Cuban Night - Pastelitos de Guayaba & Cuban Coffee

Cuban night was an excuse to finally make Guava and Cream Cheese pastries. If you buy these, stop right now and check out the recipe. I have eaten hundreds of these from Cuban bakeries and the ones we made blow them out of the water. When you add Cuban coffee, things start getting dangerous. Next week: German!

Pastries (http://forfood.rezimo.com/2009/05/guava-pastries-pastelitos-de-guayaba-recipe/)

Coffee - Get 1.5 shots of espresso per person (we went to starbucks). Pour into a bottle of some kind (we used a sake bottle) and gently heat in water until the coffee just begins to steam. You don't want to recook the espresso. Pour into mugs/shot glasses/etc and stir 2t sugar into each person's cup.

Cuban Night - Ropa vieja w/ Black beans and rice

Literally translated "Old Clothes" - this pulled beef was tender and salty and got better and better the more you ate it. Rachael pointed out to us there's no salt added, because the olives take care of that. Ladled on top of rice and beans, this was comfort food taken up a notch (or five).

Cuban Night - Croquetas de jamón y queso

Forget Cuban Night - these were too good to not make all the time. They were cheap, easy, and super tasty. I expected them to be nice (I mean, c'mon, fried ham and cheese) but they were great. Only problem, I should have made waaaay more.

(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ham-croquettes/)

Gamma World - Ch. 5 The Mayor

The party duked it out with McDougal III and his bodyguards, and got to meet the Mayor. Oh, and they got arrested! 

After returning to the group (one of the bodyguards chasing her) Gaia and the rest of the party found themselves evenly matched, and almost lost Fingers to them, when the Sheriff showed up with about 40 guards and dragged them off to jail. After being left in a holding cell for a bit, they met the Mayor, who explained to them that Fingers had been working on an artificial body for McDougall I, who was older than anyone could remember, but his son McDougall II had been the one that commissioned him.

McDougal II had been trying for years to make a power -grab for the city, but has only been able to bribe 1/3 of the guards. His intent was to use Fingers's design as a prototype for a robot army to make up the difference in force, and he thought Fingers was holding out on him.

On top of that, McDougall III now had it in for them, and had been looking all over town for them (thinking they'd been released). The Mayor offered to protect them if they helped to resolve the issue by eliminating McDougall II for him, solving his power struggle issues.

American Southern

American Southern. Tons of flavor, and unapologetic use of butter. No one was looking to win any healthy food contests with these dishes, but we we're all too busy licking our lips to care. I finally got a chance to fry up some chicken! Next Week: Cuban!

On the Menu:

Mississippi Sin Dip
Rob made this creamy, cheesy dip baked right into a bread bowl. To be honest it was good enough to eat with a spoon, but the crudité helped us control ourselves a little. Veggies done right.
http://southernfood.about.com/od/cheesedips/r/bln58.htm

Triple-dipped Fried Chicken
The breading on this recipe was perfect. It was seasoned just right and was just the right amount of thickness. It was also very easy to do. I will say that the cook times on the recipe were a bit short, so I'd add 5-10 min to what's posted. Upon realizing that, we finished the chicken in the oven - no harm, no fowl (sorry >.<)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/triple-dipped-fried-chicken/

Chocolate Chess Pie w/ fresh whipped cream
This pie was similar to the delicious buttermilk pie that Rachael made for us on Cajun night. The main difference was that this was unbelievably chocolaty. The fresh whipped cream put it over the top, and offset the super sweet pie.
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocolatepies/r/bl00510b.htm

Gamma World - Ch. 4 Fingers and Friends

The party dispatched the guards (hilariously) and then tried to sneak their way to the center of the city. They're getting more clever - wore disguises to be more stealthy. It didn't work, but I'm glad they tried :)

The fight to free Fingers (say that 5 times fast) was mostly Amazea taking turns turning invisible with everyone else. So one minute no one could see her, the next minute everyone else was invisible and there she was standing in the corner.

After they saved Fingers, he made them a deal to take the collars off if they'd protect him from the McDougalls all the way to the police station. They agreed, but got spotted anyway by McDougall III and his two bodyguards.

Gaia tried to draw them off by running down an ally, but only managed to get in a stalemate with one of the bodyguards.

Scottish

We took the dinner over to Rob's homeland this week with some Scottish food. After convincing him not to make hagus, we settled on some pretty tasty, and hearty, dishes. Next week: American Southern!

On the menu:

Scotch Eggs
A classic. Hard-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage and breadcrumbs, then fried and baked til perfectly cooked. If mustard is your thing, these go great with it. If not, no worries, they don't need any. Amazing with beer.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/scotch-eggs/

Clapshot and Minced collops
Carrots, turnips, and potatoes make a hearty base to this dish. The puree is flavorful and really sticks to your ribs! Topped with sauteed onion and beef, will oats mixed in.
Clapshot - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/clapshot/
Collops - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/minced-collops/

Shortbread w/ caramel and chocolate
Krissy made short bread that would have been delicious all on it's own, and then covered it in thick caramel and dark chocolate. A small slice will do, but you'll take a big one.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-shortbread-squares/

Gamma World - Ch.3 Welcome To Canyon City

This chapter really stretched the players, as it was nearly devoid of combat, but required them to interact with merchants and guards, in an attempt to get information. They bought gear too. For instance, Rob bought a vase.

After a taste of combat in the wilderness, the players were happy to get to canyon city and begin their search for "Fingers", the person who made the explosive collars that they were pretty keen on removing. They spoke to merchants (who Seamus bought things from to butter them up), guards (who Seamus gave doughnuts to, to butter them up), and Buddy, a colleague of Fingers.

After finding Fingers's shop/home had been tossed, they triggered a homing device that led them on a chase through the city, smashing stalls and cabbage carts ("My Cabbages!!"), and eventually leading to guardhouse on the McDougall estate where they found Fingers, being worked over by city guards in McDougall's pocket.

Thai

Thai food is so often relegated to restaurants. We were glad to bring it home with this week's meal, and add a much-desired air of authenticity. Spring Rolls and Pad Thai were obvious choices, and Rob wrapped the rolls like an expert (his first time working with the wraps!). Rachael's dessert broke my reservations about rice pudding. Next week: Scottish!

On the menu:

Cucumber and Chicken Spring Rolls
Tender chicken, cucumber, and carrots, bundled in a wonderfully chewy casing of rice noodle. The peanut sauce alone was worth the dish, but these were definitely the right thing to put it on.

Pad Thai
Traditional Pad Thai. No peanut butter. No ketchup. Tamarind, fish sauce, sugar, lime, Sriracha. Chicken and bean sprouts were there, but the noodles steal the show.

Thai Tea
A spiced tea with tons of sweet cream to go with our rice pudding.

Rice Pudding and Banana Cream with mango
Sweet rice pudding topped with a creamy banana topping. Mango on top. More addictive with each bite.

Gamma World - Ch.2 Later, Jim!

In this second game night Rob and Rachael came with index cards listing their powers, inventory sheets, and dice. I was so proud!

Seamus's new lady friend helped helped him cause general disarray around Jim's property, allowing him to shut down the computer that would blow up the slaves' collars if they ran. He and Amazea hopped on a golf cart loaded with explosives, and headed to the arena where Gaia was duking it out with a bird-man. Or a man-bird. Whichever.

They blew it up, and together buried Jim.

Unfortunately, the collars that used to use the property line to determine if someone was about to explode synced with each other. Our heroes were (literally) bound together, and made off toward Canyon City in search of the jerk who made the collars in the first place.