#i had some leftover pie filling that i baked in a dish

[air-conditioning-unit]

Something something birthday

Something something I've got some tasty art in the works

Smth smth I've been up all night baking a pie(pumpkin) so I'm going to bed now

[terr4ance]

It was my grandma's 90th birthday party on Saturday and we had a buffet with all sorts of stuff. At the end, there was some leftover salmon and prawns (among other things) which I wrapped and took home.

Bought some puff pastry (because I've made my own before and it is far more time than I currently have), cream, and spinach to make it into a pie. I'm quite happy with how it turned out :)

Despite her age, my grandma always bakes (and then loves to complain about how much it makes her knees hurt afterwards!). One of my favourite things she does is salmon tarts whenever she has leftover salmon. That was the main inspiration for this recipe.

Ingredients

- Puff pastry (I used two packs of premade stuff with a little left over)

- 1/2 onion

- 1 clove of garlic

- a bag of fresh baby leaf spinach

- a fresh salad tomato

- leftover poached salmon, smoked salmon, and prawns (shrimp)

- thyme, salt, pepper

- Worcester sauce (Lee and Perrins is the best)

- 300ml of double cream

- a bit of cheese (optional)

Recipe

1. Preheat an oven to gas 4 (177°C/350°F).

2. Line a pie dish with puff pastry, leaving a little extra around the edges to account for shrinking. Put a sheet of baking paper on top and cover with baking beans (I used split peas because that's what we have). Put this into the oven and set a timer for 10 ish minutes (you want the pastry to be partially cooked).

3. Finely dice half an onion and add to a saucepan over medium heat. Grate in some garlic (or mince it if you aren't as lazy as me!). Fry until translucent.

4. Add a bunch of spinach and allow it to wilt. Dice a tomato and add it too.

5. Add salt, pepper, thyme, and a dash of Worcester sauce along with around 300ml of double cream. More can be added later to taste.

6. Once simmering, add the salmon and prawns (I also had a little tiny bit of smoked salmon) and heat through.

7. By this point, the pastry should be partially cooked. Remove it from the oven, remove the baking beans (O.E), and pour the sauce into the pie. Turn the oven up to gas 7 (220°C/425°F).

7.5. Before giving the pie a lid, I grated a bunch of red Leicester on top of the filling as I was slightly short of filling and didn't want the lid to sag. This is optional, but experiment with whatever you feel might work.

8. Lay more puff pastry on top of the pie and crimp the edges. You can also score the top to give it a fancy pattern, and egg-wash to seal and glaze if you can be bothered (I couldn't).

9. Put the pie back in the oven for a further 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

10. Leave to cool before serving, and enjoy!

[bookwormscififan]

It's Not A Euphemism If Mad Says It

Read on AO3!

A/N: I was talking with @iamvegorott yesterday about baking pies in fanfiction, and I had this idea of Mad not knowing the meaning of a certain step in the recipe and going to ask the twins about it. And of course, the twins need a moment to get more context.

--

Mare and Phantom were enjoying a rare afternoon of peace and quiet, sitting on opposite sides of the couch with their own things to work on, when Mad stepped into the room.

“What’s docking?”

Mare blinked at Mad’s question, slowly lifting his head to look at his boyfriend before tilting it in slight confusion. Phantom, on the other hand, almost choked on his mouthful of coffee, spluttering before turning to look at the scientist.

“Dear heart, I’m going to need some context here,” Mare said slowly, setting his work aside as he waited for Mad to explain. He shot his twin a glare when Phantom gave him an incredulous look, eyes saying that Phantom’s mind was in the completely wrong place.

“I wanted to bake a pie,” Mad began, not noticing Mare’s look of relief as he continued his explanation. “A blackberry pie, with the leftover shortcrust pastry you’d gotten from Phan, but the recipe mentioned ‘docking’ and I didn’t know what it meant. Judging from Phan’s reaction, I assume it’s another word with a double meaning?”

“Don’t worry about that, darling,” Mare said with a chuckle, flashing Mad his signature smile. “The recipe is basically telling you to make small holes in the base of the pie crust so that it’s got airflow when you blind bake it. I do know how pastry works,” he added with a pointed look at Phantom, getting an eyeroll in return.

“Why’d you want to bake a pie, anyway?” Phantom asked, tilting his head as he looked at Mad. “Is there some obscure anniversary of yours I’ve failed to remember? Is this an experiment to find out Mare’s favourite dessert flavours?”

“Oh, he doesn’t need to experiment that,” Mare scoffed with a mischievous smirk. “He knows what I like for dessert better than anyone.” He grinned when Mad squeaked, cheeks dusting red.

“Okay, gross,” Phantom retorted, cutting off Mare’s protest about himself and Jackie. “Mad, why are you baking a pie? And do you want some help?” He put aside his own work, ready to leave the conversation if Mad needed his help.

“I think I’m good,” Mad replied, twisting the sleeves of his jumper around his hand. “Do I need a specific tool to make the holes in the pastry, or can I just use a fork?” He asked, looking past Phantom at Mare with curious eyes.

“I mean, there is a roller thingy with spikes to do it,” Mare stated, pulling his work back onto his lap. “I just use a fork, though. You don’t need to make any specific patterns, just make sure there are enough holes for airflow.”

“And a tip?” Phantom called as Mad left the room, holding a finger up as an idea struck him. “Add a little bit of cinnamon into the filling.”

----

“I don’t get it,” Jackie stated, staring blankly at Phantom as he sat at the table that evening. “What did you think that could have made Mare so upset with you?”

“I’ll give you a clue,” Mare chuckled, giving Mad an adoring smile when the scientist came by with the pie. “Phan was filling out incident reports for his bar. I believe he was specifically filling out the form for the desk you both broke.”

Phantom shot Mare a look as Jackie flushed, opening his mouth to speak before Mad interrupted him by clearing his throat, face anxious as he set the pie on the table.

“They say baking is a science,” Mad began, flashing a nervous smile before picking up a knife. “I don’t know if I did this completely right, but I did make a pie that looks like a pie, so I think that’s something. Phan asked me earlier why I wanted to make a pie, and at the time I didn’t have an answer.”

Mare watched as Mad carefully cut the pie into four big slices, gently dishing them onto plates, and he reached across the table to touch his hand lightly when Mad’s face fell slightly at the pie deflating. He offered Mad a sympathetic smile, giving a slight nod to assure him that the sunken slice on the plate wasn’t his own fault, feeling his heart flutter when Mad gave him a grateful smile in return.

“I wanted to make a pie mostly to see if I could,” he began again, handing out the plates before sitting beside Mare. “I want to be able to make Mare things without asking Phan for help. So far, all I can make is cookies and coffee for Mare, but I want to eventually be able to just treat him with things.”

“Hey, you know you treat Mare no matter what you do!” Jackie exclaimed, taking a mouthful of pie and pulling a face, swallowing his bite before forcing a smile. “This pie is great, Mad.” There were tears in his eyes, and his death-grip on Phantom’s hand contradicted his compliment.

“I’m sure Mare doesn’t mind what type of treat you give him,” Phantom added with a smirk, motioning toward the heart eyes that Mare was giving Mad. “You are honestly the best guy for him, anyway.”

Mare gave Mad a whispered thanks before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, digging into the pie and pausing after taking a bite. Draping an arm around Mad’s shoulders, he held him close as he continued to eat, ignoring the surprised looks of his brother and Jackie as he rested his head on top of Mad’s.

“I know Phan said to add cinnamon,” he said to Mad, glance flicking up toward Phantom as he moved his food around with his fork, “But maybe you could use a little less cinnamon next time, and a little more sugar. And also, you know full well you’re my favourite treat,” he added in a whisper into Mad’s ear, smiling when he blushed bright red.

“I don’t want to know what you told him, because I’m sure it’s grossly cliched,” Phantom groaned, taking Jackie’s hand and getting up from the table, holding his slice of pie in his free hand. “We’re going home. You two continue being sickeningly sweet without me here, otherwise I’ll puke on your table.”

“The only thing sickeningly sweet about us is that you’re leaving us three slices of pie,” Mare retorted, laughing as Phantom sent himself and Jackie away before turning back to Mad. “Thank you for experimenting, dearest.” When Mad smiled at him, he leaned forward to kiss him, letting Mad taste the blackberry filling on his tongue as he held him close.

---------------------------------------

@brokentimewatch @dungeon-dragons-dragons @rattyboyisemo

[calmdownandcook]

Adaptable Quiche

There is no such thing as the “Quiche Police”

Quiche was one of the first things I learned to make when I was 12 years old. My mother had just returned to the workforce and I was learning to cook to help her out. She said a quiche was easy, mostly assembling things rather than actual “cooking”. Over the years this is what I have learned.

The basics of a quiche are pretty simple. As long as your egg-to-dairy-to-filling proportions are consistent, you can do anything you want. Our family’s “norm” was Spinach and Cheese Quiche but I soon realized that you could turn anything you found into quiche filling by peeking into your fridge and cleaning it out.  There is no such thing as the “Quiche Police”. For a 9-inch pie crust, you just mix 5 or 6 eggs and ¾ cup of some kind of dairy liquid or dairy substitute for a base. Then you can go wild with 2 to 2 ½ cups of solid ingredients for flavor and texture. About 1 cup of this is usually cheese but relax, that’s not written in stone. Now all that’s left is the seasoning. You can increase or decrease according to your taste. It can be as simple as salt and pepper. Want to switch onion salt for regular salt? Perfectly acceptable. A couple of dashes of Tabasco? Sure. Now you get it. Go with what flavors you love.

So let’s begin. First, we need some ingredients. You look in the fridge and find some leftover ham from last night's dinner, a bag of shredded cheese you had planned to use for taco night but went out for pizza instead, and some scallions left over from the salad you made for lunch. Now, make a quiche.

Quiche

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

The Base:

1 refrigerated 9-inch pie crust (or homemade if doing that brings you joy)

6 large eggs

¾ cup any kind of milk (or dairy substitute)

The Flavor and Texture: 

1 cup cooked ham chopped 

1 cup shredded cheese (any kind you like best)

¼  cup of sliced green onions (or finely diced onions, any kind)

The Seasoning:

½  teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Let's start with the crust.  We always had a store-bought pie crust in our freezer, ready to go. I still keep them in my freezer, there is no shame in that. Store-bought pie crust has vastly improved over the years and you save more in stress and clean-up than you gain in saying it’s a homemade crust. If you are using the dough that comes in sheets and unfolds, unfold it and press it into a 9" pie plate, crimping the top edges if desired. This can be done by simply pushing the tines of a fork around the edge or the internet will offer many other ways if you want to get more fancy. If you have the kind that comes already crimped in its pie dish, you are set and ready to go.  

The one cheffy thing I do is blind-bake the crust. It will make a world of difference and is a good skill to have in your back pocket for dessert pies.

While the oven is preheating, cut a square of parchment paper or aluminum foil 2 inches wider than the pie pan you are using and place it on top of your crust. If you are using parchment paper, it can help to crinkle it up into a tight ball, and then open it up again. This will help it fit better into the pan. Gently pour pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice on top of the parchment paper or foil to fill the pan. This will hold down the crust and prevent the dough from puffing up during baking. I like to use dried beans, they are cheap, easy to pour, and spill less than rice. I keep them in a ziplock bag and use them all year. Bake the pie crust, with the weights for 10 minutes then lift out the parchment or foil along with the weights, and put the crust back in the oven for another 10 minutes. This whole process will give the crust a jump on the baking and keep the egg mixture from giving it the dreaded soggy bottom.

In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs, dairy liquid, and salt and pepper. A traditional or immersion blender will also get this done efficiently and leaves no trace of the unbeaten egg.

Evenly sprinkle the chopped ham, cheese, and green onions into the blind-baked pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over the top. You may find it easier to put your pan in the oven, on a cookie sheet, it will be pretty full.. Makes the transfer to the oven a lot easier.

With the pan on a cookie sheet, bake for 45-50 minutes until the center is completely set. A toothpick inserted into the center of the quiche should come out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. A quiche can be made the day before you need it and will keep for 2 to 3 days in your refrigerator. It’s delicious served cold. 

Now here is the fun part. 

Be brave, go crazy. 

Remember, for a 9-inch pie crust, you want 5 to 6 eggs and ¾ cup of some kind of milk or dairy substitute for the base and 2 to 2 ½ cups of flavor and filling. About 1 cup of this should (or could) be cheese. If you are leaning towards the full 2 ½ cups of filling, go with 5 eggs so you don’t run over the sides.

Here are some other filling variations to try

A 10-ounce bag of chopped frozen (but defrosted) spinach, squeezed dry of all the water, this leaves 1 cup of spinach. 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 cups 

6-ounce can (¾ cup) of drained crab meat, ¼ cup of thinly sliced scallions, and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 cups

1 cup of sliced sauteed mushrooms. Saute in butter or olive oil. Be wild and add some crushed garlic, plus 1 cup of shredded cheese. Cook the mushrooms on high enough heat to dry them out and there’s no excess liquid. Total solid filling: 2 cups

4 ounces (½ cup) of Goat Cheese, a bunch of chopped chives, and 2 medium onions caramelized. Two onions slow-cooked in butter until golden brown, when properly caramelized will equal about ½ cup. Finally 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 ½ cups 

2 medium sliced zucchini chopped and sauteed in butter or olive oil until some of the moisture is cooked away. 2 sliced zucchini will cook down to about 1 cup when sauteed.1 cup of shredded cheese.Total solid filling: 2 cups

1 cup of frozen chopped broccoli (defrosted and at room temperature) plus 1 cup of shredded cheese. Total solid filling: 2 cups

8 ounces of sliced and cooked breakfast sausage, with cubes of boiled potato plus 1 cup of shredded cheese.

Sliced Poblano Chili, a few sliced jalapenos (as many as the mood strikes you), frozen corn (defrosted and at room temperature) any combination can be used, as long as you stick to the ration.

Random Add-ins to be used at your heart's content as long as you stick to the ratio

½ cup chopped Artichoke Hearts

¼ cup Slice Green Olives

¼ cup Sliced Black Olives

2 tablespoons of Chopped Chives

2 to 3 tablespoons of Pesto

¼ cup Salsa (red or green)

Sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning

Lemon Pepper (instead of salt and pepper)

When surveyed, people on the interweb like this in their quiche.

Purple Onion, Spinach, Goat Cheese

Basil, Smoked Gouda, New Potatoes 

Caramelized Onions, Ham, Asparagus

Roasted Red Peppers, Mushrooms, Spinach

Artichoke Hearts, Feta, Greek Olives

[thejoyofseax]

Féile na nÚll Menu & Analysis

I had really meant to publish the menu before the event, but ingredient acquisition took more time and effort than expected. In particular, chestnut flour, which I wanted as a thickener for various gluten-free dishes, just could not be found anywhere I tried. I didn't find that out with enough lead time to order it online. Almond flour substituted, and was fine.

Anyway. Here's the full menu, which fed varying numbers of people, but I think about 45 for the feast.

Travellers' Fare (Friday evening): Beef stew with bread and butter (vegan stew on the side, plant butter available, GF bread available).

Saturday Breakfast was produced by the inimitable Lady Meadhbh Rois inghean Uí Chaoimh.

Saturday Lunch: Chicken soup (vegan soup alongside), bread, fruit.

Feast: Roast pork (vegan nut roast on side), Frumenty (rice on side), apple sauce, green sauce, meat pies (mushroom pie on side), creamed leeks (with fake cream), buttered turnips (with plant butter), roasted onions, purple carrots (with plant butter), olives, anchovies, apple pies, blackberry and apple pies (all pies with GF/vegan versions as well, where possible).

Sunday breakfast: Porridge with cream and fruit, stewed apples, boiled eggs, cold ham, and various leftovers, mostly fruit pies.

The emphasis here wasn't on any particular production of period dishes, but on making sure everyone got good solid food. It's also an entirely plausible English Tudor menu, including the frumenty and green sauce as dishes that didn't make it through the Early Modern. As far as I can make out, everyone enjoyed it (although nobody ever tells the cook they didn't). The coeliac and vegan/vegetarian folk expressed particular approval, which was important. Anything I could make GF and vegan was made so (plant butter and almond flour are the two main tricks here).

Gabrielle and Katie were in the kitchen every hour I was, and possibly a few more, and a great deal of credit for the weekend's food being on the tables on time is due to them. Katie also set in, with very limited prior experience, to making pastry for the non-gluten-free pies, and produced some of the best I've ever encountered. She's been designated Head Pastrychef in Perpetuity as a consequence. There were also many other kitchen helpers, who've been thanked appropriately on Facebook. The relevant note here is that we had 4-5 people in the kitchen at most times, which was more than enough, and kept everyone relaxed. The SCA Kitchen playlist (85% mine, 15% Gabrielle's) was also helpful.

So. The first thing that I want to improve is the gluten-free pastry. Making it vegan as well was trivial; replace the lard/dripping with plant butter, and it's absolutely fine. Any fat will do for that, it seems, although since the traditional use for the pastry is the raised pork pie, the meat fats help match the taste. The gluten-free flour, however, could only be persuaded to make a paste, not a pastry - trying to roll it out into sheets simply didn't work. It would take the form of a sheet, alright, but if I went to pick it up, it just broke. An experimental version that Gabrielle and I did before the event could be sort-of lifted into place on baking parchment, but it broke over the contents of the pie. In theory, with a very dense, relatively smooth pie filling (such as a meat pie that's been well-packed), you could get a coherent crust, but I don't know what would happen to that as the contents shrink in baking. Xanthan gum appeared to make zero difference.

So we've some more experimentation to do there. One suggestion is to use an egg or two, which will take it away from being vegan - but a vegan pastry, using plant butter instead, should not be a problem to produce as an ordinary cold pastry. Various things will be trialled.

The green sauce came out particularly well. Órlaith did her usual superlative job of chopping herbs, primarily sorrel and mint, with some basil and thyme, some black pepper, and garlic salt. The liquid base was about 2 parts olive oil to one part white wine vinegar. We only made a small amount, but nearly all of it was eaten. Green sauce is basically a table condiment for the latter end of the SCA period in Western Europe, and I have vague plans to make and bottle some at some stage, to see how it keeps and matures in the longer term.

I made far too much of the frumenty. Bulgur wheat isn't terribly expensive, so I don't feel too bad about it, and the carbohydrates are absolutely the area in which to over-provide. But for my future reference, about 400g of dry bulgur will provide enough for about 30 people without difficulty.

The roasted onions were surprisingly popular. I think we did 11 whole onions, and only one and a half came back to the kitchen.

The meat pies disappeared in their entirety, as far as I can tell. One was a combination of minced pork, minced lamb, and whatever vegetables were to hand; the other was filled with the remnants of Friday's beef stew. I was very pleased to be able to integrate leftovers into the feast; I am completely certain that a rolling use of leftovers in subsequent days' dishes was a standard feature of any period cookery, and we don't often get to do that over a weekend.

The purple carrots were entertaining. I can't detect any difference in taste from orange carrots, but they stain everything they touch a nice shade of purple-blue. I'll get them again if I can just for that.

Overall, I'm pleased with how things came out, and I'll do either of the Arabic or Pre-Norman Irish menus I had partially worked out for next year.

[veronicasanders]

Do you have a favorite meal someone's made for you? what foods remind you of home or of someone?, what do you like to eat when they feel like shit (emotionally or actually sick)?

YAAAAAS I’m so psyched for this question, I love it!! 💖

So, my mom grew up in a family of 7, and she was the 2nd oldest. Both of my grandparents worked long hours and so her oldest sister started cooking super young, and my mom started cleaning. Because of this very early division of labor, my mom was never really into cooking, but my aunt…oh my god. 

Going to her house is incredible, because she always cooks absolutely amazing meals that are full of seasonal fresh veggies, often from her own garden. But even better, I lived with her and my uncle for about a year when I was interning (ie not getting paid) and let me tell you…I ate like fucking ROYALTY during that year. Plus, I got to be her sous chef when I was home and I learned an infinite amount of helpful things. I think honestly, the best part was getting home after a 10-14 hours day and hour commute and ALWAYS finding a fridge full of delicious, healthy food. Like, all I had to do was heat it up. It was often some kind of frittata, some amazing homemade pesto with fresh pasta, or stir-fry. 

She’s the one who makes coleslaw a lot, btw, and here’s the basic method: 

Always start with at least 2 kinds of cabbage - one green and one purple, cut thinly on a mandolin. Usually at least a few other cruciferous veggies too, like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, etc, also cut small.

Add some other crunchy veggies: shredded or matchstick-cut carrots, radishes,  celery, jicama, beets, whatever you’ve got.

Add little oil/fat

Add whatever vinegar or acid goes with the rest of the meal (IE balsamic, red wine, apple cider, or rice vinegar, harissa, or lemon/lime juice, even hot sauce)

Optional: If you want a creamy coleslaw, add a spoonful or two of Greek yogurt

Season LIBERALLY, with whatever spices or fresh herbs go with the meal. Always include salt, pepper, a little chili powder, and garlic & onion powders, but everything is optional.

STIR AGGRESSIVELY UNTIL THE LIQUIDS AND SPICES HAVE EMULSIFIED AND COATED THE VEGGIES. TASTE AS YOU GO AND ADD SEASONING IF NECESSARY.

(Examples: an Italian meal might mean: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, fresh basil, fresh parsley, fresh minced garlic, a few spoonfuls of pesto, dried oregano or rosemary, etc. A stir-fry might get peanut oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fresh Thai basil, green onions, cilantro/coriander leaves, star anise, cloves, etc. Mexican food might get lime juice, fresh cilantro, cumin, cayenne, ancho, chipotle, hot sauce or Tajin.)

Also optional: add-ins like tomatoes, olives, peppers, artichoke hearts, capers, cucumbers: things that are juicy or more delicate. They get mixed in now, more gently.

Finish by sprinkling something crunchy on top: toasted nuts or seeds, croutons, fried noodles. Et voila. Auntie Em’s Coleslaw.

(Which stores brilliantly, btw, because the flavors only get better as they all marinate together and because the base is hearty and crunch things, it doesn’t get soggy and gross like most leftover salad.)

Well...that turned into a full recipe, lol. ANYWAY...

Other favorite meals that people have made me, which always make me think of them:

This layered enchilada-inspired dish that my friend’s mom used to make all the time was my absolute favorite and I have a full recipe for that too. It doesn’t claim to be authentically Mexican; it’s like a California/vegetarian version of the classic Tex Mex dish called “Burrito Pie,” but it is SO fucking good and satisfying and the kind of thing you can eat all year round because it’s both warm and filling but also full of fresh veggies and easily can be eaten with a big salad (or Auntie Em’s Coleslaw) for a lighter meal in hot weather.

Also my grandmother used to make truly outstanding oven-baked mac and cheese. 

My friend's grandmother added a vegetarian tamale to their holiday tradition just because I used to help and I didn't eat the meat ones. (Roasted poblanos with crema, Oaxaca, and Cotija btw, absolutely fucking outstanding.)

What reminds me of home, is generally just the foods that my family makes or that we ate together. My brother makes the best mashed potatoes in the world. My mom makes lentil soup that I’m always in the mood for 24/7, and these dark chocolate/peanut butter/coconut cookie bars that are to die for. My dad loves to grill, so perfectly grilled salmon or corn or eggplant/zucchini remind me of him. My other grandparents always took me to Jewish delis, so whenever I have a tuna melt or kosher pickles, I think of them.

When I feel like shit, I want a big bowl of something warm and comforting, which is incidentally most of the foods listed above. Something starchy and cheesy and warm. Mostly soups and stews with potatoes, pasta, rice or dumplings in it. Stuff I can eat with a spoon, curled up in front of the TV. One of my favorites is roasted pepper and tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. If I’m actually physically sick, I usually crave things that are kind of bland and starchy like pastina/pastellina or polenta with a little butter on it. 

I could talk about this all day so I'm just gonna shut up now. LOL

[laurkamkitchen]

I have several chicken pot pie recipes saved, all because it's one of my dad's favorite dishes. This one looked above and away the best, with an insane amount of 5-star ratings, so I chose to make it for him as a special treat after a procedure.

I made this in full using a red onion (we didn't have any yellow) and leftover deboned chicken from a party my parents had catered. My pastry I made about 2 hours in advance to give it time to chill in the fridge.

If you're used to baking with pastry and are willing to put in the time here, this recipe is actually not too difficult and surprisingly forgiving. I had no issues making my filling, even the roux. And even as someone who is indifferent to chicken and doesn't like mushrooms, believe me when I say that this filling is insanely good.

My pastry rolling was unsurprisingly a bit haphazard, especially with the top disc, where I'd been a bit loose with measuring the water (that is to say, it was a bit wet). I would say, unless you are truly striving for perfection, don't worry too much about rolling out a perfect circle. I used some of excess piece to patch up gaps where needed.

However, take that with a grain of salt because, unfortunately, part of the top pastry on the side was a bit too heavy and not very well secured, so in those first few minutes in the oven, a few chunks melted off and started burning off down on the bottom. This made for a very smoky baking process. The pie itself was alright in the end, but it ended up being a smoked chicken pot pie on accident.

It didn't matter, though, because this was insanely delicious. The filling was amazing, the pastry crisp and perfectly golden on top, while soft and just slightly doughy underneath, a perfect bake in my opinion.

So, yes, I made a mess in the oven, but it was all worth for this absolutely amazing dish and especially to make something comforting and delicious for my dad!

[cazort]

i get really tired of people, both inside and outside the U.S., shitting on US food culture and saying that all we have is fast food.

this is US food culture:

Yeah, that's gumbo. I grew up eating this regularly, my mom cooked it as a way of getting rid of leftovers. This soup has French and African influences, but more than anything else, it is a southern thing.

Here's another favorite, this one more northern:

That's Manhattan Clam Chowder, another US soup, often thought to be of Portuguese origin (in southern CT).

Here's a side-dish from my home county:

This is called "Chow Chow" and is popular among Amish and local Lancaster county people in rural areas. It's mixed pickled vegetables, but mostly beans and usually not containing cucumber.

Here is a more universal US food:

Yeah, everyone knows pancakes, every diner across the US serves them, and many households in the US make these at home regularly. They can be made with all sorts of fillings and toppings, but the combo above is common and has a distinctly US flavor, with maple syrup, one of our unique sweeteners, from the sugar maple which is native to the northeastern US, and blueberries, one of our native berries.

Oh, another popular American food:

Yeah, salmon. We love it. So many Americans eat salmon. It's fished in the northwest Pacific and farmed in the Atlantic. It's available in any supermarket and most nice restaurants. We cook it a bunch of different ways but it is often poached (above) and put with herbs and lemon on it, the way a lot of Americans like to eat fish.

Want another American staple? From any summer potluck or picnic?

Yeah, we love it too. Classic too with that tri-color rotini, diced tomatoes, and whatever vegetables you had on hand, and an "italian" dressing which might be premade but may be made from scratch from vinegar, oil, black pepper and other spices.

Oh, don't forget this one:

The BLT. So many classic American sandwiches out there but this is one of the most universally-served and recognized and appreciated.

And then there's the ultimate American pastry:

so much that people say "As American as Apple Pie".

It's easy to take all this stuff for granted. Yeah, I love European baked goods and I often get frustrated over the bread available over here. But then I'm like...yeah, we do have some great traditions of our own.

A lot of American cooking is really quite French and it has been for centuries and I used to not know that and everyone talked up French cooking so much and then I started actually looking into it and I was like. I. Cook like this. Everyone I know cooks like this. This is just butter. It’s butter, Michael. It’s butter. You were hyping up butter. I can already do this.

[1d1195]

I had some leftover pesto pasta for lunch today and I tell you it was so good as compare to yesterday!! I think that if you keep the pasta for overnight it just enhances the taste and overall it just balance out all the flavors together and it was yum!!

My comfort food is homemade food like if I'm stressed I try to cook and it makes me happy so I try to cook as much as I can!! And being an vegetarian I cook most of my meals and I try to eat outside too but u know options are limited!!:(

Oh my god you are from Italian family?? so do you have any authentic recipe of pasta which you love so please share?? cause I love pasta and would love to try new dishes!!

Yes ding girly is such a cutie and tell me what should I bake like brownies or cupcakes or choco chip cookie?? Help me out please!!

And Salad sounds good make some for me please cause I never make good salads lol I try to but it doesn't taste that good any salad dressing recipe please??

And my day is going good too and tell me what is your comfort food so you could eat and like yeah-this-is-only-thing-i-needed- after-a-busy-day(Sorry for asking so many ques)!!💞

-🪴

I hope it doesn't deter you from reading my posts and stuff--I think I'm pretty good about pinning my newest update immediately, but I wouldn't ask them to change anything so hopefully it won't bother you too much 💕

I'm sorry if my answer are lengthy!! I just enjoy talking to you so I just rant a lil!!:(

Lemme me know if you don't like it thank youuuu!!💞

----

I LOVE talking to you! Don't worry about lengthy answers. I'm a reader and a writer so all of it is lovely. You don't have to worry about that at all. Don't change a thing! All the questions are fun too, SERIOUSLY do not apologize. I want you to be happy here! 💕

I love cream-sauce pastas so I'm a HUGE alfredo person. I would probably fill a swimming pool full of it. Unfortunately, doesn't reheat well every time. I love pesto cream sauces too. I went to a restaurant a month ago and it had a pesto-risotto that was 😍

I'm not a vegetarian, I wish I was, but I would greatly suffer from not getting enough protein because I SUCK at eating healthy. I like the idea of fruit but I swear i can eat one cube of watermelon and I bloat like a hot air balloon, it's stupid. A single slice of an apple and I want to throw up. Super annoying. (I know these don't have protein, but it's just to show I suck at eating healthily.

We aren't like off the boat Italian anymore. I'm like 3rd gen. My dad makes the best lasagna ever, but I'm probs pretty biased. His meatballs (sorry, obvs not for you) but just so good. It was lowkey the basis for Dolcezza--the eggplant parm and garlic bread, it's all my dad's doing in a way. It's kind of word of mouth recipes, but I could give you a rundown of something if you were looking for something in particular!

Ding was very cupcake heavy, so I'm thinking cupcakes would be best to bake!

I'm so basic when it comes to salad dressing--I just like Italian dressing 🤭 Caesar dressing as well! But I don't like anything else. I'm a pretty picky eater.

My favorite comfort food(s) because I can't pick one: French Onion Soup, Shepherd's Pie, Alfredo, and mashed potatoes. Any of those make my day and make me feel better. Especially if my mom makes it 😊😊

Let me know what you think!

xoxo

[dumpsterfirekitchen]

did you know you can make quiche out of whatever the fuck you want

well now you do and that's what I did today. see quiche is literally just an egg custard thing with some stuff in it in a crust when you get right down to it so when I get down to the ends of lots of ingredients sometimes I will put that shit in a quiche. I dont care if it's fancy and perfect I care that it's edible and uses up the shit in my fridge. Or in this case also on my balcony :)

Lets take a look at the crap I have to use up by today

we've got this thimble full of milk

Got some grated parmesan bc I grated too much for a thing I made the other day

got some dried mushrooms and ooooo

FRESHLY WASHED PORCH SPINACH FROM MY PORCH

you can turn this stuff into a decent fritatta tbh but I was feeling quiche mood

Here's what I do kinda, and I'm all about making it work without buying extra things

First soak the mushrooms in cold water for like an hour if they're dried like mine. The package says 5-10 minutes and whoever wrote that is out of their fucking mind and is telling you nothing but lies and if you don't soak them longer you'll regret it

I have little mini casserole thingies I use for quiche so I don't need much crust. And that's good bc I had about a thimble full of crisco too.

(but that's OK bc between you and me you can add a little bit of butter in a pinch to make up for what you lack in shortening and like you'll notice a little with the texture but not enough to care)

So this here (BTW my oven is preheating to 350 off in the background)

This is a couple tablespoons of butter and crisco and maybe half a cup of flour and a pinch of salt and I chopped it all together with a fork until it was the cornmeal texture you see. I generally know I added the right amount of fat when I can sort of smoosh it together as shown without water. But you do wanna add cold water.

Im at a high altitude so my water measurements will be useless to most people I think but basically you just need to add it by the tablespoon until the dough comes together in a ball. It shouldn't be a sticky ball but you don't want it dry either and don't like Knead it you don't want it stretchy. (If you're at a high altitude like me, DO actually make it a little extra wet to where it's sticky. You'll thank me later when you're not eating a crispy brick.) Roll it out to an 8th inch, then slice it up and piece it together in whatever [GREASED, DONT FORGET GREASED] dish you want to bake in. Then pop it in the oven for like 10-15 minutes. It should be juuuuust baked but not like Crunchy.

Anyway while that's happening I make the filling.

Do you want to know my secret

My secret is that this is the one time I will use a measuring cup.

I crack a normal large egg into my 1/3 cup and then add milk to it until its full

"but ej shouldn't you use a liquid measuring cup" SILENCE JUST BE GLAD I OWN A MEASURING CUP FOOL

dump it in your mixing bowl and then do that for 3 more eggs (well, your amount of eggs will vary. I think it's like 6 for an 8 inch pie dish. But see you know whats great about this method? If you didn't mix up enough eggs, that's ok! Crack another one in the 1/3 cup, add milk and a pinch of salt and pepper and mix it up and add it in) add a pinch of salt and pepper for each and whisk it all together till it's kinda homogenous.

Heres a picture of my next step which is layering the goodies

someone is going to tell me I should be using Swiss cheese I. DO. NOT. CARE. I hate Swiss cheese and these are for me I do what I want and this is fine and good. The dark supervillain secret that cooking shows don't want you to know is you can put whatever the fuck hard cheese you want. You can literally make the egg mixture and put whatever. Do you have some green onions and bacon and leftover terrible prepackaged cheddar? Put that shit in a quiche. Do you have a lunch meat and a couple slices of cheese that would pair well in a lunchable? Put that shit in a quiche. It's not traditional. It's not correct. Who fucking cares you're the one eating it. You gotta use that shit up so make it fun don't just put it in a sandwich man cmon. (I mean you can but)

Anyway if you're making a more traditional quiche you'd also add nutmeg to the egg mixture, but obviously I'm not doing that, so I skip that step.

Anyway next you ladle the egg mixture into the dish(es)

I put mine in a hot water bath but you probably don't have to do that, it just helps cook it evenly.

And check out the result

Nice and edible. ( It's not ugly you fool it's RUSTIC)

For me this took I think 25-30 min in the oven (which I left on from the crust....I tend to reduce the temp and cook longer though. In this case I reduced it to 230 and turned it off after 25 min or so. Basically when it reaches 165. I don't know if that's right and I don't care 165 kills the germs so I'm not doing it below that. You can take it out after and let it set up after that)

anyway that's what I ate today and the best thing about these is I can wrap them up and keep them in the freezer. Quiche freezes really well actually. You won't really notice a difference especially if you heat it up in the oven or an air fryer later, so I like to make a bunch of these guys ahead and just pull them out as needed.

[thedisneychef]

Hearty Breakfast Potato Casserole Recipe for Family Brunches

If you're looking for a delicious and satisfying breakfast dish that's perfect for feeding a crowd, look no further than the Hearty Breakfast Potato Casserole. This casserole is a favorite at family brunches, and for good reason – it's packed with flavor and filling ingredients that will keep everyone satisfied until lunchtime. The dish features layers of golden-brown potatoes, savory sausage, creamy cheese, and tender eggs, all baked together to create a warm and comforting breakfast that's perfect for those lazy weekend mornings. Not only is this casserole delicious and easy to make, but it can also be prepared ahead of time, making it a great option for busy families who want to enjoy a hearty and delicious breakfast together. This is a recipe I would have never, ever normally tried, despite the fact that it did actually look pretty good. However, two things caused me to rethink my continued ignoring of this beloved, popular, and by all accounts delicious dish. The first is the fact that the readers of this website seem fairly obsessed with potato recipes.  Seriously, I hear requests for breakfast potato recipes all the time. More Delicious Recipes You Will Love: - Chipotle Tofu & Pineapple Skewers - Spaghetti Carbonara - Cottage Pie – Rose And Crown Pub And Dining Room And the second is that with Maelstrom being retired forever, to be replaced with a “Frozen” attraction, I’m feeling a little nostalgic for all things that remind me of the Norway pavilion. With all the attractions that have phased in and out over the years, Maelstrom is the one I think I’ll most regret not being able to do one more time. This breakfast potato recipe comes from Akershus, a restaurant that sometimes doesn’t get the credit it deserves for the expansive and unique food options available there. Every time I hear people talking about Akershus, it’s always related to the fact that it’s a Princess character breakfast. Many times, I hear it mentioned as kind of the forgotten sister to the more popular Princess character breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle… Like “If you can’t get into the Castle because it’s booked, you can always try Akershus.” While it did for awhile have a great boost due to the fact that it was located across the pavilion from everybody’s favorite Norwegian-inspired royalty meet-and-greet (Queen Elsa and Princess Anna), it seems to have again slipped to the status of consolation reservation for the people who can’t get the other booking. However, people should really give this restaurant another look. In truth, it has one of the largest, most expansive buffets on Disney property, and it’s got a huge range of approachable and exotic foods for people who want to try something different, but also the classics that are not only kid-friendly, but iconic Disney foods (and of course you know I mean Mickey waffles). But if the food doesn’t impress you, the ambiance certainly should… Honestly, the inside of Akershus is one of the most amazing, detailed, and flat out gorgeously authentic I’ve seen.  It’s simply stunning. You’d never in a million years think a building with such a humble looking outside would be so gorgeous on the inside. This potato casserole recipe is one of Akershus’s unique but signature dishes. Honestly, it’s super easy, but holy cow…  It makes enough to feed an army.  Our family of 5 didn’t even make a dent on the amount that was prepared, despite the fact everybody had heaping servings. If I were to make this again, I’d halve the recipe for sure.  And, if I were to make this again (which I probably will because the kids loved it… Which is good, because they’ll be having leftovers all week and then some), I’m going to spread it out more, using a large serving dish, or maybe even two casserole dishes. When I did it in a big heap, it took forever for the middle to get warm and even by the time I served it, the potatoes were still a bit crunchy and raw. Overall though, this was a great dish that was a real crowd pleaser. A somewhat fancier take on breakfast potatoes for sure, but I loved how creamy and rich it was with the hint of cheese. It was savory without being overly salty, so it’s easy to pair with sweet breakfasts like Mickey waffles, while still working perfectly with the savory breakfasts like ham and eggs. Anybody who’s eaten a breakfast at Akershus will recognize this flavor and maybe even look around and wonder where the Princesses are! Read the full article

[holyfunnyhistoryherring]

[Video: tik tok by B. Dylan Hollis. He's holding a cookbook.

"An impossible pie from 1969! Some things are naturally impossible like perpetual motion or happy AT&T customers. But apparently this pie makes itself." Laughs. "First you get your blender." Laughs some more. "It's good to be back. Then simply a half cup of butter, cup of sugar, two cups of moo juice. Oh god.

Four eggies. Cup of shredded coconut. Half a cup of flour. And some 'nilla. Now we blend. Cause why not? Let's hope this doesn't kill the blender." It doesn't.

"And that's it." He pours it in a shallow bowl. "While this bakes it apparently forms its own crust and layers. I have my doubts." Holds in front of the oven. "Three fifty for an hour."

Later. "Done!" Sputters as the oven dings. "Enough! Cool. And then to the fridge."

Later. "Hello." Takes a bite. "Impossible! It did it, formed its own pie. Umm, coconut and vanilla. How did that work? You crazy, old people."

End captions.]

[Image: a reblog from the notes by @heymerle reading, “Bisquick had a number of recipes for 'impossible' pies, some of which are main dishes. This one, though is the original”.

It has a photo of a recipe attached. It reads, “Impossible Pie

2 cups milk, ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup Bisquick baking mix, ¼ cup margerine or butter, 4 eggs, 1½ teaspoons vanilla, 1 cup flaked or shredded coconut

Heat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Place all ingredients in blender container. Cover and blend on high speed 1 minute. Pour into pie plate. Bake until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Refrigerate any leftover pie.

Impossible chocolate pie: Add 3 tablespoons cocoa.

Impossible fruit pie: Use 10-inch pie plate. Cool pie: spread 1 can (21 ounces) fruit pie filling over top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Impossible lemon pie: Use 10-inch pie plate. Add ¼ cup lemon juice.

Impossible macaroon pie: Do not blend coconut; sprinkle over top of pie before baking.

Impossible pumpkin pie: Place ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup baking mix, 2 tablespoons margarine, 1 can (13 ounces) evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie since mix in blender container. Continue as directed.”

End description.]

[abednadirsgf]

TROBEDISON ROOMATE HCS PLS I WOULD LIKE 2 HEAR!!

YES LETS GO TROBEDISON !!!

midnight icecream together!!! they're all in their pjs (troy and abed got annie a set of pjs for their first christmas/notchristmas/notpresent/hanukkah/holidayday/gift not gift that matched theirs but in purple :)) they eat icecream with sprinkles, with chocolate syrup, with marshmallows, with chopped nuts on top, with multiple flakes, with m&ms - the whole shebang. they might have some inspector spacetime in the background whilst they talk and giggle and make funny faces at each other. they leave the dishes in the sink for later that morning and probably end up sleeping and cuddling together on cushions or on the sofa for the rest of the night.

annie has lots of pillows and bears and plushies etc, a whole collection. so, troy and abed decide to get her a new plush every birthday/not Christmas Christmas holiday day or just when they see one that looks cool and so her whole bed is just filled with different animals or weirdly shaped cushions they found in charity shops or drugstores or furniture stores or ebay or something lol (they make sure they clean them beforehand obviously so they smell of nice lavender fabric conditioner) and annie allows them to name some of them too ;)

Annie listens to Mitski, she a mitski gal like me, and she tends to listen to 'bury me at make out creek' or 'lush' albums when she's sad or feels overwhelmed with emotions or feeling insecure :// so when Troy hears the familiar sound of Francis Forever through her door when he goes to ask if she wants takeout tonight, he knocks on the door before entering and seeing her on her bed with a tear stricken face :( he gives her a big big hug, turns the music off and just holds her and tells her the things that happened in his day, like how he saw a cat with one eye outside the apartment building and tried to feed it the leftover chips he had at lunch but it might have scratched him and the cut on his hand don't look so good and then annie bursts into laughter and slaps troy's chest calling him an idiot and fixes up his hand so it doesn't get infected

abed and annie watch the xfiles together, they go through s1-s9 and even dress up as fox mulder and dana scully respectively for one Halloween!!! they watch the movies together and think up of their own conspiracies about the show or real life government. and it's partially what pushed Annie to pursue forensics and the fbi further and Abed 100% backed her and encouraged her (also got her to promise to give him a special fbi hq tour and may or may not write his own spin off special episode take on Annie working at the fbi hehe and also makes sure she reports back all the tales she has for script inspo) when the latter seasons of 10&11 come out whilst they're apart, they Skype each other and do watch parties and britta might pitch in too.

Abed loves his buttered noodles and Troy loves eating pizza all the time and as much as Annie loves takeout and easy eating, she knows its not healthy to have it all the time (and its expensive!!!) so they have a day of the week (I'm feeling Thursday) when they cook a proper homecooked meal together like lasagna or chili con carne and save leftovers for lunch the next day too. Annie also makes sure they eat some fruit so sometimes when they study she makes them all fruit cups and adds a little bit of sprinkled sugar ontop of strawberries ;)

Troy loves to bake. he loves it. he loves making a mess of flour and sugar and having his friends and family tasting his creations. he learnt a lot from Shirley and makes a realllll good pumpkin pie for thanksgiving every year. he loves making apple crumble bc of the texture and he loves decorating cakes and cupcakes (though he does like drawing dicks with icing and makes jokes whenever someone eats one lol) and although he doesn't celebrate birthdays, he still makes abed and annie a cake and he gets them to decorate it with him so it has a some of the flair of the not birthday person. I feel like baking is one of his love languages and he just loves to feed his family the delicious treats and gets super happy when they like them or bake with him :)))

obviously movie nights!! binging tv show nights!! movie marathons!! popcorn galore!! they all know each others comfort movie/show and just watch and cuddle on the sofa when they need it

pillow and blanket forts <33 they might have little studies sessions in them or troy and abed just go to Annie's room and sit in her bed on the many pillows she has hehe

they just love each other and are always there for each other <3 I love them and they're my fave trio <3

[bluebellhairpin]

Apple Pie

Levi Ackerman X Reader

A/N: If you try the recipe, let me know! It’s mine, and everyone likes my apple pies. I’d love to know how yours turns out if you try! - Nemo

Summary: Nothing quite sparks nostalgia like food. Living in a world where death is always iminente, times call for a breath of fresh air - or freshly baked apple pie. 

Listening to: ‘Vagabond’ by Caamp - ‘I look at you and I see my friend.’

Masterlist  

Step One; Peel, quarter, core, and slice eight apples. Place them in a pot with ¼ cup of caster sugar, and ½ cup of water. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer until the apples are soft. Drain the apples of most liquid, then rest. 

Every year, after harvest season, your mother was able to set aside some apples. With them she’d bake a pie for you and the rest of your family. 

Sometimes there wasn’t enough apple to complete the filling, or enough sugar saved to dust over the top, and only once do you remember the pie being fully complete with cinnamon on the top. 

But it always made you feel at home. The whole process did. 

From getting flour over your nose, to the dough stuck between your fingers. The smell of it as it baked, and the steam that rose from the filling as your mother laid the slices in front of you and your siblings. It was something hot. Hearty. Sweet. 

There was always some leftover after everyone had a slice, and in your father’s good natured kindness, urged your mother to cut up the rest and wrap them in parchment paper. He gave the pieces out to you and your sibling, one by one, until there were no more pieces left - you usually had two slices total - and then set you all out to give them to others. 

There was something about your father making you share a hot slice of fresh apple pie with complete strangers that always stuck with you.

Maybe it was because it was so human. 

Now you’re grown, and you cling to that pure memory like it’s the last piece of breathable air in the world. Now you know what was really meant by ‘Behind those walls are giants that want to eat us’. Now everything isn’t quite so pure. Not quite so human.

───────✱.｡:｡✱.:｡✧.｡✰✧.｡:✱───────

Step Two; Cream 185 grams of butter and a half cup of caster sugar, then add an egg yoke. Add 1 ½ cups of plain flour, ¾ cups of self rising flour, and ⅓ cup of corn flour, then knead into a dough.

It had been a rough day for everyone. Even the ever-stoic Levi Ackerman was looking worse for wear and wasn’t bothering to hide it, that was just about as uncommon as it gets. 

There was no two-ways about it, they all needed a pick-me up.

You, ever since you joined the Military as a Scout in the Survey Corps, hadn’t been able to destress. When you were back home you always took to the kitchen. With the family’s business as a bakery, your stress-baking was never frowned upon. But now, without access to proper ingredients or full-kitchen use, you hadn’t been able to do that in years. 

However, a couple weeks ago while you were on dishes, you eyed a couple jars of stewed apples. Keeping a keen eye on them ever since, you knew exactly what to use them for now. 

With the members of the Scouts at least halved, you doubted you’d need to put a lot of effort into asking to use up some of the sugar and flour. In fact you decided then and there as the base was coming into view that you wouldn’t ask at all. This would be one of the very few cases where asking for forgiveness would be better than asking permission. 

As soon as you’d put your horse away, and cleaned your gear, you set off to the kitchen. To your surprise, it was empty. While people were normally full from rations that they’d taken on an expedition, some were too sick or nervous to eat them, while others just blindly ate, retreating to the kitchen to gorge on food or drink from one of the bottles hidden under the floorboards. 

You ignored the quiet, beginning to put the jars from their place in a cupboard's dark corner to the countertop, and then set to opening them to make sure they hadn’t gone off. 

“The hell are you doing?” Your head snapped up to the doorway, your arms instinctively performing a flawless salute despite the spoon in your hand as you recognised Levi. 

“Captain,” you lulled, “Um, I was just -”

“Feeding your face?” Your eyes looked back into his from where they’d drifted to, and you shook your head.

“I wasn’t planning to eat much, if not any of it myself, actually.”

───────✱.｡:｡✱.:｡✧.｡✰✧.｡:✱───────

Step Three; Take two thirds of the dough and knead into a ball, then roll with a rolling pin until you get a base. Gently move the pastry into a greased tin. Spread the cooled apple mix evenly on the pastry.

 He’d asked you another question, you were sure, but between explaining that you were going to bake up something for the other cadets, and managing to get a taste of the stewed apples, you lost a sense of reality.

You hadn’t tasted apples like this in such a long time. If home had a flavor, this tasted like yours. 

“Hey,” Levi said, coming up beside you to flick your forehead, “I asked if you needed help.” 

“Oh no, I should be fine.” You said, rubbing your head subconsciously as you chucked the spoon in the sink before lugging out a bag of flour. You paused in your stride a second, looking over at him to see he was tracking you very intently. “But you can stay if you’d like.” 

In hernest truth, you probably needed the company, in case your thoughts of the day got to you more than you’d let them. He was probably here for that too - company - not that he’d ever say even if he was.

Surely he was hurting too. Even if he was good at hiding it, he must have felt some of the hurt that everyone else did. He was humanity's strongest. He was human. He had to feel it. But why was it bothering you?

You hadn’t even noticed that the dough was ready to be rolled out until you snapped out of your thoughts by grabbing a too-big handful of flour to coat the table in front of you. The puff of white that rose from the table to lightly coat your uniform was comical. Levi, letting out a characteristic ‘tch’, even noticed, from where he now sat in the corner drinking tea.

“Should’ve worn an apron.”

“Do you see any aprons, Captain?” His eyes darted around the room, and you continued to look at him and wait to be proven right as your hands started working the dough. He grunted, taking another sip from his tea, now watching your hands as they worked. You’d be done in no time and you both knew it. 

Admittedly you were getting tired. 

You hadn’t rested since that morning when you woke, and with the harsh events of the day it came as no surprise that at least your legs were starting to ache from standing. But just getting the pie’s in the oven would give you time to rest later. Just a little longer.

───────✱.｡:｡✱.:｡✧.｡✰✧.｡:✱───────

Step Four; Roll out the remaining dough for the lid. Move the pastry onto the tin, and press a fork along the edges to seal them together. Brush over the top with the egg whites, and sprinkle over sugar and cinnamon. 

After the, multiple, pies had been put in the oven to bake, you set to cleaning. 

With the day’s activities bunching up, and your very small collection of injuries from the expedition - even though you’d gotten away with scrapes at worse, and bruised limbs at best - you were still aching. Still tired. Still hurt. 

By the time you lugged yourself though tidying up the kitchen, Levi had drunk at least another cup of tea, all the while making no effort to help. Why should he too, you made the mess. You didn’t have the time to rest like you’d predicted either. The pie’s were ready, and the long overdue presence of Sasha and Connie entering the kitchen only spurred your energy a little more.

You ushered Sasha to go round up whoever of the remaining cadets that felt like eating, with a promise of a slightly larger slice, while you busied Connie with helping you get plates. 

By the time the cadets all filed in, you’d reiterated to Levi’s corner with two plates. 

You were half asleep while you ate. Levi noticed, naturally, and slipped your plate out of your fingers before it met the ground with a messy smash. Sasha was more than happy to take care of it while he guided you back to your dorm. 

All that hard work you gave making those things, ‘and for what’ he thought. 

For a craving? For nostalgia? For the other sakes? For having one thing normal? One thing nice, and sweet, and pure? 

He thought that was very human. He thought it was something that should feel like home. 

Step Five; Bake pie at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat to 150 degrees Celsius and bake for another 35 minutes. Once it’s done, enjoy with ice-cream, or thickened cream. Maybe even both?

[sapphire-strikes]

Since the season calls for it, could you share some Halloween/Fall headcanons for the Habiticians?

• The air began to chill, the sun began setting sooner and the familiar sent of dying leaves filled the air as mid autumn was already around the corner.

• With this change in season came your first autumn in town as well as Boris' first time celebrating with friends.

• You'd been straddling the fence on whether or not to do anything festive this year, openly at least. It was entirely possible that no one in town even celebrated Halloween and it wasn't to unpopular to ignore other more mundane fall festivities altogether. You were getting older anyways, maybe it was about time you put the apple bobbing and costumes behind you.

• This train of thought was short lived as you made your way down the sidewalk. You were going to be passing Boris and Kamal's place soon, maybe seeing if they had any decorations out would help you make your decision? Truthfully, Kamal didn't seem like the type of person to over-celebrate holidays and you weren't entirely sure if they even did anything for autumn or Halloween in Russia.

"Flower Power!"

You turned your head in the direction of the excited voice and found yourself sizing up what was probably the biggest leaf pile you had ever seen sitting in Kamal's front yard. It was easily 5ft tall and twice as wide.

The owner of the voice was no where to be seen as you continued to stare amazed at the massive hill of leaves. "Hello?", you called out, stifling a flinch as something moved from within the mound. A second later Putunia jumped out of the vast sea of leaves and tackled you into a hug.

"Did I surprise you?!" The young girl asked excitedly as she swung around your neck to put you in a choke hold.

"Yeah, I'd say so!" You mused, stumbling a bit as she climbed over you like a jungle gym, flicking away the leftover leaves that fell from her hair into your own.

"Excellent!", Putunia let out a laugh of victory then leaned over your head to meet your eyes. "Flower Power, you should help us finish!"

Before you could respond she jumped off your shoulders and sprinted around the leaf pile, "Menace! Flower Power is here to assist us as well!"

Following her around the leaf pile you caught sight of Boris who was gripping a rake and focusing intently on adding to the ever growing sea of leaves that was beginning to encompass their yard. When he finally noticed you he smiled widely.

"Ah, Y/n! It is good to see you!"

"Same, but what exactly am I helping you guys with?" You asked, always happy to see the two of them playing around together. Before Boris could answer your question Putunia once again burst out of the massive pile of leaves.

"Help us complete the ultimate leaf base of course!" She stood proudly with both hands on her hips then looked prudently around the yard. "But we're running out of material! ...Menace!"

On queue, Boris dropped his rake and saluted her before walking over to a tree at the left side of the yard. Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in concentration, he framed the tree with his fingers for a moment before gripping the trunk and shaking it.

The way the massive tree creaked as it was forcibly shook was an obvious tell of the kind of strength it must have taken to even make it budge in the first place.

After the first few shakes you understood exactly what he was doing as the two of them were gently pelted by the rain of dried leaves that were prematurely coaxed from their branches.

You couldn't hold back a snickers as the trees on the opposite side of the yard caught your attention. All of them as bare as they'd be in late winter. That certainly explained where they got foliage to make that pile as big as it was.

You turned back just in time to see Tim Tam fall from the tree Boris was shaking. Without missing a beat they were caught by him on the way down. "So that is where you were, Teem Tam!"

Putunia was quick to run over and chew out her purple companion for fooling around while there was work to be done. Tim Tam on the other hand looked as indifferent as ever, seemingly not minding being held by Boris. They did look away from Putunia for a moment when they noticed you, even returning your small wave before staring emotionlessly back down at their passionate friend.

• "Augh, come on. Why are you taking so long...." Millie whined from the chair she stood on to better reach the counter.

"Hey, good things take time, kid. 'Sides, you don't have to help if you don't want to, go play with Boris, Putunia and Tim Tam if you want." Kamal offered, not looking away from the orangish brown mixture he way stirring together.

"No thanks. Where's the fun in playing around in a bunch of stupid leaves? Sounds like baby games to me. She crossed her arms and blew a bit of hair out of her face before continuing much more quietly, "Plus, it's...getting dark outside."

"Oh, I see." Kamal wore a knowing smile "Anyway, you done moldin' the crust yet?"

"No! I mean, yes! Maybe, I don't know. It doesn't look good but I'm not gonna do it over so you'd better not complain!" She pushed the pie dish roughly in his direction and pretended to look away in disinterest

"Hmm..." Kamal rubbed his chin to playfully exaggerate his inspection of her work.

"What!?" Millie looked nervously from Kamal to the pie crust. "Fine, of course I didn't do it right, I'm like 5 after all!"

Her defensiveness was interrupted by Kamal's laughter. "No no, nothing like that!" He ruffled her hair despite the way she angrily smacked at his hand. "It looks really good, Mil. Specially for yer first time."

"Tch, you're just saying that..."

"Nah, I mean it! Ya even used a fork to pattern the edges. Where'd you learn that?"

"Saw my mom doin it..." She spoke in an angrily embarrassed whisper.

"We're doing three total so you can take one home just for the two of you, that way you can show off how well you did. Sound good?"

Even she wasn't able to hide the smile that appeared on her face at that idea, "I-I guess that'll work!"

After working to pour the filling into the crusts, the pies were ready to go into the oven. Millie even inssisted on helping clean up despite Kamal's assuring her that she could go watch TV until they were done baking.

A moment later the chime of the door sounded as Boris stepped inside.

"You guys finally done out there?" Kamal asked, undoing his apron to hang it on the wall.

"Not quite, but it was getting quite dark so I thought it best to head in!" Boris responded. Putunia rode proudly on his shoulders and Tim Tam was held like duffle bag under his arm. Putunia quickly slid down his arm to rush to Millie who was currently staring down the slowly browning pies in the oven while Tim Tam was content to remain is his hold as he made his way to the kitchen.

"That is not all though! Y/n came to visit us as well!" Boris exclaimed, happily turning around to gesture in your direction.

Stepping through their threshold you were met with a wave of comfortable warmth, reminding you just how cold it was beginning to get outside. The cozy atmosphere of their house was amplified by the various shades of orange and brown that decorated the livingroom and kitchen. You plucked a few more leaves out of your hair and tossed them away before closing the door behind yourself. You weren't exactly planning on visiting today but you had a soft spot for Boris and he was just as excited as, if not more than Putunia was by your arrival. While Tim tam wasn't one to speak much, or show emotion, your first mention of heading home had them silently clinging to your leg, so you got the message that your company was most certainly welcome.

The next thing that caught your attention after shutting the door was the warm smell of cinnamon and pumpkin spice that was fresh in the air.

"Are you making pumpkin pie, Kamal?" You asked curiously, not quite paying attention to Boris' introduction of you.

"Actually-", Kamal started

"WE'RE making pumpkin custard pie!" Millie clarified, having suddenly appeared beside you.

"Heh, yeah. I'm trying to get back into the groove of baking so I can make some for Trencil's party. They won’t be done for a bit, but you want to stick around and have some? I consider it one of my specialties so it'll be a real treat." Kamal flashed you a thumbs up and a cheeky smile.

"Trencil's party?", you questioned, but before you got any kind of answer Putunia made an excited gasp and ran in your direction.

"Flower Power, you should stay to carve pumpkins with us too! Our moms aren't gonna be back until late so we'll have plenty of time!"

"That's an amazing idea!" Boris added clasping his hand together happily.

Suddenly all four sets of eyes were on you with Boris, Putunia and Kamal's looking at you hopefully while Millie’s almost seemed to be threatening you. You were just about to give your answer when you realized someone was missing and once again felt that familiar pressure grip your lower leg. Guess that answers that.

It's kind of hard to straddle a fence when you have friends that tackle you over the side.

• Boris never celebrated Halloween growing up and probably would have overlooked it once again this year if it wasn't for Kamal questioning him on whether he wanted to do anything.

• While Kamal hasn't done anything for fall or Halloween since he was young, he was surprised when he didn't hear anything from Boris about participating in the season. As it turns out, Kamal just bringing it up was enough to make Boris realize that he can actually celebrate holidays now, like for real and with his friends! And so the seasonal festivities were put in motion for the both of them.

• Kamal even surprises him by taking him to one of those pick your own pumpkin patches. Boris either picks out a little white Cinderella pumpkin or one of those absolutely giant, orange ones. There is no in between.

• As for the ex-habiticians; Jimothan puts up some spooky decorations around his lounge and gets a kick out of trying to scare the kids from around town. It's real cheesy stuff; fake spiders, pretend decapitation, animatronic hand in a bowl of candy. But with kids like Petunia, Tim Tam, Nat and Trevor, he ends up with more property damage than successful scares and the only person that actually gets spooked by his tricks is Parsley.

• While he often prefers to keep is vampirism on the down low, Trencil is a huge fan of Halloween and plays it up just for that night, even dressing the part. He sees it as his chance to look "cool" in front of Nat since her friends all get a kick out of it. The Varnia’s Halloween party is the place to be on the 31st if you want to have a good time.

• While Nat doesn't quite share her dads love of Halloween, she plays along since she can tell he really enjoys himself. Gives you an invitation herself, remarking that you have to come. She has to attend every year and now that you're friends, so do you. She also actually dresses up this year thanks to Trevor’s influence.

• Trevor's a Halloween fanatic. What day could be better for monster hunting?! Convinces Nat to break him into their party so he can make sure there's nothing suspicious going on. And by "break in" I mean she invited him and lets him come in through the back door so he feels sneaky.

After a good bit of investigating the only suspicious thing he can find about the party is how good the pie is. Once he's satisfied the two of them go trick or treating then spend the rest of night in a cemetery eating candy and testing out Trevor's new EMF sensor.

• Unsurprisingly, the two of them dress up as a vampire and werewolf respectively.

• You, Boris and Kamal take Millie, Putunia, and Tim Tam trick or treating while Lulia and Jerafina go to the Varnia's party.

• It might be more accurate to say that You and Kamal take, Boris, Millie, Putunia and Tim Tam trick or treating.

• Millie was actually scared to go out and despite doing her best to hide it, Kamal caught on pretty quick when he noticed her reluctance to change into her costume. As it turns out, she'd never actually gone before and was only agreeing to go because Putunia was so excited about it.

• After a pep talk, Kamal assures her that no one will be upset with her if she'd rather stay home. Shortly after that she regains her fire and remarks that Putunia looks up to her so she can't let her down! (Before they set out she makes sure to clarify to Kamal that his pep talk had nothing to do with her feeling better!)

• Boris plays into his natural glow and goes as Frankenstein's monster, Putunia goes as the Mask Diver (obviously), Millie goes as a Viking and Tim Tam didn't actually bring a costume so Kamal grabs a sheet, cuts out some eye holes and BAM~ a ghost!

• Kamal also gives in after some encouragement from you and Boris and ends up going as a Zombie, even if he is just chaperoning.

• If you weren't planning on going trick or treating yourself, you tended to hang back with Kamal, leaving Boris to escort the three kids up to the doors. You swear he must have given a good handful of people heart attacks with the way they flinched or stared wide eyed upon seeing the 7'4 green, monster man standing behind the three kids.

• Boris doesn't actually eat any of the candy he gets, happily giving it to Kamal who was more than willing to except. He's still not a fan of candy or soda and just because it's Halloween doesn't mean he's going to comprise his values. You're gonna get an earful too if he sees you going overboard with the sweets!

• You end the night by meeting up at Trencil's party with some of your other friends. Trencil is quite the host; playing up his greeting with ominous warnings and an almost exaggerated Romanian accent. The house is decorated from floor to ceiling with spooky décor and he's laid out quite the spread.

Jerafina came as a sexy nurse, Gillis was a football player, Randy came as a...crow? And of course Rondo came as a clown. Mirphy and Lulia also attended, though not in costume.

• It might be fun to make a point to stop by Jimothan’s on the way home. Tiff, Dallas, Parsley, Jimothan and Wallus seemed to be having their own little party among the other customers of the lounge.

• Getting to hear Tiff sing Thriller is also quite the treat.

• Before you head home for the night, give Parsley a break and least pretend to be scared by one of Jimothan’s surprises. It’ll make Jimothan happy and he’ll finally be satisfied enough to stop trying.

• Be sure to bring some candy back for Pabit!

[steves-on-a-plane]

Spirit Of The Season

Words: 1208 Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Request: “Weeellll I had the idea as I was baking today. That Bucky has a German girlfriend but she doesn't feel like the other avengers accept her, so she starts making Christmas cookies and everything she knows from her home and brings them to the compound. Everyone loves the stuff and they make sure to tell her that they love her already (not only because of her cookies) and that they are happy for Buck as well and he gets really proud to call her his? 😊    - @tieddown-withbattleshipchains​ Summary: Bucky comes homes to find his girlfriend, Reader, has practically turned their kitchen into a German bakery. Reader explains to him that it’s very important that his friends like her and baking is her way of showing love. ❤️❤️ A/N: I’m a 4th generation French-American on both sides of my family. (There’s a nice mix of most Europe and a decent slice of Native American too.) So I didn't have much of a background for traditional German pastries. I tried my best to Google, and also did some rough Google translate for small sections. Hope everything is okay! 

“Mmm so many smells!” Bucky Barnes followed the sweet and spicy scents through the apartment to the kitchen. It seemed you had turned the very small room into a one-woman bakery. Eggs, flower, butter, cinnamon and dozens of other ingredients were laid out on the table. “What exactly am I smelling?”

“Hello mein Schatz.”  You greeted your boyfriend with a large smile. “You may be smelling vanilla, cardamom, rum, chocolate…”

“Yeah, there’s a lot going on here.” He acknowledged. “Are we having a bake sale? I mean there’s cakes, cookies…What is all this, Love?”

“It is Christmas time.” You explained. You covered the dough that you’d just finished kneading so that it could rest.

“Not for another week and even then, we won’t be able to eat all this food.” He reached for a nearby springerle cookie. You lightly swatted at his hand.

“These are not for us!” you told him firmly.

“Are you mailing all of this back home?” He wondered, taking a mental inventory of the desserts. “Food doesn’t usually do well in the mail.”

“No.” You shook your head. “These are German recipes. Oma and Mama will make many of these dishes themselves. They’re the ones who taught the recipes to me. These are for your friends.”

“My…? Do you mean the team?” Bucky asked. “[Y/N], aside from Rogers and maybe Wilson, and that is a very large maybe, they’re not my friends. They’re like my…coworkers.”

“They are more than coworkers.” You disagreed. “Last week you and Clint spent an entire day at the theater watching all the Terminator films. Just yesterday Natasha asked you to help her create a new training plan, did she not?” Bucky nodded; he began to open his mouth to argue his point further, but you stopped him. “They are your friends Bucky. They are your friends which makes them your familie. It is important to me that your familie like me.”

“Like you? Why wouldn’t they?” He questioned.

“I am not strong like Steve or smart like Stark. What I can do is cook. I show my love by cooking. So tomorrow, we will bring all these things to the compound and your friends will love me.” You explained. “Now get out of my kitchen. I still have lots of work to do.” You began waving your hands trying to shoo him out of the kitchen.

“I just want to state again for the record that you do not need to bring my coworkers and friends food for them to like you.” Bucky insisted as he parked his car in the compound’s parking lot.

“Yes, yes.” You ignored him as you stepped out of the car. “You have made your opinion very clear. Help me carry things.” You handed him a stack of Tupperware containers and a loaf of bread wrapped in foil. You loaded your own arms with the remainder of food. The two of you walked into the compound where you bumped into Sam Wilson.

“[Y/N! It’s been a minute!” Sam smiled as soon as he saw you. “I’ve been asking Barnes for a while when he’d take you by to see us again. Is that food? A woman after my own heart.” He placed a hand on his chest to emphasize his words.

“There is plenty for everyone. Will you tell the others?” You asked him.

“I don’t know if I can do that, [Y/N]. If I tell the others they’ll want some and that would mean less for me.” Sam explained. “Bucky brought in some leftovers of that pie you made last month for Thanksgiving, no way I’m willing to share this stuff with the rest of these guys if it’s half as good as that was.”

“You had some of my pie? And you liked it?” You smiled.

“Are you kidding me? That was one of the best pies I’ve ever had! I’m excited to see what else you’ve brought. C’mon,” he waved you on. “Kitchen is this way.”

“Buck! [Y/N]!” Steve and Natasha were heading towards the kitchen from another corridor and they came to meet you just outside of the kitchen door.

“Are those linzer cookies?” Natasha asked pointing to jelly filled cookies with heart shaped cut outs in the center that were visible in one of the containers.

“Well spotted!” You nodded.

“Please tell me those are for us, I would kill for a good homemade cookie and from what Rogers, Wilson and Barnes say your baking is the best.” Nat smiled. You continued to smile proudly.

“Ok, let’s let her at least put everything down first.” Bucky suggested. He stepped into the kitchen and the rest of you followed. Tony, Clint and Rhodey were all in the kitchen already. Tony was fiddling with his expresso machine. Rhodey was cooking bacon and eggs. Clint was leaning against the counter and eating dry cereal straight from the box.

“Oh hey [Y/N]!” Clint was the first to greet you. He popped a handful of cereal in his mouth before setting the box of cereal aside. “It’s been too long, Come here.” He stepped closer to you, holding his arms open for a hug.

“Oh.” You were surprised. You set your stack of baked goods down on the nearest surface so that you were free to hug Clint back.

“I’m glad you’re here!” Clint said as you separated. “The wife and I were just talking about how we’d love to do a double dinner date one night after Christmas.”

“You and your wife would want to spend time with me and Bucky?” You questioned him.

“Of course!” Clint insisted. “We loved hearing your stories about growing up in Germany and Laura has been dying to swap recipes with you. So just let me know when you guys are free and we’ll set something up. Now which one of these do I want to try first?” He gestured to the cakes, cookies and breads in front of him.

“The springerle are my favorite.” Bucky said, opening the container of the aforementioned cookies.

“Hey, [Y/N], never mind the baked goods. Tell Rhodey about the time you tried to steal a reindeer from the zoo!” Tony insisted, sipping from his coffee.

“I told that story at your Christmas party last year, you remembered?” Your cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

“Of course I was paying attention. It’s every kids dream to take something home from the zoo.” Tony told you.

“Hang I have got to hear this. What happened?” Sam asked.

“I was very little.” You reminded them. “We were here visiting family in America and I thought that the reindeer would fly me back home.” As you recounted the tale of how you managed to remove a reindeer from the petting zoo and get to almost to the main gate of the zoo before anyone realized it, you watched Bucky’s friends. They were listening intently. They laughed and smiled at all the appropriate times. They asked you more questions and when your story was done they asked for more. They shared holiday stories of their own too. After a little while you began to think maybe Bucky had been right all along. The Avengers liked you just fine and already considered you part of their familie.