Hey guys, I'm sorry about the delay in posts. This semester has been very busy, and I've written lots and lots of code. I wanted to take a moment to talk about SOPA, however. If you guys haven't heard, the US House is trying to pass SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. The problem with that, however, is that it won't effectively stop piracy and could instead remove some of your favourite sites from the Internet, including Reddit, Facebook, Youtube, Tumblr, and blogs. For more information on it, Mozilla has a pretty nice page here that you may consider looking at.
If you're a US citizen, please contact your congresspeople about SOPA. The hearing is today, so please write your senators and house representatives as soon as you can!

Clams in White Sauce

There are times where you need to whip something up really quickly, and you don't have terribly many ingredients lying around.  Hopefully, you've got some milk, butter, and flour.  If you're really lucky, you've got a can of clams too.  If you've got all that, lets get started!

Ingredients:

1 can of clams
2 T flour
2 T butter
1 cup milk
1/2 an onion, diced
Oregano
Garlic powder

Equipment:
1 quart pot
1 spoon
can opener
measuring implements

Directions:
1. Heat up the pot, adding in the butter
2. Add the flour to the melted butter, mixing to create a roux
3. Once well mixed, add in the milk and clams
4. Stir in the spices
5. Once thickened, remove from heat

Serve on top of Orecchiette, shells, or spaghetti (or any other kind of noodle.  I'm not your boss.)
Should feed 4~5 people.  If you double the recipe, you can easily just add more flour and neglect to add extra butter.

Possible Alterations:
Everything mentioned here, except for the clams, goes into a standard white sauce.  You could use shrimp, tuna, mushrooms, or any other type of addition that you desire.  If you add cheese, you can make a pretty tasty cheese sauce.  If you don't have butter, you can use oil, or shortening, or probably even bacon fat.

Happy Gaming!

Carrot Curry

Saying I like curry is an understatement.  I put curry spice in my eggs, curry sauce on tuna, and have now started exploring making my own different varieties of curry.  My first attempt was from a vegetarian cookbook.  It was potatoes and peas, and it was good.  Not really great, but good.

Anyway, the recipe calls for half and half, which I don't always have on hand.  So, I asked myself what could be used that I do have on hand as a base.  The answer I came up with was Cream of Mushroom soup.  So, lets get started!

Ingredients:
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup peas (frozen.  If canned, make sure it is drained.)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Milk
Olive Oil
1 T Curry Powder (or more.  Curry powder is delicious!)
Garlic (There is probably some in the curry powder, but garlic is also delicious.)
Parsley

[ A note about curry powder: curry powder is actually a western thing, based on an eastern style of food.  McCormick makes a good curry powder, but where ever you're getting your curry powder might have different varieties that could be awesome. Feel free to go off the beaten path and try something other than the McCormick brand!]

Equipment:
Stir-fry pan/Wok
Spatula
Can opener

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in the pan
2. Add the sliced carrots and onion, and cook them until soft.
3. Add the peas, cooking until unfrozen.
4. Dump the can of soup into the pan, adding milk to thin it out.
5. Add the curry powder and garlic, stirring.
6. Remove from heat, and put on bowls of rice.
7. Add parsley to the top before serving

Makes 4~6 servings, depending on how much milk you put in.

Possible Alterations:
There are lots of other things you can put in a curry, and many things you can serve it on top of.  The potato-pea curry I mentioned earlier was pretty good, and tuna in curry is very tasty as well.  I'm sure there are many other things that you could add, and if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear from you.

As always, Happy gaming!

Product Review: Lipton Onion Mushroom Soup and Dip mix

It all started a few weeks ago. My girlfriend got sick, so I went to the store for orange juice, medicine, and soup. The problem comes that my girlfriend is pescetarian, and chicken noodle soup isn't going to do anything but make her more ill.  So, I went down the soup aisle, looking for a replacement that is savory and warm, but doesn't contain meat.  I found the Lipton soup mixes, and while I'd never used them aside for their intended purpose (making onion dip, obviously), I figured it'd be worth a go.

And it was.  It was warm and tasty, and it was good.  Not life changing good, but good none-the-less.  When I was reading over the box when one of the other recipes on the box caught my eye.  It wasn't for the dip, and it wasn't the one for slow-cooker pulled pork (although my mouth is watering just thinking about it.)

It was for gravy.  So, the next week we whipped up some of Blackmoonshine's cheese balls, made some boxed mashed potatoes, and covered the whole thing with mushroom gravy.

It was glorious.

The next step will be make poutine, American style.  I'm assuming that, too, will be glorious.

So, I guess what I'm really trying to say is this: Get some, stick it in your cupboard, and you won't regret it.  Should you make a mad dash to the store, right this instant?  No.  It's not going to change your life, it's not essential, but it is good, and worth having around.  So, next time you are in the store and thinking of this post, do it.  You won't regret it.

Arbitrary product score: 7 out of 10 cooks agree, keep it in the kitchen!*

*This isn't actually a statistic, I haven't actually asked 10 cooks, please don't sue me.

Blackmoonshine's Cheese Balls

Like this, without the meat. Or the cake.

Meatballs are fantastic.  Especially the Swedish variety they serve at Ikea. It's really the best reason to go to Ikea.  Other than all the other stuff they have at Ikea, that is...

Anyway, one of the things that stinks about meatballs, at least when one needs to worry about serving pescetarian/vegetarian friends, is that they involve meat.  Blackmoonshine, a redditor, shared this wonderful recipe with me.  It tastes great, especially when served with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes.  The best part is that they freeze very well, so you can make big batches and store them for use later!

Ingredients:
1 Cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped (Pecan meal is suggested by Blackmoonshine)
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 glove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
A pinch of red pepper flakes.

Equipment:
Blender or food processor
cheese shredder
2 large bowls
1 spatula
1 fork
measuring implements
Cookie sheets/baking pans
Wax paper

Directons:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine all ingredients in large bowl, as specified
3. Using a 1 T measure, measure out balls and place onto baking sheets covered in wax paper
4. Place into oven until browned, roughly 20~30 minutes

Serve with gravy and mashed potatoes (making both from a box is totally fine.) Makes about 4~5 servings if served as a meal, or more if served as hors d'oeuvre.

Possible Alterations:
Adding spinach or parsley would be okay, as would adding any number of other things.  Feel free to experiment, and leave feedback in the comments.  Many thanks for Blackmoonshine for sharing this recipe with me.  It's been very nice to have these in the freezer for days when I'm looking for something delicious and don't have the time to whip something up from scratch.

As always, may your meals be delicious and your games epic!

Dump (or Wowie) Cake

We got hungry...

Dump cake, according to the internet, is a dessert that involves putting cake mix on top of fruit filling of some kind.  That is not the dump cake we're talking about.  Mainly because that dessert is poorly named.  You're not really dumping anything into the dish haphazardly.  You're layering fruit filling and cake mix.  So the "dump" part makes no sense.  On top of that, it's an odd form of cobbler, which while tasty, is not cake.  It's simply not a "dump cake".  If I ever write about it, I'll call it "Quick Cobbler", or something like that.  Right now, I'm taking back the meaning of Dump Cake to it's rightful owner.

What we are going to talk about is the first cake I ever learned how to make, and it's become my go for all sorts of cake-ingesting occasions.  The reason is because it is so damnably simple, and because it doesn't require eggs or milk.  In fact, if you bake anything at all, you probably have most of the ingredients hanging around your kitchen.  So, lets go on to what we're going to be dumping into a cake dish today!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Cocoa

1 1/2  Cup Flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 T vinegar (white or apple cider is good)
1 tsp. Vanilla (Imitation is fine)
1/3 cup Salad Oil (usually Vegetable, others are fine)
1 Cup cold water

Topping:
Powdered Sugar

Equipment:
1 large bowl
1 cake round
1 spatula
measuring implements

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Dump Sugar, Cocoa, Flour, salt, and baking soda into bowl. Combine.
3. Dump vinegar, vanilla, oil, and water into bowl.  Mix until smooth.
4. Put batter into greased, floured baking round.
5. Bake roughly 35 minutes
6. Cut around edges, and invert cake onto a dish.
7. Top with a coat of powdered sugar

Serve and enjoy!  Should make about 8 slices, more depending on how it is sliced.

Possible Alterations:
The best part about this cake is that it almost always turns out moist.  The second best part is that it's very versatile.  Want to make a two layer cake?  Go for it!  Want to put icing on it instead of powdered sugar?  Why not!  It's a pretty standard chocolate cake.  Dress it up however you want.  I'm sure it'll be great at all the parties.

As always, bon apetit and happy gaming!

Tater Tot Casserole

The recipe for this came to my attention a couple weeks ago on Reddit.  I'm a follower of f7u12d (r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuud), and this recipe looked so simple that I just had to try it.  Turns out it's both delicious and cheap, so I just had to share.

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen tater tots
1~1 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (or some other cream soup)
1/2 cup milk
1 can tuna
1/3 bag frozen vegetables

Equipment:
1 big bowl
1 spatula
cheese grater
9x13 casserole dish
can opener
measuring implements

Directions:
1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F
2. Place the tots in a layer that covers the bottom of the pan.
3. Mix half the cheese, the condensed soup, milk, tuna, and vegetables in the bowl.
4. Pour the mixture on top of the tots, smoothing it out with your spatula.
5. Spread the remaining cheese on top of the casserole and place in the oven

Once the cheese has melted and browned, serve and enjoy!  Should feed 6~8 people (less if they're all considerable hungry)

Possible Alterations:
There are many things that can be done with this recipe.  It can use any type of cheese, any type of condensed cream soup, and the types of filler like tuna and frozen vegetables can vary.  The only thing I would really recommend would be to make sure to have some Sriracha on hand!

As always, happy gaming!

Carrot Salad

 There are a couple of reasons why carrot salad is cool.  Firstly, it is pretty damn tasty.  Secondly, it's dead simple, and doesn't require more than a handful of ingredients.  Thirdly, it's cheap.  Lastly, it stores well.

So, lets make some!

Ingredients:
4~5 medium carrots
2~3 handfuls raisins
1/2~3/4 cups mayo
Dill

Equipment:
1 large bowl
Spatula
Food processor
measuring implements

Directions:
1. After peeling the carrots and cutting the ends, shred the carrots in the food processor.
2. Move the shredded carrots into the bowl.
3. Add the mayo and the dill.  Mix it all up.

Makes 5~6 sides.

Possible Alterations:
This recipe is something I've never really messed with, just because it turns out great every time I make it.  If you have any suggestions though, I'd love to hear them in the comments!

Farmer's Markets: Why you should eat local

The environmental reasons for eating local are pretty good ones, but I'm not really here to talk about that. Instead I'm going to make my arguments based on the two things: taste, and price.

Taste
A lot of eggs claim to be farm fresh, and they might be. It's just that they're coming from farms that mass produce eggs using chickens in cages, and are probably a couple of states away from you. While mass produced eggs are cheap, they lack flavour. I'm all for omelets and spiced eggs, but adding things to eggs shouldn't be necessary to make them taste really good. When you get eggs from a farmers market, you get eggs that taste delicious all on their own. It almost seems a shame to even consider adding something to them.

Fresh vegetables are also great. If you walk down the produce aisle at Wal-Mart, the vegetables look alright. They look edible most of the time, but they don't look like something to be excited about. They usually look old and over handled, and that isn't mentioning the fact that they may have traveled a long way before they make it to your plate. While the produce found at a farmer's markets doesn't necessarily look as uniform as that found in the grocery store, the fruits and vegetables are usually in better condition. This, along with the fact that they have only traveled a relatively short distance, makes for much tastier meals.

Cost

All this was 4 dollars

The prices at your local farmer's market is usually comparable to the prices found at the grocer's, if not cheaper. The only exception that I have found are eggs, which usually run about 2 dollars for a dozen, as opposed to a dollar and change. Going near the end of the market can end up with a steep decrease in price too, or with vendors who will add things to your order at no extra charge. Sometimes the vendors will also be lazy with their math. I had one guy charge seven dollars for 3 lbs of beef tips that he was selling at 3 dollars a pound.

Finding A Market Local to You
Finding a farmer's market can sometimes be the hardest part of buying things from them. This is made especially difficult because of their transient nature. They're usually only open one day a week, for a few hours of the day. There are a few tell-tale signs of their existence, however. Firstly, there are usually signs that stay up all week, with the day and time of the farmer's market. These could be little signs by the roadside, or they could be large signs with the replaceable letters like old movie marquees. You can also ask people who live in your area about if there is a market in your area.

You can also Google it, and end up on this site, called Local Harvest. I've not had much experience on the site, but it seems to work pretty well. Just type in your zip code, and it'll list the markets in your area.

I hope this has been informative, and as always, happy gaming!

Quick and Dirty Fried Rice

Fried rice is a delicious, and makes for a pretty good meal. Sometimes you don't want to go out for Chinese food, or you are looking for a cheaper alternative. The good news is that you can make some at home pretty easily!

Ingredients:
1 cup Rice (White)
2 cups water
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 Green Pepper, diced
3 handfuls frozen peas
1-2 eggs, scrambled
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Oil (for frying)

Equipment:
Stir Fry Pan/Wok
Chef Knife
Cutting Board
Spatula

Directions:
1. Cook the cup of rice with the two cups of water, and chill in the fridge.
2. Heat the oil up in the pan. Once hot, add onion, carrot, celery, green pepper, and peas. Keep the vegetables moving.
3. Once the veggies are mostly cooked and the onions are translucent, add the rice.
4. When the rice has started frying, push it to one side of the pan. In the free space, scramble the egg.
5. Once the egg is scrambled, mix it into the rice.
6. When the rice is almost mostly fried, add soy sauce.

Should serve 3~4 plates as a main dish, and 6 plates as a side dish.


Possible alterations:
There are lots of things you can add to fried rice to make it really tasty. Of course, you can add meat, such as chicken or shrimp. Baby corn would also probably be a good addition, and I've heard rumours that adding some fish sauce is a definite must.

If you were unaware, fish sauce is a flavour enhancer, like soy sauce, that is made from fermented fish juice. It may smell terrible, but when mixed with other flavours, apparently makes for a savoury delicious taste that is hard to replicate. As always, comments are always appreciated!

Good Eats and Happy Gaming!

Whatever's in the Kitchen Pasta Salad

I've been moving these past few weeks, and I've been shorter on time than usual. Couple this with entertaining people, and you've got a need to make some food that's quick and stores nicely. I whipped this up from scratch the other day, and it turned out pretty well.

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (penne and rotini are both good choices. Tortellini would also work.)
1 15 oz can of Garbanzo Beans
1 15 oz can corn
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 cup onion (Note that, as my mom says, you can't have too much onion)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, crushed

dressing:
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup Vinegar (Balsamic is tasty)
2 T Mayo (add more if it tastes too vinegary)
Salt
Pepper

Equipment:
Bowls x2
Chef Knife
Cutting Board
Fork

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according to package directions
2. Once done, strain and dry the pasta
3. Mix pasta, bell pepper, celery, beans, corn, onion, and peanuts together.
4. Mix ingredients for dressing together. The dressing should be very well mixed before coating the salad.
5. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, stirring to coat the salad.

The pasta salad can be served immediately, and should serve a party of six.

Possible alterations:
There are many different variations on pasta salad. This article on All Recipes was very valuable to making this salad as good as it was. While this recipe could use some more work, it did turn out very well for being a spur of the moment thing. Any improvements, as always, are welcomed in the comments section.

Happy Gaming!

Ice Cream, Liquid Nitrogen Style

Ice cream is delicious, and it's best when you make it yourself.  Sadly, whipping up a batch of ice cream can be hard work when you do it the old fashion way.  However it's positively easy when you do it with SCIENCE!

As I mentioned last time, you should wear the appropriate safety equipment, such as goggles and gloves, and work with this stuff outside or with the windows open.  Also, avoid

Ingredients:
1 cp milk
1 cp heavy cream
~1 cp Liquid Nitrogen
2~3 spoonfuls of sugar
Fruits
1 shot raspberry schnapps
1 shot peach schnapps


Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients (except for the liquid nitrogen) in a bowl
2. Slowly stir in the liquid nitrogen.

When the ice cream is done, feel free to dig in!

Possible Alterations:
The only real things that need to stay constant is the milk, cream, and liquid nitrogen.  Sugar is also probably pretty good to keep in there, but you may want to add to it.  Changing what you're using to add flavours is where all the action is going to happen.  Feel free to cut up some of your favourite fruits or candies and mix them in.  If you find anything particularly delicious, let me know in the comments!

Happy Gaming!

Fish Bake

The following recipe has been adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  With how often I cook pescetarian, I'm always at a  loss as what to do with fish.  This recipe originally calls for baking the fish on top of a coal grill with hickory chips.  While cooking atop the grill is great during the summer time, sometimes starting the coals and cooking out is just too large of a time investment.  Baking in the oven works out great, however!

Ingredients:
2 pounds fish fillets
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper

Equipment:
Baking pan
Knife
bowl
fork

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Arrange half of the lemon slices in the bottom of a shallow baking pan.
3. In one layer, place the fish on top of the slices
4. Sprinkle fish generously with salt and pepper
5. Place the remaining lemon slices on top of the fish
6. Combine the melted butter with the minced garlic.
7. Pour the garlic butter mixture over the fish.
8. Basting frequently, cook the fish for 25-30 minutes, or until flaky.

Serve with the lemon slices and butter mixture.  Should serve a party of six.

Possible alterations:
Obviously, one could us the original recipe and bake the fish over slow coals with hickory chips on it.  One could also add different spices than just garlic butter.  Sage would probably bring something to the party, as would dill.  Chives might also be worth trying.  As for side dishes, some rice would be nice, as well as putting it on a bed of greens.

Good Eats and Happy Gaming!

TED Talk: Nathan Myhrvold: Cooking as never seen before

I was on Reddit when I stumbled across this.  I figured I should share.  I hope you find this as interesting as I do!

Also, I've done the math and I appear to be a few posts behind my goal of 52 posts this year.  This means you can all expect some extra posts from me this week so I can get back on track!

Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots

Seeing as this month is apparently "Good Recipes from Cookbooks", I thought I'd share one of the first recipes that I ever learned.  It is from "Cooked Up by Kids" from The Virginia Children's Hospital at Fairfax Hospital.  I've had this book for a very long time, so it's certainly seen better days.  Even though it is aimed at kids, it doesn't make the recipes any less delicious!

Ingredients:
6 carrots
3 T butter or margarine
1 T  honey
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T fresh parsley, minced

Equipment:
Cutting board
Vegetable peeler
A saucepan with lid
knife
measuring implements

Directions:
1. Wash and peel the carrots.  Slice them into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Place the carrots, along with the orange juice, butter, honey, and salt.
3. Cover and cook over low heat until the carrots are tender.  Should be about 20 minutes.
4. Once carrots are tender, uncover and cook slowly until the juice is mostly gone.
5. Stir until the carrots are glazed with the butter/honey mixture.
6. Remove from heat and sprinkle parsley over carrots.

Serve as the side to a all kinds of things.  Makes enough for a family of four, although the recipe should double nicely.

Possible Alterations:
I can't think of anything that I would do to make this recipe better.  It's simple and to the point.  If you think of anything, however, I would love to hear from you!

Good eats, and happy gaming!

Nomalicious Falafel Burgers

I've been doing research into recipes that will freeze and re-heat well, that are also vegetarian.  Of the many places I have been looking, cookbooks have been a great resource.  The recipe that I want to high-light today came from one such book, "The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook" by Kim O'Donnel.

I made a batch of these yesterday, and was really happy with the results.  So, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 cp dried chickpeas
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cp fresh cilantro or parsley (or 1/4 cp each), chopped
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4~1/2 cup olive oil


Equipment:
1x spatula
2x large bowl
1x food processor
1x measuring implements

Directions:
1. Soak the chickpeas at least 8 hrs at room temp.  They will be roughly 2cups when done soaking. Drain and set aside.
2. Pulverize the chickpeas in the food processor until the beans just form a paste that sticks together when you squeeze it in your hand.  Over processing the chickpeas will likely end up making bad burgers.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, save for the oil.  Combine by pulsing the food processor ~12 times.
4. Refrigerate batter ~1 hr, until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 350F (if your oven is more awesome than mine)
6. Remove batter from fridge and shape into patties, using scant 1/3 cup measure.  Handle batter as little as possible.
7. Place on a plate/baking tray and cover. A cutting board covered with parchment paper also works. Return to the fridge and chill for another 10~15 minutes.
8. Heat the oil in shallow skillet, and place the patties in the hot oil in small batches. Fry until golden brown (~3 minutes).
9. Flip the patties and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
10. Place on baking tray and place them in the oven to finish cooking.

Serve in pita, hamburger bun, or atop romaine lettuce, decorated with things like lettuce, tomato, and other burger fixings.  This will make somewhere between 6-8 patties.



Also included in the book is a recipe for Tahini sauce.  Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds, and can be difficult to find, and can be pretty expensive once you do. This sauce is fairly tasty, but the recipe makes a lot, and it supposedly only lasts a few days.  The recipe is as follows:

Tahini sauce:
1 cp tahini, stirred well
1/4~1/2 cp lemon juice
1~2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth.  The sauce should be pourable, so add extra water if needed.  It should keep in the fridge for a few days.

Possible Alterations:
There are some other recipes included in The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook that has the same basic batter, but changes the spices.  If you're very curious about it, you should get a copy (buying is good, but don't forget about your local library!)

While I like the tahini sauce, I would probably not want to make that much of it ever again.  It's expensive, and ketchup, mustard, and mayo-sriracha sauce all do a fantastic job on the burger anyway. Also, I ended up adding way more garlic than recommended, as well as probably went a over the recommended amount of salt.  Tahini has a bitter aftertaste, so salt helps counter-act that.  I know this because I initially forgot to add the salt, and realized my error when I tasted the sauce.

All told, I will definitely give this recipe another go, especially to see how it handles the freezing/re-heating process.

Good eats, and happy gaming!

Melon Salads

July is upon us, which means for myself and my American readership that the month of the out-door picnic and fireworks.  To kick off this month of awesome food and good times, I'm going to introduce two recipes.  They're both very similar, but they have some key differences that definitely have an effect on the flavour.

First is a favourite of my family, and it makes an appearance at many cookouts throughout the summer.  It's referred to as Cucumber Melon salad, and while one can use just about any kind of melon, I like it with Watermelon best.

Cucumber Melon Salad

Equipment:
1x large bowl
1x small bowl
A Chef's Knife
A cutting board
A spatula or spoon
Measuring implements
Melon baller (optional)

Ingredients:
Salad:
3 cucumbers, quartered and sliced
8 cups watermelon balls (or cubed watermelon works fine)
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts
1T chopped kalamata olives

Dressing:
2 tsp olive oil (extra virgin is nice)
2T lemon juice
2T white wine vinegar
1T onion
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients for the salad in a large bowl
2. In a separate bowl, place the dressing ingredients and stir.
3. Pour the dressing into the salad bowl, and mix together.

It can be served immediately, but if dried mint is used the salad should set for a while for all the flavours to come out.

Now a lot of these ingredients can be a bit of an investment, especially if you don't have a place like Trader Joe's nearby to pick up pine nuts and olives at a good price.  There is, however, a much simpler watermelon salad out there.

Jeff Potter, author of "Cooking for Geeks", mentions this salad in the previously mentioned book when discussing tastes.  It does show how dissimilar flavours can come together to make some seriously tasty food.  His recipe is also much simpler than the Cucumber Melon salad, so it may be better for those of us looking to save time and money (which is probably most of us)

Watermelon Feta Salad

Equipment:
1 Large bowl
1 spatula/spoon
Measuring implements

Ingredients:
2 cups watermelon, cubed or scooped
1/2 cup feta cheese, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup red onion, sliced, soaked and drained
1 T olive oil (extra virgin is preferred)
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Combine the ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss to coat.

Bring it to parties, serve it around the table, just enjoy it.  It should be noted that this does not make nearly as much as the Cucumber melon salad, but the recipe should scale well.

Possible Alterations:
The Cucumber Melon salad can, of course, be done with lots of different varieties of melon, or even mixtures of melons such as watermelon and honeydew.  Jeff recommends adding black olives, mint leaves, or red pepper flakes to his Watermelon Feta salad.  It's probably best to not add them all at the same time, although you should notice that the cucumber melon salad has both olives and mint, so it's probably worth experimenting with.

Jeff also mentions that anytime onions are going to be served raw, they should be soaked in water.  There are some very scientific reason behind it, but the TL;DR version is this: chemicals that are released when an onion is cut will stabilize as a gas.  It reacts with water to create sulfuric acid.  By soaking the onion, the chemicals that would end up reacting with the water in our eyes becomes dissolved into the water.  Drain off the water, and all the nasty stuff goes with it.  Problem solved!

Cooking for Geeks is a great book.  If it seems like something that interests you, definitely pick up a copy. I'd recommend a hard copy.  E-readers are cool, but I don't think they're up to the rigors of the kitchen.

Happy gaming!

The Amazing CLT

To round out our month of trying to be healthier players, lets talk about a wondrous sandwich which I call the CLT.  The CLT is made with three primary ingredients: cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  Unlike the BLT, where primary flavour comes from the bacon, the tomato actually brings the most to the party in the CLT.  These sandwiches are best with fresh, large tomatoes.

Equipment:
1 chef's knife
a cutting board

Ingredients:
slices of Mozzarella/Provolone cheese, 1~2 per sandwich
1~2 tomatoes, thickly sliced
Lettuce (Romain is nice), washed and ripped
Mayonnaise
Salt (Sea Salt is best)
Sliced bread, toasted

Directions:
1. Apply mayo to bread slices
2. Place 1~2 slices of tomato on the sandwich
3. sprinkle/grind salt over tomato
4. add cheese and lettuce to sandwich
5. close the sandwich

Serve!  1 medium sized tomato should yield enough for 3 or 4 sandwiches, at least.

Possible Alterations:
Sandwiches are very flexible, but aside from different sauces, there isn't much in the way of additions or subtractions one can make without making something that isn't a CLT.  That doesn't mean that they'd be bad, by any stretch though! 
Now it is also important to note that these sandwiches, while tasty, aren't necessarily the most filling things on the face of the planet.  They'd be best served with a side of some sort of hefty side dish.  One might consider rice and beans, or some kind of bean salad. 

Happy gaming!

Greek French Onion Dip

As much as I love crudités, they can be a bit boring.  Then again, so can chips and pretzels, and so many other snack foods.  There are several things that can be done to combat blandness, however.  The simplest, by far, is to have some dip with your snacks.

Dips can be a snap to make, and delicious to boot.  However, they tend to be made out of things like sour cream and mayonnaise, which are hefty in terms of calories and bad for people who are trying to be healthy.  Since this month is about getting some healthy snack options around the table, a run-of-the-mill dip just won't do. Luckily, I know just the thing.

Equipment:
Stirring Spoon
Mixing bowl
Measuring implements

Ingredients:
1 packet French Onion Soup Mix
8 oz Greek-style yogurt
2 Tbsp Mayo (or to taste)

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in bowl
2. Let sit in refrigerator for 10~15 minutes

Serve with crudités, or ruffled potato chips.

Possible Alterations:
Greek-style yogurt can be pricey, and while I've not tried this recipe with plain yogurt, it certainly seems like it could work.  If you're willing to try it, please report back here and I'll update this post.  A friend of mine has also mentioned  that you can fake Greek-style yogurt by straining plain yogurt with coffee filters for a few hours, so that could also be something worth trying.  Also, if you're uncaring to how healthy your snacks are, you can substitute sour cream for the yogurt.  You may want to add a bit more mayo if you do, but you don't have to.  Of course, there is also the Bacon French Onion dip I mentioned a while ago.

Happy gaming!

Crudités 'round the Table

Your traditional snacks for D&D might include any of following: pretzels, corn chips, potato chips, cheetos, peanuts, and maybe popcorn.  All tasty things, but sometimes you need a break from the usual.  Enter Crudités.

Crudités (pronounced Crew-Day-Ta) is a fancy French word for something simple; Crudités is just sliced, raw vegetables.  They make a nice change of pace from your regular snacks, and they're simple to boot!

Ingredients:
4 large carrots
4 stalks celery
1~2 green peppers
1-2 heads Broccoli

Equipment:
1 carrot scraper
1 cutting board
1 chefs knife
1 paring knife 
1 plate (large is best!)

Directions:
1. Prepare the carrots:
     a. Scrape the carrots.
     b. Chop off the tips.
     c. Cut carrots into sticks
     d. Place carrot sticks on a plate

2. Prepare the Celery:
     a. Wash the Celery stalks.
     b. Placing the celery so that it is concave down.
     c. Cut off the leaves and base, and save the leaves for later use.
     d. Slice down the center lengthwise.
     e. Slice into sticks
     f. Place on same plate as carrots.

3. Prepare the Peppers
     a. Wash the peppers
     b. Remove the stem using the paring knife.
     c. Cut the pepper down the center.
     d. Remove the seeds with the paring knife.
     e. Cut into strips.
     f. Place pepper strips on the plate

4. Prepare the Broccoli
    a. Wash the broccoli
    b. Remove the stalk, and place to the side.
    c. Break up the florets (the tree-like parts)
    d. Take the stalk and cut it into manageable sticks.
    e. Place the florets and the stalk slices onto the platter

Serve immediately with dip or cover in plastic wrap for short term storage.  Place separately in plastic zip-top bags for the long term storage.

Possible Alterations:
Different vegetables can certainly be used.  Cucumber slices, or sticks, are delicious, as are asparagus stalks.  Cauliflower is also acceptable, but I don't find it as tasty raw as the previously mentioned veggies.  As always, suggestions are appreciated!

Happy Gaming!