Spaghetti Bolognese

Growing up my family rarely experimented with foods on me and my brother. A lot of it was because there were things my parents were sure that my brother and I wouldn't like. Now my brother doesn't like anything with vegetables that isn't corn or raw carrots. I am not sure if this has changed.

However, when he lived with me, he would set a good example for his nephew and eat all his vegetables. He would only be exempt if it was something I knew he had several times and truly didn't like.

A lot of times, my brother would simply pick out the things he didn't like.

So when spaghetti night rolled around in house, if it wasn't plain sauce, my brother usually complained and picked everything out. Often I found that the jar stuff was never packed enough with all the things I loved.

When I went to Wales for three months, I got to taste a lot of new foods, some I liked, others I didn't. One of the things that was made for me was spaghetti bolognese. At first I was apprehensive as it wasn't something I had never heard of. But as it was explained to me I was more and more interested.

Sauce in house was usually just a jar of the premade stuff and "shaker" cheese on a bed of some over or under cooked noodles. Once in a while we had sausage, ground beef, or my mother's meatballs (which sometimes were triangles). This isn't to say that my family's dinners were bland, they were just basic.

But this stuff that my in-laws were crafting was jammed packed with meat, mushrooms, onions, peppers and vast amounts of garlic and herbs. I very rarely make my sauce without all of the above.

Perhaps I am a bit too lazy or just not brave enough but I simply buy a jar of sauce and go from there.

What you need:

1 jar of favorite spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu tomato and mozzerella)
1 green pepper, diced
6 oz sliced button mushrooms
6 oz of onions
1 lbs ground beef
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp of olive oil, divided 2 and 1

In a medium sauce pan, brown the meat. Drain and rinse about half way through through the browning. You'll still want some meat fat in the sauce, but not too much or it became a greasy mess. Add salt and pepper.

In a saute pan, heat up two tablespoons olive oil, add the onions and peppers. saute until they the onions are translucent and tender. Add the garlic.

With another pan, add the other tablespoon of olive oil and the mushrooms. Spread them out over the pan to allow for even cooking. Julia Childs said it best; "The mushrooms must be dry, the butter very hot, and the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan,"

Once the meat is browned, add the sauce, set to low and cover with a lid until the mushrooms, peppers and onions are finished. Add the vegetables to the meat sauce.

Cook over low heat for up to 30 minutes, stir every 5 to 7 minutes. During this time you can cook your spaghetti. This is more of a personal choice so I won't fill you in on how to make your pasta.

Bon appetit!

What Playing Video Games Has Taught Me

I'm sure you can tell just by looking at my blog what I do on a daily basis. Sometimes I craft, some times I cook, but most of the time I am playing video games. I have loved video games since the early nineties when I got my very first console; Sega Genesis.

Myself and my younger brother with our favorite gift of that year

 While I don't remember much of anything before high school, I do remember opening up the wrapping paper and freaking out because we had finally gotten a console gaming system. I also remember hooking it up for the first time and playing for exactly thirty minutes with my brother on the only game we both could play at the same time, Columns.

We also had Sonic, which was by far the best game I ever played and still to this day one of my favorites.

As I got older, my inner geek bloomed and blossomed, I branched out to different things. I discovered chatrooms in AOL and oddly named ones like "Vampire Tavern," "Lestat Estate," and my personal favorite "The Dark Corner." I was curious about what these rooms were about. At the time, I was very much in to vampires, so I entered one of these rooms and was blown away by what I saw. Dozens of people with odd screen names, my own not being so different from the list of oddities.

I didn't say anything, I just watched and read what was being said. It took a little while before I realized what was going on. THEY WERE ACTING! And they were acting well.

An example of what I saw was something like this:

::Elisa walks into the tavern with her cloak drawn tightly around her to block the chill of the cold night from her skin. Her eyes darted around the main rooms nervously before she made her to the counter.:: "Something warm to drink please, perhaps a mulled wine." ::She said this in a small voice, but the barkeep heard her and soon produced what she asked for.::

After a little while longer of just watching, I became enchanted to do my own my thing. Of course, I was classed as a "noob," but I was a fast learner and I had a vivid imagination that was waiting to be unleashed into this textual delight I had discovered.

Right there on the spot, I came up with a character name. Serena, she was human wanting to become a vampire and knew she was risking her life by being a tavern full of them. I entered and placed myself in full view for those around me to interact. Which they did, slowly though. Soon I was taken under someone's wing and taught the basics of what I would learn was Role Playing.

The representation of my very first character, Serena.

I was told that using double colons (::) meant that something was an action and that they should be used before and after to signify the start and end of that. Eventually, my action markers were replaced by an asterix (*), which I still use to this day when I role play. I also learned that using double parenthesis [((] meant that I am speaking out of character and I should have them at least before I says something OOC. Quotes were optional when my character was speaking.

It was a lot to take in at first, but soon I was love with a fantasy would that unfolded like a pop-up book in my head. I wrote stories, poems, long drawn up character biographies that gave life to a character in the same way a playwright breathes life into theirs. I became a role player. I dominated my life and to an extent it still does.

Over the years, I moved from playing in the AOL chats to playing Neverwinter Nights. I never looked back at my textual fantasies (which I later learned was a modified version of Vampire the Masquerade) and spread my wings into this new visual role playing game. At first I was very intimidated by everyone with super powers and lots of abilities. But again, I was a quicker learner and soon I was well on my way to playing this game with other people.

It was worlds created by people, normal everyday people, like me. People who had a passion for role play and wanted a magical world to come to life.

 

Not mine, but what I saw everyday

It was visually pleasing to have more than just a picture of my character. To run around, level up and make friends and the rules were about the same! It was in Neverwinter Nights that I learned a lot of things. People weren't so picky in the chatrooms, because so many people came and went. It was after several years of playing NWN that a friend of mine told me everything would be better if I started using capital letters. She explained that I didn't start written sentences with lower cases, then why should I in a game where people had to read what I was basically writing.

An example of how I used to type things:

*stood there without a care. her eyes watching waiting for something interesting to happen. she was a short elf with fiery red hair green eyes and a slender body. dressed in simple clothes that allowed her to move quickly.* 

How I learned to rewrite that with help from my friend:

*Lyssa stood there without a care, her eyes watching and waiting for something interesting to happen. She was tiny in comparison to her kin; with fiery red hair and green eyes. Lyssa's lithe body was covered with simple clothes, the sort of clothes that would make it easier for her to move rapidly.*

Can you see the difference? I know I can. It took years for me to grow into that paragraph and every day I am learning more ways to expand what I already know.

Role play has taught me more than any classroom could. I learned grammar, spelling, proper use of punctuation, how to expand my vocabulary by interacting with other people, and how to properly use homophone/graph/nyms. It has also boosted my reading skill.

Ex: Their, they're, there. To, too, two. Your and You're.

There isn't a day that goes by when I'm not RPing with my friends in Champions Online, The Secret World or World of Warcraft that I am not learning something. I often think that some of my friends are purposely trying to see if I am paying attention by using big words that I must look up.

It has taught me to reach outside my comfort zone and explore other words, figure out how to dig deeper into my imagination. Not that I haven't been doing that since I was a kid. My first bit of role play was playing house, school, doctor; you get the idea. Think about that, your imagination will love you. So will your inner child.

My Secret World Templar, Loren "Keepsie" Ketone

Zodi note: Several minutes later, I corrected everything I posted with another skill I learned while RPing; proofreading

List of things I learned while Role Playing

1. improved reading
2. grammar
3. proofreading
4. shift key for capitals
5. how to make websites using HTML
6. how to type better
7. correct use of periods, commas, semi-colons, and ellipsis
8. use of thesaurus and dictionary
9. how to describe in fuller and richer detail
10. real life comes first

This list extends beyond this, but these were the major things I learned.

Roadtrip Aventures!

Where have I been in the last month and a half? That's an easy question. I've been traveling. I didn't conquer the world or take it by storm. Though I was caught in a few. Nope, I conquered Interstate 40, also known as the Historical Route 66.

Mom

Brief history on Route 66; it goes from Chicago to LA. Just like the song says. However when the Interstate was put in a lot of neat places were wiped out, left to be deurbanized and reclaimed by nature. There are still a lot of great places to stop along the way.

Best friend

But our trip didn't start in Chicago. We began in Dahlgren Virginia, where we packed everything up and moved across the country. Our first stop was Philadelphia, I got to see my mom and grams. Both of whom threw us an amazing going away party. I got to see relatives that I hadn't seen in years and I got to see my best friend in the whole world. A girl I've been best friends with since the age of six.

Grams

 Once we left Philadelphia, we headed across the state and through Ohio. Not much interesting along the way, a few tunnels and a loooot of farms. It was a road that we were very familiar with, so the landscape never really changed. Kidlet was very well behaved for someone who was cooped up in a car. It wasn't 'til the last leg of our journey that he started asking if we were in California yet.

Kidlet and his Nan-nan

Our welcome in Bloomington, Indiana was priceless, we were close enough to Zach's mom's work that we stopped in. We hid in a small cubby and had the help of one of her coworkers to get her and tell her that someone was here to see her. She walked passed and we said surprise. And a great surprise it was.

We spent a good few days in Bloomington, saw a lot of family we hadn't seen in almost a year. I was happy to see everyone and get warm wishes to a great roadtrip.

Then it was on the road again. From Bloomington, we drove all the way to Crossett Arkansas. Where is Crossett you ask? It's in the lower right hand corner of the state. It's a tiny little place, but not completely savage as they have a walmart. I got to see two good friend, Jamie and Kasey and their daughters, Cookie and Cupcake. No that isn't their real names but that is what I call them. Cupcake is new to the world as she as only a month old when I arrived and I was glad that she decided to show up a little earlier than expected so that I would be able to visit and hold her. My Cookie was SUPER EXCITED in having us visit. We got there late and stayed late, but it was completely worth it.

Husband and kidlet

The next day we go on the road and headed into Texas. This is where the real adventure began. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the first half of the trip and once we left Bloomington, it was all new scenery for all of us. Texas, your state is full of crazy drivers. And locking my keys in the car was fun too. Thankfully that was the only set back that we had. A very friendly man name Lucas the Handy Man, destroyed the antennae on his car to help us get back into our car. Thank you, Mister! Wherever you are!

Monsoon

Once we got back on the road that's when it started getting super scary. You see in Texas, it's very flat and you are able to see the storms in the distance. While it's amazing to see, knowing that you are driving into a monsoon is not comforting. We thankfully made it to a hotel safely. However, I do not recommend you ever drive in a monsoon. The lightning that we had was very much like a strobe light, not an easy task to keep the car straight and maintain  the speed limit if you aren't used to such conditions.

The next day we made it to Amarillo, Texas. At my interweb bestie's recommendation we stopped for lunch at a place called Tyler's. It was super tasty and they have the best BBQ sauce ever. Just the right amount of spicy and sweet. After Lunch, it was time to get back on Route 40.

One of our intended stops along our trip was Cadillac Ranch. It's about a half mile away from the side of the road and it's a well known tourist attraction. Bring your own spray can and you will be able to tag your name on the cars. Graffiti here is encouraged.

If you are lucky enough, you'll find a spray can that still has some left and you won't have to spend a penny, but I recommend it. We were lucky to find one from the hundreds of cans that were out baking in the Texas heat.

After our time there exploring the ruins of the cars, we got back in ours and zoomed down the road, because in Texas 75mph is standard. We mad short order of it and got to Tucumcari, New Mexico.

We stayed in a motel. It was very interesting. If you've seen the show supernatural, it was very much along the lines of that. I was hoping Sam and Dean would show up. The only thing this room was missing was the goofy themed room divider.

The next morning we were on the road again. Stopping along the way to see some scenic views and take in more of the land. I had friends tell me that there wasn't much to see along the way. For me seeing natural beauty in the landscape was more than enough. I highly recommend that you stop in at Cline's Corner along R-40 and have lunch, get some knick-knacks and refuel. We stayed in Gallup, New Mexico that night. The welcome was not that great but the Native American music that filled the streets was pretty awesome. Oh... and the train that cut through the city, made sleeping hell.

After New Mexico, we went to Arizona! A fantastic state, amazing views and of course the Grand Canyon. What wasn't an intentional stop along our way in Arizona was stopping at Meteor Crater. It's five minutes off the main highway and completely worth the sixteen bucks per-person. We managed to get in for a heavily discounted price because of Zach being in the Military.

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Even with the amount of people that were there, it was crazy quiet. It was amazing to see it and to realize just how small you really are in the world. At the bottom of the crater is where NASA has a six-foot astronaut and three foot by five foot American flag. To the naked eye, you can't see it but barely and through a telescope it's tiny too.

They have a fun museum with simulations and many things to allow you to understand how and when the crater was created. The gift shop is also fun. They have some neat novelty items and some fun goodies. From there we picked up some goodies. Cactus jellies are really really good. It's made from prickly pears which come from Cacti. I also have some Prickly Pear Popcorn, but have not tried it yet as I'm waiting until Ray (the internet bestie) to come and visit me.

Geronimo and Kidlet

Another unintentional stop was Geronimo. It was prior to the crater. Geronimo is a small shop with the largest piece of petrified wood from the Petrified Forest. Why is it petrified? Well there isn't anything alive in there that I know of. We didn't stop at the forest. But from what we gathered every tree in that forest was literally turned to stone and crystal. It was fascinating and we do hope to go back there at some point to actually go to the forest.

After we had our fun at those two stops it was onward to Flagstaff. Fair warning, the elevation levels are painful and it's hard to breathe if you aren't accustomed to it. We found a hotel that allowed pets stayed there. The lady there forgot to charge us for the cat, but said we just had to bring her by and show us how pretty Gaelic is.

Gaelic, did a so good on the second leg of our trip. We had a small fan for her so that she didn't over heat when we weren't in the car. I took great care when parking the car so that she wouldn't be in the sun. At first, she had accidents because she was scared, but got the hang of it after a few days. She let us know when it was time to pull over for the night. She also liked sleeping on the AC units in the room.

Grand Canyon

We packed up and jump started our car which had died due to a door being left open. got breakfast at Galaxy Diner, which we had dinner at the night before. I totally recommend it there. Go early it's always busy on the weekends. After breakfast, we made our way north to go see the Grand Canyon. It was majestic and completely worth the drive. I will say, do not buy your lunch. Bring your own. Also bring a water bottle and fill up your bottle from some of the yummy canyon spring water fountains.

Mojave Desert

We came down the mountain, our ears popped like crazy. We decided we would drive until we crossed in to California. Stopping for dinner just outside the state lines, we saw storm clouds brewing up. When we got to California, we had to pass through a customs like setting. They asked we had any fresh meat or produce and if we had any pets. We stated our claims and were welcomed into California. What we weren't welcomed to was the Mojave Desert. It was a sticky 85ºF when we pulled into our hotel. When we woke up the next morning, it was steadily climbing and by the time we got Ludlow and their $4.79 a gallon gas price, it was a steamy 120ºF.

Thankfully, we had made it to California. Now our goal was getting to San Diego. Which we managed and stayed in probably the best hotel on our whole trip. The air was warm but not suffocating. There was a nice breeze once we got out of the death pit of the desert. Once we got settled into our hotel, Olde Town Inn, we ordered pizza and went down to the pool. Our pizza showed up earlier than expected and the delivery guy was kind enough to bring it to the pool where we ate our dinner poolside.

The next day, we went to our new house and our trip was over. Now it's time to unpack and settle in what is going to be our home for the next four to five years. I love it out here. I love the warm days and cool nights. I love being fifteen minutes from the beach and I love my new house. The east coast will always be my home, but I can definitely grow some roots here. Even if I do get a little homesick.

My boys playing on Silver Strand State Beach