Spudguns!, it's the last Sunday of the month, and I failed again. I was suppose to have not one but two book reports for you today. One for The Stand and one for Bag of Bones, both of which are Stephen King novels. But, I just didn't get them done. The Stand, has been kicking my arse for the last few months. I made the mistake of picking it for book club, which meant having a time limit on how long it would take to read it. And right off the bat, it tangled my schedule. I just never got through it. And because of that, I never even started Bag of Bones yet. I have failed you my blogging friends, and failed myself. That's nearly 2000 pages that got the better of me.
The lesson here is not to bite off more than I can chew. Which most sensible people already know.
I'll be back later in the week with the beginning of the Hallowe'en season.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Inspired By Sept 28th 2019
Spudguns!, I've got another dish for you inspired by challenge. Once again, I joined up with my friend Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the tv series) inspired post.
With seven seasons of the show to pull from, I had fun having a mini BtVS marathon, and of course, there are two food centered episodes - Pangs (season 4 episode 8) and Double Meat Palace (season 6 episode 12) that popped into my mind right away. In Pangs, Buffy is feeling homesick on Thanksgiving, and decides to take the role of making a family dinner for everyone. In Double Meat Palace, Buffy finds herself needing to get a job and ends up working in the fast food place.
Notes for Pangs: hot dogs on a stick (mentioned) corn (mentioned), pie, cow, chocolate (print), yams (mentioned) roast turkey, pop, chips, jam, canned food, cereal, bread, carrots, stuffing, cranberries, celery, red peppers, potatoes, wine, spices, whipped cream, salt, pepper, coffee, fries, ketchup, mustard, frozen peas, green beans, squash, sage, onions, butter, brandy, condensed milk, gravy, brown sugar
Notes for Double Meat Palace: popcorn, burgers, pop, fries, shakes, cow, chicken, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, buns, onion rings, pickles, mustard, ketchup, sauce, chicken nuggets, coffee, pie, ice cream, cherries (print) lemonade, potluck (mentioned) turkey (mentioned) tea, cookies, nuts (mentioned)
But, I was drawn to my favourite episode Lover's Walk (season 3 episode 8) and a line spoken by Spike. In Lover's Walk, Willow is trying to make an anti-love spell in order to keep her and Xander's feelings at bay. But when Spike returns to town heartbroken over his own breakup, he kidnaps them both forcing Willow to create a major love spell so he can win his true love back.
Notes for Lover's Walk: vodka, bourbon, beer, pez candy, coffee, nuts, spices, popcorn, salt, pepper, water, herbs, tea, cereal, flour, hot chocolate, marshmallows (mentioned) peaches (mentioned) cloves (mentioned) candy machines (in background) baby food (mentioned) muffins, juice, pop, cheesecake, peas, potatoes, pudding
There is a scene where Spike is crying to Willow and says "A Chaos demon. Have you ever seen a Chaos demon, they're all slime and antlers." This has been one of my all time favourite lines from the entire series, so of course I had to try to do something that would represent it. What I ended up doing was a version of a cake I've seen on Food Network Canada website. The Poke Cake. Only, I made cupcakes. Why am I calling it a dish and not a recipe? Because I used a cheat through the whole thing, with cake mix, store bought frosting, store bought pudding and pretzles. So really can not call it a recipe.
I followed the directions on the box, and divided it into a muffin tin. While that was in the oven, I mixed some vanilla pudding with green food colouring.
As the cupcakes cooled, I then went ahead and mixed together the white frosting with red food colouring. Once the cupcakes were cool enough to handle, I dug a small well in the center of each, filling it with the green pudding and replacing the dug out pieces.
I then frosted them with the now red/pink frosting. From here, I simply stuck a few pieces of the pretzels into the tops, and poured a bit more of the green pudding over that.
This was intended to represent the "slime and antlers" that inspired the whole idea. The intention of the poke cake, is that because you've "poked holes" into it and filled it, that when you bite into it, the cupcake should ooze. Sadly, I didn't have enough filling, so mine just sort of clumped.
Delicious in it's sticky gory-glory. That's all I've got this time for you, don't forget to head over to All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, and see which episode inspired Heather. Till late.
With seven seasons of the show to pull from, I had fun having a mini BtVS marathon, and of course, there are two food centered episodes - Pangs (season 4 episode 8) and Double Meat Palace (season 6 episode 12) that popped into my mind right away. In Pangs, Buffy is feeling homesick on Thanksgiving, and decides to take the role of making a family dinner for everyone. In Double Meat Palace, Buffy finds herself needing to get a job and ends up working in the fast food place.
Notes for Pangs: hot dogs on a stick (mentioned) corn (mentioned), pie, cow, chocolate (print), yams (mentioned) roast turkey, pop, chips, jam, canned food, cereal, bread, carrots, stuffing, cranberries, celery, red peppers, potatoes, wine, spices, whipped cream, salt, pepper, coffee, fries, ketchup, mustard, frozen peas, green beans, squash, sage, onions, butter, brandy, condensed milk, gravy, brown sugar
Notes for Double Meat Palace: popcorn, burgers, pop, fries, shakes, cow, chicken, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, buns, onion rings, pickles, mustard, ketchup, sauce, chicken nuggets, coffee, pie, ice cream, cherries (print) lemonade, potluck (mentioned) turkey (mentioned) tea, cookies, nuts (mentioned)
But, I was drawn to my favourite episode Lover's Walk (season 3 episode 8) and a line spoken by Spike. In Lover's Walk, Willow is trying to make an anti-love spell in order to keep her and Xander's feelings at bay. But when Spike returns to town heartbroken over his own breakup, he kidnaps them both forcing Willow to create a major love spell so he can win his true love back.
Notes for Lover's Walk: vodka, bourbon, beer, pez candy, coffee, nuts, spices, popcorn, salt, pepper, water, herbs, tea, cereal, flour, hot chocolate, marshmallows (mentioned) peaches (mentioned) cloves (mentioned) candy machines (in background) baby food (mentioned) muffins, juice, pop, cheesecake, peas, potatoes, pudding
There is a scene where Spike is crying to Willow and says "A Chaos demon. Have you ever seen a Chaos demon, they're all slime and antlers." This has been one of my all time favourite lines from the entire series, so of course I had to try to do something that would represent it. What I ended up doing was a version of a cake I've seen on Food Network Canada website. The Poke Cake. Only, I made cupcakes. Why am I calling it a dish and not a recipe? Because I used a cheat through the whole thing, with cake mix, store bought frosting, store bought pudding and pretzles. So really can not call it a recipe.
I followed the directions on the box, and divided it into a muffin tin. While that was in the oven, I mixed some vanilla pudding with green food colouring.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Sept Book Club Selection
Spudguns!, how's today? Great to hear. This is the official announcement for the book club. September's choice is Bag of Bones by Stephen King. Honestly, when I picked the books for this year back at x-mas time, I had no idea this would end up being a year of remakes/re-releases of his works.
Rules are pretty simple, if you want to join read the book and blog about it. You must have a blog to join in on the online part. Read the book, blog about it, if it inspires you to cook/bake/craft then add that to the post. The blog post must be current - in this case Sept 2019. Link your post to either this post or on the day of when I do my review. Datedue is the last Sunday of the month, in this case Sunday Sept 29th 2019.
Since I failed to complete last month's selection, The Stand, I have both books to read and review this month.
If you live in the Thunder Bay area and want to be part of the physical book club, message me.
That's about it for now.
Rules are pretty simple, if you want to join read the book and blog about it. You must have a blog to join in on the online part. Read the book, blog about it, if it inspires you to cook/bake/craft then add that to the post. The blog post must be current - in this case Sept 2019. Link your post to either this post or on the day of when I do my review. Datedue is the last Sunday of the month, in this case Sunday Sept 29th 2019.
Since I failed to complete last month's selection, The Stand, I have both books to read and review this month.
If you live in the Thunder Bay area and want to be part of the physical book club, message me.
That's about it for now.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Inspired by Aug 2019
Spudguns!, I've been promising another round of "What That Movie Inspired Me To Do", and finally, I have gotten off my lazy arse and written it up. This is another one where my friend Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, and I joined up. This time around, we picked the tv show Charmed. The rules this time were simple, we could draw inspiration from either the original Charmed or from the reboot, or both. I went with both versions of Charmed.
What I ended up doing was picking three episodes from each version that had a similar element. From the original I went with episodes from Season 1, 2 and 5; and at the time of this posting, only the first season of the reboot had aired yet.
Original Charmed Season 1 Episode 8 "The Truth is Out There and It Hurts" had a similar theme to Season 1 Episode 2 "Let this Mother Out" of the remake. In the original version, Prue is wanting to know if her boyfriend Andy can handle the knowledge of her being a witch, and uses a truth spell on him. The spell has a time limit on it of 24 hours, after which Andy will no longer remember the results of the spell. In the Charmed remake, Mel's girlfriend Niko accidentally drinks a truth serum meant for Harry their whitelighter.
Notes for "The Truth is Out There and It Hurts"- coffee, sugar, cream, pasta, cereal, milk, fruit, wine, corn chowder (mentioned) turkey sandwich, muffins, pop, spices, salad, bagels, dried fruit, croissants, bottled water, ice, green onions, sauce, canned food, peppers, potatoes, bread, Twizzlers (mentioned) tea, biscotti, halibut (mentioned) chicken, broccoli, soup, fries, steak
Notes for "Let this Mother Out"- juice, coffee, milk, rolls, berries, melon, passion flower, cinnamon, tea, subs, pickles, eggs, Chinese food (mentioned) salad, iced tea, hot dogs (cart in background)
Original Charmed Season 2 Episode 18 "Chick Flick" had a similar element to Season 1 Episode 14 "Touched By A Demon" of the remake. In the original, the sisters find themselves battling both the Demon of Illusion, who has pulled characters out of old horror movies; and the horror characters before being trapped within the movie themselves. In "Touched By A Demon", Macy accidentally creates a portal into a television show, which lets the tv characters out, but pulls herself and Harry into the world of the show.
Notes for "Chick Flick" -tea, popcorn, pop, risotto, wine, salt, pepper, steak, bread, salad, parfait, celery, broccoli, coffee, toast, sugar, butter, potato chips, pretzels, cheesies, dip
Notes for "Touched By A Demon" -vodka, cake, cookies, cupcakes, cherries, oranges, dates, buns, coffee, peppermint oil, tea, scones, brownies, apples, gumdrops, tequila, wine
Original Charmed Season 5 Episode 19 "Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun" has a similar element to Season 1 Episode 7 "Out of Scythe" of the remake. In the original, Paige finds herself turned into a nymph while the sisters try to help a group of lost nymphs when their satyr is killed. In the remake, an injured satyr arrives on the girl's doorstep needing their help.
Notes for "Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun"- wine, pastries, cherries, cheesecake, salad, soy milk, pasta, dill, spices, vinegar, herbs, oil, coffee, candy machines, ginger, horseradish, clams, dried mushrooms, alcohol, berries (mentioned)
Notes for "Out of Scythe" -wine, grapes, garlic bruschetta (mentioned) tomato sauce (mentioned) bacon sandwiches, juice, coffee, butter, strawberries, bananas, eggs, toast, melon, tomatoes, parsley, blueberries, gin, whiskey, rum, vodka, lemons, donuts, herbs, apples, smoothies, broccoli, iced tea, tofu (mentioned) pizza, empanadas (mentioned) grilled cheese (mentioned) candy, beer
What I ended up going with was a sub sandwich. Subs are mentioned full out in "Let This Mother Out", while we see the bacon sandwiches in "Out of Scythe"; as well as a turkey sandwich in "The Truth is Out There and It Hurts". Salads are seen in almost each episode, and pickles in "Let This Mother Out". I started with a selection of vegan meat substitutes : a vegan ham, vegan bacon and vegan bologna.
I added sweet mustard pickles, mayo, and onions. As well as a handful of premade cabbage and carrot cole slaw.
After cooking the vegan bacon in a small bit of oil, I added it, the vegan ham, vegan bologna and some cheese.
I decided to serve my charming sub with some pink brew. Okay, so that was a mixture of pink lemonade and lemon iced-tea (both frozen) but I felt it fit well with the idea that in "Let This Mother Out", the truth spell is in the form of a tea.
That's my offering for this time around. Don't forget to stop by All Roads Lead To the Kitchen, to see what magickal potion Heather came up with.
What I ended up doing was picking three episodes from each version that had a similar element. From the original I went with episodes from Season 1, 2 and 5; and at the time of this posting, only the first season of the reboot had aired yet.
Original Charmed Season 1 Episode 8 "The Truth is Out There and It Hurts" had a similar theme to Season 1 Episode 2 "Let this Mother Out" of the remake. In the original version, Prue is wanting to know if her boyfriend Andy can handle the knowledge of her being a witch, and uses a truth spell on him. The spell has a time limit on it of 24 hours, after which Andy will no longer remember the results of the spell. In the Charmed remake, Mel's girlfriend Niko accidentally drinks a truth serum meant for Harry their whitelighter.
Notes for "The Truth is Out There and It Hurts"- coffee, sugar, cream, pasta, cereal, milk, fruit, wine, corn chowder (mentioned) turkey sandwich, muffins, pop, spices, salad, bagels, dried fruit, croissants, bottled water, ice, green onions, sauce, canned food, peppers, potatoes, bread, Twizzlers (mentioned) tea, biscotti, halibut (mentioned) chicken, broccoli, soup, fries, steak
Notes for "Let this Mother Out"- juice, coffee, milk, rolls, berries, melon, passion flower, cinnamon, tea, subs, pickles, eggs, Chinese food (mentioned) salad, iced tea, hot dogs (cart in background)
Original Charmed Season 2 Episode 18 "Chick Flick" had a similar element to Season 1 Episode 14 "Touched By A Demon" of the remake. In the original, the sisters find themselves battling both the Demon of Illusion, who has pulled characters out of old horror movies; and the horror characters before being trapped within the movie themselves. In "Touched By A Demon", Macy accidentally creates a portal into a television show, which lets the tv characters out, but pulls herself and Harry into the world of the show.
Notes for "Chick Flick" -tea, popcorn, pop, risotto, wine, salt, pepper, steak, bread, salad, parfait, celery, broccoli, coffee, toast, sugar, butter, potato chips, pretzels, cheesies, dip
Notes for "Touched By A Demon" -vodka, cake, cookies, cupcakes, cherries, oranges, dates, buns, coffee, peppermint oil, tea, scones, brownies, apples, gumdrops, tequila, wine
Original Charmed Season 5 Episode 19 "Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun" has a similar element to Season 1 Episode 7 "Out of Scythe" of the remake. In the original, Paige finds herself turned into a nymph while the sisters try to help a group of lost nymphs when their satyr is killed. In the remake, an injured satyr arrives on the girl's doorstep needing their help.
Notes for "Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun"- wine, pastries, cherries, cheesecake, salad, soy milk, pasta, dill, spices, vinegar, herbs, oil, coffee, candy machines, ginger, horseradish, clams, dried mushrooms, alcohol, berries (mentioned)
Notes for "Out of Scythe" -wine, grapes, garlic bruschetta (mentioned) tomato sauce (mentioned) bacon sandwiches, juice, coffee, butter, strawberries, bananas, eggs, toast, melon, tomatoes, parsley, blueberries, gin, whiskey, rum, vodka, lemons, donuts, herbs, apples, smoothies, broccoli, iced tea, tofu (mentioned) pizza, empanadas (mentioned) grilled cheese (mentioned) candy, beer
What I ended up going with was a sub sandwich. Subs are mentioned full out in "Let This Mother Out", while we see the bacon sandwiches in "Out of Scythe"; as well as a turkey sandwich in "The Truth is Out There and It Hurts". Salads are seen in almost each episode, and pickles in "Let This Mother Out". I started with a selection of vegan meat substitutes : a vegan ham, vegan bacon and vegan bologna.
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