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foodvips · 1 year ago

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Homemade Crispy Hash Browns How Can I Make It?

Are you craving a delicious and crispy breakfast treat? Look no further than homemade crispy hash browns! With this easy recipe, you can make golden and crispy hash browns that are perfect for breakfast or as a side dish. Not only are they crispy on the outside, but they are also soft and fluffy on the inside, creating a delightful contrast of textures.To make these mouthwatering hash browns, you'll need to start by choosing the right potatoes. Russet potatoes are the best choice for hash browns as they have a high starch content, which helps create that coveted crispy exterior. Once you have your potatoes, peel and grate them using a box grater or a food processor. Now comes the secret to achieving crispy hash browns – squeezing out excess moisture. Place the grated potatoes in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. This step is crucial as it prevents the hash browns from becoming soggy and ensures they crisp up nicely when cooked. Once you have squeezed out the moisture, it's time to season and flavor your hash browns. You can keep it simple with just salt and pepper, or get creative by adding herbs and spices like garlic powder, paprika, or onion powder. The choice is yours! If you want to take your hash browns to the next level, consider adding onions and other vegetables. Finely chop some onions and mix them into the grated potatoes for added flavor and texture. You can also experiment with other veggies like bell peppers or zucchini to create a unique twist on the classic hash browns.Now that your hash brown mixture is ready, it's time to shape and cook them. Heat a generous amount of oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat. Take handfuls of the potato mixture and shape them into patties, then carefully place them in the hot skillet. Cook the hash browns for a few minutes on each side until they are golden brown and crispy.Once your hash browns are cooked to perfection, it's time to serve them up! They make a fantastic addition to any breakfast spread and pair well with eggs, bacon, or sausages. You can also get creative with toppings like sour cream, salsa, or even melted cheese.If you have any leftovers, don't worry – you can freeze and reheat them for later enjoyment. Simply place the cooked hash browns in an airtight container or freezer bag and store them in the freezer. To reheat, pop them in the oven or toaster oven until they are heated through and crispy again.Now that you know the secrets to making homemade crispy hash browns, it's time to get cooking! Follow this easy recipe and enjoy a delicious and satisfying breakfast treat that will leave you wanting more.

Choosing the Right Potatoes

When it comes to making the perfect homemade crispy hash browns, choosing the right potatoes is crucial. Not all potatoes are created equal, and some varieties are better suited for this delicious breakfast dish than others.So, which potatoes should you choose? The best potatoes for making hash browns are starchy potatoes like Russet or Idaho potatoes. These varieties have a high starch content, which helps to achieve that desired crispy exterior while keeping the inside fluffy and soft.Before you start preparing the potatoes, it's important to wash them thoroughly to remove any dirt or debris. Once they are clean, you can peel the potatoes if desired, although leaving the skin on can add a nice texture and flavor to your hash browns.After washing and peeling (if desired), it's time to prepare the potatoes for shredding. You can either use a box grater or a food processor with a grating attachment to shred the potatoes. If using a food processor, make sure to cut the potatoes into smaller pieces that fit through the feeding tube easily.Once the potatoes are shredded, it's important to remove excess moisture to ensure crispy hash browns. You can do this by placing the shredded potatoes in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and squeezing out the liquid. This step is essential as excess moisture can prevent the hash browns from getting crispy.Now that you know which potatoes to choose and how to prepare them, you're ready to move on to the next step in making delicious homemade crispy hash browns. Stay tuned for more tips and tricks!

Grating and Squeezing the Potatoes

Grating and squeezing the potatoes is a crucial step in making crispy hash browns. By removing excess moisture from the potatoes, you can achieve that perfect golden and crispy texture that we all love. Here are some techniques to help you get the best results: - Start by choosing the right type of potatoes. Russet potatoes are commonly used for hash browns as they have a high starch content, which helps in achieving crispiness. - Peel the potatoes and rinse them under cold water to remove any dirt or debris. - Next, use a grater with large holes to grate the potatoes. This will create long strands of potato that will cook evenly and result in a better texture. - After grating the potatoes, it's important to remove as much moisture as possible. Place the grated potatoes in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess liquid. This step is crucial as it prevents the hash browns from becoming soggy. - Flaxseed Meal: Mix one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with three tablespoons of water to create a gel-like consistency. This can be used as a replacement for one egg in your hash brown recipe. - Chia Seeds: Similar to flaxseed meal, chia seeds can also be used as an egg substitute. Mix one tablespoon of chia seeds with three tablespoons of water and let it sit for a few minutes until it forms a gel. - Mashed Potatoes: If you have leftover mashed potatoes, you can use them as a binder for your hash browns. The starch in the mashed potatoes helps hold everything together. - Breadcrumbs: Adding breadcrumbs to your grated potatoes can help bind them together. You can use regular breadcrumbs or even try panko breadcrumbs for added crispiness. - Start by shaping the grated potatoes into round patties. You can use your hands to form them into the desired shape or use a mold for a more uniform appearance. - Heat a generous amount of oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat. Make sure the oil is hot before adding the hash browns to ensure a crispy texture. - Gently place the shaped hash browns into the hot skillet, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Leave enough space between each patty to allow for even cooking. - Let the hash browns cook undisturbed for a few minutes until the bottom side turns golden brown and crispy. This will give them a nice crunch. - Using a spatula, carefully flip each hash brown to cook the other side. Be gentle to avoid breaking them apart. - Cook the second side until it becomes golden brown and crispy as well. This will ensure that both sides are evenly cooked. - Once the hash browns are cooked to perfection, remove them from the skillet and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. - Serve the hash browns hot and enjoy their irresistible crispy and fluffy texture! - Add Cheese: For a gooey and indulgent treat, sprinkle some shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese on top of your hash browns while they are still hot. Let the cheese melt and get all oozy, creating a deliciously cheesy crust. - Try Bacon: Crispy bacon and hash browns are a match made in heaven. Cook some bacon until it's nice and crispy, then crumble it over your hash browns. The combination of the smoky bacon flavor with the crispy hash browns is simply irresistible. - Go Veggie: If you prefer a vegetarian option, you can add a variety of vegetables to your hash browns. Sauté some bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and mix them into the grated potatoes before shaping and cooking. The added vegetables not only bring extra flavor but also add a delightful crunch. - Top with Sour Cream and Chives: For a classic and refreshing touch, serve your hash browns with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of fresh chives. The creamy sour cream complements the crispy hash browns perfectly, while the chives add a burst of freshness. - Allow the cooked hash browns to cool completely. - Divide the hash browns into individual portions or the desired serving size. - Place the portions in airtight containers or freezer bags, making sure to remove any excess air. - Label the containers with the date and contents. - Store the containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. - Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). - Spread the frozen hash browns in a single layer on a baking sheet. - Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are heated through and crispy. - Alternatively, you can reheat the hash browns in a skillet over medium heat with a little oil or butter. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, flipping occasionally, until they are heated through and crispy. - It's important to cool the cooked hash browns completely before freezing them to prevent them from becoming soggy. - Dividing the hash browns into individual portions or serving sizes makes it easier to thaw and reheat only what you need. - Make sure to remove any excess air from the containers or freezer bags to prevent freezer burn. - If you prefer a softer texture, you can thaw the frozen hash browns in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. - For added flavor, you can sprinkle some cheese or herbs on top of the hash browns before reheating. - What type of potatoes should I use for making hash browns?The best potatoes to use for making hash browns are starchy potatoes like Russet or Idaho potatoes. These potatoes have a high starch content, which helps in achieving a crispy texture. - How do I prepare the potatoes for making hash browns?Start by peeling the potatoes and then grate them using a box grater or a food processor. Once grated, place the potatoes in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess moisture. This step is important to ensure crispy hash browns. - What are some seasoning options for hash browns?There are various seasoning options to enhance the flavor of your hash browns. You can simply season them with salt and pepper, or add herbs like thyme or rosemary. For a spicy kick, you can also add paprika or cayenne pepper. - Can I add onions and other vegetables to my hash browns?Absolutely! Adding onions and other vegetables can add extra flavor and texture to your hash browns. You can finely chop onions and mix them in with the grated potatoes before cooking. Additionally, you can also add bell peppers, mushrooms, or even grated carrots. - Are there any alternatives to eggs for binding the hash browns?Yes, there are alternatives to eggs for binding the hash browns. You can use mashed potatoes, which act as a natural binder. Another option is using a flaxseed or chia seed mixture, which creates a gel-like consistency when mixed with water. - How do I shape and cook the hash browns?After grating the potatoes, shape them into patties using your hands or a mold. Heat a skillet with oil or butter over medium heat and cook the hash browns until golden brown on each side. Flip them gently to avoid breaking them apart. - What are some serving suggestions and variations for hash browns?Hash browns can be served as a side dish with breakfast favorites like eggs and bacon. You can also top them with cheese, sour cream, or salsa for added flavor. For a twist, try adding cooked crumbled bacon or shredded cheese to the potato mixture before cooking. - Can I freeze and reheat hash browns?Yes, you can freeze leftover hash browns for later use. Allow them to cool completely, then place them in a freezer-safe container or bag. To reheat, simply heat them in a skillet with a little oil until they are heated through and crispy again. Read the full article

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yugonoashiato · 1 year ago

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Footprints #1201 - Things I Can't Do

August 6th Sunny ☀️

#yugo'sfootprints

#thingsican'tdo

Good morning♪

This is Yugo Kochi who woke up because he was hungry 👀

Oh how I'd love some hash browns…

Aren't they delicious?

I've loved them since I was a kid ❤️

Also (I love) those Anpanman potato snacks ('ω`)

Next,

Is there anything you can't do, no matter how hard you try?

Is it just a lack of effort? Or is it something that you really can't do?

For people who like to develop their strengths, they become very naive when it comes to their weaknesses 😭

I'm really trying, okay?

But I don't think I have any sense.

There are many things to say…

Like… when I'm faced with something I'm not good at, it breaks my heart all at once…

I try so hard, but it feels like I'm going to cry. 😆

Well, I'll do my best.

CREAK's dance is difficult too… (laughs)

Thanks a lot for watching the MV

Lastly…

Thanks for all your hard work and schoolwork today. Yugo Kochi also hit a lot of walls at work and at home 😆. Well, at my own pace and in the Yugo Kochi way, I'll do my best. Do your best too, everyone!

Don't forget to wash your hands, gargle and stay hydrated!

I'm grateful every day.

A thought just occurred to me!

I'm definitely going to eat the potato snacks.

See you tomorrow.

Keep smiling ☺️

(Kochi photographed an almost bald palm tree against a blue sky with clouds. The caption reads: "Is this a palm tree?")

E/N: My dear Yugo, three things: (1) your dance in CREAK is FINE; (2) the answer to your question "Is there anything you can't do, no matter how hard you try?" is, I think, many things for me, two things for sure are I can't sing and dance properly, no matter what, and (3) the answer to your question in the photo is YES.

#髙地優吾 #優吾のあしあと #SixTONES #Yugo Kochi #Kochi Yugo #Kouchi Yugo #Yugo no Ashiato #Yugo's Footprints #060823 #1201ashiato #1201footprints #translation #japanese to english #erindani

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aliwritesfic · 3 years ago

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The Night Shift (pt. 5) (Frankie Morales x F!Reader)

Summary: Frankie has taken the job as the overnight cook at Lou’s Diner, where you work as the overnight waitress. Attraction slowly grows between you, despite both your best efforts.

Part 4 Part 6

Frankie & June's Nightshift Jamzzz

The sun was behind you as you walked to the diner, going out of your way to step on the especially crunchy-looking leaves. Coffee from the fancy bakery on your block warmed your hands and your throat as you drank, savouring the sweet caramel flavouring that you had splurged a quarter on.

Truthfully, you didn’t mind walking to work now. You had given up any hope of Ethan ever driving you, and now the walk just felt like a good chance to get some fresh air, to disconnect yourself from everyone else even if it only was for forty-five minutes. You now also carried an umbrella and a new can of pepper spray in your bag and felt prepared for almost anything.

You hung back in the parking lot behind the diner before your shift, finishing the last dregs of your coffee, delaying heading inside. You could hear shouts from the kitchen and the sounds of the dinner rush floating out to you.

“Evenin’,” Frankie tilted his hat at you as you finally entered the kitchen. You gave him a shy smile and dropped your phone in your bag. Each night this week he had done the same thing, and each night it had given you the tiniest of flutters in your stomach.

It was ridiculous. You were a grown woman, with a boyfriend, and a man with a stupid hat and stupid brown eyes shouldn’t be making you blush like an idiot.

Even if his hair curled up under his stupid hat, looking stupidly soft to the touch. Even if his stupid brown eyes felt like pure warmth blooming within you every time you dared look into them.

Maybe they weren’t so stupid . . . but you felt stupid for noticing at all. But more than that, you felt guilt. It wasn’t fair to Ethan - and you knew he would blow a gasket if he knew that you were going to try and be friends with Frankie. But even with that thought, knowing that it was a dangerous move, something in you wanted to just say fuck it. You were sick of not having friends. It was your own fault that you no longer had any of your old friends, but you could also do something to rectify that.

In the early hours of the morning, that opportunity came.

“Frankie, I have some questions for you.”

You leaned against the pick-up window, fiddling with the thick stack of spiked orders. You had been avoiding asking him anything for the past two nights, your gut churning with anxiety whenever you thought about it. But now Manny had threatened to walk in and ask Frankie to brunch himself, and if you were going to make an effort it probably wouldn’t be a good start to have Manny do the groundwork.

“Ask away,” Frankie looked up from the small mound of potato he was grating and fixed his dark eyes on you. For a moment your breath hitched in your throat. You quickly looked away, neck burning.

You smiled back, feeling less shy, and powered on. “Okay. Are you a fan of brunch?”

“I’ve had no reason to not be a fan,” he said, setting the potato on the grill. You nodded, a nervous laugh bubbling up from your chest.

“Well, uh, Manny and I, we’ve started a tradition where we- we head down to DeLuca’s on Peach Street and we, well there’s bottomless mimosas. We pretty much just drink and talk shit and if that’s not your vibe I totally understand but I’d - we’d really like you to come.”

You wrung your hands together, feeling impossibly hot and sweaty for the cool temperature inside the diner and you found it impossible to meet his eyes. Your stomach turned flips. He’s gonna say no. There’s no way he says yes.

“That sounds fun, what time should I be there?”

Okay. That was unexpected to say the least.

“Um, we usually get there at around eleven.”

Frankie nodded and shoveled the potato hash into a bowl. “You look hungry.” He handed it to you with a shrug and a shy smile. You hadn’t realised how hungry you actually were before the food was directly under your nose; saliva immediately flooded your mouth as you grabbed a fork and dug in.

“This is amazing,” you said with your mouth full.

“I added a little bit of chili powder,” Frankie said.

“Genius,” you told him, taking another bite. Frankie gave an almost bashful shrug, fiddling with the brim of his cap. “Do you ever get sick of listening to the radio?”

Frankie looked confused by this abrupt turn of conversation, but seemed to go along with it well enough. “Here? I mostly tune it out.”

You cleared your throat as stood straight. “Do you have Spotify?” When he nodded, you plowed on. “Well, uh, before he quit, Manny and I used to have this joint playlist of songs that we’d listen to instead of the radio. We, you and me, could do the same. If you wanted. It’s fine if you don’t.”

“No, that sounds cool. How does it work?”

“I just text you the link and you just add whatever you want to it. I’ve already added a bunch of songs.” You hadn’t even finished your sentence before Frankie was pulling his phone out of his jeans pocket and handing it to you.

“Put your number in and text yourself,” he said. Why are my hands shaking? Stop shaking! You tried not to make it obvious that, for whatever reason, putting your number in Frankie’s phone had suddenly spiked your adrenaline. It certainly wasn’t because you noticed how truly large his hands were, the way his palms were calloused. No, it definitely wasn’t that.

You quickly handed his phone back after you had plugged your number in, not wanting to risk accidentally reading any notifications that might come through. Nosy wasn’t your style.

“So what else did you and Manny do to pass the time?”

“We played a lot of stupid games,” you said. “Would you rather and push the button, but sometimes we’d take it too far, gin rummy but I don’t have a deck of cards. He’d also help with a lot of my baking when I felt like it.”

Frankie contemplated this for a moment. “Your baking?”

“Yeah, sometimes on quiet nights I bake like, muffins and shit, to put in the cake case. Manny was mainly helping by telling me what flavours sounded ass.” You finished off the hash brown. “Last thing I I made were raspberry and white chocolate tarts, fucking delectable. And I don’t say that about myself often.”

“Well, I’d be happy to give any opinions on flavours in future,” Frankie said.

“I hope you realise that now you’ve said that I’ll be sending you cake ideas at all hours of the day.” You were joking, but only partly. You were determined to not let this budding friendship go to waste, and part of friendship was sending each other cake ideas, right?

Frankie didn’t seem phased. “I look forward to it.”

It didn’t take long for June to warm up to him once he had added a few songs to their shared playlist.

Frankie & June’s Nightshift Jamzzz

3 z’s because everyone sane is sleeping Had been the message attached to the Spotify link. Frankie snorted at this when he read it, opening the link to find twelve songs already waiting for him, most of which he had never heard before.

A few hours later, when Frankie was in that weird state between dreaming and awake, where his mind was susceptible to remembering, his phone chimed loudly, shocking him fully awake. He sat up, breathing deeply.

Sometimes he was like this; sensitive to sounds, to light, his entire being hyperfocused. The pain in his legs seared, and the scars on his thighs seemed to warp into something grotesque. His ears rang, spots appeared behind his itchy eyelids and suddenly everything felt too fucking hot. He threw his window open, letting in the cold air, but he could barely feel it beyond the heat searing his skin, the harsh Afghanistanian sun burning his skin.

Someone was shouting. Him? Surely not . . . but he could hardly hear beyond the war going on in his mind.

I can see the hardwood floor, the lamp, the light through the curtains, the phone on my nightstand.

I can smell my own sweat.

I can hear birds outside and someone mowing their lawn.

I am here. I am alive. I am safe.

Frankie took another deep breath and scrubbed his hand over his face. If anyone could see him right now in this state, on his knees on the floor . . . the thought was mortifying.

He grabbed his phone, ignoring the text from Will that had woke him, and quickly messaged Lou, making up some bullshit excuse about a migraine. Frankie knew better than to force himself out after an almost complete meltdown.

In his bathroom, in the cabinet behind the mirror, he kept a bottle of pills that he knew would give him a deep, dreamless sleep.

Frankie took three.

“Gee, don’t look so disappointed to see me,” Steph, one of the weekend shift cooks, said as you walked through the back door.

“I’m not disappointed,” you lied.

Steph rolled her eyes, “you’re a bad fucking liar.”

You grunted at her, resigning yourself to a night of attitude. It wasn’t that you didn’t like Steph, hell you got on with her for the most part, but you had grown accustomed to Frankie’s calming demeanor.

“He’s got a migraine or some shit,” Steph said.

“Frankie?”

“I dunno his name,” Steph snorted. “You seem a bit hot on him though.”

You rolled your eyes, knowing that any kind of defending yourself would just lead to her becoming even more convinced.

Hiding away in the bathroom for a few minutes, you typed out a text to Frankie, chewing absently on your thumbnail. Would it be weird? You reread what you had written, trying to find any hidden meanings that could come across unintentionally. Heard you’ve got a migraine, this might sound crazy but have some coffee or just something with loads of caffeine, it always helps me. Hope you feel better soon (and if you dont wanna come on the weekend we’ll understand)

You hit send before you could chicken out. It was just a friendly text, not the kind you would send to Manny in the same situation, but enough that it probably wouldn’t spark an argument if Ethan went through your phone again.

After a few minutes went by without a reply, you put your phone away and got to work.

tagging: @maievdenoir@luvmeijii@phandoz@you-got-me-starry-eyed@sunnshineeexoxo

#the night shift #frankie morales #triple frontier #frankie morales x reader #frankie x reader #frankie catfish morales #frankie catfish morales x reader #frankie morales x you

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cemeteryrocks900 · 2 years ago

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Ok so here’s my day so far

-meal planned my day (ended up not doing half bc I don’t feel good but still got dinner… hah funny story about that later)

-made brunch for my dad(pancakes, eggs, attempted freshly grated hash browns but didn’t work) and made coffee

-the whisk fell out of the pancake mix bowl SEVEN TIMES, ALL OVER THE FUGGING FLOOR ABD ALL OVER ME

-made my mom a cup of coffee too

-refilled the coffee grounds

-cleaned my mess then cleaned the kitchen too

-brushed my hair and left to go to Walgreens and wegmans and target with my dad

-went home and laid down bc I’m in pain and watched tik toks

-my dad wanted me to see what he did with the garage with re arranging

-helped my dad refill my moms car with washer fluid

-went to go get an olipop and crumb cake just to see the kitchen a MESSc nothing put away, and ALL THE POTATOES WERE GONE, in my mealnplan I had potatoes and my starch and veggies which means I needed double the amt of potato, and we had a good 10 large potatoes left… now they’re gone and I can’t make my dinner :,)

-had the rest of my Cadbury candy shelled chocolate eggs and a sweet tart rope

-I now feel 30x worse :,)

-laying in bed watching Ryan trahans penny series of the month

Other things not related to what happened, but stuff happening later:

•my dad said he won’t be home for dinner bc he has to take a guy from work out to dinner

•Idk what to do for dinner anymore

•my dad said he wants to divorce my mom

•and I feel like im dying :,)

Good and bad day

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nancypullen · 2 years ago

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Gobble Gobble

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Does your house smell fabulous or are you packing your stretchy pants to go to dinner elsewhere? Are you skipping the whole mess and just enjoying an extra day off? Whatever you may be doing on this third week of November, I hope it’s good for your soul. Whether it’s a crowd around the table or a solitary walk through the autumn woods, take a moment to soak it up and be grateful. If you’re struggling on this holiday, maybe just be thankful that this too shall pass. “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” - H. U. Westermayer I’ve had a bit of a topsy-turvey year and I’m feeling deeply grateful for my family. My hiccups have been minor compared to what so many others face but, holy cow, has my family shown me love and support. I’m so humbled by the dear people in my life, my friends and family are absolutely beyond compare. I have no idea how or why I’m so fortunate, so all I can offer is gratitude. Mine is bottomless. I’m one lucky duck.

Today I’m preparing sort of a mini-feast. The Edgewater gang traveled down to Tennessee to spend Thanksgiving with Jamie’s family ( they’ll be here for Christmas!). Matt flew in from Minneapolis on Saturday and he’s been working a lot from here, Zoom meetings and tapping away day and night. He needs a break. So since it’s just the three of us, I’m making Ina Garten’s herb-roasted turkey breast rather than a big ol’ bird. It’s a wonderful recipe, tried and true. I’ve also made a couple of family favorites, sweet potato casserole with that yummy pecan and brown sugar topping, cheesy hash brown casserole, ranch crescent rolls, dressing, and a little apple pie (not gonna lie, the pie is from a bakery). That’s about half of what I’d usually make and it still seems excessive. Tomorrow should be easy though - the turkey breast won’t take long and with just a couple of dishes to pop in the oven it’ll be a breeze. I’m really going to miss the bacon-wrapped green bean bundles, those are my favorite. Also the cranberry-orange-walnut relish stuff - I’m not sure it has a name, but I love it. I couldn’t care less about the casseroles. Thankfully I still don’t have much of an appetite, so I’ll probably nibble on the turkey and crunch on some celery sticks. For tonight’s dinner I’ve got teriyaki chicken in the crock pot. It’s a super simple recipe, I don’t think it’s actually teriyaki - just an easy substitute. Basically chop up some chicken breasts, throw them in the crock pot with honey, soy sauce, and garlic and wait four hours. When there’s about 30 minutes left I’ll put some jasmine rice in the rice cooker and let it do its thing. Add some broccoli and you’re done! Easy peasey. Since I seem to be rambling about food, here’s some breaking news - we got a new front door! The original door was kind of pretty, but seemed awfully flimsy. We never liked it. We’d shopped around a bit and picked one that we liked, and yesterday was our installation date. I love it!

I really love that it’s got a keypad entry like our door in Tennessee. One more thing checked off the long list of improvements we’re making to this place. That staircase to the right is on the list too. I’d love to tear up the old (awful) carpet and paint the stairs before installing a runner. I’d love to sand and stain that wood to more closely match the floors. Still, it’s a pretty door and I’m loving it. It’s white right now, but I’ll paint the exterior side. The color I’ve chosen is City Rain. It’ll match the shutters.

I thought long and hard about picking a pale pink shade, but I went with a color that will look good in every season. That shade of gray will look just as good with autumn’s orange and gold as it will with bright red at Christmas or pink blooms in the summer. Gotta’ go with what works. Speaking of Christmas, I picked up the cutest bit of wall art this week. How jolly is this guy?

He was on clearance at Kirkland’s and I had a coupon for an extra 20% off. He came home with me for about $28. When the tree goes up and we deck the halls, he’ll hang above that entry table by the door. Yep, I’m gettin’ my jingle on and Santa is my homeboy. We go way back (North Pole High School, Class of ‘81!).

That small, blurry person in the candy cane striped scarf is moi - cheering my heart out for North Pole High School in North Pole, Alaska. I had to dig to find a color photo (how sad is that?). The lovely girl beside me is Tracey, still every bit as cute and now a long-distance Facebook friend. I couldn’t find a photo that clearly displayed the big “NP” on our sweaters, One year we just had “Patriots” (our high school was built in 1976).

I’m sharing these semi-embarrassing photos to prove that my Christmas spirit runs deep. We used to answer letters to Santa as part of our English grade. Letters from all over the world made their way to Santa’s house in North Pole - yes, it’s really there. I went to school with Santa’s daughter and her name was (no kidding) Merry Christmas Miller. She eventually married and became Merry Key, I think. Not quite the same impact. Anyway, we’d answer letters for a grade. There was a format that we had to follow, couldn’t make promises and that sort of thing. But it sure kept the magic alive for a bunch of teenagers. All of these decades later (oh my gosh, 41 years??) I get the same sense of excitement when I start seeing twinkling lights on houses and Christmas tree lots. I am so ready for holiday music, cookies, and FUN! I’ve got all of the grandgirl’s gifts and I can’t wait for her to open them! Once an elf from North Pole, always an elf from North Pole. This post has ping-ponged from Thanksgiving food to a new door to high school memories and Christmas. Perfectly normal, right? I should probably quit while I’m ahead. It’s nearly time to dish up that crock pot chicken anyway. I’ll sign off with a big holiday hug, and send out my sincere wish that your hearts are light and your minds are at peace. I’m grateful for so much this year, and some of the lovely people I’ve met through this blog are on that list. Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe, stay well, stay thankful.

Nancy

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ieatnothingbutpotatoes · 3 years ago

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My First Try Making Hash Browns

Ingredients (makes 8 or so hash browns):

A couple of medium-sized raw potatoes

A dash of olive oil (you could use some other oil)

2 heaped tablespoons potato flour (you can also use an egg apparently, and/or possibly cheese)

(Optional) a dash of salt

Tools:

Cheese grater (or equivalent)

Large bowl

Frying pan

Spatula

Spoon

Method:

Some recipes advise partially boiling the potatoes first. I didn't bother, but this sounds like it might be a good idea if you want to make your hash browns thicker than I did or want them to cook faster.

Grate the potatoes. This is surprisingly messy! Little bits of raw potato went everywhere, lots of slippery potato juice.

I didn't bother grating the very ends of the potatoes, which were too fiddly - I was worried about cutting myself on the grater - so if you're using a food processor or you're willing to give up a few chunks of finger you might get an extra hash brown or two out of the deal.

This might seem obvious, but this produces quite a lot of grated potato, thanks to all the gaps between the pieces. Easily twice the volume of the original potatoes.

Squeeze out some of the potato juice from the grated potato. I just squeezed handfuls of it in my fist over the sink, but some recipes suggest rolling the pieces up in a towel.

Add a dash of olive oil and a couple of heaped tablespoons of potato flour. At least, that's how much I added. I was just eyeballing it, but it turned out pretty well.

Some recipes advise adding other seasoning here, such as salt.

Mix everything together, then spoon onto the frying pan and shape into thin patties. I used a single heaped tablespoon each.

Cook on a low heat until brown - this takes quite a while. Cooking them on a high heat is a lot faster, obviously, but left the inside very slightly undercooked by the time the outside was done. I suspect that this is why some recipes suggest par-boiling first.

One of my house-mates used some of the mix and he added a layer of cheese to his patties, which was reportedly very nice.

Results:

Pretty good! I forgot to take any pictures of the final product because I was hungry, but just imagine browner versions of the above.

They're a little bland on their own, unsurprisingly, as they're intended eaten as part of a proper fry-up with lots of other food. If you're gonna sit down and eat them on their own, like I did, you should probably add some seasoning - I sprinkled on some salt and vinegar, the same way I take my chips (that is, french fries, for Americans), which was very nice. I think they'd also go well with just a little salt and pepper, I'll probably try that next time.

#food cw #potatoes #recipies #liveblog #hash browns #day 1 #week 1

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cheeseanonioncrisps · 4 years ago

Note

in the US we usually call thick-cut chips (like you get at a chippy) “steak fries.” there’s another variety of fried potato we call “potato wedges” that I’m pretty sure are fairly universal? and then there’s the diced potatoes (when you cut the potato into cubes and either fry or bake them; you know the ones) that no one in the US can agree on a name for—they’re “home fries” in one region, “hash browns” in another (which...no, it’s not hashed???), “breakfast potatoes” on grocery store packaging.

“hash browns” in the US most universally refer to grated potatoes that are then fried on a stove. they can be sculpted into patties (à la McDonald’s) or scooped as more of a hash (à la Waffle House). when said hash browns are sculpted into thumb-sized cylinders, they’re tater tots. very common in primary school hot lunches. easy finger foods, very dippable.

Okay, so here's what I'm getting from typing each term into google images:

Steak fries/chips:

(We do actually have things called steak cut chips in the UK. They tend to be much longer and flatter than normal chips.)

French fries:

Potato wedges:

(We have these, they used to sell them in our school canteen.)

Diced potatoes:

(I don't think I've ever eaten these, but I asked both my parents what they were called and neither could think of a specific term, so I suppose if we have them we probably also call them diced potatoes.)

Hash browns:

(All hash browns in the UK are this triangular shape, and I have no idea why. They come loose in a bag, usually, so it's not like they need to be able to fit together for stacking purposes or anything like that.)

Hash:

(I have eaten something like this! My Mum makes it sometimes, but she calls it rösti.)

Tater tots:

While I was writing this answer, I ended up asking my parents various questions about potato dishes. This in turn prompted them to ask why I wanted to know.

When I replied: "somebody online posted a picture of a chip butty and captioned it saying that the things inside it were called 'tater tots'" the look on my Dad's face was… exactly how I imagine mine looked when I first saw that post. It's rare to see him look so horrified.

And, just like me, he looked extremely relieved to learn that tater tots are a separate thing, and you guys do not really call chips that.

So like, while I accept that I may be being weird about this, at least if I am then the weirdness is genetic.

And at least we can all now appreciate how versatile potatoes are! 🥔

#tater tots #potato discourse #chips #ask #anon

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paper-mario-wiki · 10 months ago

Text

Here's how I make it look like this:

Store-bought hashbrowns, they come pre-dried and preservation ready. Even though they're not as healthy as grating potatoes at home (which can make crispy hashbrowns too, you just have to dry em out plenty first), they've still got the basic nutrients and the frankly crazy amount of vitamins that hashbrowns have.

I preheat my stove to whatever temperature the number "5" represents on a dial that goes from 1 to 9. For reference, "4" represents the temperature at which water starts to sizzle when put into the pan, so this is a pretty medium heat.

Once it's hot I pour in a small glob of vegetable oil. Not a ton, just enough to coat each strand of potato. If you're only making enough for one or two people you probably wont even need to cover the bottom of the pan. That said, you'll have to eyeball this based on how much you want to make.

When the oil's been given a sec to heat up, i pour the hashbrowns in and, after given about 10 or so seconds to start thawing, I start stirring them around in the oil. While the potato's pores are opening back up during the thawing process they'll start soaking in a bit of the oil, which is what we want.

When they start getting properly squishy and slimy, I use my spatula to start breaking the potatoes apart more, making the individual strands shorter, and mashing some of them into a paste as well, but not so much that it becomes more of a mash than a hash.

After that, use the spatula (you can use two if it's tough with just one) to push the potatoes together into the shape of your patty. At this point, because of all the working you've done to the potatoes, it should hold its shape really nicely, like a super crumbly ground beef almost.

Keep in mind, all of this should be done within the first 90 seconds of the potatoes hitting the pan, because once the potatoes have been thawed, worked, and shaped, it's time for them to cook. And you're gonna let em sit and cook once they're shaped without touching or flipping or moving them at all for something like 6 to 8 minutes, depending on how brown you'd like them.

The first picture was the patty I made this morning right before being flipped (which is what's in the second picture). You can see very clearly the dark browning at the edges of the underside of the patty. You're going to think "my word, if it's that dark around the edges, then surely the center will be burnt as well!" but I'd ask you to have faith that I haven't misguided you thus far.

Season with salt and pepper, and when you've reached your preferred brownness (I like it to be a shade somewhere between that of a golden retriever and an acorn), flip it and let the other side cook for the same amount of time. If you're in a hurry and the pan didn't finish heating up fully before you started, cook it for slightly less time.

Enjoy your hashbrowns!

Potatoes kind of went awff when they invented hash browns

look at this Perfect Potato Patty im grillin

#reply

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awkwardpenguinproductions · 4 years ago

Note

What food were you surprised to learn most of us goyim don’t know about or haven’t tried? My coworker a few years ago made everyone in the kitchen some of her matzah ball soup, and was super surprised at how many of them had never heard of it. (It was super delicious) Do you have a traditional food item you kind of wish were more popular so you could go out to eat and find it on random menus?

oooh boy, where do I even start?

So matzah ball soup is definitely one, especially the recipe my mom makes, which is clear broth (usually simmered for most of the day and strained before serving) with matzah balls and chicken shreds, and for Rosh Hashanah the kneydlach are replaced with thin egg noodles. I once had a variation of matzah ball soup called mishmash soup, which is chicken soup with matzah balls, kreplach (dumplings), and noodles, and some recipes also have rice and kasha as well. I had it once, and the place I had it has since closed (sad, sad, sad day in the Penguin Family’s New York branch) and I have been looking for another place to get it for TEN YEARS.

UPDATE ON THE MISHMASH SEARCH: So I just ran a google search for local Jewish delis in my area (I do not live in New York, which makes this search somewhat challenging) and I found a place nearby that HAS IT!!! They call it “chicken in the pot” but it’s basically mishmash soup. I know what I’m doing for lunch tomorrow.

I also really miss my mom’s potato kugel. Kugel is a type of baked casserole that can be made either with potatoes and onions, for a savory dish, or with noodles and eggs, for a sweet dish. I prefer potato kugel, which my mom makes of grated potatoes and onions mixed with egg and matzah meal (basically ground up matzahs) and baked until the top is golden brown and the edges are crunchy. it is SO FUCKING GOOD, especially with brisket gravy drizzled on top.

There’s also knishes, which are sort of like hash browns except that they’re made of mashed potatoes instead of chopped or grated potatoes and they’re also filled with stuff (usually meat or cheese, but not both because that’s not kosher) and fried.

GEFILTE FISH, I can’t believe I almost forgot about gefilte fish.

Okay, so gefilte fish are basically round cake-blobs of ground up fish (usually carp, pike, mullet, or whitefish) mixed with eggs, matzah meal or breadcrumbs (if breadcrumbs are used, then the end product is not considered kosher for Passover), spices, and sometimes onion, carrot, or potato, all mashed up together and boiled in fish stock. Modern mass produced gefilte fish are made into cakes and then poached or baked, and then stuffed into jars with jelly made from fish stock like the pic above.

I THOUGHT THESE WERE SO GROSS AS A KID. We usually eat them for Shabbat and/or Passover (usually Passover in my family), and wee Teviya thought she had never seen a grosser foodstuff in her life. And then I tried some at Jewish summer camp, and MY MIND WAS BLOWN. They are so good. I can’t even explain why they’re good, although I prefer mine at room temp with as little jelly as possible in evidence (my grandmother would serve hers cold, which may have explained why little me found them so unappetizing).

It’s so hard to find these at the local supermarket when it’s not Passover season where I live (as stated above, I don’t live in New York, where my grandparents and my weird Orthodox relatives live). Maaaybe they’ll be in the microscopic kosher section of the foreign foods aisle, maybe not. I mostly associate them with holiday eating, so I generally don’t go looking for them all that often, but every once in a blue moon I’ll get a hankering.

ughghghg I miss real Jewish food. Hopefully this deli I’m hitting up tomorrow lives up to The Stage and Katz’s. They put cheese on their meat sandwiches (again, not kosher), so I’m a little skeptical. If there’s mayo on the pastrami I may riot. (I don’t even really like pastrami, but mayo on pastrami is nigh heretical whether I like pastrami or not.)

I’m doing a #jewish on main q&a in honor of Passover! Come ask me stuff! Disclaimers and warning here.

#ask me stuff!#ursaerythraeus #jewish on main #jewish on main q&a #jewish food #can you tell I like potatoes?#I also really like beef tongue #but it's like super unhealthy so I don't mind having it as just an occasional treat

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solalunar-eclipse · 4 years ago

Text

Team Dark: A Holiday Special

Chapter Two: Shadow

One | Three

Word count: about 6500 words

No warnings, just more angst than last time because Shadow.

Author’s Note: Thank you all so much for the great comments you left on chapter one- it’s really what keeps me writing and posting.

In other news, I believe that Hanukkah started yesterday evening, so to anyone who celebrates that holiday, Happy Hanukkah!

...

It was the dawn of a bright new day, and Shadow stirred as the sun rose, feeling oddly content. His bed was warm, and he was comfortable, and he really didn’t want to get up just yet. Fumbling around on the bedside table for his book, he began to feel even better at the thought of hiding under the covers for another hour or two, curled up reading…

Except his book wasn’t there. He made several quiet irritated noises, before forcing himself to sit upright.

Chaos, he was not a morning person.

This was incredibly frustrating, of course, since he only needed about five hours of sleep a night and tended to wake up early. Coffee beans usually helped with that, though, and some hot water.

His thoughts now focused on coffee, Shadow dragged himself slowly out of bed, shuddering as the cold air hit his fur. He searched through the clothes he’d brought and pulled out a warm, soft sweater, sighing with relief as he put it on. It was his favorite, too, since it matched his stripes nicely.

Sliding on a pair of slippers (plaid, fluffy, chosen by Rouge) he padded downstairs silently, eyes scanning the area for his book- and caffeine. He wandered through the main hall, enjoying the view that the large windows provided of the snowy landscape. Still, he wished they’d turn the heating up a little, shuddering as he wrapped his arms around himself tightly.

As he walked into the kitchen, still half-lost in a morning haze, Shadow was fully awakened by the shock of seeing other people up. More specifically, Rouge’s mother and stepmother were cooking. Already. He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from shouting, and his quills bristled in surprise.

His friend’s mother startled and dropped the flour she was carrying, while her stepmother yelped and fumbled with the frying pan on the stove. Shadow rushed over and caught the dropped bag before it could explode, his nerves feeling slightly shot from having to deal with so much this early on.

“My bad,” he whispered, placing the flour on the island in the middle of the kitchen. “I didn’t know anyone else was awake yet- sorry.” he finished lamely. The hedgehog began to feel slightly uncomfortable, as both of the other occupants of the kitchen were looking directly at him. Until now, he’d managed to avoid everyone’s notice pretty well at this party, fading quietly into the background after that first introduction.

He was not prepared to socialize, especially not this early.

Camellia just smiled at him, though, and said kindly, “It’s perfectly alright, honey, we didn’t realize anyone else could stand to get up so early either!”

Rouge’s mother rolled her eyes good-naturedly at Shadow as she walked past him. “You say that like I like mornings, Cam.” she quipped.

He felt awkward just standing in the middle of the room- especially having interrupted their formerly-private moment- so he took a couple of steps to the side quietly. “I’ll just be out of your way now…”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it at all!” the bat exclaimed. “Were you looking for something, sugar?”

Having two terms of endearment directed his way in as many minutes stressed (and slightly flustered) Shadow, and he found himself beginning to retreat into his usual cold persona. The hybrid muttered, “I was just looking for my book. If you happened to know where the coffee is, that would help. That’s all.”

The cardinal handed him a bag of coffee beans, still smiling warmly. “And I think your book’s over there, honey.”

Shadow took his book and turned to walk out of the room, nodding a quiet ‘thank you’ as he did so.

However...the second he set a foot outside the kitchen doorway, he froze. Looking back over his shoulder, he asked, “...how much more do you have to do?”

It would be downright rude to leave his hosts doing all the work, wouldn’t it?

...and why did that sentence sound like someone else had said it?

“Oh! Well, we have the eggs, and the waffles, and the…” the bat began to rattle off a long list of the different things they had to make. “But don’t worry about us, dear, you have your book to read!”

He wavered a moment longer in the doorway, before reluctantly putting the book down. Walking back to stand in front of them, he sighed. “Where are the aprons, then?” he asked flatly.

“Are you sure, honey?” Camellia asked. “You really needn’t trouble yourself…”

Shadow raised a brow ever so slightly. “I’m sure.”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet!” Rouge’s mother gasped. “We usually get help a little later on, but if you really want to…”

“I have a little experience with cooking, but not much.” he warned, taking the apron she offered him and putting it on. (This was true. He only knew how to make waffles and French toast, and that was just because Rouge decided she would go without breakfast if she had to cook.)

The cheerful cardinal pulled him over to the counter, making Shadow startle slightly. “Have you ever made hash browns before, honey? Those shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“No…?” he said, a little confused. “I...I’ve never had those before. What are they?”

“What?” Lila cried out, on the other side of the room. “What has Rouge been feeding you? Well, it’s about time you learned then.” She moved over to stand next to Shadow, handing him a bag of potatoes.

The hedgehog just stared at the vegetables, his mind going blank.

He needed to have his coffee before he dealt with this. Now.

…

Two hours and several handfuls of coffee beans later, Shadow could say that he absolutely knew what hash browns were, having produced enough of them to feed an army. He had also made veritable mountains of scrambled eggs and stacks of pancakes, all while asking ‘Are you sure we need this many?’. He’d thought that the dinner spread was incredible last night, but seeing everything as it was being made only served to emphasize just how much food everyone here needed.

A few other family members had shown up near the end to help out Rouge’s parents, but the real flow of people was only just beginning. Young children were now rushing down the stairs, lured by the smell of breakfast. A few adults began to come down as well, along with Rouge and Omega.

The younger bat looked a little surprised to see Shadow in the kitchen, and he internally cringed as he realized just how bad he must look right now. His quills were tied back in a sloppy ponytail and the apron he’d been given was more than a little long on him. It wasn’t long enough to conceal his slippers, though, and his sweater was rolled up past his elbows, while his arms were covered in flour, sugar, and even a little bit of oil.

“Aww, hon! You’ve been helping!” she said, batting her eyelashes in a blatantly over-the-top manner. She was clearly fighting the urge to laugh at his appearance.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Don’t rub it in.”

Rouge’s mother bustled up at that, smiling warmly at him. Shadow became significantly more uncomfortable- he was used to having glowers and wide-eyed stares directed at him, not...that.

“He just walked over and demanded an apron, then he got right to work!” she said cheerfully. “He’s really quite helpful, honestly!”

Omega looked at the older bat. “Shadow does not like to admit that he’s helping, even when he is very clearly doing so. His pride is too great to ever admit that he’d do such a thing.”

The hybrid scowled. “That is not true.”

Rouge giggled. “Oh, it’s not, hm? Then what about the time you finished-”

“-don’t you dare-”

“-cleaning my room when I-”

“-now you know how it feels, Shadow-”

“-shut up-”

“-took a quick break, or the time when-”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Shadow roared, leaping at her. Rouge’s mother seemed quite startled at this, but Rouge started cackling just like last night, and Omega looked incredibly smug (somehow), watching as she dodged his attack.

“Just look a little sad, Mom, and maybe tell him you’d be ‘ever so grateful’ and he’ll drop everything to do iiiaaaAAAAH!!”

Shadow had managed to catch Rouge and pin her down on the couch. “Take it back.”

“Never.” she said, smiling sweetly at him.

The hybrid prepared himself to inflict some sort of punishment (messing up her makeup, perhaps, or tickling) when he was hoisted bodily and flung over a very square and very metallic shoulder.

“Umph.” he wheezed in a very undignified manner as Omega hauled him out of the room.

The robot looked very pleased with himself. “Ah yes. Revenge is truly sweet.”

...

“Alright, guys!” Rouge announced after breakfast. “It’s perfect weather out, so you know what we’re gonna do? We are going sledding.”

Shadow- who had been cleaning up and lost in thought- nearly hit the ceiling. “Wait, what?”

“Don’t worry, hon, we’ll get you all wrapped up first.” Rouge said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The hybrid’s body immediately sagged in poorly disguised relief.

Five minutes later, Shadow wore three layers of shirts, a coat, sweatpants, snow boots, thick gloves, a hat, and a scarf. “I look like an idiot.” he growled.

“Would you prefer to be cold?” Omega asked him dryly.

Shadow shuddered at the very thought. Pulling his clothes a little tighter, he was suddenly launched back into the past, a very particular memory running through his mind.

“You ready for lessons today, Shadow?” a young, blond-haired girl asked.

Maria.

Shadow, at the perky young age of two and two-thirds (eight mentally), leaned on the edge of her bed, smiling. “Always!”

Professor Gerald entered shortly with their lesson for the day- exponentials for Maria and multiplying fractions for Shadow- and began to teach.

As Shadow worked on his problems later, the professor’s voice going on in the background as he spoke to his granddaughter, he began to notice his fingers trembling. Weird.

The longer he worked, the more it spread, until his fur was bristling and his whole body shook occasionally. But he was the Ultimate Lifeform! He was made to be tough!

So he kept on going.

Eventually, his breath began to come short and his teeth clicked together. He accidentally dropped his pencil, his fingers trembling too much to hold it.

Maria noticed.

“Shadow, are you alright?” she asked. “Come here for a second…”

He walked over, trying to keep his legs from shaking and failing miserably. She reached out to touch his arm, but gasped as soon as she felt his fur.

“Maria!” he cried out, worried. “Maria, what’s wrong?”

“You’re freezing, Shadow! Come here…”

She pulled him onto the bed next to her, the warm quilt on it keeping her from struggling as Shadow had.

He let out an involuntary sigh as warmth began to flood his body, melting away the shudders and allowing his breathing to return to normal.

“Strange…” the professor had said, after getting Shadow a warm jacket to wear. “This was unexpected- I didn’t think it was so cold! I know the temperature on the space station is meant to simulate wintertime inside on Earth, but it’s only an indoor climate.” He’d later discovered that Shadow’s DNA predisposed him to get cold easily.

Or as Rouge put it: “You’re half lizard, hon. I’m honestly surprised you don’t spend all day lying on hot rocks when it’s cold.”

That event had led to a lifelong hatred of Space Colony ARK’s air conditioning (and several heated glares at the ventilation system for Maria’s benefit).

And then…

Shadow remembered what it felt like to have ice cover his body. When he’d woken up from his frozen sleep, he’d been filled with a chill he just couldn’t shake.

He’d been able to ignore it in his quest for revenge, but from then until he finally went Super, he had struggled to become warm, even in the tropical heat of the jungle. A cold sensation had settled in his very bones.

But now, he no longer felt frozen inside, and the cold was just an irritation, albeit a slightly more emotionally charged one.

Wasn’t everything.

Rouge and Omega had both been incredibly understanding, though. The bat had never made him go outside when it was cold, and she often dumped armfuls of blankets on him at random moments. (He appreciated it more than he let on.) The E-series robot was more subtle in his support, doing things like handing Shadow an extra scarf before he left their house or silently placing a mug of hot chocolate next to him when he shivered.

And now, they were standing in front of him, having packed all of these clothes for his benefit.

Somehow, Shadow couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

“No,” he sighed, “I suppose I don’t.”

“Alright, guys, let’s go!” Rouge practically dragged them out the door, pushing Shadow up onto Omega’s shoulders and then flying up to grab his hands once they were outside.

“I will never comprehend how such a small being has the power to lift both myself and Shadow.” Omega commented as they took off.

“Lots of practice- hff- and weight training- hh- does the trick.” Rouge gasped, evidently straining to keep them in the air. “I’m- ngh- out of practice.”

“It’s fine, Rouge.” Shadow said, his voice muffled by the scarf. “Take your time.”

Eventually, they made it to a giant hill with an incredibly steep slope. As they trudged up to the top, the (relatively) small hedgehog began to notice just how very angled and high the incline was...

Shadow regretted everything.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Rouge?” he asked, watching as Omega lay down on what would have been his chest to be the actual sled.

“Of course, hon! It’s going to be great!”

“Uh…” the hedgehog muttered nervously, even as he allowed Rouge to pull him onto the robot’s back. “I…”

“Alright let’s go.” Omega said quickly, firing his rocket boosters.

Rouge whooped and Shadow (to his eternal shame) screamed as they blasted down the hill at top speed, flying across a patch of ice at the bottom and skidding to a stop several yards away. Panting heavily from his adrenaline rush, Shadow fought to get his thoughts in order. “That...that was….”

“Awesome!” Rouge shouted. “We’re doing that again!”

“...alright?” Shadow agreed. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice, but it was a little fun.

The next time, Rouge tried lying down and yelled the whole way- not being able to see where you were going made things a lot more scary. Omega tried carrying them up to the top of the hill as well, completely eliminating the usual grind of dragging a sled up the slope that came with this activity. Shadow got into it eventually, clearly enjoying himself despite the fact that he never quite yelled like Rouge as they careened wildly downhill.

Eventually, Rouge convinced Shadow to try lying down as well. “Don’t worry, hon, I’ll hang onto you and make sure nothing bad happens.” she reassured him.

“Okay...okay. Just make sure you hold on tight.” Shadow groaned, clinging to Omega with enough force to strain his fingers.

They blasted off down the hill and Shadow shouted in surprise- this was so much more intense! He felt every bump and jolt all the way down, but it was all fun.

Until Rouge yelled, “Omega! Tree!!”

Shadow gasped, startled. There was a tree and it was coming up-!

Omega fired his left booster, spinning them far away from the tree. Unfortunately, that meant spinning literally, as he’d majorly overcompensated for the potential collision. Whirling around in a circle, both Shadow and Rouge were thrown off. The bat managed to catch herself mid-air with her wings, but the shaken hedgehog wasn’t quite as lucky.

Shadow’s vision went completely white. For a moment, he feared he’d hit his head- but it was only snow. He sighed in relief.

That feeling didn’t last long, though, as he felt the cold begin to seep in from all sides. Panic wormed its way into his chest- and then when he tried to move, he could only push helplessly against the lightly packed material.

Calm down. It’s only snow. Rouge and Omega will be here any minute now.

He took a deep breath.

And another.

And then Omega was there, clasping his hand to pull him out of the snow, and Rouge was sitting on his shoulder, looking worried but pleased to see him alright.

“I’m so sorry, hon, I didn’t mean for that to happen…” she said sympathetically.

“Neither did I.” Omega added, and Shadow noticed that the robot wasn’t quite looking him in the eye.

The cold was quickly banished with yet another reminder of just how much his friends cared. “It’s fine. I just…” He looked away, a little embarrassed. “I did what the therapist told me to do and just breathed, and waited for you.”

“Awww, that’s good, hon! Tolja therapy’d help somehow.” Rouge smirked at him, but it was all warmth and kindness underneath.

Shadow shuffled awkwardly in the snow. “It seems that way...I’ve decided to keep going with it, after all.”

“Excellent.” Omega said, and Shadow felt even better. “Now we should get back. Shadow appears to require the immediate application of blankets and hot cocoa.”

The snowy, slushy hedgehog was not in the mood to protest, and simply said, “Yes. Now.”

...

Two pairs of red eyes narrowed in a face-off. It had taken their owners over an hour to get to this point- the final competition. The winner of this match would be crowned champion.

About half of Rouge’s family watched, holding their breath as Shadow opened his mouth to speak.

“E-4.”

“Miss.”

“Dammit!”

Shadow didn’t care one bit who might hear him swear right now, his teeth gritted and mind racing a mile a minute. He was supposed to be good at tactics and strategy, yet here he was losing at Warboat. Badly.

Three of his ships, covered in red markers, lay slain off to one side. Meanwhile, Omega had only lost one and a half of his. Accursed computer processors.

The hedgehog was certain that Omega would have a gigantic grin on his face, if it were possible for him to produce one. As it was, he stared constantly at Shadow, even as he moved his markers around.

“C-6.”

Shadow felt relief flood his very soul. “Miss.”

It didn’t take long for Shadow’s fourth ship to get knocked out, even as he still searched for Omega’s third. He was getting trounced, and he knew it. Yet still, somehow, he had a shred of hope.

But then, two rounds later, he snarled furiously when Omega switched his LED eyes from full circles to half-moons- an evident hint at a smile.

“H-2.”

Shadow’s stomach dropped. “No!”

“Yes.” the robot said proudly, before planting a red marker on his board.

The hedgehog began to search frantically for Omega’s ship, his moves becoming increasingly random and less thought-out as imminent destruction closed in.

Finally, something happened. “A-1.”, he muttered, resigned to his painful end.

“...hit.”

“Yessss.” Shadow hissed, somehow feeling triumph despite his imminent defeat.

“Yay.” Rouge remarked dryly from the spectating area. “Consolation prize.”

“Shut uuup.” he whined petulantly, before realizing how very relaxed his demeanor had become. Straightening his back and smoothing down his quills, he allowed that familiar blank expression to settle back into place. “No distracting the players, please.” he added coolly.

Was it him, or was that a flash of...disappointment he caught from her?

Anyhow, he lost on the very next turn. Grumbling quietly, he went to sit down on a couch as Omega partied loudly with all of the children, blasting up-tempo dance music from his speakers.

It was one of the children (such sweet little kids, some of them were) who suggested that they make trophies. Pulling out cardboard and paper to draw on, they quickly made little certificates and gold, silver and bronze medals. One parent found some ribbon to thread through a punched-out hole, and then the little ones all scrambled to set up a proper ceremony “like on TV”.

As Shadow bent down to receive his handmade medal and crayon certificate, he knew without a doubt that this was being saved. For good.

…

Later, Shadow was relaxing in his bedroom when Rouge’s mother walked in, Omega following behind her.

“Oh, good, I’ve found you!” she said, her voice bright as always, but...off, this time. “Would you mind coming with me for a minute?”

As Shadow followed her out of the room, exchanging bewildered looks with Omega, he realized what the strange tone was.

Her voice was brittle. Fragile. As though it might break if one of them spoke wrong.

They entered a different room, one high up and far away from the rest of the party. Rouge’s mother stood in front of them for a moment, pulling at her sweater before deciding to sit down. She looked at her gloves for a moment, clearly thinking…

And then promptly burst into tears.

The two were incredibly startled at this, and despite both being relatively...emotionally inexperienced, they gathered around her to try and help.

“Uh...I...is something wrong?” Shadow asked, immediately kicking himself mentally. Of course something’s wrong, people don’t cry if everything’s perfectly fine!

Omega, thankfully, got straight to the point. “What is it?”

“It’s...no, no, it was...Rouge.” the bat said, her voice sounding choked.

“Rouge?!” Shadow’s quills bristled. “What happened?”

“She...when Rouge came back. From her two years, you know, away-”

Shadow and Omega did know, now.

“-she came to the party two years ago, and she was different. She was cold, and distant, didn’t talk, and only laughed a- at people, not with them.”

Rouge? Cold and distant?!

“She wouldn’t talk to anybody about her life- the only reason I even knew she worked for G.U.N. was the logo on the paychecks she sent. When she stopped sending those, after I told her the news about Camellia- she took that well enough, but after that...I heard nothing. Nothing, for almost ten months.”

Omega’s eyes were wide, and Shadow was sure his own were as well.

“A-and then one day, she called me up. Her voice was different. Warmer. Happier. She apologized for her silence, and said she’d been in a bad place. I blamed myself, and accepted her apology, of course. She had to grow up so young, do so much all by herself… and she paid the price for it...for a while.

“And then I happened to look at an old article a couple weeks later, and I realized why she was better- and I couldn’t believe I’d missed it. My baby girl, in the news! And of all the things...fighting a world-renowned supervillain alongside the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog!

“But that wasn’t why she was better. No, when I started searching the internet frantically and saw her perched on the shoulder of a massive black and red robot, laughing uproariously- when I finally worked up the courage to go to her social media pages and saw, not darkness and pain, but her with an arm slung tightly around a young striped hedgehog, flashing the biggest smile I’d seen in years, I knew.”

Shadow’s hands were jittery and he really wished his heart would stop beating so loudly.

“It was both of you. I never found out the specifics as to how she met you two- I hope she’ll tell me the story someday- but you saved her from all of it. She had coworkers, sure, some nicer than others, but you gave her friends, and ones who understood her position at that.

“And this year- getting into a snowball fight! Telling silly stories at the dinner table! She would never have done that last year, mark my words.”

Rouge’s mother was smiling broadly through her tears now, looking at both of them. She reached out and hugged Omega, tightly but quickly, and did the same for Shadow, leaving him dumbfounded. “Just- I-

“Thank you.”

Shadow sat there for a minute, unable to do anything other than keep a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, though, he noticed some movement by the door, and spun around to see Rouge standing there, absolutely silent as mascara-filled tears streamed down her face. Her hand was clamped over her mouth, presumably to keep from making any noise.

“Rouge?” her mother asked, startled.

“Mooommmmm….” she whined, her own voice sounding tight- and then she rushed across the room and into her mother’s arms. “I love you, Mom.”

Shadow tried very hard to ignore the burning sensation just behind his eyes.

“You’re right. About, like, all of it.” Rouge said quietly, once she was finished crying with her mom. “Nothing here mattered to me when I was out there every day being, basically a soldier, y’know?”

She sighed, wiping more tears from the corners of her eyes, and stood up. “I think now’s a good time to say something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. Sorry if it isn’t perfect-” she laughed thickly- “I’m not exactly in the best state right now.”

Rouge’s mother smiled at her. “I’ll give you three some privacy, then.” she said gently, closing the door on her way out.

After she left, the younger bat resumed her impromptu speech. “Okay. Omega....chaos. Omega. Ohhh man.” She pointed at him. “That day? When you busted out of heckin’ nowhere and started blasting your machine guns like mad? O-one of the best days of my life. Wanna know why? I met you.”

Omega looked very fixedly at a point on the wall behind her.

“You literally carry me places. You crush our enemies with your epic missiles and fists of steel. You helped me prank Knuckles so bad he was checking everywhere for traps for the next week. You’re so fun and I just. You. Awesome. I can’t explain it properly right now but hopefully I’ll get to do a lot more of that later. You’re the best ever.”

“I…” Omega sounded like he was at a loss for words. “I am...honestly extremely flattered by this statement. I will continue to carry you places and destroy all who oppose us.”

“Awesome.” Rouge grinned.

“Aaaand Shadow.” She wheeled to face him, and the hedgehog in question attempted to mentally prepare himself and failed horribly. “You. You are so cool there are no words to describe it. And I don’t mean because you own a motorbike or you dress in all black or any of that stuff.

“I mean because like half the people who’ve been important in your life so far have been trying to kick the ever-loving hell out of you...and yet you get up each and every single time they do it and win. Honestly...I’m proud to know you, Shadow. And I hope you know that if you need me, for anything ever, know that I will give up the Master Emerald in a hot second to help.

“So yeah. And you’re the first guy I’ve ever met who’s actually willing to talk makeup- let alone likes it. The one who tries all the new restaurants with me. And the only person I will ever know who can somehow handle going to the mall with me more than once in a week.” Rouge finished with a smirk. “I guess you really are Ultimate.”

Everyone in the room who had tear ducts was currently using them. A lot.

Shadow sniffed furiously and wiped tears from his eyes. “Th- thank you…” He cursed internally as his voice betrayed him.

“Oh yeah, get ready for more.” Rouge warned him. “There’s more.”

The hybrid’s throat tightened in response.

“You know how I said, before we came here, that you guys meant as much to me as my real family?”

“Yes?” Omega asked, his voice sounding a little quieter than usual.

“To heck with that. You guys don’t have to, like, change anything because of this, but you are my family. You’re both my real family. As real as Mom is.” Rouge said, her words shaky yet determined.

Shadow felt as though he’d just been struck by a bolt of lightning. Dazed, he swayed slightly, clinging to the edge of his seat.

Family?

Is...is Rouge...is Omega….

He began to hyperventilate just thinking about it, just considering that after all he’d been through, after everything he’d lived through- at the end of it all, waiting for him, right now, was a--

“Shadow. Shadow, hold your breath.” Omega reminded him, and he shut his mouth and clasped his hands tightly for a minute.

A family? My family?!

“I- yes. Please. Yes. Family sounds good.” Shadow managed to stammer.

“Well, then!” Rouge said, looking pleased. “Now I get to assume the official Big Sister duties of kicking anyone who dares look at you wrong and buying you food.”

Shadow blushed a little. “Rouge. I don’t need protecting like that...”

“I know, but since when’s that going to stop me?” she asked. “And don’t start complaining- being the baby brother’s the good life, from what I’ve heard.”

A fresh wave of tears poured down his face at the words ‘baby brother’.

Of course, that was when Omega decided to go completely off the rails. “Am I the middle sibling or the youngest?”

Shadow and Rouge stared at him for a second. Then they both started laughing wildly, the toll of the various emotional highs and lows hitting them all at once.

“M-middle one.” Rouge gasped out eventually. “Definitely, the attention-seeking middle sibling.”

Omega made angry eyes for a second, but reconsidered. “Fine. That...yes, that works.”

“Family group hug?” Rouge suggested, smiling warmly at them both.

Shadow nodded weakly. “F-family group hug.”

Omega picked them both up and held them tightly. “You both will always be my favorite organic beings.”

“Thanks, Omega.” Rouge said, squeezing them both a little tighter.

…

A couple of hours later, Shadow was pulled out of his room for the third time in two days, again by Rouge’s mother. “Sorry to bother you, honey, I just wondered...would you mind giving us a hand with dinner? You were such a great help with breakfast that Cami and I had hoped....”

Curse you, Rouge.

So now he was in the kitchen. Again.

Only things were very different this time. Now, there were about ten people in there, all rushing around in some complicated pattern and carrying hot, cold, cooked, uncooked, and various other kinds of dishes all over without running into each other.

Somehow.

Shadow, despite feeling very overwhelmed and (strangely) underqualified, took one step into the fray- and immediately jumped several feet straight back as he was nearly mowed down by one of Rouge’s auncles rushing past with some sort of casserole.

“Sorry, kiddo!” they yelled over their shoulder, handing off the dish to someone else before sprinting back across the kitchen. Seconds later, another relative vaulted over the island in the middle of the room to get to the sink as quickly as possible, while carrying a semi-full plate that he somehow managed to keep steady.

The hybrid suddenly remembered several battles and sparring matches that he’d participated in. This...actually looked a lot like those.

He locked eyes with Rouge’s stepmother. She didn’t have time to say anything to him, instead just tilting her head in one direction. Shadow’s eyes snapped to a frying pan left unattended and knew what he had to do.

He took a running start and launched himself clear over several people’s heads before sticking the landing right in front of the pan. Several people applauded, and one person- the vaulting relative from earlier- frowned, having been severely upstaged.

So it was a competition, then?

Shadow looked directly at him and smiled like a feral shark.

...

The wild food preparation/parkour show finished with several people throwing the food to each other across the room like in a musical (Shadow thanked his lucky stars that he’d caught his- it was made of glass), and he decided it only existed because Rouge’s family was extremely over-the-top.

Immediately following that, everyone gathered around for another large dinner, during which Shadow only ate a little. And after too many more embarrassing stories, everyone gathered into a room to watch one of those cheesy Wintersweek romance movies that always came out in droves at this time of year.

Shadow said that they were all incredibly cookie-cutter style stories, each one following the exact same plot. Rouge claimed they were uplifting, fun stories and that she didn’t care if they were all the same. Omega liked to categorize all of the things that were wrong with them, so he was willing to sit with Rouge as she watched them.

The hybrid had scoffed cynically and walked away, filling the kitchen sink with water in the next room over and making a big deal out of clattering the plates around that he planned to wash.

Romance movies were so overrated.

Shadow could still see the screen through the doorway (not that he wanted to), and despite his wishes, the movie kept distracting him. He couldn’t stop himself from looking up to see what was going on.

It appeared to be a classic enemies to lovers story, as currently the shy young woman with a rock band shirt- who also happened to be the main star (cliche alert)- was glowering furiously at the trendy, popular blonde movie star. Who was, of course, berating the main character for her poor customer service.

At a coffee shop.

Shadow sighed loudly.

And of course, just as he’d suspected (he wasn’t paying that much attention to the movie all these films were the same really) they both ended up competing. In a Wintersweek cooking competition.

The movie star was confident she would win. Her film crew was ever-present, taking all the best shots of her as she ‘worked’.

Obviously, the main character was determined to beat her through hard work and skill. She was fully prepared to show this star just who she was dealing with…

...and all that and so on. Shadow rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the soapy water.

And then (this movie was like every single other one!!) their partners both came down with an illness that wiped out several other competitors as well. So naturally they were forced to work together. And of course they worked well, too.

(Shadow had stopped working on the dishes by now. Somewhere around here, he’d forgotten to look away.)

By the time these two had begun to look past each other’s flaws and see the real person beneath them, his eyes were riveted to the screen. It was still bad, he told himself, even as he watched every move they made. It was still bad.

They were working together now, smiling slowly and talking quickly and sometimes, occasionally, laughing. The obligatory hands-touching-by- accident scene happened. The two looked into each other’s eyes.

Shadow couldn’t decide how he felt anymore. Confusing emotions swirled inside him.

The kiss scene. (He saw it coming a mile away.)

The awkwardness. (Just to build up the tension.)

Their lips meet. (And a little voice deep down inside Shadow whispers…

...that feels right.)

The hybrid didn’t move a muscle for the next several minutes of the movie, refusing to miss a moment.

The couple won the competition. Of course, he thought, some form of rational thought returning to him. That was to be expected.

As the movie ended on their celebratory kiss, Shadow began, strangely, to feel as though someone had just punched him in the chest. When the credits rolled, he left, walking away from the movie, trying to get rid of this strange sensation.

He heard the click of Rouge’s high heels follow a minute after. And then the stomp of Omega’s ironclad steps.

Folding his arms, he tried to project an I-don’t-care attitude. Unfortunately for him, Rouge and Omega could a) tell that he was projecting said attitude and b) figured out quickly what he was really thinking. Curses.

“Was it the movie?” Omega asked bluntly.

The only acknowledgment Shadow gave was a slight twitch of his shoulders up and down.

“Did you hate it?” Rouge questioned.

Again, just a twitch of the shoulders.

They both studied him for a second.

“No…” the bat whispered, her teal-shadowed eyes widening. “No, you liked it! You liked it!”

“I did not!” Shadow spat furiously, more venom than he’d intended finding its way into his voice.

“You did.” Omega said. It wasn’t a question.

“I mean…” he sighed, looking away. “Let’s not talk about it, okay?”

“Come on, Shadow…” Rouge said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“Please?” Omega asked.

The hybrid groaned. “I...it was just- it wasn’t good, are we clear? It was just sappy. But. If you insist. I suppose...romance...argh. I can’t say it!”

“It’s okay, hon, just be patient.” Rouge said soothingly.

“Ugh...I mean...I’ve never dated someone before. Is it...really that nice?” Shadow muttered. His eyes narrowed, daring them to taunt him.

Omega looked at him, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “You want to date someone?”

“Wh-no, not like that! I- I mean...not just anyone…” he sputtered.

“So you’ve got someone in mind, then?” Rouge smirked at him, raising a brow.

“No!” he snapped, his eyes wide. “I- just meant- promise me you’ll never set me up on a blind date, are we clear?”

“Promise.” she said. “And I’m not crossing my fingers, either.” The bat waved both of them in front of her to demonstrate.

“However, we will force you to converse with others at future social events.” Omega declared. “I have heard that this is the first step in a successful relationship.”

Shadow scowled, but without any real heat. “Don’t you dare.”

Rouge giggled. “No more sulking edgily in the corner for you, emo-hog!”

He groaned. “Are you both turning against me? Really?”

“Of course we are.” Omega remarked. “That is exactly what family is for.”

“I don’t know whether to feel flattered or irritated.” Shadow grumbled.

“Flattered. Definitely~.” Rouge quipped with a wink.

“Ugh. Well, I’m going to bed now. I’ve had enough of this nonsense.” he sighed, stalking out of the room.

“Aw, come on, Shadow!” the bat said teasingly. “Don’t you want to watch the sequel?”

The hybrid spun around so fast his quills nearly sliced up the doorway. “I’m sorry, the what now?”

“The sequel.” Omega repeated flatly. “You know you do.”

He hesitated.

“Fine.” Shadow growled through gritted teeth, his hands occasionally clenching into fists. “But only if I get to run commentary with Omega.”

“Sounds fair!” Rouge chirped, flying off with the other two right behind her.

As they walked away, Shadow in the back, he allowed himself a small, secret smile. They truly cared about him, and he knew they only wanted to see him happy. The teasing was all their way of showing affection. His eyes began to glimmer softly with a faint hint of happiness as fond thoughts and memories drifted through his mind. One sentence, though, stood out above all the rest.

I love my family.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark: a holiday special #team dark #several other things i should probably mention:#please please please don't sled down a hill while lying down #you might crash into a tree #only do so if you are on top of a sentient robot that can steer for you #also i will give omega ALL of the cool upgrades #you can't stop me #and i do hope shadow's not too ooc #i tried my best (even looked up character analyses) but he's SO DIFFICULT to write well #hope you enjoyed!#there's one more part left now- we can't leave our favorite gem thief out!#sol's fanfiction

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