#Marcus eating the last of the mac and cheese = Marcus moving out to live with Opal. basically

[mistermaxwellboucherdieasilived]

Skippy that's a good idea bc I could go on and on and on about Opal's connection with that particular symbol

#i didnt this time bc that essay would have been 3 times as long with me integrating the rewrite with canon. puzzle pieces u know #Marcus eating the last of the mac and cheese = Marcus moving out to live with Opal. basically

[foodbytesback]

Society Has Progressed Passed the Need for Bon Appetit

Oh great, another think piece about Bon Appetit.

For the first time since the scandal broke, Bon Appeitit has begun posting videos to their Youtube channel.  The first video, meant to address the elephant in the room, was framed around a Zoom meeting between the newly-christened Editor-in-Chief Dawn Davis, Executive Editor Sonia Chopra, and “Global Brand Advisor” Marcus Samuelsson.  

They talk in empty circles for 7 minutes about the importance of “telling stories,” being “culturally relevant,” and “learning together,” addressing that there is, in fact, “a conversation” happening without addressing what that conversation is. 

However, this promise of telling new stories was almost immediately cut short when they uploaded their first new cooking video later that day, starring veteran White Guy™ Chris Morocco.  The bulk of the video itself was just Morocco making (and overcooking) a basic meatball recipe, bookended by even more vague buzzwords about “joining the conversation” that get even more muddled and confusing as the video progresses. Many were also quick to point out that Morocco, as the Test Kitchen Manager, played a part in many of the hiring practices happening within the Test Kitchen, including the mad scramble to hire new POC to make up for all of those who had jumped ship to try to maintain their “diverse” reputation, so starting off the new wave of videos with one featuring him seemed in poor taste.      

Not wanting to end their hot streak, BA uploaded a third video later that same day, this time featuring a new black chef, Chrissy Tracy.  As she made fried oyster mushrooms (in lieu of chicken, since she is vegan), collard greens and cornbread, she explained the history of these soul food dishes and the stigma regarding whether or not eating them was “stereotypical.”  It was fine.  They have not uploaded any videos since. 

I could say that watching these new videos has been like watching a garbage fire, but that would imply a certain level of excitement.  These new videos are clunky, soulless, and awkward, with many people in the comments sections of all three urging the hosts to blink twice if they are being held at gunpoint.  (It’s also worth mentioning that, with the exception of Morocco as already mentioned, everyone in these videos is innocent in the systemic problems within Conde Nast, and you really can’t blame them for wanting to have a job during a pandemic.) 

Meanwhile, Sohla El-Waylly, the powerhouse behind much of the shakedown, has been out there, living her best life. 

After quitting BA entirely, she’s joined forces with Andrew “Babish” Rea, creator of the Binging with Babish Youtube channel, to create what is now the “Babish Culinary Universe.”  Her series, “Stump Sohla,” features Babish trying to do just that, by putting her skills to the test in challenges such as “make mac n cheese from scratch, as they would have in the 18th century,” or “prepare a full 7-course tasting menu with things you found in a bodega.”  

Simultaneously, she started a video series/column with Food52 called  “Off-Script with Sohla,” an ad-libbed guide to mastering basic, yet versatile kitchen techniques.  

On a similar note, a few weeks ago, Claire Saffitz, arguably THE face of the Youtube channel, announced that she had no interest in renewing her freelancing video contract with Conde Nast, which had originally expired in May.  She openly criticized the company’s failure to commit to equal pay for its workers, and declared that she would be “going to do her own thing,” most prominently her new book, Dessert Person, that comes out on October 20th. 

Similarly, Molly Baz has also announced that she has cut ties with BA.  She did her best to be amicable towards everything that has happened over the past few months, wishing the new leadership the best of luck, and teased new and exciting upcoming projects that she has been working on. 

This is pure speculation on my part, but perhaps one- if not both- of them may be getting their own spot in the Babish Culinary Universe?

Watching the Sohla videos feels so much more like the old BA videos than any of the three new BA videos did.  They’re lighthearted, creative, and off-the-cuff, much like the BA videos that cultivated their original cozier, friendlier reputation.  People didn’t watch BA videos to feel woke, or watch people have “conversations,” they did it to watch Claire struggle and triumph (or, some people just… really liked the struggle part…) as she remakes classic junk foods from scratch, or to watch Brad be an absolute himbo as he goes off on ADHD-riddled tangents and mispronounces things.  It was never meant to be anything more than entertainment, and with the “one big happy family” illusion broken, it has ceased to be that.

This isn’t even really a question of “can Bon Appetit recover from this?” anymore.  They had their 15 minutes of fame and squandered it, and no amount of performative wokeness is going to bring back their former prestige.  At the end of the day, BA is still a multi-billion dollar corporation that chose to maximize profits by not paying their employees equal pay for equal work, not your friend who all your other friends are mad at because they got drunk and said something kinda mean but is otherwise redeemable.  

It’s time to move on.

This is probably going to be the last time I revisit Bon Appetit.  Or at least I hope it is, I can’t imagine things blowing up any more than they already have. 

#food #Bon Appetit #Sohla El-Waylly #Claire Saffitz #Molly Baz #Binging with Babish #Babish Culinary Universe

[creek-weasel]

i’ve been constantly scrolling through my photos of this year. it was the longest and shortest year of my life. the best and the worst. the most rewarding and the most disappointing. what a fuckin wild ride it’s been

January

I started 2020 dressed up, drunk, and in a ballroom in GR when I wanted to be drunk in the woods.

I spend the rest of January getting drunk in the woods or in dive bar booths.

February

Erich and I go to Detroit for Fat Tuesday and we eat and drink our way across the city. I decide I’m going to move to Detroit. 

Sarah and I go out every chance we get. We’re at every hockey game. We’re at every happy hour. We accept every invitation. 2020 was our YES year.

I decide if I’m moving to Detroit, why not kiss that cute bouncer from The Bird.

March

Continuing our year of YES, Sarah and I start a podcast and buy spitting distance ring-side tickets to Smackdown in Detroit. We get a hotel and plan on stumbling around the city and talking about all the things we’ll do when I live there.

The morning of, it’s cancelled due to concerns about the virus. I drive to Pittsburgh instead. Katie not-so-jokes that I should move there. I laugh it off.

April

I have a health crisis that I gave everyone entirely too much information about. My doctor isn’t seeing patients and diagnoses me over the phone. Sarah has to bring me medicine because I can’t walk.

I leave my doors unlocked at night because I am convinced I am either going to a) die or b) the EMT responders will have to break down my door if I don’t.

I didn’t die. But I don’t think Josh will ever recover.

May

Me and the boys go disc golfing a lot. I have outdoor movies and fires for myself once a week. I work from my hammock most days.

While walking in the county park I stop and realize the next place I live needs to have trees and water and parks like this. Detroit isn’t for me. Right there on River Loop, I decided move to Pittsburgh instead.

June

Marcus visits often and we do a lot of Molly and play Resident Evil. (Okay, he makes me play and I scream and he laughs at me) 

In between I become obsessed with getting the house ready to sell. I learn electric and plumbing work from YouTube. I put a lot of lipstick on that pig.

I go kayaking with my boys and drop my phone in the river. I feel like I deserve that.

July

I list the house on the 2nd and go to my mom’s for the holiday weekend so people can view the house. By the 4th, it’s sold. Independence Day. 

Sarah and I take a very spur of the moment trip to Pittsburgh to see an apartment I want. I don’t get it, and I’m devastated.

I respond to a random ad on Craigslist for the *perfect* apartment. I don’t have time to go back to the city so I immediately send in a signed lease and security deposit without ever setting foot in it. I spend the next month sweating that it’s a scam.

Me and the Salty Crew go to Beaver Island and explore the deserted island by ourselves. We get really high and look at stars. We see a rare comet with our bare eyes. We find a levitating tree while we look for a mysterious old growth forest. I think maybe I should move to Beaver Island instead of Pittsburgh.

The day after we come back from the island, I have my final divorce hearing over a Zoom call.

The next day I turn 31.

August

The house is packed up. I stay with the cute bouncer from the Bird and he makes me dinner and tells me how pretty I am every night. He cries the morning I leave town.

On closing day, the buyer makes me so frustrated and sad that I have a complete breakdown in my car before going in to sign the papers. I cry into my mask. I accidentally break a vase in the parking lot. This makes me cry into my mask more.

I pick up my keys and am relieved to find out the apartment isn’t a scam, and it is perfect after all. Very, very dirty. But perfect. Katie drives all the way from Virginia to help me unpack.

September

I take a lot of walks. I get lost often. I  make Helga go to beer gardens with me so I don’t look crazy drinking alone. I meet my first people.

I open my online shop.

October

I drive back to Michigan to be with my family at our yearly cabin reunion. We walked around and pointed out all of our favorite memories. We throw Dane a bachelor party and he elopes the following weekend.

I decide on a whim to go to a brewery with Helga. There’s another woman there with a bulldog. We hit it off immediately.

I become suspicious that maybe my apartment is haunted.

November

Walking. Working. Crafting. Walking. Repeat.

I start to find a groove and make a lot of sales in my new shop.

I visit my mom for Thanksgiving. We eat mac and cheese for dinner and get too drunk talking and laughing in front of the fireplace. 

December

After a date night with Amy, drunk on wine and charcuterie I decide to download bumble. It doesn’t last long.

We get a downfall of 9″ of snow and I walk for 6 miles in the thick of it around the city and admire how pretty my new home is.

I don’t want to be anywhere else.

[sarahjane0886]

The Road to Us 20

Book 3 - Til the End of Time - Chapter 8 - Bringing It All Together

"Maksssss...." Peta called out in a half singsong voice and a half I need you voice. She was sitting on the couch while he was doing something in the office.

"Yes......" He said as he appeared in the living room.

"Are you almost done?" She said grinning at him.

"Almost, what's up pretty girl?" He asked as he leaned against the wall, knowing if he sat down next to her he was never getting back up.

"I'm bored. I want you back please." She said as she gave him a cheesy grin.

"I thought you were watching your show?" He said laughing.

"It's over." She shrugged.

"You had 4 episodes!"

"I'm over it." She said finally cracking up.

"Give me 15 minutes and I'll come back." He said moving over to kiss her before he went back to finish up the contracts he needed to do from the meeting he had went to last week.

"Okay, I'm back." He said appearing in the doorway again.

"Now what?" She said as she sat up and looked at him.

"You're the bored one pretty girl you tell me."

"I don't know, come sit with me pretty please?" She requested.

"That I can handle." He said as he sat down next to her on the couch and let her settle into him.

"Did you get all the paperwork done?"

"Basically. I need to sign a few more things before I throw it in the mail for Eugene tomorrow. So do you want to work on the wedding?"

"In a bit. I want a non-wedding moment. I feel like the wedding has consumed us. Which it needed/needs too but just a moment."

"I get it, it has been hectic. We can work on it later. We have food next huh?"

"Yeah, which I have an idea, but half an hourish...k?"

"Alright, so you want to just veg or talk or what do you want to do pretty girl?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. She literally was just bored.

"Well I believe we need to start talking about names for these two." Maks said as he rang his fingers across her bump.

"We do!" Peta said getting excited.

"Wanna do that?" He said laughing at her.

"Yes, but can I lay on you please? If I'm not too heavy?" She said softly.

"Babe?! You're.....I"m not even going there. I'll lose no matter what. Come here though, you'll never be too heavy for this, okay?" He said flipping them so he was laying on the couch and she was resting on him.

"Even when I'm 40 weeks and huge?"

"Even then, and you won't be huge, you'll be pregnant and carrying our babies and keeping them safe and healthy." He said as he moved a pillow to under his head before wrapping his arm around her.

"We'll see. But okay so these little ones need names. Any ideas?"

"I like classic or simple names. We are already going to kill our kids with our last name."

"We are, we can stay easy on them. What do you want to start with?"

"Let's do boy first. I like Liam, Matthew and Marcus." Maks said as he had already thought about this a few times. One of them being when he had been trapped on that damn plane.

"That was quick. Okay, I like those. Matthew is my favorite though and then I've always loved Joseph." She said as she began to play with his shirt.

"Joseph huh? I never thought of that one but I like it."

"Yeah, I mean as he grows he can be Joe or Joey. It gives him options, well Matthew does too."

"I know but I kinda like Joseph better, do you have a middle name?"

"Adam."

"Joseph Adam Chmerkovskiy, I like it." Maks said as he pressed a kiss to her head.

"Are you sure? I just took over that one." Peta asked as she snuggled into him a little more.

"I'm positive. I like it alot pretty girl."

"Okay, so Mr. Joseph's sister needs a name now." Peta said as her fingers ran along the side of her belly where their little girl lay.

"She does. I've always like Ella." Maks said softly thinking about a little girl that he had had in one of his first children's dance classes. She was a tiny little spitfire and she had captured his heart from the beginning.

"After the little girl in your dance class?" Peta said pressing a kiss to his chest.

"Yeah."

"Okay, Ella it is then." She said sweetly.

"But..."

"Nope, it's special to you which makes it special to me. Middle name?"

"Rose." He said.

"Ella Rose Chmerkovskiy." Peta said. "I love it handsome. It sounds very pretty."

"For a pretty little girl." Maks said as he pulled Peta into him a little more. They stayed there curled up for a while before Peta eventually drifted off to sleep. He knew her back was already starting to bother her with the babies growing and she wasn't sleeping that well. So he held her and actually closed his eyes himself. They both drifted off for an hour or so before Maks woke up to Peta shifting on him.

"I fell asleep." She said softly once she realized he was awake too.

"So did I." He said in his sleepy voice that she loved.

"I have to pee." She said as her stomach growled at the same time.

"And we need to feed you." He said looking at his watch realizing it was nearly dinner time.

"Yeah, your babies need foods."

"Little Ella and Joe." He said fondly.

"Yeah." She said and he could feel the smile on her face.

"Do they have any requests?"

"Mac and Cheese?" Peta said laughing.

"Seriously?" Maks said, not that he minded but it wasn't something she asked for often.

"Yes apparently that's what your babies want. Please?"

"You got it. You go pee and I'll go start." He said as he kissed her quick before helping her sit up.

"Okay, I'll come keep you company afterwards." They split up for a bit before Peta came and joined him in the kitchen so she could entertain him or well more so herself while he cooked. He finished up the mac and cheese pretty quickly and added a salad for them as well. They headed out on the patio to eat and enjoy the evening air. After eating they cleaned everything up before returning to the patio to work on the catering for the wedding. Peta rested with her back against the side of the swing and her legs over Maks's lap as he balanced his laptop on her legs.

"So do we know what we want?" Maks asked.

"Well, I was thinking..." Peta said.

"Dangerous but okay continue."

"Ohhhh shush. So we've got a lot of backgrounds coming together for this one, your Jewish and Russian, mine Australian, and what we both like now. What if rather than doing just one main course we did stations that represented each of our cultures and where we are now. Like we could have a Russian station with foods that are important to your culture, an Australian station with foods important to my culture, and then maybe we could have Yaron have Fratelli's do a station with some stuff we like now from him?"

"I like that a lot pretty girl. Now we just have to find caterers for that." He said laughing.

"Well Yaron will be easy. You can probably call him now." She said winking.

"I can, here hold the laptop babe." He said passing it over to her so he could call his friend. While he was on the phone she decided to take the opportunity to see if she could find either of the other two styles of food they were wanting. She started with Russian feeling like that was going to be the easier of the two and was quickly pleased with what she found.

"Sounds good man. I'll talk to P and we'll let you know exactly in the next few days." "We appreciate that a lot, thanks again." Maks said as he finally disconnected the call.

"How'd that go?" Peta asked as she looked up from her investigation.

"It went well. He said yes of course. He's going to send over the catering menu options. He said basically it's the store menu but there's different packaging and pricing. I explained to him what we are doing and he thought that was a great fun idea. And he also said if we have any issue finding a caterer specific to either of our cultures to let him know and he can see if he can figure out the dishes and help us with that as well."

"Oh my god, that's great. I think I got Russian covered while you were on the phone with him, and some of Australian but it doesn't have everything that I'd pick. Maybe we can look a little more but I can't even find anyone who has damper or grapefruit salad." She said with a look at which he cracked up at.

"Sorry babe, we'll keep looking. And if we don't find one we'll talk to Yaron about it. Ok?" He said as his phone went off with the email from Yaron.

"That was fast." She commented.

"Yeah, it was, he's on that. But okay, where did you find out for the Russian catering?" He asked.

"Traktir, it's in Hollywood and it has great reviews and a lot of traditional dishes. It says we can call and get more information."

"You want me to call and see what they'll tell me? Maybe they can do a catering menu like Yaron did and then we can at least figure out two of our options."

"If you don't mind, here let me see your phone." She said reaching for his phone so she could dial the number. She handed it back to him as he called the restaurant. His hand rested on her thigh as he played with the hem on her shorts. She looked a little bit more for Australian options but didn't have much luck so she resorted to listening to him enjoying his tone when he switched over to speaking in Russian to the person on the other end of the line. Eventually he hung and smiled at her.

"That went well I take it." She said smirking at him.

"It did, they are fans of the show so they'd be happy to help us out. They are sending over a menu with pricing as well as they are giving us a discount as their wedding gift to us."

"Maks! They don't even know us." Peta giggled.

"I know, I know. I argued with her. She insisted so I gave up. We'll just give them a big tip. Now did you have anymore luck with finding anything for yours?" He asked seeing the look on her face already.

"Negative. The only places here do meat pies basically and very little of anything else so it's kind of pointless. We can just ditch the Australian part." She said shrugged.

"No no no no no no. We aren't taking your part out. In all your family that's coming, none of them know a caterer? Could we fly someone out?"

"Handsome we can't do that, that's ridiculous." She said.

"It's not. Can you at least text your mom and ask? Yaron already said he'll help as much as possible so he'd be able to help with order ingredients and that and I'm sure if we paid him some extra he'd have some extra workers help this person."

"You're serious aren't you?" She said as she tried to take him in.

"Yes, I'm serious. Text your mom, see what she says. Please?" He asked reaching for her hand and squeezing it.

"Okay, I still say you're crazy but I'll text her." Peta said as she found her phone and sent her mom and text praying that it wouldn't wake her up at this hour. It was almost morning just not quite yet.

"Thank you." He winked at her. "You want to see what we think after looking at these two menus? Maybe we can get some sort of a game plan with them two?"

"Sure, here." She said handing him back the laptop so she could flip her body and lean against him so they could both see the screen. They went through each menu deciding what would be the best game plan for each station. After a lot of contemplation, they decided to pick two appetizers, one hot and one cold, two salads or soups, two entrees, and three side dishes from each piece. Fratelli's ended up being easy and they just took turns picking their favorite things to add. They then moved to the Russian section which took some extra time because Peta wasn't as familiar with all of it as Maks was. Finally they had both of those pieces figured out.

"What time is it in Perth?" Maks asked seeing Peta yawn.

"Umm, almost 10." She said as she nuzzled into his shoulder.

"So your mom would be at work now?

"Yeah, we aren't calling her though."

"Babe, I wasn't suggesting that." Maks said laughing.

"Sorry, I'm getting sleepy." She apologized.

"I know, I can feel you. I was just going to suggest maybe we should come up with a list that would fit for Austalian dishes like we did with the others. Then if she comes back and says yes then we can send her the list and she'll have a better way to talk to someone."

"I guess that is smart. Okay, start an Australian section." Peta said as she slipped her arm up through his and waited for him to do so. The next 20 minutes consisted on them picking the Australian stuff out as well as a couple other options to the list. Maks sent everything to himself so he could email everyone in the morning and then they headed in to get ready for bed. Maks let Peta get ready first as he locked up and everything before coming into the bedroom.

"You've got to be shitting me." Peta's voice echo'd through the bedroom.

"What?" Maks said heading in quickly. She very rarely swore.

"Mom texted back."

"And...."

"We have two caterers in the family, both on dad's side and sorta far out but dad still speaks to them. Mom said to give her more details and she'll have dad call them."

"Seeeeee." He said walking over to her and pulling her into him before kissing her softly.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for bed?" She teased him with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes peppermint breath. I'll be in with you in a moment. You can email your mom the list from my phone if you want." He said kissing her one last time. By the time he finished up and came back out she was laying his phone on the night stand and curling up under the covers.

"I explained everything to her, what we were aiming for and what we could help with and sent her the tentative menu. I sent her a text saying it was coming from your email too." She said as he crawled under the covers and pulled her into him.

"So kinda a half a step closer." He said softly.

"Yeah, a half a step and 6 more weeks." She said pressing a kiss to his collarbone.

"I can't wait. Love you pretty girl." He said pausing for her answer but was met with her soft deep breathing as she was already asleep. He pressed another kiss to her head before drifting off to dreamland himself.

**Okay, so I was completely and utterly stuck on the catering for this wedding and then a friend suggested this idea. Which I loved but then I was hit with the issue that no one serves authentic Australian food in the US which is quite sad cause some of it sounds delicious so while the flying in a family caterer is quite far fetched it's a pretend story so we'll go with it. 

"Finally as always if there's anything that you'd like to see in the future either in this story or in another please feel free to let me know. Don't forget to like this one up and let me know what you thought in the comments. I love you all and thanks for reading!

#chmergatroyd #chmergatroyd fanfiction #chmergatroyd fanfics #chmergs #Maksim Chmerkovskiy #peta murgatroyd #maks and peta #the road to us