#wine tasting for beginners

[winemastery]

Camino del Angel Cabernet Sauvignon - worth buying? (Episode 412)

[kansasjustgotgayer]

I wish i could have fancy cheese blocks…..

[carlos-in-glasses]

I've finished knitting my second jumper! It's the Step-by-Step Sweater by Florence Miller - and is perfect for beginners like me. There's also a YouTube tutorial that runs through the whole process. I absolutely loved working on this and am so pleased with the result. I learned how to knit a jumper in the round, do raglan increases and German short row shaping, which wasn't anywhere near as complex as I thought it would be. The yarn is Sirdar's jewelspun. (Although in the video I helpfully pronounce it as Sidar, which is in fact the name of a restaurant I won a voucher for during a raffle at a wine tasting like a HUGE YUPPIE. But I'm exhausted and making all sorts of weird litttle mistakes.)

Anyway! I can't believe this is a thing that exists! Definitely my favourite thing made so far. I think the next thing I knit will be some knee warmers for my mum, which she has requested in dark green! But I'm excited to knit more jumpers that maybe include some new stitches to learn.

[onyourhyuck]

Light Weight. | L.DH

— Prologue: “You know, you don’t have to drink with me if you can’t handle it.”

— Summary: One difference between you and your boyfriend Lee Donghyuck. You’re a lightweight, and he’s a wine-lover.

— Genre: Fluffy, romance, slightly suggestive overall nothing too smutty. established relationship. boyfriend!donghyuck. fem reader. mention of wine, mention of having dinner late at night.

— Notes:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Your boyfriend works late hours which often results in him having late dinner, but you love having dinner with your boyfriend so whenever you can’t you’d wait for him and have dinner when he gets home.

He told you many times to not do that but you really enjoy having dinner with a bit of company, I mean who doesn’t right?

Donghyuck sat there in front of the tv with his plate of food and you next to him eating your plate. You’re starving honestly but you wanted to wait for him and there wasn’t a single regret to your decision.

He made you feel safe and well honestly you love eating and having conversations with him. Donghyuck has loads of stories to tell you, he’s always been a social butterfly.

You’re the listener in your relationship but ironically you don’t like to take his advice sometimes. You like to do your own thing and learn from it.

“Eat up Y/n. You really don’t need to wait for me just to eat.” He says with a slight tormenting nagging but he lessens it down. He doesn’t have the energy to scold you much today.

You roll your eyes a little as you took a bite of your food. You told him not to make it seem like he’s the reason, well, technically he is a little bit of the reason. But you would do this with anyone too.

At the end of the day it’s your decision when you eat.

“You too, eat up. Why haven’t you touched your food yet?” You’d ask raising your head until your boyfriend smiles sheepishly taking out a bottle.

Your eyebrows furrow as you saw the label ‘wine’ on it and Donghyuck would open it with twisting the wrist to get the wine bottle off the top. Once it did get off your boyfriend pours himself a glass. It was red wine and that’s necessarily his favourite one, him and Johnny would always go to these wine tasting events and he shares a big love for alcohol overall.

But he doesn’t drink excessively everyday. He usually drinks on special occasions or hanging out occasions.

Sometimes it surprises you how much he actually loves wine. He’s very passionate about it.

You’re not the best drinker, you’ll be honest. You don’t even know the difference between alcoholic beverages so that alone makes you a blank canvas. But that’s why you have Lee Donghyuck to help you out. He once said Wine isn’t the best beginner friendly drink.

“Wine?” You retort seeing your boyfriend take a large sip from the wine glass. Donghyuck smiles. “Mhhm. I got it as a gift thought I’d try it out with dinner.”

He continues as he took a bite of his food. He was multitasking between the plate and the wine glass. You smile seeing him happy every time he takes a bite of his food and then right after drinking the wine, he looked happy, as if he was relaxing now.

You softly stroke his back lovingly smiling and he smiles back at you. You’re eating in peace together and he lets your hands roam his body as you eat with your free hand.

“You know — if you didn’t work the job you do currently. I’d assume you’d make a good wine taster.” Your words left Donghyuck smiling ear to ear at your sudden playfulness.

He chuckles. “I reckon I’d give them the run for their money honestly. This wine I’ve got here helps with insomnia too.” He points turning the wine around checking the ingredients on the back.

You couldn’t help but become curious so you bring your empty glass next to him suddenly and Donghyuck looks at you.

“Pour me some of the wine, I’d like to taste it.” You wonder if he likes it so much you might like it too. Donghyuck hums pouring you a little wine because he knew you can’t handle the same amount as he can, he cares for your well-being.

At least a little more careful about your well-being than yourself. You bring the glass forward with the red liquid swirling it and you smell it from above, instantly you felt a gush of aroma strike your nose.

Donghyuck quietly laughs at your reaction. “Don’t smell it and drink it instead. It tastes better than it smells.”

You warily take a large sip which you didn’t plan evenly and swallowed the wine. Your boyfriend’s watchful eyes were observing you and he somehow knew from the way your eyebrows raise up and scrunch down later that you disliked it.

But somehow you couldn’t stop but finish it the entire drink, even though you hated it. You don’t like to waste anything so you might as well finish the rest he gave you.

“Ugh…” you let out as you put the glass down. You chugged your wine.

Donghyuck let’s out surprised as he turns around to see your glass empty. You were quick enough to take a bite of your food to dim down your stomach that’s burning up.

“Hey, Y/n did you just chug down your wine?” He breathlessly asked you and you stare at him nodding confused. “Yeah, were you not meant to do that?”

Your boyfriend tilts his head sighing. “No… but— no matter. Eat more it will help balance the drink you just had.” He suggests as he takes a sip of his own wine, he should’ve watched you more when you’re drinking sometimes you don’t know the limit you can take and just go past it.

You smile becoming awfully happy. Somehow that wine cheers you up. Any alcohol actually.

“Can I have more actually? It tastes pretty nice.”

Donghyuck looks over grabbing the bottle. “Yeah? I’d take that as a compliment but be careful with this okay?” He’d pour you a little more in your glass. “And don’t chug — it. It’s meant to be sipped.”

You nod taking a note of your boyfriend’s words. You taste a sip of the wine and you cheese out your smile. It really did taste good.

The more you taste it anyways, the first sip was probably the one you had to get used to so you could like the rest of it.

“You know, you don’t have to drink with me if you can’t handle it.”

He saw how later on you’ve started becoming slightly less aware of your consciousness and you were becoming a little more touch on the end with the more drinks you’ve been having. But thankfully you haven’t blacked out. Once you went out to drink with Donghyuck and your friend group including Mark and Jungwoo — you and Jungwoo were blacking out. You were on the worse end of the stick though. Unlike Jungwoo, you can’t even handle a single shot of soju with the boys.

You turn around going closer and suddenly pecking your boyfriend’s lips softly enough to stun the man in front of you as he was facing you. “I want to. I want to do things with you, plus, I’m at home with you. It’s okay for me to drink with my boyfriend.” You smile.

He strokes your hair from behind closing the space between you and sighing as you got him there with your words. It’s not going to be the end of the world if you drink a little more than your limit at home. “You’re awfully touchy when you’re drunk.” He retorts and you pout.

“I’m not drunk.”

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow. “Baby you chugged a whole glass of wine that’s meant to be sipped. You’re definitely drunk.”

You turn around. “Nahuh. Look I’m okay see.” You point to yourself and he looks you up and down tilting his head.

“Okay… then let’s see how long you keep your hands to yourself. If you’re not drunk it’s going to be easy.” You somehow felt yourself loosening from his hold and for a while you both ate and spoke but the urge to put your hand on Donghyuck’s lap or put your head on his shoulders, or even to kiss your boyfriend’s lips.

It was getting stronger with the amount of wine you drink and somehow you break down eventually sneakily putting your hand on his lap looking away with a flush to your cheeks.

Okay maybe you’re a little tipsy. But you’re definitely not full on drunk. Only a little tipsy.

Donghyuck smirks as he saw you finally touch him and looking at the time on his phone. He sighs condescending eyeing you. “Took you about twenty minutes until you’ve touched me.” You trail murmuring. “Don’t tease me about it, can’t I have my boyfriend’s affection?”

His eyes glued on you he pat on his lap motioning you to come over. If you really want his affection you could’ve said so without arguing with him and you without a hesitation move on his lap resting there, planting a kiss on his forehead, then his cheek and then his lips.

He lays back with you on top resting there, returning your soft kiss back before seeing the redness on your face from the wine you been drinking.

You really glow differently when you drink, somehow makes you look more alive too. But a lot more touchy and bold.

You close your eyes and your face rests on his shoulders humming softly. Donghyuck couldn’t help but think you’re ready to fall asleep and black out on him right there and then.

And you did, you really went to sleep.

But your boyfriend didn’t complain he was just admiring your peaceful face when he slept, sighing at you. He knew you’d do this.

“You’re such a light weight, Y/n.”

[spacefruitpress]

We definitely have some selections for you!

Check out our back catalogue @ spacefruitpress.com

i need more gay love stories y’all. just read if we were villains and am absolutely living for that. any recommendations? gay fiction, gay fantasy, gay dark academia .. (this includes lesbian, bisexual, etc ..) pls <3

[planet4546b]

all mirages cast real shadows.

kentucky route zero, 2013-2020/georgia o'keeffe, twilight canyon, lake powell, utah, 1964, todd webb/the archive of alternate endings, lindsey drager/house of leaves, mark z. danielewski/sunset, matthew cusick/letters from the hole, everything everything/the museum at purgatory, nick bantock/kentucky route zero, 2013-2020/andrei tarkovsky on the set of the sacrifice, unknown/heart: the city beneath, grant howitt and christopher taylor/the forgetting room, nick bantock/urge to mean (anything) ii, leo wijnhoven/in the dream house, carmen maria machado/kentucky route zero, 2013-2020/the beginner's guide, 2015/underdark: plein air paintings from caves, tomas honz/colossal cave adventure, willie crowther and don woods/season: a letter to the future, 2023/software greatman, everything everything/invisible cities, italo calvino/annihilation, jeff van der meer/the beginners guide, 2015/where the water tastes like wine, 2018/the unfortunates, b.s. johnson/house of leaves, mark z. danielewski/the painting that includes all paintings, richard siken/waiting for godot, samuel beckett

[p1nkcanoe]

I wish you would write a fic where Swiss acts like even more of a freak with his guitar

okay i know you said his guitar, but he's had his eyes on rain's bass for a while...

i only have eyes for you

[ swiss x rain's bass ]

summary: swiss has had his eye on rain's bass for a while. tonight he finally gets the chance to show her how a bass like her should really be treated. warnings: grinding, masturbation, objectophilia (object attraction) word count: 1366

now on ao3 as it's own ficlet collection... make of that what you will.

(once again, please don't yell at me for the guitar stuff, i know nothing about playing or handling instruments, i just write strange porn…) 

It had been a long time coming. So many tour dates, so many rehearsals and practices, so many late nights listening to her sing in his room, cradled by slimmer, familiar hands… So many years. He’s yeared for her for years, and now, she’s finally his. Smooth. Pearly white with that black pickguard as dark and as clear as the night sky, shining under the light of the moon and smothered in the love and devotion that she really deserves. 

Rain’s bass. 

In Swiss’ hands. 

Just for one night. 

She’s heavier than he’d thought she’d be. Strong and sturdy in all of the right places–solid. Almost unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. He tries not to think about the one he loves most, locked away in her case someplace else, as he pulls this other woman into his lap–her back pressed nice and flush to his chest–this isn’t about her. Tonight is reserved for one special girl… 

Swiss looks out over the abbey grounds from their secret spot on one of the many balconies, high up above the surface of the earth and far from where his packmates and his papa sleep peacefully, blissfully unaware of their taboo rendezvous, watching as the fireflies make themselves known with flashing lights of brilliant green and yellow before they disappear back into the darkness of the night. Bathed by the pale light of the moon and the burning stars, he smooths his large hands over her body, feeling her curves and memorizing her dips and flares while his lips ghost gently over her head, taking in her sweet, woody scent and masking the one that deeply taints her surface. Cloves, rich, red wine, and tobacco. It won’t last past morning once he returns her to where she stays stored away, but for now she belongs to someone else. 

He noses at her shiny tuning keys and hums, turning her slightly in his hands to reach where her strings stretch tight around her dark string posts. When his tongue darts out and tastes, he can’t help the noise that escapes him. It’s low, drawn out from the throat, and dripping with his overflowing lust. He leaves a little behind on her hardware and leaves her shining with his saliva. He plans to see the reflection of the stars etched onto her glassy surface. 

“Would you like that?” he asks, his voice low, barely a whisper. There’s a nice roughness in his tone. He knows she likes that. They usually do. “If I covered you in my saliva until you shined with the light of the stars and the moon?” 

One of his hands migrates inward toward where she’s been patiently waiting, and he dips the tip of his middle finger between her strings, plucking the smallest bit to make her hum, nice and low. Beautiful. 

“I knew you would. You’re not used to being treated like this, are you?” 

He dips in again. Plucks at another. She hums, this time a little louder. A little richer. 

“Does Rain ever treat you like this?” 

Does Rain hear you purr like this when he tickles you? When he plays with your strings on stage? Does he appreciate you quite like I do?

The hand not tickling her strings drops to her round bottom and he wraps his fingers around her lower edge, using the heel of his hand to press her right into where he needs her most. Right into where he’s generously tenting the front of his pants. The pressure makes him groan and a pleasure-filled sensation runs through his veins–slow and lazy like honey–beginning in his balls and ending at the tips of his toes, the top of his head… He lays a lingering kiss to her headstock. 

“Spoil you?” 

His finger plucks on her A string and she whispers back to him, too soft for him to hear. 

“Pleasure you?” 

He plucks again, more insistent this time, and she repeats herself, this time much louder–not to be missed or mistaken in his ears. The vibrations from her voice go straight to his dick and the ghoul shudders, bowing his head against the back of her smooth neck to keep from grinding filthy against her body. 

Somewhere in the distance a frog croaks and a heron answers. They’re watching, gossiping back and forth in their language about what they’re witnessing, but Swiss doesn’t care. No, not at all. 

Let them watch, he thinks. 

Let them tell every land-dwelling and aquatic organism about what is happening on this sacred night. Let them spread what real love looks like, what it means to be a man pleasuring a woman.. Showing her her worth, worshiping her beauty, her body, her voice… 

Let them speak. Let them watch. 

He presses her closer, ruts his hips against her backside when she goes quiet and still and kisses up her golden neck with spit-slick lips. His fingers have stopped plucking at her strings and instead have slipped between them, curling four careful fingertips around her G string. She squeezes him right back and forces him right up against her body. Right up against her cool, smooth belly. 

“Ohhh,” he moans, his lips curling up into a devilish smile. “You’re tight, darling.” 

He pulls suddenly and lets go right as a moth flutters away into the night, but he’s quick to grab her again at the same string and soak up her vibrations with his fingers. She rings and vibrates until she calms again, goes quiet, and Swiss can’t help the way that he throbs. 

“He’s got you tuned perfectly, I bet. If we had more time together I’d loosen you up. Really let you feel it–feel me. But not tonight,” he sighs, more than disappointed, and drops his chin to lick up the uneven side of her neck and feel as her frets drag one by one over his tongue. Rough. Metallic. If he’s not careful she’ll cut him. He’d willingly let her if she’d let him leave his mark on her surface. Let it soak into the wood like a tattoo. But even like this, with her pressed so perfectly against him, he knows who she must ultimately go back to… Whose room she sleeps in at night… 

“Can’t take you back letting the other guy know what happened tonight, can I? We’ll have to leave you just as you are. Tight. Too tight…” 

He pulls at her string again, this time harder than any of the previous times, and she sings so loud, so gorgeous for him, and he sings right back with a slack jaw and sticky pre leaking into the fabric of his boxers. 

When he leans back and pulls her with him, laying her flat against his chest, he pretends that it was her idea. 

The stone he lays on is frigid through the fabric of his shirt. 

“You want him to know?” He chuckles and lets his eyes flutter closed as the vibrations course through her and settle deep into his balls. The hand on her bottom trails up her side, through her dips and back up where her body flares out again, and he grabs her right over her neck, squeezing in all of the right places, plucking her strings with the tips of his fingers in quick succession with no particular pattern but to please her. What he says next comes out in a hiss. The hand on her neck tightens. He swears he can hear her gasp. 

“You want to get me in trouble.” 

She doesn’t object. He plucks at her again and moans when she responds so perfectly to his fingers. 

“You’re filthy, but that’s our secret, isn’t it, sweetheart?” 

He looks up into the void just as a star carves a path across the universe and something warm blooms in his belly and twists, red hot. The desire under his skin will devour him. The star curves over the edge of the globe and dissipates behind the clouds. Even the cosmos, he thinks, believe this is the way that it should be. 

His filthy little secret… A guitar that doesn’t even belong to him… 

He’ll make sure she’s shining and right back in her case by morning. 

[copperbadge]

you mentioned being a supertaster, do you like wine? I went to a wine tasting thing for 3 weeks having never tried wine before. Everybody there waxed poetic about all the fruit and wood and leather they could taste in the wine. I was smelling everything they described and more and was very excited to take my first sip and nearly spit it out cartoon style. All I taste is pure alcohol. But I can smell all the details.

I tried many, many varieties of red and white wine over those 3 weeks. They all tasted like slightly different types of sweet vomit. The organizer thought I might be a supertaster. Or maybe it's an acquired taste.

If you've tried wine, what does it taste like to you?

Well, supertasting has a wide variety of ways it can manifest -- some people are more sensitive to sweet or bitter, some people can discern multiple flavors in a drink or dish while others just get one dominant flavor. Like one person might be able to get all kinds of flavors from a glass of wine as a supertaster, while others like you might only get "alcohol".

For me it's complicated by the fact that I didn't drink at all until I was in my mid-twenties, and also the fact that red wine for me usually results in a stabbing headache within about half an hour of drinking it. There are people who aren't supertasters who have a flavor sensitivity to tannin, so for some people wine really is just "bitter fruit juice" -- I think I described it once as "fruit-flavored paint thinner". Because I'm sensitive to tannins the bitter flavor is mostly what I get, even in white wine; or for example, with beer I usually only get hops flavor. But I also don't get the smells you get -- wine smells sickly and nauseating to me, I think in part because I know it tastes bad.

So, there are a few options -- one is that it might just be a taste you haven't acquired yet, two is that you might have a sensitivity to tannins without being a supertaster, and three is that you might be a supertaster with that particular sensitivity. There are tests you can do to see if you're a supertaster -- if you google "supertaster test strips" you should find several companies selling them. That's how mine was confirmed.

The fact you get the nice smells without the nice flavors suggests to me that it's more likely to be a tannin sensitivity, but given white wine also didn't taste good, when it's much lower in tannins, I don't want to state it assuredly. I'm not an expert when it comes to tannin sensitivity (there's a pretty good beginner's article here about flavor sensitivity as opposed to tannin allergy) but one of the reasons high-tannin wines are paired with fatty foods is that fat coats the mouth and lowers the astringency of the tannins. So if you just want to see if it's the tannins bothering you, flavorwise, next time you have a chance to sip some wine, try sipping some, then rolling some fat around in your mouth before taking a second sip. Take a small spoonful of olive oil, or a pat of butter, and roll it around with the tongue so it coats your tongue, the roof of your mouth, and your cheeks, then spit out whatever's left or swallow it so that you don't have a mouthful of fat. If the wine tastes better (not necessarily good, just not as awful) after a second sip, it's possibly the tannins.

In any case, good luck! And if you want to learn more my supertaster tag may be of use. :)

[didnt-hear-idsb-live-again]

what are some of your favorite drinks to make/some beginner drinks that are not too hard to make but are still delicious? i'm at the point where i want to learn to make actual nice drinks for myself and for friends but i honestly dont know where to start

Okay so I have two levels of answers to this question! Also I’m answering in ml because American measurements are dumb af for measuring cocktails, if you’re in the US just know 30ml = 1 standard shot so pour according to that

Level 1: I do not know any classic cocktails at all other than my own bar order (which is fine, I didn’t either really before I started in Melbourne so no judgement!

Classic Daiquiri - the most basic classic cocktail there is, really, but SO good if it’s made with a nicer / non-well dark rum (my favorite is Plantation’s Fiji Blend). Called a bartenders handshake because it’s so simple. 15ml lime juice, 15ml simple syrup, 60ml rum.

Margarita - if you don’t know how to properly make one, now you do! 15ml lime juice, 15ml triple sec (aka orange liqueur, I like Dry Curaçao!), 45ml tequila. Add 2 dashes of hot sauce for a spicy marg

Cosmopolitan - slay version of a vodka cran. 15ml lime juice, 15ml triple sec, 30ml cranberry juice, 45ml vodka.

Tom Collins - a great tall drink if you want something fizzy! 15ml simple syrup, 30ml lemon juice, 45ml gin, top with soda water.

Level 2: I’m familiar with the Hard Basics and was asking for a level above that!

Espresso Martini (this is my recipe and it’s bangin) - 5ml real maple syrup, tiniest ever splash of vanilla extract, 40ml chilled coffee, 30ml coffee liqueur, 45ml vodka

Passionfruit Daiquiri (again, my recipe) - super easy level-up to the classic daiquiri. 15ml lime juice, 20ml passionfruit liqueur (I recommend Chinola if you want a nice one!), 45ml dark or light rum. Dark rum will give it a deeper & more robust flavor profile, which I like. If you want to taste the passionfruit more, go light!

French Martini - this is a great one if you like a fruity drink! You can increase the pineapple juice depending on your fruity preference. 20ml pineapple juice, 20ml raspberry liqueur, 45ml vodka. If you’re looking to up your Vodka game I recommend Reyka - it’s an Icelandic small batch vodka made w melted glacier water, and it’s so incredibly smooth you can almost sip it. Literally nicer than Grey Goose and it’s a very entry level price point avail at most liquor stores. Goes great in this!

Aperol Spritz - you can make an ANYTHING spritz using this recipe and swapping the liqueur. The passionfruit is great for something sweeter! 60ml Aperol, 30ml soda water, 90ml sparkling wine

Hope this helps bestie! You can go a LONG way with adding sugar, lemon juice, lime juice, and one liqueur to your liquor cabinet. A general archetype a lot of classic cocktails follow is 15ml of something sweet, 15ml of a citrus, 45ml of alcohol if the sweet thing was alcoholic, 60ml if it wasn’t.

I also love the free app coupe for discovering classic cocktails!

[invinciblerodent]

Baldur's Gate 3's Potato Chowder - RECIPE

So a few days ago, I found this recipe around the start of act 3, near the kitchen of the Temple of the Open Hand in Rivington:

[Screenshot of recipe as it appears in-game. Exact steps will be transcribed below, within the recipe.]

It looked... honestly very simple and not dissimilar from a Hungarian potato főzelék/stew (which is a very cheap and homely peasant dish I love), so I just made it for lunch today, and guys....

this soup is uh. really fucking good. I tried following it as close to the letter as possible, but since it's quite vague, I did have to improvise a fair bit- but it's very cheap and easy to make, it's warm and comforting while still quite light (there are like. NO spices in there, it's a very European-feeling dish), and I'd say it's surprisingly filling, but it's. It's potatoes, so there's nothing exactly surprising about that.

I tried to write out the recipe in a very beginner-friendly way, so even if you're not super confident in the kitchen, it should be easy to follow! ❤️

Make yourself some video game soup, it's awesome.

INGREDIENTS:

(For about 6 servings)

A roughly egg-sized lump of lard (This can be subtituted with a different cooking fat if you'd like, but I recommend sticking with lard, as it adds a nice flavor, and it's kind of the staple fat for these peasant stews.)

Potatoes (I used just under two pounds)

Half of a medium leek

Small yellow onion (or half of a larger one)

2 cloves garlic

Roughly 1/2 to 1 cup white cooking wine (optional, substitute given in recipe)

Vegetable stock (or chicken- or beef stock, or water)

2-3 tbsp all purpose flour

Salt to taste

1/2 cup of sour cream/créme fraiche (optional)

Shredded cheese and/or croutons to serve (optional)

(Recipe with transcriptions and exact steps under the cut!)

(This is basically all there is in this. Honestly.)

STEPS:

"1. Put your lard in a pot- a chunky one, mind. When it stops being lard and starts being hot lard, add any good-smelling veggies (leeks, garlics, onions) that you've chopped all thin. Please salt this so it doesn't taste of nothing."

This first step is pretty self-explanatory. I sliced the white part of he leek thinly, cubed my onion, and minced my two large cloves of garlic. In the lard melted in as chunky a pot as I've got (make sure it's not non-stick!!!), I sauteed first the leek and the onion with a big pinch of salt, and once the onion was translucent, the leek soft, and they've released some liquid (around 3-5 minutes on medium-low heat), I added the garlic, and cooked it until fragrant.

"2. When it's soft and good-smelling, chuck in any flour you've got and stir the mixture so it don't burn (note for me - it's very important not to burn it, emphasize)"

"2.5. PLEASE DO NOT LET IT BURN THAT'D BE RUBBISH"

Now we make a roux by adding just enough flour to the mixture that it starts sticking together, and looks fairly dry, but no part of the flour remains powdery. (This was about 3 tbsp for me, but since this process goes quick, I did eyeball it).

It's important to keep stirring, as this can and does stick to the bottom of a pot, but it will determine the thickness of the final soup, deepen its flavor, and give it a nice, creamy consistency. I made mine fairly blonde (light tan in color, cooked just past long enough to dissipate any raw flour smell), but it can go to a fairly dark, caramel color before burning if you'd like the flavor to be a bit deeper. (This should only take a couple minutes.)

Please do be careful- it the roux burns, that flavor will be impossible to get rid of, so.... yeah, it would be rubbish.

"3. If you're fancy and have wine (or have a generously stocked temple wine cellar nearby) add a bit of it now and cook it off. When it's done, add some wedged potatoes and a lot more liquid (not wine this time or you'll have a headache in the morning)."

We now deglaze the bottom of the pot with the wine: after pouring it in, with the wooden spoon, we scrape up any stuck pieces of flour or aromatics that there might be on the bottom.

(Note: If you don't have wine, or would prefer not to use alcohol for any reason, a neat trick is to mix about 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar and 1 tsp of granulted sugar into a cup of water, and use this mixture as a substitute for 1 cup of white wine. In most recipes, the wine's main purpose is to add acidity as well as sweetness to the dish- this trick aims to replicate those qualities, and tastes very similar in the end result. I use it often in almost anything that calls for white wine if I happen to not have any at hand. But do make sure to taste beforehand, it's very easy to go too heavy on the vinegar! It should taste sour, but not so much that it's unpalatable.)

Then, I rinsed my cubed potatoes (though the text calls for wedges, those often don't cook quite evenly!) with water to get rid of the excess starch, added them to the pot, and then covered them in vegetable stock. You can use chicken- or beef stock (which would make the soup a bit richer, heavier) or water (if you want it lighter) as well- in this last case you might need to add more salt than you'd think. (Make sure to taste- it should be flavorful, but not salty! Bouillon cubes and premade stocks often have a very high salt content, so if using that, you might find you don't need to add any.)

(It sohuld look something like this.)

"4. Cook for half an hour or so til the potatoes are nice and tender, and mash some of 'em up in the liquid. If you've got any cow products - cheese, milk and the like - add them now for extra delicious results."

From when the mixture starts to boil, it should take about 25-35 minutes of simmering on low heat, covered, for the potatoes to soften- you can test doneness by sticking a fork in one of the pieces, or gently pushing one against the edge of the pot with your wooden spoon. It should give easily at light pressure with both methods.

I then put the sour cream/créme fraiche in a heat-safe container (a mug will do perfectly), and ladled a bit of the hot cooking liquid on top of it, mixing it thoroughly- both to thin it out, and bring the temperatures closer to each other, which should help avoid any curdling. Stirring constantly, I then add the cream mixture to the soup in a thin, slow stream. (Any mildly acidic, creamy dairy product should work here- though I do think yogurt might be a bit too sour, if using that I would probably omit the wine.)

Then, as everything is done cooking and the cream is distributed evenly with no curds, I turn the heat off for safety, and using a very traditional, very fantasy, not at all anachronistic immersion blender, I blitz the entire thing for roughly 30 seconds. You can of course blend it less for more chunks (or remove some cooked potato bits before blending to add them back later), or even longer for a smoother consistency, but I did like that about that much blending left only a few, small chunks of nicely cooked potato in the otherwise smooth and creamy result.

I served with shredded Port Salut cheese and croutons on top- but this is of course optional, and I think just some nice, crusty bread would also work wonderfully!

Go make yourself a video game soup!!!!!!! It's so easy and good!!!!!!!

[sloppysequinz]

Baby’s first house party, part I

Imagine going to a party—your very first one since you can legally drink! You’re giddy and ecstatic, you’ve been so good and not drunk more than a glass of wine with family until now, but now there’s no reason not to. You want to cut loose.

You don’t really know anyone besides the host who invited you, but the house is packed and the music is bumping. There’s a table full of bottles of booze and random soda for mixing or chasing. You grab a red cup and scribble your name and then you hesitate. You don’t know what anything is or how to mix it or what to drink.

From behind you, you hear a laugh. You turn to see a tall woman watching you. Her own red cup is full. Her low cut tank top shows off a body that makes you blush. You don’t recognize her, she’s definitely older than you but you couldn’t say by how much. She smiles warmly. “First time?”

You nod, face still warm, but she doesn’t mock you. “That’s so fun! Everyone only gets one first time. Want me to show you the ropes?” You want to nod but you hesitate. Sending your trepidation, she reaches out and pats your head reassuringly. “Dont worry, I can tell you’re pretty new to this. I’ll keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t overdo it. Ok?”

Reassured, you nod again. She giggles and claps gleefully, bustling up to the table next to you. “Ok, let’s start with mixed drinks, nothing fancy, it’s just a house party. Vodka with sprite or lemonade is great for beginners.” She grabs a plastic handle of vodka and pours into the cup you’re holding. “The line at the bottom of the cup is one shot so you can kinda use that to visualize how strong your drink is. Do you wanna start slow or dive right in?”

“Uhm…I wanna cut loose.” You confess. She cocks her head and grins.

“Feisty! I like it! We’ll start with a double then~” she pours a generous amount of vodka into your cup, then grabs a liter of sprite to fill up the rest of the cup. “Mine’s vanilla vodka and grapefruit soda,” she says, winking conspiratorially as she tops off her own cup. “Sweet and easy to drink, but you should learn how the liquors taste before trying flavored stuff so you know what you like.”

Now that you’re armed with full cups, she holds hers up to you. “Cheers!” You clink plastic cups and she tips hers back, drinking deeply. You take a careful sip of yours…and oh my gosh! It just tastes like soda! You were worried it would taste gross but it doesn’t at all. You drink greedily. The strange woman is watching you over her cup, eyes sparkling.

“Wow honey, I can tell you’re gonna be good at this. Want another?” You nod and she pours more into your cup. As she does, you feel the first drink start to hit. The blood rushes to your head and groin, you feel happy and loose and giggly. You can’t help but stare at your new friends chest as she hands your cup back. Booze really does lower your inhibitions, you think, only mildly embarrassed.

As you start your next double, you hear a commotion on the other side of the room. “Oh my god!” Cries your new friend. “Here’s something newbies have to learn!” She grabs your arm and pulls you towards the far side of the party. Your feet get a little mixed up and you both giggle at the stumble. You’re flushed and glowing under the attention of this woman as she pulls you deeper into the party.

[hunterrrs]

Brian Dumoulin may be one of the most interesting men to wear black and gold in quite some time, as he's got so many passions outside of hockey, like travel, food and wine. The 31-year-old shared some of his must-haves, both on and off the ice, at home and on the road.

Wine books, magazines and podcasts

One magazine I've subscribed to that I really like is called Noble Rot. It's from London, where they have two different wine bars and a wine store. I really like the stuff that they write. It's really, really cool.

For podcasts, there hasn't been as many recently. But through the course of like 2010 to 2021, there was a podcast called 'I'll Drink to That!' It's a guy named Levi Dalton. He basically interviews everyone, from people who work in restaurants, winemakers, wholesale distributors - anyone in the wine trade. They talk about how they got into wine. With the winemaking, it can be very technical, where they talk about decisions with the barrels, decisions with when to pick, how their vineyards are different than the other… so it's very intricate. I wouldn't say it's for a beginner (laughs), but it's really good information.

For books, the last one I read is called 'Terrior Footprints' by Pedro Parra. He's sort of an expert. It's a book about wine and how when you blind taste, you kind of taste soil in the glass, and that's a good way to blind taste because you can really pick up different notes if you know where it's grown in.

Grassl universal glasses

I use those normally. I also use Zalto universal glasses for whites, Zalto burgundy glasses for pinots and lighter reds, and Zalto bordeaux glasses for heavier reds

Loose leaf imported tea

I do a lot of green. Lingering Clouds is a green tea that I really like. Then there's Gaba, which is good for after meals, for digestion. That still has a little caffeine, so I don't try to do that towards nighttime. I always have loose leaf chamomile before bed. I'll usually do that around 7-7:30 PM, or I'm going to the bathroom all night (laughs).

Snacks with a bit of a kick

I mean, it's not healthy or anything, but I like salt and vinegar chips. Those get me, my wife too (laughs). We'll have a bag and all of sudden, it's gone. It's easy to finish a whole bag. I also like Smart Sweets sour gummy bears [the green package]. We have them on the team plane.

The stovetop

My favorite kitchen utensil is honestly the stovetop. I like cooking on the stove a lot better, I'd say, just because grilling is a little bit harder to control. I'll do steak on the stovetop, but obviously I'll cook burgers on the grill, and stuff like that. But I like just trying a bunch of different things on the stovetop.

Broom and dustpan

I love to clean and sweep, it's soothing. I like the broom and dustpan. I'm old fashioned. That's all I need.

Beanie

That's just because I don't want to comb my hair. It's just laziness. That's one thing that I'm not into, is clothes. I'm not a clothes guy.

Lacrosse ball

I like to roll out on that for recovery. I really like that, it's easy. It's really good for your legs and your hips, to get into the small little muscles.

michelle giving us what we need: dumo, man of culture

[saillend]

A Canberra winery tour offers a relaxing, enjoyable way to taste wines and explore the scenic vineyards. It is a great experience for wine enthusiasts and beginners alike.Those that need to comprehend Canberra wine tour, they will visit here https://merryheartcbr.com.au/ .

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Foods in Ainu (beginner-friendly) - ipe

Dialect: mixed Hokkaido

~kam - meat peko kam - cow meat (beef) puta kam - pig meat (pork) cikap kam - bird meat tonoto - alcohol hat - wine wakka - water mean wakka - cold water sat~ - dried~ cep - fish cep kam - fish meat satcep - dried fish (nep) keraanpe - something tasty (nep) topenpe - something sweet amam - rice fu amam - uncooked, raw rice kinakar - herbs aha - shrub bean cipor - salted salmon roe imo~emo - potato rataskep - stir fry, mixed food karus - mushroom ohaw~ohau - soup yamau (=yam ohaw/ohau) - cold soup sito - rice cakes num - berry, fruit ham - leaf hokom - seaweed shippo - salt sum - oil, grease hoya - mugwort ku - to drink ipe - to eat suke - to cook kinakar - to forage for berries/fruit/vegetables ku=iperusuy na! - I am hungry! kera - taste

[honoviadakai]

Diaboys at a Crane Asada with Hispanic S/O/Reader: Mukami edition

Ruki

Please warn him in advance. Like, minimum one week ahead of time

He wants time to study up on your culture and language to impress both you and your family

Tbh he can study for a week straight and still feel incredibly under prepared

When you guys arrive, he’s going to try and speak as much Spanish as possible throughout the entire event.

His Spanish is not fantastic, but for a beginner, it’s not half bad.

Doesn’t mind the music but good lord why is it loud??

Of all the drinks served there, his favorite is sangria soda

He thought it was actually wine and he felt so sophisticated that you didn’t have the heart to tell him…your dad did on the way out though

Again, the music is really loud for his taste but damn he’s amazing at Tango ;)

He find the food to be delicious, but heavy. His favorite dish being menudo

You need to help him because your abuelita keeps pushing tamales onto his plate and no mater how hard he tries, he can’t say no to her sweet face

Hates the beer your dad and tios are drinking but he will participate in any guy talk they’re having and they’re gonna enjoy it cuz Riki’s gonna mispronounce some words

He’s surprisingly good with kids so your younger cousins love him. He tired out after a few games so you’ll have to save him

Will absolutely help clean up afterwards. Your mom ain’t touching a single dish because he has designated himself as the night’s dishwasher

Kou

So Kou is canonically a famous idol, and if K-pop Stans have taught me anything…it’s that being part of a different culture/country doesn’t stop their love of their favorite artists

So if you have family that’s a huge fan of Kou’s music…maybe leave him at home until you can safely bring him

If he DOES come along though…good luck

Any family that are fans of his are going to swarm and either try to get an autograph or steal him away.

If things go down civilly, they’ll still gawk, but they’ll probably ask you in private/over text to talk to him/get an autograph

He’s a charmer so even if no one knows who he is, he’s gonna charm the pants off your family…hopefully not literally.

He thinks a lot of the food is WAY to heavy for him but watch this man scarf down 12 quesadillas and an entire bowl of mango salsa after complaining that the food is gonna destroy his figure 🙄

Loves Fanta, piña colads and mojitos like the rich white woman he secretly is 💅

If you guys have a chihuahua or Pomeranian, he’s gonna hold them the rest of the night cuz it’s a cute tiny doggo

If you have cats…they’re his now…sorry

You have to translate for him or he’s gonna have a translation app open but he’s not gonna attempt to speak the language purely cuz he has outs

Will not touch the beer, and he’ll probably only talk to your dad or abuelito in terms of guy talk

Will play with your cousins, but only for a bit

Will not help out with clean up, he doesn’t wanna chip his nails or hurt his back…even though he’s not human and could totally handle it 😒

Your family might give him nicknames like “guerito”, “flacito” or “sancas largas” cuz he just…gives off a vibe 🍌

Your family’s impressions will be…mixed…but mostly positive!

Yuma

Oh god this one’s gonna be a wild ride

Yuma is HUGE so already I can see him being nicknamed “El Gigante” or something the moment he sets foot in the host’s home

Thankfully he has a lot of energy so he doesn’t mind the loud, rowdy atmosphere, it’s very welcoming to him actually

Which is good because first thing that’s gonna happen is your much younger relatives are gonna wanna climb him like a tree

Absolutely will play with the kids, he thinks they’re endearing, especially when they talk about his height, so he’ll play whatever games they want

Will try to learn Spanish, he’s literally only gonna pick up the bad words though

Manz can pack away the food so your family loves him

He loves the Agua Frescas because they’re so refreshing and handmade so he’ll swap recipes with someone just so he can make these drinks at home, same thing goes for the food

Your family loves all the gardening, cooking and other suck tips cuz they’re genuinely helpful. He’s probably gonna end up helping out a lot around the place

The men in your family love having a couple beers with him cuz despite his big, gruff personality, he’s very down to earth and they appreciate that

Actually really likes the music so he’s gonna dance any chance he gets

Really good at bachata dancing

One of your cousins got the oh so devilish idea to play ‘Hoedown Throwdown’ and Yuma tore it up on the dance floor like his life depended on it

Your family filmed it, your cousins sent you the videos later…you’re grateful for the multiple angles ;)

He’s gonna do almost all the cleaning when the party is over

Your parents want you to marry him tbh xD

Azusa

This boy is both one of the best and worst people you can bring

He’s the best because he’s very polite and he has a high spice tolerance so your family will very quickly start to love him

But he’s also the worst because well…the spicy food wasn’t enough pain…he wants more…

Please for the love of god do not take your eyes off him, he might try to make the biggest Tio there punch him in the face as hard as he can if you’re not careful

If you can manage to keep him in check he’s honestly lovely to bring to events like this

He’ll play with you’re younger relatives whenever they ask…might be a little too keen on playing fútbol because the ball might hit him or someone could hurt him…

Because he’s on the smaller side, your family is relentlessly offering him more food and he’s gonna eat every bite both for the stomach pain and because he doesn’t wanna be rude

Will be invited to have some cerveza with the men in your family and tbh they really like hanging out with him!

He’s very chill and a good listener, this kinda becomes a bright green flag to your family that he’s gonna treat you right and one of your tios and your Abuelito give him their blessing after some drinks

Surprisingly likes cerveza??? And he’s weirdly not a lightweight either so he’s kinda just trying all the drinks there

His favorite is the Micheladas

He wants to learn some Spanish but he’s only gonna pick up a little bit of the language by the days end, his pronunciation isn’t perfect but it’s not terrible either

If anyone asks him to help out after the party’s over l, he absolutely will help

Your tias and Abuelita love him, expect them to pinch his cheeks