mochi ice cream + green tea

+-- honeytree pudding --+

i followed this step-by-step video recipe!

i was nervous about steaming, but it turns out all you really need is a lidded pot that's deep enough for a small cup to go in. luckily I had some little snack bowls that were the perfect size.

the hardest part was finding something that could act as a mesh strainer. the second hardest part was getting the pudding out after it was steamed, without burning myself. I think i ended up levering it out with some spatulas

i have never really had flan before. I thought it was a weird texture, so I kept asking my roommate, "is this how it's supposed to be??" and they were like "yeah". i think i lowkey don't like it, but making it was REALLY fun. the frozen fruits also did not help the texture. go get fresh fruit for this, you guys! and maybe a non-apricot jam?

overall it was pretty good! but for flan texture reasons i'm not sure i would make it again

+-- willowgrape cocktail--+

this recipe calls for 7 lemons. what kind of lemons is olruggio using???? i bought 5 common large lemons from walmart and only 4 fit into the pitcher

i almost never like alcohol but this was soooooooo good. and EASY 👯‍♂️👯

here is the actual recipe. apologies as i don't think it's the official translation

the steps I actually followed:

1. poured an entire bottle of Stella Rosa Peach (which was about 3 cups) into a pitcher

2. sliced 3 lemons horizontally into thin circles, adding them to the pitcher. threw the 4th one in there whole. to honor olruggio

3. sliced 1 apple and added it to the pitcher

4. added 2 cinnamon sticks. I had to really push them down with a ladle to get them under the fruits and into the drink

++ remember, you want cinnamon sticks, not ground cinnamon! the ground cinnamon granules will affect the texture of your drink. actually, if you don't care whether your drink is a little grainy, I guess it doesn't matter

5. mixed in 2 tbsp of honey

++ did not taste this at all. you could probably just not add it

6. I didn't have a tightly closed container, or really even a pitcher with a lid, so I just saran wrapped my lidless DAISO pitcher before putting it in the fridge #womeninstem

7. I let the pitcher sit in the fridge for 2 hours, and then it was ready!

making these was an ordeal, but they were pretty good. i didn't realize that there was an actual recipe at the end of the chapter, so i just tried to follow what qifrey did... 😭😭 anyway, they came out fine, so I guess that means it's hard to fuck these up?

also, if you have a mitsuwa near you: you can just go buy croquettes, grill some veggies, and have a qifrey themed dinner. i did not do that and I hate my stupid chud life

here's the actual recipe pictured in the manga (which I did not follow 🧍)

+-- what i actually did --+

1. Baked 4 large russet potatoes at 425°F for 60 minutes

2. Tore up 6 or 7 (😐) hickory smoked bacon strips. Threw them in a pan on high until I they seemed cooked i guess. Scooped them out with a spatula, then transferred to a paper towel on a plate.

3. Chopped up 2-3 small shiitake mushrooms and cooked them in the leftover bacon grease.

++ I tried to get the mushroom pieces as small as possible since I don't like them. I like to squish them though. They're the perfect sponge texture to play with (but not to chew lol)

++ he was pretty clearly using baby bella-like shrooms but we had shiitake mushrooms on hand

4. Scooped the potato into a bowl, removing the skin (it slid right off).

5. Kind of vaguely mashed the potatoes in the bowl with a ladle.

6. Poured in a cup of milk and a tablespoon of melted butter. Stirred and mashed until it was kind of a normal mashed potato consistency.

++ My potatoes weren't runny the way his were, but I was already surprised I had made something edible after winging it with the amount of milk to add, so I was scared of adding more.

7. Mix in cooked bacon and mushroom, then add salt and pepper to taste.

++ I kept adding salt and pepper but it was never enough. The actual recipe says "a pinch", but it's a fact that Qifrey is afraid of seasoning. he didn't add ANY salt or pepper to his eggs for the egg sandwiches, which is a sign there's something wrong with him. DON'T trust qifrey on salt & pepper

8. At this point, I'm supposed to flash freeze what is essentially some very yummy loaded mashed potatoes. I threw mine in the freezer for 15 minutes, which was not long enough for anything to actually happen. But since my potatoes were relatively solid I could just move on

8. Poured panko breadcrumbs onto a plate. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl.

++ I think I used a full 8oz container of panko

9. Pulled out a large sheet of parchment paper and put on plastic gloves.

10. Dumped vegetable oil into a pan on medium-high heat

11. Scooped the potato mix into ~11 equally sized, way too large ovals. Set them aside on the parchment paper.

11.5. I saw another recipe do this, so I had to try: I cut up small pieces of mozarella and folded them into the center of each croquette. Definitely worth it

++ It might have actually been useful to freeze them at this point so they held their shape better in the next step.

12. Egged and breaded them.

++ I feel like you really need to make sure you thoroughly coat them. I think I didn't do a very good job and they fell apart while frying.

13. Fried them until they were crispy on each side. Took around 2 minutes for each side

++ I burnt the ones in the picture. This is because my electric stove just does whatever. I had normal colored ones, and the cook time on those was ~2 mins each side, but those are the ones that fell apart in the pan because of my poor breading job. So, the burnt ones get to be in the photo.

14. Spatula-d them onto a plate with paper towels to try and soak up the grease.

15. Topped with Classico 5 Cheese Sauce, then finished!

Finally at like 9:30 PM we were able to watch the episode. We ended up eating them with forks.

I scream laughed when I realized I was seeing one of my reaction images animated. Qifrey's first recipe to celebrate his best panel?? so serendipitous

did you guys know crunchyroll has a dub for more than 5 languages? i like portugese tetia