#maybe i could go buy some dried flower teas to spice up my honey?? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

skellebonez · 3 years ago

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Happy Birthday Kit!!!

It’s your birthday @kitkat1003 heck yeah! And for your birthday Spirit is going to have a good day because I and many other people love them a lot! I hope you like this fic as much as I loved writing it!

It was possibly the oddest favor Spirit had done for anyone, ever. But, if they were being at least a tiny bit honest with themselves, it sounded like it could have been one of the more enjoyable ones. Well… technically Pigsy said it was “not a favor I’m just asking you to do this”. So. Potato potahtoe.

Specifically he asked if Spirit would “spend the day with him.” That was it. Simple, easy, long to be sure but not as long as many of the other favors that required a fetch quest at the very least. That was the original bare bones request, vague as it was. Just spend the entire with with Pigsy, 9 AM to 9 PM, and they would be right as rain.

And it wasn’t even like that would be hard! They already had work scheduled for the day, helping Pigsy open the shop and working the register. Why, they could even finish up the task while at work, two bird one stone and all that!

At least, that was what Spirit thought. Before Pigsy met them at the shop entrance and announced in a tired voice after chugging some very very clearly fresh and not sweetened coffee-

“Store’s closed for the day. We’re going shopping.”

Store closed.

For the day.

And going shopping.

Going.

Shopping.

Spirit pushed down their immediate shudder of “oh, that’s not what we had planned today and now today is different oh no I was not prepared for this oh dear oh jeepers” that ran up their spine.

“Uh- o-ok… where are we headed?”

“Food market, mostly,” Pigsy said with a shrug as he adjusted a few reusable baskets in his hands. He must have had a lot on the list for the day or he was buying a lot in advance. “Thinkin of hitting up another place or two in the area if we got time, but nothing too strenuous.”

A bit of Spirit’s tension eased from their shoulders and spine at this. They’d been to the market plenty of times before, so even though it was out of the blue it wasn’t exactly that unusual for them. The last time they went had been with Pigsy and Tang, and while their fighting over which carrots looked “good enough” wasn’t the most… fun conversation to be present for, it was nice.

Pigsy had even bought them a snack, insisting there were no strings attached. No favors. Just a snack from a friend to a friend. And that memory was nice… nice enough to help elevate any extra anxiety still lingering in the demon’s spine (that came from the news anyway, the regular anxiety was as there as always).

“Well, best to head as quickly as possible?” They offered, following Pigsy as he lead the way. “Want to get there fast to get the pick of the best vegetables, right?”

“You’re speakin my language!”

The market was surprisingly calm and quiet. Maybe it was because it wasn’t one of the usual busy days, or maybe it was because of how early they were in the day, but instead of the loud bustle and clutter and yells of vendors there was just a set of clearly dedicated loyal customers and relaxed vendors making small talk.

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” Pigsy said suddenly as they made their way down to where he would usually buy root vegetables. “They do this sort of thing a couple times a month where the market isn’t open to the public for a couple hours. It’s a little somethin to help out the local restaurants and other businesses who come here for their supplies.”

“Is that why that guy at the entrance looked at me like I was about to steal a child’s lunch money?”

That hadn’t been fun at all. Until Pigsy had stepped up beside him Spirit thought they were genuinely in some sort of trouble they didn’t know about.

Then again. That happened a lot. Thinking they were in trouble they didn’t know about. Pigsy was trying to make sure that didn’t happen as much. “If I could tell their brain to stop it wouldn’t happen at all” was what he said when Spirit overheard him talking to Tang about them.

It wasn’t good to snoop, Spirit knew that, but… it was. Nice. Oddly nice. He wasn’t going to be able to just tell Spirit’s brain to stop telling them things, and before Spirit would be confused and maybe a little horrified at the idea, but after spending so much time with the pig demon it felt. Nice.

Their conversation continued on for a moment, Pigsy explaining what the market on these special days was like and how the deals here were so helpful and every stall they stopped at Pigsy made it a point to keep the conversation going with the vendor himself. Just open enough for Spirit to insert themselves if they wanted, though they didn’t except at the vendor selling oddly colored flowers (which led into a short explanation about how they were made) and an explanation of how many of the dried ones on sale were imported from other countries and difficult to find outside their stall.

They didn’t know why Pigsy was buying flowers, though. At least, not the specific reason. Dried, fresh, some with stems and some with only the heads. Some bulbs as well. Maybe he was going to try some more floral broths or flower infused noodles? He’d done that in the past apparently! And Spirit had watched him made odder things, experimental dishes that didn’t really change much with the old recipes so much as they simply added more depth to them.

Spirit did notice, however, most of the flowers he had purchased were… purple. Or, in the case of one, blue. An odd one out to be sure.

“Alright, we’re done!” Pigsy announced, smiling widely at his haul. Which, all things considered… wasn’t actually as much as Spirit expected. Still, a good haul. “We’re going to put this all away at the shop, I have an appointment with Sandy later but we’re not expected at any specific time so there isn’t really a need to rush.”

“AH, hold on just one moment!” The flower stall vendor said as he came out from behind his stall. “Pigsy, I want you both to have these. For being a wonderful return customer and for the nice conversation.”

Spirit watched as he tucked a purple flower behind Pigsy’s ear, a daisy if Spirit was correct. And then he did the same to them, making them tense in surprise. If they said anything after that Spirit didn’t realize due to their shock, but the next thing they registered was Pigsy gently guiding them out of the entrance.

Sandy was more than ready for them when they arrived, urging Spirit inside and to his couch while Pigsy and he talked about… something.

Spirit wasn’t paying as much attention as they normally would when they were immediately swarmed with cats.

Cats on their lap, cats on their arms, cats on their shoulders. Cats. Cats everywhere. So many cats.

“Uh… S-Sandy…” Spirit started, an uncertain chuckle bubbling up as another cat plopped down on their head. “Do your cats… smell fear? Or do I smell delicious? They’re vibrating very violently. And… rubbing against me. A lot. I mean, I know they’re purring but this is weird.”

Sandy turned toward Spirit, covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the sight.

“No, no they don’t and you do not,” he said with a shake of his head, and he gave a look toward Pigsy. “You probably got some catnip on you somehow at the market. You’re just their favorite person right now.”

“… oh,” Spirit breathed out, reaching up to pat one of the cats on his lap carefully. The cat let out a trill, rolling onto their back as they pressed harder into Spirit’s side. Spirit couldn’t help it. They gave in to the temptation to quote a video Mei showed him long ago. “… I have been chosen.”

They didn’t even pay attention to Sandy and Pigsy until something on a trey was placed on the table between all of them, the clinking jolting some of the cats and making them roll off Spirit (who was grateful for the use of their arms back).

“So… I was hoping you might want to taste test something I wanted to add to the menu for special occasions that Sandy is teaching me to make,” Pigsy said with a smile, gesturing to the trey. “He actually made these in advance, they take a long while to dry properly, but they’re supposed to be worth it. But I, uh, can’t guarantee anything.”

It was very… purple and blue. A clear cup filled with what Spirit assumed was blue tea and a purple… stick of some kind that seemed to be flowers dipped in sugar? The only thing that seemed to stand out was the tiny cup of what smelled like lemon juice between them.

“The stick is candied lavender!” Sandy explained, gesturing to the hardened blossom. “You can use it to stir the tea and add sweetness or just eat it as is! But before you choose, pour that little cup into the tea.”

Spirit raised an eyebrow, almost wondering if this was some kind of prank. It didn’t feel like Pigsy and Sandy would pull a prank like this but. Well. Who knows… but they wanted to trust that they weren’t so they did as asked, slowly pouring the lemon juice into… the…

“It’s turning purple,” Spirit whisper shouted, eyes wide and awed as the blue tea slowly turned from the brilliant blue to a more brilliant purple from the bottom of the cup up. “What. Purple? It’s purple! The tea changes colors!”

Pigsy chuckled, nodding his head with a wide smile. “Yup.”

“It’s called Butterfly Pea Flower tea,’ Sandy explained, smile just as wide. "Lemon and lime juice made it do that! It’s not really a rare tea, but we added some extra stuff to the lavender that should make it taste even better when you mix it all in. Go on, give it a try!”

Spirit looked between the two of them and picked up the lavender stick and tea cup, mixing them together as they sat back and took a sip.

It was… amazing. Earthy and slightly bitter from the lemon juice. There must have been honey as well as sugar in the lavender stick, bringing a bright sweetness to the drink. There was a bit of spice to it, maybe cinnamon, as well. It was nothing like anything Spirit had ever drank before. It was warm without being too hot, and combined with the purring of the cats surrounding them…

They realized they felt. Good. Not perfect, not completely relaxed. They didn’t know if that was possible. But they felt good. Happy.

“I think… I think people will love this.”

#fun fact: purple daisies can mean thoughtfulness #monkie kid #lego monkie kid #fanfic #gift #oc: yin spirit #pigsy #sandy

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fayegracexo · 5 years ago

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How to Celebrate Lughnasadh

Somehow we are already to our first of three harvest festivals in the wheel of 2019! This year is flying by crazy quick! I can’t believe July is already over and it’s time for Lughnasadh on August 1st! (Fun Fact: The Gaelic word for August is ‘Lunasa’ - Lughnasadh is pronounced Loo-Na-Sah!)

If you happened to catch my last post (if you didn’t, click here! ‘Lughnasadh vs. Lammas’) then you already know the difference between ‘Lughnasadh’ and ‘Lammas’, and some of the history, which means it’s time to get into the fun part...how to celebrate it!

To keep this post simple I’ll put it in list form, and I apologize in advance for mentioning some things more than once, there’s some things that end up being good crossover ideas, so sorry if it sounds repetitive at all! (Just your typical chronically apologizing Libra over here!)

I’ll start with some traditional ways to celebrate, then list the correspondences, THEN go into a longer list of celebration ideas! I’ll try to keep this short but there’s lots of info and I wanted to give plenty of options, so if you don’t see what you're looking for, just keep scrolling it’s probably there! ;) (It’s long, i’m sorry oh geez)

If not, I’m always available for messages and questions, and i’ll be posting craft ideas, recipes, and more ways to celebrate on my Instagram account that’s connected to this blog. Check the ‘Lughnasadh’ highlight and my story on August 1st for more! @selfcarewitchxo��

Now let’s jump in!

How To Celebrate Traditionally

To start, I wanted to suggest some basic ways to celebrate in a more traditional way, and then go into a list with lots more options and details! Some of these might repeat in the list below so sorry in advance! (Libra problems again, I tried to organize the best I could...I’m so OCD)

Lughnasadh is about giving thanks for what has grown in summer, and for the abundance in our lives. We gather what has grown and begin to prep for winter and the darker, colder months, but not before celebrating a successful harvest season!

In the old days, it was tradition to climb a hill and bury or leave an offering of the first and best of your harvest to Lugh, usually the first loaf of bread you've baked. Offerings are left in exchange for blessings, gratitude, abundance, strength, protection, and growth. You can do the same hill idea, or leave your first loaf or other offering on your altar, or another special place.

Lughs’ original festival, was also focused on feasting, games, and athletic competition. Try recreating the same and have some friends over for a BBQ and some friendly competition!

Gods, Goddesses, Animals and Other Deities

The Celtic God Lugh is the patron deity for this festival, but if you’re not from a Celtic background, don’t use Lugh in your practice, or are from a Dianic tradition, there are many other Gods, Goddesses, animals and deities to choose from to incorporate into your Lughnasadh holiday.

Tailtiu (Lughs’ adoptive Mother who passed away, the festival is held in her honor) is a traditional female option, but any grain/agricultural/Mother Goddess/Father God figures make great picks.

For Goddesses, Rhiannon, Annona, Persephone, Cerridwen, Ceres, Demeter, and Isis are all options, and Odin, John Barley Corn, Dagon, Taranis, Vulcan, Mercury, Loki, Tammuz and Adonis are suggestions for the males! This is just to name a few of course!

As for animals, agricultural animals such as roosters, lambs, sheep, calves, and pigs are associated with the holiday, you can also use the majestic stag! For more mythological options, the centaur, phoenix and griffin are also associated.

Try adding statues, figurines, feathers, bones or other things associated with these Gods/Goddesses/deities/animals as altar decorations!

Decorations

How can you have a holiday without some festive decorations? Take some time to redo your altar space, room, or even your whole house if you want, to get into the holiday spirit! Being a harvest, nature based holiday, there are many cheap, easy, decorating ideas, that include many things we already have at home!

To start, use some seasonally scented candles, wax burners, or essential oils to make your sacred space smell like Lughnasadh vibes!

Candles in holiday colors, or tied with holiday colored ribbon, make a good altar addition! (See below for list of color correspondences)

Dried corn, rice, wheat, corn dollies, fallen twigs, dried straw, herbs, crystals, corn stalks, pumpkins, squash, dried oats, dried beans, a cornucopia, sunflower seeds, flowers, a scythe, a sickle, or a cauldron are quite seasonal options! (Keep reading for suggestions for crystals, scents and herbs!)

Crystals

These crystals are associated with Lughnasadh. Try using them as altar decorations, in your spellwork, or to meditate with during the holiday!

Amber, aventurine, carnelian, citrine, moss agate, topaz, golden topaz, obsidian, tigers eye, brown agate, clear quartz, cats eye, lodestones, peridot.

Plants/Herbs/Flowers/Scent Associations

Lumping this one a little since these have dual uses!

Wheat, Basil, Mint, Queen Anne’s Lace, Calendula, Yarrow, Sunflowers, Marigolds, Frankincense, Sandalwood, Rose, Rosemary, Rose hips, Blackthorn, Vervain, Peonies, Poppies, Ginseng, All Spice and Chamomile all have associations with Lughnasadh. Use these to decorate, make tea, cook or bake with, scent your home or altar space, or to leave as an offering! (Keep reading for suggestions on how to use these)

Colors

Try candles and ribbons in shades of green, brown, bronze, orange, yellow and gold. Personally, I always choose a yellow, brown, gold, and green candle for my Lughnasadh altar space.

Yellow represents solar energies, happiness, and transformation.

Brown represents earth energies, strength, protection, and animals.

Gold is to illuminate, for success, divine power, and the harvest.

Green represents abundance, prosperity, fertility, growth, wealth, life, and vegetation.

Food & Drink Ideas

As Lughnasadh is a feasting holiday to give thanks, consider having some friends and loved ones over for a BBQ or potluck! both are great traditional ideas. Try these food and drink suggestions to indulge in holiday flavors!

Foods: BBQ, breads, roasted lamb, pot luck, berries - like blueberries and blackberries, potatoes, pies, nuts, pumpkin, mushrooms, garlic, honey, acorn squash, summer squash, apples, oats, rice, beans, fried chicken, berry pancakes

Drinks: Since wheat is a big thing, beer is a staple drink, but if you’re more of a wine person try elderberry, blackberry or blueberry wine. For alcohol free options, cherry or apple ciders are great, or plain apple juice.

Mint and chamomile are associated herbs, they make a great tea suggestion! Sweet mint, peppermint or spearmint make lovely iced teas. Blueberry or blackberry teas are also delicious!

I’m also personally adding mojitos to this list as a modern update. Since mint is associated, adding some from your garden in a refreshing mojito sounds like a good way to incorporate it to me!

Try some oats or blueberry pancakes in the morning with a seasonal juice or herbal tea, then do a bigger feast for dinner of lamb or chicken, with a beer, then pie for dessert!

More Ways to Celebrate

Bake Bread

There’s lots of recipes online for you to bake your very own loaf. Try adding herbs, or twisting the dough into Celtic knots for extra flair. You can also ‘paint’ the bread! Try Pinterest for some great recipe ideas. Bake extra to give away to a loved one or leave as an offering!

Have a Popcorn Party

Since Lughnasadh is associated with corn, try having a movie night wit friends and making different varieties of popcorn! Do you like spicy, or sweet kinds? This is a great idea to try with kids!

Have a Beer

As a grain holiday, relaxing with a cold brew is a good way to relax this Lughnasadh. Safely and responsibly of course.

Create a Besom

A besom is a witches broom. This is a good time of year to use dried straw, fallen twigs, ribbons and charms to create your own. Personally I love to see lavender in them, gorgeous!

Make Candles

If you have the supplies (even cooler if you have you own bees and wax!) try making candles. Bonus points for seasonal colors and scents, triple points for recycling old wax and bringing life back to old candles!

Harvest/Canning

Harvest your fruits, veggies, and herbs you’ve grown to use them in thanks in teas, tinctures, salves, your cooking, spellwork, and to hang up to dry. Make salsas, or preserves or jams to try on your Lughnasadh bread, or try canning to have a treat in the cold months!

Spend Time Outdoors

Take a walk, hike up a hill, have a picnic, visit a Farmer’s Market or produce stand for local goodies, or go pick fruits, like apples, berries or peaches at a local orchard! Find a way to soak up the last of the season’s warmth.

Have a Fire/Light a Candle

Have a bonfire solo or with friends, and consider burning away some things that need to be released. Throw things that don’t serve you (that are fire safe of course!) into the flames and let them be released. Let the fire ‘reap’ the bad from your life, and ‘sow’ positivity back into it.

If you can’t have a fire, choose a seasonally colored candle, or a few, and give thanks by it’s light! You can carve runes into them if you’d like also!

Spellwork

Lughnasadh works with themes of success and abundance, so it’s a great time of year to do spellwork involving your career, health or love life. If you or someone you know is trying for a new job, or hoping for a new relationship, or maybe buying a house, or moving to a new location, try a little spell to help you manifest your (or theirs!) goals.

Scrying/Divination

Break out your tarot, oracle cards and scrying/divination tools! This is a good time to try new methods you haven’t worked with before, such as bones or runes. If you’ve never tried fire scrying, use your Lughnasadh bonfire or candle as a first attempt!

Cooking/Baking/Drink Making

Feasting with friends or loved ones is a good way to celebrate! (Try the menu ideas above!) Try using herbs you’ve grown or purchased from a local stand in the recipes!

Make a Corn Dolly

Traditionally the least sheaf that was ceremonially cut was used to make a ‘corn dolly’, and carried to the village. The corn dolly would be made into a corn maiden (or corn mother) if the harvest was good, or a ‘cailleach’ (Celtic word for witch, hag) after a bad harvest. These dollies could be clothed, or dressed with ribbon. If you make a doll at Lughnasadh, she can be used again in six months for Imbolc, and can be dressed in spring colors. The harvest Mother, becomes the Spring bride! (Some traditions don’t believe in reusing the doll, but that depends on your practice!)

Smudge/Cleanse/Bless Your Space

Smudge away that negativity that’s been lingering, clear the air, and your life, so that you may grow bountiful! Buy a smudge stick or make your own with sage and added herbs if you’d like. Mugwort, rosemary, lavender and juniper are good additives. Open the windows, let the light and breeze in! Start fresh and clean this holiday, and reap those bad energy places!

Make a Gift

Acts of service and selflessness are important on Lughnasadh. We’re in a place of abundance, and it’s time to share the bounty and love with others. Make a gift for a friend, loved one or neighbor to share the holiday spirit. Try flowers you’ve picked, breads or foods you’ve made, jams or jellies you preserved, or another homemade craft item. Make it with love! They’ll be sure to feel the positive vibes. They’ll see this act of kindness, and pass it on...the world needs more love!

Acts of Service

Lughnasadh is centered around themes of prosperity, generosity, continued success, and giving thanks; which makes it a great time to help those around us, and share the blessings of our abundance with others.

Consider volunteering your time, organizing a community cleanup, picking up trash at the beach, having a friend, neighbor, or loved one over for a hot meal, or offering to help a neighbor with something they need. Devote your time, and watch the blessings come back to you.

Make a Gratitude List

What has ‘grown’ in you life this year that you’re thankful for? Have some seasonal tea, sit by a candle, and make a gratitude list of everything you’re blessed with in life.

Make a reap/ sow list

On that note, you can also try a reap/sow list. Write down what you’re proud to have “planted” in your life, and watched grow, and also what your’re not proud of. What needs to be ‘reaped’ from you life? What weeds are strangling you, that need to be pulled for a bountiful harvest next year? Use this time as personal reflection, and choose what to reap and sow to live your best life in alignment with your true self. Think in ‘Regrets’, ‘Farewells’, ‘Harvest’ and ‘Preserves’

Regrets: Think about things you meant to do this summer that did not come to fruition. Project your regrets onto fire safe objects, like pine cones, and throw them into your fire. You can also write on dried corn husks or paper.

Farewells: What’s passing from your life? What is over? Say goodbye. You can use visuals or writing for this, and also throw into the fire to release, or a lake or ocean. You could also use a flower bulb and plant it, to watch it grow back next year.

Harvest: What have you already harvested this year? What is sprouting? Find a way to represent those things and create a visual reminder to hang in your home.

Preserves: Think about the fruits you have gathered this year and how you can hold onto the sweet memories. Make a remembrance box, or box altar, to help remember special things, times and people.

Make a Craft

Lugh is the God of craftsmanship, so try making something festive to decorate your home or altar! Wheat can be used for wreaths and door decorations, apples can be turned into seasonal candle holders, or try making your own corn dolly or besom. Search Pinterest for these great ideas or check my Instagram account for the how-to’s! (@selfcarewitchxo)

Go to a Craft Fair

And again, on that note! Since Lugh is the God of this, see if there’s any local craft fairs in your area and buy some local goodies!

PHEW!

That’s it folks! Your complete guide to celebrate Lughnasadh! Thank you for being patient with me as I got this posted. If you hear from me on other sites you know I already typed this whole thing once and it got deleted! Ahh! I’m glad to have this up finally!

Connect with me on Instagram to see what i’ll be doing for the day, and send me the ideas you’ve decided to try out! I’d love to see your crafts or anything you’ve baked! Also if you have any ideas to add, let me know and I’ll post them!

HAPPY CELEBRATING!

Blessed Lughnasadh Witches!

~ Faye ~

@selfcarewitchxo

#lughnasadh #witch #witchcraft #witches #lammas #lughnasadh 2019 #lammas 2019 #pagan #pagans #witchcraft blog #beginner witch #beginners witchcraft #pagan holiday #celtic holiday #lugh #celtic

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samanthasroberts · 6 years ago

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The best food they ate in 2015

Kebabs in Istanbul, sea urchins in County Cork, a sensational lobster pasta in London: top chefs and food writers share their favourite meals this year

Ã‡iya Sofrasi and KadikÃ¶y market, Istanbul

RenÃ© Redzepi Chef-patron, Noma, Copenhagen

Walking through KadikÃ¶y market in Istanbul you see dried aubergines hanging from stalls, dried chilli peppers and fresh dÃ¼rÃ¼m, and Turkish tea being poured all throughout. You hear street merchants calling out their catch of the day, maybe a bag of sardines, turbot from the Black Sea or a kilo of mussels. I was there en route to Ã‡iya, in the heart of this picturesque market. Ã‡iya to me embodies the perfect restaurant: full of tradition but not afraid of innovating, with a generous and welcoming space. The meal is a cornucopia of all there is to offer from Anatolia lamb stewed with dried cherries, chopped parsley with vinegar, rice cooked with raisins and fistfuls of whole spices… I would happily put myself on a plane just to go and have lunch there on a beautiful spring day.

Pickled herring platter at Russ & Daughters, New York

Yotam Ottolenghi Chef and food writer

It was a platter of pickled herring fillets with three sauce options on the side cream, mustard and curry along with schmaltz herring fillets and then matjes herring fillets. In the centre were pickled onions, roll mops and a beet and herring salad. I had it for breakfast, around 11am, and it left a sweet (albeit fishy) taste in my mouth for the next few days.

I love the cafe, which opened last year and is strongly modelled on the long-established store. Sardines, chubs, rugelach, pickles, boxes of matzo, halva sold by the block, rye bread to blow your socks off, Bloody Marys: these are the flavours which define New York for me.

IdiazÃ¡bal cheese, Urbia mountains, Spain

Elena Arzak Chef-patron, Arzak, San SebastiÃ¡n

This spring I made an idiazÃ¡bal cheese with a shepherd in the Urbia mountains in the Basque country. We used natural rennet which the shepherd made from the stomach of a latxa lamb. When I went to pick my cheese up this autumn (after the ageing process) it had all the rich true flavour of the milk, but you could also sense the environment in which the mother had grazed. I could close my eyes and imagine myself on that windswept mountain top. The fact I made it heightened the flavour. I ate it with my family, either by itself or with walnuts, quince jelly and apple jelly.

Dashi-simmered asparagus, tofu and egg at Koya, London

Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich Chef-owners, Honey & Co, London

We went to Koya a couple of days before it closed and had an amazing goodbye meal. The asparagus and tofu dish was so delicious, we ordered another for dessert. It had those really fat English asparagus, blanched and chargrilled, with tofu, bonito flakes and a dashi broth. It was so nicely balanced and full of flavour. The next day, Itamar went back with our head chef to eat it all over again. The food in those last days of Koya felt very organic, more like dishes Junya [Yamasaki, the head chef] would make at home than normal restaurant stuff.

Sea urchins from County Cork

Jacob Kenedy Chef-patron, Bocca di Lupo, London

From now until February or March, you can get amazing sea urchins from Ireland. I had my first one last week and it was mindbogglingly good. You can get warm-water sea urchins, which tend to be bigger and more impressive-looking, all year round, but they are much less intensely flavoured. The Irish ones mine came from John Chamberlain in Dunmanus Bay, Co Cork have an enveloping fishy flavour. Theyre wonderful stirred through pasta or with sushi, but I prefer them on their own with just a tiny squeeze of lemon. You slice them open, clean out the gunky stuff, rinse them in sea water and scoop out the eggs with a teaspoon. It makes you realise how amazing nature is, and how little we should mess with our food.

Sea-salt ice cream in Dingle, County Kerry

James Jocky Petrie Group executive development chef, Gordon Ramsay Group

In Dingle this summer, during a chowder competition with lots of Guinness and live music, I tried a sea-salt ice cream at Murphys. It was one of those things that makes you go, damn, why didnt I think of that? Everyone loves salted caramel, but this is different: just plain ice cream with sea salt. It sounds odd but it really works: the sweetness of the sugar balances the salty character. Its almost savoury but not quite its just a sweet salt. People come from miles around to eat this ice cream.

Lamb kÃ¶fte at Sultanahmet KÃ¶ftecisi, Istanbul

Karam Sethi Chef-patron, Gymkhana, Trishna, London

I went to Istanbul for the first time this year and ate at a place called Sultanahmet KÃ¶ftecisi. After visiting the Blue Mosque nearby, we saw the big queue outside and decided to find out what was going on. They specialise in lamb kÃ¶ftes grilled very simply over charcoal and served with bread, pickled chillies and their house chilli paste. We ordered one and ended up having six. Its tough to find something so succulent and juicy and flavourful. I think its down to the quality and fat content of the meat, and that they serve them hot off the grill, so you can still taste the charcoal. Theyve mastered the recipe over years and years. Its the ultimate kebab.

Yuzu ramen at Afuri, Tokyo. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Yuzu ramen at Afuri, Tokyo

Brett Redman Chef-owner, The Richmond, Elliots, Jidori, London

On a research visit to Tokyo at the start of the year, I had a yuzu shio-ramen at a place called Afuri in the basement of a shopping centre in Roppongi Hills. Im not an aficionado but it was the best ramen Ive ever had. They make it with chicken stock, which makes it much lighter than the rich, milky tonkotsu ramen were used to in London. The addition of fresh yuzu is ingenious: the intensity and fragrance of yuzu peel blasts all the way through the stock. It left my head spinning: how do you get so much flavour into this bowl?

Khao chae at Lai Rod, Bangkok

Fuchsia Dunlop Food writer

I was going to recommend a meal at the Dragon Well Manor restaurant in Hangzhou every time I go there its the best meal of the year but then I had something totally amazing today in Bangkok. I was in Thailand for the first time and the food blogger The Skinny Bib recommended I go to an old-school Thai restaurant called Lai Rod. The standout from quite a long lunch was a dish called khao chae: grains of rice in iced water with flower petals, perfumed with candle smoke. It was served with a platter of deep-fried relishes green chilli stuffed with pork, fish floss flavoured with coconut, caramelised beef and some salted radish with a little egg yolk and beautifully cut pieces of green mango, cucumber and a crunchy yellow root with a remarkable taste. The combination of the sweet, salty and umami flavours from the relishes and the smoky, perfumed rice soup was a revelation.

Grilled shrimps at Sa Foradada, Mallorca

Tomos Parry Head chef, Kitty Fishers, London

I went to this fantastic cliffside restaurant this summer. The whole experience is pretty special: you park your car, jump over a fence (which stays closed to keep wild donkeys in) and walk for half an hour through fields with fig trees and goats. The trek is worth it for the food and the view youre looking out over the bay where they catch most of your dinner. I particularly liked the shrimp, cooked very simply over a grill with wood from the trees around the restaurant. A lot of the skill in grilling lies in restraint, and these shrimp were barely cooked, so you can still taste the sea without being overpowered by the wood.

Grilled shrimps at Sa Foradada, Mallorca. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Unpasteurised cream from Ottinge Court Farm, Kent

Stephen Harris Chef-patron, The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent

Im slightly obsessed with dairy produce and this year Ive started buying unpasteurised cream from Ottinge Court Farm near Folkestone. We hadnt been able to get it at the restaurant for about five years because the testing required for unpasteurised milk has become prohibitively expensive for most farms. The difference is just incredible. The pasteurisation process wipes out all the interesting things. In this, I can taste a hint of flowers and a rosewater tone. Theres a slight dung-y taste, which some people find offputting but I really like. You know it has come from a cow as opposed to a goat or a sheep, because it smells a bit like when you get near cows. Ive been trying it out with a warm chocolate mousse and a tiny bit of salt and thats probably the best thing Ive tasted all year.

Iio Jozos fujisu vinegar, Japan

James Lowe Head chef, Lyles, London

In February I visited Iio Jozo, a vinegar-maker outside Kyoto which has been producing rice vinegar for 120 years. They oversee all the parts of the process themselves: they brew their own sake and have local farmers growing the organic rice for them. One thing they do is collect the sake lees the fermented rice left over after filtering and pile it into big wooden barrels to age for up to 10 years. It starts out as a white, pure-looking paste but by year ten its black like treacle. The vinegar he makes from it is incredible. He gave me a litre bottle and, at first, I tried to use it sparingly, but I ended up putting it on lots of things at the restaurant. It was gone within a week.

Pasta al forno at La Cantinetta, Barolo, Italy

Sam Harris Chef-patron, Zucca, London

Ive been eating at La Cantinetta since I started going to Piedmont 15 years ago its a very simple little trattoria run by two brothers but it was the first time Id had this dish. They ran it as a special and it was amazing a perfect baked pasta. Pasta al forno is basically lasagne, though the woman serving us insisted there was a difference. This one was quite firm and didnt collapse all over the plate, which is a good thing. There were loads of layers we counted about 15 and a very scant amount of bÃ©chamel and meat ragu, but just the right amount. The seasoning was bang on, it was really crisp on the top. Ive had millions of lasagnes over the years, but this blew my head off.

Ochazuke at Ishikawa, Tokyo

Isaac McHale Head chef, the Clove Club, London

Ochazuke is a dish of rice, a few bits to sprinkle on top seaweed, toasted things, salmon eggs, shiso, whatever you have with green tea or dashi poured over it, a Japanese late-night fridge buffet. The fresh rice, the cornerstone of a Japanese meal, was a revelation. It was fragrant, just chewy, almost al dente and made me really pay attention to the rice for the rest of our trip. Ive been reading about ochazuke in Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art for 18 years and dreaming of a Scottish version, with Assam tea and pheasant broth over barley. To be served one in one of the best restaurants in Japan, made my heart sing.

Porcini in Tuscany

Ruth Rogers Chef and co-founder, the River CafÃ©, London

The family, around 20 of us, go to Tuscany every summer, near Monte Amiata. This year we were there when the first porcini were found. Our gardener brought them for us as a surprise, then I roasted them whole with a bit of garlic and thyme, two hours after they were picked. We put them in the oven for a long time, almost an hour, then ate them with nothing else on the plate. It was the setting as much as the flavour; all of us being there together, the excitement of them arriving. It was late August, so it felt like a farewell to summer and the beginning of autumn.

Lobster pasta at Hedone, London

Nathan Outlaw Chef-patron, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac, Cornwall

A lot of people told me Hedone was good, but the lobster pasta was the best thing Ive ever eaten in England, and Ive eaten a lot of food in England. It wasnt so much the cooking as the ingredients. They kill all their seafood fresh to order and that makes all the difference. You dont get a menu. If you ask Mikael [Jonsson] for one, he says hell send it, but never does. But from what I can gather he took the coral from the lobster and put it into the bisque, which was slightly aerated. The pasta was just a flat sheet, almost like lasagna, and cooked perfectly. Its refreshing to see a chef sticking to his guns and cooking the best produce he can find. The British restaurant scene is much newer than in France or Spain or Italy, and I dont think weve scratched the surface of whats possible in our own country, with our own ingredients.

Sushi at Masa, New York

HÃ©lÃ¨ne Darroze Chef cuisiniÃ¨re, HÃ©lÃ¨ne Darroze at the Connaught, London

I was in New York with my chefs to cook a special dinner and we went to Masa. Its not the kind of place you can go every day its really expensive but it was an experience. You eat at the counter, and they make everything Ã la minute, right in front of you. The best thing was a piece where the chef took a kind of white membrane of the tuna not the the meat itself and wove it over a piece of rice into a piece of sushi. The rice was a little warm. It was so surprising: very smooth to eat but then the flavour of the tuna was like an explosion in the mouth. Just incredible.

Sushi at Masa, New York. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Pizza at Mission Chinese, New York

Lee Tiernan Chef-owner, Black Axe Mangal, London

I was scared about opening our new restaurant, and Danny Bowien invited me over to spend a few days at Mission Chinese in New York. I always feel calm around Danny. He has a lot on his plate but he just deals with it. The best thing I ate was a cheese and tomato pizza with mapo tofu on top, cooked in their wood oven. The base is made to a Tartine bread recipe, then the tofu is just rolled around on top. Its quite unusual to have a cheese and tomato DOP pizza on a Chinese restaurant menu, but nothings going to stop those guys doing what they want. I think about that pizza every day. I wish I was eating it right now, in fact.

Roast lamb in Segovia, Spain

Nieves BarragÃ¡n Executive chef, Barrafina, London

When I went to Segovia, one hour north of Madrid, I went to JosÃ© MarÃa, a family place where they make the best roast mixed lamb on the wood fire. There were six of us; it was a four-hour lunch. We had two things: the lamb, which came with roast kidneys, and the suckling pig, with amazing roast potatoes and grilled peppers on the side. It was stunning: juicy, crisp It sounds quite English, but the centre of Spain is like this, its very traditional all roasts. Their oven is huge, so beautiful half the size of Barrafina. I would love to have something like that in London.

Tarte tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France

Shuko Oda Head chef, Koya Bar, London

We visited Lamotte-Beuvron, an hour or two from Paris, where tarte tatin is originally from. We went to the local bakery and bought the tarte tatin there. I dont normally have a sweet tooth but it was absolutely beautiful. It was a nothing-special-but-everything-about-it-was-special type of thing.

Goats curd mousse at Lyles, London

Anissa Helou Food writer

Lyles has been my favourite restaurant more or less since it opened, and a few months ago I took two young Qatari friends for dinner as I wanted them to taste James Lowes cooking. It was a perfect meal, ending with an amazing goats curd mousse. It was sensational: a little bowl with the mousse on the bottom, covered by an apple granita made with estivale apples and sorrel. The apples werent peeled so the flavour was incredibly intense but not too sweet. And then there was this beautiful crunchy cracker a very, very thin sheet made with apple, sugar and star anise. The textures were incredible: creamy, icy and then crackly. My friends loved it.

Pizza at Gjusta, Los Angeles

Claire Ptak Owner, Violet Bakery, London

The thing thats really been on my mind is this pizza we had in Los Angeles at Gjusta [a bakery and cafÃ©]. It was one of the best, most perfectly seasoned, chewy, crunchy, doughy things Ive ever eaten. Ive been dreaming about it. Its more like pizza bianca that you get in Rome, but thinner. They make it in big rectangular sheet pans. Really salty and oily, and stretched out. The one we ate had tomatoes, red onion, little bits of ricotta, an egg, and just oil and salt. It was transcendent.

Pizza at Gjusta, Los Angeles. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Grouse from Scotland

Blanche Vaughan Cook and food writer

I was standing on a moor in mid-September just when the heather is in flower and I shot a grouse. I plucked it myself, wrapped it up and took it back on the train. Its a nice thing to be able to cook for other people. I made a recipe I learned at the River CafÃ©: you make a bruschetta with roast tomatoes on top, slosh in red wine so it soaks into the bread, then you brown the bird and roast it on top of the bruschetta so all the juices seep in.

Burger at the Four Seasons, New York

Fergus Henderson Co-owner, St John, London

A perfect burger at the Four Seasons bar in the Seagram Building in New York. I had a dry martini, which is a good way to start lunch, and a very nice pinot noir to wash it down. A real treat. It was a classic burger but its the setting: its a beautiful room, a special place. They have chainmail on the windows, which shimmers. The bar has amazing spikes hanging above it, so everything they serve could be the last thing you ever eat or drink before a spike runs you through, which adds a certain twist to the whole thing.

Grilled cauliflower at Hearth, New York

Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley Cookery writers

In September we went to Hearth in New York. They offered us a seat at the chefs pass (directly in front of the kitchen), where we enjoyed the most incredible six-course tasting menu right at the heart of all the action. The atmosphere was electric, the food was incredible the grilled cauliflower with sunflower seeds and capers, and grilled beef neck were especially memorable and typical of chef Marco Canoras food philosophy. His rustic, home-style cooking champions seasonal produce, nose-to-tail eating and a waste not, want not attitude.

Spaghettoni at Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda, Italy

Andrea Petrini Food writer, founder of Gelinaz!

Spaghettoni at Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda, Italy. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Its simple almost provocatively simple. Spaghettoni [thick spaghetti], butter and beer yeast. When it comes to the table its almost monochrome between pure white and lightly brown-ish in colour. The title of the dish may be simple, but of course its not just one butter, but a blend of three, and the beer has been spread out and cooked in the oven on a very gentle temperature until it solidifies. You have totally al dente spaghetti, the very savoury, milky presence of the butter, the suggestion of the crunchiness of the yeast that adds a dose of acidity, and a gently insinuating touch of caramelisation. Its immediately recognisable comfort food that also pushes the boundaries. Its an instant classic, something I fear the chef, Riccardo Camanini, will have on his shoulders for many years to come. You cannot add anything else, because you would destroy the balance, the subtle dialogue between these three major ingredients. And if you take something out, it falls apart. For me, thats the definition of a dish, or a piece of art. You eat it in three bites, but it stays with you for a really long time.

Porra de naranja at Arte de Cozina, MÃ¡laga, Spain

Samantha Clark Chef and co-owner, Moro, Morito, London

We have a house near Granada and we decided to do a detour and fly into MÃ¡laga to try a restaurant, Arte de Cozina, that one of our chefs had told us about. The standout dishes were porra de naranja and kids sweetbreads. Porras are the precursors to gazpachos but made with fewer ingredients sometimes just bread or dried fava beans, garlic, olive oil and water. This one was scented with orange. The texture was smooth and creamy, the flavour subtle with orange, a fruity olive oil and perhaps a touch of vinegar. Topped with chopped almonds for crunch and salty jamÃ³n to balance the sweetness, it was nectar.

Adidas nigiri at Sawada, Tokyo

Enrique Olvera Chef-patron, Pujol, Mexico City

Sawada is a tiny two-Michelin-star sushi bar with only six chairs, where the owner, Koji Sawada, and his wife are the only ones taking care of every aspect of the entire omakase. It was a tuna fish nigiri, but a totally different cut, between the chutoro (belly area) and the otoro, with so much fat it actually melted in your mouth. It was named by Sawada as the three lines of fat form an Adidas appearance, like the three lines of the sport brand. The thing that inspired me the most was to see Sawada doing such an unusual thing but with so much respect for his culture. Innovating from tradition, applying a subtle change or improvement. You can still do new things that honour your roots.

Bonnat Madagascar chocolate bar

David Williams The Observer wine writer

As someone with expensive tastes in wine and whisky (professional hazard) and cheese (just plain greed), Ive been wary of developing an addiction to posh bean to bar chocolate. The chocolate penny finally dropped with a bar made by French artisans Bonnat from beans sourced in Madagascar. A light, fruity, elegant creamy style described as the pinot noir of chocolate, it had me using words Id usually reserve for wine: balance, texture, and most of all, length (the taste lasted for minutes).

Buttermilk chicken at the Clove Club, London

Thomasina Miers Wahaca founder, cookery writer

For my mothers birthday at the end of January we took her to the Clove Club. They blew us away with the food. We had the buttermilk chicken, consommÃ© and 100-year-old madeira, and an Orkney scallop and orange dish that was so light. Its exceptional how much they make from scratch: the charcuterie, the butter, the bread My mother was blown away. Her eyes were shining like a seven-year-olds at Christmas.

JamÃ³n from Barcelona

Angela Hartnett Chef-patron, Murano, Cafe Murano

I bought a jamÃ³n from Joan La Llar del Pernil, brought it back to London and had a jamÃ³n party in my garden. I invited Nieves [BarragÃ¡n] and JosÃ© [Pizzaro] over, and some of my chefs; I thought Id get everyone round at 2pm and theyd be gone by 8pm, but, of course, everyone was there until two in the morning. Weve since gone back to Barcelona and bought another jamÃ³n.

Squat lobster from the Firth of Clyde

Ben Reade Co-founder, Edinburgh Food Studio, Edinburgh

The most delicious thing I ate this year was a surprise gift of squat lobsters from a fisherman on the Firth of the Clyde called Ian Wightman. Id ordered a load of langoustines [for a festival I was cooking at in North Ayrshire] and he gave us these as a bonus. We cooked them up the top of a glen over an oak fire, with white wine, butter and some nutmeg. They are one of the sweetest, most delicious meats ever, but not many people use them in fact, most fishermen throw them back because theyre so small and they have horrible shells that cut into your fingers when youre opening them. But theyre really worth the hassle, and the less you do when youre cooking them the better.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/the-best-food-they-ate-in-2015/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2019/03/24/the-best-food-they-ate-in-2015/

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allofbeercom · 6 years ago

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The best food they ate in 2015

Kebabs in Istanbul, sea urchins in County Cork, a sensational lobster pasta in London: top chefs and food writers share their favourite meals this year

Ã‡iya Sofrasi and KadikÃ¶y market, Istanbul

Pickled herring platter at Russ & Daughters, New York

Yotam Ottolenghi Chef and food writer

IdiazÃ¡bal cheese, Urbia mountains, Spain

Elena Arzak Chef-patron, Arzak, San SebastiÃ¡n

Dashi-simmered asparagus, tofu and egg at Koya, London

Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich Chef-owners, Honey & Co, London

Sea urchins from County Cork

Jacob Kenedy Chef-patron, Bocca di Lupo, London

Sea-salt ice cream in Dingle, County Kerry

James Jocky Petrie Group executive development chef, Gordon Ramsay Group

Lamb kÃ¶fte at Sultanahmet KÃ¶ftecisi, Istanbul

Karam Sethi Chef-patron, Gymkhana, Trishna, London

Yuzu ramen at Afuri, Tokyo. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Yuzu ramen at Afuri, Tokyo

Brett Redman Chef-owner, The Richmond, Elliots, Jidori, London

Khao chae at Lai Rod, Bangkok

Fuchsia Dunlop Food writer

Grilled shrimps at Sa Foradada, Mallorca

Tomos Parry Head chef, Kitty Fishers, London

Grilled shrimps at Sa Foradada, Mallorca. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Unpasteurised cream from Ottinge Court Farm, Kent

Stephen Harris Chef-patron, The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent

Iio Jozos fujisu vinegar, Japan

James Lowe Head chef, Lyles, London

Pasta al forno at La Cantinetta, Barolo, Italy

Sam Harris Chef-patron, Zucca, London

Ochazuke at Ishikawa, Tokyo

Isaac McHale Head chef, the Clove Club, London

Porcini in Tuscany

Lobster pasta at Hedone, London

Nathan Outlaw Chef-patron, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac, Cornwall

Sushi at Masa, New York

Sushi at Masa, New York. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Pizza at Mission Chinese, New York

Lee Tiernan Chef-owner, Black Axe Mangal, London

Roast lamb in Segovia, Spain

Nieves BarragÃ¡n Executive chef, Barrafina, London

Tarte tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France

Shuko Oda Head chef, Koya Bar, London

Goats curd mousse at Lyles, London

Anissa Helou Food writer

Pizza at Gjusta, Los Angeles

Claire Ptak Owner, Violet Bakery, London

Pizza at Gjusta, Los Angeles. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Grouse from Scotland

Blanche Vaughan Cook and food writer

Burger at the Four Seasons, New York

Fergus Henderson Co-owner, St John, London

Grilled cauliflower at Hearth, New York

Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley Cookery writers

Spaghettoni at Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda, Italy

Andrea Petrini Food writer, founder of Gelinaz!

Spaghettoni at Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda, Italy. Illustration: Nick Shepherd

Porra de naranja at Arte de Cozina, MÃ¡laga, Spain

Samantha Clark Chef and co-owner, Moro, Morito, London

Adidas nigiri at Sawada, Tokyo

Enrique Olvera Chef-patron, Pujol, Mexico City

Bonnat Madagascar chocolate bar

David Williams The Observer wine writer

Buttermilk chicken at the Clove Club, London

Thomasina Miers Wahaca founder, cookery writer

JamÃ³n from Barcelona

Angela Hartnett Chef-patron, Murano, Cafe Murano

Squat lobster from the Firth of Clyde

Ben Reade Co-founder, Edinburgh Food Studio, Edinburgh

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-best-food-they-ate-in-2015/

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ultraqueer · 8 years ago

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hey y’all! so i’ve recently gotten, like, really fucking invested in @charminglyantiquated‘s Elsewhere University world, and I just started scrawling this out in my notebook last week - so i decided that hey, i might as well post it. it’s loosely based on a few of my own experiences - in fact the whole thing was inspired by one - so, yeah. here we go!

“Faeries’ Ring”

………….

You knew what you were getting into.

Raised on Irish traditions and tales of the Fair Folk, you grew up carefully avoiding fairy rings and treating nature with an almost reverent air. Every few weeks you would gather up all the vines and leaves and fresh flowers you could find—never, ever stealing from bushes or nearing that one, shimmering part of the forest in your search—and build small houses for whomever and whatever may wish to rest there. Each night you left out small offerings—a pretty bead you found at school, a crystal you bought at the museum, and a homemade raspberry-lemonade cupcake among them—and some mornings something new awaited you in return.

It was obvious that the best course of action was to hold on to these treasures, for safety’s sake, and so you do, tucking each one in an antique jewelry box that you take with you wherever you travel. One of these such gifts stays on your person at all times: a large ring, dried flowers suspended in the glass center and surrounded by colorful stones. It was tucked on the lip of a fallen rose petal on a chill March morning, taking the place of the tiny replica of a Lady Gouldian finch you’d crafted in art class. You wear this ring on your middle finger of your dominant hand, showing that you did indeed win favor with some of the Them without being all too obvious about it.

After all, the Fair Folk can be a bit indecisive (though you’d never say this aloud). It can be difficult to tell if they will simply appreciate you wearing this token or if they might take it as an invitation for something you want no part of. So you keep it on most hours of the day, even when you sleep, twisting it and turning it and rubbing your thumb across the smooth glass when you’re nervous. It only comes off once in a blue moon, when you wake up to the stones glittering and shining in the pitch darkness, and the air around you seems to buzz. That’s when you rip the ring off and set it down carefully on your bedside table—you’re frightened but not so much that you lose all common sense—the glass and stones pointing away from you.

You still start your day with an offering—now usually one of vanilla creamer or some shiny bauble that caught your fancy at the dollar store—and you still try to build houses, though that at first seems more habit than anything else. The Fair Folk, as you’ve learned, can be far larger than your childhood imagination led you to believe, but they seem to appreciate the gesture nonetheless. Your best days come the week or so following when you’ve built a new house, before it’s been destroyed by weather or raucous parties thrown by who- or whatever took a liking to them, and in these weeks you leave a pouch of your favorite loose tea on the stoop (you’ve found them particularly fond of the berry-orange-honey white and red blend, though you try to rotate flavors to avoid boring any potential guests). You’ve learned to always do this come finals.

Students come to you sometimes, asking how you do it—how you seem so well-favored, how you stay so safe, how, even when you did take a “vacation,” you came back sprightly and hardly changed at all—and you have little to tell them. You give them advice, sure, tell them what you’ve learned in the past just-over-two decades of your life, but so many of them simply laugh and turn away, young and carefree and maybe just there to poke fun at the undergrad who spends her weekends shopping for flowers and sketching out plans for the grandest home imaginable—just in case.

You know, though. You see it in the iron clasps finding their places around their necks and hear it in the hushed tones as they ask themselves, but what if she’s right? And those who don’t show any signs—well, you like to think They will be lenient, but when they suddenly start eating a little too healthily and avoiding group selfies, you know. You’ll put out something special as an offering that night, something tied to the person (be it a pair of earrings or their favorite cake recipe), and add on to whatever house is currently sitting in your garden. Sometimes they return and sometimes they don’t, and sometimes there’s a headband sitting there in the morning, or a lone left sock—being honest the results are more dependent on the student’s major than anything else—but at least the renovated housing and special offerings earn you a bit more reputation, a bit more respect.

Newer students seem convinced that you’re actually one of Them—who else would seem so in the know, or would dare live in the one, virtually abandoned dorm with a massive apple tree right by the door?—but the sophomores and above Know you. They call you Archie, short for architect (a name you’ve come to accept—you’re no architect major, but at least the name doesn’t make your actual major immediately obvious), and some give flowers and trinkets when they know you’re about to begin building. You appreciate it—after all, you’re a poor college student who can’t exactly afford to buy fresh flowers several times a month—but always take care to add your own offerings and flowers on top of whatever they give. The Fair Folk may accept a gesture funded by others, but you know you’re safest when you give something of your own.

For this reason, you’re one of the “lucky” ones. An English and music double major is virtually guaranteed to be stolen away at least every few months, but in your four years here you’ve only left once. You wear your clothes inside out so often it’s more habit than precaution now—though you doubt you’ll ever truly be used to the feel of underwire biting into your skin in an even more uncomfortable way—and you leave out trinkets even when you’re at home, on break, far from any signs of Elsewhere U. You’ve prepped, you’ve prepared, you’ve readied yourself for whatever may attempt to come for you on the way home from your recital, or the poetry reading, or the spring musical.

Yet still, you feel the strangest tug. Be it a spur-of-the-moment detour through the woods to get to class a bit faster or the desire to sit next to Denise (who isn’t Denise, not really, and hasn’t been for nearly two months now) in workshop, you feel more and more drawn to the Elsewhere the closer you get to graduation. You’ve become incredibly invested in your architectural exploits, building bigger and better homes with increasing regularity, and you’ve added a bit of spice to your offerings. You continue to leave small trinkets and creamers, but every few days you leave a few lyrics of an original song, or a bit of dialogue from a piece currently in workshop that you desperately need to get back to editing, or something else equally as personal, special, and, hopefully, intriguing to the Fair Folk. On rare occasions you grow even more desperate, throwing yourself outside all night in a truly desperate plea for something, anything to happen. To appear.

You despise acknowledging them, but tonight is indeed one of those nights.

It’s a night for music and you sit in the bitter cold beneath the apple tree, bundled up in a periwinkle coat, fingers numb as you pluck at the strings of your ukulele. You’ve finally set your favorite poem to a tune, and though your hands shake violently you still manage to hit the proper chords. It takes a moment, a tense one, but it passes and before long you’re humming and singing and swaying with the beat, singing out about the girl you once loved, a long, long time ago. Your tongue slips and sets free your true name but you don’t care, you don’t care, you don’t care anymore. The song ends and you leap into the next, stopping for neither breath nor a moment to regroup. Something happens and the world feels almost trancelike as you pour your heart and soul out beneath the apple tree to the sound of a perfectly-tuned ukulele and the wind—or something else—rustling the bushes.

Your eye catches a glimmer moving across the strings with you. For once, you leave the ring be and decide to see what happens.

………….

This time, maybe you won’t be coming back.

#nic writes #nic writes things #elsewhere university

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