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atomtanned · 1 year ago

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🌹 atomtanned's Trait-Based Chemistry

I've used @lilbabydilljr's Turn-Ons & Turn-Offs for a while now, and I love that he added in 3t2 traits when calculating chemistry. I wanted to tweak it for my game, and I finally learned how to do so. This is a heavily-modified version of his mod, so most of the credit goes to him - I just added/removed traits and changed some images and text strings.

Like any mod that involves traits, this requires @hexagonal-bipyramid's Easy Inventory Check.

This is definitely the most involved BHAV editing I've done yet, so please let me know if you find any errors, as it's a bit hard to test in game.

UPDATE: If you use Clean UI (or any other UI mod that uses Clean UI as a base) this mod will need to load after. Or you can delete the turn-on images that are included with that mod.

UPDATE 2: @cityof2morrow let me know that this mod (and I believe any other custom turnon/turnoff mods) also conflict with NickM406's No More Loading the * Family mod. Thank you!!

✨ DOWNLOAD: SFS / PATREON / MF

I've included the full list of turn-ons/turn-offs below the Read More link. The original names of Dill's Turn-Ons are in parentheses where applicable. Please note that this list uses the original TS3 trait names for clarity, but there's recommendations for changed trait names below as well.

Adventurous: 3 vacations, Adventurous, Daredevil, Sailor

Alien: Trait, skin, eyes

Animal Lover: 2 pet friends, Animal Lover, Cat Person, Dog Person, Equestrian

Artistic: Artistic, Avant Garde, Photographer's Eye, Savvy Sculptor, Flower Arranging/Pottery/Sewing badge, Arts & Crafts hobby, Creative skill

Athletic: Athletic, Equestrian, Loves to Swim, Sports/Fitness hobby, Body skill

Charismatic: Born Salesperson, Charismatic, Flirty, Irresistible, Schmoozer, Star Quality, Charisma skill

Cultured (Bookish): Avant Garde, Bookworm, Film & Literature Hobby

Daydreamer (Dumb): Absent-Minded, Neurotic, Socially Awkward, Unstable, < 2 Logic Skill

Fitness/Fatness: no change from Maxis game behavior

Foodie: Natural Cook, Cuisine hobby, Cooking skill

Indoorsy (Gamer): Bookworm, Computer Whiz, Couch Potato, Hates the Outdoors, Film & Literature Hobby, Games Hobby

Infamous (Bad Rep): Negative Reputation, Evil, Mean-Spirited

Intellectual (Smart): Bookworm, Genius, Logic Skill

Laid Back (Slacker): Couch Potato, Mooch, Slob, Personality

Mechanical: Servo, Bot Fan, Computer Whiz, Handy, Vehicle Enthusiast, Robotics Badge, Tinkering hobby, Mechanical skill

Musical: Natural Born Performer, Star Quality, Virtuoso, Music & Dance hobby, Dance skill, Creativity skill

Occult: Werewolf, Plantsim, Bigfoot, Witch, Fairy, Mermaid

Outdoorsy: Angler, Green Thumb, Loves the Outdoors, Sailor, Gardening badge, Fishing badge, Nature hobby

Outgoing (Indoorsy): Friendly, Natural Born Performer, Party Animal, Social Butterfly

Plant Lover: Eco-Friendly, Gatherer, Green Thumb, Vegetarian, Flower/Gardening badge, Plantsim, Fairy

Rebellious (Baddie): Daredevil, Inappropriate, Kleptomaniac, Party Animal, Rebellious

Reserved (Timid): Disciplined, Loner, Proper, Shy, Unflirty, Personality

Serious (Productive): Brooding, Disciplined, Frugal, No Sense of Humor, Perfectionist, Workaholic

Stylish: Avant Garde, Diva, Irresistible, Cosmetology badge, Fashion interest

Tidy (Neat Freak): Neat, Cleaning skill, Personality

Undead: Ghost, Vampire, Zombie

Unique (Magic): Avant Garde, Childish, Eccentric, Insane, Loser

Well-Liked (Good Rep): Good reputation, Friendly, Good, Good Sense of Humor

I use updated trait names/descriptions for several traits, mostly to be more positive or less ableist, and those are what I had in mind when I made the chemistry changes above. A few I made myself, so those are included in the RAR in a separate folder, and I recommend getting the ones linked below too:

Childish > Young at Heart

Commitment Issues > Noncommittal (@equinoxts2)

Evil > Devious (@equinoxts2)

Good > Kind

Insane > Erratic (@dreadpirate)

Kleptomaniac > Sticky Fingers

Loser > Underdog

Neurotic > Anxious

Unstable > Indecisive (@equinoxts2)

#s2cc #ts2cc #dl: mods #atomtanned.package #ts2 mods #ts2 cc #sims 2

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therecordchanger62279 · 5 months ago

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THE BEST WRITTEN SONGS OF ALL-TIME

Because I have zero innate musical ability, the idea that someone can sit down with a musical instrument, and create an original song out of thin air is magic to me. Songwriting is a craft, but it’s inspiration that makes a good song into a great one. There are songwriters who seem able to turn out high quality songs in perpetuity. There are others who write maybe one or two great songs, and are never heard from again. So, I made a list of what I think are the 50 best written songs I’ve ever heard. These are in no particular order. I’ve listed the title followed by the songwriter or songwriters, and in parentheses is the performer I most enjoy hearing do the song – although most of these songs have been recorded countless times by a variety of artists. You can probably find all of these on YouTube or any of the streaming services. Most have lyrics, but some do not. But, it’s hard for me to imagine any of these songs being recorded by anyone with talent, and not retaining the brilliance with which the song was written.

Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy (Eugene Ormandy & The Philadelphia Orchestra)

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (Zubin Mehta & The New York Philharmonic, Gary Graffman, piano)

A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke (Sam Cooke)

Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn (Loretta Lynn)

Hello Walls by Willie Nelson (Faron Young)

I Left My Heart In San Francisco by George Cory and Douglass Cross (Tony Bennett)

God Bless The Child by Arthur Herzog, Jr. and Billie Holiday (Billie Holiday)

Eleanor Rigby by Paul McCartney and John Lennon (The Beatles)

Blind Willie McTell by Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan)

A Remark You Made by Wayne Shorter (Weather Report)

She’s Always a Woman by Billy Joel (Billy Joel)

Roll Me Away by Bob Seger (Bob Seger)

Margie’s At the Lincoln Park Inn by Tom T. Hall (Bobby Bare)

Angel From Montgomery by John Prine (Bonnie Raitt and John Prine)

Rainy Night in Georgia by Tony Joe White (Brook Benton)

You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry (Chuck Berry)

Where or When by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Dion and The Belmonts)

American Pie by Don McLean (Don McLean)

It Was a Very Good Year by Ervin Drake (Frank Sinatra)

Gentle On My Mind by John Hartford (Glen Campbell)

Early Morning Rain by Gordon Lightfoot (Gordon Lightfoot)

Book of Rules by Harry Johnson and Barry Llewellyn (The Heptones)

Highwayman by Jimmy Webb (The Highwaymen)

American Music by Ian Hunter (Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson)

That’s Entertainment by Paul Weller (The Jam)

Song of Bernadette by Leonard Cohen (Jennifer Warnes)

Jazzman by Carole King and David Palmer (Carole King)

Talking Back to The Night by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings (Steve Winwood)

My Favorite Things by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (John Coltrane)

Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home by Joe South (Joe South)

Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down by Kris Kristofferson (Kris Kristofferson)

Heart Like a Wheel by Anna McGarrigle (Linda Ronstadt)

I Am a Town by Mary-Chapin Carpenter (Mary-Chapin Carpenter)

Footprints by Wayne Shorter (Miles Davis Quintet)

Pleasant Valley Sunday by Gerry Goffin and Carole King (The Monkees)

This Old Town by Jon Vezner and Janis Ian (Nanci Griffith)

Brooklyn Roads by Neil Diamond (Neil Diamond)

Thrasher by Neil Young (Neil Young & Crazy Horse)

Box of Rain by Robert Hunter and Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead)

Is That All There Is? By Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (Peggy Lee)

Louisiana 1927 by Randy Newman (Randy Newman)

King of the Road by Roger Miller (Roger Miller)

America by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)

The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)

Children’s Crusade by Sting (Sting)

My Girl by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White (The Temptations)

Green, Green Grass of Home by Claude “Curly” Putnam, Jr. (Tom Jones)

Downtown Train by Tom Waits (Tom Waits)

The Whole of The Moon by Mike Scott (The Waterboys)

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys by Sharon Vaughn (Willie Nelson)

#songwriting

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ripflemeth · 2 years ago

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Cheeses of Thedas

From the Dragon Age fan who brought you Wines of Thedas, I now have some cheeses that you can pair them with! I love love love the cultures and climates of Thedas and dreamed up these cheeses to make the world feel a little richer, so feel free to use them in your writing and worldbuilding.

In parentheses, I included the Real World cheese the Thedas head canon was inspired by, when applicable.

Enjoy!

Ferelden Cheeses

Gwaren chumlavi (norwegian brunost) - This semi-hard cheese is mild, a little tangy, and a little sweet. It is made on the island off the coast of Gwaren in southern Ferelden. Local cheese-mongers boil a mixture of milk, cream and whey until the milk sugars into caramel, giving the cheese its characteristic brown color. Local legend claims it was a favorite of the dwarves who traded with the outpost during the Divine Age. In recent history, it is a favorite staple in the diets of fishermen and sailors who traverse the Frozen Sea, as it travels well and can be sliced easily to add to bread or hardtack.

Ceodre (cheddar) - A hard, off-white cheese, named after the small village it originates from in the Highever region, where a number of caves maintain the humidity and temperature needed for maturing the cheese. Delightfully sharp in flavor, its popularity has let to its spread across the southern countryside and has become a favorite on Ferelden farmsteads. In Orlais, the cheese is similarly loved, but not wanting to be associated with the palate of dog-lords, the Orlesians claim the cultures originated in the caves outside Montsimmard and call it "grottes fromage" or simply "grottes" which translates as "cave cheese.”

Marcher Cheeses

Minanter Cheese (emmental) - Whereas most cheeses are made into 10 or 20 pound cheese wheels, this particular cheese, crafted in the dank river valley between Starkhaven and Ansburg, is made in 200 pound wheels. The many tolls running up and down the Minanter charge per item, so bigger cheese wheels are more affordable. The size of these giant wheels of cheese is a popular amongst marcher city states, and in Ostwick the greased cheese wheels are used in races and competitions. The cheese itself is hard and the inside is riddled with holes, a by-product of the fermentation process. It has a mild flavor and melts easily when cooking.

Damsleigh (brie) - A soft cow's-milk cheese, pale in color with a rind of white mold. This cheese is crafted by monks who live at a monastery outside Damsleigh, a small town in the Planasene Forest at the base of the Vimmark Mountains. It is said that when the Qunari invaded cities along the Waking Sea, brothers from the monastery took to the mountains, hiding out in caves. One monk, Brother Florence, had the foresight to hide away the monastery's stock of cheese wheels, and his thoughtfulness kept the monks from being driven from hiding by their starvation.

Nevarran Cheese

Fortnight (fromager d'affinois) - Similar to damsleigh in production and appearance, this soft cheese is produced by a secular cheesemaker based out of the city of Cumberland. Using milk from cows that pasture north of the city, the milk is richer and creamier than its damsleigh counterpart. Added to that, the production process heats the milk until a substantial amount of water evaporates out, making the cheese creamier still. While fortnight has a more intensive process to make it, the resulting cheese is made much quicker, in a mere fourteen days, which is where this rich delicacy gets its name.

Antivan Cheeses

Rialto (provolone) - The region that runs along the Rialto Bay and its most immediate trade routes is the home to a stretched-curd cheese that is a staple at tables and trade ports alike. Along the Minanter, in the eastern-most Marches, the cheese is called rialto dolce for its sweet and mild taste, but along the river valley that stretches between Seleny and Antiva City the rialto piccante varieties have a sharp flavor. Within Antiva, if you ask for "cheese," you will most assuredly be served this rialto variety without a second thought, but outside of the region it is referred to exclusively as "rialto cheese" and is sought after in palaces from Minrathous to Denerim. Pedaggio (munster) - Cattle herders who live in the steppe north of Seleny, in Antiva, will migrate south towards the river valley each summer to graze their herds in the lush and humid subtropical region. They return to the grassland plains with their herds to overwinter for the rainy months, and in the cool of cellars they craft and age a cheese that is very soft, very strong and requires vigilance. The uncooked, raw milk is cultured into cheese wheels that are washed regularly in a brine as they age in the damp and cool cellars of these winter homes. When the herders travel south for grazing season once again, they use the cheese as a toll for the Merchant Prince of Seleny, and that is where the cheese derives its name ('pedaggio' meaning 'toll' in Antivan). These cheese wheels are traded up and down the Antivan river valley for considerable sovereigns that rarely see their way back to the steppe herdsmen.

Orlesian Cheeses

Bosquet (limburger) - Cultivated in a monastery deep within the forests that lie between the rivers north of Val Foret, this cheese saw a rise in popularity after a folk tale arose about its use resisting the Tevinter occupation. As the legend goes, a local folk hero on the run from soldiers took shelter in the monastery, and the monks hid her in the cheese cellar. The smell was so pungent that the Tevinter soldiers passed by the cellar, leaving the monastery, and its hidden occupant, in peace. Bosquet is a rind washed soft cheese made from raw cow's milk. It has a crumbly texture and softens the longer it ages. After its third month of aging, it starts to give off a pungent odor that smells like feet. It is popular amongst Orlesian loyalists. Perdu (muenster) - Introduced to Orlais by the cook for an Antivan princess who married an Orlesian Grand-Duke. The Antivan princess arrived to Val Royeaux with a wheel of the coveted pedaggio as part of her dowry and begged her new husband's cook to try and recreate it. After years of trial and error, she found an acceptable imitation of the beloved pedaggio cheese. Upon tasting it, the Grand-Duke renamed it "perdu" for having found what once was lost. Despite the enthusiasm of its reception, this cheese has little in common with its Antivan counterpart. It is made from pasteurized cow's milk. The cheese itself is pale in color, mild in flavor, and smooth in texture. Its orange rind is attributed to the blood lotus used to add a rich and colorful note to cheeses such as grottes. Souscendre aux Lueur - Cheesemakers in southern Orlais, drawn to the luminescent properties of deep mushrooms, use the blue fungus as a crucial ingredient in this glow-in-the-dark cheese. The cheese itself is a soft cows milk cheese interspersed with flecks of this particular strain of deep mushroom and rubbed with a deep mushroom oil. It tastes slightly sweet with hints of unami from the mushrooms. Commonly referred to simply as “souscendre” or under ash, this cheese gets its name from the coating of beech ash mixed with dried herbs and spices that form the dark rind which locks in the flavor and light while preserving the cheese's freshness. When sliced into, the food will illuminate a five foot radius with a blue glow for up to an hour for each cut made (subsequent slices can increase the glow up to a 15 foot radius). In order to gain any substantial stamina gains from the cheese, one would have to consume such a quantity that it would not be advisable, but that does not stop cheese mongers and adventurers alike from making claims to its bolstering affects. Snow-Favored Cheese (gruyère) - In the caves of the Frostback basin, the Avvar craft this cheese that has been a staple since the founding of Stone-Bear Hold. An excellent melting cheese for use in quiches, soups and fondues, it is sought after in trade, and often gets called the erroneous name "Snow-Flavored Cheese" for the mild flavor of its less-aged variants. The cheese tastes sweet, creamy and slightly nutty when young, then becomes more earthy, and complex as it matures. Virelay (epoisses) - Before the dawn of the Divine Age, when Emperor Drakon was uniting all of Orlais under his banner, he sacked the village of Virelay and razed it to the ground, leaving no survivors of the heretical cult known as The Daughters of Song that lived there. The cult had been a hedonistic one and hosted a yearly festival to celebrate gluttony and lustful desires, and one of the only surviving products of that town was a cheese that was so delicious that visitors to the annual festival kept making it in nearby towns. While the town was never rebuilt, the story of the cult lives on, and is passed down from one cheese maker to another.

The cheese itself is made through a time intensive and difficult process, including washes in both brine and brandy, but the finished cheese is like none other, with a custardy creamy center that is so runny it is recommended one eat it with a spoon.

The etymology of virelay has morphed over the centuries, and where once the Orlesian word was associated with wanton hedonism, it now carries a connotation of abstinence and patience, with the connotation of "worth waiting for." The small cheese wheels are sold in round wooden boxes with the emblem of two naked women dancing under grape vines seared onto the cover.

Rivaini Cheeses

Caws Cynrhon (casu marzu) - A traditional Llomerryn sheep milk cheese. It is fermented by maggot larvae who decompose the cheese with their digestive action, resulting in a very soft cheese that seeps liquid when pressed. It is often served sliced atop open face sandwiches alongside Llomerryn red sauce. The cheese is considered spoiled once the maggots have died and is to be consumed with live larvae that appear as translucent white worms, typically thousands per wheel of cheese. Considered an aphrodisiac, because the worms can jump out of the cheese when disturbed, diners hold their hands over their sandwiches while dining to prevent the maggots from jumping off the plate.

Orzammar Cheeses

Brochalavi (bronto-milk cheese) - The bronto's slow reproduction cycle and long nursing period lead to a sweet and watery milk that is used to make this cheese. Brochalavi has several versions, all of which utilize bronto rennet. The fresh curds taste mostly bland, slightly sweet, and have a soft and bouncy texture. The brochalavi that is aged a matter of weeks is often used as a vehicle for other flavors and ingredients such as syrups, mushrooms, and dried surface foods. The brochalavi that is aged for years is crafted with an additional bacteria; it is kept in cheese caves where it ripens into a pungent and nutty cheese. This aged variety originates in Orzammar, where dwarves pair it with the best ales, and it even finds its way to the surface as a rare and highly sought after trade item in upper class homes from Halamshiral to Minrathous.

Note from the author:

If you’d like to use these cheeses in your fanfic writing or DA roleplay, feel free to do so. You don’t have to credit me, but if you want to, you can tag me bc I’d really get a kick out of seeing them in action!

♡ ♡ ♡ Many thanks to all my friends who had fun brainstorming these with me or giving me prompts that led to these creations.

#dragon age #foods of thedas #dragon age worldbuilding #dragon age headcanon #my writing #kitty speaks

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moonlitwing · 6 years ago

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Throwing Vases

Looking for a fun 'couples activity', Barbara and Nomura take a pottery class.

Post-canon, except the Heartstone either wasn't destroyed or was restored, so the trolls never left Arcadia Oaks. After the Battle of Eclipse, the humans of Arcadia Oaks knows about trolls and Changelings, so Strickler and Nomura and Not Enrique (and Jim!) are able to live openly on the surface. (Changelings are immune to sunlight even in troll form and Jim is using the sunlight-immunity stone in his amulet.) Barbara and Strickler tried dating again for a while but broke up amicably. Barbara and Nomura have been casually dating for a while and recently became exclusive.

–Italicised text between hyphens– indicates text messages. (Emojis) are described in parentheses.

Story cross-posted on [AO3] and [FFnet]

–I know you're more interested in collecting pottery than making it, but I thought this might be something fun to do as a couple.–

Nomura followed the link Barbara had texted her to a digital flyer from a local pottery studio, offering classes on Thursday evenings for six weeks.

There were essentially two ways to make pottery: handbuilding, which was self-explanatory, and throwing, where the project was crafted while being spun on a pottery wheel. The first three weeks of class would be devoted to handbuilding, and the final three to working with wheels.

–It would be nice to have a standing date night. (heart)– Nomura texted back.

–I'll sign us up?–

–Go ahead. (smiley face)–

–(smiley face)(heart)(blown kiss)– –Done and done; and look, I found a vase emoji! (vase)–

–That's an amphora. They were used in Ancient Greece to store and transport food such as grain, fish, or olive oil. And especially wine (champagne flutes clinking)–

–(heart-eyed smiley face) You are so smart.–

Barbara had blocked the time off in her schedule, although they both half-expected her to be called away regardless. Nomura was the only troll in the studio, which did not surprise her. Most trolls and Changelings only appreciate ceramics as a snack food.

Another woman, likely the teacher since she had the studio's name on her shirt and was wearing a nametag, gave Nomura an assessing look when they came in and approached immediately with a frown.

Barbara's hand tightened around Nomura's. Nomura itched to draw her khopesh – except she didn't just carry her swords everywhere anymore.

"You need to wear shoes in the studio, ma'am. I'm not sure how that works with – hooves," gesturing at Nomura's cloven feet, "but it's policy everyone has to wear shoes or boots."

Nomura blinked. She was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, rather than her usual dress, and had tied her hair back, but footwear had simply not occurred to her. None of the, admittedly few, businesses she'd patronized since getting stuck in troll form had enforced a 'no shoes, no service' policy on her, regardless of what the signs on their doors proclaimed.

"I keep a spare pair of runners in my car," offered Barbara, "you know, in case I'm out wearing heels or sandals and then have to go to work. But I don't know if they'd fit you."

Barbara's sneakers did not, in fact, fit Nomura. They ended up missing their first class to shoe shop. In positive news, they found a pair of towering wedge-heeled boots that worked with Nomura's unique foot shape and, so Barbara claimed, were "amazingly sexy".

Class 1 had been simply to get the students used to the materials, tools, and layout of the studio. Nomura didn't feel like they had missed much by not getting to carve and etch into flat clay squares.

For Class 2, they were making shallow dishes.

"Ash trays used to be a common project for beginners," said Jenny, the instructor, "but if you don't smoke, and still want something more practical than a display dish, you might consider making a spoon holder." She held one up. It was round and flat-bottomed, with short walls and a divot on one side. "You can keep it in your kitchen by the stove, to put a spatula or large spoon down while you're cooking without getting whatever's on it on the counter."

Barbara's hands clenched, squishing the clay through her fingers. Nomura carefully bumped elbows with her. Barbara looked up and blinked away some tears.

"You okay?" Nomura whispered.

"Yeah," Barbara insisted. "I just … You know I don't cook much."

"Well, maybe having a new gadget in the kitchen will inspire you."

"Gadget." Triumph; Barbara laughed. "That's an exaggeration."

For Class 3, they made coil pots. Nomura kept making her clay 'snake' too long and having it tear in half as she worked with it. The difference in the thickness and texture of her fingers in troll form compared to human form never felt as obvious as when she tried to do something delicate. At least her stone skin was easier to wash the smudges of clay from than human skin was.

"I think the trick is to use shorter sections and blend them together at the ends?" said Barbara. She was making little spirals of clay and sticking them together, with grand ambitions of crafting a fruit bowl.

"Or give up and call the ragged bits an artistic choice."

"I thought you were planning to smooth out the sides when you were done?"

"I changed my mind. I'm putting too much work into this to just erase the evidence."

"You're cute when you growl."

Nomura froze for a second, and then growled again, far more playfully.

The first lesson with a pottery wheel was a simple one: to centre the clay and pull a cylinder.

Once Nomura accomplished that, she squashed her clay back into a blob and tried again, until she could do it with ease. Then she took her cylinder off the wheel and used the handbuilding skills from past lessons to add handles and embellishments, turning it into the mug that was this week's assignment.

"Can any of your glazes withstand an intense scouring process?" she asked Jenny.

"… You mean a dishwasher?" the human asked.

"I mean a harsh antibacterial soap." Nomura looked to make sure Barbara wasn't listening. She was safely across the studio, testing the different speeds of the wheel and reshaping her cylinder abstractly. "I'm hoping Barbara could take this mug to work when it's done, and she works at a hospital, so it absolutely has to be sanitized."

"Mm … Clay being porous, I'd have to advise against anything made here being used in a hospital setting, even with a glaze. I'm sorry."

–Sorry, babe, I'm just not going to get out of work in time. Have fun for both of us tonight?–

–It's no fun without you.–

–You're sweet. But go anyway.– –Make something to surprise me with. (winking smiley face)–

The final project was a covered bowl or a jar with a lid.

"Let's try to make ours the same size," Barbara suggested. "That way we can use the lids interchangeably."

"Sure." Making them as a set would be nice; something they could use 'together' by swapping the lids even if Barbara's bowl stayed at her house and Nomura's bowl stayed in her apartment.

Of course, that meant their project took longer, since they had to keep swapping and adjusting everything, but that meant they got to work together instead just alongside each other.

"You can pick your projects up next week," Jenny promised, when the jars and bowls and lids were taken away to be glazed and fired, and the classes were officially over.

Barbara held onto Nomura's shoulder to keep herself upright as she laughed. A box of nearly-broken pottery sat before them. Each item was in one piece, but each piece was technically non-functional.

Nomura's ceramics, nested safely in another box, had turned out fine. Barbara's had … not.

"I can't believe every single one of my projects cracked in the kiln! I mean, I can believe it, I do, but, wow. Even when it's not food, I cannot bake!"

"Just say the word and I'll eat the evidence," Nomura promised, purely to hear Barbara laugh even harder. Once her girlfriend regained her composure, Nomura suggested, "We should sign up for a painting class next."

#Nomura #Dr Barbara Lake #Trollhunters #Tales of Arcadia #fanfiction #Barbmura #short story

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tglifestyle · 6 years ago

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This year my husband and I have ventured into the world of craft cocktails. We fell in love with a local place here in Atlanta called The Lawrence, where their mixologists craft perfectly balance and mixed drinks, using quality ingredients. It’s fun to try new drinks, and get out of the old vodka tonic rut. It’s also fun to learn what works together and what doesn’t, as well as shopping for new ingredients. We recently stocked up on a variety of bitters from 18.21 Bitters at Ponce City Market, as well as other essential cocktail ingredients like Aperol, Campari, and Luxardo.

I noticed that at several of the cocktail bars we’ve been to they used a different type of cherry – one that had a nice, boozy flavor and not the typical neon colored maraschino cherry. I learned that the cherries were Luxardo cherries, made with Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, which is also an ingredient I noticed in some cocktails.

Cherries are out in full force at the grocery stores here, so I picked up a bag and decided that I was going to make my own Luxardo Cherries. First, I’ve mentioned before that you don’t need a special tool to pit cherries – that I usually do it with my chef’s knife. Well, I decided to spend $12 on a cherry pitter and let me tell you – it’s a life changer! I went to town on that bag of cherries and had them pitted in no time.

Invest in a cherry pitter – it’s worth it!

After reviewing several recipes on the Internet for boozy cherries, I went with the recipe below. Next time I make them, I’m going to reduce the amount of cinnamon – I don’t think they need much – and up the vanilla as well as the lemon juice. The recipe below is as I made them, and I’ve indicated in parentheses the changes I recommend. I made enough for 2 jars, which should keep in the fridge for several weeks. I didn’t see a need to “can” them using sterile jars and heat sealing the lids. Maybe if I was making a large batch to store or hand out as gifts, I’d do that but for our general use I didn’t think it was necessary.

I’m hoping that the longer they sit in the fridge, the better they’ll taste. We used them about 48 hours after I made them and they tasted fine, but I think they could taste even better, with some tweaking of the recipe as well as just marinading in the refrigerator.

Boozy Cherries

1 lb cherries, pitted and stems removed (I kept the stems on just a few of them) 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon lemon juice (next time I’m using 2 tablespoons) 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (next time I’m only using 1/4 teaspoon – or skipping altogether) 2 teaspoons vanilla (next time I’m using 1 tablespoon) 3/4 cup Luxardo liqueur

Dissolve the sugar in water in a medium size sauce pan over medium heat, then stir in the lemon juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Let this cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes – don’t allow it to burn, but keep it at a nice low boil/simmer. Add the cherries and allow to simmer for 1 minute then turn off the heat and let them rest in the warm liquid for 15 minutes. Stir in the Luxardo, and allow to come to room temperature. Carefully spoon the cherries into a couple of glass jars, then top with the liquid. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

As I did, go ahead and experiment with the recipe and tweak it to your taste. But don’t, under any circumstances, skip the Luxardo!

Boozy Cherries This year my husband and I have ventured into the world of craft cocktails. We fell in love with a local place here in Atlanta called…

#cherries #cocktail cherries #cocktails #craft cocktails #luxardo #luxardo cherries #maraschino cherries

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