#baking science is fun but sometimes a simple recipe is what you need

[fireflowersims]

Honestly, ppl make bread too complicated

Yeast this additives that, rising time, kneading, moisture content whatevs

And sure, there's def a science behind it, but you can actually make pretty simple bread.

Take flour, take water, get some salt and something to flavor it with (herbs, spices or even bouillon cubes will do in a pinch) and some fat. Mix flour with flavorings, mix in some fat like oil or butter, then add water and knead. How much? Whatever feels right.

Shape it into disks, fry in a pan. no need to bother with temperatures, just put it somewhat high.

Bam! Bread.

It's a great recipe for when you have barely anything left in your pantry or when basically everything is too expensive. You don't need anything fancy to make it. Just flour, fat and fluid. Flavorings are optional but recommended.

Remember the formula: flour, fluid, fat and flavoring = flatbread (FFFF=F)

#non sims #recipes #baking #bread #flatbread #I guess I'm in a flatbread mood again #with a bit of creativity you can usually find a way to combine ingredients or make the best of a very limited pantry or budget #baking science is fun but sometimes a simple recipe is what you need #equal parts yoghurt and flour work too. yoghurt had both the fat and the fluid so it's fantastic for this type of recipe #it's more of an archetype than a definite recipe #flour fluid fat flavoring = flatbread

[secretshinigami]

Cooking vs Cookies

Author: @izaori (Malcolm or Kris works, too)

For: @mapsareforbraindeads (this makes me a brain dead, rip)

Pairings/Characters: Light, Near, L. Light/L, PLATONIC moonriver. Like a sibling relationship.

Rating/Warnings: Comedy, kind of fluff.. If people messing up stuff in a kitchen counts as a warning, you have been warned. Also food talk.

Prompt: light and near making cookies together to surprise L, who sneaks in and tastes the cookie dough when they aren’t looking and critiques it. i actually had a dream about this once.

Author’s notes: It’s been a while since I wrote characters that weren’t my ocs, so I was pretty excited to do a fic this time. I started one of your other prompts, but this one felt more natural, so here we are. I liked all your prompts. Wish my hands would’ve worked for drawing this past month lol.

Valentine’s Day. A fun, yet very stressful time of year. Some people rush to stores to buy chocolate and flowers, plan a fancy meal, wear different clothes for a variety of reasons, but Light Yagami has decided to bake.

Baking and cooking are very different. When you cook, it’s usually pretty easy to change a recipe on the fly. Adding a little more this, leaving out a little of that, and so on. Baking? Baking is a science. You add half a teaspoon too much of something and the entire process goes tits up.

Before he’s even started baking, Light has brought out every single utensil and ingredient he’ll need. His first idea was making cake, but there is simply too much that could go wrong with cake. Brownies were a no go, and cupcakes are essentially like small cakes that he could also very easily mess up. After mulling it around, Light decided on cookies. But what kind of cookies? Classic chocolate chip? A fancy lace cookie? The kind you roll up and put in a freezer? Lemon crisps? Thumbprints? Snickerdoodles? What about something more out there, like springerle? Light doesn’t have the tools to make those, anyway.

Who could go wrong with a classic chocolate chip recipe? Simple and delicious, easy to make in bulk. His boyfriend’s diet consists of pretty much only sweets.

Right when he’s about to get started, someone joins him in the kitchen. “It’s not good to let eggs sit out.”

Light sighs. Out of all the people to interrupt him, it had to be none other than, “Near. I’m baking, the eggs will be fine for a few minutes.”

Near observes the ingredients scattered around the counter, and the various mixing bowls and utensils. Light goes back to reading the recipe, but stops when he hears tapping. Near is playing with the mixing bowls, stacking them in an odd way. He doesn’t stop even after noticing Light’s glare.

“What? You aren’t using them yet.”

“And how will I, when you’re playing with them like toys? Did you even wash your hands?”

Near rolls his eyes. “I’m not dirty.”

“So? I don’t know where your hands have been.”

“On the bowls. Obviously.”

Light huffs, snatching the bowls away and setting them in the sink. He gives them a quick wash while Near moves on to playing with the spatulas instead.

“Stop playing around. I’m trying to bake.”

“L kicked me out of the room to study something. I’m bored.”

“Either help, or find something else to do.”

Near gives a slight pout, pondering the decision. He’d like to tell Light he’ll do what he wants, but knowing this is for L, maybe he should give the guy a break. This time. He’ll go back to being a nuisance another time. Near walks over to the recipe book and scrunches up his nose. “This is boring.”

“Sometimes boring is better.”

“Only two teaspoons of vanilla? That doesn’t seem like a lot. Why not half a cup?”

“You have to be joking.”

“It doesn’t sound like a lot to me.”

Light pinches the bridge of his nose, holding back some colorful language. “I don’t believe they even sell vanilla extract in that large a quantity, unless you’re buying one of those bigger, aged bottles. This,” he says, grabbing the tiny container, “is how vanilla extract is usually sold.”

Near takes the small bottle out of Light’s hand. Once more, he observes it carefully. “Why is it alcoholic?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you making alcoholic cookies?”

“Do you know nothing about baking? I’m not trying to get L drunk off vanilla. Think of it like bier cheese, the alcohol basically gets cooked out. It’s just there for flavor.”

“Why are you putting something in just to bake it out?”

Light finally catches on to the joke. He glares, and Near gives a shit eating grin. “Very funny, Near. Hand it over.”

Near gives back the extract and moves on. Finally, after what feels like forever, Light starts working on the batter. Light mixes the dry ingredients together, then grabs a different bowl. Near stops him.

  “Why aren’t you putting the butter with the rest of it?”

Light is starting to feel more agitated. “It won’t mix properly if you do the ingredients in the wrong order.”

Near looks around at the remaining contents. “It all goes together anyway. Why does it matter?”

“It’s like math. If you do the equation in the wrong order, like not using PEMDAS, you’ll get the wrong answer. We don’t want the cookies to be messed up.”

That makes sense. Near doesn’t really understand the order of baking, but he definitely understands math. He’ll take Light’s word for it. The recipe backs up his reasoning, anyway. Near doesn’t lose the page as he flips through the book, noticing most of the recipes carry on that way. Dry ingredients, wet ingredients, mix. Seems simple enough.

The process has been prolonged by Near’s shenanigans, but the cookies are almost ready to be put in the oven.

“Why are you using such a small amount of dough?” Near questions, again.

Light has had enough. He turns his attention away from the batter and pulls Near over to the recipe book. “Look. Just look. We need to use one inch balls so that the cookies aren’t too small or too big. See the picture? If we use more dough, it won’t cook right. If we use less dough, it won’t cook right. The recipe is made for cookies like this!”

Near scrunches up his nose again. “L likes a variety of cookies. Underbaked, overbaked, just right- he’ll eat them no matter how you serve them. Why not make bigger cookies?”

“Because I want them to be perfect! I want to make something delicious for my boyfriend!”

With the argument happening, said boyfriend is able to sneak into the kitchen with ease. L quietly takes a look around, finding himself at the pot of gold- raw cookie dough. Salmonella be damned, raw cookie dough is a delight, a delicacy, one of the greatest things Watari would never purposefully let L have. He grabs a clean spoon and swipes some.

Oh. Oh no. He frowns.

“This isn’t right. At all.”

Light and Near freeze. With perfect timing, they both turn around to face L.

“He followed the recipe,” Near gets out first.

“Right, the recipe-!”

L shakes his head. He looks at the different measuring utensils laid about and figures out the issue with ease.

“You didn’t convert to grams properly. The ratios are all wrong. Also, it reeks of vanilla.”

Light glares at Near. Near smiles sheepishly. “Oops.”

L takes another spoonful of the cookie dough anyway. “It’s not horrible. You could try again.”

“I think I’ll go store bought this time.”

L smiles and tosses the spoon into the sink. “That might be a better idea for you two. Leave the baking to Watari.���

Light and Near have been defeated, but they still come out winners. L’s smile is the real prize. At least they attempted making something, even if it ended in disaster.

#fanfiction #death note #submission #light yagami #nate river #l lawilet #izaori #mapsareforbraindeads #naomi and halle's ambitious anniversary

[crapcafe]

hearing people talking about cooking is always such an interesting topic and i'm gonna take a min to ramble about it. i learned how to cook (eggs and pasta mostly) as a kid from my mom because she learned to cook at a young age as well and she would also be gone on work trips pretty often. later on in life i worked in restaurant kitchens as a kitchen manager and a line cook. i've even had the displeasure of working alongside new hire line cooks that don't fucking know how to cook but figure that they can still do the job (they could not)

some things just become intuitive so it's hard for me to remember exactly what i needed to focus on learning and what did just come naturally from the start, but a lot of it relates to just general science/chemistry knowledge. denser items will take longer to cook than less dense things (potatoes take forfuckingever but sliced button mushrooms take like a minute or two), high heat makes things cook way faster so liquids will boil off sooner, dense items will sear/burn quicker, and thin/small things will just burn. some professional cooks don't even know this based on the amount of times i've had to talk coworkers out of turning the fryer temp higher because things were taking a long time to cook (this is a great way to get a nice crispy skin on some shit that's still frozen in the middle)

there's a lot of learning how to read recipes. abbreviations (sometimes tablespoon is T or tb or TBSP or Tbs), how to adjust amounts if you need more or less of something, looking up substitutions for things (if you don't have milk but need to make a cream sauce, using applesauce instead of oil or butter or eggs in some baking recipes, etc). its definitely a skill to know how to read some recipes, and coming in with your own knowledge is great, but it's another instance of "you need to learn the rules to know how to break them." this is how you get the screenshots of ppl substituting kale in their banana cookie recipes and then wondering why they suck

thinking of foods in terms of nutritional value can also be helpful. if you have tortilla chips and salsa youre technically getting some vegetables in you. frozen and dried fruits and veggies are still fruits and veggies. rice and beans is grains and protein. miso soup with tofu and spinach is lots of protein and iron. romaine salad with balsamic vin, olive oil, feta, and tomatoes is some vitamins and fats and calcium but without grains and fiber it wont give you too much energy so have some bread or something with it. moving away from processed food will make you feel better. apple slice and peanut butter is my new depression meal bc it makes me feel more alive than shredded cheese from the bag and you can feel like a roman emperor a bit.

if you're just starting out learning how to cook: try to keep it simple with starch + veggie + protein (veggie pasta is a staple classic, roast some stuff and toss it with pasta and garlic and olive oil), find something with just a handful of ingredients that you actually want to eat. the act of cooking can be fun but not everyone thinks its fun, so at least make sure you'll want to eat the final product. if there's any sauces you really like try to keep some on hand. gochujang+soy sauce+sesame oil+sugar+broth can be really good in a stir fry, and basically all of those things will last a long time.

anyway theres a lot of text about cooking. theres a reason i stayed working in kitchens for almost 5 years despite how shit working in kitchens is. i like food and cooking. its one of the few things humans have been doing for a bajillion years and its necessary to live a healthy life and if you can find some fun and peace in the process then thats even better. theres no shame in not knowing how to cook but there is shame in refusing to try and learn imo

insert senshi page about eating well and exercising regularly to live a healthy life

#personal #i cant remember the last time i made a text post on here

[spyoikawa]

still on that saiki k brainrot so hear me out-

metori, saiki, teruhashi, aren and hairo with an s/o who really loves to bake/cook-

no thoughts just Reader learning how to make coffee jelly for saiki (like maybe they make him a tower of coffee jelly for an anniversary or his birthday-). no thoughts just Reader cooking something for metori who pretends to not want to eat it cause it’s ‘peasant food’ but ends up really enjoying their cooking. no thoughts just cooking/baking date with teruhashi. no thoughts just teaching aren how to cook/bake and having a food trade with him, bringing him lunch/a snack to school. and no thoughts just hairo hyping Reader up while they cook/bake and making stuff for him to bring to class rep meetings-

thank you! <3

the excitement I got got I saw teruhasi- i don't see a lot of writing for her and I get happy when I get to do less than common things! Thanks!

I'm running low on creative juices, so please I hope you don't mind if I use the exact scenarios you suggested 💀

Note: some of the things I wrote felt really rude so please don't mind the tone tags in parentheses, also i have not edited this yet

Saiki, Teruhasi, Hairo, Aren, and Saiko with an S/O who can cook/bake

♡romantic♡

Saiki Kusuo (italics = saiki telepathy)

Although it was undeniably tasty, your boyfriend's obsession with coffee jelly was not only getting out of hand but also quite expensive-

I mean he spent 3,000 yen for one serving-

But yanno what it's ok, coffee jelly is easy to make, and this gives you an excuse to hang out (not that you need one)

"Ok Ku, i had an idea"

I like it, just make sure you teach me how to do it too

"Rude. I wasn't finished"

You did in your head

As endearing as it could be sometimes, Saiki's mind-reading could be a pain occasionally

You wound me.

"Good. (/j)"

After a long debate over recipes and serving sizes, there it was, in all its glory, your first batches of coffee jelly

it was heaven

You did end up sharing the recipe with him, but it still became a little tradition to make the coffee jelly together

It just tastes better that way :)

Kokomi Teruhashi

In the midst of your TV and cuddles date, Kokomi huffed and turned off the TV

But of course it was rude to just turn off the TV, so she offered to play a board game instead

You did play with her, but your curiosity was begging as to why she wanted to change the activity

"Hey Kokomi, this game is fun, don't worry... but why'd you turn off the TV so suddenly?"

"Oh, it was nothing! I just thought you would like this game, and I wanted you to enjoy yourself more!"

Now, that's the answer the most perfect girl in the world would give

But Kokomi is still human, there's gotta be something wrong

You spent a while thinking to yourself about what you were watching, you two agreed on a documentary, then after the documentary, the channel played a cooking show with a guest baker/cook Makoto Teruhashi- oh.

So that was it

At the end of the round, you stood up and offered your hand to pull up Kokomi with you.

"Hey, wanna make a bet?"

She looked up with a bit of curiosity.

"I bet you, I can make your favorite dish, far better than Makoto can"

She smiled a bit, "sure!"

Her favorite food was simple, so you taught her to cook it and added in some other things just for fun (and so she can't recreate it without your secret ingredients)

Now you guys have cooking dates often and always find ways to spice up foods (and beat Makoto at whatever he was doing on tv)

Hairo Kineshi

my thoughts and prayers go to you

we all saw what happened when he tried to make crepes

but in his mind, it was a learning opportunity

You guys were taking an after-school stroll, the weather was really nice, it would be a shame if you two just went home and did nothing. Walks like these tend to get sentimental and nostalgic, so your conversation subconsciously started to drift towards school life.

"And do you remember that time we had to get kuboyasu, kaido, and nendo to play on a baseball team? Oh my god thank god it didn't go too poorly, that one player really pulled through at the end..." you laughed out

"Haha I do remember that, I can't believe we got them to play, it really could've gone worse" He smiled as he remembered that day, but then his eyes drifted up to a bakery across the road. "Speaking of poor experiences..."

after he explained to you he and kaido's crepe disaster, you couldn't help but tease fun at him for a bit

but you did agree to teach him more about cooking and baking

he's a bit too passionate about cracking eggs, but hey, at least you can work faster

after many, many burnt crepes and pans, there it was, a fallen appart, incorrectly folded, but still a properly cooked crepe sat there in all its beauty

it kinda looked like this

Although he does learn many different things with you, crepes will be the thing he makes over and over again, even when he has it down to a science, just because it's the first thing you taught him, and he will keep that sweet memory forever (get it. sweet? Cause crepes? Im funny i swear.)

Aren Kuboyasu

He actually knows how to cook pretty well

He's not really sure when he picked up cooking, its kinda just stuck around, but he enjoys it, it makes him seem more goody

and he can treat you :)

I will die on my "aren lives for the most basic/domestic activities hill"

cooking with him is always an experience, he will play music in the background, and pull you aside to dance at random times

also does that really hot thing where he stands behind you, reaches around to hold your hands, and basically has you in a cage while showing you how to do something

it's one of those spontaneous things to do, if there's nothing else to do, might as well make something to eat

firm believer in "if you have to eat to live, you might as well eat delicious foods" so he will always try out new things with you if its healthy and tasty

"bab look at this show" you called out from where you were sitting, there was a cooking show/food documentary on, and it was showing a special food. "it says this chicken has a secret sauce they dip it in"

he walked over to the tv and watched it for a couple seconds, thinking a bit.

"...wanna figure it out?"

"yes. I'll make the chicken if you figure out the sauce?"

"deal."

will you ever know if you got the secret sause? Nope, but you did figure out a chicken recipe that is good as hell

he probably writes down all the recipes you "invented" together for safekeeping and so he can return to it later, but he refuses to show it to anyone

Saiko Metori

as much as I love him, we all saw in that one episode how picky he is while eating, and is probably a bitch to please while cooking/baking

so after a lot of convincing, you got him to sit in the kitchen with you so he can watch you bake for the two of you

in reality, all you have to do is give the dish a fancy rich-sounding name, you just have to be really careful with what you say

like this 💀

you decided to bake for him today, baking is a lot more "by the book" than cooking, so you thought he would take a bit of comfort in knowing it was done in a professional way

"alright tori, so I think I'll make a heavy pastry made with fine cacao and extracts, baked into a rich dessert for a fine sweet palette"

"you're making brownies aren't you"

"🧍‍♂️"

Told you, you have to be as specific as possible

He does eventually get interested in what you're doing though, as he never really sees his personal chef cook, and wants to help you by the end

He really did enjoy it! It quickly became one of his favorite treats

But funny enough, no matter how many bakeries he tried or how many times his chef tried, they never tasted the same

(you put in special spices as your own little mark on the treat)

so he ends up having you over for more cooking dates

Which he really does enjoy btw

as a tsundere he will look all annoyed and probably call you a plebe, but these are his favorite types of dates

#saiko metori #saiko x reader #metori x reader #kuboyasu x reader #saiki x reader #teruhashi x reader #hairo x reader #saiki k hcs #kuboyasu hcs #hairo hcs #saiki hcs #saiko hcs #teruhashi hcs

[theminecraftbee]

I need opinion: Out of all the hermits, who would be the best at cooking?

THIS IS SUCH A GOOD QUESTION. some thoughts on the matter:

xisuma seems like someone people would EXPECT to be good at cooking but he is. so horrifically british. i think he wouldn’t know what a spice was if it hit him over the head. i think he’d get made fun of for this.

i think bdubs is either really good or really terrible at cooking and for the life of me i don’t know which. i’m leaning towards him being really good at it though.

impulse is the only member of boatem who cooks or bakes with any regularity. he’s decent at it but he DOES experiment and that’s when you’ve gotta stay away, because he wants taste testers

for the record on boatem: pearl is serviceable at it but does it out of necessity, grian can but hates it so he normally just gets things that he can make really quickly, scar is only good at it if he’s focusing otherwise he’ll forget what he’s doing and burn down the kitchen because he got distracted, and if scar’s bad like that then, well, mumbo…

i don’t think etho can cook he just steals all of iskall’s leftovers. iskall lives with this. iskall is okay-ish at cooking.

beef strikes me as good at cooking? i think he’d be great to go to a cookout or something with. however, his recent alien phase has lead him to think some… interesting… things are edible, so you know, go eat with him at your own risk.

false is like… exactingly competent with cooking in a way that means she’s good at following a recipe but gets lost the moment a recipe calls for “to taste” or “as much as you want” because like, why would it do that, she wanted instructions not vague guidelines.

cleo is also screwed if the recipe isn’t exact because she’s a zombie, she doesn’t have human taste buds. bonus points: she doesn’t have to bother with whether food is actually good or not and therefore doesn’t think to. the only reason her kitchen isn’t a science experiment is that joe appears sometimes, panics about food safety, and cleans the whole thing out.

joe, for the record, i think would be good at it? everything he cooks would taste very much homestyle. probably a lot of butter in everything, because that’s how you add heart to meals. half his recipes are like, simple things that he knows by heart, the other half are probably passed-down, specific things with weird ingredient choices that make them delicious but hard to replicate or find elsewhere.

i think evil xisuma learned to bake in evil school and enjoyed it so he kept doing it.

i think zedaph learned the science of cooking then gleefully broke all the rules. do not eat anything he feeds you.

jevin, like cleo, can technically eat anything. unlike cleo, he doesn’t have a joe to periodically manifest and force him to clean out his kitchen. do not eat anything he offers you either.

i think xb would be good at making something edible out of the bare minimum ingredients. he probably won’t always have the most delicious meal in the server, but you know it will be decent, no matter how esoteric your options end up being. if the apocalypse happened—haha you know wild hypothetical here—xb would be able to make something edible from whatever turned up.

i think welsknight thinks he’s good at cooking.

i think helsknight knows he’s awful at cooking but does it anyway because that’s a bad quality of wels’s that he inherited.

i think hypno is like, serviceable at cooking? i don’t think he’ll do anything wild, but he doesn’t hate it, won’t poison you, and you won’t regret eating with him.

keralis would be one of those people who makes WAY TOO MUCH FOOD and then expects you to eat all of it. it’s delicious but he’s looking at you intently and you can’t eat more of it, okay, you appreciate the thought but who on earth eats that much—

stress’s taste in cooking feels like it would be eclectic. not bad, just… if xb knows how to make anything work, stress knows how to make a weird set of things work that you wouldn’t think works, but it does, but can’t just make. a normal meal.

i think gem is really good at soup specifically. don’t ask me to justify this.

tango can’t cook and cheerfully accepts that.

TFC is pretty good at cooking, and thinks all these terrible cooks should probably learn.

cubfan can cook really well, but doesn’t do it often. when he does the other hermits love it though because he always makes enough for absolutely everyone and appears to drop off the leftovers for them.

ren and doc are… ren is distractable and, like grian, prefers quick and easy things that he doesn’t have to think about. doc forgets to cook at all unless food is shoved in front of his face, at which point he’s concerningly likely to try stupid things to make it go faster. in other words, neither of them can cook.

in other words… looking at this, I’m not sure, but I think it would be joe, bdubs, or cub? just from this overview—

#answered #hermitcraft #not tagging everyone because it’s. Literally everyone #coming up with these on the spot was DLEIGHTFUL

[lasquadrasfuckhouse]

should you let la squadra cook for you? 🍳

it depends on what they're making. but generally:

risotto is a pretty darn good cook, but you feel kind of bad about asking him unless he's planning to cook but doesn't know what to make b/c he's often busy. with baking tho he's one of those people who's always making different breads b/c you get the benefit of something homemade but it needs time to rise and shit so he can still go do other stuff in between. formaggio probably named the sourdough starter that risotto's kept in the fridge for like 3 years. let risotto cook for you if he offers or you catch him at a good time.

prosciutto is very good at cooking, but though it's not that he's Uncreative, he's the kind of person who likes to follow the recipe without too much variance, so if you're looking for something that relies mostly on vibes for cooking it, he's probably not the most compatible for that dish. he's king of making do tho, he knows what works together and what you can substitute so he's amazing at working with a kitchen of odds and ends. for a lot of things, you should let prosciutto cook for you.

pesci is another amazing cook. he's really good at making food feel homey; if 'the secret ingredient is love' could be applied to anyone, it would be pesci. he's not really the one to go to for making something feel fancy because, while he doesn't eschew presentation entirely, it's just not what he thinks Makes a dish, and he's kind of right because his food is so damn good no matter what. similar to pros on recipe-following but a little more flexible, and can make simple things like soup Really Really fuckin good. you should absolutely let pesci cook for you.

formaggio is pretty good at cooking! takeout is always fun but homecooked food hits different in his opinion because, like pesci, it's about the love and effort. it's not always perfect but that's part of the beauty of it in his opinion, it has personality, it's a lil personal somethin somethin to reflect yourself or your family recipes or your friends that you're making it for. he just enjoys it, and he always makes things in big batches/portions b/c he's all about those leftovers that let the flavours meld together. let formaggio cook for you.

illuso is actually a great cook, largely by necessity of being rather reclusive and not wanting to rely solely on takeout or cheap shit. he's creative with it too, great at adding his own lil twists or flairs that just make u go oooh, can follow a recipe or vibes extremely well. the main thing is he usually cooks for himself unless it's his premeditated turn to make dinner or he's feeling generous; outside of that, you'll have to offer something in exchange and pay upfront (but don't worry once u make the deal he won't cut and run). if you have something to pay the Illuso Being Nice tax, you should absolutely let him cook for you.

melone is... not a very good cook. he gets a little too carried away with creative liberties and it just ends up fucking weird. sometimes he hits a sweet spot in experimenting where it's actually pretty good but most of the time you're just kind of like, what the fuck is going on in my mouth rn? baking is easier because it's an exact science, if you give him a set of instructions and tell him not to stray he won't. you can leave him with like, boxed pudding or cake mix and not much else. it's inadvisable to let melone cook for you.

ghiaccio is not a great cook either because he just gets frustrated and overwhelmed with the whole thing easily. if it has to be timed right? nope. burned by popping hot oil/water/steam? he'll hiss and grumble but then he has to keep watching the stove/holding the pot and ah fuck. if something goes wrong he's like WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THAT and tries fixing it but then he has to do something else and it just spirals. it has to be very simple or very precise or both, because there is something about cooking that just does not click for him. don't let ghiaccio cook for you.

sorbet is an amazing cook. his learned cooking tradition is more on the exact side of things but he has both the craziness and finesse to make vibe-based dishes really well, and be creative without getting too out of hand. he can go fancy or homey, but everything he makes he does really well, because he finds it satisfying. he also just really enjoys taking care of those he's close to. and even if you're a target? he thinks poison is for pussies, so you're at least guaranteed a great meal before you're taken out. there are no downsides to letting sorbet cook for you.

gelato burns water and is less picky than a raccoon. doesn't bother with recipes unless it's right in front of him and his judgement for substituting/freeballing is terrible. time doesn't exist for this adhd king so everything is either under or overcooked. he will try making microwaved baked potatoes and says 'please i KNOW you have to stab holes in it so it doesn't explode 🙄' then puts it in for 12 minutes and makes the whole kitchen smell like burning for the next 48 hours. he's trustworthy with a few basic things he has memorized + has years of experience on or are impossible to fuck up, but otherwise, please don't let gelato cook for you.

#tag urselves im gelato. theres a reason that baked potato thing seems specific #food -/ #long post -/ #la squadra x reader #la squadra #risotto nero #prosciutto #pesci #formaggio #illuso #melone #ghiaccio #sorbet #gelato #vento aureo

[evalinkatrineberg]

Futures

A/N: This takes place immediately after the Leana RP. Thank you @ladyjenli and @melanie-schreave for such a fun RP!!

“That’s besides the point,” I argued, rolling my eyes as I walked into the kitchen. “Look -”

“Shit.” Silence. Then, “I’ve got to go.”

I opened my mouth to say something more, but the line had already gone dead. Just like that, he was gone, a phantom left in my memory only once more.

You know he doesn’t love you, right?

I had no idea.

“Everything alright?”

I jumped at the sound of another voice, my head whipping around, only for my eyes to fall on Jen Li, surrounded by a mess of flour and baking supplies. It appeared I wasn’t the only one in search of a distraction tonight who had found themselves in the kitchen. I cleared my throat. “Not necessarily alright, but as expected, I suppose,” I answered with a sigh, narrowing my eyes at the mess on the counter, which I could only assume she had made. Was she baking, or redecorating? It was a little hard to tell. “Um, how are you doing?”

Jen raised her eyebrows at me before looking back down at the mess on the counter, like she hadn’t even been aware that she had made it. “I’m good. Just making cookies.”

I had never been much of a baker. That had always been Lydia’s thing, or my mother’s, depending on whether or not my mother felt like letting someone else commandeer her kitchen for a couple of hours. Still, I was fairly confident that the flour was supposed to go in the bowl, and not on the counter. I supposed I could be wrong, though. Either way, baking would give me something to do, even if it wasn’t why I had headed this way originally.

“Funny,” I began, smiling a bit as I eyed the mess. Deciding that Jen definitely needed help, I strode over to the sink, grabbing some paper towels and soaking them in water. With a look over my shoulder, I continued, “I came down here intending to do the same thing. Want any help?”

Her eyes darted from me, to the mess on the counter, and then back again. “Yeah. If you want to, I mean.”

That was a good enough answer for me. “I would love to!” I gave her a tight smile, immediately throwing myself into scrubbing down the countertops. It was a mindless activity - exactly what I needed to forget about that phone call.

It seemed like there was so much I needed to forget about these days.

“What kind of cookies are you making?” I asked, continuing to scrub as I looked up at Jen.

She looked down at the bags and boxes on the countertop. All of them appeared to be pretty standard to me - flour, sugar, eggs, butter - so it could’ve been anything, really. After a couple of seconds, Jen looked back up, a newfound note of conviction in her voice. “Chocolate chip.”

“A classic,” I replied with a nod of approval. Those had always been my sister’s favorite to bake, especially after one of my siblings had had a rough day. The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking had slowly become a subliminal message to us, that everything was going to be alright in the end.

Something was missing, though. With a frown, I knelt down, digging around in the cabinets until I found what I was looking for. The chocolate chips. I had to wonder how she had forgotten to grab what was singlehandedly the most important ingredient, but I didn’t have the heart to ask. It seemed like we were all at least a little absent minded these days. So I simply placed the bag on the counter, closing the cabinet and then standing again, sliding the bag across the counter to her. “Looks like you forgot these, though,” I added, laughing softly.

“Right.” In the time that I had grabbed the chocolate chips, she had pulled out her phone, and was not typing away, a look of pure concentration on her face. “So, do you like baking?”

I shook my head. “I never really baked much at all, before. It was more of my sister’s thing - but I mixed things together in a lab part time! How different can mixing things together in a bowl be?”

“You worked in a lab?” She still looked a little distracted, sliding me a bowl and placing her phone in between us, but there was a note of genuine curiosity to her words. She was also in school currently, if I remembered correctly. At least we had that much in common. I could work with that.

“Yeah, I worked for my genetics professor, helping her with research, and lab work,” I answered, shrugging as I began to reach for the eggs. The recipe on her phone said we needed two. That sounded about right to me, but what did I know? If I keep her talking, maybe she won’t notice how clueless I really am. “What about you?”

Jen reached for the flour and the baking soda, pausing to open one of the drawers and pull out a measuring cup, cutting me a glance out of the corner of her eye. “I’m studying law, she answered.

I watched her begin to scoop the flour, frowning as I did. I was pretty sure the recipe in front of us said 3 cups of flour, and not 3 heaping cups of flour, but I kept my mouth shut. This wasn’t exactly my area of expertise, anyway. If I questioned her, she would very likely question me back, and seeing as she was a law student, that definitely would not go well for me.

School, though, I could talk about. I had already known that Jen was in law school, thanks to Lydia’s Selection preparation notes for me, but I elected to ignore that in the interest of keeping the conversation going. “Oh, that’s cool! I bet that’s a lot of reading, huh?”

She nodded as she dumped the cup of flour in her hands into her bowl before going in for another heaping cup. “I don’t mind it, though. I’d rather read a two-hundred page court transcript every day than take another science class again,” she admitted, a note of laughter in her voice as she looked at me.

The fact that such a thing might be true boggled my mind. Science was so simple, cut-and-dry - you were either right, or you were wrong, whereas the law could be interpreted one hundred and one different ways. You could have the exact opposite viewpoint of your opponent, and you could still both technically be right. How did that make any sense? I had to laugh.

“I don’t mind reading. What always gets to me with social sciences is the writing. I mean, I can write up a lab report no problem - it’s all just regurgitating facts. Coming up with a thesis statement, though?” I shook my head. “Not my forte, to say the least.”

She nodded, looking away from her bowl to glance in my direction briefly. “That makes sense. It gets easier, though. Just have to figure out how to pull opinions out of the facts, even if sometimes it’s bullshit. Fake it ‘til you make it, and such.”

That made sense to me, and I was sure that the ability to put on a front of confidence and knowledge would prove invaluable in the world of politics. If that truly was the case, then I had my work cut out for me. I let out a wry laugh at the realization, scooping the sugar into my bowl before mixing it together with the eggs using a whisk. Each spin of my arm was another frustration released. Arin. Lukas. Proctor. My degree. My ineptitude at politics. I was beginning to see why Lydia liked this so much. It was kind of therapeutic.

“Yeah, that’s never really been my thing,” I admitted to Jen. It wasn’t like it was much of a secret, I was sure. “Facts, and observations, though - and the memorization thereof - I could do that all day.”

“That's fair. I don't think I could be in a lab without ruining everything. I'm pretty sure I was kicked out of my Intro to Chem class multiple times in undergrad.” With each sentence she finished, she poured another cup of flour into the bowl. There was definitely far too much flour at this point, but I didn’t want to interrupt her, especially not as she flashed a grin at me. I didn’t feel like arguing about flour, of all things. Not now, at least.

“Needless to say, that professor didn't like me much,” she finished, glancing quickly in my direction once more.

I let out a small laugh in response, remembering my own general chemistry class freshman year. “Believe me, you’re not alone. The amount of times our intro chem lab had to be evacuated because someone mixed two chemicals together that they shouldn’t have was absurd.” Shaking my head, I reached for the vanilla extract. That had been a class where we had been given super specific instructions as well. Nobody should have made the mistakes they did, if they had half a brain and paid attention when the TA was speaking. Maybe chemistry classes had been harder at Jen’s school, though. I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Jen hummed as she reached for the baking soda, the corners of her lips twitching upwards ever so slightly. “Glad to know I wasn’t alone,” she offered, looking down at her phone, scrolling until she found whatever she was searching for. Without looking at me, she continued, the tension in her voice almost entirely gone now. “So what is it that you’re wanting to go into? I assume some kind of science.”

“Cancer research is my goal,” I answered, offering Jen a small smiled as I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes, “but the professor I worked for thinks genetics is my true calling.” Was my true calling. “What about you? What kind of law do you want to go into?”

“Criminal is the goal. I've always found it the most interesting.”

“Oh, that’s nice!” I had no clue what else to say. I didn’t know the first thing about law, except that it required strong debate skills and likely the ability to think on your feet and synthesize information quickly. Even just asking her what kind of law she wanted to go into had been a shot in the dark - I hadn’t really known there were different kinds of law.

It might be a good thing that Arin and I didn’t get along flawlessly. I would be a really shitty queen.

Then again, this could prove to be a good chance to learn more. I flashed Jen another small smile before asking, “What does criminal law entail?”

She didn’t look up as she spoke, measuring out more of the dry ingredients. “A bit of everything. Investigation, customer service, a lot of reading, and pandering to judges.” The breathy laugh she let out at the end of her sentence had me frowning. Were bribery and flattery really so common in the Illean justice system? That wasn’t okay - not in the slightest. The law was supposed to uphold the rights of all citizens, not just the citizens that could afford a lawyer who knew the judges well. Did the problem lay with corrupt officials, or with the system itself, then?

I was starting to think that Proctor might have been right, to some extent, in her goals outside of work. Here I was in a position where I had the voice to make a change, potentially, and I was wasting it, because I knew next to nothing about the deeper issues of this nation. Proctor had offered to guide me, to tell me what to look for, but at what cost? Her methodology had been rather treasonous, and her threat to my family too low of a blow for our relationship to ever recover from. Still, it was clear that Illéa had more problems than I had previously been aware of. The real question was, what could I do about it?

Jen must have sensed my discomfort, because she changed the subject. “Cancer research sounds really interesting. A very noble profession. What made you decide to do it?”

Noble. That was a boost to my ego.

“I wanted to help people, but decided that medicine was kind of out of the question after I almost cried while dissecting a frog in the eighth grade.” I chortled at the memory of my shaking hand, and the overwhelming smell of formaldehyde that had nearly made me sick to my stomach. Combined with the stress of wanting to get a good grade on the assignment, it had been a recipe for disaster, that I had no intention of ever reliving. “So, cancer research seemed like the next best way, I guess.”

She smirked a bit as I told my story, adding a dash of salt to the dry ingredients in her bowl. “Medicine is definitely not for everybody. Where are you going to school? Or were, I guess.”

Were, indeed. The more I thought about school, the more past-tense it seemed to be, despite my online classes beginning in about a month. At this point, I just couldn’t ever picture myself going back to my old life, no matter how the Selection went for me. I definitely wouldn’t be able to get my old job back, and with Lukas and I feuding, hanging out with him and June would just be awkward. Plus, my siblings were all starting to move out and move on with their lives as well. Perhaps it was time for me to do the same.

“University of Tennessee,” I finally answered, biting my lip as I realized how lame that sounded compared to Jen’s school - Yale, if I remembered correctly. Such a prestigious institution, with a reputation my school could never even dream to have. “I got into other schools - probably ones that you’d consider better, I’m sure - but I come from a big family, and it was close to home, so I’d be able to save money on both tuition and housing. Plus, my father works there, so I had free transportation, too.”

She nodded along, as if she understood completely. That would make sense. She had also likely gotten into multiple accredited institutions, and then chosen to go to her school. Though, with an option like Yale on the table, it was hard to believe she might have been considering something else. Still, I found myself standing up straighter then, turning to face Jen more as I asked, “So, what made you choose Yale?”

Immediately, she raised her eyebrows, and then offered me a small smile. “My parents are alums. It was the only thing on the table, really. I'll probably transfer out after this.” She gestured upwards.

I felt myself whisking a little harder at that. Was she planning on transferring out because she want that confident in her ability to win this? Jen was a very likeable girl, and definitely fun to talk to, that was for sure. Plus, she actually knew how the legal and political systems of this country worked. Much like Reggie, she’d be an obvious choice for queen, if the ability to make good political decisions was what it was going to come down to. She and Arin also could’ve had a deep connection, that I wasn’t privy to, as it was none of my business. I couldn’t force the man to like me, after all.

The way she had phrased it though made it seem like she was also planning on transferring out even if she didn’t progress much further in the Selection. My whisking came to a halt as I looked up at Jen, furrowing my brows. Were we in the same boat? Was returning to her old life just as unimaginable for her as it was for me? There was only one way to find out.

“I’m thinking that I’m probably going to end up transferring after this as well,” I admitted. I hadn’t yet voiced my idea aloud to anyone - not even my own family. It was nothing concrete, and I certainly hadn’t thought it through well enough to go forwards with it yet, but it was still on the table, to me.

Jen stopped her mixing as well, looking up at me with a look of surprise that I could only imagine mirrored my own. “Really, where do you think?”

I shook my head, placing my hands on the counter and straightening my arms as far as they could go, the tension and almost welcome sensation as I ran through the seeds of my plan once more. “You’re going to think it’s kind of crazy, and admittedly, I haven’t thought this all the way through yet, because I’m assuming I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, but I think I might go to my grandparent’s cabin in Tromsø.” With the current tensions with Swendway, it might possibly be the dumbest idea I had come up with to date, but Swendway might also be the one place where Proctor’s words would hold little to no weight. “There’s a really good school for the sciences there!” I continued, hoping the explanation would make it appear as if the plan wasn’t half as slapdash as it truly was.

“That's,” she began, blinking. “Where is that exactly?”

I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks once again. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut, and dodge the bullet.

“Swendway.”

Or not.

“Oh.” A moment of silence followed, both of us so still that all I could hear was my own, increasing heart rate in my ears. “That sounds really nice. I hope you get to go. It sounds like a good opportunity.”

I furrowed my brows as I looked over at her once again. For someone so politically savvy, she seemed to be lacking quite a bit of information on the current events in international relations. Then again, maybe she simply had the luxury of being unaware, since the issue didn’t affect her. She didn’t have to think about whether or not a potential employer, or classmate, or professor would question where her loyalties lie, simply because her grandparents had immigrated from Swendway. Furthermore, maybe it was for the better that she thought nothing of it. She was probably less likely to share the information with anybody else as gossip, that way.

“Thank you.” The reply felt empty, like someone was holding a glass under the tap and had turned the faucet on, but no water had come out. “We used to go there for the summer, when I was little. It’d be odd being there alone, though, I suppose.”

“That’s true,” she agreed with a nod, “but I’m sure you can get used to it. Is your family from Swendway?”

So she was very unaware, then. Or, at the very least, she hadn’t looked into the lives of the other girls here as much as some of the rest of us had. It wasn’t as if my last name gave away my heritage. Berg could very easily be German - in fact, I was often asked if it was. It was as if people wanted to give me the chance to deny any ties I had to Swendway, or Swendish descent.

This scenario didn’t feel like that, though. “My father is. My mother was born and raised in Carolina, though, but further east than where we live now.”

“I see.” She paused then, her stare growing distant for a moment. “Are you enjoying it here?”

It depends on the day. If I get a call from home. What kind of mood Arin’s in. Who else I talk to. What else is going on.

She didn’t need to hear all that. “It’s different, but I’ve learned a lot, so that aspect of it is nice! What about you?” I forced a note of cheeriness into my voice, hoping it was more convincing to her than it was to me.

“It's been good to have time away,” she replied, stirring the dry ingredients together further. “Everyone has been pretty nice.”

A quick glance at her bowl revealed she was almost ready to go, but I was not. I still had to soften and then add in and mix the butter. That was arguably my least favorite part. The butter always left my hands sticky, and coated everything I touched afterwards in a thin film of grease.

With an inaudible sigh and a nod at Jen, I began unwrapping two sticks of butter, placing them in a nearby cup. In seconds, I had crossed the room, coming to a stop in front of the microwave, and sticking the butter-filled cup inside. After setting the timer for thirty seconds, I turned back around, leaning against the counter as I looked at Jen.

“Same,” I agreed. “I think it’s good to meet new people - to get a different perspective on things, you know?”

“Definitely.” She hummed a but, a small smile on her face as she looked at me. “Though, I definitely haven’t met as many people as I probably should have, if you and me not having an actual conversation after months is any indication.”

I felt myself begin to blush again as I debated telling her that there were still other girls I had yet to talk to, while also feeling guilty about not reaching out to Jen herself before. “Ah, sorry. I tend to fall into solo routines easily, I’m afraid.”

“No, no, it's not your fault. I can definitely say the only Selected friend I've made is Idalia, and that's only because she's been quite -” she paused, her smile growing wider for just a second “-persistent.”

I had to grin at her assessment. “Idalia’s definitely the person I’d say I’m closest with here, for the same reason.” Retrieving the butter from the microwave, I walked back over to the counter, mixing it in with the other wet ingredients. I was curious as to why Idalia had never introduced Jen and I to each other before this. Idalia had always struck me as the kind of person who’d want a group of friends to do things with, but perhaps I wasn’t as good at reading people as I had thought I was.

“Wonder why she's never introduced us,” Jen voiced my own thoughts aloud, grinning from ear to ear. “She must've thought I'd scare you away.”

I laughed at the thought. Jen seemed so kind. The thought of her scaring me away seemed absurd to even consider. “Maybe she thought the three of us together would be too powerful. Who knows what kind of trouble we’d all cause together.”

“Trust me, she's already gotten me in plenty of trouble. I can't imagine adding you into the mix,” she argued with a smirk. “I'd probably get arrested again.”

Again?

Maybe the arrested part had been a piece of the joke. That tidbit of information had definitely never come up when Lydia had quizzed me on the other Selected.

I let out a laugh, my eyes darting from side to side as I made sure the kitchen was empty. Still, the walls had ears, with someone like Christina always lurking around the corner, so I dropped my voice to a whisper. “We played a prank on Arin after their date, and ended up hiding under the royals’ table for the entirety of lunch. Thank God for Wylan, or we’d have been dead meat for sure!” It was funny now, in retrospect, but I had been sure that both Idalia and I were going to be expelled from the Selection in that very moment.

Slowly, she nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. Wylan’s not a snitch, and I feel like he wouldn’t mind Arin getting a bit of grief.”

Clearly, not. I had to wonder what Arin had done to Wylan. To my knowledge, they were very good friends, but then again, even my siblings and I enjoyed giving each other grief. It seemed like that kind of relationship could apply to the two of them.

“Yeah,” I agreed, nodding, “that was the first time I’ve met Wylan, but I believe you.” At this point, I had finished with all the ingredients in my bowl, and I was willing to hazard a guess that Jen was done as well. “I’ve got everything mixed in mine; are you ready to mix the two bowls together, and then add the chocolate chips?”

She glanced from her own bowl to mine, and then to her phone, before nodding. “Let’s do it.”

Sounds like a plan. Now, how to do this without making an even bigger mess?

I bit my lip, slowly lifted my bowl, surprised at how heavy it actually was. Moving at a snail’s pace, I positioned the bowl over Jen’s, tilting it as slowly as I could, praying the ingredients would drip out into her bowl in as controlled a manner as possible. The first of the wet ingredients met the dry. So far, so good.

I risked a glance in Jen’s direction. “I can’t believe we’ve never spoken before. It sounds like we interact with the same four people.”

“Just wasn't meant to be, I guess. Even if we technically do live in the same place.” Retrieving a spoon from the drawer, she began to scrape the dregs of my bowl into hers, while adding, “People keep leaving, though, and it makes me nervous. I'd hate to get attached just for them to be eliminated the next day.”

I nodded, my eyes going a little wide. Fourteen. Over twenty sent home now. The fact that I wasn’t among them never failed to amaze me. “I know, we’re really getting down to the wire.” I frowned. “I’m going to go preheat the oven. 350 sounds about right, right?”

“Sure.” She didn’t sound to confident, but continued mixing the ingredient into a dough, adding in the chocolate chips. “It feels strange to ask, but how do you think you're doing? You know, with him.”

Well, wasn’t that just the question of the year. I frowned as the memory of our last interaction is his study came to mind. It hadn’t exactly been great, but he hadn’t reverted to being unkind again, either. “Fine enough, I think. He’s hard to get a read on, though.” I finally decided, walking back across the room to Jen, stopping next to her. One quick look at the dough revealed that it definitely was not made to exact measurements specified by the recipe. I decided to continue to ignore that, though. “What about you?”

She stared down at the counter, and I got the sense that I shouldn’t have asked. Still, she replied, “Yeah, me too.”

I offered her a sympathetic smile, unsure of what else to do. I wasn’t about to pry for details - it really wasn’t my place. The fact that we were, for all intents and purposes, dating the same man was odd enough. Obviously I had known what I was signing up for when I had filled out the application, but experiencing it in real time was an entirely different phenomenon, charged with emotions I previously hadn’t known existed.

Instead, I turned to the dough. “It looks a little dry. Do you think it’ll stick together as it bakes?”

“I’m sure it'll be fine.”

I could only hope she knew what she was doing.

I shrugged before kneeling down to pull a baking tray out of the cabinet by my legs. The cooking spray was already on the counter, thankfully. I quickly sprayed it over the pan, placing it back down before reaching into the bowl, and scooping up a small amount of dough. Rolling it into a ball was proving more difficult than it should have been. It kept crumbling in my hands, no matter how hard I tried to make it stick together. This feels like a metaphor for something.

Or it could just be that Jen measured the flour incorrectly.

Life wasn’t that poetic.

“But to your previous point - it’s just frustrating sometimes, I guess, because I never know he’s going to react to anything.” I was starting to pick up on it more, but there was still so much of him to figure out. Jen sounded like she might understand me on that much. I punctuated my statement with a shrug, placing the dough in my hands in a misshapen lump on the tray before grabbing more dough, and repeating the process.

A smile flitted across her face as she copied me, rolling the dough into roughly spherical balls. “He’s like that sometimes. It -“ she paused, as if she had something else to add, but couldn’t find the right phrasing “- Yeah, I know what you mean.”

It was all I could do to nod, looking down at the dough I was rolling, continuing the process over and over until the sheet was full a few minutes later - right as the oven beeped. Our timing was impeccable. I dug around in the cabinet by my legs for an oven mit, and, upon finding one, walked the tray over to the oven, sliding it onto the top rack. “I guess we’d better get used to it, then,” I replied with a wry chuckle as I closed the oven.

“Hopefully not.” When I turned around to walk back over to her, she had taken out her phone, hopefully to set a timer. The last thing we needed to do was burn down the kitchen.

“That’d be ideal, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up,” I conceded, mumbling under my breath as I rubbed my hands against my pants.

The sound of footsteps behind us knocked me out of my thoughts before I let them carry me away once again. A quick look over my shoulder revealed it was Princess Mélanie. I felt the color drain from my face immediately. It was that she looked particularly mean-spirited or threatening - in fact, she was simply staring at the tablet in her hand, her eyes wide with intrigue. Without looking up, she made her way to the fridge, opening it and pulling out a bottle of wine.

I should’ve expected that something akin to this would happen. This night had already taking so many twists and turns, that seeing Princess Mélanie in the kitchens almost made sense. The universe really must have wanted to see just how much I could handle in the span of twenty-four hours.

I couldn’t keep my eyes from darting between Jen and the princess, as if I could ask Jen whether or not I should say something without actually saying anything. I had no intention of spooking Mélanie in the way I had Arin the last two times I had seen him. It didn’t have the same appeal, and I got the sense that she might actually get angry if I did. Maybe Jen would say something. That’d be ideal.

Jen’s eyes were as wide as my own when I caught her gaze. She gestured frantically towards the princess, retreating back towards me, pressing her lips firmly in a line. She wasn’t going to talk, then.

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, eyes still wide as I looked at her, hoping she’d catch the hint and offer to speak up first. However, her expression was unchanging.

It was on me then.

I took a deep breath, leaning past Jen to get a better look at Mélanie, doing my best to keep my voice quiet so as not to spook her. “Good evening, Your Highness.”

I knew immediately that my attempts had been futile as I watched her head snap up. The sound of her tablet locking echoed throughout the otherwise silent room, and the screen grew noticeably darker. “Hello, ladies.” She was blinking, her voice a bit higher than I had heard it before, breathless, even, though the only time I had heard her speak was when Idalia and I had been caught under her table at lunch.

Crap. What do I do now?

I looked quickly to Jen again before turning back to Mélanie again, clearing my throat as softly as I could. “How are you?”

I was sure I sounded like a damn fool.

Something had wrapped itself around my arm, holding on tighter than I would have liked. I flinched, straining to look over my shoulder, to see what it was. Jen’s hand. Was she that afraid of Mélanie? From what I’d been told, the princess was actually rather nice, but I’d only heard rumors from Christina. As I took in the strained smile on Jen’s face, I came to the conclusion that she must not have heard the same tales I had.

I did my best to relax my muscles. Was Mélanie a powerful woman, and an intimidating presence? Yes, but one of us - Jen or I - had to remain calm. There was no use in feeding off of each others’ nervous energy. That was more likely to backfire, than anything else.

Mélanie slowly lowered the tablet, glancing at it briefly as she set it down on the counter next to her bottle of wine. “I’m…” She paused, offering a small smile to me and Jen, though I was pretty sure it was an at least somewhat forced gesture. “Alright,” she decided, clearing her throat. “How are you both?”

“I’m…” Jen looked between me and Mélanie, her mouth open, but no words coming out. Had she grabbed my hand instead of my arm, I might have squeezed it then, in an effort to show support. I knew what she was feeling in that moment. The interesting part about it to me, though, was the fact that she too struggled to find the words, despite being a law student. Weren’t words your primary weapon in law?

I definitely knew nothing about the field of law.

“Sorry we’re in your kitchen,” Jen blurted out.

I turned to her then, my own eyes wide, despite the fact that I knew that if I had bumped into Mélanie while I was alone in this kitchen, I would’ve said the exact same thing. Still, it didn’t particularly seem like Mélanie was in any rush to shoo Jen and I away. Was I misreading the situation? I threw an apologetic smile in Mélanie’s direction, for good measure, unsure of what else to do or say. Better safe than sorry.

Mélanie ran her eyes over us, and then turned her focus to the ingredients we had left on the counter. Crap. It was still a mess, despite my feeble attempts at cleaning it earlier. We hadn’t scrubbed anything down, or put anything away, or even put the dirty dishes in the sink. My mother would have had a fit.

My eyes might have deceived me, but I could have sworn that I saw Mélanie smile at the mess. “It’s fine. You’re allowed to be in here.”

Well, that was a start. Jen released her grip on my arm, still staring forward. My own smile was more genuine now, less sheepish, though I could feel that my face was still tinged red. “Thank you. I’m, um, glad to hear you’re doing alright.”

“So,” Mélanie began, raising her eyebrows at us. “Are you both just going to gawk at me, or?”

“Sorry!” I didn’t know what else to say. Was I gawking? Probably. Before I could make any other stupid faces, I darted back over to the oven, crouching down to check on the cookies. “We didn’t mean to interrupt your -” I gestured behind me, in the direction of where I hoped the princess and Jen were standing “- wine night. It seems like we all caught each other a little off guard.” I shot the princess a smile over my shoulder, hoping it looked more confident than I felt. Probably not, but I could dream.

Apparently, I had looked over my shoulder just in time to see Jen nodding faster than I had thought humanly possible. “We can leave and make cookies another night!”

It was a little too late for that. I furrowed my brows at Jen, not moving from my spot by the oven, it’s warmth like a comforting blanket slung around me. “Jen, they’re already in the oven. If we just left now, they’d probably catch fire.”

I was beginning to understand just how poorly she might have done in her chemistry class.

Her eyes grew wide as she looked over at me. “We can take the cookies out and leave,” she hissed, her entire body tensed as if she was ready to race against the clock to do just that.

And leave the mess here for someone else to clean? I narrowed my eyes at her. Hadn’t she been the girl who had gotten into a fight on her first night here over one of the other girls disrespecting the maids, or something along those lines? Yet she would think to leave them with more work, just to avoid changing the plans of someone who had already said that she was fine with us being here. The situation was undoubtedly more nuanced than I was making it out to be, but it still felt out of character, based on what I had heard of her.

Mélanie watched us for a moment, before turning around and opening one of the cabinets, filled with rows of wine glasses. She resolved the debate between me and Jen by pulling down three glasses, setting them down on the counter with care, the contact between the glasses and the counter issuing only the faintest of clinks.

“Oh.” Raising an eyebrow at the princess, I came to a stand, rubbing my hands on the front of my pants. Drinking with Arin’s mother felt so strange - like I was crossing an unspoken line, somehow - and yet, there was no way I could refuse without being rude. Slowly, I walked back over to the counter, taking up a spot besides Jen yet again. “Thank you.”

At least Mélanie had chosen white wine, that night. She didn’t need to see my facial reactions to the taste of red wine. That was something we’d have to work our way up to, if given the time to do so.

Mélanie just unscrewed the lid of the bottle, pouring copious amounts of wine into each of the three glasses. As soon as she had finished that, she leaned over the island, passing both Jen and I a glass, her eyes darting towards the flour-coated countertop. I had half a mind to put the glass she had just handed me down and immediately start cleaning up, but I refrained. That would be rude. She had just poured me a glass of wine, for crying out loud, and for what reason - because I had made a mess of her kitchen?

The ability to leave me confused must have been a dominant allele that ran on Arin’s mother’s side of the family.

“If you’re going to make such a mess,” Mélanie began, still eyeing the countertop, “at least make it fun for the security team to watch.” With that, she took a very long sip of wine, smirking at us when she had finished.

“I hadn’t considered that part of it.” I chuckled and nodded, picking up my own glass to take a small sip. Would I drink with Arin’s mother? Sure. My own mother would have chewed my ear off for not minding my manners if I didn’t. However, was I going to get tipsy, or, God forbid, drunk, with Arin’s mother? Not tonight, at least.

Who knows what could happen if you win?

As if there was a shot in hell of that happening, just based on my last interaction with Arin.

“I don’t really -” Besides me, Jen was staring at her glass with wide eyes before lifting the glass to her lips in a painstakingly slow motion, taking a sip even tinier than mine. “I hadn’t either.”

At least I wasn’t alone in thinking this situation was a tad odd.

“Don’t worry,” I assured Mélanie, following her gaze towards the mess. “We’ll clean this up!”

“Definitely!” Jen nodded, her eyes a little wide, as if she was looking at the flour she had spilled for the first time. “All of it!”

“Okay,” was all Mélanie said in reply, her chuckle laced with a bit of amusement. After taking another sip, she looked at me and Jen once more. “Am I really that scary?”

I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to find a response that felt safe. There were a million and one reasons that I couldn’t call her scary, and yet, deep down, wasn’t I terrified? The root of the emotion wasn’t her, though, and I didn’t care to examine it much further than that.

“I don’t think scary is quite the right word. Maybe a little intimidating, at first?” I shrugged. “Take my thoughts on the matter with a grain of salt - I thought Safiya was intimidating when I first met her.” She still was to me, a little, but her kindness shone through more than anything that would make me nervous. I hoped her mother was the same way.

“Intimidating?” Mélanie snorted, glancing between her wine glass and her tablet with a smirk. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jen take another, longer, sip of wine. “Interesting.”

Jen turned towards me, as if to ask me to take one for the team, and to continue the conversation. She must not have realized how bad of an idea that was. I was running out of acceptable things to say. “Interesting how perceptions can change so quickly,” I offered, nodding once before taking another sip of my own wine. If this was how most conversations with the Selected went, I was beginning to understand why Mélanie had offered us some.

“Are you two always this -” she raised her shoulders, still grinning “-gobsmacked?”

Me? Yes. Jen? I’m not sure; I just met her.

Jen glanced down to her glass once more before looking up, some of the tension in her body dissipating, as if she was seeing Mélanie in a new light. “I’m not graced with the privilege of speaking with royalty every day, nor is Evalin, as far as I know, especially when we’re technically invading your space in your home.” Her knuckles were whiter than usual as she clutched her glass of wine. “I like to think I’m usually more refined.”

I almost snorted, trying to picture any of the people I would have called “refined” in Knoxville coating their kitchen counters with a thick layer of spilled flour.

Mélanie, however, singled out a different part of Jen’s reply . “Royalty?” She asked, letting out a laugh before taking another sip of wine. “Don’t you both talk to Arin all the time?”

I pursed my lips, considering her words. I wasn’t surprised by the fact that she knew how frequently Arin and I had bumped into each other, recently, because again, every wall in the palace had eyes and ears. Plus, they were mother and son. I would be surprised if they hadn’t talked about it at all, even in passing. A quick look at the satisfied smile on Jen’s face told me she was thinking the same thing.

So our reputations preceded us, then. Hopefully Mélanie had only heard the good things.

My voice was soft when I finally answered. “Somehow, that feels different.” It truly did, as ridiculous as that statement seemed. Maybe it was because Arin had been an absolute prick on our first date, or maybe it was because we were closer in age with one another - whatever the cause was, it didn’t change the fact that I was being honest.

“Very different,” Jen echoed, taking another sip of her wine.

“I don’t know why,” Mélanie replied with a shrug. “He outranks me, and he’s going to be the king one day.”

The deep breath she took at that last part resonated with me on a deep level. “Yeah…” I said, trailing off, raising and lowering my eyebrows once as I took a long sip of wine. I hadn’t really taken Arin’s future title into consideration in any of our conversations, with the exception of the brief one we’d had in his office. It was hard to imagine him one day ruling this country. It wasn’t that I doubted his abilities to do so - though I was beginning to question them, a little - but rather that it seemed like something that wouldn’t happen for a long time, an inevitability of a distant future.

Perhaps it was something I should consider more often. I had come here with the hopes of falling in love with him, after all. Should that come to pass, that would leave me as the queen, which came with a whole new set of powers and responsibilities.

Somehow, that felt even further off than Arin becoming the king.

“We’re not supposed to be dating you,” Jen pointed out, taking another sip of wine, and eliciting a chuckle from me.

“No?” I had no name for the noise Mélanie made, but I got the feeling that she was amused. “You don't think so? I'd somewhat disagree.”

“How so?” Jen voiced my own thoughts before I could. Raising an eyebrow at the princess, I took another sip of my drink, debating for a brief moment whether dating Mélanie might be easier than dating Arin. She hadn’t been an asshole to us - ever - at least.

“Well, we're sort of a package deal. An entire family comes with Arin,” Mélanie explained, drinking more of her wine.

“Well, yes,” I began, my eyebrows knitted in consternation, “but similarly, each Selected comes with an entire family, and it’s not really like any of you get to meet them.” I shrugged, lifting my head to look at the ceiling before adding, “Though, I imagine that could be for the better.” I could really only speak for my own family, but something told me that Arin meeting all of my siblings and my parents at the same time, even after having gotten to know me, was going to be quite the spectacle as it was, should that day ever come to pass. Had he met any of them before he had met me, I would’ve been sent packing by now for sure.

Jen looked at me like she was trying to hold in a laugh, before turning back to Mélanie, who was sipping some more wine. “Doesn’t matter who outranks who. Meeting a mom will always be worlds scarier.”

“Well, here we are, and we’re sharing wine. Are you still scared?” She laughed.

I shook my head, taking another long sip of wine. Sacred still wasn’t the right word, to me.

“Maybe you should be. This could be your future.”

Now that was scary. As a child, I had always dreamed about leaving my mark on the world, inspiring others, leaving a legacy that would span years after my death, but never like this. I had always aspired to have the renown of Proctor, to earn the appreciation and the respect of families everywhere by contributing to a potential cure for cancer, and to inspire other young girls to go into science. The legacy of a queen was in a whole different league, though. Sure, I’d have a larger platform to promote my projects and ideas, but every mistake I made, every misstep I took, would be seen and heard by people all across the country, or even across the globe. Nobody paid that much attention to biologists in their labs - not until they did something great.

What if I never did anything noteworthy?

“Still scared, yes,” Jen answered, taking a drink. “Very.”

The princess let out a sigh. “Then break it down for me, because all I did was walk in for some wine.”

Jen let out a small noise of surprise, but fulfilled Mélanie’s request nonetheless. “You're supposed to meet parents over an awkward dinner where you argue about politics or something, not baking cookies in their kitchen.” With a sigh, she looked at Mélanie again, and added, “I don't drink,” punctuating her sentence with a sip of her wine.

I just shook my head, placing my glass down on the counter before walking over to the oven again, holding my hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. “I’ve got nothing. I’ve never made it to the meeting-the-parents stage before.” I’m assuming you usually have to get passed the first date to do that. An image of Lukas flashed through my mind. And that both parties should know that they might be in a relationship, and therefore want to meet the parents.

The concept of Arin meeting my parents was still rather entertaining to me. I knew my mother would be besides herself, doing everything she could to be the polite hostess to him, even if she came here to meet him. My father, though, likely wouldn’t say much. He wasn’t one for small talk. The most I could picture him doing was asking Arin a question maybe once every hour, then nodding at his answering, and finishing it off by taking another sip of whatever he was drinking. There would definitely be drinking involved.

Mélanie had had the right idea.

I cast a brief look over my shoulder, watching Méalnie rub her face and mumble, “Give me strength.” I smiled at that, having heard my own mother say as much rather often. With the grief we often gave her, I couldn’t blame her, nor could I blame Mélanie right now, as she looked back up at me and Jen. “You do know you’ve been here months, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware.” The answer left my mouth before I could even think.

“So then it's not a big deal,” Mélanie argued. With a shrug, she continued, “You've been here, I've been here, it's been fine. So why panic now?”

I stood back up, content that the cookies weren’t burning yet, offering her a shrug of my own as I walked back over to Jen, who was taking yet another sip of wine. “You’ve got a point there.”

The gaze she fixed me with then was the same, incomprensible look that I had seen on Arin’s face nearly a million times now. Yes, the gene that granted him the ability to make me so confused definitely originated from his mother’s side of the family. There was no arguing that.

I pursed my lips, averting my gaze downwards to the floor. Despite her stare making me a little uneasy, Mélanie had been nothing but kind - friendly, even. She had been in our shoes, once, I reminded myself. She’d stood where we now stood, and felt what we now felt.

My voice was soft when I finally dared to voice my question aloud. “Was it hard to transition to life here?” Were you terrified that you’d be a bad leader? Did you second-guess your every move? I picked up my glass and took a big sip of wine, catching Jen doing the same thing out of the corner of my eye.

The princess just about choked on the gulp of wine she herself had just been taking. “Hard?”

Had my question not been clear? “Difficult?” I felt the blush returning to my cheeks, and knew it wasn’t the alcohol, even as I took another sip.

“That's one way to put it, but you have time on your side,” she answered, setting her glass down on the counter.

I tilted my head to the side, my eyes narrowing slightly as I attempted to decipher her words. Time was on our side? Then why did it feel like everyone was in such a rush to get Arin married? His breakup with Felicity had still been fresh when the Selection had been announced. How could time be on our side, the side of the girls who were left to deal with Arin now, as he dealt with his own unresolved emotions regarding his previous relationship? Was this all meant to coincide with Queen Anjali’s world tour as well, so Arin would be dealing with the stress of the Selection and running a country all at once? The timing had not been great for anyone, to say the least. “How do you mean?”

“Well, I only had a few years to adjust before I was suddenly thrown into my role. Things aren't the same for you- but in a good way. So you can ease in.” She let out a low chuckle, then added, “Besides, you don't have to deal with the fallout from not having a Selection.”

No, but we have to deal with your son, who didn’t want to have a Selection in the first place.

She did have a point in the first portion of her answer, though. If everything went well - and I genuinely hoped it did - whoever was thrown into the role of being Arin’s wife would have some time to continue to adjust to the responsibilities of being royalty before actually becoming the queen. It was like a trial period, of sorts. Yet, all eyes would still be on his wife, waiting to see how she would handle her newfound fame and power. So, she had time to learn before the fate of a nation was partially in her hands, but not time enough to learn how to keep her own reputation in tact. Interesting.

“Is this what you wanted?” Jen blurted out, the suddenness of her words making me jump ever so slightly. Now that she mentioned it, though, I was kind of curious as well. Had she been able to carve out a happy life here? As I had told Missy, when I pictured my wedding day, I had never pictured a certain location, or dress, or any of the physical details. All I knew, was that I felt indescribably happy, and that was what really made my idea of the day so magical. Could I even have that here?

“No,” Mélanie answered after a moment. I felt my heart drop to my stomach. “It wasn't, but I ended up with who I wanted.”

I bit my lip. “That’s the most important part, right?” You’re still happy? You’re still in love?

“Is it?” Jen looked down at her glass of wine. What could she possibly mean by that? Was she here for the title, then - for the security and connections it provided? It hadn’t seemed like she was, but she could just be a very convincing actress. Lawyers had to at least be able to pretend to believe the stories they told in a courtroom. She could have been doing that with me earlier.

Mélanie simply shrugged and laughed. “You tell me. I'm planning on getting drunk and finishing up my bodice ripper novel tonight.”

Before I could stop myself, I let out a laugh, my smile growing the more I thought about it. This may not have been the life she imagined, but she didn’t seem too heartbroken about that. I was sure there was a lot more to it that she wasn’t letting us see at the moment, but before I could come up with a way to discreetly ask her about that, I felt something in my pocket start vibrating. My phone.

I pulled it out of my pocket, frowning as I looked down at the screen. My old work number glowed back at me. “It’s nearly two in the morning there,” I mumbled under my breath. If this was Lukas again, I was going to lose it. He’d better have something important to tell me. “I think I’ve got to take this,” I apologized, looking up at the princess and offering her a small smile.

As soon as the words left my mouth, the timer on Jen’s phone went off. She made her way towards the oven. “And I should get those out this time.”

“Well, then I'll leave you two to it.” Mélanie picked up her wine glass, flashing us each an amused smile.

I nodded as I picked up the phone, slowly walking towards the hallway. Walking these halls while talking on my phone was about to become my new thing, it seemed. I could only imagine what stories anyone who witnessed me was stringing together based off of the half-conversations they heard. “Hello?”

Whoever was on the other end of the line was silent. Behind me, I could hear the clink of Jen’s wine glass against the counter, followed by her saying, “Have a good evening, Your Highness, and thank you.”

I quickly looked over my shoulder before entering the hallway, offering the princess an apologetic smile as my father’s voice hit my ears. “Evalin? Jeg så at du var den siste personen noe hadde ringt fra denne telefonen.” I saw that you were the last person someone had called from this phone.

I frowned, listening to Mélanie’s footsteps retreat down the hallway in the other direction. “Ja. Hva gjør du i laboratoriet på klokka to i morgenen?” Yes. What are you doing in the lab at two in the morning?

“Arbeid.” Work.

My frown only deepened at the non-answer, though such replies were typical of my father. Perhaps that was why I had more patience with Arin than some of the other girls seemed to - I was used to getting non-answers.

“Er alt bra?” Is everything okay? My father’s tone was flat, as if he wasn’t concerned in the slightest, but the question spoke where his voice didn’t.

I cleared my throat before answering, beginning to follow the familiar path back to my room. I felt kind of bad leaving Jen alone, but I also couldn’t just hang up on my father without raising his suspicions, especially if he already thought something was wrong. “Ja. Er alt bra med dere?” Yes. Is everything well with y’all?

“Ja,” was his only answer. Short, simple, and to the point.

“Hvorfor ringte du meg da?” Why did you call me then?

He was silent for a moment. Then, “Jeg så antallet ditt, og jeg bare ønsket å dobbeltsjekke.” I saw your number, and I just wanted to double check.

“Vel, jeg er bra.” Well, I am well. This was by far the most awkward conversation I had ever had with my father, neither of us truly answering each other’s questions. It felt like there was a wall between us, not just a phone line. Is this what would happen, the longer I spent away from home? Would we grow so distant to the point where we couldn’t understand each other like we used to?

It was late, for both of us. I was likely just tired. “Jeg er nesten klar for å legge meg ned i sengen. Du bør gjøre det samme.” I am almost ready to go to bed. You should do the same.

“Okay,” he answered, his voice softer now. “Goodnight, Goose.”

I paused at the sound of his childhood nickname for me, my hand wrapped around the doorknob of my room. He hadn’t called me that since I had graduated high school. It had been a bit of a joke when I was younger, because apparently as a toddler, when my mother had taken me and my older siblings to feed bread to the ducks, I had insisted on feeding some to the geese as well, even though my mother had warned me against it. Allegedly, I had told her that it felt unfair to not give the geese some bread, though. I probably hadn’t even realized that the geese and the ducks were two separate species of animal. Since then, my father had called me, “Goose,” as a term of endearment. He hadn’t used it once in the past two years though, after I had insisted that I was past the point of “Goose,” being an acceptable nickname. He had relented, without even an argument.

Swallowing once, I practically whispered, “Goodnight,” before hanging up.

I didn’t even bother to change into pajamas when I got into my room. I went straight for the bed, cocooning myself in my blankets and just laying there on my side, in my clothes, until sleep took me.

#selectionoc

[ladylillianrose]

Seasons of Love a Max Richman/Zoey Clarke Fanfiction

A/N: Well guys we are almost at the end of this journey! Thank you all for reading and for all your comments! I can’t believe it’s almost over!

Per usual a big thank you to aubreyrichman for her edits!

As always the characters are not mine but belong to the amazing genius that is Austin Winsberg.

Summary: Christmas with the Clarke family

This month’s song is “What Are You Doing New Years Eve” by Nancy Wilson (Listen to it here https://youtu.be/uUK_P88g4Kg)

December 25 Christmas Day

November 26 Thanksgiving

October 31 Halloween

September 23 Max’s Birthday

August 12 Perseids Meteor Shower

July 4 Independence Day

June 21 Father’s Day

May 10 Mother’s Day

April 12 Easter

March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

February 14 Valentine’s Day

December 31-January 1 New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day

December was always a flurry of activity in the Clarke household. Maggie outdid herself with the decorations as she did every year, making the house look like it came straight out of a holiday catalog. Zoey and Max were over almost everyday helping out with the decorating, baking, shopping and wrapping presents. 

The week before Christmas, they had celebrated the last night of Hanukkah together as a family. The celebration had been Maggie’s idea after Max's first Christmas with them. Max insisted she didn't need to go out of her way for him, that he was more than happy to be a part of their Christmas traditions. But Maggie was stubborn, so the next year Max had found himself in the kitchen teaching her how to make latkes and his grandmother's kugel recipe. It touched Max how much both Maggie and Mitch had done to make him feel like a part of the family.  

“Merry Christmas!” Zoey and Max shouted as they walked through the door, arms laden with gifts.

Maggie came over and hugged both of them, helping them place their gifts under the tree.

Peter eagerly began crawling his way towards the presents and the tree.

“Oh no you don’t sir,” David said as he scooped him up. “Last night he kept trying to get to the milk and cookies we left out. And now that those are gone, it’s all about the shiny lights and ornaments on the tree!” David explained, hugging Max and Zoey.

Emily joined them from the kitchen, “It’s his first Christmas honey.” She took Peter from his arms, “He’s just very excited.”

Zoey grinned at Peter, “Of course he’s excited, Auntie Zoey and Uncle Max brought all sorts of fun presents just for him!”

David shook his head at her, “I thought we said we weren’t going to go crazy with presents this year….”

“You said that, I said that I do what I want,” Zoey shrugged at him.

David looked at Max who held up his hands in defense, “Don’t look at me, man. I just do what she tells me, you know how determined she gets.”

Zoey laughed, “Oh, cause you weren’t the one insisting we get all of those baby science board books for him?”

Max feigned ignorance, “Nope, I have no idea how we ended up with the complete set of those.”

David shook his head smiling as he watched the two of them bantering. He was relieved that Zoey had finally found her happiness, she and Max were perfect for one another.

"Come on, let's get started!" Zoey said eagerly, dragging Max over to the sofa.

Max shook his head fondly at her eagerness, she was just as excited as Peter.

Zoey waited until everyone was seated to start passing out the gifts. Soon, everyone had a nice simple pile, though Peter's was three times the size of everyone else's. 

Peter stared up at his pile wide eyed, as he began playing with the shiny ribbons hanging off them.

Zoey glanced knowingly at Maggie.. "What? I'm Grandma, it's my job to spoil my grandson!" She defended herself.

They all took turns opening their presents, giving Peter a chance to play with his favorite present ….the wrapping paper and ribbons.

Zoey looked around the room, noticing that everyone else seemed to be done opening their gifts, apart from her and Max.

"So, who's next?" She asked.

Max nudged a small box into her hands. "You are, sweetheart."

Zoey looked at the tag, "You are my sun, my moon and all my stars. Love Always, Max."

She smiled at him as she unwrapped the gift, to reveal a small box that could only contain jewelry. She opened the box and gasped, inside was an exquisite white opal necklace. The stone was set in a circle surrounded by smaller stones that may or may not be diamonds.

Max took it from her hands as she lifted her hair so he could help her put it on. He dropped a kiss on her neck, "I wanted to give you the moon, but since that would cause all sorts of tide and gravitational issues, so I went with the next best thing."

Zoey glanced down at the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever owned. She turned, throwing her arms around Max and kissing him.

She pulled back her forehead resting on his, tears in her eyes. "I love it, I love you, it's perfect," she breathed.

Max grinned at her, dazed from her kiss. Zoey couldn't resist, she grabbed one of the stray bows and stuck it to Max's head. She saw out of the corner of her eye, Maggie sneakily taking pictures of them.

Max made a face at her, before taking the bow and sticking it to her head. He leaned over and kissed her again,  "Best Christmas gift ever." 

Zoey blushed as she felt the eyes of her family on them. 

"Your turn!" She said thrusting a large rectangular gift into Max's hands.

"For the man whose songs hold my whole heart. Love, Zoey."

Max peeled off the paper to reveal an album, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), by The Proclaimers?" Max looked confused. 

Zoey smiled at him, "You sang me this song the night of Simon's engagement party," she began.

"I sang this to you?" Max interrupted, looking surprised.

Zoey nodded, "I could tell that you meant every word of it as you sang to me. That’s when I knew, when I realized that I loved you too. So, since then I've thought of it as our song."

Max pulled her to him, kissing her gently. "It's perfect. It will always be our song, whether I sing it out loud to you or not."

David and Emily looked confused at the exchange. "Max sings to you?" David asked.

Zoey blushed, "Umm yeah. He's big on singing to me, sometimes he plays piano too."

Max grinned, "What can I say, she just makes me feel like singing all the time."

David made a gagging motion, as Emily rolled her eyes at her husband. "Well, I think that's so sweet! You guys have your own special song. I wonder what ours would be," she said turning to David.

Zoey turned even redder and hid her face in Max's chest.

He leaned down and asked, "I take it they have a song?"

"You do not want to know…" Zoey mumbled trying to forget the last time she had heard Emily sing and the awkward conversation she had with her brother after.

Max chuckled, dropping a kiss on her head.

Once all the gifts were open they set to cleaning up the living room from all the discarded paper. Maggie turned on the stereo as she headed to the kitchen to begin preparing Christmas brunch. 

Once the floor was clear of debris,  Max offered his hand to Zoey. "May I have this dance?" Zoey smiled accepting his hand and being pulled into his arms.

The music played as they danced. Max began to sing along for her.

Maybe it's much

Too early in the game

Aah, but I thought

I'd ask you just the same

What are you doing New Year's

New Year's eve?

David chuckled, hearing Max.  "I assume we are all doing the same thing we do every New Year's Eve."

Zoey shook her head, making a rude gesture at David. She sighed contentedly and continued listening to Max as he sang.

Wonder whose arms

Will hold you good and tight

When it's exactly

Twelve o'clock that night

Welcoming in the New Year

New Year's eve

Maybe I'm crazy to suppose

I'd ever be the one you chose

Out of a thousand invitations

You received

Aah, but in case

I stand one little chance

Here comes

The jackpot question in advance

What are you doing,  New Year's?

New Year's Eve?

"I'm spending New Year's Eve with you, of course. There's no one's arms I'd rather be in," Zoey said honestly.

Max leaned down and kissed her softly. He had plans for New Year's Eve, and it couldn't come soon enough.

#Clarkeman #clarkeman fanfiction #max x zoey fanfiction #max x zoey #zoey x max fanfiction #zoey x max #max richman #zoey clarke #Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist #Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Fanfiction #zoeys extraordinary playlist #Zoeys playlist fanfiction #zoeys playlist #zep #ZoeysPlaylist #Zoeysplaylist fanfiction #Seasons of Love #fanfiction #team Max #team I'm yours #otp: I'm yours

[tinyriver]

Yoo I want to get started baking my own bread. Do you have any favorite "recipes" or tips to share? Love your content btw

ooooh yes. i do have bread tips. (bear with me, it’s past midnight and i should be sleeping so this is a bit crazy) 

start with something easy, don’t start with ciabatta. start with something simple like white bread or some generic loaf thing. then ramp it up.

i like instant yeast. it’s quick to work with, and i can make bread in an afternoon. if the time commitment of bread is scary, start with instant yeast recipes.

yeast and salt do not mix. both are important but don’t let them touch too much. bread is science and science says salt kills yeast.

i like kneading. a lot. some people like using their stand mixer to knead. i think the process of hand-kneading lets you get to know the dough. you get a feel for when it’s overworked, and can tell just when it’s perfect. 

don’t knead with too much flour. if you add too much flour, then it changes the consistency of the dough.

make breads that you like. if you really like challah, try making one. if you love rye, try it. if it fails, try again. stay excited about it.

get to know your yeast. especially with active dry yeast. you technically don’t have to proof it, but you totally should because you get to know the science around it (it likes a very specific temperature), and also know if it’s actually working (if it doesn’t foam/bubble, it’s a dud).

slash your loaves. your bread will expand, so give it some room to grow. otherwise it will bust out in unsightly ruptures.

take your time. let it rise for a bit longer if you think it needs it. don’t be afraid to let something rise overnight. be patient. the longer you spend on a bread, the more satisfying it is to take it out of the oven.

you don’t need anything fancy to make bread. literally just an oven, flour, water, yeast, and salt. you don’t even really need a dark warm place to let it rise. i’ve had a successful bake with the dough rising in the corner of my living room in a clear glass bowl covered with a dishcloth. also, this is how you destroy capitalism. these ingredients are cheap af. your bread is better and more satisfying then store-bought, it has less ingredients (like preservatives) and it costs waaaaayyyy less.

and for some good recipes, i’ll link a few good ones under the keep reading

the first loaf i made was a cuban water bread, and it was absolutely amazing. this was what made me fall in love with making bread. it was so fun to make, and turned out so well. it’s kind of like a french bread, but a little softer. really good for having with soup or some sort of dish you want some bread to mop up the sauce or something with. i lifted it from some cuban cookbook somewhere. i’d recommend halving the yeast and giving it double the time to rise, but if you’re in a hurry, this is totally fine. (also it’s not by weight, so idk how you feel about that)

ingredients:

4 tsp rapid rise yeast (or just do 2tsps and double the rise)

2 cups warm water

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

6 cups sifted bread flour (i sometimes do a bit less. and remember to sift the flour)

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ cup cornmeal (or less. i don’t like too much cornmeal but it is important)

1 quart boiling water

some bay leaves if you want

directions:

dissolve the yeast in warm water in a large bowl

add the sugar, stir, and then add the salt (this is the only time that salt being added directly to the yeast has ever worked for me. idk why it does, but it works)

add the flour while stirring

shape dough into ball, put in a bowl greased with olive oil, and then oil the ball. cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rise until it’s doubled in size. (this could take anywhere from 30 min to 4 hours or more)

take it out, knead for 5 min on a lightly floured surface, and shape it into two long loaves

put the loaves on a baking sheet that’s been predusted with cornmeal, and let rise for 10 min

slash the loaves, tuck the bay leaves into the slashes, and then brush the loaves with water

put the loaves in a cold oven and then turn the oven to 400°F (about 200°C) and put a pan of the boiling water on a rack below the bread

bake for around 40 min, until crusty 

this whole wheat loaf is nice. my tip for this would be to ditch the loaf pan and just do a hand rolled loaf, but if you’re making sandwiches than maybe stick with the pan.

i’m trying to perfect my boule, they seem to always be too chewy, and i overknead them every time. but i’m getting some success with this recipe. skip the food processor, just hand mix, and add the salt a bit later.

if you’re ready for something fancy, i like this ciabatta recipe. it’s shorter that most, but still has you make a sponge and do a bunch of rises.

if a loaf is done cooking, it will sound hollow when you tap it

happy baking my friend :) love you too

#.asks #wow this was longer than i intended #baking #bread #i love baking so much #.essay

[consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis]

21 Easy (and Cozy) Self Care Ideas to Practice this Winter

New blog post! Now that winter is making days shorter, colder and darker, it's more important than ever to make self care part of your regular routine. And I'm not talking about the Instagram #selfcare that requires fancy bath bombs or expensive lotions. I'm talking about 21 easy ways that you can get cozy and relaxed this winter, whether you're a college student like me, a busy mother of two or a full-time worker with a demanding job schedule.

Some of these self care ideas may seem obvious, but others may surprise you - and many of them are scientifically-backed ways to tackle stress. So regardless of how busy you may be this holiday season, check out these 21 ways you can add more self care into your holly, jolly life.

1. Make yourself a warm, welcoming drink.

On cold winter days, it probably feels natural to reach for something cozy to warm you up. If you're really looking for help relaxing, though, fill your mug with tea. Research has found that drinking tea can help lower people's stress levels. Plus, it can be pretty dang delicious! (If you have celiac disease, just make sure it's gluten free).

2. Watch a sappy holiday-inspired show or movie.

Sometimes, we don't need an award-winning movie or TV show to enjoy ourselves. At least a few times this winter, embrace your silly or sentimental side by watching a bad Hallmark movie or bingeing your favorite holiday baking show. (And if you eat chocolate while doing it, that's obviously worth bonus points).

3. Go thrifting for cute and comfy winter clothes.

Updating your wardrobe for winter doesn't have to hurt your wallet. Instead, make looking for comfy hats, mittens or scarfs a fun adventure by hitting up your local second-hand store.

4. Be your own masseuse.

Massage has been shown to reduce people's physical tension and mental stress - and if you have a chronic illness or chronic pain like me, a good massage is always a good idea! You don't need to hire a high-end masseuse to reap some of these benefits, either. Give yourself a massage instead by rubbing your own muscles while lotioning up after your shower or using a tennis ball or foam roller to break up any knots and tension. Pair this massage with a relaxing bubble bath and you have the makings of a perfect self-date night.

5. Set aside extra time to read a book, just for fun.

I know that winter can be a busy time with friends and family, but don't forget to set aside some alone time in your schedule. Add a good book into the equation, and your quiet night in will be extra enjoyable.

6. Bake yourself something festive!

Besides getting to eat a delicious pumpkin or apple inspired treat, you'll feel nice and cozy when your kitchen is warm from the oven and smelling like the holidays. (And if you need some ideas for gluten free pumpkin desserts or baked goods, try out this recent round up of mine!).

7. Walk it out (outdoors or at a local gym).

Depending on the weather where you live, going for a walk outside might not be an option. Even if you have to go for a walk inside, though, your brain will still thank you. Research has found that exercise can drastically improve people's mental health, and even just walking will lower how often people have "bad days."

8. Take up a new, indoor hobby.

And if being outdoors is realllly not an option, starting a new hobby that takes place indoors is ideal. Start putting together puzzles, learning how to cross-stitch...or even practicing rock-climbing, like I did last year! Who knows - you may end up finding a hobby that you love doing year-round.

9. Try out hot yoga.

Because there's no better escape for winter weather than a relaxing, mantra-and-stretch filled session of hot yoga.

10. Light one of your favorite candles.

More research still needs to be done on the benefits of aromatherapy, but science seems to suggest that certain scents can help us chilllll out. Find a scent that you enjoy, like lavender or peppermint, and experiment with burning different candles and seeing which smells work best for you!

11. Purge your social media feeds.

You've heard of spring cleaning, but winter is another great time to set yourself up for a fresh start in the New Year. If you find yourself spending more time than ever on social media since it's too cold or dreary to go outside, pay attention to how each account makes you feel and ditch the ones that aren't doing you any favors.

12. Get crafty and let out your inner child.

Create a wreath to hang on your door, use colorful pens and papers to create homemade cards or just doodle in a notebook. These kinds of creative activities have been linked to improved mood and creativity the next day...plus, you might end up with some very cute gifts to give this Christmas. Win-win!

13. Pamper yourself with a face mask.

I've only started using face masks this last year, and the hype is worth it. My favorite is a simple mix of honey with cinnamon that I apply on "problem areas" for around 10-15 minutes before washing it off, but there are tons of safe (and even delicious!) face mask recipes you can find online. No fancy or expensive ingredients or products required. Plus, dry winter skin will definitely thank you for the extra TLC.

14. Dust off your crockpot and experiment with a new yummy recipe.

I know I've certainly been lax in using my crockpot lately, and it can be hard to feel motivated to start cooking dinner first thing in the morning. But your future self will definitely thank you for the little bit of prep you do earlier, and winter is the perfect time to whip up something warm and gooey. May I suggest my crockpot stacked enchiladas or vegan mac and cheese?

15. Throw a pajama party.

Whether you have a solo party or invite friends, spend a whole, blissful day hanging out in your PJs.

16. Do something nice for someone else. 

Acts of kindness have actually been scientifically shown to improve people's physical and mental health, so passing it forward this winter is actually a win-win. Donate to a local toy-drive, send a care package to a solider or pay for the next person's coffee in Starbucks. Little acts can have a big impact.

17. Start a gratitude practice.

If you're the journaling type, you can start writing what you're grateful for every day in a notebook. Otherwise, sticky notes or just thinking about two things you're grateful for each morning or night will still give you a positivity boost!

18. Set aside time to play your favorite "pointless" game.

Whether it's Sudoku, Words With Friends or a video game that you used to play for hours every day in high school, give yourself permission to just sit back and play for a little while. I know that during most of the year, I'm a major multi-tasker and anytime I do get to play a game, it's because I'm traveling or waiting to start another chore. So chillin' (pun intended) with my gamer self during winter is one of my favorite ways to relax.

19. Declutter at least one part of your house.

Along with purging your social media feeds, on days when cold weather keeps you in the house, you might try purging cluttered corners as well. Decluttering can not only improve concentration, but it can also improve your mood, lower your stress levels and give you a better night's sleep. And if you play your latest Netflix binge, favorite podcast or an epic holiday playlist in the background, you can make decluttering feel a lot more fun too.

20. Stretch yo' body.

At least for me, finding the motivation for a hard workout feels a lot harder when it's cold, dark and dreary outside. So on days when you feel like you're in a funk but don't feel up for a full workout, do some gentle stretches (even in the comfort of your own bed!) instead. It will loosen up your muscles, slash your stress and might even help you be more productive at work.

21. Choose a mantra for the upcoming year.

Obviously, you shouldn't spend all winter pining for spring...but it can't hurt to spend a little time reflecting on what you want from the upcoming months. In 2018, my word or mantra of the year was "discomfort." In 2019, it was "open." And while I haven't decided exactly what word I want to keep in mind during the start of a new decade, I think something similar to "change" will end up winning. What do you want to get out of this Spring? You still have some cold weeks to help you figure out your answer!

The Bottom Line of Self Care During Winter

As the days get colder and our social schedules get busier, it's easy to let self care fall to the bottom of our to-do list. I know from personal experience, though, that you can't run on empty...and when you better yourself through self care, you're also empowering yourself to be a better friend, family member, and personal overall! So this winter, give yourself the gift of self care rituals...and if you need even more ideas, feel free to check out my previous roundups: How to Create Your Own Self Care Retreat in 5 Easy Steps; 15 Self Care Activities You Can Do Without Leaving Bed; and 21 Self Care Activities You Can Do in 15 Minutes or Less! How are you taking care of yourself this winter? Give me more of your own self care ideas in the comments below! via Blogger https://ift.tt/2OKlqR3

#Blogger #college #celiac #gluten free #coeliac #celiacs #paleo #primal #foodporn #foodart

[jeanjauthor]

This article gets a little bit into the science-y math-y side of food flavor combinations, but only a little bit, so it’s still quite easy to understand.

I stumbled across it trying to find out if almonds are popular in Indian cuisine. (Basically, I was having takeout leftovers and thinking “mmm, slivered almonds would go good with this saffron & cracked mustard sauce on basmati rice”...turns out almonds come from South Asia & the Middle East, so yes, it’s definitely in the cuisine, just not that particular dish I’d ordered.)

Sometimes you just fall down into a rabbit hole of “I wonder if...” and some days you just get super-lucky in your research, finding a really fascinating article.

How does this relate to writing?

Uh, duh, almost every story will contain protagonists that eat, right? (Not all, but the vast majority.)  Food is vital to life as we know it...but the same old food day after day gets very disheartening.  Therefore, flavoring your food in new and different ways is a major impetus for travel, trade, warfare, and economic power.

Plus, food as medicine is important.  Not just in the literal sense (lemon juice contains vitamin C, chamomile is a calmative, etc, etc), but in the sense of, if your character is in a great deal of pain, or suffering from an illness...their appetite will be diminished.

One of the medicines I”m taking kinda...kills my appetite.  I still get hungry...but I have no cravings for anything.  It’s not stimulating.  It comes across as same old same old, nothing appeals, I don’t know what to eat, it’s all just fuel that makes me go “meh.”

Except...the myriad plethora of scents in Indian cuisine can stimulate my appetite.  Not every time, but more often than not, when my appetite has been dull for a while, that’s when I’ll just go smell curries and so forth.  (American chili recipes have similar highly complex flavor profiles, so sometimes a good texmex chili will stimulate my appetite, too.)

It may be simply because there are so many different scents and flavors, something catches my gastronimic senses.  Or it may be that only in combination can my body find whatever micronutrients it needs.

In most cases, your body craves certain foods because it’s trying to tell you what nutrients it needs.  (Of course, it could be an emotional craving that needs fulfilling, but I’m talking nutritional cravings, the kind where you feel satisfied after you eat the whatever-you-crave, which doesn’t happen with an emotional hunger...and sometimes you’re just thirsty and think you’re hungry, so try drinking something first, then checking in with your body in ten or so minutes.)  This is why pregnancy stirs up the weirdest food combinations; it’s literally the uterus telling its person, “I need X, Y, G, W, E, D, and Z to make a baby, GIMME!”  and anyone else hearing that combo would go, “you don’t pair E, D, and G, with W, let alone X, Y, and Z!!”  (Aka the pickles, peanutbutter, yogurt, and chocolate all at the same time syndrome, or the “send the partner out to get cottage cheese at 3am, please!” cliché.)

So when you’re building your worlds, your nations, your cultures, their resources...what flavors do they have?  What flavors do they crave that they have, versus what they crave that they don’t have?  Can they afford exotic flavors from far-flung corners of existence?  Is it common to find in their local market, or something that costs half a year’s wages for the average peasant/peon...?

What combinations do your people put together?  How do they react when traveling to other lands?

...I want to point out one more thing about flavors.  The reason why Western (European-influenced) cuisine uses so many “similar flavor” spices and herbs is because exotic spices started getting transported in such great quantities, that it no longer was a status symbol to be able to afford to consume exotic flavors from far-flung nations.

This pissed off European nobles.  Whereas before cumin and coriander and nutmeg and so forth were exotic and costly, literally a single meal’s worth of spices costing a peasant’s wages for a week or a month or even a year...became so affordable that even *gasp* the farmer-class colonists in the Americas could afford to have a personal supply of nutmeg and use it in every meal!! (Well, not quite, but...)

So they had to distance themselves from the peasants...and switched on the “national pride” stuff and started insisting that herbs grown in France were the best flavoring for foods, far superior to that foreign stuff--aka the “your tastebuds are too coarse and unrefined to appreciate the delicate subtleties found in similar-flavor-profile seasoning!” 

...Also, better food preservation techniques had a hand in it, because they got better at keeping meats fresh rather than spoiled, and didn’t need strong flavored herbs & spices to cover up any gamy or starting-to-go-off flavors.  All of which had the peasantry wanting to imitate their local nobles, etc, so they, too, started going for the locally grown stuff as the “fancy food”...and of course everyone wanted to be thought of as “fancy” in their class/caste level, fancier than they actually were so...recipies emphasized “French cuisine” influences with all those local-grown herbs...

This is literally why it took generations for curry restaurants to get a foothold in Great Britain, even if it was popular in the British colonies of South Asia.  People who lived in colonized India loved the food flavors over there, but when they got back home, the Upper Crust weren’t touching that “foreign food stuff” because it wasn’t “national pride” enough, and “belonged to the overseas subjects (subjugated peoples) of the Crown” who weren’t “British enough” to have it be considered “noble enough”...and just...ugh.  Just trust me that there was a LOT of racist bigoted bullshite going on underneath the surface of a seemingly simple “preference” for one style of seasoning versus another.

Anyway, this is why American Colonial cuisine was...pretty bland and boring, really, until they started experimenting with flavor profiles of the Americas.  The first major complex food flavoring developed in America was...well, chili.  Chili con carne (sans/con frijoles, doesn’t matter) has a gazillion different flavor profiles.  Sweet, salty, spicy, fatty, acidic, creamy, sour, peppery, oniony, meaty/umami...incredibly complex flavors that seem like they would clash and not go together, yet so much ends up going into them that they meld together into a melange of deliciousness.

(Seriously, if you want to know just how complex a dish can be, try this link for Oaxacan mole negro, 30-ish various different ingredients, takes hours and hours of preparation, different methods of evoking flavors (smoking, frying, baking, grinding, etc...:  https://youtu.be/ysiEyAQ27P4  Mole can be just as complex as chili, but it’s very much a thing developed in Mexico, not in the U.S.; I’m just saying that in the United States of America, chili was the first truly complex dish that we developed with our own explorations into developing our own complex flavor profiles...of all the dishes that got written down.  I’m sure we lost a lot of complex dishes due to the slaughter of indigenous peoples and/or the destruction or suppression of their cultures & local knowledge of non-agriculturally-based food resources../)

So food needs to be considered when you’re creating cultures.  Flavoring food needs to be considered.  Are there specialists who grow and/or process foods?  Are the recipes written down and widely available, or are they controlled by only a few producers?  Which areas produce the best local sauces (everyone knows that the best garum (ancient Roman fermented fish sauce) came from such-and-such port town) or the best spice blends, or the best...  On and on and on, these things drive trade, commerce, wealth, warfare, exploration, travel, and more.

Don’t be afraid to have one or more of your characters be a culture-appropriate foodie.  Don’t be afraid to have your characters be hesitant about new foods...but make sure to have them like at least some things, and even like it enthusiastically. (Whatever you do, don’t promote cultural isolationism & bigotry/xenophobia...because what we write, others absorb and emulate.  We got waaaay too much of those things in the world.  We need to open people up to new experiences...and not do it in conquest-minded genocidal ways.  Waaaaay too much of that in the world already.  That trope’s been done, so move along & pick something new.)

Anyhoo, long digression short, this is a complex mix of fun food science and good background ideas for both your own personal food exploration & experimentation, as well as a healthy consideration for your worldbuilding and/or characterization efforts.

[fakestatus]

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO USING CREAM CHARGERS | The Cream Bar

There’s nothing worse than serving up your dessert for a banquet or a household filled with guests, only to seek out that the topping you’d planned to use as a topping for your final course has spoiled whipped cream dispensers. That’s why it’s always important to form sure you’re aware how long topping lasts for and tailor your plans accordingly.   The short answer to the present question is that topping will last anywhere between a few of hours and 4 months, counting on the sort of cream in question, the container during which it's placed and therefore the environment you select to store it in. for instance , homemade topping that's left at temperature won’t survive the primary few hours, but an equivalent batch can last several months if it's frozen immediately. Here’s a fast cheat sheet guide to stay you up to hurry , with the date used as a start line for the time involved in each scenario:   Product Before Opening After Opening  Ambient Fridge Freezer Ambient Fridge Freezer Homemade whipped cream n/a n/a n/a 1-2 hours Up to a week 2-3 months Whipped cream in an aerosol can 2-3 weeks 2-3 weeks n/a 24 hours 2-3 months n/a Imitation topping during a tub 1-2 hours 1-2 weeks 3-4 months 1-2 hours 7-10 days 3-4 months Cool Whip cream n/a 1 – 2 weeks 3 – 4 months n/a 7 – 10 days 3 – 4 months     As you'll see, topping in an aerosol can't be frozen for any length of period. you ought to remember that even other sorts of topping aren't likely to be as easy to figure with once they need been frozen and subsequently thawed, with the ingredients starting to separate and therefore the texture becoming grainy and much from ideal. However, it should still be serviceable for many baking and cooking purposes. Cream chargers and topping dispensers are a touch daunting once you first invest in them. Once you understand them a touch more, you'll really be ready to appreciate how important they're , and therefore the role that they play in every single recipe. We've put together this easy guide for you to urge started using laughing gas cream chargers, so you'll make the foremost out of them.   What we hope you'll achieve from this guide:   Discover the various uses of topping dispensers The science behind cream chargers How to enhance your recipes with the assistance of cream chargers Understand and see when things aren't getting to plan and the way to repair it. The science behind Cream Chargers is really quite simple - it's essentially just injecting gas to liquid to whip cream. once you believe it mosa cream chargers, it's really no different to soda syphon.   The one big difference, of course, is that cream chargers are a canister of laughing gas (N2O), which makes them super unique within the culinary practice.     So, why can we use N2O rather than CO2? Well, you do not want your cream to be fizzy. that is the exact reason why carbonated drinks are fizzy - it just features a different effect.   Another reason is that CO2 is acidic but N2O is neutral. you do not want your cream to possess an acidic taste - that's actually a symbol of something not so great. With N2O, no flavour is adjusted, which is ideal for the kinds of recipes that you simply will want to realize .     How to use a Cream Charger and topping Dispenser   It's super simple to use a cream charger, you only got to place whatever you would like to foam into the bottle of the dispenser cream chargers london. this is often all explanatory once you have the charger and dispenser ahead of you.   Each recipe is different - sometimes the contents need to be warm and sometimes they need to be cold.   When you pull the trigger, the contents that you simply put within the topping dispenser are going to be pushed out. Once you get the hang of it, it's very easy to know .   Fun fact: your topping can last for up to 10 days within the cream charger dispenser, granted you've got to refrigerate it. That's perfect for those ongoing recipes, or once you want to make tonnes of various sorts of recipes.     HOW TO CLEAN YOUR CREAM CHARGER Again, this is often very easy to try to to - topping dispensers and chargers are known for being low-maintenance and straightforward to use. that is what makes them so popular.   Begin by separating all the parts, mainly the top from the holder. Just clean every individual spare warm water and soap. Check the care labels to ascertain if your cream charger is dishwasher safe. we might always recommend that you simply wash the top by hand cream chargers canisters, employing a cloth - this may prevent any quite damage.     Now that you simply have your simple guide, what is going to you be using your topping dispensers for? Overall, they're an economical , handy, necessity for all times of bakers and chefs.

[cookiebakingkitonline99]

10 Baking Tips for Perfect Cakes

With every recipe I publish and tip I share, my goal is to help you become a better baker. As a home baker turned cookbook author and recipe publisher, I’ve made thousands of mistakes in the kitchen, especially when it comes to making the perfect cake. Let me share the cake baking tips I’ve learned over the years.

1. Follow the Recipe

This sounds obvious, right? Following the recipe is the most important cake baking tip you’ll ever hear/read. It’s also the most ignored. We often substitute ingredients in recipes based on what we have. Subbing out eggs, reducing sugar, using liquid sweetener instead of dry, all-purpose instead of cake flour, baking soda for powder, egg whites instead of whole eggs, etc. I do not recommend doing this unless the recipe suggests alternatives. Don’t sabotage your time, effort, and money. I’m guilty of this, too! Sometimes I’m in a rush and just not paying attention or I’m making a substitution because I ran out of an ingredient. But ingredients are needed for a reason and, more often than not, a cake fail is because the recipe wasn’t properly followed. I always recommend following a recipe the first time you try it, then making changes as you see fit the next time.

2. Room Temperature

This tip could get a little long so let me direct you to my entire post on the subject. “Room temperature” isn’t listed next to ingredients for fun. There’s science and legitimate reason behind it. If a recipe calls for room temperature ingredients, use room temperature ingredients like eggs, sour cream, butter, and milk.

To paint you a picture, let’s focus on room temperature butter in particular. Most cake recipes begin with creaming butter and sugar together. Butter is capable of holding air and the creaming process is when butter traps that air. While baking, that trapped air expands from the heat and produces a fluffy cake. Not only this, room temperature ingredients bond together easier and quicker since they’re warmer– thus reducing over-mixing. Simply put, cold ingredients do not emulsify together. Period.

3. Measure Properly

This tip also sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s where we most often make mistakes. The difference between a recipe success and a recipe failure could lie within 1 mis-measured tablespoon of sugar. Measuring ingredients properly is imperative.

Flour is the most common mis-measured ingredient. When measuring flour, use the “spoon & level” method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag with your measuring cup. In some cases, scooping the flour could give you 150% of the correct measurement. Disaster ensues. Rather, using a spoon, scoop the flour into the measuring cup. Do not pack the flour down and do not tap the measuring cup– both cause the flour to settle in the cup. After you’ve spooned the flour into the measuring cup, use the back of a knife to level off the top of the measuring cup. Now you have spoon & leveled flour.

4. Cake Flour

The more cake baking experience I have, the more often I reach for cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. You see, cake flour is a low protein flour that’s finely milled into a delicate consistency. This soft, tender texture directly translates into your baked cake. However, some recipes simply cannot withstand fine cake flour. Chocolate cake, for example, already has cocoa powder— which is a VERY fine dry ingredient. In my experience, the combination of cake flour and cocoa powder results in a flimsy chocolate cake. Likewise, spice cake, carrot cake, hummingbird cake, and banana cake contain additional wet ingredients (the fruits or veggies), so cake flour usually isn’t ideal.

These days, I stick to cake flour when making vanilla cake, white cake, red velvet cake, and other cakes where a fluffy texture is favorable. I’ve been successful substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour to create softer pineapple upside-down cake and funfetti cake. Make a 1:1 substitution with no other changes to the recipe.

5. Don’t Over-mix, Don’t Under-mix

Whether a recipe calls for mixing batter with an electric mixer or simply using a whisk, make sure you’re mixing the cake batter together *just until* the ingredients are combined. Over-mixing batter, whether that’s for cakes, cupcakes, breads, muffins, etc, lends a tough-textured baked good because you’re deflating all the air and over-developing the gluten.

6. Use Parchment Paper Rounds

First, make sure you have quality cake pans. From one baker to another– I swear by Fat Daddio’s cake pans. Incredible quality for the price. I’m not working with this brand, I’m just a genuine fan.

No matter what size or brand cake pan you use, make sure you prepare it appropriately. These days I ALWAYS use parchment paper rounds. Trace the bottom of the cake pans(s) on a large piece of parchment paper. Cut out the parchment circle(s). Then, very lightly grease the cake pans with butter or nonstick spray. I usually use coconut oil nonstick spray or “baking spray” which has a little flour in it. Place the parchment round inside, then grease the parchment round too. Yes, grease the pan AND the parchment. This promises an ultra non-stick environment for your cake. Never any sticking. I usually keep a stack of parchment rounds on hand just in case I’m in a rush to get a cake in the oven.

When the cake has cooled, run a thin knife around the edge, invert the cake on your hand or work surface, then pull off the cake pan. Peel off the parchment round.

7. Don’t Open the Oven

Don’t open the oven 25 times as the cake bakes. This lets in cool air and the drastic temperature change causes the rising cake to sink. (Temperature change is the same reason cheesecake can develop cracks. See How to Prevent Cracks in Cheesecake.) Rather, follow the baking time in the recipe and check the cake one or two times for doneness. (Next tip.)

It’s also wonderfully helpful to own an oven thermometer. Unless you have a new or regularly calibrated oven, your oven’s temperature is likely inaccurate. When you set your oven to 350°F, it might not be 350°F inside. An inaccurate oven can ruin your baked goods. The inexpensive remedy is an oven thermometer. While cheap, they are totally irreplaceable in a baker’s kitchen. Place it in your oven so you always know the actual temperature.

8. Bounce-Back Test

You can determine if a cake is done by testing with a toothpick. Stick a toothpick in the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, it’s cooked through. But let me tell you what I do instead. And you don’t need to waste time and fumble around for a toothpick:

Remove the cake from the oven or leave it in, your choice. Gently press down on the cake. If the cake bounces back completely, it’s done. If your finger left a dent in the cake, it needs more time. So easy. I always do this!

This little trick can be used on muffins and cupcakes as well.

9. Allow to Cool Completely in Pan

This sounds like a no-brainer, but we’re often in a rush– myself included. Assembling and/or decorating cakes before they’re completely cool is literally a recipe for disaster. The flavor hasn’t settled and the frosting will melt.

Some bakers may disagree, but I always cool my cakes completely inside the pans. I do the same for cupcakes, quick breads, and more. Place the pan on a wire rack and leave it alone until completely cool. If I’m in a rush, sometimes I’ll place the rack and pan in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.

If I’m in a major rush, I cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes. Then I remove it from the pan and place it on a baking sheet inside the freezer for about 45 more minutes. Depending on the size of the cake, it’s completely cool in a little over 1 hour.

10. Storing & Transporting Cakes

Unless otherwise noted, cakes taste best at room temperature. (Love chocolate mousse cake cold though!) If you prepare cake one day ahead of time, you can bake and cool it, then cover it tightly and keep at room temperature. Fresh frosting tastes best, so assemble and frost the day of serving. If storing a frosted cake, keep it covered in the refrigerator. Set it on the counter before serving so it warms to room temperature. All of my cake recipes include make-ahead instructions.

11. Bonus Baking Tip: Easy Decorating

When it comes to cake decorating, I prefer classic and simple. This is mostly because I’m impatient and need more practice with any intricate decor. But I’m an expert on EASY and BEAUTIFUL cake garnishes. Naked-style cake is probably my favorite and requires zero special skill. Easy buttercream flowers only require 2 piping tips and I have a video tutorial showing you how to replicate this look. Or try two-toned frosting roses! Whipped cream swirls, as shown in my lemon cake, are just as lovely as they are easy.

We have an extensive and fabulous range of baking kits, celebration kits, and party bags that all make amazing gifts but are also perfect for a sweet and entertaining experience as a family.

 If you want to buy best baking kit for kids then please check this link:- https://www.craftandcrumb.com/

[easyfoodnetwork]

Everyone’s Making Sourdough Now — Here’s How to Get Started

Stack of sourdough photo by Cavan Images/Getty; hand with magnifying glass photo by Bahrudin Yusoff/EyeEm/Getty

If you want to get into making sourdough bread, you need a reliable recipe, a starter, and some basic tools.

Over the past two weeks, as millions of Americans started working from home and sheltering in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 across the country, King Arthur Flour’s website saw its highest traffic since the day before Thanksgiving. Bill Tine, King Arthur’s VP of marketing, told Eater’s Meghan McCarron that usually the site’s top post is a recipe for easy cheesecake. But since the pandemic hit, millions of people, homebound and bored, have flooded King Arthur’s servers in search of recipes for bread — more specifically, sourdough bread, in all of its glorious forms.

To those who are taking this quarantined time to get into baking bread, can I just say: welcome.

I started baking bread regularly at home a few years ago and have learned a few things along the way, namely that you need very little to make a loaf of bread that’ll feed many and please all. A mixture of flour, salt, water, and wild yeast will result in a delicious loaf, no matter how you do it, and while the process may feel intimidating at first, just remember: Humans have been doing this very thing for millennia. We just didn’t always have Instagram to make bread-making appear harder — and the resulting loaves more perfect — than it need be.

Begin with a good recipe

With that said, there is no shortage of sourdough recipes from which to choose: The best online recipes are Claire Saffitz’s guide for the New York Times, Sarah Owens’s table loaf recipe on Food52, and King Arthur’s artisan loaf recipe. If you’re interested in delving deeper into sourdough, books on the subject abound. For a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide, I recommend Owens’s Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More, and if you’re looking for a more hearty, whole-wheat-leaning loaf, Parisian sourdough priestess Apollonia Poilâne’s Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery is a solid go-to. I’ve written up my own bread recipe here (an amalgam of a few recipes I’ve used over time) and made a basic, instructional video that leads you through the process at this link.

Make your starter

Guides in hand, the first thing that you’re going to need to make bread is a sourdough starter. A starter — also known as a levain, a mother, or a pre-ferment — is a lively mixture of flour and water combined with wild yeast and good bacteria captured from the air. It’s the ingredient that enables your sourdough bread to rise and what gives it its signature tangy flavor.

If you don’t have a starter right now, don’t worry. This King Arthur Flour recipe will teach you how to make your own at home, and though the slow process means you won’t be able to make bread right away (you’re waiting for your starter to come alive — you’ll start to see some activity after three days), you’ll get bragging rights for having made yours from scratch. Alternatively, Cook’s Illustrated’s Andrew Janjigian is teaching people how to make their own #quarantinystarter through his newsletter, and baker Lexie Smith has enlisted volunteers through her site Bread on Earth to send dried sourdough culture to interested parties around the world. You’ve got options!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dayna Evans (@hidayna) on Sep 22, 2018 at 9:41am PDT

Tools you need to get bread baking

If you’re hoping to utilize this time of social distancing to learn this new skill in the absence of, say, taking up water skiing or bocce, there are a few tools you can invest in to make the most of your bread-making process.

A kitchen scale Most every baker will encourage you to invest in a kitchen scale, as nearly every bread recipe is written out in weight rather than volume. Different flours have different weights by volume and with a scale, you can get more precise measurements on smaller quantities of your ingredients, like salt and starter. I recommend the My Weigh KD-8000 scale, though any scale, preferably digital, should do.

A bench scraper I am borderline obsessed with my bench scraper. As the headline of this 2017 Bon Appétit story proclaimed, “Once You Have a Bench Scraper, You’ll Never Be Able to Live Without One.” It is sadly true. I sometimes consider tucking mine in at night. A bench scraper, when you hold it in your dominant hand while shaping dough, gives you more leverage and command than if you were only working with your hands. Even when I don’t end up using it to shape my bread, it’s a magical tool for scraping up bits of dried dough from my countertop, about 10,000 times more effective than a wet cloth. I love this one from King Arthur Flour — it has just the right heft.

A flexible razor blade I’d say the third most important tool to bake a successful loaf of sourdough is a good pack of flexible household razor blades — they’re about $10 for 100 of them. You’ll use one of these to score the top of your loaf right before it bakes, and you want to have at least a few extra in your kitchen drawer to swap in as the previous blade starts to dull. Typically, bakers will use a tool for scoring called a lame, which is a razor blade attached to a handle. It makes the process of scoring slightly more ergonomic and precise, but I’ve found a simple razor blade alone works, too, especially if you’re not looking to get too decorative or detailed with it.

A banneton

Some at-home bakers and most, if not all, commercial bakers own wicker baskets called bannetons (otherwise known as brotforms or proofing baskets). While they are not necessary, they do help bread keep its shape during the proofing, or fermenting/rising, stage so it’s not too slack and loose when you’re ready to put it in the oven. I find bannetons to be useful when I’m working with wetter doughs, as they wick away some of the surface moisture and encourage the dough to keep its shape. Bannetons also come in a variety of sizes, though ovals and rounds are the most common. In the absence of a banneton, a large bowl with a floured tea towel is a perfectly acceptable alternative for when your dough is rising, whether overnight or over a few hours.

A Dutch oven When it’s time to bake your bread, at-home bakers enlist Dutch ovens with lids to create the steamy environment necessary to give their loaves a crusty, crunchy exterior. This Lodge version is $45 and is perfectly serviceable for this purpose, though you can use most any heavy cast-iron or enamel pot, as long as it has a lid. (I bought my used Le Creuset from a reseller on Etsy, where they’re much cheaper and just as good.) If you’re not in the market for a new pot, there are alternative methods: I’ve used a baking sheet topped with a pasta pot as a jury-rigged solution. Just make sure that no matter what you use, you preheat your oven to 500 degrees at least 45 minutes before baking, preferably with your pot in it. Don’t have a lidded pot but you do have a loaf pan? I’ve put loaves of sourdough in this King Arthur 9-by-5 loaf pan plenty of times. Just tent the pan loosely with tin foil when you do, removing the foil 25 or so minutes into the baking.

What you don’t need

One thing you do not need is a dough whisk. Don’t bother!

Further Reading

If you want to understand more about the health benefits of sourdough bread, Vanessa Kimbell’s Sourdough School: The Ground-Breaking Guide to Making Gut-Friendly Bread gives great background. And for using your sourdough starter in many non-bread baked goods like banana bread and rye brownies (do it), Michelle Eshkeri’s Modern Sourdough: Sweet and Savoury Recipes from Margot Bakery is a fun resource. (One technical note: Shipping is likely delayed on these and the above titles through Amazon, so try your local independent bookstore online. Many are still fulfilling orders through their warehouses. In a pinch, I’ve downloaded one or two of these on my Kindle.)

All of these things — or, if you prefer, almost none of them, save for a sourdough starter — should help you hit the ground running in the sourdough bread department. If you want even more tips, Bread on Earth and the Fresh Loaf are good resources for any and all questions. And remember: While sourdough is a type of science, it’s certainly not rocket science. It should be fun and weird and cool and — above all — a good way to pass the time. I believe in you.

Dayna Evans is a Paris-based writer with a bread-baking newsletter you can subscribe to here.

Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2ylxcwT https://ift.tt/39t1E58

Stack of sourdough photo by Cavan Images/Getty; hand with magnifying glass photo by Bahrudin Yusoff/EyeEm/Getty

If you want to get into making sourdough bread, you need a reliable recipe, a starter, and some basic tools.

Over the past two weeks, as millions of Americans started working from home and sheltering in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 across the country, King Arthur Flour’s website saw its highest traffic since the day before Thanksgiving. Bill Tine, King Arthur’s VP of marketing, told Eater’s Meghan McCarron that usually the site’s top post is a recipe for easy cheesecake. But since the pandemic hit, millions of people, homebound and bored, have flooded King Arthur’s servers in search of recipes for bread — more specifically, sourdough bread, in all of its glorious forms.

To those who are taking this quarantined time to get into baking bread, can I just say: welcome.

I started baking bread regularly at home a few years ago and have learned a few things along the way, namely that you need very little to make a loaf of bread that’ll feed many and please all. A mixture of flour, salt, water, and wild yeast will result in a delicious loaf, no matter how you do it, and while the process may feel intimidating at first, just remember: Humans have been doing this very thing for millennia. We just didn’t always have Instagram to make bread-making appear harder — and the resulting loaves more perfect — than it need be.

Begin with a good recipe

With that said, there is no shortage of sourdough recipes from which to choose: The best online recipes are Claire Saffitz’s guide for the New York Times, Sarah Owens’s table loaf recipe on Food52, and King Arthur’s artisan loaf recipe. If you’re interested in delving deeper into sourdough, books on the subject abound. For a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide, I recommend Owens’s Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More, and if you’re looking for a more hearty, whole-wheat-leaning loaf, Parisian sourdough priestess Apollonia Poilâne’s Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery is a solid go-to. I’ve written up my own bread recipe here (an amalgam of a few recipes I’ve used over time) and made a basic, instructional video that leads you through the process at this link.

Make your starter

Guides in hand, the first thing that you’re going to need to make bread is a sourdough starter. A starter — also known as a levain, a mother, or a pre-ferment — is a lively mixture of flour and water combined with wild yeast and good bacteria captured from the air. It’s the ingredient that enables your sourdough bread to rise and what gives it its signature tangy flavor.

If you don’t have a starter right now, don’t worry. This King Arthur Flour recipe will teach you how to make your own at home, and though the slow process means you won’t be able to make bread right away (you’re waiting for your starter to come alive — you’ll start to see some activity after three days), you’ll get bragging rights for having made yours from scratch. Alternatively, Cook’s Illustrated’s Andrew Janjigian is teaching people how to make their own #quarantinystarter through his newsletter, and baker Lexie Smith has enlisted volunteers through her site Bread on Earth to send dried sourdough culture to interested parties around the world. You’ve got options!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dayna Evans (@hidayna) on Sep 22, 2018 at 9:41am PDT

Tools you need to get bread baking

If you’re hoping to utilize this time of social distancing to learn this new skill in the absence of, say, taking up water skiing or bocce, there are a few tools you can invest in to make the most of your bread-making process.

A kitchen scale Most every baker will encourage you to invest in a kitchen scale, as nearly every bread recipe is written out in weight rather than volume. Different flours have different weights by volume and with a scale, you can get more precise measurements on smaller quantities of your ingredients, like salt and starter. I recommend the My Weigh KD-8000 scale, though any scale, preferably digital, should do.

A bench scraper I am borderline obsessed with my bench scraper. As the headline of this 2017 Bon Appétit story proclaimed, “Once You Have a Bench Scraper, You’ll Never Be Able to Live Without One.” It is sadly true. I sometimes consider tucking mine in at night. A bench scraper, when you hold it in your dominant hand while shaping dough, gives you more leverage and command than if you were only working with your hands. Even when I don’t end up using it to shape my bread, it’s a magical tool for scraping up bits of dried dough from my countertop, about 10,000 times more effective than a wet cloth. I love this one from King Arthur Flour — it has just the right heft.

A flexible razor blade I’d say the third most important tool to bake a successful loaf of sourdough is a good pack of flexible household razor blades — they’re about $10 for 100 of them. You’ll use one of these to score the top of your loaf right before it bakes, and you want to have at least a few extra in your kitchen drawer to swap in as the previous blade starts to dull. Typically, bakers will use a tool for scoring called a lame, which is a razor blade attached to a handle. It makes the process of scoring slightly more ergonomic and precise, but I’ve found a simple razor blade alone works, too, especially if you’re not looking to get too decorative or detailed with it.

A banneton

Some at-home bakers and most, if not all, commercial bakers own wicker baskets called bannetons (otherwise known as brotforms or proofing baskets). While they are not necessary, they do help bread keep its shape during the proofing, or fermenting/rising, stage so it’s not too slack and loose when you’re ready to put it in the oven. I find bannetons to be useful when I’m working with wetter doughs, as they wick away some of the surface moisture and encourage the dough to keep its shape. Bannetons also come in a variety of sizes, though ovals and rounds are the most common. In the absence of a banneton, a large bowl with a floured tea towel is a perfectly acceptable alternative for when your dough is rising, whether overnight or over a few hours.

A Dutch oven When it’s time to bake your bread, at-home bakers enlist Dutch ovens with lids to create the steamy environment necessary to give their loaves a crusty, crunchy exterior. This Lodge version is $45 and is perfectly serviceable for this purpose, though you can use most any heavy cast-iron or enamel pot, as long as it has a lid. (I bought my used Le Creuset from a reseller on Etsy, where they’re much cheaper and just as good.) If you’re not in the market for a new pot, there are alternative methods: I’ve used a baking sheet topped with a pasta pot as a jury-rigged solution. Just make sure that no matter what you use, you preheat your oven to 500 degrees at least 45 minutes before baking, preferably with your pot in it. Don’t have a lidded pot but you do have a loaf pan? I’ve put loaves of sourdough in this King Arthur 9-by-5 loaf pan plenty of times. Just tent the pan loosely with tin foil when you do, removing the foil 25 or so minutes into the baking.

What you don’t need

One thing you do not need is a dough whisk. Don’t bother!

Further Reading

If you want to understand more about the health benefits of sourdough bread, Vanessa Kimbell’s Sourdough School: The Ground-Breaking Guide to Making Gut-Friendly Bread gives great background. And for using your sourdough starter in many non-bread baked goods like banana bread and rye brownies (do it), Michelle Eshkeri’s Modern Sourdough: Sweet and Savoury Recipes from Margot Bakery is a fun resource. (One technical note: Shipping is likely delayed on these and the above titles through Amazon, so try your local independent bookstore online. Many are still fulfilling orders through their warehouses. In a pinch, I’ve downloaded one or two of these on my Kindle.)

All of these things — or, if you prefer, almost none of them, save for a sourdough starter — should help you hit the ground running in the sourdough bread department. If you want even more tips, Bread on Earth and the Fresh Loaf are good resources for any and all questions. And remember: While sourdough is a type of science, it’s certainly not rocket science. It should be fun and weird and cool and — above all — a good way to pass the time. I believe in you.

Dayna Evans is a Paris-based writer with a bread-baking newsletter you can subscribe to here.

Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2ylxcwT via Blogger https://ift.tt/2Uxb8YR

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

[theclaravoyant]

Bobbi Ann prompt Bobbi has hero worship for one of her aunts and follows her around like a puppy OR Bobbi gets along really well with everyone on the team except Jemma who takes it very personally.

AN ~ this sort of turned out...both? A stupendous amount of fluff :P Enjoy!

Read on AO3 (~1300wd)

Sounds Like a Song - Ch.5

Jemma glowered over her cup of tea, past the counter, to where Bobbi-Ann was mimicking her older counterpart’s baton movements with two sticks of dowel. It was a clumsy imitation, just mucking about, but she had no doubt Bobbi-Ann could pick up good form if she tried. That girl could be anything she wanted to be – but unfortunately for Jemma, what she apparently wanted to be was not with Jemma.

“Do I repel children?” Jemma wondered cynically, her eyes still fixed on the Bobbis as she pondered her situation. Daisy, who had been making breakfast around her without fuss, paused to follow her line of sight.

“You don’t ‘repel’ anyone,” Daisy told her. “You just can’t teach her how to hit stuff. May’s right. Combat skills really are the way to a girl’s heart.”

Jemma frowned.

“Fitz didn’t have to teach her to hit stuff.”

“Fitz can make her toys that fly with his bare hands. He’s basically magic.”

“I can be fun too, though!” Jemma insisted, and Daisy snorted with laughter, remembering her first day, arguing with a room full of super genius super spies. As it turned out she could keep up with the best of them and every day now she was feeling less and less regret about her decision to stay.

“Don’t worry, Jem,” Daisy assured her. “Bobbi loves you. She just hasn’t found your Thing yet. It’ll happen.”

But of course, Jemma never had been one for standing by and waiting for things to happen.

If Bobbi-Ann was waiting to find something interesting, the perfect interesting thing about her, then it stood to reason that she could speed this process along by presenting as many interesting things about herself as possible. Sooner or later, one of them had to catch Bobbi’s eye.

(Daisy should have seen it coming, she thought, reflecting later. She should have seen it coming and set up some video cameras. Bless Jemma’s cotton socks, but impressing a kid who’s mum had superpowers was a harder ask than she’d expected).

Baking was fun, and Jemma was good at it, but she was too much of a perfectionist for Bobbi’s liking. Once Daisy and Hunter got in on it, and turned it into the fun mess-making romp it should be – then was when Bobbi-Ann started having fun.

Blanket-forts were great, but Bobbi had grown up in lots of new places in new cities in storms and snow, and with a mother who was determined to make a sanctuary everywhere they went. Of course blanket-forts had been done before.

She got a brief win out of knowing The Elements Song off by heart and racing Bobbi-Ann in trying to sing it, and they both burst out laughing. That was good. But it wasn’t a Thing.

It did, however, give her an idea for a thing.

She needed something new, something original, something unique, and so she fell back on her trusty go-to point of interest: dead things. Children, Jemma knew, often tended toward a fascination with morbidity. Not dead things necessarily, but things that were so gross or gruesome they were funny. Of these, she had buckets. Slime recipes she knew off by heart. A real human skull with coral growing in it like little jewels. A piece of flesh that could turn into any substance that touched it.

…And that had made Bobbi-Ann turn much the same colour as Fitz had when he thought he’d eaten that blasted cat liver. She’d run from the room, convinced she was going to throw up, and left Jemma in her most mad-scientist looking outfit, crestfallen.

After that incident, Jemma backed off. She didn’t like to call it giving up, but that’s what it was, really. She would have to resign herself to being Bobbi’s Thing-less Aunt, fun and loving, just not particularly memorable. She could live with that, she supposed. Most of the hurt she was feeling was probably from the challenge she’d set herself, and failed, stumbling over every hurdle. She’d almost made that last one.

“Hey, frowny face,” Daisy cajoled her. “Me and Bobbi-Ann are getting icecream in the park. Wanna come?”

Jemma perked up a little at that. She might not have made Favourite Aunt status yet, but she had a few good stories to tell, and at the very least could still make Bobbi-Ann smile. Plus, it was a nice day, and she couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than with her best friend in the world, reunited after all this time. It would be a good day, especially if she could leave her competitiveness behind.

It was a good day indeed, she reflected later, and not least because the great cosmic joke that was her life had, for once, decided to play out in her favour. As the old wisdom goes, it was when she had stopped looking for success, that she found it. It was not often Jemma held that philosophy to be true, but as always, there were exceptions to the rule.

This particular exception occurred when Daisy skipped off to investigate a potential balloon-animal sighting, leaving Jemma and Bobbi-Ann sitting on the bench, licking their icecreams side by side. For a while they were silent, not quite sure what to say to the other. Sometimes they pulled faces, making amusingly desperate attempts to keep the icecream from dripping as it melted, and then it escalated into pure pantomime, until they burst out laughing.

“You’re funny,” Bobbi praised, screwing up her nose with amusement, just like her mother did. Jemma was almost taken aback. ‘Funny’ was not really at the top of her list of words she’d use to describe herself. Nowhere near the top. In fact, she’d been explicitly told the opposite. Numerous times.

“Really?” she wondered aloud.

“Yeah,” Bobbi-Ann informed her, casually licking her icecream and kicking her legs. “Mum says you’re smart too. I don’t think it was very smart to show a little kid metal that bleeds, but you do have a lab coat, so you probably are.”

Jemma almost laughed.

“I have a lab coat?” she repeated. “That means I’m smart?”

“Well, yeah.”

It was a simple, and if Jemma was being picky – which she always was – flawed logic, but she hadn’t heard Bobbi reason something out so scientifically before. Perhaps she had been aiming the wrong way with her uniqueness, and rather than trying to be original and fun like The Elements Song she should have latched onto the elements part.

“Do you like science, Bobbi?”

“Some of it. There’s lots, so it’s hard to pick. Bleeding stuff’s gross, but I like volcanoes and dinosaurs and space and birds. I think birds are my favourite at the moment.”

“I like birds too,” Jemma agreed, and then she had an idea, and nudged Bobbi-Ann playfully. “You know, I bet I could name every bird in this park.”

Bobbi’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

Jemma grinned, smug.

“Try me.”

When Daisy got back to the bench where she had left them, it was empty. She twisted the pamphlet the balloon guy had given her, looking around and trying to remind herself that nothing was wrong, Jemma wouldn’t have let anything happen, and everyone else around would have noticed… And then she spotted them, across the way, the dripping remnants of their icecreams forgotten in their hands as Bobbi ran from bird to bird, pointing, and Jemma answered, sometimes with a few words, and sometimes with paragraphs, gesturing and explaining to Bobbi’s rapt expression.

A few moments later, Jemma spied Daisy, waiting, and waved at her. Bobbi-Ann took her aunt’s hand and led her back to her mother, bouncing enthusiastically.

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” she cried. “You’ll never guess what Aunty Jemma can do.”

Of course, Daisy could make a pretty good guess, but as they all walked together toward the carousel, both she and Jemma were happy to hear Bobbi-Ann’s retelling.

#bobbi ann verse #jemma simmons #daisy johnson #aospositivitynet #aosficnet #aosteam #prompt me stuff #Anonymous

[psychicmedium14]

What You Should Eat According To The Stars: Your February Astrological Food Forecast

Welcome to your monthly food forecast, where we've partnered with the inimitable AstroTwins to find out exactly what will make you feel as amazing as possible, based on the stars. "As the Sun travels through each month-long astrological cycle, it emphasizes a different energy for every zodiac sign," says Ophira, one of the Twins. "Some months are more decadent, while others are more about discipline. Eating with these solar cycles can help you avoid falling into a culinary rut, or beating yourself up when you crave something creamy when a couple weeks ago you were fine with blander options." Be sure to check back in March for all new food picks! Aquarius: Your sun is in the first house, which is all about adventure. This month, you'll want to get into new food trends—maybe experiment with adding adaptogens to your morning latte or slipping some seaweed into your bone broth. While people of this sign tend to be into lighter fare, this is a good month to go for things that feel more substantial and heavy. You want to feel grounded, rooted, and secure. Recipe to try: This 'shroom shake will make your feel earthy, grounded, and adventurous, all in one. Pisces: Pisces are the rulers of the 12th house! This month, you'll want to let your imagination really flow. This is not the time to go on a rigid eating plan, since you're feeling more creative and loose and won't want to weigh yourself down with the details. Go for food on the artsier side—look for beautiful colors, textures, or foods you can eat with your hands. Recipe to try: This plant-based power bowl will let your creativity really shine. Master the basic formula and you can spend the rest of the month playing around with ingredients to your heart's content! Aries: As an Aries, you're definitely an individual, and this applies to your food life as well. You eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat it. This, however, is your month to branch out. Get suggestions from friends or websites you love and expand your palate. Try new restaurants and new recipes. Beyond what you're eating, expand who you're eating with. Cook with friends, and have conversations outside of your comfort zone. Just be sure to talk about things that make you feel good; as an Aries, you can be prone to anger, and you want to consume to nourish you, from the food to the conversation. Recipe to try: Host a healthy brunch with these five totally unexpected recipes—including a shakshuka that will have all of your friends talking. Taurus: While Tauruses do like a certain amount of structure, you're also very decadent. Indulge your planning side by embracing meal prep, and make sure that every meal you eat is well-balanced (no mono-meals or lazy cereal dinners this month!). Stay away from family-style dinners this month, as you want to make sure everything is proportioned perfectly. Stash a bag of almonds in your purse so you never have to improvise and grab something unhealthy when you're on the go. Recipe to try: This sweet potato, cauliflower, and chard-based meal-prep plan lets you cook once and have healthy meals on hand for the rest of the week. Gemini: As a Gemini, you have a childlike side that sometimes shows up in your eating habits. While you're one of the most sophisticated conversationalists around, you might accompany that witty verbiage with some macaroni and cheese or M&Ms. On the other hand, Geminis can often be extremely healthy eaters, with regimented rules about the types of food they deem "good enough" to consume. Either way, this is a great month to expand. Branch away from your norm, either by trying things that are less bland and more daring than normal or things that feel a bit more decadent—hot chocolate, almond flour cake, delicious cultured butter on sprouted toast. Recipe to try: This cauliflower "toast" is spiced with dukkah, an Egyptian spice blend that will brighten your palate, while the poached egg on top adds a gorgeous richness. Cancer: This is a great month to add a ritual to your eating experience instead of simply wolfing down everything on your plate. As a Cancer, you're used to looking for meaning in everything, and this is your permission slip to fully indulge that. Connect food to experiences. Eat something that reminds you of childhood. Light a candle and take a moment to reflect on how the food tastes and what memories and emotions its raises. This is a great month to look for textural and rich food as well. Recipe to try: This chocolate bark is basically a grown-up Hershey bar. Savor it bite by bite and reflect on when you first ate chocolate, and some special moments sweets have come into play in your life. Leo As a Leo, you tend to like to take things over, with an "I'll do it myself!" attitude that permeates every element of your life, including your food. This month, try to practice the fine arts of cooperation and collaboration. Let someone else make you a meal (without micromanaging every move!). If you're always the giver, try receiving for once. Flavorwise, this month is all about fusion, balancing two contrasting flavors into something harmonious (think sweet and salty, sour and spicy, or even mixing two cultures, like Indian-inspired tacos). Recipe to try: This Moroccan-spiced sweet potato soup will hit the spot. Let a friend make it for you (or with you, but let her take the lead!) and then sit back and enjoy together. Virgo: Virgos rule the sixth house, so you'll really be in the zone this month. You tend to be a health-conscious sign, and you love to count and quantify everything. This is a great month to fully indulge that side of your personality. Geek out on science-based nutrition articles, and try some new recipes, enjoying the process of following the instructions and measuring out all of the ingredients. This is also a great month to find out where your food comes from—try talking to your local farmer at the market, or even joining a CSA. Recipe to try: Baking is notoriously scientific, but this grain-free chocolate ganache tart is easy enough to be fun and exacting enough to indulge your scientific side. Libra: As a Libra, you tend toward romance but enjoy a modern version of it. This month, the sun is in your fifth house, which is all about drama and passion. It's a great month to let yourself go a little bit! Don't try to hold back in terms of your food choices—indulge yourself in rich, decadent treats. If you're in a relationship, prioritize having a super-sexy Valentine's Day, and if you're not, try to be indulgent that day anyways, cooking up a scrumptious brunch with a group of friends. One caveat: Because you can get out of balance easily, make sure to have some greens every time you have chocolate, or a salad with that mouth-watering plate of tacos. Recipe to try: This aphrodisiac hot chocolate will tickle your taste buds and get you fired up for an amazing night, whether it's with yourself or a partner. Scorpio: Scorpios tend to me more private, but this month, with the sun in the home part of your chart, it's a great time to really open your space to other people and focus on deepening your relationships. Invite people over for dinner, or go to lunch with your coworkers and open up about your out-of-office life a bit more. You can also strengthen your bonds through making food, maybe trying out an old family recipe (and updating it to make it a little healthier!). Recipe to try: This hygge-inspired dinner party makes hosting super cozy, stress-free, and not intimidating at all. Sagittarius: Sagittariuses are very communal, and this month is a particularly great time to gather with your friends—but with an emphasis on local. This means checking out a new spot in your neighborhood, or doing a staycation where you sample healthy treats from around your city. Buying super-local food will make your body feel especially good, as will taking ideas from your favorite restaurants and recreating. Recipe to try: These carrot pigs-in-a-blanket and strawberry jalapeño quinoa bites are the perfect nosh for having your friends over to watch the Oscars or Super Bowl. Capricorn: You already follow a Capricorn-esque less-is-more attitude, which can result in a taste for more simple foods. This is the month to let yourself have something a little richer and spend a bit more money indulging in luxury. Think beautiful green juices, checking out new restaurants, treating yourself to that orange blossom yogurt you're obsessed with. It's a good month to stock up on high-quality, expensive ingredients as well, so take a look at your spice and oil cabinet and see what you need (and remember: good-quality spices make everything taste amazing and often contain many more health benefits, so it's worth the spend!). Recipe to try: Use all those spices and exotic ingredients to make these Ayurvedic celery root pancakes.

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