Sunday Snippet, et. al.

[clevermanka]

Just keep your gaze directed above the knees. 🧡Chuguo🧡

Fanart: Couch cuddles. So sweet!


Three of my former students are coming over for dinner tonight! One of them I haven't seen since I left the job in 2019! I'm very excited! And also nervous! It's been A Very Long While since I cooked for anybody (including myself, really) and I'm feeling rusty. Going with something really easy, though--shrimp red curry with yellow peppers. Hurray for canned curry paste!

The peach crisp--did not work. I'm very glad I made it ahead of time so I knew I'd need an alternative. I don't know what happened, but the thing that came out of the oven was more soup than crisp. Well, I kinda know what happened--THE PEACHES HAPPENED.

Friends, I haven't bought peaches in probably, uh... two years? I used to only buy peaches from this fruit and vegetable stand that would pop up in the parking lot of a local strip mall every summer. They were always perfectly ripe, and only available for like six weeks of the year. So good. Then the strip mall sold part of the parking lot and a fast food place went in where the tents used to be and there was no fruit stand. Then COVID happened.

So I went to the grocery store for peaches and they were weirdly smooth--not that horrible (wonderful) fuzziness I'd known. I could sorta feel it, but they were more like nectarines. I went to a different store because I thought surely they were mis-marked nectarines. Next store, though, same thing. These weird, slick peaches. And of course they weren't nicely ripe but that was okay because they were getting cooked. I went ahead and bought them, despite misgivings.

My second clue that something was wrong with them was they didn't peel after blanching. They weren't that under ripe, but I still had to break out the vegetable peeler for half of them. And on the ones where the skin did slip off, it took some of the flesh. Weird. Even weirder was that every single one had a super soft pit--the kind that just breaks apart when you try to remove it--despite the middle being pretty hard (and in a couple cases, still a little green).

I was not feeling good about them at this point, but I soldiered on... And wound up wasting two cups of oats, a cup of brown sugar, and half a stick of butter. The thing never set up, and it was so incredibly soggy the crumble just floated on top, swimming in peach juice. *sigh*

I might be able to use it as a compote or something but I'm absolutely not serving this to guests. Instead I'm making an old standby, chocolate bread, which is, imo, a winter dessert, but oh well! Please cross your fingers I don't fuck up the curry.

And now, a snippet of spicy-but-sweet from Redemption:
“I suppose you want me to actually untie this, not just pull it over your head still in the knot,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

Shen Wei lifted an eyebrow.

“I would prefer that, yes.”

Zhao Yunlan winked and then deliberately, almost reverently, pulled the tail end from its knot. Holding the tie in each hand, he tugged Shen Wei forward, bringing them together in another long kiss. The silk folded, soft and sensual, under his crushing fingers. Remembering Shen Wei’s gentle hands, smoothing the fabric at every step when he’d tied it this morning, Zhao Yunlan loosened his grasp and dragged himself away from the kiss. Holding Shen Wei’s eyes, he slowly pulled the tie through the collar.

“Do you want me to hang it up, too?” he asked softly, all teasing gone.

“No, that’s alright,” Shen Wei answered. His mouth crooked. “It’s going to need ironing now, anyway.”

Comments

[goss]

I think you could also repurpose them into cookies, by adding in a thickening agent like flax seed or more oats or something.

I remember one time repurposing some leftover cooked oats into cookies, by adding in a mashed banana and nuts, refrigerating, and then baking them in small rounds.

Good luck with your curry! *sends you all the cooking vibes*

[clevermanka]

I can (and will) definitely use the leftover oats for something else, but there's no cookies coming out of this:


eta: omg still laughing at that bc what.

[goss]

LOL! Fruit SOUP! XD

[elizacake]

Those were nectareches. Peacherines? I'm surprised there isn't more overlap since they are genetically identical except for the difference in skin. Which means baking with them should have been fine. Except they were weird. IT'S A WEIRD DAY!

“It’s going to need ironing now, anyway.”
*evil anticipatory giggle*

[clevermanka]

Those were nectareches. Peacherines?
Whatever they are, they made a lifelong enemy, I tell you what.

TBH it's always a weird day at Chez Manka. I swear if something's gonna happen, it'll most likely happen to me.

[ranalore]

It sounds like grocery stores out there are getting their peaches from a commercial farm that grows both peaches and nectarines, and isn't careful they don't cross-breed. Nectarine skin doesn't slip off as easily, and while you can get peaches that have either detached or attached pits, I've only seen nectarines with attached pits. They have more fragile outer shells, and the kernel can be green, even when the fruit is ripe.

All that said, there should have been no difference in the baking. Were these organic? Even if they weren't, you could just have gotten a very juicy batch. Is it possible to remove the crumble and add a cornstarch slurry to the fruit mixture, then stick that back in the oven to set up? Then you can add the crumble back on for a few minutes just before serving, to get everything warmed up.

[clevermanka]

Interesting! I never cared for nectarines--the taste is just different enough--and I wasn't aware of those physical differences (besides the skin).

They weren't organic, no. And see above for the photo--there was really no saving that. 😂 I threw it into a container and ate a spoonful at breakfast. It would be pretty good over yogurt or ice cream, I think. I might venture to the store later this week to look at dairy-free options for both/either.

[yaaurens]

I mean, I would still eat that. It looks yum! But then, I don't generally care what my food looks like, I mostly care what it tastes like. But I understand your disappointment with it not turning out the way you wanted it to.

Poor Shen Wei's tie. Poor most of Shen Wei's attire, probably.

[clevermanka]

I'll definitely still eat it! Something has to taste pretty bad for me to waste food. But no way would I put it in front of a guest I don't consider a very close friend.

We can at least appreciate the tie's noble sacrifice!

[nnozomi]

I'm sorry about your unsuccessful, um, impeachment? Hopefully the peaches on offer will get better as the summer comes on. (We have peaches in the stores now, but I refuse to pay five dollars equivalent for ONE PEACH, so waiting another month or so.) On the upside, the curry sounds delicious!

The silk folded, soft and sensual, under his crushing fingers.
Lovely! Love the consonant use to make it come to life.

[clevermanka]

IMPEACHMENT 😂

Love the consonant use to make it come to life.
Thank you! I loved this image and the phrasing, which is always fun.

[umadoshi]

Poor crisp! What a bizarre result!

And oh, I like the snippet! *^^*

[clevermanka]

So bizarre! I've never had something like that happen with baked fruits and I used to make A LOT of pies.

Thank you--I love this story so much and so much want to write it. I wish my brain would come around already.

[umadoshi]

I love this story so much and so much want to write it. I wish my brain would come around already.

*fistbump of weary solidarity* BRAINS.

[tinny]

oh my, bai yu playing with pebbles is so cute. <3

Ouch, that sounds like a peach crisis. O_o I hope the rest of the day went better!

[clevermanka]

It did go better, and the dinner went very well (as did the replacement dessert).