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Theater review: Hadestown
Feb. 22nd, 2026 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
troisoiseauxI took a day trip to NYC specifically to see the current cast of Hadestown— in particular, West End import Jack Wolfe as Orpheus and folk singer Allison Russell as Persephone— before the cast turnover in March, and it was absolutely worth the trip! I've loved Anais Mitchell's concept album for years and have actually seen the Broadway musical twice* before, although apparently it didn't stick, because I seem to have forgotten half of the songs...? Like, genuinely, I found myself thinking ...have I ever heard this song before? They can't have changed the musical since 2023, right? more than once. (The stage musical is substantially different from the concept album, both in terms of fleshing out the plot by adding new songs and in tweaking some of the original ones.)
In various assorted thoughts:
- Jack Wolfe was always going to be the best Orpheus I've seen, because the previous actor I saw was... not the strongest part of the show, but even without grading on a curve, he was in fact phenomenal, just absolutely perfect for the role. His Orpheus is so sweetly awkward and completely earnest it's no wonder that even street-smart, touch-shy Eurydice falls for his castle-in-the-sky promises of gold rings and wedding feasts and his plan to write a song that will bring the seasons— out of whack since Hades and Persephone fell out of love, all freezing winters and scorching summers, no spring or fall— back in tune, and he has the voice to pull it off: like, yep, this guy can in fact sing so beautifully it would make flowers bloom and the gods fall back in love, 100%, checks out. (I even forgive the musical for the lyric changes from Mitchell's original "Epic (Part I/II)", because the less flowery lyrics did in fact sound lovely when Wolfe sang them.) It perhaps made the ending even more devastating, because surely, if any Orpheus could make it out, this one... but no :(
- At least from the nosebleed seats, the actresses playing Eurydice (Morgan Dudley) and Persephone (Russell) looked strikingly alike, which added an interesting dynamic to both Persephone's and Hades' interactions with Eurydice— the parallels between Eurydice and Persephone, and between both couples, are written into the story itself, but I did find myself thinking, like, did this Eurydice catch Hades' eye because she looks like Persephone? Is Persephone's particular kindness to/sympathy for Eurydice because she sees her younger self, too? I think the fact that I'd particularly noticed their similarly braided hair, and how Eurydice's neutral-toned first-act costume and Persephone's colorful one (green dress, ocre-red highlights in her hair) felt like visual foils, made me look at Persephone's costume change into vintage widow's black when she returns to Hadestown for the winter with new eyes, too, especially the detail of her hair being hidden away in one of those fancy hair nets (snoods?).
- I really appreciated how this Hades (Paulo Szot) wasn't trying to copy Patrick Page's original performance, because I feel like the other actor I saw in the role was trying a little too hard to match Page's "sounds like the lowest key on a piano" vocal depth and it had mostly just sounded growly. This actor's voice has/he was going for more of a rich timbre(?) (I don't know music words) than sheer depth; I found out afterwards that he's an opera singer by training, which checks out. Actually, overall, I really appreciated how differently this cast played the same roles than the one I saw before— it felt like a really fresh take! (I would say that both versions of Eurydice and Persephone are a tie for me, I liked this Orpheus and Hades much better, and my favorite Hermes remains the understudy I saw in 2023.)
( Footnotes )
In various assorted thoughts:
- Jack Wolfe was always going to be the best Orpheus I've seen, because the previous actor I saw was... not the strongest part of the show, but even without grading on a curve, he was in fact phenomenal, just absolutely perfect for the role. His Orpheus is so sweetly awkward and completely earnest it's no wonder that even street-smart, touch-shy Eurydice falls for his castle-in-the-sky promises of gold rings and wedding feasts and his plan to write a song that will bring the seasons— out of whack since Hades and Persephone fell out of love, all freezing winters and scorching summers, no spring or fall— back in tune, and he has the voice to pull it off: like, yep, this guy can in fact sing so beautifully it would make flowers bloom and the gods fall back in love, 100%, checks out. (I even forgive the musical for the lyric changes from Mitchell's original "Epic (Part I/II)", because the less flowery lyrics did in fact sound lovely when Wolfe sang them.) It perhaps made the ending even more devastating, because surely, if any Orpheus could make it out, this one... but no :(
- At least from the nosebleed seats, the actresses playing Eurydice (Morgan Dudley) and Persephone (Russell) looked strikingly alike, which added an interesting dynamic to both Persephone's and Hades' interactions with Eurydice— the parallels between Eurydice and Persephone, and between both couples, are written into the story itself, but I did find myself thinking, like, did this Eurydice catch Hades' eye because she looks like Persephone? Is Persephone's particular kindness to/sympathy for Eurydice because she sees her younger self, too? I think the fact that I'd particularly noticed their similarly braided hair, and how Eurydice's neutral-toned first-act costume and Persephone's colorful one (green dress, ocre-red highlights in her hair) felt like visual foils, made me look at Persephone's costume change into vintage widow's black when she returns to Hadestown for the winter with new eyes, too, especially the detail of her hair being hidden away in one of those fancy hair nets (snoods?).
- I really appreciated how this Hades (Paulo Szot) wasn't trying to copy Patrick Page's original performance, because I feel like the other actor I saw in the role was trying a little too hard to match Page's "sounds like the lowest key on a piano" vocal depth and it had mostly just sounded growly. This actor's voice has/he was going for more of a rich timbre(?) (I don't know music words) than sheer depth; I found out afterwards that he's an opera singer by training, which checks out. Actually, overall, I really appreciated how differently this cast played the same roles than the one I saw before— it felt like a really fresh take! (I would say that both versions of Eurydice and Persephone are a tie for me, I liked this Orpheus and Hades much better, and my favorite Hermes remains the understudy I saw in 2023.)
( Footnotes )
(no subject)
Feb. 22nd, 2026 05:07 pmravenThere's a feeling, I hope, a unidentifiable but deeply uncomfortable burn, felt by white women, who don't know, but should know, how many private brown group chats are typing.
And as I don't want to take on a cringe middle-class racist white woman (at this point there's about five of them that I have at various times decided not to take on, all terribly right-on, right-thinking, probably-vegan feminist pro-Palestine queer white women), that is all I have to say about that.
And as I don't want to take on a cringe middle-class racist white woman (at this point there's about five of them that I have at various times decided not to take on, all terribly right-on, right-thinking, probably-vegan feminist pro-Palestine queer white women), that is all I have to say about that.
2026.02.22
Feb. 22nd, 2026 11:09 amlsandersonICE
Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges, documents reveal
A Guardian analysis finds the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time from January to August last year had no criminal convictions
Will Craft
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/22/us-immigration-trump-administration
How daily routines in Minneapolis and St Paul have changed amid 3,000 federal immigration agents – in pictures
Many people have been sheltering at home. Protests have become part of the daily rhythm. Community networks continue to patrol and document agents’ interactions
Bridget Bennett in Minneapolis and St Paul
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/22/minneapolis-st-paul-daily-routines-immigration ( Read more... )
Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges, documents reveal
A Guardian analysis finds the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time from January to August last year had no criminal convictions
Will Craft
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/22/us-immigration-trump-administration
How daily routines in Minneapolis and St Paul have changed amid 3,000 federal immigration agents – in pictures
Many people have been sheltering at home. Protests have become part of the daily rhythm. Community networks continue to patrol and document agents’ interactions
Bridget Bennett in Minneapolis and St Paul
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/22/minneapolis-st-paul-daily-routines-immigration ( Read more... )
(no subject)
Feb. 18th, 2026 10:32 amconulySo, you got my opinion on Heated Rivalry, but I gotta say, I will never not read fanfics structured like ongoing internet sagas.
Also, gotta love the one dude, BostonSportsBro69, who posts in both /r/relationship_advice and /r/hockey going around in /r/hockey saying "Uh, no, it's just normal sportsbro rival stuff, you're all reading way too much into this"when because he absolutely knows better. (I don't think he's supposed to be one of Ilya's teammates, just a fan.)
***************
( Links )
Also, gotta love the one dude, BostonSportsBro69, who posts in both /r/relationship_advice and /r/hockey going around in /r/hockey saying "Uh, no, it's just normal sportsbro rival stuff, you're all reading way too much into this"
( Links )
Hard Hat Mack (1983)
Feb. 22nd, 2026 09:54 ampauraqueThis early PC platformer is of no small historical interest, as it was the first game released by everybody's favorite totally uncontroversial and non-resented game publishing company, Electronic Arts. Like most of their titles then and now, it wasn't developed in-house; Michael Abbott and Matthew Alexander get the design and programming credit for this one.
But you don't need to me to tell you the illustrious history of EA (or, as it was briefly called at its inception, "Amazin' Software"—and I can't tell you how disappointed I am that we don't live in the timeline where they kept that name). I guess you also don't technically need me to tell you about this ridiculous game and my memories of playing it while being unable to identify most of the characters and objects it contains, but I'm going to go ahead anyway.
In Hard Hat Mack you play as a construction worker. I did understand that much. In the first level you have to collect pieces of a beam and use them to fill in the gaps, and then grab a wandering jackhammer to hammer them into place. ( This is where my understanding of the game began to break down; I thought the jackhammer was a tornado. )
Hard Hat Mack is... well, it sure is a game. You can find it on abandonware sites, but I couldn't really get it to run well on any version or emulator I tried. The DOS version (which I had as a kid) runs too fast in DOSBox by default, but when I reduced the clock speed I found that it lagged badly when multiple objects were moving, which made the second level pretty much unplayable. We probably shouldn't hold our breaths for EA to offer a re-release, and maybe that's for the best.
But you don't need to me to tell you the illustrious history of EA (or, as it was briefly called at its inception, "Amazin' Software"—and I can't tell you how disappointed I am that we don't live in the timeline where they kept that name). I guess you also don't technically need me to tell you about this ridiculous game and my memories of playing it while being unable to identify most of the characters and objects it contains, but I'm going to go ahead anyway.
In Hard Hat Mack you play as a construction worker. I did understand that much. In the first level you have to collect pieces of a beam and use them to fill in the gaps, and then grab a wandering jackhammer to hammer them into place. ( This is where my understanding of the game began to break down; I thought the jackhammer was a tornado. )
Hard Hat Mack is... well, it sure is a game. You can find it on abandonware sites, but I couldn't really get it to run well on any version or emulator I tried. The DOS version (which I had as a kid) runs too fast in DOSBox by default, but when I reduced the clock speed I found that it lagged badly when multiple objects were moving, which made the second level pretty much unplayable. We probably shouldn't hold our breaths for EA to offer a re-release, and maybe that's for the best.
Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy
Feb. 22nd, 2026 09:33 amjames_davis_nicoll
Can America's well-financed, highly-experienced, heavily-armed war machine hope to prevail against a numerically insignificant, poorly-armed, American teen movement?
Dance the Eagle to Sleep by Marge Piercy
Bletchley Park
Feb. 22nd, 2026 02:01 pmnanilaLast weekend, we stayed in a Landmark Trust property a mere half-hour journey to Bletchley Park. We were surprised by nice weather on the Saturday, so we made the trip. Below is an assortment of photos from the selection of buildings we managed to visit over the course of five hours. I don’t think we saw more than a third of it, so we’ll definitely take advantage of the year-long entry that the steep admission price gets you to see the rest.
The dingy basement has had a lick of paint and yet somehow doggedly retains its character.
Listening stations.
Keiki does some Morse code-breaking.
Humuhumu does some Enigma encoding.
A surprisingly dry and sunny day after all the rain we’ve been having.
Daffodils were not quite ready.
The Mansion seemed like it was a bit of all right.
Not so sure the Intelligence Factory needs this.
Humuhumu and I spent quite a while on this interactive exhibit, plotting the locations of various maritime assets and enemies.
Many of the personal testimonials in the exhibition mention how boring and repetitive some of the intelligence work was.
You can see why they resorted to putting frogs in the pneumatic tube system to liven up the day.
The Park is beautifully maintained and the interactive exhibits are well designed and engaging - I’d say from the age of about 10 on up - so well worth a visit. I restrained myself to one book in the gift shop (The Walls Have Ears by Helen Fry) but could easily have brought home a stack.
The dingy basement has had a lick of paint and yet somehow doggedly retains its character.
Listening stations.
Keiki does some Morse code-breaking.
Humuhumu does some Enigma encoding.
A surprisingly dry and sunny day after all the rain we’ve been having.
Daffodils were not quite ready.
The Mansion seemed like it was a bit of all right.
Not so sure the Intelligence Factory needs this.
Humuhumu and I spent quite a while on this interactive exhibit, plotting the locations of various maritime assets and enemies.
Many of the personal testimonials in the exhibition mention how boring and repetitive some of the intelligence work was.
You can see why they resorted to putting frogs in the pneumatic tube system to liven up the day.
The Park is beautifully maintained and the interactive exhibits are well designed and engaging - I’d say from the age of about 10 on up - so well worth a visit. I restrained myself to one book in the gift shop (The Walls Have Ears by Helen Fry) but could easily have brought home a stack.
Collage Journaling: Chinese New Year
Feb. 22nd, 2026 06:57 amstonepicnicking_okapiI did two collages but I am only happy enough about the card for my sister to share. Made with Michael's craft store packet of Chinese New Year stickers. The black is actually gold, I just closed the lid of the scanner so it's black. And the print under the lower left side is Japanese, but I am 100% certain my sister won't know the difference.
Good things recently
Feb. 22nd, 2026 04:18 pmadoreWas reading a fic and laughed out loud at it.
Am delighting myself writing Dollshops & Deathmages. I'm halfway done and happy with how it's shaping up.
Had an excellent peach kombucha to drink.
Have the house to myself for a glorious while, because my relatives are travelling.
Am enjoying a k-drama tremendously. Undercover Miss Hong. It's halfway aired, let's hope the rest of it is just as good. (You know those silly Hollywood action movies where there's a guy doing some kind of secret operation, and women who are in the narrative all have crushes on him, and he's too busy doing Important Stuff to notice? Imagine if it was the heroine doing stuff too Secret and Important to pay much mind to the men growing feelings for her, and you have Undercover Miss Hong. Trust k-drama to make something assuming *I* am watching the way other media industries make things assuming men are watching. And it features strong female friendships!)
Three out of the five things I have put down here are related to stories. 역시, whenever I'm happy, stories are usually at the heart of my happiness.
Am delighting myself writing Dollshops & Deathmages. I'm halfway done and happy with how it's shaping up.
Had an excellent peach kombucha to drink.
Have the house to myself for a glorious while, because my relatives are travelling.
Am enjoying a k-drama tremendously. Undercover Miss Hong. It's halfway aired, let's hope the rest of it is just as good. (You know those silly Hollywood action movies where there's a guy doing some kind of secret operation, and women who are in the narrative all have crushes on him, and he's too busy doing Important Stuff to notice? Imagine if it was the heroine doing stuff too Secret and Important to pay much mind to the men growing feelings for her, and you have Undercover Miss Hong. Trust k-drama to make something assuming *I* am watching the way other media industries make things assuming men are watching. And it features strong female friendships!)
Three out of the five things I have put down here are related to stories. 역시, whenever I'm happy, stories are usually at the heart of my happiness.
February LOVE-fest: Day 20 & 21: Infatuation & Maternal Love
Feb. 21st, 2026 06:02 pmstonepicnicking_okapi( 1-19 )
20. infatuation
21. maternal love
22. obsession
23. agape
24. love of animals
25. unconditional love
26. forbidden love
27. ecstasy
28. the beloved
---
Here is a snippet from At Bertram's Hotel which inspired the double drabble below with the theme of infatuation and the second part ties into Nemesis and the theme of maternal love.
...Jane Marple, that pink and white eager young girl...Such a silly girl in many ways...now who was that very unsuitable young man whose name—oh dear, she couldn’t even remember it now! How wise her mother had been to nip that friendship so firmly in the bud. She had come across him years later—and really he was quite dreadful! At the time she had cried herself to sleep for at least a week!
Nowadays, of course—she considered nowadays...These poor young things. Some of them had mothers, but never mothers who seemed to be any good— mothers who were quite incapable of protecting their daughters from silly affairs, illegitimate babies, and early and unfortunate marriages. It was all very sad.
---
Day 20: Infatuation
Title: Mother's Wisdom
Fandom: Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Rating: Gen
Length: 200
Summary: Jane Marple bumps into a crush years after.
( Read more... )
---
Day 21: Maternal Love
So for this I am doing my All of Agatha review of Nemesis. So this is the last Miss Marple novel written (though Sleeping Murder would be published later, it was written in the 1940's and put in a vault), published in 1971.
Nemesis is a brilliant story with so much lovely foreshadowing and character exposition and misdirection. And it also evokes a nauseating amount of cringe and revulsion for the modern reader.
So the plot is that Miss Marple gets a vague assignment from Mister Rafiel (the rich man of A Caribbean Mystery) after that man's death and she goes on a tour of homes and gardens and eventually works out that Mister Rafiel's no-good son who is in prison for killing his girlfriend didn't actually kill her. The plot is very well done, and it has many great elements, foreshadowing with the use of plants, harkening back to Miss Marples earlier cases, interesting characters including the lawyers who think this is all crackers and the best lesbian duo in canon after Hinch and Murgatroyd of A Murder is Announced (Cook and Barrow, the women hired to protect Miss Marple). So many wonderful things and I love the story.
But...
Agatha Christie is the very LAST person in the world you want to get love advice from, ANY kind of advice for ANY kind of love. And she has definite opinions about what a 'real mother' is. Adopted mothers are not real. And adopted mother love can never match biological mother love and is, in fact, twisted and warped and deserves punishment (and is punishing). But then (as in the quote above) she says that the problem of 'modern' girls is that their mothers are no good. She has a lot of very old lady 'get off my lawn' ideas about young people and their sexual behavior.
And she has extremely warped ideas about marriage, why people should get married, the expectation of infidelity, roles of husband and wives. There are two sections that proffer undiluted rape apology. Really, I was beginning to think she was getting worse as she got older but then I remember The Man in the Brown Suit and decided she had always been like that.
But...
it's a great plot and Miss Marple saves the day and wins 20,000 pounds and probably enjoys the partridge she buys with her winnings very much.
20. infatuation
21. maternal love
22. obsession
23. agape
24. love of animals
25. unconditional love
26. forbidden love
27. ecstasy
28. the beloved
---
Here is a snippet from At Bertram's Hotel which inspired the double drabble below with the theme of infatuation and the second part ties into Nemesis and the theme of maternal love.
...Jane Marple, that pink and white eager young girl...Such a silly girl in many ways...now who was that very unsuitable young man whose name—oh dear, she couldn’t even remember it now! How wise her mother had been to nip that friendship so firmly in the bud. She had come across him years later—and really he was quite dreadful! At the time she had cried herself to sleep for at least a week!
Nowadays, of course—she considered nowadays...These poor young things. Some of them had mothers, but never mothers who seemed to be any good— mothers who were quite incapable of protecting their daughters from silly affairs, illegitimate babies, and early and unfortunate marriages. It was all very sad.
---
Day 20: Infatuation
Title: Mother's Wisdom
Fandom: Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Rating: Gen
Length: 200
Summary: Jane Marple bumps into a crush years after.
( Read more... )
---
Day 21: Maternal Love
So for this I am doing my All of Agatha review of Nemesis. So this is the last Miss Marple novel written (though Sleeping Murder would be published later, it was written in the 1940's and put in a vault), published in 1971.
Nemesis is a brilliant story with so much lovely foreshadowing and character exposition and misdirection. And it also evokes a nauseating amount of cringe and revulsion for the modern reader.
So the plot is that Miss Marple gets a vague assignment from Mister Rafiel (the rich man of A Caribbean Mystery) after that man's death and she goes on a tour of homes and gardens and eventually works out that Mister Rafiel's no-good son who is in prison for killing his girlfriend didn't actually kill her. The plot is very well done, and it has many great elements, foreshadowing with the use of plants, harkening back to Miss Marples earlier cases, interesting characters including the lawyers who think this is all crackers and the best lesbian duo in canon after Hinch and Murgatroyd of A Murder is Announced (Cook and Barrow, the women hired to protect Miss Marple). So many wonderful things and I love the story.
But...
Agatha Christie is the very LAST person in the world you want to get love advice from, ANY kind of advice for ANY kind of love. And she has definite opinions about what a 'real mother' is. Adopted mothers are not real. And adopted mother love can never match biological mother love and is, in fact, twisted and warped and deserves punishment (and is punishing). But then (as in the quote above) she says that the problem of 'modern' girls is that their mothers are no good. She has a lot of very old lady 'get off my lawn' ideas about young people and their sexual behavior.
And she has extremely warped ideas about marriage, why people should get married, the expectation of infidelity, roles of husband and wives. There are two sections that proffer undiluted rape apology. Really, I was beginning to think she was getting worse as she got older but then I remember The Man in the Brown Suit and decided she had always been like that.
But...
it's a great plot and Miss Marple saves the day and wins 20,000 pounds and probably enjoys the partridge she buys with her winnings very much.
Cream cheese cookies
Feb. 22nd, 2026 01:07 ampattroseCream Cheese cookies.
Full Recipe 👇
🥛 Main Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter (115g), softened
4 oz cream cheese (120g), room temperature
1¾ cups all-purpose flour (200g)
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking powder
👩🍳 Directions
➡️ Cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
➡️ Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract, then beat until smooth and creamy.
➡️ Mix in the baking powder and flour just until combined — avoid overmixing for soft cookies.
➡️ Cover the dough and refrigerate for about 1 hour to firm up.
➡️ Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
➡️ Roll the chilled dough into 1–2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet.
➡️ Gently flatten each ball with your hand.
➡️ Bake for 9–11 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly golden.
➡️ Let cool completely, then dust generously with powdered sugar.
Enjoy these ultra-soft, buttery cream cheese cookies
Full Recipe 👇
🥛 Main Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter (115g), softened
4 oz cream cheese (120g), room temperature
1¾ cups all-purpose flour (200g)
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking powder
👩🍳 Directions
➡️ Cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
➡️ Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract, then beat until smooth and creamy.
➡️ Mix in the baking powder and flour just until combined — avoid overmixing for soft cookies.
➡️ Cover the dough and refrigerate for about 1 hour to firm up.
➡️ Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
➡️ Roll the chilled dough into 1–2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet.
➡️ Gently flatten each ball with your hand.
➡️ Bake for 9–11 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly golden.
➡️ Let cool completely, then dust generously with powdered sugar.
Enjoy these ultra-soft, buttery cream cheese cookies
quesadilla tower
Feb. 22nd, 2026 01:04 ampattroseQuesadilla tower
Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 pkgs. taco seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar from the block
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese from the block
• 6- 8-inch flour tortillas
• Corn, drained
• Red onion, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed.
• Red pepper, sliced and cooked.
• Shredded lettuce, for serving
• Fresh cilantro, for serving
• Sour cream, for serving
• Pico de gallo, for serving
• Guacamole, for serving�
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with olive oil. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, add the ground beef and cook until browned. Drain grease. Add taco seasoning packet and cook to package directions. Set aside and allow to cool.
3. Place a tortilla in the bottom of the greased springform pan. Top with a thin layer of the beef and some corn as well as some cheese. Repeat this adding red onion. For the next layer repeat this again using some black beans. For the next layer repeat and add the cooked peppers. After adding your last tortilla top with about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
4. Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Until the cheese is melted and it’s is cooked.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 10 to 15 minutes before removing the side of the pan, slicing and serving.
6. Garnish with shredded lettuce, cilantro, sour cream, pico de gallo and guacamole.
7. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 pkgs. taco seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar from the block
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese from the block
• 6- 8-inch flour tortillas
• Corn, drained
• Red onion, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed.
• Red pepper, sliced and cooked.
• Shredded lettuce, for serving
• Fresh cilantro, for serving
• Sour cream, for serving
• Pico de gallo, for serving
• Guacamole, for serving�
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with olive oil. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet, add the ground beef and cook until browned. Drain grease. Add taco seasoning packet and cook to package directions. Set aside and allow to cool.
3. Place a tortilla in the bottom of the greased springform pan. Top with a thin layer of the beef and some corn as well as some cheese. Repeat this adding red onion. For the next layer repeat this again using some black beans. For the next layer repeat and add the cooked peppers. After adding your last tortilla top with about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.
4. Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Until the cheese is melted and it’s is cooked.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 10 to 15 minutes before removing the side of the pan, slicing and serving.
6. Garnish with shredded lettuce, cilantro, sour cream, pico de gallo and guacamole.
7. Enjoy!
Not quite 365 days questions meme February
Feb. 21st, 2026 11:58 pmpattrose22. What is your favourite writing implement – a fountain pen, ballpoint pen, pencil or something else?
A friend of mine gave me a thick retractable pencil that is thick lead. It's a mechanical pencils. I've never seen one before but I love it. I mean a thick one. I can erase mistakes. Yay! But other then that I use a fine point gel pen. I have four different kinds. And I use legal pads like crazy. And there are post-it notes all over everything. It may be a weird system but it works. Oh the thick pencil is called Paper Mate Handwriting. For 5 of them and extra lead they cost 3.49. Can't beat that.p
A friend of mine gave me a thick retractable pencil that is thick lead. It's a mechanical pencils. I've never seen one before but I love it. I mean a thick one. I can erase mistakes. Yay! But other then that I use a fine point gel pen. I have four different kinds. And I use legal pads like crazy. And there are post-it notes all over everything. It may be a weird system but it works. Oh the thick pencil is called Paper Mate Handwriting. For 5 of them and extra lead they cost 3.49. Can't beat that.p
2026 60 questions meme.
Feb. 21st, 2026 11:36 pmpattroseHow do you want to contribute your talents and passions to the world? Who could be touched by you, and how would it affect them?
I'm not sure about this one. My passions are very simple. I love doing fandom things all week. I also love working on my children's books. I have so much to do with them. There are six of them. I do have the art ready, but a lot of work still needs to be done on the stories. I need to make some time.
Who could be touched by you? Well, I believe the children will have the books read to them and that it will make a difference in their lives. My daughter told me that her 2-year-old carries one of my books around and recites it aloud. Her 8-year-old brother reads my first book to her every night. They both love it. You haven't a clue as to how happy that makes me. I hope that the children know how much love went into these books.
I love making moodboards for all different fandoms. I have more fun.
I'm not sure about this one. My passions are very simple. I love doing fandom things all week. I also love working on my children's books. I have so much to do with them. There are six of them. I do have the art ready, but a lot of work still needs to be done on the stories. I need to make some time.
Who could be touched by you? Well, I believe the children will have the books read to them and that it will make a difference in their lives. My daughter told me that her 2-year-old carries one of my books around and recites it aloud. Her 8-year-old brother reads my first book to her every night. They both love it. You haven't a clue as to how happy that makes me. I hope that the children know how much love went into these books.
I love making moodboards for all different fandoms. I have more fun.
Topics for talk February.
Feb. 21st, 2026 11:17 pmpattroseGoals For the Next Week:
Clean our walk-in closet. I’ve been talking about it for two months. I’m collecting things for the thrift center. There is so much to put in bags. It’s a charity that helps homeless people get back their lives. It’s one way of helping.
Dinner on Wednesday night with our daughter, Chris and her hubby. We’re going to a steak house. I can’t wait. I love filet mignon. Or maybe I might try the fish. I like to get shrimp or salmon.
Wednesday and Thursday are my days for watching Beverly. She's 89 and just needs a little help. I'm glad to do it. We have great discussions.
Thursday is a medical phone call. I sometimes miss them. I prefer appointments. I never forget them.
On Sunday, we’re having a nice dinner with my daughter and son-in-law. I’m making a new recipe for dinner and dessert. Thankfully I love cooking and baking. Oh that’s on the 1st. Tomorrow I’m making another new recipe for some friends of ours.
I’m getting my hair cut this week. I look frightful. 😂😂
That's about all I have going this week. I didn't mention chores that I do daily because they're boring. If I was rich I'd have. A housekeeper. I hate cleaning. I do it but hubby helps a great deal.
I hope you all have a good Sunday.
Clean our walk-in closet. I’ve been talking about it for two months. I’m collecting things for the thrift center. There is so much to put in bags. It’s a charity that helps homeless people get back their lives. It’s one way of helping.
Dinner on Wednesday night with our daughter, Chris and her hubby. We’re going to a steak house. I can’t wait. I love filet mignon. Or maybe I might try the fish. I like to get shrimp or salmon.
Wednesday and Thursday are my days for watching Beverly. She's 89 and just needs a little help. I'm glad to do it. We have great discussions.
Thursday is a medical phone call. I sometimes miss them. I prefer appointments. I never forget them.
On Sunday, we’re having a nice dinner with my daughter and son-in-law. I’m making a new recipe for dinner and dessert. Thankfully I love cooking and baking. Oh that’s on the 1st. Tomorrow I’m making another new recipe for some friends of ours.
I’m getting my hair cut this week. I look frightful. 😂😂
That's about all I have going this week. I didn't mention chores that I do daily because they're boring. If I was rich I'd have. A housekeeper. I hate cleaning. I do it but hubby helps a great deal.
I hope you all have a good Sunday.
Vocabulary: Bricolage
Feb. 21st, 2026 10:28 pmysabetwordsmithSunday Word: Bricolage
bricolage [bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-]
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.
Definitely useful if you like upcycling.
bricolage [bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-]
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.
Definitely useful if you like upcycling.
