172 Comments

  2. bocadelperro +78

    That’s about how I look when I’m eating a green salad without dressing.

    1. fakely_mctest +29

      I’m not advocating for a ranch dressing hose or anything, but people who put the dressing on the side only to delicately dip the tines of their fork into it before each bite of salad fundamentally confuse me.

      1. gorebooth +24

        It’s so as not to waste any dressing by letting it idly coat the bottom of the plate.

      2. bocadelperro +6

        those people clearly have no joy. (I tried it once. I may as well have dumped the dressing on the floor for how much I got)

        1. fakely_mctest +67

          I did too. Trying to chew on a mouthful of raw spinach with basically a homeopathic amount of dressing? THE WORST.

          1. bocadelperro +63

            “a homeopathic amount of dressing” might be the best turn of phrase I’ve heard this week. myriah-carey-slow-clap.gif

      3. sarah_jay +25

        Still better than trying to eat this:

        This is the reason I always volunteer to bring the salad to dinner at my aunt’s house. **shudder**

        1. bocadelperro +10

          Sugar free, fat free, gluten free
          ….so what, precisely, is it made of?

          2. bocadelperro +11

            I was going to to go with “Styrofoam” but your guess is more accurate.

          4. irishbreakfasttime +27

            Wow. You could just isolate the handful of functional ingredients here – vinegar, garlic, lemon and cayenne – and make yourself a medium-tasty dressing….

          5. christoncracker +69

            Cellulose gel is a big ingredient in a lot of lubes. This is literally salad lube.

          7. daisicles +5

            Well, I *was* gonna make a crack about how tasty cellulose gel sounds, but I’m not gonna top this. Mmm, salad lube.

        2. fakely_mctest +16

          DDD:

          Celebrity deathmatch with:

          (the crushed velvet backdrop is a nice touch though)

          1. bocadelperro +9

            oh man that stuff hides in bakery sandwiches in Germany and it’s always an unpleasant surprise.

        3. Unreadaethel +46

          I encountered “fat-free half & half” at the grocery store, and I still don’t understand how that works.

          2. leslieellenjones +3

            Have you ever encountered Daisy Light Sour Cream? I love it. It’s as good as real sour cream, and it’s, like, half the fat, and there are fewer, and naturaller, ingredients than in many “real” sour creams. I don’t know how they do it, but black magic MUST be involved. Or, given that it’s sour cream, white magic. Magic of some sort. I mean, if it’s that easy, why isn’t everyone else doing it? Why even bother making full-fat sour cream at all?

          3. bocadelperro +5

            What you just described sounds exactly like creme fraiche. Maybe it’s that under a different name for marketing purposes? Like how they sometimes package Neufchatel cheese as “reduced fat cream cheese alternative”

          4. leslieellenjones +2

            I don’t know–they certainly also sell creme fraiche in this market (Los Angeles). All I know is that I love it with an unholy passion.

          5. bocadelperro +11

            I’m now resolved to do a blind taste test between daisy light sour cream and creme fraiche. TO THE POTATO AISLE!

          7. Anna +5

            Grocery Store Aisles (as I would have them):

            Vinegar-Related Foods (pickled veg, mustards, fancy vinegars, salt & vinegar chips)
            Root Vegetables and Their Accoutrements
            Middle Eastern Vegetarian Foods
            Penny Candy
            Bulk Food Bins
            Bulk Tea Counter
            Make-Your-Own-Dressing Station

          8. houblonchouffe +10

            Skim milk and thickeners. It’s exactly as horrifying as it sounds.

          12. sarah_jay +38

            I had a friend ask me for a recipe for ice cream, so I gave her my favorite, which is made with half and half and cream. She called me later to say it was a disaster, that it froze so hard and the custard base had been lumpy. I asked her if she had made any substitutions in ingredients or method, and she had used fat free half and half to “make it healthier.” (she’d also used egg substitute for the whole eggs, silly friend)

          13. Unreadaethel +36

            Look, if you’re going to give up the ingredients in ice cream for health reasons, you’re going to have to commit to that. You can’t reject your ice cream and eat it too.

          15. MilesofMountain +36

            I like that the first one basically admits it has nothing to do with popcorn. “You cook ground beef. Then you call it popcorn. Voila, paleo popcorn!”

          16. Thujaplicata +3

            I read that first link and my jaw dropped progressively farther and farther. It may have broken my brain just a little.

          17. sarah_jay +3

            Then for sure don’t read the last one. That guy’s broken brain might be contagious.

          18. Thujaplicata +17

            Yeah, I made the mistake of reading the last one. My agriculture science master’s degree is urging me to hunt the author down and make them actually read real science on GMOs (I mean, I could get behind a boycott of GMOs based on the patent/business practices issues, but not the science). My vindictive brain is telling me I should pop at least one bag of microwave popcorn for dinner tonight. Maybe two.

          19. sansdromeda +2

            How are you on disliking GMOs for environmental reasons? Biodiversity, side effects on the local flora, things like that? That’s been the latest criticism I’ve been hearing and I’d love to hear if it’s more valid than just WHAAAARGLEFISHGENES.

          20. Thujaplicata +11

            It is a valid concern for a number of the GMOs on the market. Biodiversity isn’t something that happens in most cropping systems, but depending on how the gene transfers to local populations of plants, it can have some effect. One of my main worries about roundup ready crops is that their overuse (multiple years in a row in the same fields) leads to more roundup resistant weeds because that is the only herbicide that is used, so those weeds that have resistance are the only ones that survive and then their populations increase. Those weeds can then spread into local populations and they become harder to control and less environmentally benign herbicides have to be used to control them.
            I tend to think of GMO crops as a tool, and any tool can be used responsibly or irresponsibly. Sadly, they often are used irresponsibly, or at least shortsightedly.

          21. Thujaplicata +6

            Also, if you want to look into stuff yourself, google scholar is a good source for actual peer reviewed articles. If you’re not at a university it’s hard to get full text access to a lot of them, but sometimes just reading the abstract can be a useful summary on the issue.

          22. Unreadaethel +5

            And if they’d stuck to talking about the insanely high sodium/trans fat content of movie theater butter substitute, they would have a point. But no, it’s poison.

          24. sansdromeda +5

            If it’s a joke, :D. If you’re seriously asking, it’s an organic chemistry term. Cis fats have a configuration where everything’s on a similar plane, but trans fats have a configuration where things stick out and don’t lie smooth (ish).

          26. Unreadaethel +3

            Oh, and shortening whatever MCT stands for to MCT is harmless but really irritating, like when everybody started using EVOO in their recipes a few years ago.

          27. sarah_jay +3

            It’s Medium Chain Triglyceride, and it pretty much means non-hydrogenated unsaturated fats that are solid at room temp, and in recipes means coconut or palm kernel oil.

          28. Unreadaethel +8

            Right! I feel this fits in nicely with the “annoyingly patriarchal use of food science” in the Serious Eats discussion last week.

            Also, I love that the “popcorn without the poison” guy is getting jumped on in comments for suggesting eating corn for any reason.

          31. bookwormV +3

            I recently saw a frozen yoghurt place with signs in the window that said its products were fat free, vegan and low in sugar. I don’t really understand what was in them.

          34. Unreadaethel +6

            Definitely stevia. Which, unfortunately, leaves the same aftertaste as Splenda.

          37. sparkwoodand21 +1

            I accidentally bought that shit once and it was the worst cup of coffee I’ve ever had.

        4. jennycieplak +10

          There is a company called Bolthouse Farms that makes SUPER HEALTHY salad dressing based on buttermilk and yogurt and it seems pretty ok. I mean, it does contain calories, so maybe it would not appeal to some people.

          2. Unreadaethel +13

            See, I’m a big fan of foods made from ingredients which are themselves healthy, and which don’t pretend to be their full-fat cousins. Just don’t give me a sad anemic version of the food I was hoping for and pretend it’s just as good. We shouldn’t resign ourselves to pale imitations of nice things; we should find different, but still enjoyable ones.

          3. Ordinarily +6

            They also make these delicious protein drinks that I definitely only ever drink after a workout when I would need a lot of protein and not when I’m chilling out the couch watching tv.

          4. grushenka +2

            i make salad dressing with yoghurt because i hate vinegar-y salad dressings: plain yoghurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill, sometimes finely chopped cucumber, and a bit of olive oil. If i’m trying to drop calories, i just use low-fat yoghurt, extra lemon juice, and leave out the oil. Tastes pretty much the same even though it feels a bit less smooth.

        5. MilesofMountain +10

          I don’t see the point. I pour straight balsamic vinegar on my salads and it’s fine and basically calorie/fat/gluten/whatever free, so why bother which whatever abomination of nature that is?

          2. MilesofMountain +6

            Well, I may not be the best judge because I like sour things and grew up on “vinaigrette” with no oil, but I really like it! I have a bottle of the semi-good stuff at work and I don’t really notice the difference when I leave out the oil. A squeeze of straight lemon juice is a pretty good dressing, too!

      4. grumblyqueer +5

        Idk about everybody who does that, but I find it easier than chasing oil-covered leaves around on an oil-covered plate.

        1. bocadelperro +7

          I often order dressing on the side for this reason, but I pour a reasonable amount of it on my salad, rather than just dipping my fork in to get what fakey_mctest called “a homeopathic amount of dressing”

        2. sarah_jay +16

          That’s because this is the best way to eat salad:

          bowl and chopsticks FTW!

      5. lemonadefish +19

        I don’t actually like most salad dressing very much, and most restaurants put several cups on near as I can tell. So, I do this.

        2. houblonchouffe +5

          Yeah. I like the stuff in the salad generally more than I like the dressing, so I almost always get dressing on the side in restaurants and dip my fork or, alternately, spear a big bite and dunk it in the dressing cup.

      6. Bananefille +17

        *raises hand* Yes, I would like to advocate for a ranch dressing hose–where is that petition?

      7. Lily_R +4

        *raises hand* I used to do this all the time! Because 1) I did not like the taste of most salad dressings but was trying to get used to them and 2) even the dressings I was ok with (ceasar, blue cheese) tasted overpowering. Lettuce is boring but inoffensive, vinaigrette is ACID and was trying to EAT MY TONGUE.

        I’m now ok with standard dressing portions on many salads but it took years to get there, and I’m still picky about the type of dressing. Asking for dressing “on the side” is also a safer tactic than asking for “no dressing” at many restaurants – apparently that’s just baffling, and results in wrong orders in my experience.

      8. likedrysand +8

        A ranch dressing hose is a lesser crime against human dignity than dressing on the side. I want my tossed salad actually tossed properly, in the kitchen, in a big bowl, so that the dressing actually ends up distributed appropriately, not sadly mixed in a bowl at the table by me.

    2. evieskye +27

      Confession that is a boring story but that has been eating at me: last month I went out to eat with some people I’d just met (jury duty peeps) and I ordered a salad but missed the “here’s where you pick up a cup of dressing!” part of the weird cafeteria line and then it was too busy and I was too awkward/proud to go back and get it so I ate it dry 🙁

    3. bethcorriveau +40

      I feel like this thread is an excellent location to share that my in-laws are so terrified of full-fat salad dressing that they buy bottles of fat-free off-brand Italian and have them specially stored at the clubhouse of their country club (which makes its own dressings from scratch).

      Ironically, when they order salads with this magical supposedly fat-preventing dressing they also ask for extra cheese and extra croutons.

      1. bocadelperro +13

        Oy. Couple that with the fact that fat free dressing is basically sugar water, and that’s a helluva salad.

      3. New_Username +1

        That seems like such an odd thing to be concerned over too. In many cases the fats in salad dressing are generally ‘good’ fats. Your body needs some fat!

        1. fakely_mctest +4

          I think it’s a sad ghost of misplaced health advice from the 90s. Like Snackwells. Chewing on one of those things is like trying to feast on a particularly moist packing peanut.

          Just…low fat everything everywhere. My dad still goes on about these things because he is old and set in his ways.

          1. sarah_jay +2

            My aunt has been trying to get her husband to lose weight on a low fat diet for almost 20 years. At this point he’s in his 80s, just let him eat what he wants! (which isn’t baked potatoes topped with calorie-free ranch and reduced fat marg)

  5. irishbreakfasttime +77

    this is a facial expression that says to me “UGH NO ONE has asked what my secret is to getting my hair so naturally lustrous! WHAT is even the POINT of botanivorism if no one ASKS about it…”

  8. srijanisays +12

    or maybe she had polished off a roasted pig in its entirety right before this was painted, and the only way to rid her mouth of the delicious pork smell was to eat a bunch of wild flowers, stem et al.

  9. CleverManka +44

    Those better be certified organic flowers if she’s really eating clean.

  11. bighairnoheart +23

    How you got ahold of a picture of me on my lunch break is beyond me.

  13. miprisci +20

    Wait, is eating “clean” a thing? Like, a thing apart from rinsing off fruits and veggies? What is it?

    1. Unreadaethel +42

      NOBODY KNOWS.

      Actually, I think it’s about eating organic foods that won’t put “toxins” into your body or clog you up with…things that might bring you happiness, I guess. From looking at Pinterest, it appears to involve a lot of green smoothies.

      1. miprisci +37

        I wonder if these dodos believe these “toxins” literally “clog” up things in their bodies, like a plug in a drain. I wonder what it’s like to have such a wonderfully mechanic and simplistic view of the world.

        1. Unreadaethel +32

          They actually do. Lots of stuff about meat clogging up the colon, impacted whatevers, juice cleanses, etc. Which is why, of course, they endorse diets that make you shit violently, because look at all that stuff coming out of you! Your rectum must be sparkly-clean after you get rid of all of the toxins and trans fats and carbs and things!

          1. SarcasticFringehead +76

            Like that commercial for some diet supplement or other that’s supposed to make you poop, where the guy is like, “your colon could be FULL of TOXIC FECAL WASTE!!!!1!!” and I was like, yes, that is literally what it’s for.

          2. Unreadaethel +42

            “You might have poop in the place where poop goes! EVERYBODY PANIC!!”

          3. thesaureye +5

            I mean…there is actual science behind the idea that eating certain foods does help keep you regular pooping- and digestion-wise, though? Like, poop should be in your body, but it shouldn’t stay there for too long? For example, eating enough fiber helps you poop on schedule so your digestive system can keep on truckin’ and allow you to live your life (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/fiber/). Claims about “toxins” are probably exaggerated, sure, but we can’t just ridicule people every time they break out the kale/salad/whatever decorative plant she’s eating in the painting.

          4. sarah_jay +26

            Fiber is Nature’s broom.

            And I don’t think we’re ridiculing people eating a healthy and balanced diet. Just people with crazy ideas about what that means and preach at others to eat the same way, who pretty much moralize food

          5. thesaureye +2

            Okay. I guess I just feel like there’s a fine line between analyzing claims criticially and dismissing all challenges, even legitimate ones, to the way we think about eating because of how “rational” you think you are.

          7. dakimel +20

            Wait, are these the same people who bleach their butts, which is A Thing I Just Learned About And Wish Not To Know?

          9. dakimel +25

            You’re going to have to make me a Venn diagram so I can figure out the difference.

          11. Unreadaethel +9

            There’s probably some overlap on the Venn diagram of “people who eat clean,” yes.

      2. sarah_jay +66

        I’m so glad my body came with built in “toxin” filters (aka kidneys/liver)

        1. Unreadaethel +34

          Yes, but where’s the sense of achievement? You can’t take pride in your good health if it’s just something your body does when it’s functioning the way it’s supposed to! You have to really earn that digestive process.

          1. GreenGrasses +15

            GENIUS. I will be sure to suggest dialysis to the next idiot who tries to talk to me about toxins.

      1. houblonchouffe +19

        I have usually interpreted it as eating things that won’t make you constipated (which cheese/dairy and red/mammal meat tend to do for me) but do make you very VERY regular (raw/steamed/otherwise minimally prepared veggies, lots of water, apples, nuts, lean/poultry proteins).

        BRB, eating ten York peppermint patties

        1. LaxMom +16

          When I was pregnant with my first son, I was anemic. I also had nausea for the whole thing. My mom read the wrapper on peppermint patties, and each one has 2% of your daily requirement of iron! So there you go, who needs red meat!

      2. pretty_monster +6

        FOR THE RECORD “more broadly, it means eating nothing prepared/refined” is what i generally subscribe to. like, the fresher and simpler the better. if i’d need a lab or an engineering degree to make an ingredient, i’d rather not eat it. it also makes it easier to have a low sodium diet if i avoid prepared foods. but i’m a realist so i’m buying dried pasta and bagged bread because life is just too short, okay?

        also: booze. i love booze and i will fight anyone who tries to evangelize away my right to drink. food and drink makes me happy. when my diet becomes so strict that i can no longer enjoy life, it’s not worth it. you will pry my vodka-cran from my cold, dead hands.

        anyway… i had no idea there was so much cray cray associated with clean eating. this is why we can’t have nice things.

    4. donkeywork +30

      Oh, my. Yes. A definite Thing, but with wildly variable rules depending on to whom you’ve hitched your nutritional wagon. You may be asked to soak all fruit, veg and meats in Clorox (NOT generic bleach) and water before eating, or to simply eschew all processed foods, or possibly to walk around topless clutching armloads of pineapple and grapes to your bosom, which seems dirty to me but then I’m not an expert. Whole magazines dedicated to it in the supermarket. Be afraid.

      1. miprisci +7

        I had no idea!! That seems quite weird. Thanks for the explanation! And to everyone else, too.

        1. donkeywork +11

          It’s definitely a little weird, but I still think about eating an unprocessed vegan diet, where a food can’t have more than three ingredients, just because once you start looking for them there are really a lot more options than you’d think. I’m not a big fan of food evangelism or the backlash people direct at it, but the label-reader in me perks right up at the thought of that type of simplicity.

          1. bibliophibian +3

            Ha! That’s about the level of my cooking skills. Who know my (lack of) cooking skills was A Thing?

          2. deyne +3

            Its pretty easy actually. I do it because I have no money, dairy is expensive and gross, and eggs make me sick. Theres not a lot of options if you don’t feel like cooking except PB&J though. Make large batches of freezer soup, it will save your life.

          3. Unreadaethel +9

            Might I suggest variations on canned tomatoes + red lentils? You can go any direction you like (pick a continent, you can add it to your stew), the ingredients are cheap and keep forever, and you can freeze the stew with no change in texture afterwards. I basically lived off of lentils and crushed tomatoes at the depth of my unemployment, when I was scrounging together $50/month for groceries.

            Brown lentils work too, and are generally a bit cheaper, but I like the way red lentils cook down into mush and I can pretend they aren’t there.

            /recipe evangelism.

          4. donkeywork +2

            I do this until my stomach starts crying, then shift to bulgur and black beans with canned tomatoes (this week) or bulgur and chickpeas with tomatoes and curry spices (next week). Then yes, back to the lentils.

          6. Unreadaethel +1

            I raid my parents’ spice cabinet whenever I visit (because my dad buys spices in terrifying bulk), and alternate between Ethiopian tomato/lentil stew and a west African peanut/tomato stew. Sriracha is too intense for me.

      2. cosetthetable +26

        You may be asked to soak all fruit, veg and meats in Clorox (NOT generic bleach)

        1. donkeywork +3

          I’m not sure *why*, except maybe the generics are more diluted and she (I think this is Ann Louise Gittleman, but don’t quote me) has a very specific chlorine/water ratio she recommends. To me that’s not clean but Sterile Eating, but in this case one of the reasons she recommends it is that your food stays fresh a lot longer. I’ve never tried it, though, because the only thing I could fill up to soak food in is the foot soak/funky toilet plunger bucket, so, def not clean any way you slice it. I’m happy to just eat faster!

          1. deyne +6

            I mean, I douse my dumpstered veg in bleach solution but that’s more a hygienic thing than anything else. Vinegar works just as well…

          2. donkeywork +3

            I don’t have dumpster access or food bank hookups where I am now, but SOMEONE does, because on a walk the other day I found two cans of beans and one of string beans that were unmolested, and some sadly ruined pasta, oats and powdered milk. Would have taken them all despite having insufficient space to store them. 😛 ETA: I think a lot of the advice re: clean eating is common sense repackaged as new age hoodoo to make money for the people doing the repackaging. Would definitely hit dumpstered lettuce with some soap and water before eating.

          3. deleted1508189 +16

            I’ve tried the vinegar dilute thing to keep berries from getting moldy in the fridge. Allegedly, soaking them in water with a little vinegar in it is supposed to kill any spores hanging out on them and waiting for their chance to strike – this way your strawberries don’t knit themselves sweaters in the fridge the day after you buy them.
            I think it works?

          5. cosetthetable +13

            So, I mean, dousing your food in vinegar kills most bad things, and if you’re not especially great at rinsing it off after, well, no big deal, it’s just vinegar. Even if you don’t dilute it properly. Even if you grab a different vinegar off the shelf.

            But Bleach???? I mean, I’m neither a dietician nor a chemist, but I really have to imagine there’s a LOT more room for dangerous error with bleach.

          6. Strophoria +1

            It’s a very weak solution. I use the 2 tub method, where one bucket gets filled with weak solution where you rinse them, then into the sink for a soak in cold water. And I just use plain water on leafy greens.

    5. sorrycassandra +53

      Two of my colleagues are doing this “thirty-day clean eating challenge.” I’m unclear on the rules, but grains are unclean. So are sugars, potatoes, dairy, legumes, any added fat besides coconut oil, and happiness. Fruit is a gray area because it’s basically like nature’s sugar. Meat and vegetables are okay because they represent, like, antelopes and leaves. Hunter-gatherer style.

      I’m (mostly, working on getting all the way there, haven’t kicked the fish habit yet) vegetarian. I take an unholy joy in eating grilled cheese sandwiches around them. Or beans and rice, because I’m (a) on a strict budget and (b) Cuban…

      1. deyne +1

        How do you spice your beans and rice? I’m bored of my version & looking for suggestions

          1. deyne +2

            Thanks! I’ll check that out. Maybe I’ll try putting some orange in with my black beans too.

    6. jennycieplak +12

      I see lots of advertisements I mean sponsored posts for it on Pinterest, which I love for the recipes generally which is probably why I see all those things about how if you eat a bagel over the age of 35 you will die a horrible death or something. I mean, I kind of get the idea of eating mostly freshly prepared stuff as opposed to prepackaged stuff which usually has a lot of sodium and extra starch that’s not great for you, but I feel like you can definitely take this stuff way too far.

      1. sarah_jay +36

        My biggest problem with this kind of “diet” is the “other people are wrong” mentality that seems to go with it, especially directed at poor people. Yes fresh foods are cheaper than eating out/frozen meals, but they’re not cheaper than ramen or mac and cheese. Also harder to find in some places (especially inner cities and rural areas).

        1. sorrycassandra +10

          Preach. I live in a bona fide USDA-designated food desert. Having a car that works (knock on wood, it’s 14 years old, don’t die on me yet, little car) means I can easily get to the nearest supermarket for some spinach, but if I didn’t? I’d either spend all my spare time on the bus or live on PB&J from the convenience store. :/

        2. jennycieplak +8

          Yeah I agree – well, I mean, it IS healthier to eat more fruits and vegetables and lean meant and stuff but I don’t think not doing so, especially if you don’t have easy access to those sorts of foods and/or don’t have tons of time to prepare fresh meals. Incidentally have you heard about the founder of Trader Joe’s doing a new concept store that’s taking things like “seconds” (like, day-old produce, or carrots that aren’t perfectly shaped), and opening stores to sell it for cheap in poor neighborhoods? That was an interesting idea.

          ——————————————–

        3. blushingflower +8

          That’s part of why I hate that it’s called “clean” eating. The judgement of other people’s food choices is right there in the name!

      2. MilesofMountain +13

        Yeah, when I first heard of it the impression I got was “try to eat lots of fruit and vegetables and minimize heavily processed foods” which sounded so reasonable! I should have known better than to expect any sort of food trend to be reasonable.

        1. Unreadaethel +15

          It’s reasonable, which means it is The Only Way to Live, and all people who are not living that way are Wrong.

          2. Unreadaethel +8

            And the thing is, like so many fad diets, there are people who need to follow that diet for medical reasons, and they get lumped in with the jackasses who are getting all morally superior about food.

  14. CaroWR +7

    There’s a picture of me from either fifth or sixth grade eating an apple and reading April Morning while I made this face. The apple was fine, I just really fucking hated April Morning. Maybe someone was reading the 19th century equivalent to her while she sat for the painting.

  17. kingstitcher +33

    I once ate through a tasting menu at a very fancy restaurant where one of the salads was basically a bouquet of bitter greens and edible flowers, with pecan butter in the middle. It was tied with twine and was to be eaten exactly like this.

    2. sarah_jay +9

      I can just hear my culinary school instructors screaming “no inedible garnish!” TWINE?! In a salad?!

  18. writingortyping +28

    True story: I once took a greeting card with that image on it to my hairdresser. I think there were four or five different color foils involved in the end result.

  19. LeastBittern +61

    I am pretty sure she’s pulling the seed pods off of shepherd’s purse (so called because the pods look like tiny hearts, or the purses that shepherds made from sheep testicle skin. Come live with me and be my love.) because there’s an herb lore thing where you hold them under your tongue and then spit-spray them out as some sort of prognostication of future love. Keep in mind this is stuff from when I was about 12 and really into herb lore, so it’s… vague. And not on the internet.

    Also it’s supposed to help with cramps, so that might be the face of a woman in a world without analgesics.