#lady ruth salisbury

[sleepyphobzz]

Guys we should make something called snowvember for the simon snow fandom we need more than coc & i think this is a great idea

[letraspal]

Women of the Simon Snow Trilogy

Thank you for the support for this collection. I love these women and I’m glad they exist in this awesome trilogy. Ps. Happy Birthday to Any Way The Wind Blows.

[ebbpettier]

[onepintobean]

COC day 11 | alternative ships

What could be more wholesome than Lamb/Lady Ruth? Just an older couple who loves making sure our boys are well-fed. 😌

(bonus under the cut)

[hyacinthus-the-flower]

So I know I haven't done something like this in a long long long time but I've been bored today and I came across @wervty 's picrew and could not resist making all the characters I like in the Simon Snow books by @rainbowrowell so here you are fellas :) (This is part 1) (Things in () are my notes on each character/ship lol)

Simon (I killed so many things for you) Snow Salisbury and Tyrannus Basilton (I am hopelessly in love with him) Grimm-Pitch (OTP!!!!)

(Queen) Penelope (Cute knees) Leigh Bunce and Shepard (From Omaha) Love

Agatha (take my heart I'm a useless lesbian) Wellbelove and Niamh (Honestly, you can take my heart too) Brody

Ebeneza (Angel, sweetheart, did not deserve it) Petty and Nicodemus (I only tolerate you cause you are Fiona's boyfriend) Petty

Lady Ruth (Sweetest grandma alive) Salisbury and Jamie (You're a cool uncle) Salisbury

Part 2 coming soon!

[brilla-brilla-estrellita]

SnowBaz Tea: SSCoNE 2024

As part of our 2024 event, we had a tea party at The Bookworm in Omaha. I was tasked with deciding which teas we would be having. And by "tasked with," I mean I took this task on myself without asking despite the fact that @shrekgogurt was in charge of food. But at least it was still related to an activity, which I was in charge of, right?

Anyway, I, along LavenderSprinkles and RynMar (neither on tumblr, but both on AO3), spent a lot of time looking at different teas for the best SnowBazzy options to have at our tea party. We had to narrow it down to 3, but I found so many good options, I didn't want them to go to waste! And I didn't get a chance to talk much about the ones I did decided on, either.

For now, I'll just discuss the teas we did choose. The tea house all of these blends come from is my absolute favorite: Friday Afternoon Tea (Whoa, I just discovered they're on tumblr! Hi @friday-tea!). It is a queer latine owned and operated small business that specializes in creating blends inspired by your favorite fandoms. It has been called "The Gayest Tea Shop on the West Coast" by Cosmopolitan Magazine: a title that the owner and employees proudly carry. No, they don't pay me for this. I just really freaking love their tea and the community they strive to create. So who else would I go to for our SnowBaz tea party?

French Cookie

Ingredients: Black tea, almond, orange peel (replaced with lemon peel to avoid an allergy in the group), natural vanilla and almond flavoring

Fandom Blend? No, house blend

Representing: Simon

This tea can actually come as a black tea, a rooibos, or an oolong. I had originally planned for rooibos to make sure we had a decaf option, but once I found Small Lady, I went back to our tried and true favorite black tea base.

This is one has been a long time coming. Back when I first read the series, LavenderSprinkles and I spent all of our free time thinking about the characters. At one point I asked her, "If Simon were a tea, what tea would he be?" She immediately answered "almond rooibos." (Though in my opinion, it's a better fit for what Simon would actually drink than what Simon would be. Either way, it's Simony). It wasn't until planning for SSCoNE that I realized (and she confirmed) that she was specifically thinking about French Cookie. Since the original discussion, LavenderSprinkles has started getting the black tea version for iced tea in the summer, and it's delicious, so we knew it would work great for the tea party. I think I'll have to go back and try the rooibos version again, though!

Derpy Hooves

Ingredients: Black tea, white tea, marigold, natural vegan cream flavoring, bergamot oil

Fandom Blend? My Little Pony

Representing: Baz

I knew I wanted a floral tea for Baz, and Derpy Hooves delivered! I hadn't had it before and it was so good, at least for a floral tea lover like myself. And bergamot oil? Obviously.

I had no idea what fandom this was from when I picked it. Once I realized it was My Little Pony, I just about died. My first thought was "Baz would be horrified!" After a moment, though, I decided that Baz would secretly know all about MLP becuase of his sisters. Ever since I started thinking about what the crew would wear to see Barbie (omg, a whole year ago???), I've had a headcanon that Petra is a total horse girl.

There were sooo many good Baz teas, but a lot of them were very... unusual. For the tea party, we figured a tea that would be appealing to lots of people would be the better choice, so I picked a more moderate flavor profile, but I am very excited to talk about some of the other ones I found in a future post!

Small Lady

Ingredients: Rooibos, sour cherry, strawberry, pink peppercorn, sugar star sprinkles (removed because of potential soy allergen), pink lustre dust, natural black cherry flavoring, bergamot oil

Fandom Blend? Sailor Moon

Representing: A Lady Ruth Tea Party

I mean. Sour cherry and bergamot oil alone are Simon and Baz. Add in the pink, the glitter, the black cherry, the strawberry, the sprinkles and tell me you don't have a Lady Ruth creation on your hands. And yes, I said glitter! Unfortunatley this didn't come through at the tea party. I think the tea bags I put the loose leaf in didn't allow for the glitter to escape. But I promise you it's adorable and that glitter makes it through all but the finest grained teabags and steepers. When I brew it at home, it is sparkling.

This was the most commented-on tea at the party (in a good way), and it makes sense! It's fun and fruity and light and can be as gay as it wants. It can even be extra gay, as a treat! (Seriously, you could order this and ask them to add glitter of every color or rainbow sprinkles or something.) (They might charge extra if you get really wild -- I'm not sure.)

Bonus Tea: AO3

Ingredients: Oolong tea, aloe vera, orange peel, osmanthus, natural orange flavoring, natural cream aroma

Fandom Blend? General fandom

Representing: All of us weirdos

We ended up not getting this one for the tea party because it's so orange heavy (an allergen for some), and taking out or substituting the orange would just not be the same. But when I tell you I squealed when they revealed this blend for the first time! Unfortunately, I forgot to get some before it went out of seasons, so I will eagerly await its return next year.

That's all for now. I will have at least one more post with some of the runner up teas, but I have a feeling this might become a series with how many teas are in the (always growing) Friday Afternoon Tea catalogue alone.

[crankybeetle]

@carryon-countdown day 4: cake

Lady Ruth deserves the world.

[cookingmywaythroughcarryon]

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Orange Buttercream

I am back! It’s been a  very long hiatus but I’ve still been trying out recipes and  cooking foods mentioned in the Simon Snow Series! 

Today seemed a particularly good day to post, as Carry On Countdown is going on and today’s prompt is CAKE!! 

This cake comes from chapter 89 of Any Way the Wind Blows and is courtesy of Lady Ruth Salisbury, of course. 

“There’s chocolate cake with chocolate-orange butter cream.” (Simon POV, Ch 89, Any Way the Wind Blows, by Rainbow Rowell.) 

I’ve made this cake a few times now. The family seems to love it for birthdays. It’s very rich, very dense and very good.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate-Orange Buttercream

Ingredients

Cake:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup of canola oil

1 cup milk (I used lactose free)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup orange juice (which I forgot to include in the picture)

Buttercream:

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 oz shortening ( or more butter if you prefer, I used vegetable shortening) also at room temperature

3-4 cups powdered/ confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

1 tbsp cornstarch

Method

Cake: 

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

Grease two 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper. 

Whisk the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one large bowl.

Gently whisk the eggs in a separate bowl until yolks and whites are combined then add oil, milk, and vanilla then mix well. Save the boiling water and orange juice for a bit later.

Add the egg/milk/oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix. 

Then add the boiling water and orange juice to the mixture.

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center set and toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack. 

Buttercream:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and allow to cool slightly

Whip the butter and the shortening until creamy

add orange juice and orange zest, mixing well

add 3 cups of powdered sugar, one at a time. 

add cornstarch

add melted chocolate

add up to one more cup powdered sugar, to reach desired consistency (the first time I made it I ended up with the entire extra cup, last time I used 3/4)

if it feels too thick you may add a tablespoon more of orange juice 

Place one of the cakes on a plate and cover top with buttercream. Gently place the second cake on top of the first and apply the buttercream liberally over the top and sides of cake. Slice and serve. 

Enjoy!

Recipe with photos below!! 

Ingredients (sorry the orange juice is MIA in the photo)

Cake:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup of canola oil

1 cup milk (I used lactose free)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup orange juice (which I forgot to include in the picture)

(dry ingredients in photo!) 

Cake Method: 

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

Grease two 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.

Whisk the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one large bowl.

Gently whisk the eggs in a separate bowl until yolks and whites are combined then add oil, milk, and vanilla then mix well. 

Save the boiling water and orange juice for a bit later.

Add the egg/milk/oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix. 

Then add the boiling water and orange juice to the mixture.

Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center set and toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

wet ingredients! 

Cake cooling 

Buttercream Ingredients:

(there is the orange juice!)

Buttercream:

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 oz shortening ( or more butter if you prefer, I used vegetable shortening) also at room temperature

3-4 cups powdered/ confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

1 tbsp cornstarch

shortening and butter

The buttercream!!! 

Buttercream Method:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and allow to cool slightly

Whip the butter and the shortening until creamy

add orange juice and orange zest, mixing well

add 3 cups of powdered sugar, one at a time. 

add cornstarch

add melted chocolate

add up to one more cup powdered sugar, to reach desired consistency (the first time I made it I ended up with the entire extra cup, last time I used 3/4)

if it feels too thick you may add a tablespoon more of orange juice

Putting the cake together:

A slice of cake: 

Enjoy the cake!  

@carryon-countdown​ 

[carryonsimoncarryonbaz]

[jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists]

Okay but

Has anyone talked about how this icon is definitely Lady Ruth? Like, we’re all on the same page, right?

[chen-chen-chen-again-chen]

Six Sentence Sunday

Thank you for the tags, @larkral, @cutestkilla, @bookish-bogwitch, and @sailorblossoms​! I love seeing everyone’s work, in all of its different stages and forms. 

Progress on Rosethorn girl continues to crawl along. It’s funny - most of the time when my brain is in Depresso Mode, I give up on writing. But I really wanted to keep writing through this episode, because I am stubborn and I love this universe. SSS in particular has been good for me, since even when I am struggling with drafting a fic, I can always write at least six sentences; bless the Muses and praise their names.  

Since there has been much excitement about this in the tags -- yes, baby Simon in this series has wings and a tail! ! I think our robot overlord DALL-E 2 did a pretty good job with this art; it’s only a wee bit cursed. 

Simon Snow Salisbury: The mountains danced when he was born

By Lucy Winifred Salisbury

Oil on canvas

Excerpt from an interview with the artist

A: “His hair came out more red than I intended, I’ll have to fix it. And I haven’t put in his freckles yet-”

Q: “It’s lovely, dear. You’ve captured a very good likeness of him.” 

A: “Do you think, when he’s grown, that he’ll- that he’ll look like-” (inaudible) 

Q: (inaudible) 

A: (rustling, furniture moving, birdsong?, crying?, inaudible) 

Q: (inaudible) “…. Matter what, Simon will always look like himself.”  

(Tags under the cut)

Pressure-free tags: @artsyunderstudy, @captain-aralias, @excalisbury, @facewithoutheart, @fatalfangirl, @hushed-chorus, @ionlydrinkhotwater, @johnwgrey, @martsonmars, @moodandmist, @nightimedreamersworld, @raenestee, @thewholelemon,  @whogaveyoupermission, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe  

[cookingmywaythroughcarryon]

this is simply the best!! Thanks so much for the tag and for using the lemon and prawn sandwich recipe! 

Lady Ruth would be so happy to see this!  Love the sword! 

Tea for (more than) Two

So, in a delightful turn of events, I recently got together with some pals who are also TOTALLY NORMAL about Carry On. And we did our best to replicate afternoon tea at Lady Ruth’s house. And I thought it would be kinda fun to share the results (and some recipes, which are at the end under the cut). So, here they are, featuring:

Scones! (Sour cherry, ofc.)

Cake! (Chocolate with Chocolate-Orange Buttercream featuring a super respectful remembrance, Lemon Drizzle, and Classic Victoria Sandwich.)

Lavender Earl Grey shortbread cookies!

Finger sandwiches! (Egg & cress, Lemon and prawn, Caprese on focaccia, and Coronation chicken - all on freshly baked bread.)

A selection of teas! (Including Simon's Sour Cherry looseleaf blend, Simon Snow Tea, some proper English Breakfast, and of course Earl Grey.)

A giant slab of butter! (Fancy butter.)

A basil plant!

A crucible!

A sword through the table!

Special cameos by a Watford goat (wings hidden) and Prof. Minos (tiny fluffy edition)!

Sadly, no tea trolley, but we did our best to provide glamorous staging anyway.

It was pretty much the best, guys! Highly recommend. Recipes (including dairy-free versions for many treats) below the cut.

Chocolate cake with chocolate-orange buttercream (dairy-free)

Using this recipe for the cake, and this one for the frosting (instructions at the end for a chocolate variant). A hot tip is to use egg whites instead of aquafaba (they whip up much faster) and of course to add orange zest, per AWTWB ch 89.

Lemon Drizzle Cake (dairy-free)

Using this recipe, using vegan butter and replacing the self-raising flour with some flour/baking powder/salt ratio from the internet. Garnish with Kellogg's ICEE Cereal or any other weird cereal you saw at the store and couldn't resist trying, for a little visual flair.

Classic Victoria Sandwich (dairy-free)

Using this recipe, substituting butter with vegan butter, milk with a non-dairy milk alternative (ideally soy but in this case oat milk was used), and replacing the self-raising flour with the same flour/baking powder/salt ratio from the internet as above. Regular old granulated sugar can be used in place of caster sugar. Garnished this with some black raspberries, but any attractive fruit (or weird cereal) could be used.

Sour Cherry Scones

This recipe from the Joy of Cooking does the trick! Use the GOOD butter.

Lavender Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

You can find the recipe here

Overnight Focaccia Bread

Lemon and Prawn Sandwiches

This recipe came from @cookingmywaythroughcarryon and there are tons more there for tea party inspiration, including alternate versions of some of the above, so definitely check it out!

[letraspal]

“I do know Lady Salisbury. She’s probably my grandmother age, but she hangs out with my mother’s set. She tells bawdy jokes and always encourages everyone to eat more cake.”

Lady Ruth Salisbury | Women of the Simon Snow trilogy

[aristocratic-otter]

Lemon Blueberry Shortbread

A Lady Ruth Charity Zine fic, featuring art from @letraspal

Summary:

Two afternoons of learning to cook a family recipe, thirty years apart.

Part 1: Cooking with Lucy

Ruth

“No, darling, don’t cut the blueberries!”

Lucy drops the slim knife and pulls her hands back in startlement. At eight years old, I’ve only just started letting her cut things, and then only soft fruits with my dullest knife.

“Why not, mummy?” she asks. “We cut the blueberries last week!”

I sigh and smile. This is part of it. This passing on of hard won knowledge. That the methods that suit one occasion aren’t meant to be applied to another. This is the reason that I was so thrilled when Lucy decided she wanted to learn to cook. Thrilled and relieved.

It’s been far more difficult, being a mother, than I ever envisioned when Andrew and I set out on this journey together. I’d thought that my girl would be much like I was; fond of home comforts and domestic pursuits. I thought I’d wile away many a happy hours sewing or cleaning or crafting with my daughter.

Well, best laid plans and all that.

Read on AO3

[pacey-bunce-loves-joey]

I can’t let my child shiver in the self made cold, ok???

[magiannaladdmac]

I live for the details about supporting characters. They make the story so much more full of other possibilities if that makes sense.

Like knowing Mitali and Lucy were friends makes me wonder what would have happened if Lucy had survived. Would penny and Simon be even closer? Or would they not have become friends at all cause Simon wasn’t dangerous enough?

I also love thinking about Simon’s new family. How he interacts with Jamie. How they are similar or different or how they both suck at words.

I don’t know- the supporting characters just make everything else richer. I love how you give every person a distinct personality that lives in my mind for a long time.

Hi @rainbowrowell quick question, Jaime mentions that Ruth wanted to send Lucy to Switzerland to get away from Davy but he doesnt know why. What is in Switzerland? (Messner? Lol)