*sending warm vibes to all my friends dealing with the blizzard* Guess it'd be mean to tell y'all that it's currently 59^oF and sunny with a brilliantly blue sky, wouldn't it? :P

*
Will and I finished the Christmas shopping today, although we're going to have to go back to Sam's either tonight or tomorrow to get wrapping paper and batteries. One of these evenings, I'm going to separate out the stocking stuff into ziplock bags so all I'll have to do on Christmas Eve is dump everything into the stockings. And put all the presents out. And hopefully not wrap anything, because we really need to get that done before Thursday night, because if we wait, we're going to have to stay up until, like, 2 in the morning to get everything wrapped. Not something I look forward to, because Christmas Day is the only day the entire year that all of my kids will wake up early.

*

And, because bistyboo1974 inspired me by posting a recipe that looks totally made of yum, I'm going to post the recipe for one of my standard Christmas favorites. This is my great-grandmother's recipe (modernized a bit) and it's what my grandmother and my mother used to make for Christmas breakfast. The tradition in my house when I was growing up was that we could get up and open our stockings, but we weren't allowed to go near the tree until everyone was up, showered, dressed, breakfast eaten and the dishes done. (Will was completely horrified by this, btw, but I get why my mom did it--she learned from her mom, who was tired of getting stuck in the kitchen and missing all the present-unwrapping). So we'd have this coffee cake, which we'd bake on Christmas Eve, so breakfast was quick Christmas morning. When I was older, Mom and I would bake 10 or 12 of these for the neighbors. This is one of my comfort foods, y'all. It's fairly labor intensive, but so worth it.

( Sour Cream Coffee Cake )

Enjoy!

And now I'm off to get ready for our Sunday School party, where we will all laugh more than we've laughed all year. I love these people. :D

*
Argh! Can someone explain to me why when I type a post in the rich text editor, it removes all of my carriage returns? It's been doing it for the past several days, and it's really, REALLY annoying. Really. *stabity-stab* 

⌈ Secret Post #1079 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

101.

( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 16 pages, 376 secrets from Secret Submission Post #155.
Epic Fail: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 3 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 3 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 - too big ], [ 1 2 3 - ships it ], [ 1 2 - repeat ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - doing it wrong ], [ 1 2 - take it to comments ], [ 1 2 - what ], [ 1 - cool story bro ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Fic: The Thrills (R/Hr: According to FF.net, K+)

Title: The Thrills
Author: geequette or Cross-eyed Bear
Pairing(s): Ron/Hermione
Word Count: 1000+
Rating: K+
Summary: I was inspiried by the beautiful Ray LaMontagne song, Hold You In My Arms. A missing moment between Ron and Hermione at Shell Cottage. The trio have escaped Malfoy Manor and Hermione, still recovering from Bellatrix's torturing, is troubled by a dream. Ron/Hermione, One-shot.

Hope you enjoy it!

R&R, if you don't mind  =)

When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears...

Title: A Higher Power
Author: maiskorn
Fandom: X-Men movieverse (strictly movieverse, nothing but X1-X3 applies, no books, no video games, no comics)
Chapter: Two
Rating: PG
Pairing: Beast/Nightcrawler
Genre: slash
Summary: Hank and Kurt meet for the first time (well, first time in a not potentially lethal situation, although you can never be sure at Xavier's).
Notes: Many, many thanks to my beta Ookami.

I wanted to thank you, Mr. Wagner.

• 14:08 Hi! I'm back! I had Pinkberry for lunch. Yum. Pomegranate and coconut yogurt with pom seeds, blueberries, and dark chocolate crunchies! #
• 14:28 I got some fuzzy feelings. And all because I just used Tim Gunn's method: Make things work. It caused someone to profusely thank me. :) #
• 14:52 @la_faerie OMG HE IS LIKE DUMBLEDORE! So wise and good at guiding the um...misguided. #
• 16:07 @dreameaters Sounds like me!!!!!!! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Title: Secret Heart
Fandom / Pairing: Ron Weasley / Hermione Granger
File type: rar.
Warnings: None
Tracks: Five
Summary / Notes: I hope you enjoy this fanmix - Yeah, and i'm not very creative, it took me ages to think of a cover.



( Ron/Hermione - Secret Heart )

Wow. 7 inches of snow already and it's supposed to keep snowing for another 24 hours or so.

I'm sure the retailers aren't happy. It'll take D.C. a week to dig out from this.

Title: The Perfect Life
Author: lusciousxander
Pairing: Xander/Spike
Rating: R
Setting: Starts the day after S2 Reptile Boy
Summery: "One day I'll have money. Prestige. Power. And on that day they'll still have more," Xander in Reptile Boy.
Notes: This fic was inspired by the novel Remember Me? written by Sophie Kinsella.

Thanks to mulder200 and feelsthemagic for being my betas. And thanks to moscow_watcher for reading the beginning and inspiring the ending.


Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four

Fandoms: Buffyverse/Harry Potter

Pairing: Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne/Hermione Granger

Rating: G

Disclaimer: Oh, I'm not doing this to get into a world of trouble, I just borrow the pretties and give them right back after. *scout's honor* Special thanks to the creators of Elfquest for giving me the idea of Bonding.

Summary: Remus Lupin gets help from Oz to learn to control his lycantropy. The young wolf runs into Hermione Granger along the way and discovers there's more to this "side-track" than originally expected.

A/N: Well, this is it, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to comment and give me your thoughts...


Previous chapters


Chapter five

Title: The Perfect Life
Author: lusciousxander
Pairing: Xander/Spike
Rating: R
Setting: Starts the day after S2 Reptile Boy
Summery: "One day I'll have money. Prestige. Power. And on that day they'll still have more," Xander in Reptile Boy.
Notes: This fic was inspired by the novel Remember Me? written by Sophie Kinsella.

Thanks to mulder200 and feelsthemagic for being my betas. And thanks to moscow_watcher for reading the beginning and inspiring the ending.


Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four

Title: It’s A Pity
Rating: I’d say R, to be on the safe side.
Ship(s): Ron/Hermione, Harry/Hermione, mentions of Harry/Pansy.
Warning(s): Oral sex!
Author Note(s): Two years post the trio’s graduation from Hogwarts, Harry is a heartbroken Auror-in-training, Ron and Hermione have an uneasy relationship, and when there’s whisky involved they all lose their heads.
Disclaimer: Characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling, who was so kind to set a perfect playground for us amateurs; I thank her. There’s no profit I’m making out of writing this, no profit other than my giftee’s eventual pleasure.

* Originally written for triomakesmehot | hp_triangle .

You already have a wife.

Title: Once Upon A Time There Was A Way To
Rating: Extremely mild R.
Ship(s): Harry/Hermione, Harry/Luna, Harry/Hermione/Luna, mentions of past Ron/Hermione and eventual Viktor/Hermione.
Warning(s): Not really. There’s a mention of lovemaking and the presence of breasts.
Author Note(s): AU. EWE. In the modern era, Harry and Hermione find no difficulty in maintaining a convenient long-distance relationship. Things change and tumble toward an unexpected end when Hermione, Harry, and Luna (Harry’s ex-girlfriend, and possibly the love of his life thrice denied) all meet in Wizard London.
Disclaimer: Characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling, who was so kind to set a perfect playground for us amateurs; I thank her. There’s no profit I’m making out of writing this, no profit other than my giftee’s eventual pleasure.

* Originally written for lenina20  | hp_triangle .

Luna Lovegood was used to being the centre of attention.

[Fiction]

x. Xander's Original Fanfic by forsaken2003 (Spike/Xander, PG)
x. Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time) by cordelianne (Spike/Xander, adult)
x. Adults Behaving Badly by brutti_ma_buoni (Joyce, Principal Snyder, PG)
x. The Perfect Life by lusciousxander (Spike/Xander, R)


[Fic Updates]

x. Chapter 28 of The End Of The Beginning by off_suit (Xander/Spike, NC17)
x. Chapter 18 of Ashes to Ashes by sevendeadlyfun (Spike/Xander, NC17)
x. Chapter 17 of Pity Us, We Wakeful by velvetwhip (Willow/Spike/Angel, FRAO/NC-17)
x. Chapter 20 of One Glorious Summer by dawnofme (Buffy/Spike, NC17)
x. Chapter 1 of Mouse by bmblbee (Spike/Xander, adult)


[Icons]

x. 20 Angel icons by zarajade123


[Meta/News]

x. Julie Benz Appears on "The Soup" with Joel McHale to discuss "Dexter" finale (spoilers) *outside link*
x. Angel #28 sells out, goes to second printing *outside link*

This is not precisely a slow-cooker recipe, but I think it could be easily adapted (and I'd love any advice from people who have experience cooking dried lentils in a crock). I'd intended to do it in the crock but ran out of time; the slow cooker recipe I glanced over recommended something like 2 cups of liquid for 1 1/4 cups of lentils but I ended up going with something closer to my mother's recipe for a similar stove top dish. I dimly remember her telling me four parts liquid to one parts lentils. So, this is what I made in my dutch oven; I imagine you'd want to reduce the liquid pretty substantially for a crock pot, but again, if anyone has a more confident proportion to use I'd love to hear it. I will DEFINITELY be making this again, it came out wonderfully.

1 1/3 C (I eyeballed the third a bit) dried red lentils
4 C chicken stock (accidentally low sodium - would probably also work great with veggie stock if you're feeling partial to a vegetarian dish)
1 60z can tomato paste
A healthy bit of curry powder; maybe about two tablespoons, maybe a little more.
Pinch cayenne pepper
Half a teaspoon or a little more ground ginger
1 yellow onion
Two tablespoons butter
Salt to taste (see note about the accidental low sodium stock; if you use regular you might not want it)

Chop the onion and slosh it around a bit in a skillet with the butter. Meanwhile, get the stock and the tomato paste together in your cooking vessel (crock, or dutch oven) with the heat on. After the onions start to brown, add the lentils to the skillet and slosh them around a bit, too. Add the onion and lentils to the stock and paste. Add your spices, and cook until the lentils are nice and soft and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Other slow cooker lentil recipes that I consulted recommended 2 to 2 1/2 hours on high, in a crock pot. This sat on my stove in my dutch oven on med-low/low heat (something safe enough that I could run with bare feet in my clogs out into the snow with my hair wet to watch a congregation of two hundred or so crows fill the sky above my neighborhood) for about an hour.

I served it with some saffron rice I made from a package (Mahatma brand! Mmm.) My friend and I ate pretty heartily, and I have 1-2 meals worth of leftovers (if I make more rice) in my fridge as a result. The slight sweetness of red lentils goes really nicely with the tomato, and it came out a really beautiful orange color - goes nicely with the hat I'm knitting for my cousin right now. :) (Does anyone else have trouble finding red lentils? Sometimes I can't, and it makes me very sad.)

I also want to note that, while I didn't price-check the pre-packaged curry powder in the spice aisle, I got a really healthy portion of organic curry from the bulk section of the grocery for less than two dollars, so keep an eye out!

This community just recently hit 3000 watchers (!!!!!!!! HOW HAVE SO MANY OF YOU STUCK WITH ME FOR SO LONG THROUGH SEVERAL RIDICULOUS FANDOMS? ILU :( ♥♥♥) and I'm really in the holiday spirit right now, SO. I want to draw some holiday-themed art, but have no idea what to draw! :(

I want to try to draw 3 pieces, each from a different fandom hopefully, so what I'm looking for are prompts!

Help me out dear watchers, and leave me a fandom, pairing, and holiday-themed prompt!

This won't really be a first-come first-served thing, as I'm kind of just going to go with what inspires me. It can be as clean or as smutty as you want it to be. >:D I will try to get at least three drawings done by New Year's. *crosses fingers* flist, I'm not giving up on those prompts from several months ago, btw. I have those bookmarked for future inspiration. ♥

ETA: omg so many good prompts coming in. :x Going to sleep on it tonight and get cracking tomorrow! :D