Weekly proof of life: Media | Veggie planting
May. 16th, 2026 03:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
umadoshiReading: I thought Sarah Rees Brennan's All Hail Chaos was a very satisfying followup to Long Live Evil, which is always a relief. One more to go! (The third book's title has been announced as Kill Your Darlings; I don't think a release date has been set yet?)
Someday I'll learn to properly make note of whether an ebook is a novella. Fonda Lee's Untethered Sky? A novella. Hopefully I got it on sale, given novella pricing in general, but I did really enjoy it.
Current read: To Ride a Rising Storm (Moniquill Blackgoose), just a few chapters in.
I also read The Vegetable Gardener's Bible (10th anniversary/2nd edition) up to the point where it starts going vegetable by vegetable, and then only read about the ones we're planting. (And I skipped the chapter on compost, because it's about making compost, and WOW do we not have space for that, even if we had the inclination.)
Watching: Another episode or two each of Justice in the Dark and Witch Hat Atelier.
Growing:scruloose got the planter assembled last weekend (IIRC) and we put a fair amount of soil in at the time (enough to keep it solidly in place, basically), but today we finally got out and finished filling it with the veggie-friendly soil and compost and actually planted the various lettuce and spinach seeds, leaving room for (we hope) a basil plant and a cabbage to go in. scruloose also got the frame for the planter's covers assembled and installed (the mesh cover is in place now).
We still haven't decided the ultimate fate of the disappointing Bloomerang lilac, but while we were out therescruloose gave it an aggressive pruning back so that it isn't taking up such a large proportion of our very limited space.
I just checked out the window, and as of 3:10 PM, the shade line is riiiiight at the edge of the planter and about to start creeping over it. (Any tomatoes we buy and the other type of cabbage will be going in pots on the other side of it, so hopefully will get at least a bit more sunlight each day.) I don't know yet what time that space starts getting direct sunlight in the morning.
ETA: By 3:40 PM, the planter is completely shaded, and the shade line is hitting the edge of the pot we had the Tiny Tim tomato in last year.
Someday I'll learn to properly make note of whether an ebook is a novella. Fonda Lee's Untethered Sky? A novella. Hopefully I got it on sale, given novella pricing in general, but I did really enjoy it.
Current read: To Ride a Rising Storm (Moniquill Blackgoose), just a few chapters in.
I also read The Vegetable Gardener's Bible (10th anniversary/2nd edition) up to the point where it starts going vegetable by vegetable, and then only read about the ones we're planting. (And I skipped the chapter on compost, because it's about making compost, and WOW do we not have space for that, even if we had the inclination.)
Watching: Another episode or two each of Justice in the Dark and Witch Hat Atelier.
Growing:
scruloose got the planter assembled last weekend (IIRC) and we put a fair amount of soil in at the time (enough to keep it solidly in place, basically), but today we finally got out and finished filling it with the veggie-friendly soil and compost and actually planted the various lettuce and spinach seeds, leaving room for (we hope) a basil plant and a cabbage to go in. scruloose also got the frame for the planter's covers assembled and installed (the mesh cover is in place now).We still haven't decided the ultimate fate of the disappointing Bloomerang lilac, but while we were out there
scruloose gave it an aggressive pruning back so that it isn't taking up such a large proportion of our very limited space.I just checked out the window, and as of 3:10 PM, the shade line is riiiiight at the edge of the planter and about to start creeping over it. (Any tomatoes we buy and the other type of cabbage will be going in pots on the other side of it, so hopefully will get at least a bit more sunlight each day.) I don't know yet what time that space starts getting direct sunlight in the morning.
ETA: By 3:40 PM, the planter is completely shaded, and the shade line is hitting the edge of the pot we had the Tiny Tim tomato in last year.
Tacos Gobernador (Sinaloan Shrimp Tacos)
May. 16th, 2026 07:39 amnverland posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
creative_cooks
Tacos Gobernador (Sinaloan Shrimp Tacos)
Cook 60 mins Total 60 mins Serves 4 Makes 12 tacos
Ingredients
For the Stewed Shrimp:
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
1 small white onion (6 ounces; 170g), diced (about 1 cup)
1 large poblano chile (about 3 ounces; 90g), stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced into 1-inch long strips
3 medium garlic cloves (15g), minced
12 ounces plum or Roma tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups) (see notes)
1/3 cup (80ml) tomato purée
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more to taste; if using table salt use half as much by volume
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (about 16g)
1 pound (455g) shrimp, peeled and deveined, and tails removed and cut into 1-inch pieces (see notes)
Freshly ground black pepper
For the Tacos:
Twelve 6-inch corn tortillas
Neutral oil such as canola or vegetable
Mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups grated Manchego, asadero, or Chihuahua cheese (about 135g) (see notes)
Chopped cilantro for serving
Lime wedges for serving
Salsa ranchera
Hot sauce, such as Valentina or Salsa Huichol
( Read more... )
pure morning
May. 14th, 2026 08:04 ambluedreamingA few sips from a second cup of coffee still warming my throat, the brisk early morning air, lingering strains of Charli xcx's House1, and birdsong blooming on the walk to the bus. Delicious.
1First encountered via this excellent short cdrama vid inspired by The Painted Skin.*
When I was trying to figure out a subject, I remembered this Placebo song.
word game: secret
May. 13th, 2026 01:27 pmmuseaway posting in ficwipThis week's word is...
secret
How to play: Find the word in any WIP and comment with the sentence containing it. Just the one, ideally! The less context, the more hilarious & interesting it can be.
Rules:
- All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome
- Give a head's up for disturbing/distressing content
- If you share a sentence, please read some left by other writers and drop at least one person a comment. (If you leave the first comment, thanks for starting us off and please stop back later!)
secret
How to play: Find the word in any WIP and comment with the sentence containing it. Just the one, ideally! The less context, the more hilarious & interesting it can be.
Rules:
- All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome
- Give a head's up for disturbing/distressing content
- If you share a sentence, please read some left by other writers and drop at least one person a comment. (If you leave the first comment, thanks for starting us off and please stop back later!)
Turkish Eggs with Chile Butter and Whipped Feta
May. 13th, 2026 04:33 amnverland posting in creative_cooks
Turkish Eggs with Chile Butter and Whipped Feta
Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 15 minutes Total Time 30 minutes Servings 3-4
Ingredients
Whipped Feta
6 ounces feta cheese
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
Eggs, Greens, and Chile
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 large eggs
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
4 cups mixed baby spinach and arugula
Kosher salt and black pepper
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
1 cup tender herbs, such as cilantro, parsley, basil, and dill
1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 avocado, sliced
2 tablespoons everything bagel spice
Instructions
1. To make the whipped feta. In a food processor, combine the feta, and greek yogurt. Pulse until completely smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides if needed, about 3 minutes. Add a pinch of pepper. Pulse to combine. The feta can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
2. To make the eggs. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmer, add the eggs and fry to your liking. Remove the eggs from the skillet to a plate.
3. Using the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon oil, the garlic, and greens. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes, until the greens are just wilted. Remove from the heat. Add the lemon zest, juice, herbs, and cucumber, toss to combine.
4. To make the chile butter. In a small saucepan, melt together the butter, 2 tablespoons olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, and paprika.
5. To serve, spread the feta cheese into the bottom of each individual serving bowl. Add the eggs, wilted greens, and avocado. Sprinkle the avocado with everything spice. Spoon the chile butter over the eggs. Enjoy!
Witcher Rarepair Comment Exchange June 2026: Three Days Until Signups Close
May. 13th, 2026 07:56 amLast week's media, a bit belatedly
May. 11th, 2026 03:29 pmumadoshiReading: I had a pretty good reading week--I read both Role Model and The Long Game, so I'm caught up on the Game Changers books until whenever the new one comes out, and read Platform Decay once my hard copy finally arrived on Friday night. (Tracking info put it in the city by last Sunday and it got delivered around 8 PM on Friday. WTF.)
I also read The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope.
And tomorrow All Hail Chaos (Sarah Rees Brennan, sequel to Long Live Evil) comes out! So that'll be my next read. (I'm going to get it in hard copy and also in ebook, and doing so will only cost a few dollars more than buying Platform Decay did in hard copy alone. Fucking book pricing.)
I also need to browse my manga collection and decide what to read next from it.
Watching: A few more episodes of Justice in the Dark, and we also watched ep. 1 of Witch Hat Atelier. (I read a volume or two of the manga quite a while ago, and remember essentially nothing about it.)
I also read The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope.
And tomorrow All Hail Chaos (Sarah Rees Brennan, sequel to Long Live Evil) comes out! So that'll be my next read. (I'm going to get it in hard copy and also in ebook, and doing so will only cost a few dollars more than buying Platform Decay did in hard copy alone. Fucking book pricing.)
I also need to browse my manga collection and decide what to read next from it.
Watching: A few more episodes of Justice in the Dark, and we also watched ep. 1 of Witch Hat Atelier. (I read a volume or two of the manga quite a while ago, and remember essentially nothing about it.)
Bare-minimum weekly proof of life
May. 10th, 2026 07:40 pmumadoshiThis is not a media-intake post, because my list of last week's media is upstairs on my computer and I'm on the sofa finally trying out the very small folding bluetooth keyboard I bought ages ago to maybe make typing on my phone a bit easier.
But hey, I live.
But hey, I live.
Watermelon Margarita
May. 9th, 2026 07:53 amnverland posting in creative_cooks
Watermelon Margarita
Prep Time 5 minutes Total Time 5 minutes Servings 3 servings
Ingredients
Rim/ Garnish
lime wedge
margarita salt
watermelon slice
Watermelon Margarita
2 ½ cups frozen watermelon chunks
6 oz silver tequila
4 oz triple sec
⅔ cup frozen limeade concentrate
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup simple syrup
1 cup ice
Instructions
Add a generous amount of margarita salt to a small plate.
Run a lime wedge along the rim of your glasses and dip into the salt. Set aside.
If using fresh watermelon, slice into small chunks and freeze for a few hours before using.
Add the frozen watermelon, tequila, triple sec, frozen limeade concentrate, lime juice, and
simple syrup to a blender. Blend until smooth.
If needed, add the ice and blend until smooth and it becomes a slushy consistency.
Pour into the prepared glasses and garnish with a watermelon wedge. Enjoy!
Notes
Use ripe, seedless watermelon for the best flavor.
If the mixture is too thick, add a splash of water or extra lime juice to blend easily.
Pour any leftovers into a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer. Before serving, let it thaw slightly and re-blend to restore the slushy texture.
This recipe scales easily. Just be sure your blender can handle the increased volume, or work in batches.