ACTUAL Ancient Food Crimes; Friday, First Period [07/29].

[somethingwithturquoise]

You know, the real crime with this class was that it landed in first period, because no matter which way you look at it, no one should have to start their day with anything from this class. Not even just the food, but also Summer's disgusting enthusiasm for it.

Would it help, though, knowing that most of Summer's current beaming mood at way too early in the morning was still a hold-over from fancy-ass wedding dress shopping for her bestie and not actually so much about the food this time?

Was there any help for this class....ever?

"Morning, everyone!" she greeted them brightly. "And welcome back. Today, we're going to be talking about warriors. Specifically, the Spartans, a major player in the world of the ancient Mediterranean that was pretty hopped up on its own machismo and liked to fight a lot. And if you're going to have an army, you're probably going to need to feed that army, and the Spartan answer to this was a little dish we call melas zomos, aka black soup."

And thus she removed the cloche to reveal a big old pot of...yup, that was definitely some black soup, with potentially worrying bits inside.

"Boiled down to the basics, melas zomos is thought to have been a staple of the Spartan diet consisting of mostly four things: boiled pork shank, fresh blood, salt, and vinegar. We have a few records suggesting it was probably mostly consumed at banquets and religious ceremonies, but there's also a multitude of records from other Greeks not being able to shut up about the infamous Spartan black soup and how awful it is, so the dish sort of became a little bit of a gatekeep. Like, okay, you may not be a Spartan, but you managed to eat our blood soup? Then you might just be okay after all.

"Meanwhile, you legit have stories of one guy giving it a try and just straight up saying he understood now why the Spartans were so gung-ho about dying in battle.

"Now, there's definitely a lot of cultures and cuisines today that have traditional blood soups, too, so what in particular made melas zomos so reviled? We may never know. I mean, we might, someone around here's had to have gone through Ancient Sparta eventually, but, for now, we're just going to try a modern attempt to recreate it that I assume is far better than the actual thing, but I definitely wouldn't know.

"And, to wash it down, we've also got some ancient Greek kykeon, as well, which was much more popularly enjoyed around the Hellenistic world, which is usually a mix of barley, wine, mint, and grated cheese of some kind, usually from goat's milk. Because I missed that one last week."

Sure. 'Missed' was the right word to use here.

Cupcakes, Friday 7/29, 2nd period

[stykera]

“I was a koala last week,” Stark said with a sigh. “That’s why I wasn’t here. I’m myself again.” And very much not making eye contact with at least one person in this class. For reasons.

“This week,” he continued, gesturing the box in front of him where the box of ingredients usually was, “green cupcakes. I know what ought to be in the box. Let’s see what’s actually in the box this time.” Maybe the island would be kind to him?

“I have key limes, and mint chocolates, and green apples.” Stark looked relieved for a moment, nodding at the items as he placed them on the counter. “And some green candies to decorate with, if you like. Plenty of those.” He took out some M&Ms, lime Skittles, green gummi bears, green sprinkles, green sanding sugar, lime fruit slices, and gummi mint leaves.

“And then there’s…this.” Another sigh, this one more resigned. “Why is there celery? And what’s matcha? avocado? And basil and parsley? I don’t think kale belongs here. Or spinach or zucchini. Wasabi should certainly not be in here.”

The ingredient box was full-on betraying Stark today and he couldn’t even look at Summer in horror.

“Brussels sprouts?”

“Is this to make up for not being here next week?” he asked the now thankfully empty box.

“If anyone needs help, please ask. I’m happy to help.” He’d just prefer not to help anyone put Brussels sprouts or kale in cupcakes.

Beginning Sith Philosophy, Friday

[unusual_sith]

Lana waved at the students as they came in. "We're in the back half of the code now." She pointed at the board, which read, Through power, I gain victory.

"So, does power grant, or help you gain, victory? Is it a sure thing? What sorts of victory are there, and how might power help in the pursuit of each? Are they something to be pursued in the first place? Military victory is the obvious one, but I'm interested in the others as well."

Library - Friday

[onlyajones]

Jo had somehow managed to oversleep for her shift at the library and was running slightly late that morning.

She was feeling rather tired and disorganised so it took her a bit to get settled in her shift, thankfully the library seemed to be behaving this week so she was able to reshelve the books that she needed to without any issues.

Relationship Skills, Friday Period 3

[tellmehowstuffworks]

"Today," Yennefer told the class, "we have selected for you a film about relationships." By which she meant they had googled 'movies about relationships' shortly before class was due to start. "Hopefully it will prove educational."

"It certainly looks interesting," Jaskier added, trying to fiddle with the television to get it to play.

"For Melitele's sake, you just push the button on the thing." Very helpful, Yennefer. Oh, there it went. "Please enjoy."