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sweeetchillies · 1 year

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CHOLE RICE

Chole Chawal is a typical North Indian street food made with rice and chickpeas, which makes a delicious and healthy meal.

Every market in Delhi is always crowded, with both wide and narrow lanes. One could spot hawkers every two minutes. It is unbelievable, but true. From rich to poor, everyone would crowd up these hawkers and eat their favourite food. There are many perfect places to explore the flavours of street food.

There are many chole walas in the market, but this one in the Gaffar market in Karol Bagh is one of the best. His stuff sells like hotcakes. The rice is made with some peas and tiny cubes of paneer. It is beautifully decorated with tomatoes, chillies, paneer, etc. The interesting part of this dish is the cottage cheese, where the vendor fills a plate with rice, tops it with chole, and then tops it with some spicy spinach. The spinach is topped with a slice of cottage cheese and some freshly made mango or carrot pickles, depending on the season.

One achieves a great sense of satisfaction after eating this protein-rich bowl. a street food bowl with high chilly content, low oil, fresh green spicy spinach that tastes like chutney, crunchy onions, tangy mango pickles to bite in between, and if you get that sharp chilly taste, bite into the paneer piece…wow…can you absorb the flavours?

Chole chawal, also known as chole rice, is my all-time favourite north Indian dish, and it can be found in almost every household during weddings, parties, or festivals. 80% of the people you meet will have this on their favourite menu.

Since I am very talkative so as not to waste much of your time, I will bring to you my Mom’s Secret recipe straight from her kitchen!!!!

INGREDIENTS

RICE

1 cup of rice

1 large cardamom

2 small cardamoms

1 or 2 bay leaves

cumin

1 teaspoon oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Chole/Chickpeas

1 /2 cup chickpeas , soaked overnight

Salt to taste

4 tablespoons oil

2 tbsp Ghee

3-4 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 green chilly, slit into two

3 medium tomatoes , puréed

1 tomato, chopped

2 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp red pepper powder or Kashmiri red chili powder

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 tsp. amchur powder

½ asafoetida

½ garam masala

Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Rice

In a large mouth vessel, heat 1 tablespoon of oil.I chose this so that the grains of rice can get enough space to spread and cook.

Add the bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, and cumin.

Roast till we get an amber colour.

Add 2 cups of water. We took one cup of rice, so we always took twice as much water as rice.

Let boil, and add salt.

Add rice and cook till it’s done.

(You may also add peas at the point when the rice is 80% cooked, cover, and cook on a slow flame till done .)

Chole

Pressure Cook the chickpeas with bay leaves (you may also add tea bags, gooseberry tied in muslin cloth) salt for 4-5 whistles or until completely done. (Remove the tea bags and gooseberries, once boiled.) .

Purée three tomatoes and chop one tomato.

Add the slit green chili to the hot oil.

Next, add the puréed tomatoes, and as soon as you add the puree, add salt to taste.

(Remember your boiled chickpeas’ water also contains salt, so add accordingly.)

Add red pepper powder/Kashmiri red chilli powder, amchur powder, black pepper powder and pomegranate powder.

(NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE SECRET INGREDIENT.)

On a hot tawa, take coriander powder, cumin, and cloves, and on low flames, roast them until they change colour and turn aromatic.

Remember not to burn it.

Then combine them with the tomato puree and cook until the oil separates.

This gives a good black and brown colour to your chickpeas.

(You can use tea bags and soda together while)

Add the drained chana and simmer for 5–10 minutes.

Turn off the heat.

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on INSTAGRAM with the hashtag #sweeetchillies

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#recipes day #cholerice #chickpeas #sweeetchillies

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hauntedpearl · 2 years

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hi!

ok so i saw your answer yesterday but i think i thought since you were up late that i would wait to send another ask. but. now i can't remember if i did that. so if this is a repeat <3 sorry <3

lol you put ice cubes in with the hot chocolate mix? was the coffee hot or cold? i'm just so amused by this

oooh you pickle mangoes? that sounds so interesting! i love rice and lentils (red lentils my beloved). So you eat the pickled mangoes with the rice and lentils? or like as a side? I have not had much experience with Indian food. I've tried several things that I don't remember back in college but I have made chicken tikka masala at home. My family loves to go to restaurants that serve food from other countries but where I live Indian food isn't as represented.

i'm going to pick up ingredients for chili and cornbread this weekend and i'm really looking forward to that. It's finally starting to cool down here (well. it will tomorrow. today it's hot as hell)

I feel you. I turn 28 in a few weeks and i do not feel like i'm almost 30! I still feel like I don't know what i'm doing even though I've lived on my own for 6 years. Best of luck with your Decisions <3 <3 <3

I like to draw faces and paint skies/plants. My fav medium is definitely watercolor.

Fun fact: as i was scrolling to find your answer to my last ask i saw your post about that autism quiz and i got a 154 so that. explains some things.

<3 gold(ish)

hey!!! <3

and no! you're good!! this is not a repeat ✨🤭

okay. see. refer to how i didn't really drink coffee before this year. so i just put like the chocolate powder in there. i think i used cold milk tho! so it was iced/cold coffee but honestly it's anyone's bet. i do not remember clearly enough what happened. this was 2020, so my memory is full of holes!

yes!! so we boil yellow lentils in some turmeric and salt to make a dal kind of thing. we don't season it with anything else for this dish, it's kind of a dal they make it the south to pair up with other curries and stuff! so we add a little bit of clarified butter to rice and mix it up with the lentils first and then add the pickled mango thing — it's called avakai, and it's very much like. a dish of my state. not many people eat it outside of the state, atleast not in that form. but i literally cannot go more than a couple of days without making it a part of one of my meals 🤭🤭 you'd probably not find it in Indian restaurants abroad tho :( unless like. you went to one of those Saravana Bhavans ahfshjdhdj

and omg i hope you enjoy your chili!! I've always wanted to try making it, but a) I'm very lazy and also b) my parents wouldn't eat it because they're just so used to Indian food. my mom doesn't even like pizza shfshs. the only thing she eats that's not fully Desi, is, like, french fries. so it would be kind of a waste to make it while I'm at home. SOME DAY THO ✨_✨

and thank you!! i think these Decisions are going to be harder than i thought. i just feel so clueless, and i think i should be allowed to take chances and make mistakes as a 25 year old, but everything *feels* so permanent and impossible to undo and it's like. oh wow. my actions have consequences?? and I have to live with them for as long as I'm alive??? insane. get out of here. i did not sign up for this.

omg that's so cool! i do not have an artistic bone in my body, so i am always so in awe of people who do!! do you paint from real life, or do you come up with pieces from your imagination? (unrelated: but what's some place you've always wanted to visit? like a place you think of when you paint, and you'd love to go?)

agdfdjd omg!! OH MY BELOVED 🤝🏾🤝🏾🤝🏾🤝🏾

holding your hand rn 😭😭😭 i literally thought i would score less but also. i knew there was something up with whatever is going on in my noggin. not gonna self-diagnose, but yeah. it explains. THINGS. NO? it's funnier bc i think i have accumulated mostly Neurotypical™ friends when i was in college, so it's like, they've always "taken me under their wing" and they would like. infantilize me and stuff, but I'd just lean into it and make a bit out of it aggdjsjs i never did think much of it. it was just one of those things. and i don't think i still do. but it's definitely. SOMETHING. AND IM LIKE..HMMMM. OKAY. SO THAT. MIGHT BE. WHY.

anyway. here's to more personal revelations through internet quizzes. it's so cringe like oh my god but whatever. had to happen somehow right 😭😂

hope you're having a good night! ✨✨✨

#doe's inbox #gold(ish)🏅#also i just woke up a while ago and have A day ahead i would like to NOT have days can we cancel days thanks

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111laurab111 · 2 years

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Are you looking for great healthy snacks? A good rule of thumb is that a "snack" is typically mid morning and mid afternoon. I eat about every 2-3 hours- shake, meal, Shake- with snacking in between.

The size of your snack matters, especially if you're wanting to release pounds and inches. Typically a snack is about 5-10 bites of something or a cup measured out.

Enjoy!

Homemade nut mix Combine ALL RAW- walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans pepitas, sunflower seeds, carob chips and dried chopped Plum Amazins.

Tamari-seasoned rice crackers are a salt lover's vehicle for tuna salad. We like to punch it up with a squeeze of Sriracha chili sauce!

Mound chopped smoked salmon onto lettuce leaf and top with dill.

Sprinkle drained canned artichoke hearts with lemon zest, capers, chopped fresh basil and olive oil. Eat with toothpicks.

Stuffed Mushrooms: Briefly roast button mushroom caps until softened. Fill with jarred pesto and a little chopped turkey.

Smoked Turkey Pinwheels: Spread a layer of hummus on sliced smoked turkey breast and top with thinly sliced tomato. Roll up and cut into 1-inch pieces.

Spruce up a shot of tomato juice by topping it with finely chopped cooked shrimp, scallions and crumbled saltines.

Whisk together almond butter, tamari and a few drops of water. Use as an Asian-style dip for baby bok choy.

Five-Spice Pumpkin Seeds: Toss salted pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas) with sesame oil and Chinese five-spice powder, then bake at 160° until crisp.

10. Turn cucumber slices into crackers: Spread them with olive tapenade and garnish with chopped fresh tarragon.

11. Dunk root veggie chips (such as Terra chips) into low-fat sour cream seasoned with hot sauce and orange zest.

12. Ants on a Log: Stuff celery sticks with cashew butter and dot with dried currants.

13. Mix crisp and spicy jarred corn relish with chopped tomatoes and cilantro; eat with rice crackers.

14. Stuff iceberg lettuce leaves with chopped ripe tomatoes and cucumbers and a dollop of hummus.

15. Dip sugar snap peas in a mixture of Greek yogurt and a bit of jarred pesto.

16. Chickpea Poppers: Thoroughly dry canned chickpeas. Spritz with extra-virgin olive oil, season with dried oregano and garlic salt and roast at 400° until crisp.

17. Spread granny smith apple wedges with chunky cashew butter and top with toasted sesame seeds.

18. Fill endive spears with chopped Bosc pears and season with balsamic vinegar.

19. No-Chop Gazpacho: Combine tomato juice, cucumber, bell peppers and onion in a mini chopper, and then pulse just until chunky. Add a splash of red wine vinegar.

20. Cut jicama into sticks, squeeze liberally with lime juice and dip in a sauce of chunky almond butter, honey and fresh ginger.

21. Combine finely chopped broccoli, multicolored bell peppers and scallions with Greek yogurt and a dash of prepared horseradish. Keep a bag of baby carrots close by.

22. 1-2-3 Thai Slaw: Open a bag of shredded carrots; dress lightly with toasted sesame oil, lime juice, olive oil, honey and a dash of cayenne pepper. Toss in chopped salted peanuts.

23. Shred iceberg lettuce into tuna salad and eat on thick-cut organic or homemade bread-and-butter pickles.

24. Deviled Eggs: Replace mayo with Greek yogurt to make deviled eggs. Fold a handful of finely chopped watercress and a pinch of Old Bay seasoning into the yolks.

25. Stuffed Figs: Split plump dried figs and stuff with toasted hazelnuts.

26. Halve a cup of cherry tomatoes and drizzle them with olive oil.

27. Sneak some finely chopped swiss chard into your pesto, and then spoon onto garlic pita chips.

28. Indian-Spiced Cashews: Toss raw cashews in coconut oil and curry powder and roast at 160° until golden.

29. Sushi Stick: Roll up sliced avocado, cucumber spears and brown rice in a nori sheet and eat with pickled ginger.

30. Fruit Compote: Choose 1 cup of- either blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, apple. Mix 1 cup of fruit with olive oil, cinnamon and a touch of stevia if desired and pan-fry until they're on the brink of bursting, then gobble up while warm.

0 notes

desi-hall-of-fame · 3 years

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I'm gonna do this. Yes.

I'm crying myself to death tonight, my brothers wedding is in May. These dumbfucks did care about the covid surge and are still planning on marrying the lovers off.

After intense begging and shouting and yelling, me and my cousins finally convinced the elders to hold a simple ceremony with around 40 people. Otherwise, there were 700 fucking guests that they wanted to invite. I know, please don't come at my family, they are poor ignorant people who I pity, so you should pity too.

Now I'm a lazy person who has only joggers and oversized t-shirts in her closet, I swear I've no wedding outfit.

All of my cousins got these red lehengas and Pakistani suits and I wanna cry, those outfits are so beautiful. I'm gonna look like a complete potato in the wedding coz I've no fucking idea where I can get the lehenga stuff. I mean i wanna look good, plesde help me by suggesting some online shops. And I'm NOT an Indian-American. I live very much in India.

Thank you so much oh my god I wrote such a long paragraph.

It's just that girl in that 💫red lehenga💫 always makes me insecure and this time I just want some outfit that'll boost my confidence.

Thank you oh my god you guys are so nice, you read it all. I'm gonna cry bye.

I honestly don't know any, I am literally as useful as a potato in terms of Indian clothing

Gonna tag some people who may be able to help though

And please stay safe during the wedding!!

@aadyeah @calltothewild @mango-pickle and anyone who sees this, please help them!!

#asks

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aster-aspera · 3 years

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One love, one house

CW: food mention, loads of fluff

Relationships: romantic DLAMP

Chapter title is from sweater weather by the neighbourhood

read on ao3

Masterlist for my superhero AU

Patton loved his roommate, he really did, but he was just a little eccentric. Patton could deal with the sneaking in at hellish hours in the early morning, and the mud he tracked into the appartement and the faint smell of antiseptic and blood that was always present in their bathroom.

He could even deal with his roommate occasionally forgetting his tasks or even disappearing for days on end.

But this was just unacceptable. Patton stood in front of a near empty fridge, only a refrigerated tupperware full of noodles and a jar of pickles left.

“Virgil?” He called.

His roommate looked up at him from under his messy bangs, dark circles that seemed to take up half of his face under his eyes. He really should stop sneaking out at night. Patton had hoped he would have gotten more sleep during the holidays, but it seemed his roommate was determined to work himself into an early grave.

“What have you been eating?” He asked, pointing to the fridge.

Virgil gaped at him for a moment as the question made its way into his sleep deprived brain.

“Uhm, noodles?” He said, sounding unsure of himself.

“Just noodles?”

“And pickles, I guess.”

“During the holiday season?”

“Yes?”

Patton sighed. Virgil just continued staring at him, seemingly unaware of why Patton was so upset.

“You did eat something other than noodles on Christmas, right?” He asked, his voice edging on desperation.

“I dunno, when was Christmas?”

Patton snapped.

“Nope, this is unacceptable. I don’t care if you celebrate or not, but you should at least eat something.”

“I ate.” Virgil grumbled.

“Noodles!” Patton interjected.

“And it’s not like I had a lot of time on my hands to cook an elaborate meal.”

“One, it’s not that hard to throw some vegetables into a wok and two, what are you even doing during the holidays, it’s not like we have classes.”

Virgil looked down.

“Studying.” He mumbled.

“More like studying , with the way you look.”

“I don’t look that bad.”

“You look like a corpse, a cute corpse, but still a corpse.”

Virgil flushed and Patton had to fight not to coo. He was just so cute.

“Whatever, are you free tonight?” He continued.

“Uhh, sure? I have something at 11 though.”

“That’s fine, I’m cooking you dinner tonight and we’re going to have a little holiday celebration.”

“Patton, I don’t really celebrate Christmas.”

“It’s not about Christmas. I just want to have a nice night with my friend and while I’m at it, I want to make sure you’re eating something for once.”

“Ok, fine. We’ll have a holiday celebration.” Virgil groaned, but he didn’t seem totally against the idea.

Patton cheered.

“Okay, I’m going to pop over to the store first. We’ll need ingredients.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to bother yourself too much.”

“Nonsense, I love cooking for others. Also, we’re all out of food except noodles, so I’d have to go shopping anyways.”

Virgil had the decency to look mildly guilty at that.

Virgil accompanied him to the store. Which, unlike Patton had expected, did not speed up the shopping process, but only slowed them down as they fooled around.

“Okay, okay. Let's get this done quickly, thyme is money.” Patton said, waggling his eyebrows at Virgil.

“What the hell am I doughing here.” Virgil groaned.

Patton gasped. “You made a pun!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah well, don’t expect too many of those. I wouldn’t want to oatverdo it.”

Patton gasped in delight.

“The s’more puns you make, the s’more i love you.” He proclaimed and Virgil blushed beet red.

Patton giggled as he looked at Virgil having fun. His roommate was usually a lot more reserved and morose. He had no idea what had happened that had put Virgil in such high spirits, but whatever it was, Patton was grateful. The smile that graced Virgil’s face was the most breathtaking thing he had seen all week.

Patton looked away, aware he had been staring just a little too long.

The meal was delicious, if he said so himself, and Virgil seemed to agree. He lounged back in his chair languidly, sleepy from the good food. He looked better than Patton had seen him all month. The colour had returned to his cheeks again and his eyes sparkled.

Patton silently congratulated himself on a job well done.

“That was great, Pat. Seriously.”

“I’m humbled by your compliments.”

Virgil smiled.

“Where did you even learn how to cook like this?”

“My moms taught me. They made sure to teach me all the basic survival skills like cooking, laundry and how to snare and skin rabbits.”

“Snare rabbits?” Virgil laughed.

“I lived in a forest, I had to be able to take care of myself. They taught me all kinds of other cool survival stuff too.”

“Nice, my mom barely taught me how to turn on a stove.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Virgil waved him away. “My parents just had other priorities in my upbringing. Maybe you could teach me to cook something other than pasta?”

“I’d love to.” Getting to cook and spend more time with Virgil? It sounded like heaven to Patton.

Virgil looked at the clock and suddenly shot up.

“Shit, I have to go. I’m sorry. Thanks for the food, Patton.”

“It’s fine. Anytime.” Patton watched him leave with an empty feeling in his stomach.

He didn’t mind his roommate’s odd habits, but sometimes he wished he didn’t always run off.

Patton had to be honest, when Virgil had first told him about his boyfriends, he had been quite shocked.

Not because of the boyfriends, plural. Patton was pretty sure he was polyamorous himself.

No, it was the fact that quiet, shy, reserved Virgil, the guy who Patton had never seen interact with anyone except Patton, had somehow gotten himself not one, but two boyfriends.

And yeah, maybe he did feel a sharp stab of jealousy when Virgil first told him. He wondered how his boyfriends had gotten him to realize they wanted to date him. Patton had been trying to make his feelings clear for months now and was almost convinced Virgil was aromantic.

They must have yelled something along the lines of “We have romantic feelings for you” to get through that thick skull of his.

Patton didn’t resent Virgil for dating them, he was happy for him. Virgil really needed something good in his life.

And now, here he was, cooking up an elaborate meal for Virgil’s boyfriends.

When Virgil had told him about his boyfriends and the fact that they had been going steady for a while, Patton had insisted they come over for dinner sometime.

“I have to make sure they’re not going to break my best friend’s heart.” He had argued.

Virgil had complained at that, but his boyfriends had agreed and a date had been fixed.

Patton had maybe gone a little overboard with the meal. Two curries stewed on the stove and he was just about to throw the homemade falafel into the pan. In the oven, naans he had made from scratch were baking.

He hoped they liked Indian.

Virgil let his boyfriends into the appartement and wow, they were hot.

One of them, the shorter of the two, beamed at him, his smile perfectly blinding, and walked over to him.

“Hello, you must be the charming Patton I’ve heard so much about.” He said with a theatrical bow.

The taller one walked over to them with a more reserved smile.

“I’m Logan and this character here is Roman. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Virgil has told us a lot about you.” He stuck out his hand.

“Really, he has?” Patton felt a warm glow at that knowledge.

“Well, it��s nice to meet you too.” He continued.

“So you’re the one who’s been keeping our Virgil alive?” Roman asked him.

“What?” Patton asked.

“V has a lot of skills, basic self care isn’t one of them.” Roman clarified.

“We’re happy he has such a good friend.” Logan added.

“Well, I’m happy to take care of him. But, yeah, self care isn’t one of his skills.”

“As much as I appreciate you guys bonding, I can take care of myself.” Virgil interjected.

“Debatable.” Logan said.

Roman seemed to have noticed the food bubbling on the stove by now.

“Ooh, indian.” He exclaimed.

“It smells good.” Logan complimented.

“Well, it’s nearly done, so get seated and I’ll bring the food over.”

“You guys are in for a treat. Pat’s the best cook I know.” Virgil informed them.

Patton blushed at the high praise.

“I must say I’m intrigued.” Logan said, while taking a seat at the table.

Patton turned off the stove and added a few leaves of coriander before carrying the dishes over to the table.

“Do you need a hand? It looks like a lot.” Roman offered.

Finally, with Roman’s help, the table was set and they all dug in, dipping their naans into the curries Patton had made.

Roman moaned theatrically.

“God, this is just heavenly.” He praised.

“It’s great Patton.” Virgil offered.

“Yes, it is quite splendid. What spices did you use?” Logan asked him.

“Well, this one has chilli powder...”

“I can taste that.” Virgil grumbled.

“Turmeric, cumin and coriander and the other one has bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and more chilli powder.”

“That’s a lot of spices.” Roman said.

“That’s the secret to Indian cooking, the things they can do with spices is just magical.” Patton replied.

They talked more.

Logan told him he was studying theoretical physics at the university where Virgil also studied.

“Wow, theoretical physics. Isn’t that like black holes and stuff?” Patton asked, intrigued.

“Oh boy, don’t get him started.” Virgil muttered.

Logan paid him no mind.

“That’s one aspect but it’s also so much more. It touches on all aspects of our lives.” With that Logan launched into an impassioned speech about all the things theoretical physics touched on and the different aspects of it.

Patton didn’t understand everything he was going on about, physics hadn’t been his best subject in school, but he enjoyed listening to Logan all the same. He had a way of speaking that drew you in. It was clear he really enjoyed the subject he was studying. Patton felt like he could listen to Logan for hours on end. A glance at the others told him they felt the same way, both of them staring at him with fond expressions.

“I apologise. I was rambling again, I have been told I have a tendency to do that.” Logan cut himself off.

“What? There’s nothing to apologize for, it was really fascinating.”

Logan smiled softly but didn’t go on. An awkward silence fell over the table.

“So!” Patton piped up brightly. “What do you do, Roman?”

“I’m studying to become a nurse actually.”

“Really? cool!”

They chatted about all kinds of things. Roman complained about the amount of things he had to learn. Logan told him it was nothing compared to what he had to study. Virgil lamented about annoying professors. And Patton listened, feeling a little like an intruder but a part of it all the same.

They complemented each other perfectly. Patton had no idea how they had met or what made them such a good team, but it must be something wonderful indeed.

In that moment, Patton wished so fervently he could be a part of it. He barely knew Logan and Roman and yet he could feel himself falling for them even now.

They didn’t seem to mind him being there, roping him into the conversation easily.

Logan smiled at him from across the table and Roman slung an arm over his shoulder, laughing at one of his puns.

Virgil was just getting up to refill the water jug, when an alert on his phone went off. All three of them jumped up.

“We have to leave.” Logan said, looking at his phone.

“Shit, I’m so sorry Patton.” Virgil repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time. It felt like whenever Patton was finally making progress in his relationship, something interrupted.

He didn’t mind the weird habits, he just wished he would let him in on his secrets. Hadn’t he proved his trustworthiness to Virgil?

They left him with the dishes and an empty feeling in his chest.

Roman, Virgil and Logan sat at the dinner table while Patton busied himself in the kitchen, finding comfort in the familiar routine of cooking. A tense silence filled the usually cozy apartment.

“How long have you known?” Logan asked finally.

Patton looked at Virgil when he answered.

“Probably since the first month.”

Virgil stammered. “I thought…”

“You thought what Virgil? That I didn’t notice you sneaking in at five in the morning? That I didn’t notice that whenever you ran off during dinner, Storm was suddenly on the news? That I didn't notice all the cuts and bruises you collected? You thought, what? That I was stupid? Blind? Deaf?” He knew he was being unfair, the others looked tired and miserable and guilty. But all his frustration at being left in the dark for years was bubbling over.

He was so tired of being treated as stupid, of being left behind when the others had to attend to hero bussiness. He was tired of lying awake worrying about them.

Patton returned to chopping the leeks with more force than absolutely necessary.

“We wanted to protect you.” Logan said, guilt colouring his voice.

“I don’t need your protection. I think you saw that tonight.”

“Yes, we were wrong. I realize that now. We apologize”

“I don’t.” Virgil said.

Patton stared at him. “What?”

Virgil stood up and faced him. “I’m sorry about lying to you, but I won’t apologize for trying to protect you. It’s bad enough these two are out on the streets, I don’t need another untrained civilian risking their life.” Virgil gestured at Roman and Logan, who didn’t look happy about being called untrained.

Patton laughed bitterly. “I’m not untrained, that much should be clear. And what makes you so trained then?”

Virgil sighed.

“When I said my parents had other priorities in my upbringing, I meant it. Instead of learning maths and chemistry, I learnt how to fight, how to take down a grown man, how to disappear into the shadows.”

“Why?” Patton asked, he was aware Virgil hadn’t had the most traditional upbringing, but this wasn’t what he had expected.

“I was to be an assassin, but the company we worked for disbanded and my mom decided to give me a normal life.” He explained coldy, it was clear there was more there, but Patton decided now was not the best time to ask.

They were all tired from the events of the evening and Patton really just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for another week. All his anger at his friends keeping him in the dark had faded, leaving him with just his exhaustion.

He turned back to the quiche he was making, with store bought dough, his mom would be shocked, and slid it into the oven.

“I’m just happy you guys are alright.” He said, extending an olive branch.

“Well, we were lucky our valiant knight in shining armour came to our rescue.” Roman said, his voice lacking his usual flamboyance.

Patton sat down next to Virgil and laid his head on his shoulder. Virgil wrapped his arm around him.

“You guys are lucky I knew where you were.”

“Yeah, how did you do that? Do you have us micro-chipped or something?” Roman questioned.

Patton just smiled mysteriously.

Patton popped his head into their bedroom, where Janus was talking into a phone. Patton listened for a moment as Janus talked to someone in rapid fire French, sounding mildly irritated.

He noticed Patton standing in the doorway and held up a hand signaling he would be done soon. He rolled his eyes and mouthed “Grandmother” at him.

Patton stifled a giggle. Janus’s grandmother was notoriously difficult.

“Oui, oui mémé, je promets.”

He put down the phone with a sigh.

“Why is she like this?” He sighed in exasperation.

Patton wrapped his arms around Janus’s waist and nuzzled into his neck.

“It’s ‘cause she loves you, honeybee.”

“Loves to annoy me, more like. Anyways, did you need something, mon cœur ?”

“Yeah, you said you’d help with dinner?”

“Course, give me a minute, I’m coming.”

“I’ll go peel the potatoes.” Patton bounced down the stairs.

On the couch, Logan and Roman were attempting to watch a period drama, keyword, attempting.

They were currently critiquing the costumes in the show, Roman in particular was raving about corsets on bare skin.

Patton smiled, he loved them both very much, but watching a movie or show with them was nearly impossible. They both had trouble keeping their thoughts to themselves.

“Having fun?” He asked as he pressed a kiss to Roman’s forehead.

“Corsets on bare skin, Patton! What is wrong with them?” Roman flung his hands up, nearly knocking Patton’s glasses off.

“Whoops, sorry.” He apologized.

Patton kissed him again and gave Logan a quick side hug.

“You guys enjoy, I’m going to get started on dinner.”

“I highly doubt I will be able to enjoy it, considering all the mistakes in the writing and costuming.” Logan muttered.

Janus joined him in making dinner and together they worked efficiently. Janus was a great cook and a good help in the kitchen. Together, they managed to make something good without getting in each others’ way too much.

Janus put on an old timey jazz song and as the food sizzled on the stove, they slowed gently in the kitchen.

The door opened and Virgil blew in with a gust of cold air. He groaned as he dropped his bag on the floor.

“Everything all right, mon amour?” Janus questioned.

“Just tired, training was hard today.” Virgil sighed.

“Yeah, I see. Go take a shower.” Janus wrinkled his nose.

Virgil made to kiss Janus but he warded him off.

“Go shower first.” He instructed.

“I want a kiss.” Virgil whined.

“I’ll give you a kiss.” Patton said.

“Don’t enable him.” Janus groaned but he pressed a quick kiss to Virgil’s nose.

Patton drew Virgil in for a soft, gentle one and then pushed him in the direction of the shower.

“Go. Food’s nearly done.”

Right on cue, Roman bounced into the kitchen, Logan trailing behind him.

“Food’s ready?” He asked.

“Not yet. Will you guys set the table?” Patton asked.

As busy clattering filled the kitchen, Patton felt a smile slip onto his lips. Janus noticed and wrapped his arms around him.

“What are you thinking about?” He whispered into his ear.

“Just thinking about how lucky I am.”

“Yeah, we really are.” He sighed.

They smiled as Virgil entered the kitchen and promptly got wrapped up in a hug from Roman.

#sander sides #patton sanders #ts patton #virgil sanders #ts virgil #roman sanders #ts roman #logan sanders #ts logan #janus sanders #ts janus #dlamp #romantic dlamp #ts dlamp #tw food mention #superhero au #ts superhero au #my writing #sanders sides fic

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korralifts · 4 years

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Saturday in food

Breakfast

Yoghurt parfait with my homemade Indian style yoghurt, crushed almonds, desiccated coconut, honey drizzle, red currants, the last of the fresh strawberries and the first of the fresh peaches.

Lunch

Turkey burger on an herbed mixed wheat bun from the local bakery with aged cheddar, ketchup, mustard and hot sauce. I did eat two pickles on the side as well.

Dinner

Chicken paprikash with a side of rice and some green beans. I used bone in chicken thighs so I probably lost a little bit of protein when I weighed it for the serving but I did my grocery shop late in the week so that's all that was left.

Total calories 1194

Total fat 41g

Total carbs 138g

Total protein 75g

Now these totals don't include my snacks because I tend not to measure my snacks, again. I had some watermelon and a slice of my vegan/dairy free apple cinnamon loaf which is about 160 calories there. But my daily intake sits around 1500 when I add in all my snacks and the smoothie I usually have while I do my journaling in the morning 😊

If this stuff looks yummy all the recipes are variations of what is in my Easy PCOS Diet Cookbook. 👌🏽

#personal #fitspo #fitspiration #fitblr #losing weight #girls who lift #healthy eating #clean eating #health #gym #pcoscommunity #pcos things #pcos #pcoslifestyle #pcoscysters #pcos problems #pcos treatment

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foodofthedas · 4 years

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Reed-Beard’s Crockery, or Trout Baked in Clay

Sky Watcher,

You need to talk to Osborn. He’s so damned infatuated with your people that he’s trying to make your food now. He baked a fish in clay, and now I have no idea how long he’ll be laid up. Why the hell would you do that in the first place?

Adan

PS: Thanks for the elfroot you brought back. This kind is especially good for pain relief. Keep an eye out for more. The red tips on the leaves give it away.

Adan,

I’m not surprised. The clay you get here smells wrong. Osborn is persistent though, if he got enough of it out of this frozen ground to try to make Reed-Beard’s crockery. Be glad he didn’t try for pickled krone.

Lady’s blessings,

Sky Watcher

PS: Glad to hear it’s not just some look-alike weed. Half the time I don’t know with these northern plants. I’ll bring Osborn out with me once he’s well again. We’ll see if he can handle scouting like an Avvar.

(We’re putting this at the top of the recipe to be very, very clear: do not make this with random clay you pull out of the ground! If you want to try something like this, Inn at the Crossroad suggests raku or terracotta)

Ingredients

Six whole trout, cleaned and gutted

Twelve springs of fresh thyme

Twelve sage leaves

Twelve wild onions, grilled and chopped

One-and-a-half teaspoon each of salt and black pepper

Eight pounds of river clay

Twelve to sixteen sorrel leaves, cleaned and prepared

Directions

Divide the clay into six equal size portions. Take one portion and roll out or flatten until approximately one-quarter inch thick. Ensure it is the length of the trout, plus one inch, so it will fit into the clay covering.

Stuff the trout with two sprigs of thyme and two sage leaves. Place the wild onions on top of the herbs. Sprinkle the inside and outside of the trout with salt and pepper.

Wrap the trout in the sorrel leaves. Ensure no part of the fish is exposed. Place the wrapped fish on the sheet of clay and fold the clay around it. Pinch the seams together and place on a rack to dry. Repeat with the remaining fish and allow to dry for approximately one to two hours.

Place the encased fish on a flat stone and position at the edge of the campfire, or directly on the embers. Cook for approximately three-quarters to one hour, or until the clay begins to crack. Serve with roasted vegetables if desired.

Notes

Although the original recipe calls for trout, other fatty fish such as salmon or tuna may be used.

One-and-a-half pounds of clay per fish is ideal, should you wish to halve or double your recipe.

Sorrel leaves are most commonly used in western Ferelden, as per locally available ingredients. Rivaini baked fish recipes call for dried, moistened corn husks as an alternative, and in eastern Ferelden, cabbage leaves are also used.

(Recipe from ‘Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations’ by Lois Frank and Coquinaria. The author of the book and the culinary advisor she worked with run a Native American catering company called Red Mesa, which is extremely badass. Recipe contributed by Asher, blurb by Sarah.)

#seafood #avvar #spring #summer #autumn #mains

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twistednuns · 4 years

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February 2020

I managed to use my iPad as a second monitor for my computer. So tech savvy. Yay me!

Joking about developing a sex-based cardio programme with Manu. Powerfucking! Might help against aggression as well.

A late night phone call with Tom. Not saying much.

Making a huge pot of my grandmother’s signature veggie stew.

More Bon Appétit test kitchen videos. Chris recreating tacos. Claire making Ben&Jerry’s. Priya making her mum’s Indian curries.

Writing a letter to Lena. Drawing upside down bats (which makes them look like they’re having a wicked dance-off). Just the act of writing. I thoroughly enjoy looking at my handwriting.

Using the Salted Coconut handscrub by Lush. Especially now that I wash my hands so often when we’re working with clay at school. I feel like the peeling triggers some pressure points on my palms.

That Saturday productivity high. Cooking and preparing heaps of stuff, cleaning the windows, doing laundry.

Painting my nails like an expressionist artist.

Some portrait studies. Accidentally drawing Sirius Black.

Being really motivated to improve my Spanish. Working with Lorena, the Duolingo app and even starting my own grammar/vocabulary book.

This ultra quirky ASMR video. Also: watching videos with Erin an her boyfriend Chris. It’s amazing how well they work together. How you can almost feel their connection, how similar they are.

Carrot cake oats.

Seeing the The Darkness live again, this time with Margit. Justin’s outfit and personality, singing along, especially to Time of my Life, the band’s traditional first song after the show.

Meeting Chris. Having a Bramblette cocktail at Pusser’s. I like that place. Feels very old-timey with a rowing boat right under the ceiling. We made out in front of a tiger slide in a toy store window on our way to the next bar.

Peeling fresh carrots.

Pickling onions and making kimchi. My fermentation game is strong these days!

Looking through Dominik’s sketchbook. I loved the tree whose bark resembled a mole burrow with its underground tunnel system.

The flu. Yes, really. Fewer pupils at school. Quiet times. I’m actually surprisingly healthy. I’d guess my probiotics must play a role here… Who knows.

More sourdough experiments. Writing about it (DELICACY - a haiku. Oven-warm sourdough / salted butter, alpine cheese / and a strawberry).

Finding a really interesting list of SanFran hippie era book recommendations at the end of Robin Sloan’s Ajax Penumbra: 1969. In the mood to read Maya Angelou, Tom Wolfe, Jack Kerouac, Richard Brautigan.

Even more beautiful books: I really enjoyed Die weiße Stadt by Karolina Ramqvist, a feminist author from Sweden, and the graphic novel version of To Kill a Mockingbird. But two books that literally (well, figuratively obviously) blew my mind were Circe by Madeline Miller (mythology, loneliness, animals and plants, magic and monsters, some desperate kind of feminism, independence and strength) and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (magical realms, university setting, psychological depth, unexpected twists and turns). I haven’t read anything comparable in a very long time and I desperately hope that there’s more to come from these authors.

A beach collecting all the world’s single socks in The Magicians. Oh and of course seeing them break the moon. What a sight. The show is super confusing, obnoxious and absolutely fabulous at the same time. Best example: the Freaky Friday szene in which Margo and Eliot switch bodies. I love how the actors took on each other’s speech patterns and behaviour.

A new addition to my colour vocabular: celadon (a greyish green; there is a type of ceramics you’ll only see in this colour which is not surprising since the shade provides such an interesting contrast to the the earthy, rusty orange of burnt clay.)

Manu telling me that he had rarely seen people with more joy in their eyes than me (“Ich habe schon Freude in deinen Augen gesehen! So ein Leuchten kann man nicht simulieren.”) after complaining about being bored and lifeless. / Making curry with or, well, for him the other night. Drinking Liqueur 43 with cinnamon and milk. Playing the Jackbox party games for which you can use your phone as a controller.

Finding myself in a well-known sitation from the past. Lying in Frank’s bed in the early morning hours, not that tired yet, when he starts talking about his life and his depression. In English, obviously, because that’s our emotional filter. Relating, since I feel quite similar. Coming up with a suggestion for a reciprocal support system. Let’s see what we can do for each other.

Looking at travel photographs. The sea, the cenotes. Longing to go back to Mexico or Australia. Diving. Taking it all in.

Dreaming of my grandmother talking about her biggest regrets in life. Weirdly she was in a little bundle under a coffee table, much like Voldemort in the last Harry Potter movie.

My weird, weird brain. How both pleasure and pain enhance my sense of smell and increase my brain activity, almost causing hallucinations and fixations on ideas. Like geometric shapes in gloomy off-colours and a beige silicon-like surface the other night. All I could think of was a benchscraper.

Blue eyeliner.

Brainstorming three-letter-words with Frank since I’m thinking of getting personalised Nike Blazers. Sad cat. Yes but. Dat ass. Why tho.

Flying squirrels. Watching them wobble through the air. How they look like cute exhibitionist when they’re extending their limbs and thus stretching their, well, let’s just call it wings.

The fact that red cabbage has an intricate pattern like brain convolutions when you cut it open.

Talking to Sonja for the first time in over two years. What a strange person. Interesting, too. At least in homeopathic doses.

Ripe strawberries and nectarines. Oh my god. I love fruit.

Meeting Eve at Pub Quiz. She identifies as female, loves swing dance, used to be an animator and I love her style. Also, I realised that really like Betty. And Dennis wasn’t mean to me for once. I love my nerd friends <3 And I learned that Starbucks was named after the first mate in Moby Dick! Also, coincidentally they asked a question about the city where To Kill a Mockingbird takes place (Maycombe, Alabama) after I had read it the week before.

Inviting Lorena to the Botanical Gardens. I always feel very happy and very much myself when I’m there. I sometimes wish I was a gardener. Lorena was late so I walked along the Spring Path outside and it might have been the first time I’ve seen a brussels sprouts plant. Inside I learned lots of Spanish words and marveled at the incredible butterflies. The huge yellow one right behind the entrance was my favourite. Its delicate feelers were fascinating.

Washing my hands at the Keg’s bathroom. Looking into the mirror. Suddenly thinking of the perfect karaoke song… Rescue Me by Bell Book and Candle! I kept singing it for days on repeat. My neighbour must hate me (nothing new here) especially since my voice is too low for the chorus.

It isn’t hard to see how such attachment patterns can undermine mental health. Both anxious and avoidant coping have been linked to a heightened risk of anxiety, depression, loneliness, eating and conduct disorders, alcohol dependence, substance abuse and hostility. The way to treat these problems, say attachment theorists, is in and through a new relationship. On this view, the good therapist becomes a temporary attachment figure, assuming the functions of a nurturing mother, repairing lost trust, restoring security, and instilling two of the key skills engendered by a normal childhood: the regulation of emotions and a healthy intimacy. // An interesting article on attachment styles and why theraphy works; it makes me want to learn more about attachment theory. This School of Life video is a nice addition as well.

That dream. About a book shop modeled after my picture of Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore. There was an old man in a very narrow but high-ceilinged room full of books. There was no light source except for moonlight or some street lights. There were loads of stairs, very steep, leading to the back of the house. Upstairs the man would set out cat food and on the rooftop there was an old sailing boat. One day the man decided to open the door to the roof and let visitors see the ship, much like a museum; perhaps to attract customers. However, in the next night a cat-shaped ghost appeared who reminded me quite a lot of Kot Behemoth character in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. The ghost was not amused about the old man’s decision and took away his key, a big golden one adorned with a red ribbon.

Toasted sesame makes pretty much every dish so much better.

Watching High Fidelity with gorgeous Zoe Kravitz (I adore her effortless style and her outfits), getting in the mood for making a playlist and listening to more music in general. There are all these great songs out there I forgot about.

Remembering the xkcd storm chaser comics.

Making a wicked good batch of Pho for Tom.

Spending a nice evening with Alex at Shamrock. Singing along to American Boy by Estelle. Confirming the hypothesis that the nerdy, quiet ones usually have a freak streak. That moment in the morning. Eye contact and kegel exercises.

Karaoke with Margit and Betty. Meeting Manu’s doppelganger. Same type, looks, voice. Eerie.

Making a BA Gourmet Makes meme for Steffen after he had passed his law examps. Strangely Gaby kinda looked like him after I was done with it.

Saturday morning in bed. Reading comics and graphic novels. Fresh bedclothes, surrounded by books. Since it was February 29 I thought about leap years and asked a few friends what their inner seven-year-old would have done that day (based on the thought experiment that your birthday was on February 29 and you’d age in 4-year-steps which would divide your age by 4 obviously).

I came up with: visiting grandma / eating Cini-Minis / falling asleep with my face buried in a cat / beating my neighbour Anna at Memory / drawing while listening to a Bibi Blocksberg cassette.

Alex said he’d have been outside all day, building a snow igloo. Not noticing his mum telling him to come to dinner. If the weather had been bad he would have played with his dinosaur collection. His inner 7-year-old was a hopeless dreamer who got agitated whenever his parents had a fight. Who came home late from school every day because he forgot about time when he was talking to his friend next to a hedge with thorns that looked like tiny airplanes.

Lena said she would have been outside all day long, playing in the mud with the neighbours’ kids. Of course.

#things i love #present perfect #personal #february 2020 #february #2020

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youthofnausea7 · 6 years

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Chickpeas of the High Seas, a Tuna Salad Recipe for Plant Based Pirates

So tuna salad might not be everyone's favorite sandwich topping, as a matter of fact it might even be no one's favorite sandwich topping, but if there's one thing that's for damn sure, a tuna salad craving can be fucking hard to ignore. However, if there's one thing I've learned in my years as a broke vegan, it's that chickpeas make a damn good first mate for many of your swashbuckling kitchen adventures. Hoist the Jolly Roger fuckers, we're sinking that smelly tuna boat for good!

What you need:

Prepared Chickpeas (I was extra this time and cooked them myself, but canned works every bit as well)

Diced Red Onion, because why not make it pretty

Diced Celery because crumch

Pickle Relish

Vegenaise or whatever other mayo substitute you have handy, you could probably also use avocado, but only if you're a millenial

A sheet or two of Nori Seaweed

Salt and Black Pepper

Dill Weed (optional, just like most of these ingredients)

I didn't list the exact amounts of the ingredients because it's the kind of thing that tends to turn out better if you just eyeball (or eyepatch) it and sample it along the way, and doing so would just be doing a lousy disservice to the simplicity of this recipe. Also you can sub almost any of the ingredients for whatever it is you like in your tuna salad. Are you fucking weird and like apples in it? Fine then put your gross apples in it, just stay the fuck away from me.

How to make it:

So start off with your prepared chickpeas, put them in a large sealable container. That's right, you're going to make this AND store it in the same container. This is the pinnacle of vegan convenience.

Alternatively you can put it in a blender, I guesss. It'd save you from having to do a lot of chopping which is cool, but I don't let anything go to waste and there's so many things I'd rather do with my day that don't include scraping tuna salad off of blender blades.

Also, using a blender undercuts the best part: Smashing!!!

Okay so I lied, smashing can actually be cruelly tedious. Just be smarter than me and use something better than a fork. You wanna try your best to mash it to the point that there's no more full beans, some halfies might escape your clutches, but who are you trying to fool anyways? Keep it up until the consistency is like that of, well, tuna salad.

Next thing to do is dice up some red onion into little pieces

Cool put them babies in the mashed chickpeas, and do the same with some celery

Since we're mixing this all up into a tasty vomit-like substance (do I talk about vomit too much in my recipes?), I usually just don't fucking care what it looks like; so what I like to do is chop chop cop widthwise and then just go fuckin ham on the pile until it's mostly little pieces.

Fold them in and realize you added way too much fucking veggies

Toss some relish on there, it'll make yer paw proud

Resist the urge to transfer it to another container.

When you've got all that mixed together, get out your mayo substitute and put a couple of big ol' globs on there, as many as you need to coat all the stuff

Mix it all up and continue resisting the U R G E

When it's all mixed up get out one of these. It's called seaweed, and it makes stuff taste like it came from the sea.

Get out two sheets and toast em over the stovetop. CAREFULLY. On LOW heat. These may be the tortillas of the sea, but if you try to toast them like a tortilla you're going to have a bad time.

When you got em all roasty toasty, crunch them up into as little pieces as possible and put em in the salad. The best way to do this is to put them in a ziploc bag, tie the bag to a skateboard, and do a whole bunch of mega rad skate tricks until there's nothing in the bag but ocean dust.

When it's all mixed together it'll look something like this, I guess

Add the salt and spices to taste, and when it's how you like it put it in a sandwich

Bang Bang

There's a lot of ways you can fuck around with this recipe; if you're more of an egg salad kinda person, use Indian black salt instead of seaweed. If you're incredibly boring you probably prefer chicken salad, just don't add either. Just a reminder, this recipe is mostly just a very loose guideline and mainly just serves as an example. Put whatever the fuck you want in it, and do whatever the fuck you want with it.

Aside from the classic tuna salad approach, my favorite thing to do with this technique is to make spicy tuna for sushi. Just lose the veggies and add sriracha, toasted sesame oil, and rice vinegar when you're adding the mayo. I'll provide the photographic evidence when I get better at rolling sushi, because as of current my sushi rolling skills are dogshit.

Picnic time, fuckers!

#vegan recipes #poor vegan #broke vegan #chickpeas #chickpea tuna salad #tuna salad #nori seaweed #sandwiches #youthofnausea #sushi #vegan #ynrecipes

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blackknightgargiefoodtopia · 2 years

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Le' Taj Indian Restaurant (Part 2)

Part 2 of Le Taj:

This is what my other friend's girlfriend ordered: murtabak kosong. It's basically almost like roti canai with curry as the sauce, though I have no idea what exactly is the difference between murtabak and roti canai since they all look and taste the same.

This is what my friends ordered: Nasi Briyani set, or something like that. They've got their briyani rice, which is spicy red and yellow rice with condiments like acar (pickled cucumber and carrot), wet coleslaw (or something like that), curry, tomato soup, chicken and naan (I think that's what it's called). It really is in a big portion and worth the money, and looks delicious.

Close-up pics of my friend's food

My order came, which was banana leaf set lunch. At first I thought why am I just given rice, chicken, tomato soup and curry, but then they came over with this huge container and put the empty space with dahl, potatoes and acar. Apparently it was refillable too and you can ask as much as you want, but it was definitely too filling to ask for second round

Close up of my food. It's actually quite spicy, even though my friend's food was spicier than mine (he tends to get the brunt of it, or maybe his tongue was still not used to spicy stuff XD). It was really, really filling and when the waitress asked if I want seconds, I said no, because I couldn't fit in anymore from this first round. In fact, I couldn't even finish it. It's either the portion was too big for me or my stomach shrank in size. LOL

It was a very satisfying meal at best. Very filling, and it leaves you with that full feeling almost all day. In fact my friend still burped even it has been an hour since he ate. LOL! So go ahead and try out this authentic Indian food if you have the craving for it

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madstars-festival · 3 years

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BBDO’S JOSY PAUL ON THE RISING POWER OF EMOTIONAL DATA

What is emotional data? It’s data of the soul – the stuff you won’t find through research panels, said Josy Paul, Chairman of BBDO, in his talk for AD STARS 2021.

Josy Paul’s session at AD STARS 2021 revealed what a good listener he is. When he meets with clients, he listens deeply to their thoughts, concerns, worries and stories in his quest to unearth “emotional data”.

According to Paul, emotional data lives deep inside us in a place where no big data can get to. If we can reach this deep place of truth – where human beings reveal their true selves, their true anxieties and their joys and loves – if we can get there, we can create magic.

How do you get there? It always start with having deep empathy. When we began to talk about our own vulnerabilities, or reflect on why we do or buy things,it can lead to an opening up. You have to be a human being with weaknesses; – and that’s how we get the truths, Paul said.

To illustrate the point, Paul explained the ‘emotional data’ that inspired the following campaigns.

‘Touch the pickle’ for Whisper (P&G)

“While the briefing session was on, I asked: ‘Why is it for the last 30 years I’ve been seeing communication from sanitary napkins showing blue not red? Why can’t we do a campaign that shows blood?’ Immediately, the environment changed; women in that room began to speak a lot more. They unveiled all of these period taboos that have been around for centuries – why can’t we take on and challenge these taboos?

“What happened after we created that campaign was completely unprecedented. In India, a period is treated like a curse – don’t enter the kitchen; don’t worship; don’t touch the pickle or it will rot when touched by an ‘impure’ woman. Whisper decided it was time to bust these myths. Showing a woman touching the pickle in a TVC… it sparked a flood of debate about a topic that Indians were finally talking about. The activism that resulted from that provocation is still going on today – it was a briefing session that turned to a therapy session, almost.”

P&G – Ariel – ‘Share the Load’ (2016)

“This campaign has been running for the last five years, and it asks, ‘Why is laundry only a mother’s job?’ It’s another example of a hidden truth that no one was talking about. I call this emotional archaeology – it’s hiding in the layers of our lives; we don’t realize we’re carrying these things around with us. Today, Ariel is leading the conversation about gender roles. Sales are up 76% and 2.1 million Indian men have pledged to share the load.”

Release the pressure – Miranda (Pepsico, 2017)

In this campaign for Miranda, BBDO India created an open letter to parents from their kids explaining the pressure they feel: “Believe me, I’m working very hard. You only talk about competition and marks. I find myself in tears. I feel suffocated. Do you know, I really try hard.”

According to Paul, this idea all happened because of a coffee session with the client: “We spoke about the kind of work that’s impacting India. He mentioned the pressure he’s facing at home because his daughter is applying to study abroad. I could sense there was something there; I could feel what he was going through. So during a two day workshop, I raised the topic of what children are going through during exams. I knew it would touch a cord. I spoke as though it came from all of us, but the truth is it came from the client. I explained that this is what everyone is going through, but the client realized it was connecting with his truth, too.”

To conclude, Paul revealed that many of these campaigns have changed him, too. “Every piece of work I’ve showed you – often the person it impacts most is yourself. It’s you writing a truth and then it changes you – that is the greatest work, when it impacts you so deeply it moves you to change yourself. All of these ideas are not what you find in research. They are based on confessions – emotional data.”

Watch Josy Paul’s inspiring talk for AD STARS 2021 on demand via adstars.org.

youtube

#adstars2021

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tauers-go-dutch · 6 years

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*Edinburgh Pun Here

Mariah and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on May 25. Last year, I took her to Nice, which is a lovely city set majestically on the coast of southern France. But I think five years is much more of a milestone, one that deserves something a bit more grand, a bit more thoughtful, a bit more unique. So I booked us tickets to the Edinburgh Beer Fest!

Ok, ok, it wasn’t really like that. Yes, I legitimately planned to go to a beer fest on our anniversary weekend. But really we booked several other items on this trip, and on the trips to come in the following weeks, to celebrate our special occasion. In fact, the first thing that we did upon arriving in the city was to go to Dishoom, an elegant Indian restaurant that we first fell in love with in London. We splurged with cocktails, fried okra, pau bhaji (mashed veggie curry paste), classic mattar paneer, chana chaat salad, and a lamb dish that was the special for the Edinburgh location. This was a truly great meal and a great start to our anniversary. We strolled through the city a bit, and then enjoyed cocktails in a truly hidden speakeasy called the Bramble Bar. If we hadn’t had to sit next to the speakers, we might have stayed a bit longer. No matter- we enjoyed our evening regardless, as we managed to find a little beer bar near our hotel called Salt Horse. They had some great stuff on tap due to the beer fest, but I would bet the list is aces every other day of the year as well.

Cheers to five year!

After sleeping in, we grabbed a late coffee and pastry at a local coffee shop called Fortitude. It is a tiny place, but the coffee is superb and the pastries are fantastic. I had a cinnamon roll with a cream cheese frosting. We tried not to eat too much, as I also booked a food tour for the afternoon. Our guide was actually also the company owner, which was pretty cool. She was a food writer who is originally from Edinburgh, but worked in London and Hong Kong for years before returning to start this company. There was only one other person on the tour- a sommelier from Portugal. The sommelier was nice enough, but she was a little… off. Its ok, as we still got to enjoy veggie haggis. It’s actually pretty easy to find the veggie alternative to the traditional dish throughout Edinburgh. Ours was fried as a bar snack, which is not uncommon in the city for both traditional and veggie haggis. The veggie haggis is typical a combo of carrots, onions, mushrooms (don’t tell Mariah!), lentils, oats, and nuts (ie, hazelnut), all mixed with traditional spices. It was good! Also on the tour, we ate ridiculous amounts of cheese, including the strongest blue cheese I’ve ever had, from the famous IJ Mellis, amazing chocolate from Coco Chocolatier, tea and scones from a small tea house, and peaty Islay whisky at a bar called Pickles. Overall, it was a good outing.

Veggie haggis

So. Much. Cheese.

Trying the local fishmonger’s smoked salmon

Afternoon scones

Topping off the tour with a whisky

After the food tour, we went over to the beer fest… well, I may have stopped for a quick pre-game beer first! The fest was held in an old biscuit (meaning cookie if you’re American) factory. There were breweries pouring beer on three levels, with food stands outside and some sweet swag for sale in the annex. Breweries big and small were pouring, most from the UK. We started with the Wild Beer Co, but we found a ton of other little gems, such as Buried in Strawberries (strawberry Flanders red) from the Hanging Bat Brew Co, Woodland Creatures (pistachio and honeycomb milk stout) from Left Handed Giant, or the nicely referenced Not Your Buddy, Guy (Canadian maple breakfast stout) from the local Stewart Brewery. The food was great as well. I had a Korean fried chicken sandwich (yum!), some gyozas (yum!), and wood fired pizza (yum!). We also bought some shirts and a hat! It was a great night.

She’s excited about the wood fired pizza coming her way

By now, dear reader, you should guess that we started the next day with brunch. Mariah and I stuck to our strengths. Acai bowl for Mariah, and eggs Benny for me. Delicious. We walked over to the Stockbridge Market. Great food… Mariah had more gyozas, which were a knockout. I was able to hunt down my first classic Scottish egg. It was ok. If I could have fit any more food in my belly, I would had some of the amazing pulled pork, though we did get to try a homemade marshmellow. We walked around the city a bit, looking for classic tea cups. We also stopped by a few tea shops, picking up more tea to bring back stateside. I admit, I picked a few for myself.

Edinburgh Castle

Intensely eating her gyoza

My Scottish egg

Giving Greyfriars Bobby a rub for luck

The River Liffey

Mariah had also booked high tea at the Dome, which is a restaurant, bar and tea room in an old bank that had an ornate - wait for it – dome – in the lobby. It actually was really cool, and the tea was tops. Really, I just judge high tea on the scones, and these ones were fantastic (Mariah even gave me one of hers). We walked around for a bit more, taking in some beautiful views. Our flight was a bit later this time around, so we actually still had time to have dinner. We went to a local bar called Holyrood 9A, which specialized in burgers. This was perhaps the best sit down burger I’ve had in Europe. Seriously, I’d be there every week if I lived in Edinburgh (not a bad prospect). I also had my first real haggis. Actually pretty good, like black pudding.

I was really looking forward to going to back to Edinburgh. Without the strain of moving and adjusting to a new time zone (and continent), as well as developing our own style of travel, we were able to do Edinburgh justice the second go around. It’s a great city with lots of personality. I can’t wait to get back to Scotland, and start exploring the harder to reach spots around the country!

Arthur’s Seat - we checked that hike off our bucket list the first go

Tot ziens!

#tauersgodutch #tauers go dutch #insert witty edinburgh pun here

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