WicDiv arcs in order*, with as little spoiler material as possible, as experienced by me. (*Faust Act, Fandemonium, Commercial Suicide, Rising Action, Imperial Phase I & II, Mothering Invention, Old Is The New New, and “Okay”)
The raven flew over the forest pond and dropped a necklace into the murky water. A bright flash of light alerted the bird that the token had been received.
The raven landed at the pond’s edge and peered into the water, grumbling low in its throat, invoking its wish.
I am searching for reasons to look forward to fall this year in order to get rid of this aversion I suddenly have to the idea of cold weather. (Long story short: I had a real bad fall and winter last year, and I need an attitude adjustment this year).
So here’s installment one: a list of soups that I’ve made before and that I cannot wait to enjoy in the next few months:
Daube Provençal (from Katie at the Kitchen Door). French beef stew with orange zest, olives, and an entire bottle of Côtes du Rhône in it. N made it for me a couple of months after we got together, and I always crave it when the weather starts to turn cool.
44-Clove Garlic Soup (from Smitten Kitchen). This soup literally has 44 cloves of garlic in it, some roasted and some boiled. It is far less overpowering than you’d guess from that intimidating number – instead, I found it refined, rich, elegant, autumnal. Absolutely sublime for dinner on a cool evening, with a glass of wine and a toasted baguette.
Chicken Tortilla Soup (from The Pioneer Woman). I am not a fan of Ree Drummond or her show, but I can tell you that around Christmas last year, I made three batches of this soup in one month. It is legit, and it makes a ton. N and I made a huge pot for his family when they came over for Christmas Eve, and they ate every. single. drop of it. in one sitting. Be sure and serve it with lots of fixings: radishes, cilantro, lime wedges, crema, cotija cheese, tortilla strips, diced avocado.
Wild Mushroom Bisque (my own recipe, from the bricolab). I have been working on this recipe for years, through at least a half-dozen iterations. Here is the best version. A cup of it is like a holy grail containing essence of mushroom. Not a pretty soup at all, admittedly – but rich, thick, earthy, and insanely delicious.
Cauliflower Soup (from America’s Test Kitchen). Yes, this soup does have a whole stick of butter in it (about half of it goes into the brown-butter-sautéed cauliflower garnish, which you can omit if you’re a fool and hate good food, or if, you know, you’re watching your fat intake). It does not have a drop of cream in it at all, but you would never know it. A creamy, delicious, magical soup.
Me trying to figure out the distance between places and how long it’ll take a character to get there in a society that travels mostly on foot:
What I do is determine about how many miles the distance is, after that I look up two European cities that are about that far apart, and switch the Google maps thingy from car to walk.
Holy shit my dude! Why you gotta blow my mind like this!?
