Product Review: Avanti Mini-kitchen

The equipment we cook our food on can have a large affect on the food we prepare.  Making red sauce in an iron pot will result in ruined sauce, and having a dull peeler can make doing things like peeling potatoes and making carrot sticks a pain.

So, as you can see, something like what you are actually using to cook the food, e.g. your stove, can make a huge difference, especially if you're trying to be time efficient. If you want your food done in a timely manner, then don't get the Avanti Mini-kitchen.

The Bane of my Existence

I've been using the mini-kitchen for months as my primary cooking apparatus, and it's been positively horrendous.  Water will not boil in any reasonable amount of time unless you put a lid on it, and even then you can't simmer things once you get things going.  The burners only have two temperatures: On and Off.  There is no nuance. You cannot put something on warm. They are either on, or they are off. Which is stupid, because it HAS a temperature knob already on it for the oven.  I'm not entirely certain if they were just lazy or they didn't think it was important. It doesn't matter either way, because the end result is the same: a difficult time either not burning things or having noodles and rice boiling over all the time.

These scones took
two hours to make.

If you think that maybe the oven will work like a dream, then you're going to be sorely mistaken when you try to bake something.  Everything takes longer to make in this oven.  Things that should take 20 minutes to bake, like scones or cookies, take two hours.  I made some perch the other night for dinner, and it was done two and a half hours late, just in time for bed. Pies can take four hours to make.  This is usually exacerbated by the fact that you're usually hungry when you start making the meal.

Another problem with the oven is that you can't fit a regular sized cookie sheet into it, because the oven is about an inch too small.  Everything must be done using brownie pans. It isn't a truly terrible thing, but it is awfully inconvenient.  It also makes things like frozen pizza difficult, just because of the size issue.

Lastly, they left out a mighty important feature, which would be the ability to have both the oven and the burners on at the same time. This might seem like a little thing, but if you want to make baked fish, rice, and mixed vegetables, something is going to go cold.  And be prepared to wait, because you're going to be there for a while.

Arbitrary Product Score: Two thumbs down (Just walk the other way)

Quick 'n Easy Shells and Cheese

Why buy shells and cheese in a box when you can easily make the real thing yourself?  Shells and cheese is simple, quick, and can be quite inexpensive.

Ingredients:
1 lb of large Shell noodles
6~8 oz. of Colby cheese (Cheddar, American, or even Easy Melt are also good choices)
Milk

Equipment:
large stirring spoon
3 quart pot

Directions:
1. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package.  I recommend adding some olive oil and some salt to the noodles while they boil.  The oil helps prevent the noodles from sticking together, and the salt raises the boiling point of water.
2. Shred the cheese.  Place to the side.
3. Once the noodles are done, strain them and put them back in their pot.
4. Add a handful of sliced cheese and stir. Once the cheese is melted, pour some milk into the pot.  Repeat this process, alternating adding cheese and milk until the cheese runs out.  Add enough milk to keep the mixture from being difficult to stir, while not making the mixture soupy.

Congratulations, you've just made some tasty Shells and Cheese!  This will feed a party of 6-8 people.

Note: If you are using Easy Melt/Velveeta, you can't really shred it.  Just cube it into small bits, and toss it in there.  It's just about making the cheese small enough and have enough surface area to melt quickly.


Possible alterations:
To make a larger and more filling meal, consider adding half a bag of Mixed Vegetables or some canned meat.  One can also add salsa or chili if it is available.  I would also recommend using some spices.  Cumin, Chili powder, and Garlic powder are a good combination.  Curry powder is also a tasty addition, and can replace Cumin if you don't have it.  Bacon bits can also be a very tasty addition.  Consider also adding a can of tuna or some sliced up hot dogs.

All told, just have fun with it and feel free to experiment.  Happy gaming!

The Land of Ko

I've been working on a campaign setting for a while now, and I've only just started really fleshing it out.  The following is a brief description of the "Land of Ko", an interesting and largely unexplored land:

~~~~~~~~~~~~
The land of Ko is a very large continent. It is so large, in fact, that is has yet to be fully explored. The North of the discovered continent is composed largely of seaside, dotted with small villages and the occasional port city. Sea trading occurs between port cities, the tiny archipelago that lies northward of the mainland, and the delta region to the far east of the continent. The Northern cities gradually give way to the plainslands to the south. The plains are best described as gently rolling, grassy, and wide. There a numerous villages found in the plains, as well as many halfling encampments.

To the south the plains give way to foot hills, and eventually to a large mountain range. The dwarves make these mountains their home. At the eastern edge of the range, where to mountains meet the forest, there is a beautiful city nestled, home of the Eladrin. The city is not visible during the day, except for through a large archway found at the edge of the city's footprint. The area past the large mountain range is largely unexplored, due to the dangers of crossing the tall peaks.

To the east of the plains is the forest. The forest is a vibrant place, filled with creatures or all kinds. Elves act as stewards of the forest, living in small villages that blend into the trees. Deeper into the woods, towards the east, the forest turns to swamp. The swamp is a dark and murky place, dangerous both in it's topology and in the creatures that live there. Smelling strongly of decay, it is said that the victims of the swamp still haunt it's aphotic interior.

As one travels further east in the swamplands, it begins to give way to the delta region. The delta region is a lively place, with a very odd culture. There is much trading between the cities located in the north, the archipelago, and various other islands. As such, the make up of the region is a mish-mash of cultures and races. If there is anything a person could ever want to find, they could find it in the delta.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just a very rough sketch to get a feel for the land as it is so far.  There will definitely be more work to be done with it, especially naming all the places.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this setting goes, and how players will react to it.  

Happy gaming!

Delicious 4 Bean Chili

Chili is awesome. It's delicious, simple, and cheap. It is also very warming, which is great in the cold winter months. The best part about chili is its simplicity, however.  If you have a crockpot you can just set it up before the session, turn it on when everyone gets there and just let it cook until everyone's stomachs start growling.  This recipe is also vegetarian friendly, which is definitely a plus.

Ingredients:
1 can corn
1 can red beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans (dark or light, it doesn't matter)
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 large sweet potato

note: all cans should be ~15 oz, except for the tomato paste, which should be 8 oz

Garlic powder
Chili powder
Curry powder
Ground Ginger

Equipment:
Can opener
spatula or a spoon
Large spoon for stirring
Crockpot

Directions:
1. Open all the cans and empty them into the crockpot.  You can strain the cans before putting them into pot, but I recommend just dumping it in there juices and all.  You will probably need to use a spatula or spoon to get the tomato paste out of the can.
2. Turn the crockpot on.
3. Peel and dice the sweet potato.  Add to chili once prepared.
4. While stirring, add the Garlic powder, Chili powder, and the Curry powder.
5. Let sit until the chili is nice and warm.

Once ready, serve and enjoy!  Feeds a party of 8, with more to spare!

note: When making this recipe, I found that the sweet potato needed somewhere between five to six hours on high to cook all the way.  If you start your game at 1pm, then the chili would be ready between 6 or 7pm.  Be aware of when your party may want to eat.  It's far easier to keep the chili warm than to change the laws of physics.

Possible alterations:
Diced jalepenos are a great addition, and gives it a nice kick.  Use them sparingly, however.  Add too many and you'll need lots of milk for people to get through your chili.  This incarnation of the recipe is vegetarian friendly, but meat can definitely be added to make more filling than it already is.  Just brown some ground turkey or beef and add it to the chili.

Consider serving with sweet potato fries, yellow corn chips, or corn bread.

Egg Salad Sandwiches, FTW

Sandwiches aren't good all the time, but they have their merits and can be a nice change of pace.  Egg salad is very filling, and it pairs well with soup.  It also helps that, so long as the salad is prepared ahead of time, it's a quick meal as well as inexpensive.

Ingredients:
12 hard boiled eggs
~1 cup Mayonnaise
~2 tbsp honey mustard
~2 tbsp spicy mustard

Equipment:
1 mixing bowl (glass or metal is best)
1 spoon for mixing
1 egg slicer (optional)
measuring spoons
measuring cups

Directions:
1.  Remove the shells from the eggs
2.  Coarsely dice the eggs and place in the mixing bowl
3.  Add the mayonnaise and the two mustards
4.  Mix well
5.  Store

Now you're prepared to serve up the sandwiches at a moments notice!

Possible alterations:
Adding some salt and pepper to the salad can add a little bit of flavour, if it needs it.  Relish or chopped celery also adds some good texture to the mix.  As for the sandwiches, a little bit of lettuce and a slice of cheese is a great addition.  Serving it with soup has  many added benefits, such as making the meal more filling and giving time for the sandwiches to be put together.  I recommend New England style clam chowder.

A note on hard-boiled eggs:  
Either putting the eggs in to boiling water or placing them in water and then bringing the water to a boil works fine.  Putting the eggs into boiling water is supposed to make them easier to peel, at the cost of over cooking them.  Bringing them to a boil makes the eggs tastier, but at the cost of making them more difficult to peel.  You can also place them into boiling water for roughly 30 seconds and then transfer them to cool water which is then brought up to a boil.  This takes a more complex set-up, but does make for a good middle ground.  In the end, all that matters is that the eggs are hard-boiled, so do whatever floats your boat!

Feel free to experiment, and Happy Gaming!

The Good Meal, Defined

Generally speaking, anything filling and tasty can qualify as a good meal. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the table, and the price might not be an object.  Thanksgiving takes ages to prepare and certainly isn't cheap, but I think we can all agree that it makes for a good meal.

The definition of a good meal changes around the table, however. It is not just lots of delicious food placed on a plate.  It is any meal that will facilitates longer, more enjoyable sessions. This means having meals that are both tasty and filling (from now on referred to as "good"), involve a short amount of perceived time from kitchen to person ("fast"), and not break the bank ("cheap").

That's right, one looks for all the points of the golden triangle around the table: Good, Fast, and Cheap. Usually one can only ever have two points of the triangle at once: You can have something good and fast, but it'll cost you. You can get something fast and cheap, but it won't be good. You can get something good and cheap, but it's going to take a while before it's ready.

Food, however, seems to be able to cheat this rule.  By doing as much prep work as possible before hand, one can keep the cooking time down while keeping the price low. If done properly, the end result will be good. This way, the party gets to experience the whole triangle while only one or two people has to pay for the extra time. A good example would be the sandwiches from Arkhosian Tombs and Grilled Cheese sandwiches.

If you sauté the onions, green peppers, and mushrooms before hand, then putting it all together becomes loads quicker. If you toast the sandwiches instead of grilling them, the cook time is reduced even further, because many sandwiches can be cooked at once.

This idea of keeping the time down on cooking can be vitally important to keeping the game going. If too much time is spent on preparing and eating dinner, the momentum of the game gets used up and it can become very difficult to get everyone back around the table. I've seen many sessions end because everybody wandered off while dinner was being prepared.

Some people will try to solve this problem by only doing sandwiches or other quick meals that can be prepared in seconds and eaten around the table. While this may work to solve the problem of people wandering away while dinner is being prepared, I would not recommend it as a solution for two reasons. Firstly, while sandwiches can be very tasty and very quick, anything that can be made in seconds using just meat and cheese isn't going to be very filling. Secondly, dinner also gives the players (and the DM) the opportunity to get up and stretch their legs, use the rest room, or get some fresh air without interrupting the session. This helps people fight off the fatigue and mental tiredness that comes from a long session, allowing them to come back to the table refreshed and ready to have more fun, which is really the whole point.

So remember, sometimes a group may be lagging or not enjoying themselves. Usually a break is all it takes to get everyone back to full capacity, and dinner is a great way to allow for that break. Keeping it quick and simple is very important because the forward motion of the game can dissipate if a short break turns into an extended rest.  While it seems hard to capture all the points of the triangle, it only takes planning and preparation to pull off a good meal.

Bon Appetit and Happy gaming!

Happy New Year!

Things have been very quiet around here this past year, but all that is going to change! It's a new year, and I've got lots of ideas kicking around that I'm looking forward to writing about. The format for posts is going to change, hopefully to something that is going to be easier to read and better for getting down to the cooking. The short stories followed by a recipe is wonderful, but it was just too much to keep up with. Besides, if someone is looking for a recipe, they shouldn't need to read an entire short story to get to it! The less time needed reading recipes, the more time left for cooking.

This doesn't mean that there isn't going to be any short stories, however! While they won't be as frequent, I intend to keep writing them and posting them every few weeks. I've also got some ideas floating around that I think will make things both smoother and more exciting around the table.

The update schedule will be to post something a week, for a grand total of 52 posts for the year 2011. This posts will include ideas for improving RP, short stories, as well as recipes.

Best wishes in the new year, and stay safe!