u/zem

avgolemono usually

congrats to nigeria, definitely a scrabble powerhouse.

I always recommend palak paneer as a good first indian dish to master cooking because it's almost guaranteed to taste good no matter what you do

boc tournament was pretty decent as far as tournaments go, but it still took up way more space in the book than was warranted for a few days worth of timeline (my standard complaint against tournaments inserted into books where they aren't the primary point of the book)

not PF, but since you mentioned discworld in your S tier (my all time favourite series too), I would highly recommend Gabby Couch's "darkwood" trilogy. extremely pratchetty in feel and great writing.

for ingredients, see if they have fresh or frozen methi (fenugreek) greens, that is very hard to find outside of Indian stores. also frozen coconut pieces.

ironically that was one of the two reasons i abandoned the series halfway through book 3 - it really felt like what he wanted to do was plot out endlessly detailed blow-by-blow space battles, and the books were just an excuse. (the other reason was that he would give several of his characters one or two "quirks" and then just repeat them ad nauseam every time the characters had screen time. drove me nuts.)

fake news, as the first man would say!

right (:

that's pretty impressive :)

Orconomics

hey, thanks, had never heard of this but it sounds awesome!

huh, I've never heard anyone say "non veg sabji". which part of India did you encounter that?

one of his best, for sure!

wondering if it would be better to roast one goose the day before, carve it, and then reheat the carved bits in the last stretch of roasting the second goose, assuming your oven will have space for a flat tray of goose parts where it wouldn't have space for a second goose. my main concern is that if the smoked goose (which you have never made before) doesn't turn out great then half your guests will get the short end of the stick.

I like it :)

a line from narnia that I thought went surprisingly hard: "or wonder, till it drives you mad / what would have happened if you had". the image of someone spiraling into insanity because of the road not taken seemed unusually stark for a children's book.

harks back to aragorn's classic line from lotr: "Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!"

the line from wheel of time that has stuck in my head is "the way back will come but once. be steadfast."

share and enjoy :) can't take credit for inventing it either!

right!

nancy kress's "an alien light". main character is a genius in a primitive setting, which is probably one of the easier ways to demonstrate intelligence - just have them discover things that we now know to be true - but it's done really well.

t kingfisher's "swordheart" is one of my favourite fantasy romances, and definitely has the "real character with real problems" feel to it.

helene wecker's "the golem and the jinni" is probably not the vibe you're looking for, but it's a fantasy romance with amazing writing and i would highly recommend it on its own merits. the characters are well fleshed out, as is the historical setting (immigrant communities in turn-of-the-1900s new york)

brain fry. it was okay, but the idea of prion diseases freaks me out, would not do again. also didn't taste of anything much.