Recipe – Spanish Spaghetti

  • 1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 large potato
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 to 3 gloves of garlic
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 pkg spaghetti noodles
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 5 dashes Texas Pete hot sauce
  • 1 dash red pepper

Meatballs

Roll the ground beef into balls; season to taste with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Brown until done in a large cast iron skillet.

Sauce

Dice up the potato, onion, and garlic cloves and boil in 2 cups of water. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, hot sauce, and red pepper. Reduce heat and allow to simmer at least 30 minutes for the potato to cook. The sauce tends to bubble and splatter, so cover with a splatter screen. When the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and simmer.

Spaghetti Noodles

Boil in water until tender, drain, and rinse.

Once noodles, sauce, and meatballs are done and meatballs have simmered in the sauce, serve sauce and meatballs over plate of noodles.

Recipe – Cornbread Dressing

  • 1 1/2 cup self-rising white cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup self-rising flour
  • 2 tbsp Crisco
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix ingredients and pour into a greased small cast iron skillet. Bake at 450 degrees until done, approximately 20 minutes.

Cool completely, then crumble cornbread in a large bowl. Add the following ingredients:

  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp rubbed sage
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 can (14 oz) chicken broth*

Mix crumbled cornbread and ingredients. Press into a greased 6 x 10 x 1 1/2 inch metal bake pan. Mixture should be moist throughout but not soggy; if not completely moist, add some additional broth. Bake at 350 to 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool ten minutes before cutting for best results.

* If available, turkey broth is even better.

Recipe – Cornbread

  • 1 1/2 cup self-rising white cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup self-rising flour
  • 2 tbsp Crisco
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix ingredients and pour into a greased small cast iron skillet. Bake at 450 degrees until done, approximately 20 minutes.

Recipe – Yeast Rolls

  • 2 cups very hot water
  • 1 pkg dry yeast*
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup Crisco
  • 4 cups self-rising flour (such as White Lily)

In a large bowl, place dry yeast and Crisco. Add the hot water and mix. Add egg and sugar, then stir in flour. Store covered in refrigerator at least 1 hour for best results (batter can be kept up to three days). Spoon into greased muffin pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

* 1/4 oz Fleischmann’s active dry yeast – NOT rapid rise

Recipe – Pudding Mousse

  • 1 cup self-rising flour
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 pkgs instant pudding mix (same flavor)
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 stick margarine
  • 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
  • 1 1/2 cup whipped cream
  • 2 1/2 cup milk

Mix flour, sugar, margarine and pecans and mash into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven and let cool before adding layers.

  1. Layer One – Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1 cup of whipped cream. Spread over cooled crust.
  2. Layer Two – Mix instant pudding and milk. Whisk until thick liquid. Pour and spread over layer one.
  3. Layer Three – Cover surface of layer two entirely with whipped cream.

Chill in refrigerator until pudding sets. Keep chilled for storage.

Any flavor pudding can be used. Both pistachio and chocolate flavors have proven popular.

Recipe – Baked Tenderloin

  • 4 thin sliced pork tenderloins
  • 2 cans (11 to 15 oz) pork & beans
  • 3 slices bacon
  • ketchup

Bake tenderloin in a casserole dish for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Add cans of pork & beans. Top with bacon slices and ketchup (in lines or streaks over the top, not a solid layer). Bake another 30 minutes.

Age of Worms Adventure Path – Game Session 66

Game summary for January 3, 2008; present characters included Chuck Ahammer (shield dwarf master thrower/rogue/thunderthrower), Eolas Windmaster (moon elf duskblade), Grim Firestorm (shield dwarf barbarian/battlerager/frenzied berserker/warmain), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/scout/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger/ranger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/ring sage/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger/peerless archer), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor/pious templar).

The party’s sudden, invisible, appearance on the ledge was instantly noted by an equally invisible fang dragon of immense proportions. It moved toward the party and blasted everyone with chain lightning. Thinking quickly, Lyrin blocked its progress with a prismatic wall. The dragon surprised the group, however, by using teleport to end up pinning them between the wall and itself. Lyrin dismissed the wall.

Aridarye attempted to bolster her allies with a good hope, but she was too close to the dragon, and it landed a critical bite. In addition, its bite appeared to drain her life force away, leaving a tattered, discarded carcass on the ground. Eolas used dispel magic to drop the invisible cloak the dragon had thrown over its form. Iapetus, Grim, and Taravin bravely surrounded the dragon and worked to batter at it, but its defenses of mirror image and displacement, as well as its tremendously strong scales, proved too much for them to regularly overcome. Syvarius laboriously plinked away with arrows, landing one or two here or there. Eolas began a serious regiment of dispelling attempts, slowly whittling down the dragon’s wards. Meanwhile, Lyrin and Morak cast spell after spell; although, they proceeded cautiously after seeing Eolas’ polar ray turned back on him. The dwarven rogue, Chuck, steadily bashed away with his throwing hammers. Although he did not deal much damage per hit, he consistently harmed the dragon.

The three melee fighters found themselves in a difficult situation. The dragon sundered Grim’s axe, and he had no backup weapon. He spent the remainder of the fight in a frenzy trying to punch the beast. All three were repeatedly caught by the dragon’s claws and tail and hurled violently to the ground. Eventually, they managed to flank the dragon, which allowed the rogues to land a couple of serious shots. The spellcasters remained frustrated due to all the dragon’s wards and its ability to evade area of effects. They still hammered at the creature, but the process was slow.

The party thought for a moment they had driven the dragon off when they recognized it was casting a teleport. Much to their surprise, it used the spell to position itself in the midst of the casters. They scattered and fell back, and Lyrin found himself isolated from the group. The dragon quickly took advantage and charged the warmage. A critical hit from the wyrm’s bite killed Lyrin instantly. Now some distance from the group, the party prepared for the dragon to pivot around and charge back toward them. Curses erupted from the team when the dragon instead snatched up Lyrin and fled via magic, taking the simian’s magical horde for its own.

Battered, bloodied, and down several allies, the Mercenaries retreated into the cover of a giant dwelling and walled themselves in. They now seek to rest and gain the prayers needed to bring their fallen back from the dead. What will transpire in Kongen-Thulnir during their 8-hour “time out”?

Recipe – Meatloaf

  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
  • 3/4 cup uncooked oats
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion or 1/8 cup dried onion flakes
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • 1 egg, beaten

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pack firmly into an non-greased baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. If desired, a thin layer of ketchup can be spread on the top before or after cooking. Let stand for 5 minutes after removing from oven before slicing or serving.

Army, Kuwait

Received the following email:

Hello Mr. Plemons.

I am a little behind. Thank you so much for your package back in November. I cannot remember if I sent you a thank you or not. The Christmas cards came in really handy. Also, not sure where you got the LED light but that thing is awesome. It allows my bunk mate and I to read at night and not disturb other people with a larger light.

Christmas here was pretty good. We had a gathering with my unit where we played games and ate a meal. The food however was terrible. I will be glad to get home to good food.

Merry belated Christmas and happy new year. Take care and talk to you soon.

—–

Age of Worms Adventure Path – Game Session 65

Game summary for December 27, 2007; present characters included Carn Fodelfex (whisper gnome cleric), Eolas Windmaster (moon elf duskblade), Grim Firestorm (shield dwarf barbarian/battlerager/frenzied berserker/warmain), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/scout/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger/ranger cohort), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger/peerless archer), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor/pious templar).

The party headed toward some of the giant dwellings and came under fire from the inhabitants. They yelled out their intentions, but the barrage continued. From within one room, a bugbear motioned for them. The stinking slave, Broogle by name, begged the party to take him from the city. They agreed they would do so if he would help them find the object they seek. They described the phylactery of Dragotha, but the slave had never seen or heard of it. He helped them find the way down to the Undercity to investigate further.

As they approached the ladder down, they watched five green dragons and a tremendous red dragon assault a fortified giant position. With haste, the Mercenaries attempted to scale the ladder, but Carn and Iapetus plunged into the depths of the gorge. Carn’s magic mended their terrible injuries and was able to fly them back up to join the party. They arrived just in time for an assault by four green dragons. The terror of the wyrms’ approach drove Syvarius, Gazzilfek, Carn, Aridarye, and Broogle into hiding inside a building. Meanwhile, stalwart Taravin, frenzied Grim, and stoic Eolas stood their ground.

The dragons opened their gambit with blasts of flesh-searing acid breath. Eolas unleashed deadly spells, and Taravin and Grim swung biting steel that tore through the draconic scales. One dragon attempted to weaken the two warriors with rays of enfeeblement, but it was too little to make a difference. Within a few moments, the heroes had slain three of the dragons and driven the fourth into a hasty retreat. Soon, the rest of the party emerged from the buildings and returned to the side of the warriors.

Grim nocked an arrow and fired it at the dragons assaulting the giant strongpoint, drawing the attention of the enormous red dragon. It flew overhead, roaring in rage, and most of the party again panicked and ran away. For some reason, the dragon did not engage but instead flew off with the green dragons further into the gorge.

Aridarye began a parlay with the giants in the fortification, and they indicated the dragons had only been sieging the city for a few hours. Aridarye attempted to explain that many dragons would continue to assault the city, but the giants seemed unafraid. He told her the stronghold of the Tiamikal Nul-Shada (hunters of Tiamat’s children, in giantish) was not named Citadel of Weeping Dragons in vain. Aridarye left a message she asked be delivered to King Achaime Silvereye and then rejoined the party. Meanwhile, the group noticed the massive bladed tail of a fang dragon disappearing over the ledge of the upper city. Eolas had heard of such dragons, but had not encountered one. He indicated one that large must be at least a wyrm in age.

The Mercenaries spoke to Broogle to find out where the palace of King Silvereye sat within the city. He indicated it was near where the fang dragon had just gone. With no further ado, the party had Iapetus render them all invisible and Carn teleport them up to the ledge they had just seen. Will their instant transport put them nose to snout with a massive, ancient dragon?