ladyaimeejones

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 13

Game: Donkey Kong Jr.

Recipe: Key Lime Banana Smoothie

Guys, didn't I tell you?! Didn't I tell you how lazy I'd become in this. Because it's show night and I have some major baking to do when I get home I had to resort to the smoothie! It might not be the last.

I played Donkey Kong Jr a lot when I was little. I had forgotten about having to slide those key (lime -- get it?) into to locks at the end. Will I ever make it that far? Probably not.

But this smoothie was pretty good for breakfast. I was a little concerned when I saw what Yoplait's key lime whipped yogurt looked like when it came out of the container, but hey, it tastes great. Case closed!

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 12

Game: Moon Cresta

Recipe: 3 Layer Dip

I'm going to start this out by saying that I haven't been as jazzed about this month as others. My schedule has been pretty busy and given the flexibility of challenge I have certainly been taking the easy way out on a lot of recipes. I mean, dip? C'mon. Is it good? Yes. Did it take all of 5 minutes to make? You bet it did. So where this challenge has been fun at introducing me to new video games, I haven't really been blowing it out of the water with new and interesting recipes. Maybe I'll try to change that, maybe I won't.

Moon Cresta is a space fighting game and those are my least favorite. I still don't know much about it cause I didn't get far, but I do know that every time you die you lose a layer of your ship. Your three layer ship. Now it all makes sense.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 11

Game: Amidar

Recipe: Coconut Pork Curry http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/slow-cooker-coconut-pork-curry

I'd like to first point out that if you look at that recipe there is zero chance that the thumbnail picture they have is the actual recipe. Unless they use a curry which is invisible as opposed to orange? Maybe they have that power, they are Food and Wine magazine.

So, it was back to the slow cooker, cause again, that required very little effort from me so I could free up more time to blow my nose. This time I kept checking to make sure that the thing was indeed going and it was! Yeah!

The curry came out a little thing. I don't know if that's because I decided to cook it on low as opposed to high. (I like when my apartment smells delicious all day! Sue me!) But I don't think that was the case.

Amidar is a weird game. It's sort of like Pac-Man, where you need to collect all the dots (coconuts) but then on the next level you are running away from pigs while painting? I don't know why the pigs don't want you to paint things? Maybe some tragic event in their past? Either way, it's fun, just weird.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 10

Game: Mr. Do

Recipe: Chocolate Cherry Cake http://thesouthernladycooks.com/2012/07/27/exquisite-chocolate-cherry-cake/

Ryan requested a chocolate cherry cake for his birthday which works great because in Mr. Do you're searching for cherries underground. Why do they grow there? I don't know.

I was hoping to find a recipe with fresh cherries, but during my early morning trips to Ralph's, I couldn't find fresh cherries anyway so it didn't matter. Also, Ryan likes pie filling.

The cake came out really moist and I like that. I'd like to know what the difference between using buttermilk and regular milk in a cake is. Anyone? There's gotta be a reason that some cakes call for it and others don't.

Oh, back to the recipe (sorry, Dayquil is in my brain) The cake was surprisingly good. I was afraid that the cherry pie filling would be too sweet or just have a bad texture, but it mixes in quite well with everything. The cherries sank a bit, but not all the way to the bottom so that was nice.

I made my own frosting because Ryan wanted chocolate. It was thick and perfect. Cause it's chocolate frosting, so that's just how it is.

On to Mr. Do. I remember playing this game as a kid on the Atari. Of all the games that I've played on this arcade so far, I'm the best at Mr. Do. That scares me a little because Mr. Do is a clown. I don't like to be that comfortable being a clown. It's freaky.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 9

Game: Pac Man Plus

Recipe: Coke Float

I was not top notch on Friday so I lacked the energy to cook. I had a Coke float because apparently, Pac Man Plus is just like Pac Man but with product placement.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 8

Game: Gun Smoke

Recipe: Crock Pot Chili http://www.marthastewart.com/317342/jimmy-fallons-crock-pot-chili

Gun Smoke is a game set in the Old West where apparently if you get far enough there's beer and cows. I have not seen evidence of this in level one where I remained stuck for the evening before realizing that you could fire in different directions by pressing different trigger buttons. You live you learn.

I like chili a lot, so even though I had to get up early to brown the meat and saute the vegetables to get the crock pot set up before work, I was pretty pleased with everything. I was actually worried cause, even though I put it on low, I thought that the chili might have been in the crock pot too long by the time I got home.

That turned out not to be an issue as the outlet had been reset and so the crock pot never turned on. After searching the internet to see if it was okay to still eat (which it seems like it is as the meat was cooked) I threw everything in a pot on the stove and heated it that way.

The result was not stellar, but I think that's mainly because the chili didn't have time to thicken like it would have in the slow cooker -- or if I had let it cook on the stove longer, but I was hungry. It was very spicy, which was nice because my sinuses were blocked up and they certainly are flowing now. I also did not have cheese. I had vegan cheese, which is fine in most situations, but it just sort of dissolved.

I will not blame JImmy Fallon for this recipe. It is my own fault. I will try it again at a later date and make sure I'm home to check on the crock pot.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 7

Game: Ladybug

Recipe: Ratatouille http://12tomatoes.com/2014/01/vegetarian-recipe-ratatouille-casserole.html

I don't know why I haven't tried ratatouille before. It's got a lot of things that I like in it, it's relatively easy to make and it's fun to say. It would have been a lot easier to make if I hadn't lent my food processor to Dylan so I could have sliced the vegetables with that, but hey, I had time to thinly slice vegetables while watching old episodes of In Living Color so it all worked out.

I was a little worried that the dish wouldn't be very flavorful as it's just veggies, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. There's a little thyme on it, but I was afraid without a more powerful herb it would be bland. It could have been improved with a little more spice, but it was still quite tasty.

The vegetables all cooked nicely together. I thought I may have overcrowded the pan, but I don't think I did. If they had laid flatter they all probably would have absorbed a bit more of the tomato sauce, but they faired pretty well. I put it all over some quinoa and it turned out nice. Definitely a vegan dish I'll be making again.

Now, I really enjoy Lady Bug. It's like Pac Man where you're eating vegetables and being chased by insects in a garden. It has this cool revolving walls aspect to it so you can divert/trap your predators. I will definitely play it again.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 6

Game: Jr. Pac-Man

Recipe: Strawberry Yum Yum http://www.cooks.com/recipe/2a4as10f/cherry-blueberry-or-strawberry-yum-yum.html

So, in Jr. Pac-Man, Jr. has a girlfriend named Yum Yum. There is also a dessert named Yum Yum. Now you are all caught up on why I made this last night.

The dessert was so simple that I passively tried to mess it up repeatedly. I cut the recipe in thirds because that's the amount of butter I had. I managed to not measure any other ingredient. I just sort of threw them all together. Maybe I forgot the sugar at some point even though I repeatedly asked Ryan how much sugar he had.

The end result was sort of like a strawberry shortcake with graham crackers instead of cake. I'd say it was light, but I saw how much butter and cream cheese went in there.

Jr. Pac-Man is a crazy game. The maze is twice as big and you have to scroll over. Never having played it before I had no idea what the layout of the board was and got confused when I couldn't wrap around to the other side. Instead of fruit in the first round a tricycle comes bouncing along and Jr. Pac-Man eats it. I thought maybe he would move faster or something cause he was on a bike, but that did not happen. Maybe he should try eating strawberry yum yums instead.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of the Joystick of Cooking: Day 5

Thanks to Charlie for the new title!

Game: Bomb Jack

Recipe: Fish en Papillote http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sole-em-en-Papillote-em-with-Tomatoes-and-Olives-51101600

I first learned of fish en papillote when I was watching Whitechapel. Some lady was making it for DI Chandler and it ends up burning because of murder? That sounds about right. Anyway, it sounded fancy (read French) and I always wanted to make it.  It's not 100% in line with Bomb Jack, but there are mummies and this fish is wrapped up like a mummy and that works for me.

This dish is actually incredibly simple. I'm sure it could be done with even less effort if you wanted by just cooking the fish with lemon and herbs. The most I had to do was chop up some vegetables, saute some garlic and play Bomb Jack for 8 minutes while it cooked.

The fish came out really flavorful and moist. I guess that's the benefit of this method of baking or pan frying, the fish just steams in the paper. Also, it looks pretty fancy even though it is not.

Bomb Jack took me a little bit of time to get a hang of. You can get the bombs in the order that their fuses go off, but I had enough issues with how to jump/fly and avoid the mummies and other evil things. I think the 2nd level plays a weird version of "Lady Madonna." Maybe there was a reason, but I was too busy trying not to die to check out the background image.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Joystickary: Day 4

Game: Frogger

Recipe: Sauteed Frogs Legs with Tomato Garlic Butter http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/sauteed-frog-legs-with-tomato-garlic-butter-recipe2.html

Well, that was an adventure. First task, find frog legs. I checked 99 Ranch and the Farmer's Market and struck out at both. So I took to reddit and the folks there directed me to Harmony Farms in La Crescenta. Not only did they have frog legs, but they also had alligator and turtle in case I wanted to make a Frogger stew. The last two were rather expensive so I opted to just stick with the frog leg plan.

The error in that calculation is that the alligator and turtle were butchered into steaks. The frog legs, well, they look like frog legs. I didn't think it would bother me that much, but I had to separate them and I don't have a knife that will cut through bone so I had to sort of twist the individual legs out of their pairs. Oh God, it was so gross.

Once I got them in the pan things went once smoother. When they got some color on them they just looked like chicken legs -- which for whatever reason, is less gross to me. The breading was really good and stuck to the frog legs through the whole process. I thought it might flake and fall off, but I was wrong.

Were the frog legs cooked through? That is a good question. I don't know what they're supposed to look like or what temperature they're supposed to be. They became opaque and started to pull away from the bone and I thought, "that seems like a good sign," so please put that on my tombstone if I get sick and die from them.

How'd they turn out? Fine I guess. They were a little dry and tasted sort of fishy. Is that what they taste like? Does that mean they were bad? Gah! I wish I had made a side to go with them, but I didn't realize that they didn't have that much meat on them. Oh well, that just means I get dessert.

Onto the game, I always forget that in the end you need to jump into the water and not onto the land. Why am I avoiding the water so hardcore if that's where I want to be? If I fall in sooner shouldn't I be able to swim under the logs and stuff to get to my destination? It makes no sense! I filled in all the slots though and that felt like a bit of a success! Yay!

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Joystickary: Day 3

Game: Donkey Kong

Recipe: Family Friendly Bananas Foster http://www.iwashyoudry.com/2013/02/25/family-friendly-banana-fosters/

I actually wanted to do Banana Flambe because of the flaming barrels in Donkey Kong, but it didn't seem like there'd be a way to do that without alcohol as you need something to light on fire. So I went with Bananas Foster instead.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and it helped me finish off the rum extract that I have in my apartment from last year. Bonus!

Ralph's however was a shit show this morning and they didn't have ripe bananas. I thought I picked the ripest of the bunch, but when I got home I could see they were still green. I threw them in the oven in low heat to ripen them up a bit. They were still a little starchy, but not rock solid. Side note: I got an oven thermometer to test my oven's accuracy, it is off by 50 degrees. Good to know.

I got the ice cream (with a little hot fudge) ready and put the bananas on top. It's pretty delicious but super sweet. I'm the asshole who added hot fudge, I know.

As for the game, holy hell, Donkey Kong is hard. I still can't get passed the first level. How do the barrels know that I'm on the ladder? How does a barrel roll down a ladder anyway? I call bullshit.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Joystickary: Day 2

Game: Pac Man

Recipe: Strawberry Pop Tarts (a mash up of recipes because everyone wants to use jam in their strawberry pop tarts and everyone doesn't know what they are doing)

As you can see from the recipe, I sort of went out on my own on this one. I guess using store bough jam is quick and easy, but these are homemade pop tarts god damn it. Have a little respect.

When I decided on pop tarts I knew that I wanted to make them into Pac Man shapes and colors. I thought that would be simple, but I thought wrong. I guess after making so many pop tarts it feels like second nature, but this certainly deflated my ego a bit.

Initially, I dyed the dough before assembly. This worked better with some colors than others. Pac Man seemed to be okay, but I couldn't get the other colors mixed in as well. There would be blotches of red or blue and then a dough colored blotch. It may have been easier if I had chosen a crust with eggs so it was a little wetter. This one was pretty dry, but tastes good.

The other issue with dying the dough is that you know the pop tarts are ready when they are golden brown on top. Well, when your pop tart is red or blue and you're already working with the handicap of being color blind, that's not a real easy distinction to make. But I think I did okay.

Backing it up, the assembly was difficult as well. Trying to seal the tarts, but also maintain their shape was a bitch. The strawberry filling was a little more watery than I'm used to with the apple or pumpkin so it leaked quite a bit. If I was smart, I would have strained the liquid from the filling knowing that the juices from the strawberry would still release in the oven (there's plenty of more Pac Man to come, so perhaps I can correct this with a cherry pop tart). Long story short, there's not as much filling inside as I would like, but that's the way it goes.

After I got them out of the oven and they cooled I decided that I could rectify the color problem the way I correct most of life's problems -- with icing. I made the icing a little thicker than usual so that it would all stay on top of the pop tart. You do what you can.

They tasted pretty good. Really could have benefited from some more filling, but there's enough in there to make it enjoyable. I just wanted strawberry filling all over my face.

Game report: Pac Man is great as usual. The speed setting on the console is cranked up to hyper drive so it's like you're playing level 68 when you're playing level 1 -- that's if I remember how advancing levels changed your speed. I'll keep at it because Pac Man is a delight.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Joystickary

Between looking into Cottage Laws and learning to drive manual and being jetlagged and catching up with old friends I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a name. So there it is for now. Suggestions are welcome.

The backstory: The lovely cast gave us 60 in 1 video game units for Christmas. Now, if I had my way (which I guess I could, no one's stopping me) I'd just play Burgertime until someone had to pry the handle from my cold, dead fingers. But, one of my coworkers had the idea of making a dish per game. It's a nice idea because I'll get acquainted with more games than I would otherwise, though a difficult one because there are a ton of space and war games which aren't super food oriented. So here we go.

Day 1

Game: 1942

Dish: Slow Cooker Pork Ramen http://www.chow.com/recipes/31178-slow-cooker-pork-ramen

It was a busy day being the 1st of the year and I thought it would be nice to put something in the slow cooker and forget about it. Not so much, but sure. I chose ramen because, Japan? The pork came out of the slow cooker and it was a little tough. It also fell apart, which it should do if it's been in the slow cooker for 8 hours. I'm used to having my pork nicely sliced in my ramen, but this actually made it far more managable.

The broth could use a little work. At the end you add sesame oil and soy sauce to taste. I was a little shy with both of them because I didn't want it to be too salty. I should have learned from cooking shows by now that it's better to overseason than underseason. Fortunately, I can add as much salt as my blood can take after the fact.

My favorite part of the dish, and of every ramen dish, is the soft boiled egg. I'm not going to lie, it came out perfect. So good. So good.

As for the game, that was less successful. I guess in war, planes are allowed to come up behind you and stuff. That's too complicated for me. Luckily this pesky colorblindness will keep me from ever having to join the air force.

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Octappler: Day 31

Sweet Potato and Apple Raviolis

Recipe: http://www.mydailymorsel.com/2014/01/20/sweet-potato-and-apple-ravioli/

Oh my god, we did. It got a little hairy at the end there, but these sweet raviolis made up for it. They are far more sweet potato-y than they are apple-y, but that could also be that some things cooked a little too much in the oven so I didn't get all the filling in there.

For some reason, I also thought that I was superman and I'd be able to rough the dough thinly enough without a pasta maker. I had a pasta maker at one point and gave it up because I never used it so I don't really want to invest in one. I'm sure if I added a little more water to the dough and rolled for about 5 more minutes I could have got it at thin as needed, but as it stood, it was fine. I ended up with a fewer raviolis than anticipated because of this, but they we're still delicious.

Happy Halloween! This is your treat!

#Octappler #Sweet Potato and Apple Ravioli

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Octappler: Day 30

Apple Cinnamon Omelet

Recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/apple-cinnamon-omelet

I had a ton of eggs and I wanted to get rid of them. It's safe to say that I could have made almost anything and it would have been better than this. I could have made apple cinnamon pancakes! That sounds great. Aimee, get your head on straight!

Guys, there's a reason you don't read about apple cinnamon omelets a lot. And it's not because my omelet fell apart and became more of a scramble. It's because cinnamon eggs are gross as hell.

#Octappler #Apple Cinnamon Omelet

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Octappler: Day 29

Lentil Walnut Apple Burger

Recipe: http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/lentil-walnut-burgers-with-almonnaise/

Everyone. Take that recipe page and block it from your computer. This is the most flavorless thing I have ever tasted. I would rather eat paper. I still have one patty left and I'm hoping that if I douse it with enough A1 it will be palatable.

#Octappler #Lentil Walnut Apple Burger

[ladyaimeejones]

31 Days of Octappler: Day 28

Salted Caramel Apple Cups

Recipe: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2014/09/salted-caramel-apple-cups.html

Ryan requested caramel apple cups when he saw some Pink Princess lady post about them. Her recipe had store bought graham crackers and so I rejected it because I am an insane woman who makes her own graham crackers. Instead I picked a recipe with store bought caramel cause I am still scarred from Sweet Paul.

Well, this recipe has a lot of components and that's fine. It sort of fell apart in the assembly stage though. The bottom cookie batter went into the pans nicely. The apples however, didn't sink into the batter like the picture shows and the caramel is a liquid so that shit is going to go where it wants to go. I don't know how I keep it from touching the outside of the pan without using cupcake liners which were expressly forbidden!

I took them out of the oven and let them cool. Then I tried to remove them from the muffin tins, but they were a caramel mess. So, I froze them for two days and chiseled them out last night. I put them in cupcake liners -- which I should have done all along -- and now they are finally ready to eat.

They are certainly a gooey mess and not worth the trouble it took to make them, but if I use the liners next time like my heart told me to, they'll turn out just fine.

#Octappler #Caramel Apple Cups