#might buy a new flavor when we go to get groceries again <3 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

glassworkspiderlilies · 5 years ago

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got me good vibes thank god i ain’t driving

Fire Emblem Three Houses | Dimitri/f!Byleth | AO3 Summary: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd goes grocery shopping at 3:30AM and meets an enigmatic girl in the dairy aisle. It goes from there. (Or, something-of-a-college-cryptid Byleth comes and goes as she pleases and befriends the Blaiddyd heir. Or he befriends her. In any case, it's an interesting semester.) Notes: Stress relief fic of no real discernible plot; best described with “head empty, just typing”. I’m serious, please do not think too hard while reading, I got nothing LOL. On the other hand, I had a lot of fun. Approximately (and absurdly) 10k words; more notes on AO3.

“Hey, Dimitri. One of those nights, huh?”

“Yes. Want a Mad Bull?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

It’s 3:30AM, and Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd is grocery shopping. The cashier on graveyard shift is well-acquainted with him now, at least on a surface level, as one becomes when you’re (usually) the only two people in the store at an ungodly hour. Dimitri buys him energy drinks sometimes. The cashier slips him extra coupons if he’s got them.

A combination of insomnia and nightmares keeps Dimitri up a lot, and while he can mostly regulate the insomnia, some nights are just particularly bad. Alternatively, if he is asleep but wakes up at any point, it’s too difficult for him to fall asleep again, so he may as well get up.

It’s not the worst, since he’s used to it by now, and at university. There are things enough that he can do during these witching hours, grocery shopping at the 24-hour supermarket being one of them.

On the rare occasion there are other people in and out of the place, but Dimitri only sees them from a distance as they go about their own shopping. At this time, everyone’s minding their own business for one reason or another.

That’s why it’s a surprise when he turns into the dairy aisle to see a young woman standing in front of the cheeses. She’s wearing a soft gray hoodie with pink striping on the cuffs and hem, her hands in her pockets and the hood covering her hair, dark jeans, and knee-high boots. Despite the more casual style, it strikes Dimitri as somehow a little dressy, though Sylvain would snort and say he’d be one to talk. (Dimitri can’t help it. It’s how he was raised; he feels most comfortable in button-downs and crisp jackets. His most casual is a neat sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, like now. And anyway, Sylvain seemed to have fun enough choosing things to add to Dimitri’s wardrobe. At this point, all of Dimitri’s friends borrowed his clothes if they fit—even Felix, who always did so without asking, and sometimes Dimitri never even knew.)

The girl doesn’t even turn despite the sound of Dimitri’s cart, and he thinks that he’ll wait politely for her to finish her selection before making his, pretending to look at the nearest shelf. But she stands there for a few minutes too long without moving, and so after some deliberation and hesitation, Dimitri decides to approach. It’s his last aisle, and he more or less knows what he wants, so he’ll be quick and out of here.

She doesn’t move even as he comes to stand next to her, and he murmurs “excuse me” as he looms a little over her to reach for a block of Gautier cheese. An unfortunate yet unavoidable action based on positioning, because she is spectacularly dead center of the things he wants, and she still doesn’t move despite the proximity.

Dimitri glances at her, wondering if she’s okay. Her expression is totally blank; she’s either zoning out or focusing extremely hard.

Well. It’s pretty late—or early—after all.

He reaches for a second block and puts the two into his cart, stepping away from the girl to turn his attention to the yogurts that he gets for Sylvain on the next section over. He takes two of the mixed berry ones first before debating over the others.

“Plain or spicy?”

It takes him a minute to register the voice and the words, soft and pleasantly mid-tone.

Dimitri turns to find the girl looking at him, and he thinks oh, she’s really pretty, now that he’s seen her in full view, before actually connecting the dots that she’s the one who had spoken.

“Um, spicy?” he offers, and the girl seems to think for a moment before she nods decisively.

He watches as she reaches for two blocks of artisan cheese, flecks of herbs and spices visible through the packaging—not one he’s tried before, or honestly remembered seeing here—and turns to plop them squarely in his hands, balancing them perfectly on top of the yogurt containers.

She then walks away, putting her hands back in her pockets.

“Uh?” Dimitri says belatedly, looking between the girl’s retreating figure and the cheese.

Am I supposed to buy these for her? He wonders, as he puts everything in his hands in his cart. He grabs a six-pack variety of yogurt before rushing after her, but she’s gone by the time he makes it to the registers.

“All set?” the cashier yawns, and Dimitri blinks at him.

“Wasn’t there a girl just now? In a gray hoodie?” Dimitri asks, laying down his purchases.

“Hm? Oh yeah, she walked out without buying anything,” the cashier says, starting to scan the items, “People just come in here to kill time sometimes.”

“Oh,” Dimitri says, looking towards the doors.

He completes his transaction, leaving the Mad Bull for the cashier, who waves his hand gratefully, and makes his way back to his car. The girl is still nowhere in sight; Dimitri realizes he wishes that she were.

He loads his groceries into his trunk and drives back to the dorms.

By the time he finishes finding space in the fridge for everything, it’s a little past 4AM. In about an hour and a half, Ingrid will be up for her morning run, and she always welcomes company. Dimitri shoots her a text for when she wakes up; he’ll pick up coffee and pastries for them too.

For now, he might as well work on his upcoming paper a little more.

“So, what’s with the special cheese in the fridge?” Sylvain asks later that day, when their childhood quartet all meet up for lunch.

“Oh,” Dimitri says, remembering. “That. Um…there was a girl in the supermarket who just kind of…had me buy them?”

Sylvain, Felix, and Ingrid blink at him.

“What do you mean, ‘had you buy them’?” Felix says.

Dimitri recounts the whole experience.

“And you bought them,” Felix says, with his brows furrowed, his eyes and tone clearly conveying what the hell, that was so stupid.

Dimitri just shrugs.

“We should eat it later,” Ingrid says, biting into her burger, and Sylvain laughs.

“Yeah, leave it to Ingrid,” he says. “But we should. To commemorate Dimitri’s weird 3AM experience.”

Sylvain makes a big deal of it when they do eat the cheese later, when their classes have ended for the day and they’re back in their suite. He puts the crackers on a plate and tries to cut the cheese into fancy shapes, which only Dimitri actually appreciates.

“Oooh, spicy,” Ingrid says, as she pops a cube into her mouth. “Hey, this is really good!”

Felix says nothing, but reaches for more. Sylvain laments about the lack of appreciation for his artistic attempts, but also agrees that the cheese is great when he finally eats a piece himself.

Dimitri, as always, cannot really taste the flavor, but he likes both the scent and the texture, at least.

“So Dimitri finally meets a girl, we get a brand new cheese, what else is next?” Sylvain says, leaning back on the sofa.

“It wasn’t like that,” Dimitri protests, then pauses. “But she was very pretty,” he admits quietly, and Sylvain grins. “Like a goddess,” he adds, even quieter.

Sylvain smacks his own face in secondhand embarrassment.

“There, you see? It’s Dimitri’s romantic awakening.”

“Hardly matters unless he gets to see her again,” Felix says lazily, and Sylvain is the one that makes a wounded noise.

Dimitri, on the other hand, merely looks thoughtful. He hadn’t actively thought about wanting to see her again until Felix brought it up. But he thinks he might like to, if the chance presented itself.

“It’s the awakening,” Sylvain whisper-hisses, and no one seems to care.

“Stranger things have happened,” Ingrid says, in response to Felix’s statement and not Sylvain’s, “In any case, you should get this again.”

She tries to eat the rest. Felix fights her for it.

(When Dimitri goes shopping again two weeks later, he can’t find the cheese anywhere. Ingrid looks let down, Sylvain looks surprised, and Felix looks offended.

“What the fuck? Go find your 3AM cheese goddess again and ask her,” Felix says, and Sylvain laughs a little too hard.)

Dimitri’s not sure why he allows himself to be dragged to parties, but he keeps letting it happen. Ingrid had brought them news that Dorothea was throwing her beginning-of-semester bash, which was always a Big Deal, and several of their mutual friends were going. Ingrid couldn’t not attend, because she was good friends with Dorothea. Sylvain was absolutely going, because he would never miss a party. Felix had not wanted to go, but Sylvain had somehow convinced him, and if Felix was going to suffer, then Dimitri better damn well suffer too, and so he relented from the combined pressure of Felix’s glare and Sylvain’s coaxing.

He supposed he could use the change of pace every now and then. And he could always slip away; people were usually too drunk to notice after a couple hours.

Sylvain borrows a shirt from Dimitri’s closet and wears it with three buttons undone. Felix steals a black jacket from Dimitri’s closet and wears it halfway down his arms. Ingrid does not take anything from his closet this time, but does borrow one of his hair ties.

Everyone tells Dimitri to change when he comes out of his room; Sylvain, as usual, takes control to make Dimitri more “party ready”, which consists of a long blue coat and off-white shirt—with several buttons undone, of course. (Dimitri buttons at least two up again later.)

The party is loud and raucous as it’s meant to be, but he’s amongst mostly friends, and so he’s actually not that anxious. There’s a few people he doesn’t know, but he is otherwise at least mostly familiar with everyone else. Annette bounces up and down when she sees them walk in, tapping Mercedes on the shoulder, who was conversing with Ashe. Dedue appears a moment later, and Dimitri’s main friend group is all here.

“Yay! I’m glad you made it too, Dimitri,” Annette says cheerfully. “Gosh—frowning already, Felix? Here, have a drink.”

Annette proffers her own cup.

“You already drank out of this,” Felix scowls, but he takes it anyway, and grimaces when he takes a sip. “What is this, fruit juice?”

“Felix is too good for Noa liquer,” Annette declares, turning her nose up, “Fine, go get yourself a beer or whatever!”

Felix teases her by holding her cup too high to reach, and she screeches at him until he finally puts it back in her hands. Mercedes chuckles as she watches them, and Sylvain takes the opportunity to compliment her dress with a roguish wink. She returns the compliment easily enough, with genuine warmth, which always throws Sylvain off.

“Dedue! I was surprised to hear you were coming,” Dimitri smiles, and Dedue smiles back.

“Dorothea asked if Ashe and I could make a few things,” he said. “Since I am here, I may as well make sure nobody gets in too much trouble.”

Dimitri chuckles.

“Oooh, Dedue, Ashe, you made food?” Ingrid chimes in, looking excited. While some things had obviously been bought, Dorothea was pretty picky about the specifics of her parties when she threw one. “I’m excited!”

“We did a really good job, if I say so myself,” Ashe smiles. “The meat skewers came out really well, so you and Felix should grab some while you get a chance.”

“Oh, you bet I will,” Ingrid says, already wandering away. “Hear that Felix? I’m not saving you any!”

Felix yells back, and in a second they all start wading deeper into the place, and everyone starts to branch off on their own. Dedue still mostly sticks with Dimitri, though, and the two of them stick to the peripheries.

Dorothea’s parties really span the entire apartment building; her neighbors across the way and downstairs are either friends or people she’s friendly with, so the doors to their apartments are also open for more space. If Dimitri thinks about it, it’s really nice, the way everything comes together.

As the night wears on and he’s consumed a couple drinks that Mercedes had kindly procured for him (with a reminder to drink slow), he begins feeling—looser, braver, almost a little giddy. Dedue is in conversation with Ashe, and Dimitri slips away to the kitchen for a moment, because there had been an extra dish of saghert and cream that he now wants in a very visceral way.

The kitchen is surprisingly empty—except for one person, who has climbed up on the counter, and is perched on her knees as she rifles through the topmost cabinet. The slit up the side of her skirt shows a generous bit of leg with the way she’s positioned, and Dimitri stares before he tells himself not to. The girl takes out two bags of—some kind of snack, and when she turns her head, Dimitri sees that she is holding another bag with her teeth, and also that he recognizes her.

“From the dairy aisle,” he blurts, and she blinks at him before trying to climb off the counter.

She teeters a little and Dimitri automatically moves to help her, in which he actually just lifts her off the counter by the armpits like a wayward cat.

“Oh—sorry,” he says, realizing that the action was way too familiar for someone who barely qualified as an acquaintance.

But she doesn’t look at all offended, and merely sets all three bags of chips down before she speaks.

“Thanks,” she says, then stares at him. “From the dairy aisle,” she states, in a manner that is confirming that yes, that is where they met.

A pause. She is so, so pretty, Dimitri thinks. There is sparkly gold eyeshadow brightening her already-bright green eyes, making her stare more intense. The more they’re at a standstill, the more nervous he becomes.

“I couldn’t find the cheese again,” he blurts.

She nods.

“It’s only stocked the fourth Tuesday of the month,” she says, ripping open a bag of chips, and taking a few to cram in her mouth before offering them to Dimitri.

“Oh,” he says, taking a chip. “It was very good. My friends liked it a lot too.”

She stares for a moment again, then offers him a tiny smile, a brief upturn of her lips. She had expected him to, he realizes, and she’s at least minutely pleased to have that expectation fulfilled. A short laugh escapes him at how odd this all is.

“You didn’t buy anything that night,” he says, though it comes out as a question.

She shrugs.

“I was just there,” she says, offering the chip bag again.

“Just there,” he repeats, taking more chips. At 3:30AM. “To…hang out?”

She gives a brief shake of her head.

“To stare at a specifically stocked cheese, only to give them to a stranger to buy?” Dimitri tries again.

She blinks at him, popping more chips in her mouth.

“Not a stranger,” she says, after she finishes chewing.

“Pardon? Forgive me, I don’t…recall us meeting before that night?” he says. He would have remembered someone like her, he’d think.

“You’re Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd,” she says, and he blinks at her use of his full name. Her eyes crease in amusement at his expression. “Not a stranger to me.”

Ah.

“But you are a stranger to me,” he says, and she shrugs again, as if saying it’s not like it’s something he could help.

“Byleth,” she offers, putting the open bag of chips in his hands, and opening up another one. (He looks at the labeling on the front. Beast meat and onion flavor. Huh.) “Want to go on an adventure, Dimitri?”

He looks back at her, mouth slightly open. She continues to stare at him, munching away from the other bag of chips, waiting for his response.

“Okay,” he says.

She nods, then rinses her fingers at the sink before motioning for him to follow with her head. She takes the two bags of chips with her as she walks out of the kitchen.

She navigates the crowd until she finds a group of three, all dressed looking as if they could kill, dumping the chip bags into the hands of a redhead.

“Hm? Chatterbox, where did you find these?” the girl says, reading the unusual flavors.

“Kitchen cabinet,” Byleth says, and the girl shoots her a half-exasperated look, but questions no further.

She hands one of them to the girl with blonde curls beside her, and Dimitri proffers the third bag as well, which the redhead also takes with a curious glance at him. Byleth makes to leave, but the boy with lavender hair and sparkly eyeshadow—the same that glints on Byleth’s eyelids, he realizes—stops her.

“Whoa, hold on there, friend! Not so much an introduction?”

“You know him already,” Byleth says, and the boy frowns at her.

“Yuri Leclerc,” he says, turning to Dimitri.

“Name’s Hapi,” the redhead pipes up, still looking at the chips.

“And I am Constance von Nuvelle,” the blonde says, tilting up her chin with a haughty smile.

“Dimitri,” he says, a little shyly, since they already know him. “A pleasure.”

“I’m sure,” Yuri says, with a nod of his head, before glancing back at Byleth. “Are you leaving already? And kidnapping the Blaiddyd Heir?”

“Yes,” Byleth says.

A pause.

“Well, carry on then,” Yuri says with a shrug. “Want a drink before you go?”

“Yes,” Byleth says.

They wait as Yuri makes his way to the counter full of bottles a little ways away, watching as he makes a cocktail in a shaker with professional ease. He strains the drink into three cups, carrying all of them back, and Byleth and Dimitri take one each.

“You get what I’m drinking,” Yuri says, eyes wicked, and does not offer up what it is. Dimitri sips, and by the way it burns, he can tell it’s strong. Yuri looks faintly impressed with Dimitri’s lack of reaction beyond a few rapid blinks. “I’ll tell the Heir’s friends where he went, if I see them asking.”

“Thank you,” Dimitri says, realizing that he doesn’t know where any of them are at the moment.

Byleth merely nods, and motions for Dimitri to follow again.

The night air is refreshing, and Dimitri feels pleasantly floaty as he trails after his new friend. They round the Black Eagle complex and head into the dark woods behind; he doesn’t know where they’re going and feels like he shouldn’t ask; he has an idle thought that he should text one of his friends to let them know, but Byleth looks back at him to make sure he’s following and he can only think about how pretty she is. He smiles at her, and she tilts her head before reaching for his hand.

“Hand,” Dimitri says, looking down at them.

“Hand,” Byleth agrees. “The ground is uneven here.”

He looks a little longer and then swings them a little. Byleth looks amused.

He enjoys the silent companionship between them for a little while but quickly becomes curious, so he begins asking her questions. What year was she? A senior. Where did she live on campus? In Abyss, at the Ashen Wolf dorm. Her major? More or less the teaching program, with a focus on weapons and tactics. Technically it was something of a double major, paired with history and international studies. It was complicated. Her weapon concentrations? This year, faith and reason magic. She’d already passed for swords, brawling, and bows.

He stares at her open-mouthed as she answers his questions with easy patience.

“That’s…quite the curriculum,” he says slowly, “When do you sleep?”

She glances at him.

“I manage,” she says, “I could say the same for you.”

He pauses, looking up at the sky as he collects his thoughts, sipping at his drink absentmindedly. She must already know what his curriculum more or less was—the three heirs apparent of Adrestia, Faerghus, and Leicester attending the same school the same year had been quite the news, and though their ideas of management differed, they did also overlap in areas. A handful of their core classes were inevitably the same before they branched off into their own areas of interest. But in any case, all of them were double-majoring with incredibly heavy courseloads to help prepare for their futures.

“It’s just insomnia,” Dimitri says instead.

“Ah,” she says, nodding. “So, 3AM grocery shopping.”

“So 3AM grocery shopping,” he agrees.

He’s not sure how long they’ve been walking, but even if it’s been a long time, he finds this all terribly pleasant. A distant part of him is aware that he would not be this at ease had it not been for the drinks he’s had tonight. Alcohol is wonderful.

Byleth pushes through some branches, and they walk into a clearing, and Dimitri looks up at an enormous tree, his mouth open.

“Ta-da,” Byleth says, though her inflection doesn’t change, “Biggest tree on campus. Good place to sleep under.”

“Now?” Dimitri says, with some alarm.

“You could camp if you wanted to. But in the daytime,” Byleth tells him, drinking from her cup. “Try it sometime.”

He blinks at her, unsure if this is just a general suggestion or specifically geared advice.

“Not sure I could find it again,” he says, because he doesn’t recall the path they took at all, too distracted by other things. Also, despite the moon, it had been quite the dark trek.

“I’ll bring you,” she says simply.

They go closer to the tree, and Byleth reaches up to one of the lowest branches and snaps off two thin stalks of leaves, inspecting them before nodding.

“Okay, let’s go back.”

“Oh,” Dimitri says, a little dumbfounded, “Okay.”

They make their way back. Along the way, Dimitri finishes his drink, Byleth stumbles over a tree root (her shoes are heeled, he realizes just now, how did she trek all the way in those?), and Dimitri somewhat insistently offers her a piggy back ride. She accepts, loosely wrapping her arms around his neck with both of their empty cups stacked in one hand, and Dimitri feels just a little giddy. He wants to run. (He tells himself not to.)

“You know,” she says after a while, resting her chin on his shoulder, “You shouldn’t follow strangers into dark and unknown places.”

“Not a stranger,” Dimitri says, feeling exceedingly proud of himself for the response.

He feels rather than sees her smile, and is disappointed he can’t see it. When they make it to Dorothea’s, Sylvain and Felix are outside, and the former hollers when he sees him.

“You stupid boar, why the hell didn’t you pick up your phone?!” Felix hisses when they near, and Dimitri’s eyes widen.

Byleth hops off of his back (and Sylvain stares), and Dimitri pulls his phone out of his pocket to see six notifications of missed calls and texts.

“It was on silent,” Dimitri says apologetically, and Felix huffs. “Sorry.”

“Aw, no harm no foul,” Sylvain says, “Dimitri was just occupied, huh?”

“I kidnapped him,” Byleth says, throwing the two empty cups into a nearby trash can.

“We had an adventure,” Dimitri says, enthusiastically.

“Did you now,” Sylvain says, looking at Byleth, who merely stares back and adjusts her posture like a challenge. It only serves to make Sylvain more intrigued.

“This is Byleth,” Dimitri says, “From the dairy aisle!”

“Oh, the 3AM cheese goddess?” Sylvain says with a laugh, and Felix flushes at the stupid moniker as Byleth blinks in surprise.

“Yes,” Dimitri nods, “She says it’s only stocked…uh…”

“The fourth Tuesday of the month,” she supplies.

“What the fuck?” Felix says incredulously.

She shrugs. A chime goes off, and this time Byleth reaches into her bra to pull out her phone. All three boys stare at her.

“Gotta go,” she says, tapping out a quick reply. “Balthus is fighting someone.”

“Ah,” Dimitri says, wilting, his eyes and countenance like a sad puppy.

“You’ll see me around,” Byleth tells him with a faint smile, and disappears back into the apartment.

“He’s smitten,” Sylvain whispers to Felix, watching Dimitri stare after her.

“Disgusting,” Felix says back, scowling. “He’s also drunk. Did she say there was a fight?”

They head back in to find the rest of their friends to assure them that Dimitri is alive. There is indeed a fight, but a result of two very brawny guys—one presumably Balthus, the other Raphael—testing their abilities against each other. Dorothea is yelling, trying to get them to take it outside before they break things in her apartment and someone else gets hurt, to no avail.

Dimitri catches Yuri’s eye from across the crowd, who grins and waves in a cheeky sort of manner, pointing back to the ring. Byleth then appears, sliding her way in between them with impeccable timing and launching her own surprise attack. She punches the one with wild dark hair in the gut, then grabs him by the wrist and throws him to the floor. The apartment erupts in cheers.

“Aw, what the hell, Byleth!” Balthus yells, sitting up.

“Didn’t you hear the lady?” she says to both him and Raphael, who is also cheering, “Outside.”

“You deserved that, B,” Hapi chimes in, “You started it.”

“Alright, alright,” Balthus groans. “Round two outside, then!”

Sylvain elbows Felix, and they both look at Dimitri.

“Smitten,” Sylvain says.

“Disgusting,” Felix says, with feeling.

(Alcohol is terrible, Dimitri decides the next morning, when he wakes up with a massive hangover. He ventures out of his room and all three of his childhood friends—who are somehow already up, how was that possible?—stare at him in one coordinated movement to incredibly eerie effect. They also look how he feels.

“We’ve got the hangover cures,” Ingrid says, placing a plate of greasy breakfast food down as Sylvain holds up the full coffeepot and Felix rattles their mega-size bottle of aspirin. “So spill about what the hell happened last night.”

Dimitri demurs momentarily to brush his teeth and wash his face. After, he sits down at their common table, accepts a cup of coffee, and dutifully spills.)

It’s two weeks before he sees Byleth again, having not being able to catch a glimpse of her anywhere. Garreg Mach was a big university, and he hadn’t recognized her from campus previously, but…now that he was looking, he’d kind of expected to at least see her on occasion from a distance.

It’s another late-night chore night, and it’s about 1AM when he hauls his basket of dirty clothes to the laundry room. He expects the potential of others doing their laundry since the hour isn’t that late, but when he pushes through the doors he does not expect to see Byleth sitting on top of one of the washing machines, legs drawn up, a hardcover book perched on her lap.

She holds up a hand in greeting, as if she had been waiting for him to walk through the door.

“Hello,” Dimitri returns, blinking a few times, disoriented.

One, her legs are distracting him, because they are so bare and it doesn’t look like she’s wearing pants. Two, while she isn’t disallowed here to do laundry, this is the Blue Lion dorm. She lives in the Ashen Wolf dorm, which is oddly isolated from every other housing, so there is absolutely no reason for her to be doing laundry here, at a location of total inconvenience, at 1AM.

“What are you doing here?” he ventures, walking over and setting down his basket in front of the empty one next to her.

Byleth lets her legs down so they dangle over the side of the washing machine, just over her sandals. She is wearing pants, he sees—or shorts, rather. They’re just…very short, and her oversized sweatshirt nearly covers them. She looks comfy, at least.

“Reading,” Byleth responds, holding up the book, A Treatise on Srengian Weaponcraft.

“You’re studying—here?” Dimitri asks incredulously.

Byleth shrugs.

“Good of a place as any,” she says.

“I...guess it could be,” Dimitri relents.

It’s not busy at this time, and the machines are top-notch, so the noise they produce could be acceptable enough ambience. He stares at her a minute before he moves on to load his clothes into the machine, carefully measuring out the detergent and pressing his desired settings. Byleth watches him, and when the immediate task is completed, Dimitri nervously faces her.

“I um…I’m sorry for my behavior at the party,” he says, trying not to wring his hands as he thinks about the piggyback ride. “My actions were—overfamiliar.”

“On the contrary,” Byleth counters easily, “You helped me out.”

He brightens a little at that, and she tilts her head at him. After a moment she smiles a little, and Dimitri feels his heart skip a beat.

“How was the morning after?” she asks, and Dimitri coughs at the wording.

“Not ideal,” he admits, rubbing the max of his neck. “My tolerance is not very high. But I recovered.”

“I’ll note that,” she says, with a nod. “Yuri hits hard with his drinks. You took it well, considering.”

He debates whether to bring up his lack of taste, but decides against it. That conversation always goes one way, and he doesn’t want to bring up past tragedies and traumas, right now.

“You were okay?” he asks instead, and she gives him an amused look.

“High tolerance,” she says. “Father’s side.”

“Ah,” Dimitri nods. Not that he knows her very well, but she hadn’t seemed drunk at all—though by the time he’d run into her in the kitchen he wasn’t confident in his own observational accuracy. He doesn’t know where to go from here, and his eyes fall on her book. “So…Srengian weaponry?” he tries, and winces at the awkwardness of the delivery.

But Byleth nods.

“Known for their maces,” she says absently, cracking the text open again, “But their other weapons have some good durability.” She pauses, looking at him. “Might be a worthwhile investment.”

He blinks. The Blaiddyd line is well-known for their greater-than-average strength, and Dimitri is no exception. Still, he hates how easily things break in his hands; even iron and steel can shatter in his grip if he’s startled. But Byleth offers this suggestion so matter-of-factly, as if she were recommending a flavor of ice cream or color of shirt, that he can’t even be embarrassed about it.

“It might be,” Dimitri says eventually. “I’ll look into it. Sylvain has contacts in Sreng.”

“So do I, if you need another,” Byleth says, and Dimitri blinks at her again.

Sreng’s clan politics are notoriously turbulent, and Sylvain only had actual contacts because he had been trying to improve relations as the next head of House Gautier, whose lands bordered Sreng. Otherwise, Sreng wasn’t usually a place people had, or could get, contacts in.

“You…have contacts in Sreng?” he asks, dumbfounded.

“My father used to be a mercenary before a bodyguard,” Byleth says absently, “So I grew up as one, too. We used to travel a lot.”

There’s more to it, Dimitri can tell, but he doesn’t push, purely because he doesn’t know what, exactly, to ask.

“There more I learn about you, the less I seem to know,” he says with a wry smile after a minute.

She stares at him.

“And to me, you feel familiar,” she murmurs.

His eyes widen.

“Oh,” he says.

“Oh,” she agrees.

There’s silence.

“I only ever seem to meet you unexpectedly,” he ventures, after a long while. The washer beeps, the lock to the door releasing. He goes to open it.

“I’m not a ghost,” Byleth says, watching as he takes out his damp clothes and begins moving them to the dryer.

“That’s relieving,” he smiles. “I also only ever seem to see you at night.”

She only smiles faintly at that.

“Let’s spar,” she says.

“Wha—now?”

“No, tomorrow,” she says. “During the day.”

He’s not entirely sure what brought this on, but he does think he’d like very much to see her fight.

“After one o’clock?” He asks, wracking his brain for his schedule, and she considers it for a moment before nodding and hopping off of the washing machine.

She slides her feet back into her sandals ad begins walking away. Dimitri panics for a moment, because they haven’t hashed out any details.

“Wait! How will we—?”

“I’ll make myself visible,” Byleth says, already halfway out the door as she peeks back, “You won’t miss me.”

And then she’s gone. Dimitri shakes his head as he finishes moving the rest of his laundry. Once he straightens back up, he realizes she’s left her book.

A tether, he thinks.

After a moment, as he waits for his clothes to dry, he picks it up and cracks it open.

A good of a place to read as any.

He tries to not tell his friends after lunch where he’s going (and technically, he doesn’t even know), but his antsiness is apparent, so his secret-keeping fails spectacularly. Sylvain and Ingrid tag team him, and he gives Ingrid a betrayed look.

“Fellas, do we think it’s a date?” Sylvain asks, holding out his hands as if he’s addressing a council.

“It’s sparring,” Ingrid says, “Not a date.”

“Could be a date,” Felix says.

“Only you would consider that a date,” Sylvain laments.

Felix shoves him. Dimitri hurries along, trying to leave them behind in the cafeteria to no avail. He really wishes he had been more insistent on details last night, because in a few moments, he’ll be at a loss of where he should be heading.

It’s a needless worry, because as he walks out, he is reminded of Byleth’s words. In the distance, where the space opens up and there are benches situated along walkways, an enormous amount of birds are flocking.

“Oh,” Dimitri says, and when his friends catch up behind him, they also stare.

“What the hell is that?” Felix says, and Dimitri picks his way towards the mass.

“Byleth, I think,” Dimitri answers faintly. “She said I wouldn’t miss her.”

When they near the birds scatter in one movement, though some brave ones flutter back. Byleth is indeed revealed to have been in the middle—and cause—of that, a bag of birdseed mostly empty in her hands. She nods her head in greeting as Sylvain starts laughing.

“Hello,” Ingrid says, whacking Sylvain once, but he doesn’t stop and doubles over instead, “I think I missed out on meeting you properly at Dorothea’s. I’m Ingrid.”

She holds out her hand, and Byleth says her name in return as she shakes it.

“I want in on the spar,” Felix says, and Sylvain wheezes, his laughter abruptly cut off by Felix’s self-imposed third-wheeling status of this potential date.

“Okay,” Byleth says without hesitation, and Ingrid and Sylvain sigh. Not a date.

Dimitri isn’t offended, mostly intrigued. Byleth stands, brushing feathers and seeds off of her lap, and sets off in the direction of the gyms and training halls. The others follow, Ingrid and Sylvain too interested to stay behind.

Dimitri had brought a change of clothes, but it becomes evident that Byleth intends to fight in her jeans and nice blouse and heeled boots, so he doesn’t end up changing. There’s no conversation, though Sylvain fills the silence with chatter anyway, as if this is a routine they know well.

Byleth picks up a practice sword and Felix’s eyes gleam; Dimitri picks up a practice lance, handling it with a light touch.

“Best two out of three,” Byleth says, and Dimitri nods.

She lets him take first hit, the two of them warming up as they trade easy blows. She’s quick, but so is Dimitri despite his size. He does well enough at keeping her at a distance, but he misreads her intention and she lunges in close, tapping her blade against his ribs.

“Point!” Sylvain calls excitedly.

“No need to go easy,” she says, “For lances, the moment the distance closes, you have to be quick and readjust, or it’s over.”

“Yes, Professor,” Dimitri says, the title slipping out. “Ah—”

Byleth gives him an amused look but doesn’t comment, getting back into position.

They go again. Dimitri throws away some of his reservations but still not entirely, and she lands the second round too.

“Harder,” she says, and Sylvain whistles as Dimitri flushes.

“I’m concerned about my strength,” he admits, examining the practice lance. Breakage of the practice equipment itself is no matter, but it’s the ensuing issues that can arise.

“Mercenary training, remember,” Byleth says, and though they don’t see it, Felix, Sylvain, and Ingrid’s eyebrows rise.

Dimitri frowns, but takes a deep breath, and trusts her.

He whirls. Byleth’s reflexes are excellent and she dodges fairly easily, tracking his moments with an even sharper gaze than before. He doesn’t like fighting, but he’s been trained since he was a child; it wasn’t necessary in this day and age to know how to—it was more common to just hire protection detail against demonic or wild beasts, or other enemies—but those descended from the old noble bloodlines especially still held onto tradition, whether as a hobby or actual self-protection. Even so, he can tell the difference between them; she’s seen real battle, and though he has too, not in the same capacity. The way she strategizes and reads his movements in a split second is incredible.

The cracks from their clashing practice blades are louder, and Dimitri registers that his will shatter soon. It’s hard to control his strength when the fight is so exhilarating. He goes for it anyway, jumping back from her slash and spinning his lance in his hands rapidly; Byleth’s eyes narrow, and he lunges.

He just barely sees her move, her timing is impeccable—she jumps, stomping the tip of the lance into the ground before stepping forward and snapping his lance at its weakest point. As her foot hits the ground, she crouches low and sweeps his legs out from under him.

When he opens his eyes, she has her sword under his chin.

“A good move,” she says, “But it’s going to take more than that to catch me.”

She’s not even saying it flirtatiously. She does, however, smile at little at him before offering a hand up, and Dimitri thinks he might be in love.

“Oh, he’s done for,” Sylvain says under his breath.

“He doesn’t deserve her,” Felix scoffs, his tone almost bored, but his eyes are bright at the display of Byleth’s skill.

Ingrid doesn’t say anything, and when the two boys turn to her, having expected her to respond, they see her typing furiously on her phone.

“Traitor,” Felix says, clicking his tongue.

“Just doing my duty,” Ingrid replies solemnly.

(Felix also loses all three bouts against Byleth, though he comes close the third time. Afterwards, they all end up training together, and even Sylvain puts his mind to it after Ingrid drags him onto the field.

“We’re getting milkshakes,” Ingrid declares, after they wrap up.

She’s sitting on the ground while Sylvain is lying flat on his back. Felix and Dimitri are less expressive, but they too look worn. Byleth is unreadable, but she does, at least, look a little winded. She offers a hand to Ingrid, while Felix rolls his eyes and pulls Sylvain up after he complains.

“Dimitri’s buying yours, Byleth,” Ingrid says, and the two in question look surprised.

“Oh,” Byleth says, “I—”

“Allow me,” Dimitri smiles.

Byleth blinks at him.

“Okay,” she says. “Thank you.”

Felix and Sylvain look at Ingrid, who looks smug.

“I’ll buy yours, Ingrid,” Sylvain says, with a discreet salute.

“I’m buying my own,” Felix tells them.

They all fall into step. Byleth politely listens to them squabble all the way to the shop.)

Byleth comes and goes when she wants to, like a cat or a ghost.

On a few occasions she shows up during their group lunches, stealing fries or other sides off of someone’s plate (mostly Dimitri’s), staying only to chat for a few minutes before she is off again. Sometimes she is in the company of her friends—the ones Dimitri met at Dorothea’s party (who he learns are also her suitemates) or Linhardt von Hevring, who seems to be either half-asleep or hyperfocused on his thesis project. Dimitri actually does see her around campus sometimes now, but he does see her friends more than he does her.

“Dunno what to say about that,” Yuri tells him, when he and Dimitri cross paths and are walking the same way to their next classes, “Half the time she’s not in her room and none of us know where she is. She’s always been like that. That’s just Byleth.”

“You’ve known her long?” Dimitri queries.

“Maybe around—five, six years? Constance, Hapi, Balthus, and I banded together after some…unfortunate circumstances. Byleth helped us out of a tight spot during our last year of high school. Stuck with her ever since.”

“I see,” Dimitri says, and Yuri glances at him.

“You’re not bad, Princeling,” Yuri says after a moment. Most people want to pry into the “unfortunate circumstances” and “tight spot” that he spoke of, and Yuri feels more inclined towards Dimitri for not doing so.

Dimitri winces instead.

“It’s just…”

He trails off. Yuri can guess why.

“Ohh. Yeah, okay. I get it.”

Dimitri blinks at him in surprise.

“You do?”

Yuri doesn’t answer that. There’s little he doesn’t know about the people on campus; the Blaiddyd Heir didn’t question Yuri, so Yuri will not question him in turn.

“Byleth’s Byleth,” he says instead, “Count yourself lucky that she makes a point to find you.”

With that, Yuri nods his head and turns into his classroom. Dimitri stands there, mulling over Yuri’s words, before he realizes that he’s running late and dashes to his own class.

There’s a small park nearby that Dimitri goes to as well during the nights he can’t sleep. All it has is a couple of benches and a swingset and a basketball court; a surprising number of people use both during the day, but unsurprisingly, no one’s there at night.

Except Byleth. Dimitri is no longer startled when he comes across her, even though her presence is always more unexpected than not. She’s swinging on the swings, kicking up woodchips as she drags her feet.

“Hi,” Dimitri says, walking closer. “Need a push?”

She nods, and he helps her swing higher. Pretty quickly the height she reaches seems dangerous, but she just calls “higher” and so he keeps pushing, until it seems like she is going to go over the whole set.

“Um,” Dimitri says, pushing her once more, and she glances at him as she surges up.

As she glides forward and reaches the highest point—she jumps.

Dimitri yells, startled, but she soars through the air, serene and graceful with her arms outstretched, hair spreading out behind her. She nails the landing a ways away, and when she turns back to him, she has a faint smile curving her lips, looking—exhilarated.

“You scared me,” Dimitri says, holding a hand over his rapidly beating heart.

“Sorry,” she murmurs, as she walks back to him. “Again?”

He frowns at her. She tilts her head. Something about the way she went through the air—he can’t place that brand of fear. He gives himself a shake, forces a weak smile onto his face.

“Okay,” he says, and she blinks at him a few times before seating herself back on the swing.

She jumps three more times before she’s satisfied, then offers to push him if he wants a turn, or four. He politely declines, but sits on the other swing, and they move back and forth lazily.

“Drink for your thoughts?” she asks after a while, and rummages through her bag that he didn’t see earlier, pulling out a glass water bottle.

Dimitri debates, taking the bottle warily.

“Did Yuri make this?” he asks, shaking it a little, and Byleth smiles at him.

“Constance did,” she says. “It’s pleasant.”

It smells fruity when he opens the top, so he takes her word for it. It goes down easily and doesn’t burn at all, so he assumes (hopes) it’s of the weaker alcohol content variety as well.

“Do you…know what you’re going to do after you graduate?” he asks hesitantly, passing the drink back to her.

Once the question is out, he realizes the truth of it—Byleth will be graduating at the end of this year. The fact saddens him more strongly than he would have thought.

She’s silent for a while, sipping twice from her bottle.

“Yes and no,” she says finally. Opens her mouth as if to speak again, closes it. Turns to him. “You’re thinking about your position as heir.”

“I want it,” he says automatically, then pauses to consider if that’s true. It doesn’t feel like a lie, but…“I…I have never known anything else.”

Byleth looks at him, leans forward a little so that her hair falls forward too.

“That’s okay too,” she says, “To want—or to be okay with—what others want of you, until you don’t.”

He looks back at her.

“How will I know if I don’t?” he asks.

“You’ll know. Or…your friends will be able to tell.” She pauses, swings a little. “It’s hard to say.”

“You seem to have all the answers,” he says, and she raises an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure I really gave you any,” she says.

“That helped, nonetheless,” he says, with a smile. “Thank you.”

She smiles back.

They share the drink between them until Byleth speaks again.

“I avoided your question earlier,” she says.

“Technically you answered it,” he responds, drinking again.

She snorts, and laughs a little. Dimitri feels inordinately proud of himself.

“I’m answering it again, then,” she says, though she pauses still. “I might want to be a teacher. I might want to do what my father does.” She cocks her head. “I’ve been given a lot of choices. Theoretically, I could do anything I want.” She looks at him. “I don’t know what I want.”

Dimitri pauses, holds her gaze.

“It’s okay to not want, until you do?” he tries, and she laughs again.

“Does it work like that?”

“It could,” Dimitri says. “Probably?” He pauses. “You could pick one until you don’t want it anymore.”

Byleth swings.

“It could work like that,” she says with a slight nod. She glances at him. “Thanks.”

He gives her a helpless sort of shrug, not feeling like he really gave her an answer, either. He guesses he understands how she felt just a few moments ago, then.

“Bottoms up,” she says, and drains half of the remaining liquid in the bottle, handing the rest to Dimitri to finish up.

He does so dutifully, and she puts the empty bottle back in her bag. After, she kicks off the ground, swinging higher and higher. Dimitri watches her, then gets up, walking a bit of a distance away. She watches him in turn, then flashes him a sort of sharp smile before she pumps her legs once more for momentum, then sends herself flying.

He gauges the distance, adjusting his position, then catches her as she comes hurtling down.

“Oof,” he says, as their bodies collide and he wraps his arms around her.

“Nice,” she says into his neck, then leans back to look at him.

Oh. She’s so close. His eyes widen as he stares, lips slightly parted; her expression is unreadable, but she isn’t looking away, and he can feel her breath on his skin as she tilts a little closer, his heart beating so fast he swears she must hear it—

He lets her down. His brain immediately starts screaming. Idiot idiot idiot, why did you do that, WHY DID YOU DO THAT??? WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT???

Byleth, for her part, looks unruffled and unperturbed.

“Finals are coming up,” Dimitri says, very smoothly.

She nods, walking back to the swingset to take her bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder.

“If we’re awake, we might as well study,” she says, very seriously.

He follows her out of the park, walks her back to the dorm partway.

“Good night,” she says.

“Good night,” he echoes, and he watches her walk away until he can’t see her anymore.

When she’s out of sight, he squats down and puts his head in his hands.

(He puts himself on trial tomorrow, when his friends are awake. Sylvain and Felix sit across from him, and their gazes are piercing when he recounts the previous night. Ingrid does not sit at the table because she is more inclined to be sympathetic, and moves in the background making a smoothie for herself.

Sylvain wails when Dimitri tells That Part of the story. Felix is silent, just sits there with folded arms and looks so many levels of disappointed, though it’s probably not necessarily just about this one thing.

It’s like that maybe for forty-five minutes, this whole pathetic display. Ingrid leans against the counter, drinks her smoothie, and recounts a play-by-play on her phone into one of her group chats.)

Dimitri does not see Byleth again until they are well into finals week, and he tries not to despair.

“It is finals week,” Mercedes says soothingly.

“And she’s a senior,” Annette adds. “She’s gotta be super busy!”

“Plus, you said you never know when you see her!” Ashe says helpfully, “It’s been longer before, right?”

“But,” Sylvain almost howls, pulling at his hair, “After that? AFTER THAT?”

“Sylvain!” Annette and Ashe scold, but Dimitri feels the same. He doesn’t even have the number so he can apologize, because she always appears and disappears so suddenly that it keeps slipping his mind to ask.

Felix’s frown has grown more severe. Ingrid and Dedue look at each other and back at Dimitri, and say nothing. Mercedes and Annette look at Ingrid almost pleadingly, who gives them a sheepish shrug.

“It’ll be okay, Dimitri!” Annette tries again, and he lets out a sad sort of keen.

“For now, just focus on finals,” Mercedes suggests, “And then maybe it’ll all work out afterwards?”

“It will at least be a distraction,” Dedue finally chimes in.

Dimitri says nothing. Sylvain says it all for him.

Dimitri sees Byleth’s friends around a few times, and though he knows them and they know him, he hasn’t spoken to them very much, so he feels awkward asking after Byleth. Yuri, on the other hand, he knows better, and the boy looks amused when Dimitri (hopefully) casually brings her up.

Yuri has nothing new to share though, except he does insinuate that Byleth is hard at work at finalizing her thesis paper. Dimitri calms a little at that—enough to focus better on his own work later. Yuri gives him a look and pats his shoulder lightly before walking off.

As always, when Dimitri does find Byleth, it’s unexpected.

He’s half dead after finishing his last final, one that took place in one of the more isolated buildings on campus. Pleased that he’s finally done with that, at least, he takes the scenic route back to his dorm—there’s a glass hallway that cuts through a forested area with a river, and it’s especially beautiful this time of year.

As he looks out, movement catches his eye down below, and he’s startled to see Byleth come out from under the old stone bridge and look up at him.

His heart leaps to his throat. She waves, and he waves back hesitantly, and then she motions for him to come down.

Dimitri looks left and right, trying to figure out the best way to reach her, and he goes.

He’s slightly out of breath when he reaches her, and she has a pile of stones in her hand when he does. He blinks at them, meeting her eyes, confused and mildly concerned as to what she might use them for. Is she angry? But she’d waved him down…but was it because she was angry and about to give him a piece of her mind?

“Do you know how to skip stones?” she asks, and it takes him a minute to process.

“I…suppose I’ve never tried,” he admits.

She nods, then proceeds to do so, showing him the method. He watches as she considers the angle, then snaps her wrist as she throws the stone, which skips beautifully across the surface of the river before hitting the other side. Byleth deposits half of the stones into Dimitri’s hand, and they spend the next few minutes skipping stones—or in Dimitri’s case, trying and failing.

He ends up becoming focused on trying to succeed, Byleth keeping him stocked with a steady supply of choice stones. When he finally manages to skip one (though it only skips once before it plops into the water), he shouts in triumph, turning to her excitedly.

“Did you see that?!” he says, and freezes when he catches sight of her face.

She’s smiling, the expression both amused and proud and gentle and absolutely, absolutely mesmerizing.

“It’s nice to focus on things that aren’t exams,” she says, turning back to the river. “You’re all done?”

“Y-yes,” Dimitri stutters. “You too?”

She nods, checking her phone.

“Handed in my last paper yesterday,” she says absently, “Finished up packing up my things today.”

His throat goes dry. It feels like the world is slanting and narrowing to this point, where Byleth leaves and steps out of his life forever (forever?) and this is where it ends.

“Oh,” he says, and it comes out as almost a whisper. He clears his throat nervously. “Oh. I—do you need help moving anything?”

“No, it’s okay,” Byleth says, “I don’t…have too many things anyway. I just wanted to—”

“It would be no trouble!” Dimitri blurts, somewhat frantic. He’s cutting her off, he knows, and it’s stupid to think that if he prolongs the conversation she’ll stay a little longer, but—it’s not exactly wrong, either, is it? “I mean, I’m sure some things would be heavy, and I could—”

She looks a little surprised at his interruption, but blinks it away.

“No, I—”

“It would be faster, probably, but I mean, not that I want you to leave faster—”

“Dimitri—”

“—the opposite, really, but I mean, you’re graduating! That’s exciting, I’m sure you can’t wait to be out of here—”

“Dimitri—”

“You probably have some great summer plans, and I hope you will—”

“Go out with me.”

“Yes, exactly, go out with me, I—what?”

He snaps to attention, thinking surely he must have heard wrong. Despite the fact he was unraveling at the seams, Byleth looks amused, if also a little worried.

“I’m—sorry, could you repeat that?” he breathes, and Byleth shifts her position a little, the movement just slightly unusual.

“Go out with me?” she says again, though it’s pitched more as a question this time.

Oh, Goddess, he hadn’t heard wrong. And…that shifting, the pitch of her tone, was she—nervous?

Dimitri gapes at her and she meets his gaze calmly, though after a prolonged silence she looks to the side, tilting her head down a little as if embarrassed.

“You…can say no, you know,” she says softly, and he blanches.

“No! I mean, yes! I mean—I’d like to go out with you very much,” he says, defaulting to a more formal tone and posture out of desperation.

She looks back up at him and smiles again.

“I’m…glad I didn’t misunderstand your heartbeat last time,” she says, and he both winces and flushes at the reminder of that night.

“I—panicked,” he says, looking away. “But I…regretted it very much, after.”

“I know,” Byleth says.

“You know?” he asks, mouth falling open a little.

She only nods, amused again, but offers no explanation.

“Come here,” she says, motioning for him to lean down.

He does, and she kisses his cheek.

“Hand,” she says, and he obeys mechanically, shocked by that simple action.

Byleth pulls out a marker and scrawls on his wrist. He stares at it incredulously when she pulls away.

“My number,” she says pointedly when he doesn’t say anything. “I do actually have to go, but call me. Or text me. Whatever. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Of…course not,” he says, somewhat in awe. This is happening, it’s really happening.

Byleth looks like she wants to laugh again, but she gives him a little wave and makes her way back up to the building. It takes him too long to recover and realize that he should have walked her back. When he does regain his senses, however, he pulls out his phone, typing out a text as fast as he can.

Can we meet over the summer?

It’s only a few minutes before he receives a reply.

Yes.

Are you free next week?

Yes.

Canitakeyououttuesdayarounclunchtime

There’s a few seconds of pause, and Dimitri suspects she is laughing.

Yes. It’s a date.

He grins stupidly at his phone, rereading the conversation over and over again until he’s satisfied. Then he runs back to his dorm, throwing open the door with wild abandon.

“Guess what!” he shouts into the room, and he’s in luck, because all three of his suitemates are there, each in the midst of something different. Sylvain pokes his head out of his room, Felix looks up from the stove, and Ingrid looks over from the laundry she’s folding.

“Oh, shit, really?” Sylvain says, taking in Dimitri’s expression and also honing in on the number on Dimitri’s wrist. “You finally got her number?”

“We’re dating!” he announces, then pauses. “I mean, well, if I understood correctly, unless she was just—?”

“You’re dating,” Ingrid tells him before anxiety can take him over, grinning widely. “Congrats.”

Felix just waves the spatula in his hand, but he mutters thank the Goddess—about fucking time under his breath.

Sylvain, who is closest, is the first to be subjected to one of Dimitri’s bone-crushing hugs, and even spun around a few times. Felix hisses from where he stands, but is unable to escape being next in line. Ingrid laughs and pats Dimitri’s back when it’s her turn.

“Had a good semester?” she asks fondly.

“It was an excellent semester,” Dimitri says brightly.

“Disgusting,” Felix grumbles, and Ingrid and Sylvain laugh.

Dimitri knocks on the door nervously, trying not to fidget too much as he waits. He doesn’t have to wait long, however—but when the door opens, his eyes go wide.

A man roughly his own height, muscular and rugged with a scar across his cheekbone, a grave sort of face, and an air of someone who demands respect without having to ask for it, stands in the doorway with a large mug in hand.

“Can I help you?” he asks, his voice rough and deep.

Dimitri’s attention goes to the mug for a moment, which he registers reads “World’s Best Dad” in big letters, confirming his assumptions.

“I’m—here to pick up Byleth?” Dimitri manages, and to his relief, Byleth’s father simply nods and turns back into the house.

“By! Your Blaiddyd boy is here!” then, turning back to Dimitri, “Come in.”

He wonders briefly how he knows who Dimitri is on sight; his name might be well known enough, but he tries to stay out of anything where his image might be broadcasted. He steps inside cautiously, then glances at the man again. There’s something strangely familiar about him that he can’t quite place, and it’s not because of his relation to Byleth, because they look nothing alike.

“The kid’ll be a minute,” her father says, “Anyway, I’m Jeralt. Obviously, I’m By’s dad.”

“I’m Dimitri Blaiddyd,” Dimitri introduces, with a weak smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Jeralt just grunts and pats Dimitri’s shoulder in acknowledgement before offering him coffee, which Dimitri accepts out of nervousness. The drink is potent and bracing, without sugar or milk, and Jeralt refills his own mug.

Dimitri peeks at him from over the rim, still trying to figure out why Jeralt is familiar as the man stretches, the multitude of pops and cracks coming from his body making Dimitri wince.

“Don’t get old,” Jeralt tells him, “How reckless you were in your youth doesn’t fuck around when it cashes in.”

“You’re reckless now,” Byleth says as she comes down the stairs. “Cut back on the drinking.”

She’s in a loose blouse and mid-length skirt this time, a pink headband decorating her hair. Every time Dimitri seems her she seems to be sporting a different style. It’s fun.

Jeralt grunts.

“Yeah, well, can’t avoid recklessness in my line of work, and Rhea sure as hell don’t know how to take it easy. Trust me, the drinks are necessary.”

It clicks, then, and Dimitri almost cracks the cup in his hands. He lets out a strangled noise, and both Byleth and Jeralt look at him.

“You’re Jeralt Eisner,” he wheezes, looking to Byleth and back to Jeralt again. “You guard Madam Rhea—you’re the Blade Breaker, Seiros Security’s finest!”

Jeralt drinks his coffee.

“Well, it’s embarrassing to be called that, and also—kid, he didn’t know?”

Byleth shrugs. “Never came up.”

Jeralt sighs.

“Well, there it is, then. Yeah, Rhea and I go…way back, and now I’m in charge of her security company. By’s been trained since she was a kid, so…if you have any issues, she’s got your back.”

Dimitri looks at Byleth, who flashes him a peace sign with a deadpan expression.

“Thank you,” he says, for lack of anything else to say. She nods.

Jeralt looks amused, then waves them off.

“Anyway, have fun or whatever, and bring him back by curfew if he has one, kid.”

Byleth nods, and Dimitri looks back and forth, unable to fully process the information he’s just learned. But Byleth tugs him along, they’re out of the house and in his car before he regains his senses and looks at her.

“Every time I see you, you surprise me,” he says, and Byleth smiles faintly.

“Yuri says a lady cannot reveal her secrets,” she says, “But I think I’d like to start sharing them with you.”

Dimitri blinks at her, surprised, but then smiles.

“I’d be honored if you did,” he says. “There are…things I’d like to tell you as well, in time.”

She nods, looking pleased.

“We’ve got plenty,” she says. “So, where to?”

“There’s a new Duscurian spot that opened up a couple miles away. I was thinking we try it?”

“Lead the way,” Byleth smiles.

Dimitri starts driving. He lets Byleth choose the music and roll down the window; the wind ruffles their hair vigorously and she tries to keep it out of his face for him, which makes him laugh before she just rolls the windows up again.

He knows this is just the beginning, but there’s happiness bubbling up in his chest and a sense of ease and contentment over them both—so what he also knows is that it’s going to be a wonderful summer.

#dimileth #Fire Emblem Three Houses #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #byleth eisner #dimitri x byleth #dimitri x f!byleth #fanfiction #listen there's like no real context and no worldbuilding and the characterization is questionable #BUT i had fun #migraine hit hard today so editing was very cursory rip

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nightklok · 4 years ago

Note

Nathan/Abigail if you wanna?

Ultimate Ship Meme [Open]

Oh of course!!! Thanks for asking!! :D

General:

How long will they last? - Probably an incredibly long time, by then they would have both been able to overcome everything and become incredibly close as a result. Nathan probably ended up maturing and genuinely wanted to be a good boyfriend w

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - I don’t think there’s really much room to put an opinion here as it’s pretty much confirmed Nathan fell for her at first sight while Abigail was more of a gradual thing.

How was their first kiss? - They had their first kiss at the dethsub, right? Was kinda hot. (pun intended)

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Nathan-though poor thing was so incredibly nervous he probably nearly lost the ring during the Light Parade in Disney World (Because he would, of course, propose in Disney World; he has class-)

Who is the best man/men? - Nathan would obviously choose Pickles as his best man, hands down.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Abigail would have probably picked any off-screen friends she had!

Who did the most planning? - They hired a wedding planner because who wants to stress about that?

Who stressed the most? - Nathan-because he genuinely wants everything to be perfect and is afraid that if the wedding fails than that means his love life is doomed

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Rockso (Magnus too if you go by the headcanon he lived)

Sex:

Who is on top? - Abigail-it’s a fem-dom/sub-male relationship you can’t tell me otherwise-

Who is the one to instigate things? - I think it kinda depends? Probably both would on their own separate times/occasions

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - I think it depends on what they plan on actually doing, whether it’s something entirely new or something that’s comfortable for both of them.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - definitely! Even if Nathan is the sub in the relationship, he just wants her to be happy so he does his best and Abigail wants the same for him too even if she does tease him more than what’s expected.

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory. (It’s Nathan that takes up more of this-he’s just a big ol’ teddy bear-)

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - Probably 1-2

How many children will they adopt? - If they can’t conceive, probably 1-2

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Nathan; I can see him being more of a stay-at-home dad so he’d be unfortunately stuck with that (he probably asked to adopt an older kid just to avoid doing that all over again when they wanted more kids-)

Who is the stricter parent? - Abigail definitely is the stricter parent and runs a tight ship but she does at least plan at least once a week family outings which is mainly Disney World or a park which is a nice way for everyone to spend time together.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Abigail

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Nathan

Who is the more loved parent? - I’d say they’re both loved equally for different reasons-

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? They tried to go together, got banned before the first meeting even ended. Apparently, people don’t think having a battle of the bands via hovercrafts is ‘safe’. Lame.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Nathan

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Charles

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Nathan; he’s surprisingly a great cook since his mother taught him and he kind of just went from there!

Who is the pickiest in their food choice? - Nathan; there are some food textures/flavors that he just simply doesn’t want to eat at all.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Abigail

How often do they bake desserts? - They probably don’t have much time or desire to bake desserts, either ask Pickles to make them something or use a pre-made cake/ cake mix like heathens.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - I’d say they’d do both? Nathan probably is a bit harder to cook for considering how he doesn’t like certain textures for food, including how meat is prepared so probably anything with vegetables or soft textures is used more often to prepare quick meals.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Nathan

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Abigail; definitely more active so she’d be more into actually going outside whereas Nathan is totally fine with just staying inside and watching movies.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? - Nathan-sometimes if he has a really good song idea, he’ll just write it down and then end up forgetting about what he was doing earlier-it happens

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Nathan (reluctantly)

Who is really against chores? - Nathan

Who cleans up after the pets? - Nathan

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Nathan

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Abigail

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Nathan

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Abigail

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - Dog? I’m positive you mean pet alligator. And it’s Nathan definitely.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - They do it for only the major holidays like Christmas and Halloween. Halloween is completely decked out and they’re definitely known as that couple with a 100ft GhostBusters statue or something

What are their goals for the relationship? - They both just wanna make each other happy and honestly live their best lives. Nathan just wants Abigail to know she’s safe around him and that he’ll definitely put on his old battle gear and fight for her to the ends of the earth this time. Abigail wants Nathan to know she too would want to protect him and let him know that he’s definitely smarter than he thinks he is, and he’s doing so wonderful as a boyfriend/husband and doesn’t need to shower her with gifts because she already knows.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Surprisingly, Abigail. When she has her days off and doesn’t need to work, she’s definitely sleeping longer. Nathan lets her and prepares her a brunch in bed if so-

Who plays the most pranks? - They honestly don’t do it-it’s just not in their nature; they will fool around most definitely though Nathan’s version of fooling around are rather -brutal- (”Hey we’re stupid rich right?, Why don’t we just-buy the government? For fun?” “Nathan no-”)

#anonymous #Metalocalypse #Nathan Explosion #abigail remeltindtdrinc #Nategail #is that their ship name?#Thanks for asking!#Anonymous

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asfeedin · 5 years ago

Text

Mother’s Day Gift Guide | Serious Eats

Gift Types

Batch Cocktails: Make-Ahead Pitcher Drinks for Every Occasion

Serious Eats’ former drinks editor Maggie Hoffman has packed this book with 65 terrific make-ahead cocktail recipes. Entertaining guests while serving them libations should be stress-free, and this book makes it so.

Sorghum Syrup

Sorghum syrup is made from the pressed juice of sorghum grass, which grows prominently throughout the American South. This amber-colored syrup has a unique, nutty flavor that’s both sweet and savory. And since the 1960s, the Guenther family of Muddy Pond, Tennessee, has been making some of the best.

KitchenAid Pasta Attachment

This is hands down the KitchenAid attachment I use most often. It takes all of the frustration and fussiness out of making fresh pasta, and, unlike the manual alternatives out there, it’s incredibly easy and efficient to operate on your own. Hello, homemade ravioli!

Cacao Barry Extra Brute Cocoa Powder

It’s almost impossible to find good-quality Dutch cocoa in supermarkets, so make it easy for your favorite baker to whip up the best possible chocolate treats. This cocoa powder is unusually dark, with an earthy chocolate flavor for out-of-control brownies, devil’s food cake, and ice cream.

Pineapple Tumbler

Your mom might already be the ultimate entertainer, but this gift will make her parties even more fun. Sure, you can serve crushed-ice cocktails in a regular old glass, but these shiny pineapple-shaped tumblers really up the ante and make a tiki-themed evening feel special.

Sorghum’s Savor

Kentucky-based writer Ronni Lundy is an expert on the foods and foodways of the Mountain South. In her book Sorghum’s Savor, she explores the history and folklore, and the many uses, of the region’s staple sweetener. Recipes range from fried chicken to sorbet.

Durable 3-Quart Saucier

How do you make perfect caramels, ice cream, gravies, and reductions? A nifty pot called a saucier. The durable stainless steel is cladded with aluminum for even heating, essential for temperamental ingredients like caramel and egg custards. A curved bottom makes whisking a snap (no more lumpy gravy!), and the wide top encourages evaporation for fast sauce reductions. You can buy cheaper versions than this All-Clad saucier, but this is one piece of equipment in which quality really makes a difference.

Le Creuset Wooden Scraping Spoon

I have a problem with wooden spoons. I collect them like nobody’s business. But there are a few I always turn back to, and this one, from Le Creuset, is one of them. It’s gorgeous to look at; it has a flat front, which makes it great for scraping up fond or stirring vegetables; and it’s got a smooth, ergonomic grip that makes using it a joy.

OXO Pop Containers

Not all containers are built the same. OXO’s Pop Containers stack neatly in the cabinet, make it easy to see exactly what’s inside, and have a neat push-button top that forms a perfectly airtight seal, keeping your dry pantry goods fresher for longer.

Colorful Tea Towels

Heavy-duty kitchen towels have a tendency to accrue big, ugly stains. That’s why it’s nice to keep a separate set of more attractive towels for gentle drying, transporting too-hot-to-handle serving dishes, and lining bread baskets. These colorful, summery tea towels instantly brighten any kitchen or tabletop, while still doing a stand-up job at the tasks they were made for.

Terra Cotta Cazuela

Daniel’s owned these terra cotta dishes in several sizes for many years now. They’re attractive enough to go straight from the oven to the table, and versatile enough to be used as baking dishes for cooked foods or as serving dishes for snacks when you’re hosting guests.

Hawker Fare: Stories & Recipes from a Refugee Chef’s Isan Thai & Lao Roots

Hawker Fare is a wonderful introduction to some of the flavors that make Isan and Lao cuisines unique. The recipes are excellent, but what we find so compelling about the book is Syhabout’s story: a refugee who arrived with his family in the United States at the age of two, Syhabout went on to pursue a career in fine-dining. Only after establishing himself did he embark on a personal journey of discovery to find out more about the food of his forebears.

Bangkok: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Thailand

Bangkok is a great gift for anyone who loves cooking Thai food at home and wants to expand their culinary repertoire. It’s a steal for the noodle soups alone, but we particularly enjoy Punyaratabandhu’s seafood recipes, like the pan-fried salted king mackerel steak.

Unicorn Magnum Pepper Mill

I’ll admit it: I’m a pepper mill snob. I need my mill to produce a shower of evenly crushed peppercorns. I want to be able to control the size of those grains, from a rough crush to a fine powder. Not only that, I want my pepper mill to last. With a solid metal burr and a unique easy-to-load design, this is my favorite pepper mill of all time.

The Noma Guide to Fermentation

The hottest new nerdy book of kitchen geekery has to be The Noma Guide to Fermentation by Rene Redzepi and David Zilber. If you know someone who’s mixed koji up with dried fish to make a kind of fish sauce, this is the book for them. Also a good gift for anyone who’s into drying meats or pickling—it details methods and processes that take those hobbies a step further.

Pretty Pinch Bowls

These colorful bowls make setting up your mise en place a little more fun, but they’re also great for bringing extra seasonings to the table, like fennel seeds and pepper flakes for pizza.

OXO Stainless Steel Scraper

A good bench scraper is one of those tools people don’t think they need until they start using it. I use it for everything from transferring chopped vegetables or herbs from one place to another, to portioning dough, to giving my cutting board a quick clean. Next to my chef’s knife, the bench scraper is the tool you’ll see in my hand most often.

Smuggler’s Cove

This remarkable book, from Martin and Rebecca Cate of San Francisco’s Smuggler’s Cove, traces the birth and evolution of exotic drinks and tiki bars—bars that embodied an American escapist fantasy. A lively exploration of our country’s drinking history (and the current tiki scene), it’s essential reading for rum lovers, offering the best categorization we’ve encountered of the head-spinningly diverse spirit. The mai tai recipe is great, too.

Digital Electric Gooseneck Kettle

This is the electric kettle of my coffee-delayed dreams. It has an elegant gooseneck spout that makes pouring a thin, controlled stream easy (very helpful for Chemex and other pourover coffee methods), and a base with controls that allow you to set a specific temperature and hold it there.

Citrus Press

For years, I thought citrus presses were overhyped, absurdly specific, rarely useful, space-consuming, money-wasting gadgets. But it took only one use to see just how wrong I’d been—not only does a citrus press guarantee that you’ll get way more juice out of every lemon and lime you squeeze, but you can say good-bye to stinging papercuts and all those infuriating attempts at pinching slippery stray seeds from your salad dressings and cocktails.

Zingerman’s Gift Certificate

It’s hard to find a better-curated food catalog than Zingerman’s. They are righteous folks, they know seriously delicious food when they come across it, and they sell it at a fair price. Nothing in the catalog is cheap, but then again, good food rarely is. So whether you order cheese or olive oil or bread from Zingerman’s, you can be confident you’re going to be very happy when it arrives at your house.

Dish Towel and Apron in One

Kitchen towels are always welcome in any cook’s kitchen, but these can also double up as a half-apron in a pinch. Plus, they’re of a nice enough quality to show Mom that she didn’t just raise a practical child; she also raised one with an eye for flair.

Cast Iron Skillet

Old cast iron has a perfectly smooth nonstick surface that’s surprisingly easy to maintain. You can sear, bake, roast, braise, stew, and deep-fry in it, and there’s nothing more thoughtful than a gift that you have to expend a bit of effort to find (check out eBay, yard sales, and flea markets). Of course, these modern Lodge pans will do in a pinch if vintage isn’t in the cards.

Tajine

I’ve been lusting after one of these hand-painted ceramic tajines since seeing one in a cookware store a couple years ago. They require some special care, and possibly a heat diffuser to prevent cracking from intense direct heat, but I think they’re worth it just to look at, even if you never cook in them. If you do, a future of flavorful North African stews, presented beautifully at the table, awaits. They also come in a variety of designs and colors, meaning there’s the perfect pick for any home.

Uuni 2S Pizza Oven

There are a lot of custom-designed pizza ovens out there in various price ranges. I haven’t tested all of them, but my favorite so far is the Uuni 2S. It consists of a small stainless steel box with a pizza stone set inside it. You load up a hopper on the rear of the unit with wood pellets, light it up with a torch or lighter fluid, and let it preheat. About 15 minutes later, you’re ready to cook. This little powerhouse hits temperatures in excess of 900°F and bakes up Neapolitan-sized pizzas in just 60 to 90 seconds.

Elizabeth David on Vegetables

Published on what would have been the late British author’s 100th birthday, Elizabeth David’s On Vegetables will teach you how a bag of grocery store onions can be transformed into an unforgettable roasted side dish, and how some fresh shelled peas can yield the most vibrant soup you’ve ever tasted. Filled with recipes that are simple, straightforward, yet often revelatory, this book also features a few of David’s best essays, as well as gorgeous photography.

Paring Knife

Paring knives don’t need to cost a lot to do their job—questions of balance and build quality matter less in a knife that fits almost entirely in the palm of your hand. Of all the ones I tested, this inexpensive blade from Wüsthof came out on top, with a razor-sharp edge and comfortable grip. This is my new go-to paring knife, and I already have several of them at work and home.

Chinese Tea Set With Gaiwan

Do you know someone who’s getting into tea? Like, really into tea? This is the tea set to get for that person. It comes with a traditional Chinese brewing vessel (a gaiwan), a decanter, four tasting cups, and a beautiful wood tea tray with a rack to store all the pieces. At $120, it’s not cheap, but it’s a bargain compared to other well-made tea sets, especially when you consider the high-quality, paper-thin porcelain. For tea lovers looking to dig into tea ceremonies, this set has everything you need.

Presto Tilt-N-Fold Griddle

Presto’s Tilt-n-Fold model is very simple to set up and operate, and it has a compact design that makes it easy to store in kitchen cabinets when not in use. It has a large, smooth, nonstick cooking surface that heats mostly evenly, can be set at an angle to drain grease, and is easy to clean. We love the price, too.

Awesome Chef’s Knife

High-quality Swedish steel and Japanese design, along with great features like a perfectly balanced handle and blade and an ergonomic bolster, make the Misono UX10 Santoku the most-used knife in my arsenal.

Black Matte Dinner Plates

Get these if you want to up your Instagram game! These are the plates we use the most in our photo shoots—the matte texture makes a great surface on which to make any food pop.

Redbreast 15-Year Irish Whiskey

For those who find Scotch too smoky, bourbon too sweet, and rye too spicy, Irish whiskey is the ideal gift. Redbreast emerges from the barrels complex and substantial; some of the whiskey is aged in sherry casks, lending it a weight and dark hue, while some is aged in bourbon casks, imparting characteristic vanilla flavors. There’s a hint of fruit up front and spice on the finish.

Mandoline Slicer

Does your mom love to make fancy salads, crowned with delicate ribbons of carrots? Is she obsessed with serving the perfect potato gratin at holidays meals? There are some kitchen tools that make the difference between amateur-looking food and pro-level stuff. A small mandoline is one of them. This one, from Oxo, is compact, easy to use, and very sharp. It only has three thickness settings, but in my experience, that more than covers most home slicing needs.

Otherland Candle

This handpoured soy-wax candle will look beautiful on your kitchen table— and the scent of Champagne, saffron, and leather, is just fragrant enough to offset any accidental burnt foods that no one needs to know about. Plus, the packaging, which comes with a customizable matchbox makes the candle an impressive (and affordable) gift.

Embossed Rolling Pin

For the baker who has it all, embossed rolling pins can make even the most traditional shortbread seem exciting again. I love this large, open paisley pattern so much, I used it for the cookies on the cover of my book! Its design works well with many styles of dough, so it’s a great starting point before you experiment with pins that have a more intricate pattern.

Recipe Journal

Trying to get your mom to finally write down all those family recipes? This sleek Moleskin journal will get her organized and become a precious family heirloom in the process.

Salt Cellar

Proper seasoning is one of the most important parts of cooking, and if you’re still using plain table salt from (heaven forbid!) a saltshaker, you’re shooting yourself in the food. Using kosher salt from a salt cellar lets you feel exactly how much salt is getting into your food, whether it’s a tiny pinch or a big ol’ wallop.

Liquid Intelligence

Dave Arnold (you might know of his bar, Booker and Dax in NYC) won’t just accept the common assumptions about cocktail technique—his mission in this excellent book is to dig into the science of how the very best drinks are made. This is a must-read for inquisitive types who like to host cocktail hour at home.

Round Griddle

My mom’s signature dish is her homemade lefse, a Norwegian potato flatbread, rolled gauze-thin and cooked on a round griddle at a blazing hot heat. Her old one has finally crapped out after many years of service, and I want to treat her to the best model on the market. If you’re not into the Scandi thing, you can use this griddle to make crepes, injera, or regular old pancakes.

Electric Countertop Pressure Cooker

A pressure cooker is a cooking vessel that just keeps on giving: Once you discover the time-saving feats it’s capable of, you’ll never look back. The good ones aren’t cheap, but man, is it ever worth having one. A countertop electric model gives you set-it-and-forget-it convenience. With the Breville Fast Slow Pro Cooker, not only do you have complete control over your pressure cooking (including any pressure level from 1.5 to 12 psi), you also have a slow cooker and a rice cooker built right in. It’ll even sear meat for stews.

The Apprentice

Insightful (and very well-written) memoir by the elder statesman of food and cooking in the United States. From his early memories of picking salad for his mother to his recollection of eating raw clams on a Connecticut pier, the book shows how food is not just a passion or a career; food, for Jacques Pépin, is life.

Rose and Orange Flower Water

Forget flowers, they’ll be dead by the end of the week, but these flower waters will last a lifetime. Mostly. Both rose and orange flower water will last just about forever on the shelf, and just a drop or two is all that’s needed to give any recipe an aromatic boost. Try a splash of rose water with a strawberry or rhubarb dessert, or orange flower water in a classic New York cheesecake, where their gentle perfume can work wonders.

Louie Mueller’s Beef and Jalapeño Sausages

When I had these Texas beef sausages delivered to Serious Eats World Headquarters, people were skeptical. The moment they took their first bite of these supremely juicy links, though, the office became totally silent. Louie Mueller’s beef and jalapeño sausages reduced the entire office to stunned, rapturous silence. And these suckers are so affordable, even with the shipping, that they’re perfect for serving at parties. You just might want to hand out bibs to protect everyone’s shirts. Phone orders only: 512-352-6206.

Meat Cleaver

This meat cleaver has a well-balanced weight, sharp edge, and solid construction—a boon since a lot of more-affordable cleavers like this one feel very cheap and after repeat use get wobbly around the handle.

Marble and Acacia Wood Cake Stand

Like a pretty Bundt pan, a beautiful cake stand has an aesthetic value of its own, even without a cake—but present it with Mom’s favorite cake on top, and it will also be a nice reminder of the day.

Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling

In this book, Meathead Goldwyn, the founder of AmazingRibs.com, distills decades of research on the art and science of barbecue and grilling into a single volume that shows not just the best ways to take food to live fire, but why the techniques work. Far more than a recipe book alone (though there are tons of bulletproof recipes), this text will teach your favorite barbecue lover the hard-tested fundamentals of outdoor cooking, giving them the confidence to cook anything, even without a recipe. The myth-busting and equipment tips alone were enough to get me hooked.

Lewis Bag

If you’re following my advice to buy your Mom some julep cups, you might as well go all the way and grab a canvas Lewis bag as well: It’s used to smash ice into a fine powder with a mallet. Unless, of course, she already owns an ice crusher.

Preserving the Japanese Way

If her first two books are any indication, Nancy Singleton Hachisu is poised to become the Julia Child of traditional Japanese home cooking. In this, her second book, she tackles the deeply fascinating—and even more delicious—world of Japanese preserving. From easy pickles made by packing foods in miso (kabocha squash! eggs! apple pears!) to homemade miso, salt-rubbed vegetables, and air-dried fish, this should be the next frontier in all your home preservation undertakings. I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

Fixed-Cup Spice Grinder

The sleek and minimalist design of the Krups means it’s easy to hold, handle, and store—perfect for anyone tight on space. Even without a removable bowl, cleanup is a cinch because spices never get trapped beneath the blade, and there are no unnecessary ridges or notches to clog with spices. The one-touch operation makes it easy to use, and it quickly yields a fine and consistent grind in both large, tough spices and smaller seeds.

Taketsuru Pure Malt Japanese Whisky

Anyone who appreciates Scotch (or good spirits in general) will embrace Nikka’s exquisite whiskies. The Taketsuru Pure Malt is named for the company’s founder, who studied in Scotland before bringing whisky distilling back to Japan. This bottling has a slight fruity character, with lingering sherry on the finish.

ThermoWorks Thermapen

The Cadillac of kitchen thermometers is indispensable when you’re roasting meat, cooking steaks, making candy, deep-frying, or carrying out any other task where precise temperature control is needed. It’s got a big display and a blazing-fast measuring time of under two seconds—you won’t find a better, easier-to-use thermometer out there.

Simple Coffee Maker

The Bonavita is one of the faster models we tested, and it earned high scores in nearly all of our tastings. A single switch governs all of its operations, making the brewing process incredibly simple.

Fancy Cheese Knives

Spending $50 on cheese knives feels a little silly, especially when a regular knife does the trick just fine. But that’s why they’re the perfect gift—arguably unnecessary, but nonetheless useful, they feel like a real luxury. I’m pretty sure they also raise your “real adult” status by at least 10 points. Especially when they’re these beautifully crafted Dubost Laguiole knives. I like the simplicity of the olivewood handles, but they do come in other colors and styles, with the same high-quality blades.

Be Your Own Bartender

This is a fun, interactive book featuring over a dozen flowcharts to guide you to the perfect drink for every mood and occasion.

BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

Where pastry wizard Stella Parks goes deep on science for Serious Eats, her book BraveTart explores the secret history of iconic American desserts, along with updated recipes for all the classics you know and love. The perfect cookbook for any mom with a sweet tooth.

Wooden Pizza Peel for Launching Pizzas

Wooden peels absorb excess moisture and have a rougher surface than metal, which means that your stretched and topped pizza dough will remain loose and easy to launch far longer, saving you from potential pizza-spilled-all-over-the-oven accidents. Though there are cheaper options around, I love my Perfect Peel Baker’s Board, handcrafted to last a lifetime from gorgeous solid cherrywood. They’ll even put initials or a logo on it if you’d like!

Breville Espresso Machine

If you want to start making legit espresso at home, this machine from Breville is a great investment. We like that it has a built-in burr grinder that will stay set at whatever dosage you’ve decided is best for your shot, as well as an adjustable pre-infusion time. Getting the hang of it—and dialing in—takes a while, but ultimately, the results are impressive.

ThermoWorks ThermoPop

In the inexpensive-thermometer department, the ThermoPop comes in an impressive package. An easy-to-read display rotates at the touch of a button, so you don’t have to twist your head to read it. It takes a few seconds longer to read temperatures than its big brother, the Thermapen, but it’s every bit as accurate.

Korean Fermenter Crock

These fermentation crocks come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all have the same smart design: An inner lid can be pressed down against the surface of the brine, ensuring the vegetables remain submerged (and thus don’t rot), while the lids lock into place to keep bugs out.

Carbon Steel Omelette Pan

A good carbon steel has many of the qualities that make cast iron great—it’s durable, it forms a completely nonstick surface if cared for properly, and it’s inexpensive—but it’s lighter and easier to maneuver, making it great for sautéing and searing everyday foods.

GelPro Floor Mat

If you love to cook and host parties, you’ll know that a lot of prep time is spent on your feet. Why not make at least the cooking part a bit more comfortable with one of these gel mats? It’ll provide some nice cushion under your feet, so when it’s time to put on your party shoes, you’ll be ready.

Snowe Flatware

Functional, but with an elegant twist: The width of the forks and spoons is just slightly smaller than that of your standard set, and they feel slightly longer in the hand. This set is a good and long-lasting upgrade to those starter Ikea sets.

Anova Precision Cooker

Sous vide cooking—cooking foods in vacuum-sealed pouches in precisely controlled water baths—is no longer the exclusive preserve of fancy restaurant kitchens. The Anova Precision Cooker is the best home water bath controller on the market, with an easy-to-use interface, Bluetooth support, rock-solid construction, a sleek look, and an affordable price tag to boot.

Recchiuti’s Chocolate Mendiants

These thin chocolate disks have a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture and a complex, pleasantly fruity bitterness. But it’s the scattered cacao nibs on top that take them from memorable to exceptional. The crunchy bits of bean are toasty and flavorful in their own right, but Recchiuti goes the extra mile, tossing them in caramel and fleur de sel for a brightly salty-sweet finish that electrifies each bite.

All-Clad Two-Quart Saucepan

This small 2-quart saucepan is perfect for making and warming sauces, cooking small portions of grain, and heating liquids.

Brooklyn Bartender

If you know someone who has a taste for a well-made cocktail, but lives far from the heart of the Brooklyn drinking scene, this book is the perfect gift. It features 300 innovative and classic drink recipes from the best bars of the borough; every cocktail we’ve tried from it so far has been killer. The drinks Carey Jones has selected aren’t dumbed down at all, but, for the most part, you’re not looking at mile-long ingredient lists, either.

Charcuterie

Ruhlman and Polcyn do a great job of demystifying one of the more abstruse cooking arts, and, while charcuterie may seem daunting, it can be gratifyingly easy. Start simple, with the pancetta, confit, rillettes, and duck prosciutto, and you’ll find yourself with a mold-inoculated curing chamber in no time.

Bourbon-Soaked Cherries

An ideal gift for any Manhattan, cherry, or all-around whiskey lover. These cherries trade the cloying sweetness of maraschinos for the boozy bass notes of great whiskey. Use them in your go-to whiskey cocktail, or to top a favorite dessert.

An Everlasting Meal

We don’t know if there’s a book about cooking that we’ve thought about more than this one by Tamar Adler, a former Chez Panisse cook who was once an editor at Harper’s Magazine. It’s about cooking simply, and enjoying the simple meals that naturally follow from thinking about your ingredients in cycles. We forget, sometimes, that the leftover stems from blanched broccoli are wonderful cooked with olive oil and piled on toast; that their cooking liquid could be the base of a soup; that the stems of greens like Swiss chard and kale make a lovely pesto. She reminds us that stale bread can make something delicious and that yesterday’s bean broth could be the start of a pasta dish today. This book sends the valuable message that dinner doesn’t always need to be a big deal.

Paleta Iberico de Bellota

The best ham on earth doesn’t come cheap, but this is the caviar of pork: jamón ibérico puro de bellota, from purebred Ibérico pigs raised on acorns for a ham that’s nutty and sweet, with meltingly soft fat.

Dansk Kobenstyle 2-Quart Casserole

A few months back, Kristina’s mom stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a pair of Dansk Kobenstyle pots in the window of a cookware store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “Can you imagine doing a fondue party out of one of those?” she squealed. If there’s one thing Kristina’s mom loves, it’s a themed party, especially one with cheese involved. And Kristina has to agree that these little guys are perfect for all your entertaining needs—they look great on a table, and the lid doubles as a trivet to protect surfaces while you’re serving.

Metal Pizza Peel for Retrieving Pizzas

Wooden pizza peels are too thick to easily slide under a pie once it’s hit the oven. For that, you’ll want a thin-bladed metal peel. Basic models made of thin-gauge aluminum, like this Kitchen Supply peel, are just fine for the occasional baker, but they’ll bend and warp eventually. If you’re going to be making pizza multiple times a year for many years to come, you might want to spring for something a little more heavy-duty. I use the KettlePizza Pro Peel, which has a thick-gauge aluminum body that extends fully past the solid teakwood handle.

Pistachio Spread

Since first getting his hands on a jar of this pistachio spread, Sasha hasn’t shut up about it. Made from Sicilian pistachios, olive oil, sugar, and sea salt, it’s sweet, slightly salty, incredibly creamy, and just flat-out delicious. While it’s not cheap, this is one of those specialty products that are actually worth the price tag, and it makes a great gift. Spread it on bread, drizzle it over ice cream, or just eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar.

Smeg Toaster

After years of putting up with a cheap toaster that I picked up at the supermarket, I recently upgraded to this super fancy Italian job in cool mint. It’s sleek design and soothing pastel color transform the kitchen’s most boring appliance into a statement piece, and it really does a good job with the toast itself. Plus, I mean, it’s really dang pretty. If nothing else, you owe it to yourself to read this toaster’s priceless reviews.

Frankies 457 Olive Oil

Fancy olive oil always makes a good gift, but there’s a difference between fancy olive oil and good fancy olive oil. The house oil from Frankies 457 Sputino in Brooklyn is delicious (i.e. great on fresh bread and in dishes), is DOC cerified, and comes in a chic tin that prevents the light from spoiling the product.

Vietnamese Food Any Day

An eloquent ambassador for Vietnamese cuisine whose recipes are always reliable, Andrea Nguyen is one of our favorite cookbook authors. Vietnamese Food Any Day educates the reader about a variety of Vietnamese techniques and provides recipes that are eminently cookable—part of Nguyen’s goal with this book was to avoid calling for any esoteric or hard-to-find ingredients, so each and every recipe can be made with items that are easily found at a large grocery store.

Pretty Carving Board

What’s the point of perfectly roasting that turkey or prime rib if you don’t have a pretty surface to carve it on? I love this teak cutting board because it’s large enough for major projects, but lighter than thicker boards, making it easy to move from the kitchen to the dining room. It’s made from scraps of larger teak products, making this cutting board a good environmental choice as well.

Marble Pastry Slab

With their smooth surface and cool temperature, marble pastry slabs are a baker’s best friend. They’re great for rolling out pie crusts, laminating doughs, and tempering chocolate—plus, this one’s pretty enough (albeit heavy) to use as a serving platter.

Mortar and Pestle

A large mortar and pestle is one of the most underutilized kitchen tools. Not only is it faster than a spice grinder for small amounts of dry spices (particularly when it comes to cleaning), it draws out more flavor by crushing rather than shearing. It’s also the perfect tool for making pastes out of moist ingredients, like herbs, garlic, and shallots.

Stovetop Pressure Cooker

I tested dozens of stovetop pressure cookers before settling on Kuhn Rikon’s Duromatic. It has a heavy sandwiched-aluminum-and-steel base that gives you even heat, and a pressure gauge that makes telling exactly how much pressure has built up inside visual and intuitive.

Collapsible Freezer Lunch Bags

I don’t really consider myself a lunch-bag person, but when I have something cold to transport, there’s only one carrying case I reach for. These PackIt cooler bags come in a variety of sizes and styles, and all of them can be collapsed and chilled in the freezer overnight to provide refrigerator-level temperatures for a 12-hour period. I use mine most for bringing beers to the park or beach, or transporting raw meat to barbecues and campsites.

Ceramic Utensil Crock

To store tools like spatulas and whisks, a good old-fashioned crock will do the trick. We like this ceramic one, which looks extra pretty on the counter. Keep it right next to your stove so your most-used tools will be at an arm’s length whenever you need them.

Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers

This cookbook by Julia Turshen, author of Small Victories and Feed the Resistance, is full of simple, delicious meals for everyday eating, parties, and holidays. Better yet, each one includes a bunch of suggestions for how to remake it as leftovers. It’s a trove of great, creative ideas, and a must for any bookworm.

Wine Tote

This customizable (and monogrammable!) tote plus a bottle of Sancerre will make any wine drinker’s day.

Donabe Cookbook

This cookbook has been my guide to learning how to use my donabe cooker, and thus far it hasn’t let me down. It offers a wide range of recipes to help give you an idea of just how many one-pot dishes can be made using a donabe, plus background on the history and variety of donabe cookers.

Miracle-Gro Twelve Indoor Growing System

After previously lauding Aerogardens for how easy they make it to grow herbs at home (and how having a constant supply of fresh herbs has changed her cooking), Ariel’s upgraded to this larger system from Miracle-Gro. The increased size—it’s about as big as a side table—and bright lights allow you to grow a bounty of lettuces, herbs, and other greens, and you can program the app to turn the lights off and on according to your schedule. An expensive but excellent gift for anyone who loves fresh produce and fears their own black thumbs.

Granite Mortar and Pestle

With both parts made of rock-solid granite, the Thai mortar and pestle is (literally) a heavy hitter, and arguably the most versatile type of large mortar and pestle you can own. Its heft and weight, especially when combined with the stone-on-stone action that the all-granite build provides, make it ideal for one of its intended uses: making a Thai curry paste.

Baratza Virtuoso Coffee Grinder

Baratza’s Virtuoso coffee grinder is routinely picked by pros as the home grinder to beat and for good reason: Its well-made conical burrs produce a wide range of grind sizes, the results are consistent, the machine is solidly built from both metal and plastic, and it’s all backed up by good customer service.

Le Creuset Stoneware Rectangular Dish

When fall and winter roll around, I start thinking about rich, comforting casseroles, which means that these stoneware baking dishes get pulled out, filled, and popped into the oven at least once a week. They’re great-looking on the table and provide gentle, even cooking all around for really nice, crisp edges on your lasagna.

Acaia Pearl Coffee Scale

Coffee geeks will have a lot of fun with this coffee scale. It pairs with a smartphone through Bluetooth, and an accompanying app helps walk you through the brewing processes, like pourover and French press, calculating bean-to-water ratios and brew times. It can handle customization, so with each successive batch, you can really dial in on the variables to make the cup that tastes best to you. It can also be used as a basic kitchen scale with a maximum weight of two kilograms (about four and a half pounds), so it’s versatile beyond its primary purpose.

Messermeister Knife Case

Most professional cooks own a knife bag so they can tote their knives around from one job to another. But knife bags can be really useful storage options, as well. They’re compact, they can hold many knives, and they can be moved around as needed, which means you don’t necessarily need to have a dedicated knife drawer as long as you can find somewhere safe to stash your knives.

World’s Fair Barbecue Rub

Ariel discovered this spice mix 11 years ago, and it’s still one of her favorite things to give as a gift. It’s a perfect blend of everyday ingredients (shallots, garlic, paprika, and sea salt), but with unusual flavor notes from grains of paradise. She buys it by the pound to dump on meat, seafood, and even eggs, but you can start by picking it up a reasonably sized jar or bag.

The One-Bottle Cocktail

Organized by spirit—vodka, gin, agave, rum, brandy, and whiskey—with an additional section devoted to specific seasons and occasions, The One-Bottle Cocktail makes it easy to figure out how to polish off that lingering liter of rum and is guaranteed to expand your cocktail repertoire for your go-to bottle. It does so by forging surprising, nuanced, eminently sippable flavors from commonplace liquors and fresh fruits, herbs, and other seasonal ingredients, as well as vinegars, spices, and sodas. This is the kind of book that every home cocktail-maker should keep on their shelf.

Big Ice Cube Tray

If you like your whiskey with a giant ice cube, then you’ll really be into Mammoth Cubes—unlike ice cube trays from current competitor brands, these make eight cubes (not six) and are actually stackable, so they don’t require a section unto themselves in your freezer.

Joe Beef: Surviving the Apocalypse

This is a book for people who like to live extra large, and by that we mean people who are intrigued enough by the microwaved foie gras recipe to consider trying it some day. It’s a text that espouses an eating- and cooking-philosophy as much as it is a collection of recipes.

Small Baking Steel Griddle

These days, I keep this solid slab of steel permanently atop one of the burners of my stove. One side has a pebbled surface—ideal for getting extra-crisp, better-than-a-baking-stone crust on homemade pizzas. And, unlike a baking stone, this thing is going to last forever. The griddle arrives as shiny steel, but with just a few uses, it seasons up into a dark, slick nonstick surface that can be used for everything from pancakes to eggs to hamburgers to grilled cheese.

Joule Sous Vide Circulator

The ChefSteps Joule is the smallest circulator on the market. It’s sleek, compact design fits in a drawer and it heats quickly and accurately. It has the advantage of the ChefSteps community and legacy content built into its app, though its one downside is that it requires a smartphone or tablet along with a registered account to operate.

Buvette

Manhattan chef Jody Williams’s Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food is as charming and inviting as the restaurant that inspired it. This is a book to get greasy and damp as you cook through its pages, and it’s a nightstand read, dreamy and warm, to flip through as you wind down. Channeling a traditional French bistro, with a bit of Italy and a touch of New York thrown in, the recipes are classics, both inspirational and totally doable. Some are so simple that they hardly count as recipes at all—they’re more like suggestions for how to better your day with a plate of food, from breakfast through dessert after a lingering, late-night supper. Perfect for your impossibly, effortlessly stylish friend.

Culinary Coloring Book

I’ve long been a fan of Jessie Kanelos Weiner’s vivid and imaginative watercolors—she’s done the art for several of our stories. But when Weiner released Edible Paradise: An Adult Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables, I discovered a new affinity for her work. See, like many children, I grew up with coloring books. But, unlike most adults, I continue to buy them—and fill them—to this day. For that I can thank my mother, a licensed art therapist who has long promoted the pastime as a therapeutic outlet. Far from pushing a think-inside-the-box mentality, coloring provides a healthy space for self-expression and experimentation. And, for those who enjoy it, coloring can leave you with a profound sense of zen-like relaxation and accomplishment. Weiner’s fanciful landscapes are organized by season; they’re a riot of vegetation, edible plant life, and tantalizing market scenes. They’ll encourage your mom to paint (or pencil) the town red—in any colors she likes.

Anchovy Colatura

If you want to give the gift of umami, you owe it to your intended recipient to check out this aged Italian fish sauce. Hailing from the town of Cetara on the Amalfi Coast, colatura is made by aging anchovies and sea salt in chestnut barrels for roughly three years, producing a rich, deeply savory fish sauce that can be used as a flavor enhancer for meats, fish, or vegetables. Or, try it as the star of the show in spaghetti con la colatura.

Noodle Basket

If you make a fair amount of noodle soups at home, particularly for multiple people, you should pick up a couple of these baskets. (They’re also great for blanching small quantities of vegetables.) The baskets are cheap yet sturdy, and they’re smaller than a lot of the fancier ones out there, so they’ll fit in pots that are more home kitchen–sized.

Misono UX10 Chef’s Knife

A deft and nimble blade, Misono’s UX10 is one of the lightest-weight knives we tested. It’s razor-sharp right out of the box and handled every task we threw at it with ease, dicing an onion as if it were as soft as a blob of Jell-O and making paper-thin slices of smoked salmon as if the knife were a true slicer.

R. Murphy Duxbury Oyster Knife

I’ve used many, many oyster knives in my life, and the R. Murphy Duxbury knife is my hands-down favorite. It has a fat, grippy handle that’s easy to wield, and a short blade that tapers to a point and always manages to find the sweet spot on an oyster’s hinge. Pop! The slightly sharpened blade edges make slicing through the muscle and removing the top shell as smooth as butter.

Mercer Serving Bowl

With a neutral color and simple silhouette, this serving bowl is versatile enough to complement any table setting. It’s also big enough to accommodate a big salad or crowd-sized portion of stew.

Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking

I’ve never been to Zahav, the Philadelphia restaurant where Michael Solomonov serves his Israeli cuisine, but its namesake book has nevertheless changed the way I cook. His recipe for tahini sauce, which includes a novel technique for incorporating garlic and lemon, is alone worth the price of admission. I’ve loved the Yemenite beef soup (and the accompanying hot sauce), his wide focus on vegetarian-friendly dishes, and a host of homemade condiments that will elevate almost any meal, even if you don’t follow full recipes from the book.

Diaspora Co. Turmeric

This turmeric is as bright as a bar of gold, with a lovely, sleek label to match. Apart from the high-quality turmeric and nice packaging, the spice comes with a feel-good story: Diaspora Co. is run by queer women of color, and each jar purchased puts a much-higher-than-average amount of money back into the turmeric farmer’s hands.

Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking

Hoping to familiarize yourself with Jamaican food beyond jerk chicken and curried goat? Want to learn more about the evolution of Caribbean cuisine? Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking is the book for you. Suzanne and Michelle Rousseau share 150 bright and exciting vegetarian recipes inspired by the women who first taught the two sisters to cook. The recipes are accompanied by gorgeous photos, and a thorough history of Caribbean foodways. It’s an inspiring—and delicious—ode to the women who make Caribbean food great.

Fancy Glass Pitcher

I actually received this classic Waterford pitcher as a wedding gift, and my mom’s been eyeing it enviously ever since. I can’t say I blame her—it’s become a workhorse in my home. When I’m not using it to decant wine, it’s hard at work serving cocktails, ice water, and juices. And in between any special occasion, you can drop in some fresh flowers and use it as a vase.

D’Artagnan Porcelet Shoulder

It can be hard to find skin-on, bone-in pork shoulders for roasting, but luckily D’Artagnan has got us all covered with their fantastic porcelet shoulder. We think everyone should ditch the tired holiday spiral ham this year, and slow-roast a milk-fed piglet shoulder instead. We promise it won’t disappoint.

Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food

Beautiful photos accompany Nik Sharma’s impressive recipes. The best of the bunch embody the kind of inventive cuisine that draws from multiple cultures to produce dishes that can only be described as emphatically, joyously American, like the roasted carrots with sesame, caraway, chili, and nori. Great for cooks looking for inspiration yet still hopelessly devoted to classic, comforting dishes.

Staub Heritage Baking Dish

It can be easy to brush off appearances as unimportant, but tableside presentation is a big part of a baking dish’s appeal. If you want excellent performance combined with a handsome and classic design that will look great on your holiday table (or on your Instagram account), Staub is your best bet. This heavyweight dish heats evenly in the oven at temperatures up to 575°F (300°C) and has great heat retention, keeping food hotter longer when you’re serving. The generous four-quart capacity is ideal for large roasts and extra-deep casseroles.

Pedra Artisan Oval Platter

A large platter is a must-have for any household, especially during the holiday season. This oval platter has high enough sides to accommodate saucier dishes, while the gray-and-white hand-glazed finish gives it a one-of-a-kind feel.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

Marco Colzani is a great Italian bean-to-bar chocolate maker, with a number of excellent products under his brand, Amaro. But it’s his spreads that have Ed addicted, particularly the Cacao Nocciole, or hazelnut-and-chocolate variety. Imagine a Nutella-like substance, but made with the freshest roasted hazelnuts and extra-chocolaty high-quality cocoa powder. It’s a lot to pay for a small jar, but my guess is that your mom is worth it, and more.

Wusthof Classic Chef’s Knife

If you’re dead set on a traditional German knife profile—characterized by a more curved blade that’s bigger and heavier than the Japanese options—the Wüsthof Classic continues to be a stalwart. It weighs more than most of the other knives tested, giving it a solid and sturdy feel, but it still handles well and has a sharp edge.

Wine Fridge

Take it from us: Living in hot urban apartments makes storing age-worthy wines nearly impossible, unless you don’t mind risking the life of a pricey Burgundy by putting it through years of extreme temperature swings. Anyone with an interest in building even a modest collection of special-occasion bottles should get a wine fridge. It’s a small investment that protects your real investment.

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

A wonderful gift for anyone who is interested in history, food, the history of food, and this terribly flawed but nonetheless beautiful thing we call America.

Plenty More

Plenty More highlights the versatility of vegetables with 120 inventive plant-based recipes. It takes a degree of commitment to cook through this book—many, though not all, of Ottolenghi’s recipes require extra time spent sourcing unusual ingredients or toiling in the kitchen—but the reward is food that is enigmatic and downright dazzling. The ideal gift for anyone who thinks vegetables are boring, and for those who know they’re not.

Chetna’s Healthy Indian

Chetna’s Healthy Indian is a bright, colorful ode to Indian home cooking. Written by Chetna Makan, an avid home cook and semifinalist on The Great British Baking Show, it offers an array of quick, wonderfully flavorful recipes. From a simple green bean, coconut, and tamarind salad to fish wrapped in floral banana leaf, this cookbook has something for everyone.

Jerusalem

One of the best cookbook gateways into Middle Eastern cuisine—an obsessive and personalized exploration of the many cultures and traditions that make up Jerusalem’s culinary world. What will you find here? A recipe for the best hummus of your life, for starters; messy-beautiful dips and salads; and the delicately spiced soups, grains, and vegetables Yotam Ottolenghi has become famous for.

Julep Cups

I don’t often recommend single-function items, but for the cocktail enthusiast, a couple of julep cups really are fun to have. There’s nothing like holding that metal cup frosted with ice on a blisteringly hot summer day—glass just doesn’t pull the effect off in the same way. If your Mom doesn’t have an ice crusher, check out my Lewis bag suggestion as well.

Serving bowl

There’s no such thing as too many serving bowls, and this simple two-tone piece goes with virtually everything. At 11.5 inches across, it’s the perfect size for mom’s favorite side dishes; in my house, it’s go-to for salads, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, and pasta.

Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Heritage Bundt Pan

A Bundt pan is essentially a functional sculpture that can spruce up an open kitchen shelf quite nicely, even if it never gets any use. Give one to the baker (or bakeware admirer) in your life, and, as long as you promise shared cake, I’m sure you’ll be allowed to borrow it any time.

Fish Scaler

A hefty weight and a narrow head design make this an extremely efficient fish scaler. I’ve used it on smallish porgies, bigger black sea bass and fluke, and just about everything in between. It’s a significant improvement over the clamshell I used to use, and something about its design reduces the spray of scales.

Donabe Cooker

I got one of these traditional Japanese clay pots for my birthday this year, and it’s quickly become an obsession. Not only can you cook perfect plain rice in it every time, it doubles as a vessel for flavorful one-pot stews and hot pots, and an infinite variety of noodle and rice dishes. Anyone interested in Japanese home cooking should have one.

All-Clad Immersion Blender

A high-speed hand blender is great for whipping up silky soups and purées, making emulsions like mayonnaise and Hollandaise, or smoothing out sauces, all right in the pot. No need to dirty up an extra blender jar!

Vacuum Sealer

Know someone who’s interested in sous vide cooking? They’re gonna want this. And it’s handy for way more than just sous vide cooking. A vacuum sealer makes it really easy to save meats or other foods in the freezer, and it keeps air (read: freezer burn) off it all. The Oliso sealer uses a unique resealable-bag system, which means far less wasted plastic than a conventional cut-and-seal vacuum sealer.

An Amazing Bottle of Rum

Drinking Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum—with its dark caramel and vanilla on first whiff, and its rich and velvety-smooth feel as you sip—is like drinking a crème brûlée, but with a long, dry finish. Add an ice cube if you must, but it’s really worth it to give it a try without first.

All About Braising

Winter is all about slow-cooked braised dishes, and Molly Stevens’s text is the bible on the subject. Stevens first devotes dozens of pages to discussing the equipment and technique behind braising in incredible detail. Then she provides unfussy but impressive-sounding recipes to make the most of your newfound braising skills. A little hint: The vegetable recipes are some of the best.

Flavor King Pluot Jam

There are a lot of artisanal jams out there, some good and some grossly overpriced. Though I’ve tasted hundreds of them, I still haven’t had any as good as those made by Oakland’s June Taylor, who has been making what she calls “conserves” out of superb Northern California produce for more than 25 years now. The Dapple Dandy pluot conserve tastes like you’re taking a bite out of the juiciest pluot in the world, with just enough acidity to offset the sweetness.

Baratza Encore Coffee Grinder

There’s a lot to be said for Baratza’s entry-level Encore grinder, which comes in a lighter-weight, all-plastic housing. It packs the same motor as the more expensive Virtuoso, and it includes a slightly less effective burr set that grinds nearly as well as—and slightly more slowly than—the Virtuoso. Also worth knowing is you can upgrade the burr set in the Encore to the one made for the Virtuoso, if you do ever end up feeling like the Encore isn’t quite cutting it.

The Dumpling Galaxy Cookbook

While you certainly can make dumplings on your own, it’s always better (and more fun) with company. Give your mom the gift of this amazing compendium of dumpling recipes, along with a promise to join her in the kitchen for a good old-fashioned dumpling party.

Espresso Cups

Pretty espresso cups make a nice hostess gift and stocking stuffer on their own for coffee fiends. But when they’re Le Creuset, they’re even better—mostly because everything from the French heritage brand is aesthetically pleasing and built to last. Oh, and these cups might be the most affordable Le Creuset pieces on the market. So, if you want in on the trend for a moderate price, they make a good starter item.

Ultra-Deep Cake Pans

Whether you’re baking cakes from scratch or from a mix, giving the batter more room to grow will minimize doming, for thicker, more level layers. Light, reflective metal also minimizes browning to keep the cake crust delicate and pale. Because the pans are nonreactive, they can also be used with poke cakes that involve acidic liquids, like lemon juice.

Louie Mueller’s Brisket

Brisket is Texas’s best-known contribution to barbecue culture, and, though you can now get slow-smoked brisket in just about every major American city, you still need to go to the source to get brisket so good it will make you cry. But if you can’t make it to Texas, ordering Louie Mueller’s brisket is the next best thing. The Muellers have been smoking brisket since 1949. The key here? They ship the whole brisket, which means you get plenty of the critically important fatty half. Why is it critically important? Because we all know that fat is flavor. Phone orders only: 512-352-6206.

Elegant (But Dishwasher-Safe) Wine Glasses

These wine glasses feel fancy enough for an elegant dinner party—and you can throw them in the dishwasher after, which is a pretty rare attribute. Their sturdy construction means you (or your giftee) can expect to hang on to these for several years.

MAC Professional Santoku Knife

This santoku from MAC’s professional line is an absolute pleasure to use, no matter the task. It’s lightweight, well balanced, sharp as can be, and comfortable to hold. It made perfect carrot cuts, broke down a chicken with ease, and filleted a whole fish as if it were a fish-shaped block of butter.

Good Kitchen Shears

A good pair of kitchen shears is one of those things that are hard to appreciate until you have them. Sure, there are all the obvious uses, like opening food packages with a snip and cutting up poultry, but that’s just the start. Take another look at those things. Yes, that’s right, they’re also a nutcracker. Aha, yup, and a bottle opener. Did you see the flathead screwdriver built into them? Handy, right? Oh, they can also be used to unscrew stubborn jar tops. They’re way more than just a pair of scissors. Plus, the two blades come fully apart, so you can wash them really well—no icky chicken juice hiding in the recesses. Isn’t avoiding salmonella poisoning a gift worth giving?

The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

A New York Times best-seller! The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, by J. Kenji López-Alt, is his column by the same name on this very website, blown up to 900-plus pages (and seven-plus pounds) of concentrated culinary science. Gorgeous color photos, detailed how-tos, and elaborate explainers cover ingredients, technique, gear, and the secrets of the universe underneath it all. May include puns.

Chef’s Press

If you love beautifully seared steaks, golden-brown grilled cheese sandwiches, and crispy-skinned fish and poultry, this is a great thing to have in your kitchen. Chef’s presses help you get even contact between ingredients and your skillet. They’re vented, so you won’t accidentally steam your food, and they’re stackable, so you can get a couple for weighing down heftier items.

Extra-Large Silicone Ice Cube Tray

Souper Cubes is the brainchild of two Serious Eaters, Michelle and Jake, who wanted to develop a better way to portion and freeze soups, stocks, and stews. The food-grade silicone mold features four one-cup cube molds, perfect for meal-prepping and stocking up on winter warmers for the long, cold months ahead.

Effie’s Oatcakes

They may not come in the most festive or glamorous packaging, but you can’t go wrong with Effie’s Oatcakes. Buttery, crumbly, nutty, and salty-sweet, they’re insanely addictive. Case in point: I’ve eaten three in the last 10 minutes. My advice? Purchase them in bulk so you can gift a few backages and hoard the rest for yourself.

Egg Cups

Any mom who loves soft-boiled eggs deserves the perfect cup to eat them from. These sturdy stoneware Le Creuset cups come in a range of beautiful colors. They’re totally classic, which is a good thing because they’ll also last for generations to come.

Modified Martini Glasses

Ah, martini glasses: so angular and sexy, so prone to making me look like a drunk as I struggle to keep a generously poured beverage within their confines. The traditional wide bowl, delicate stem, and sharply sloping sides are meant to enhance the botanical aromas of the gin, keep the drink frosty-cold, and provide a comfortable wall for a cocktail pick to lean against, respectively—but in practice, all those features feel like bugs for clumsy-fingered folk like me. So I sought out a design that wrapped up those attributes in a more user-friendly package, and discovered this lovely set of glasses. The broad mouth remains, but the conical shape has been softened and the stem fattened (which, if I’m being honest, will make me all the more inclined to actually use that stem instead of clutching the bowl for dear life). Got no space for uni-tasking glassware? These double nicely as pretty dessert dishes.

Portable Kitchen Timer

I can’t tell you how many times I burn bread crumbs or forget about the nuts I’m toasting in the oven. At least, I used to. That was all before I got myself a couple of these easy-to-use, loud kitchen timers that I can hang around my neck, so I never forget about something in the kitchen, even if I leave the room.

Vitamix Blender

Oh, man, do I love my Vitamix. Whether I’m making super-quick smoothies or the creamiest, smoothest purées and soups imaginable, the Vitamix is unparalleled in its power. Best gift I’ve ever received (thanks, dear!).

Tacos: Recipes and Provocations

My good friend Jordana Rothman cowrote this thoughtful ode to tacos with Chef Alex Stupak, and it’s a must-have for any Mom ready to take a deep dive into corn, masa, tortillas, and everything—modern and traditional—you can stuff into them.

Heilala Vanilla Extract

This is one of the more complex vanillas Stella’s come across. It has the same grassy, vegetal aroma of a freshly split vanilla bean with a flavor that’s both earthy and deep. It’s a double fold vanilla, which means you can get away with using half as much in your favorite recipes—something worth remembering when you consider the cost.

Stainless Steel Food Scale With Pull-Out Display

A good digital scale is an essential tool for bakers or home charcuterie makers. The OXO Food Scale comes with an easy-to-clean, removable stainless steel weighing surface; great accuracy and precision; and a backlit pull-out display to make measuring easy, even for large or unwieldy items.

Ice Cream Maker

Homemade ice cream tastes better than almost anything you can buy in a store, and it’s a snap to make. This ice cream maker, from Cuisinart, is all the gear you need: an easy-to-use workhorse that makes delicious ice cream every time. The simple construction means that there are few moving parts to break, and the wide mouth at the top makes it easy to add mix-ins and scoop out your ice cream when it’s at its fresh, creamy best.

6-Quart Instant Pot

The Instant Pot Duo60 is a fantastic value and performed almost as well as the top pick among countertop pressure cookers we tested. It’s easy to use, the company has a reputation for great customer service, and there’s an avid and helpful community of users online to boot.

Mixing Glass

This hand-blown and -etched mixing glass from Japan looks stunning on a bar cart and even better in action, whether you’re stirring a Negroni, a Martini, or a Manhattan. Mixing glasses made from two parts joined together sometimes split at the seam, but this version, made in one piece with a beaker-like spout, can stand up to heavy use.

Bread Knife

When I tested bread knives earlier this year, I was absolutely blown away by the cutting quality of Tojiro’s bread knife. It surpassed every other serrated knife I tested, cutting beautifully clean slices of even the most tender bread, and making quick, neat work of ripe tomatoes. It’s a must-have as far as I’m concerned.

Pasta by Hand: A Collection of Italy’s Regional Hand-Shaped Pasta

No pasta machine? No problem. This book is devoted to the art of handcrafted Italian dumplings, from yeasty spindle-shaped cecamariti to classic gnocchi to golden-brown parallelograms of deep-fried crescentine. If the adage “practice makes perfect” fills your mom with excitement rather than dread, this is the kind of book that will make her utterly determined to prevail.

Pastry Tips for Decorating

This epic set of stainless steel pastry tips is perfect for the home baker with professional-grade aspirations…or the food-enthused, arts-and-craftsy Mom in your life. With this kit in hand, nothing but practice stands between her and gorgeous piped flowers, leaves, stars, and beyond.

Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto

If you’re looking to give your mom the one definitive primer on pasta-making in its myriad forms, this is it: Superlative step-by-step photographs take the guesswork out of potentially intimidating fundamentals like mixing and kneading dough, as well as more intricate tasks, like pleating teardrops of corn- and cheese-stuffed culurgiònes. Better yet, Vetri arms you with the tools and knowledge that allow for controlled, intelligent experimentation and exploration before sending you into the fray.

Blade Protectors

At a certain point, you need to give up on proper knife storage and just think safety: How can I toss this knife into a drawer and not cut myself on it later when fishing around for matches? The answer is blade guards. It’s smart to put them on knives in a knife bag, but they’re also essential if you’re keeping any knives in a place where they’re free to bang around—they’ll protect the blade edges and you.

AeroGarden Harvest

Cooking with fresh herbs makes every recipe better. Cooking with fresh herbs that you grew all by yourself makes life better. The AeroGarden takes the guesswork out of growing herbs inside, with an automated light to keep your parsley and thyme thriving and weekly reminders for water and nutrients. Just prepare yourself for epic amounts of basil.

Baking Steel

I’ve cracked my way through quite a few baking stones. With the Baking Steel—a solid sheet of steel designed to replace a baking stone—that’s a thing of the past. Not only will it last forever, but, with superior thermal properties, it produces the best pizza crusts I’ve ever seen in a home oven.

Pizza Wheel

When it comes to portioning pizza, a knife simply won’t cut it. At least, not if you don’t want to drag cheese and toppings all over the place. For my money, nothing beats a traditional pizza wheel.

Best All-Around Pepper Mill

On more than one occasion, I’ve been tempted to try out the cool new pepper mill on the block, but none of the ones I’ve used have held up over time. That’s why I’ve settled on a good old classic, a wooden Peugeot pepper mill. The steel burrs last and deliver whatever grind I want, from fine-as-silt to chunky and coarse.

Straight-Sided Sauté Pan

When my little sister first moved out and started cooking on her own, this straight-sided sauté pan from All-Clad was the first gift I sent to her. It has a wide, flat base for searing off big batches of meat, and high sides so you can braise, stew, or simmer several meals’ worth of food directly in it. It’s the ideal vessel for stove-to-oven dishes like this Braised Chicken With White Beans, or a one-pot pasta dish like our Macaroni and Beef. Versatile and robust, it makes comfort food all the more comforting.

The Chili Cookbook

This isn’t just a chili cookbook. Robb Walsh digs deep into the beloved dish’s ancestry, tracing threads through Mexico City, San Antonio, and Santa Fe—as you might expect—but also Hungary, Greece, and the Canary Islands (off the coast of North Africa). Walsh is one of food writing’s best storytellers, so the book is satisfying even if you never whip out your Dutch oven and get cooking. You should, though: The fascinating tale is best enjoyed with a big bowl of chile con carne. (Walsh’s recipe from El Real in Houston is killer.)

Espro Press P5

Thanks to a few simple innovations in the filter and beaker design, this French press fixes some of the brewing device’s biggest drawbacks. The result is a cleaner batch of coffee that won’t accidentally over-steep.

The One True Barbecue

Race relations, religion, the New South versus the Old: These are just a smattering of the heavy issues Rien Fertel writes about through the lens of—well—smoked meat, in this new book. And, while you might be thinking, “Oh, man, another book about barbecue?”, this one stands out from the crowd thanks to Fertel’s superb writing and storytelling skills. In a book that’s part culinary history, part personal narrative, and part tale of an American road trip, Fertel travels throughout the South, documenting the men who have long stood behind the fires practicing the time-consuming pursuit of whole hog barbecue—the ones who have been keeping alive the embers of what once seemed like a dying art, and the ones who are inspiring a new generation of pitmasters today.

Countertop Seltzer Maker

Make your own seltzer water at home with this easy-to-use unit. It comes equipped with LED indicators displaying three levels of carbonation and a BPA-free bottle that locks into the unit with no twisting, and it requires no batteries or electricity to operate. This model fits 14.5-ounce and three-ounce CO2 cylinders, which can be traded in for just the cost of the gas at your local hardware or home-goods store.

Estela

We usually aren’t the biggest fans of the big and beautiful cookbooks put out by super fancy restaurants, in part because they have limited appeal to most home cooks, even if they are fascinating windows into the processes and methods of some of the best chefs in the world. We’ll make an exception for Estela by Ignacio Mattos, though, since it’s as inspiring as it is informative.

Ceramic Sangria Pitcher

If there is sangria on the menu, Kristina’s mom is ordering it. It’s an endeavor she’s tackled at home only a few times, but with this pitcher on hand, she might be more inclined to make it regularly. The pinched spout is a genius detail that keeps all the fruit and ice from splashing into your glass, and when it’s not filled with sangria, it can be used as a vase. We love a two-fer!

Mediterranean Mortar and Pestle

In the south of France, Italy, and other Mediterranean regions, marble mortars with wooden pestles (often made of olivewood) are quite common. It’s next to impossible to find this variety in US stores, unless you get lucky and find one at an antiques shop or estate sale. They can, however, be ordered online. We got ours through an Italian vendor on Etsy, and it’s an object of pure beauty. More importantly, it excels at making pesto and similar sauces, as well as emulsified sauces like mayonnaise and aioli.

Island Creek Oysters by Mail

Few things get me as excited as a good raw bar, but most of the time, I eat far less than I want because, after the first couple dozen oysters or so, it just gets to be too expensive. That’s even truer when the oysters are top-notch, like the briny little suckers from Island Creek up in Massachusetts. But here’s the good news: You can order Island Creek’s oysters online by the 50- or 100-count for much less than they cost at most restaurants, and have them in your hands the next day for an at-home shucking extravaganza. (Obviously, it helps to learn how to shuck first.)

Wine Carafe with Oak Stopper

I spent most of 2018 getting into wine, and one of my biggest takeaways was that most wines could benefit from a decant. Does a wine feel closed—like it has only one note on the nose or the tongue? Then it definitely needs to aerate in a decanter. This one is an inexpensive glass model with a chic wooden topper, from the Scandinavian brand Sagaform. It looks just as good on your bar cart or shelf as it does on the dinner table, and will give your Bordeaux a little room to breathe.

The Cocktail Chronicles

Having The Cocktail Chronicles at your side is like having a friend who always knows a good drink recipe for whatever you’ve got on hand. It doesn’t talk your ear off or suggest something with a dozen ingredients. Instead, it shares classics, recent spins on classics, and drinks you’ve never heard of but can easily mix up and enjoy, and the introductions are never preachy or boring. This book will appeal to full-on cocktail fanatics and newbies alike; there’s something delicious on every page.

Cast Iron Revolving Cake Stand

I can’t fathom decorating a birthday cake without this sturdy, heavy-bottomed stand. It speeds the process of crumb coating and decoration, while allowing for a whole new array of finishing techniques. It can also double as a lazy susan, so it’s often on my dinner table, piled with condiments and toppings, even when there’s no cake in sight.

Beyond Curry Indian Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through India

Indian food has a reputation for being difficult and time-consuming, with hard-to-find ingredients and new techniques. I get it. It’s intimidating. But in this book, Serious Eater Denise D’silva Sankhé breaks Indian cooking down into simple techniques that any home cook can master to produce amazingly flavorful dishes with minimal effort. Over the course of more than 100 recipes, Denise introduces us to simple cooking from every region of India, focusing on home-style dishes that move well beyond the world of curries. I’m also super stoked that she’s included notes with every recipe on whether it’s vegan, vegetarian, and/or allergy-friendly.

Microplane

Another essential kitchen tool, the Microplane grater does fine grating work way better than those tiny, raspy holes on a box grater. Whether you’re quickly grating fresh nutmeg or cinnamon, taking the zest off a lemon, or turning a clove of garlic into a fine purée, the Microplane is the tool to reach for. It’ll make a great gift for the budding cooking enthusiast.

Intense Drinking Chocolate

This isn’t your standard hot cocoa. It’s a rich drinking-chocolate mix, made from organic, 74% cacao single-plantation chocolate from the Dominican Republic and 68% cacao wild-harvested chocolate from Bolivia. Whisk the ground chocolate with warm milk for an intense cocoa experience: It’s silky and deep, with hints of orange zest, cinnamon, and juicy berries, tempered by a subtly bitter edge.

Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save the Day

Marge Perry and David Bonom’s cookbook is perfect for the giftee who loves to cook but hates a mess. Each recipe requires just one pan (or sheet pan), allowing the cook to enjoy precious downtime with family—and spend less time at the sink.

Tsukemono Round Pickle Press

The quick pickles common in Japanese cuisine that go by the name asazuke, or “morning pickles,” are typically made in a contraption similar to this one. The screwable tamper is spring-loaded, which exerts consistent pressure on sliced, salted vegetables, which presses out excess water and creates a highly seasoned brine, which then flavors the vegetables. The small size is perfect for anyone who wants to experiment with the technique.

Cuisinart Blender

The Cuisinart is an easy-to-use, powerful blender that aced many of our tests. This model’s dashboard is intuitive, and it features a built-in timer that counts down for you or can be programmed to stop after a certain number of seconds.

12-Inch All-Clad Stainless Steel Pan

The slope-sided skillet, like this one from All-Clad, is a chef’s best friend and one of the most versatile pans in the kitchen, whether you’re sautéing vegetables, searing meat, or cooking one of our dozens of one-pan meals. The best have solid stainless steel construction, with an aluminum core for even heat distribution.

Punch Bowl Set

We have this 10-piece punch bowl set in our office, and it’s been put to very good use. It’s big and impressive while still being affordable, which are the best qualities you can hope for in holiday-party decor.

Zojirushi Rice Cooker

A couple years ago, I managed to convince my wife of the necessity of buying a rice cooker. Not just any rice cooker: a Zojirushi. The only concession I was willing to make had to do with the size, since she wisely noted that we didn’t have the counter space for any rice cooker at all, let alone the kind of rice cooker that I had in mind. So I bought a little guy that fits, max, three cups of rice, but really is only usable for about two and a half. She’s since come around to the indisputable excellence of the cooker, and she loves everything about it, from the wonderful rice it makes to the “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” it plays when you turn it on. But since we’re moving to a bigger apartment with counter space enough for a small rice cooker, I think it’s high time we got an upgrade, so Mother’s Day seems like a perfect opportunity to get the 5.5-cup model.

All-Clad One-Quart Saucier

The low, sloping walls of this small 1-quart saucepan make whisking easy, perfect for making and finishing delicate sauces, and reducing small volumes of liquids. It’s also small enough to double as a butter-melter.

Le Creuset Cake Stand

If you’ve ever been given a homemade birthday cake, return the favor by buying your favorite baker this iconic cake stand. Its heavy base keeps cakes secure and makes all types of decorating techniques a breeze.

Rice, Noodle, Fish

Warning: Reading this book might lead to the purchase of some very expensive plane tickets. The Roads & Kingdoms crew will get you hungry for a journey to Japan, for onigiri basted with chicken fat, juicy one-bite gyoza, milky-white tonkotsu ramen broth, and briny sea urchin. Is Japan the best place on earth to eat? This book will convince you that it is.

[Header photograph: Shutterstock]

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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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571

Why are you taking a survey? Becauuuuuse it’s a Sunday night and I’m not doing anything and I like surveys so I might as well take one. When's the last time you were grounded? First or second year of high school - back when I was majestically flunking algebra. Anything exciting taking place today? The day’s mostly over so not really, but looking back, it wasn’t a very exciting Sunday overall. In fact I was dreading having to wake up because I knew a nasty hangover was waiting to come pouring down on me D: What are you craving? A basket of Korean dumplings or mandu would be amazing right now. Is there anyone in the room with you? My mom is in the same floor (she’s making dinner), but I’m alone in the living room at the moment.

Who's the last person that made you laugh? Andrew, but that was hours ago. I just laughed over a meme five minutes earlier hahahahaha. What's your favorite color? Pastel pink. Who did you last hit? I don’t get physical with anyone. Do you like kool aid? I’ve never tried it. I’ve only ever seen it in upscale groceries in Manila too, so it’s not very accessible. Are you currently reading a book? No, I’m not. How do you do in school? I’m doing fine I guess. I never miss a deadline, am a good groupmate in projects and more often than not serve as the leader, and I’m still running for Latin honors after almost four years and despite signing up for a number of extracurricular positions and commitments, so I think I’m headed somewhere good. What's your biggest goal? Honestly my idea of being successful is conventional and traditional; I wanna be able to save up enough to be able to settle down, get a (big) house, and have kids. I’d LOVE to travel too but it’s not really my Ultimate Dream. Who have you texted today? Just Gab. It’s been a quiet day and most of my conservations have taken place on Messenger. What was the last thing you did before bed last night? I went over to my mom’s room to say hi because she asked me to drop by to let her know I’m already home (because I was out until 2 AM).

What's your biggest fear? Being humiliated/feeling embarrassed in front a large crowd. Look to your left...what's there? More of our couch. And to your right? Our electronic keyboard. Nina wanted to learn how to play the piano when she was around 9, and my parents fully supported her and got a brand-new keyboard and even hired a tutor for her. She ended up not pursuing it but we haven’t thrown the keyboard out, because we still tinker with it occasionally.

Who do you aspire to be like when you grow up? I don’t have a lot of role model figures in my life. I just want to end up with the best version of myself. Do you know if you want to go to college or not? College is necessary in the Philippines if you want to get anywhere in life, so yeah I kinda had to want to go to it. Laptop or desktop? Laptop. We never had a desktop computer so I lowkey never learned how to turn one on. Do you have an iPod? I technically do in that I own one and still haven’t thrown it out, but I haven’t used it since 2014 or 2015 maybe. Do you have a fan on in the room you're in? Yes, it’s pointed at me right now. Do you have a wallet? I do. What are you sitting on? On the living room carpet. Closest purple object? I’m not so sure. I’m looking around the room and I don’t think we have anything purple lying around. What's the last thing you had to eat? My mom made me fried rice and lumpia for dinner. Heaven. Do you like grapefruits? I don’t like fruits. Sweet or sour? SWEET Have you ever had the Reese's PB Candy Bars? Never. Do you know who Shawn Michaels is? Only one of the best professional wrestlers of all time. He’s very easily my Top 1. Who do you turn to if you need help? Gabie. Her words help more than anyone else’s. Are you more dependant or independant? I am dependent. Are you waiting for anything? Not really. Does the time 2 o'clock have any significance to you? Kind of. My grandma made sure our childhood siestas or afternoon naps started by 2 PM on the dot. As a kid I hated being forced to sleep SO MUCH, but it was an everyday, no-fail routine for a very long time, so it gave me a lot of memorable memories. Do you like bagels? They’re fine. I’d usually get something else at a bakery, but I don’t hate bagels. Are there any stuffed animals in the room you're in? No, just pillows on the couch. What do you think of guys who wear eyeliner? Nothing. They can do whatever they want if it makes them feel good. Favorite tv show? Breaking Bad. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My mom. She was buying milk tea and wanted to ask what flavor I wanted. Where's your mother? She just finished making dinner so now she is chilling in her room. Do you know who the strongest man in the world is? No. Professional wrestler Mark Henry used to have that title, but he’s retired now so he clearly wouldn’t be the strongest in the world anymore. That’s all I know, lol. Do you like online games? Not really. Do you use Yahoo!Answers? Maybe when I was like 11 or 12. Nowadays I just enjoy it for the meme content. Are you too warm, too cold, or just right? Just right. Do you want a tattoo? I don’t daydream about it, but I’m not opposed to having one especially if the design would mean a lot to me. Is there anything hurting you, on your body right now? My toothaches are magically gone, I’M SO RELIEVED. I’m alright right now, I think. What's your most visited website? It would probably be Twitter. Are you tired? A bit. My hangover is gone but I didn’t get enough sleep overall today, so I’m still feeling a bit tired. What's the best time you've had in the past week? I had a date with Gab yesterday! We don’t get to have legit dates where we wear dresses and heels and go to a classy restaurant all the time, but we planned one out yesterday. It was amazing; we had dinner at this cute place and it was kinda dark so we got to have a candle at our table and just talked for hours :3 It was pretty late when we ended and we were about to go home, but we happened to pass by a jazz bar where a live band was playing so we dropped by for around an hour or so no matter how late it was. I had two Long Island Iced Teas too, so that added to the fun wahahaha. Have you ever been in a fist fight? No. Can you cook? Not even to save my life. What time is it? 7:14 PM. Do you love animals? Yes. <3 What's the last thing you touched that wasn't a part of the computer? My phone. What color are your eyes? Black. Are you waiting for a phone call? Not right now, no. Does it annoy you when dogs pant a lot? Why would it annoy me? Who's one person you care about more than yourself? Gab, clearly. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Four. I only got to sleep by 2 AM but I had to wake up at 6 AM to prepare for morning mass, u g h. Are there any pets you're wishing for? Nope, I’m more than content with my dog. When's the last time you used hand sanitizer? Maybe in the last week or so, I’m not super certain. Are you waiting for a phone call? Again, no. Wearing anything that isn't yours? Nope, both top and bottom are mine. What is the most annoying thing in the world, to you? STUPID DRIVERS Whatcha gonna do now? =] Take another survey, hopefully.

#survey #surveys

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kiliinstinct · 6 years ago

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Like a Trojan: Prt 2

Small funny Fairy Tail One-Shot. Modern AU. Pairing: Nalu, Gajevy Rated: T for .. questionable shopping items.

The Little bit of Humor I wanted to get out of my head is getting a little bit expanded. But this time, around- I’m making it interactive! This is part two of the little funny I wrote, but for my next part- I want YOU lovely readers to help me decide what comes next!

If you reblog- please put in the tags, or send me an ask/im the form below. Based on what is submitted will decide what happens next in Prt 3! Sound fun? I hope so!

So, to help be a part of this stories’ fate- just tell me these following things:

Character Perspective: (1st chapter was in Natsu’s and the second in Levy’s- who’s next?)

Event: Describe an idea that you think should happen in this chapter. I.e. Lucy and natsu’s first phone conversation? Natsu runs into Lucy at HER work? Come up with your own!

Yes Or No, should Natsu: and Lucy interact next chapter?:

If answered yes, how?

Other: (if you have any other ideas/requests for this story that wasn’t mentioned above- put here)

There is only one rule for this: No tragic/heavy angst ideas. This story is meant to be a comedy!

Part 1 | Part 3

“The Grocery store? You went and dragged me here?” The voice was agitated, laced with a sense of incredulity and disappointment. “This ain’t what I was expecting when you said you needed my assistance, Shrimp.”

Levy Mcgarden, local known ‘shrimp’ and bookworm, certainly wasn’t having it. Not with that attitude. Eyes scanning her list of items to grab, the blue-haired woman shuffled through her bag for a pen, ready to tick off any item she acquired and swiftly began her trek through the store with cart in both her hands. Her companion, a much taller man with metal studs covering his face, followed with exaggerated stomps in his steps. He may ACT as if he didn’t want to be there, but oh, she knew better. She could ask her boyfriend to take her to an Ice Rink wearing a pink hat and mittens and he’d do it; grumbling all the way. “The sparkling water I need is always on a high shelf, can you get the raspberry flavor for me?”

“Why would I- “ Gajeel, grunting his agitation while a thick arm moved to do just as asked, lifted a studded brow and stared at her. Was she ignoring his first question? “Whatever, you owe me for this, shortie.”

“Quit calling me names and I’ll buy you a treat!~” Was her answer, fingers tapping a rhythm on the handle as she thanked him. Always eager to help no matter what was said. It was one of the many reasons she enjoyed her time with him. Gajeel’s actions had always spoke louder than his words, after all. Winking, she continued to push her cart along to find the rest of her list. “And no, I don’t mean whatever you’re perverted mind was thinking of- I’m meaning a snack!”

“Hey! I wasn’t thinkin’ a damn thing!” He barked, sounding offended despite the telltale marks of red crossing his cheeks. Levy sighed, grinning at her tiny win as she crossed a box of tea leaves off her list. “Uh huh-” Levy monotoned, ticking a few more items off, “Then what WERE you thinking when I called you to come meet me at my apartment, hmm? You certainly looked WAY too disappointed by the sight of Lucy answering my door to be expecting anything else you pervert.”

“Oh please, I just thought you dyed your hair and suddenly grew a foot, easy mistake.”

“Ah!” A pause, the cart squealing to a stop as Levy grit her teeth and turned to face the man. Did he seriously just- she couldn’t believe she’d allowed herself to walk into that. Just when she felt she was getting the upper hand too! “Supid, stupid, Gajeel- are you trying to say I magically got HAIR Extensions too?!”

“Stranger things have happened.” The smug smirk was enough to make her stomp her foot in consternation. How dare he! Fixing him with a stern stare, Levy’s ire only grew when he chuckled, clearly not intimidated.

“You’re impossible.” She grumbled, returning her attention to her grocery list. Focus, focus- they didn’t need to cause a scene with his brand of flirting right in the middle of the aisle, did they? A squeak of surprise erupted from her when Gajeel’s arm suddenly wrapped around her slender waist, pulling her against his back as he hunched over her.

The smaller woman couldn’t deny how the sudden action had made her heart jump into her throat and cheeks flame as bright as a traffic light. Especially when his annoying laughter lowered a few octaves and rumbled against the shell of her ear.

“Gihee- I might be, but maybe I can show ya’ JUST how impossible I really am once I get your ass home-” A suggestive squeeze along her hip and a nip to her ear put Levy immediately into a mode that certainly wasn’t made for public spaces. Swallowing thickly, she wriggled herself from his arms and lightly tapped his stomach with her elbow.

“Gajeel! Not in public, you jerk!” She hissed, putting space between them. The roar of his laughter called forth many a stare and Levy was certain her body had warmed up to producing steam. “B-besides, -” She managed while pulling her crumbled nerves back together again, “Lucy’s staying the night: we can’t.”

The dark-haired man’s laughter died off, jaw dropping as he stared, “What?! Then what was th’point in bringing me along if you were having one of yer damned girly nights?!”

“Maybe I wanted to spend some time with you, stupid!” “Oh.” His face reverted right back to its earlier bluster and Levy took a mental moment to celebrate. That’s right, big guy- you can make your pervy innuendos all you want, but the moment I say something sweet, you’re PUTTY in my hands so EAT IT.

Obviously, he couldn’t read her mind, but he definitely got the point when she smirked imperiously and began her trek back through the aisles again. Some onlookers might think they were arguing, but the banter was all part of their dynamic. She had fun with it. So did he. It was just how they worked. Though, the offsetting silence that followed only made the both of them all too aware of the elevator type music echoing through the small store.

How do the cashiers not fall asleep here? She wondered to herself, not for the first time. Levy had been coming to this corner store for years, ever since she had moved in the apartment complex a few blocks down. It was nearby and hardly ever packed by other customers. Absolutely perfect for when she needed to just get in and get out with her groceries.

Although, the last time she needed items, her best friend Lucy had gone to get them instead. Quite the questionable material, in fact- and the moment her blonde friend had returned, cheeks bright red and chest heaving from a lack of air, the blonde had quickly informed Levy that she would never, ever, go out and buy a thing for her ever again.

‘Oh, come on Lu, it wasn’t THAT bad was it?’ She had asked- accepting her bag of items with ease. It wasn’t as if she had asked for the condoms for a fun romp with Gajeel, after all- (No seriously, it hadn’t been!) They were needed for a prank, a PRANK! … .If said prank so happened to be against the very man she often slept with anyway, well- that was merely coincidence.

‘It wasn’t bad, it was HORRIBLE. You can’t make me go there ever again, Levy!’ And still, not three weeks later, the smaller girl hadn’t learned the true story of what happened that day. Save a few, small details.

“So, why’s blondie over at your place again anyway?” Ah, casual conversation- a great way to break through those pesky silences. Levy mentally decided to buy him his favorite cookies for that. (Then again, she already had those on the list.) Shrugging, she ticked the last of her items and began the process of weaving her way back to the front of the store.

“She’s convinced the police will be knocking on her door any day now.” She replied, nose crunching together as she thought it over. “I keep telling her she’s fine, but she gets oddly paranoid about those things.”

Gajeel’s confusion was clear- as well as completely understood. “Ya’ wanna provide context for that, shortie?”

A huff and a glare was sent his way, only to be met by a smirk and Levy threw a hand into the air to wave his question off. “Something about stealing some woman’s groceries and a stolen twenty? I don’t know, she got all flustered and embarrassed and didn’t give me all the details.”

“Huh, never thought she’d have it in her to steal something…”

She paused, brows scrunching together before her gaze slid back towards her boyfriend, “You’re still at the academy, no threatening to arrest her.”

“Pfft, don’t take my fun away.” It looked like an entirely new banter was about to start, with Levy lifting a finger to prod it into Gajeel’s arm, frowning in mock consternation, but no further words could escape her mouth. Stepping out towards the registers seemed the equivalent to a gate opening and letting forth a whirlwind the two of them had not been expecting.

That whirlwind being in the form of a pink-haired Cashier, fists slamming down his ‘register closed’ sign as he practically leaped over the bagging area and stomped his way straight towards them; the employee apron slipped off in a smooth motion, quickly being flung over his shoulder like an old, forgotten towel. Levy took an instinctive step back as his intensely focused eyes drilled into hers and barely noticed her boyfriend tense up and immediately move on the defensive.

“Hey, pal, the hell do ya you’re doing-” the cashier ignored him, pointing towards Levy with wide eyes.

“You’re Levy, right?! Blue hair, talking about stolen groceries and a twenty?!” Brown eyes widened and the stunned woman stared, unsure of how to respond. How did he- how did he know her name?!

“Don’t you ignore me, twerp- back off from my girl!” Muscles bulged as Gajeel moved to step between them- eyes narrowed and voice turning into a dangerous growl. One that meant business, but the boy merely leaned his head over to keep his eyes trained on her with a stubborn curiosity that matched her own when she found a book she adored.

“Are you or are ya’ not the chick who sent a blonde here a coupl’a weeks ago to buy her TROJANS?!”

The whirlwind suddenly turned into a loud echo that left every person in the store turning to look back at the trio and Levy felt her entire body grow still while all her blood focused on her face. Traffic lights paled in comparison. Gajeel, just as stunned, turned his head to look back at her and raised a brow.

“He talkin’ about those condom balloons you filled with glitter all over my apartment?” He asked numbly.

Levy Mcgarden had a realization in that very moment. “W-wait a moment- you can’t just, erm- eh?!”

Lucy was right! I’m never coming here AGAIN!

#Like a Trojan #Nalu Fanfiction #Fairy Tail Fanfiction #Mira's Fanfiction #Gajevy #Nalu #surprise!#i'm making more to this little thing #was going to try working on flame's desire #but after the mental blocks i've been having #i decided to work on the comedic one first #to help me out #anyway #i wanted to try something a little different with this #so i hope people participate in the event above and send me their ideas!

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printoncd3-blog · 5 years ago

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Five Elements of Good Product or service Brand Design

how to print on a CD

There are generally no strict rules which you can follow so that you can create a well developed product brand. However, many of us recognize a desirable design when we view a single. Why? Because presently there are certain components that will will make a ticket style and design attractive and engaging. This information will guide you by means of the main style factors of a product point and offer tips on just how to use these aspects in your favor.

how to print on a CD

1. Color

To be able to grab the eye of a person who is casually going for walks the aisles of often the food store you need to be able to use color well. Area you choose for your personal label is influenced by some sort of number of things. Just what coloring is your marijuana? If you are applying a specific container, then just what colouring is the item? You need to be sure that the colors you decide on for the tag may clash in a bad way to lessen the actual looks of the complete package. Thankfully there usually are tools to help a person pick out colors that may work well collectively.

a couple of. Graphics

An eye capturing graphical will also support draw awareness of your product or service. With inventory photography and also illustrations thus inexpensive these kinds of days you can locate a new graphic for your own labels with places just like iStockphoto. com or Photographs. com just for a number of dollars. You can subsequently make use of these images with your merchandise labels, just simply be sure to check out the licence agreement. Inside the case of iStockphoto you should use most images intended for up to five-hundred, 000 product labels with no getting an extended license. A photo really can be well worth a single, 000 words upon a solution label while a compelling artwork attracts the eye to your current item.

3. Readability

Shade along with graphics will guide catch a persons vision but except if your style is easily understandable at a glance you will lose people. They point out you will have only 2-3 mere seconds to draw in the attention involving a shopper exploring the particular aisles of a food store which is enough moment to read simply a smattering of words. You need to have your own personal brand or even company name and also a couple of or three words talking about the product or service in large adequate type which it can always be read from half a dozen foot away.

4. Web site

Communicating of type, your selection of font types is the critical decision in addition to ought to get just as much focus seeing that choosing color as well as visuals. Don't choose just one of the common House windows fonts such as Periods New Roman or Arial, and also avoid over-used baptistère such as Écrit or Monotype Corsiva. May be afraid to use anything new and different rapid you can find thousands of exclusive fonts about the - simply go to fonts. com or 1001freefonts. com. The top point to remember is actually that you desire excellent looking type that will be set up.

5. Material

Just before you possibly begin typically the design process you should take into account the label material. Your current design needs to "fit" materials. Common material selections include white-colored, clear, or perhaps a cream uneven document. Clear material permits any "no label look" in which can be very stunning in case you have a colored burial container or product or service. Take some sort of look at Palmolive authentic food soap - this specific is a merchandise this uses a clear brand very well. A very simple design with whitened printer, it really shows down often the striking green water inside of. White material offers you one of the most flexibility using design, since you can make bright into virtually any color an individual like, or you may merely use the light background. For the old planet look, a new textured ointment paper can be extremely effective and also is popular with wineries where you want for you to convey a hand crafted graphic.

6. Label Finish off

No matter if you choose a smooth or matte finish in your labels is a common sense phone depending on the actual kind of image you need to convey. A matte layered can provide a considerably more classic search that is usually very easy to study, whilst gloss will put some influence to the particular colors on the ticket and provide a glistening, refractive look. A great example of the matte look is the Sincere Teas brand of bottled teas. Inside the highly aggressive beverage industry they include a more subdued appear with a simple point functions really well having the matte finish off. In the event that you can't decided involving matte and glossy in that case execute a small order connected with the two and test the idea - find what folks find most attractive.

several. Label Size

If anyone are using the rounded container then you more than likely have a choice instructions do you need one large tag or maybe separate front along with again labels? Front in addition to rear labels allow you actually to elegantly distinct typically the front branding information from your ingredient and regulatory details but they can possibly be more expensive compared to a huge wrap around brand. In the event you go with any wraparound label then the item is important to retain a front "panel" with all the vital branding information due to the fact that is what often the consumers might find as they will are browsing the aisles.

8. Shapes

You can easily actually draw attention to help your ticket by employing an unusual shape. This will likely require the initial purchase of your new die which usually can expense several hundred or so dollars depending on the actual sizing and complexity associated with your design and style. Heinz ketchup is one sort of a unusual shape done well the keystone label condition has become part regarding their company after much more than 130 years. This is one trick that could save the money involving buying a special expire. Use a clear point as well as simulate an abnormal shape by making use of white printer ink to create your personal wanted shape, so it can look that your label provides a one of a kind shape perhaps if it is some sort of easy rectangle label.

on the lookout for. A pattern for Different Flavours

With numerous flavors connected with the same product you will need to keep major design components of your label consistent. If someone is looking on the peach, orange as well as lime flavour they really should be able to understand quickly that it is definitely all the same firm and also brand. A corporation that will an superb job of keeping a frequent yet different look concerning flavors is Nantucket Nectars. Each flavor has a new basic illustration encompassing the particular flavor using a similar field from Nantucket Island inside the background.

10. Info

In the 21st one hundred year every single company should possess contact information particular solution labels. This is clearly not about making your own label design more interesting, but alternatively having your tag be more than the inerte selling and promotion. A great 800 number, a website along with a physical address can certainly become easily included in the brand. You can provide a special site on your label to get customers to join up for the email list, to help you accumulate information and start in order to interact with your very good buyers.

When designing your current label you have to take directly into account what your opposition has been doing. If most organizations in your room have got very colorful in addition to sleek labels, then why not a a lot more plain and more subdued seem will allow you to be able to stand out around the grocery shelf. Take lots of the features mentioned here as well as separate yourself from the level of competition. Providing a new and also exciting look invites shoppers to grab your product.

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mrtroy · 6 years ago

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On Second Thought – 4 / 2 / 19

It’s the second of the month, and as I vowed to do this year, on the second of each month, I am writing whatever has come to mind – no matter how odd, random, or off the wall that might be. It’s my way of advocating for normalcy around not needing to feel, say and act ‘normal’ all the time.

Ironically, I missed the last installment of this series on 3 / 2 / 19. I was traveling, and even though airports are a boon for random observations, I never found the time to catch up.

Never fear, sports fans, tonight’s installment is sure to make up for last month’s absence.

Today, we’ve got thoughts on ducks, geese, parking, traffic and an extended section on apple sauce.

Get comfy.

I need to start this post by pointing out that ducks are cool.

I do a lot of walking along a river that has a lot of ducks and a lot of geese, and ducks are way cooler. I think a lot of it has to do with them just being nicer. But, also, the way they stick their heads in the water, and their butts go up in the air. Way cool. Not to mention, they just look cooler than geese. And they have orange feet.

I was watching the college basketball tournament a little bit last week, and I could not get over how much I wanted Oregon to win just because their mascot is a duck, and I love ducks so much.

And then I got to wondering why more sports team mascots aren’t ducks. There are scores of wildcats, tigers and eagles, but very few ducks.

Normally, I’m all for the weirder the better when it comes to mascots. Banana Slugs, Anteaters, Fighting Blue Hens (Go Delaware), and it does make you wonder why there are so few ducks as compared to wildcats, tigers and eagles?

Did schools really only name their sports teams after animals that were thought to be fierce because they thought it would intimidate their opponents more if they were playing a wildcat or a tiger?

And by contrast, a duck would be easily defeated?

Perhaps.

Either way, thank you to the good folks in Eugene for going with the Ducks. Ducks are awesome.

And, Geese are not awesome. I suppose I can understand why no one would want to play for the Galesburg Geese… Pff.

I walk by geese as often as I walk by ducks, and the geese just hiss at you, they open their beaks and look all mean at you – it’s just like, c’mon man, you’re not exactly winning friends and influencing people here…

The only good thing that has come out of the last 25 years of goose cognizance, is but a relative positive. After avoiding minefields full of goose droppings for years, I recently realized I’d never actually seen a goose defecate.

Well, check that one off the bucket list.

The other day, while crossing a sidewalk in front of me, one of my hissing nemesis plopped out a steaming pile of green feces. Gross, of course, but after years of never actually catching one in the act, it was sheepishly exhilarating, I have to admit.

In the outline I wrote for this post, I briefly considered talking about apple sauce next, but then reconsidered, figuring that apple sauce right after goose droppings may not be a good idea…

So, let’s talk about traffic, why don’t we?

I live along a section of street that is relatively short between two stoplights. In the middle, is a crosswalk with a pedestrian yield sign where cars often stop. When I get home from work in the evening, there is usually a good amount of traffic backed up on the street. It makes for a joyous few minutes of watching society be weird.

When I look out my window to the north, I often see traffic turning off of a busy street heading eastward past my place. Traffic backs up turning off the street, and cars jam to within inches of each other to be able to turn and be out of the way of the main thoroughfare. It’s quite common to see three extra cars trying to jam really close to each other so they can turn.

Yet, a half a block ahead, near the pedestrian crossing, cars – the same ones that were just jamming in to turn onto the very street – space out to the point where there is usually 3-5 feet between vehicles.

Every. Single. Time.

It’s like, what happened people? A half a block ago you were all bunched up, and now you’re just asleep or something?

Anyway, traffic is fun. Take the train if you can, it’s much less stress.

My vantage point looking down on a city street also allows me to watch parallel parking, parking space dispersion, and many other really exciting things. I may have to save this one for another month in order to be able to rant on it fully, but it certainly makes for good viewing when I’m just getting home from work and looking out the window as I eat my evening pre-dinner snack…

Which brings me to apple sauce.

Man, apple sauce is so good.

It’s so versatile. Great for lunch with a sandwich. Great for dinner as a sweet little garnish or meat topper. And, surprisingly refreshing for breakfast.

I feel like apple sauce for breakfast is underrated, but I’m a big advocate. It’s just the right amount of sweet, but if you get the unsweetened kind – as if there was any other real choice – it’s not overly sweet. It’s light on the stomach. It’s got a pudding-like ratio of flavor to chewing effort, where you don’t have to chew nearly at all, and you still get a bevy of flavor. (Pudding may still be at the top of this list, but again, another post for another month…)

I also realized this week while at the grocery store that there are like 200 different varieties of apple sauce. To some, this may seem overwhelming, but to me, this was like a new frontier to discover.

Sweet. Unsweet. Chunky. Cinnamon….

Now they have so many new flavors – and even colors – I apparently have not been keeping up with the apple sauce innovation curve the last few years. I saw bright green apple sauce, orange, reddish…

While doing research for this post, I even ate one of these newfangled concoctions. I ate organic strawberry apple sauce out of a pouch that has a built-in straw. 3.2 ounces of interesting, let me tell ya.

Obviously, I don’t have kids. I see toddlers eating out of such contraptions all the time, but this was a first for me.

I immediately became obsessed with trying to extract every possible morsel out of the pouch – which was kind of fun. So, that was nice…

Have you ever made apple sauce?

When I was little, my family used to go apple picking all the time, and then my mom and my aunt would spend a long time peeling, coring and slicing apples to make into the sweet nectar. The apple peeler / corer / slicer is easily one of my favorite inventions…

I love how certain apples are better for apple sauce, and some are better for eating, and some are better for baking. It’s pretty cool when you learn that one apple is mealier, and thus is better for baking, and some are crunchier and better for snacking.

I only have one disappointment with apple sauce, and this comes from the fact that my favorite apple – the Granny Smith – is not a good apple sauce apple, in my opinion.

I recently spotted Granny Smith apple sauce at the store. I was immediately delighted. I had a coupon that gave me 50 cents off any variety of Mott’s apple sauce (thank you grocery story Monopoly) and as my luck would have it, Mott’s is one of the brands that makes its sauce in Granny’s variety. This was shaping up to be a dream combo. Unsweetened. Granny Smith. And a coupon!

Sheesh.

Except, after racing home and opening up the conventional container of the sauce, I was crestfallen to find out that Granny Smith apple sauce is not good. How could this be? It smelled amazing, but the flavor was so underwhelming… It was just kind of bland. Completely lacking the tartness that a good Granny Smith packs into each bite…

Uggles, man. Uggles.

Alas, some things just don’t live up to the hype you

Last little bit tonight is on favorite colors.

I am on an all-time high enjoying my favorite color, thanks to my friends at Apple.

I never used to understand people’s obsession for buying things in their favorite color. I mean, it makes sense, but I was always kind of the ilk that favorite colors were for six year olds, and after that, it kind of didn’t really matter much.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my favorite color is yellow, and lots of things that come in yellow colors don’t look great.

Tape measures can be yellow, but they aren’t really noted for being super stylish… Bananas are yellow – and while the yellow ones are far better than the green or brown varieties – it’s not like people eat more bananas because they are yellow…

I’m not much of an accessorizer, so yellow purses, umbrellas, coffee mugs or ornamental belts aren’t really my thing either.

I’ve never had the urge to get a yellow computer case, or even a yellow shower curtain…

Yellow has always been my favorite color, but it’s always been under-represented in my repertoire of assorted belongings.

However, all of that recently changed.

I got a new phone, and for the first time ever, Apple was offering this really cool yellow color.

Without giving it much thought, when the sales person at the store asked what color I wanted, I almost just defaulted to grey. I saw a red and a blue and a white. But they didn’t do much for me.

And then, I saw this rich mustardy yellow colored one.

Whoa. A yellow phone!

I decided to go with that one, figuring, I like yellow, let’s do this.

I can’t tell you how much joy I have gotten out of having a yellow phone these last few weeks. I keep looking at it and thinking how much I love it. It’s hard to describe, but man, it’s so fun.

On that note, thanks for reading.

Have a good month.

Eat plenty of apple sauce. Smile at the ducks. Avoid the geese. And enjoy your favorite color.

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vickisventures · 3 years ago

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Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

3 weeks to go! The weather has become more fall like and some of the trees have begun to change already. I heard that was supposed to happen earlier than normal this year due to the dry summer. I love this time of year! Makes me want to play hooky from work when it’s so nice out. Steve is ready to go. I went through that a week ago and am over it now. I’m sure when we get down to the last week, I will get antsy to move on again. This week was quite a mess. We started our newly assigned bay on Monday. Monday was a good day. We were busy but not overwhelmed and we liked the bay. It was in a good location, the workspace was ample and we liked the product there for the most part. Day 2 it was crazy. We arrived to find 4 rows of totes 7 high with putaways (product that needed to be shelved). Some of it had been there from when we’d left the night before. (Makes you wonder what the night shift did!). Then the labels just kept flowing. We had a really busy day but still enjoyed it once we got some of the totes put away where we felt less claustrophobic and disorganized. On Wednesday, we arrived to find a girl at “our” bay. She was the one who had been working the bay before us but had been moved by DigiKey to work elsewhere. It was rather awkward. We knew she didn’t want us there and we didn’t need her there. At break, we went to our supervisors and told them that 3 people weren’t needed there and we’d be ok if we needed to be moved. Lisa said, “I was just getting ready to come find you.” Not a surprise! She explained that the girl was a very unhappy person. Apparently at the bay she’d been moved to, she had been rude to everyone and just made everyone miserable. So, guess what DigiKey did? Tell her to suck it up and learn this new bay or else? Nope! They allowed her to go back to her old bay; telling people that all you have to do at DigiKey is throw a fit and act ugly and you can get what you want. Lisa was not too happy with DigiKey, but what can you do? Some people are very territorial. Hard to believe in our short time here, I had to deal with 2 people who caused me to have to change bays. Lisa asked Steve and I to go to another bay to work for the rest of the day and on Thursday; then we would go to another bay on Friday where we will supposedly work for the rest of our time here. (I’ll have to see it to believe it!). I did not like the bay we were moved to, but I knew it was just for a day and half. I spent most of my time using the weigh machine to count out product. It was only 2 rows (4 shelving rows) of product and the workspace was tiny. I was so glad when Friday arrived so we could move to JZ. I knew of this bay. I had been told it was a lot of fun and so easy. The couple who had been working it were temps like us and they were leaving so they needed someone to fill their spots. It’s considered a “super bay.” It is a fast paced bay because almost everything is pre-packed. That means that if you get an order for 50 of something, you go to the bin and there are baggies with 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 etc. already filled and ready to go. You just grab the amount you need, put the label on it and toss it onto the conveyer belt. Occasionally, you have to prepare your own order but very rarely. I think I fulfilled 151 orders on Friday. My average has been around 85 at other bays. It was great! Steve wasn’t so sure about it because it was different from anything we’ve done so far, but I think this is the perfect way to finish up my stint at DigiKey!

I probably should have mentioned in my blog titled “The Job,” that that is the job as I know it. As soon as they open the new facility, the job will change significantly. No more handheld scanners. No more working at bays with others (Mike will be happy!) and trying to fight for workspace. People will mostly have their own supplies, their own workspace and won’t move much since the product will come to them on the belt. I still wonder how it will all work and if I’d like the job as well as I do now. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to find out next spring, but DigiKey may decide that this “experiment” isn’t worth repeating and won’t look for seasonal workers anymore.

We haven’t been able to work the overtime we’d wanted so far. We have 1/2 a cruise paid for. (I guess one of us can go. HA!) We are still hoping that might change since a lot more of the Express Pro people are leaving this next week, but time will tell. My worn-out body is glad, but our vacation account is sad.

We finalized our departure plans today. We moved up our departure date a week so we could go to Missouri to visit family. I haven’t seen some of my family in over a year and a half. I have a great niece I’ve never even met. We plan to drive to Missouri and stay for a few days. Then since I mentioned to Steve that I’d like to camp a bit instead of just run from job to job, we started to look for somewhere we could chill for a few nights. Problem was, it appears everyone else is doing the same thing in mid-October. I mean, who can blame them? Fall weather and colors at their best! We had hoped for a state park in Arkansas or Oklahoma but struck out. We ended up finding a privately owned park in Northwest Arkansas. It’s close to a beautiful state park with hiking trails which will work for us. We also found out that there’s a huge arts and crafts fair about an hour away while we are there. They have live music every day and food trucks. It sounds like my kind of place, so we are really excited about our camping trip. Then we’ll head to Amarillo as planned for our appointments.

On a different topic, I love to read and got a Kindle probably 3-4 years ago. I never read paperback books anymore. Kindles are just so much easier to travel with and when I finish a book, I can just start another one without a trip to the library or bookstore. Many of you may be familiar also with Book Bub which emails you daily with discounted or free books that you can get for your Kindle and I rarely spend money on books anymore. Plenty of free ones to entertain me. Well, Steve decided he’d like to read “Nomadland” after I finished so I had to lend him my Kindle to read it. I had brought a few paperbacks with me from when we sold our house that I hadn’t ever read. I dug one out and decided to read it while Steve used my Kindle. So, I put on my reader’s and turn on the reading light (see why Kindles are so great?!?) to see my paperback. Not too long into my nightly reading, I caught myself trying to tap the page to get it to turn for me! How sad is that? (For you who don’t use an e-reader, after reading a page, you just tap on the screen to move on to the next page.). Shows how much I use my Kindle. Also, may say something else, but we’ll not go into that because I refuse to give up my beloved Kindle. I have to admit I did that at least 3 more times while reading the book (not all on the same night at least!).

Happy Fall, ya’ll! Time to start buying the pumpkin flavored grocery items. I found pumpkin spice marshmallows and some delicious pumpkin spice cream-filled cookies this week at Walmart. Can’t wait to see what I find next week!

#DigiKey #full time rving #workcamping

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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The Ultimate Guide to Fruity, Milky, and Other Exciting Specialty Drinks

What to get in the drinks aisle of an international grocery store? Consider these.

I’ve always found joy in the little things in life — the smell of a new book, blank stationery, and a small soft drink carton waiting for me in the fridge. I never outgrew these joys, and I invested in my soft drink passion especially. I know, I know, there is a common trope about millennials who infantilize themselves because society won’t let them buy houses and save money, and I agree! But the quest for gourmet soda is particularly exciting. The reward? A salve at the end of the day.

As my journey in life takes me to more and more international grocery stores, I’ve ventured farther into the beverage aisles, and when the cool air of the fridge hits my face, I edge closer to the fluorescent light and reach toward the cold carton, bottle, or can of a new or familiar joy. Sure, you can always get something alcoholic, but for those of us who don’t want to exacerbate our GERD (hello, 30s), are addicted to sugar, or don’t want to spend more than $5, there is the wonderful world of speciality soft drinks. First, some general tips:

1) Find an international grocery store or immigrant-owned bodega

Chances are you won’t find specialty sodas and juices at Target or Walmart unless they’re manufactured by an American brand. Look up Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Chinese grocery stores (or any other kind!) in your area. While you’re there, pick up some pantry staples and make sure you’re respectful of the other shoppers. If you live by an immigrant-owned bodega, take a closer look at their shelves.

2) Don’t be a coward

Just because you can’t read the language on the packaging of a drink, and just because you’ve never had it before, doesn’t mean it’s a mystery of the vast unknown. Be brave! You could end up discovering your holy grail drink! And if you hate it, that’s also okay. It’s not going to cost you much to find out. If you’re really curious, though, there’s sometimes an import sticker that states what it is in English.

3) Look for the beverages in the fridge and on the shelves

There are instances when those working the stores haven’t had the time to fill up the fridge. Be mindful of stacked cartons or bottles around the store, where potential new favorites could be hiding out. Other kinds of drinks will be placed not in the fridges but on dry shelves in the interior of the store.

4) Once you find a favorite, take a picture of the packaging

Be sure to take a picture of something you really liked for future visits and file it into a folder on your phone — it’ll help you repurchase your favorites and also prevent any mix-ups between similarly shaped or designed bottles.

The ones to know:

Here are very few of my personal favorites, split into the categories of “fruity” and “milky.” Fruity drinks are evergreen, but especially appropriate for the times when you want the feeling of summer. Milky drinks are a little more substantial, better suited for the days when you’re craving something closer to a dessert.

Fruity

Suntory honey lemon

My holy grail of fruity drinks. I have only had the luck of having this once in my life, and I have been searching for it ever since. Achieving the perfect balance of sweet and sour, it feels familiar (because it’s honey and lemon) but also completely new because it doesn’t remind you of that familiar cold/flu combo. Like all excellent soft drinks, it has a sophistication from the first to the last sip.

Taisun winter melon drink

Winter melon (aka white gourd) is popular in Taiwan and has got to be the best double agent of all time. In its raw form, it tastes pretty neutral, which makes it well-suited as a savory vegetable dish. Once you add sugar to its juices, though, it transforms, giving off burnt caramel notes that makes it the most dessert-like fruit drink maybe ever. It’s in my top five of all time. I have consumed plenty of Taisun cans, and I hereby encourage everyone to try my regular boba order (winter melon tea with salty foam) if it’s your first time.

Suntory Gokuri grapefruit

Again with another heavyweight, Suntory offers us Gokuri. As well as having the sexiest packaging (aluminum tinned bottles, generous girth, amazing colors and design), it also is the best citrus soda. Its grapefruit and cassis an orange flavors are clear winners, and the peach flavor is also good (though I usually prefer a non-carbonated peach).

Rubicon

Sing it with me now: lychee, mango, guava, passionfruit. If my childhood were a table, these four would be its legs. Though these drinks are common in the U.K., they’re a little harder to come by in NYC, where I’m located now. Somewhere in between juice and lassi, Rubicon’s drinks are sweet, thick in consistency, and truly a delight to all those who have an affinity for — yes — lychee, mango, guava, and passionfruit. Get them anywhere you can, most likely at a South Asian grocery store, and for the love of god, don’t buy the sparkling versions.

San Pellegrino prickly pear and orange

The blood orange flavor of these foil-wrapped cans gets a lot of airtime with soft drink enthusiasts, but o-ho! Let me tell you about the rare and best flavor of San Pellegrino. Prickly pear, also known as nopal, is a cactus that can be used in savory cooking but also eaten as a fruit. This flavor sets itself apart from other San Pellegrino varieties in that it doesn’t taste as artificial, which is hard to achieve with carbonated sodas.

Bruce Cost jasmine green tea ginger ale

I never really understood the love for ginger ale until I tried Bruce Cost’s. With other ginger ales, the ginger is too strong, or the sugar too sweet to counteract the ginger, but the beauty of Bruce Cost’s ginger ale is that it’s infused with flavors that you wouldn’t think would work — and yet they do. Jasmine green tea is amazing all by itself, but with the ginger ale flavor, it’s a perfect union.

Ikea elderflower drink/Belvoir elderflower presse or cordial

Elderflower is popular around northwestern and central Europe, and has a distinctly elegant taste that is a heavy-hitter by itself and with cocktails. If your store has a specialty shelf dedicated to the friends across the pond, you may have some luck in finding Belvoir, an elderflower cordial popular with us Brits. If not, perhaps you can scoop a carton or bottle of “Dryk Flader” next time you’re at Ikea trying to satisfy your meatball craving.

Suanmeitang (Chinese sour plum juice)

If, like me, your only experience of plum juice is to fix some… uh… bowel issues, then I understand the hesitation with trying suanmeitang. But this is an all-around winner: a sweet, sour, and very slightly salty plum juice, in an adorable bottle, that, yes, helps with digestion — because bowel movement is important! Grow up! You can likely find suanmeitang at most Chinese grocery stores.

Milky

Vitasoy black sesame

If you’ve ever been to HMart or an East Asian supermarket, you might have seen these cartons in a variety of colors to denote different flavors. But nothing reigns more supreme than the black sesame flavor: A milky backdrop complements the nuttiness of the black sesame and makes for a great drinkable dessert.

Marusan Hojicha milk tea

Milk tea is tea leaves steeped in milk in various combinations. You have oolong, darjeeling, and other forms (which I encourage you to try if you haven’t), but hojicha is my personal favorite. Hojicha is the more elegant sister of matcha: Whereas matcha leans more fresh and grassy, hojicha is the roasted version, and provides a deeper and earthier flavor. I recommend finding hojicha leaves and having them for hot tea (or finding sachets for a hojicha instant latte), but if you want a soothing cold version, hojicha milk tea in the carton is unbeatable. Marusan’s uses soy milk, which helps with any lactose intolerance.

Yakult probiotic drink

A legend, an icon. Nothing can replace the tangy sweetness of this watery liquid. She mainstreamed and we still love her. Does she actually help with good gut bacteria? Do we care either way?

T.Grand Assam milk tea

Assam tea is produced in Assam, India, and it’s a pretty singular black tea flavor. It tastes a little bit like fragrant burnt sugar or earthy caramel. Adding milk nestles that flavor into your palate and imparts an astounding flavor somewhere between creamy and fruity, floral and nutty. It has crisp notes, much like oolong, but the taste itself is rounded out. I prefer T.Grand’s version, partly because of its “My Way My Life My Milk Tea” caption on the cartons (damn straight!), but UCC has Assam milk tea too.

Bikkle yogurt drink

For those who need a little more of Yakult, and the tiny bottles simply don’t hit, we have Bikkle’s yogurt drink. Much like Calpis, it’s a yogurt drink that tastes less like lactose and more like a kind of sugar that does something to the pleasure center of the brain. It has a better taste and consistency than Calpis, and does not give me a tummy ache, so it’s a win all-around.

• Get Yourself a Specialty Soda, as a Treat [E]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3fh1oJh https://ift.tt/2XfgsB8

What to get in the drinks aisle of an international grocery store? Consider these.

1) Find an international grocery store or immigrant-owned bodega

2) Don’t be a coward

3) Look for the beverages in the fridge and on the shelves

4) Once you find a favorite, take a picture of the packaging

The ones to know:

Fruity

Suntory honey lemon

Taisun winter melon drink

Suntory Gokuri grapefruit

Rubicon

San Pellegrino prickly pear and orange

Bruce Cost jasmine green tea ginger ale

Ikea elderflower drink/Belvoir elderflower presse or cordial

Suanmeitang (Chinese sour plum juice)

Milky

Vitasoy black sesame

Marusan Hojicha milk tea

Yakult probiotic drink

A legend, an icon. Nothing can replace the tangy sweetness of this watery liquid. She mainstreamed and we still love her. Does she actually help with good gut bacteria? Do we care either way?

T.Grand Assam milk tea

Bikkle yogurt drink

• Get Yourself a Specialty Soda, as a Treat [E]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3fh1oJh via Blogger https://ift.tt/3fgFS7A

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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arplis · 5 years ago

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Arplis - News: This crusty French baguette recipe is easier to make than you think! Here’s a video tutorial showing how to make this classic crusty bread.

What’s better than a crunchy fresh French artisan baguette? (Almost nothing.) Well, here’s an easy baguette recipe you can make at home! It’s simple to make: there’s no special equipment required! The only ingredients you need are all-purpose flour, yeast and salt. You will be absolutely amazed at the crunchy texture, tangy flavor, and beautiful long loaf. We have a long list of bread recipes (including our “famous” sourdough bread), but Alex and I agreed this one is our new favorite. The flavor is out of this world. Here’s what to do! How to make this baguette recipe: an overview! Here’s the basic outline of what you’re getting yourself into with this baguette recipe. The process spans 3 days! Day One takes 1 hour (just a few minutes of hands on time) and you’ll need about 3 hours on Day Three to shape and bake it. In between, you’ll rest the dough in the refrigerator for 2 days. This is the secret to the very best baguette flavor! Here’s an outline of what you’ll have to do: Day 1 Mix the dough, proof 1 hour, refrigerate (15 minutes active) Day 2 Refrigerate dough Day 3 Proof and shape dough (30 minutes active, 2 hours inactive) Bake (40 minutes) Cool (20 minutes) French baguettes and no knead breadEquipment list for making a baguette (nothing special needed!) This baguette recipe requires no special equipment! Compared to other artisan bread recipes like our sourdough, artisan, or even no knead, it’s got the smallest list of required tools. There’s no Dutch oven and no proofing basket needed. Here’s what you need! Required tools for this artisan bread recipe Parchment paper Baking sheet Sharp knife or lame for scoring the bread Kitchen scale for measuring (optional) All you need is all-purpose flour Another feature of this baguette recipe is that all you need is all-purpose flour! Our other bread recipes use flour blends like whole wheat and bread flour. Baguettes are surprisingly simple: requiring only all-puprose flour, salt and yeast. This recipe makes 2 loaves: halve it if desired! This baguette recipe makes 2 loaves of bread. If you don’t think you’ll eat two in a few days, here are some options: Make half the recipe. It works just as well with half the quantities: you can follow the recipe to a T. Freeze the second baguette. You can freeze the second baguette for several months, then reheat it from frozen. It comes out a little crustier but the flavor is just as good! See the “Storage” section below. Think ahead! A 2 day rest is required. We said it once, but we’ll say it again. This bread requires thinking ahead a few days. You’ll need to rest the bread dough for 2 days in the refrigerator. Why? The 2 day rest makes a complex, tangy flavor. Resting the dough in the refrigerator is also called “fermenting”. As the dough ferments, it develops a naturally tangy and complex flavor. (We also suggest this with our best pizza dough.) You can truly taste the difference! It doesn’t have to be exactly 48 hours. There is some wiggle room, so don’t worry if you do about 1.5 days instead of a full 2 days on the rest time. How to shape a baguette (video!) The part of making this baguette recipe that requires the most technique is folding and shaping the dough. It’s easiest to learn how to shape the dough by watching. So, we made you a video! Here’s Alex demonstrating how to shape a baguette. We highly recommend watching this video before you start! How to score a baguette See those beautiful lines on the top of the baguette? Those are called score lines. Scoring is slashing the top of the dough with a sharp knife to allow it to expand when baking. Here are some things to know about scoring the baguette (also watch the video above): Use your sharpest knife, or a lame. You’ll want the knife to be ultra sharp. We purchased a lame for this, since we make lots of bread recipes. But a knife works just as well! Make shallow, diagonal overlapping cuts. You want to cut just the surface — if it’s too deep it collapses, if it’s too shallow it bursts. Make the pattern look like the one in the video above, where the cuts overlap diagonally. Storage & reheating info for this baguette recipe This baguette recipe has no preservatives, so the storage is different from a bread you might buy from the store. Since this recipe makes two loaves, you can freeze the second one and eat it later! It comes out a little crustier than the day of baking, but it’s still fantastic and the flavor is perfectly preserved. Here’s what to do: Room temperature storage (2 days): Once you’ve baked your French baguette, it is best eaten within 48 hours. Store it wrapped in a towel at room temperature. Frozen (3 months): Let the baguette cool to room temperature, then wrap it in aluminum foil and place it in a plastic bag. Freeze for several months. Reheating: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Unwrap the baguette and add directly to the oven grate (from frozen!) and bake about 15 to 20 minutes until warmed through. Ways to serve this baguette There are so many ways to serve a baguette! Likely you already have ideas. Here are some of our favorites, including some ways to use stale bread: On a cheese board. See above! Add a variety of cheeses, olives, nuts, and jam and you’ve got one incredible cheese board for entertaining. With salted French butter. One of the very best taste treats: this baguette with salted French butter. Look for French or European-style butter at your local grocery. With dips. Try it with our Spinach Artichoke Dip: it’s delightful. Crostini. When it’s starting to go stale, turn it into Toasted Baguette or Easy Crostini and top with toppings, or make Goat Cheese Crostini. Garlic toast. Another idea for Day 2, make it into this insanely garlicky Garlic Toast. Breadcrumbs or croutons. If you get to the point where it’s pretty stale, make it into breadcrumbs or croutons! You can also use it for panzanella or bread soup. This French baguette recipe is… Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and dairy free. Print Baguette Recipe (Easy with Video!) (9 votes, average: 4.78 out of 5) 4.8 from 9 reviews Author: Sonja Overhiser Prep Time: 3 hour 30 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes Yield: 2 large baguettes (about 40 slices) Diet: Vegan Print Recipe Pin Recipe Description Ingredients 500 grams all-purpose flour (4 cups)* 8 grams instant or active dry yeast (2 teaspoons) 12 grams kosher salt (2 teaspoons) 350 grams warm water (1 1/2 cups) Instructions Day 1: Make the dough (15 minutes active, 45 minutes inactive) Mix the dough: Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir to combine. Add the water and stir until a raggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough: Knead the dough by pushing with the base of your palm, then reforming it into a ball. Continue kneading for 8 minutes until the dough feels pillowy and has a smooth, stretchy exterior. If the dough is very sticky, add a small amount of flour while kneading. Resist the urge to add lots of flour. Alternatively: attach the dough hook to a stand mixer and start the mixer on medium-low speed, then allow the mixer to knead for 8 minutes. Proof 45 to 60 minutes: After the kneading is finished, form the dough into a ball and return to the bowl. Proof until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Gently shape each half into a boule (ball shape) by folding the dough under itself. Place each dough into a separate covered container, with room for the dough to double in size. Refrigerate 2 days: Place containers in the refrigerator for 2 days to ferment (this is where all the flavor comes from!). Day 3: Shape & Bake (30 minutes active, 2 hours inactive, 40 minutes bake, 20 minutes cool) Proof 1 hour: When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place dough onto lightly floured counter and pull ends under dough to form a boule shape (watch video for this and all following steps). Repeat with second dough. Cover with towel and rest 1 hour. Fold the dough & rest 10 minutes: After an hour, flip the dough over and pull out the left and right ends. Fold the ends into the center of the dough and gently roll into a log. Pinch the seams on the sides. Be careful not to press too hard while rolling to avoid deflating the dough. Repeat with second dough. Cover with a towel and rest for 10 minutes. Pre-shape the dough & rest 5 minutes: Sprinkle the doughs with flour. Flip the dough and pat it gently into a rectangle. Fold in half and use the heel of your hand to pinch the seam and form a log shape. Flip and repeat the process. Repeat with second dough. Cover with towel and rest 5 minutes. Shape the dough & proof 45 minutes: Place a clean towel on a baking pan and dust it heavily with flour. Starting from the center of the dough, use your hands to roll the dough into a long baguette shape the almost the length of your pan. Make sure to roll your hands all the way past the ends of the dough to create the tapered point. Carefully transfer the dough to the floured towel and tuck it on both sides to provide support. Repeat with second dough. Cover with a towel and proof for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a cast iron pan or your thickest baking sheet on the rack just below and off to the other side of oven. You’ll pour water into it later to create steam. Score the bread: After proofing, carefully move each dough out of the towel and transfer it directly onto the pan. Ensure the dough is straightened and dust it lightly with flour. Use a sharp knife or lame to score each bread 4 times at a slight diagonal, just overlapping pattern. Bake at 475 degrees: Place the tray in the oven and add steam: cover your hand with a towel and very carefully pour 1 cup of water onto the cast-iron pan or baking sheet, then immediately close the door. Bake 16 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake at 400 degrees: Open the oven door and fan it a few times to release moist air. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack at least 20 minutes before serving. Storage instructions: Store at room temperature wrapped in a towel for up to 2 days. To preserve the second loaf, you can freeze it: wrap in foil and place in a plastic bag. Store for several months in the freezer. To reheat, bake from frozen for 15 to 20 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Notes *If you’d like only 1 loaf, cut the quantities in half. The recipe works just as well! Category: Bread Method: Baked Cuisine: French Keywords: Baguette Recipe, French Baguette, Did you make this recipe? Tag @acouplecooks on Instagram and hashtag it #acouplecooks A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes #Baguette #Baked #Recipes #Vegetarian #French

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/this-crusty-french-baguette-recipe-is-easier-to-make-than-you-think-here-s-a-video-tutorial-showing-how-to-make-this-classic-crusty-bread

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bestcoffeemakerdfrc191-blog · 5 years ago

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The Buzz on Top Coffee Makers

Some Ideas on Coffeemakers You Need To Know

Believe hours, not days, where you're losing those delicious natural substances. The situation intensifies the finer you grind coffee beans due to the boosted surface area and also greater direct exposure to air. Experienced roasters as well as baristas have informed me that the finely ground coffee utilized for espresso sheds its capacity for greatness in just thirty minutes. Expand Photo Ground coffee loses its flavor rapidly.

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Espresso Coffee Machine Fundamentals Explained

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solarprophecy · 3 years ago

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Fun thread! I’m an Albertan who has traveled a fair bit for work and lived in Toronto for 5 years and New Jersey for 3 years before moving back home again, so hopefully I can contribute one or two things...

Apparently butter tarts are specifically a [western?] Canadian thing? If you haven’t had them they’re a bit like pecan pie without pecans, only much better imho. Or maybe like treacle tart if you’re British (I haven’t actually had treacle tart, though, so that’s a guess). They usually have raisins in them but some of us prefer them without.

I’m not sure what part of Canada you’re writing about, but there are a lot of people of Ukranian and Polish descent in Alberta, so perogies*, cabbage rolls, and other foods associated with those cultures are popular here. [*Yes that’s how we spell perogies in Alberta. Really.]

I wouldn’t have thought this was a Canadian thing, but I was shocked when I lived in New Jersey to find I couldn’t get honey garlic sauce anywhere. There were NO brands of honey garlic sauce at any grocery stores. At home you can buy honey garlic sauce to cook with, and it’s a popular flavor for restaurant chicken wings etc. also.

We also have separate liquor stores - not like in the US or UK where the booze is right there in the grocery store (or even the convenience store - god that was weird when I went to the UK lol), and you can buy it along with your food. In Canada you have to go to a totally different building, where people under 18 are not allowed, and pay separately for your alcohol. The liquor store might belong to the same company as the grocery store, and be located right next to it - e.g. there is a Sobey’s liquor store and a Sobey’s grocery store - but they are still separate buildings. And there are plenty of businesses that are just liquor stores, like Liquor Depot and Wine and Beyond.

Hmm other than that all I can think of is that most of us use the words “supper” and “dinner” interchangeably, to refer to the evening meal. Not like in the UK where (I think) dinner is lunch?

Good luck with your story!

Hi Steph!

Love you ♥️

Can you and your followers maybe help me out? I'm writing a story where John is Canadian, what are some Canadian dishes that he'd be easily scandalised over if done wrong? You know, in this joking way like when we butcher some Italian dishes for example and you get an Italian village throwing pitchforks (all jokes fam)

I think poutine is Canadian? What are some do's and don'ts?

Thank you :3

Hey Nonny!

AHHH what a fun question! Ahhhhh, funnily enough, a lot of our cuisine is very American, BUT the one I was going to suggest WAS the poutine hahahah. It’s legit one of my FAVE foods, and my city has a Poutine Fest every summer when we’re not in a pandemic, LOL, and it’s just the best thing ever.

It’s the one that is ALWAYS make or break for me personally! It differs by region and nowadays, because of the ease of “buy everything in a can” for food, but a poutine can be greatly affected by what type of the three main ingredients you use.

A proper “original” Canadian poutine (pron. POO-TEHN) is made with fresh potatoes skin-on, gravy made from beef broth (dark brown, THICK gravy... this REALLY REALLY matters), and cheese curds (NOT shredded or chopped up blocks of cheese). BUT because not everyone’s tummies can tolerate ALL THAT HARD TO DIGEST FAT AND DAIRY, obviously these days, any poutine is good, as long as it’s got good fries, hahah. Poutine Fest has trucks that sell “hamburger” poutine and “mac and cheese” poutines (I’ve had both, and they are delicious), so really, it’s all about what you like. But yeah, IF you can eat cheese, get it with curds.... it’s NOT the same without the curds. I know many Canadians judge a poutine by the curds you have in them. It’s because they melt and get SUPER stretchy, which is why it’s fun!! This website here, actually, has a pretty good rundown of how a good Canadian poutine should be made :)

These days I make my poutines with bagged frozen fries, St. Albert’s Cheese Curds (one of the local cheese farms that sells in-store), and St. Hubert canned Poutine gravy (very subpar, but it’s the best of the canned gravies for poutine), topped with bacon bits, green onions, and a dash of salt. TOTALLY not an every day snack, but it’s nice to treat myself once in awhile. Really though, there isn’t a RIGHT and WRONG way to make poutines, but I CAN say that Americans make very.... subpar poutines. Except New York Fries. Theirs is really good.

Ah, hmm, what else? Timbits (doughnut holes) are the perfect snack. Popular “group” snack, since you can order them in Party Packs.

Maple syrup, very important! The best syrup comes from sugar farms, costs a lot, but SO worth it. There’s a BIG difference between pure maple syrup and whatever fructose crap sold in bottles on the store shelf. Canadians have “maple season” from February to April where you go to a sugar shack (cabane à sucre), pour hot maple syrup onto the snow to make maple taffy / candy and eat it. Best thing ever. Every Canadian kid who grew up in Northern Ontario of my generation has gone to at least ONE during a school trip.

And another one I am REALLY fond of and miss, are Persian Buns. It’s COMPLETELY a local thing in Thunder Bay where I grew up, and when I was a kid, you made sure you had money to buy a Persian on Persian Day at school lest you look like a LOSER. It’s literally a cinnamon sweet roll with strawberry sugar icing on it. They were the best, and I miss them so much.

AHHH sorry, I got super nostalgic there. That last one is completely not an all-Canadian thing, but it’s very VERY localized.

OH!! BEAVERTAILS. Americans call them Bear Claws / Paws, we call them BeaverTails, they taste better, and they’re shaped like a beaver tail, LOL. Staple of Canadian ice skating winters on the Rideau Canal. We actually have stands here where I live all year round, but yeah, people go NUTS for them. It’s literally a pastry with cinnamon sugar, sometimes with additional toppings (see the link above) and they’re HUGE, like the length of your forearm and about an inch thick.

OH!! A Tourtière (pron. TOUR-TEE-AIR, but faster and roll the ‘R’ because French people talk fast and all our R’s are rolled LOL), which is a meat pie made with beef and pork. Some Québecois will not be happy if you make them wrong, LOL. Traditional French dish my family has on Christmas Eve.

OH. NANAIMO BARS. One wrong mess up in a recipe will ruin them. Trust me, I did this once, EEEEEE.

Montréal Style Bagels. The best bagels you will ever get, tastes like heaven, that’s why they’re shaped like halos.

OH! And Canadians are VERY VERY proud of our craft domestic LOCAL beers. Wherever John lives in your story, look up the local brewery, because that shit is important to some Canadians, and it will make the story more believable. Same goes for wines, especially if your John is from the Niagara region. They’re popular for their wineries and wine tours. And Canadian beer is better, and I don’t even like beer LOL.

Hee hee! I was just scrolling to see if there’s any other I have a comment on, and I actually found this great article about Canadian things you HAVE to try, so yeah, these are all staples of Canadiana! <3

Food Network Canada also has some here too! I have lots to say about all of them minus the seafood and the Caesar, but yeah, all of it is delicious, and just makes me proud to be a Canadian! <3

AND finally, some a lot of the best-known Canadian cuisine comes from the French Canadians and from our First Nations People [see here for some make-at-home recipes] (bannock bread is AMAZING!!), so have a look see at that too – these are the cultures I grew up with and currently live around, so they’re the ones I’m most familiar with. I know that there’s regional food out west, in the Territories, and out east that I’m unfamiliar with, but do some research on Canadian food, it’s all very unique and amazing.

As I said, a lot of Canada has a lot of “local” things, so many of us make things in our own ways, and we’re pretty easy going about it all, because it’s food and we love food. But yeah, I think poutines are the biggest one. Most Canadians who love poutine will tell you every other poutine EXCEPT a French Canadian poutine is inferior, LOL.

If any of my fellow Canadians have anything local to their region to share, or has some words about poutine because it is very divisive, please share LOL.

This was such a joy to write, and now I want Persians. :D

#Canadian stuff #canadian food #I <3 Alberta Beef #LOL

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travelingtheusa · 5 years ago

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NORTH CAROLINA

5 Dec 2019 (Thu) – We drove into Wilmington today. It was about an hour away. First stop was at the Bellamy Mansion. A doctor lived there with his wife and nine children. It was a beautiful building. An unusual aspect was that the dining room was in the basement. The main floor had four parlor rooms. Upstairs had many rooms; presumably bedrooms for all the kids and their nine slaves. The mansion had four floors. The docent who took us on a tour was very chatty and he knew so much about the family and the time period. It was a very interesting visit.

Next stop was at Front Street Brewery. We enjoyed a nice meal and Paul had a flight of six beers to sample. We walked around the neighborhood for a bit. There were many antebellum homes. The area was very beautiful. The main road had dozens of houses lining the roadway; each with a plaque describing its date of construction and who lived there.

After lunch and the local tour, we drove to the Railroad Museum. It was mostly a model train center. After admiring all the little trains and towns, we climbed up onto a caboose, a train engine, and a box car decorated with hobos.

When we got back, we gathered up information about the SMART club and went over to talk with another camper. He and his wife were interested in hearing about the club. Another woman was visiting and joined in the conversation, too. A man came running over, grabbed a brochure, thanked us, and ran back to his rig. That was very funny.

4 Dec 2019 (Wed) – We drove to the North Carolina Aquarium this morning. Their roof was undergoing repair from the recent hurricane. When we first arrived, we saw a lone construction guy up on the very high peak. Not only did it look lonely, it looked very dangerous. He was on a glass roof that was over the reptile area that included a 15 foot albino alligator. Talk about dangerous jobs!!!

We spent about an hour in the aquarium. It was small and half of it wasn’t accessible because of the roof damage. There was nothing we hadn’t seen somewhere else.

Lunch was at Jack Makerel’s Restaurant. It was a pub located in a lovely old building. The food was good and they had a flight of beers that Paul thoroughly enjoyed.

After lunch, we went to Fort Fisher Historical Site. There was a battle there during the Civil War. It was gruesome! The battle lasted more than two days. There were 1,400 North Carolinians and 300 south Carolinans who held off 10,000 northern forces for 58 hours. The battle raged on and at the end, everyone was reduced to clubbing each other in hand-to-hand combat. When Fort Fisher finally fell to overwhelming forces in January 1865, it marked the beginning of the end. Robert E. Lee surrendered in April 1865. Today, many of the redans are still in place. A replica of a large canon sits inside a small fenced area. Across the street stands a tall monument in tribute to the men who died during the battle.

3 Dec 2019 (Tue) – The weather cleared up and while it is still cool in the low 50s, at least the rain stopped. We pulled up stakes and headed out to Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area Campground at 9:30 am. It is a National Guard Training Base with a campground. There is no gate and no base facilities. They do have a swimming pool that is closed for the season. The area suffered damage from Hurricane Dorian in September and there is a lot of repair work in progress. There was a crew putting a new roof on the registration office.

This is a very nice beach town. There are rows of pastel colored three-story homes, many with signs offering the house for rent. Most of the buildings are empty as this is not the popular season. We are on a narrow island with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and a bay on the other. We walked out onto the Kure Beach Pier. There were dozens of birds looking for goodies from the many fishermen on the pier. One guy had just caught a blowfish and was throwing it back in. He said he was trying to catch trout or whiting. The stretch of beach on either side of the pier reminded me of California.

We went to dinner at Fred’s Italian Restaurant. It was a cute little place and was about half full. Paul had pork chops, baked potato, and applesauce. I had shrimp scampi. While Paul was happy with his meal, I didn’t like mine. The appetizer (crab dip) had too much parmesan in it. The bread dip was more vinegar than oil. My shrimp was tough and chewy. The angel hair pasta was bland. My sangria was too dry. All in all, I did not enjoy the meal. Except for the company. He was perfect! And the ambiance was nice, too. :-)

2 Dec 2019 (Mon) – We went for a walk down by the water yesterday. The marina was very quiet – no cars, no planes, no people. It was very peaceful. While we were looking out over the water, a fish broke out of the water. It turned out to be two dolphins swimming by. One was larger than the other so we thought it was a mother and child making their way up the river. The sighting was a delightful treat!

While I did some baking this morning, Paul did the laundry. They have a small set up here in the campground with two washers and three dryers.

1 Dec 2019 (Sun) – It rained all night. At least it wasn’t noisy like our popup used to be. When it rained in that one, it sounded like popcorn popping. It was raining when we got up and rained on and off all day today.

We left at 11:30 a.m. and drove around the base, exploring the area. This is a very large base with lots of amenities. They have a golf course, a yacht club, two marinas, a couple of recreation areas, lounges, a movie theater, and a large housing complex. They rent out campers and boats to the marines on base.

After checking out the base, we drove toward Beaufort. On the way, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Smithfield’s Chicken BBQ. It was kind of like a McDonald’s. You walked up to a counter with the menu overhead behind the counter. You gave your order and got a number then took a seat. When your food was ready, a waitress brought it out to your table. While we were eating, wait staff came by offering to clear away garbage and offering refills on our drinks (very UNLIKE McDonald’s). The food was pretty good.

When done, we continued on to Beaufort to the North Carolina Maritime Museum. A great deal of the museum was dedicated to the story of pirates in general, and Blackbeard in particular. Queen Ann’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s flagship, was found sunk a half mile off the coast here in North Carolina. They had artifacts from the ship and detailed stories of the ship’s plunder. After going through the museum, we went across the street to the Watercraft Center where a lone volunteer was working on a project. We got to talking to him and he regaled us with details of the boats they make there. It was very interesting.

On the way back to the base, we stopped at a Food Lion to pick up groceries and Pet Smart to get food for Bonnie and Sheba.

30 Nov 2019 (Sat) – We went to the Galley for breakfast again today. We were the only people in there for about 20 minutes then four Coast Guardsmen came in. The cafeteria has never been very full each time we have been in there.

After breakfast, we finished packing up and left the base. It rained most of the drive to the Cherry Point MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) in Havelock. The office was closed but a packet was sitting outside with paperwork for us. After we set up, we settled in and just watched TV for the afternoon. I just couldn’t get warm.

After feeding the animals, we went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant. The food was very good. The margaritas were listed on the menu as small, large, monster, and pitcher. Paul got the monster and I got the large. They were VERY filling!

When finished, we drove back on the base to the shopping complex looking for the package store. While there were several stores in the complex, there was no liquor shop. We drove a block down the road to the gas station figuring that they might have wine and liquor in there like they do on other bases. Sure enough, they did and we picked up some drinks.

During the drive from Elizabeth City to Havelock, we passed many small and run down homes. There were also lots of trailers along the way, too. Based on all those homes, we think this is a pretty poor state.

29 Nov 2019 (Fri) – We got up early and went to the Galley for breakfast. The choices were pretty good: scrambled or hard boiled eggs, sausage (it was cold), ham, diced potatoes, and pancakes. There was a waffle maker on the counter but no batter. You could toast bread or bagels. The coffee was like flavored dishwater. Ugh. The cost was even better: $7.50 for both of us! This is pretty good cost-wise.

After breakfast, we drove to the Outer Banks. First stop was at the visitor’s center to get another map. They also had a centennial memorial to flight next to the center. Starting with the first flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903, there were several columns in an oval, each listing several aviation firsts, and ending with 2003. It was interesting to see how far we have come in one hundred years.

We drove more than two hours to the end of Pea Island to Hatteras. There was a great looking museum – “Graveyard of the Atlantic” – that was closed. That was very disappointing. We parked and walked out to the seashore. There were many vehicles parked on the beach and it seemed like there was a fishing competition going on. People were standing on the beach casting lines into the crashing waves. There were several commercial boats fishing out in the ocean. One particular boat had hundreds of birds flying around it. We figured they were probably fileting their catch and the birds were looking for scraps. Paul got pictures of pelicans flying by. We stood on the beach and watched everything for a while then left.

We then stopped at the Cape Hatteras Light Station. The museum was also closed (bummer). You could buy a ticket to climb the 210 foot tall lighthouse but we did not. It looked like it was the same height as the Fire Island Lighthouse but when we checked it online, it turned out it was only 167 feet. Significantly smaller than the Cape Hatteras station.

Lunch was at the Buxton Munch. It was a very small restaurant but very busy. It was rated number one of 48 in Buxton. We both had crab cake sandwiches which were OK but not as good as the crab cakes we had the other day.

After we got back, fed the animals, and walked Bonnie, we went to dinner at the Galley. They had the typical choices: two proteins (hot dogs or chicken breast), one starch (rice), two vegetables (peas or collards), and hush puppies (I’m not sure what they are). The mess hall closed at 5:45 p.m. and although we were still eating, they shut all the TVs off promptly at 5:45. They were in a hurry to get home! It was clear that it was time to leave.

28 Nov 2019 (Thu – Thanksgiving Day) – Since it was a holiday, we assumed everything was closed and just stayed around the campground today. At 5 p.m., we went to the Coast Guard Galley (cafeteria) for dinner. They had turkey and ham, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, corn bread, salad fixings, soup, and various cakes and pies for dessert. Most of it was canned; not fresh made. Oh well. It was holiday meal. And it only cost us $7.70 each ($15.40). What a deal!!

27 Nov 2019 (Wed) –We were planning on leaving Friday, November 29, for southern North Carolina. Unfortunately, the camp host said they did not have anything on that day but the next day was open. So we changed our departure date to the 30th, meaning we could go back to Cape Hatteras the day after Thanksgiving.

We went to the Museum of the Albemarle this morning. It was a nice museum but all reading. They divided the history of the area by eras – the Railroad Era, the Automotive Era, etc. It was a little confusing.

We went to the movies tonight and saw “Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” It was not what I expected. Rather than being a movie about the life of Mr. Rogers, it told the story of a conflicted news reporter who was affected by Mr. Rogers. Tom Hanks was good, as always, but I don’t think I really cared for the movie.

26 Nov 2019 (Tue) – What a great day we had today. First, we drove to the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk. There was a visitor’s center with a small display area telling the basic story of the Wright Brothers’ lives and accomplishments. Out in the open field, there was a stone marker commemorating the 25th anniversary of the first manned flight. There were also four markers, each for their successive flights on December 17, 1903. The first attempt failed. The second try lasted 12 seconds. The third was also 12 seconds long; the fourth was 15 seconds; and the last, and most famous, lasted 59 seconds. There was a young boy at the field on that day. He was 8 years old and had skipped school to watch the planned flight. He lived to see man land on the moon 66 years later. Wasn’t that amazing?!?!? It is so incredible how far we went from those early flight experiments.

There was a large monument up on a hill. That was where the brothers flew their gliders from. They set many records for gliding. Down on the walk was a picture commemorating the 25th anniversary celebration. In it were Orville Wright and Amelia Earhart. It gave me chills.

When we left the Wright Brothers memorial, we drove down the main road on the Outer Banks until we came to a local brewery where we stopped for lunch. Paul did a beer flight and I had a glass of wine. The food was pub fare – good but nothing to write home about.

After lunch, we continued down the main drag to the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. This was the site of the Lost Colony. In 1581, explorers from England arrived on Roanoke Island. They befriended the natives and explored the area then returned to England. They came back the following year and left again. In 1984, a group of 115 people arrived from England planning to colonize the area. When winter came, they were starving and in need of many things. Captain John Raleigh was convinced to return to England to get supplies for the colony. When he got home, he found England at war with France. He was not able to get a boat or provisions to take back to the colony for three years. When he was able to return to the colony in 1987, there was no sign of the colony. Everyone was gone. No one has ever been able to figure out what happened to the colonists.

25 Nov 2019 (Mon) – We left Fort Belvoir, VA at a little after 9 a.m. It was a 3 hour drive to Coast Guard Base Elizabeth. Signage on base was poor and the camp area was hard to find. We only have 30 amp hookup. The camp area is in a small circle on a corner. The other, 50 amp, area is nicer. Maybe next time.

We explored the base. It is a small training base. There is a Galley (dining hall) that we can eat at because I am retired. We walked over and looked over the menu. I think we will probably eat Thanksgiving dinner there.

The Base Exchange was nice and we picked up a couple of bottles of wine.

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