#i KNOW there are other good jello salad recipes out there i can FEEL it

[professorsparklepants]

Hello citizens of tumblr I have realized that my family owns five (5) jello molds despite only having one (1) good jello salad recipe. This seems like a shame! So I am asking politely if anyone has any GOOD jello recipes! They can be desserts or Jello salad, just anything that tastes good and isn't just flavored jello out of the box. I'll share ours in exchange!

CHRISTMAS CRANBERRY JELLO SALAD

you will need:

6 oz package raspberry jello

1 cup hot water

1 cup cold water

8 oz sour cream

1 can cranberry sauce

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional; my family never uses them)

Dissolve jello in hot water, add rest of ingredients. Pour in jello mold or individual serving dishes; refrigerate until firm. We usually wait 24 hours before serving, just make sure it's fully set. Tastes the best on Christmas but can be served any other time of the year.

[hells-wasabii]

How would each of the Hell characters(Hotel group, Lucifer, Overlords, Vees) do while cooking entirely on their own? Can be platonic or romantic, whichever you want

A/N: So I know I said 2, but the other one isn’t ready yet I’m still writing it. It’s gonna be pretty big too since it’s that velvette part 2. But I had to get my cat spayed today so I’ve been super busy all day keeping her out of trouble and from hurting herself :/ but anywho, enjoy!

Characters: All that I write for

Type: Hesdcanons (hazbin cast cooking headcanons)

Charlie

With Charlie, I’m a little torn. On the one hand, she’s a princess, so cooking would likely be more of a novelty considering she likely had staff to do it for her. But this is Charlie we’re talking about. She would go out of her way to learn how to cook. Wouldn’t give up either, not until she could do it on her own. I would imagine that she started learning from Vaggie and reading cookbooks.

Vaggie

When it comes to Vaggie, she can cook some, but she’s definitely super humble about it, brushing off any compliments because it’s ‘just food’. If the issue is pressed I can see her getting a little embarrassed about it. It’s mostly dishes that she had been taught while she was growing up, along with basic dishes that don’t necessarily require a honed skill to make.

Angel

Angel can cook, though he doesn’t exactly put much effort into it. I can definitely see him just throwing something together so he can eat and move on with whatever else he has going. Baking is a different story. I can really imagine while he was growing up he would sneak his way into the kitchen while his mother and Molly were baking. He picked it up pretty easily. And as someone who enjoys baking let me just say that his extra set of arms would be so helpful.

Husk

Husk was an entertainer in life, growing up in a casino, learning the trades in the house. That also includes the kitchens. Sure he likely didn’t spend a whole lot of time there but he still picked up a thing or two. So he’d be able to hold his own fairly well when it comes to making a homecooked meal.

Alastor

While it’s canon that the radio demon can cook, I feel like he specifically likes to cook recipes his mother left behind. Cooking recipes from his youth reminds him of joining his mother in the kitchen whipping something up for lunch and helping her prep for dinner. He’s not all that adventurous in the kitchen, though. He likes to stick with what he knows and what he grew up with.

Niffty

Having died in the 50s as a young housewife, I genuinely believe that she at least knows some fad recipes, like those salads and casserole recipes. Jello molds too. But that’s not to say that she wouldn’t know some basic stuff. I can definitely see Niffty being the type to try to create whole new recipes with varying, mostly horrifying results.

Sir Pentious

Sir Pentious is a genius, there’s no doubt about that, but the man can’t cook. At all. He’d burn water honestly. But baking? Oh yeah, he can bake with out a doubt(but not necessarily the decorating part), it’s basically science, but not cook. He’d quite honestly have the Egg Bois help, but let’s be honest here, that’d be a disaster too.

Cherri Bomb

I’ll admit, I wasn’t to sure about Cherri. She just doesn’t seem like the type to cook. Nah. Cherri is the queen of takeout. She can boil water but that’s really about it. Honestly, she’s only really a couple of steps above Sir Pentious, but she can’t bake either. Sometimes though, before Angel went off to the hotel, she would go out and buy ingredients and stuff and go to his apartment and they (he) would make something.

Vox

This man absolutely can cook, and he’s pretty damn good at it too. Considering he’s the television demon, he’s going to have several cooking shows. Hell, he even stars in a couple of them. That being said, he’s not one to do things half-assed. Sure, a lot of cooking shows have stuff that was prepared beforehand, but with Vox’s he goes out of his way to actually make the dishes in real time.

Valentino

I stand by my headcanons from my Valentino posts. He can cook, but it’s honestly a solid 50-50 on whether or not it’s burnt or edible. He’s pretty easily distracted, whether it’s a phone call or something else entirely, so if it's a dish that you have to pay close attention to, it’s likely to not turn out right.

Velvette

Velvette can do some light cooking, but nothing too extravagant. She’s got more important things to do, such as keeping Vox and Valentino on track. With a schedule as busy as hers, I don’t think she would cook often, preferring either Vox’s cooking or takeout. Oh but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t take a picture and post it, because it’s Velvette, of course she does. Oh! But She’s probably been on Vox’s show as some sort of celeb guest type deal, the dish they made definitely stuck with her, so she might make it from time to time.

Zestial

Considering how long Zestial has been around, I would be more surprised if he couldn’t cook. You can’t convince me that after a while he at one point went through hobbies like a revolving door. Cooking absolutely would have been one of them. This man would absolutely try making the craziest things. He’d be up to date on all of the cooking fads, know recipes and cooking methods from several time periods and cultures. With him, there’s no telling what he might cook up next.

Carmilla

While I don’t think that she would really set aside time to cook often, she’s pretty skilled in the kitchen. Carmilla would likely have a couple of nights out of the month set aside to cook a meal with/for her and the girls, a tradition that carried on from their life before hell. She’d even take the opportunity to try new things while cooking.

Rosie

Oh, Rosie can absolutely cook, it’s canon that its a hobby of hers. She’s very well versed in a multitude of cooking methods, and while she may not entirely like a whole lot of new-age gadgets in the kitchen, she can’t really deny the fact that they can be quite useful. I’m willing to bet that she would have an Instapot (they’re great I have two and one of them has an air fryer attachment)

Adam

Adam would never openly admit it, but he knows how to cook. He was the first man, he would have had to learn eventually, even if it was something as simple as preparing meats. That being said, he can grill. I’d be willing to bet that he’d host a little barbeque after the annual exterminations for the exorcists, maybe even enter into grilling competitions.

Lute

Lute’s honestly a bit of a wildcard when it comes to cooking. She might have been able to cook while she had been alive, but nowadays not so much. It had been a long time since she actively made anything, so she’d be pretty rusty. But other than the basics, I don’t really see her being able to be too creative in terms of cooking either. She’d honestly probably stick to what she knows and wouldn’t stray too far away from that.

Emily

I don’t necessarily think that seraphim would really need to eat, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t or don’t. In Emily’s case, I would imagine it as a scenario where she wanted to do something to get closer to humanity. They were her charge after all, or rather their state of happiness. But all humans eat and many find joy in doing so and even in the act of cooking, so she absolutely would be thrilled to learn! She’s getting better at it by the day.

Sera

Sera had likely done the same as Emily when she was a young angel, though I don’t see her sticking with it. I definitely think that she taught Emily to start her on her little culinary journey. She can cook, she just… doesn’t. I’d even go as far as to say it’s been centuries since she’s actually cooked a meal of any kind. That being said, if she were to jump into the kitchen nowadays, she probably wouldn’t have a very easy time finding her way around.

Lucifer

Lucifer is a man of many talents. He can absolutely cook, possibly even Michelin level, he just chooses not to. He likely just considers it a novelty of sorts, considering he has the power to simply poof food right in front of him. Honestly, it’s pretty helpful whenever he’s depressed and doesn’t feel like making anything. But, when it comes to his family and friends, he’s more than happy to whip something up.

Lilith

Another one who would likely consider cooking to be a novelty. Considering how she’s the second most powerful being in hell, and fiercely independent with more important things to worry about. Lilith wouldn’t concern herself with cooking unless it was with her family, and even then it likely didn’t happen that often after Charlie grew up.

Bonus:

Alastor Cat

Would wind up burning what ever building its in down. Was it intentional? Was it an accident? The world may never know

[historia-vitae-magistras]

🎮 🎻 🚫 🍔 for my north american trio

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your OC's favourite hobbies?

Mari - I've always had a very enlightenment-era baby intellectual bent to her. So, reading and participating in literary culture and criticism over time returned to Juana Inés de la Cruz. There's a mix of her old-school education and folk culture in her love and talent for art. She's got a real knack for beekeeping, too.

Alfred - Lives and dies by his love of math and engineering; he was getting twitchy with the lack of Calculus right before Isaac Newton got on that shit finally, so he became an eternal tinkerer. He loves a good drive and a sky-watching session.

Matt - Woodworking, gardening, hiking.

🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? What is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?

In childhood, Maria played the vihuela and baroque guitar and later picked up the bajo de uña and the resulting base guitar. I don't know why I associate her with a drumset, but I like that mental image for some reason, too. She's excellent on all of them.

Alfred is one of those types who skipped from hobby to hobby to hobby as a child and has picked up practically every instrument at some point or another. He played the fucking church organ sometimes, especially when he was feeling weird about religion.

Matt - He's pretty goddamn good on a fiddle, and he can hold a tune, but most of his music is meant for some type of work and the folk scenes are pretty disparate so it's kind of hard to nail down a specifically Canadian musical instrument that hasn't been by and large surpassed by the US.

🚫 PROHIBITED — does your oc drink/smoke? Do they do it regularly, or is it more on occasion or for special events?

Mari - She does mostly beer with some harder alcohol, I think. Not very high consumption; she strikes me as more of a social drinker on special occasions. She can party, but I think she has some pretty hard limits on anything more than the very mainstream.

Alfred - He flies between teetotaller and binge drinker, like that with most things. He can go years with just drinking, but my man likes his stimulants, alas. But the very functional kind. He can

Matt - He would rather not be sober in general.

🍔 HAMBURGER — is your oc good at cooking? are they good at baking? Which one do they prefer?

Mari is pretty good at both but doesn't do it as much as people might think. She's been a very urbanized society for a very long time and various kinds of communal cooking. She knows the best places for Pescado a la talla or who makes the best tlacoyos in the tianguis nearest her primary home but all over the place. I don't know if she'd prefer one or the other. A thought I had is that some of her best cooking exploits are for herself. She participates in a communal culture where cooking and baking are the realm of women in many ways, so being alone in the kitchen and experimenting with her own arroz con leche or barbacoa varieties is an almost self-care ritual she holds.

Alfred - Def more of a cook than a baker. He can bake when he wants to; it's just following the steps of a recipe, but he could be more motivated by domestic things for their own sake. He will cook and bake when people are over, and people are often surprised at the quality of what makes it onto the table. He can eat seven-layer salad and jello monstrosities at a Southern or Midwest table or pull out a Napa Valley salad and wine pairing much to the ire of the old world. Food is one of the few things his hyper-individualism has yet to completely destroy.

Matt - Surprisingly good baker and cook, but not really anything anyone would write home about. Except maybe bread, he bakes a lot of bread and has had a freakishly high consumption of it since the 18th century, so archeologists can tell the bones from the New Englanders who ate a lot more corn. Not exactly internationally renowned for anything except poutine and weed scones, though, rest in pieces. If you've ever eaten anything you thought was pretty good at the time but will never ever think about again, that's Matt in the kitchen, except when he busts out the rye bread but even then no one will really believe he made it.

Character Details Ask Game

[vegetalass]

RDR2 Boys Cooking + Eating Habits

Arthur 

Somebody else on here wrote some headcanons about Arthur not being able to cook and just eating microwave food all the time and I just have to say…. That’s canon 

Lowkey though he’s trying his best to get better at cooking

Probably the only thing he knows how to make is pasta 

He adds a bunch of random frozen veggies to water as the noodles are cooking 

And then smothers the whole thing in butter and calls it a meal

Or he puts marinara sauce on it straight from the jar 

And yes, that means it’s cold

He’s also getting better at friend rice, too

But he’s really bad at actually making rice 

If he doesn’t add too much water… He burns the bottom 

Charles makes a mental note to buy him a rice cooker for his birthday 

Makes his own popsicles out of random fruit juices and eats them 24/7 

Thinks this qualifies him as a chef

Eats pickles and olives straight out of the jar with a fork 

And sauerkraut too probably 

Just goes over to john’s house on his pizza nights 

Puts ketchup on eggs

John 

Pizza dad 

Probably orders pizza, salad, and a 64oz soda twice a week 

Everything else is just Dino chicken nuggets, Eggos, hot dogs, quesadillas, and frozen peas and corn 

Food you feed to little kids, basically 

Mostly because he does have a little kid 

But also because it’s easy and takes minimal effort and he doesn’t mind eating it, too

Abigail would be mad but she has no room to talk

The most you’ll see him actually make is buttered pasta (like Arthur) or sometimes beans and rice 

Abigail bought them a rice cooker a while ago so that’s one thing he doesn’t have to worry about 

Probably always has some type of dessert laying around 

Doesn’t mean it’s good, but it’s there 

Abigail buys a bunch of those gross, low calorie ice creams and John ends up having to finishing them 

Family lunches consist of a bologna sandwich on wheat bread with American cheese and mayo, a piece of fruit, a bag of chips or crackers, a go-gurt, and some gummies 

And yes he makes them for himself and Abigail too 

They’re all eating good at the Marston household 

(Not really)

Charles 

Everything he cooks are things that can’t be made in single batches 

Lots of healthy soups, chilis, stew, etc…

Most of the time, he makes too much of whatever it is so he always has leftovers 

Everyone is jealous when he brings them for lunch

Probably finds all of his recipes in the newspaper or random magazines he reads while at the grocery store checkout line

Everyone is like, “Charles… Why are you reading Women’s Fitness?” 

And he’s like, “Check out this salad recipe, though”

Puts hot sauce on everything 

Salad, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers... You name it 

And he’s the king of snacking

All of his snacks are healthy, though

Raw veggies and fruit and quinoa chips from Whole Foods or something like that

Nobody likes this

He’s one of those people who brings hard boiled eggs everywhere as a “snack,” too

And yea, he puts hot sauce on those, also 

He really likes those weird protein bars that are hard to bite into and taste like chalk 

The flavors are either normal stuff like white chocolate macadamia or Protein Power Punch with whey, chia and seaweed 

There’s no in between 

He’s also a charcuterie board legend

Hosea is jealous of this talent

Micah

Spends all his money on take out 

He’s totally one of those weird people who’s entire trash can is just filled with take out boxes and cans of coke or beer

Constantly eating fast food 

You ask him what he bought at the supermarket and he’s like “Pub mix and bud light” 

SIR 

Everything that he does manage to cook only involve one step of preparation 

Unseasoned, fried meats and boiled veggies 

Sometimes scrambled eggs and bacon

If he’s feeling fancy, he will make plain sandwiches

This is very rare, though

Can and will complain about anyone’s cooking

Even if it’s good and he he likes it

There are certain people he can’t do this to, though, or they won’t let him eat

The only person’s cooking he doesn’t complain about is Dutch’s

Constantly snacking from an entire party sized bag of chips

And yes, he eats straight out of the bag and wipes his fingers on his jeans

His oven is dirty

Hosea 

A meal for him is probably a handful of almonds and an applesauce or yogurt cup 

He is constantly making a bunch of those Tik Tok recipes where you just put a bunch of random stuff into your crock pot and add ranch seasoning and cream cheese

*insert all of those memes about mom pulling out the crock pot*

If you complain, he says “Well, you’re always welcome to cook, too”

Wears an apron when he cooks

Constantly eating plain toast with butter

And bananas 

And cheese sticks

Thinks that this makes him “healthy” 

Definitely likes to snack on those cocktail fruit cups and canned mandarin oranges

His entire freezer is just full of ice cream 

It’s all weird flavors like Cherry Garcia, chocolate banana, and pistachio though

Everyone hates him for this

Raisins are his late night treat 

Has a secret stash of candy no one can find 

That’s okay though because it’s mostly Werthers Originals

And Chiclets gum

He picks out all the orange ones, though

Dutch

Tries to re-plate takeout so he can call it his own

Everybody sees through this but they stopped commenting on it like four Thanksgivings ago 

Buys a bunch of those meals from Costco that all you need to do is heat up in the oven

He does like fast food but only from the less popular places

Carl’s Jr., Wendy’s, BK, Arby’s, etc. 

A&W, too, because he’s old and weird

He can totally cook, he just never does 

It’s just normal stuff like spaghetti and meatballs or chicken and rice, though

Tuna fish casserole

He over-seasons everything, though

Mostly because he’s trying to prove that he’s a good cook 

Eats dessert twice, every night 

Once right after dinner, and then later when he’s feeling like a treat 

Will eat in bed

Uses a little bib and tray and everything 

Likes pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Would eat hot wings with gloves on 

He’s the one who taught Arthur to put ketchup on eggs 

Kieran 

The second I realized that Kieran would probably be white trash, my life changed 

Hamburger Helper meals for LIFE

That one cheeseburger pasta? Kieran probably eats that three times a week 

He 100% makes the ketchup-butter sketti from Honey Boo Boo 

“It’s been a while since I done had roadkill in my belly”

His favorite dessert is ambrosia salad or that weird yogurt/Cool Whip covered jello that was popular in the 2000s

Probably has a TV dinner every once in a while, too

Instant mashed potatoes and minute rice type of guy 

Also gives me big microwave cheddar broccoli vibes 

I’ve said this before, but his house is probably stocked with all kinds of on-brand goodies 

Probably always has some kind of chip and cookie around 

Eats dinner in front of the TV

Dips french fries in mayonnaise

All of this said though, he isn’t a picky eater and will eat whatever is put on his plate 

That’s why he’s great to take to restaurants, because he never complains

Honestly it’s just so sweet to think of him making big crockpot meals to share with ppl even if his cooking is a lil.... strange 

Javier

Thinks that the hot dog combo from Costco is a suitable dinner 

Also gets hot food from the grocery store for dinner a lot

Literally will just heat up a can of something and eat it plain 

Beans, chili, soup… 

Doesn’t doctor it up or change it at all 

He’s happy to share but no one wants any

Chips and dip, 24/7

And it’s just Tostitos Hint of Lime chips and hummus

Probably puts hummus on everything, too 

Corn chips, tortilla chips, tortillas, vegetables, sandwiches, etc. 

Will put anything in a tortilla and call it a sandwich 

Eats leftovers cold 

The rest of the gang thinks this is a sin

Makes stir fry with whatever is laying around the house

It’s a little gross because he will try to add leftover beans

Refuses to eat fast food

The only exception he’ll make is for french fries and ice cream

Walks around and eats at the same time

Isn’t above asking the other boys to share with him 

Despite the fact that this only happens if what they’re eating is good

Which is almost never

Sean

Sean can’t cook. That’s the end of it

The most he can make is that weird microwave Mac and cheese where the pasta is boiled in the mug?? 

He never does it tho and just sticks with the normal, frozen Mac and Cheese you can microwave instead

Uses his microwaving ability to make mug cakes

And microwave scrambled eggs

Burns his popcorn every single time

He’s probably set of the smoke detector or fire alarm multiple times

He’s Irish though so of course he’s addicted to potatoes and cabbage

And since he’s from the UK, he likes stuff like beans on toast and marmite

He’s a little nasty too so catch him eating bologna sandwiches on wonder bread

Not even the Marstons are that bad

When he does get takeout, he overspends trying to use a delivery app 

He’s like, “And do I need the extra side of special sauce for $5…? Yes.” 

Cooks like this 

[fangirlxwritesx67]

This Is Halloween

This Is Halloween 3600 words, rated G for Genfic

Jack Kline, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester x Rowena, Castiel, Jody Mills x Donna Hanscum  Canon adjacent, mentions of loss, nothing spookier than a skeleton shark coochie tray

None of this would’ve happened without @dawnie1988 giving me ideas, feedback, and cheering me on. Read and repeated discussion by @there-must-be-a-lock as well as read by @mskathywriteswords. The title is a nod to my Squad who provide more love and support than I can ever say thank you for!

***

“Sam, Dean!” Jack’s voice called out over the balcony as the door to the bunker slammed behind him. 

Startled, Dean jumped up, reaching for the gun he kept tucked in his waistband. 

“No, wait.” Sam stilled him with one hand on his arm. He heard excitement, not alarm, in Jack's words. He spoke in a low voice. “I think this is good.” 

Jack clattered down the stairs and ran across the stone floor, sliding to a halt in front of the Winchester brothers. 

“Do you know about Halloween?!” he exclaimed breathlessly. Dean rolled his eyes, while Sam shook his head, each waiting for the other to answer. Finally Dean spoke up.

“Uh, yeah, Jack, we do. What about it?” 

“See, I went to the grocery store, for snacks, and there was a whole aisle of spooky stuff, skeletons, although they weren’t scientifically correct.” Jack’s brow furrowed as he thought about that. “And candy, so much candy! So I asked the cashier and she said it was Halloween, and people have parties, and everything!” 

“I looked it up in my phone. People dress up! There’s food and games!” Jack’s words tumbled over one another in his eagerness. “Do you think we could do Halloween? Do you think we could have a party?!” 

“Do you really think, a party, here in the bunker --” Dean began.

“What you have to understand about Halloween is --” Sam started to say.

Both of them trailed off into silence. Jack’s face, beaming up at them, was so eager, so hopeful. Sure, they had their own issues with Halloween. But why put that burden on him?

Finally Sam drew a deep breath. “Okay, Jack. What if we had a Halloween party, here in the bunker?” 

“We could invite everyone we know! Cas, of course, all of our friends! We could all dress in costume, have snacks, it would be loads of fun, please oh please?” 

Dean turned to Sam, concern written across his face. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” 

Sam nodded. “Jack is right. It sounds like fun.” 

“Yes, okay? Thank you, thank you so much. You guys are the best!” Jack hugged first Sam, then Dean, before turning to leave. “I can’t wait to text Cas! Of course he’ll want to come.”

Dean turned to his younger brother. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know how you feel about this holiday.”

Sam set his chin, his lips thin. “We can’t live in the past forever. Too much has happened over the years.” 

“But Halloween-”

Sam drew in a deep breath. “Halloween was the last time I saw the love of my life alive and happy, okay? It still hurts, when I think about it. “But Jack is our family, you know? He’s really just a kid, and we both want the best for him. If this is what makes him happy, I’m good with it.” 

After a long moment, Dean clapped him on the shoulder. “Okay. As long as you mean that.” Sam nodded, so Dean continued. “I guess I’ve got to figure out what this kid thinks you eat at a Halloween party.” 

The brothers didn’t see Jack again until dinnertime. They soon realized that he must have spent most of the afternoon on the internet, researching Halloween. Ideas spilled from his lips, one right after the other: carving pumpkins, themed cupcakes, lights on the walls, presents under the Haunting Tree-

“Hold up.” Dean stopped him with an upraised hand. “I think maybe you researched a little too hard and are getting your holidays mixed up. We can do some of those things, not all of them. We have a week, let’s make a plan.” 

“Dean, you’ll cook for the party, won’t you? Sam can help me with decorations. Cas is already coming, and I will invite Donna and Jody. Oh, and Rowena!”

“No Rowena.” Dean shook his head sternly. 

Next to him, Sam smirked, knowing that it was a battle Dean would never win, outnumbered two to one. 

***

Jack decided the library was the perfect room for a party, and he had grand plans to cover every wall and shelf with decorations. His internet searches kept turning up more and more ideas and party themes, each more elaborate than the last. 

At first, Sam tried to keep things simple and inexpensive, but after a while, he gave in. He took Jack shopping, let him buy the silly spooky stuff that caught his eye. What the hell, he thought to himself, the credit cards were fake anyway. He only put his foot down when it came to anything gory or macabre. They had enough of that the rest of the year. 

Jack’s favorite purchase of all was a fake electronic raven. It was motion sensitive, and when someone triggered it, it would caw or cackle or call out “Nevermore.” He thought it was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen, and insisted that it was exactly what he needed to celebrate Halloween in style. 

Jack had as many ideas for food as he did for decorations, constantly making new suggestions to Dean. Finally Dean sat him down and pared down his requests to a few key treats, before assuring Jack that he could handle the rest of the menu. 

The next day, Sam headed to the kitchen for breakfast after a run and was surprised to see glossy magazines on the table. He turned the pages idly, realizing that they were all full of nothing but recipes and ideas for Halloween.

When Dean joined him, Sam shot him a teasing glance. “Got grand ideas for this party, huh, big brother?” 

“Hey, it’s important to Jack.” Dean might’ve blushed, but his face was earnest.

“You sure it’s important to Jack, and not to you, to make Spooky Seven Layer Salad and Stuffed Olive Eyeballs, and oooh, what are Mummy Fingers?” Sam raised his eyebrows. 

“I wanna make him proud.” Dean answered. Sam understood the things left unsaid - that food was important to Dean, after too many years growing up hungry or stealing just to eat. Having a kitchen where he could cook was one of the ways he made the bunker a home for his family. 

“I know he will be.” Sam said. “I always liked your cooking.”

Dean understood the affirmation behind Sam’s praise, and nodded gratefully. 

Seeing the others happy helped Sam accept the festivities. He hated Halloween, but he loved Jack. There were days when he remembered that the young man was the most powerful being in the universe. But most of the time, he just seemed like a kid, and the closest thing to a son he or Dean would ever have. 

If this was what it took to make Jack happy, bad memories be damned, Sam would do it. Plus, if he was honest with himself, he didn’t hate the idea of having a few of their friends together. For once, it would be something fun instead of another monster hunt. 

The one thing he couldn’t bring himself to get excited about was a costume. Jack was insistent on costumes all around. Dean and Sam both asked him what his costume would be, but he kept it a closely guarded secret. 

While they discussed costumes, they also argued about the guest list. Dean kept teasing that Rowena wasn’t welcome. Sam knew his brother’s opposition to his girlfriend was all bluster, but Jack still sometimes fell for the disputes. 

Finally one day, Dean approached Sam, a wide smile on his face. “I've solved your costume problem! We’ve made a deal, me and that little witch of yours. She can come to the party, as long as you wear the costume she picks out.” 

“Whoa, hey, how is that a deal?” Sam protested, although he knew it was futile. “You do nothing, and I have to wear whatever costume she decides?” 

“Have fun, Braveheart!” Dean smirked, clapping him on the shoulder. 

How Rowena got Amazon delivery to the Bunker was a mystery to Sam and an irritation to Dean. Still, the box showed up the morning of the party. When Sam opened it, the box held just one thing: a sort of crown, a gold colored circlet with branches - or were they antlers? 

Rowena’s only instructions were to dress like a hunter. Since he was a hunter, that was not especially helpful. In his room, Sam tried on the crown. With his usual flannel and plaid, it seemed out of place. 

Then he remembered Dean jokingly calling him Braveheart, recalling the case the two of them had worked where Charlie talked them into LARPing. Charlie. Sam shook his head with a sad smile. She would’ve loved to attend a bunker Halloween party! She would’ve had the perfect brilliant nerdy costume, too. 

He dug into his work disguises and found the loose tan tunic he had worn on that case. Even over jeans, it made the crown seem more fitting. He straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath. That was better. 

“Cas is here!” Sam turned to see Jack scamper down the hall. He and Dean arrived in the entry of the bunker just as Cas and Jack embraced at the base of the stairs. It registered to Sam that Dean was in a cowboy costume, but before he could say anything, Dean spoke up.

“Cas, I believe the invitation said, no costume, no party.” Cas was wearing the same thing as always, a tan trench coat over a white shirt and dress pants with a tie. He nodded, and reached into the inner pocket of his coat. 

“Agent Swift,” he declared, holding up a badge that said BSI. “Bureau of Supernatural Investigation.” Then he grinned, a wide smile that lit his face and crinkled the corners of his blue eyes. Dean laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder while Sam smiled and shook his head. 

“Okay, come help me with my costume!” Jack grabbed Cas by the hand and all but dragged him out of the room.

Sam turned to Dean and looked more closely at what he was wearing. He wore a buff vest over his usual plaid flannel and jeans, a hat hanging over his shoulders by a rawhide cord. “Dude, Tombstone?” 

“At least I’m not a - horny man?” Dean chuckled. 

Sam scoffed. “Shouldn’t you be cooking? Putting cat brains in jello or something?” 

“Actually, yeah, and I could use your help. Wanna wrap some mummies?” Dean took in the baffled expression on his brothers’ face. “It’s cocktail wieners and crescent dough.” Sam nodded hesitantly, following his brother to the bunker kitchen. 

The Winchesters made more than one trip from the kitchen to the library, carrying trays of food, bowls of snacks, drinks, and candy. Sam stayed back to make sure the lights were on and everything was ready while Dean made one more trip for his proudest creation - a tray of sliced meat and cheese arranged just so around a plastic skeleton.

“Gross, Dean,” Sam said, unable to hide either the admiration in his tone or his little smile.

“I know, right?!” Dean crowed, swiping a bite. 

Just then, Cas and Jack returned. At first, Jack seemed to be dressed like Cas in a long tan robe. But he had on a scarf and a headband with green ears and - 

“You’re Baby Yoda?!” Sam exclaimed. 

“I am dressed as the diminutive character portrayed on television’s The Mandelorian, although I am technically neither Baby nor Yoda-” whatever else Jack had to say was cut short by Sam’s engulfing hug. 

Dean rolled his eyes before he pushed Sam aside for a hug of his own. 

“How did this kid get to be such a nerd?” Dean asked Sam as Jack looked at his phone and then ran for the stairs.

“Like you don’t know!” Sam retorted.

“You are the one who showed him Star Wars.”

“You bought him comic books. Watchmen, and The Boys?” 

Jack’s excited voice cut into the brothers’ bickering. “Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel!” He gestured with a flourish as Jody and Donna entered the library hand in hand.

Jody was wearing jeans and a kimono jacket that was red across the shoulders, blue starred below, with a wide gold band. Next to her, Donna was wearing a blue dress with red and stars around the neckline. She wore a brown belt around her waist and tall boots that matched the belt. 

Sam and Dean welcomed their friends with broad smiles and warm hugs. Jack bounded around them like an excited puppy, showing off his costume and asking about theirs. 

“Come on into the spooky library,” Sam intoned with a deep voice and a wave.

“Let’s eat!” Dean exclaimed, clapping his hands. 

The six of them were comfortable together, talking and laughing easily. Dean’s themed food offerings were great, the presentation hilarious but the taste even better. The drinks flowed freely: beer and hard seltzer and sodas. 

Jack took great delight in making sure everyone passed by his electronic raven repeatedly so that it croaked out greetings as often as possible. Everyone loved Jack, so they indulged him and never once suggested that they might be tired of hearing it. 

Jody asked just once what Sam was meant to be, in his crown of branches or antlers.

“A horny man!” Dean joked.

“Rowena sent it,” was all Sam had to offer, shrugging. 

Jody nodded. She knew all about what a person would do for the woman they loved. She raised one eyebrow in query. 

“Where is Rowena?” she asked. “I can’t believe she would miss a chance to dress up. 

“Oh yeah, isn’t she gonna be here?” Donna spoke up.

“Actually,” Jack chimed in, looking up from his phone. “Sam, head out to meet her.” 

He walked out to the echoing entryway as Rowena appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed head to toe in shimmering black. 

“A witch is never late,” she spoke as she descended. “Everyone else is simply early.” 

Sam met her at the base of the stairs and she slipped one hand into his. He took in her costume slowly: a black dress that clung to all her curves, sparkling bits of jewelry at her throat and wrists. Most strikingly, she wore a cape of black feathers, iridescent with dark purple, green and gold. 

Her head was adorned with a thin circlet of gold, much like Sam’s, but where his had branches reaching upward, hers had feathers carved away from her temples. Her hair was dressed with braids and feathers and bits of jet black crystal woven into the riot of curls spilling down over her shoulders. 

The apparition of a raven trailed behind her, wings fluttering to keep up. Sam held out his hand and she took it so he could lead her to the library.

“A Queen of Ravens?” he asked. 

“The Morrigan,” she replied, sweeping her cloak around her in a swirl. “And you are my Cernunnos. Well done with the costume.” 

He bent down to brush a kiss on her upturned lips before they joined the others.

***

Jack was wildly jealous of Rowena’s raven, since his electronic toy was fixed to a shelf. But she praised his good taste and spoke a few words that allowed her familiar to follow his direction. That resulted in two ravens saying “Nevermore” in chorus, but it tickled Jack so much that no one had the heart to stop it. 

Donna and Cas commandeered the aux cord, playing a mix of pop and classic rock. Jody and Dean delved into a discussion of firearms. Jack bounded from person to person, handing out candy and eating at least as much as he was giving.

Sam and Rowena snuck off to a quiet corner of the library, which was where Dean found them with a big book on the table in front of them. Rowena was standing, pointing to the pages as she explained Cernunnos. Sam was fixated, not on the book, but on her face, on the way her eyes sparkled and her lips curved as she read. 

“Hey nerds,” Dean interrupted them. “It’s Halloween, time to party, not to read books and get heart eyes and make out in dark corners.”

“We weren’t making out!” Sam protested.

“Not yet,” Rowena cooed, taking his hand. 

As the night wore on, everyone took turns choosing songs, the playlist ranging from classic rock to blues to Scottish folk tunes to cheesy pop monster music. They cut loose and danced, together or alone. 

Rowena attempted to teach Jack a few heel-toe folk dance steps, but Dean picked it up faster. Sam danced by himself for a while, long-limbed and rhythmic. Cas surprised them all by knowing moves to viral music videos; apparently he had been doing research on TikTok. 

Jody and Donna were wrapped in one another's arms, slow dancing and sneaking kisses, whether the music suited it or not. Donna put on Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” and sang along softly, lips next to Jody’s ear, for her alone. Jody let her eyes flutter close, resting her chin on Donna’s shoulder, melting into her embrace. 

Rowena watched the two of them with a fond smile on her face, while the boys turned to the snacks, giving the two of them their moment together alone. 

It was almost midnight when Jack turned off the music, clapped for attention, and announced that it was time for Trick or Treat. He would be going around the room with a plastic jack o’ lantern bucket, and each guest was to perform a trick. If he liked it, they got a treat. 

“So get this,” Sam started. “Trick or treat isn’t exactly-” 

Dean put a hand on his arm. “Hold up. This is gonna be good.” 

Jack approached the ladies first. Jody asked for a ribbon, which Rowena provided, and wove a Cat’s Cradle in her hands. Jack was fascinated, and made her repeat it several times before he gave her a treat. Donna pulled chairs aside to clear space, and did a cartwheel. Everyone clapped, and Jack decided that was worthy of two treats. 

Cas made his BSI badge disappear and reappear, using only sleight of hand, no real magic. Jack tried over and over to copy him, with no success. 

Dean walked over to one of the bookshelves and retrieved a handgun from behind the bound volumes. He had Jack blindfold him and then field stripped and reassembled it in under one minute. Sam recited a spell in Latin. When he was done, Dean stage whispered, “Isn’t that a recipe for laundry soap?” Sam laughed. It was, but he had recited it flawlessly. Jack gave them both treats. 

Rowena’s trick, though, was the best one of all. She had previously enchanted her raven to sit next to Jack’s toy. Now she commanded his to fly about and sit on his shoulder. He was overcome with glee at this, and offered her every last treat he had. 

When Jack skipped away, followed by a flutter of wings, Rowena turned to Sam, her hands full of candy. 

“He’s a dear,” she cooed. “But these are all ghastly American sweeties.” 

“Don’t worry.” Dean stepped up, holding a small box. “I’ll be happy to trade you.” 

“Oh, you have Lindt!” She dumped the chocolate she held into his outstretched hand and reached for the treat he was offering her.

“Really, Dean?” Sam was surprised, and impressed. 

“Well, I wanted everyone to have something, and I know how god awful picky she is.” Dean shrugged and then started as Rowena booped his nose with a smirk. 

“Do I have to learn corvid care?” Sam asked Rowena as Dean walked away.

“Oh no!” Her laugh was quick and bright. “It will be back to a simple electronic toy before the morrow.” 

The trick or treat was Jack’s last activity for the night, as he was soon on the verge of nodding off, his raven flapping lazily on his shoulder. Cas pointed him down the hall towards bed, where he fell asleep so full of candy and treats that he was still wearing his Baby Yoda headpiece.

The rest of the party drifted towards the kitchen, to the comfortable familiar space at the heart of the bunker. Dean gradually put away what was left of the more perishable food, sipping from a tumbler of whiskey as he walked in and out of the room. 

Donna and Jody snuggled together on one side of the table, trading kisses and feeding one another chocolate candies. 

Sam leaned back against the counter comfortably, Rowena wrapped in his arms. He had made her a proper cup of tea, and she sipped as she enjoyed her treats, the two of them whispering in low voices. 

Dean raised his glass and caught his eye. 

“I think this is good,” Sam said softly. “New memories.”  

Nothing could change the past, but he didn’t live there anymore. This was their home, surrounded by their family and friends.  This was their Halloween. 

***

Gay Screaming: @boondoctorwho , @cherry3point14, @cracksinthewalls, @dawnie1988 @fookinghelljensensthighs , @icemankazansky, @itmighthavebeenintentional , @justcallmeasmodeus , @lastactiontricia , @littlegreenplasticsoldier, @mskathywriteswords , @rockhoochie ,  @there-must-be-a-lock , @thoughtslikeaminefield​ SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho​ @dawnie1988​ @deanwanddamons​ @defenderrosetyler​ @divadinag​ @emoryhemsworth​ @fookinghelljensensthighs​ @idreamofplaid​ @kalesrebellion​ @kickingitwithkirk​ @maddiepants​ @magssteenkamp​ @onethirstyunicorn​   @there-must-be-a-lock​ @tloveswriting​ Sam Girl For Life: @awesomesusiebstuff​ @lilsylvia​ @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ Dean Curious:@adoptdontshoppets​ @awesomesusiebstuff​ @deangirl7695​ @deans-baby-momma​  @mrsjenniferwinchester​ @stoneyggirl​ @wayward-gypsy​ @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ Rowena My Queen: @delightfullykrispypeach​ @lilsylvia​ @marril96​ @pansexualdarling @songofthecagedmoose​

[notbecauseofvictories]

Hi Sarah! You seem to be quite enthusiastic and well informed about cooking, and I was wondering if you had any tips for students at uni? I feel it's so difficult to keep a healthy diet and cook for yourself on a low budget. Do you have any good recipes you could share? Or ideas? Thank you so much if you are able to answer, no worries if you don't feel like it.

This is...kind of a difficult question to answer, given that I approach cooking as a decadent, pleasurable thing, rather than something functional. (Some people shop online when they want to splurge. I make 48 coconut macaroons hand-shaped and dipped in chocolate, and a parmesan-garlic cream sauce to drizzle over my steamed brussel sprouts.) If all I need to do is consume calories, I’m much more likely to cut corners---seriously, store-bought sauces, simmer pastes, and salad dressings are a godsend---or buy something convenient. I could probably survive on deli sandwiches, if I really put my mind to it.

However, I do want to suggest a couple tips I think are helpful:

1) Know what you like, know what you need.

What it says, because food is always a balancing act between getting the kinds of nutrients your physical, calorie-consuming body needs and the sugar/salt/fats you want. Personally, I will eat literally anything if there’s bread or cheese or both involved. (This is not a joke---I have eaten a lot of creamed spinach and deli sandwiches.) However, having discussed my diet with healthcare professionals, I know what I need is proteins and vitamin d. So when I’m preparing my schedule for the week, I force myself to think about both: what will I eat, what should I eat, what can I make that satisfies the difference? And then, what’s my timing? (i.e., do I need to stay late at work? do I have other plans that night?) 

Like everything with my life, I review it vaguely sometime Monday and plan out my week. Though I do know enough about myself to build in some flexibility, because sometimes a bitch is walking home desperate for a burger, and shouldn’t have to apologize.

2) Google with abandon.

I do not have any private store of family recipes. My mother was a functional cook, and my grandmothers were either of the “hors d'oeuvres and martinis” generation or the “jello(tm) with colorful sprinkles is an actual dessert” generation. (The difference there, by the way, is class. But that’s a whole other tumblr post.) The point is that at the end of the day, there’s no secret treasure trove of recipes for me to delve into.

Which means I google everything. Every recipe I post here, every time I have spare ingredients I’m looking to get rid of. “Unsweetened chocolate recipes” is one of my latest searches, because I accidentally bought 4 oz of it instead of semi-sweet and don’t know what to do. (I’ll probably end up make brownies.) I have also googled in the last few months:

Reduced milk recipe

Quinoa recipe

Bean recipe

Dark corn syrup recipe

Pie crust recipe 

Apple pie recipe

Scallion pancake recipe

The point is, just because you don’t know what to do shouldn’t keep you from making good food! Personally, I love Epicurious, and always check their suggestions first, but the internet is wide and deep and full of people who will suggest cooking times, oven temperature, and spices you can add to stuff to make it taste good. Don’t be afraid to scroll through 4 different recipes on different domains, even if it’s the same dish; or to add “simple” to you search terms. You have more cookery knowledge at your clumsy fingertips than anyone before us ever has---use it.

3) Store it, freeze it, stick it in a tupperware.

As someone who’s now been cooking for herself for at least 5 years, I am here to tell you that there’s no “cooking for one.” Cooking for one is a lie. What you do is cook for 3-4 people, and then freeze or refrigerate the leftovers. So it’s important to consider how well your various ingredients freeze and how you’ll reheat them when the time comes.

Meat and seafood freeze well when you get them from the grocery store! Unfortunately, if you cook something or marinate it, and leave it to sit in the fridge, it will get very tough or break down entirely. (This is especially true if you use a particularly acidic marinade.) Unless you get them already frozen, fruits and vegetables do not freeze well at all—water expands as it freezes, and your fresh fruit & veg are so watery that the ice completely ruins the cellulose structure and defrosting will make them mushy. If you have leftover cooked vegetables, those should be used in scrambled eggs or eaten with a sauce within the week. Cream-based soups and sauces freeze pretty nicely, you just have to be careful not to leave them long enough to get freezer burn. Freezing bread arrests the yeast and mold processes, so if you’re looking to keep your loaf from turning, stick it in the freezer in an airtight bag.

(I haven’t had a microwave in two years, so most of what I make is the kind of stuff I can reheat on the stove—or eat cold!)

Also, most food isn’t ruined by temperature---you can leave a lot of stuff out on the counter after cooking without fear of bacteria. However, too much exposure to the air will ruin just about any dish: creams curdle, meat toughens, vegetables soften, starches harden. If you’re going to store something at room temperature, stick it in a ziploc bag, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil quickly, and it’ll last longer even without the refrigerator.

4) Occasionally, try something new.

Obviously, as a uni student you should try lots of new things---but as a uni student cooking for yourself, I encourage you to occasionally experiment. Make bread, if you’ve never made bread before; try a desert if you’ve been focused on single-serving chicken breasts. Once every few months, try cooking or baking something you’ve absolutely never tried. (For hard mode, pick something completely out of the ballpark---for example, a couple months ago I tried to make a meringue and failed miserably. But I think I understand why I failed and that’s made me a better cook in the interim.)

It is, of course, very important that we eat in a way that serves our body and its needs. But at the same time, making food has always struck me as serving more than just need---we make food to show our love and appreciation for others (isn’t feeding an act of service?), to articulate desires we can’t verbalize, to satisfy unreasonable cravings, to demonstrate capability, to prove our worthiness, to offer something that isn’t-sex-but-is, etc. etc. etc. Food is very rarely ever just food. Which means that sometimes, we should sequester ourselves in the kitchen and see if we can make that....thing from the Great British Bakeoff.

As a footnote, I hope my coworkers enjoy haphazardly baked alaska.

[mosylufanfic]

I request prompt 22nd; Happy birthday month!

Thank you! Also requested by a nonny, although you might see another reply for that, nonny! I keep thinking these are going to be short and cute and I look up four pages later and go, “. . . shit.”

Best Laid Plans

Caitlin heaved a sigh, dropped her head back, and told the ceiling, "I'm trying very hard not to see all this as a metaphor for my life."

The smoke alarm shrieked. The lasagna that she'd worked on all afternoon was a scorched-black lump. Her pan was probably ruined too.

She sniffed and wiped away tears. "It's just a lasagna," she scolded herself.

But it wasn't, and she knew it. The lasagna had been a single but critical cog in a carefully crafted plan, and now it was trash.

Cisco was due any minute, and she was still in her robe, with no makeup and her hair barely blow-dried. Her main dish was completely ruined and there was no time to throw together something new.

She sniffed again and then pulled a chair over and climbed up on it to turn off the smoke alarm. When it had been silenced, with a last surprised tweet, she rested her head against the top of the door frame and mourned briefly for her ruined evening, which was supposed to end with her in Cisco's arms.

Sometimes it seemed like her dating life since Ronnie's death had been nothing but trying to feel more than she did, or disastrous breakups. Or both. Often both. But Cisco had always had a place in her heart. Sometime after he'd first gotten together with Cynthia, she'd realized that the place he occupied had transformed from platonic to romantic without her noticing.

She'd told herself then that it was hopeless. He had a girlfriend, one he was madly in love with. She'd hated herself for the ember of hope that had blossomed when he'd told her that they'd broken up. "Too different," he'd said, sagging in her comfy armchair with his third or fourth stiff drink. "We love each other, but we don't want the same things. And the things we want - they’re kind of all or nothing."

"I'm sorry," she'd said, and gotten more ice cream out of the freezer.

She'd counseled herself to wait, to let him heal, to watch for signs that he was ready to risk his heart again.

In the past month, she'd been seeing those signs, and more, signs that he might be already willing to risk it with her. Casual touches that lingered longer than usual. Banter that leaned toward flirtation. Small, thoughtful gestures, that wouldn't have seemed out of place in Cisco's history of thoughtful gestures except for the smiles he gave her along with the cup of tea he brought to her desk, or the candy bar he picked up when he was out. Long text conversations about nothing in the middle of the night.

But if they were ever going to be anything more than text buddies, one of them was going to have to move things along, and she'd decided it was going to be her. Except that her meticulous plan had gone off the rails the moment she turned on her hair-dryer and missed hearing the over timer go off.

She looked over and saw the wine on the counter. She hopped off the chair, grabbed a corkscrew, jammed it into the cork, and worked it out of the bottle with a pop. Without bothering with a glass, she took a deep chug straight out of the bottle.

It was a nice red wine, and it would have been really nice with her burned lasagna.

She was considering another chug when the doorbell rang. With a gasp, she stuck the bottle back on the counter and bolted for the door.

"Hey - what burned?" were the first words out of his mouth when she opened it.

"Lasagna," she said, letting him in. "I was drying my hair and I didn't hear the buzzer."

"Awww," he said. "I’ve been there. Sorry." He gave her a quick hug and she told herself to let go when he did, not to cling to him, not to snuggle close and bask in the smell of his shampoo and the feel of his body against hers. "You didn't have to make dinner. I told you I'd bring something over."

"I wanted to," she said. "But I screwed it up."

He squeezed her upper arms to comfort. "Look," he said. "Why don't I go get a pizza? Will that work with the rest of your menu?"

"Sure," she sighed. "Go for it."

"Be right back," he said, and opened up a breach in the middle of her entryway.

When it sucked itself closed, she went back into her bedroom to put on clothes. Half her closet was scattered over her bed - pretty ruffled skirts that showed off her legs, low cut tops that showed off her decolletage, dresses in a fine-gauge knit that clung to her curves. They'd all seemed not quite perfect for the intimate dinner she'd had planned.

They definitely wouldn't work over pizza.

She put on a soft, drapey t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants, then pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on basic makeup. She started to put on a simple, sheer pink lipstick, then paused, wiped it off, and selected a redder shade.

Even if she couldn't seduce him tonight like she'd planned, that was no reason not to make him think about her lips if she had the chance.

She shut her bedroom door behind her and went to see what else could be salvaged.

By the time he knocked again, she was feeling more cheerful. Yes, the charred lasagna was occupying a place of dishonor on the back of her stove, but that wasn’t the only thing she’d prepared. She did swap out her table settings, though. Thick-crusted, cheesy, greasy pizza just didn't go with her fine china. She let him in with a smile.

"All right," Cisco said, bearing a heavenly-smelling cardboard box toward her table and setting it down in the center. He plopped two twenty-ounce bottles next to the box, one orange soda and one iced tea. “We’ve got a large sausage and mushroom, because I ain’t looking at pineapple on pizza tonight, you Hawaiian-loving weirdo.”

Although sausage and mushroom did go better with the rest of the meal, she scowled playfully at him. He always gave her grief for her taste in pizza. “Keep talking like that and you won't get any caprese salad.”

“Any what now?” he asked, transferring slices onto her red Fiestaware plates.

She shifted the box and showed him the plate. Fat chunks of mozzarella alternated with tomato slices, garnished with basil leaves, and all of it drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. She’d assembled it and put in the fridge before jumping in the shower earlier.

His eyes lit up. “Fancy!” He nudged his two slices of pizza aside to make room on his plate.

“Okay,” she said after serving herself. “Are you ready to plan?”

“Born ready,” he said, twisting the cap off the orange soda. “Hit me. What are you thinking?”

She pulled out her notebook. “I’ve jotted down some ideas. This is Iris’s thirtieth birthday. It’s a milestone. We want it to be special.”

He cut up a slice of mozzarella and swabbed up balsamic vinegar before popping it in his mouth. “Remind me why we’re planning this and Barry isn’t?”

“Because it’s supposed to stay a surprise for more than thirty seconds,” Caitlin said.

“And he folds like a cheap suit when she cocks her eyebrow. Right.”

She should feel guilty, using a party planning session as a pretense for luring Cisco into her clutches. But Iris, who’d listened to her agonize a few times, would more than understand. Anyway, Caitlin had ditched that plan.

Mostly.

She watched Cisco lick pizza grease off his lips and grin at her as he suggested a country western theme (which she shot down with a quickness) and reminded herself that she wasn’t going to jump him.

Which was too bad, because in that shirt and those pants, he was looking really good. And he was having an incredible hair day.

They settled on a private room at Iris’s favorite restaurant the Saturday after her birthday. Caitlin wrote herself a note to check availability, and to figure out backup restaurants if that one didn’t pan out.

“We should have a decoy celebration,” Cisco suggested. “Like, tell her to meet us for lunch on Sunday.”

“Right! If we all just pretend to have forgotten, she’ll know something’s up. A decoy sounds perfect. Now, who are we inviting to the real thing?”

Cisco pulled up Facebook on his phone and went trawling through Iris’s friend list. “I’ll take care of contacting everybody,” he said, scribbling names down. “Hey, have you got contact info for Linda Park?”

“I can get it,” Caitlin said, writing herself another note. “Iris would love it if she made it from Coast City for this.”

By the time they’d eaten half the pizza and all the caprese salad, they had the beginnings of a really nice party. Cisco closed the box. "Want to keep the rest of this?"

"You take it home," she said, hopping up. "But I do have a new recipe that I tried for dessert."

"I'm going to get fat if you keep making me all your finds," Cisco said, not sounding terribly worried about the prospect. "They're gonna start calling me Jello instead of Vibe."

She grinned at him. "Maybe it's awful. I did burn the lasagna."

"Yikes," he said, and loaded her dishwasher while she pulled the dessert out.

He tilted his head to study the mound of white dessert that she set in front of him. "Is this flan? Because I have to tell you, it’s on the pale side."

"No," she said. "It's panna cotta. Taste it."

He did, and made a noise in his throat that made her skin buzz. "Holy shit. What's it called again?"

"Panna cotta. I made it last night." She tasted it herself and almost sighed. It had really turned out well. Good choice to garnish with raspberries. Next time, she would have to do the mint chocolate variation she'd found.

"Just for funsies?"

"Well, I found the recipe and I really wanted to try it out."

"And you knew I'd be here to help you eat it," he said, taking another bite. "So how did you make it?"

She launched into an explanation of the recipe, how the cream had to just simmer, not fully boil. How you had to let the gelatin dissolve just right, why you had to warm the mixture and let it cool in a particular pattern so the chemical reaction could happen properly. How you could add vanilla or almond or tea or anything, really, to flavor it and then add even more things on top when it had chilled overnight, and then - if you chose - unmold it onto a plate before garnishing. It was her favorite kind of recipe - scientific precision on the one hand, endless flavor choices on the other.

He watched her, smiling as he ate his panna cotta. “Maybe you should make it for Iris’s party,” he suggested.

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’m up to making this for that many people, and the restaurant might have something to say about it.”

“Okay,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll just have to make it for me again.”

She looked up to see him smiling at her, and her heart skipped a beat. “Okay,” she said, telling herself that her voice wasn’t breathier than Jessica Rabbit’s. “Sure. Anytime.”

Their gazes locked and held until her heart fluttered again, and his lips parted. He blinked, breaking the spell, and set his spoon in his empty dish. “I’m gonna - “ He gestured vaguely in the direction of her bathroom. “Um.”

“Sure,” she said, and had to sit for another five or ten seconds, catching her breath, before she could get up and take the panna cotta dishes to the sink. They had to be hand-washed, but she couldn’t do it now. She’d probably break one.

She cleaned up the rest of the table, checked that Cisco had loaded the dishwasher properly (he had) and was considering how salvageable the lasagna pan was when Cisco called out, “Hey, Caitlin?”

“Hmmm?”

“Can you come here a minute?”

She went to the living room to see him studying her coffee table. “So, what’s this?” he asked.

She swallowed hard. She’d forgotten about that setup. “Um, candles. And wine glasses.”

“Fancy candles,” he said. “And your good wine glasses. And I couldn't help but notice there was a pretty nice red wine breathing on the counter all through dinner.”

“Oh,” she said. “I forgot about that. Yes.”

“And I know you’ll probably be mad and I’m sorry, but I may have slightly snooped in your bedroom on my way to the bathroom and I noticed your closet had exploded.”

She felt herself go red to the hairline. “. . . Yes,” she admitted. “It did, kind of.”

He tilted his head. “Did you have a plan for tonight?”

She nodded slowly. Her face felt hot enough to cook an egg. “But I burned the lasagna and spent too much time looking for the right outfit and ruined it.”

He smushed his lips together. “That’s an easily ruined plan.”

“You know how I am about my plans,” she said.

“Yeah,” he admitted, and picked up one of the wine glasses. “Too bad. This looks like it would have been pretty nice.”

She stood looking at him twisting the wineglass in his fingers, and thought, I’m on Team Flash. Plans going wrong is where we live. I should be able to improvise.

She curled her toes against the carpet. “Do you want to know what end I was planning toward?” she asked.

He looked up at her. “Kinda would. Yeah.”

“Okay,” she said. Whispered, really. “Okay.”

She reached out and took the wineglass from his hand. Setting it down on the coffee table, she rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him.

He went still, and she thought, Oh, oh no, I’ve misread everything, I -

Then his arms slipped around her waist and he kissed her back. Cautious at first, learning how they fit together, what she liked, what he liked. Then the kiss became more confident, hungrier. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed up against him, and he hummed in his throat the way he had when he’d tasted the panna cotta. This time, the sound thrilled her right down to the marrow.

They had to break for air eventually, and leaned together, panting. “So,” he said, his thumb rubbing against her rib cage through her thin shirt. “That was the end of the evening? In your plan?”

“Well,” she said, stroking her fingers through the baby-fine hairs on his neck. “No. Not necessarily.”

He smiled at her, his big joyful Cisco smile that she’d always loved to see, and said, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

FINIS

[words-and-fangirling-wonder]

A One Piece Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone! Here is the first fic of my Holiday Fanfic Extravaganza!! I hope you enjoy the sappiness.

Fandom: One Piece

Rating: General Audiences

Author: Fangirl Wonder (WordsandWonder on AO3)

No Pairing

“So wait, you have a whole holiday about turkeys?”

Luffy cocked his head to the side in interested confusion. He liked birds as much as the next person, but dedicating an entire day of celebration to them seemed a bit extreme. But from the way the bar was plastered with turkey-themed decorations, he got the feeling his opinion might not be shared by the occupants of this island. Orange, red and brown paper cut outs of turkeys danced in the breeze from the fans where they hung from the ceiling. Turkey shaped flower arrangements adorned every table and the paper plates and napkins that came with his food showed cartoon versions of the fowl as well. There were even little ceramic turkey salt and pepper shakers! He’d seen some weird islands traveling with his crew, but this turkey-crazy one was something else. And now this guy was telling him the decorations were for some holiday coming up? That was an awful lot of turkey love.

The islander shook his head. “No, no, the holiday isn’t about turkeys. It’s a day when people get together and celebrate and give thanks.”

Luffy couldn’t help making a face. “For turkeys?”

“No! We’re giving thanks for the bounty of the past year. It’s a tradition that goes back to when our island was first discovered!” he explained proudly.

Robin perked up from across the table at that. “Oh? Could you elaborate on this tradition?”

“Sure! So way back over a hundred years ago, a man set sail from his home island looking for a safer, quicker route to the New World, right? But his navigation was off, and he ended up here instead! He was disappointed, but he realized that this place had a ton of natural resources, so he started spreading the word that he found this great new island. Before you know it tons of people started making their way here, but many of them were coming from islands with big cities and didn’t know anything about living off the land. That’s when the natives stepped up …”

“Natives?” Robin questioned.

“Yeah, the natives. They stepped up and helped the travelers learn to live off the land. You know, hunting, fishing, growing crops, all that stuff.”

“But I thought you said the man who was looking for the New World discovered the island?”

“Yeah, he did, but I mean, the natives were there when he discovered it. It was a bloody mess for a while too, cuz they tried to fight the settlers off. But they lost, obviously. Then a native who had learned our language helped negotiate a peace treaty, and his people started helping after that.”

“I see,” Robin said with a small frown. “Sorry to interrupt. Please continue your story.”

“Right. So at the end of the settlers’ first year living on the island with the natives’ help, they threw a big feast …”

“A feast?!” Luffy, who had lost interest in the history lesson until that point, chimed in.

“Yeah! A big feast with turkey and venison and pumpkins and corn and potatoes and all kinds of good stuff! And they sat down and had this big feast to thank the natives for helping them. So now once a year on the anniversary of that, we celebrate by throwing a big feast with our friends and families and give thanks for the blessings of the previous year. We call it Settler’s Day!”

“That’s awesome! Hey, Sanji, let's have a Settler’s Day feast!” Luffy bellowed across the bar to his cook, who winced at the volume but pointedly ignored him.

“You should!” The man encouraged. “It’s great! If you head over to the inn across the street, Chester can give you all kinds of traditional recipes, and he can tell you the best places to get the food for it. Just tell him Darren sent you and he’ll fix ya right up.”

“Yahoo! I can’t wait!” Luffy ran off to pester Sanji into visiting the inn with him, seemingly unaware of Robin’s furrowed brow.

+++

“Damnit Luffy! If you want me to make you this giant feast so bad then you have to stay the hell out of my kitchen!” Sanji yelled, reinforcing his reprimand with a solid kick to the captain’s rubber behind.

Luffy bounced out of the galley and onto the deck of the Sunny with an unperturbed giggle, used to getting booted out of Sanji’s way (literally). He was too fired up about the Settler’s Day meal to be bothered by his ejection from the kitchen. In fact, pretty much everyone was getting excited about the celebration and had something they were looking forward to. Chopper was eager to try all the new types of desserts Sanji was whipping up, and Brook was inspired to compose new songs for the event. Nami was curious about some concoction the islanders had recommended called “orange jello salad,” and Franky had been promised that all the food options would go great with cola. Usopp had gone all out creating various decorations (mimicking what they’d seen on the island), and Zoro was just content with any excuse to drink an excessive amount of alcohol. The only crewmember who didn’t seem very interested in the proceedings was Robin. As her nakama bustled around getting things ready for the party, the archeologist simply watched, disapproval clear in her usually neutral expression.

“Okay, Robin,” Luffy finally said as he plopped down next to her. “You haven’t been excited about Settler’s Day at all since we decided to do it. What’s going on?”

The raven-haired intellectual studied Luffy quietly for a moment before responding. A part of her didn’t want to dampen the enthusiasm shining out of his features, but another part of her couldn’t just sit in silence while they carried on this tradition as it had been described to them.

“Captain, when you were restocking and preparing for this feast back on that island, I was doing some research.”

“Yeah?” the straw-hat wearer prompted. “And?”

“And … do you remember how that man said settling that island was a “bloody mess” for a while because the natives fought back? Well, I looked into that, and he was right. The people immigrating to the island took the land from people who had lived there for years and spread diseases that wiped them out. Not only that, but they captured healthy people and forced them to be slaves. Remember the native who helped make peace between the settlers and the tribe that shared that first feast? He was one of the last people in his tribe who was not wiped out by an epidemic brought by the settlers, and only spoke the language because he’d been abducted to be sold into slavery. Yes, there was a time of peace between the settlers and the natives, and there was a feast celebrating a successful harvest, but the real history behind this tradition is much less innocent than that man led you to believe. The descendants of the native people of that island don’t even celebrate Settler’s Day. In fact, some of them consider it a day of mourning.”

“Really?!” Luffy demanded. “That’s terrible! How can people celebrate something like that?”

“Well, some people don’t even know the true story behind it. They’ve just been taught the settlers’ version of what happened. Other people know, but figure that’s all in the past and that there’s no reason to stop the tradition now so many years later,” Robin explained solemnly.

“Man, what are we gonna do now? Everyone worked so hard for this Settler’s Day feast, and Sanji has already started making the food; he’s been cooking for hours already.” Luffy scratched his head and frowned.

The woman nodded. “I know, and … I don’t want to ruin the celebration for everyone, but … I can’t participate in something that memorializes the beginning of a terrible history of oppression.”

“Nah, me either. I just don’t want everyone to be disappointed.” The usually grinning boy’s face screwed up in concentration as he searched for a solution.

Robin hated seeing him so torn, almost as much as she hated that she was the cause of it. “Perhaps –“

“Wait! I’ve got an idea!” he interrupted, his smile back in full, brilliant force. “Forget stupid Settler’s Day! We’re gonna make our own holiday!”

“Our own holiday?” the archeologist inquired.

“Yeah! I just decided! If those bastards can make up a holiday we can too, right?”

“I suppose-“

“And anyway, we’re pirates! So even if they didn’t make one up, we still could because we do what we want. So we’re gonna still eat lots of delicious food and have cool decorations, except maybe not so many turkeys, cuz I still think that’s weird, and … and we’re still gonna be thankful for stuff! But today instead of being thankful in honor of some dumb dead guys, we’re gonna be thankful in honor of ourselves! And we can do it whenever we want! We don’t even have to just do it one time a year. We can do it today, and then do it again next week, if we want!”

A small smile crept onto Robin’s face as she listened to her impassioned friend’s idea. “I think Cook-san would have something to say about doing it again a week from now, but I do think your solution is a good one.”

“Alright! I’m gonna go tell everyone!” Luffy declared before running off, literally bouncing around the ship in his excitement to spread the word. “Usopp, stop makin’ those stupid turkeys! We’re doing something different!”

+++

Heavenly smells wafted up from the glorious spread arranged neatly on the dining hall’s giant table, and it was taking every ounce of self control Luffy possessed to stop himself from digging in right away. But before they could start into this magnificent feast, there was something he wanted to do.

“Okay, everybody, listen up! The stupid idiots back on that island used this day to celebrate their ancestors being assholes a hundred years ago. But that’s not what we’re celebrating today, cuz we’re pirates! So we’re stealing their day and making it about good stuff instead of their dumb stuff. Which means before we can eat this awesome feast, we gotta make it ours. And we’re gonna do that by all saying something we’re thankful for.”

“Anything?” Chopper asked, reluctantly dragging his gaze from the mountain of sweets toward the end of the table.

“Yup!” Luffy confirmed happily. “As long as it doesn’t have anything to do with stupid settlers.”

“Alright,” Zoro grunted after a moment of silence. “I’m thankful for booze.”

Sanji aimed a kick at the swordsman’s head, growling. “That’s bullshit, Marimo! Come up with something real or no feast for you.”

Zoro shot the cook an annoyed glare. “Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on, shit-cook,” he huffed. “I guess … aside from booze … I’m thankful for the crow’s nest, cuz I can train there and work toward my goal and still sail with all of you. Is that better, dartboard-brow?”

“Significantly,” Sanji affirmed, trying not to look impressed. He really hadn’t expected something that heartfelt from the other man. “I guess I’ll go next then. I’m thankful to travel with such gorgeous ladies as Nami-swan and Robin-chwan! And I’m glad to have found a group of people who don’t dismiss my dream of finding the All Blue.”

“I’m thankful for Robin!” Nami piped up. “For keeping me sane on this ship full of rowdy boys. And,” she added, “that we always have enough berries for what we need.”

Robin smiled gently and patted Nami’s hand. “I suppose I shall take my turn, then. I’m thankful to all of you, for saving me. And for helping me find the will to live again.”

“And I’m thankful to all of you for being my friends!” Chopper chimed.

“I’m grateful to have found a crew,” Brook announced. “It is so lovely to see friendly faces again, though, I do not have eyes. Yohoho!”

“I’m thankful for this SUPER chance to build and sail on the ship I always dreamed of!” Franky added.

“On a similar note,” Usopp stated thoughtfully, “I’d like to say I’m thankful for the Merry. She saw us through a lot, and she will never be forgotten.”

The crew nodded solemnly, all taking a moment of respect for the fallen ship. Then all eyes turned expectantly to Luffy, who stood up at the head of the table.

“I’m thankful,” he said slowly, “for you. For the things each of you brings to this crew that makes it the best crew in the entire world! I could list all the stuff you guys do and all the reasons why I’m happy to sail with you, but that would take a long time and we have delicious food to eat, so I’m just gonna say this: More than anything else, I’m thankful that you all chose to follow me, and that you’ve stayed with me. Thank you all for believing in my dream. Thank you for believing in me.”

Everyone stared for a moment, shocked at the intensity of Luffy’s gaze as he delivered his uncharacteristically serious speech, before all of them nodded in unison. Finally, Zoro broke the silence by raising his glass.

“To the captain,” he proclaimed.

“To the captain,” his crewmates replied, also raising their glasses in a toast.

“To nakama,” Luffy added.

“To nakama,” they echoed.

Looking at him in that moment, Robin was reminded once again why all of these people, all so independent and strong in their own right, chose to join this silly, impulsive boy, and she couldn’t help but smile softly as she sipped her drink. Luffy caught her eye and flashed his signature thousand-watt grin.

“Shishishi! Alright everybody, enough sappiness! Let’s eat!”

[papersoup]

How to go vegan, according to the laziest vegan ever

When my partner first came back from Chicago nine months ago and said they wanted to go vegan, my reaction was something like this:

I told them we could give this a shot for one week and no more. Here we are, nine months later, and I’m happy as a camper to stay vegan forevs n evs.

The thing is, I’m one of the laziest, couch-loving, effort-hating people you will ever come to know. I’d like to pass along some wisdom to you to talk about how you can try going vegan even if you’re the kind of person who hates having to do anything ever at all forever until the end of time. And just to be cool and nice, I’m gonna make it a listacle, because why the fuck not?

1. Start with a week

Trying to start off doing anything for the first time with a promise to do it forever is super hard. Going vegan isn’t for everyone, so trying things out in the short term to see how you like it is a great way to get going. That being said, if you start by trying to go vegan for one day, that shit probably isn’t going to work, because your body needs to adjust to your new diet before it’ll feel good. 

For me, the first three days were the hardest. My body wasn’t used to all the fiber, so I felt full way faster than usual, but didn’t stay full for as long. That got way more manageable after a couple days, but it definitely had me wondering if I was doing something wrong. I also had multiple dreams about eating my way through a full wheel of cheese, and cried watching a fried chicken commercial.

After a couple days though, everything started to feel normal and natural. I got excited about new vegan recipes, and also felt some unexpected side effects: way higher energy, no more heartburn, more restful sleep, and clearer skin. It got me hooked and I’ve stuck with it ever since--because it worked for me! And if it doesn’t work for you, that’s chill, but like, maybe give it a week because change.

2. Plan ahead

Depending on where you live, going vegan can make eating last minute get harder, since things like coffee shop pastries, pre-packed lunches, and deli products usually use animal products. If you’re anything like me, last minute is a very large part of your vocabulary and your life. At the end of the day, planning ahead makes it easier to go without cheating, makes the day to day eating a lot easier, and also saves you money in the long run.

To keep things really simple, I plan my meals for the whole week at once--7 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 5 dinners, and hella snacks. I always have some kind of snack in my bag, too, to save me from getting stuck having to grab the one vegan option when I’m on the go. I’ve found that it’s saved me a ton of cash and time, and makes staying vegan a lot easier, especially when I’m busy.

3. Don’t get hung up on substitutes and salads

A common mistake new vegans make is trying to eat the same as they did before, just substituting vegan products for all their animal based stuff. Another one is to think that a vegan diet is a salad and smoothie diet. The truth is, while there are some amazing substitutes out there for animal products when you’re really craving one, a vegan diet is just straight up different from one where animal products chill at the center of it, and that’s okay. There are also a bajillion trillion really interesting and delicious ways to eat grains and veggies that don’t require them being chilled or raw or $60 protein powder.

My staple faves include brown sugar and cinnamon oatmeal, fluffy pancakes, portobello mushroom tacos, roasted root vegetables, mushroom risotto, stuffed squash, chickpea salad sandwiches, lentil shepherds pie, and corn pizza with smoked tomatoes. The sky is the limit, y’all. 

4. Don’t stress about being the picture of perfect vegan Fitblr chia seed health and wellness 

You don’t always have to be the picture of perfect health with your vegan diet (or with any diet, seriously). It’s not all sports bras and kale smoothies over here. You know what’s vegan? Oreos. Korean barbecue flavored kettle chips. Tater tots. This fuckin’ sandwich:

Yes that is vegan ranch slathered cole slaw with a deep fried seitan chicken breast, house made pickles, a buttery toasted bun, and a ton of fries. And it was so very, very good.

It’s good to pay attention to your nutrition on any diet, but honestly it’s not that hard to get what you need from a vegan diet while still enjoying your vices. A lot of people get really fixated on deprivation in a vegan diet, but you can get anything, and I mean anything  that you need on a plant based diet without having to turn to animal products with some research.

Do your homework on the nutritional risks of veganism and structure your diet as you would otherwise, making sure to get your vitamins and minerals and all the good good. Personally, I just make sure I’m also getting muh beans and veggies on instead of just relying heavily on starches and carbs, and take a B12 supplement now and then. Side note: like OF COURSE talk to a health care professional if you have allergies or diet sensitivities or just in general before taking on a major diet change.

5. Build a catalog of recipes

Trying any new diet for the first time probably means cooking a lot of new foods. It also means that you’re gonna get excited about it for a while and then you’re going to get bored and the idea of having to dig through 50,000 recipes to plan a week of dinners is going to sound dumb as hell.

I like to use my Vegan Party board on Pinterest to look for recipes and keep notes on what works and what doesn’t so I can pull from it easily when I don’t wanna look for new shit. I cook out of the Forks Over Knives cookbook when I really want to be healthy, and when I need a showstopper or a recipe I know will work without adjustments, I rely on Isa from Post Punk Kitchen or the Minimalist Baker because they’re vegan geniuses and their recipes are generally foolproof. Even if you just want to try subbing out a few meals at a time, these folks are great gateway cooks to the ways of delicious vegan goodness.

6. Try new things

Since going vegan, I’ve tried a billion new foods, and it’s been a ton of fun. Turns out oyster mushrooms are delicious, and turnips taste like soapy potatoes. I think that dill is gross unless it’s used to flavor a pickle and that cashew cheese is the greatest thing to ever happen to the world. Olive oil is what everyone should have been putting on their popcorn this entire damn time because holy shit. Making a cake from scratch is 30x more likely to not get fucked up by me if I don’t use any eggs. 

Don’t be afraid to try some new shit and push the boundaries of your vegan lifestyle. Sometimes adding restrictions to your art can open you up to a world of exciting freedoms and discoveries. Have no fear.

7. Remember snacks

One difference between vegan me and omnivore me is that I get hungry a lot more often than I used to. On average my meals are way fewer calories than they used to be, and also have a lot more fiber. That means I get full more quickly but hungry more often. It also means I accidentally lost 29 pounds this year while still putting back a lot of beer which is p cool and that my poops are just wizard status amazing (sorry not sorry).

Vegan snacking is essential to your best vegan life. My favorite vegan snacks are hummus with pita or veggies, popcorn (I usually make a giant bowl of it on the stove), pickles, tots, chips with cashew cheese dip, chocolate, or bagels. Just don’t forget to buy snacks when you go to the grocery store and don’t be afraid to eat ‘em.

8. Get inspired

Going vegan can be pretty easy, but as it is with giving up anything, you’re gonna be met with temptation to quit or cheat. First of all, people are weirdly critical of vegan diets and ask a lot of strange and invasive questions. A lot of people also don’t super realize what vegan means so they’ll like invite you over for dinner and give you a salad with a poached egg on it or buy you a jello shot at the bar (usually if someone is nice enough to cook for me or buy me something I’ll just eat it anyway because I’m not an ass and then politely correct them for next time, but making sure to be clear about it in advance can help avoid such situations).

In addition, every time I get drunk I want Popeyes, like without exception all the time forever, and I don’t think I’m alone in that y’all. The struggle is deeply, horribly real. 

What this means is that to stay vegan, you want to do it for like...a reason. There are a lot of great ones to draw from: social justice, the ethical treatment of animals, the environment, and your health are just a few. If any of these sounds compelling to you, it’s a great thing to keep in mind when continuing a vegan diet and saying no to delicious crispy fried chicken whilst hammered.

9. Look for your community

Vegan stores! Vegan restaurants! New vegan friends! There are lots of great folks out there to bond with over cool vegan things. Having vegan buddies or being part of a vegan community can help you get the good good on reliable recipes, how to eat vegan in the unlikeliest of places, and where to find the best vegan memes. Support lends itself well to lifestyle changes. Bear in mind that, like with all communities, there are some people that are v v intense about things so take it with a grain of salt and do you, too. 

10. Stay positive

Like all humans, vegans can be subjects or perpetrators of hate. Just remember that you don’t have to deal in absolutes, you don’t have to be perfect every day, you don’t have to recruit others for the cause, you don’t have to diss others who aren’t hip with the cause, and you don’t have to be down with everything the word vegan represents. The easiest way to go and stay vegan is to do it because you feel good about it, which is like a non-statement that is to say, don’t overthink it.

In conclusion, going vegan isn’t as intimidating as it sounds and I’m personally pretty into it. Hopefully if you were thinking about giving it a shot this helped.

[screenbrick4-blog]

Currently…

Hello, and happy post 4th of July! I hope you had a wonderful holiday!

It was SCORCHING hot here but we still managed to have a great time waving at floats and collecting candy at our neighborhood parade (lots of water trickles on heads plus suckers seemed to do the trick) then attending a friend’s BBQ later that night. There was some miscommunication earlier this week when I thought we were hosting dinner, so it was a nice surprise to be able to walk out the door and hang out at someone else’s home for the night!

These are the same friends whose 2011 4th of July party I made 66 Jello shots for. My, times have changed. ;)

I spent yesterday recovering from the heat – 9 months pregnant + 100+ heat index = taking several days to fully cool down – and continuing to prep for baby girl. Just a couple weeks left, you guys – insanity!!

These past two weeks I’ve felt like doing nothing yet everything at the same time. Although my energy levels are way down and the amount of appointments, meetings, and last minute projects I’m trying to fit in are taking up a huge amount of time, the urge to nest is a very real thing. That said, I’ve been trying to tackle one major thing each night. While Ben is in charge of putting together furniture/painting baby’s bedroom, I’m tackling the washing/prepping of bottles, laundering gobs of newborn clothes (thank goodness for one of my besties who had twin girls with very good taste last year. So funny to see pink in the dryer lint trap!) cleaning bouncers and swings, etc. I think we’ll be totally ready for her when the time comes – if only by the skin of our teeth.

All this hard work means I can spend the next two weeks focusing on these two sweet, sweet souls.

My boys of summer!

Plus prepping 101 meals for the freezer. Wish me luck.

Anyway, wanted to catch up on all things new food products / musicals / Netflix specials in today’s edition of Currently! I hope you have a WONDERFUL summer weekend – catch you on the other side!

Drizzling: Here Michigan Apple Balsamic Salad Dressing. Since my GD diagnosis I’ve been eating at least one giant salad a day, and my favorite Tessemae’s Creamy Ranch dressing started to get a little heavy. That said, I picked up this bottle of dressing at the store a few weeks ago and it is SOOOO good! Tart, tangy, full of flavor, and I love the ingredient list too. Look for this in the refrigerated salad dressing section vs the aisle.

Attending: Hamilton. Ben and I saw Hamilton last week (it’s in town until mid-July) – we’d been DYING to see what all the fuss was about! Ben’s a mega hip hop enthusiast who also loves musical theater so he was actually bopping in his chair for 3 hours straight. I’m not a public bopper but was tapping my foot the whole time. Needless to say, we loved it and I can’t recall another show we’ve seen where every single song was one to remember. I’m so proud of my city for being able to host the touring crew. If you get the chance – do NOT skip Hamilton!

Watching: Ali Wong. I recently watched Ali Wong’s Baby Cobra special on Netflix at the recommendation of a friend and literally can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. Like, years. Maybe my whole life? Ben thought I was off my rocker but once I started I couldn’t stop! Do not watch if you’re easily offended about, well, anything, but if you dare, I promise you a HIGH-larious show.

Playing. The little boys and I have been heading to the backyard for a dip in the blow up pool a couple afternoons each week and like to finish up with a good 10 minute hose blasting session (my water bill hates me.) I truly don’t know who has more fun – them or me, muwahaha. :)

Devouring: peaches. IT’S OFFICIALLY PEACH SEASON, PEOPLE! Sorry to shout, but the beeline I made to the peach portion of the produce section at the grocery store earlier this week after smelling them from afar was rather impressive, if I do say so myself. Since peaches are pretty high in carbs I’ve been slowly savoring one every afternoon this week. It’s the best part of my day. (Recipe for Peach Caprese Salad is on deck for this weekend. ↓)

Visiting: Iowa Distilling Company. I recently visited the Iowa Distilling Company for a fun project (will fill you in on the details later,) and I cannot WAIT to return when I can actually sample some of the products! Great people distilling uniquely Iowa spirits with a killer drink menu, and the neatest “tap room” vibe (think 1875 general store meets approachable hipster hangout.) If you’re ever in Cumming, IA be sure to stop by and try a few tasty beverages with Kyle (the owner) + his crew. The Lemon Honey Zone is calling my name…

Inhaling: Barnana Plantain Chips. I know I just recently mentioned these Barnana Plantain Chips but they’re worth another shout out – I.am.obsessed! They don’t taste sweet nor like bananas, which is a good thing in my opinion, plus they’re thick, crunchy, and full of flavor. They feel like healthy potato chips (shrugs shoulders.) I find them in my grocery store’s health market for about the same price as Amazon. Highly recommend the Brazilian BBQ flavor.

Craving: Fresh Mint Iced Tea. I know what I’m doing with the fresh mint that’s currently taking over my entire herb garden! How refreshing does this ice cold tea from Love and Olive Oil look? They’d make the best preggo popsicles…

Quitting: The Bachelorette. Mama didn’t raise no quitter except that I’m officially closing the door on this season of The Bachelorette. Snoozeville, horrible guys with even worse real world behavior and, I don’t know, Bachelorette – I just not that into you. Bring on Paradise! Fellow fans: am I alone?

Loving: Coconut oil face wash. Not a coconut oil-based face wash, rather, using coconut oil AS my face wash! I saw this method on a fellow blogger’s Instagram account a few weeks ago and have been loving the process and results ever since. At night I massage a dollop of coconut oil all over my face (I use unrefined organic from the grocery store – use refined for less of coconut smell) then place a steaming hot washcloth on top and let it sit until the cloth is cool before wiping everything away. Takes off ALL my makeup, including waterproof mascara and eyeliner, plus my skin feels so, so soft. I never have breakouts when I’m pregnant (thanks, hormones (for once not being sarcastic about hormones!)) so I’m anxious to see if this is still a good skin solution after baby is born. For now I’m loving the simplicity of washing away the day’s dirt and grime with simply coconut oil and a washcloth. It’s the little things.

Blending: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies. Since Lincoln is allergic to dairy and super super slim, I’m always looking for ways to fatten and fill him up. A few days ago I made him a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with this Silk Chocolate Protein Milk I’d recently found at the grocery store, which is high in both fat and protein (and yes, sugar, but seriously this high-fat and protein/no dairy thing is really tough) and he sucked it DOOWWWN. All I did was blend ~3/4 cup of the milk with 1/2 ripe banana and a big spoonful of peanut butter until smooth, then added ~1 cup ice and blended until thick and frosty. He and his brother each thoroughly enjoyed a glass – think we’ll make them into popsicles soon!

Pick a currently category and fill me in! 

Source: https://iowagirleats.com/2018/07/06/currently-17/

[prosejudo56-blog]

What Do You Cook When No One's Watching?

Table for One is a column by Senior Editor Eric Kim, who loves cooking for himself—and only himself—and seeks to celebrate the beauty of solitude in its many forms.

"Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly," M. F. K. Fisher writes in my favorite chapter of her Alphabet for Gourmets, "A is for Dining Alone." There's nothing more devastating to me than a bad dinner date. Which is why I often find myself alone after work, sitting at my kitchen island with a plate of food and a glass of wine, my dog at my feet. At the end of a long day, this table for one is more than just a place for me to have my dinner—it's a place, as well, for me to have my thoughts.

There's great pleasure in the cooking, too. When we talk about the foods we cook for ourselves, they can often feel like throwaway meals we're embarrassed about and would never serve to others. But I find that it's in this kind of cooking—where the sole purpose is to nourish myself—that I'm the most at ease, and thus much more able to experiment, create, and, eventually, master a recipe.

Anita Lo's chicken dinner for one makes use of day-old bread and celebrates broccoli. Photo by Ty Mecham

As I started gaining my foot in the kitchen years ago, I found that I was eager to learn new ways to feed myself—only myself—but that I had to create my own scaled-down versions of recipes from cookbooks and online. Which is why I was grateful when Anita Lo's Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One arrived at my desk, and even more so to read the comments on Tejal Rao's coverage of it in The New York Times. It meant not only that publishers were starting to take the subject of one seriously, but also that there were other people out there, like me, looking for single-serving recipes that had as much care and complexity as their larger-serving counterparts.

As a writer, too, I find that it's in this realm of the solo dinner that there are the best stories. The plight of the single-serving recipe is that it often has to parade joy and self-love (or else it's sad). It's often sold without any acknowledgement that there’s always a reason, always some kind of context, that explains why that one is not two, or four, or six to eight (how most recipes are written). As Lo writes in the introduction to her book, "I've been dumped as many times as I've been in relationships—and I can count those on less than two hands. Spread over my fifty-year life-span, that's a lot of solo meals."

Solo is a testament to celebrating all of the reasons we find ourselves alone at the table with knife and fork—and never apologizing for any of them.

Earlier this month I asked the internet (Twitter, Instagram, and you guys!) a couple questions to test a theory: that people are indeed looking for recipes for one and cookbooks like Anita's. The first question was pragmatic:

The second question was more of a conversation starter: What do you cook for yourself when no one's watching? Not knowing what to expect, I got a slew of responses (too many to capture here). But here were some of my favorites:

"One giant pancake."

"7 eggs with an avocado and ketchup, 6 if someone's watching."

"A whole head of broccoli, roasted, and eaten on its own with a fork (it's not like I'm doing this for anyone else)."

"Big fat Fordhook lima beans with a ton of butter, salt, and fresh ground black pepper."

"The iceberg wedge Grandma would make—with a decent layer of good mayo on the cut sides and some chopped black olives on top."

"Tuna on pickles: I make a salty tuna salad with just a little mayo, minced onion and celery, tons of salt and pepper and a splash of pickle brine. Then I pile little mounds onto zesty bread and butter pickles. Maybe sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Then I pop 'em in my mouth and wish there were more!"

"Canned corn beef hash."

Many turn to carbs when they're alone, naturally.

"Instant mashed potatoes with meatballs in gravy."

"An extremely loaded baked potato: roast beef, caramelized onions, butter, sour cream, chives, horseradish."

"Leftover pasta, fried in butter with bread crumbs and ketchup."

"Pasta alle vongole with a few cups of white wine is my recipe for when my heart aches."

"Warm leftover spaghetti and meat sauce sandwich folded into a single slice of fresh white bread with softened butter. (Sigh.)"

"Ramen and accidental hard-boiled eggs (I always aim to soft-boil but just can't get it right)."

"Shin Ramyun with scallions and a last-minute egg dropped in."

"I eat loaves of bread—whole loaves—in one happy sitting. Crusty, crackling, warm artisan hearth loaves fresh from my oven. In baking school, I ate entire baguettes for dinner followed by an apple for good luck."

"Frozen pizza."

The things men come to eat when they are alone are, I suppose, not much stranger than the men themselves.

M. F. K. Fisher, An Alphabet for Gourmets

Some get very creative when they're alone.

"Crunchy peanut butter, mayo, grape jelly, iceberg lettuce, on gummy, fresh, white bread."

"Cheese-covered Ritz crackers melted in the microwave."

"Microwave nachos on saltines. Don't hate!"

"Saltines and sriracha (apply several dots and eat in two bites)."

"Tate's cookies mashed up with a fork in a mug of milk, eaten like cereal (but with the fork)."

"Grape Nuts with milk and a couple tablespoons of unprepared Jello powder."

"Banana and bacon with mascarpone on a grilled split bun. Drink juice to remove the guilt."

"I make packaged ramen (Top Ramen brand, Soy Sauce flavor) and turn it into what I call 'faux pho' by adding more broth and spiking it with fresh ginger and thinly sliced mushrooms, celery, carrots, scallions, red pepper flakes, and a little sesame oil."

A lot of people eat rice when they're alone.

"Rice with brown butter–scrambled eggs."

"Day-old rice, fried eggs."

"Leftover rice, fried egg, soy sauce."

"White rice. Sauteed onion. Crispy sunny egg."

"White rice with butter, soy sauce, and fried egg on top. Sour kimchi on the side."

"Spam and rice, served with kimchi."

"Steamed white rice, thin and crispy Spam, fried eggs, and kimchi if I've got it."

"Kimchi fried rice, straight out of the pan."

"The spiciest-of-spicy, mouth-on-fire fried rice with as much kimchi and gochujang as possible, sautéed in butter, any leftover veggies I have in the fridge (to make me feel that it's healthier?) and an egg."

Some choose to treat themselves when they're alone.

"A meal I savor alone—an appetizer of beautifully prepared artichokes or tomatoes, then a piece of grilled fish (halibut or trout, e.g.), finished in brown butter. With Barolo or white zinfandel on the side."

"Seared scallops (easy to pop a few out of the freezer) with extra super garlicky greens (whatever I have) and tons of lemon juice on both. The rest of my family would never eat this, so it’s a treat for me."

"A pound or more of sautéed mushrooms with Worcestershire, maybe add broccoli or another veg. I don't even bother to put it over pasta—just tuck in with a bowl and a spoon in front of the latest episode of Great British Baking Show."

"The only one that sees me eat is the cat. But when I'm feeling particularly indulgent, I make a big pan of chicken livers sautéed with onions, apples, and (of course) bacon."

"Sometimes I like to make a lobster and consume it barehanded over the sink."

Somehow, reading all of these made me feel less alone this week, reiterating something that I've always felt about cooking for one: If these are the foods we choose to eat when no one is looking, then why wouldn't we always eat like that?

It's these private meals that seem to celebrate, most honestly, the very act of eating itself—the nourishment of our bodies—as something we should never be ashamed of, regardless of the contents of our plates. And in their casual, unsurveilled preparation, recipes for one also take the stress out of cooking and allow us to seek refuge in the quiet, solitary hummings of the kitchen, in the pleasures that can come from such a reliable self-sufficiency.

Anita Lo's Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast With Broccoli Panzanella

View Recipe

Ingredients

1 small head broccoli, florets cut off, stems saved for another use 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 pinch salt and black pepper 1 chicken breast, skin on 1/2 lemon, juice and zest 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste 1 small clove garlic, pasted 1 pinch red pepper flakes 3 large leaves basil 2 tablespoons diced red onion 1 1/2 cups loose cubed stale French bread Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 small head broccoli, florets cut off, stems saved for another use 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 pinch salt and black pepper 1 chicken breast, skin on 1/2 lemon, juice and zest 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste

1 small clove garlic, pasted 1 pinch red pepper flakes 3 large leaves basil 2 tablespoons diced red onion 1 1/2 cups loose cubed stale French bread Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

What do you cook for yourself when no one's watching? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: https://food52.com/blog/23301-solo-dinners-table-for-one

[woundgrey39-blog]

What Do You Cook When No One's Watching?

Table for One is a column by Senior Editor Eric Kim, who loves cooking for himself—and only himself—and seeks to celebrate the beauty of solitude in its many forms.

"Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly," M. F. K. Fisher writes in my favorite chapter of her Alphabet for Gourmets, "A is for Dining Alone." There's nothing more devastating to me than a bad dinner date. Which is why I often find myself alone after work, sitting at my kitchen island with a plate of food and a glass of wine, my dog at my feet. At the end of a long day, this table for one is more than just a place for me to have my dinner—it's a place, as well, for me to have my thoughts.

There's great pleasure in the cooking, too. When we talk about the foods we cook for ourselves, they can often feel like throwaway meals we're embarrassed about and would never serve to others. But I find that it's in this kind of cooking—where the sole purpose is to nourish myself—that I'm the most at ease, and thus much more able to experiment, create, and, eventually, master a recipe.

Anita Lo's chicken dinner for one makes use of day-old bread and celebrates broccoli. Photo by Ty Mecham

As I started gaining my foot in the kitchen years ago, I found that I was eager to learn new ways to feed myself—only myself—but that I had to create my own scaled-down versions of recipes from cookbooks and online. Which is why I was grateful when Anita Lo's Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One arrived at my desk, and even more so to read the comments on Tejal Rao's coverage of it in The New York Times. It meant not only that publishers were starting to take the subject of one seriously, but also that there were other people out there, like me, looking for single-serving recipes that had as much care and complexity as their larger-serving counterparts.

As a writer, too, I find that it's in this realm of the solo dinner that there are the best stories. The plight of the single-serving recipe is that it often has to parade joy and self-love (or else it's sad). It's often sold without any acknowledgement that there’s always a reason, always some kind of context, that explains why that one is not two, or four, or six to eight (how most recipes are written). As Lo writes in the introduction to her book, "I've been dumped as many times as I've been in relationships—and I can count those on less than two hands. Spread over my fifty-year life-span, that's a lot of solo meals."

Solo is a testament to celebrating all of the reasons we find ourselves alone at the table with knife and fork—and never apologizing for any of them.

Earlier this month I asked the internet (Twitter, Instagram, and you guys!) a couple questions to test a theory: that people are indeed looking for recipes for one and cookbooks like Anita's. The first question was pragmatic:

The second question was more of a conversation starter: What do you cook for yourself when no one's watching? Not knowing what to expect, I got a slew of responses (too many to capture here). But here were some of my favorites:

"One giant pancake."

"7 eggs with an avocado and ketchup, 6 if someone's watching."

"A whole head of broccoli, roasted, and eaten on its own with a fork (it's not like I'm doing this for anyone else)."

"Big fat Fordhook lima beans with a ton of butter, salt, and fresh ground black pepper."

"The iceberg wedge Grandma would make—with a decent layer of good mayo on the cut sides and some chopped black olives on top."

"Tuna on pickles: I make a salty tuna salad with just a little mayo, minced onion and celery, tons of salt and pepper and a splash of pickle brine. Then I pile little mounds onto zesty bread and butter pickles. Maybe sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Then I pop 'em in my mouth and wish there were more!"

"Canned corn beef hash."

Many turn to carbs when they're alone, naturally.

"Instant mashed potatoes with meatballs in gravy."

"An extremely loaded baked potato: roast beef, caramelized onions, butter, sour cream, chives, horseradish."

"Leftover pasta, fried in butter with bread crumbs and ketchup."

"Pasta alle vongole with a few cups of white wine is my recipe for when my heart aches."

"Warm leftover spaghetti and meat sauce sandwich folded into a single slice of fresh white bread with softened butter. (Sigh.)"

"Ramen and accidental hard-boiled eggs (I always aim to soft-boil but just can't get it right)."

"Shin Ramyun with scallions and a last-minute egg dropped in."

"I eat loaves of bread—whole loaves—in one happy sitting. Crusty, crackling, warm artisan hearth loaves fresh from my oven. In baking school, I ate entire baguettes for dinner followed by an apple for good luck."

"Frozen pizza."

The things men come to eat when they are alone are, I suppose, not much stranger than the men themselves.

M. F. K. Fisher, An Alphabet for Gourmets

Some get very creative when they're alone.

"Crunchy peanut butter, mayo, grape jelly, iceberg lettuce, on gummy, fresh, white bread."

"Cheese-covered Ritz crackers melted in the microwave."

"Microwave nachos on saltines. Don't hate!"

"Saltines and sriracha (apply several dots and eat in two bites)."

"Tate's cookies mashed up with a fork in a mug of milk, eaten like cereal (but with the fork)."

"Grape Nuts with milk and a couple tablespoons of unprepared Jello powder."

"Banana and bacon with mascarpone on a grilled split bun. Drink juice to remove the guilt."

"I make packaged ramen (Top Ramen brand, Soy Sauce flavor) and turn it into what I call 'faux pho' by adding more broth and spiking it with fresh ginger and thinly sliced mushrooms, celery, carrots, scallions, red pepper flakes, and a little sesame oil."

A lot of people eat rice when they're alone.

"Rice with brown butter–scrambled eggs."

"Day-old rice, fried eggs."

"Leftover rice, fried egg, soy sauce."

"White rice. Sauteed onion. Crispy sunny egg."

"White rice with butter, soy sauce, and fried egg on top. Sour kimchi on the side."

"Spam and rice, served with kimchi."

"Steamed white rice, thin and crispy Spam, fried eggs, and kimchi if I've got it."

"Kimchi fried rice, straight out of the pan."

"The spiciest-of-spicy, mouth-on-fire fried rice with as much kimchi and gochujang as possible, sautéed in butter, any leftover veggies I have in the fridge (to make me feel that it's healthier?) and an egg."

Some choose to treat themselves when they're alone.

"A meal I savor alone—an appetizer of beautifully prepared artichokes or tomatoes, then a piece of grilled fish (halibut or trout, e.g.), finished in brown butter. With Barolo or white zinfandel on the side."

"Seared scallops (easy to pop a few out of the freezer) with extra super garlicky greens (whatever I have) and tons of lemon juice on both. The rest of my family would never eat this, so it’s a treat for me."

"A pound or more of sautéed mushrooms with Worcestershire, maybe add broccoli or another veg. I don't even bother to put it over pasta—just tuck in with a bowl and a spoon in front of the latest episode of Great British Baking Show."

"The only one that sees me eat is the cat. But when I'm feeling particularly indulgent, I make a big pan of chicken livers sautéed with onions, apples, and (of course) bacon."

"Sometimes I like to make a lobster and consume it barehanded over the sink."

Somehow, reading all of these made me feel less alone this week, reiterating something that I've always felt about cooking for one: If these are the foods we choose to eat when no one is looking, then why wouldn't we always eat like that?

It's these private meals that seem to celebrate, most honestly, the very act of eating itself—the nourishment of our bodies—as something we should never be ashamed of, regardless of the contents of our plates. And in their casual, unsurveilled preparation, recipes for one also take the stress out of cooking and allow us to seek refuge in the quiet, solitary hummings of the kitchen, in the pleasures that can come from such a reliable self-sufficiency.

Anita Lo's Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast With Broccoli Panzanella

View Recipe

Ingredients

1 small head broccoli, florets cut off, stems saved for another use 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 pinch salt and black pepper 1 chicken breast, skin on 1/2 lemon, juice and zest 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste 1 small clove garlic, pasted 1 pinch red pepper flakes 3 large leaves basil 2 tablespoons diced red onion 1 1/2 cups loose cubed stale French bread Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 small head broccoli, florets cut off, stems saved for another use 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 pinch salt and black pepper 1 chicken breast, skin on 1/2 lemon, juice and zest 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste

1 small clove garlic, pasted 1 pinch red pepper flakes 3 large leaves basil 2 tablespoons diced red onion 1 1/2 cups loose cubed stale French bread Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

What do you cook for yourself when no one's watching? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: https://food52.com/blog/23301-solo-dinners-table-for-one

[risevessel4-blog]

Currently…

Hello, and happy post 4th of July! I hope you had a wonderful holiday!

It was SCORCHING hot here but we still managed to have a great time waving at floats and collecting candy at our neighborhood parade (lots of water trickles on heads plus suckers seemed to do the trick) then attending a friend’s BBQ later that night. There was some miscommunication earlier this week when I thought we were hosting dinner, so it was a nice surprise to be able to walk out the door and hang out at someone else’s home for the night!

These are the same friends whose 2011 4th of July party I made 66 Jello shots for. My, times have changed. ;)

I spent yesterday recovering from the heat – 9 months pregnant + 100+ heat index = taking several days to fully cool down – and continuing to prep for baby girl. Just a couple weeks left, you guys – insanity!!

These past two weeks I’ve felt like doing nothing yet everything at the same time. Although my energy levels are way down and the amount of appointments, meetings, and last minute projects I’m trying to fit in are taking up a huge amount of time, the urge to nest is a very real thing. That said, I’ve been trying to tackle one major thing each night. While Ben is in charge of putting together furniture/painting baby’s bedroom, I’m tackling the washing/prepping of bottles, laundering gobs of newborn clothes (thank goodness for one of my besties who had twin girls with very good taste last year. So funny to see pink in the dryer lint trap!) cleaning bouncers and swings, etc. I think we’ll be totally ready for her when the time comes – if only by the skin of our teeth.

All this hard work means I can spend the next two weeks focusing on these two sweet, sweet souls.

My boys of summer!

Plus prepping 101 meals for the freezer. Wish me luck.

Anyway, wanted to catch up on all things new food products / musicals / Netflix specials in today’s edition of Currently! I hope you have a WONDERFUL summer weekend – catch you on the other side!

Drizzling: Here Michigan Apple Balsamic Salad Dressing. Since my GD diagnosis I’ve been eating at least one giant salad a day, and my favorite Tessemae’s Creamy Ranch dressing started to get a little heavy. That said, I picked up this bottle of dressing at the store a few weeks ago and it is SOOOO good! Tart, tangy, full of flavor, and I love the ingredient list too. Look for this in the refrigerated salad dressing section vs the aisle.

Attending: Hamilton. Ben and I saw Hamilton last week (it’s in town until mid-July) – we’d been DYING to see what all the fuss was about! Ben’s a mega hip hop enthusiast who also loves musical theater so he was actually bopping in his chair for 3 hours straight. I’m not a public bopper but was tapping my foot the whole time. Needless to say, we loved it and I can’t recall another show we’ve seen where every single song was one to remember. I’m so proud of my city for being able to host the touring crew. If you get the chance – do NOT skip Hamilton!

Watching: Ali Wong. I recently watched Ali Wong’s Baby Cobra special on Netflix at the recommendation of a friend and literally can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. Like, years. Maybe my whole life? Ben thought I was off my rocker but once I started I couldn’t stop! Do not watch if you’re easily offended about, well, anything, but if you dare, I promise you a HIGH-larious show.

Playing. The little boys and I have been heading to the backyard for a dip in the blow up pool a couple afternoons each week and like to finish up with a good 10 minute hose blasting session (my water bill hates me.) I truly don’t know who has more fun – them or me, muwahaha. :)

Devouring: peaches. IT’S OFFICIALLY PEACH SEASON, PEOPLE! Sorry to shout, but the beeline I made to the peach portion of the produce section at the grocery store earlier this week after smelling them from afar was rather impressive, if I do say so myself. Since peaches are pretty high in carbs I’ve been slowly savoring one every afternoon this week. It’s the best part of my day. (Recipe for Peach Caprese Salad is on deck for this weekend. ↓)

Visiting: Iowa Distilling Company. I recently visited the Iowa Distilling Company for a fun project (will fill you in on the details later,) and I cannot WAIT to return when I can actually sample some of the products! Great people distilling uniquely Iowa spirits with a killer drink menu, and the neatest “tap room” vibe (think 1875 general store meets approachable hipster hangout.) If you’re ever in Cumming, IA be sure to stop by and try a few tasty beverages with Kyle (the owner) + his crew. The Lemon Honey Zone is calling my name…

Inhaling: Barnana Plantain Chips. I know I just recently mentioned these Barnana Plantain Chips but they’re worth another shout out – I.am.obsessed! They don’t taste sweet nor like bananas, which is a good thing in my opinion, plus they’re thick, crunchy, and full of flavor. They feel like healthy potato chips (shrugs shoulders.) I find them in my grocery store’s health market for about the same price as Amazon. Highly recommend the Brazilian BBQ flavor.

Craving: Fresh Mint Iced Tea. I know what I’m doing with the fresh mint that’s currently taking over my entire herb garden! How refreshing does this ice cold tea from Love and Olive Oil look? They’d make the best preggo popsicles…

Quitting: The Bachelorette. Mama didn’t raise no quitter except that I’m officially closing the door on this season of The Bachelorette. Snoozeville, horrible guys with even worse real world behavior and, I don’t know, Bachelorette – I just not that into you. Bring on Paradise! Fellow fans: am I alone?

Loving: Coconut oil face wash. Not a coconut oil-based face wash, rather, using coconut oil AS my face wash! I saw this method on a fellow blogger’s Instagram account a few weeks ago and have been loving the process and results ever since. At night I massage a dollop of coconut oil all over my face (I use unrefined organic from the grocery store – use refined for less of coconut smell) then place a steaming hot washcloth on top and let it sit until the cloth is cool before wiping everything away. Takes off ALL my makeup, including waterproof mascara and eyeliner, plus my skin feels so, so soft. I never have breakouts when I’m pregnant (thanks, hormones (for once not being sarcastic about hormones!)) so I’m anxious to see if this is still a good skin solution after baby is born. For now I’m loving the simplicity of washing away the day’s dirt and grime with simply coconut oil and a washcloth. It’s the little things.

Blending: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies. Since Lincoln is allergic to dairy and super super slim, I’m always looking for ways to fatten and fill him up. A few days ago I made him a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with this Silk Chocolate Protein Milk I’d recently found at the grocery store, which is high in both fat and protein (and yes, sugar, but seriously this high-fat and protein/no dairy thing is really tough) and he sucked it DOOWWWN. All I did was blend ~3/4 cup of the milk with 1/2 ripe banana and a big spoonful of peanut butter until smooth, then added ~1 cup ice and blended until thick and frosty. He and his brother each thoroughly enjoyed a glass – think we’ll make them into popsicles soon!

Pick a currently category and fill me in! 

Source: https://iowagirleats.com/2018/07/06/currently-17/

[loulougoingsolo]

Cookies 'n' Cream...no, Ranch!

I’m not sure if I should even say this out loud, but I think I’ve never tasted ranch dressing. I know for a fact I’ve never bought it. After today’s GMM I feel I may have to give it a chance. Anything that makes crayons taste good must be worth a try. (I always thought ranch had something to do with blue cheese but I looked it up in Wikipedia, and apparently I was wrong.)

So, I can already picture all the complaints about yet another food episode, but I loved this, as much as I love all the other food related GMMs. It makes Rhett happy to eat, and it makes me happy to see Rhett and Link eat - it’s as simple as that.

I loved the silly talk about being at a wake to make the foods taste better. Aunt Lurleen must be quite a cook, because I think I’ve heard her name in similar situations before (was it the leftover thanks giving food episode?). She seems to have all these special recipes for weird dishes.

Link always does that thing with jello where he sucks it into his mouth, but that look on his face afterwards was so…lol. Rhett just told him to never look at him like that again, but that sheepish little smile was just so adorable.

The ranch coffee was gross. Rhett’s description about its appearance was very accurate, and it must have tasted horrible. Coffee is so bad as is (I’m currently addicted to latte even thoughI hate the taste), but adding a salad dressing to it…eww!

Link pouring half a bottle of ranch on his food nemesis (I don’t even know what a sea urchin is) was just hilarious. It was dripping over the plate by the time he stopped. He was being extra silly today altogether, which was just very cute.

Rhett got his tiny bite of liver down - that alone convinced me to buy ranch next time I need to buy a dressing. I haven’t eaten liver for over 20 years, and back when I did, I didn’t like it either, but it wasn’t that hard to consume. Rhett has this superpower of being able to eat anything, and liver is his cryptonite.

The ranch soda (who comes up with a drink like that?!) drinking competition was so funny. Colin was so confident in the beginning - well, he won so I guess it was ok to be confident. Link accidentally calling him Cookie almost ruined the whole competition by making them laugh. Rhett was adorably silly teasing Link about spending too much time with Colin (or was he jealous?).

[joepamter589-blog]

Keto diet meal plan for you

So you've heard the arguments, weighed out the challenges and benefits, and decided you're all in. You're going keto.

First off, you're in good company. More people—and more athletes—than ever are embracing a very low-carb, high-fat diet and sticking with it for months, or even years, on end. Once they successfully make the switch from using carbohydrates to using fat and ketones for fuel, they find they're leaner, healthier, and more mentally focused than ever.

But for every lifter who ends up loving the ketogenic diet, you'll find another who had a miserable experience and bailed after just a few days. This is a shame, because they probably could have felt great if they had simply had a better plan—or a plan at all.

 I'm not here to sell you on nutritional ketosis or explain what it is or the big-picture benefits it can provide. That's the domain of other articles. With the help of Myoplex athlete and longtime keto-adapted athlete Jason Wittrock, I'm here to provide you with your best induction experience.

 keto smoothie for constipation recipes

http://www.weightlossandketodiet.com/keto-smoothie-for-constipation-do-they-work/

 Here's what you need to know to ace your nutrition and supplementation during the crucial first month of ketogenic dieting, along with a complete sample meal plan!

 Your Must-Have (And Must-Not-Have) Keto Food List

Ready to head out the door and start buying groceries? Slow down there, chief. Go through the pantry, fridge, freezer, and secret stashes under the bed, and get rid of foods with any significant carb content. In the first few days, you could end up craving them—badly. This means fruit, too. Even carrots and onions are too high-glycemic to work with keto, Wittrock says.

 Got that done? Cool. Now, here are some of the staples you should build your ketogenic diet around:

 • Fatty nuts and seeds: cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds

• Avocado

• Whole eggs

• Full-fat cheese

• Beef: ground chuck (80/20), filet mignon, porterhouse, ribeye

• Chicken: Thighs and legs

• Vegetables: spinach and other greens, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, mushrooms, bell pepper

• Pork rinds

• Olive oil

• Salted butter

• Heavy cream

• Sour cream

• Cream cheese

• Fatty fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies

• Bacon

• Chicken broth or bouillon cubes with at least 1 gram sodium

 That last item may surprise you, but for many people, it makes all the difference.

 "Chicken broth is absolutely critical on this diet as a way to ensure you're getting enough sodium," Wittrock explains. "Any time a client calls me and feels bad, I immediately tell them to drink a cup of chicken broth, and their symptoms usually go away."

 Why? When carbs are cut, we rapidly deplete glycogen, the stored form of carbohydrate. For every gram of glycogen we lose, we lose 3 grams of water. Addition of the bouillon will help prevent dehydration and improve the way you feel on the diet. Water isn't enough on keto; you need enough sodium, too.

 Why Am I Sweating On Keto Diet

http://www.weightlossandketodiet.com/why-am-i-sweating-on-keto-diet/

 Having some super-fatty treats to help you hit your ambitious macros is also a must. Luckily, many people have already gone where you're going and have come up with some tricks to make the transition to ketosis easier for you.

 "You can find a lot of "fat bomb" recipes on the Internet," Wittrock says. "These are very good at satisfying your sweet tooth, and are a great way to increase fat consumption without going over on protein. Also, I'm a huge fan of salted pumpkin seeds and salted sunflower seed kernels. Believe it or not, pork rinds are also a very good keto snack."

Want even more guidance? Teryn Sapper, MS, lead registered dietician for the Department of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University, has written out a sample meal plan to get you up and running.

 Keto Diet Meal Plan for Beginners

 Breakfast Option 1: Fried Eggs With Sautéed Veggies And Bacon

Olive Oil

1 tbsp

Eggs (fried in butter)

2 large

Bacon

2 pieces

Spinach

3/4 cup

Mushrooms (sautéed with spinach in bacon grease)

1/2 cup

Breakfast Option 2: The "No Egg" Breakfast

Sausage (check to make sure it's sugar-free)

1 oz.

Bell Pepper (roasted in 1 tbsp olive oil)

1 cup

Cheese (pepper jack)

1 oz.

Lunch Option 1: Taco Salad

Ground Beef (80/20)

3 oz.

Taco Seasoning

2 tsp

Romaine Lettuce (sliced)

2 cups

Cherry Tomato

3

Cheese (cheddar)

1.5 oz.

Avocado

1/4

Sour Cream

1/4 cup

Lunch Option 2: BLT Lettuce Wrap

Romaine Lettuce (sliced)

3 large leaves

Bacon

6 pieces

Chicken (grilled)

2 oz.

Cherry Tomato

5 small

Cheese (monterey jack)

1 oz.

Mayonnaise

2 tbsp

Dinner Option 1: Pork Chop With Mushroom Sauce And Steamed Asparagus

Pork (chops)

4 oz.

Olive Oil

1/2 tbsp

Mushrooms

3/4 cup

Butter

1 tbsp

Garlic (minced)

1 tsp

Spices (ground thyme)

1 pinch

Heavy Whipping Cream

3 tbsp

Asparagus (steamed)

1/2 cup

Butter

1 tbsp

Dinner Option 2: Baked Salmon With Loaded Baked "Potatoes" Note: Combine all ingredients except salmon, and bake at 350 until browned.

 OMAD Keto Recipes With Meal Plan

http://www.weightlossandketodiet.com/omad-keto-recipes-with-meal-plan/

 Salmon (with 1/2 tbsp butter)

4 oz.

 Cauliflower (steamed and mashed)

3/4 cup

Butter

1 1/2 tbsp

Sour Cream

2 tbsp

Bacon

1 piece

Scallions

1 tbsp

Cheese (cheddar)

1.5 oz

 Anytime Quick Keto Meal: "Fridge to Pan"

 This is an easy way to make a tasty, keto-friendly meal—and clear out the fridge. The more variety in the ingredients, the better! Macros will vary on this one depending on the protein and veggies you use.

Add the following to a skillet with butter or olive oil:

 • Protein: Ground beef, sausage, bacon, chicken, eggs

• Veggies: Bell peppers, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, tomato, zucchini

• Sugar-Free Seasoning: Salt, pepper, garlic, taco, ranch

• Cheese: Just grate it on top and let it melt.

Snack Ideas:

• Jerky (Watch the carbs here, because different flavorings can add to the carb count quickly.)

• Cubed cheese

• Nuts and seeds

• Pork rinds

• Veggies and dip

• Sugar-free jello

 Calculating and Hitting Your Macros for Keto

 You may think you've got what it takes to make the switch to keto without tracking your macronutrients, but you're probably wrong. Getting your macros correct is the most important aspect of starting down the path of a ketogenic diet.

 "Yes, tracking macros can be cumbersome and tedious, but it's absolutely essential during the first few weeks of a keto diet," says Wittrock. "The diet likely goes against everything you have done before, so tracking your macros gives you feedback and allows you to troubleshoot until you get the hang of it."

 No matter what your diet has been before now, keto will be a big change. If you're coming from a standard American diet (SAD), your carbs will go way down, your protein may either go up or down, and your fat will go way up. If you're coming from a bodybuilding-style diet, your fat intake will jump to alarming levels, and your protein will likely drop significantly.

 My protein will drop? You read that right. A keto diet meal plan represents a carbohydrate-restricted, high-fat, moderate-protein approach to macro distribution. Here's how the macros end up looking for most people:

 • Carbohydrates: 5-10 percent

• Fats: 70-75 percent

• Protein: 15-20 percent

Start your calculations with carbs and protein, keeping your carbohydrates at less than 50 grams per day. Wittrock found that he likes to go even lower.

 "I recommend only 5 percent of calories coming from carbs, which usually averages out to less than 30 grams," he says. "I understand why people get nervous and panic, thinking 'Can I even eat a salad?' This is why I recommend tracking only 'net carbs', which are total carbs minus fiber. For example, an avocado has 12 grams of carbs but 10 grams of fiber, which means it has 2 grams of net carbs. Also, green leafy vegetables are very nutritious and contain a lot of fiber, so you can almost eat them as much as you want and stay below your limit.

"In terms of protein," he adds, "it is often recommended that athletes following a ketogenic diet set protein between 0.6 and 1.0 grams per pound of lean mass—not per pound of body weight. Below is an example of how you could calculate the protein needs of a 180-pound lifter who has 15 percent body fat:

 • 180 lbs. x 0.15 = 27 lbs. of fat

• 180 lbs. - 27lbs. = 153 lbs. lean mass

• 153 lbs. x 0.6 g = 91.8 g

• 153 lbs. x 1.0g = 153 g

• Protein range = 92-150 g per day

If you don't know your percent of body fat, either get tested or use our calorie calculator and multiply your daily intake by 0.15-0.20 to determine your daily protein needs.

 Why So Little Protein On Keto?

 If you're accustomed to a protein intake well over your body weight—let alone your lean body mass—you may be skeptical about a diet that demands you reduce protein intake by as much as half. Wittrock can relate.

 "In the beginning, I was terribly worried that I would lose muscle mass because of the low protein intake," he says. "But, I lost absolutely no muscle and was able to add lean mass to my physique. How is this possible? It's because ketones have a 'protein sparing' effect. So tons of protein is not necessary."

 What happens if you go too high? Simple: Say goodbye to ketosis! Certain amino acids are gluconeogenic, which means that they can actually be used to make carbohydrates.

 Put another way, keeping your protein intake too high could end up having the same effect as eating too many carbs. That said, once you gain more experience with your personal levels of ketosis, you can start playing with how much protein you consume in a day. Wittrock says he stays right around 20 percent.

 How To Maintain Weight After Stopping Keto Diet

http://www.weightlossandketodiet.com/how-to-maintain-weight-after-stopping-keto-diet/

 Living The Fat Life

 The easiest macro to calculate in the ketogenic diet is fat. Once you've got your carbs and protein set, simply fill the rest of your daily calorie needs with fat sources. If you find yourself wanting to gain a bit of weight, add approximately 500 calories, or 55 grams. If you want to lose weight, cut down on your fat intake by 200-500 calories, or 22-55 grams.

 When following a ketogenic diet, most people inherently start with a fat phobia and are scared to lather it on. Wittrock remembers these days vividly.

 "It was extremely difficult," he recalls. "You spend your entire life hearing that fat makes you fat and causes heart attacks and strokes. Now, all of a sudden, you're eating 200 grams of fat per day. There is a huge psychological component to conquer before you can become successful with the keto diet. In the beginning, it's like trying to convince people 1,000 years ago that the world is in fact round, not flat."

 Still, it can be hard to get enough fat when you first start this diet. Butter, nuts, coconut and olive oils, and fatty cuts of meat are all on the menu. However, don't go overboard with polyunsaturated fats like soybean, corn, or sunflower oil. Keto dieters who increase their intake of those fats often end up with gastrointestinal distress that causes them to jump ship.

[unwritrecipes]

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup-2019

Happy November! Are you still drowning in Halloween candy? Here in the Northeast, the weather did not exactly cooperate, so even though I bought far less candy than I usually do, we still have a fairly large bowl of it leftover. Hmmm…whatever will we do?

But enough about candy, it’s on to the next holiday and as you know, it’s a biggie! For once I am actually planning early (it helps that Thanksgiving comes later in the month than usual—that and the fact that there will probably be at least 25 people at my house for dinner that night, so I’d better be prepared!)

So to get us ready (mostly me) I thought I’d do a little recipe round up and planning session , so I can figure out what I’m making, what my Thanksgiving guests will be bringing and whether we can actually pull this off without renting tables and chairs (which somehow made it less comfortable last year!)

Okay, so here goes:

APPETIZERS

Do you do these at all? My feeling is that there will be so much food that no one needs to fill up before the meal, but still, you don’t want people standing around with a drink and nothing to munch on, so I generally make one of the following and put out chips and maybe a nut mixture or a simple cheese platter

Hot Cheesy Corn Dip

Roasted Scallion Dip

Easy Buttermilk Ranch Dip

Roasted Sweet Potato Salsa

Cowboy Caviar

Sweet ‘N Spicy Pretzel and Nut Mix

Perfect Party Nuts

SALAD

Do you/don’t you? We sometimes don’t, but we always regret it. I love salad, so does my daughter and my mom and others and I think it balances out all the rich, heavy food. I’ve got a bunch here on the blog, but the reality is that we will make our standby of mixed greens, craisins, some sort of chopped nuts, scallions, maybe a chopped up apple or two, freshly grated parm tossed with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. But here are a couple of seasonal ones if you’re looking for something a bit different.

Autumn Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Autumn Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

THE MAIN COURSE

Though I’ve reached quite an advanced age, I have yet to make a turkey on my own. That’s because my mom is a master at it. I know she seasons it the day before and fills it with apples and onion and then uses a cheesecloth basted in lots of butter—Ahhh, it’s stellar (as is her gravy) and I promise, promise to watch and document every step of the process this year, so that I can share it with you guys. Since we’re having a lot of people, she’ll probably do 1 big or 2 small turkeys and a turkey breast. I’ll keep you posted.

I know a lot of people serve lasagne or another sort of pasta (I never have) but I think this mac and cheese will be making an appearance. Certain people who haven’t been home in a long time are requesting it. Plus, I can make it ahead and heat it up on turkey day and any leftovers will most definitely not go to waste!

THE SIDES

This is what the people really want, right? As far as I’m concerned, you can never make enough stuffing and mashed potatoes! Lol! And we need them for leftovers!! Here’s what I’ll definitely be making:

My Mom’s Mashed Potatoes—nothing to it—just boil potatoes in salted water, mash them with a ridiculous amount of butter and keep warm in a pot over low heat so that little browned bits form on the bottom of the pot. To die for yummy!

Mom’s Sweet Potato Casserole yup, the marshmallow topped one—gotta have it!

Mom’s Cranberry Jello Mold Seeing a theme here? My mom is a great cook and everyone expects plenty of her classic dishes! She’ll probably make this for me and we’ll likely have two of them due to the size of the crowd and for leftovers.

Wild Mushroom and Brioche Stuffing This has become a new favorite of ours over the last few years, so much so that we have officially cut out the traditional Pepperidge Farm Herb variety. You can buy brioche but I would highly recommend making your own using this recipe. So easy and you can make it several days ahead. Totally worth it! I will triple this for sure!

Savory Butternut Squash Crumble Made this for the first time last year—it was a big hit so I’ll be including it again. Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce I think homemade is just so much better but some people like the jellied kind, so we’ll probably have both.

Butternut Squash Soup Another of my mom’s specialities. We never had soup on Thanksgiving when I was a kid, but lately we’ve been serving it in small mugs and and people look forward to it.

Some kind of green veggies—one of my sister makes the best string bean dish with lemon and garlic—I will definitely ask her for that.

And maybe I can convince someone else to bring these Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sherry Vinaigrette or these Lemony Caramelized Roasted Brussels Sprouts because we’ve gotta be healthy, right? LOL!

Here’s what I’m contemplating because I love them, but I know that there has to be a limit and/or they only work for a small crowd:

Butternut Squash and Spinach Gratin A great vegetarian alternative.

Maple Roasted Parnsips

Auntie Mirrie’s Roast Potatoes If I could make mashed potatoes and these I would ‘cause they are so, so good but it might be tricky with oven space

Sweet Potato & Parsley Salad

Fork-Tined Potatoes

Smashed and Roasted Baked Potatoes

Orange and Yellow Potato Gratin

Spoon Bread Souffléso, so good but don’t make unless you are having a small group—it needs to be eaten right out of the oven and it will be too hard to coordinate with all the other dishes.

Holiday Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots—just in case it’s not Thanksgiving for you without this iconic dish

BREADS

You don’t need a lot of variety here but I kinda think cornbread is a must. Some people I know prefer dinner rolls, so I included my two favs below.

Foolproof Parker House Rolls

One-Pan Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

DESSERTS

If you’ve spent any time around these pages at all, you know how intensely I love the after-the-main-meal offerings, so I’ve split them into categories. I will definitely be making a few pies (no pumpkin ‘cause no one in our crew is a big fan of it), but I always find it nice to have a bar or cookie or two for people who just want a little something and for keeping visitors happy throughout the holiday weekend. I also sometimes will make a simple cake which can double as a breakfast treat too, so I’ve included a few of those.

Pies

Definites

Pecan Pie or Maple Pecan Tart

Apple Crumb Pie or Cranberry-Apple Crumble Pie

Chocolate Caramel Tart—I made this for the first time last year and it was a huge hit.

I’ve also got my eye on something citrusy—will make and share if it’s good—it’ll balance out all the others nicely

Maybes

Triple Chocolate Cream Pie with Oreo Crust

Cranberry Brown Sugar Tart (just looked at the recipe and remembered how good this is, it might have to get added to “definites”, yikes!)

Mississippi Mud Ice Cream Pie-you can’t beat the make-ahead-ability of an ice cream pie!

Bars, Cookies

All these are maybes—I’ll probably change my mind a dozen times before the big day and if my kids make a request, all bets are off!

Luscious Lemon Shortbread Bars

Pumpkin Silk Bars—I hate pumpkin pie but these are yummy!

Supernatural Brownies

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies—I’m always looking for an excuse to make these and I need a large crowd around to help eat them up cause I can’t resist!

Jammy Butterballs

Easy Lemon-Almond Biscotti

British Wheatmeal Cookies

Cakes

I always like to have one simple, every-day cake around for the holiday weekend, so it’ll probably be one of these

Olive Oil Lemon Bundt Cake

Cranberry Lemon Bundt Cake

Cranberry Maple Pudding Cake

Coconut Tea Cake

Bishop’s Cake

Caramel Apple Cake

That’s about it for now. Hope this doesn’t overwhelm you. For me, seeing it all on one page, calms me down and makes it more manageable. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some new recipes that I think would be great for the holiday too and of course, I’d love to have you share any of your favorite recipes/traditions/advice, so keep ‘em coming. Have a great rest of the weekend and here’s to the kickoff of a wonderful holiday season!!xoxo