#my favourite breakfast is actually leftovers from the previous day's take-out

[the-abe]

naz-ozdemir

“You’re going to need it that hunger, I promise you that,” she assured, waving him inside. As for looking over dressed, Naz felt like it was perfectly acceptable dinner attire. “You should have seen what I was wearing before you got here. I promise I was a mess." Seeing how clean and neat he looked made her grateful she remembered to actually look presentable once he arrived. Taking the ezme from his hands, she lead him towards the kitchen where everything was still laid out and placed his dish in the centre, where she'd saved a place for it.

For a moment she chewed on her bottom lip, knowing she had cooked far too much. "I don't think the run will do that but we'll save that theory for the morning when you have to get a wheelbarrow to push me around," she joked, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. "But don't feel pressured to eat too much, I'm not like my aunties, I promise. I have tuppleware and you can take some home with you." From the amount she made, Abe might have been able to eat for the next three days.

"Oh, thanks! I'm still settling in... I've been here a year and I still feel like I'm settling in," she admitted sheepishly. Before coming to the town, she had moved around a lot out of restlessness but she had started to settle in Greywood. The kitchen was her favourite place to be so it had the most things, from herbs growing on the window sill to little knick knacks about the fridge and pictures of her family and friends stuck on the front with magnets. "Can I get you a drink?" she asked, eyeing the whiskey in his hands.

"Not to worry, I can eat for three," Ibrahim said in all honesty, not having eaten much but leftover takeout for lunch and a menemen for breakfast. He shook his head at her statement on her previous attire, because he doubted that he would have found her a mess while being busy in a kitchen and preparing everything in front of them. He couldn't really remember the last time he had given a compliment to a woman but if he did it often he would probably try to give Naz one now.

Making himself comfortable in one of the chairs by the table as if he were home, Abe reached out and took a spoon to immediately attack the dip, mmm-ing in approval. "We'll figure out the running in the morning. I'm going to enjoy the evening first," he gave another smile, in a rare good mood, perhaps because he prepared for the evening. "And it looks settled here. Better than what my house looks like at the moment" he assured her, shaking his head at the idea of the the renovation happening in hos own place at the moment. He nodded at her offer, opening the bottle he had brought, for a moment wondering if he should have looked online and ordered rakı if it was sold here, but accepted that he had forogtten and his drink of choice was better than nothing if he were to have a restful sleep and be up fresh in the morning. "Yes, please. Would you like some? I wasn't sure if you drink something else."

[duo-you-silly-owl]

[this-is-quite-homoerotic]

Fic: I'm holding tight cause it feels alright, my love, when I'm with you

Summary: After a long day at work, Jack and Ianto get to spend a lazy early night in.

Author’s note: I wrote this for the @torchwoodfanfests​ 2020 Bingo Fest, for the prompts ‘cold/warm’ and ‘vegetables’. The fic and my bingo card are under the cut, or if you prefer, you can read it on AO3 here!

This story was betaed by the lovely @moonlightrhosyn​, and the title is from 'When I'm With You' by Eleisha Eagle, an extremely Janto song that I recommend to anyone reading this.

Warnings: None

Word count: 1773

“Hey,” Jack was shaking his shoulder softly to wake him. Ianto groaned in protest. 

“Come on, sleeping beauty. You can go back to sleep after you’ve had something to eat. Don’t think I didn’t notice you skipping lunch.”

Ianto rolled over on the sofa where he’d fallen asleep to stretch himself awake. His spine cracked, and he relaxed back into the comfortable cushions.

“All of us missed lunch,” he protested. Jack was looking down at him with one of those warm smiles that made his eyes look soft, hands on his hips and head tilted as he took in the slightly red mark on Ianto’s cheek where the throw pillow had left an imprint. Ianto hadn’t bothered changing when they got home, he’d just taken off his jacket and his shoes and had gone straight for the sofa to nap while Jack cooked, since Jack had insisted on cooking dinner. 

Ianto had been ready to go to sleep for as long as the rift allowed, but Jack wanted to feed him before they turned in for their well-deserved rest - it had been a long 40 hours - and in order to get Ianto to agree he offered to make him some spaghetti bolognese. Damn that man for exploiting Ianto’s weaknesses. 

“Yes, we did,” Jack agreed as he reached for Ianto, who was still sprawled comfortably on the sofa, wrapped in his cosy black duvet with only his head and feet peeking out. Ianto grabbed the duvet and held it against him so Jack couldn’t pull it back. 

“But there’s no reason for us not to eat now,” Jack cajoled. He tried to pull the duvet gently away but Ianto was holding fast. 

“It’s cold,” Ianto complained, fully aware he sounded petulant. He pouted for good measure. He knew Jack’s weaknesses too, and he was not above using them to get what he wanted.

He could see the hit land when Jack’s face softened further. 

“You can bring your cocoon to the table if you want. Or I can warm you up...”

Jack’s suggestive eyebrows were exaggerated and ridiculous, and Ianto thought it probably said something about him that they ratcheted up his desire to kiss Jack by about 50% - a desire that was always already present in him to some extent these days, by the way. If Jack wasn’t so willing to receive and reciprocate Ianto’s kisses at any time and place, Ianto would bemoan the unfairness of it all. As it was, he really couldn’t complain.

And there was no reason not to indulge himself right now, Ianto thought.

He sat up, letting the duvet fall around him, reached up to grab a handful of Jack’s shirt and pulled on it to get him closer. Jack went with the movement, leaning down to let himself be kissed.

After letting him go, Ianto sighed in mock annoyance. “Fine,” he groused, pretending to be terribly put upon by having to agree to eat Jack’s delicious home-made pasta, which was also his favourite dish. “But I’m getting a sweater first. It really is freezing.”

“It’s not too cold in the kitchen,” Jack told him as Ianto grudgingly pulled the duvet all the way off and got up to go to his room. 

“Might as well change anyway,” Ianto mused, looking down at his rumpled shirt. It was already a mess from the weevil chase the previous night, not to mention their encounter and subsequent fight with the pair of blowfish that morning.

“Alright. I’ll set the table in the meantime. Don’t take too long, the food will get cold.”

Ianto nodded, and went to change.

***

Three and a half minutes later, Ianto walked into the kitchen wearing polar fleece pyjama bottoms, fuzzy slippers, and an old Star Wars t-shirt. He was carrying one of his favourite sweaters in one hand in case Jack had been wrong and the kitchen was cold, but Jack was happy to see he left it on the back of a chair as he sat down. The steam from the pots had warmed up the kitchen when he cooked, making the small room comfortably warm despite the winter chill outside.

“Hmm, that smells amazing,” Ianto commented, making Jack beam. He didn’t have time to cook very often, what with Torchwood being Torchwood, and he didn’t care to put in the work when it was just him anyway. It had been a while since he’d had someone to cook for, and he relished the opportunity.

Plus, Ianto had zero cooking skills or interest in acquiring any, and would happily live off takeaway if Jack let him.

He served them both a generous portion, aware they’d both been too busy to get more than a rushed breakfast and several servings of coffee for the past twelve hours. It wouldn’t matter for Jack, given his regenerative abilities, but he didn’t want Ianto’s immune system to suffer more than was absolutely necessary due to the demands of their job.

Jack saw Ianto made a face as he sat down, and he had to swallow a laugh, knowing exactly what was going to come out of Ianto’s mouth next.

“You put vegetables in my spaghetti bolognese,” Ianto deadpanned. “What is that?” he questioned, picking at the dish with his fork. “Broccoli? Jack, you heathen.”

Jack noticed it didn’t stop him from seasoning his plate or adding several spoonfuls of grated cheese to it.

“You need vegetables for a balanced diet,” Jack said with a grin. It was a topic they’d discussed many times. When it wasn’t Jack bringing it up by telling Ianto he needed them to stay healthy, it was Ianto complaining when Jack cooked for him and used ‘too many vegetables’. At this point it was more an inside joke than an actual complaint, though; Ianto had learned that Jack had the magical ability to make the dreaded vegetables taste good by seasoning them, so he didn’t actually mind. 

“It’s an affront to the dish,” Ianto countered, not meaning it whatsoever.

“Absolutely not, if anything, it elevates it. Besides, I roasted it in butter and garlic with the onions, you’ll like it. Trust me.”

Ianto took a big first bite with no hesitation, belying his complaints. 

He moaned shamelessly, utterly distracting Jack from his own plate for a moment.

“Alright, you were right. This is incredible.”

That made Jack grin again. 

They were too hungry and run-down from running from one crisis to another for the past two days, so they mostly ate in silence after that. 

Jack pondered getting a second serving despite being full, but decided against it. Ianto was drooping in his chair, looking like he might fall asleep over his empty plate, and truth be told Jack was feeling the exhaustion himself, despite his enhanced stamina. 

He sent Ianto to do his night routine and put the leftovers away, taking the time to wash the dishes so they wouldn’t be left in the sink if they got a work emergency and had to leave in a hurry. Who knew how long they might be away if that happened; they often stayed at the Hub when things were busy or if they were on call for the night. Thankfully, Tosh had agreed to be on call that night, diverting the rift alert to her phone in case anything showed up, so they wouldn’t have to be available until the next morning. 

An early night in where he could cook for Ianto and then go to sleep with him in the flat they unofficially shared had sounded divine to him. And it was. It was exactly what they needed to recharge.

Jack walked to the bathroom to find Ianto brushing his teeth with his eyes half-closed. He might fall asleep standing up if he didn’t go to bed soon. His hair was standing up where he’d ran his hand through it and his eyelids were losing the fight with his exhaustion and he looked sleep-soft and rumpled and all Jack wanted to do was walk him to bed and tuck him in, then slip in beside him and hold him through the night.

Jack took his own toothbrush from the glass and brushed his teeth next to him, his arm grazing against Ianto’s as they stood side by side, and Jack couldn’t help the rush of warmth and contentment at the wonderful domesticity of the moment. It had been years since he’d had a moment like this before Ianto. Glancing at the sleepy man on the counter mirror, he realised that possibly, he’d never had a moment like this before Ianto. 

Ianto knew everything about him. Not in the sense of knowing all the details; Jack had lived a long and eventful life, after all, and telling him everything would take more time than they had with their usually full schedule. But he knew all the key elements of what made Jack himself, all the painful secrets he had been forcibly, painfully made aware that he couldn’t trust people with, because they were the kind of thing that would alienate others, making them turn their backs on him, or because then they might be used against him.

(He’d been betrayed so many times.)

(You’d think he’d grow a thicker skin, that the sting of it would dull with time and experience. Not so.)

His thoughts were interrupted by Ianto finishing up and placing a kiss on his shoulder. 

“Come to bed soon,” he slurred sleepily, and just like that all of Jack’s other thoughts were banished, leaving only room for affection for this man.

“I will,” Jack answered after rinsing, and Ianto rewarded his words with a small warm smile before shuffling to the bedroom.

Jack realised he was smiling when he caught sight of his own reflection.

Ianto was already asleep when Jack joined him only a few minutes later. 

He slipped under the covers on what had become his side of the bed, scooting close to feel the warmth Ianto was radiating, and to his surprise Ianto stirred, the two of them rearranging themselves in effortless concert so that Ianto’s chest was pressed flush against Jack’s back, one arm thrown over his side to hold him close against his chest.

Jack felt Ianto’s breath on the back of his neck as he mumbled, “G’night”. Ianto’s feet brushed against his under the covers before stilling again.

“Good night,” Jack said softly, feeling cared for and safe and helplessly in love.

Warm and content as he was in Ianto’s arms, in one of the two beds they’d been sharing for the past several months, it didn’t take long for Jack to doze off.

[buckybabybaby]

Everything Backwards  (Chapter 7/12)

Summary: When you make-out with a ‘James’ on a night out, you don’t expect to see him again, so imagine your surprise the next day when it turns out he’ll be your new sort-off-flat-mate. As Nanny for Peggy & Steve’s three children, you’ve lucked out, but now the guy across the corridor is threatening to ruin it. This is the story of how it all works out.

Chapter 7 summary: your standard Bucky having a nightmare scenario, I’m sorry Bucky :( This is set a couple of weeks after the last part, so Y/N and Bucky are now bff’s and all the bad blood is gone.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader (gender neutral) Slow Burn.

Word count: 2809

Warnings: One swear word, nightmares, the slightest mention of sex.

A/n: This is a little later than the other parts, sorry! 

Previous: Chapter 6

Everything Backwards Masterlist | Masterlist

It’s a lot easier to live with a guy when it stops feeling like he hates your existence, and you’re enjoying your job even more now the horrible tension whenever the both of you are home has gone. 

Because you two now get on, you actually have someone to chat to when the children are busy, and over the last month the two of you have talked a lot. The charming man you had believed him to be during those dizzy twenty minutes that night had reappeared, but he’s so much more than that; funny, intelligent, a surprisingly good cook, and endlessly caring.

Basically, you’ve gained a new best friend.

Which is why, when you’re woken up very early on the second Sunday in September by a noise from Bucky’s room, your first thought is for his safety and not your own. There’s another crash from the other side of the hall and you slip out of bed. Approaching the door cautiously, you try to remember the self defence course you went on years ago, because a break-in is looking very likely right now. This is, after all, a very nice house. 

The next noise has you flying across the hallway and into the other bedroom, as that sounded a lot like Bucky, or, more specifically, Bucky in pain. Bursting in might not have been the most sensible idea so when you find the room empty apart from him, you relax minutely, but only until you flip on the light. His face is screwed up and you watch as he grabs the pillows as he thrashes around, murmuring incoherently to himself. 

The way he looks breaks your heart. As the children are past the age when they would wake in the night and Steve and Peggy said they’d cope anyway, you haven’t had to deal with nightmares for ages and you’re trying to decide what action would be best when Bucky speaks clearer.

“Don’t make me! They’re innocent in this, I…” He starts mumbling again but you’ve heard enough. 

He’s obviously going through hell and you have to wake him up. The problem is how. Making your way to his bed, you hover over him uncertainly before grabbing him by the shoulder and gently shaking. He doesn’t wake immediately so you try again, calling his name as he flinches away. 

When you practically shout in his ear as a last resort he finally opens his eyes.

“Hey, Bucky.” You take a step back to give him space as he becomes aware of his surroundings. His hair is damp with sweat, his breathing is rapid and when he sits up against his headboard he finally notices you.

“What’s going on..?” He’s pulling the duvet back over him as he squints at you, confused.

“You, er, it looked like…” His expression changes as he remembers.

“Oh fuck.” He sounds angry. “I thought I was over that stage.”

“It’s okay,” You try but stop when, to your horror, he starts crying. Properly crying. You don’t want to leave him like this but you’re not sure how to help.

“Do you want me to go?” He doesn’t respond. You slowly inch your way towards the exit, to let him have some privacy, but he stops you just as you’re opening the door by calling your name.

“Yeah?”

His eyes are bloodshot and his face is wet with tears. “Can you, just, um,” he considers his words before shaking his head. “Actually no, it’s fine.”

“What do you want, Bucky? It’s okay to ask. Can I get you something? Water? Hot milk?” You’d bring him the moon to stop him looking so small.

“I don’t want anything. I just need…” He looks like he’s fighting an internal battle so you move to sit next to him.

“Just ask, alright? I want to help.”

He takes a deep breath. “Can you stay? With me, I mean.”

You’re frozen as you take in his request.

“You want me to stay? Here, in your bed?”

“I don’t want to be alone.” You can’t say no when he sounds so vulnerable.

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course, let me just get another blanket.” 

You move quickly back to your room, pulling the top cover off your pile of comforters while thinking over what you’ve agreed to. You’re just going to share a bed with Bucky, no big deal. Just sleeping next to him, absolutely no reason to freak out. You remind yourself that this is for his benefit, purely to comfort him, and that thought allows you to re-enter his bedroom looking calm. 

You’re less calm when you see he’s pulling a new top over his head, and you avert your eyes so you don’t stare at the trail of hair leading into his boxers.

“My other t-shirt was damp,” he explains. 

You just nod. It’s then you realise you’re not sure how you’re going to do this, physically, as his bed is against the wall so one of you will have to get in first. It’s a relief when he does, sliding across to the other edge and holding the duvet up for you. Spreading the blanket you’d fetched across the top of the covers on the side you’ll be on, you lie down next to him and try to relax. 

Bucky searches for your hand under the sheets and brings it to his chest.

“Thank you.”

You turn towards him and try not to jerk back when you see how close he is.

“You’re welcome.”

“Not just for staying, for waking me up too.”

“It didn’t look like you were having fun.”

“I wasn’t.”

The whispered conversation draws to an end when he settles into his pillow and closes his eyes, and you watch, probably creepily, as his breathing evens out. He’s still holding your hand and you don’t try to retrieve it. It’s comforting, even though it’s only a small amount of contact, and you fall back asleep beside him with a small smile on your face.

When you wake up later that morning you’re momentarily disorientated. The bed you’re lying on is too firm to be your own and you’re trying to work out what the hell is going on when Bucky walks in and you remember everything.

“Morning.” He looks good, bright eyes and neat hair holding no signs of the disturbed night. “I made you, or tried to at least, some toast and things.”

“And things?”

“It doesn’t look as pretty as I hoped. Those pictures online lied to me.” You giggle. He waits for you to sit up before handing you a tray, all your favourite breakfast items laden on it next to three different drink choices.

“Gosh, thank you.” The amount of food in front of you is ridiculous. “I can’t possibly eat all this.”

“I wanted to give you options. And to thank you, again”

“Any time.”

He winces at your reply. “Don’t say that. It wont happen again, I promise.”

“I really didn’t mind.”

“I woke you up.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is-”

“No. It’s not.” You try not to sound like you’re scolding him. “It’s not your fault at all, don’t think that.” He looks like he’s going to argue so you change the subject slightly. “How do you feel?”

“Fine, thanks to you.”

“Yeah? Glad I could help.”

“You really did.” He steals a strawberry from one of the many bowls in your lap and as he chews on it he watches you, considering. “You know, I’ve never been able to sleep after a nightmare like that. Every other time I just lay awake ‘til it was time to get up so thank you. Really.”

The thought of him lying alone with his thoughts has you blinking away tears and you concentrate hard on your yoghurt to prevent him from seeing. He doesn’t notice, walking over to the other side of his room to grab his jacket before searching for his keys and wallet.

“Are you going out?” He never goes to the gym on a Sunday so it’s a surprise that it looks like he’s leaving.

“Yes. Sam invited me for lunch with some of the others from the VA.”

“Oh! That’s good! Hope you have-wait, lunch? What time is it?” You have to go out today and you just realised you may be late.

He laughs at your change of tone. “Just gone ten, don’t worry.”

“Oh, okay, so it’s more of a brunch then?”

“No, we’re meeting at one, I just,” he rubs that back of his neck awkwardly, “I don’t want to get the train and it’s quite far so…”

Your heart breaks for him again. “I’ll take you, no need to walk for hours.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.” Before he can object you ask him where he’s going and start to plan a route. It’s only a little distance from where you’re meeting your friends so it makes no difference to you.

“Alright, so I think if we leave around midday it’ll be fine.”

“You really don’t-”

“Bucky, please, it’s no bother at all.” Your words seem to shut him up, and you’re glad when he peels his coat back off. 

He tells you you’re welcome to stay in his room while you eat your breakfast, and after he wanders off to see if any of the children need entertaining, you spend twenty lovely minutes enjoying the food he’d prepared. It also gives you time to properly look around his room. The blank walls and lack of anything personal makes you frown. You bet there’s a story behind the teddy bear but you don’t know if your allowed to ask, or not yet at least. 

In the mean time, maybe a trip to IKEA would help? Would he let you take him? Or even want to go at all? If you went in the middle of a school day it wouldn’t be too busy but you’re not going to pressure him into anything too soon. 

When you’ve eaten all you can you put the leftovers away in the fridge and wave at the children through the window, watching as Joe is pushed on the swing by Bucky. Then it hits you again. You shared a bed with him last night. You grip the counter as you play over that part, remembering how he’d cried in front of you and held your hand as he fell asleep. 

This feels like a step towards something completely different and you wonder just how much of what happened you should tell the girls when you meet up later today.

You make it very clear before you started explaining that when you say ‘sleep’, that is exactly what you mean; just sleeping, nothing more. But when have the facts ever stopped your friends.

“You dark horse! Didn’t take you long to get into his pants!” Natasha looks like she’s going to explode.

“I didn’t have sex with him!” You hiss back at her.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m freaking sure, what the hell?” You’re starting to regret saying anything.

“Well, why not? The guy is hotter than the sun and right there, so what stopped you?”

“Do you really think that having sex with my sort of flatmate and best-buddy of my employer would be a good idea?”

“Yes!” Even Wanda, who’s normally quite sensible and on your side, is laughing, and you can’t tell if it’s at you or not.

“This isn’t funny!” You go to rise from your seat but are pulled back down by the girls. It’s then you realise you’re about to cry and you’re not sure about what or why, the table cloth blurring in front of you as you search in your bag for a tissue.

“Oh, Y/N, I’m sorry.” Wanda moves to your side of the booth and hands you a napkin, looking unsure if she should touch you, and you blow your nose to avoid talking.

“We really didn’t mean to upset you.” You don’t miss her kicking Natasha under the table until she agrees.

You sniff. “It’s okay. I mean, obviously, I do think he’s-” 

Attractive? Clearly. Sometimes really sweet? Painfully so. The person you could see yourself falling for? Yes, but you better not say that. 

You settle for saying, “-nice. It’s just I’ve never been in a situation like this before, I’ve never had to be around someone like him where there seems to be the potential for something more. I’m not used to guys paying attention to me, and suddenly I’m holding his hand and sleeping in his bed, so when I ask my friends for advice I’d appreciate it if they didn’t make a joke of it all.” 

When you finish you stare them down and are happy to see they look guilty.

Wanda breaks the silence. “Guys pay attention to you all the time, you must see that Y/N.”

“Not ones like Bucky.”

“Of course they do, I mean he was all over you that night, almost inappropriately really-” Wanda kicks Natasha again to silence her.

“I think what she meant to say is-”

You interrupt. “The first thing he said to me was that I’m not his type.”

“-is you need to realise that you are gorgeous.” Wanda keeps going. “I don’t know why he said that, the way he looked at you in the club was almost comically passionate. He had plenty of other people throwing themselves at him but he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

You wish you could remember, the first part of that night is all a bit hazy.

“What does that matter though?”

“I think it shows that you are exactly his type and he was prepared to wait for you to notice him.”

“He’s so far out of my league though? It must have been the drink making him-”

“Are we going to need another lesson in self-confidence Y/N? I’m not enjoying you being so negative.” 

You shake your head and Natasha continues. 

“Three things. One, you are ridiculously hot, naturally glamorous in an effortless way with a killer body, and don’t you forget it. Two, you have the personality to match! You’re beautiful and you are kind, funny, loyal, intelligent. Everything someone should be and more. And three. If Bucky can’t see that and doesn’t make some kind of move in the next month then I’ll eat my newest knickers.”

That was quite a speech and you’re laughing through tears as you reach for both of your friends hands. You don’t have a response to most of what she said but you did find it comforting, it may seem like she’s mocking you most of the time but she means well. They both do. You narrow your eyes at her when you realise something.

“You told us earlier you’d bought some strawberry lace underwear, so…”

“I’m hoping someone will eat them then eat me.”

“Alright, time to leave!” 

You usher them both out of the café before she can go into explicit detail. In the fresh air you turn to Wanda and Natasha, both of them grinning at you and you roll your eyes before muttering a ‘come here’ and allowing them to hug you. They really are the best friends you’ve ever had.

“I like our Sunday meet ups. The two of you helping me with tinder and Y/N’s stories of Bucky make them very entertaining so, same time next week?” Wanda looks at you wide eyed and you can hardly say no.

“Ooh there’s a thought, tinder. If you did join, then…” You’d managed to refuse before and don’t want to hear any more reasons why you should, but Natasha’s determined, “You could make Bucky jealous!”

“No way.”

“It would speed up-”

“No. Way. Okay? I don’t want to make him jealous, I just want to be his friend.”

“Don’t lie, you want to be way more that friends and you totally could if you just-”

“It’s not a simple as that.” You really don’t want to get into this just before you leave so your very grateful when Wanda interrupts.

“Look, our bus! Come on, otherwise we’ll miss it.”

You laugh as Wanda pulls her along the sidewalk, Natasha shouting at you all the way.

“Don’t think this is over Y/N!” She waves her phone at you. “We’ll talk later. Operation 'Get Y/N Back In Bucky’s Bed’ needs planning!”

You gasp loudly when she says that, glancing around to make sure nobody you know is around.

“Shut up, Natasha!” You shout back as they step on the bus, smiling so they know you’re joking, and waving when it drives away. 

Alone on the pavement you pull out your own phone to see you have seven missed calls, all from Bucky, and you nearly drop it to the ground in your hurry to ring him back.

Chapter 8

Tagging: @tieddown-withbattleshipchains @i-had-a-life-once

@superwholockian5ever @attorneyl @scamandaaaamn

@bohemianrhapsodaisychains @the-renaissance @davros2004 @sergeant-james-bbarnes @sebastianst-n @marvel-trash07 @summerbummer2001

If I’ve forgotten you, or you want to be tagged/untagged, please just ask! Tumblr tagging sucks, so if anyone wants me to send it as a private message, I’d be more than happy to do that!

[upthenorthmountain]

Something Just Like This - Chapter 6

Previous Chapters

Author note: Sorry

Chapter Six

Anna opened her eyes. She was lying on her side, and someone was watching her. He smiled when he saw that she was awake.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

“Morning.” She was smiling back; she couldn’t help it. Kristoff stroked her hair back from her face, then put his arm round her and pulled her towards him. Anna snuggled up against his chest.

“Were you watching me sleep? Weirdo.”

“You looked so pretty.”

“I was probably drooling.”

“Hey, now. None of us can help what we find attractive.”

Anna snorted. “What’s the time?”

Kristoff peered over her to see the clock. “Just gone eight. Do you have anywhere to be?”

“No, just curious.”

He kissed her on the top of the head. “Tea?”

“Mm. In a minute. ‘M ver’ cosy.”

“OK.” He stroked her hair. She fell back asleep.

-----

When Anna woke up again she was alone in the bed, but Kristoff was just walking out of the room, stretching as he did so. His moving must have been what had woken her. She turned and looked at the clock; it was closer to nine now. Probably time to be getting up.

She could hear Kristoff in the kitchen. He filled the kettle and put it on, then leant on the worktop, lost in thought. Anna watched him from the doorway. His pyjamas were grey, long trousers and short sleeves, and the fabric was soft and pilled from wear. His feet were bare, and for some reason that made a little ache in Anna’s heart. He looked at home.

Yesterday! She’d been supposed to marry a completely different man, yesterday! And now….she wanted Kristoff to be at home here. She wanted to walk into the kitchen and find him making tea in his pyjamas, and to have him smile at her when she woke up. She didn’t want him to go.

You always rush into everything. This was supposed to just be a little easy, comfortable thing, a cosy space to rest until they both felt ready for a real relationship again. But it was rapidly becoming much more than that. She couldn’t imagine that mythical future man, her husband, the father of her children; she didn’t want him. She wanted Kristoff. She wanted this.

The kettle clicked off and Kristoff started looking for mugs. He saw Anna in the doorway and smiled. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay. I am prepared to concede,” she said, walking over to him, “That it is morning.”

She let him fold her back into his arms. Don’t let me go, she thought. I think that maybe, possibly, I love you. I’m sorry.

-----

It was a couple of weeks later. She’d seen him all day at work (or at least a few times, and they’d eaten lunch together as they often did, and walked home together), but Anna still found herself missing Kristoff that Friday evening. Maybe it was because they hadn’t made any plans for the weekend, so she didn’t know if she’d see him before Monday. Or maybe she was just bored. Either way, at half-six she found herself putting on her shoes and walking down the road to find him.

She didn’t think about whether she should have called first until she rang the doorbell. Too late now. After a moment she saw Kristoff through the frosted glass panel, and she heard him say “This’ll be them now,” to someone behind him as he opened it.

“Oh!” he said when he saw her, and smiled. “Hi, Anna.”

“Hi, I was just….oh, you have guests, I'll go.”

“No, it's fine. Come in.”

He ushered her in and closed the door behind her before she could protest. “What's up?”

“Nothing, really, I just wondered if you were busy, but you are, so -”

“Join us,” a man’s voice called from the living room. “The more the merrier.”

“I just have some people over for dinner,” Kristoff said. “Stay.” He waved her into the living room. “These are my friends Sven and Jessica, and this is Ben -” he gestured at a little boy sitting on the floor playing with some toy cars - “and that's Daisy -” he pointed at the baby Jessica was holding. “And my parents will be here in a minute. This is my friend Anna from work,” he said to the room. “Let me just check on the food.”

“Lovely to meet you,” Jessica said. “At last,” Sven said cheerfully.

Anna stood awkwardly, wondering what Kristoff had been saying about her. He'd introduced her as his friend. Should she just be his friend? Was that what he wanted?

“Sven,” Jessica said, “Did you bring in the other bag, is it in the car?”

“No. Yes. It's in the car.”

Jessica sighed and handed him the baby. “Hold this. Back in a sec.”

She left, and as the door shut behind her Ben shouted “MUMMY DADDY MY CAR.”

Anna and Sven looked down, and saw the little boy lying full length on the floor, peering under the sofa.

“Blast,” Sven said. “Here, hold this,” and he handed Anna the baby and lay down on the floor beside his son.

Anna juggled the baby onto her shoulder.

“Kristoff,” Sven called, “Do you have anything long? Like a metre rule?”

“Like a what?” Kristoff came back through, taking off oven gloves.

“It's all the way at the back.”

“Then pull the sofa forwards, hang on, move up -”

The doorbell rang. “That'll be my mum,” Kristoff said. “Hang on.”

“Aha!” Sven said triumphantly. “There you go, son.” He held up the car. “Now where did I put your sister? If I lose her Mummy will be cross.”

“Um, here,” Anna said. “Here, take her before I drop her -”

“Is that something you're planning to do?” Sven said, taking back the baby.

Anna hung back as Kristoff’s friend greeted his parents. Jessica had returned also, holding a huge changing bag, and they clearly all knew each other well and were happy to see each other. Anna wondered if she should make her excuses and leave, but when she edged towards the door Kristoff came through it from the kitchen and handed her a glass of wine.

“Food in ten,” he said, trying to pass another glass to his mother, but she waved him away in favour of holding the baby.

Anna followed Kristoff back through to the kitchen. “Are you sure you don't want me to go? I could have an important Thing that I need to go and do.”

“Do you? Have a thing.”

“No.”

“Well, then.”

“I'm intruding -”

“You come here when you don't want to be alone,” Kristoff said. “There's plenty of people in this house and I was worried I'd done too many potatoes as it is. Stay.”

Anna hesitated, twirling her glass. “What's for dinner?”

“Roast chicken.”

Sven came into the kitchen and started wordlessly rifling through the top drawer.

“What’re you doing?” Kristoff said after a minute.

“Setting another place at the table,” Sven said. “Since you can’t count. We’re one short.”

“He didn’t know I was coming,” Anna said.

“A likely story,” Sven said. “Never mind, I’ve got you,” and he went through to the dining room, holding a handful of cutlery.

-----

Anna had seen Kristoff eating leftovers for lunch at work, so she knew he liked to cook. He’d even offered to make her dinner a couple of times, though they’d never got round to it. But since he’d finished work he’d managed to make roast chicken, roast potatoes, vegetables, yorkshire puddings and gravy for six-and-a-half people, and it was delicious. She’d underestimated his abilities by some margin.

And god, his friends were nice, and their children delightful; his parents were lovely and friendly and welcoming, and no one seemed to mind that she’d gatecrashed a dinner party. Anna could tell that Kristoff’s parents, his mother in particular, were trying to size her up and work out whether she was Kristoff’s girlfriend. She wondered if she should tell them that she wasn’t really sure herself.

-----

Sven and Jessica left straight after dinner to put the children to bed. Kristoff’s parents stayed a little longer for a final cup of tea, then they said goodnight as well and Kristoff went to the door to see them out.

When he came back into the kitchen Anna was sitting at the breakfast bar, refilling her wine glass. She took a deep drink from it and said “We should have a baby.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No, look, look. It makes sense. You want to be a father, right? At some point. It’s something you want from your life. Right?”

“Well, yes.”

“OK. And I want to have a baby. And we’re both employed and have safe places to live and everything. So we should just do it. We wouldn’t have to live together or anything, we could share it. One week on, one week off. Ooooorr we could have TWO babies. One each.”

“Come on,” Kristoff said, taking the wine glass from her and putting it in the sink. “I'll walk you home.”

“Your mum liked me. She'd be happy.”

“She probably would, at that.”

“Then let's -”

“No.”

“Everyone makes jokes about biological clocks,” Anna said as they walked down the front steps, “But it’s true. I turned thirty and my ovaries just starting shouting at me.”

“You’ve plenty of time yet.”

Anna looked him up and down. “Do you think you’ll get married again? One day?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t turn out to be very good at it.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“With someone else it would be different.”

“Different, sure.”

He set his jaw. Anna walked alongside him in a silence for a minute.

“How about you?” Kristoff said suddenly. “Do you still want to get married?”

“Of course, some day. But. I don’t know if I want to plan a wedding again? Or not the same wedding, obviously, but then…” She paused. “Like my dress. It was so pretty, and if I went looking for another dress to marry someone else, would I deliberately look for something different? But then that was my favourite! I don’t want a second-best dress to marry the actually-decent man. But I’d be stuck between choosing the dress I was going to marry Matt in, or a dress I don’t like as much. Which would be rubbish.”

“Get married on a beach, then,” Kristoff said. “Wear a white bikini and sunglasses. Sparkly flip-flops.”

Anna laughed. “I guess that’s an option. And the groom in board shorts. No. A speedo.”

He smiled. “It sounds like a classy event, I hope I’m invited.”

Anna couldn’t think what to say, so she said nothing. Kristoff didn’t seem to notice.

They’d reached her building; Anna stopped at the door and Kristoff stopped with her, his hands in his pockets.

“Do I get a goodnight kiss?” she said.

“Of course.” He cupped the side of her face and kissed her; nicely, but quickly.

“Not like that,” she said. “Properly.” He smiled, and she reached up to wrap her arms round his shoulders. “Like this,” she said, and kissed him. She felt him smile briefly against her lips, then he slid one arm round her waist and the other round to cup the back of her head with his hand, holding her in place while he deepened the kiss.

“Like that?” he said, when he finally pulled back.

“I -” Anna said, and stopped herself in time. “Yes. Like that.”

Kristoff smiled. “Goodnight, then.” He didn’t release her, still holding her in his arms.

“Goodnight.” Anna didn’t move, either. Instead she kissed him again, and another time, not wanting him to leave but not wanting to risk inviting rejection by asking him to come upstairs.

A car drove along the road and they jumped, separating only slightly.

“I feel like a teenager,” Anna said. She meant, because they were standing kissing on a street corner, but when Kristoff said softly “Me too,” she felt her stomach swoop.

“We could elope,” she said, not thinking about the words until they were out. “We could just go, not worry about dresses or flower arrangements or, or any of that. Just go, and do it, and…”

Kristoff’s eyes were searching her face. He said nothing, just gently stroked his hand over her hair. Anna waited for him to tell her that she was being silly, that she should go home,for him to ask her what the hell she was talking about.

She waited. And then he said, quietly, “I don’t know what to do.”

“About what?”

He let his hands drop, then, and took half a step backwards.

“I - this is all new to me,” he said. “I feel like - we only just met, it’s only been a couple of months, and yet - I know you. I know - that I love you. I want to spend my life with you. And I never - this is so fast and so sudden but it feels right. It doesn’t feel like me, at all.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I feel like I'm going mad.”

“In a - good way?” Anna said in a small voice.

“I don't know. I -” He looked up at the sky, then back at her. “I don’t know what to do. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. It’s too soon.”

“Kris -”

“You don’t want to marry me, Anna,” he said. “I couldn’t do it. I tried, but I wasn’t good enough. You deserve better.”

“Don’t you dare -” He was backing away now, and she followed him. “Don’t you dare go! Kristoff.” But he was walking away, and what could she do?

“I love you,” she said, and she thought he paused for a split-second, but he didn’t turn back.

[chairfreon5-blog]

20 Vegetarian Dinner Recipes That Everyone Will LOVE!

20 Vegetarian Dinner Recipes That Everyone Will LOVE!

An all-star collection of vegetarian dinner recipes that are easy to make, totally reliable, and mega-delicious!  

Looking for some fresh, feel-good, easy dinner ideas lately?  And to be more specific, maybe some easy vegetarian dinner ideas?!  That your loved ones will actually, truly, look-forward-to, go-back-for-seconds, not-even-miss-the-meat, request-again-and-again love?!?

I’ve totally gotcha covered today. ♡

Meet…this crazy-delicious collection of the most popular vegetarian recipes here on Gimme Some Oven.  It’s full of go-to easy dinner recipes that are perfect for busy weeknights now that kids are heading back to school.  Or, if you’re working on your meal planning game, perfect for prepping ahead of time for busy weeks ahead.  (Plus many are freezer-friendly too!)

From some of my favorite vegetarian soup recipes, to simple pastas and noodles galore, to meatless enchiladas and tacos, to my favorite breakfast-for-dinner migas, to the most comforting vegetarian pot roast I know…this list of easy vegetarian recipes is full of winner winner dinner ideas that are perfect if you’re trying to eat less meat, or are already enjoying a plant-based diet on the regular.  And true to Gimme Some Oven style, these dinner recipes all totally easy, totally reliable, and totally do-able.  And of course, totally delicious.

Let’s get to cookin’!

Lemony Lentil Soup

“Great twist on a basic lentil soup. Perfect seasoning, rich and delicious flavor. Being quick and easy to make is just a bonus! Thanks for a terrific recipe.” ~Betsy

Roasted Cauliflower Enchiladas

“Omg, these were AMAZING! We used lentils instead of black beans and there were zero leftovers. Our family devoured them. ;)” ~Emily

Cold Sesame Peanut Noodles

“I read your post last night and made the recipe this morning! Followed the basic recipe, used a food processor to shred up the veggies and had crunchy peanut butter on hand for in the sauce, which is so delicious. Sriracha and fresh lime on the side. Next time I’d like to get creative with your ways to change up the recipe. This is so good I will likely eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner until it is gone! Thank you!” ~Lora

The BEST Black Bean Chili

“I try a lot of blog recipes and am usually not impressed. This one was an absolute winner! Used the crockpot instructions. I did soak my beans overnight before putting into the crockpot. For Trader Joe’s shoppers, I found the Salsa Verde, Roasted Red Peppers, and Fire Roasted tomatoes there. It was my secret vegan dinner for the week. How long do I have to wait until I can make it again?” ~Misty

Creamy Rosé Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

“I made this recipe and it was super easy and FANTASTIC. Every one of the picky roommates could eat it! So good.” ~Vi

Mushroom Stroganoff

“This is everything I didn’t know I needed in my life! Beef stroganoff was one of my favourite meals from my mom growing up but finding a good vegetarian alternative has been difficult. This version was easy to make, packs full of flavour, and the perfect comfort meal. Thank you!” ~Jackie

Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpea and Arugula Salad

“OK made this, loved it soooo much!!! That roasted cauliflower and roasted chick peas were the best thing ever!! I made it for my husband and myself for dinner last night, had a sandwich baggie of the cauliflower and chickpeas and pine nuts left over, and just now stood at the sink and ate those for lunch. Seriously, the best! Shared the recipe with two of my friends this morning and told them they have to make it. Make it, I tell you make it, you will love it!!” ~Jayne

Quinoa Tortilla Soup

“So much easier than I was expecting! Since discovering, I’ve made this recipe several times, including for a few potlucks and it always gets rave reviews! So delicious! Thanks for sharing.” ~Nettie

Curried Satay Veggie Bowls

“I made this last night and was very impressed! I assumed it would be good, but I was not prepared for just how delicious it would be. It will definitely become a regular meal in our home. Thank you!” ~Kara

Chai Butternut Squash Soup

“Wow! A soup so good my four year old son is devouring it! I could have eaten the whole pot tonight. A new family favorite!” ~Valerie

Cacio e Pepe

“I’ve made other cacio e pepe recipes before, but this one was the absolute best. Such a simple meal, but SO flavorful. Thanks for posting this after your IG story, Ali!” ~Leah

Roasted Cauliflower and Black Bean Tacos

“That was excellent, just made it tonight, it was wonderful. Bonus: I made more of that delicious sauce, so can put it with chickpeas later this week, and have more refried beans so halfway to more tacos or burrito bowls. Thanks!” ~Maria

Portobello Pot Roast

“As soon as this hit my email I started craving it. Had it for dinner tonight and it was sooo good! My husband had 3 bowls. Can’t wait for my lunch leftovers tomorrow.” ~Alaina

The BEST Fried Rice

“I feel like I cannot overstate how much I love this recipe. I have made it five times now and even with creative variations it still turnes out amazing! I probably annoy my firends with with how often I’m preaching the virtues of the amazing fried rice I found on Pinterest.” ~Christopher

Cajun Corn Chowder

“Made this last night to enjoy for lunch today. SO GOOD. Made it exactly as written and added some Crystal hot sauce as a “garnish” to take the heat up a notch. I can’t believe it’s vegan! Thanks a million for the great recipe. Love this site.” ~Maura

The Best (and Easiest!) Migas Recipe

“I LOVE Migas! Yes, they are perfect for leftover tortillas or chips. I usually wind up making them very much like this when I have leftover fried corn tortillas from chilaquiles. SO good for the next day. This is great!” ~Mike

Herb-Lovers Lemony Orzo Salad

“I made this tonight, and it was so fresh and amazing. There’s lots of room for improvising and adding veggies and herbs you love.” ~Caroline

Pasta with Caramelized Sweet Potatoes and Kale

“We made this last night and it was 🌟🌟🌟. Thanks for another great recipe!” ~Kelsey

Easy Thai Curry Hot Pot

“This looks amazing! Also, way less complicated than I thought hot pot recipes would be. Can’t wait to try it with my girlfriends!” ~Michelle

Authentic Gazpacho

“Made this on Sunday and it was amazing! We were actually in Portugal recently and I had gazpacho for the first time and immediately wanted to remake it back home, then literally the next day you posted the recipe! I love that you use all tomatoes, no broth or water like other recipes I saw. It was so delicious and refreshing!” ~Stephanie

For more easy dinner ideas…

…feel free to check out our full collection of Vegetarian Recipes here on Gimme Some Oven.  Or as always, feel free to browse our entire collection of Recipes to bookmark some new faves as well.  Happy cooking, everyone!

posted on August 16, 2018 in Entrees / Main Dishes, Vegetarian

7 Comments »

Share this Post

You May Also Like...

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Bowls

Za’atar Chicken and Veggie Kabobs

Authentic Greek Salad

« Previous Post

Next Post »

Source: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/vegetarian-dinner-recipes/

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

A Weekend in Alpbachtal: The Prettiest Valley You Ever Did See!

As a first-time visitor to Austria, I don’t think I could have chosen a better place to travel to than the Alpbachtal Valley in Tyrol. This proved to be the quintessential image of Austria I had dreamed up in my head complete with green valleys that gave way to snowy peaks, cute villages where every single balcony was overflowing with the brightest blooms, and the sound of cowbells ringing through the fields. How’s that for idyllic!

In total, I spent three days in the Alpbachtal Valley, staying in the town of Reith im Alpbachtal and taking a few side trips to Brandenberg, Alpbach, and Kramsach. Over the course of my stay, I got to sample Tyrolean cuisine, hike down trails once frequented by Emperor Franz Josef, tackle some peaks with gondolas and e-bikes, stay in a traditional farmhouse, and even watch a parade celebrating the cows’ end-of-summer return from the Alps. It was a wonderful mountain escape and the perfect introduction to Austria, so if any of this sounds like your idea of fun in Tyrol, read on for my itinerary.

Stay in a traditional Tyrolean farmhouse

The first thing we did after arriving in Reith im Alpbachtal was check into our guesthouse; and this wasn’t your average guesthouse, no! We stayed at Ferienhaus Weberhof, a renovated farmhouse with cows for neighbours – quite literally! Halfway through our stay, our host dropped by to say hello and when she opened the door just off the kitchen, we all poked our heads in to discover a barn with cows – we had been sharing the roof with cows and didn’t even know it!

This is where I admit that I was a little too preoccupied trying to befriend the cows that were roaming out in the “backyard” (a massive field that ran down into the valley), that I didn’t’ take any photos of my farmhouse, but it looked quite similar to these other ones I saw during my stay. The one up top was down the street from us so that’ll give you a taste of the place. It was quintessential Tyrol and I loved coming back to this place after a long day of sightseeing!

Learn how Prügeltorte is made

Our first stop that day was Kaiserhaus Gasthof, a guesthouse where we had lunch and also attended a Prügeltorte demonstration. This cake is a local specialty and what makes it unique is that it’s not even cooked in an oven.

The batter is made with eggs, butter, sugar, flour, a pinch of salt and lemon zest, which gives it its distinct flavour. Once the batter is ready, it’s then spread on a spinning cylinder which slowly cooks the cake over a fire. Layers are added one at a time and these slowly build up to about 1.5-2 centimetres in thickness. Once ready, they slide the cake off the cylinder and then fill the rings with cream and a berry sauce.

But that’s not the only reason to visit Kaiserhaus Gasthof. It turns out this was a favourite vacation spot for Emperor Franz Josef and his wife the famed Empress Sissi. They stayed at this farmhouse on their Tyrolean escapes and you can even visit the bedroom where they slept. Spoiler alert: it was surprisingly modest for an Emperor and Empress, especially having later visited the palaces in Vienna.

Go hiking along the Kaiserklamm

After all that Pruegeltorte, we needed a bit of exercise so we went hiking along the nearby gorge, Kaiserklamm, named after the very same Emperor.

There was a beautiful trail that ran along the canyon, taking you over bridges and through tunnels, while the waters of the Brandenberger Ache River flowed directly below the trail.

We were there in late September so it wasn’t peak foliage quite yet, but the leaves were starting to turn.

My only piece of advice for this one: wear sturdy hiking shoes! It can be a little slippery and wet along the way, so you’ll want something that offers good grip. Another thing to keep in mind is that the hiking trail is only open from Easter to late autumn.

Tackle the Alps by e-bike

Moving on to the next day, no trip to Tyrol would be complete without spending a bit of time in the mountains, and in order to tackle these steep slopes, we signed up for an e-bike tour.

I had never ridden an e-bike before so I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive, but it turned out to be a dream. It basically works the same way as a regular bicycle, except it has a motor that kicks in once you start to pedal, giving you that extra push when you’re on an incline.

We did a 22-kilometre loop that started in the town of Alpbach, and then had us riding through the forest and up the mountains until we reached Farmkehr Alm, a mountain-top restaurant which was a most welcomed sight after a morning of biking. Even with the e-bike helping us conquer steep slopes, we were starting to feel a little bit tired and hungry, so this place came at just the right time. I still can’t believe some people hiked all the way to this restaurant!

Of course, when in Tyrol, we had to order some local specialties! I went for the Tiroler Speckknödel, which is a boiled bread and bacon dumpling served in a light broth, and Sam went for a sausage that was the size of his forearm! Needless to say, we devoured every last bite.

But the journey wasn’t over after lunch; at that point, we had only biked to the halfway mark and we still needed to get back to town. With bellies full, I took my sweet time riding down the face of the mountain, and then once we were back in the valley, we took an alternate route back to Alpbach stopping at a few scenic lookout points along the way.

Learn the history of Tyrolean Farmhouses

That afternoon, the adventure continued over at the Museum of Tyrolean Farmhouses, which I personally found fascinating.

The place is set up like an open-air museum, where former farmhouses have been relocated and rebuilt to showcase the architectural diversity found in Tyrol.

Also, considering we were staying in a real farmhouse, I found it interesting to see how people would have lived centuries past. Today it’s easy to look at these traditional Tyrolean buildings and think “oh, that’s a cute holiday cottage”, but these structures were barns first.

The museum showcased different types of construction from around the region; some farmhouses were made entirely out of wood, others entirely out of stone, and others combined the two elements. But my favourite farmhouse in the whole museum was the wooden one from Alpbach dating back to 1675 pictured below.

Sample Tyrolean desserts with schnapps

I don’t know if desserts and schnapps are a thing, but we sure made it one!

Just across the street from the Museum of Tyrolean Farmhouses, we found a cute restaurant called Rohrerhof and we couldn’t resist an afternoon pick-me-up! We ordered cappuccinos first, that was followed by dessert, and then I mentioned I had never tried schnapps before, and before I knew it, all of this arrived at the table. Yeah, that’s for one person!

This platter of sugary goodness is called the “Dessertteller Rohrerhof” and it featured Apfelradl, an apple fritter; Grießstrietzln, fried semolina sticks; Krapfen, poppy seed doughnuts; and Zimteis, cinnamon ice cream. And yes, I was able to finish all of this on my own – if that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is!

Ride the gondola to Wiedersbergerhorn

After a really active e-biking tour the previous day, our legs were begging for a bit of a break, so instead of tackling a big hike, we opted to ride the gondola to Wiedersbergerhorn.

This is a mountain in the Alpbachtal Valley with a height of 2,127 meters. The gondola starts in the town of Alpbach and it drops you off at 1,811 meters, so it’s a fairly easy walk to the summit and you’re rewarded with some pretty amazing views of the valleys below and the surrounding peaks off in the horizon.

It was kind of strange starting off in a green valley where things still looked fairly summery and then finding snow on the ground once we reached the top, but those are the Alps for you!

My favourite part was the log cabin restaurants they had atop the mountain. We ate at Dauerstoa Alm, which had a nice outdoor terrace perfect for coffee or drinks al fresco. They also had lots of lounge chairs with sheepskins, and the views from the terrace were breathtaking. We lucked out with clear blue skies, so even though there was snow all around us in September, we were hanging out in our t-shirts. It eventually got too hot for the windbreaker I had on in the photo below!

On the way down the mountain, we noticed a luxurious gondola go by complete with curtains and a table with a breakfast spread fit for a king. We then learned that you can ride a special breakfast gondola called the Genussgondel. Breakfast is €32,50 per person, and the best part is that there’s no rush to get off your gondola once you reach the peak; you can keep going up and down until you finish your breakfast. How cool is that?

Feast on hearty Tyrolean cuisine

And speaking of food, another must do in Tyrol is to sample the local cuisine. I purposely tried to order a new dish at every meal so I could get a taste of the region. These were some of my favourite dishes:

Kasspatzln – This dish is cheesy goodness! The name translates to “little cheese sparrows” but this is a bit of a misnomer. Kasspatzln actually consists of noodles that have been mixed with ooey-gooey melted cheese and then topped off with crispy onions. You may have heard of something by the name of Käsespätzle if you’ve travelled in Germany, which is basically the same dish with a different spelling.

Speckknödel – I briefly mentioned this one earlier since it’s what I ate on my e-bike tour, and it was another favourite. The star of the dish was the big, round, boiled, bread and bacon dumpling. It can be served in a light broth or on a bed of sauerkraut, and it may not look like the most appetizing thing on a plate, but I found it delicious!

Tiroler Gröstl – This next one is a fry up that’s meant to use the previous day’s leftovers, and it’s yet another hearty Tyrolean dish you’ve got to try. It typically includes potatoes, onions, bacon (or some other form of meat), and it can also have a fried egg on top. I was served a giant pan of it, which was enough for two!

Watch the cows come home

And now for a bonus activity that you can only catch if you visit at the right time: the Almabtrieb!

Every year, when summer comes to an end and the temperatures begin to drop, farmers bring their cattle down from the Alps and back to town. This calls for a big parade celebrating the “cows coming home”, and yes, the cows are dolled up with flower crowns and bells for the occasion.

The dates for the cow parade vary from town to town across Tyrol, so you’ll want to double check those before your visit, but if you’re going to be travelling in the region between mid-September to early-October, you might just be in luck!

And that concludes my 3-day escape to the Alpbachtal Valley. The verdict? Three days was not enough, and boy, did I not want to leave! I’m a mountain girl at heart, so I fell head over heels for this slice of Austria and I can’t wait to return one day.

Tips for visiting Alpbachtal

If you’re flying in, the closest airport is Innsbruck. Otherwise, there are train connections throughout Austria.

The best way to explore the Alpbachtal Valley is by car, however, you can also make use of the bus network that connects the towns around the valley.

As an overnight guest, you are entitled to an Alpbachtal Seenland Card, which is issued by your accommodations upon arrival. This gives you free access to the regional bus service, plus a few museums and activities.

There are numerous towns to stay in across Alpbachtal. I stayed in Reith im Alpbachtal, but the most popular of them all is Alpbach (this was actually named the most beautiful village in Austria).

For more info on the region, you can visit: www.alpbachtal.at/en

Have you been to Alpbachtal? What’s your favourite place in Tyrol?

I visited Tyrol as part of a project managed by iambassador in partnership with the Tirol Tourist Board and Alpbachtal Seenland. As always, I maintain full editorial control of the content published here.

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2kRZLuC

[mostly-plants]

Week 2 of eating vegan

Day 8 started out fabulously because I met a good friend for breakfast at Smith and Daughters and we had a lovely time catching up over some delightfully fluffy and custardy mulled wine french toast, with quince paste and some kind of magical vegan whipped (coconut?) cream. Yummmmmmm!

Afterwards we wandered down to the Cruelty Free shop because I wanted to have a look and investigate a couple of ingredients I hadn’t been able to find in regular grocery stores. They had the things I was looking for (gluten flour for a homemade seitan experiment, and a particular seasoning called Kala Namak that imparts a flavour similar to eggs, for things like tofu scramble/vegan mayo). 

It was fun browsing all of the different products, and they definitely get credit for stocking my favourite lip balm, HURRAW! but ultimately, exploring different places is a good reminder that eating vegan is like eating any other way - it can be healthy or junky, easy or complicated, cheap or expensive, or any combination of these things depending on how you choose to go about it! I am very lucky in that I can afford and find all the core ingredients I need (like veggies, fruit, rice, oats, legumes, nuts and seeds) from my local market or supermarket at reasonable prices. Although I’m fortunate to be able to find and buy more specialised ingredients for a treat, it’s definitely not essential to have these in order to eat vegan. In reflecting on my first week of eating vegan, I realised that I had eaten a relatively junky diet (mostly because of “taste-testing” new snacks I’d wanted to try, and nomming on baked goods I’d been experimenting with)... oops! So for Week 2 I was keen to try and keep things fairly simple and healthy. Hence - Sunday batch cooking! I made a Pad Thai dish with lots of veggies and some marinated tempeh, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was! Most tempeh I had eaten in my previous life as a vegetarian had pretty much tasted like rubber... mushy, unappetising rubber. Thankfully, this recipe by Minimalist Baker makes it taste soooooo much better. I’m still more of a tofu person, but alright - I’ll give you another chance Tempeh, you tricky beast. 

Day 9: I’ve been learning how to build new food routines based around plant foods, and have now figured out a couple of breakfasts that are quick, tasty, and pack in as much nutrition as possible. Thanks to my batch cook on Sunday I had some apple cinnamon compote in the fridge, which made a delicious addition to some muesli with chia seeds, nut milk and coconut yoghurt for breakfast. It also made a great snack with toasted granola!

With any way of eating, it’s important to ensure we get enough of the nutrients we need, and I’m aware that a few key ones to watch for are Iron, Calcium and B12 intake. As someone who has had Iron deficiency for the most part of the past ten years, I can tell you: a) It is not fun. You feel suuuuuuuper duper tired and weak b) it is also suuuuuuuper possible to be iron deficient on an omnivorous diet. Even when I was eating a diet containing red meat a couple of times a week, my iron levels kept dropping so low that I had to take supplements. Ironically (pun intended), I am more consistently getting enough dietary iron now that I am eating vegan, because I am actually paying attention to my iron intake, and making an effort to eat more iron-rich plant foods like beans, lentils, chickpeas and tofu. Day 10: Speaking of chickpeas - chickpea smash is one of my new favourite things!

A little while ago, I made a vegan mayonnaise from a Viet Vegan recipe that uses aquafaba instead of egg (chickpeas, what can’t you do?). This chickpea salad is just mashed cooked chickpeas, vegan mayo, salt and pepper, lemon juice and a ton of chopped dill. I love the flavour of dill in this, but you could just swap it for another herb if you prefer - no big dill... :D

Day 11 involved some blueberry bircher muesli and coffee for breakfast, veggie bibimbap at a Korean restaurant with work friends, and leftover tofu, pumpkin and spinach curry based on this delicious recipe from Mary’s Test Kitchen for Cheater Butter Chicken. It’s become a favourite at our place - especially with my cheater garlic naan (which I will post a recipe for at some point)! 

I also discovered a new favourite treat snack today - Thinkfood Pumpkin Seed Munch. It is so satisfyingly crunchy and just slightly sweet, but with reasonably healthy ingredients. However, it is dangerously easy to eat a whole pack, so I had a bit of a snackcident!

Day 12 I had some leftover smoothie and some chickpea smash on toast for breakfast, and some interesting chats at work with a(nother) colleague who is mostly vegan. the last of my leftover dhal and rice made a handy lunch, and dinner was more leftover curry with a handful of greens thrown in. Fruit for snacks (and a leftover cookie or three) rounded out this almost entirely left-over-based day of food. Finally I had some apple with coconut yoghurt a bit of granola, and then realised... the granola had honey in it - so it wasn’t completely vegan because honey is an animal product. Oops! Luckily, I had recently watched this video about making mistakes on a vegan diet (summary: they happen to everyone), so I just filed that under learning experiences and moved on.

Day 13: I was less rushed this morning and was in the mood for a slightly more substantial breakfast, so I decided to try making tofu scramble based on this recipe from vegan YouTube channel, Hot For Food. I used silken tofu because I wanted to see if it would work, and it actually turned out really well (although you end up with smaller pieces of tofu because they break down a bit further as you stir things around). I was surprised how tasty it was. Next time I’d use about 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric instead of 1/2 a teaspoon as I found that flavour to be a bit stronger than I’d prefer. Otherwise the recipe was great, except that I probably didn’t need to add the nut milk because silken tofu already contains more moisture than firm tofu. Other than that, I would definitely make it again, and I’ll try experimenting with kala namak next time!

Breakfast was very filling so that kept me going for most of the day, but I did have some papaya and kiwi fruit as a snack in the afternoon, and it was so colourful and pretty I had to take a photo. Fruit is the best! Thanks nature. We’re so lucky to have access to fresh food, so I think it’s worth appreciating it. 

Late afternoon I had some more leftover chickpea smash on rye toast, and then in the evening I made PIZZA! It was Friday night and the boyfriend had been working very hard, so I felt like it was a good time to have something a little bit special for dinner. I made one pizza with a base of barbecue sauce from Mary’s Test Kitchen topped with spinach, caramelised onion and asparagus spears (spoiler alert: it was delicious!) and another pizza with a tomato based sauce and olive tapenade, topped with roast zucchini and red capsicum. Yum! Totally satisfied the pizza craving, no cheese necessary (even for my cheese-loving boo!)

Day 14 was a Saturday, so I got to sleep in (such a luxury!) and then we went for a walk to our local cafe. They generally have very nice food, and I knew they had some vegan sweets, so I had hoped it would be easy to find something on the menu I could eat. Nothing on the menu was labelled as vegan, so I asked if they could just leave the feta off an otherwise vegan dish, but the waitress said the feta was part of the avocado smash. They had avocado in their sides menu, so I asked if I could order that dish and they could just swap out the avocado-feta smash for plain avocado. I thought she’d understood, but when she came back with our food, mine was just 2 pieces of plain toast with half an avocado and some oil on the side. Luckily my boyfriend is super lovely, and shared his roast tomato with me so that my breakfast was a bit more interesting. I recognise that we’re very privileged to even be able to go out to eat occasionally, but that’s partly why I was a bit disappointed with this cafe, because when you’re paying more for a meal out, you want it to be enjoyable and worthwhile. Although I respect how challenging commercial cookery is, I don’t think it necessarily has to be that hard to swap out one ingredient of a dish, or prepare things in a way that provides options for people. However, when we went for a walk around our area, I discovered two other places that have many more vegan options, so next time I look forward to trying one of them! When I got home I was thirsty, so blended up some papaya, frozen raspberries, lemon juice and coconut water. Very refreshing and so colourful! I also made some peanut butter maple granola (using this recipe from Emilie Eats - minus the banana chips and chocolate chips) so that I could enjoy some for a snack without the accidental honey that was in the previous batch. Yum! It turned out very tasty and crunchy, and was very fast to make. Everything you want in homemade granola!

As the cherry on top of week 2, we got to have dinner with a couple of wonderful friends who kindly whipped up an AMAZING vegan feast based on Hana Assifiri’s Moroccan Soup Bar cookbook, including an apple, zucchini and pomegranate salad, a cauliflower and potato bake, and a burghul and eggplant dish topped with almonds and tahini dressing. I love my friends! If you are in Melbourne and haven’t been to the Moroccan Soup Bar (or their sister place, the Moroccan Deli-cacy), I highly recommend a visit. Just look at this deliciousness:

And that was week 2 of vegan eats. So far so very good!