#the crust is really good though and the sauce is nice but the cheese... it ruins it :(

[bunnyb34r]

I love this cinnamon roll type thing from the pizza place, but god do you have to literally wring out the grease for it to be pleasant to eat 😭

It's a "stand over the sink" type snack... press out the grease until this sucker is flat and enjoy 😬

Like good lord how much oil do yall fry this in/why do you go fryer to box with no absorbency thing?? Theres just a sheet of wax paper in the TOP of the box where they put your icing packet like bitch the grease is on the bottom 😭

I really wish they sold those fried apple pies that pizza butt has... I miss those :(

[ticklystuff]

Day 19: Study Break

a/n: ler!sylvain, lee!felix — from my own personal tickletober list! (pls read the image of their paired ending, they're gay)

———

"Felix, I'm bored!"

"Hey Felix, wanna spar?"

"Feeeeliiiiiix~!"

This barely scratched the surface of what was borderline harassment at this point and he'd report this to campus security if the offender wasn't the one person he had the misfortune of falling head over heels for..

Gods, of all people, it had to be Sylvain Jose Gautier..

And he didn't even bother to look up from the textbook laid out along his desk at the sound of his dorm room door swinging wide open, knowing exactly who it would be and what intentions they held.

"Felix! I'm back!"

"Sylvain, I already told you I'm bu-"

That smell.

Meat pies? From the cafeteria?

His head whipped around to see Sylvain standing behind him, big smile on his face as expected, except this time, there was white box in his hands that no doubt contained the savory meal that filled his room with the scent of delightful spices.

"Heh, I knew this could get your attention," Sylvain winked, to which Felix rolled his eyes, turning back to focus on his textbook.

"I'm not even hungry." That was a lie. Being holed up in his dorm meant his choice of sustenance for the day did not extend past a bag of stale crackers that were stored away and forgotten about till a few hours ago, but he really needed to focus.

"Well, neither am I," Sylvain said matter-of-factly, taking the stool in Felix's room and setting himself down, opening the box of food in his lap, "but I have this food that needs to be eaten before it goes cold. Won't you help me, Felix? Pretty please?"

And those damn eyes, the way he pursed his lips in fake pout— Felix knew he should above Sylvain's tricks, if this could even be considered one, but the outcome was always the same, helplessly falling into the ginger's plans every single damn time.

"Fine, just one bite," he resigned with a sigh.

The look of triumph Sylvain gave him was enough to get the butterflies floating again and Felix turned back to his book, biding his time till Sylvain sliced a portion. What he wasn't expecting, though, was for the ginger to rather cut out a bite-sized piece, holding up the food with a fork to Felix's face.

"Come on," Sylvain pushed the fork closer, prompting a scowl from Felix.

"You don't need to- ugh," Felix scoffed, but Sylvain insisted, until Felix leaned forward to take the morsel in his mouth.

"Good, yeah?"

"Yeah," he mumbled through chews. The crust was nice and buttery, yet light enough to preserve the flakiness, off-setting the heavier filling of the pie, containing beef tender enough to melt on his tongue, complemented by the balance of the slightly tart tomato chunks and creaminess from the cheese, all tied together by the familiar spice blend. Perfection.

"Anyway, how much studying do you have left to do?"

Felix wiped the bit of sauce at the corner of his mouth, looking at Sylvain questionably. "Uh, until we have our exams. Shouldn't you be doing the same?"

"Eh, I already finished yesterday," Sylvain said with a shrug, crossing one leg over the other.

"But you told me you only started two days ago?"

"Yeah? And I'm done."

In all fairness, Felix shouldn't have expected anything from Sylvain in this regard, an expression of disappointment crossing his face, and yet, somehow, this man still managed to avoid expulsion.

"Anyway, time for another bite," Sylvain spoke again, chipping out another piece from the pie with the fork.

"No, no, I said one bite," Felix shook his head, "and I really should get back to studying anyway."

"Felix," there was something.. different in his tone this time, "what you really need is to take a break."

"I'm good," Felix turned back in his seat, avoiding the frown Sylvain gave him.

"Okay," Sylvain huffed, standing up and setting the rest of the pie on top of the stool, tapping his foot lightly against the floor, "would you rather listen to me.. or would you rather listen to the tickle monster?"

Felix's ears perked up at the mere mention of Sylvain's "best friend".. and the bane of Felix's existence. "Sylvain, now's really not the time-"

He jumped at the sudden presence of hands atop his shoulders, feeling them slide against the back of his shoulder blades and positioning themselves where his upper sides curved into his back, fingers drumming along the Garreg Mach uniform.

"Sylvain—" he tried with a hiss, but all that came out was laughter, fingers digging into his sides, making their presence known through his uniform. "Sylvahahahain! Nohohoho!"

"I'm sorry, Sylvain isn't here right now!" came the comically deep voice, it's guttural drawl heavily contrasting the airy laughter that currently occupied the room.

Felix hunched over in his desk, tightly gripping the edge of the table, knowing full well there was no point in trying to win Sylvain over in the silly situation, feeling those fingers playfully dance up and down his sides, even knocking at his spine, prompting Felix to nearly jump out of his chair.

"NahaHAHAhaha! O-Okay! Fihihihine!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yehehes! Stahahahap!"

"Wow, glad you're finally taking care of yourself!" Sylvain happily exclaimed, removing his hands from Felix's sides to give the swordsman a ruffle to his hair, follow by quick little smooch to his cheek, to which Felix wiped away out of spite. "But first, we have to finish our meal together."

Felix watched as Sylvain picked up the box of food and fork again, picking out a piece of the meat pie. "Say ah."

Felix blinked twice, sighing to himself, before looking at the expectant look from Sylvain, then to the piece of food in front of him.

"Ah.."

[slytherinshua]

I would like to request something with Seokmin please :)) Maybe he and y/n are cooking together, watch movies and just have a nice relaxing evening? I'm trying to stay away from the jealousy trope haha (Although I still love it hahaha)

MOZZARELLA SWORD genre ➳ fluff. warnings ➳ none. pairing ➳ seokmin x fem!reader. wc ➳ 975. a/n ➳ thanks for requesting hannah!! i love writing domestic stuff with dokyeom :(

You were constantly reminded that you weren’t a Michelin star chef everytime you attempted to cook with Seokmin. He was just so naturally good in the kitchen, where you had no clue where to start most days. When Seokmin cooked alone, you were guaranteed to have a delicious meal. When you cooked alone, you were guaranteed to have every surface of the kitchen messy with ingredients, cutting board, and utensils, none of which you knew how to use properly. 

When Seokmin insisted that you cook together, it became a mix of star-quality chef and hopeless chaos. Seokmin would do most of the work while your job was to get the ingredients out. But no matter how many times you messed up while trying to help him in the kitchen, Seokmin never got angry or even tired of having to clean up your messes. He thought the activity of cooking together was so sweet and domestic.

“It makes us feel like a married couple.” He insisted one night months ago to cheer you up after you almost cried when you accidentally forgot the sugar in your muffins.

“Why don’t you just propose to me if you want to feel like a married couple?” You had asked back, tears welling in your eyes despite your ability to joke around with your boyfriend. He had laughed and wiped your tears and hugged you to him until you calmed down from your frustration.

Sometimes you got frustrated while cooking, and sometimes you were able to let Seokmin do most of the work and get half the credit regardless. Tonight, Seokmin was dead set on making pizza with you. He had already done most of the work making the pizza dough yesterday and letting it rise overnight. And there was no way you would be able to mess up spreading sauce, cheese, and toppings on the dough. So, of course, you agreed. Seokmin had made pizza for you when you first started dating before, and you knew how good his pizza crust was. 

“Can you grate the mozzarella while I shape the dough?” He instructed, passing you the big block of cheese and a grater. You nodded and started working on the task with a determined smile.

Seokmin always had a habit of singing while he cooked, and tonight he started singing some of his songs from his musical. You giggled as soon as he started singing Die Schatten Werden Laenger. 

He continued singing even though your giggles set off his own, “What?” He asked you in between words.

“I just thought of King Arthur making pizza.” You admitted.

Seokmin stopped singing, his giggles increasing, “Maybe he really liked Italian food-”

“Stop, you’re making the thought worse!” You complained, almost at the point of wheezing, “Imagine- Imagine him pulling a block of mozzarella out of the stone-”

Seokmin and you continued to build on your initial thought through neverending laughter as you constructed the pizza. Mozzarella in the stone turned into Excalibur being a sword made of cheese that would replenish Arthur’s health whenever he got injured. Then Seokmin joked that you were Guinevere if he was Arthur. But then you both remembered Guinevere’s love affair with Sir Lancelot and took back the previous statement. If anyone was loyal to Seokmin, it was you.

Eventually, you finished assembling the pizza and Seokmin put it into the oven and started cleaning up the kitchen. You smiled and stared at him as he washed the dishes, his sharp profile on display from where you sat. He started to hum again, this time staying clear of the Xcalibur soundtrack in favour of some of your favourite R&B tracks. 

“I can feel you staring at me, baby.” Seokmin said quietly, smiling a little as he rinsed another dish.

“Just admiring what’s mine. Is there anything wrong with that?” You asked, blushing a bit that he’d noticed you, but there wasn’t much to be embarrassed about, really. Your boyfriend was beautiful and he deserved to be admired just as you were doing.

“You always complain when I stare at you, though.” He mumbled.

“Because I feel nervous when you stare at me!” You said. You had told him this before, but you were pretty sure nothing would stop Seokmin’s love of looking at you. You loved it, but you also felt insecure if he had his eyes on you for too long.

“But I like looking at you. You’re so pretty.” You stayed silent as your cheeks grew red from his comment. “I made you blush, didn’t I?” He teased, not even needing to look at you to know that your cheeks were tinted pink.

“Maybe…” You sighed, fanning your face to cool it down. The timer for the oven went off and you excitedly opened it to check on the pizza. It looked beautiful. The crust was golden grown and the cheese was bubbly, the toppings perfectly browned from the heat of the oven. Your mouth was watering just looking at it. You took it out and put it on the stovetop to cool before slicing.

“Do you want to watch a movie? I want to cuddle with you.” You suggested, smelling the delicious pizza with your eyes closed. Seokmin wrapped his arms around your waist to hug you.

“A movie sounds good. Cuddling sounds even better.” He grinned and kissed your cheek.

“Sounds like we got a plan, then. I’ll get extra pillows ready.” You smiled, escaping your boyfriend’s arms momentarily to get the best cuddling setup ready. Impromptu home movie dates like this were your favourite. You couldn’t wipe the grin off of your face whenever Seokmin agreed to one. They definitely wouldn’t be something to go away even when you married him.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ svt taglist: @kangtaehyunzzz,, @yeonjuns-redhair,, @ddeonudepressions,, @hannahsophie0103,, @skz-minchan-enthusiast,, @shuabby1994

[hungryhistory]

PHOTODUMP + COLLECTION OF SUMMER DISHES!

I wanted to share some of the dishes I’ve made this summer! I can share links if I can find and remember them lololol!

My first dish was a piss poor t-bone steak 😭 I butter basted it, but I was unsuccessful in giving it a crust! However, it was cooked to the degree I wanted!

After that, it was Miso glazed Salmon! I didn’t make the noodles myself, the miso glaze was sort of thin? I think I would brush more on next time, more of a sauce than a glaze or trying to inject or infuse the flavor next time! However, it was very tender and still pretty good for not taking too long!

After that, I made focaccia! It was solid! The recipe delivered. I want to try Samin’s recipe for Ligurian Focaccia from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat! But, I wanted to do a test run with what I had first. Bread is a lot easier to bake in my new home since it’s not cold and dark anymore!

Then, I prepared homemade Mac and Cheese! This recipe is my own, essentially! Mac and cheese can be pretty forgiving, and it’s not too difficult! It was really nice, though it’s one of my least favorite foods! I prepared it for my partner for his birthday! The cheese wasn’t as smooth as I would’ve liked, but it was still solid and I only see it going up from here!

With it, I served another steak 😭 Everyone ignore my steak kick. I do this a lot. This one was a much better steak! It formed more of a crust, it was tender, cooked to the degree I wanted. I think I would need a thicker grind on my seasonings and a cast iron to get a really nice crust! It was over salted this time, due to me not noticing that it was already pre-seasoned. Still! I recovered!

Between these, some I haven’t taken photos of were: Strawberry milk, a total burger fail lol, and I think that’s it! Here are some even older ones! In order: seasonal gratin, maple glazed hassleback butternut squash, and vanillekipfernl!

[thatssocheezy]

Angelo’s Pizza - A Decade Later

Back in the late 00's/early 10's when I was on Long Island for college, I would go to Angelo's on a somewhat regular basis. Back then, they had what I would consider the best buffalo chicken pizza on Long Island. At this point, it's been a decade since I've had it and decided recently that my next trip to LI would include a stop for a buffalo chicken slice. I was meeting up with Matt so he came through too for his first visit to Angelo's. Unfortunately though, while everything looked pretty much the same, the pizza was not quite as good as I remembered.

I got my classic combo of a grandma vodka (corner of course) and a buffalo chicken. Matt did the same but with a regular grandma. My vodka slice was honestly really good and has held up well from what I remember. Perfect amount of vodka sauce and just a little fluff to the crust. However, the buffalo was not up to snuff. I'm pretty sure it used to come standard with bleu cheese on top but no more. I still asked for a side of it though, because the chicken was just too much as is. The hot sauce made the breading all mushy and it was just too much hot flavor to really be able to enjoy. The crust was honestly perfect though, with again a nice bit of fluff but still a crispy bottom. I also took a bite of Matt's grandma and the sauce was very good and flavorful.

I hate to say it, but I don't think I'll be making any more trips back to Angelo's. The buffalo is just not worth it anymore, especially considering each slice was $4. Had I just gotten the vodka grandma, I may have given this trip a 5, but the buffalo was so disappointing it dragged them down to a 4. C'est la vie.

[broke-bruce-wayne]

My very non-scientific ranking of the pizza I had on our Portland Pizza Week journey

6. Boxcar Pizza - Birria pie

First up on the list is the only vegan pizza we got today. This wasn't bad (none of the pizzas were), it just wasn't necessarily for me. Too much crust and not enough other stuff for me (it was Detroit style deep dish). The kid loved it though (Kid's Ranking: 1)

5. SFNY Pizza - Fowl Play

A lot going on on this one, which was basically a chicken sandwich on a pizza. Fried chicken, bacon, cabbage, pickles, with a maple glaze made for a good combination, but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way for it (Kid Ranking: 4)

4: East Glisan Pizza - Is it Shawarma in Here?

This one had a nice combination, with the chicken shawarma plus a nice garlic sauce, (more) pickles, and house hot sauce. A nice kick to it. Good, but there's a big gap between this one and the next 3 (which were all amazing). (Kid Ranking: 6)

3. Old Town Brewing - La 'Zagna

This was our final stop, and it was definitely worth it. Basically lasagna in pizza form, loaded with cheese and made with a bolognese sauce, just delicious (Kid Ranking: 3)

2. Meta Pizza - Cheeked Up

This one was decadent. Beef cheek bolognese, basil aioli, and fresh parmasean, biting into this one was other worldly, very rich and flavorful. It was really hard to pick between this one and the next one, cause they were both very close. (Kid ranking: 5)

1. Love Verona - Ace Rose Pie

This was our first stop, and it set the bar so high for the rest to follow, a bar that none of them passed (though a few got close). Prosciutto, fig preserve, gorgonzola, with asiago and balsamic glaze on top, this was a flavor celebration. We will definitely be going back for more pizza here (Kid ranking: 2)

[burgerdudes]

🍔 Updated review ━ 📍 RibHaus ★★★★☆ • Ribhaus has been a long-time favourite here at Burgerdudes. We first reviewed them back in 2015, and they were guests at our inaugural Stockholm Burger Fest. Nowadays they have two restaurants in Västerås – one in the food hall Slakteriet and one in the large shopping district Erikslund – plus a restaurant outside the South Korean capital of Seoul. We’ve tried them several times over the last year, and even though we’ve always been impressed by their Asian influenced burgers, we have noticed that the quality has been a bit uneven lately. During our latest visit to their Erikslund location we ordered a classic cheeseburger – their Hausburger with a 150-gram beef patty, double cheddar, onions, pickles and their Haus Saus burger sauce. It cost 109 SEK (10.5 USD), and we added a lunch deal with french fries and a soft drink for an additional 26 SEK (2.5 USD). • Our burger looked pretty nice when it arrived, with its sesame coated bun, shiny beef patty and melted cheese. The bun was really tasty; fresh, nicely toasted and with a great juiciness and flavour. We also enjoyed the large amounts of cheese and sauce in the burger. The beef was a bit of a let-down though, and despite having an impressive crust it wasn’t very juicy on the inside, and it was also under seasoned. One thing we did enjoy a lot though, was their thinly cut pickles that added a fresh tartness and were spread nicely all over the burger. Their french fries were filling and tasty as well, and an unmissable addition to our meal. • Ribhaus still serve really good hamburgers, and we still highly recommend a visit – especially to try their Asian fusion burgers. But even though their Slakteriet unit still stays up to par we can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that their Erikslund location has underdelivered several times lately. ━ @ribhaus #burger #burgerdudes #västerås (at RibHaus) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm_Fm-XDXRR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[missguomeiyun]

Pizza from Buster's Pizza

Bcos pizza pricing at Mondo's has significantly increased .. . looking for alternatives. Decided to try Buster's for the 1st time. I'm not sure if they have BOGO regularly but I ordered via Skip when they had the BOGO deal :D

So the deal was: BOGO 12" medium 2-topping pizza (each one is normally $17.59). You get to pick sauce, & 2 'free' toppings.

I really like DIY-ing stuff bcos I get to try diff combos haha I wouldn't say I'm THAT adventurous but it's nice to experiment.

Pizza no.1 - Garlic ranch sauce + bacon + Italian sausage.

Omg the garlic ranch sauce was so good. I didn't really care for the bacon & Italian sausage lol I would have been happy with just the cheese & sauce. It's slightly zesty, savoury, & it wasn't very thick to the point where you'd feel very full afterwards.

Pizza no.2 - BBQ sauce + chicken + baby shrimp.

Not as good as pizza no.1 .. I don't know; this was kinda bland compared to the other pizza. I rarely get BBQ sauce for anything so I thought it'd be a nice opportunity to try BBQ sauce on a pizza. It was just meeehh. Great for the BOGO price but I won't be getting another BBQ sauce pizza in the future.

Generous quantity of toppings for both pizza. The crust was also good. I don't like thin crust so anything other than thin crust, I'm not that picky with haha - will definitely order again!

I also got a side order of these mac n cheese bites just bcos' (8 pieces for $9.34). You get to choose a sauce & I got the mystery "sweet sauce" haha I didn't know what to expect. . .

I didn't think they would be in the form of a triangle. I was imagining a ball. Inside, the little fritter is filled with KD. KD wasn't a food item I had growing up so I neither dislike nor like it. Just something diff; these bites weren't that good but I don't regret getting them. The sweet sauce was really good though. Not sure what it contains- it had. .. shrimp & peaches sauce vibes. Therefore, likely contains mayo & some sort of condensed/evaporated milk .. . & sugar. I actually used the sauce for the BBQ pizza as a dip. I just really enjoyed the sauce!

[unkajosh]

We were talking about food, weren't we?

I could tell you about places I've eaten. I'm not wealthy at all, but I've still had some fairly amazing food in a place or two.

But the thing is, I'm a restaurant guy. I work in a pizza place right now; we're a chain, and while our food is pretty darned good, that's not what I'm going to talk about, either. Exactly.

Because I don't have children. I have the kids who work for us. And I take care of them. (Okay, not all of them. The white supremacist that I fired, not so much.)

So when the kids have been good, and time allows, I feed them something special, something they can't just get off the menu-- but something that I can make with only the ingredients that I have on hand.

Let's look at a typical example.

I start with a crust. What kind of crust? I'll use any of them; our signature crust is a Detroit-style deep dish, which has a fluffier crust (lower-protein flour, closer to AP Flour than the bread flour that pizza dough normally uses), but I'm a past master at hand-tossed dough, and we have a very tasty thin, cracker crust as well. (The key to hand-tossed dough is to not use the dough press they provide, nor the docker they provide, but hand-toss it as God intended. But it's a skill that takes a while to master, so we have the press for the sake of new hires.)

Imagine the one you like best.

I don't just start there, though. There really ought to be veggies. My kids need to eat their veggies! But the default technique is fresh raw chopped veggies put on the pizza; they don't really cook very much due to their high internal water content (and actually make the top of the pizza cook less; pizzas with a lot of toppings, but especially wet toppings like tomatoes or pineapple require significantly more cooking.)

So let's improve things. Because of our deep-dish dough, we have no shortage of well-seasoned iron pans for the dough. In this, we add a mix of chopped green peppers (I'd prefer red or yellow, but I have to stick with what's available), chopped red onions, chopped tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. We're going to pour a little bit of garlic butter over this veggie medley and run the pan through our oven on the medium-cooking rack. (We have a conveyor-driven impingement oven, and that's it. It's very good for what it does, but it makes an awkward sauté device. But one learns to adapt.) This will nicely "grill" the veggies with the butter; the mushrooms will add some nice umami.

So, back to that pizza crust. We're putting tomato sauce on; it's not the only choice, but it's the most popular. But it needs something more, doesn't it? Over the layer of pizza sauce (uncooked; it's ground tomatoes, some water, and a seasoning mix of salt and herbs and no doubt other things) I add a drizzle of our ranch dressing.

Do NOT underestimate our ranch. The seasonings in it are pretty standard, but we start with extra-heavy mayo and buttermilk, the kind of thing that you can't buy in local stores. We have to special-order this stuff, and we make it ourselves every single day, like the sauce, like the dough.

You don't get the same quality with frozen dough shipped to stores and thawed, and you cannot convince me otherwise. Our dough isn't complicated at all, but fresh, hand-made dough is so much better than the alternatives.

Next, we must add cheese. Our cheese? No, not like those chains that buy frozen, pre-shredded boxes of cheese, each particle coated in cellulose to stop it from sticking. Ours? We take logs of mozzarella and a shredder, every day, after carefully assembling the cleaned blades and making sure that the machine will not commit awful mechanical suicide (the torque on literally every engine in the shop is insane) we push 'em through and carefully gather the shreds. We call this stuff "White gold," and it isn't cheap.

But I'm fond of cheese blends; I'll mix in other cheese that we have on hand-- cheddar, Romano, perhaps feta, sometimes even the provolone slices that we still use for our weird sandwich/calzone hybrid things. I'd add more, but, again, using what we have so we don't risk the wrath of corporate. Distribute evenly by hand, don't leave thin spots, for who wants those?

Those veggies are done now, caramelized and tasty, and they go on top of the cheese. Some of my kids don't eat meat; they're mostly set now, but others insist on further animal proteins. I often put grilled chicken on here, and maybe the addition of some nice, smokey bacon. I have to be careful with bacon, though-- it's tasty, but it tends to overwhelm subtler flavors. Still, it blends very nicely with the chicken indeed.

Okay, in the oven. I have a lot of stuff on this pizza; it will need a higher temperature and time to cook, but that's OK-- unlike most other places, our oven has three decks and four different chains, three different cooking temperatures and four different cooking times. Thickness of the pizza crust is an important detail here, so I make the necessary adjustments.

The pizza cooks; the cheese melts, and I used a lot of heat, so it becomes golden-brown, despite the cooking vegetables, the meats, all piled on top of each other, juices from the meats and veggies soaking into the flavor sponges that mushrooms are and transforming them while, in turn, adding that subtle vegetable umami to the blend. The grilled onions become sweeter and more tender; the peppers, likewise, the bitterness of green peppers becoming a subtle note in the symphony rather than a dominant aftertaste.

Okay, I cooked it. Are we ready to eat yet?

NO!

No, no, we have more work to do! A light dusting of garlic salt-- the garlic another flavor note, the salt light enough to bring out the flavors rather than becoming a flavor itself. (Alas, we have no fresh or roasted garlic! But one adapts.) Now we add the final touches-- perhaps some garlic butter around the crust, if it's hand-tossed, but otherwise, over to another station (once we've cut it with huge curved knives like scimitars fitted with an additional grip-point that would make them far too unbalanced to use as weapons using orthodox techniques) and NOW we add a little more mayo-- it doesn't take much; it's just a foundation for the real last step. Fresh, chopped lettuce and tomato. I'd add fresh spinach if we had it, but alas, it went bad too quickly, so corporate dropped it. Am I making a salad on top of the pizza? It may look like it, and I suppose I am, but the crisp, fresh taste of the lettuce, the acid of the tomatoes, these perform a wonderful contrast the the heaviness of pizza dough, cheese and meat, and one needs contrast in these matters.

Now, now we eat it. Carefully, though-- if it's thin crust, it MUST be cut in squares, or it won't be strong enough to support the toppings. If it's hand-tossed, consider the New York Fold as an approach to eating. Our deep dish can handle this as long as you manage to not spill the toppings everywhere when you bite into it.

If I used the deep dish, your lower jaw and tongue will encounter the crisp, fried outer layer of the dough first; your upper jaw, in turn, goes through a layer of fresh, crisp veggies, to the complex blend of flavors in the toppings, mixed together in the alchemy that is cooking, the hot cheese underneath still a bit melty, spreading over your mouth, the tomato sauce enhanced by the tangy richness of the ranch. You eat a slice. Perhaps two, if you are truly hungry.

And that will be enough. We're going to be hauling around fifty-pound bags of flour and fifty-pound boxes of mozzarella logs and hundred-pound buckets of freshly-mixed dough and stacks of pizza pans still rather warm from the oven and stacks of deep-dish dough and, later, cutting boards that are squares three feet on a side.

But this will give you the strength to go on. It fills your stomach in every regard, and-- hey, were you adding hot sauce to yours? That's fine. That's fine. I don't use it, but some people like the endorphin rush, and who am I to deny them?

But you got this pizza because you were good. Enjoy it.

And grab a slice quickly. Myles is coming back from his run, and he'll boggard the whole thing if we let him.

[thedisneychef]

Savor the Flavor of Passion Fruit Cheesecake at 'Ohana

If you're a fan of sweet and tangy desserts, you'll definitely want to try the Passion Fruit Cheesecake at Ohana. This delicious dessert is a perfect way to cap off a meal at this popular restaurant, which is located at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. The Passion Fruit Cheesecake is made with a creamy and rich cheesecake filling, which is infused with the bright and tropical flavors of passion fruit. The crust is made with a blend of graham cracker crumbs and macadamia nuts, adding a delicious crunch and nuttiness to the dessert. Whether you're a fan of classic cheesecake or simply looking for a delicious and unique dessert to try, the Passion Fruit Cheesecake at Ohana is definitely worth a taste. With its perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavors, this dessert is sure to become a favorite among those with a sweet tooth. So, if you're planning a visit to Walt Disney World Resort, be sure to add Ohana and their Passion Fruit Cheesecake to your list of must-try dining experiences. More Delicious Recipes You Will Love: - Oreo Milkshake – Sci-fi Dine-in Theater - Patriot Punch – Liberty Tree Tavern - Peanut Butter and Jelly Milkshake It’s my birthday today! Happy birthday to me! This one actually kind of snuck up on me… I had so much going on for the first half of August, it didn’t really dawn on me that my birthday was approaching until last Friday. However, we’re celebrating by going on an adults-only daytime date to the nicest movie theater in the area (which is 2 hours away) to FINALLY go see “Guardians of the Galaxy” and then have lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. I’m so excited! I figured that, being my birthday and all, it’d be fun to make up a nice little cake or pie for myself. No big deal, right? Well, I stumbled on what I thought was the perfect idea… Passion fruit cheesecake from ‘Ohana. I like tropical things! I love cheesecake! The Polynesian is one of my favorite places to stay!  It was a no-brainer… What a great birthday treat. Well, being older apparently doesn’t make me wiser. I didn’t realize the recipe I had was horribly incomplete until I actually started making it because I didn’t actually read past the ingredients section when I was thinking about doing the recipe. Whoops. Maybe I should have done so, especially considering the whole recipe is done by weights, not measuring cups. Whoops again. I still made a go at it… I figured as long as the ingredients and their amounts were right, nothing would stop it from coming together… Right? I’m not a crummy cook, surely I can figure this out. And I think I did. Kinda. Yes, it took over 1 hour and 45 minutes to bake. No, I’m not sure this is what it’s supposed to look like, taste like, or be. Yes, it tastes really good.  No, I’m not going to make it again. Should my readers…  Jury is out. The problems of this recipe were numerous. The bake time I was given was 45 minutes. It actually took closer to two hours. There was no directions on how to specifically make the passion fruit sauce. That took 45 minutes instead of 15 minutes to bake. I over-beat the snot out of the custards, both of them, because I didn’t know not to. I didn’t know I shouldn’t have used fat free cream cheese so it didn’t incorporate well. I bought 2 and a half dozen eggs. It wasn’t enough. So many lessons learned. I loved the sweet tartness of the passion fruit sauce and the custardy cheesecake actually worked really well for the overall taste. It was refreshing and exotic, though not as strongly flavored as I’d have hoped. It was also very dramatic on the plate which is unique for cheesecakes. But overall it generally wasn’t worth the trouble to make, especially using the actual Disney recipe. It’s time consuming, complicated, hard-to-make, and while it’s delicious, it’s not delicious enough to justify the time, expense, add numerous eggs. Maybe the complete recipe is, I don’t know. File this under “like the idea, but not what I thought it would be.” I have included the recipe as I did it below, and yes, all of it is by weight. This can be converted online for those who wish to try making this recipe. I can say that for the eggs, I didn’t buy yolk-only liquid eggs (do they make such a thing?) but if there was ever a time to do so, it’d be for this recipe. Maybe I had exceptionally small chickens laying exceptionally tiny yolks, but each yolk I got weighed about half an ounce or less. So yes, I used 24 eggs to make this. I’m literally swimming in unused egg whites. I also think the original recipe implied doing this in individual sized containers, which I didn’t understand until too late… And I would have used my springform, however I just moved and I have not a clue where it is. Keep in mind that this recipe was horribly incomplete and the recipe below is just what I cobbled together to get the final product above. It tastes great, but it is complicated and time consuming. If they still serve this at ‘Ohana, and I didn’t see that they do, whatever they charge for it isn’t enough. It’s really hard to make! While the cheesecake custard is baking, combine all ingredients for the passion fruit sauce. After the cheesecake custard has finished baking (45-60 minutes), top with passion fruit sauce and bake an additional 30-45 minutes until the passion fruit sauce is set. When set, neither the custard or the passion fruit sauce will appear liquidy and will jiggle like gelatin when shaked. When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool uncovered until room temperature then refrigerate. Cut and serve when cooled. In addition to the delicious food and recipes, Disney World is also known for its unique dining experiences, such as character dining and themed restaurants. Whether you want to have breakfast with Mickey Mouse, dine in a replica of a sci-fi drive-in theater at Hollywood Studios, or enjoy a meal with an ocean view at the Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot, there's something for everyone. And with the help of Recipes Today and the How to Make category, you can even recreate some of these magical dining experiences in your own home. So why not start planning your next Disney-inspired meal or dining experience today? Read the full article

[gay-chef-boyardee]

MEAT TIER LIST BREAKDOWN

Some facts about me before we start: I have a mild allergy to the seasoning they put on store bought seafood, so I can only eat certain brands. This may affect the final results. I have an Iron deficiency, and crave red meat. This may affect the final results.

S TIER:

Steak: Steak is probably my favorite meat of all time. I don’t think there’s a single moment in my life I ever went ‘hm, I’m not feeling steak right now’. You can cook it any way, and it’ll be delicious. Though personally, my favorite is grilled with a bit of steak sauce. If it’s well done, then you have a perfect stir fry add on. If it’s medium, then you’ve got a good steak! Rare? It’s juicy, and tender! Blue? A risk taker, I see, though you have good taste. And the best part about steak is undoubtably the juice it leaves. When you’ve finished your steak, you have a whole plate of tasty red juice you can put on baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli, or eat by itself! I love steak. 10/10

Crab: I grew up on the beach, so I’ve been eating freshly caught crab since I was little. I used to make my parents cut the eyes off the crab before I cracked it open with a hammer because it made me feel bad to see it looking at me, but now that I look back on it that makes me feel worse?? Anyways, most of the crab is pretty meh, but woah, that hidden meat. It’s the tiny bit of meat at the butt end of the crab, right under the gills, and it’s fucking godly. It’s sweet, and savory, and amazing. Don’t just go out and buy it from the store, you have to eat it freshly boiled to really experience the hidden meat. I believe it’s normally called jumbo lump, but I always called it hidden meat. Anyways, eating crab is an experience you should have in your life time. 9/10

Shrimp: I. Fucking. Love. SHRIMP. I love shrimp. I love how fun they are to eat, I love their stupid little crust you have to eat around, I love them. Buy a ring from the grocery store (I’m allergic to the bag kind), pop em’ in some hot water to melt the ice, and eat up. They’re amazing. Any time I’ve had a new food I love, and didn’t know what was in it, it always ended up being shrimp. Unfortunately, a point is deducted for being bugs and having the legs that make me squimish. 8/10

A TIER:

Brotwursts: Brotwursts are just better sausages. They’re big, enough for a whole meal on their own, and they always cook up nice. Also, whenever I eat them, I hear ‘Doofenshmirtz quality brotwursts’ jingle in my mind. 7/10

Chicken: It’s chicken. Everyone’s had chicken. It ranges in quality, but it’s never bad. You know what chicken tastes like, and chicken is A tier. 7/10

Filet Mignon: I’m gonna be honest, I’m not a fan of filet mignon. I always buy it on special occasions because it’s expensive and it feels good to ball out (by ball out I mean spend twenty dollars on a steak), but it’s just mid. It has a noticably different flavor than a standard ribeye or new york strip, but it’s just… eh. It’s more tender, but it’s lacks that oomph that other steaks have. I feel like if I drank wine with it and pretended I was eating out, then it would be better, but wine gives me headaches. 6/10

Mushrooms: I like mushrooms. Stuffed mushrooms, breaded mushrooms, they’re all good. My standard way of cooking them is with salt and pepper and a bit of worcestershire sauce. They’re a good side, especially with steak, but they could never be their own meal. I haven’t had mushrooms such as the chicken of the woods or the giant puffball like I’ve seen reccomended in foraging circles, only the grocery store white kind and some porterbellas I wasn’t a fan of, but I’ll update this when I do finally get my hands on some. 7/10

B TIER:

Hamburger: I like hamburgers. Granted, my standard order is only two buns and a patty, maybe with some cheese if I’m feeling frisky. I’ve never had a homemade patty that I really enjoyed, though. They’re always either oozing juice or burnt to a crisp. And while there is an argument for both of those, I don’t want to take a bit of my burger and have a tsunami hit the back of my throat. 6/10

Ham: When most people cook ham, they always either make a honey glazed, or an unseasoned ham. While honey glazed is good, It’s a bit too sweet for my taste, and unseasoned is boring. But! I do love deli meat ham. Paper thin slices off the bone ham is to die for, I buy like three or four pounds at a time just because I know I’m going to end up eating entire bags in one sitting. 6/10

Salmon: I’m not a salmon fan yet. Every time I eat salmon, I start to like it a little bit more. It’s got a very refreshing taste, but my favorite is with a bit of lemon juice. And by a bit I mean a lot. Girly is SOAKED when I finally get a forkful. I also like how it just pulls apart, it makes my lizard brain happy especially since cutting the food is the worst part of a meal. Someday salmon will be up there, but right now, it’s just okay. 5/10

Salami: Salami tastes pretty good. It’s a nice type of sausage, and I like to eat it as a snack, but my beef is with PEPPERONI. I always eat too much and it makes my mouth hurt because I’m a wimp with no spice tolerance :( 6/10

C TIER:

Chicken Patty: I’m going to count chicken nuggets for this one as well. Chicken burgers are okay, not great by any means, but fine. Chicken nuggets are also really good. But you eat so many of them and they stop tasting like chicken anymore, and start tasting like hunger. I’m pretty sure I’m 50% chicken nugget at this point, and I don’t even know if I like them. 5/10

Lobster: If someone unsuccesfully tried to fuse crab and shrimp. I had it once at a club and I genuinely can’t place a single adjective to describe it’s taste. Like, I’d eat it if I was hungry enough, but it also made me throw up on the way home. 4/10

Pork Chop: I hate pork chops, straight up. I actually went pork free for a while because of a bad experience with a pork chop, but I said it was for a diet cause I’m a fake ass little bitch like that. It’s always either dry or juicy, and neither works for it. The fat doesn’t cook off, and it just makes me sad. I’ve never had a good pork chop, and probably never will, but at least it’s not the worst form of pork. 4/10

Rib: Okay, imagine with me. You’re in a really loud restaurant with your parents as a teenager, and your ears hurt and you’re tired and the lights are too bright, and nothing on the menu looks good. Eventually, a waitress comes up to you, and asks what your table wants. Everyone places their orders, and when she finally gets to you, you stumble through thoughts and just say ‘the ribs’. Half an hour later, your ribs get there and you cry. Because this night just got worse. They’re either dry (a common symptom of meat on this list), or slathered in sauce. Pray it’s not the latter, or else you’ll end up running to the bathroom to wash a metric fuckton of sauce off your mouth and hands and neck that leaves you with a rash for days. After fiddling with how to hold your rack of ribs, you finally take a bite and… it’s fucking mid. It’s mid. It tastes like pork pretending to be steak. It hurts to eat, because you have to unhinge your jaw around the bone and nibble bits of meat off, and you end up absolutely stuffed after just two of the four. 4/10

D TIER:

Bacon: Bacon sucks. It’s the unhealthiest part of the pig, for one. And for another, it’s not even tasty. It tastes like grease. If you cook it for too long, it’s crumbly. If you don’t cook it long enough, it’s flimsy. If you somehow manage to time it to the microsecond and cook it perfectly, congrats! It’s still fucking shit. It tastes disapointing, and that is the worst crime. 3/10

Bologna: Be honest, have you ever enjoyed bologna? We all had the same pack in the fridge when we were kids, yellow backdrop and all. And there was always that one kid who for some reason wreaked of bologna?? It’s not even a strong smelling food like dude how did you end up like that??? Deli ham is superior. 2/10

Turkey: Why do we celebrate thanksgiving with a turkey. It sucks. It feels like a sad food. Even if it’s not the breast, even deli turkey sucks. You can taste the poor living conditions of the bird. 3/10

F TIER:

Hotdogs: Everyone looks at hotdogs in the store and thinks ‘wow hotdogs yum’, and they buy a pack, and when they get home, it’s always upsetting. It tastes like what’s in it, be it boiled steamed or fried, pig heart and cow liver. 2/10

Spam: Meat should not come in a can meat should not come in a can meat should not come in a can meat should 1/10

[pissvortex]

Buffalo NY has its own spin on pizza? Is it as overrated as the wings or does it actually warrant being it's own category? Feels like every population center with a number higher than 1M tries to sell you on good made "their" way. You freaks better not be making oily cornbread crust like the Chicagoans.

nobody in the world does it like Buffalo baby heaping pound of cheese and the thickest chewiest crust you’ve ever had in your life. there’s also sugar in the sauce and crust to make the whole thing sweeter but it actually compliments the savory really nicely so you don’t really notice it. the crisped pepperoni cups are undeniably the star of the show though, they pool grease inside of them like a little shot glass of cholesterol. insanely unhealthy but god damn does it taste good. objectively the best style of pizza, even - it’s everything chicago and detroit style pizza WISHES it could be. that soggy thin garbage in the rest of new york don’t hold up either you try to fold a slice of this in half you’re getting SLIMED like you’re at the kids choice awards. and their wings aren’t overrated, you’re just eating dogshit wings in hot sauce from a restaurant calling it “Buffalo Wings”. i bet you aren’t even dipping them in bleu cheese i bet you used ranch. sicko. nobody talk to me right now

[clairelutra]

just cooking things things i've picked up as i've started having fun in the kitchen again:

best rule of thumb for improv food-in-a-pan is "have i had a dish that combined these two things? did i like it?" answer to both should be yes, but if the first question is a no, refer to the second rule of thumb.

second rule of thumb is the nose knows. give everything a big sniff -- if it smells good together, you're (probably) golden. you're not necessarily not golden if you don't like what it smells like in the meantime, but you should probably know what you're doing otherwise in that case.

a bechamel sauce is made from a ratio of one tablespoon of butter to one tablespoon of flour to one cup of milk (multiply or divide as needed). melt the butter in the bottom of the pan, then add the flour and whisk for ~1-2 minutes, until it's light and bubbly, then add the milk and whisk continuously until it boils. turn off the fire AS SOON AS IT BOILS, or it'll curdle. (the texture will be ruined; it'll still be safe to eat, though, so if you're not aiming for perfection and fine with a little grittiness, you're fine.) from there, you can add spices/herbs (parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, dried onion, garlic powder are some of my faves; turmeric (yellow) and paprika (red) can be used for color too if you want), salt/pepper, grated cheese, whatever. a extremely basic cream sauce that can be used in casseroles, over pasta, over veggies, that kind of thing.

if you're breading something (that thing where you dunk meat/veggie/whatever in liquid and then breadcrumbs), coat the thing you're dunking in flour or cornstarch before dunking it in the liquid. the covering will hold together and stick way better.

if you want to thicken a sauce, both flour and cornstarch work. flour is grittier and opaque. cornstarch is smoother and gelatin-like. flour goes in the liquid just as is, is whisked through, and then stirred gently until it thickens. cornstarch needs to be stirred into roughly an equivalent amount of water before adding it to a hot sauce, and only thickens once the sauce is at a boiling point. the amount will depend on how thick you want it, how much sauce you have, etc. but a tablespoon of flour to a cup of liquid or a tablespoon of cornstarch to two cups of liquid are very roughly the sorts of ratios you're looking at.

chicken is juicier if you cook it quickly at high heat. red meat gets tender if you cook it slowly at a lower heat.

"deglazing" a pan is where you add a liquid after cooking something else (usually meat, but not necessarily) and use it to dissolve all the crusted/caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, which then can be used as (or used to make) a really nice sauce. common liquids are red or white wine or beef/chicken/vegetable stock. i like adding a little bit of butter at that stage too, but that's a me thing. doing it with, say, mushrooms or tomatoes (or both) is entirely possible, because they have a lot of liquid to give.

on adding wine to sauces or soups:

it adds a really lovely richness to them, do recommend.

the cheapest wine you can find (like the stuff that's <$5) is usually just fine.

MAKE SURE TO LET IT COOK OFF FOR AT LEAST A FEW MINUTES.

and this is by no means a hard-and-fast rule, but my inclinations are towards red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat.

---

worcestershire sauce. to not underestimate its Sheer Deliciousness. add to things like marinara or meatballs or meatloaf or gravy. amazing.

tofu can be pressed just fine without a press, just wrap it in paper towels or kitchen towels and put it between two plates orcutting boards, and weight the top half with like... whatever's lying around. cans from the pantry are traditional.

also, dunking slices of tofu in soy sauce and sprinkling it with garlic powder before frying it for a few minutes in a bit of oil has gotten voracious rave reviews in my household, so make of that what you will.

on garlic:

if you have a garlic press, not peeling the garlic before you put it in there will make it much less painful to clean out at the end -- just pull the husks free and clean from there.

if you need to chop it, smash the unpeeled cloves under the flat of your knife (or under a glass or whatever) and it'll make just fishing the husks out much easier -- chopping can happen from there

minced garlic is sold in jars and is much less strong than fresh garlic, but can be used just as well (i usually double or triple what's asked for -- it's not quite as delicious, but it works). if you're using a recipe that says to 'cook until fragrant', skip that step. with minced garlic, all you'll have are little rocks of Burned Bits.

they also sell pre-peeled garlic in most of the grocery stores i've been to. just putting that out there.

---

above all, cooking is the process of designing an experience that you and/or others will enjoy, and gain necessary fuel from. all of this is VERY much down to preference and what sorts of experiences you like. aim for that, and take everything else with a grain of salt.

[copperbadge]

I made pizzas this morning! I used the King Arthur Crispy Pan recipe, with the dough split in half to create slightly thinner (but still very detroit-style thick) crusts. On the left, your standard cheese pizza with Penzey’s “Salt free Italian” seasoning sprinkled on it; on the right, I used a pesto base instead of pizza sauce, then added chopped walnuts and pecans, then topped it with regular part-skim mozzarella, and on half as you can see added the most appallingly neon-yellow cheese I’ve seen in a minute. 

Cheesemakers in general seem to be enjoying fucking with Gouda lately and Trader Joe’s seems to have a buyer who enjoys fucked up cheese, which is how I ended up with this: 

It’s actually really good -- it’s very rich, and the lemon comes in as a strong but not unpleasant second wave of flavor. It’s rather like eating cheese drizzled in really good lemon olive oil. It gets a bit overpowered by the pesto on the actual pizza, but you still get a nice rich hint of it. 

Very unsettling color, though.

[ID: The top two images, which are just bog-standard photos of my pizza making process, have alt text; screen-reader users, I don’t think I’ll be going fully to alt-text but for multiple-image posts like this it might be useful, so please share your opinions on what you prefer, I’d love to hear. The bottom image is a wedge of Trader Joe’s Limoncello Gouda Cheese, which has a black wax rind and is a bright, vivid yellow that in person looks neon.]

[vaspider]

You get a lot of super heavy asks sometimes. I hope it's ok to ask some lighter questions for fun. I don't know why they're all food based. I think I'm just hungry haha.

Do you prefer jelly, jams, preserves, or marmalades? What's your favorite flavor of them?

I tried boysenberry jam the other day and it was...uh...a flavor for sure.

Do you like chunky or creamy peanut butter (if you eat peanut butter)? If you had to choose between a peanut butter and banana sandwich or a fluffernutter (marshmallow fluff and peanut butter for anyone wondering), which would you pick? PB/banana/honey/chia seeds is a personal favorite. I feel very bougie when I eat that lol.

What's your favorite pizza topping? Do you like NY style, thin crust, sicilian, deep dish, or pan pizza? Have you ever tried cauliflower crust pizza? I feel like we should just leave cauliflower alone before it gets a superiority complex. Also, why cauliflower crust? What about broccoli crust? Carrot crust? Parsnip? Potato? (Ooo not gonna lie, a hashbrown crust breakfast pizza could be delicious. Hashbrown crust, sun dried tomato sauce, sunny side up eggs, arugula, maybe some Canadian bacon, some cheddar cheese...I might be on to something here...).

Do you have a good challah bread recipe? Have you ever used challah to make French toast?

Eggs over easy, scrambled, sunny side up, poached, fried, soft boiled, or hard boiled? If scrambled, do you add milk? (I learned recently IHOP adds, of all things, pancake batter to their eggs to make them light and fluffy).

Favorite type of cheese?

Lastly, iced tea, lemonade, or fruit punch?

It depends on the fruit. Lemon curd is incredible, and a good Concord grape jelly (like real jelly not artificial flavor jelly) is really good. I used to always take the orange marmalade jar from the jams and jellies assortment that one of the car companies sent freelancers on the holidays, too. My favorite, though, is my mom's strawberry jam. I haven't had any in like 4 years, bc we don't live close enough to get any, and that makes me sad.

Again, it depends on the usage. For peanut butter cookies, chunky peanut butter. For sandwiches, creamy by preference, but chunky isn't the end of the world. Peanut butter/banana is pretty good but if I want salty/sweet with bananas, I'd prefer to split a banana in half lengthwise and put garlic hummus on it, then pile clover sprouts on that. It's crunchy/sweet/salty/green. Very nice flavor/texture contrast.

I like white pizza with grilled artichoke hearts and baby bella mushrooms. I used to really love ham and pineapple but for obvious reasons I don't eat that anymore. (I love flavor contrasts.)

I used to love thin crust, and it's my mom's favorite, but that doesn't work as well gluten-free. My favorite pizza type is the type I can eat. Except for Chicago deep dish, it's just not my thing.

Cauliflower crust is just fine. The reason for using cauliflower is that it has a very neutral taste and is low-carb and gluten free, which none of the other choices really are, not all 3. Hash browns actually make a really good pie crust for a gluten-free quiche; I make that every so often for dinner.

I have a couple of very average gluten-free challah recipes, and we usually buy ours from New Cascadia, a local bakery. Emet makes challah French toast out of the leftovers every week.

Over easy, soft or hard boiled, scrambled, sunny side up, poached... I just really like eggs. Buttermilk in scrambled eggs is really good, it gives the flavor a certain something. A little sharpness kind of like cheddar cheese does.

Favorite kind of cheese: the kind in my hand and about to be put in my mouth.

Lemonade. Iced tea just tastes like chewing a teabag after all the good tea has been brewed out of it, and the taste of fruit punch is heavily associated with being given fruit punch with aspartame in it as a child, getting migraines and throwing up, and then being told I'm "Being Dramatic" by adults. It tastes of gaslight, nausea and powerlessness. No thanks.

[novelconcepts]

Hi there could you please do #25 for dani and jamie ❤

playfully biting someone

The best part of a new relationship, Jamie reflects, is in all the little details. The strange quirks of a person you might never see until you begin dating them, until the hours spent in their company twist from nine to five to all bets are off. Getting to know someone’s body is grand; getting to know them, the heart of them, the truth of their day-to-day, is better.

She maybe hadn’t realized that, until Dani--but Dani is teaching her with every passing day just how much is waiting beneath the surface. There is, it seems, an endless supply of bizarre details to file away, each wreathing Dani in more charm than the last.

Dani, she’s learned, doesn’t like to drive--she’s tried exactly once, and spent the entire thirty-minute stretch drawn tight as a bowstring--but loves rolling down her window and letting a hand dangle in the breeze. She is great with a map, almost pathological at remembering radio stations, but frequently gets distracted by conversation and forgets to point out a necessary exit ramp. She is untrustworthy when left on snack duty in gas stations, constantly inclined to pick up a coffee or a bottled orange juice over water, but always seems to find the best chocolate in any given state.

Food, in general, proves particularly interesting. Dani thrills at the opportunity to introduce her to terrible fast food (”We have this,” Jamie says pointedly, as they pull into their first McDonald’s; “Not even close,” Dani says gleefully, and proceeds to order her a Happy Meal for the sheer joy of it). She is perhaps too invested in what sort of pizza Jamie considers the right kind (”Dunno,” Jamie says in a helpless tone, unaware that there are options. “The kind with, uh, sauce?”). There is, it appears, a right and wrong answer to crust width, cheese ratio, and toppings; the first time she orders pineapple, Jamie almost can’t bring herself to take a bite, she’s laughing too hard at the intense expression on Dani’s face. 

(“You are,” she proclaims, “ridiculous.”

“It’s good,” Dani insists, and there is no sign of a beast about her smile as she watches Jamie try the pinapple-and-bacon monstrosity and, grudgingly, admit defeat.)

She learns that Dani prefers movies at home to the theater, but makes an exception whenever a new action film comes out. Dani likes dancing, but doesn’t love strangers being able to see her do it; she’s self-conscious about her questionable rhythm, at least until Jamie leans close and murmurs that rhythm hasn’t been a problem yet, from where she’s standing. Dani likes old bookstores, new flea markets, ice cream parlors run by elderly couples who compliment her earrings. Dani likes America, as it turns out, with all its many oddities, and Jamie finds that affection infectious. She is rapidly coming to like America, too--at least, the America she’s offered through Dani’s eyes.

Dani is effervescent by daylight, chatting with strangers, eagerly returning stray footballs that land near her in the park to laughing children. She turns thoughtful when the rain rolls in, always at her moodiest when the sky grows pregnant with clouds that refuse to break open. She feels weird, she says, when the moon is nearly full, and she misses constellations whenever they pull up to a city, and there’s something about Midwestern manners she can’t seem to shake whether they’re in Miami or Detroit. 

She’s fascinating, and she’s complicated, and the good days hold just as many facets as the bad. Jamie is growing to love them all--the way Dani shrieks with laughter when tickled, and the way she grows somber at particular Paul Simon songs for no reason Jamie can understand. She loves the way Dani slips a hand beneath the hem of her shirt and holds on for dear life on long drives, her fingers skimming the edge of Jamie’s jeans. Loves how Dani can’t shower with the door closed, can’t sleep with it open, can never figure out the window latch in any given hotel room.

And she loves how Dani behaves with her alone. Not the sex--though that’s only getting better, Dani finding more confidence each time they come together; Jamie’s started to find herself pressed up against doors with unexpected strength, pushed down onto beds with her head spinning and Dani already getting to work--so much as the intimacy. They’re different, she’s learning. Different tiers of the same cake, maybe. Can’t have one without the other, not if it���s good, not if it’s with Dani. 

Sex comes easily, though it’s taken a little while for Dani to open back up again. When she does, the transition is absolute--no fear, no hesitation, her hands and lips and voice winding together to explain, If it’s just today, if I only have now, I need to be here. She doesn’t want to miss a moment, she says. Doesn’t want to let anything slip by. She wants to experience every inch of Jamie, and every inch of this country they’re exploring, and every inch of time won back from an unfair universe.

The intimacy--the way her hand always seems to find Jamie’s pocket, the way her forehead leans against Jamie’s back, the way she lets her foot press against the side of Jamie’s boot under a restaurant table--comes from the same place. That need to remember. That need to be here. If only for today, if only a little at a time, she can’t resist. 

Which brings her to the part of Dani Jamie thinks she likes best:

Dani’s absolutely unexpected need for attention. 

“Did you just--” She hesitates, wondering if she’s hallucinated. It’s such an odd little thing for Dani to have done, sprawled beside her on a motel bed. Such an odd thing, both of them with books open against bent knees and no conversation between them for half an hour. 

And still, she’s almost certain. More so, when Dani gives a guilty grin. 

“You bit me,” Jamie says, wonder in her voice. “Really?”

Dani doesn’t look particularly apologetic. “Missed you.”

“I’m right here,” Jamie says, unable to restrain the laughter in her voice. “You could, ah, initiate whenever you like.”

“Wasn’t about that.” Dani shrugs, small and clean in a post-shower sleep shirt and very little else. Jamie lays a finger between the pages of her book, closing the cover. 

“Was it a food thing, because I have never seen someone put away a burger that size, but I could always order--”

Dani laughs. “No, I just--wanted to.” She shakes her head, looking as though she’s surprised herself as much as Jamie with the simple act of leaning over and sinking her teeth gently into the curve of Jamie’s shoulder. “Didn’t even think about it. Just...felt like getting your attention.”

“You have it.” She always does, even when Jamie’s reading, or starting to doze off, or thinking about tomorrow’s leg of the journey. Somewhere underneath it all, the reliable heartbeat powering her day, she’s always thinking of Dani. That should frighten her. That should worry her very much--and yet, somehow, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. 

“I won’t do it again,” Dani says, “if you didn’t like it. It was weird, wasn’t it? Weird thing to do.”

“Very weird,” Jamie agrees. “You’re a bit of a weirdo, Dani Clayton. Dunno if I’ve pointed that out.”

Dani jostles her, shoulder to shoulder, and Jamie drops her book onto the nightstand. In truth, she loves that Dani is starting to do weird little things just to see what response she’ll get--loves that Dani doesn’t twist herself into knots, questioning an act, choosing instead to just go for it. It feels like the Dani she held in a hallway, hours before their lives had changed forever. 

“What are you doing?” Dani is giggling already, as Jamie curls against her side, nuzzling into her neck. 

“Returning the favor.”

“That--” Dani draws a sharp breath as Jamie finds a particularly sensitive spot and draws the skin between her teeth. “Um. That’s--not what I--”

She’s melting into the pillows, one hand cupped behind Jamie’s head. Her pulse is quickening, though she’s starting to laugh as Jamie rains tiny bites down the side of her throat, along the slope of one shoulder. The cotton of her t-shirt pulled between even teeth, Jamie leans back slightly, meeting her eyes. 

“Wanted my attention,” she says, the words garbled around shirt. “What d’you want me to do with it?”

“This,” Dani laughs, her eyes fluttering when Jamie releases the shirt and returns her mouth to the soft column of her neck. “This is, um. Working nicely.”

“Figured,” Jamie murmurs, letting one hand toy along the curve of Dani’s thigh. “I like it, you know.”

“This?” Dani’s head is casting back, offering more room to explore; her fingers wrap around Jamie’s, guiding her toward an end to this conversation, the beginning of a different kind of discussion altogether. Jamie smiles. 

“You. Doing weird shit just because. Biting my arm, or singing to me in the shower, or just...bein’ here. I like it. Like you.”

More than, she thinks. More than just like. It’s been true for weeks and weeks, maybe since the morning she’d tried to hold firm against pleading blue eyes in a greenhouse. Maybe. She’s more than liked the way Dani catches her gaze, brushes up against her, seeks out her attention for longer than she even knows what to do with. 

Too early to say so. Too early to scare Dani away. She’s getting brighter, getting more hopeful every day, but she still flinches from words like Christmas, like next year, like in a while. She wouldn’t cope well with Jamie telling her the truth just yet. 

Better to just do this. To learn the little details--the tiny stamp of intimacy on every step of this journey. To accept the just try it of pineapple on pizza, of dancing on moonlit beaches, of Dani’s teeth sinking into her shoulder for no reason at all. It’s better. It’s the best thing she’s ever done. 

There are so many details, with Dani. So many stories to learn, so many quirks to memorize. And there is always, at the end of the day, this: just Dani, in her bed. Just Dani, drawing shallow breaths, pulling her down into a hungry kiss as she urges Jamie to explore with eager hands. Just Dani, who wants her attention merely because it’s Jamie offering it up. 

Bit of a weirdo, she thinks, and thank fuck for that.