Yearly Remissions

 

Bitter Lemon jam, anise, black pepper

 So it has been awhile, seems like that happens every now and again. But it is almost the new year and because I have been on a little siesta from building and painting stuff this is going to be a food edition. 

2014 goals 

Japanese Bolt Action Army

Royal Navy Legends of the High Seas crew

Crossing Fingers RoboTech shows up and does not get delayed until 2015...

and whatever the wind may bring me!

 I consolidated my hobby collection as it had just outgrown it's space. Left is the keepers and right is the sales stuff. Refer to the last post for a list of awesome post holiday gifts ;)

 Exon Mobil: Squid ink risotto, tarragon, calamari

 If you still have thanksgiving leftovers that could be an issue, but there is always; foie gras butter turkey melts to cheer you up...

 A little bit of hobby stuff has been happening, working on my Fall of Singapore Bolt Action army. This will be my AA truck to keep those pesky aeroplanes at bay! Were they drinking Singapore Slings then?

 Mom's oatmeal cookies, the chocolate ones never stood a chance...

Even Italians like french toast, I think. Walnut french toast, butternut squash, huckleberries, and radish

Inked Out

With Theon Greyjoys sudden but inevitable betrayal I celebrate Game of Thrones Episode 8 with something I doubt they ate on the Iron Shore.

We have a squid ink lasagnetta! Made in a classy muffin tin. Space Marines will be hopping walls to get their hands on these.  

 This tactical marine doing hurtles just to get in line. Part 2 of the future Kill Zone squad adds in a techmarine to keep those gears turning when you need them.

 Even the Iron Father/Tech Marine won't wait to cut into this blackened pasta treat.

 Just as a battlefield mechanic should be built, this marine has parts ranging from a dread knight to the 2012 Adepticon give away mini.

Game Night

Between frenzied army building and project preparations for tournaments, some friends and I do actually play some games.

Whether it is Lord of the Rings SBG, Space Hulk, or my newest experience, BattleTech it always is a good time, usually involving me losing. Just wait until we set up the Axis and Allies 1942 world map, then I will conquer the world....

The other fun part is throwing down in the kitchen. Which until recently I was losing the race due to sheer quantity of times and locations for meet ups. But alas, I think my apartment pulled out in the lead after this time.

On the menu was Mini lasagna stuffed with homemade spicy sausage, Cornish Hens wrapped in home cured pancetta on a bed of crispy brussel sprouts and cranberries, and to finish off, Apply tarts with spiced rosemary custard.

 Back to work, so much to do before Adepticon.... 38 more days to go....

Cured Meat to Cure the Wait

While waiting to unveil my big terrain project for upcoming adepticon, check out some bacon! This simple process involved some pork belly and a curing recipe from any of the many homemade salumi and sausage making books.

It took about three weeks for this 1 lb piece to fully cure. This is actually pancetta, the Italian version of bacon, in that it is simply cured, and not smoked like our American bacon.

This coupled with a successful first attempt at sausage making, means that soon I aim to have all sorts of charcuterie hanging in my fridge.

Underground Treasures

 The newly forming goblin hordes decided to take a break from beating dwarves and dug up some truffles for their fine dining restaurant, Mont Moria, located on a peak with a great view of the surrounding forests.

If kitchen rumors can be true, Spiaggia is the #1 importer of white truffles in the US, at $80-90/gram this is a pile of gold!

 This is not all the new goblins, but some of the more interesting ones. Just a head swap for my Druhzag model.

 Was trying to merge dwarf parts with goblins but their physical sizes do not line up, so Captain Khazad and his Monty Python spear support are here to stay.

 Home made GW prowler look alike.

Hallow's Eve

While I should have been painting my painting contest entry for this weekends event, I decided I needed to strive for fame and fortune and carve a pumpkin for the contest at work first.

I was going to go with a carving of the Colosseum, but decided I should keep it simple with the pumpkin medium, I will save that inspiration for table top terrain and armies.

Here is to winning first place and getting some cool prizes.

Fall Classics

No this is not about baseball, you will never see baseball here.

Getting paid! And that means I can afford more tasty things than just peanut butter and jelly. I was cruising through the store about to pick up New Belgium's Fat Tire, when I went with their Hoptober. I am not a super fan of hop filled beers but this was nicely balanced and did not punch you in the face like some Sam Adams beers.

Side note, New Belgium is one of my favorite brewing companies, introduced to is while my brother was living in Fort Collins, CO.

 FOOTBALL. Football means the fall, and the fall means already having funky weather in Chicago, and THAT means more comfort food that warms you up. The store did not have any pork butt or shoulder so I went with a family pack of pork chops as my only choice for braised pork.

With my work schedule I like to make a lot of something and freeze stuff for later meals. So I went about braising a bunch of pork for two missions, pork ragu and pulled pork.

Braising any kind if meat is super easy and a good way to impress if your having people over. Sear the outside of the meat, add some chopped carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Add herbs, I used thyme, parsley, and rosemary and bay leaf here. Then simply add a liquid to cover about 3/4 of the way up on the meat.

 After 3 hours of braising, I pulled the bones out, and shredded all the pork. I then separated a portion out to take a shot at BBQ. Honey glazed pulled pork. Finished it with some red wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, honey, and butter.

Paired with sauteed sweet potato and another New Belgium Hoptober.

 After I separated the pulled pork portion, I cooked down the tomato braising liquid with the extra pork and popped this into my freezer for a pasta meal down the road. 

At the same time as braised pork, football, and getting paid! My September Tale of four Gamers saw some light in getting armor and skins done on the batch. I had forgotten how long base coats take, but my dread of doing 22 model batches is not that bad at this point.

Lots more football, painting, and game prep for Bilbo's Birthday Bash coming up in the start of November.

Pissed Pirate Peppers

 

Pissed: I wanted to try new paints for my upcoming armies and heard a lot about Vallejo paints. I did my research and through Vallejo's website picked out the colors they had. Their paints were close to $1 cheaper than Gamesworkshop's Citadel line and around 5mL more paint. 

The order came in from my internet business provider, Neal at The Warstore, always has great service and products from him. I looked at 4/10 of the colors I ordered and they were awful, absolutely the wrong colors I needed. I went back and checked the names, my order, and the original Vallejo product pamphlet on their website.

It all matched but it still remained that the photos of their paints online are not even close to the physical product. For example, livery green, online is a pale dull green, while in person looks like the incredible hulk radioactive green. On top of that some of the bottles are as thin as an ink or wash yet should be a paint consistency.

I guess I learned my lesson in that I should pay a little extra for the quality I know, instead of the hassle of the unknown. I do really like their squirt bottle design though, just needed to see their stuff in person first I guess.

 

 Pirates!: Well they are not quiet pirates but they are my starting 12 man crew for the Legends of the High Seas. These are Perry Brothers Hesse-Cassel Jaeger from their revolutionary war line. I really liked their look, the captain has an eye patch, and they will certainly be different than anyone else bringing a royal navy crew.
 

 Peppers: Got a fiery package in the mail from my parents garden. Way to many peppers to actually consume so I close my eyes, picked a handful out, and food processed them with some onion, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley.

This turned into "melt-your-face-pepper spread/salsa" that will keep nicely in the fridge for when I tempt fate and melt my insides.