animatedamerican
time to stop pretending i'm just here to read
Batya, also known as The Toon | born mid-1970s | she/her pronouns | Jewish Orthodox | New Yorker | filker | fanfic writer | foodie | cranky old fandom dowager countess (sort of like being a bitter old fandom queen only less so)
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as an autistic jew, passover is objectively the best holiday because it’s a dinner party with a script that everyone has to follow
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I really really appreciate your pesach recipe round-up, thank you for your service to menu makers everywhere! חַג כָּשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ
Thank you, nony! Chag kasher v'sameach to you too, and to everybody else out there celebrating this year.
(And for everyone not sure what this is about: The Pesach Recipe Roundup is a post of kosher-for-Pesach recipes that I made some years ago, and keep adding to.)
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Reblog for a larger sample size!
No "show results", if you're not a fanfic writer just be patient.
I saw a post about an anon saying it was embarrasing to have an ao3 account in your 30s (it's absolutely not), so I want to do a poll and see what the age range actually is.
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When my mother passed away, my sister and I each took one of her files of recipe cards and cuttings, with the understanding that we would make copies for each other. I have a yellow accordion-sided file folder in this room with me right now, and somewhere in it is a handwritten recipe for chocolate chip cookies, in the margin of which is written -- in my own seven- or eight-year-old handwriting -- "I want these for my birthday."
Love is stored in hand-written recipe cards.
Me: "I don't often cook but I'm going to quick look through my mom's recipe cards and see if I can find that specific recipe"
Me, 15 minutes later, sobbing: "Love is stored in handwritten recipe cards"
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Pesach Recipes: Random Mix 4
It's that time again -- a new round of additions to my tumblr collection of Pesach recipes! What have we got this year?
(Click through for Yellow Squash Soup; Sheet Pan Chicken with Apples, Carrots, and Onions; Easy Quick Raspberry Garlic Chicken; Farfel Pilaf; Roasted Vegetable Medley; Lemon Olive Oil Cake; and Haroset Cake with Red Wine Glaze.)
Yellow Squash Soup
(adapted from here)
Ingredients
2 large sweet onions, chopped
2-3 tablespoons olive oil and/or schmaltz and/or butter, as preferred
2 black peppercorns
1 medium leek (white and pale-green portion only), chopped
2-3 tablespoons minced garlic
4 medium-large yellow summer squash, cubed
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
4-6 fresh thyme sprigs, or to taste
about 1 cup chopped fresh basil, or to taste
2-3 generous strips lemon zest, removed from lemon with vegetable peeler
juice of 1 fresh lemon
salt to taste
optional garnishes: grated parmesan cheese, creme fraiche or sour cream, additional grated lemon zest, additional chopped fresh herbs
Directions
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions; cook over alternating high and low heat, stirring occasionally, until deep golden and beginning to caramelize. Push onions aside and add peppercorns; let steep in oil over medium to low heat for about 2 minutes, then remove and discard peppercorns (or leave in for a more peppery soup). Add leek and garlic; cook and stir until crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Push aside and dd a single layer of squash; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add remaining squash; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Stir in broth, then add basil, thyme, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until squash is tender, 15-20 minutes.
Discard thyme sprigs. Cool slightly. In a blender in batches, or using an immersion blender, process soup until smooth. Pass through a sieve into another pot. Stir in lemon juice and salt, taste, and adjust seasonings as desired; heat through. Garnish as desired and serve hot. May also be served chilled.
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Sheet Pan Chicken with Apples, Carrots, and Onions
Ingredients (note: amounts are approximate)
1 large whole chicken or the rough equivalent in parts
olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and schmaltz
1 ½ large (or 2 smaller) sweet onions, vidalia or red, sliced into thin wedges
3 to 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
1 small-to-medium leek, cut into 1-inch segments, halved lengthwise, and thoroughly washed
1 lg (or 1½ med) gala apple, cored and sliced into thin wedges (12 slices per apple should work)
1 8-oz package of fresh white, cremini, or baby bella mushrooms (optional)
4-6 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled (optional)
1-2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2-3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1-2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
poultry seasoning to taste (or a combination of ground dried sage, marjoram, black pepper, and nutmeg)
sweet paprika, dried parsley, and ground dried coriander to taste
about ½ cup of white zinfandel wine
about ½ cup of apple cider vinegar
about ½ cup of apple juice
additional apple juice and/or chicken broth for basting
Instructions
Saute the onions in schmaltz and/or olive oil over medium to low heat, until translucent and beginning to turn golden. Drizzle a little apple cider vinegar into the onions to aid in caramelization.
While onions are cooking, combine the carrots, leeks, whole garlic cloves and mushrooms if using, and apples in a large bowl or tupperware container with a lid. When the onions are ready, pour off as much of the cooking fat as possible into a smaller bowl and then add the onions to the vegetables.
Combine the herbs and spices with the hot cooking fat in the smaller bowl. Add more oil and/or schmaltz if needed; you want enough fat to turn the seasonings into a paste. Add the wine, vinegar, and juice to the paste, and mix the resulting marinade thoroughly.
Coat the chicken with about a third of the marinade, pushing some of it under the skin. Pour the remaining marinade over the vegetables, and toss thoroughly to coat. Lay the chicken over the vegetables, cover the bowl or container, and allow to marinate for at least an hour or ideally overnight.
Preheat oven to about 400°F. Lightly oil a sheet pan. Spread the vegetables in a single layer over the pan and lay the chicken over it, and pour any marinade remaining in the bowl over the chicken.
Cook until the chicken’s skin is brown and the juices run clear when pricked with a fork. If the vegetables seem to need more cooking time, remove the chicken to a separate dish and return the sheet pan to the oven until done. If at any time there does not seem to be enough liquid in the pan, add a little apple juice or chicken broth.
Serve hot.
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Easy Quick Raspberry Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
1 chicken cut in quarters or eighths, or your choice of bone-in chicken breasts or thighs/legs
onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and dried sage to taste
about 1 cup raspberry jam (ideally seedless)
about ⅓ cup minced garlic
red wine (sweet or dry as desired) and balsamic vinegar to taste
optional: about a teaspoon of chopped fresh basil or mint, or to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to about 350°F. Lay chicken parts in roasting pan or on sheet pan. Sprinkle with dry seasonings to taste. Bake for about twenty minutes while preparing the sauce.
Combine jam and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add remaining ingredients and simmer a few minutes longer. Spoon sauce over chicken and return to oven for about another forty minutes, or until done. Serve hot.
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Farfel Pilaf
Ingredients
1 small-to-medium onion, chopped finely
2 stalks celery, chopped finely
8-10 oz. mushrooms, chopped
optional: minced garlic to taste
olive oil or schmaltz
4 matzahs, crumbled to farfel size
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste, plus other seasonings if desired (recommended: sage, thyme, paprika)
3 - 4 cups hot water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock
Optional: ¼ cup pine nuts and/or chopped pistachios, toasted
Directions
Fry onion in a moderate amount of oil until golden brown. Remove to separate bowl.
Saute celery until fragrant, and add to onions.
Saute mushrooms until emitting juices and darkened, and add to other vegetables. If using minced garlic, add a minute or two before removing mushrooms to separate bowl.
Combine matzah with egg and season with salt and pepper, plus other seasonings as desired.
In the same skillet as earlier, stir-fry matzah and egg for about five minutes.
Add hot water or stock and cook for 25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.
Stir in vegetables and adjust seasonings as needed. If using nuts, stir in now.
Serve hot.
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Roasted Vegetable Medley
Ingredients
zucchini and/or yellow squash (both is best) large-diced
tomatoes, any kind, slightly overripe, large-diced (or halved if using cherry tomatoes)
leeks, halved lengthwise and washed, then sliced thickly
carrots, sliced thinly
balsamic vinegar
olive oil and/or schmaltz
fresh basil finely chopped or dried basil finely crumbled
salt and pepper to taste
chicken or vegetable broth as needed
Instructions
Preheat oven to 420°F. Toss all ingredients but the broth together and let sit for some time to let the flavors blend. Spread vegetables on lightly greased baking sheet and cook until tender and starting to caramelize. If the mixture starts to scorch, add broth to the pan and tilt until the bottom is covered with liquid. Repeat as necessary, but there should be no liquid in the bottom of the pan when the vegetables are done.
Variation: Omit tomatoes, substitute green garlic for leeks if available, substitute rosemary for basil. Include baby potatoes, optionally. If using green garlic, slice cloves in half, or give them extra time in the oven.
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Lemon Olive Oil Cake
(adapted from here)
Ingredients
2 cups fine almond flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs (room temperature)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium-sized lemon, zested (about 1 tablespoon)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the almond flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and lemon zest.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold together until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Be careful not to over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread it out evenly.
Bake for 26-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Let cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve on its own or topped with whipped cream or coconut cream and berries.
Store the unfrosted cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. If frosted, store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days.
Optional: Lemon Glaze
Zest one lemon, grating it finely, and squeeze out the juice, straining out the seeds. Combine the one part lemon juice with two parts granulated sugar or sweetener in a small saucepan, and add the zest. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, add a little butter or margarine, and stir until it melts. Pour over cake while still hot.
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Haroset Cake with Red Wine Glaze
Note: The texture and moisture content of haroset can vary considerably, and will affect the batter accordingly. If your haroset is not very moist, you may wish to add a little water or other liquid to the batter. However, if you are not used to baking almond-flour cakes, you may have trouble determining the right degree of moisture for the batter, making this not the best cake for beginners.
Ingredients
2 cups almond flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup honey (or agave nectar)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 heaping ½-cup leftover haroset
Directions
Preheat oven to 300℉ and line a greased 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
Combine the almond flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Add the honey, vanilla, and eggs to the bowl and whisk together until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Add haroset and mix thoroughly.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Let cool on rack.
For the Glaze
3 tbsp granulated sugar or sweetener
6 tbsp dry red wine
Cinnamon (and/or other sweet spice/s) to taste
Orange zest to taste (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until sweetener is dissolved. If desired, add a little butter or margarine to make glaze a little richer.
To glaze the cake, put on serving plate and drizzle the warm glaze over the top, allowing it to run down the sides. Refrigerate until the glaze sets, at least 1 hour.
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“Done well, there are few foods on this Earth more satisfying. Warm, rich, salty, and deeply filling in a way I’ve not encountered elsewhere, a good cholent is ambrosial. What I might call divine.”
New on the site today: A lovely piece from Benjamin DuBow about a workaround that became a way of life. Read it here.
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For the fake fic ask game: the fic is tagged enemies-to-friends, workplace drama, medieval AU, eels, beeswax is expensive
(from here!)
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Andrew Wells is perfectly contented as the understeward of a minor lord's castle, responsible for keeping the books and maintaining supplies -- until he has to deal with the short-tempered new captain of the guard, William the Spike.
#:D?#from the ask box#btvs#andrew wells#this was inevitable#writing#writing prompt#fanfic#(trackertag)
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"Tinker, Tailor, Hobbit, Spy"
#FakeFicAsk
(from here!)
I don't know what fandom this is, but it's a modern/mundane setting and a character has to go undercover at a SF/F convention.
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the fake fic ask game
🐝 send me a fake fic title, and I’ll make up a summary for it!
🐑 send me a fake set of fic tags, and I’ll try to come up with a summary for it!
🦮 send me a summary I already did for one of the above two, and I’ll try to write a snippet for that summary!
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Rainbow War! My family and I watched this at the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver when I was a wee little toon. Thank you for putting it up for download, OP - I'm looking forward to rewatching it as an adult. I wonder how well it'll hold up.
(Though even this short clip is reminding me how well this movie did at conveying a story without any dialogue.)
Splatoon Rainbow War (1985)
the full video doesn't seem to be available anywhere online so i uploaded it to a google drive here
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"witnessing the crystallized meme become art again" absolutely. This was my experience in watching Casablanca.
(Among many other things, I was floored by just realizing what "round up the usual suspects" actually means in context.)
nothing beats the feeling of finally checking out a classic piece of media you've heard about thousands of times & after you're done you're just like "damn, they weren't lying"
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Explaining filk to a young person today... has anyone set up filk discord servers that you know of?
Yes, in fact! The filkhaven discord server has been active for quite some time, and is still getting new members. It's an excellent place to meet both newbies and people who have been in filk for decades, and to find all sorts of filk resources. It's also a place where people who have already known each other for ages hang out and chat and argue and swap recipes and terrible puns and ancient in-jokes, and welcome in anyone who feels like joining that.
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🎵 cat on a radiator
lounging around on a thing that's warm🎵
Maria Chepeleva (Ukrainian, b.1985)
Cat on a radiator
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Thanks for teaching me what a codicil is!
You're welcome! I can't remember where I first encountered "codicil accepted" as a response to someone else's suggested modification to one's original idea, but wherever it was, it stuck with me.
I am guessing you encountered it on this post, which I'm delighted to see has been going around lately. Interestingly enough, responses to it have taught me that the most common usage of 'codicil' is an amendment to a will specifically -- I intended it in the broader meaning of an amendment to any text.
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🚨 SCAM JOB ALERT🚨
Watch out for any job listings that claim you’ll cruise the seas for American gold, fire no guns, and shed no tears. These are all scams and the job is NOT as advertised. Source: I fell for it and am now a broken man on a Halifax pier
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I maaaay have recently fallen headlong in love with this musical, largely thanks to this person [points up] who put it into my life. Mwah.
[video ID under the cut]
An animatic for the track “Everything About You” from Groundhog Day the musical. Proud of this one. And it didn’t even take me two years!
Keep reading
#groundhog day: the musical#i tell you what wow#musics#video#animatic#fanart#awesome folks#broadway musicals#(trackertag)
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