Advent Libation / 'Twas Beauty Tamed the Roast / Pickled

[raisedbymoogles]

Title: Advent Libation
Characters/Pairings: Cloud
Rating: PG
Team: Avalanche
Word Count: 100

If you caught him in a good mood, Cloud would say his favorite drink was one of Tifa's cocktails, a blend of dark rum and fruit juices from the del Sol area - heavy on the rum. A black mood would have him naming whatever bottle was already open and he thought Tifa wouldn't miss much. (They were never enough to get him drunk, not anymore, but the burn going down was both punishing and grounding.)

Both would be lies. The sweetest, the freshest taste that had ever touched his tongue was simply water: water from the spring in Aeris's church.


Painkiller: from Social & Cocktail

• 50 ml dark rum


• 25 ml coconut cream


• 100 ml pineapple juice


• 25 ml orange juice


• orange wheel

Add all ingredients into a mixing tin and top-up with cubed ice. Shake hard for 10 seconds. Fill a tall glass with crushed ice and strain mixture into glass. Garnish with orange wheel.

Cucumber Lime Infused Water: from Simply Delicious Food

• 1 cucumber, sliced into ribbons using a vegetable peeler


• 2 limes, sliced


• 1 cup mint leaves


• 1.5 liters water (6 cups)

Combine all the ingredients in a bottle/jug and allow to infuse for 30 minutes. Serve ice cold.


*~*~*~*~*

Title: 'Twas Beauty Tamed the Roast
Characters/Pairings: Tifa, Barret
Rating: G
Team: Avalanche
Word Count: 100

Tifa didn't know what to make of the man with the gun-arm. Seventh Heaven saw its share of men who were mad at the world, and hell, she'd had to bounce him herself a few times, but she never had the heart to ban him. Maybe it was the grief she could see in flashes behind his rage: mirror to her own. Maybe it was the growing sense of purpose to him.

Maybe it was the time he told her how to properly baste a roast, and her client base saw a significant increase. Yeah. That had to be it.

Plum (Or Other Jam)-Basted Pork Roast: from Help, My Apartment Has A Kitchen

• 1 3-4-pound pork loin roast, preferably bone-in


• 1 cup plum jam/jam of your choice


• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar


• 1 teaspoon dry mustard or 1 tablespoon prepared mustard


• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice


• 1 1/2 cups cold water


• 4 teaspoons flour

Remove the pork from the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking to allow it to reach room temperature. When you're ready to cook the meat, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Set the pork loin roast on the rack in a roasting pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours. If you don't have a rack, just put the roast in the pan. If the roast is boneless, extend the cooking time - the total cooking time should be 40 minutes per pound for bone-in and 50 minutes per pound for boneless.

While the pork is baking, combine the jam, vinegar, mustard and allspice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 to 2 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring continually, until the jam has melted. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside.

After the roast has baked for 1 1/2 hours (or longer if boneless), remove it from the oven. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the sauce onto the roast and spread it around. Pour 1/2 cup of cold water into the bottom of the roasting pan and return the roast to the oven. Cook for an additional 1 hour 10 minutes.

Lift the roast from the rack, and place on a cutting board or serving platter. Let sit for 5 minutes; this will make it easier to slice.

Meanwhile, make the gravy. In a small jar or bowl, mix together the flour and the remaining 1 cup cold water and stir to dissolve the flour. Add the mixture to the remaining sauce and stir. Pour any liquid and meat drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan into the sauce.

Heat the sauce mixture over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until it boils and thickens. If it is too thick, add a bit more water. Pour into a gravy dish or bowly. Slice the pork roast thin and serve with the gravy.

*~*~*~*~*

Title: Pickled
Characters/Pairings: Cid, Shera
Rating: G
Team: Avalanche
Word Count: 100

"Did you seriously eat all my gherkins?"

Shera gave Cid's back an apologetic look as he rummaged in the fridge. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just wanted to try one, I don't know what happened..."

"That jar was practically full, how did - aw, Shera. And the grape jelly?" Shera winced, hunched over her ripening belly, and Cid relented. "Okay," he sighed. "I gotta run to the store. There's a thing my ma used to eat when she was pregnant, maybe it'll help."

"Thank you," Shera sighed.

Cid shook his finger at her. "Then maybe you'll stay outta my goddamn gherkins!"

Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper: from Smitten Kitchen

• 1 pound red or black grapes, preferably seedless (Mooglenote: or however many will fit into the jar you're using, with a little wiggle room for the cinnamon stick. I used about 3/4ths of a 500g punnet.)


• 1 cup white wine vinegar


• 1 cup granulated sugar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds (Mooglenote: I used yellow and it worked just fine.)


• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns


• 1 (2 1/2-inch) cinnamon stick, cut in half (if using two jars, otherwise leave whole)


• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Rinse and dry the grapes, and pull them carefully from their stems. Using a small sharp knife, trim away the “belly button” at the stem end of the grape (and try not to eat all of the belly buttons at once, m’kay?) (Mooglenote: pfft, yeah right.), exposing a bit of the flesh inside. Divide the grapes among 2 pint-sized clean, dry canning jars.

In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then you have two choices. The original recipe has you pour the bring mixture over the grapes and let them cool together. I personally prefer a cold brine on certain foods, not wanting to wilt the fresh fruit, so I cool the brine completely before pouring it over. The former will yield a more tender pickle, and it will pick up the brine’s flavor faster. The latter will take a bit longer to souse, but the grapes will stay more firm. Both will be delicious.

Once cool, chill the grape and brine mixture in their jars in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight.