The Tree of Generations

For many Christmas means bringing out boxes and containers full of holiday decor. For me it doesn't mean much different except I have one thing that no one that I know has.

I have a tree of generations.

What is that exactly? Well a tree of generations is something that has become sort of a make shift heirloom in the sense that it's been handed down from generation to generation, Mother to Daughter.

It's an artificial Christmas tree that stands about six feet tall. It has survived floods, blizzards, bitter cold and children. My family had a tradition that we would all go over to my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve. This tree was there, decorated and ready for Santa-grams to pile present, in, under and around.

Grams had a small house and by the time she was done Christmas shopping it became even smaller. With only four grandchildren we could want for nothing. But regardless of how many gifts we had, we all loved looking at her tree. She had ornaments hanging on it from all of the grands and some that were much much older.

She would decorate it and top it with an angel and take joy in knowing that in a few short days, hell would break loose with the grand children and wrapping paper. And she loved it.

Then came the time when my dad was out on the road and mom couldn't get a real tree. I don't remember the actual reason why, but either way it the first year we didn't have a real Christmas tree. Grams decided that same year she wanted a smaller tree because it was becoming too much to haul up from the basement, put it together and decorate it by herself.

Grams got a smaller tree, we got the tree that we grew up with in Grams' house.

Of course being one hell of a rebel back in the days of my youth, I hated the tree. I wanted a real one. I enjoyed watching my father put a too large tree in the stand of ages and getting it to stay up "some how" whether it was with it leaning on the wall slightly or held up with fishing line. It was tradition. It was ALSO traditional for that same tree to fall on my father at least once while putting it. Something that would piss him off to no end but would cause everyone (namely my brother and I) to crack up.

After that first year and my mother seeing just how much easier it was to have an artificial tree, and how much money she saved in the end, she made the financial decision to get an artificial tree. However, she held on to the tree of generations.

When my son was born, I didn't have much money, and was fretting about getting a tree. That's when mom told me she had the tree from Grams' house and that it was mine if I wanted it. Of course i did. At that point I didn't care if I had a real or fake tree, I just needed a tree and some lights. I had a baby to impress.

And he sure was impressed. Each year, I drag it out and set it up. Kidlet will help me decorate it, and the cats will help too. But they mostly just like to climb it. Either way, I love my tree and I look forward to being able to pass it on to kidlet who will be the fourth generation to receive it (if it makes it that long.)

Kidlet showing off the tree 2011

Epic Adventures Walking To School

Today's walk to school I thought was going to be just another chattered filled trek where I drank my coffee and begged Kidlet for 5-10 minutes of silence as we walked. But not today. Today we tried something different, we had an epic adventure.

"Get your book bag and lets go," I said to Rhys who was struggling with his gameboy to plug it in. "We're already late."

It was true, I had forgotten to set my alarm and we were running very far behind today.

"I'm getting it mom," he whined back at me. It wasn't until I had a kid of my own that I understood just how annoying whining can be. But I let it go.

Once we stepped foot out the door, immediately he began talking about his current favorites and I decided that we needed to squash that as I was tired of hearing about how much he loved Pokemon. As we walked and I tuned out his idle chattered until we got the corner of the my street.

"Mom, why do we always walk in the water?" Rhys asked me.

"Because it's safer," I replied, not even thinking about what he said. That's when it hit me. "It's safer to walk in the water so Deathwing can't get us."

The expression on Kidlet's face as I sank into his fantasy world was priceless. I handed him his water bottle with a grin.

"Drink this. It will make us move faster in the water and it will keep you from slipping on the rocks,"

Rhys drank the water deeply, I made a few magical bubble noises and we proceeded to get into the water. Which for those of you who need a translation, the water is the sidewalk and the street is where the dragon is lurking waiting to snack on us with ketchup.

"Deathwing, mommy?" he said with wide eyes. I nodded. "He breaths fire and lives in the black rocks!"

I nodded again. Deathwing is actually the name of the dragon in World of Warcraft. But for now, he's the name of the dragon who's chasing us to our destination.

"Yes, we have to get to Element Tree and warn the people there, they will be able to help us fight!"

I pulled out my cell phone and held it up as if it were a compass and pointed towards the school. "That way! Lets go."

We continued walking down the street, walking normal but with an odd gait as if we were struggling on the waters. Rhys bantered on with his usually chirpy talk and I pretended that I keeping a look out for Deathwing.

"Mom! Help!"

I turned my head to see him struggling against an invisible force. I looked around and being the magical mage I am, I cast my see invisibility spell. It was too dangerous to throw any other spells because they might hit Kidlet and that would be bad.

"They're sprites!" I said excitedly. I lifted my hand and blasted them away with an air gust.

Kidlet turned around and started battling them with his sword and shield. Various grunts and groans coming from him. I threw my low level spells at the sprites. I didn't want to hurt them and I bade Rhys not to hurt them too badly.

Soon the sprites retreated and we were able to continue our journey. I stopped to tie my shoe which had come undone in the battle and told him I was listening to the trees.

"What are they saying?" Rhys inquired, squatting down and looking at my face with such seriousness I had to keep from laughing at him.

"They're saying that Deathwing is not far from where we are and the quickest way to get to Element Tree is going up the Oriskany current."

Rhys stood up again, as did I. We sighed heavily knowing that this was probably the only way we were going to get to Element Tree to warn them about the dragon. Drinking more water, this time a healing potion, we trekked on. It was uneventful to the current. We looked at the flora and fauna of the area as it crossed our path. A simple alley cat became a sleek mountain lion, humming birds were fairies, wisps and other little distractions meant to throw us off the trail. Other people, were commoners, except the few in uniform that we saw.

I pointed to one of the men getting out of his car and said to Rhys with a look of awe on my face "There's one of the Nahval knights. I bet he's coming home from his work in the big city!"

Much to my surprise, the man played along.

"We did indeed ma'am and young sir," he said. "I am Nahval knight Holden and this is my fellow knight Ormand. I trust your quest is going well."

"No!" Rhys shouted excitedly. "Deathwing is coming! The big dragon!"

"C'mon Rhys we have to get to Element Tree and warn them. I'm sure the Nahval Knights will send word immediately to the King and let him know as well. We are expecting a big battle," I said, filling in the two navy men.

"We'll do our best ma'am," Holden replied. "Best of luck on your adventure,"

"Be safe," I said to both them. "And thank you."

When we go to the bottom of the hill, we looked up it and groaned. Oriskany current was flowing heavily today and it would be difficult to climb it. Rhys noticed the vines growing and grabbed on. He started pulling his way up the current. At one point, he lost his grip and slid into me. I grabbed hold fast and helped him back to the vines.

"Don't let go!" I said loudly, "We're almost to the top and then we have the cross roads bridges."

I was talking about the cross walks in the street which were now magically two rope bridges that would grant us passage into Element Tree.

"I know, mom!"

By the time we reach the top, we were soaked to the core and stiff. The rope bridge allowed us a better view, we were able to see the Nahval Knights riding their great steeds to the King to warn him of the dragon's approach.

As we cross the the bridge, it wobbled to and fro making it difficult. Hopping onto the middle platform, we shook our heads. We would have to balance it out. Rhys went across the second part and I follow closely behind. We were almost to Element Tree.

The main gate had been locked, but we could see the young scholars running around outside preparing for battle with flattened paddles. Several were reading books and there was a music. We rushed to the side gate and were granted immediate entry. In the Elder's quarters, we explained out situation and told them about the dragon.

"I'm going to the next village to warn them and will continue on until everyone is prepared for battle against this dragon," I said to him.

"I am going to stay here and prepare with Element Tree. I can help them," Rhys replied to me.

"I understand," I said with a nod, kissing his head. "Be good to them and be safe."

"I will, mom. I love you!"

I watched him walk into the next rooms where his mentor was and stood back for a minute to hear:

"Sorry I'm late, guys, mom and I had to warn everyone about the dragon."

I snapped back to reality and realized that in fifteen minutes, I had the best adventure in my whole life just by walking my kid to school.

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

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken (or Turkey)

So I was cleaning out junk on my facebook and I discovered this awesome recipe! As it turned out, I also had a picture of it too! Victory for the noms!

It's a fairly simple dish to make and you can interchange the chicken for turkey

Filling:

1 8oz packaged of frozen spinach (I used cut leaf)
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves garlic, sliced (if you have jarred garlic, 2.5tsps)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat skillet over medium high heat. Melt butter.
Sauté garlic until browned (be careful not to burn it! This means pay attention!!)
Add mushrooms and sauté until caramelized.
Add spinach, cover if still frozen, stir frequently and cook until the spinach is heated thoroughly.
Add salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat and set aside

Parmesan Chicken Thighs:


1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs (roughly 7 thighs)
or
1 package boneless skinless thin sliced chicken breasts or turkey cutlets
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Spinach and Mushroom stuffing

Preheat oven to 350°F

Fold open thighs and place between to pieces of plastic wrap.
Pound flat using a mallet, rolling pin or an empty wine bottle. Beat the crap of them but they don't need to be completely flat.

Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Place two tablespoons of spinach stuffing down center of each thigh; three for a breast
Place a small amount of mozzarella on top of the stuffing
Wipe pan clean and return to heat.
Roll thighs around filling and secure with a toothpick. Salt and pepper liberally.
Brown chicken on all sides in olive oil over medium heat.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and top with mozzarella, place in oven and cook through (about 15-20 minutes.)
Remove from pan and cover with foil to rest for at least 10 minutes.

Meringue Cookies

I bet with this recipe, you have all the ingredients in your kitchen. They are so easy to make, but at the same time they are slightly difficult.

For this recipe you will need egg whites, caster sugar and vanilla. That's it. Caster sugar is difficult to track down but you can make your own. Remember that blog about the food processor? Well I got to actually use it to make caster sugar.

The step by step:

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (sub with 1/4tsp lemon juice)
3/4 superfine or caster sugar
1/4 tsp  vanilla

Put rack in center. Preheat your oven to 200ºF. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

To make the caster sugar, place into a food processor for 30 to 60 seconds until it's finer than normal sugar, but not quite powder. This may take some practice.

Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites, on low-medium, until they are foamy. Add cream of tartar (or lemon juice) then beat until soft peaks form.

Add sugar in little by little. About a quarter to half cup at a time. Mix until the egg whites and sugar no longer feel gritty between your fingers.

Boost the mixer medium-high speed and continue to mix the meringue until stiff peaks form. You can tell you have stiff peaks by turning off the mixer and looking at the end of the beaters. The peaks will stand straight up.

Using two spoons, a pastry bag or in my case, as ziploc bag, carefully start putting dollops of meringue about 1/2 inch apart across the cookie sheet.

Place in oven and bake for 90 minutes. Once they are finished, remove from oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

The meringue, if finished, should come right off the parchment sheets. The outsides will be hard and have a slight satin-y sheen to them while the insides will be soft, light and fluffy.

Summer Peach Panna Cotta

I had a craving for panna cotta, I also had some frozen peaches in my freezer. It was time to make panna cotta. But I didn't have all the ingredients. I didn't feel like making my own heavy cream for this recipe so I did some research to find out what would be a good substitute and potentially healthier for you.

So I trekked to the store and picked up the ingredients that I needed. Heavy cream is also ridiculously expensive.

Better alternatives are: Whole milk, sour cream, almond milk or Half and Half. I opted for half and half so it would still have that super creamy texture. I have made panna cotta with almond milk and it was good too.

What is panna cotta you ask? Well it basically translates to cooked cream.

How do I make it? Well...

What you'll need:


1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups half and half (Use the rest for your coffee)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or splenda)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup diced peaches*

1 tbsp honey

In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over the milk and leave sit until gelatin is softened, which takes about 5 minutes.

Take a large sauce pan and combine the half and half with the sugar. Heat up until the sugar is dissolved. DO NOT BOIL. Add the vanilla.

Once you have a simmer going, whisk in the milk and gelatin. Keep whisking gently until all the gelatin has dissolved.

Remove from heat and mix in the peaches.

Carefully pour the mixture into small bowls or ramekins. Chill for 3 hours to over night.

To remove the panna cotta, take a bowl of hot water bigger than the dish and place the dish into it for up to 2 minutes. Run a knife gently along the edge. Remove from water and place a plate on top of the bowl, then flip. Tap on the bottom of the bowl to release.

Top with more peaches and drizzle honey. Then enjoy!

* Peaches can be fresh, frozen, canned. However make sure they are well drained and rinsed of syrup. You can also use the syrup from the peaches in place of the honey.

Pizza Burgers

Someone in my video game mentioned burgers, fries and milkshakes. It was nearing dinner time and I was starving already. Burgers sounded really good, but I also had a craving for pizza. So tonight for dinner, we had pizza burger.

Another friend in the same game seemed a little baffled by this.

Kent von Relven: ((...pizza...burgers...))
Satin Falcon: ((:)
Kent von Relven: ((It's possible to combine these two heavenly treats?))
Satin Falcon: ((mhmm

And here I am now posting the blog just so he can see exactly how such a creation is made.

ONWARD!

What you'll need:

2 lbs ground beef (I use 80/20)
2 tbsp Italian blend seasoning
8 oz pizza sauce or traditional pasta sauce, divided.
2 cups plain bread crumbs or Panko
1 egg

Combine all ingredients and half of the sauce, in a large bowl. Remove any rings, bracelets, watches or anything you don't want raw meat stuck to.

Mix well. If it's too wet add more bread crumbs, too dry add a bit more sauce.

Preheat your grill or stove top griddle until a drop of water just skitters across it. About 400ºF (204.5ºC). Also preheat your oven to 350ºF (176.5ºC)

Form your burgers into palm size patties and place on the grill. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until no pink remains on the edges. Flipping about half way through. You should have nice grill marks on both sides.

Place burgers into a oven safe dish and pour the rest of the sauce over the tops of the burgers and top with mozzarella cheese. Put into oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the internal temp reads 145ºF(62.5ºC)

Serve with favorite sides and enjoy!

 

Crafty Zodi Has Been Crafty

I've always loved 8-bit art. I find the simplicity in it amusing. So I made some of my own.

Remember being a kid and having those beads that you would make a design on a pegboard, put a piece of wax paper over it and then iron it? Well those beads are perfect for 8-bit art.

And so, I made some with images borrowed from the internet. They are fairly simple to make, however, don't get the imitation melty beads or anything that doesn't say Perler Brand. They don't hold up nearly as well and don't have the same melting time as perler.

Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony

Doxy

Super group crest from Champions Online

Decepticons

Autobots

Link

Zelda

Ninjas

MineCraft Diamond (variation)

Nyan Cat

Pokeball and Sonic

Black Mage

Leonardo, Donatello and April O'Neill

I have more perler bead art and more photos to show just how crafty I've been over the last few weeks. Including and up date on my staff. It will more than likely be after I am moved into my new house in San Diego California. I will make a brag post about that later.

Bleh

I'll get around to posting something new, I promise. Real life has over taken my computer life and now I must learn balance.

In the mean time, know that I am working currently on:

1 tardis decorative lamp
1 mother's day tea party hat
1 apron
1 hip pouch with the emblem for the horde on it
a dozen or more melty/ perler bead magnets in the 8-bit style

I'm also getting my named changed legally to Zodi. \o/

Cheers

Wild Rice Cakes

Upon discovery of a neat little list of all the WoW foods in the game, I decided to embark upon one dish in particular. Wild rice cakes. Yum. My reasoning for this is I have friend who is a vegetarian. He and his girlfriend are trying a lot of my recipes, so I figured this would be acceptable for them. Plus any of my other friends who don't eat meat. This recipe was graciously adapted from Epicurious.

6c (or more) canned vegetable (or chicken) broth

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1c chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/3c long grain white rice

1/3c wild rice
1/2c dry white wine (Don't use cooking wine; too much salt.)
1/4c coarsely grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
1/4c sharp cheddar cheese

1/3c plain dry panko (or bread crumbs)
1/4c grated Parmesan cheese

Bring the broth to a boil, remove from heat, then cover.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; saute until tender then add garlic. Stir frequently to avoid burning.

Add white rice and wild rice; stir 1 minute. 

Add wine, cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in 2 cups warm broth, bring to boil. 

Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Repeat and stir occasionally until rice is tender.

Uncover; simmer until rice is tender and broth is absorbed, stirring often and adding broth by 1/4 cupfuls if rice is not tender, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in mozzarella; season with pepper. Cool until you are able to handle the rice easily with your hands.

To bake: 

Preheat oven to 375º F. 

Take a muffin pan and spray it with non stick cooking spray. Sprinkle panko and Parmesan cheese in the bottom of each cup. Take a heaping spoonful and gently pack it into each cup. Top with more panko/parm mix and bake for 20 minutes.

To pan fry:

Make patties of rice and place them in the panko/parm. Coat both sides.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat and place the rice patties into the pan. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Drain well on paper towel.

Muffin pan Rice Cakes.

Update O_o

I'm slacking big time, I know I am. But with good reasoning.

I am gainfully employed. Okay that started yesterday. My other reasoning is because I've been terrible about getting to bed at a decent hour. Insomnia has kicked my butt hardcore this time around. I've been up until 4, 5, or 6, every morning for past two weeks. Ugh.

Slowly getting out by forcing myself to stay awake in hopes to reverse the reversed schedule.

I'm gluing the topper pieces to my staff today and foaming it. Also found out that my sewing machine is considered vintage and parts aren't made for it anymore so it's going to sit in my closet until it becomes an antique and I'm looking into a newer non-vintage model.

I've also got several more ideas which now I'm grateful I have a job so that I can actually press on with these ideas. One of which is a Tardis dress, complete with light up hat. Another is a faery costume idea this time with butterfly styled wings.

Food wise, I've got a whole slew of new recipes coming up. Darkmoon Faire goodies in which I will be experimenting with making a root beer syrup that can be added to Seltzer water. Yayness.

Keep an eye out for more updates, I'll get back into the swing the of things.

Excited!

There was something posted on the press release about cooking in World of Warcraft. We will be able to make customizable meals! This excites me so much because now I can make stuff up on the fly and learn new recipes to cook. Horray!!

In other news, I am currently working on several recipes at once. Most of which are Darkmoon Faire fare! Yum. You can look forward to me creating Corn-breaded sausages in which I will get my six year old to help me make. Sarsaparilla Sinkers, which he will also help me make and finally because it's faire food, what faire would be complete without funnel cake.

Also I will be posting up new progression pictures of my staff!

Gaelynae Delacroix AKA Bree

This is my worgen. She goes by the name Bree. Mostly because she feels her real name is far too unique for people to remember. When I made Bree, I had the story idea in my head that I wanted her to be a prostitute.

Bree was raised in Gilneas, a city which until recently was closed off from the rest of Azeroth. When the cataclysm came, and Deathwing shook the grounds, the wall around Gilneas began to fall. The Forsaken leader Silvanas Windrunner decided to be an even bigger bitch then she usually is and try to take the port city from the Gilneans. On top of this, the Gilneans were also dealing with feral worgen who essentially are werewolves. When the wall fell, the worgen got in and started to attack the Gilneans, biting and scratching as well as killing. Those that are left are able to transform between human and worgen. Gilneans kept their minds due to a tonic of sorts that restored it, but there is always the lingering fear that they will lose their minds again.

Bree grew up in a brothel in merchant square of Gilneas City Proper.  Her mother was a prostitute and her father, who is unknown, was a client of her mother. Growing up Bree did chores around the house and attended the ladies as way of keeping room and board. When she was old enough, Bree was told she could either do what the other girls did, or get out. Seeing nothing wrong with being a prostitute, she became one.

When the attack came, Bree lost her home, and all those she considered family. Setting out for Darnassus with those that were left, she sought to explore the world. Doing what she was doing to get through. Bree is bold, crass and tactless at some points. However, she does have compassion.

Currently, she has given up selling her body and is working with her boyfriend, Reno and his companion/partner in crime Helsey. The only thing that Bree and Helsey have in common is Reno, otherwise they despise each other. More recently Bree had been training and working with contracts all over the world to gather income. She uses seduction techniques, but never gets to the point of sleeping with.

Recovery part 2

Life is great until it's not. Right now it's totally not. My kidlet is sick. *frowns* He has bronchitis, a double ear infection and a sinus infection. He is well on the road to recovery but it's a messy road indeed. Until my little man is better expect fewer blogs for right now.

This also coincides with the fact I will be starting a new job. Ingredients are expensive! So I have decided to return to work to help pay for my cosplay and for my cooking hobbies.

I will keep posting, just not nearly as much. *sigh* Thank you all for reading and check back frequently for new posts.

Westfall Mud Pie

Today is March 14th. Also know as Pi day. And to celebrate pi day, I made a pie. Not just any pie. I made a Westfall Mud Pie. I'm not talking the dirt in a makeshift container that you used to feed to a younger sibling. I'm talking edible deliciousness in a pie pan.

Bonus to this. This requires NO BAKING! So don't preheat your oven.

Ingredients for the crust:

24 oreos or other chocolate and cream filled cookie, smashed.
1/4 c butter, melted. (10 second intervals in microwave, STIR!)

Using a food processor, or a rolling pin, crumble the cookies until you have a nice crumby mixture. Press into an ungreased pie plate

What you need for the the filling

1 pk of instant pudding/pie filling. Follow directions on how to make this
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 chocolate cookies (I used chocolate animal crackers) coarsely chopped.
1/2 oz white chocolate (optional) chopped
5 or 6 gummy worms

When the pudding is mixed until smooth, add the rest of the ingredients and blend well. Should be lumpy. Pour into crust filled pie plate. Press worms in at various angles and places.

Topping

1 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c.whipped topping (like cool whip)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 c. powdered sugar

Blend by hand (this part is important so you don't have powder going everywhere!) the cream cheese, sugar and cocoa until smooth and well combined. Fold the whipped cream into it and keep stirring. It will be creamy and thick (and brown...pervs.)

Pour on top of pudding mix and gently spread it over the top. Add more gummy worms.

Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Craft A Staff Redo!

Today I finally got around to doing the new template for my staff and gluing it to the handle. It's turned out much much better.

The new plans took me a little while to figure out. But once I stopped looking at the pieces jutting off of it. It was simple to just draw the basic shapes. The next part was making the template larger, which I did out of poster board. From there I traced that shape on to foamboard. 

Foamboard is a pain in the butt to cut. But I managed it with a utility knife and an xacto knife. Still it was hard. After that, I hot glued the pieces on.

Letting this dry a a bit and the metal part to cool, before adding the foam. I'm pleased with the way the shape came out. I will probably have to take it down a bit, but I'll worry about that later.

One side foamed. Waiting the 4-6 hours for this to dry now. *siiigh* I'm so impatient. I can't wait for it to be dry and then I can start the fun part. CARVING!

Sin'dorei Crème Brulee

When I hear crème brulee, the beautiful, selfish and often misunderstood Sin'dorei come to mind. Perhaps this recipe will be enough to sweeten your tastes on them If not... well then you'll at least have a good dessert.

Unlike traditional crème brulee, this version will be made without a torch (but if you got one, use it.) It will also not have heavy cream. Heavy cream is hard to find in my neck of the woods, so I've whipped up this version after extensive searching on the internet.

You will need:

1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 can of evaporated milk
5 large yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla
Granulated sugar for the topping

Preheat oven to 350ºF

Add all of the ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix well with a whisk.

Once mixed, pour the liquid into a large measuring cup and pour into your ceramic ramekins or other small oven safe dish.

Place the ramekins into a larger oven safe dish, fill half way with cold water.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until they are firm but wiggle like jello when you knock against the pan.

Remove them immediately from the hot water (this can be tricky!) and onto a small sheet pan

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, blot off any moisture with a paper towel.

Once completely chilled, take a spoonful of granulated sugar and coat the top. At this point you can use aforementioned blow torch or if you don't have one:

Turn on broiler, place baking sheet with ramekins into oven. At this point you will literally need to watch the crème brulee. Carefully turn the baking sheet 90º every 2 minutes. Once the sugar is nice and caramelized, remove from oven and serve.

Pre-caramelized topping

Mmm.