Heyyy

not just in a sexy way but like. They go to bed and he just wants to tell her all about his day and his thoughts and vent about annoying people that he had to spend time with instead of the far superior option, being alone with his wife/kids.

They always talk but something about the absolute privacy of the bedroom really frees his tongue.

The secret is in the water; literally, it’s IN the water.

See, when you boil potatoes, a lot of special starches and sugars and stuff leeches out into the water. When you drain the water before mashing them, you throw away a lot of good stuff, which is a big part of what makes mashed potatoes “dry” and bland, even when you add large amounts of cream and butter and things.

So don’t throw out any water.

Here’s how you do that:

First, cut your potatoes into smaller cubes than you probably do. (I’ve left the skins on for flavor and also, that’s where a lot of a potato’s nutrients are, like protien and iron and vitamins B and C, just to name a few)

The reason for cutting them smaller (besides avoiding giant peices of skin) is so that there is less space in the pot between each peice for water to fill, so you use less water to cook them. That’s important because you won’t be draining any water, so you can’t afford to have too much water! For the same reason, just barely cover them with water when they go on the stove.

But! Before you do that, put the pot on the stove with some butter, garlic, and seasonings; let the butter start to sizxle just a little then put most of a single layer of potatoes in the pan and let the brown and sear. Turn them, brown them on all sides, get ‘em fairly dark (I forgot to get a pic here because I was worried I’d burn the butter).

Ready? now throw the rest of the potatoes in right on top, and add your water, give them a stir. This way, you’re boiling in some of that lovely fried potato/french fry flavor.

Okay, so, as they cook, you may need to add a little water, not too much! ideally the very highest piece of potato will be poking just above the surface. Now, when your potatoes are really really soft, mash them directly into the water. Just pull them off the stove, leave all the water in, and start mashing. Trust me. At first you’ll think there’s too much water. If you get them mashed and they ARE a little too liquidy, just put ‘em back on the stove. You’ll have to stir often or constantly, but they will steam off additional water without losing any good stuff.

Now add some salt, and taste. Right?! And you haven’t even put in any cream or cheese or anything yet.

Speaking of which, you can use like, a third of the amount of butter or cream or anything, and they will still taste better than usual. So they taste better AND they are higher in nutrients AND lower in fats and salts! That’s a lot of win — enjoy your potatoes!

Also YES my ideal Mrs Bennet would be someone like Penelope Keith or Miranda Richardson--stylish, gorgeous, FULLY able to play silly and ridiculous but not so much that she flies into unsympathetic. We love Margo Leadbetter and Queenie and that is the energy Mrs Bennet needs.

Adaptations are so interesting to me because of how often they are based more upon each other than upon going back to the source material (like Jonathan Harker NEVER being as heroic as he is in the book in ANY adaptation of Dracula because they all are based on the 1931 version in which he does almost nothing but say "but surely, vampires are a fairy tale!" while his possessed fiancee talks to a bat in front of him), and Mr Collins and Mrs Bennet being presented the way they are is such a great example of that.

Thank you! This question references this article:

There are definitely trends that seem to run through Austen adaptations. Margaret Dashwood is many people's favourite character based on the 1995 movie and I've heard people get angry when she's left out. The girl is hardly in the book! Elizabeth's line about only marrying for "deepest love," something that Book!Elizabeth Bennet would never say, was in both the 1995 and then the 2005 adaptations, leading to many people mistaking it for canon.

"but I should think, Miss Elliot," (looking with serious reflection), "I should think he must be rather a dressy man for his time of life. Such a number of looking-glasses! oh Lord! there was no getting away from one's self. So I got Sophy to lend me a hand, and we soon shifted their quarters; and now I am quite snug, with my little shaving glass in one corner, and another great thing that I never go near."

Anne, amused in spite of herself, was rather distressed for an answer, and the Admiral, fearing he might not have been civil enough, took up the subject again, to say--"

Yeah! I do find it really interesting how different Austen heroes handle the responsibilities they’ve either taken on or inherited and how it shapes their characters. Because as we can see from how John Dashwood immediately is talked out of/allows himself to be talked out of supporting his sisters and stepmother in any meaningful way in Sense and Sensibility, this was not always a given. Austen is really making a point in all her novels about how people uphold the social contract with each other and all the ways that men, with all their privileges, can slide out of what they need to do so that their dependence have the basic necessities of their particular stations in life.