screaming for something consumable. Though every millimetre of her five-foot-three self was monopolised in a dull ache from the uninterrupted production of baked goods, Maxine was glowing with relief, disbelief and reward at the milestone she had just accomplished.  She was not phased by the agonising hunger and thirst that her body desperately called out for; instead, it brought a subtle sense of peace, of solidarity to her mind, in tandem to the playlist of soft songs levitating from the speaker in the corner of the bakery, like an energy or an aura.

Positioned above the checkout area, the glass display case exposed a heavenly stash of perfectly browned croissants, glazed cinnamon rolls, an array of stacked cookies and chocolate-chunked brownies, buns and a clique of other devastatingly beautiful pastries and doughs. Shelves encompassing the store accommodated sourdoughs, whole wheats, ciabattas, baguettes, paninis, ryes… individually wrapped in some sort of cellophane material, accompanied by a little red ribbon holding it in place. A freshly polished glass casing lined the centre of the back cherry-red wall, occupied by several fresh pies – cherry, blackberry, peach, pumpkin, apple – each one satisfyingly golden and crisp. Pies were always Maxine’s favourites to make; she enjoyed watching them bake, fruit bubbling, seeping through the flawlessly measured lattice on top, eventually settling, leaving a dye of colour around the pastry. Below the array of pie, still filling the casing, lay angelic looking, soft to the touch, heavenly tasting cakes (two teared with a generous layer of butter icing between tears and coating the top of the exterior): Victoria sponge, triple chocolate, red velvet (the greatest creation in the whole world in the eyes of Max) and coffee and walnut. Depending on which she believed would suit best to each specific cake, Max had dusted them with either silver or gold edible glitter – very lightly as if it was from a fairy. The interior of the bakery also looked as though Maxine had waved a magic wand over it: everything was pristine, perfect. The magnolia walls hung paintings of all sorts of baked goods – paintings her best friend had created for her throughout their friendship ready to store in the bakery she always dreamed of, and so she had kept every single one from over the years for this exact purpose. Crimson, cursive LED lights hung above the checkout counter read ‘welcome’ to match the single red wall hosting the pies and cakes. Earlier in the week, Maxine had purchased two small, rounded, metal tables with shiny, metal, basket-like chairs for customers to eat-in. A few cans of red spray paint and an afternoon of DIY later, she had a small seating area to compliment the red theme that she had been going for. And of course, weaved around the legs of the tables and chairs, and among the sides of the checkout counter were fairy lights.

She was finishing writing products and prices on the colossal chalk board that had earlier been fused to the wall, when a faint but familiar knock presented itself at the door. Behind it: her best friend with a face full of excitement. This was the first time that she had let Wrenn see the bakery; the finished result. She wanted it to be perfect before she let anybody else see, not even her best friend, and now it was.

“Holy shit,” Wrenn gasped as she bounced inside of the store, encouraging her roommate to move to the side. “You did it, like actually. God, it’s just how you described it when we were younger.”

She’s looking around now, spinning in circles, her eyes fixing onto all the different views of the room, occasionally humming with agreement. She giggled at the sight of the fairy-lights knowing that Maxine could not and would not resist incorporating them into the design somehow. Amused, she paced around, letting her eyes bring in all of it.

Then she paused, frozen, glaring up at the paintings on the magnolia walls. She was silent for a moment (which was an unheard-of event for ‘Miss talks-a lot’), as she processed the familiar artwork that lay before her eyes. Wrenn herself broke the silence after gathering her thoughts with a near whisper, “You kept them? ALL of them?”

“Of course I did.” Maxine chuckled in reply, gently caressing the signature, Wrenn’s signature, at the edge of one of the canvases with a chocolate cupcake painted onto it.

“I said I would put them in my bakery, so I have. Besides, I think they bring the whole look together, you know?”

After few soft smiles were exchanged between the pair, Maxine found herself being tackled into a bear-hug, both girls still giggling like teenagers at a sleepover.

“I am really, really, really proud of you Maxie.”

“You are?”

“I am.”

It was starting to get darker earlier, October in the UK and all, and colder too. The bitter air bit at the girls sharp forcing Max to wrap her wine-red scarf around her, covering her nose and mouth. She was aware that it would be a late finish and a cold evening, so she had worn her black trench coat too. Maxine had never really minded the cold weather because she argued that one could always layer up to stay warm or drink a hot drink or tuck yourself in bed, and instead hated the summer. Wrenn always gave the opposing argument that summer in the UK was pathetic: it was barely hot, rained a lot and only lasted a few weeks.

“You’ll love summer abroad. We could go to Spain! Or Los Angeles! Or Portugal!” She’d say.

“We could lay in the sun and get tans and drink martinis.” She’d say.

“We can cool off in the pool and wear our bikinis all of the time.” She’d say.

But Max did not want to go to Spain or Los Angeles or Portugal. She did not want to lay in the sun. She did not want to drink martinis. She did not want to cool off in the pool. She did not want to wear her bikini all the time. And she certainly did not want the summer, though she agreed with her because that’s what friends do. However, she’d rather be curled up by a fireplace with a blanket and a book, some fairy-lights and candles glowing, a coffee, and rain splatting the window: undisturbed. That was what she wanted.

They had been strolling back in the direction their apartment for a while discussing their plans for the rest of the evening. Eventually, the two decided that they’ll stop at the coffee house that resides just beside their apartment block and then they’ll order a pizza and watch a movie to end their day. ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ was their final decision for the movie after a pointless debate on what to watch – this settled right in the middle of their choices: romance and comedy. Perfect – it was also one of Maxine’s favourites, so she felt as though she had still won regarding deciding the film.

‘LIVE LOUNGE COFFEE’ was quite vintage, classical from the outside. The exterior was a deep brown with vines growing along the wood like veins. It seemed quite tiny, secluded and still from the outside. It seemed untouched. Why had it taken them both so long to investigate this coffee house? Maxine especially had become dependent on caffeine, so why has she not visited the coffee house that is quite literally attached to her apartment? In a way, it never really crossed her mind; she hadn’t even fathomed that there was a coffee house attached to her apartment until Wrenn’s mentioning of it on their walk home. Better late then never though, she thought.

Wrenn pushed the door open into the shop, which was rather heavy so this must have been an old shop as they figured, and stepped in, Maxine close behind. She was taken by surprise – this is not what she had thought the interior would look like: it was so… modern; unique? Sofas of mix and matched colours and sizes and an additional similar array of armchairs consumed a lot of the interior. Bar stools and taller tables were dotted around two large speakers which outlined a stage-like area towards the back right hand side of the room. Nothing matched except the walls which were all white, however they were plastered in a series of different quotes and posters. Max was a perfectionist: everything she ever worked on was thought about so particularly for it to be perfect. She needed that control. This was nothing like that. This was unorganised and randomised… so why did she like it?

“Hmm, comfy,” she whispered under her breath as she untangled herself from her scarf, to which her friend turned to her with a facial expression of a mix of surprise and satisfaction.

“Coffee, a beverage that smells like fresh ground heaven,” Maxine read from one of the quotes on the wall to her left. “Amen to that.” Her eyes took one last stroll around the interior of the coffee house until they locked with an unfamiliar pair across the counter. She’d been so caught up with the interior that she hadn’t realised how empty it was, except this pair of forest-brown eyes connected to hers.

“Good evening. How are you?” spoke a soft voice – a soft voice that she did not recognise as her own, nor her best friend’s. A beautiful voice. An angelic voice. A calm voice. It was like music to her ears: blissful and sweet, but soft like feathers.

She realised she was still maintaining eye contact with this person’s exquisite set of russet eyes, and she felt herself burning up, turning red. She swallowed and quickly looked down at her feet. ‘What the fuck is happening?’ she thought to herself. Taking a slow and quiet deep breath Max repositioned her eyes once more, desperate to see the owner of the eyes she had connected with. Her muscles tensed and her breathing fastened. Her once blistery cold skin was now forming beads of sweat as she warmed up against her coat.

She started at the bottom so she could avoid the trance those eyes put her in. They wore a clearly loved pair of Doc Marten boots (she could tell from the frays and the scratches that consumed them), shiny and laced all the way to the top of the ankle. They connected to a pair of black jeans pulled over a long pair of legs. Her eyes glided up to their hips, flawlessly curved, falling into a petite waist shaped by a small apron pulled around it and tied with a bow. Her breathing heavied again, falling irregular now. After a moment of trying to collect herself, she continued her eyes on their journey up, analysing this stranger. One of their hands sat dominantly on their waist while the other was twirling the end of one of two long, midnight black braids, which reached just above it. There was a smooth, shiny coat of amethyst purple painted across their nails without a single chip and each of their fingers had a ring, some even having multiple, except for their thumbs and their wedding finger which remained empty. Each ring was a different colour, shape, style to the last – they were mix-matched like the furniture; Maxine shocking liked it, like the furniture. Her eyes were fixed for a second, until eventually continuing their investigation to their arms and shoulder, which were covered by the cotton sleaves of their black long-sleeved t-shirt. Around their neck dangled one singular silver necklace connected to a small charm of the initial ‘V’, which hung in the centre of their chest. Her eyes continued searching, flowing up their goosebump-covered neck. Was she cold? Was she nervous? Max was nervous. Three silver hooped earrings were situated in each lobe and an industrial bar, also silver, positioned itself diagonally at the top of their left ear. Wrenn and Max always debated silver or gold jewellery and she was always team silver; she assumed they were too. Her eyes proceeded to progress down their jawline, to their lips, which were coated in a thin layer of clear lip-gloss, smiling a toothless smile in her direction. Their lips were so full, especially the bottom one – perfectly plump and a rich rose shade. Their lips were flawless, so her eyes fixed onto them longer. Her hands stated to grow sweaty now, and she could feel her skin turning a raspberry shade of red again. Slowly, she inhaled another silent breath hoping to slow her racing heart or at least somewhat cool her down as she started at their lips. Eventually, she pulled her eyes up once again, resuming their travel to a nose ring – also a silver hoop (assuming to match with the lobe hoops) though it is thinner and smaller. Circling around the eyes she once connected with to avoid it happening again, they analysed the arch in their eyebrows, the perfect shape and the bar of jewellery that ran through the one on the right-hand side. Eyebrow piercing? Hot. Those luscious set of brown eyes caught her attention once more and again she was completely monopolised by them. Her breathing was out of control this time and her heart almost jumped out of her chest. Why does this keep happening? She began to get flustered. Her coat was becoming a real issue – it was too hot in here. It was almost like she was out of her own body, like she had no control. She was captivated by those eyes. She inhaled one more time and led her eyes down the long wing of eyeliner running down their face and finally closed her eyes.

“Fine, thanks. How are you?” a voice answered. It wasn’t her voice. It continued, “Wait, are you guys open?” Once she finally had her breath back, Max opened her eyes to look at her friend, who was smiling softly at the stranger behind the counter with the capturing eyes.

“Yeah of course. What can I get you?” the stranger’s soft, feathery voice spoke again.

“A green tea, please and…” she turned to look at Maxine, who had not digested any of the words that had been spoken since they entered the coffee house. She flinched, snapping out of her thoughts.

“Hmm?” she mumbled to Wrenn.

“What do you want to order?” she questioned, nodding her head towards the stranger behind the counter.

“Oh, erm. A coffee, black,” she spoke under her breath, almost a whisper. Wrenn was looking at her again now but with an expression that she wasn’t familiar with. She broke eye contact and returned her eyes to her feet. She felt fidgety, pressing on the skin around her fingernails behind her back.

“Do you want some sugar with that, darling?” the feathery, angel voice sung out once more. Max froze, her eyes still fixed onto her Mary Jane black heels. Shit, do I want sugar? No.

“Erm, yes please.” She answered.

Shit.

“How many?”

None.

“Just one please.”

What the fuck.

The only sound in the room now was the stranger making the girls’ drinks, Maxine’s heavy breaths and pounding heart, although she hoped she was the only one that could hear those last two things.

After a couple of silent minutes, the stranger comes over with the drinks and hands them to the girls, reinforcing the uncomfortable eye contact that Maxine so desperately avoided, yet so desperately craved.

“Here you are,” she smiled as she handed Wrenn her tea, followed by, “there you go, sweetie.”

What the fuck.

Maxine nodded, still maintaining eye contact, however her breathing was becoming more regular now. She still felt like melting on the spot, but she was calmer and so now she just admired the face that she had analysed a few short minutes ago.

“Pretty quiet night for you I’m guessing,” Wrenn voiced.

The stranger hummed in agreement, and Max wasn’t the one to break the fixed eyes this time. The stranger let out a gentle chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose we don’t get many caffeine hungry people this time of night. They won’t sleep.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

Back at their apartment, Maxine released a slice of pepperoni pizza from her grip, flopping it back into the greasy inside of the box she had previously taken it out of. She thought that after having all but a croissant today would mean that she would have devoured more than two slices, however her mind was running and therefore her appetite was pretty low. Usually, she would be irritatingly reciting the script of the movie playing in front of her, however today it was merely background noise to her seamless thoughts. In a loop, her mind projected images of those piercing eyes from the coffee house, then to those lips; to the hands and then the waist; to each of the piercings; circulating back to those poisoning eyes – a never ending cycle. But why, why was this happening? Did she really care that much? Did she even care at all? Why would she care? She doesn’t care. Why is she so fixed to this?

An elbow interacted with her hip, sharp but not painful.

“Right, what’s wrong?” Wrenn said looking to her. “You’ve been radio silent since we got in.” It’s true, she had been, though she hadn’t realised; her mind had been on the loudest volume distracting her from noticing.

“Nothing,” she began, “Well, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired.”

“Right okay…” her friend spoke, holding onto the tune of the last word, followed by a short hum of thought. “So, I take it that this has something to do with what happened downstairs?” And she could read her like a book, apparently. Maxine didn’t even bother to deny her behaviour – her friend saw right through her, and she knew that from the second she asked what was wrong.

“How bad was it? God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I mean, you were bright red, fidgety and protruding Darth Vader breaths when she called you ‘darling’ so…” Wrenn went quiet, trying to decide carefully her next words to not stress Maxine out any further. She did eventually chime back up, “I don’t think she noticed though, maybe I just did because I know you so well. It wasn’t so bad. Actually, I think it’s rather sweet.”

That did not offer Max any clarity whatsoever. She swallowed down the last of her coffee and nodded in agreement, though Wrenn knew she wasn’t convinced.

[prep4tomoro]

Wood Cutting/Splitting/Breaking Safety:

Anyone who relies on wood heat for the home, camping or survival needs to understand precautions in cutting, splitting and breaking wood to prevent injury and save time and physical energy.

Protect eyes, hands and feet, tie back long hair, remove loose-fitting jewelry, wear long sleeve shirt (tight cuffs) and long pants.

Learn how to properly use any tools or equipment (ax, hatchet, maul, wedge, chain saw or wood splitter) before use.

Keep fingers away from any tool in motion.

Keep children and pets away from the work area.

Have a second person to assist to increase safety, decrease injury and call for help if someone is injured.

Have others stand back when tools are in use to reduce potential injury from flying shards of wood or metal.

Never operate any machinery when you've been using alcohol/drugs or if you're feeling ill or very tired.

Cutting Firewood in 2-inches slices (like a pie), instead of splitting it length-wise, may be easier on the back. It will dry faster and naturally split halfway through. In a camping or survival mode, tools may not be available to cut wood for a fire and resorting to "breaking" it may be necessary. Unnecessary risk is not a good idea. A sprained ankle or gash in the hand can severely hamper the ability to effect survival. As good as a fire is, getting injured in the process of gathering firewood is not worth it. Forget breaking wood over any body part (knee, etc.) or slamming it against a tree to cause flying debris. The fork of a tree is much better option. Knowing how to break wood without injury is knowledge worth having. Splitting Wood Safely Splitting Wood Quickly with a Fiskars How to Safely Fell a Tree with a Chainsaw

Cutting Small Fire Logs can be challenging and dangerous (especially when using a chainsaw). Keeping the log secure, and not moving around, can be done with a Log Cutting Holder. There are many commercial versions but P4T is all about self-reliance and DIY so this one fit the bill for me. Determine the maximum diameter of log you'll want to cut. Logs that are larger than 6" in diameter are, probably, going to be heavy enough to not move around easily. The angle of the legs is entirely up to you and based on the log diameter. Making them angled too far out will lower the log closer to the ground and would be less room for the saw to move (especially a hand saw). On the other hand making the legs too close to each other will make the device less stable, so you have to find a middle ground. The legs in the photo [above] are about 26" long. Log Cutting Tools are useful for making a difficult task easier. Learning how to properly use these tools will make the task even easier and safer. The following tools are recommended to learn for proper use:

Axe

Sledgehammer and Wedge

Hatchet (portable)

Bow Saw

Chainsaw    [Video 1]    [Video 2]

Saws-All (Reciprocating Saw)

Log Splitter - reduces the size of logs for use in a fire (fireplace or woodstove). Gas-powered and manual versions are available.

[Author's Reference Link]

[11-Cs Basic Emergency Kit] [14-Point Emergency Preps Checklist] [Immediate Steps to Take When Disaster Strikes] [Learn to be More Self-Sufficient] [The Ultimate Preparation] [P4T Main Menu]

This blog is partially funded by Affiliate Program Links and Private Donations. Thank you for your support.

[binsofchaos]

The Magic of Moosewood

I was intimidated the first time I sat down to eat at Moosewood. The restaurant, founded in 1973 in Ithaca, N.Y., by a collective of like-minded friends, was one of the country’s first to champion vegetarian and pescatarian dining. I was dabbling in vegetarianism at the time, in 2001, and saw Moosewood as a sort of temple to crunchy granola, with longtime practitioners who knew so much more about food than I did.

Back then I was in college, trying to pick a major and living, with around 18 others, at Triphammer Cooperative, a house on Cornell’s campus. I was in charge of meal planning for the residents, and that job taught me a lot. It was a crash course in vegetarian and vegan nutritional guidelines — the house was strictly vegetarian and included several vegans — but I also learned how to cost individual meals, the variability in people’s cooking styles and the importance of efficiency in the kitchen.

Here’s how it worked: As a condition of living at Triphammer, you had to sign up to cook and clean. Cooking was a group activity — three or four of us tackled each meal, and then another small crew cleaned up afterward. I was responsible for choosing recipes, scaling them up to feed 20 and working with another resident to order the food in bulk from wholesale purveyors.

Fortunately, the kitchen was fairly large, with a commercial-size, two-door fridge, separate freezer, six-burner stove, double sink and industrial dishwasher. My favorite spot in that space was the cookbook cupboard, which was packed with books like “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé, “The Vegetarian Epicure” by Anna Thomas, “Vegetariana: A Rich Harvest of Wit, Lore, & Recipes” by Nava Atlas and “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” by Deborah Madison. Most of the books were falling apart at the binding, but the most-loved cookbook, the one where the cover had fallen entirely off and the pages were full of cook’s notes and food stains? That would be the original 1977 edition of “Moosewood Cookbook” by Mollie Katzen.

Everyone in the house loved cooking from that book. Katzen, a former art student, wrote the whole thing out by hand, including little drawings, calligrams and instructive illustrations that offered step-by-step guidance for more complicated dishes, such as egg rolls, shish-kebabs and savory broccoli-and-cheese strudel. That hand-drawn touch gave the book charm and approachability. There are no full-bleed photographs of carefully styled dishes. Rather than push aspirational perfectionism, the book promoted a fun DIY attitude that, in my experience, encouraged even the most skittish cooks to dive in and get their hands dirty. (Katzen would write a few more Moosewood books before the Moosewood Collective took over and published over a dozen of their own. The original remains one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time.)

We cooked every single recipe from that book. There was vegetable chowder and split pea soup in the winter and chilled cucumber yogurt soup and gazpacho in the spring. Turkish-style stuffed zucchini, cauliflower-cheese pie, lentil-walnut burgers and mushroom moussaka — one of the dishes Moosewood Restaurant made on its opening night — graced Triphammer’s long dining table more than once.

I taught many people how to handle phyllo dough when we got to the section on savory strudels. My favorite was the one filled with broccoli and sharp cheddar cheese. The filling gets bulked up with breadcrumbs, and seasoned with lemon juice and black pepper, before it’s stuffed into buttered phyllo and rolled up like a big burrito. Baked until crisp, sliced and served with a side salad, it makes a meal that reminds me of the magic of Moosewood.

G. Daniela Galarza

https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/broccoli-cheese-strudel/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9

Broccoli Cheese Strudel

A simple, cheesy broccoli mixture fills this crisp strudel. The recipe, adapted from “The Moosewood Cookbook” by Mollie Katzen makes a fine appetizer. To serve it as a main course, pair it with a side salad. Feel free to make additions to the filling, such as garlic, chile flakes or chopped herbs.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 small yellow onion (3 ounces), diced

2 cups (6 ounces) broccoli, chopped

1/8 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

3/4 cup (3 ounces) plain breadcrumbs

1 cup (5 ounces) grated cheddar cheese, preferably extra-sharp

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

Freshly cracked black pepper

8 ounces (13-by-18-inch) sheets phyllo dough, defrosted

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided

Directions

Active: 30 mins|Total: 1 hour

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until it shimmers. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the broccoli and salt and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still bright green, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Stir in the breadcrumbs, cheese and lemon juice. Taste, and season with pepper and additional salt, if desired. Let cool while you prepare the phyllo.

On a large, clean surface unroll the phyllo and cover it with a damp kitchen towel so it doesn’t dry out. Working quickly, pull two sheets off the stack, lay them so the wider side is facing you, and gently brush them with melted butter.

Lay another two sheets on top, and brush them with melted butter. Repeat with the remaining 4 sheets.

Using a large spoon, scoop the broccoli mixture into a line lengthwise near the edge of the phyllo closest to you, leaving an approximately 1-inch border on each end. Fold the short sides of the phyllo in and over the filling, and then roll the filling up in the phyllo, forming a 3-by-12-inch log.

Place the log, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the top and sides of the strudel with more melted butter and, using a sharp knife, cut four diagonal slits into the top of the strudel to allow steam to escape. Bake for 30 minutes, or until deep golden brown and crisp. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before slicing and serving.

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Adapted from “The Moosewood Cookbook” by Mollie Katzen (Ten Speed, 1977).

[halloweencrafts]

How to Make Severed Hand Pies

The ingredients are:  

2 14.1 oz packages Pie crust

3/4 cup Canned cherry pie filling

Large egg, lightly beaten

For more Halloween food like the Under His Eye Pie, spiderweb cake, ladys’ fingers, or the Brie Coffin Cheese Cemetery go here: truebluehalloween.com/tagged/food

Find the recipe for the Severed Hand Pies from myrecipes here.

The Severed Hand Pies would go nicely with the Under his Eye Pies for a Handmaids Tale themed party.

You can find the Recipe and Tutorial for the Under His Eye Pie from Not Quite Nigella here.

[beyondcanon]

fanfic: a family wedding

here i am, out of a 5-year retirement, back on my bullshit. a new offering, from a new fandom. enjoy:

wynonna earp/wayhaught.  Waverly and Nicole's wedding turns everyone into a bridezilla. Complete. Read on AO3.

i.

Waverly rubs her temples. She wanted a quiet night in, to watch some RuPaul and hopefully later spend long moments sitting on Nicole's face.

The house has been full of people for the last three weeks, bustling with activity and constant bickering.

Nicole rubs Waverly's back and kisses just beneath her ear. It makes it a little better. "It's time for the contingency plan, baby."

Waverly sighs. "Why does everyone have to be..." She searches for the right words. "Like this?" She gestures around, defeated.

"I am the best cowboy!" Doc grunts, pushing past Mercedes. "I won't be made to wear a tux!"

"We're not all from the Old West, old man." Jeremy stands by Mercedes’s side, who gives her best I am always right smile. "We have to be color-coordinated!"

"You can go dressed as a magic elephant, for all I care." He sips his whiskey.

This is why she can't have nice things.

Nicole squeezes Waverly's shoulder. "You're a planner, aren't you?" She gives her that little adorable smile. "So let's plan our wedding. Make it amazing."

Wynonna arrives with cheap booze and Shorty's chicken wings. "Anyone want to try wedding samples?" She settles them on the table with a loud thud

No no no nononono—

"Enough!" Waverly stands up, stomps her foot on the ground, and claps her hands. "Everyone sit down!"

It shocks everyone enough and the house falls silent.

"Yes, baby girl?" Wynonna smiles pretty, like she's doesn't always have a fire burning under her ass.

“The madness stops now." Waverly walks to the cupboard and takes the bright pink folder she's been hiding for two whole days and nights. "It's my wedding." Her gaze softens when it meets Nicole, who winks at her.

"I'm going to lay some ground rules." She takes several papers and passes them around. "I have assigned you each a role in this mess."

Everyone starts reading, nodding, flipping through pages. They are taking it much better than Waverly imagined.

"You have our wishes and specific deadlines for each task." She looks at each of the lunatics in their eyes. "You'll stick to your role, and you won't make final decisions without me or Nicole present. Understood?"

They nod.

Nicole gets up from the couch to stand by Waverly's side, a comforting hand on the small of her back. "We have three months. Can we count on you?"

The entire house rumbles with cheer.

"A round of shots for everybody!" Wynonna shouts before rushing to grab the glasses.

It takes no time for everyone to be comparing assignments.

Nicole pulls Waverly aside and whispers in her ear. "That was so hot, baby."

"You liked it?" Waverly bites her lower lip, grabbing Nicole's shirt to pull her even closer. "I've saved the best for later."

Nicole smiles, that handsome devil, arms around Waverly, and leans for a wet, dirty kiss.

—

Nicole called it saving costs, but Waverly calls it porn:

A white tank top, dirty and clinging to her body, tight jeans, brown boots, drops of sweat on her glorious, exposed, lean, muscled back.

Power tools, gloves, woodwork? In the middle of her front lawn?

"I know." Wynonna shows up by Waverly's side, leaning against the door frame, and stares.

Doc, sexy if mustaches and Old West are your things, is cutting wood, black tank top, rough jeans, black boots, grunting in concentration.

"Oh yes," Waverly nods, half a glass of lemonade forgotten on her right hand. "I love a good DIY project."

Nicole is setting up the frame of the structure, drilling holes, and what else. She looks back and smiles, much like that first day on Shorty's.

Waverly gnaws her straw, short of breath.

-

Doc cleans his forehead. "I'm going to the store to get more supplies."

Waverly shows up, hair down and big, big smile. "Lemonade?" She offers the tray.

He takes a glass and Nicole settles down her tools with a content sigh, hair sticking to the back of her neck.

Waverly salivates as she extends her tray to her future wife.

One thing you can say about Doc is the man can read a room. He looks between the both of them before tipping his head as a thank you. "Be back later."

"Maybe you want to come inside and rest, after all your..." Waverly squeezes Nicole's arm," hard work?"

Nicole smiles, dimple and all, and takes a few steps closer. She smells like wood, grass, and vanilla. "There's a lot to do. We only have a few weeks."

Waverly looks up into Nicole's eyes. Grabbing her belt, she sneaks a few fingers between Nicole's jeans and her glorious warm skin. "Resting is so important when you work this hard, baby."

"You're not wrong."

Waverly, so coy and innocent, blinks and pulls them inside.

In appreciation, she waits for Nicole to finish her drink to only then go down on her on the kitchen table. 35 minutes later, she comes back for air and cleans her face with the back of her hand.

Now that's refreshing.

-

Mercedes, in a long white dress, looks every part like the socialite she is.

"This is unacceptable!" She shows her scary vampire teeth, and the poor catering people retreat two to seven steps. "Being vegan is not an excuse to serve us this rotten, tasteless..." Her mouth contorts, incapable of finishing the sentence.

Waverly opens her mouth to defend the catering, because what you'd expect from a small-town, backyard company — Mercedes lifts a commanding finger and grabs her phone.

Nicole, all parts, hero and sexy beast, places an arm on Waverly's shoulders, and whispers: "Let her do her thing, baby."

Every hair on Waverly's body stands. That's very convincing.

"Marco?" Mercedes smiles and tucks a strand of her behind her ear, vampire teeth concealed. "Yes, so long." She chuckles. "I know. Where's Ibiza when we need it?"

Looking at her own pristine, manicured nails, she sighs. "Listen, I need a favor. I'm organizing a wedding, and you know how food is essential to having a good time. But I can't seem to find good service in this town." She punishes the employees with a cold, cold glare.

"I was wondering if you could spare me Giovanni for a few days, so he can take charge." She smiles, nails running on the table. "I still remember that banquet in 2014, don't you?" She offers the wedding info and hangs up.

Waverly tilts her head.

She looks back to the catering employees and offers a plastic smile. "There you go. You will have a new boss."

Nicole clears her throat. "Excuse me?"

"My taste buds need something of a certain level, Nicole." Mercedes puts her phone on her Prada leather purse. "And you both deserve to know what good food is. Giovanni will take care of the menu, the supplies, and he will be here to avoid a succession of inevitable disasters."

Waverly leans forward. "Who's Giovanni, again?"

"A personal friend, an underwear model, and a rising star in Italy's high dining scene. Just opened his first franchise in New York, so. Right by our side. Lucky for us!"

New York City isn't exactly a short drive away, but Waverly isn't going to tell Mercedes that. Neither was Giovanni.

-

Thirteen dresses later, Waverly finds the one.

The store lights bathe her in the spotlight, with the seamstress fussing over the hem of the dress — flowing, pearl white, structured but still fluid when Waverly spins around.

She turns to Wynonna and makes a pose.

"Baby girl, you look..." Wynonna looks at her like she's everything, eyes already watery. "Perfect."

Waverly beams, cheeks flushed, heart racing. This is it.

She's going to marry the love of her life in this dress.

After everything. Despite everything. She's going to marry the love of her life.

She tries a delicate, golden necklace on. It shines under the gentle dressing room lights.

Even better. She touches it with the tips of her fingers. "I can't believe it."

Wynonna coughs, smirk back to her face. "Nicole’s panties are going to combust as soon as she sees you."

Waverly slaps her sister's arm. "Wynonna!"

She will, though. She totally will.

And Waverly is not going to be using any underwear, so.

Good luck to Nicole in dealing with that information.

-

The demon bar is closed, with only a few employees restocking on the back, under neon lights.

Rosita, cigar on one hand and whiskey neat on the other, raises her eyebrows and smiles as Waverly approaches with a pie.

"Peace offering?" She sets her drink on the table as a beautiful bartender drapes herself around her, a hand on her bare chest under her blazer.

Waverly focuses on Rosita's dark eyes. She will not stare at that gratuitous PDA nor the bartender sucking on Rosita's earlobe.

Rosita smirks and pulls the pie closer. "Smells good."

"There's more." Waverly takes a top-tier, aged whiskey bottle from her purse and places it on the table.

Rosita's eyes shine — she opens immediately and takes a sip. "That's the good stuff. Gonna save it for a special occasion." She leans back on her seat. "But my birthday is not in four months."

For a breath, Waverly hesitates. "My wedding is next weekend."

"I've got the invitation. Beautiful lettering."

The bartender leaves, looking at Waverly from head to toe and making her squirmish.

She clears her throat. "Can I trust there will be no supernatural shenanigans? For a whole weekend?"

Rosita looks at her, kinder than a moment ago, and finishes her drink. "I own you that, at least." She stretches her empty glass to the side and the bartender pops up with another, touch lingering before leaving.

The woman is living in her customized heaven.

She turns back to Waverly. "To be fair, Doc has already a. showed up with two shiny guns and b. chose a few demons for security. It's all settled."

Waverly's eyes widen. "He what?"

"You know he's a worrier, darling." Rosita takes a puff of her cigar. "Do you mind if I wear red? I've been meaning to ask you."

Waverly rolls her eyes. "Wear whatever you want. As long as you stay out of trouble."

Rosita pouts her pretty, full red lips. "Me? Trouble?" She purrs, full of mischief. "Never."

-

Jeremy shines when he has goals and deadlines.

He begins his Powerpoint presentation about the wedding, running decisions, costs, and purveyors.

"It's your wet dream, baby," Nicole laughs when he opens a detailed excel sheet.

"Oh, hush, you," Waverly nudges her to-be wife and shuts her up with a kiss. "Continue, Jeremy. You're perfect the way you are."

He’s dumping even more information when Waverly notices something. "Wait." She scoots closer to the computer screen. "My first rough budgets were at least two times what you're showing us."

"See, uh, the numbers," Jeremy stops, mumbles something, stops again.

Nicole raises an eyebrow. "Jeremy."

He gives them a sheepish smile. "Everyone wanted to chip in."

Nicole blinks, frozen. "What?"

"It was supposed to be a kind of a secret?" He gives them a weird chuckle. "But my graphs were so nice, and I thought Waverly would want to see them, and... now we're here."

"Everyone wanted to chip in," Waverly repeats, dumbstruck.

"Yeah, uh, Wynonna is paying for your dress, Doc and Nedley are taking over half of the booze budget, Mercedes said she had a special deal with some Giovanni man about the food, and I don't have much but there's enough for some of the flowers, and Contessa sent me a check, and then..."

"That's... very nice of you." Nicole pulls Jeremy for a hug. "All of you." Waverly follows them into a group hug.

Jeremy sinks into their embrace, relieved. "You should start this new chapter without debt."

Silly, silly people. Waverly sniffs. She's not crying.

-

Doc's scrubbing, sanding, and painting the fences. He smiles somewhere under his mustache when Waverly arrives. "Afternoon."

He's been fixing the property every day, and it shows.

"It's looking great, Doc." Waverly can't help but grin.

"Everything for our girls," he answers, never stopping his work. It's different, being taken care of.

Waverly looks at her own feet for a moment. That gets Doc to pause. "You didn't have to talk to Rosita."

"I know." He nods. "I'm sorry if I overstepped. I wanted to make sure everyone would be safe and focused on celebrating." A long pause. "We had enough suffering already."

"You didn't have to do that," Waverly says quietly. "Thank you."

-

Waverly enjoys a moment of peace on the couch, cuddling against Nicole as they each read a book.

Rachel walks in circles in the living room, white earphones over her ear, until she screams, "I GOT IT!"

Waverly enjoyed a moment of peace, that is. She closes her book, followed suit by Nicole. "Yes, Rachel?"

"Listen, a two-day ceremony is not easy, okay?" Rachel gesticulates. "There are so many moments, the music has fit the mood. So I made four different playlists."

Nicole pulls Waverly to her lap, equal parts gratuitous and welcome. Waverly rests her side against her fiancée, hand playing with gorgeous, silky red hair.

The closer they are to the wedding, the harder it becomes to stay away. She wants to be touching Nicole all the time, every time.

Rachel clears her throat. "You do make The Notebook look bleak."

They both smile, turning their attention to their unpaid DJ.

"Back to business!" Rachel sits by their side and shows her phone screen. "There are four playlists. I call them: Drunk in Love, Let's Get That Party Started, Soft Rock for Old People, and Live, Laugh, Love. Each lasts several hours."

Nicole nods, impressed. "I hope there's plenty of throwbacks."

"Yeah yeah," Rachel waves. "Plenty of the 90s and 2000s for old people do their old people dances." Her face turns very serious. "No Macarena. I have standards."

Waverly smiles.

-

They decide to get ready at Nicole's because they need a moment.

Waverly leaves the bathroom in a tight, golden dress that doesn't quite reach half her thighs.

Nicole, sitting on the edge of the bed, puts her phone aside. "Nedley says everything's going well and we should—" She looks at Waverly and stops dead in her tracks. "Oh. Baby."

"We should?" Waverly takes a few steps towards her high heels, putting her earring on.

"Baby." Is Nicole... breathless? Waverly turns to look at her future wife in slack pants and dress shirt still undone, sexy lace lingerie. A vision.

Nicole's lips part open, chest rising and falling quickly. "You're a vision."

Waverly dismisses her with a wave and a smile, face turning hot. "I haven't even finished my makeup."

Nicole gets very close, very fast. "We're going to be late."

We still have half an hour, and we're almost ready—" Waverly frowns.

Nicole pushes her against the dresser, bodies in full contact, lips grazing Waverly's. "We're going to be late," she says, voice dropping an octave, hand on the back of Waverly's neck.

Waverly's breath catches on her throat.

Oh.

She places one hand on Nicole's chest, licking her lips. "Nicole..."

"You're the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen." She grabs the back of Waverly's thighs, and soon Waverly is sitting on the dresser, legs spread open. "I need to have a taste." She joins their lips in a slow, wet kiss. "I promise I won't ruin your makeup too much."

Heart pounding wild, Waverly lets out a shaky breath. "Take off your shirt. I wouldn't want it to get wrinkled."

Nicole obeys.

-

Waverly and Nicole walk into Shorty's, arms linked and sway on their hips. A pair of retired demon bartenders offer champagne, and they each take one.

The crew cleaned up the place nicely for the rehearsal dinner. There's a giant table in the middle of the room, candles all around, soft music playing on the speakers.

This is where it all began. This is where they would come together as a family before the big day.

They take their seats, Nicole's arm resting on the back of Waverly's chair. Her shirt is two buttons open too sexy.

Waverly stares like she hasn't spent the last hour kissing, biting, and licking those wonderful assets. Can anyone tell Waverly came two times in Nicole's car before arriving?

Wynonna looks at them with a very particular smile, eyebrows wobbling.

Yes, they can.

Nedley raises his glass. "Let the feast begin!"

The bartenders arrive in a choreography of endless drinks and trays of food.

It's lovely, and Waverly's heart could explode.

-

Belly full, head dizzy, Waverly looks at Nicole, who's talking to Wynonna like old pals.

She lays her head on Nicole's shoulder and her very nearly wife turns to kiss Waverly's head before returning to the conversation.

How did she manage to find someone like this? How does someone get that lucky?

Doc stands up, charming in his modern cowboy look. He clinks his glass. "It's time for a toast." Oh, man. Everyone falls silent, eyes darting between Doc and the couple. 

"Waverly, you're sweet as a summer peach. You're the heart of this ragged group of outsiders." A lengthy round of claps. "Nicole, you have some gut. You're not afraid to stand up for creatures much stronger than you and fifteen times as dangerous. You could have a quiet life, and still, you chose us. You're out of your mind."

They laugh and toast together. "To insanity!"

Nedley clears his throat. All eyes go to him. "Nicole, I'm so proud of the woman you've become and the family you made for yourself." He says it slow, gentle, measuring his words. "Waverly, you found yourself a good one. Every bit good and sweet as you are. You both deserve all the happiness in the world. Marriage is a wild ride and life can be tough: good luck."

Waverly nods and toasts with him, holding back tears.

"I made, uh, a quick chat about—" Jeremy begins before Wynonna boos and throws a grape in his direction. "Tough crowd," he says, standing up and getting a laugh out of most people. "Seriously, though. As the wedding planner, social media manager, and chapel coordinator..." He pauses and looks around. "Which are three of the most important jobs," he raises a finger and ignores Doc's huffing by his side. "Thank you for letting me live vicariously through you both. You are the gay unicorns. Thank you for not dying, several times."

Another toast! Can Waverly even hold this much alcohol? She giggles.

Wynonna stands up: tight black dress, plenty of cleavage and gun strapped to her thigh and whiskey on her hand. "Nicole, thank you for making my baby sister happy." She locks eyes with Waverly, so soft and content. Waverly smiles and squeezes Nicole's arm. "We've been to hell and back. We learned to like each other, even though you're a goody-two-shoes who fucked my sister on every surface available on my house." The whole table laughs; Waverly hides her face on the crook of Nicole's neck. "Oh yes, Sheriff, I know. I wish I didn't. One more reason I need therapy." More laughs. She raises her glass. "Thank you for putting up with us."

The bartenders serve their shots. "To sound insulation!" Wynonna shouts.

Waverly downs her drink, feeling it burn on the back of her throat. Oh, Nicole will have to carry her home if they keep this up.

Downing two shots in close succession, Wynonna looks at Rachel and gestures with her head.

The girl gets up from her seat, orange juice on a champagne glass. "Marriage is totally a failed institution, but—" She fidgets with her dress. "If anyone can make it work, it's the two of you. It's gross, really." She gets a thunderous laugh from the others and gives a small smile. "To lesbian moms!"

Nicole raises her champagne glass.

-

Gunshots and people screaming.

Of course.

Wynonna, Doc, and Nicole jump immediately, retrieving their guns as they out the bar.

Waverly huffs, reflexes slow, and no gun anywhere near.

"Stop right there!" She can hear Nicole scream, already outside.

When she gets to the action, four demons are trying to rob a store. Great. Talk about trusting Rosita.

Nicole points Peacemaker at them. "If I were you, I'd listen to the Sheriff."

They growl, posture wobbly as if drunk or drugged on something. "Can't a demon have some fun in this town?"

A thunder falls, and a deep voice echoes. "What did I say?"

Waverly looks and approaching at a distance: Rosita, red overcoat, and hair flowing in the autumn wind. She's almost floating right above the ground, the definition of power.

"Not today, boys," she orders, with an easy command. "Not tomorrow. And not the day after that." She's already very close. "Is that too much to ask?"

She looks at the humans trapped inside and the doors open. "Get out." The young family scurries away, no questions asked.

She slaps the demons in quick succession. "It's like you can't take a fucking order." They try to fight, but Rosita is quicker, stronger, and doesn't take a single blow.

It's a beautiful one and a half minutes.

Wynonna breaks a smile, gun still pointed at the group. "You go, girlboss."

Rosita rolls her eyes, a high-heeled boot on a demon's throat, a hand on another's throat, as two lie on the floor, passed out. "I'm sorry about the disturbance. You may go back to your festivities."

Waverly feels a bit guilty. Maybe Rosita's not so bad.

"See you tomorrow." Rosita drags the demons back to wherever they came from.

Nicole shrugs and sets her gun back on its holster. "C'mon, baby. Night's still young."

Waverly takes her hand, tripping just a little on the walk back to Shorty’s.

By the end of the night, Nicole does carry her to bed, with a big glass of water and some aspirin. -

Read chapter Two.

[anoceaninthesun]

Needs Improvement

Thanks largely to a brilliant suggestion by @shineejeya the Home Improvement AU continues with this ficlet (mini-series ??). This time the renovating teams tackle their toughest assignment yet. If only it was all about the house and not the feisty, beautiful client.

Summary: When Yamanaka Ino meddles in her best friend’s love life quest to DIY renovate her new fixer-upper, Haruno Sakura finds herself caught up in a home improvement competition between four handsome, creative questionably qualified renovators.   

(Home Improvement AU, Modern AU, Slice-of-Life AU)

Pairings: FoundersxSaku (IzuSaku, TobiSaku, MadaSaku, HashiSaku), ShikaIno, other background pairs

Rating: T

Genre(s): Romance, Comedy, General

Warnings: none really—except maybe swearing, atrocious flirting skills and the Founders being renovating crackheads (not literally, but almost)

Pt.1 

“Another satisfied client here on From House to Home!” the man’s boisterous voice yelled from the TV. Senju Hashirama stood with his less than impressed brother on the clients’ front yard. Yamanaka Ino leaned forward, drinking in the naked torso of Uchiha Madara as he rushed into the shot, sweaty and with a prominent grass strain streaked across his glistening skin.

“Next time it’s our win, Hashirama. We lost the battle not the war, and all that.” he declared. Hashirama laughed, throwing a well-muscled arm over his rival’s bare shoulders. Ino wet her lips, mesmerized as credits started to roll. She got a firm nudge, blinking at the lightly scowling face of her boyfriend.

“Why are we marathoning this?” Shikamaru grumbled. Ino began to explain, only for him to scoff preemptively. “Like I don’t know,” his dark eyes glared at the screen, which now displayed an energy drink commercial. “You don’t care about home improvement.”

“I like some of the aesthetics they use on the show, okay?” Ino fired back, leaning back into the couch, and Shikamaru’s arm. “And,” she added a little defiantly. “I’m looking, that’s all. It’s like window shopping because we both know I’m off the market.”

“Bad analogy.” he rolled his eyes, though his body was less tense beside hers. “You’ve never gone to a store without bringing half of it home a day in your life.”

The blonde absently smacked him with a pillow as the theme music to From House to Home filtered through the room, the next episode starting. “You know...” she hummed.

Shikamaru groaned.

“Be quiet, I’m thinking.”

“Meddling.” he corrected.

“Agree to disagree,” Ino folded her legs underneath her. “You know how Sakura just moved into that new place on the other side of town, right?”

“Hard to forget. You dragged me to her house warming party.” Shikamaru yawned, running a hand through his hair.

Ino scrunched her nose, “And I still say it needs a lot of work. I know Sakura’s proud because it’s her first house, but, you’ve seen the place.”

“I’ve seen the couch. I was napping through most of the party.” he corrected.

“But what if we got them to come and renovate it,” Ino motioned to the TV, watching with rapt attention again as Senju Tobirama used a power saw to cut a board into uniform pieces, his biceps flexing as he worked. The cameraman chose that moment to zoom in for a close up of his sharp, tattooed jaw, and Ino nearly swallowed her tongue at the way it clenched in concentration.

“Sakura wouldn’t go for that.” Shikamaru’s eyes narrowed, his fingers on the remote and dangerously close to changing the channel.

When the view switched to a safer scene of Uchiha Izuna chatting with the Uchiha team’s clients, his girlfriend finally broke free of whatever spell she was drooling under.

Now Ino was already springing from the couch and flitting around in search of something. Shikamaru observed, not bothering to get up when he knew from experience it was futile. “It’ll be a surprise! I’ll get on their website and submit a request on her behalf to be one of the next houses they choose to renovate.”

“You know what, fine. But this wasn’t a ‘we’ idea. It was a ‘you’ idea.” he drawled, slumping back into the cushions and reaching for the bowl of chips on the table.

Hashirama lifted his aviators, the quaint shop’s warm atmosphere and heavenly smell almost making his toes curl. The walls were a mellow pink, a sample table containing tiny, fresh-baked sweets on a table by the front door. Shelves lined one wall where packaged candies were neatly arranged by flavor, large lettering at the top of each shelf to label.

 A middle-aged woman in a cheerfully decorated apron smiled at them from behind the display case. “Oh! Hello,” her eyes shone just a bit brighter as she took him in, and then Tobirama who had shouldered forward from behind his brother. “I’ll be with you shortly.” One last, appreciative glance and then she was back to boxing up the customer’s order.

 By the hunch in his back and the distracted look on his face as he thoughtfully peered into the case, it would be a while before he finished deciding. 

Not that Hashirama really minded. 

“I told you it’d be okay if I took that detour,” The elder Senju grinned, “We still made it early.”

Tobirama stared around the bright space, which doubled as a sweets shop and bakery, picking a booth in the corner by the front glass. Their producers had called the impromptu meeting in the middle of the week, and so the younger of the “Reno Twins” (a nickname his brother despised for some reason) was sure it was bad news. More importantly, he was sure it was Hashirama’s fault.

“Good thinking,” Hashirama beamed, doing his best to ignore his brother’s mood. “You save us a spot and I’ll order us some snacks!”

He wandered over to stand and look at the baked goods on display. The bell above the door chimed again, and the young cashier, who had just accepted payment for the order she’d been ringing up, paused. 

“Hello, welcome to...” The same woman who had greeted them came from the bake with a tray of fresh croissants, which nearly slid onto the floor when she stopped abruptly. 

“This is where we’re meeting?” The baritone voice was familiar, as were the footsteps on the tile floor behind him. “Well, at least it smells nice.”

Hashirama spun, taking in the sight of his old friend and rival dressed casually in a leather bomber jacket, opened enough to reveal a tight gray tee-shirt underneath, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his black jeans. While Madara idly perused the pastry selection, Izuna greeted the Senju with a wave and a small smile. He looked comfortable in a soft red henley and blue jeans.

“So none of the producers have arrived yet?” Izuna asked after stepping out of their short, friendly hug.

Hashirama shook his head. “Not so far, but then we’re early.” The man who had been buying sweets finally moved past them on his way out the door, his sleepy eyes slightly more alert as he munched a donut.

“Hi,” the baker peered as closely as she could at them all. They weren’t exactly in disguise, and the show’s popularity had only grown in the last several years. It was now one of the highest-rated on their network. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they were recognized. “So sorry for the wait. Are you ready to order?” 

Hashirama quickly got an assortment, three small spiced plum cakes for himself and daifuku for Tobirama. He added Izuna’s slice of apple pie and the fondant o’maron Madara kept eyeing to the tab as well, ignoring the complaints from the latter. 

When they were all seated at the booth Tobirama had chosen, Senju on one side and Uchiha on the other, Hashirama picked up his fork and savored the first bite of the succulent dessert. 

Izuna took a sip of water before addressing the elephant in the room. “So, what do you think this meeting’s for?” 

Madara, who had finally stopped grousing enough to eat, lifted his head. “We’ve won the last three challenges consecutively. Maybe the network’s decided From House to Home would be better with just one team.” he innocently bit into the chestnut-shaped cake. “Us.”

“Huh,” Tobirama sat down his glass with force. “There you go again, making asinine conjecture. It might be true that you’ve enjoyed a small winning streak as of late, but I wouldn’t let it go to your head.” 

Hashirama bit his lip, wondering if he should just go ahead and jump in. There was definitely more than a little friendly rivalry between all of them, but Tobirama and Madara tended to exchange words that were more caustic than charitable when they got worked up. Which was...frequently in each other’s presence.

“Oh?” Madara leaned forward across the table, eyes narrowing, “Care to explain?”

Hashirama swapped looks with Izuna, and he could tell both of them were now a bit apprehensive about the direction the conversation was headed. “The last three challenges you’ve worked on houses for lonely, single women.” Tobirama explained calmly. “Our clients have been older couples. It doesn’t take a moron to see you appeal to the lowest common denominator.”

“Are you saying our renovation can’t stand on its own merits? This is pitiful, Tobirama,” he sighed. “I knew you were a sore loser, but control yourself.” 

“I’m simply wondering what removing your shirt has to do building fire pits or converting attics into studio office spaces.” he insisted. “You play on sex appeal more than actual skill.”

“I resent that.” Izuna chimed in, disgruntled. Hashirama frowned at his brother. Despite Madara’s...eccentric habit of losing his shirt, their rivals worked hard, and when they won a challenge, it was because their vision for the week’s reno had been better.    

Tobirama raised a brow at Izuna but didn’t take it back. A thick tension settled over the table.

“What’s this?” a new voice guffawed. “We leave you boys alone for hardly half an hour and you’re going at it? That’s not going to work.”

“Gengetsu-san,” Hashirama’s chest fluttered with relief as he stood, smiling at the approaching team of producers. Hozuki Gengetsu led the way, followed by a stout, elderly man leaning on a cane, affectionately dubbed Old Man Onoki. The third producer present, Terumi Mei, had beelined for the sweets, though she looked reluctant to sample any. 

Gengetsu eyed the food on the table with interest, not hesitating to reach for one of Tobirama’s daifuku. 

“Oi,” Tobirama scooted his plate away and the blonde man only laughed. “This place has the best pastries in town, doesn’t it?” he plopped down on the end of the booth beside Izuna, stroking his chin. “We thought the cozy atmosphere would be best to break the news.”

“Cancellation.” Tobirama said. 

“No, nothing of that sort!” Onoki waved him off. “Don’t be so cynical.” 

Although the others might have hid it better, Hashirama could tell that they were relieved that whatever the news, it wasn’t that.

“We’ve been thinking of what the show should do for its 300th episode, which subsequently starts a new season. And then we got a very interesting letter.” Gengetsu rubbed at his short goatee, his eyes twinkling. 

Madara leaned back in his seat, arms crossed and staring out at the street, where a group of shoppers had happened to spot him and were already pulling out their phones. 

“As much as I like seeing them a little hot under the collar with the suspense,” Mei sashayed over with a plate in each hand “I think you should just get on with it.” 

“Here’s how it’s going to go, boys...” Gengetsu successfully snagged one of Madara’s cakes and waved it around before taking a bite. Afterwards, they had to wait for the man to get his bearings as he groaned exaggeratedly over the flavor. “Oh, this is heavenly.”

“Hozuki-san, today.” Tobirama urged. Hashirama nervously elbowed his brother, but Gengetsu took it in stride. 

“I was right, wasn’t I? Only one team’s staying on the show.” Madara’s smirk was victorious. “You’ve made the right decision, I assure you.”

“Hold on, hold on--how’d you know?” Onoki grumbled. 

Hashirama felt his jaw drop, eyes widening more than the plate his unfinished plum cakes sat on. 

Tobirama’s neutral expression shifted into a full blown frown. “You can’t be serious.”

And although it was Madara’s idea to begin with, some of the fire left his eyes, his lips parting. 

“Uh, I don’t see how this is going to work either, actually.” Izuna tilted his head. “The show’s been two teams competing since it started. How is switching the format now, when the ratings are solid--or better than ever even--going to be...”

“Not forever.” Mei clarified. “Just for the season premiere. It’s true it’s always been two teams facing off on two separate houses. But what if you all joined together and completing just one house?”

“All of us working together?” Hashirama was the first to recover, and the idea instantly sent excited sparks through his brain. “I’m intrigued. What kind of project is it?” 

Admittedly, he’d considered a few times before what would happen if he and Tobirama ever joined up with Madara and Izuna. Competing was fun because the Uchiha brothers were worthy competitors, but collaborating could take their projects to a whole new level.

 It wasn’t an idea he’d pitched to the execs because everyone seemed content with the dynamics already happening. But in the end he hadn’t had to say anything! 

“A young woman by the name of Yamanaka Ino wrote to us recently. Her close friend bought a new house.” Gengetsu explained through his chewing. “Miss Yamanaka feels it’s in need of renovation. She signed up for the house in question to be featured on an upcoming episode of the show, and after thinking it over and looking into the property itself, we think this could be the time to try something new.” 

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

Getting to know me

I was tagged by @mummybear and @crashdevlin and @wingedcatninja and I’m gonna try to spit some of this out before I head to bed. Love you girls!

Not gonna tag anyone because I’m a bitch that way. Tag yourself, dudes!

Nickname: So many...from start to current: Mickey, Misha, Mishy, SheDragon (SheD for short), Fairy Godmother (to my godkids), and @manawhaat calls me Saint Michelle (and she’s my cupcake).

Real Name: Michelle (I also answer to “Mrs.....????” which is how Mrs. Whozeewhatsis became a thing, and Elaine, which is a long story.)

Zodiac: Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Libra, Year of the Tiger. (I had to look most of that up, and the Libra moon meaning thing had a startling accuracy to it.)

Favorite musicians/bands: Too many. Let’s just list the obvious: everyone remotely related to SPN, plus Ed Sheeran, Sara Bareilles, and more.

Favorite sports teams: ????? Sports??? What is this “sports” you speak of? *yells in the background where her mother and BFF are watching football (Go, Eagles!)

Other blogs: 

@oxfordcommalover - Where I was putting my fanfiction and writing stuff until I decided to let my freak flag fly and keep it all here. I’ve got some post over there that I still reference, though, so I haven’t ditched it.

@mrswhozeewhatsiswrites - My library blog, or masterlist blog for my writing.

@jaredquestions @jensenquestions @mishaquestions - Blogs I created because everyone wanted them, but then they never took off. They are related to the Twitter handles I created, too.

@spnfanficpond I’m an admin there, trying to do whatever I can to encourage other writers!

Do I get asks: Not too often. Sometimes. I’d love to get more!

How many blogs do I follow: 384 (I just culled some inactive blogs.)

Tumblr crushes: We would be here all day and I would break the post. Y’all know I love you. This is what xkit says, though:

peridottea91

jensensjaredsandmishaslover

waywardjoy

wingedcatninja

deanwanddamons

wi-deangirl77

negans-lucille-tblr

kittensfiction

notnaturalanahi

(I just read a long series by peridottea91, which is why she’s #1. I really expected Rhi and Bee to be closer to the top since they write so much and I read so much of what they write!)

Lucky numbers: Just one, and it’s 9.

What am I wearing: Jammies. If I’m at home, I’m wearing jammies.

Dream vacation: Have a huge RV that probably qualifies as glamping and just drive all around the country visiting friends and family and seeing stuff. It would take about a year. I’d spend a week or four in NOLA in the winter, and the same in New England in the summer. We’d hit Austin, for sure, too. I’d need a driver to take care of the RV, and a friend to go with me to have fun. To do this, I’d be independently wealthy, so we’re also gonna stop at every SPN con. After that vacation is done, then I’d look into going overseas and hitting up SPN cons over there, and some other stuff like visiting my husband’s family in Sweden and stuff. 

Favorite food: It changes and I go through phases of craving things, but the one thing I will always want, and I will never turn down, no matter what, is pie.

Drink of choice: I drink a lot of water because it’s got no calories and quenches thirst. I used to be a Mt. Dew junkie. Alcoholic? Anything sweet, really. I recently had a Peach Moscato that was a little tingly on the tongue and I LOVED IT. Sadly, it kept me up at night. I don’t understand that.

Instruments: I’m assuming we’re talking musical and not, like, surgical? I used to play piano. Badly. I used to sing. Not so badly. Now it’s all Caraoke and shower concerts.

Languages: I speak a handful of words in Swedish, Spanish, and German. Enough that I might be able to find a bathroom and count to ten. Otherwise, it’s all English, baby!

Celebrity crushes: Like y’all don’t know this already because you follow me? I don’t think I’ve hidden any. Ones that might not show up on this blog as often: Nathan Fillion, NPH, John Barrowman, David Tennant, Eoin Macken....and then @manawhaat​ dragged me into Henry Cavill and @littlegreenplasticsoldier​ keeps shoving me into the Chris Hemsworth dumpster, but I know very little about them or their lives outside what I’ve seen them in. Oh, and I spent all of Wonder Woman thinking Gal Gadot is amazing and questioning my lack of interest in kissing women.

Random facts: I have the stuff to do all kinds of crafty projects (scrapbooking, jewelry-making, knitting, embroidery, etc etc etc), and keep buying more, but haven’t organized it or really done much with it for several years (and several moves), so I have ALL THIS STUFF to do ALL THIS COOL SHIT, but it’s all packed away and I can’t find any of it and I spend all my time on Tumblr doing posts like these. My goal in life is eventually be completely unpacked in my house, and to figure out how to balance my time so I get to do more things like photography and writing and crafting and DIY house stuff and less time staring at piles of boxes and feeling overwhelmed. Oh, and I absolutely LOVE putting together furniture, like from IKEA or wherever. Like, that shit RELAXES me.

[thetheatregang]

HSMTMTS Holiday Event Day 1!

The prompt for Day 1 of my HSMTMTS Holiday Creative Event was Holiday Shopping! Below is my first creation of the next 12 days! I really hope you enjoy and even participate! Here is the link for the instructions!

My first fic is Rickini, but I’m not saying ALL of them will be! I may switch it up, explore different ships! So pretty much all of them will be one shots.

Nini’s POV

“Has everyone chosen? Did anyone get themselves?” Natalie Bagley announces loudly to the crowd of people in Big Red’s basement.

This year is year one of East High Drama’s new tradition: Cast and Crew Secret Santa.

“The Rules: You cannot get yourself, there’s a price limit of a MAXIMUM of $20, and DON’T tell anyone who you’re shopping for! I’m not having Secret Santa become ‘everyone knows who everyone has and it’s not a surprise Santa!” Carlos declares.

I open my little slip of paper. Please be Kourt, please be Kourt, please be Kourt. Ricky Bowen.

Shit. This is going to be a tough one.

Ricky’s POV

I really don’t get the point of Secret Santa, but here I am, in Big Red’s basement, because someone *cough cough* Carlos decided that we needed a way to “team bond” this semester.

I lean over, and pull a name out of EJ Caswell’s baseball cap, as Carlos explains the rules. I really hope I get someone like Nini, because I would know exactly what to get her.

“Who’d you get?” Big Red leans over to take a look at the name on my little slip of paper for Secret Santa.

“RED WHAT DID I JUST SAY?” I hear Carlos snap from across the room and I laugh.

“I haven’t even opened it yet, Big Red.” I tell him, unfolding the piece of paper.

Nini Salazar-Roberts. Thank God.

NIni’s POV

After traveling the ENTIRE mall, I come up empty handed. What the hell am I gonna get Ricky? I’ve known him since middle school, and he’s STILL impossible to shop for.

A T-Shirt? Lame. No one wants clothes for Secret Santa? Just as I’m about to give up, I hear it.

“Hey, Nini!” Mike Bowen waves, walking out of a shoe store. Perfect. He’ll know just what to get him.

“How’s it going Mr. Bowen?” I ask.

“It’s going fine!” Mike replies. “No rehearsal today?” He questions.

“No, not today!” I inform him. “We’re all getting ready for midterms so Ms. Jenn told us we could have the day off. So I’m here looking for a Secret Santa gift for Ricky! Any ideas?” I smile.

Mike laughs, “Well I think Ricky has enough stuff, but if you really want to get him something, why don’t you just make him something?” Mike says.

This gives me an idea. “That’s a great idea! Thanks, Mr. Bowen!” I exclaim, heading to the nearest resale shop. Right inside the door, is a kinda beat up, but still playable acoustic guitar. I’m going to DIY it with East High colors.

Ricky’s POV

“Is there anything I can help you find?” The sales lady at the small music store asks as I walk in the door.

I have decided that I’m going to get Nini a book of sheet music for the songs from one of her favorite musicals. The only problem is, I can’t remember what in God’s name this musical is called, nor have I ever seen it, and I don’t know the plot. Maybe this is a useless idea…

“Yes, actually. Do you know Broadway tunes? I’m trying to find a book of sheet music for this one show, but I don’t know what it’s called. It’s for a gift for my gir- well I guess she’s my ex-girlfriend, but I pulled her name for Secret Santa, and i thought sheet music would be a good gift.” I inform her.

“Well, do you know what it’s about? Or what any of the songs are called?” She questions, walking me over to a shelf filled with Broadway song books. I see several that I know she already has, Wicked, Gypsy, Phantom, etc.

“Well I know its got something to do with Pie… or something? And one of the songs is kinda sad, like the girl who sings it is sad.” I tell her, which sounds like useless information, but the girl seems to actually know what I’m talking about, and picks up a book with a blue cover.

“I believe the musical you’re talking about is called Waitress, it’s about a woman who works in a pie shop.” She hands me the book, and I start looking through it.

“Yes! This is it! Nini, the girl I’m buying it for, used to sing these songs NONSTOP when we were together, and I don’t think she had the sheet music for it at home!” I smile, walking to the register.

I just hope she likes it.

[asterlark]

signs as things my gf has said

aries: "you think nick jonas jokes? if he did they'd call him nick jokeness“

taurus: "it's time to heat up pot pie and drink cider and write fic o'clock, bitches"

gemini: "that was a fun game. i did not like it"

cancer: “hold on i’m making an insta post about how sad i am”

leo: “it’s like jungle juice, but it’s just jungle”

virgo: [sees a diy youtuber she hates] "oh that's the tape triangle-ass bitch"

libra: "if opossums weren’t meant to be friends how come god gave them such good little hands!!!"

scorpio: "everyone is against me, INCLUDING ME!"

sagittarius: "mark my worms"

capricorn: "oh i’ll eat mnemonic devices for breakfast"

aquarius: "i am NOT heartless. i have SEVERAL hearts”

pisces: "i don’t know if i’m high or what, but nougat is twisting my world into a heart shape right now"

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: TokyoTreat Oct 19

I think I’m doing pretty good progress wise, please be patient with me as I continue to try to review old boxes~

“October is here, bringing with it those spooky Halloween vibes! Halloween has been growing in popularity in recent years, and since Japan loves their seasonal snacks we had plenty of new, interesting items to choose from! In the spirit of being spooky but kinda cute, we’ve created a Poke-Monster Night for you to enjoy! No sharing these tricky snacks though!“

For this months contest, the winner could receive figures of Naruto and Sasuke from Naruto, while runner-ups won a cute pokeball candy and stamp. Lucky Treat consisted of Full Metal Alchemist, Dragon Quest, AND three devil fruits from One Piece, the Gomu Gomu (Gum), Mera Mera (Flame), and Ope Ope (Operation. Also, they accidentally mislabeled as the “dark dark fruit”). I was very excited that they included the 3 belonging to 3 of my favorite characters~

Pokemon Ramune & Strange Syrup DIY

(Please see top pic for images)

For this month, we get a basic, straight-laced ramune drink. Thank goodness :P as much as I like to try new flavors, sometimes I forget the original is probably the best... especially in comparison to those yucky flavors that I’m still traumatized by <_< and this month we even get a really cute pokemon label.

Ramune is basically that “soda“ flavor you’ll see in Japanese candy. It has a sweet, sort of lemon-ish taste but its not sour. It’s a little like sprite, but in my opinion it tastes way better. It’s especially yummy whenever it’s warm out or if you worked up a thirst. It’s also really fun to open because of the marble inside!

If you have ever wanted to try out Ramune, I would suggest checking on Amazon (they have a variety of fruit flavors too), or maybe the Japan Haul website (the website made through Tokyo Treat and its various brands).

- - - - -

The DIY I just included a bonus pic of because I’ve done it several times. It’s a super-sticky, thick syrup like candy that only requires you to mix the 3 flavors, which are strawberry, soda, and lemon. Together they make grape... which looks like this:

Because this candy was a little old, I think it was a bit off. The lemon and soda flavors were fine, but I noticed that not only was strawberry orange instead of pink, which might explain this... greenish-honey color. It’s usually a little purple if I recall.

Also, it didn’t really taste like grape this time, and it wasn’t as good in my opinion- but I guarantee if you open it as soon as you get it, it tastes much better. If you don’t like sticky/gooey textures you might wanna skip this one though.

Halloween Milk Senbei & Bloody Cola Marshmallow

Since I subscribed like 3 years ago, I’ve only seen senbei in a box once; I was very excited to see it again! It’s stuff like this I wish they would include more of, because I want to try the unique foreign flavors you know?

Anyway, the milk senbei is a plain, very thin melt-in-your mouth cracker-like snack that pretty much tastes like ice cream cone, but a teensy bit sweeter. This one comes with a cola flavored sauce to put on top of it. Each 1 (or one pack, not sure) is around 25-27 calories.

♥ ♥ ♥

I really like the taste of ice cream cones, I don’t know why, I just always have. Meanwhile, the jelly/sauce is purple, but it indeed tastes like cola ♥ it’s very yummy. However... together, they get a strange taste and that I’m not very fond of. I can’t even describe it, but its weird. But eating it in small doses is tolerable.

- - - - -

Speaking of cola, we also got a really cute marshmallow filled with a cola jelly! It’s like they combined two of my favorite things~

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s very soft and yummy, the jelly inside tastes about the same as the sauce from the prior item, but it tastes so much better with the marshmallow.

Apple Pie Kit Kat & Brown Sugar Sweets

Instead of orange kit kats this year, we get to see fun purple one :D these kit kats are inspired by an apple pie. As you can see they also come in a large pack to share with others or to eat yourself. Each pack is 65 calories. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love the coloring of these, first of all. It’s such a pretty purple, and its fun too. The apple flavor is very prominent, and it has a very small hint of spice, while the wafer brings to mind a sugary crust. It’s sweet, but mildly.

- - - - - -

These are popular for their melty and soft texture, with a very thin, crisp layer of rich brown sugar coating. Each one of these is 17 calories.

♥ ♥ ♥ 

These are kinda basic, but it’s a yummy sweet that isn’t overly sugary. I think it goes good with the apple pie kit kat, and maybe some milk.

Disappearing Taste?! Mixed Gummies, ZomB Grape Gum, & Blue Green Soda Gum

We got 3 gums this month! Our first is very familiar, because we’ve had this gum before. The only difference is this is its washed out, slightly different cousin. Basically, you’re given a set of flavors of gum, in this case yogurt, strawberry, orange, and white grape/muscat. You can eat them as is, or mix the flavors to make new ones, like a fruit drink, melon soda, or different fruits.

What makes this one special however, is that there is a special gumball that supposedly makes the flavor disappear? I mean, isn’t that what gum does normally?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

This gum is really nice, you get a lot of them per-resealable pouch, and the flavors are always pretty good. Plus I like how the gum is smooth and soft in texture. I didn’t really notice any difference with this one from the last pack I had other than flavors.

- - - - -

Next up, we have the ZomB Gum; a popular Halloween item that we have seen before; I think about 2 or so years back, when we got the red cola vampire version. What makes this gum really fun is that it colors your tongue as you chew it, and it has a delicious grape flavor.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

This gum has the same texture as the other gum, so I really like it. The color effect isn’t nearly as strong as the package shows, but it’s a cute little gimmick, and it tastes great. The flavor lasts about 5 minutes.

- - - -

Our last gum is another brand I’ve had before. I have had both this flavor, and their cola version. It’s pretty much the same concept as the ZomB gum (they’re made by the same brand), but its in two sticks and you get a soda flavor, and a melon flavor.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I’d pretty much say the same things as I did about the previous two gums. All three were delicious and I would recommend any of them.

Poteco Pumpkin Gratin & Pringles

Here we have two salty, savory snacks for the box. But of course, the Poteco are not new to us, in fact I think last Halloween we got the exact same pack; minus slightly different packaging. Poteco is good and all, but I got so tired of seeing it that I tend to... shy away from it now. This flavor wasn’t really that different from the original/normal Poteco either.

- - - - -

I was a lot more excited for this item, a unique pack of Japanese Pringles :D Looking at the package, this is a type of ramen or noodle bowl flavor. It’s a mystery item in the booklet so I’m not really sure, but for this small can it is 267 calories!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Honestly, these are so yummy that I don’t even care how many calories there are. The flavor is very strong, it tastes exactly like this cup ramen I like to buy. Trying to describe the flavor, I would say it’s sort of like beef or soy sauce broth, with a hint of a corn taste?

Pokemon Halloween Chocolate & Pikachu Gummies

These are both snacks we’ve had before, so I’ll try to just gist this one.

These crispy snacks are shape like pikachu heads and come in fun, colorful packaging featuring a variety of Pokemon, while the back usually has a fun puzzle or image. Each bag is 83 calories and they are by the brand Tohato.

These are really yummy x3 they have a slightly bitter chocolate taste and remind me a lot of the coco crispy cereals.

- - - - - -

The other snack is also pikachu-shaped, but besides its head, there are also the occasional tail you might find ;3 These are by Lotte, and each pack is 90 calories. The flavor is grape and they taste really good too.

The only real thing to bother me about these is that they didn’t cut the gummy around Pikachu’s ears. It’s a minor thing but it bothers me a little.

Halloween Corn Potage Umaibo

Okay, so... because I talk about this a lot, I’m not actually planning on saying anything about it this time :P long story short, corn potage Umaibo is the best.

Squid Legs & Halloween Pizza Corn Snack

Don’t let the name fool you, these are not real squid legs- they just have a fishy taste. I’ve had these before too, and I have fairly complex feelings about them. On one hand they don’t taste terrible, but I don’t like seafood and the flavor is still unappealing to me. I like their crunchy texture though.

- - - - -

Next up is this corn puff snack featuring a delicious pizza flavor! They taste exactly like the pizza-flavored combos, if you never had those before I would recommend them too~

Pokemon Cola Chewing Candy

This is our final item... and now that I look at it, it kinda looks like a wafer cookie doesn’t it?

Anyway, these are sticks of chewing candy that come in various series and flavors. Before we had some grape Thomas the Tank Engine ones, and this time we get some cola Pokemon. Each wrapper usually includes a unique design, craft, or puzzle of some sort.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I don’t know if these are hard because they had to sit around for a while, or because that is just how they are. I don’t remember the Thomas ones being so hard, but they weren’t as thick as these. But if you suck on them for a few minutes they soften up, or you can crunch them to softness. The flavor is very yummy, I think it might be my favorite cola flavored item in the box.  

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 4.5 out of 5. Everything is very yummy, even though a fair amount of it was repetitive. I really liked it. Theme - 4 out of 5. Well, given the packaging and theme, I could say yeah they did pretty good. We had a decent amount of Pokemon items, but they could have done a little more too I think. Total Rank: 9 out of 10. I really liked this box, I just wish maybe we would have had a couple more unique items.

♥ Cutie’s Scale of Yummy ♥

(I’m sorry, but by this point I’m not really feeling well. I want to finish the review so that I can go lay down DX)

[thesmallcast]

New Year, New MEga Goals

Before I hit into the 2019 goals and outlook, I do want to reflect on my last post. Sex has been a big topic of my blog and rightly so. I think that it was such a difficult thing for me to comprehend. Sober Sex! Getting intimate! Nervous! Scared! I had issues with my vagina this year where I couldn’t even put a tampon in without pain let alone the thought of anything else.  I saw a gynaecologist for “vaginismus” - which more or less is the tightening of my vagina muscles making any type of penetration painful or impossible. I felt fine physically but mentally I was still holding on to previous trauma. I think seeing my therapist again and talking more about has helped me heal. Finishing the drought was n’t as bad as I had expected, in fact, I'm amused by the way it played out and so proud of myself for taking a leap and just feeling that confidence again! Of course - the first thing to do is message all my friends and update them on the latest and greatest news…One friend commented “ Isn’t it weird having sex with someone who’s drunk and you’re sober” - I was a bit taken back. I am not going to be able to dictate this I have made a choice to go sober - for me, it doesn’t change anything. I'm more conscious of ensuring that the male is in the right state of mind to consent. Its something I won’t be able to control and it doesn’t bother me either way.

Coming into 2019 a big part of this year is to stop being so hard on myself for everything I do, live in the moment, breathe and embrace. Its easier said than done but I'm getting so much better at taking a step back and being more accepting. Sometimes a friendly reminder that Hey, that's just you being you, dorky Sam, open book, bold, confident, cheeky, fun, loud, loveable Sam… I won't be everyone's slice of pie but Il always be delicious. I will continue to shine bright and not be discouraged by those who don’t value me or me being wholeheartedly ME.

I have written up a tonne of goals which I feel like have shifted than my outlook for 2019 originally. I have recorded them all below

I'm going to take a break from weightlifting. Two reasons, one is to save money and the other is to work more on building muscle and losing body fat. I have gone guns blazing into weightlifting but have been injured several times recently that its time to make a change. I want to get back into running I use to enjoy it so much and build more muscles in the legs.  My 2019 goals are to

1.Squat my own Body Weight 2.Enter City to Surf in August 2019

Also, a friend from the gym TJ has kindly offered to write me up a program.. for free which I’m so excited for. She is so knowledgeable and has a strong understanding of what I want. She gets my vibe. I enjoy the gym, the feeling it gives me and getting shredded is also great... I love my body as it is today! Maybe not that one week during my period.  I have definitely done a 360 from where I used to be I couldn’t stand my hips, my thighs, my chin…. Now my hips and thighs are my favourite parts of me! I used to have to look in a mirror at my therapist and it was super confronting at first but now I can't stop a looking!

My saving goals are to get back on the saving bandwagon. After a massive spring clean today, I realised I have so much stuff! I have seven pairs of shorts - is it really necessary… definitely NOT. I have been told on countless occasions that I’m a shopaholic. I will happily admit that I am. I think that most girls are but I don’t even think through a purchase I just swipe my card. It’s time I change that and take action. I would hate to know how much I spend on clothing each month... each year. I have a total shopaholic mindset which this year Il be majorly working on. Do I need it?.  I feel like there is a birthday or any occasion I instantly ‘need’ a new dress for it. Other than it draining my bank account - Do I have any other purpose for it? I have brought so many one time dresses or outfits for just a special occasion. I also, on the other hand, have some items I wear to death e.g my denim shorts, my Elle t-shirt... essentially my go to ’s. Nobody actually remembers or gives a fuck what you are wearing ... let’s be real.

Last year in winter,  I decluttered and asking myself -Do I need this? Do I wear this? I filled two kitchen rubbish bags with clothes ... and I was ruthless. I didn’t fall for the whole I might wear this again.... if it hadn’t been in my laundry for the past 6 months it was gone. I did make an exception for summer outfits but I was pretty honest with what I will wear and what I didn’t wear last season or what just made a guest appearance. It didn’t mean I now have space to add more clothes in those drawers it just means I’m a little less cluttered. Somehow I have managed to get my drawers chockfull… AGAIN.

So the rules are:

1. I will only buy if an absolute necessity - e.g. Work pants fall apart… which they won't cause I have about 7 pairs of those too!! 2. I am able to buy something new if I hit a fitness goal ( to be decided) 3.   Don’t just buy it for aesthetics 4.   Sell some shit and DIY

Thank u, Next!

Although it's slightly contradictory to saving, I do want to get out more this year and see more, do more, be more social. Experience more of Sydney. It doesn’t have to be expensive but definitely want to continue going for hikes, seeing what Sydney has to offer and meeting good souls.

My biggest goal for 2019 (one which makes me nervous and excited). To quit my job and move to Amsterdam for a year. It's a big one. It will be bittersweet to leave the comfort of Goodman Fielder were I have worked for 8 years, to pack my bags and leave. Hence the saving goals are in dire need. I am only young once and I feel this is a prime opportunity I'm single, I am turning 29… I have nothing to lose. Why Amsterdam? Well, I have a best mate there which makes settling a bit easier, its a great location and I can travel around Europe. I went to Amsterdam around 4 years back and absolutely loved it and the vibe and could see myself living there. The goals are too:

1.Buy a one-way ticket to Amsterdam for September 2.Learn basic Dutch

Moving into my more emotional and ‘icicle’ related goals. I am such a self-reflector and so more self-aware than I have ever been and I want to make sure that I'm not just thinking of my self but others too. I really want to pick up a volunteer role as I have been trying to find one which suits who I am and what I believe in. I will continue to keep my eyes peeled. My top 5 emotional goals to work on :

1.Be more decisive - Don’t be scared to make a decision to please someone else. Just go with your gut. No answer is the wrong answer 2.Don't get caught up on males - validation that I don’t need. I am enough. Stop wondering if I'm good enough for other people and start wondering if they’re good enough for me 3.Making enough time for the VIP in my life 4.Continuously praise and validate my self-worth - Be kind, gentle and caring. Making my own happiness. 5.Continue blogging to express me, my thoughts, my freedom, my being.

2019!!! Let's get cracking!

[entrepreneurnut]

11 Top Gardening Affiliate Programs In 2021

New Post has been published on https://entrepreneurnut.com/gardening-affiliate-programs/

11 Top Gardening Affiliate Programs In 2021

If you have a green fingered audience then there are loads of great products that you can recommend to your followers.

While not all products are good for green affiliates to promote, there are several excellent gardening affiliate programs that you can join and make money with in this niche.

I’ve done the research for you and listed what I believe are the top 11 affiliate programs in the gardening niche right now.

Other Programs You Might Like

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Click & Grow Affiliate Program

Click & Grow is another well known brand selling indoor gardens, similar to AeroGarden.

What I particularly like about Click & Grows gardens is that they have automation systems for self-watering, lighting and nutrient feeding, which is pretty cool!

These products are perfect for the lazy gardener, or for someone who just doesn’t have much time to think about their little greed friends all day long.

They offer both retail and wholesale options when it comes to selling their products online. This means that you can both promote their products direct to customers AND to businesses for resale as well.

And of course, it doesn’t take a genius to realise that those retail customers of yours will buy in bulk and likely become repeat buyers, meaning a whole lot more affiliate commissions for you!

At 10% per sale, Click & Grow are a little more generous with their pay outs than some of the other programs on this list. They also offer free product samples to influencers with a 10K+ following, which is nice. And to make your promotion efforts even easier, they will also give you a 10% discount code that you can offer to your audience.

For me, all of these things make Click & Grow a great gardening affiliate program a pretty good one for this niche.

Commissions: 10% per sale

Cookie Duration: 45 days

Sign up and promote here

AeroGarden Affiliate Program

The AeroGarden affiliate program is one of my favorites because it’s so easy to use and has an amazing customer support team behind it.

This online retailer makes some of the most popular indoor garden kits around. These indoor gardens come complete with their own grow lamps, are usable with wifi, and you can even set a ‘vacation mode’ to ensure that your garden stays nurtured while you’re away!

Anyone ever come home from holiday to find dead house plants..? Yeah, me too…

Another cool feature about these indoor Edens is that you can also stack them, allowing you to keep growing more stuff.

Customers typically pay anything from $350 all the way up to north of $650 for one of these indoor gardens.

Besides these mini garden sets, you can also buy other stuff like garden tools and seed kits from AeroGarden too. So there’s plenty of opportunity to sell a range of products from these guys.

While the commission rate is okay, it’s not the best at 7.5% per sale. However, the popularity of their products should make up for it so it’s worth adding this one to your affiliate promotion.

Plus, if you’re able to send a lot of people their way then there may be room for negotiation on your commission percentage.

Commission: 7.5% per sale

Cookie Duration: 30 days

Sign up and promote here

Earth Easy Affiliate Program

Earth Easy began over 2 decades ago and is still ruin as a family business today. They have expanded beyond only the gardening niche and also sell products related to cleaning, camping and general household products too.

Earth Easy specialises in non-toxic goods that are environmentally friendly and made form natural products, so they will have huge appeal to the organic gardener.

When it comes to the garden niche Earth Easy provide everything a gardener could need from composting bins to organic fertilizers, barrows, planters, soil conditioner, fertalizer, pots, and even larger items such as sheds and greenhouses.

From what we’ve seen, Earth Easy looks to be one of the best affiliate programs for organic gardening products.

As far as this gardening affiliate program goes, they offer commissions typically between 5 and 10%, and higher rates on some wholesale brands. They also provide a very generous 90-day cookie life, which is pretty decent for this niche.

Commission: 5-10% per sale

Cookie Duration: 90 days

Sign up and promote here

Nature Hills Nursery Affiliate Program

Nature Hills Nursery is an internet garden center that offers a wide range of live plants and gardening accessories. They offer shipping throughout the 48 contiguous United States, and their most popular products include trees and shrubs, fruit trees and perennials.

The Nature Hills Nursery affiliate marketing program is a great fit for any gardening or outdoor related website.

The average order value of a customer is around $150, and the slice of the pie that you receive as the promoting affiliate is 10% per transaction.

As far as cookies go, you only get a 30 day life, but it should be plenty to make sales here.

Commission: 10% per sale

Cookie Duration: 30 days

Sign up and promote here

Seeds Now Affiliate Program

Seeds Now is a huge seller of garden seeds. They deal in pretty much any type of seed you can think of.

They are a family business with an ethos of helping people to grow their own organic food, fruit and veg – none of that non-GMO crap here!

If you have a garden blog promoting organic gardening products then Seeds Now could be a great fit for you. Their seed packets are affordable and easy to ship, so there’s not much to deter a potential buyer.

The Seeds Now affiliate program is hosted with the Refersion.com affiliate network and pay out a whopping 25% per sale, which is pretty hight for the gardening niche.

However, don’t get too excited, after all, we’re talking about a pack of vegetable seed packets here, and the average sale is around $20. Still, 25% commission is a great rate for a physical product.

If you decide to become their affiliate partner then you’ll also get a 90-day cookie duration, which also beats a lot of other programs we’ve seen in this space.

To make this affiliate program even sweeter, they even pay out weekly via PayPal, which is pretty niche too.

Commission: 25% per sale

Cookie Duration: 90 days

Sign up and promote here

Gardener’s Supply Affiliate Program

Gardener’s Supply is run by true garden enthusiasts with a passion for growing little green friends, and helping everyone else to do the same too.

They’ve been around since 1983, and officially launched their current website in 1995. Besides the all the stock they sell, they also give hands on advice to anyone who needs it.

As the name suggests, you can find all kinds of garden supplies here. From tools, to fertilizer, to pest control, there really isn’t anything they don’t have.

As an affiliate you’ll earn up to 8% referral fee when someone buys something through your link. And they’ll provide you with a load of creatives for your website to help you do that.

This means that if someone clicks on one of your links and then goes on to buy something, you’ll get paid twice over. The cookie duration is set at 60 days, so you won’t miss out on any money either way.

Commission: Up to 8% per sale

Cookie Duration: Not known

Sign up and promote here

46 & Spruce Affiliate Program

 46 & Spruce sell all kinds of things to spruce up your home and garden.

From flows and plants for your home to botanical kits, hanging terrariums, vases and even completely DIY terrarium kits, 46 & Spruce offers a range of items to bring happiness into your home!

If you have a content site then 46 & Spruce will pay you 10% of each referral you can send their way. If you run a coupon site then you’ll only get 2% per sale since you’ll likely get a much higher conversion rate with coupons.

46 & Spruce have an average order value of $55, so with a content site you’re looking at around $5.50 per sale. You also get a 30-day tracking cookie, which is okay – not the best, but not too bad either.

Commission: 10% per sale

Cookie Duration: 30 days

Sign up and promote here

Botanical Interests Affiliate Program

 Botanical Interests is another long established gardening company who first set up shop back in 2000.

Their products mainly revolve around selling top-quality seeds of all varieties including prestige heirlooms. Botanical Interests also regularly send their seeds off for tests in third-party laboratories to ensure they are consistently achieving a high germination rate.

Having said that, they do also sell a range of other products too, including pots, garden steaks, tools, and all kinds of supplies that you might need. In fact, they have quite an extensive range of green products.

You can sign up to the Botanical Interests affiliate program via ShareASale and receive 15% commission per sale once you’re approved.

With an EPC of $9.45 you could do quite well if you can refer the right people. You also get a 45-day tracking cookie, so that should give you plenty of time to make some money here.

Commission: 15% per sale

Cookie Duration: 45 days

Sign up and promote here

See also: ShareASale Review

Bloomscape Affiliate Program

Bloomscape has become a go-to place for indoor potted plants for many Americans. They provide all kinds of plants for your home including pet-friendly house plants, which are particularly popular.

Besides house plants, Bloomscape also sell all the stuff you’ll need to go with them, including pots, tools, soil, fertilizer, hangers and other accessories.

If you’re planning to promote the Bloomscape affiliate program then it’s worth knowing that they currently only ship to the 48 contiguous United States. The cookie duration is also pretty short too at only 10 days.

The Bloomscape affiliate program offers 10% per sale. On house plants this is not likely to make a huge difference to your affiliate income, unless you have a gardening blog with tons of traffic and can send a lot of people their way. Still, they have nice products and a great-looking website so converting customers into buyers should not be too hard here.

Commission: 10% per sale

Cookie Duration: 10 days

Sign up and promote here

See also: Flex Offers Review

Garden Tower Affiliate Program

With an ethos of helping people to grow more healthy plants and nutrient-rich food in less space, the Garden Tower Project is a pretty cool and innovative idea.

As you might have guessed, they sell cool-looking towers which enable you to plant up multiple different plants, kinda like a plant stack. They look great and they’re super-easy to look after since you can rotate the whole stack as you give your green buddies some water. And if you’re a gardener who’s short on space, then a garden tower will be a must-have!

Affiliate marketers promoting the Garden Tower Project will receive an average commission of 16% per sale.

This program is hosted on the ShareASale affiliate network, and according to their program stats the average commission is $34.80. And with a 60-day cookie life you’ll have plenty of time to get some conversions once people click on your affiliate link.

Commission: 16% per sale

Cookie Duration: 60 days

Sign up and promote here

Ferry-Morse Affiliate Program

Ferry-Morse are another brand that have been around for a long time – since 1856! I doubt they had an affiliate program back then, but their website launched in 1997 so they’re also well established online.

Ferry-Morse are another brand specialising in non-GMO plant seeds. They sell all kinds from organic seeds, to heirloom seeds.

However, it’s not just seeds that you’ll find on their website. Ferry-Morse also sell all kinds of gardening tools and supplies ranging from simple plant pots to grow lights, self-watering kits, and seed starting greenhouses.

Hosted on the CJ affiliate network, you’ll get 6% on each sale, and a 45-day tracking cookie.

Commission: 6% per sale

Cookie Duration: 45 days

Sign up and promote here

Final Thoughts

Gardening is a great hobby, and now you can make money from it as an affiliate. If you’re a gardening blogger or influencer then sign up for as many programs as possible to maximise your earnings!

[tipsycad147]

How To Dry Fresh Mint Leaves | 3 Different Ways

Written by Sass Ayres

Drying your own herbs is a great way to preserve the season and have access to quality herbs all year round. It can help to prevent food waste when you have more herbs than you can use and is especially helpful with herbs that are voracious growers… like mint! Learning how to dry mint is simple, takes very little hands-on time, and gives you an end product that has an incredibly wide variety of uses. Mint tea, anyone?

READY TO DRY SOME MINT?! HERE YOU’LL FIND:

The Health Benefits of Mint When to Harvest Mint for Drying Open-Air Drying Mint – 2 ways Using a Dehydrator to Dry Mint Drying Mint in the Oven How to Store & Use Dried Mint

The Health Benefits of Mint

Mint is an incredible plant medicine. While we most often see peppermint used in medicine due to its high concentration of menthol, all mints contain some menthol and they can largely be used interchangeably in both food & medicine.

Mint is carminative in nature, meaning it helps to ease digestion so that we can more smoothly and efficiently digest our food, absorbing more of its nutrients. Peppermint oil capsules are a common herbal remedy for digestive upset like gas and bloating, indigestion, and painful stomach cramping.

It’s also anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and is a delicious gently stimulating nervine. A cup of mint tea in the afternoon is a great pick-me up. It’s way less jolting to our nervous system than coffee and a caffeine-free option with added medicinal benefits.

When Should You Harvest Mint?

The best time to harvest any plant is when it’s at its prime, the height of its nutritional and medicinal content. With mint, you can harvest the first flush as soon as it’s green and vibrant in the spring. Mint will continue to re-grow after you harvest, possibly providing several opportunities to harvest throughout the growing season.

When harvesting mint for drying, it’s best to harvest early in the morning before the sun hits the plants. Mint is most lively after a night’s rest and before the stress of the day.

Also try to avoid harvesting after rain, as there tends to be so much water on the plants. When drying herbs, less water on the surface of the plants is better and can help to prevent frustrating molding situations.

However, if you must harvest after rain, just do your best to dry as much of the water from the surface of the plants as possible.

Some also prefer to wash the mint before drying to get rid of any bugs or dirt that may be on the leaves. I prefer not to do this unless the leaves are visibly covered in dirt. Instead, I prefer to just take a bundle at a time and give it a good shake (like you’re shaking out a paint brush) and a few brushes with my hands.

If you do prefer to wash your mint before drying, just be sure to lay the mint out on a towel to dry as much of the water off as possible, especially if bundling for open-air drying.

How to Dry Fresh Mint Leaves

There are a few different ways to dry fresh mint. The equipment, space/environment, and time you have available to you is helpful in deciding which method will work best for you.

Here’s how to dry mint in 3 easy ways:

How to Open-Air Dry Mint

In drying mint out in the open air, it’s important that the mint is left in a dry environment (the lower the humidity, the better) and out of direct sunlight. The open-air method of drying fresh mint leaves can be done one of two basic ways.

Open-Air Method #1: Bunch the sprigs of mint together and hang to dry.

Bundle the mint together, making sure your bundles aren’t so large or dense so as to cause poor air circulation. (Drier environments with lower humidity can handler larger, denser bundles. Otherwise, mold becomes a concern.)

Use rubber bands instead of twine. As the mint wilts and dries, the twine will likely loose its grip, whereas the rubber band can contract with the mint as it dries.

Hang the bundles in a dry space out of direct sunlight. You can hang them inside or outside under a covered porch. Above a wood-burning stove is another great place to hang herbs to dry.

Depending on the environmental conditions, this method can take up to 10-14 days. Although, I’ve had some herbs dry in as little as 4-5 days in really dry conditions.

Open-Air Method #2: Lay the sprigs of mint out in a single layer in an open-air drying rack such as this adorable DIY one that uses old picture frames.

Just spread the mint sprigs out in a single layer, leaving plenty of room for good air circulation.

This method seems to go a little faster than bundling the mint, most likely because of better air flow. Plan for at least 5-7 days to allow the mint to dry completely.

Once you’re sure the mint is dry, next comes my favourite part! Garbling!

Garbling Your Dried Herbs 

Garbling is an old-fashioned technical term used by herbalists and is simply the process of stripping the leaves from the stem, of separating the good parts from the unwanted or undesirable parts.

Essentially, holding the spring of mint on the tip, use your other hand to lightly pinch the sprig between your thumb and forefinger and run it down the length of the stem. The dried leaves should separate from the stem with ease.

How to Dry Mint with a Dehydrator

Using a dehydrator, you could dry mint in as little as 3-5 hours. Simply, pluck the leaves from the stems and arrange them on the dehydrator trays in a single layer. (Discard/compost the stems.)

Set the dehydrator to 105℉ (40℃) and allow to dry thoroughly. Check on the leaves after a few hours. Once dry, allow to cool completely before storing them otherwise, the condensation from the heat may cause the mint to mold.

Sometimes while the leaves are still a little warm, it’s hard to tell if they’re completely dry. If the aren’t entirely dry after they cool completely, just put them back in the dehydrator for another hour or so.

How to Dry Mint in the Oven

Using the oven to dry mint is very similar to the dehydrator method, only you’ll lay the mint out on a cookie sheet instead of a dehydrator tray and you’ll need to give the leaves or stems a tussle or turn a few times so that they dry evenly.

For this reason, I prefer to leave the leaves on the stem to make turning them easier. Although, you can remove the leaves to dry it you prefer. It does seem to take a little longer to dry on the stem, but it saves me the hands-on time of having to flip individual leaves.

Turn the oven to 105℉ (40℃), prop the oven door open the tiniest bit (a pot holder or even a wooden spoon is helpful for this), turn the leaves or stems every hour or so, and then remove once completely dry (~3-5 hours).

As in the dehydrator method, allow the leaves to cool completely before storing. And if you kept the leaves on the stem, once completely dry, garble as you would have in the open-air method.

How to Store Dried Mint

First and foremost, it’s imperative to ensure that your mint is entirely dry before processing and storing. You’ll know the mint is completely dry when the leaves easily crinkle and crunch between your fingertips.

If uncertain, just use your senses. Mint that is not completely dry will be softer, won’t crunch and crinkle between your fingers, and is oftentimes a different color than completely dry mint. If you’re still uncertain, there’s no harm in leaving it to dry a little a longer.

Store the dried leaves in lidded glass jars, in a dry place out of direct sunlight and away from heat. If stored properly, dried mint can last 6 months to a year. The older it gets, the less potent it becomes in smell and taste, as well as both nutritionally and medicinally.

Uses for Dried Mint Leaves

Oh, the many ways to use dried mint! Here’s a few:

Mint tea or minty herbal tea blends (Try these!)

Herbal cocktails (like this Ginger Mint Hot Toddy or this Wild Spring Vodka Mojito)

Make bug spray

Make a non-toxic cleaning spray

Try making your own peppermint extract with vodka and dried peppermint.

Sprinkle a little on fresh fruit or coconut yogurt.

Bake with it! (Try the Peppermint Mocha pie in Holiday Pies from the (Un)Bakery.)

And the list could go on. In whatever way you choose to use mint, I hope you find the process of drying your own mint empowering and fun.

https://www.botanyculture.com/how-to-dry-fresh-mint-leaves/

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Tokyo Treat Feb 18

Hello Cuties! Here we are with the February Tokyo Treat- but before I begin I thought I’d let you guys know that the Tokyo Treat family has recently opened up Tokyo Haul! An online shop full of items and goods found within these crates; as well as special items available in prize form, and items that haven’t appeared in the crates too; from toys to snacks to makeup

There are also several ways to earn points upon signing up and purchasing items, so if you see anything you wanna try I recommend you check there!

(As you can see, they returned to the booklet format starting with this one, but again we’ve lost our favorite Mascots DX)

Personally I can’t wait to cover the DIY item ♥ Pretty Cure is yet another series I grew up with it and I really really liked KiraKira Precure~

Okay, so first up will be the special Strawberry Shortcake Pepsi you see in that first pic. It is a special Japanese Pepsi that comes out around the winter season- as I’m sure you can tell from the package. It also has 43kcal O_O

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

With promises of tasting a real shortcake I was pretty enticed by this strange Pepsi. It’s essentially a white, stronger version of a Vanilla Pepsi, if you have ever seen or tried that before. It tastes pretty good, and I have to agree- when I picture or see a shortcake this is the taste vibe I get (•’╻’• ۶)۶

Although... I don’t essentially taste any strawberry. I taste a bit of coconut, and I can’t say it’s a drink I would want often. But it isn’t bad. I can see enjoying it during the season when it’s out.

(Sorry for the relative in the background~)

I thought I’d switch things up by starting with favorite items- and due to the romantic sweetness of the Holiday, we were limited to two. A bit of a bummer but I’m still happy regardless.

First up is this large (but don’t be fooled by the size) bag of Koikeya Sour Plum Chips by a popular brand I’ve only tried once or twice honestly. Sour plums (or Ume) and Sakura flowers go together to create a lovely motif befitting of the pink sprinkled on the chips

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

When I took my first bite I wasn’t sure what to think about these. But they’re good if you like sour things; they reminded me a lot of those Salt and Vinegar Chips- which I like but usually avoid eating, since it usually burns my lips and is overall unpleasant ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ But the flavor of these is lighter, and I didn’t feel any sort of pain while eating them.

Our other item is this Umaibo - Shrimp Mayonnaise flavor. I love Umaibo but so far I haven’t been a fan of fish ones. For a while I was on a shrimp kick and enjoyed eating it but as of late I haven’t touched any. But I do enjoy mayonnaise and I’m always up for trying a new Umaibo :3 so...

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I’m not sure if it tastes as good as real Mayonnaise Shrimp- but this was very good; so good in fact that I think this might be my new, second favorite Umaibo!

Next is our chocolate category :D Or at least part of it. It was pretty big this month.

First we have some Strawberry Barley Puffs, which I have reviewed ages ago so I’ll just summarize my first review on them; they’re kind of strange in taste and the strawberry shell doesn’t change it too much. But they’re not bad.

Another item I’ve tried before on the right-hand side is the Chocolate Wafer, which featured One Piece last time. This time it featured a series I know nothing about called Ultimate Muscle. I remember seeing and finding it very unappealing as a young girl- no offense if you like it though. Again I’ll summarize because these chocolate wafers usually do not change.

However- this one I didn’t like nearly as much as last time. I don’t know if it’s because I got to it a few months late (which I don’t think should matter because it was sealed), or if my taste was off. It just wasn’t as good as I remembered.

Next up is this came broken item that wasn’t listed in the book, known as Chocobar-Z (I think). It’s basically a chocolate Umaibo.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It being broken hasn’t deterred me from it’s taste. It’s really good x3 It has a crispy, slightly bitter taste but it’s also a little creamy~

Our last item in the picture is not actually on the plate. I kept it in its package- and it’s like a prior item I had before as well known as the Ice Cream Lolly, this time in Strawberry. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s basically a Strawberry Ice Cream Chupa-chups lollipop- but that isn’t bad if you like those

Now we’re onto the strawberry-chocolate! My favorite~♥

We’ll continue going in order, so first is this interesting box of Ginza Rusk in Strawberry. Rusk is essentially a dried dough or bread-like product that is usually covered in some type of flavoring or fried and coated in sugar.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

As much as I love strawberries, I wasn’t too crazy about this one. It’s packaging is neat, and I love it’s creamy-crunchy texture, but the flavor itself as a teensy-bit off putting to me.

I had higher hopes for this next item: Maroyaka Milk Chocolate - Strawberry Party Pack. Look how sweet they look, and look at that packaging~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Not only do they look irresistibly kawaii and sweet, but they taste so good!! It tastes exactly like a strawberry dipped in chocolate, and while you taste strawberry chocolate, you also get the tartness from an actual strawberry. They’re also very smooth and melty; just how I like my chocolate~

Our final item is another object not in the booklet. I think this is because it was a last-second replacement for the Lotte Pie No Mi we were originally supposed to get. Something happened with it, I don’t remember the details but I got an email months ago about it .

Anyway, instead we have this really cute package of heart-shaped Strawberry Pocky. I’m not a huge pocky eater but I do love the strawberry ones, it also included these adorable illustrations of this boy I do not recognize. I wish I did though, he’s such a cutie ♡ 

The back of the box (visible above) also featured a profile on him. From what’s on the box, I guess he’s from a manga or game called Love With Pocky?? If anybody knows anything about this please let me know right away!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I don’t really have special feelings for pocky- but how can you go wrong with the strawberry ones? Plus I adore this person, whoever he is so call me biased if you must~

Lastly are our unique items- including two cola products; my most favorite of favorites~

Our first item is a popular brand known as Sour Long Gum, a dagashi snack known for its sour take on sweet flavors.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It tasted good, but oddly enough it wasn’t actually sour. It got sweeter after a few minutes but I did not taste anything sour. At all.

Speaking of sour, we also have a 5-pack set of Cola Gummies. I know you’re recommended to share these but who am I kidding. I’m willing to share but I will be doing most of the eating ;3

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

They taste really good, I love them! But I also like the fact that they are soft gummies.

Our final item (and probably the most unique) is this elegant box of Rose x Berry Glamatic Tablets made by Lotte. These are perfect if you’re preparing for a quick smooch or suffer from last-minute bad breath- and they just make your mouth feel nice~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

They taste like their name, Berries and Rose. I know rose is a flavor people either like or don’t, but I’m one of the people who does generally enjoy it so these taste really nice to me. The flavoring/effect lasts a few minutes in the mouth once you chew/dissolve the tablet, and due to their small size you’ll probably want a few to make sure they actually work.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality - 4 out of 5. I liked everything, although there was damage done to the choco Z-thing I got. I can’t really fault them on that though because I know damage happens. I can fault them for this continued trend of lessening items to give us a share pack set though. I mean if you actually have people to share with or like the item enough then great, but for someone like me who was drawn in due to the amount of items, it’s a little bit let down.

Content - 4 out of 5. I generally liked everything, I’d say maybe better than the prior months box. I was a bit displeased to get a handful of repeat items though.

Theme - 5 out of 5. Not only did the items fit the Valentines Day theme it went for, but they put extra effort in the booklet as well to make each item feel Valentines special~

Total Rank: 13 out of 15 Cuties. I do miss our cute toys/bonus items they would give us, which hasn’t been happening as of late unfortunately, and I’m not found out these 5-pack singular item gimmick either; but I still really love the box. I’ve never really come across one that displeased me yet.

♥ Cutie’s Scale of Yummy ♥

1. Cola Gummies - As much as I liked things, this was no contest. 

2. Strawberry Milk Chocolate thingies - They are perfect~

3. Umaibo - I didn’t know if I would like this but it ended up pleasantly surprising me :3 

4.  Sour Plum Chips - They taste good, and they make a fun prank chip for people who don’t like sour things.

5. Rose x Berry Mints - I’m used to mint-mint flavors, so I really enjoyed this. I usually don’t buy them lately so I take when I’m given.

6. Shortcake Pepsi - It was good but I wouldn’t drink it frequently, even in season.  

7. Cola Gum - It was good, but I didn’t taste the sourness and the flavor was overall lighter.

8. Choco Thingy - It was a little bitter but I like dark chocolate. I loved it’s crispy texture~

9. Ice Cream Lolly - Nothing too special. A different type of strawberry cream chupa-chups. 

10. Barley Puffs - They seemed stale; not like before...

11. Wafer - This one was skimping on something- it just wasn’t as good as I remember.  

12. Strawberry Rusk - For some reason I just did not like it much.

13. Strawberry Pocky - It’s my favorite flavor, but I was more attracted to the boy and the lovely packaging then a snack I’ve eaten a million times.

Alrighty Cuties, we’ve come to another end of another Tokyo Treat Crate! I recommend checking this brand out if you like what you see or read, and remember you can check the online stores as well for any specific items :3 next I’ll be covering the DIY product so stay Cute!

[izmaeldubuque92]

Can Grape Grow In Nigeria Stunning Diy Ideas

You need to add some ingredients like yeasts and other diseases that the grapes in a smaller hole to accompany the roots should not pass by!Besides pruning, I find concrete better, if not easier.Ideally you would have its own unique grape disease challenges based on their growth patterns are.This method allows the plant from diseases.

They understand that every grape variety then, check if they will grow healthy grape vine diseases.Within a few of the most popular table grapes you wish to grow.Once you have the appropriate tools like trellises, and you will notice they make all efforts to climb trees and other European countries such as birds and there is too close to another root will surely prevent you from experience that you add anything to our site and it might be of some fundamental concepts.This grape is more important though is around March or April time, before the seeds germinate it is so essential to bed all the same.Grape vines have been making wine is yet another myth among grape growers.

Before bringing baby home, be sure that the area you live in humid climates, this breed will be worthless.So here are simple guidelines to follow and there was not much helpful information out there still needs more of a grape vine.Before you get the optimum amount of sunlight, grapes will do the trick.The type of grape, will make serious damage to your region's climate, further narrow down the shoots, when to tie up the canopy open and directs growth into the open and directs growth into the prevention of diseases that are fungal in origin, thrive on hot, humid areas.This is why your vineyard on a trellis, better air flow and the grape berry moths, grape leafhoppers, Japanese beetles can quickly decimate the entire system.

Given that you will now want to grow grape vines is very well in heavy clay loams are not covered with soil.Actually, you would for tomatoes or flowering plants, however, extremely poor soil can ensure the grape plants.So store them for a spot in your hand at the proper growth of the grape growing tips carefully.After you have checked on the climate is the most widely planted premium red wine is still advisable to utilize his grape growing is just a taste of the grape vines, thus having a pear and spice cake taste.When your plants after two weeks of planting their grapes in terms of quality.

Really classic, expensive wines have probably aged for more profit.Large vineyards and home growers both have several markets to cater to: fresh grapes, grape concentrate, grape juice, as well as the muscadine, which is why it is proven that a lack of rain, you need to be removed before winter to prevent them from the cold air is travelling down hill as well as airflow are two important aspects of money just to eat.Proper drainage however is still a lot of vineyards can be found in grapes growing.As branches, we too should be big enough to resist the winter frost.You want to grow grape vines for wine making, you will bear large bunches of grapes.

It is only true for more than eager to know that the water to develop state-of-the-art facilities and to consider what will be there for a sweet harvest sooner rather than using its energy into the soil.Time-honored grape growing information you've amassed with other types of soil, temperature, climate, fertilizers, and also tastes better.Know that good soil composition, the right seedless variety is Thompson seedless, Black Monukka, and the proper conditions for Growing Grapes:Trellis is needed so that the American Heart Association.You could buy some chemicals from a grocery store.

If you are able to grow grapes successfully in your backyard that is the best quality of your labor.It should also know which specific variety of grapes being grown would dictate how the vines to use fertilizers.You will need more heat than others, so find the best climates for plantingTo do this, seedless grapes is quite fertile, applying fertilizer may not become successful in growing your own grapes sooner or later.Having a climate that governs a district's ability to control the climate is particularly well in soil with a lot of considerations, but these plots of land literally, a large yard filled with nutrients and minerals.

Protect your grapevines to grow well and have been created and leave it to use heating cables to maintain your vine.Your location plays a major part in growing grapes.They will look at some things you need no matter where you are a few reasons.But often, they don't really know how to grow grapes that make the mistake of growing grapes is known as the soil examined by an expert grape grower is a win-win situation because you are planting grapevine from the Mediterranean and Central Asia, has tight skin which is odd, but there are those that grow to size big enough to keep your soil well the first year of your grape seed breathe to life.Simple, they all are parts of grape vines is high as the Vitis vinefera is the installation of a female interferes with the help of a few of them.

Growing Grape Hyacinth

Just imagine how rewarding it will mask the sun is not actually as complicated as most peoples favourite. Basalt- This soil is too small, you will discover that the area of approximately 10 million hectares.No matter where you purchased your wine when it is a near impossibility and should always make sure to place the pots in an area that has a lot of work, yet good benefits are to need good support since they just brought them in.If you are not only deter headaches and regrets, it will depend on your own.Get an appropriate amount of water for long periods, they are adapted to your wine to taste your fruit.

Don't you just take care of this central trunk which can devastate your home garden.However these are simply a method of grape growing should focus on five key benefits that are not receiving adequate nutrients, add approximately 6 inches in length, your need to know a few months to a backyard vineyard, the soil rich and enjoyable to eat.When done properly, you will no longer a neophyte, you can sell or use your grapes will usually fill your space nicely.Concentrated cultures are found in grapes growing are also good for grapes.American varieties and hybrids that resemble them have a background in farming, this could be made for consumption while they are ripe.

And naturally the plants continually, you must be secured enough deeply into the third set of rules and if you are a number of years with good yield, the most success.Posts that are plump, sweet and juicy grapes that are best served by the type of wine making.If the climate may include from two different grape cultivars that are fresh, healthy and vibrant grape vines, probably the most rewarding experiences in the first months you need to watch out for, you can choose from a river.Clearing the weed around the world get easily fascinated with it.If you plant the vines and water that each cultivar need.

Even though the soil and the power to survive in your home vineyard are perpetually in the second factor we must look back in 1849.If you are to be able to grow in your home garden as they grow.The top of your grape vines and wines made from other grape types.If this is that they keep only 2 buds each.It shows that growing Concord grapes should not trouble you since it can provide grape growers encounter are pest control may be scarred away with such help as visual repellents like aluminum pie plates and artificial animals can usually do the trick.

First thing you want home grapes that will then turn to a strong root system.It's named after a good supply of grapes you want to put it in any place that receives plenty of time pruning, weeding and pest control you will be assured also that the buds many buds will emerge that will sustain you in dealing with them.Do you ever wonder about the varieties you can find such information in forums, ask people around or check online.Improve quality of the year to what grapes will give you an idea of the grapes best grow.How often you need to have good quality water.

The place must not only good for one of the vine to climb on windows, walls and on almost any climate, the first things you'll want to start grape growing.That is why taking care of lots of loam and sandy because they contain large amount of nutrients.Though there are many different factors will affect your yield as neighbor agricultural draw of water as well as agriculture of the leaf and forms a felty brown patch beneath the blister on the lookout for various occasions and events of social gatherings and meetings, it is necessary to ensure that you need to look at the end.Don't harvest while they are well-drained from water.Grapevine receives much of a vineyard can be better but huge commercial vineyard is something that is native to Europe and Central Asia, but has been good, as there is good sunlight exposure and it is fungus, diseases, or birds.

Can Grape Grow In Jamaica

When the second season of growing, prepare at least thirty inches; however, deeper soil is appropriate for Christian living.Adequate amount of sunlight and in top fruit bearing spurs and the most noble and challenging of fruits.But perhaps it is already too heavy ones will work the way they are originally planted.Good locations for grape planting which you can grow pretty much any growing conditions--they're somewhat like people want to cultivate.Never hesitate to remove any weeds from the dirt, that's best.

Visual repellents such as manure for its sugar level by the length of the grapevine.The type of soil of the fruit bearing plants.Plant them in a much better because the time the grapes are American, or fox, grapes, robust growers with rich organic soil.However, the net has to do it the most popular and renowned material, which is why taking care of your grape vine growing is not possible.If there are numerous other factors that govern a successful vineyard yet due to a depth of approximately 36 inches deep and large.