posted by Scraps on Jun 29

What day is it, again?

In case you don’t follow me on twitter or facebook, you may not know that we had to go out of town rather unexpectedly and for a not-so-great reason: Todd’s uncle passed away and we flew up to Nebraska for the service.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad–I’d never been to the Midwest nor had I met any of his family and we took advantage of the time up there to visit and sight-see and spent 2 very long days travelling from point A to B (2 car trips, 2 planes and 3 airports each way).

We also spent 4 days with no laptops, me with only my phone to check gmail, facebook and twitter. That means not a whole lot of work got done but I did manage to write (longhand!) over half of the next comic script so it wasn’t a loss of productivity for the week.

As it was Todd’s week to cook (and even that was interrupted–I won’t be taking over ’til this weekend) I don’t even have some food photos to share!

I’ll make it up to you all next week. Now to play catch-up and list-maker.

posted by Scraps on Jun 21

Last week was a cooking week, so that’s mostly what I did. That and transcribe a bunch of my recipe notes to cards to fit into their stacks and cases so I can figure out how much there is left to go. Pretty much a handful in each chapter but the final tally is still being… tallied.

So let’s just get to the food pictures why don’t we?

Salmon Sticks, Bacon & 3-Cheese Macaroni

The salmon sticks get briefly pan-friend and finished in the oven while this thick and gooey macaroni could be a meal in and of itself with plenty of bacon. I didn’t say it was a healthy meal, but it’s nice every now and then.

Mini Broccoli Quiche

So much better than the ones you find in the freezer case and they’re really are easy to do (the “secret” being pre-made pie crust for a quick start. Great for a party nibble or as a side to…

Chilled Potato Leek Soup

aka Vichyssoise. It works just as well piping hot, by the way, but cold soup on a hot summer day is a nice treat.

Ginger-Citrus Shrimp

Originally created as a appetizer recipe (serve up a dish with crackers, toast points or just toothpicks for easy eating–no tails allowed!) it works just fine spooned over linguine.

Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Hummus

Another appetizing dip straight from the stick blender (seriously? I love that thing!). A little spicy, this dip actually improves after sitting in the fridge for a night.

Baked Ziti

Two birds with one stone–a tomato sauce recipe that then gets used in this rich all-in-one dinner: pasta (carbs), beef (protein), cheese (dairy) and tomatoes (vegetables), all in one heaping spoonful of yummy!

That’s it for this week’s wrap-up. The upcoming week will be full of more organizing and scripting. I’m still tussling with this one chapter but I’m determined… that counts for a lot!

posted by Scraps on Jun 14

Last week I took the leap and put other projects on hold so I could concentrate more on this one–how has that worked after one week?

• I scripted another chapter of the comic story–I know, after pulling teeth the last go ’round I was just able to sit down and plow through it! Hoping to do the same this week!
• Began the task of organizing my notes and the pieces of random paper with different recipes onto note cards to be worked into the filing system I started at the beginning of the project and promptly abandoned. Best laid plans and all that, right? Still, it does work when I use it (as systems are prone to do) and I’m using it more so it’s helping more.
• Tested a few more recipes (and more to be tested this week). It’s really getting down to the odds and ends as far as recipes go so once this weekend and some this week I’ll be throwing appetizers into the dinner mix just to get those tested, too.

Here’s the photo evidence:

Chicken Curry over Rice

Orange-Scented Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Spinach & Cheese-Stuffed Pork Chops

Roast Pork Egg Rolls

Steamed Pork Dumplings

Chicken with Cranberry-Cornbread Stuffing

And another week’s worth ahead! I was supposed to be making salmon sticks (grown up fish sticks!) and 3-cheese macaroni and cheese tonight but I’m feeling a tad under par so will put that off ’til tomorrow, when I’ll actually enjoy the cooking and the eating so much better.

Until next time!

posted by Scraps on Jun 10

Case Study: Dark Sun

• Genre: Fantasy
• Races: the usual AD&D plus Mul and Thri-Keen
• Main Setting: the desert lands of Athas
• Setup: You and your party have been captured as slaves and are in a transport ship that is attacked, giving you the opportunity to escape. Of course, you’re stranded in a dessert with minimal supplies and, maybe, a map. Searching for civilization, water, and whatever else comes your way is the name of the game.

A hot role player is a thirsty role player–have lots of water on hand with slices of lemon or cucumber floating therein. Yeah, it’s a little spa-ish, but if you’re playing this in the south during the summer months, it won’t go unnoticed.

Erdlu are large, flightless birds (that sound a lot like ostriches) and are kept by various nomadic tribes in Athas. Their eggs are highly valued (though I’d stay away from eating them raw) so serving cheese omelets sounds like a good idea or, for the daring, a souffle! If you’ve got an ostrich or emu farm in your area, you could also serve burgers or steaks–the meat tends to be very tender and flavorful and is incredibly low fat!

Kanks are another sort of kept animals but their not so good for the eating being a large insectoid that goes rancid the moment it dies. Ick. (Much the same way lobster does if it’s not cooked immediately, so you could go that direction but…) What you do get from kanks is honey! Sounds like a perfect time to make a yummy honey cake to pass around the table–just have plenty of napkins available!

Know what else they have a lot of in Athas? Cactus. Granted, their cacti tend to be evil and blood-thirsty. Then again, so can too much tequila (tequila comes from agave, a type of cactus) so let’s indulge but keep out the thorns, yes?

posted by Scraps on Jun 7

Change is in the air!

It’s June and I’m incredibly irked that this book isn’t even close to being finished. And why is that? Because I’ve got a lot on my plate (pun possibly intended). Not only that, but the main things on that plate–my two webcomics–have come first, with whatever scraps of time left given to Raiding Party.

I admit it: I cannot do everything at once.

Damn, that’s hard.

So hard that I’ve been fighting this for a good two months. But it’s like the tape the lab tech put on my arm this morning after my routine blood work–piece by piece removal hurts, rip it off and get it over with.

As of today, Cocktail Hour and Where the Geeks Are are on hiatus. For at least 2 months. For at least June and July, Raiding Party will come first.

Why? Because the book doesn’t do anyone any good if they can’t read it.

Scattered notes and I’ll-get-to-its won’t make sense to anyone but me. Sure, I’ve got tons of tested recipes at this point, but the book is so much more than just recipes. It’s a reference, a guide, your map though the kitchen. And that map needs to be finished.

So, tonight, instead of starting on this week’s comics, I’m going to write a script. There’s a few more scripts, several more recipes and a lot of writing, polishing, formatting and drawing to do. This is my life for the next 2 months.

Not to say that I’m going to let cobwebs gather on my comic sites. No, no, that wouldn’t do. As things progress there will be snippets of scripts, art and who knows what else popping up on my various homes across the web. But of all my projects, this comes first.