reading Time of Contempt

types tag, i've made it

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I’ve been reading the Witcher books sort of lackadaisically in random order because my library has them as ebooks but the bit that says what number in the series they are is confusingly presented so I keep doing it wrong. Like, whatever, it’s not like he tells the story coherently or in order anyway.

anyway. they’re funny little books, oddly charming in some places and sort of infuriating in others.

but I just read the bit in Time of Contempt where, spoilers, Ciri is being pursued by Cahir and he catches her and is about to seize her and she just goes ham on him with her sword, catching him completely off-guard, and she just beats the shit out of him and destroys his helmet. And then she knocks the helmet off and he looks up at her and isn’t the terrifying winged-helmet creature of her nightmares anymore, he’s just a young man with terrified blue eyes, and she comes out of her sort of battle rage and throws her sword down and leaves him.

And it’s sort of dumb, and sort of… has the potential of being a great moment, because she was afraid of the winged-helmet creature who had seized her and carried her out of the ruin of Cintra, and once she’s defeated that, she’s not at all interested in killing the frightened young man inside the armor.

It isn’t even really presented that she has sympathy for him– she’s just like well that’s not the nightmare monster anymore so bye.

Also like for some reason despite her carrying a sword he didn’t expect her to use a sword on him so what the fuck, dumbass, but like. whatever.

Also I met Book!Keira and I sort of love her, she’s fairly entertaining. She falls out a window and lands on Geralt’s head, with broken ribs and a badly broken leg, and is like “hey pick me up, I’ll show you the way in if you carry me,” and he’s like “bruh you are really badly injured” and she’s like “whatever bro let’s go” and like. respect. I wish her brass knuckles had made it into the game at all. (Your picture was not posted)

Lilac Sugar

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So last year I tried this for the first time, with mixed success, and this year I’ve learned some things and am here to share it.

You can make syrup or sugar from lilac blossoms, which is an excellent way to preserve their ephemeral scent if, like me, you really love lilacs. Also, if you are a huge fucking dork, lilac is the primary note in the signature scent the sorceress Yennefer wears in the Witcher books, and it’s mentioned in the games and referred to in the Netflix series. (For what it’s worth, in the books every damn sorceress has a scent that’s a flower and a fruit, lest you think this particularly romantic. That’s just how Fancy Ladies are apparently.)

So the recipes I looked at are here: Lilac syrup https://www.thespruceeats.com/fresh-lilac-simple-syrup-recipe-for-spring-drinks-4682588 and here: lilac sugar https://cinnamonandcoriander.com/en/fliederzucker-rezept-selbstgemachter-bluetenzucker/

Both are emphatic that you must remove all the green stems and make this with only the petals. Neither mention how bloody difficult and time-consuming it is to do this. It took me four hours and very sticky fingers to get the four cups for the syrup recipe.

But then I ran out of time, so I trimmed the rest of my sprays of flowers as tight as possible and threw them in an airtight container with a damp paper towel and threw that into a cooler with some ice packs (and other cold things, I was traveling), and then traveled for several days.

When I was safely installed in a spot again, I dragged the container out, worried I’d hauled it all this way just to pitch it… and some of the flowers had browned, yes, but the rest, well– the purple petals had loosened from the green stems, and instead of painstakingly having to pluck every one off, I could just pull gently and have them flawlessly separate.

So, I’m gonna give you this advice: Pick your lilacs, trim them tight, throw them in a container in the fridge with a damp paper towel for a couple of days, and THEN do the recipes as written.

I will further say I’ve never had lilac syrup not turn out just a touch bitter, even with the most conscientious separation of the little green stems, but since I’m mostly using it for cocktails that doesn’t bother me at all! I will see how these easier-to-separate flowers do; they might be less intense in flavor for having sat.

But, I thought I’d write that up for posterity, given that the lilacs have popped in zone 6 but not yet in zone 5, so this might be timely for some of y’all.

[img desc: a pile of pale purple lilacs still on their green stems, close up, filling the frame]

And a note on the lilac sugar: It seemed to indicate that the flowers would be preserved purple in the sugar, but possibly mine were too humid; about half have turned brown in the sugar, and the sugar is quite damp. I’m considering spreading it out on a silpat or some parchment or something to let it dry more? It’s very humid currently so that’s not helping. But a word to the wise– if your sugar is too damp your flowers may turn brown. The flavor seems to be good, at least! (Your picture was not posted)