something queer going on

1) Today I belatedly ate my Thanksgiving dinner (the main course was stuffed turkey breast en croute--frozen, from Trader Joe's, and I didn't realize until yesterday morning that it had to thaw for 24 hours before cooking) and belatedly watched the final of the Great British Bake Off.

( Spoilery Bake Off thoughts under the cut )

2) I was sorry to hear of the death of Stephen Sondheim. Musicals are not my cup of tea, but watching Sweeney Todd as a teenager nearly convinced me otherwise. His work meant an enormous amount to many, many people, which is the measure of an artist.


3) ETA: I got to do some RPG-ing again! We played a one-shot of Seventh Sea, which is a sort of alt-history + magic adventure game. I played Roberto Gallo, an aristocrat-turned-criminal-turned-scholarly-adventurer, which was enormous fun. In the course of about three hours of play, Roberto got to scare off a bunch of guardsmen by waving a gun at them while describing the effects of gunshot wounds, and (separately) save the day by seducing someone whose heart had previously been broken by another member of the party. We play again in December--another one-shot, to help us get into the groove of playing together before starting a longer campaign. And after December, hopefully everyone's schedules will permit our playing more often.

A few days ago I was sadly reflecting to myself that there would be no Great British Bake Off this year, because COVID. And then all over Twitter people started posting about the new season! All the bakers and cast and crew quarantined and then lived together on location for weeks to make it happen, and I am so glad they did, because I swear that that first episode is the nicest thing that's happened all year. *happysigh*

And hey, look, it's another meme! An autumnal meme, extremely US-centric I'm afraid, acquired from somewhere on the network and modified to remove one irrelevant question and Lots of Excessive Capitalization.

Go apple picking vs. go on a hayride?
Apple picking, I guess, although I've never done it. I have been on a hay ride once, and I can confirm that there's a reason seasonal allergies are sometimes called "hay fever."

Scary vs sweet?
Scareet? Swary? Earlier today I watched Bryn Monroe play an extremely swary ghost dating sim game, and it was perfect.

Sweaters vs boots?
Sweaters. Though I did just recently buy a pair of boots, after it finally occurred to me that I can afford boots now and there's no reason to put up with cold wet feet.

Socks vs mittens?
Socks. I don't like mittens because you can't do anything while wearing them.

Bonfires vs football?
Bonfires. I hate football.

Trick-or-treating vs watch scary movies?
I'm too old for trick-or-treating (and don't have the excuse of children/grandchildren) so I'll have to watch some old, tame, not really very scary movies.

Apple pie vs pumpkin pie?
I like both, but if I had to choose, apple.

Halloween vs Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving would be great if it was just a harvest feast instead of being all wrapped up in lies about American history and, you know, genocide. So I think I have to choose Halloween.

Bake pie vs bake cookies?
As long as you're baking, you might as well do both. Cookies are easier and more likely to turn out well, though.

Rain vs fog?
Rain. I live in a dry climate and rain is a treat! Rain this year would be especially welcome as we didn't get our usual summer monsoon.

Black cats vs owls?
Kitties! Kitties of the darkness!

Ghosts vs wizards?
Wizards, I guess? Magicians of all kinds.

Go hiking vs. sleep in?
Sleep in (I can hardly ever manage it anymore because my body just decides to wake up, and I miss it). Then have a nice reasonable walk around town, enjoying the cool weather without having to carry a damn backpack.

Cinnamon vs nutmeg?
They're both good, but nutmeg is better.

Hot chocolate vs tea?
Tea, because there's so much more variety. I like hot chocolate but I'd get very tired of it if I drank it often.

Live in a cabin in a forest vs have it be fall all year round?
Fall all year round. Or at least cool all year round, with the autumn colors reserved for a yearly treat.

Candy apples vs caramel apples?
I thought they were they same thing? I guess I've never eaten a candy apple, then. I'm not a huge fan of caramel apples because they're hard to eat.

Blankets vs pillows?
What a weird question. Both, please? But I'm not a fan of pillows the way I am of blankets. I like to sleep in a cold room with lots of blankets. I don't like lots of pillows because they just end up on the floor.

Roasted marshmallows vs roasted chestnuts?
Chestnuts, although where I live you never see anyone selling freshly roasted ones. Alas. I don't love marshmallows, but when I was a kid I used to roast them absolutely black because I liked the crispness and the contrast of the bitter burned skin with the very very sweet insides.

Coffee vs apple cider?
Note for those from elsewhere: this is US apple cider, which is non-alcoholic spiced apple juice, usually served hot. It's cloyingly sweet and I don't like it much. Coffee, please.

Red leaves vs orange leaves?
Red. I miss the gorgeous red of maple leaves in autumn against the deep blue sky. You don't get red or orange leaves where I live now, just yellow and then brown.

Scented candles vs the smell of fresh baked goods?
Would anyone actually pick candles???

Carve pumpkins vs make pumpkin pie?
Pie. I have no artistic skills, and also, if you make pie, then you have pie.

Pumpkin spice lattes vs chai tea lattes?
Am I making them myself, so I can control the sweetness? I quite like the idea of an unsweetened spiced coffee, or a chai latte that's only lightly sweet rather than syrupy. I could go for either.

Coats vs over-sized sweaters?
Coats. I like cold weather because I like to wear coats and jackets. And I prefer clothes that are a little more fitted rather than oversized.

Beanies vs berets?
Beanies, I guess, because I would look silly in a beret.

Candy corn vs peanut butter cups?
Peanut butter cups. They're not particularly autumnal, but they're delicious, while candy corn is disgusting.

S'mores vs apple crisp?
S'mores, for non-Americans, are a campfire treat: a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers. Delicious in theory, although in practice the chocolate never quite melts enough. Purely in flavor terms, a good apple crisp is probably better, but if I get to have the whole experience of being around a fire with friends, then s'mores.

Jump in a pile of leaves vs swing on a tire swing?
If I can safely assume that there is nothing untoward in the pile of leaves, then I'm jumping in. I love the smell and crunch of dry leaves.

Corn maze vs haunted house?
I've never tried either, but I'll say corn maze, because I do not like jump scares and such.

Bob for apples vs visit a pumpkin patch?
Pumpkin patch, if only because it's vastly more sanitary.

Whipped cream on hot chocolate vs marshmallows on hot chocolate?
Whipped cream.

Sorry I haven't posted for ages. At first I felt there was nothing interesting to say, then there were too many things to say and yet I still wasn't sure any of them were interesting. So I'm just going to post, regardless.

1) I keep reading everybody's Yuletide posts with envy and ruefulness. I'm not doing Yuletide this year, because I defaulted last year and I haven't managed to finish a story in a painfully long time. I'm looking forward to reading a bunch of new stories come Christmas, though.

2) Still not king feeling very fannish about anything. I continue to love most of my more recent fandoms (e.g. Hannibal, all the world wars-related stuff), but it's not an excited, "I want to write and read all the fic" sort of love. I guess this is just a fallow period for me. I'm trying not to worry about it.

3) The Great British Bake Off has got me baking again (the onset of autumn and cooler weather has also helped) but I don't feel the same intensity of interest in the competition as I did last year. Those who've made it to the semifinals all deserve to be there, but I'm not as impressed by their baking as I was by last year's semifinalists, and I don't feel the same attachment to any of them as I did to Ian, Nadiya, and Tamal last year. Still, it's fun to watch.

4) What have I been baking, you ask? In recent weeks I've made a (semi-successful) Victoria sandwich filled with strawberry jam and lemon curd; a rather good apple, walnut, and raisin cake; a savoury sweet potato pie; some very nice pumpkin cream cheese muffins (brought to work for potluck--I want to make another batch to keep for myself); some anadama bread made with cornmeal and molasses (horrible--I ended up throwing half of it away); and some proper cornbread with bacon, cheese, chipotle chiles, and no fucking molasses, which was delicious. Today I've got the dough for a four-grain pot boule resting in the fridge, since I want to start baking my own bread again instead of buying it like I did over the summer.

5) ( much, much more food talk underneath, including discussion of past weight-loss attempts, body shame, and disordered eating )

6) I've been reading Mark Billingham's series of mysteries featuring Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, and just finished the most recent one today. It's a series I like a lot despite often wanting to give the protagonist a very hard slap. The early books are fairly standard serial-killer stories, but they have enough character development that they kept me interested anyway. The later books are much more driven by the characters and by an interest in the social and personal aftereffects of violent crime. My favorite, The Bones Beneath, features no detective work at all. Don't start with that one, though, because it refers heavily to things that happened in earlier novels.

There's a recurring queer character who gets good development, and a number of interesting women (though I'd note that the two women Thorne has romantic relationships with during the series are much more compelling when the relationship stuff is backgrounded and they're doing their own things).

7) I acquired the first two series of Penny Dreadful for very cheap ($6 for both) and will probably start watching today.


Comments are welcome, unless they're concern trolling about weight/food issues, in which case I will delete them with extreme prejudice. I'd love to hear what you've been cooking/eating/watching/reading or whatever--we almost all seem to post less these days, and I miss you!

1) Baked some biscotti yesterday. They turned out well, but it has made me realize that I just don't like biscotti enough to want to go to the effort--and it isn't even that much effort--of baking them. Ah, well, that leaves several thousand other kinds of cookies/biscuits to bake.

2) Also yesterday, used my new soup pot for the first time. I made some chili, because for about two weeks I've been craving it. And not proper Tex-Mex chili, which is made with just meat and chiles and absolutely NOT beans. No, I wanted midwestern chili, made with ground beef and kidney beans and tomatoes, mildly spiced. Like my mom used to make, only better, because my mom wasn't much of a cook really. In the end I did a few slightly fussy things--I used ancho chile powder (because I couldn't find whole dried anchos) and a couple of whole, toasted, soaked, chopped up guajillo chiles, and freshly-ground cumin seed and Mexican oregano, and I added a bit of espresso powder and cocoa powder for depth, and some worcestershire sauce because it needed a certain something, and beans I'd previously cooked and frozen instead of beans from a can--but I got the result I wanted. And now I have lots of leftover chili in the freezer. I like having food in the freezer. Convenient + anxiety-easing.

3) Have finished watching Rejseholdet. Am pleased with highly slash-friendly ending. Am wondering if slashiness was deliberate on writers' part, because WOW. Am amused that around the middle of S3, the cinematographer discovered the blue filter and the whole look of the show changed, and also all the characters started wearing all black all the time. Still recommend it to those who like police drama, strong m/m slashiness, nuanced female characters, and strong female friendship with slashy potential; all previous caveats apply, however.

Definitely requesting it for Yuletide.

4) Two of my Yuletide nominations (Grantchester and The Thrilling Adventure Hour) have been approved. Still waiting on approval of the Bake Off.

5) Speaking of the Bake Off, ( spoilers for the semi-final )

Today I baked Paul Hollywood's Eight Strand Plaited Loaf. It was both more and less difficult than I expected. The dough is somewhat sticky--I did the math just now and it has a 68% hydration, which is quite high for a dough you're going to braid--and this ruined my first attempt at braiding because all the strands stuck together. So I rolled it back into a ball, kneaded it with a bit of flour until it was less sticky, then managed the braid on the second attempt.

( click here if you want the details )

I'd also meant to make a cake today (coffee and walnut, topped with some caramel-dipped walnuts), but the bread took longer than expected. Plus, I failed in my attempt to make caramel for the walnuts, which was a bit disheartening. Next time I will take more seriously all those warnings about how easily caramel crystallizes.

I still haven't made the lemon cake with lemon curd, either, because even a half recipe requires eight eggs and every time I have the time and inclination to make it, it turns out I don't have enough eggs. And I can never bring myself to make a special trip to the supermarket just to buy them.


In news which will probably surprise none of you as much as it surprised me, I seem to have developed a crush on Paul Hollywood. Why, libido, why? Even the truly frightening color that too many hours on the tanning bed have given his face is no deterrent. I don't normally go for big men, either.

I have a little crush on Mary Berry, too, but of a very different kind. I'd like to imagine her as a slightly intimidating but favorite aunt, the sort who doles out good, sensible yet quietly daring life advice along with tea, G&T, and cake.

And now I must away to bed. Did I mention that my workday now starts at 6 am?