#low quality cabbage

[lastoneout]

please have this recreation of the infamous low-quality cabbage I made myself in 20mins for my twitch streams bcs I somehow convinced myself making it from scratch was easier than just cutting it out of a screenshot

[catastrophic-crow]

pondering my orb cabbage

I heard reference to something about how all anime are required to have good looking cabbage because of That One Time. So simply looking up "anime cabbage" I found the source.

Some harem anime way back in the day had an episode where the characters cooked, and they animated cabbage so terribly like this it left a bad mark on the anime community forever. Apparently this is part of the reason why all food usually looks good in anime, even moreso than the regular show sometimes. With cabbage being especially well drawn.

A complaint, apparently in a paper.

The first show when released internationally was reanimated in this part.

And high quality or low quality cabbage is sometimes referenced.

I learned of this because the most recent Hologra episode has noel eating cabbage, tearing apart a fine quality cabbage into two low poly halves.

[prettieinpink]

YOUR BEGINNER GUIDE TO CYCLE SYNCING — DIVINE FEMININE

based on a health link article

Cycle syncing is when we match our menstrual cycle to our health lifestyle, such as nutrition and exercise. By using your menstrual cycle as a guide of your health throughout, you become in tune of your hormonal needs

Our menstrual cycle has 3 distinct phases excluding your period, which occur over a month.

Follicular(menstruation happens in this phase). Lasts for 6-14 days. Estrogen and progesterone are increasing.

Ovulatory. Lasts for 15-17 days. Estrogen is at its peak, testosterone and progesterone are increasing.

Luteal. Lasts for 18-28 days. Estrogen and progesterone are high, but if the egg stays unfertilised, the hormones decrease and the cycle repeats.

EXERCISE

Menstrual/Follicular

Your hormones are at its lowest, so light exercise and cardio is better suited for your stamina here. Yoga, walking, stretching, jogging

Ovulation

Hormones are increasing, so high intensity exercises are suited for this phase as your energy is higher. gym, cycling, skip rope, running, HIIT

Luteal

As your body prepares itself for another cycle, energy may be low, so light or moderate exercise is best. Pilates, ab exercises, any strength training

NUTRITION

Menstrual/follicular

Your Estrogen will begin to increase in this stage. Drink warm beverages to help with cramps. Despite your cravings, limit fatty/oily foods, caffeine and watch your sodium intake. Eat foods that help with metabolising your estrogen.

broccoli, sauerkraut, cabbage, high quality meats, cauliflower, spinach, sesame seeds, flaxseeds

Ovulation

Your estrogen is the highest so opt for foods that support your liver, protect you from environmental toxins(as they can impact your hormones) and are anti-inflammatory.

Leafy greens, whole grains, eggs, legumes, high quality meat & fish, garlic, almonds, whole fruits

Luteal

Estrogen and progesterone are high, but will begin to decrease. Magnesium rich foods to help fight fatigue, and foods that help with serotonin are best.

Leafy greens, quinoa, buckwheat, dark chocolate, spinach, pumpkin seeds, sweet potatoes, beans, avocado

This is the phase when your cycle is beginning to repeat, so you want to ensure that your diet is optimal. Avoid caffeinated drinks, sugar, deep fried foods and high amounts of dairy.

To start implementing these changes to your lifestyle, track your cycle and begin to identify how long each phase lasts for. Pay attention to how your body responds to each phase.

with that, I wish you luck 💖🎀 i hope we all stay healthy and happy together 👏

[mariacallous]

Looking for a Shabbat dinner centerpiece or a hearty midweek meal? Picture cubes of eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes cooked together to create that special harmony only veggies that grew together in the sun achieve. You’re thinking of ratatouille, right? But what I have in mind is a heartier dish from Romania and Bulgaria called ghiveci or guvech.

Romanian ghiveci and Bulgarian guvech are indeed very similar to the famous ratatouille, but being peasant’s food, they’re more rustic and substantial. The veggies for guvech are cut into large, uneven chunks, and can be cooked all together at once, while for ratatouille, each component is fried separately before they are combined. This makes guvech preparation much easier, and allows for creative improvisations; you can easily add any vegetables in season. Besides the mandatory eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, green beans or okra are common. Guvech is seasoned very simply with salt, black pepper and occasionally paprika, to let the produce shine. The Bulgarian version is cooked with fatty meat, while most Romanian versions are vegan.

“In Bulgaria, guvech used to be cooked in a clay pot called gyuveche,” Etti Ben Yosef, a Bulgarian Jew who lives in Israel, told me. “The stew was cooked in the oven for many hours at low temperature.” 

But these days, when Ben Yosef makes guvech for Shabbat dinner, she uses a pressure cooker to precook the beef short ribs before adding them to the vegetables. Then, she cooks the entire stew on the stove for a long time, putting it in the oven for the final hour to give it a nice crust. She feels lucky to share the recipe with her adult children. “I keep the tradition so the kids will remember,” she said.

Guvech’s origins can be traced to the Ottoman Empire that ruled the Balkan region for hundreds of years. The original Turkish dish, called güveç, is cooked in a wide, clay dish by the same name. It’s very similar to the Bulgarian guvech and includes chicken, lamb or beef. There are many other variations of the dish throughout the Balkans. Bosnian Đuveč or djuvec is the name of a clay pot as well as a veggie casserole that’s cooked with rice; Greek giouvetsi is also cooked with rice. In Romania, the eggplant-tomato version is considered summer ghiveci, while winter ghiveci is prepared with carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and mushrooms. 

Bulgarian Sephardi Jews and Romanian Ashkenazi Jews brought guvech to Israel (where it’s pronounced “ghe-vech”) and made the dish widely popular. No wonder, given that eggplant and tomatoes are so beloved in Israel and are of such high quality. Early Israeli versions can be found in Molly Bar David’s “Folkloric Cookbook” from 1964. The first version includes 14 different vegetables (including celery root and cauliflower) and meat. The second version is for Romanian ghiveci that’s baked with a whole fish on top.

The vegetarian Romanian version is probably most common in Israel nowadays. And although it is  traditionally served over rice, I like to serve it on another Romanian staple, mamaliga. It’s the definition of comfort food. 

This recipe is the Bulgarian version of guvech that includes meat. You can make the recipe vegetarian by simply omitting the meat. The rest of the ingredients and instructions stay the same.

Notes:

It is recommended, and easy, to add any seasonal vegetables to the basic guvech. Consider adding: 1 lb butternut squash or sweet potato, cut into ½-inch dice; ½ lb whole okra, stems removed; or ½ lb green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces.

You can cook the meat, if using, up to two days in advance. Store the cooked meat in the fridge with the cooking liquid. Before using, remove from the fridge and discard the fat on the top of the pot (the fat will be solid and white in color). 

Guvech keeps in the fridge for up to four days.

[shoku-and-awe]

@melissaabroad, I dug up some old photos! I've seen a few in a neighborhood of Western Tokyo with a lot of agricultural fields but not really elsewhere in the city? They sell local produce and sometimes potted plants.

They're pretty low-tech "machines" and only take exact change. Sometimes the farmer will make change for you, sometimes they're far from the farm and you're on your own. Oh, also, it seems like the price is set per cubbyhole and can't be changed—if they want to sell a cabbage for ¥250, they put it in a ¥300 cubby with a ¥50 coin taped to it.

They have a calendar up listing what items they expect and when. When I've bought unusual vegetables there, they sometimes come with recipe ideas. The food prices are generally comparable to normal supermarket veggies, sometimes cheaper, but the quality is fresher or comparable to organic. The plant prices are usually cheap, and they generally do surprisingly well? At least the herbs have.

The disadvantage is that you can't really rely on them. Selection is limited and unpredictable, they tend to sell out early, and they pull down the shutters at 7pm. But idk, even when I end up missing out, their existence makes me happy! They were a good destination for my shitty pandemic walks in 2020. They will make you smile.

(Referencing this post)

[rainbowgod666]

*s q u i n t*

hey hang on.

It's so fucked up that the girls in fortnite have to fight instead of frotting and sucking each other off.

[angel-dustspo]

Daily check in – Day 12

Workouts:

played basketball for 25 mins

4km night walk

Steps: 13 575

Eating:

breakfast: yogurt bowl with chia seeds, banana, cranberries, tangerine + 3 brazil nuts

snack: an apple, ½ of a sandwich

lunch: big portion of sweet mac n cheese, ½ baked pumpkin, ½ carrot and some cabbage salad

dinner: ½ vanilla protein pudding, some yogurt with pomegranates, 1 rice cake with banana and honey, whipped cream

Water intake: 2 liters

Sleep: low quality, like 5h

Studying:

Did extra work for english like 2h

2 hours of english tutoring

Sreen time: really low

Self care:

Procrastinated for a bit but did everything for the physical self care!!!

Watched my favourite recovery youtube channel while painting my nails (thing that I never made time for but I've wanted for the longest time)

Emotion of the day:

Happiness, had a really great day, looked well and laughed a lot!!

Thoughts for tomorrow:

I hope everything goes really well on my math exam🙏

I hope I look and feel my best tomorrow!!

I will probably attempt at making muffins for the first time (?)

[mr-jack-letterman]

ELEMENT OF SURPRISE- 💥

Even more au doodles because I have way too much free time.

This time around 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 Anti-Power Couple Au 🎉🎉🎉🎉 (by @starry-blue-echoes)

I think my Hol Horse bias is showing-

Anyway cute Holpol nonsense YIPPEEEE (click for better quality)

I simultaneously love and hate the design I made for him. Cause on one hand I think he looks cool as hell but on the other he has so many details the amount of times I forgot his ear piercing/braid/stubble/bullet necklace/strings on his hat/wedding ring/which side the wrist bands went on is low-key ridiculous and completely my own fault 💀/silly

These are the best hands I've ever drawn in my life ngl.

Fun fact: "Mon petit chou" with no context means "my little cabbage" when directly translated to English. Because you know if Polnareff is gonna call Hol a French pet name it's gonna be something simultaneously rly sweet in French but wack in English NSNDNNDD

There's more context than that behind why "my little cabbage" is considered a French term of endearment but that's an info dump for another day 😭

I don't have much to say for this one other than the doddle of one of the Sex Pistols holding Emperor is one of my favorite things and I'm using it as a reaction image now.

HOLPOL WEDDING

I wish I could have done more with their outfits but I just didn't have the time to design anything rly unique 😭.

I genuinely hope the random huge drops of fanart aren't overwhelming or anything for ya- I just get in a flow of doin em and don't realize how much I've done until I've ran out of scenarios to draw :') wish ya the best ✌️/gen

[soylent-crocodile]

Manocow (Monster)

(Art by Anonymous)

(This was mostly inspired by my love of weird medieval bestiary creatures, as well as being, yknow. A sea cow.)

CR5 CN Large Magical Beast HD6

One of the sea’s strangest creations, the manocow is a rare creature known as a temptor to some men and a savior to others, luring some men to a watery grave and letting others ride to safety on their backs. These are not disparate groups with differing philosophies; a manocow is ruled by whims as shifting as the tides, and one who seeks the sounds of sailors meeting their deaths on the rocks might feel a compulsion to help others in a fortnight. These are motivated neither by malice of compassion, but by a simple curiosity and desire for sensation. Stranded sailors are sometimes known to use manocows for companionship, although their minds are ill suited to interpersonal relationships or conversation.

Manocows are common prey to larger, more powerful aquatic monsters. They are a favored food to sea cats and sea drakes, although drakes have been known to use the hypnotic abilities of manocow to their advantage, letting them lure sailors into the water and snapping up the distracted humanoids. 

Manocows are surprisingly fast and agile swimmers. They can exist safely on land for some time, but their human hands make them poor walkers and drying out makes them at risk for infection; as such, they mostly stay to beaches and sandbars. Their inability to travel inland obviously restricts their diet, and it’s rare knowledge that a manocow has a deep hunger for cabbages, which are inland plants. A manocow will make most any deal for a fresh head of cabbage, although they aren’t good at sticking to such a deal for long. 

This creature looks like a long-horned bull with a long meaty body that ends in a finned tail, but its most unnerving quality is the human hands it bears on its forelegs. Misc- CR5 CN Large Magical Beast HD6 Init:+1 Senses: Perception:+9, Low-Light Vision Stats- Str:19(+4) Dex:13(+1) Con:20(+5) Int:5(-3) Wis:16(+3) Cha:16(+3) BAB:+6/+1 Space:10ft Reach:10ft Defense- HP:63(6d10+30) AC:16(+6 Natural, +1 Dex, -1 Size) Fort:+10 Ref:+6 Will:+7 CMD:22 Resist: Cold 10, Fire 10 Special Defenses: DR2/Slashing and Piercing  Offense- Gore +9(2d8+6) CMB:+11(+13 Bull Rush) Speed:10ft, 50ft Swim Special Attacks: Proficiency with Simple Weapons Feats- Power Attack (-2/+4), Lingering Performance, Improved Bull Rush Skills- Bluff +4, Perception +9, Survival +4, Swim +13 Special Qualities- Bardic Performance (17/day, DC16, Fascination, Inspire Courage +2, Inspire Competence +2), Tempting Song Ecology- Environment- Beach, Oceans (Cold, Temperate) Languages- Common, Aquan Organization- Solitary Treasure- None Special Abilities- Bardic Performance- A manocow is a skilled performer, particularly talented in the vocal arts. They gain Bardic Performance as a bard with level equal to their racial hit die, except they only gain access to Fascination, Inspire Courage, and Inspire Competence. Proficiency with Simple Weapons- A manocow is proficient with all simple weapons. Tempting Song- As an immediate action, a manocow can convince a person who has been Fascinated by its bardic abilities to leap into the water. That person must make a will save with DC equal to the manocow’s Fascinate ability or leap into the water and attempt to swim to the manocow.

[petermorwood]

An old article, but amusing regardless.

First it was James Lileks and the Gallery of Regrettable Food. What were the photo editors on these cookbooks thinking?

I'm well aware the colour quality of old pictures degrades and yellows, to their detriment, but IMO the images on that website can't have looked very appetising even when new.

There are ways to assemble variegated foodstuffs on a plate that looks attractive, and then there are these.

Dimly-lit meals for one and Sad desk lunches are yet more shuddersome antidotes to lovingly-photographed food porn erotica (porn would be messy close-ups of eating it).

However, despite what the article suggests, food photography doesn't need "the highest-spec kit while dangling from light-fittings for just the right angle" to look good.

*****

Using a phonecam while out with your friends in a crowded pizzeria isn't going to give the best results, but then neither is a joyless packed lunch on a rainy Monday in February, even if shot with a $33,000 camera like this Hasselblad, and full studio lighting.

@dduane's hobby site European Cuisines (down for maintenance) did just fine for years with a Sony W17, a compact digicam with a superb Zeiss lens.

Here are Sony shots of an apple upside-down cake made with Beauty of Bath apples from our own tree (they really are pink all the way through) and a quiche Lorraine just out of the oven.

After a while I got a second-hand Nikon D40 DSLR; the money saved on second-hand let me afford an excellent lens, a top-of-the-line flashgun and that neat little flash which is so much better than the camera's built-in one.

Here's the Nikon's take on last year's roast-goose-and-all-the-trimmings Christmas Dinner, as well as bacon (corned beef is the Americanised version) and cabbage for St Patrick's Day.

Now we're mostly using HTC U11+ smartphones whose cameras are not only top-notch but have excellent low-light capability.

This is good, because our lighting has always been mostly natural daylight with occasional flash and reflector-screen assistance.

Here are U11+ images of soda bread done in a cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven, and Geflügelragout (a stew of roast chicken with red wine and lemon) with saffron-pumpkin noodles.

This has become Brightwood Vintner's Chicken in the Food and Cooking of the Middle Kingdoms project, and why not? It's delicious! Here's DD and U11+ in action, and the noodle close-up she was shooting in that pic.

None of the food we shoot is "styled" for photography with varnish for glossiness, paint for cream, machine oil for honey, microwaved cotton-wool for steam and lots of other cunning but inedible trickery.

Our stuff is all for eating - so much so that getting "photograph the food" and "eat the food" in the proper order can sometimes be a struggle.

Like these crumpets, for instance.

You would, wouldn't you?

I nearly did, giving DD conniptions because she hadn't photographed them yet, and the Kerrygold butter was melting Just Right...

In a choice between shooting Have To Eat images and Want To Eat ones, we'll stay on the Want To side of the fence, and if people looking at those pix also Want To take a bite out of their screens, we're getting the job done.

And we're not hanging from the light-fittings to do it... :->

[tired1mmortal]

Out of all the motifs @jelloapocalypse could have given people, I did not expect FOOD to be important symbolism in Prison of Plastic.

The candy, cake, and such that Lorelei makes takes no effort at all to make. She just waves her hand and boom instant dessert platter. This is also usually the only kind of food she makes with her epithet. What strikes me is how this is easily comparable to how Lorelei tries to connect with Molly. She makes cool worlds for fun playtime that would make any kid green with envy, but it’s little more than a low effort bribe to win over a child, like a divorced parent spoiling their kid to win custody despite being incredibly unfit to raise a child.

Then there’s the fact that it never lasts, because she never concentrates on it long enough for a person to digest it. This was mentioned a few times and after Giovanni’s conversation with Martin it’s clear why. She never develops her ideas. She never puts in the effort to reuse them. She never works hard towards anything. She just expects to be able to augment her way out of anything. And that’s exactly why she’s no good for Molly.

Because Lorelei always has to have her way, and always takes the easy way out at the slightest inconvenience, she could never be the dependable parental figure Molly needs.

Enter Soup Best Boy

Unlike the candy which is just empty calories soup is a meal. Even if it may not be a person’s first choice for a meal, soup is healthy. Soup is warm, comforting, nurturing, and even Charlie’s entire family got by with cabbage soup before he got the Golden Ticket. We see a lot of these soup like qualities in the book, and even back in season one.

Gio loves his boys. He gets defensive when people belittle them like when Mera belittles them after easily taking Gio and his boys down. Or when Molly implies that his minions are kinda weak. He is always very swift to defend his minions even when he was about to get beat up back in redwood run. Like any good cook he take pride in those who assist him and knows they all have their strengths.

Another major thing about Giovanni is that he’s always encouraging to his minions, especially those who need him in the moment. Admittedly Soup can burn but it’s good for people in the long run. Giovanni berates Car Crash for living up to his name but in the same sentence expresses concern that he may have astigmatism (which believe me is annoying). He was a little bit tough on Molly but that’s just to nudge her to be a little bit more assertive, and all of her friends notice the positive effect it’s had on her.

Giovanni spends almost all of the museum arc talking with or protecting Molly. After tricking indus into freeing them, Gio immediately shifts into fun older cousin mode. They make a fort, she talks to him about her problems and he listens. Unlike Mollys family he listens and he even give her advice and encouragement. Then when Sylvie come in Giovanni is quick to jump to Mollys defense and to get her out of the fire. He is very willing to put in the effort and risk himself for Molly even though they just met.

This is made even more apparent with how he is with Lorelei. He respects Molly’s input and doesn’t give Lorelei an easy in with his group, and yet, he still gives her a fair shot to join. He sets up a challenge that is designed to be impossible, not to test he capability at the task, but to test her character. He bans the use of magic because her abilities aren’t what he wants to know about. When Lorelei messes up the first batch, the first thing he does is tell her that she failed, but that it’s ok. That he doesn’t think less of her for failing. He encourages her to be better.

The second time, that’s when Lorelei gets a little burned. Giovanni tries to soften the blow but it doesn’t change the fact that Lorelei couldn’t cope with not succeeding and cuts several corners using a lot of magic to seem like she did better. She didn’t care who she had to step on for Giovanni’s approval. And that was the problem.

Lorelei tried to cover her every mistake with a layer of frosting in more ways than one. But Giovanni doesn’t see value in someone willing to step on others. That’s why he left the Bonzai blasters in the first place. He wants someone willing to put in the hard work, willing to accept defeat, willing to take the bumpy road despite the difficulties as long as they come out better for their failures. Just because you mess up the broth a little bit doesn’t mean it’s gone to waste, but Giovanni recognizes that Lorelei needs to cool of before giving her another try.

Giovanni himself let his taste suffer to improve his Epithet, and he doesn’t regret it at all. He would do it all again because all the improvement he’s made was built on his trial and error, valuable experience, and determination to make himself a great villain with the card he was dealt. While Lorelei may be able to make wonders rivaling Willy wonka like nothing, Giovanni has made a great soup from a stone.

Lorelei has the power to maybe not fix everything but at least make things better for her family, but she won’t even bother to try.

Giovanni isn’t some big shot rich guy, and he doesn’t even have a job, but he always wants what’s best for his minions and is willing to fight for them. Honestly that’s what matters. Giovanni isn’t the sweet candy most kids would want, but he’s the good soup that Molly needs.

Lorelei makes things with a wave of her hand, Giovanni puts all his heart and soul into it.

is just something I’ve been thinking of for a while.

Let me know if any of you have your own interpretations of this. Or at least better words for it.

[lastoneout]

Trick or treat!

You get!

LOW QUALITY CABBAGE!!

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

Sunny podcast is back after hiatus!

So many things were teased in this episode and we heard about some scenes that were never aired or featured on the DVDs!

Featuring...

Charlie on piano

Sun-damaged Glenn back from Hawaii

Complaining about 80s comedies, Three Amigos and Paramount+

Discussions about what works in film comedies from the '70s to early '00s and how sketches function differently

Brief talk of Mac's mommy issues

Episode chat

Premise of the episode came from Glenn watching "Intervention", a popular reality tv show at the time and discussing it in the writers' room, leading to Rob Rosell wondering what the difference between an intervention and a roast was

Gail the Snail was created as a pair with a brother Not Quite Right Robin, who was never introduced, as the Garbage Pail cousins in contrast to Dennis and Dee, the Cabbage Patch kids

Mary Lynn R was cast without an audition because she was a friend and she developed the character of Gail with rcg's notes in an unaired deleted scene shot opposite Frank at Guigino's before the funeral of Uncle Max

Nora Dunn who played Aunt Donna might have been unhappy when she came on set and realized how cheap and low-quality the show was

Marder and Rosell came up with all the insane quotes and concepts like nightcrawlers while writing this episode

Glenn and Charlie couldn't keep it together while filming the scene where Dennis writes Charlie's intervention letter to Frank but these outtakes didn't make it into the bloopers so we don't get to see

RCG were probably responsible for the idea that Dennis and Dee blame Gail the Snail "for making them salt her" (which is not a good feeling she's making them have)

They've previously mentioned the story of the reporter on location in Philly when Frank is doing his beer volcano bit, but in this ep they added that Danny got into an argument with her on live tv

Frank's volcano eruption was a nightmare for wardrobe and continuity because his beer gurgling was unscripted

[Talking about their shitty cameras] "We've destroyed our careers by presenting ourselves as clowns on videotape."

Season 16 teases

Confirmed that The Gang Goes Bowling was directed by Meg and shot in three days + one scene

It was a difficult shoot because of the number of side characters and continuity troubles during bowling, especially block shooting

There's a slow motion sequence in the episode which might have to be degraded to fit in with the rest of the show

Some colour grading/correction will have to be done on the s16 footage, which they usually never do, because they look red

Glenn was away for the first week of editing since he was at SXSW, sick and then on break in Hawaii, but he's back in now with his fresh pair of eyes

Charlie wants to add grain to the picture to dirty it up for the modern tvs and automotion plus

Return of a character from season 1 who fans have been asking about. Implied that the character was potentially dropped and hasn't appeared since season 1. Charlie's sister is the most obvious choice.

Other options include Mac's other gay cousin, any of the kids and teenagers from Abortion or Underage Drinking and Nikki Potnick, though she was mentioned again in season 7

Upcoming projects

Scott Marder and Rob Rosell are coming on for the S5E10 pod!

Glenn Howerton double feature on May 12 with Blackberry and Charlie's film Fool's Paradise.

Charlie only had Glenn in the movie until he did reshoots when he added a lot of Sunny cast. He offered Rob a role but he was busy. David Hornsby is also in it (not seen in the trailer).

IASIP season 16 is coming out in June.

In the meantime, RCG say to watch Succession and Tommy Boy.

[ourrecipebook]

Minestrone Soup

Serving: 4-6

Ingredients

2 tbsp / 30 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 celery stalks, roughly diced

2 carrots, roughly diced

1 medium zucchini, roughly diced

3 large garlic cloves, finely diced

2 bay leaves (fresh if you have one growing in your garden)

2 fresh rosemary twigs, leaves chopped finely or ½ tsp dried

2 fresh thyme stalks, leaves picked or ½ tsp dried

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

¼ tsp chilli flakes (optional), adjust to taste

1¼ tsp salt, adjust to taste

2 x 400 g / 14 oz tins quality peeled plum tomatoes

1 large sweet (or regular) potato, cubed into 1.25 cm / 0.5″ dice

150 g / 5.25 oz conchigliette (or other small pasta of choice) or rice (for GF version)

150 g / 5.25 oz savoy cabbage, shredded finely

100 g / 3.5 oz lacinato kale, de-stemmed and shredded finely

1 x 400 g / 14 oz can cannellini beans

black pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot.

Once the oil gets hot, throw in diced onion, celery, carrot and zucchini (if using). Sauté on a very low heat until soft (15 minutes).

Next, throw in garlic, bay leaves and herbs. Sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Mix in smoked paprika, chili (if using) and salt. Adjust the amount of chili to taste.

Add canned tomatoes to the pot, squashing them with a wooden spoon once they are in the pot. Add 0.5 liter / 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, until the tomatoes are falling apart. Top up with more water if the pot is looking dry.

Add in about 0.75 liter / 3 more cups of water and cubed potatoes. Once the soup comes to a simmer, count down 5 minutes.

Next add in pasta of choice (use rice for GF version but add it with potatoes as it takes longer to cook). Cover the pot with a lid and simmer for about 6 minutes before adding shredded cabbage and kale.

Finally add in shredded cabbage, kale and drained beans. Simmer for further 5 minutes – until all the ingredients are fully cooked.

Taste, adjust the seasoning.

Divide between bowls, drizzle each portion with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

Notes

This soup gets elevated to the next level by a dollop of basil.

(Source)

[nothing0fnothing]

When I was fourteen I told my mum I wanted to go on a weight loss diet where I replaced my regular meals with jars of baby food. I had already been dieting pretty rigorously for months at this point so I felt I was experienced enough to do something this extreme. My mum thought it was a fantastic idea.

She would pack my regular lunch for school so that in front of my peers and teachers, it looked like I was eating normally, and home I ate 3-6 jars of baby or toddler food that she bought from the supermarket. I have no idea how long I did this for but I lost so much body weight I was unrecognisable.

It was the most miserable diet I've ever been on. Even cabbage soup was better. I would heat up a jar of toddler spag-bol or baby puree peas and carrots in the microwave, season it with salt and chili flakes and eat it with a tiny spoon to make it last longer. At least on the Special K diet I could chew, these low calorie tiny portions were designed for people with no teeth.

My mother would buy me gifts like clothes and perfume and CDs to for every kilo I shed to distract me from the fact that I wasn't seeing my friends. When they met up they ate pizza and popcorn and chocolate and she didn't want me near the temptation where one slip up could ruin weeks of hard work. I was on the scale every day to meticulously monitor my weight loss. My mother would record the difference and file it away next to my passports and vaccination records.

As I was approaching my "ultimate goal weight" I began to feel detached from my body. After all that weight loss, I didn't even look good. I was a teenager eating a diet perfectly formulated for a 10 month old, my skin was dull, my eyes looked sad with dark circles, I was the slimmest I'd been since I hit puberty, but I felt the furthest from swimsuit ready I had in my whole life. I began swamping myself in my old "fat clothes", because people had started to congratulate me on my weight loss and I hated the attention. My mum wanted me in low rise ultra skinny jeans and itty bitty tops. She could not understand why I just wanted to hide in my cocoon of baggy clothing and emerge at my chosen weight so nobody had to see, or worse comment on the changes I was putting my body through.

There is a photo of me at my lowest weight. It's grainy and low quality because it was taken on my mother's years old battered android, under florescent lights at a toy store in a shopping center. My mother cherishes it to this day. Even more than my year book photos. Even more than my prom photos. Even more than my graduation photos. She says those events were for me, my fun, my friends, my achievements. This photo, the one of me, her teenage daughter the skinniest I'd ever been, awkwardly posed by the pokemon, looking off to the side sad and distracted, this photo was for her.

[smile-files]

What is camp keshet about, if you don't mind me asking?

okayy!!! so, for one thing, the story has morphed a ton since it was called "camp keshet". now it's called "the mothmen" and has a completely different setting: a boarding school! it retains the butterfly/moth symbolism and imagery of previous iterations of the story.

in general the story has major themes of transformation, growth, making the world a better place (tikkun olam), identity, friendship, and love. there's also a lot of gay, trans, and autistic people here if you're interested :)

the boarding school, named "lady alexandra's academy for bright pupils", seems quite altruistic on its surface: an affordable, high-quality middle- and high-school education for everyone! but its corruption is hidden in the fact that it is supported by several wealthy donors… the school very covertly grants privileges to students who are children of these donors: it places them in an "honors program" which gives them perks, such as priority class choice, better dorms, and other things like that. they get away with this by having a placement test for the program, opening sign-ups early, and letting these rich families know first before other families, making it so the program always gets filled up with rich kids. the benchmark to get into the "honors program" is really low, so most of the kids aren't even that smart; it was really just a sneaky first-come, first-serve system. the kids in this program, rich and popular, are known as the "social butterflies" by their peers -- and, in addition to the aforementioned privileges they receive, the social butterflies are more likely to get away with things and be favored by their teachers, and many bully their peers. they also wear different uniforms than the other students: some element of their clothing (i haven't decided what yet) is white for them and brown for the others -- referencing cabbage white butterflies, a very common butterfly, and pantry moths, a very common moth.

so that's the setting! …well, what about the characters? for reference, the story starts when all of them are starting high school at the academy. also, i should note how racism is significant in two characters' backstories (lexi and shai) -- i obviously have no personal experience with being the target of racism, being white, and of course i want to tell stories about people different from me, but i'm open to critique about the way i go about things. i try to deconstruct white savior and white guilt tropes, for example, between shai and damien, and i feel like i'm successful in that, though i'd love to hear what others think.

lexi is quite the interesting person! throughout her life, she has always found making friends very difficult. she'd always be too loud, or too annoying, or too weird, and nobody ever liked her (a victim of classism, anti-asian racism, and anti-autistic ableism, though none of this really clicked for her at the time). the same friendlessness continued when she began to attend the academy for middle school -- this was only amplified by the corruption of the school, as many social butterflies relentlessly bullied her. but, weirdly enough, throughout all of this, lexi was never upset at the people who hated or bullied her -- she was just upset at the fact that she was lonely. well, lexi noticed that she wasn't the only one tormented by the social butterflies -- so she came up with a plan. she would unite many of these less-than-privileged students in a group she would call "the mothmen", telling them that she would lead them in a revolution against the social butterflies. she had no real intention of following through, and she didn't care about anything happening to the social butterflies -- she just wanted to have people liking and listening to her. she just wanted friends. there lies one of the strangest things about lexi -- for the longest time she didn't realize that she, personally, had stake in this revolution too, that she was also a victim of bullying and bigotry, that she really does care about the issue she's been pretending to care about. she starts out the story forming the mothmen, and spends a while just making them do meaningless tasks just to keep them around -- all the while trying to be all buddy-buddy with them, when, because they actually care about the issue, this is more like a job than a social thing, and that she's more of a boss than a friend. she becomes incredibly clingy to damien, and later noah (whom you'll meet in a bit); she gets called out for her bs by damien; she eventually learns to care about people and things, with shai's help, and helps lead the mothmen to an actual revolution. lexi is one of my favorite characters i've ever written: she's so pathetic and weird and cool, a ball of volatile, selfish emotions wrapped in the shell of a charismatic and caring leader. she's pretty awesome.

the next two characters really transition mid-story, so i'm gonna be deadnaming and misgendering them a little for the sake of clarity (using the names and pronouns they would be addressed by in the relevant times)… sorry shai! sorry noah!

noa was best friends with this girl named miriam in elementary school (i'm pretty sure the both are jewish and that they were at a jewish elementary school). miriam and noa were thick as thieves, as far as noa could tell, and they did everything together. noa was going to move after 5th, as her family couldn't afford any of the middle schools nearby -- miriam and noa made a promise that they'd only be friends with each other, that everything would stay the same the next time they met. well, noa certainly kept up her end of the bargain! noa resigned herself to not make friends with anyone else, and not change a thing about herself. this ended up being really odd for her, as she's a ridiculously sweet, endearing, easygoing, and easy-to-get-along-with person: many people in middle school wanted to be friends with her, and she'd like them quite a bit herself, but the word "friend" scared her off and made her distance herself from them (nobody ever really cared enough to look into that, though… it didn't take much of a push for them to abandon all investment in noa's emotions). so noa spent middle school completely friendless -- and, oddly enough, miriam never seemed to pick up the phone or respond to her letters. no matter! noa was still fine to wait for her (noa is a very naive and loyal person)… right? well, she was kind of sad… and she was always a very nervous and very sensitive person, so it was kinda hard having nobody there for her anymore… it was also hard, because noa was starting to feel that maybe she wasn't a girl, but didn't wanna act on it and break the promise of staying the same (she takes things seriously and literally… always purposefully written to have autism). all of this is still the case with noa by the time the story starts and she enrolls at the academy -- but a lot, and i mean a lot happens to change things! she gets recruited into the mothmen by lexi; she ends up actually befriending someone, hannah, after being terrified of the notion, and the two help each other get over their pasts and be their trans selves (now noah and shai respectively); he gets a weird gay thing going on between him and damien (though he's gay for shai and lexi too, let's be honest); oh yeah, and he gets to punch miriam in the face, who turns out to be the leader of the social butterflies, but more on that later. noah is such a fun character -- so full of love and sadness and fear and loneliness, with such a big heart that it's too big to fit in his body. i love him so much and he's so close to my heart for too many reasons to describe <3

now hannah… hannah went to the same middle school as damien. and that school was also full of rich bullies, though they weren't formalized in some group like the social butterflies. hannah always thought she wasn't a girl, that she was nonbinary, and expressed as much, but was relentlessly bullied for that and other things -- not only was she queer, but she was also black, and many of her peers were downright horrible to her. then she began to lash out -- being cruel to all of her classmates, even those who weren't mean to her, and threatening some into being her "friend". one day, though, damien -- whom we will later meet as a rich, quite privileged guy -- defended hannah from his friends' bullying. because of his social impact, folks stopped bullying her nearly as much, and she in turn stopped lashing out -- but she also began to idolize damien, who now was her first friend, seeing him as her redeemer, the one who showed her the truth of friendship. hannah began to morph herself into him: she hid away all of the stuff that was the bullies' target -- her transness, her blackness, her righteous anger and rage even (damien, being cis, white, and calm, is none of those things). she assimilated in every possible way, and continues to do so upon attending the academy. hannah and damien had become good friends; he let her swap the part of the academy uniform that was white for him and brown for her such that she could really assimilate and pretend to be a social butterfly. and while she does end up getting some of the privileges (not like that was her goal in pretending), she still faces some racism from her social butterfly peers. all the while though, hannah's being overly kind and sweet, trying to be friendly with everyone, and perhaps be who damien was to her, to someone else -- this someone else ends up being noa, whom she ends up discovering is really weird about friend stuff while trying obsessively hard to be his friend. through wanting to help noa with her self, hannah realizes she has to help herself with her own, and with him find themselves. they end up calling themselves "shai", the hebrew word for gift which noah taught them. they end up working through their complicated relationship with damien, leave behind the assimilation, and get through to lexi who has had similar problems making friends. there's also other stuff going on with her too, with the mothmen and the social butterflies. god i love shai! augh! such a complex character!! as mentioned before, this covers a lot of territory i'm not personally familiar with, so please tell me if you have any issues!!! yay!!!

next is damien!! in middle school, he was the perfect kid: rich, popular, good grades, handsome, you name it. well, he was perfect to everyone else, at least… damien hated himself! he saw every flaw in himself, such as his emotional detachment, coldness, and inaction, and hated how nobody else did, instead loving him unconditionally. nobody ever got upset at him for anything… he had a very strong moral compass, and was appalled that he wasn't facing repercussions for not doing the right thing. normally, he never stopped his friends from bullying others just because he wouldn't let himself emotionally engage with either them or the victim (he spends a lot of time emotionally engaged with himself, however) -- when he pushed himself to stand up for hannah, it was mostly just to get rid of his own guilt for never doing the right thing in other, similar situations. he ends up being caught between guilt/self-pitying and actual investment in the right thing -- he realizes the former in himself, and ends up feeling extra guilty for that! oh yeah, he's also kinda ashamed about being gay and not facing any homophobia cuz of his privilege… but anyway, out of anger towards his fellow rich elite, and out of shame for being a part of it, damien begins to take on an edgy persona, pushing himself away from the aesthetic of privilege he used to have by default. he swaps uniforms with hannah at the academy so he can be free of the elite class there, the social butterflies, and in so doing can fight them on the side of the mothmen. damien remains good friends with hannah, but their relationship is inhibited by the fact that hannah idolizes him and he pities her. he ends up being pushed away from his self-centered reasons for fighting bigotry/the social butterflies (i.e. guilt) when he discovers lexi's self-centered reasons for starting the mothmen to begin with (he's outed as being secretly rich around this time, lol) -- his relationships with shai and noah also develop, pushing him more into actually wanting to change things for the better, including himself, without all of the moping and pity parties, and he ends up helping a lot in getting the revolution going. i'd say i'm more invested in the others than i am in him, though i still love him immensely and think he's super fun! guy who's always pissed off for the wrong reason…

last but not least is miriam!!!!! (sorry, more deadnaming!) after noa moved, miriam completely forgot about her -- miriam was never actually that close to noa, despite what noa (and miriam herself) thought in elementary school, and the promise completely slipped her mind (not that it was ever a reasonable one -- but the principle certainly escaped her too). she made new friends and completely changing herself, including transitioning into a guy (jonah) right before high school (worth noting is that he also fell out of touch with his new middle school friends before going to high school, as he wasn't that close with them ever). jonah's father was a huge donor of the academy, making it easy for it all to be very hush-hush about him being trans; aside from family and a few staff members, everyone at school knows him to be biologically male. because of the importance of his dad, and his general richness, jonah becomes head of the social butterflies at the academy. and wouldn't you know it? he actually gets really close to them! he has a small, formalized in-group, and he genuinely gets along with all of them. because of this, he becomes incredibly defensive of his being trans, worried he'd lose them if they find out -- this comes to a head when he sees noa at the academy (whom he instantly recognizes, as she looks the exact same), who's now a threat, as she knew him as a girl: if she recognized him, it'd be game over. because of this, jonah starts to harbor some strange kind of hatred for her, as if she represents his past (as well as his hidden transness) -- all the moreso as he watches him transition into a guy too. i don't have it all fully fleshed out, but there's a lot of internalized transphobia going on here, and he has his friends pick on him because of that. i imagine throughout this whole thing, hannah ends up friends with jonah as well, and a lot of weird stuff happens there as well… maybe (before recognizing themselves as nonbinary) she sees jonah pick on noah (beginning to transition) one too many times and she lashes out, both revealing the social butterfly ruse and the transness (this is an idea i thought of just now)… and there's stuff between jonah and damien as well -- jonah has an inkling damien's secretly rich, and keeps trying to get him to associate with the social butterflies, for one thing. and, of course, lexi at first pretends to hate jonah's guts, but partly through seeing the horrible things noah and shai face because of him, she realizes how truly terrible he is and everything. i don't know if i want jonah to be redeemed or anything, but he's certainly a complex character. the horrors of internalized transphobia! ahh!! he gets beat up by noah during the revolution though, so it's okay. if he does get redeemed to any extent, maybe he tries to get his dad to do something to fix the school? i don't know? i'd have to think about it. either way, a fun character!!

yay! so that's that. a bunch of gay weirdos go about ending the reign of bigots at their school in multiple bizarre ways, if they're actually going about it at all