More about Ponder/Ridcully

The reason that I actually started rereading old Discworld books was because of Vetinari/Drumknott. As I mentioned before, I was converted to a Vetinari/Drumknott shipper at Yuletide this year despite not having thought about the pairing before, and was dismayed to find that the recipient of both (gen, UST, short) pieces, kindkit, was also the only person writing it. She's also made a resource post-cum-manifesto for the pairing that referred to several passages particularly in the Social Improvement of Ankh-Morpork books, which inspired me to reread Going Postal, Making Money, and The Truth.

But as I mentioned a few days ago, after the epiphany begun in The Last Hero, which reached its tipping point in Unseen Academicals, those three re-reads appeared to me in an entirely different light! Suddenly it was "I see Ponder/Ridcully!" left and right. I still don't know exactly how I feel about this: I like the pairing, okay, and I want crave to read it (glurk), but I am (1.) opposed to them actually having sex, not so much because it would be gross (I don't mind old man pairings per se: old people can have sex, that's fine with me!) as because I can't really reconcile the thought of them as sexual beings with canon; and (2.) a little put off by the fact that Ridcully is basically 100% my grandfather, which is intermittently very unnerving.

After The Truth I turned my attention to books with high Ponder/Ridcully content and reread:

1. Soul Music. The book in which Hex is first introduced, and contains a sub-plot with the senior wizards getting addicted to Music with Rocks In and Ridcully and Ponder's attempts to investigate and deal with it. Cute, but the pairing would have to be at an infantile stage. They are more familiar later.



2. Hogfather. The wizards investigate the random appearance of new occult personifications, starting with the Verruca Gnome, following the excess of belief provided by the Hogfather's temporary disappearance. Hex has grown fairly large and the wizard subplot is about half sock monsters and cheerfulness fairies and half computer jokes (Anthill inside!). Hex, of course, means Ponder.
   
   ( LET THE QUOTAGE BEGIN )

Blowfish "Hobbit", turquoise canvas and turquoise multi

greek sun-dried tomato & feta quichesadilla

Here's a quick one-person lunch that I made by combining a recipe for mini-quiche with a recipe for "spanako-quesadillas" (spanakopita-quesadilla mash-up: spanakopita is an incredibly delicious Greek spinach pie in layers upon layers of buttery pastry, and if you have not had it I pity you sincerely).

Sun-dried Tomato & Feta Quichesadilla

1 flour tortilla & olive oil for cooking

filling:
+ handful of fresh rucola or an equivalent amount of some other greens (ex. spinach; frozen is fine)
+ small handful of feta cubes
+ a couple of tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes, smallish/diced
+ 1 egg
+/- a clove of garlic

seasoning:
+ salt & pepper to taste
+ a pinch of nutmeg

on the side:
a bit of fresh salad (ex. lettuce & tomato)

1. Cook the greens. Heat a few teaspoons of oil on medium till hot, then drop in fresh garlic and fry. Add greens to the oil and cook at same temperature about 5 minutes, stirring carefully.


2. Mix the filling. Scrape the contents of the skillet into a bowl. Add the egg and the handfuls of sundried tomato and feta; sprinkle with seasonings; mix. Remember that all of this has to fit inside 1 folded tortilla, so don't be too liberal.


3. Cook. Wipe any bits of greens/garlic out of the skillet. Pour in a tablespoon of oil and drop in the tortilla. Leave it there 30 seconds or so, until it's warm, and then carefully spoon the filling into the center of one half of the tortilla. The egg will probably ooze out on the edges; just push it back with a spatula so that it sticks to the edge of the tortilla. Fold the empty half of the tortilla over and press it in place gently with the spatula. Cover the pan and let it cook for 3-5 minutes. Uncover and turn it over carefully. Cook an additional few minutes.


4. Serve. This is oily and rich, so eat it with some fresh veggies or something else to cut the flavors. I garnished it with a diced tomato and a handful of chopped rucola.

nina simone

*_* WOW. Never seen this picture before.