The Kid called me last night at 12:50-something just to check on me, how I was prepared for the coming blizzard. Why did she call that late? "You don't work". *sigh* We had a nice talk though.
Woke up with the alarm at 10:00, dozed off and on til 11:30, finally got out of bed. Had breakfast and coffee, and went to the Starsky and Hutch Creative Work session.
I actually did some writing in something that I know more-or-less where it's going and therefore can actually finish. The Zoom worked perfectly, btw.
Anyway, we chatted til a little after 6:00. At 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB and that worked perfectly too, except that every now and then the video and audio would freeze up for a few seconds and he'd have to repeat something he said.
At 8:30 I called Middle Brother. He's fine, nothing new. We're starting to talk about his birthday.
The FWiB and I talked a few more minutes after I got off the phone with Middle Brother, then we got off and I had dinner.
After dinner I went to the bedroom and called mashfanficchick and we had talked for awhile. Then I got online on my phone and ordered two books for Middle Brother's birthday from Thriftbooks, one on New York City and one on weather, which is what he asked for, as well as Niagara Falls. He also want a cd named Low Riders, but there's to many things with that name. I'll have to try and get more info from him.
The snow was falling pretty hard the last time I looked, and the city has implemented a ban on driving except for emergencies.
I miss when I didn't have to worry about this shit. I have autopay on my phone and they usually take the $$$ out on the 23rd. I tried to call their office to warn them about my card having to be shut down and that I will give them the necessary info about the new card when I get it but that office is closed on the weekends. I hope to fuck they won't cut me off, I will try to call them tomorrow.
So last time, we started the story proper, but we haven't actually met our hero yet.
Well, we've seen Aidan as a child in the prologue, but the first chapter was from Aileen's point of view. We've heard her concerns ABOUT Aidan, but we haven't seen Aidan himself. So this will be our first meeting.
I'm optimistic. The early leads of this series were less satisfying: I liked the idea of Alix, but her treatment in the narrative tended to hover between sexy lamp and victim of narrative. Carillon was interesting but very flawed. The less said about Donal the better.
The later leads though have been pretty interesting: Niall was pretty good. Brennan and Corin were likable and interesting. I was less fond of Hart and Keely, but I can't deny that they were well-written. Their personalities annoyed me but that was because those personality types in real life tend to annoy me.
Sick today. Managed to finish grocery shopping before I got too exhausted. Now I'm hungry for some of the food I bought, but I don't have much appetite.
Another 10 inches of snow is coming tonight. I'm watching the flurries while I draw in bed. They look lovely. I feel bad that some of the acorns I'd saved for the squirrels got moldy. I had 3 batches and 2 were fine. I should have kept them in a paper bag. Live and learn!
The hawthorn tree has been picked clean. I think we need a couple more of those! Well, it keeps putting up runners so I guess it'll be easy to end up with more hawthorns.
I'm on a scene where Maurice is making pizza while wearing his biker jacket. Because he may be a domestic goddess, but he's still a guy.
Television/Streaming: a couple of episodes of Buffy and Farscape. Buffy:
"Faith, Hope & Trick" - first appearance of Faith (she's an interesting foil to Buffy)
"Beauty and the Beasts" - Angel comes back. Oz might have mauled some kids out in the wood when he escaped his cage.
"Homecoming" - Both Cordelia and Buffy are annoying as fuck in this one, but I am watching this through adult eyes and that's probably coloring my attitude with some of these episodes. (Use your words)!
"Band Candy" - this one had some pretty funny bits; especially Giles being an absolute fool. And Principal Snyder!
Farscape:
". . . Different Destinations" - they end up going back in time at the memorial and change the path of history.
"Eat me" - they come upon a damaged Leviathan and find all the Peacekeepers turned feral and cannibalistic. Also some of the Moya crew get split into two. Crichton's double makes it back on board ship with him. That would be freaky! It will be interesting to see what happens with the two of them.
Books: It has not been a great week for books! I had two books I stopped reading: T. Kingfisher's Hemlock and Silver and Ben Greenman's Emotional Rescue.
The Kingfisher book was a book club read for January that I never got in time. It just recently became available as I was finishing The Reformatory. I got about twenty percent or so in and I was just kind of annoyed at the book, so I stopped reading.
The Greenman book is essays on music. I thought it would be more like Rob Sheffield's Love is a Mix Tape or Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. No. Greenman's book was rather boring and also felt a bit misogynistic, so I had to quit reading that one, too.
I'm now reading Pylon by William Faulkner. It's a bit different than the other fare of his I've read, but I'm interested to see where it goes. It's set in a fictionalized New Orleans during an air show, so lots of talk of planes and pilots.
Listening to: only one Rolling Stone Top 500 album this week. Number 488 is The Stooges self-titled album from 1969. On the 2012 list, this album was at 185. Rolling Stone blurb:
Fueled by “a little marijuana and a lotta alienation,” Michigan’s Stooges gave the lie to hippie idealism, playing with a savagery that unsettled even the most blasé clubgoers. Ex-Velvet Underground member John Cale produced a primitive debut wherein, amid Ron Asheton’s wah-wah blurts, Iggy Stooge (né James Osterberg) snarled seminal punk classics such as “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “No Fun,” and “1969,” bedrock examples of the weaponized boredom that would become a de rigueur punk posture.
This one is not really my cuppa, but I didn't outwardly hate it (like the Suicide album). It's a pretty short album, too. I can see the influences they had on other bands. Of the songs here, I like "I Wanna Be Your Dog," which I've also heard covered by several bands, as well.
Playing: I finished Assemble With Care; this is by the same studio that did Alba: a wildlife adventure. It's a visual novel with puzzles; you are Maria, who repairs electronics and such, and you've come to a little town for their festival. Various folks want your help, so you take apart and reassemble game systems, tape decks, watches, and more as you learn about issues in these folks' lives. It's a short but sweet game. The controls were occasionally a little frustrating (you can use your mouse on PC, but sometimes if I clicked too quickly, I'd put the piece I was working on to the side and then would have to hover over and pick it up again).
It's 3 months out from the Canberra Spinners and Weavers annual exhibition and sale and I'm focusing on making stock to sell. I thought I'd include some of my design thoughts and process as I do, not to show off or promote stuff to sell, but to show that I'm just doing dumb stuff until it works. Anyone can do what I do, and more importantly everyone should be out there doing dumb stuff with their hands and their brains. The world is now not only on fire, but filled with creations that can make things but they cannot make at. Because art requires intention, and that's something Al doesn't have (yet). So use your hands and your brains and make things our techno overlords cent replicate. ( I, for one, do not welcome our new overlords ) ( Making stuff 2: Electric Boogaloo )
Driven by my interest in the influence of US clear-channel stations, I was curious what they actually sounded like back in the day. Thanks to archive.org, I found aircheck recordings that let me experience what is otherwise an ephemeral medium. Currently, I’m diving into a 1970 Top 100 countdown with DJ Bruce Morrow. Between the music and his quintessential New York accent, it’s a fascinating listen. Had I been born early enough to seek it out, I definitely would have been a fan.
Radio is, by its very nature, an ephemeral medium—a stream of data pushed into the ether, meant to be experienced in the moment and then lost forever. Unlike a book or a film, which are curated for the shelf, these broadcasts were 'disposable' culture. Finding these recordings on archive.org feels like intercepting a ghost signal; it’s a rare chance to catch a broadcast that was never truly meant to survive the night it aired.
Current Music:https://archive.org/details/bruce-morrow-wabc-top-100-of-1970-new-york-ny-januar
I’m all about the creamy soups during the colder months, and this incredibly creamy Mushroom Soup is one of the best. This mushroom soup recipe is so easy to make and is as cozy as it gets. You’ll want to serve this soup with some crusty bread or crackers to soak up every drop of that savory, creamy broth because it is just to die for. And the best part? Because this recipe is so simple and uncomplicated, it’s also very inexpensive, even when the cost of mushrooms is on the higher side!
“Eating this right now and it’s delicious! Came together quicker than I thought it would. I actually pre-cooked the mushrooms and garlic last night so they would be ready for today (didn’t have much time to put everything together day of). Very tasty. Never cooked a dud recipe from this site and it’s where I find the bulk of my meals. Thank you once again for a tasty dish!”
Lauren
Quick and Creamy Mushroom Soup
I love this creamy mushroom soup for its simplicity. It’s really just deeply browned mushrooms, a creamy broth, and a handful of seasonings that keep it savory and comforting. The olive oil helps the mushrooms get a nice golden color, the garlic adds extra depth, and the butter and flour turn the broth into a velvety, spoon-coating soup. From there, it’s just good vegetable broth, a splash of heavy cream, and a simple mix of salt, pepper, thyme, and soy sauce. And yes, the soy sauce is doing a lot here. It adds an earthy umami boost that makes the mushrooms taste even richer. I usually “taste test” this easy soup about five times before it even makes it to the table. 😉
If you’re looking for an alternative to canned soup to cook with (not a bowl of soup), see our cream of mushroom soup replacement recipe for a 1:1 swap for the canned stuff!
Recipe Success Tips
Using really good, full-flavored broth is key to making mushroom soup taste its best. I suggest using Better Than Bouillon to make the broth for this soup because it has tons of flavor, is budget-friendly, and reduces waste compared to boxed and canned broths. I used their vegetable-flavored bouillon, but you could certainly use their mushroom flavor if you have it.
Don’t skip the roux. All-purpose flour combines with the butter to create a roux, which thickens the broth. Without the flour, the broth will be very thin.
Make it vegan. It’s very easy to convert this recipe to a vegan mushroom soup. Simply use coconut oil in place of the butter to make the roux, and then use full-fat coconut milk in place of the heavy cream. Coconut milk tastes really good in savory recipes like this and actually pairs very well with mushrooms! Check out my vegan creamy mushroom ramen for another example of these flavors together. You could also leave the cream out and add more broth for a mushroom soup without heavy cream.
Make it gluten-free. Swap the soy sauce for tamari and use a 1:1 all-purpose GF flour to make the roux.
Clean mushrooms with a dry or damp clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic.
Add the olive oil, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a soup pot. Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they have released all of their moisture, all the liquid has evaporated from the bottom of the pot, and the mushrooms become very dark brown. Add the minced garlic and continue to sauté for one minute more.
Add the butter and flour to the pot. Stir and cook for about two minutes more, or until the butter coats the bottom of the pot and turns deep golden brown.
Once the flour mixture is a bit browned, add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, and thyme. Stir to dissolve all of the flour from the bottom of the pot. Allow the liquid to come up to a simmer, at which point the flour will slightly thicken the broth.
Finally, stir the cream into the soup. Give the soup a taste and adjust the salt or pepper to your liking. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
*I highly suggest using baby bella mushrooms (aka cremini mushrooms) for this soup because they have a nice deep color and rich flavor. White button mushrooms will not add as much color or flavor to the soup. You could also chop up some larger portobello mushroom caps to use in place of the baby bellas. Some readers have also added dried shiitake mushrooms to this recipe (soak them in hot water first to rehydrate).**Vegetable broth is the base for this soup, and it provides complexity to the flavor, as well as a nice brown color. You can use mushroom broth instead if you have it. I use Better Than Bouillon to make my broths.***Heavy cream adds a deliciously rich and creamy flavor to the soup. I’ve only made this soup with heavy cream, but some readers have successfully swapped the cream for half-and-half or evaporated milk!
How to Make Creamy Mushroom Soup Step-by-Step Photos
Gather all your ingredients.
Prep the ingredients: Use a clean kitchen towel or paper towel (dry or damp) to wipe away any dirt from 1 lb. baby bella mushrooms.
Slice the mushrooms and mince 3 garlic cloves.
Sauté: Add the mushrooms to a soup pot with 1 Tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they release all of their water, the water evaporates, and the mushrooms begin to brown.
Add the minced garlic and sauté for about one minute more.
Make the roux: Add 4 Tbsp butter and ¼ cup all-purpose flour to the pot. Continue to stir and cook over medium heat, allowing the butter to melt and create a paste with the flour that coats the mushrooms.
The butter and flour will begin to coat the bottom of the pot. When it becomes medium brown, it’s time to add the liquid to the pot.
Make the soup: Add 3 cups vegetable broth, 1 tsp soy sauce, and ⅛ tsp thyme to the soup pot and stir to dissolve all of the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Allow the broth to come up to a boil, at which point it will thicken slightly from the flour and butter roux.
Once the soup has reached a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and add ½ cup heavy cream. Allow the soup to heat through and begin to simmer gently.
Serve: Taste the soup and adjust the salt or other seasonings if desired. The soup may need additional salt depending on the salt content of the broth used. I used Better Than Bouillon, which tends to be on the salty side, so I didn’t need any additional salt. Serve and enjoy!
What Else Can I Add?
If you want to put your own spin on this mushroom soup recipe, here are a few other ingredients you can add:
Paprika: Add sweet paprika to make it closer to a Hungarian Mushroom Soup.
Onion: If you want even more savory vegetable flavor, sauté a finely diced onion with the mushrooms.
Nutmeg: Just a tiny pinch goes a long way here. I’d start with a couple of gratings (or 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg) and add more only if you want it. (A few readers have even swapped nutmeg in for thyme.)
Sour Cream: To make the soup even richer and to add a slight tang, stir a few dollops of sour cream into the broth at the end.
Homemade Croutons: Top your soup with my homemade croutons for a delicious garlicky crunch!
Sherry or White Wine: Now I’m fully aware this is not a budget-friendly addition, but many readers mention adding a small splash of sherry or white wine to this recipe, so I figured I’d mention it here as a ‘nice if you’ve got it’ add-in. Add roughly 1/4 cup after the mushrooms brown to deglaze the pot, then let it simmer for a minute before continuing.
Serving Suggestions
The broth in this soup is extremely rich and creamy and you’re going to want to sop up every drop, so I highly suggest serving it with some crusty bread like our no-knead bread or soda bread. Some soft Hawaiian rolls would also offer a sweet contrast that could be fun. If you don’t want to make homemade bread, at least make sure you have some crackers on hand!
Let the soup cool completely, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring often, until hot. Don’t let it come to a boil to avoid the cream separating. If it thickens in the fridge, add a splash of broth, milk, or water to loosen it up.
Creamy soups can separate a bit when frozen, but you can freeze this for up to 3 months if you don’t mind the visual and texture changes. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat slowly and whisk well to bring it back together (or freeze it before adding the cream, then stir the cream in after reheating).
Title:Hold Me on AO3 Artist:mific Rating: Gen Fandom: Heated Rivalry Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov Notes: Made in Procreate for the ICE OUT donation challenge, and for challenge #75 - Romance
Can America's well-financed, highly-experienced, heavily-armed war machine hope to prevail against a numerically insignificant, poorly-armed, American teen movement?
Name: Luna Age Group: 25+ Country: Philippines Subscription/Access Policy: 18+ at minimum, 25+ preferred. My journal is public, but I can and will post about explicit topics and have them appropriately labeled and with warnings. Will not interact with Harry Potter fans.
Main Fandoms: Alien Stage, Honkai: Star Rail, The House in Fata Morgana Other Fandoms: Genshin Impact, The Haunting of Hill House (Book), Love and Deepspace, This Monster Wants to Eat Me (Watatabe), Kino no Tabi, Haibane Renmei, Hetalia, Our Life: Beginnings & Always, Blooming Panic, Bustafellows, Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk (and Black Butterfly), Hakuouki, Funamusea (The Gray Garden and Wadanohara), Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, Mo Dao Zu Shi, Frieren Fannish Interests: writing and reading fic, creating original characters, worldbuilding and lore discussions and analysis, yumeshipping/oc x canon OTPs and Ships: MiziSua, HyuLuka, IvanLuka, MyPhaiDei, NeuviFuri, MikoShioHina, RakkaReki, Eleanor Vance/Theodora, Baxter x OLBA MC, Caleb (Xia Yizhou) x LADS MC, BingLiuShen, BingQiu, QiJiu, BingLiu, LiuShen, MoShang Before adding me, you should know: I can and will shut any interaction down if it ventures into ship discourse. If you have trouble discerning between real human beings and fictional characters, we will not get along. If you are uncomfortable with such content as incest, pseudo-incest, toxic relationships, yanderes, omegaverse, teratophilia, noncon/dubcon, then it might be best for you not to subscribe/interact for your own peace. I don't care what people do or don't ship, just don't make it my problem.
Reccer’s Note: I think I'm going to like MiliSen a lot. I've seen a few of her videos, and she brings a very different sensibility to the table than most vsynth producers. For this song creator's notes discuss how she was inspired by opera and orchestra, and similar notes on other videos talk about other influences on her work. Tale of the Snow Queen brings to mind literary fairy tales and classical musical theatre (or, if you're less classy like me, Disney renaissance musicals). I don't listen to enough Eleanor Forte. I should fix that.
noun: 1 a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things. 2 (in literature) a piece created from diverse resources. 3 (in art) a piece of makeshift handiwork. 4 the use of multiple, diverse research methods.
Examples:
Billed as fiction, this creative-critical work is a bricolage of archival research, colonial histories, transcribed conversations, ghost stories, memoir, epistolary address, reimagined pasts, speculative and suspended futures. (Jenny Hedley, A technology to remember and forget: André Dao’s Anam, Overland, August 2023)
That resourcefulness has developed into an art of exhilarating bricolage, of functioning objects that are greater than the sum of their pieced-together parts. (Andrew Russeth, Tom Sachs: Rocket Man to Renaissance Man, New York Times, July 2022)
This distinction also escapes a number of creative writing researchers who have adapted bricolage as a research methodology. They enumerate the benefits without sufficiently acknowledging the drawbacks, which include superficiality, overgeneralisation and misinterpretation of the theories and practices of other disciplines. (Jeri Kroll, 'The writer as interlocutor: The benefits and drawbacks of bricolage in creative writing research', Journal of writing and writing courses, 2021)
Her bricolage approach to songwriting is fairly obviously that of someone raised with streaming’s decontextualised smorgasbord as their primary source of music. You can hear it in the way she leaps from one source to another, unburdened by considerations of genre or longstanding notions of cool, like someone compiling a personal playlist. (Alexis Petridis, PinkPantheress: Fancy That review – sharp-minded bops hop across pop’s past and present, The Guardian, May 2025)
The system eventually introduced for Big Bang reflected this fragility and contingency of infrastructures: it was the creative result of reshaping legacy devices into a system that did the job for the time being. A band-aid. A product of creative, recombinant bricolage. (Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, Automating Finance: Infrastructures, Engineers, and the Making of Electronic Markets)
Origin: term used in arts and literature, 'work made from available things,' by 1966, via Lévi-Strauss, from French bricolage, from bricoler 'to fiddle, tinker' and, by extension, 'make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are to hand (regardless of their original purpose),' 16c, from bricole (14c) (Online Etymology Dictionary)
According to French social anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, the artist 'shapes the beautiful and useful out of the dump heap of human life.' Lévi-Strauss compared this artistic process to the work of a handyman who solves technical or mechanical problems with whatever materials are available. He referred to that process of making do as bricolage, a term derived from the French verb bricoler (meaning 'to putter about') and related to bricoleur, the French name for a jack-of-all-trades. Bricolage made its way from French to English during the 1960s, and it is now used for everything from the creative uses of leftovers ('culinary bricolage') to the cobbling together of disparate computer parts ('technical bricolage'). (Merriam-Webster)
Just a little though. It was the Flushing Lunar New Year Parade today, and I knew that would make getting to my meeting harder, so I got up 15 minutes early.
I had breakfast and coffee, showered and dressed, and went to look for where my 28 bus wuol be rerouted to. I went to the regular stop, even when it was obvious it wasn't there, in the hopes there would be a sign saying where it was. Ha!
No sign, but a police officer directing traffic who knew, so I was able to find it. I got the bus to my meeting and got there just on time.
The meeting was very good. Afterward as usual I went to the diner, driven by S. Today was a soup day, I just felt like a bowl of cream of turkey soup. I also got an order of onion rings, which I should not have done, but they were very good. And a cup of tea.
Then I took the bus home as usual. The 12 also was rerouted for the parade, but my stop was only a little bit moved. I got home and tried to get to the Starsky and Hutch chat.
I got in with the Zoom, but then I made the mistake of clicking on something in the chat, and it froze up. I had to restart the computer finally to get back in, and I used my phone for awhile while I was working on the computer. But after that it worked OK.
We ended a bit after 6:00 and at 7:00 I tried to team the FWiB.once again there were technical difficulties caused apparently by the app, as both of our computers had problems with it. He [honed and we talked while he worked on his computer. Eventually he Teamed on his iPad instead. Then, when we were saying goodbye, the teams just crashed for both of us.
After that i had dinner, and went to the bedroom to play solitaire.
The Kid FINALLY texted me to say she was alive, just busy. *sigh*
I fed the pets, and now am here.
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. My meetings and the people there.
3. My pets.
4. Sunny weather before the blizzard expected this weekend.
Title: Our Share of Night Author: Mariana Enriquez Translator: Megan McDowell Genre: Fantasy horror, fiction, family drama
If Mexican Gothic left you craving more South American fantasy horror, Our Share of Nightby Mariana Enriquez of Argentina (translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell) has you covered. This is a family epic intertwined with the dark machinations of a macabre cult and its impact. It's also a splendid allegory for the evils of colonialism and generational trauma. This book was #15 from the "Women in Translation" rec list.
The book begins with Juan, a powerful but ill man who acts as a "medium" for the cult to commune with its dark god. Juan, struggling with the health of his defective heart, the wear-and-tear of years as the medium, and the grief and rage of his wife's recent death (he suspects, at the orders of the cult he serves) is desperate to keep his son Gaspar from stepping into his shoes, as the cult wants. Juan's opening segment of the book is about his efforts to protect Gaspar.
From there, the book branches off into other perspectives which give background to both the cult and the family. This is a great way of giving us a holistic and generational view of the cult, but it does drag occasionally. Gaspar's sections--in his childhood and then later in his teens/young adulthood--together make up the majority of the book, and while enjoyable, do amble off into great detail about his and his friends' day-to-day lives, such that I did wonder sometimes when we were getting back to the plot. I don't like to cite pacing issues, because I think that gets thrown around a lot whenever someone didn't vibe with a book, but the drawn-out length of these quotidian sections doesn't fit well with how quickly the climax of the book passes and is wrapped up. I would have liked to have spent less time with Gaspar at soccer games and more on his plans for addressing the cult.
However, on the whole, the book is a fun, if very dark read. It also serves well as a critique of Argentina's moneyed class and of colonialism in general, and how money sticks with money even across borders. Here, Argentina's wealthy have more in common with English money than with the Argentine lower classes (and that's how they want it). The cult, populated at its upper echelons by the privileged, is an almost literal blight on the land, willing to sacrifice an endless amount of blood, local and otherwise, to beg power off a hungry and unknown supernatural entity.
It brutalizes its mediums, which it often plucks from poverty to wring for power and then discard. Juan was adopted away from his own poor family at six, under the insistence his parents would not be able to pay for the medical care he needed, and he is the least-abused of the cult's line of mediums. As soon as the cult sets their eye on his son, Juan must begin scheming how to keep Gaspar away from them.
Although he acts out of love of his son, Juan is also a deeply flawed person. He is secretive, moody, lies constantly (there is actual gaslighting here) and doesn't hesitate to knock Gaspar around to make him obey. The more he deteriorates--a common problem with all cult mediums--the less human he becomes. Part of this is his work, but much of it is also attributable to years of being used by the cult for its ends and the accumulated emotional trauma. This, of course, is then inflicted on Gaspar through his father's tempers and secrets.
Similarly flawed are the other members of the immediate family. Juan's wife Rosario, despite a better nature than her parents, still supports this cult and is eager for Gaspar to follow in his father's footsteps as a cult medium, in part for the prestige it will bring her as his mother. Gaspar, although far more empathetic and gentle than either of his parents, eventually grows up with his father's temper. Watching him grow from a sweet-natured little boy into the troubled young adult he becomes after years of his father's abuse and neglect is painful, but realistic.
The book is also unexpectedly queer. It's not often a book surprises me with its queerness, because that's usually what landed it on my radar in the first place, but this one did. Juan and Rosario are both bisexual and later in the book we spend some active time in Argentina's queer scene, including during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
The translation was great! It read very naturally, even the dialogue, and it never felt stilted or awkward in its phrasing.
An ambitious novel that for the most part, pulls off what it's trying to do. As mentioned, I wish the ending had gotten more room to breathe, and I would not have minded this coming at the cost of some of the middle bits of navel-gazing, but I still felt the story was satisfying.
If Mexican Gothic left you craving more South American fantasy horror, Our Share of Nightby Mariana Enriquez of Argentina (translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell) has you covered. This is a family epic intertwined with the dark machinations of a macabre cult and its impact. It's also a splendid allegory for the evils of colonialism and generational trauma. This book was #15 from the "Women in Translation" rec list.
The book begins with Juan, a powerful but ill man who acts as a "medium" for the cult to commune with its dark god. Juan, struggling with the health of his defective heart, the wear-and-tear of years as the medium, and the grief and rage of his wife's recent death (he suspects, at the orders of the cult he serves) is desperate to keep his son Gaspar from stepping into his shoes, as the cult wants. Juan's opening segment of the book is about his efforts to protect Gaspar.
From there, the book branches off into other perspectives which give background to both the cult and the family. This is a great way of giving us a holistic and generational view of the cult, but it does drag occasionally. Gaspar's sections--in his childhood and then later in his teens/young adulthood--together make up the majority of the book, and while enjoyable, do amble off into great detail about his and his friends' day-to-day lives, such that I did wonder sometimes when we were getting back to the plot. I don't like to cite pacing issues, because I think that gets thrown around a lot whenever someone didn't vibe with a book, but the drawn-out length of these quotidian sections doesn't fit well with how quickly the climax of the book passes and is wrapped up. I would have liked to have spent less time with Gaspar at soccer games and more on his plans for addressing the cult.
However, on the whole, the book is a fun, if very dark read. It also serves well as a critique of Argentina's moneyed class and of colonialism in general, and how money sticks with money even across borders. Here, Argentina's wealthy have more in common with English money than with the Argentine lower classes (and that's how they want it). The cult, populated at its upper echelons by the privileged, is an almost literal blight on the land, willing to sacrifice an endless amount of blood, local and otherwise, to beg power off a hungry and unknown supernatural entity.
It brutalizes its mediums, which it often plucks from poverty to wring for power and then discard. Juan was adopted away from his own poor family at six, under the insistence his parents would not be able to pay for the medical care he needed, and he is the least-abused of the cult's line of mediums. As soon as the cult sets their eye on his son, Juan must begin scheming how to keep Gaspar away from them.
Although he acts out of love of his son, Juan is also a deeply flawed person. He is secretive, moody, lies constantly (there is actual gaslighting here) and doesn't hesitate to knock Gaspar around to make him obey. The more he deteriorates--a common problem with all cult mediums--the less human he becomes. Part of this is his work, but much of it is also attributable to years of being used by the cult for its ends and the accumulated emotional trauma. This, of course, is then inflicted on Gaspar through his father's tempers and secrets.
Similarly flawed are the other members of the immediate family. Juan's wife Rosario, despite a better nature than her parents, still supports this cult and is eager for Gaspar to follow in his father's footsteps as a cult medium, in part for the prestige it will bring her as his mother. Gaspar, although far more empathetic and gentle than either of his parents, eventually grows up with his father's temper. Watching him grow from a sweet-natured little boy into the troubled young adult he becomes after years of his father's abuse and neglect is painful, but realistic.
The book is also unexpectedly queer. It's not often a book surprises me with its queerness, because that's usually what landed it on my radar in the first place, but this one did. Juan and Rosario are both bisexual and later in the book we spend some active time in Argentina's queer scene, including during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
The translation was great! It read very naturally, even the dialogue, and it never felt stilted or awkward in its phrasing.
An ambitious novel that for the most part, pulls off what it's trying to do. As mentioned, I wish the ending had gotten more room to breathe, and I would not have minded this coming at the cost of some of the middle bits of navel-gazing, but I still felt the story was satisfying.
I'm thinking of renaming the little township that two of my characters are from. It's generally in the Midwest, although the state could be anything from New York to Indiana, probably not any further west than that. I'd originally had it set in upstate NY, but then ended up modeling the college town somewhat after Columbus, OH.
The tiny township was Munro, originally, but Monroe is a common town name in many US states, so whichever state you think Alien Romance takes place in, will likely already have a place named Monroe or Munro.
Some of my contenders:
Malby, named after Malby, Sweden. Maybe something about Burke, one of the established families there. Burke Path, Burke Bend, Burke Mill, Burkeville, just Burke Lambert is another one. Lambert Mill? Luddy, named after, I don't know, sounds cute and awkward and maybe a surname of a founding family. Then I can name some characters Luddy!
Opinions welcome! Additional suggestions also welcome.
I can't go out today. Earlier this morning my bank called me, apparently some asshole tried to buy $200 worth of stuff with MY credit card info at best Buy so I had to tell this lady who works at my bank that I haven't bought anything from those guys in over a year. So I had to get my credit card cancelled and wait a week for a new one to show up in the damn mail. Thank fuck the charge did not go through. I don't have the slightest idea how anybody could even get my credit card info in the first place. AND It's going to be a major hassle trying to get ahold of AT&T and DSL to give them the new credit card info. I remember what a pain it was last time I had to do that when my old credit card expired. Only Netflix was easy.
U.S. clear‑channel AM stations had a surprisingly strong influence on the Maritime musical landscape. Anne Murray, growing up in Springhill, could pick up stations like WABC at night, and that polished American pop sound shaped her early musical style.
Other powerful U.S. stations carried different influences into the region. WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, brought bluegrass directly into Maritime homes, while WSM’s Grand Ole Opry broadcasts reached parts of Nova Scotia. This exposure introduced instruments like the banjo and mandolin — along with their distinct picking styles — well before local access to records or returning servicemen’s albums.
Not all parts of the Maritimes received these signals equally. The north shore of New Brunswick often sat outside the skip zone, meaning those U.S. broadcasts simply didn’t reach them. As a result, that region developed along different musical lines, shaped more by Acadian and Quebec influences than by the American country and bluegrass that took root elsewhere.
U.S. AM radio didn’t just entertain the Maritimes — it rewired the region’s musical genetics.
Last year, Eric and I spent the month of June traveling through England and Scotland, visiting amazing historic sites, touring places connected with our favorite classic literature, rambling across the stunningly beautiful British countryside, and of course, birding. The last week of our trip was spent in Scotland, and I had the opportunity to see quite a few birds right in the heart of Edinburgh, in and around Holyrood Park.
Eurasian Bullfinch
I was incredibly excited to see this male Eurasian Bullfinch, sitting atop a fence one fine, mizzly morning on our way into Edinburgh. Though he looked a bit damp and bedraggled, he was singing nonetheless and didn't seem to mind the quintessentially Scottish weather.
Eurasian Bullfinch
Eurasian Bullfinches range across much of Europe and parts of Asia, preferring deciduous woodland edges, farmland, hedgerows, parks and gardens. Though not terribly uncommon, these striking little birds can be difficult to see, as they tend to feed quietly on seeds, buds and fruit while staying concealed in the trees.
While both males and females are incredibly cute birds, the grayish female is significantly duller in color than the male, with his brilliant salmon-red cheeks and breast.
Eurasian Bullfinch (female)
Another bird I was most excited to see in the UK was the White-throated Dipper, Europe's only species of dipper. Worldwide, the five species of dippers are the only songbirds that truly swim and dive underwater, often in turbulent streams.
White-throated Dipper
This White-throated Dipper was hanging out along Edinburgh's picturesque Water of Leith. A pleasant pathway follows this peaceful stretch of water as it winds down from the Pentland Hills to the Firth of Forth, providing an excellent place to enjoy birds and other wildlife right in the heart of the city.
White-throated Dipper
I never got tired of seeing European Robins or hearing their beautiful song while we were in the UK. This is definitely one of the birds I missed the most when we got home!
European Robin
Ponds (or rather, "lochs") throughout Edinburgh's Holyrood Park also proved to be productive birding spots.
Dunsapie Loch, Holyrood Park
While we ate our lunch on a picnic bench beside one of these lochs after a climb to the top of Arthur's Seat, this curious corvid came to investigate. Carrion Crows are common and widespread across Europe and Asia, and it must be said... they look pretty similar to our familiar American Crows!
Carrion Crow
The Little Grebe, or "Dabchick," is the common small grebe of ponds and wetlands across Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. Like all grebes, Little Grebes are built for diving, with their legs positioned far back on their bodies. This arrangement makes them excellent swimmers but awkward on land, and they typically only leave the water to nest.
Little Grebe
One of the common gull species across Europe, the Lesser Black-backed Gull is smaller, slighter and paler than its cousin, the Great Black-backed Gull. This gull watched us as we ate our lunch, giving us plenty of time to observe the key identification features of a breeding adult of this species: a medium-dark gray mantle, pure white head, pale iris, red spot on the bill and bright yellow legs.
Lesser Black-backed Gull
European Goldfinches are such cool-looking little birds, though they bear little resemblance to the American Goldfinches we're used to seeing on this side of the Pond! Structurally there are similarities, as they are closely related species, and they also sound reminiscent of one another. But the warm buffy coloring and striking red face of European Goldfinches make them entirely unique!
European Goldfinch
While visiting Scotland, we stayed with cousins who live in Dunbar. This beautiful seaside village, just south of Edinburgh, also happens to be the birthplace of famed naturalist and conservationist John Muir! Today, visitors can tour the house where he was born and lived until the age of nine, when his family uprooted and moved to Wisconsin.
John Muir's birthplace in Dunbar, Scotland
The former Muir home is now a museum on Dunbar's High Street, with informational displays about John's early life in Scotland, his travels in America and abroad, and the legacy of conservation he left.
Eurasian Bullfinch (again!) One of my favorite birds from the trip!
Eggs are still one of the easiest ways to get a filling, protein-packed breakfast on the table without spending a ton, even when prices fluctuate. I reach for them all the time because they’re quick, flexible, and actually keep you full without much effort! It doesn’t matter if you’re learning the basics (boiled, fried, scrambled, poached), pulling together a hearty breakfast, or stocking the fridge for the week ahead, these 15 easy egg recipes cover a lot of ground.
Egg Basics
If you’ve ever overcooked scrambled eggs, fought with a stubborn shell, or ended up with wispy poached-egg chaos…been there. These are the foundational ways to cook eggs that make everyday breakfasts (and quick meals) feel effortless once you’ve got them down.
This hot-water-bath method is all about timing: bring to a boil, turn off the heat, let the eggs sit in the water for the right amount of time until hard-boiled, then dunk them in an ice bath. This method for hard boiled eggs is a super reliable way to avoid overcooked, greenish yolks! Keep a few in the fridge, and you’ve got instant protein for breakfast or snacks.
Perfect soft boiled eggs with firm whites and liquid gold centers are only six minutes away. Use this easy step by step guide for perfect eggs every time.
I love soft-boiled eggs because they feel a little breakfast-special with almost zero effort. You get set whites and a jammy, runny center that’s perfect for buttered toast, an English muffin, avocado toast, or tucked into a breakfast sandwich. The key is timing and cooling them right away so they stop cooking.
Creamy, fluffy, and simple, this is the low-and-slow method I swear by for keeping the curds tender (and not rubbery). These scrambled eggs are my go-to when I want something comforting and reliably good!
Follow this simple method and learn how to make Poached Eggs with soft, runny yolks and firm whites every time! Perfect for breakfast or brunch. Step-by-step photos can be seen below the recipe card.
Poached eggs look impressive, but the technique is mostly about gentle heat and a little patience. I like this method because it breaks it down into steps that actually make sense. Once you get the timing down, you can pull off that perfect runny yolk whenever you want.
Fried eggs are fast, satisfying, and great when you want something hot for breakfast in under ten minutes. This guide covers the different styles, like sunny side up and over-easy, plus how to adjust the heat so you get the whites set without overdoing the yolk.
When I don’t feel like watching a pot, this is the route I take. You basically let the air fryer do the work, then finish with an ice bath so the eggs cool quickly and peel easier. I discovered this air fryer hard boiled egg technique when I wanted an easy but healthy snack, and I’ve never looked back!
Breakfast & Brunch Favorites
When you’re bored with plain eggs but still want something easy and budget-friendly, these hearty egg breakfasts are just what you need. Think: skillet meals, saucy situations, and recipes that feel a little brunch-y at home!
A frittata is basically the low-stress cousin of an omelette, and it’s great for using up vegetables and odds and ends from the fridge. This one gives you a simple formula so you can swap in what you have without overthinking it.
This stovetop hollandaise sauce whisks egg yolk, lemon, and butter into a rich, creamy sauce in just a few minutes. Perfect for leveling up whatever you’re serving for breakfast!
Oh, how I love this easy shakshuka recipe. The eggs cook right in a spiced tomato sauce made with fresh and pantry staples, so every bite has flavor without spending much. I use lots of warm spices (like cumin and cardamom) and fire-roasted tomatoes for extra depth.
This chorizo potato hash is a solid option for those mornings when you want a bigger, skillet-style breakfast. It’s a classic breakfast hash with crispy potatoes and eggs, but with added chorizo and built for hearty appetites. I love how the recipe focuses on getting the potatoes properly browned and letting everything cook in stages, so you get nice contrasting textures throughout.
These baked eggs with spinach and tomatoes are a super budget-friendly way to turn a handful of pantry/fridge staples into something that feels like breakfast. Eggs do a lot of the heavy lifting nutritionally here too, adding satisfying protein alongside the veggies for an easy, balanced breakfast.
These scrambled eggs with rice are perfect when you want a filling meal that’s still cheap and fast. You cook the eggs until soft, then stir them into warm rice so everything turns cozy and satisfying. It’s also an easy way to stretch a few eggs into a bigger breakfast bowl!
Meal-Prep Breakfasts
If mornings are chaotic (or you don’t want to cook before coffee), I promise you’ll never regret meal-prepping these recipes. They each help eggs do what they do best: stretch your budget, boost your protein, and make it way easier to grab something nourishing FAST.
These super easy and delicious high protein egg muffins are the perfect meal prep breakfast to make weekday mornings a breeze.Step-by-step photos can be seen below the recipe card.
These egg muffins are a great make-ahead breakfast because they reheat quickly, and you can change the mix-ins every time. I like baking a batch when I have random veggies or a partial bag of cheese to use up. They’re portable, high-protein, and easy to portion out for the week. Starbucks who? 😉
Make ahead breakfast burritos are an easy reheatable and portable breakfast meal prep idea. Including options for vegetarian or other add-ins! BudgetBytes.com
Freezer egg breakfast burritos are one of the most practical ways to prep breakfast in bulk. You assemble them with eggs and fillings, wrap, freeze, and then reheat when you need a real meal quickly. They’re flexible too, so you can keep them simple or load them up with extra veggies!
Breakfast might not instantly come to mind when you think egg salad, but pile this into a wrap or between slices of bread and you’ll be set for a quick, filling start to the day! This recipe keeps things simple with chopped eggs, a creamy base, and a little tang to wake up the flavor. It makes a small batch as written, but it’s really easy to scale up!
Heeey it's been a week and I've been busy. I know, surprising right?
Hope everyone enjoyed the VD, be it with someone, yourself, or that cheap, cheap candy.
I say this as someone that spent that day in a pancake house where everything was covered in strawberries or cotton candy: meh. Save your money. Pancakes from there are always good though, just not impressed at paying the extra for a seasonal.
Wow, typing that made me feel like a boomer.
So I will say that outside of work, which has been my one obsession, the trips have been remarkably light. Weather's still been too cold. We did try to visit Sandy Hook and it was nice in that everything was covered in snow and ice and the water was nothing but a blank desert as far as the eye could see, but wildlife was at a low. At least the wind wasn't trying to kill us this time though.
Also visited the Bronx Zoo and some of the animals were more active. The tigers did their thing around all the white snow, while the snow leopards were practically housecats, pacing around the entrance to their shelters that is only opened around closing and making pathetic mewling to go back inside while scratching the door. It was hilarious to imagine a wild beast behaving like anyone's longhair tabby but here we are.
Also writing this post reminded me to start uploading my card and charge a battery which were both neglected.
Dryness is still a constant annoyance. My skin is flaking off all over the place and itches like crazy.
My computer froze while writing this and I'm debating whether it was because of Chrome or some other annoyance. It's been running warmer than usual and given how prices are, I would like to avoid this completely. Fun!
Oh, and I'm sick. Again. A new infection? Maybe covid swiss cheesed my immunity. I shouldn't be too surprised though.
Tomorrow promises to be a lot of snow, so going to see what we can see. Sandy Hook again? Seal time looks promising again. I'll power through the sickness, just going to do it with a mask on.
I Want to Finish What I've Started: Author Edition
The first 3 authors are the ones were I've read *almost* everything they've written. The last 3 are authors were I've read one book but loved it so much that they *might* be an author I need to read all of their work. The rest are just authors I've loved and want to read more of.
Seven books new to me. four fantasy, one horror, one ostensibly non-fiction, and one romance. Three are series. Yeah, there does seem to be a shortage of science fiction.
I had a bunch of stuff come in just after the cut-off time for these. Next week will look very different.
I’m now officially a refugee from my breakfast place. My beloved diner—convenient, tasty, and stubbornly unpretentious—didn’t survive the fentanyl‑driven chaos downtown. A tiny tragedy in the grand scheme of things, but still a real loss. It had everything: off‑street parking, a breakfast plate that could make a cardiologist weep (three eggs, ham, sausage, bacon), and that perfect diner‑blend coffee designed to be drunk black and without ceremony.
So today I went wandering in search of a replacement. I think I’ve found a Saturday‑morning lifeboat, even if it doesn’t come with the familiar cast of regulars who used to provide the unofficial community‑theatre element of breakfast.
A small deli in the city market served me a smoked‑salmon open‑faced bagel so good it felt like it should come with a warning label. Capers, cheese, the whole thing balanced like a tiny edible miracle. They even have a few stools, and the staff has exactly the right level of quirky charm. They asked how I was when I walked in; I said “slow,” and they assured me they had the cure. And honestly… they kind of did.
Current Mood:sated
Current Music:Joe Jackson; It's different for girls
A cold grey miserable morning, but the rain held off for a few hours, so I headed over to the tip of the Studland peninsula to watch the ships leaving & entering Poole Harbour. Even on a grim morning, with no light for photography, and my hands freezing, there's still a certain comfort to be found in watching marine traffic...
Which may have been because I slept til 2:00 pm, if you recall. But anyway, I slept badly in the night, woke up several times. was awake for a long time and as a result of all of this am now rather tired.
But mashfanficchick and I both got up around 1:00ish and puttered around, then had cereal for brunch somewhat after 2:00.
Then we watched another episode of MacGyver, which continues to be silly but fun. When that was over I went and showered and dressed, and by the time I finished it was almost 5:00 and time for me to go to the Bronx for my Al-anon meeting.
I took the subway to Flushing and the 50 bus from there and got to the Bronx by 6:15, so I had time to get my traditional pizza for dinner.
The meeting was small, just me and L, and we cancelled the second meeting so I got to the bus just before 8:00.
Got home before 9:00, and Teamed the FWiB. I had an awful lot of trouble getting Teams to log in on the computer, so we used the phone until I did and then we switched to that, and it worked OK.
That's about all, we talked til a bit after 10:00, and then I started catching up on the internet.
One thing I did was check my Funko order status. It now says the package was lost. Nothing about sending a new one. I will contact them tomorrow.
I also called the Kid, she didn't pick up of course so I texted. Hopefully she'll either call or text back.
I made Facebook contact with Liz M, the very old friend I sent a Christmas card to! She accepted my friend request, haven't heard anything from her yet though.
Gratitude List:
1. The FWiB.
2. Fun TV.
3. Found Liz M without even looking, she just popped up on my "you may know" thing.
I don't know if this post is allowed, I just wasn't sure where else to ask.
I'm currently working on a Strangers Thing fic. I am very new to the fandom. I'd like someone I can bounce off of, and maybe a beta down the line? It's an AU with a better ending to El's story, giving her what I think she deserved. There might be some Canon Divergence for S4 as well. The fic is Byler, not Mileven, although she and Mike will remain good friends.
I spent yesterday morning trying to get things straightened out with PG&E because the stupid fucking post office lost my electric bill payment which I mailed out over a week ago. I paid it over the phone and I decided I'm just going to keep doing that. (Last time I did this was shortly before I went into the hospital for my leg surgery because I didn't know how long I'd be in there for and I didn't want the bill hanging over my head). Then I got some groceries because this Mexican restaurant I really liked took camarones diablo off their menu so I decided to look up the recipe to see if I could make it myself and it turns out it's not a complicated recipe at all and I already had shrimps so I just needed tomatoes, onions and a jalapeno to make the sauce. (I use onions a lot in my cooking so I run low on them regularly.) Then after I dropped off the groceries at home I went to the Chinese restaurant near the Rockridge bart station for lunch and then I went bookstore hopping and picked up this cool book about Oscar Wilde, he's one of my favorite writers and I already have all his books so I might as well get books about him. I can't believe how cold it was yesterday. I know some people will look up the temperature for that day and say it was nothing but it was COLD by bay area standards. I wore a coat and a heavy sweater under it and I was still cold, I was glad to hang out at Schmidt's pub because they have a fireplace.
Remember frantically redialing a radio station to win concert tickets? I didn’t realize that skill would come in handy again—until yesterday.
My knee flared up, and getting a walk-in clinics doctor’s appointment turned into a full‑on redial marathon. I called over 280 times before I finally got through. It felt exactly like trying to be caller number nine, just with much higher stakes.
The good news: once I got in, the visit and the prescription worked wonders. My knee went from miserable to feeling 1000% better.
Turns out those old radio‑contest reflexes still pay off.
Mistigram: sometimes there's a gap between releases on our activity schedule, but please don't interpret it as our turning our backs on the community! We just need a little time to recharge our batteries and cook up more silly ideas for artpacks. This #blockASCII illustration, "we MiST you", was drawn by LDA and included in the MIST0223 artpack released three years ago this month.
Late-stage capitalism comes for us all eventually, some sooner than others. My friend Cat has done everything right - left a toxic relationship, protected her kids from grief and trauma, aimed for the stars career-wise (literally - she worked for NASA before going into the private sector), bought a house to escape the infinite-rentals trap, and used her resourcefulness and survival skills to keep her finances under control.
But her whole industry is being gutted by recent developments, and now she's scrambling to avoid becoming homeless/houseless by any means possible. In her case, buying a used RV and a truck so that there's at least a roof over her family's head.
She is, as we say in Boston, wicked smart, and doesn't seem like a likely early victim of the distressed economy, and yet here she is.
On a slightly less dire note, my friend Ossandra made this cute booklet for a different kind of roleplaying experience.
The Partner Handbook: WILLOWISP Duo Journaling RPG Zine A fun set of games for two people to play together, set in the mysterious sci-fi world of WILLOWISP spies, lies, and surprise!
Support her kickstarter to get a copy in paper or PDF, and support hard-working POC, women, independent creators.
What would be involved in setting up a fake facsimile of a VPN service to gather intelligence on a criminal organisation?
Would this essentially be a VPN where the relay saves a copy of the traffic? Everything I've found to read on the internet assumes more knowledge of tech and jargon than I have. Could a choice of servers in different countries be faked? A UI seems easy enough, but what about the ISP it connects to? If it was simply a gateway to a real VPN, would the real VPN notice? Could it at some point send a second copy elsewhere without being noticed? Edit: (See armiphlage's post below, that's the scenario I'm going to work with, a gateway to a real VPN. Thank you armiphalge. Additional info or other suggestions also welcome.)
This could be a scheme the character is pondering near the end, so it doesn't have to work - it could simply be trying to find solutions to some of the concerns. He has a habit of staring out the window late at night mulling over such things. He really wants to be able to build a phone case with a rechargeable listening device but we've gotten lost on the physics of discretely charging it from the phone.
There's the social infrastructure to make it appear legit, website & fake reviews and social engineering to get them to bite. I've already written this for a different operation, not in great detail but enough for my purposes. If faking a VPN is feasible, I'd probably replace the existing scheme in those scenes with this one. But the marketing email may be more along the lines of "Police and governments can't subpoena a service they don't know exists" with a link to the dark web.
Edit: It doesn't need to actually work as a VPN, the character won't care about hiding the users' info. It just needs to look like one from their side of things.
Please be careful with how much detail and tech-speak you throw at me, my health is poor and I am easily overwhelmed. If this is a rubbish idea, please be kind in putting it down.
These Marry Me Chicken Meatballs are a surprisingly easy weeknight dinner that tastes indulgent enough to make anyone fall in love. (I think “meatballs” might be my husband’s love language.) The creamy sauce is rich and comforting, and I also snuck in some extra budget-friendly vegetables to make this meal even heartier. Serve these tender Marry Me meatballs over pasta or creamy mashed potatoes for a restaurant-style dinner at home. Bonus: if you freeze the raw meatballs before cooking, they store well for future meals, making this recipe as practical as it is irresistible!
Easy Marry Me Meatballs Recipe
We’ve done a few spins on the viral Marry Me chicken recipe now, and I have to say, I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t taste good with that creamy Tuscan-style sauce. So let me introduce you to these flavor-packed, family-friendly Marry Me chicken meatballs!
Instead of searing chicken cutlets, I mix up a quick ground chicken mixture with sun-dried tomatoes and add a few smart little helpers to keep these chicken meatballs extra tender: toasted breadcrumbs for structure, an egg, plus a spoonful of mayonnaise and a splash of soy sauce to lock in moisture and boost the savory flavor. Then they finish cooking right in a creamy garlic-Parmesan sauce loaded with basil, a pinch of chili flakes, diced tomatoes, and frozen spinach. It’s the kind of dinner that disappears fast, so don’t expect leftovers!
Recipe Success Tips
Tiny tomato pieces and gentle scooping will help your Marry Me meatballs hold together. Finely mince the sun-dried tomatoes so they don’t create weak spots in the mixture. And when you scoop, don’t pack the meat in tight, just a level scoop. Packing can make them dense and more likely to crack during cooking.
These are big, hearty meatballs (but you can go smaller). I use a 4-oz scoop, which makes some pretty substantial Marry Me chicken meatballs! Want more pieces (or kid-sized portions)? Use a smaller scoop and start checking them earlier since they’ll cook through faster.
Keep it at a gentle simmer. Once the cream goes in, keep the heat on medium-low and let it simmer, not boil. Boiling can make cream sauces split. Using room-temp heavy cream helps it blend in smoothly, too.
Baste the chicken meatballs while they finish cooking. After you add the meat back to the pan, spoon the sauce over them a few times as they simmer. It helps them cook through evenly and stay juicy. They’re done when the center hits 165°F.
I use92% lean ground chicken because it stays tender without drying out. Chicken is classic for Marry Me-style recipes, but ground turkey works great, and lean ground beef should also work if that’s what’s budget-friendly. Even ready-made veggie meatballs can work in a pinch, just simmer them in the sauce and stir the sun-dried tomatoes straight into the sauce, like we do in our Marry Me white bean skillet.
Creamy, cozy, and weeknight-easy, these Marry Me Chicken Meatballs simmer in a tomato Parmesan sauce with spinach. Perfect over pasta or mashed potatoes!
Prepare fresh ingredients: mince sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and parsley.
In a large sauté pan or braiser, melt 2 Tbsp salted butter and add breadcrumbs. Stir together and toast breadcrumbs until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from heat once toasted.
In a large mixing bowl, combine toasted breadcrumbs, ground chicken, egg, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, finely minced sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, mayonnaise, and soy sauce.
Gently mix using a fork or clean hands until well-combined. Wipe out the braiser or sauté pan you used to toast the bread crumbs. Add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to the pan and set it to medium heat.
Using an ice cream scoop (ours is 4 oz), scoop level portions of the meat mixture into the hot oil in the braiser, searing the meatballs.
Turn the meatballs after about 4 minutes until they are golden brown on at least 2 sides. Remove from the pan and continue this step until all meatballs are evenly browned.
Mince the garlic (I cheated and used a garlic press—so easy) and add 2 Tbsp of butter to the pan with minced garlic and chili flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add chicken broth to the pan and let simmer for 3-4 minutes, scraping up any bits of chicken from the bottom of the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add room-temperature heavy cream.
Then, add strained tomatoes, frozen spinach, grated Parmesan, and fresh herbs. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
Add the browned chicken meatballs back to the pan.
Spoon the sauce over the meatballs as they finish cooking.
Your meatballs are done once they reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F. (I cooked mine for an additional 15-20 minutes until done.)
*I use 8% fat ground chicken. Leaner ground chicken should still work, but might turn out a little drier and not as tender.**We use Better Than Bouillon to make our chicken broth! It’s cheap, easy, and one pot lasts for a long time. You may need to season to taste if you use a low-sodium chicken broth.***You don’t need to thaw the frozen spinach before using. You can also use fresh spinach if you have it to hand. Roughly chop a few handfuls of fresh spinach and stir them into the sauce at the end. The heat from the sauce will wilt the spinach and warm it through.
Tip: If you like yoursauce thicker, you can make a slurry by removing ¼ cup of sauce from the pan and stirring in a bit of cornstarch, then adding that mixture back to the sauce. I didn’t have a need for this step, but if you want a thicker sauce, that’s an easy way to accomplish it!
how to make Marry Me Chicken Meatballs step-by-step photos
Gather all of your ingredients.
Prep the fresh add-ins: Finely mince 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, 1 Tbsp fresh basil, and ½ Tbsp fresh parsley.
Toast the breadcrumbs: In a large sauté pan or braiser, melt 2 Tbsp salted butter, then stir in ½ cup breadcrumbs. Cook, stirring often, until the crumbs are golden and smell toasty. Tip them into a bowl once done.
Make the meatball mixture: In a large bowl, combine the toasted breadcrumbs, 1 lb. ground chicken, 1 large egg, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried basil, the minced 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper, 1 Tbsp mayonnaise, and 1 tsp soy sauce.
Mix gently: Use a fork or clean hands to mix just until everything is evenly combined (don’t overwork it).
Brown the meat: Wipe out the pan you used for the breadcrumbs, then add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil and heat over medium. Scoop the mixture into the pan (I use a 4-oz ice cream scoop) and sear until browned.
Flip and finish browning: After about 4 minutes, turn the meatballs and cook until browned on at least two sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs.
Make the sauce: Add 2 Tbsp salted butter to the pan, along with 3 minced garlic cloves and ⅛ tsp chili flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Pour in 1 cup chicken broth and simmer for 3-4 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in 1 cup room temperature heavy cream (room temperature helps it blend smoothly and avoid curdling).
Finish the sauce: Stir in one 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes (strained), ⅓ cup frozen spinach, ½ cup grated Parmesan, plus the minced 1 Tbsp fresh basil and ½ Tbsp fresh parsley. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to combine.
Add the browned chicken meatballs back to the pan.
Spoon the sauce over top as they cook through. Keep the sauce at a gentle simmer for the entire time, don’t let it boil.
Cook until done: The meatballs are ready when they hit 165°F internal temp. Mine needed about 15-20 minutes extra in the sauce. Serve and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
I’d serve these Marry Me chicken meatballs over something that can really soak all that delicious sauce up. Pasta is a cheap and easy win, and if you want a fun (but still totally doable) homemade option, our spaetzle recipe is basically the easiest homemade pasta to try. But regular penne, orzo, rigatoni, or spaghetti works perfectly too, especially if you’re doing an at-home date night or just treating yourself to a restaurant-style dinner! Mashed potatoes are also a family favorite with this dish. And since I always try to add something fresh and green to whatever I serve my family, a quick side of air fryer broccoli just makes sense.
Storage & Reheating
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. I’d reheat the meat separately first to ensure it fully heats through, then add the sauce and warm everything together. You can reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium-low heat. If the sauce reduces too much, add a splash of chicken broth to loosen it back up.
You can also freeze the uncooked meatballs for an easy future dinner! Scoop and shape them, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until solid (about 1-2 hours). Transfer to a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then continue with the recipe as written. Cooked Marry Me chicken meatballs can also be frozen, but I wouldn’t freeze the sauce since cream sauces can separate after thawing.
More Delicious Chicken Recipes
Marry Me Chicken Soup: We turned the beloved Marry Me flavors into a cozy, creamy soup with shredded chicken, pillowy gnocchi, and bursts of sun-dried tomato that make every bite irresistible.
Chicken Meatloaf: My family loves this chicken meatloaf because it’s cozy and comforting like the classic, but lighter and weeknight-friendly, with grated veggies for sweetness, cottage cheese for creaminess, and a tangy tomato glaze that ties it all together.
Chicken Meatballs in Cream Sauce: These chicken meatballs are tender, flavorful, budget-friendly, and quick to make, plus the creamy sauce takes them an easy weeknight meal.
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