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semirahrose · 6 years

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First off I would like to thank you for answering my ask and directing me to some pretty awesome Sam-questioning-reality fanfiction. Second is what I wish the Supernatural writers did for the last six or seven seasons (so it's gonna be long and ranty.) So I noticed that after season 5 Supernatural didn't seem to know where it wanted to take the show. For the first five season there was the overarching story of starting and ending the apocalypse. It did have a monster of the week going on but

each monster of the week added something to either characters, lore, or plot. They also had an overarching theme of Hell going on. The watchers are introduced to demons and demon deals, two major characters enter demon deals, two characters go to hell and the third gets to go to the center of Hell at the end of season 5. But after season 5 the writers just seemed lost like they didn't know what to do with the show or the characters. (Especially Sam). So the next 7 seasons it kind of seemed like

they were just wandering around saying 'oh this seems cool lets add this' or 'this will bring the drama so lets do that.' There was no overarching story or theme. What I wished (since you can't go back in time and change the future yet) they did was a 5 season theme arch about purgatory. The boys would learn about the history of monsters (I know they kind of did that with eve but it was not very in depth like they did with hell.) Learn about souls, more about angels and the seasons actually

having a story over arching the whole five season instead of 'oh this seems cool to do.' I also wound't drop important character plots (cough Sam's Sanity cough) like hot iron (or give them lame conclusions *I never liked the idea of Cas just being able to take on the hell memories and they never bother Sam again, it just seemed like a cop out*). What i also wished was for consequences. For awhile now there haven't really been any weighty consequences for any of the characters. Even Death is

irrelevant. Kevin dies, it's okay he's now a ghost, the brothers can totally still talk to him (I know it was only one episode but it made his death seem kind for the shock value.) Cas dies (nope he's in another universe). Charlie dies (she hasn't returned but if she dies it will be in a convoluted way. It's getting to comics level with characters dying and coming back to life). Mary coming back to life destroys the tension (and I do like Mary, it interesting to see the interaction between her

and the boys) but her being back is bad writing. We all know that if we want a character back all the writers would have to do was invent some magic wand and all the dead characters would be back. So I miss consequences and having what character do matter. For the purgatory story arch the soul-less-Sam thing would lasted a whole season or close to (insane Sam the following season with a better less lame conclusion) The writers could even keep in the leviathans and have Dean go to Purgatory and

Sam has to go to Purgatory to get Dean. (Purgatory was another cool plot concept that the writers flung in to left field). The next five season theme would be heaven (hey, this is reminding me of Dante's Inferno). This is where the heaven civil war comes in (and Cas character arch would make more sense if the overarching theme was about Heaven. It could have the trials at the end (you could have even brought back Mary and John and any other characters in the purgatory arch) so when they do the

the trials they would have to lose all the family they got back during the purgatory arch. (this is good writing. When a character has to lose something to gain something, it gives more tension and depth to the characters.) So if they want to close hell Sam and Dean would lose their parents (and any other character that came out of purgatory) it would also be an interesting morality question (is it selfish to keep you parents and not close the gates of Hell *which had been there for all of human

history*) After the Heaven Arch there could even be a Mortal Arch that all about what Sam and Dean do after saving the world several times over. It would be about how you return to just hunting ghosts/spirits after dealing with heaven, hell and purgatory. And It would probably be the final arch/5 season as well. (Hey that would have been a good 20 season. That's 20 years playing the same character, the actors might want to do something different or pass the torch to new characters (like charlie)

So what do you think? Would that have been better then the meandering story line we have today? Sorry this was so long but it really needed to be said. I always hear people complain about Supernatural when things don't go their way (whether its Sam, Dean, Cas or Other) but I don't always hear people give solutions or a 'what i would have done' (then again the internet is a big place I'm sure I just missed the corner the solutions to all my problems are). So thoughts? Sorry about the length.

No worries! I love that you took the time to share this. Gonna put this under a cut because I may also talk a bit and I fear this might get long...

Those are some really cool ideas! I think the way the first five seasons melded Heaven, Hell, and our favorite mortal fellas’ fates together really made them what they were. The first five seasons had direction, consequences, originality, and a world that we learned more about with each episode. Like you said, the later seasons don’t work that way.

Instead of—sorry for the tired metaphor—peeling pack the layers of the onion until we get to the core of things, the later seasons just dart off in random directions hoping to strike ratings gold. I’ll be honest and say there are parts of seasons six, seven, eight, and eleven that I liked quite a bit, but later seasons have fallen into the trap of... basically neutering heaven and hell, making them into the butts of every joke.

The writers took away all the mystery and mysticism and terror and awe that made both heaven and Hell such interesting places to contemplate. Now they’re just suit-wearing big corporations. The wonder and fear I felt in the earlier seasons is gone. This show hasn’t been genuinely scary in years. The earlier seasons capitalized on the fear of the unknown. The pacing was solid, and as viewers, we were always aware that we were working toward something. They’d either defy fate or they’d go down in flames.

The later seasons have fallen into the trap of believing that having a bigger, badder villain will make the show better.

Really, for a long time now, they’ve been needing to look inside.

The characters have been made into plot puppets rather than real people who drive the action with their choices and desires and fears.

The show has also lacked cohesion and (as you mentioned!) consequences.

It really does just feel like they’re sliding from one thing to the next, trying to one-up themselves. Mark of Cain --> God’s Sister --> Lucifer’s kid --> ???

And it’s just a pale imitation of what it used to be.

I’m not sure if dedicating five seasons to each arc would work, since it might get predictable and formulaic if the writers weren’t careful, but I’m loving the idea of a Dante’s Divine Comedy sorta structure.

The thing is, I feel like some of the things the writing team has actually come out with could have been interesting under a competent showrunner and with writers who had a solid concept both of show canon and of consistency and consequence.

I love that there are so many people out there who love this show so much that they want to see it go on forever. I think that’s amazing and courageous.

I would rather see the show end than ruin everything that made it beautiful to me, though. If the writers could competently handle the story, I’d watch it for 100 seasons, but the show is losing amazing writers as fast as it gets them. (Nancy Won, anyone?)

Ack, sorry that this is kind of depressing.

Your ideas are wonderful and I think the writers could benefit from having the sense of balance you have. Thanks for sharing. :D

#spn #show critical #wank for ts #ish?#bitter sam girl is bitter #and maybe my thoughts are just salty and subjective #fatcat1991 #semirah replies

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gardencityvegans · 6 years

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Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht

https://www.thefullhelping.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Anya-Kassofs-Vegan-Borscht-2.jpg

It seems a funny time for me to be making borscht, which is often thought of as a winter soup, but when I passed the farmer’s market last Saturday it was teeming with beets and cabbage. I picked up both before I knew what I’d do with them.

There’s a story at the start of Anya Kassoff’s beautiful new cookbook, Simply Vibrant. The main character is Anya’s grandfather, Aleksei Gerasimovich Golub, a shoemaker who was born in the North Caucasus before the Russian Revolution of 1917. One of the fables he passed along to his grandkids involved a long ago, early morning trek through the streets of Blagodatny. Aleksei was nursing a hangover from the previous evening’s festivities, and he suffered under a rising summer sun.

Aleksei paid a visit to an acquaintance who lived along the route to work, secretly hoping that this hospitable friend would offer him a drink of cold milk. The friend—Pyotr Vasilevich—did just that. Aleksei refused once, partaking in a custom in which it was polite for a guest to refuse offerings of food or drink initially and for a host to then insist. Pyotr insisted in keeping with the custom, but Aleksei was hit with what Anya calls “a stubborn, Slavic politeness that often overcame him” and refused a second time. He expected a another offer, but it never came, and so he trekked back out into the heat, parched and unsatisfied.

Anya claims that her grandfather told this story so often that she suspected that something about it haunted him, even if he found it humorous. She writes,

“What I took away from my grandfather’s account is that chances are there to be taken and opportunities don’t come around every day, so it makes great sense to take hold of them with a strong grip. I think about this moral of missed chance often, and have used it as a guiding force in my own life. It helps me see the big picture, and I often ask myself whether I’m accepting my glass of milk or letting it go. When it comes to my professional life, which today involves cooking, coming up with recipes, and dreaming about food, I’ve found one very straightforward way of fulfilling the moral of my grandfather’s story: cooking with the seasons.”

This is all my very roundabout way of saying that, even if Anya lists the borscht as a winter recipe (one of the nice features of her new cookbook is that recipes are marked by season), it felt like a fulfillment of her invitation to seize chances to use my beets and cabbage in this beautifully colored, delicious soup.

I didn’t review Anya’s first cookbook, The Vibrant Table, on my blog, but it’s one of the most creative plant-based cookbooks I’ve come across, and her blog, Golubka Kitchen, is a favorite. Anya’s recipes are always playful and nourishing, but what I think love most about them is their color. They’re always a joy to look at: fresh, bright, and vibrant indeed.

Simply Vibrant is tribute to seasonal cooking, but it shares the qualities that I love about Anya’s other books: thoughtful recipes, an emphasis on whole foods and cooking from scratch, and a sense of connection to tradition. Anya often interjects stories about her family and her roots into her headnotes, and she offers up many recipes that are or have been inspired by traditional Russian fare.

Reading her blog and books, I feel as though I’ve been transported to a kitchen in which many generations of people have prepared food with love. As someone who doesn’t have a strong family food history, it feels like a treat to be invited into Anya’s home.

A friend asked me early this winter if I had a go-to borscht recipe, and I really don’t, so I’m happy to accept Anya’s as my first. Really, it’s her mother’s. Anya writes that “my mother came up with a unique vegetarian version of her beloved staple in an attempt to give us kids lighter, healthier fare.”

When I first read the recipe, it seemed as though it demanded a lot of slow simmering and layering, and even though school’s out I wasn’t sure about the time involved. I often take liberties with cookbook recipes, but I follow Ina Garten’s suggestion of always making a recipe exactly as written, or close to it, the first time I make it. That way I know what it’s supposed to taste like, and I get a sense of what each ingredient and step contributes.

I’m so glad I made the recipe as Anya relays it, rather than taking shortcuts. She notes that her mom’s way of “gently steeping a gigantic amount of various vegetables in their own juices gives this vegetarian borscht irresistable flavor,” and she’s right: not only is it incredibly flavorful, but it’s better if you let it sit for a day before eating. Allowing the flavors to meld makes a huge difference.

Anya claims to have a very intuitive approach to cooking, so while I wanted to be faithful to her technique, I did throw in my own small flourish, which was a big splash of red wine vinegar at the end. I love acid, and even though the tomatoes contribute some of their own, I thought it brought out even more flavor from the soup. I served mine with old-fashioned pumpernickel bread (both on the side and ripped into rustic croutons), but I love Anya’s suggestion to stir in something creamy (vegan sour cream, cashew cream, or yogurt would all be great).

Anya Kassoff's Vegan Borscht

Recipe type: soup, main dish

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, soy free, tree nut free

Author: Anya Kassoff

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 10 servings

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small carrots

2 medium parsnips

1 medium red beet

1 large yellow onion

1 small celery root (optional)

2 green bell peppers

1 small jalapeño

1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil (I used olive)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ medium head green cabbage

4 to 6 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

7 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving

A splash of red wine vinegar (optional)

Vegan sour cream, cashew cream, or yogurt (I love the Forager brand plain cashew yogurt), for serving

Instructions

Peel the carrots, parsnips, beet, onion, and celery root, if using, and remove the seeds from the bell peppers and jalapeño. Roughly chop all the vegetables to fit into the feeding tube of a food processor with a shredding attachment. Shred all the vegetables and transfer the mixture to a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot.

Add the oil to the pot and season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium and let the vegetable juices release and start simmering, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let the vegetables cook gently in their juices for 30 minutes, until all the juices are released and the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, change the food processor attachment to a slicer. Roughly chop the cabbage to fit into the food processor's feeding tube, and slice it using the attachment. Alternatively, thinly slice the cabbage by hand. Transfer the cabbage to a large bowl and cover it with cold water; set aside.

After the shredded vegetables have cooked for 30 minutes, place the potatoes on top and pour in enough water to cover the potatoes completely. Increase the heat to medium, bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

Meanwhile, bring a kettle or medium saucepan of water to a boil. Drain the cabbage and add it to the pot with the potatoes and shredded vegetables. Pour the boiling water over the cabbage, filling the pot but leaving some room for the tomatoes. Add a few big pinches of salt. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cabbage is soft, then add the crushed tomatoes and bring the soup back to a boil over medium heat. Taste for salt and adjust if needed. As soon as the soup comes to a boil, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the garlic and herbs.

For best results, let the borscht come to room temperature and then refrigerate it overnight so it can develop fully in flavor. When you're ready to serve it, reheat the borscht on the stove. Serve with sour cream and more chopped dill and parsley, if desired.

3.5.3240

Other recipes in the book are similar to this one in that they might involve a stepwise process, but it’s not random: if different vegetables are cooked separately, for instance, it’s so that each kind is perfectly tender, rather than over or undercooked. Many of the remaining recipes are incredibly simple, including the salads and bowls, the basics, and the vegetable sides.

The book also includes a whole chapter of porridges and pancakes (my kind of breakfasts!), wraps and rolls, risotto, paella, and pilaf, and noodles, pasta, and pizza. There are so many things I’m eager to try that I don’t know where to start, but I’m keen on the Bukhara Farro Filaf (a spin on plov), the spelt fettuccine with melted rainbow chard, the chickpea and kohlrabi salad wraps, and the couscous stuffed collard greens in coconut curry sauce. The book isn’t all vegan, but it’s very predominantly plant-based, and most of the recipes can be veganized with non-dairy substitutions if they aren’t vegan already.

I’d love for one US reader of this blog to have a copy of Anya’s bright and bold tribute to seasonal fare! Enter below for a chance to win a giveaway of Simply Vibrant; as usual, I’ll pick a winner in two weeks.

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It’s been a big week around here, so I’m winding down slowly and intentionally, grateful that it’s now Friday and a weekend is on the way. I’ll see you for Sunday’s roundup.

[Read More ...] https://www.thefullhelping.com/anya-kassoffs-vegan-borscht/

#infrared #health

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oovitus · 6 years

Text

Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht

Anya claims that her grandfather told this story so often that she suspected that something about it haunted him, even if he found it humorous. She writes,

Anya Kassoff's Vegan Borscht

Recipe type: soup, main dish

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, soy free, tree nut free

Author: Anya Kassoff

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 10 servings

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small carrots

2 medium parsnips

1 medium red beet

1 large yellow onion

1 small celery root (optional)

2 green bell peppers

1 small jalapeño

1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil (I used olive)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ medium head green cabbage

4 to 6 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

7 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving

A splash of red wine vinegar (optional)

Vegan sour cream, cashew cream, or yogurt (I love the Forager brand plain cashew yogurt), for serving

Instructions

3.5.3240

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It’s been a big week around here, so I’m winding down slowly and intentionally, grateful that it’s now Friday and a weekend is on the way. I’ll see you for Sunday’s roundup.

The post Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht appeared first on The Full Helping.

Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

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oovitus · 6 years

Text

Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht

Anya claims that her grandfather told this story so often that she suspected that something about it haunted him, even if he found it humorous. She writes,

Anya Kassoff's Vegan Borscht

Recipe type: soup, main dish

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, soy free, tree nut free

Author: Anya Kassoff

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 10 servings

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small carrots

2 medium parsnips

1 medium red beet

1 large yellow onion

1 small celery root (optional)

2 green bell peppers

1 small jalapeño

1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil (I used olive)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ medium head green cabbage

4 to 6 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

7 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving

A splash of red wine vinegar (optional)

Vegan sour cream, cashew cream, or yogurt (I love the Forager brand plain cashew yogurt), for serving

Instructions

3.5.3240

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It’s been a big week around here, so I’m winding down slowly and intentionally, grateful that it’s now Friday and a weekend is on the way. I’ll see you for Sunday’s roundup.

The post Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht appeared first on The Full Helping.

Anya Kassoff’s Vegan Borscht published first on

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