Teri Mae

Fruitcake

September 12, 2017September 16, 2017by Teri Mae19 Comments

There are many versions of fruitcake. It means something different in every society and region of the world. But if you take a peek at the recipe in Breath of the Wild it’s pretty obvious Link makes a Bavarian fruit cake. Now, I don’t know how to make one of these layered, intense cakes on my own so I turned to my favorite pastry cookbook, Tartine by Elizabeth Pruitt. She is an absolute star in the pastry world and her creations always look too good to be true. Instead of shifting this recipe around to make it 100% my own, which wouldn’t have worked out nearly as well or delicious, I simply adapted this recipe to make it a little more “me” and ran with it. So tighten those bootstraps, grab your handy whisk, and let’s get going on the most difficult recipe to date.

Fruitcake

With how long this recipe takes as a whole we need to prioritize. It’s like tackling a group of lizalfos – if you don’t freeze some and take out the silver one on one you’re never going to finish without dying. Same with this recipe. We start with some recipes and then, while they are “freezing” we work on the easier bits. The ice breaks, we finish it all off, and we unlock the treasure, which, in this case, is an incredible cake.

We start with the cake. It’ll take a bit to bake and cool and we can work on other components while it does. So start with flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a hand whisk (yes, I need to specify, we use a lot of whisks in this recipe) blend the flour mixture until well-combined and aerated. Make a well shape in the bottom of the bowl with the flour and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a regular bowl but you’ll be grateful for the stand mixer if you’ve got one) and another bowl separate the egg whites and yolks from 6 eggs. You can do this in a few ways, the easiest is probably one of those fancy egg-separator-thingee-mabobs you find in the cooking aisle. The cheapest is the way I do it, by slowly cracking the egg in two, keeping most of the whites and all the yolk in one side of the shell. Then slowly tip the yolk into the other shell. Keep up this slow version of hot potato until the only thing left in the egg shell is the yolk. The albumen (white part) goes in the stand mixer bowl, the yolk goes in the other bowl. And trust me, if you don’t go slowly you’ll break your yolk, which defeats the purpose. If it happens try and keep as much of it out of your bowl, dump the egg, and try again.

Repeat this process for all 6 eggs, then add the vegetable oil, water, and extract to your yolk bowl. Mix this well using your hand whisk and transfer it to your flour mixture. Whisk this in for 2ish minutes until it’s nice and smooth (you can use a normal whisk for this).

And now for the stand mixer. We need 4 more egg whites but don’t need the yolks so go ahead and throw those out. Put on the whisk attachment, add the bowl, and whisk on medium-high until the eggs get frothy. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use a hand mixer with a whisk attachment. But don’t blame me when your arm falls off from all the vibration! Once the whites are frothy add the cream of tartar. Keep whisking until the eggs hold soft peaks. There’s a photo if you’re unsure! Then add a bit of the sugar, and, yes, you know the drill, keep whisking. Once the whites hold nice, stiff, shiny peaks it’s ready!

Here comes the part that’ll ruin your entire cake if it’s not right – we have to fold in the whites. Fold too quickly and too vigorously and you’ll lose all that beautiful air we just put in them. Fold too slowly and you’ll get bored, give up, and leave. So we scoop about 1/3 of this whites into the batter and carefully fold in by scooping from the bottom and turning over on the top. Gently continue this until it’s well mixed then add the remaining whites and fold in until just combined. Grease a springform pan with butter and then add flour. Tap out the excess flour, but make sure all your butter is covered by flour. Pour the batter into the pan and bake.

Next: the pastry cream. This will take a bit to cool, as well, so it needs to be second. Add the milk into a saucepan with the vanilla and the salt. Heat it all over medium-high heat, making sure to stir frequently. If you don’t you may burn the milk and I promise you it’ll be horrific to eat and you’ll wind up throwing it away. While the milk is warming up whisk (using a regular whisk) the eggs, cornstarch, and sugar in a bowl until smooth. When the milk is almost boiling pour about 1/3 (we like thirds here) of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk constantly. Once combined quickly add the entire mixture into the saucepan and continue to whisk and heat over medium heat until the mixture (a custard, if anyone wanted to know) becomes as thick as lightly whipped cream and is just under the boiling point (i.e. a few bubbles but not actual boiling).

Ladle (or scoop, spoon, spatula, etc…) the cream out of the pan and put it in a shallow bowl. If you leave the cream in the pan it’ll keep cooking and ruin it. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to remove some of the heat. Once it’s cool add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time and whisk until smooth.

Cover the cream with plastic wrap the same way we did the Wildberry Crepes by pressing the plastic all the way down on the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Place this in the fridge to chill and take a deep breath! We are maybe 1/3 of the way through this recipe…

When the timer goes off test the cake for doneness (which is totally a word) by inserting a toothpick. It should come out nice and clean. Remove the pan from the oven but leave the cake in it to cool. Let it cool entirely before doing anything with it.

So is that cake almost cool yet? Almost? Perfect. Once it is let’s start on the next few steps. We need to make the fruit puree (to prevent the cake from drying out), the actual cream filling, and cut all the fruit. Let’s start with the cream bit.

Again, it needs to cool a tad so timing is key. Add the gelatin to the water and let it sit for several minutes. It’s kind of cool and gross to watch so if you do I won’t judge. And while we are doing that let’s make a double boiler. To do this we need a saucepan that’ll be several inches deep with water but still have headroom for steam and either a stainless steel mixing bowl or another pan (which is what I do. We get fancy around here). Fill the first pan several inches deep with water and get it boiling. Once it is add some 1/4 cup of the chilled pastry cream to the bowl/bigger pan. Place this bowl/pan over the boiling water and pray the water doesn’t touch the pan. Heat the cream, whisking constantly, until hot to the touch. Add the gelatin (which has now become The Blob) and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and add half the remaining cream. Once it’s mixed add the remaining pastry cream and hand whisk until smooth.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment whisk the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Gently, using our skills from earlier, fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream mixture.

Now for the fruit. Take about 1 pint of the washed raspberries and blend them with the sugar and salt until smooth. Pour it out and set it aside. We cut up and remove the pits from the peaches and wash the rest of the raspberries.

And now it’s cake time!

Remove the cake from the pan, finally, and carefully cut the top off to make an even level. Cut it right down the center (longways) to make two even cake layers. Line a springform cake pan (it can be the same one, just wash it first) with plastic wrap, making sure there’s extra to cover the cake at the end. Put the bottom layer of cake in so it’s nice and snug. Spoon on about half of the berry puree and then a thin layer of cream. Arrange the fruit in a nice pattern (and of course it’s the one photo I forgot to take!) and then add the remaining pastry cream. Gently add the top layer of cake and press down slightly to remove any air bubbles. Cover the top layer with the remaining puree, cover it with the wrap, and set it in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours. If you pull it out early the cream won’t be set and the whole thing will fall apart. Trust me, I did this…

When it’s almost time (I promise, just a little more whisking) let’s make a nice whipped cream. Add the cream and sugar to a stand mixer or bowl and whisk until it holds stiff, delicious peaks. Remove the cake from the fridge and release it from the pan. Move the cake to a cake stand (if you’re cool) or just remove the plastic wrap and place it on a plate (my method). Using a spatula, add the whipped cream just like you’re icing a cake. If you’re feeling like you haven’t done enough feel free to pipe some fancy swirls on to the top. Decorate with the fruit and enjoy the spoils of your hard-won war! Congratulations and let them eat cake!

Link’s Fruitcake recipe:

- Apple or Wildberry
- Any fruit
- Tabantha Wheat
- Cane Sugar

Fruitcake

Servings: 1 cake
Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: extra hard
Print

A Bavarian-style fruitcake with peaches and raspberries

Recipe adapted from Summer Fruit Bavarian by Elizabeth Pruitt from Tartine

Cake

2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Pastry

1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1.5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter

Filling

3/4 teaspoon gelatin
1 tablespoon water
1 batch pastry cream
1 cup heavy cream, very cold

Raspberry

1/2 pint raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt

Toppings

2 cups heavy cream
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 pint raspberries
2 large peaches

Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 325°F and grease and flour a 10 inch springform cake pan.
Add the flour, baking powder, 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, and salt in a bowl. Whisk the flour mixture until well-combined and aerated. Make a well shape in the mixture and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a regular bowl and second bowl separate the egg whites and yolks from 6 eggs. You can do this by slowly cracking the egg in two, keeping most of the whites and all the yolk in one side of the shell. Then slowly tip the yolk into the other shell. Continue switching egg shells until the only thing left in the egg shell is the yolk. The albumen (white part) goes in the stand mixer bowl, the yolk goes in the other bowl. Repeat this process for all 6 eggs.
Add the vegetable oil, water, and extract to your yolk bowl. Whisk this until smooth and transfer it to your flour mixture. Whisk the two together until it’s nice and smooth.
In the bowl of the stand mixer add 4 more egg whites to the 6 already separated. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on medium-high until the eggs get frothy. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can use a hand mixer with a whisk attachment. Once the whites are frothy add the cream of tartar. Keep whisking until the eggs hold soft peaks. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and whisk until the whites hold nice, stiff, shiny peaks.\
Scoop about 1/3 of the whisked whites into the yolk batter and carefully fold in by scooping from the bottom and turning over on the top of the batter. Gently continue this until it’s well mixed. Add the remaining whites and fold in until just combined.
Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan.

Pastry

Add the milk into a saucepan with the vanilla and the salt. Heat over medium-high heat, making sure to stir frequently to prevent burning the milk.
While the milk is warming up whisk the eggs, cornstarch, and sugar in a bowl until smooth.
When the milk is nearly boiling pour about 1/3 of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk constantly. Once combined quickly add the entire mixture into the saucepan.
Continue to whisk and heat over medium heat until the mixture becomes as thick as lightly whipped cream and is just under the boiling point (i.e. a few bubbles but not actual boiling).
Ladle (or scoop, spoon, spatula, etc…) the cream out of the pan and put it in a shallow bowl. If you leave the cream in the pan it’ll keep cooking and ruin it. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to remove some of the heat.
Cut the butter into tablespoons. Once the cream has cooled slightly add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until smooth between each addition.
Cover the cream with plastic wrap by pressing the plastic all the way down on the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Place this in the fridge to chill until needed for the filling.

Filling

Add gelatin to the water and let it sit for several minutes.
While the gelatin is forming make a double boiler by adding several inches of water to a saucepan and heating until lightly boiling.
Once the water is boiling add 1/4 cup of the chilled pastry cream to a second saucepan or stainless steel bowl. Place this bowl/pan over the boiling water and heat the cream, whisking constantly, until hot to the touch. Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in half the remaining cream. Once it’s mixed add the remaining pastry cream and whisk until smooth.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream mixture and set aside.
Take about 1/2 pint of washed raspberries and blend them with the sugar and salt until smooth. Pour it out and set it aside.

Assembly

Wash the remaining raspberries and pit and slice the peaches
Remove the cake from the pan, finally, and carefully cut the top off to make an even level. Cut it in half to make two even cake layers.
Line a springform cake pan (it can be the same one, just wash it first) with plastic wrap, making sure there’s extra to cover the cake at the end.
Add the bottom layer of cake to the lined pan so it’s nice and snug.
Spoon on about half of the berry puree and then a thin layer of cream.
Arrange the fruit in a nice pattern and then add the remaining pastry cream.
Gently add the top layer of cake and press down slightly to remove any air bubbles.
Cover the top layer of cake with the remaining puree. Cover the cake with the wrap and set it in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours.
To make the whipped cream topping add the cream and sugar to a stand mixer or bowl and whisk until it holds stiff, delicious peaks.
Remove the cake from the fridge and release it from the pan. Move the cake to a cake stand or remove the plastic wrap and place it on a plate.
Using a spatula, add the whipped cream just like you’re icing a cake.

Thursday Thoughts

Blogger Blitz Semifinals: Raccoon City

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017by Teri Mae14 Comments

If any of you follow along with the non-recipe posts you’ll know that I won Round One of the incredible Blogger Blitz Challenge, hosted by Ian at Adventure Rules. I honestly didn’t expect to win, especially since Luna of Gamer’s United put up such a good fight. But by some serious luck I got to move on to the semifinals! If you want to know more about the basics behind the Blogger Blitz a link to the rules can be found here. However, for this second challenge a new scenario and a new rule were introduced. The new rule: I get 800 words (instead of 500) to describe why Link would be able to survive a dastardly plan by LeChuck of The Secret of Monkey Island and take down Albert Wesker in Resident Evil territory. Since I’ve never played Resident Evil I relied heavily on recaps and synopsis to understand what Link was up against, so bear with me if it may be a tad inaccurate! The official prompt is as follows:

“In this event, the two competitors must switch roles for a day – Link must lead the charge against biologically-enhanced zombie warriors (can you tell I’ve totally played Resident Evil before?!) and their leader Wesker, while Claire has to save Hyrule from the mighty sorcerer Ganondorf and his evil hordes. However, before they can do their new jobs, LeChuck interferes, dragging them to the waters of Mêlée Island (which, as we all know, conveniently borders both Hyrule and the United States). Attaching each competitor to a heavy ship anchor, he sends them plummeting into the deep before heading off to capture Elaine Marley. Our competitors must explain how they escape LeChuck’s deadly trap without drowning, make their way back, and defeat a villain they have never faced with abilities foreign to their own world.”

If you are dying to see what my competitor, Luke, at Hundstrasse has written (like I am) then check out his blog here. And now, let’s see what Link’s got up his sleeve for this challenge! And don’t forget, the results will go live Friday at 9am EST on Adventure Rules.

Judges and curious onlookers – the word count starts now:

Another day, another kingdom to save. It seems the work is never done for the Hero of Hyrule. But this time, it’s not his kingdom that needs saving. A request came for help from the distant land of Raccoon City, and Link, a born hero through all ages, answers the call. As he leaves the safety of Hyrule he is ambushed by the dread pirate, LeChuck, who captures Link using a sleeping draft. LeChuck ties Link to an anchor and drops him into the depths of the ocean…

Link! Link, wake up! Hurry!

Link awakens, gasps, and struggles wildly. Luckily, he always wears his Zora Tunic, which allows him to breathe underwater, when he sails. With no fear of drowning, Link struggles with his bonds, eventually freeing one arm. He draws the Master Sword and slices through the rope, freeing himself from the anchor. Using his Silver Scale, Link swims to the surface to find the King of Red Lions, his companion across all oceans. He hops into this boat and ties up his Swift Sail, knowing that time is running out.

As Link reaches the shore he realizes he is still far from Raccoon City. He could call his loyal steed, Epona, but knows that time is pressing. Instead he calls his Crimson Loftwing and soars through the skies to reach this new realm. He sets down just outside the town, cautious and wary. He isn’t sure what monsters Raccoon City may be facing but his Stealth Crouch and Sheikah Stealth Armor help him avoid detection. The closer he gets to the city, the fewer resources he notices. Luckily, scavenging for food, materials, and weapons and careful use of those goods is a skill he has recently acquired. Maintaining a supply of health-restoring food and weapons shouldn’t be a problem with his Sheikah Slate Sensor capabilities. And Link isn’t afraid to break literally every pot and cut every blade of grass to find what he needs.

As he enters the city he encounters his first monster – a hideous, humanoid thing that looks undead. Or maybe ReDead? Link sighs with relief when he realizes he’s encountered monsters similar to this before. He manages to sneak past the first few zombies before coming to a large mansion. He checks his map and notices a glowing sphere underneath the mansion. It must be the location of Wesker, the man behind these evils deeds. He cautiously slips through the front doors and stumbles upon a monster just inside the door. He whips out his Ocarina, quickly plays the Sun Song and a beam of light appears, blinding the zombie, allowing Link the time to kill him with the Master Sword before moving on.

As Link steps into the next room he notices hidden switches and some kind of puzzle to be worked out. He smiles. As Hero of Hyrule, he has worked his way through hundreds of puzzles. It seems like the people of Hyrule insist their temples be so complex no one could actually use them. He quickly works out the first puzzle and moves on. As he works his way through the following rooms and puzzles he notices that the mansions is becoming quieter. As he leaves the last room and zombie runs down the corridor toward him. Working quickly, Link uses his Ice Rod to freeze his opponent. He then uses a well-placed bomb to kill the monster. The sound, however, draws more zombies to him. His Triforce of Courage never fails him and he swiftly fires a Bomb Arrow, blasting them all as he makes his escape to the stairs at the end of the hall.

Link rushes down toward the glowing dot from his map to find a giant mutant and Wesker. Wesker congratulates Link on making it this far and explains his terrible plan for world domination. Link rolls his eyes – he’s heard this before and this guy had nothing on Ganondorf. As Wesker finishes his tirade he unleashes the monster, a Tyrant. Link quickly downs a Tough Meat and Rice Bowl, boosting his ability to handle damage and his health, and uses a combination of the Mirror Shield to blind the monster and Master Sword Beams to defeat it. In the monster’s last, terrible rage he attacks Wesker, who appears dead beside the remains of the beast. But Link knows that after Ganondorf comes Ganon and waits for the second monster to appear. Wesker revives, having injected himself with a powerful virus, and attacks. Link brings out the Light Arrows, knowing of their power to stop evil (and blind his foes), and uses them and powerful attacks with his Master Sword to defeat Wesker. As Link leaves the building the sun bursts above the horizon and he smiles, knowing he restored peace to Raccoon City.

Thursday Thoughts

Anxiety and the Positive Benefits of Gaming

August 24, 2017August 29, 2017by Teri Mae23 Comments

Apparently, as I learned in the RadioWest podcast episode I listened to just a month ago, we live in the “age of anxiety”. The author of a new book called Just Can’t Stop delves into the realm of compulsions and how small compulsions are evolution’s way of helping us cope with overwhelming situations. In the podcast she talked about mental health and the difference between serious, need to get help compulsions and minor, help you cope with your minor anxiety compulsions. It really pushed some ideas inward and I’ve been seriously contemplating my own battles and what they’ve meant in my life. So let’s get personal.

About 5 months ago I was diagnosed with debilitating anxiety and minor depression. After struggling with the inability to function for about 10 months I finally, with the support and courage of my wonderful husband, sought professional help. It was incredibly difficult for me to admit that I needed any help and incredibly difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t my mom – I couldn’t handle the stress of my life with the aplomb and poise that she does.

Since I started down this destructive path I’ve found that one of the best coping mechanisms for me has been video games. And now, after seeking help and understanding a little better where my anxiety and depression come from, I know why. I think I want to share this, not only because it’ll help me but because maybe it’ll help you, too!

I feel like I am in control:

When I look at my life I do not feel in control of my situation – work, our home being built, children getting sick, my daycare quitting and leaving me in a bit of a lurch, and the list continues. Playing a video game, especially because I pretty much stick to single player games or modes like Breath of the Wild or one player MarioKart, allows me to be in control of my entire situation. I want to explore in that direction, I can. I get to control where I go, when I accomplish tasks, how long it’ll take, and how to approach an enemy. This, for someone who feels like their life is spiraling, is a positive experience and helps me feel a little more inner peace and calm.

I can get upset without becoming mean:

I try to be as kind as I can. I don’t understand other people’s experiences, where they are coming from, or why they behave certain ways. As such, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt when something goes wrong or they screw something up. But it leaves me with a pretty big ball of frustration that I’ve been unable to lose. When I play a video game I can get mad at the RNG gods without feeling like I am judging someone too harshly or becoming a toxic player. I can get frustrated without disrupting someone else’s experience. This gives me an outlet for my frustration without ruining any relationships or people.

It allows me to set and achieve goals:

When you are struggling with anxiety it can be incredibly difficult, even impossible, to set and achieve goals. You feel overwhelmed and paralyzed by fear all the time. When I play a video game I am given tasks and goals and a desire to finish them. Every time I finish a side quest I know I’ve accomplished something. Whenever I beat a dungeon or boss I feel like I’m making a difference and finishing a major task. These small victories do wonders for my self esteem and positive outlook, even if they are virtual. It’s something that didn’t require much thought or even, sometimes, much work on my part. But it’s something that helps me feel just a little bit better about myself. With enough game victories I usually feel a little more capable to set and accomplish real life goals.

The games I play bring me joy:

In the book Essentialism by Greg Mckeown, he spends a great deal of time discussing the importance of doing something because it brings you joy. It doesn’t necessarily accomplish a task or goal, it just makes you happy. Video games make me happy. I love the stories, the music, the characters, and the feeling of being involved in another world. And when you are depressed the importance of doing something that makes you happy and fires off that dopamine becomes even more essential. So I play because it makes my life a better place.

What kind of happiness do you find playing video games? Are there any lessons you’ve learned about how video games have positively affected your life?

Recipes

Glazed Veggies

August 22, 2017August 22, 2017by Teri Mae7 Comments

I seriously underestimated the amount of fun and lack of free time I would have on my vacation last week. I suspected that, since I had to be back to the hotel by 9ish to put my small child down for bed I would have plenty of time to write a blog post in the evening. What I did not account for was the extremely late nights and loads of fun my family would have staying up till 12 or 1 each night playing card games. Never underestimate the hilarity of a game like Balderdash at midnight when all the adults are exhausted but cant. stop. playing.

But that serious fun does mean I missed a lot of posts! I’m sorry! And after I specifically made two recipes the week before in order to not miss a week… So thanks for your patience, thanks for the continued support and follows, and let’s get on with the show!

Glazed Veggies

Guys, this recipe is super easy but super delicious. That makes it a win-win, right?

First we chop the veggies and, if you’re feeling bold, chop and mince the fresh herbs. If you’re not feeling bold, no worries, this recipe is equally awesome for all types. Just measure out those herbs and get them handy because, frankly, herbs of all sorts look pretty.

Start boiling the tiny, finger height portion of water in a nice, deep pot. If you haven’t noticed I’m super exact with my measurements… Just check out this post for proof…

Once it’s boiling add the carrots and cover with the lid. We want this to boil for 7-9 minutes, depending on how full your pot is, or until the carrots are “crisp-tender”… Who makes up these cooking terms, anyway? For those of you who can’t guess based on the name, crisp-tender means the stage after raw but before mushy. It’s a pretty big ballpark, you can’t really miss it unless you’re being negligent. And you’d never be negligent with carrots, would you?

Remove the carrots, drain the water, and put the pot back on the heat. Add the honey and butter until they melt together. Add your herbs and carrots back in and stir until the carrots are coated and the herbs are a little fragrant, about 2 minutes. Serve warm!

You wanna know how to best use this recipe? Add it as a side to either the Salt-Grilled Prime Meat or the Salt-Grilled Meat. That’s what I did and it made for one amazing meal!

Link’s Glazed Veggies

- Any Vegetable
- Courser Bee Honey

Herb Glazed Veggies

Servings: 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

Carrots glazed with honey and fresh herbs

Filling

1 lb carrots
1.5 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1-1.5 tablespoons kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons pepper
1.5 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 1-1.5 teaspoon dried thyme)
1.5 tablespoons fresh oregano (or 1-1.5 teaspoon dried oregano)

Directions

If you use fresh herbs wash and then mince the herbs. Use a very sharp blade to mince in order to prevent bruising. Mix both the thyme and sage together and set aside.
Cut all carrots equally and evenly to ensure they all cook the same amount and finish at the same time. If you desire, peel the carrots first.
Boil enough water in a 4 quart saucepan to cover the first joint in your finger.
Add carrots and cover the pot. Allow to boil for 7-9 minutes, or until crisp-tender.
Remove carrots and drain pot.
Add honey and butter and allow to melt together. Add herbs and carrots and stir until carrots are completely glazed and the herbs become fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Serve hot.

Thursday Thoughts

Blogger Blitz Round 4: Matchmaker

August 21, 2017August 21, 2017by Teri Mae12 Comments

You know, after an accidental hiatus it’s interesting that the post I come back with isn’t a recipe. It’s not even a Thursday Thought. It’s a competition. So to kick off being back from vacation and back on track I’m going to spend the next 500 words (after this intro, judges! Don’t start counting now!) convincing you that Link, our very own Hero of Life, the Universe, and Everything can play matchmaker with only his impressive collection of skills. This competition, hosted by Ian at Adventure Rules, is called the Blogger Blitz. If you want to know more about it a link to the rules can be found here. I’m participating in Round 4, so if you’d like to read the previous rounds click on 1, 2, and 3 for the respective hub articles. This community event has been really fun to be a part of so far, and, with luck, I’ll get to keep playing in the next round! For any of you who, for some silly reason, don’t want to read the full rules and regulations, my prompt is as follows:

“Match Maker! It’s a mission to find love for a malboro, the most horrifying creature in Final Fantasy history. Malboro are known for their putrid breath, breath so terrible that when exhaled on a party of adventurers, it can cause a range of status ailments from poison to confusion to becoming Doomed to die! Finding someone – or something – for a creature like that is pretty intimidating, but it’s up to you to convince the judges why your character can do it.”

malboro

If you want to read my competitor’s argument head over to Gamer’s United. Luna is writing about the Joker so this could be a very interesting match-up! Oh, and one more thing, the results will be posted on Adventure Rules this Friday to see who won! So cross your fingers, wish me luck, and let’s get this party started! Judges, word counts starts at the top the of the next paragraph.

“Hey! Listen! Link, it’s almost time for the challenge. Wake Up!”

*Mumbling and yawning*

“I can’t believe I picked such a lazy boy to help me with this… Link, it’s challenge day! Can you explain the argument we came up with that you are an incredible matchmaker and that you can help anyone find love?”

“. . . . .”

“Um…. A little louder for the back?”

“. . . . .”

*Sigh* “Fine. Why don’t I just tell them.”

Link, The legend of Zelda

Link, the Hero of Time and defender of Hyrule, has always been up to a challenge. When he heard about this one it was no different. He knew that finding love for a creature as horrific as a malboro would be tough, but he’s never backed down from a fight and he never will.

First, Link must use his triforce of courage. Only the most brave and fearless could stand to be near a malboro long enough to learn what he was really like. Link’s ability to stay calm in the face of overwhelming danger would allow him to hang out, learn, and find the positive aspects of such a creature. Link’s incessant questions to everyone, including asking the same questions over and over again, would allow him to discover who malboro truly was. This knowledge would be invaluable to finding a true love for this monster. He would also utilize his companion, be it fairy, sword spirit, or twilight princess, to learn everything he could about malboros. He would learn the creature’s weaknesses in order to help the potential mate know when it was safe to approach their true love.

After learning about his foe… I mean, friend… he would start to search for the right person to love such a monster. Link loves to travel, usually covering vast countries and lands to discover everything he can about other people, cultures, and races. This knowledge will help him choose the person most likely to love a malboro. After using his persistence and questioning skills he will have found the person just right for the malboro – looking for love and slightly desperate.

moe the moblin Once the potential soul mate has been found he’d start a letter campaign, knowing that the best way to get these two to fall in love would be long-distance. So he’d deliver these letters back and forth between the lover’s, like he’s always done. He reminded me that every incarnation of himself has played matchmaker regardless of race, age, and distance. He even reminded me that his incarnation during the flood (Wind Waker) was able to match a Hylian with a Moblin monster.

He’s always helping people find love and it usually bring him great joy and some kind of reward. The promise of this reward means that he would not give up until the quest was completed. These letters would spark true romance and, after enough of them, the malboro and his true love would finally meet. Armed with the knowledge Link was able to pass on these two could live happily, and maybe distantly, ever after.

Recipes

Salt-Grilled Meat

August 1, 2017by Teri Mae4 Comments

I’ve done salt-grilled prime meat but it’s summer, which means I want to grill like crazy. So while that mood lasts I made salt-grilled meat. Instead of choosing just a choice cut of steak instead of a prime cut of steak I tried to think about what Link actually eats in the game. There’s a lot of birds and a lot of wild pigs. So it came down to chicken and pork. Now, if any of you grill you know that you never, never, ever grill chicken. It is incredibly difficult to get cook through without drying out. However, if you do cook pork, you know that you fell victim to one of the the classic blunder, the most famous of which is never get in a land war with Asia but only slightly less well-known is this, never grill pork unless death is on the line… But we have a few tricks to help you build up an immunity to grilling pork. Follow these steps and you should come out the victor.

Salt-Grilled Meat

If you are going to use fresh herbs first wash and then mince the herbs. You want to make sure you have a really sharp blade to mince greens. If you don’t, instead of cutting they tend to bruise. Mix both the thyme and sage together and set aside.

The most important thing is the very next step. If you skip this step we may as well quit now… We have to tenderize the meat as much as possible so the pork doesn’t dry out while we grill. It’s called a brine, bro.

The pork you purchase should be at least 1.5 inches thick. Any thinner and it will cook too quickly. Take your pork loin out of the fridge. Pat each piece dry. Now we gently slice the fat at 1 inch intervals. You want to slice the fat but do not slice the meat. If you have a thick piece of fat along the side slice about 1/4 inch in. If you have a thin strip of fat cut all the way through but do not cut the meat.

Brush or rub the pork on both sides with oil, preferably olive or avocado. Then rub the pork generously with salt, pepper and the herbs. Now we let them sit for at least 30 minutes. Don’t get impatient. Remember, 30 minutes is the minimum for how long we want to brine. Closer to an hour and the pork will be even more tender and juicy.

Since not everyone has an outdoor grill I decided to make this using our stove-top grill. Heat on medium high when the pork is nearly ready to cook. When the grill is hot lay the pork down away from you. Allow to sear and cook for 8ish minutes. Along the side you’ll see how far up the pork is cooking. When you can see that the cook of the pork is nearly to the middle but not quite (maybe 1/3 of the way up) render the fat by holding it fat-side down on the grill for 30 seconds to 1 minute if the fat is thick. When that’s done flip it over and cook on the other side. It should be nicely and beautifully browned.

Cook for about 8ish minutes on this side as well. This is where you have to start using your judgement. It should be mostly cooked. You have a 10 minute minimum rest time so you want the pork to be cooked medium so it can finish up while it’s resting. This means pulling it off when it reaches an internal temperature of 135F. You want the final temperature to be 145F. If it’s not quite ready flip over and cook for a minute or two, then flip again and cook for a minute or two. This will prevent it from over cooking on one side and still cook through.

Take the pork off the grill and place on a plate to rest. Cover with foil and let it sit for about 10-12 minutes so the juices can equalize. If you try and skip this step it’ll be a little tough and the juices will all run out.

Uncover and serve with whatever you’d like! If you want to wait till next week’s recipe this pairs really well with that!

Link’s Salt-Grilled Meat

- Raw Meat or Raw Bird Drumstick
- Rock Salt

Salt-Grilled Pork

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes brine, 20 minutes cook
Difficulty: moderate
Print

Salt-grilled pork with thyme and sage

Filling

4 pork loin, 1.5 inch thick
1.5-2 tablespoons oil
1-1.5 tablespoons kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons pepper
1.5 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 1-1.5 teaspoon dried thyme)
1.5 tablespoons fresh sage (or 1-1.5 teaspoon dried sage)

Directions

If you use fresh herbs wash and then mince the herbs. Use a very sharp blade to mince in order to prevent bruising. Mix both the thyme and sage together and set aside.
Take your pork loin out of the fridge and pat each piece dry.
At 1 inch intervals gently slice the fat but do not cut the meat. If you have a thick piece of fat along the side slice about 1/4 inch in.
Brush or rub the pork on both sides with oil, preferably olive or avocado. Rub the pork generously with salt, pepper and the herbs.
Allow the pork to sit for at least 30 minutes. If you choose to brine for longer start them in the fridge and finish the last 30 minutes out of the fridge.
Heat your grill on medium high when the pork is nearly ready to cook. When the grill is hot lay the pork down away from you. Allow to sear and cook for 8ish minutes. Along the side you’ll see how far up the pork is cooking. When you can see that the cook of the pork is nearly to the middle but not quite (maybe 1/3 of the way up) turn it and render the fat for each chop.
Flip the loin and cook on the other side for another 8ish minutes.
At this point your chop should be mostly cooked. You have a 10 minute minimum rest time so you want the pork to be cooked medium so it can finish up while it’s resting. This means pulling it off when it reaches an internal temperature of 135F. You want the final temperature to be 145F. If it’s ready remove from the grill and place onto a plate.
If your pork isn’t quite ready flip it over and cook for a minute or two, then flip again and cook for a minute or two. This will prevent it from over cooking on one side and still cook through.
Take the pork off the grill and place on a plate to rest. Cover with foil and let it sit for about 10-12 minutes so the juices can equalize. Uncover and serve!

Thursday Thoughts

It’s Okay to be a Hero

July 27, 2017by Teri Mae10 Comments

Lets chat for a bit about heroes. The new, modern, trendy, super cool, trench coat-wearing thing nowadays is anti-heroes. Batman, Joel from The Last of Us, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. All these characters are dark, mysterious, brooding, kind of morally ambiguous, and dreamy. It seems that the media and critics are obsessed with the anti-hero and anything even remotely resembling a hero is a boring trope that’s obviously been done before.

But you know who I love? The hero. I love Link, Mario, and Captain America. I love the brightness, the hope, the radiating goodness that pours out of a hero and into our lives. Heroes are absolutely still relevant and, especially in these dark times, still necessary in our games, movies, and media.

So what’s the exact difference, you may ask? Well let’s check Wikipedia – because that’s what we do nowadays.

A hero is defined as a “person or main character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through impressive feats and ingenuity, bravery, or strength, often sacrificing their own personal concerns for the greater good”. Let’s break it down. A hero is someone who utilizes their natural abilities to overcome evil. They are always found giving up what they want to help others and are good, true, honest, and kind. These characters always do the right thing and have a fantastic moral compass.

An anti-hero is a “protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, or morality. Although anti-heroes may sometimes do the right thing, it is often for the wrong reasons and because it serves their self-interest rather than being driven by moral convictions”. So these are the people who fight against the system, break the rules, live by their own code, and do their own thing. And somehow they usually end up doing the right thing for the people around them. But it’s not always the best way to do it or the best reasons.

Because anti-heroes are much more flawed and much more like us they tend to be more loved. They appeal to us because we relate to their circumstances, they struggles, and dilemmas.

But…

Just because a character is a hero doesn’t mean they’re flat. Or outdated. Or boring. It just means they are a good person with good morals who does good things for people. It’s because they are heroes that makes them people we should emulate. I mean, add a couple of cut scenes of Batman sneaking through a window with an ax and this just became a horror film. Instead of focusing on the parts of a hero no one feels they can relate to, lets focus on the fact that these are characters we can strive to be!

My sister-in-law and I have this debate semi-regularly. She is a hard-core anti-hero fan and I am a die-hard hero worshiper. It’s why she loves Brontë and I love Austen. Why she loves Rogue One instead of Force Awakens and I… well I love both. And I wish I could help her understand that a character doesn’t need to be an anti-hero to be worthy of praise or positive critique.

Lord David Cecil once said (when talking about Austen’s novels, but let’s be honest, it can be applied to any hero character, “There are those who do not like [heroes]; as there are those who do not like sunshine or unselfishness”. These character’s can bring light and happiness into our lives and into our perspectives. Instead of focusing on the flaws and negativity and selfishness we are given the option to look at the selflessness, the integrity, the courage of characters doing the right thing because it’s the right thing. Link saving Hyrule in every iteration simply because he’s in the right circumstances. Mario rescuing the kidnapped girl and freeing countless worlds from the clutches of tyrants. These are the people with hope and the ones who can teach us to hope.

The website Literary Devices explains that “in modern society when we are presented with a character that is overly righteous and upright, we find it too good to be true. The social turmoil that the entire world as a community has been facing recently has disposed us to be skeptical of almost everything. . . So, we relate better to a character that has suffered through life and has both good and bad sides than a character that is only seen doing good.” And maybe that’s true, but I like to believe there’s some good left in this world and that heroes exemplify who we can become in order to make things right!

Who are your favorite heroes? Or, if you prefer anti-heroes, which is your favorite and why?

P.S: Special shout out to the artist Kurama805 on DeviantArt for the artwork I used as my featured image! This is a downloadable wallpaper and is gorgeous!

Recipes

Fish Pie

July 26, 2017by Teri Mae8 Comments

Guys- I’m sorry about the whole “no post thing” yesterday. I’m currently preparing for a vacation on top of several fires at work and I completely forgot it was Tuesday…

Link sure has some serious pastry and cooking skills. This recipe, while not exactly difficult, was a bit strange. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve never had fish pot pie before. I’ve never had fish anything pie before. And while I learned that a lot of people make seafood pie, hardly anyone uses fish – it’s typically crab, shrimp, or a combination of both. And if they do make fish pie, it’s made with a puff pastry crust, which isn’t quite as malleable and shape-able as shortcrust. But, from past general experience and a whole lotta luck, I bring you fish pie.

Fish Pie

This recipe gets a involved kinda fast. It feels like it starts off easy and then all of a sudden food is ready to be turned, you weren’t paying attention to correct cooking order and you’re dirtying extra pans just to make it all work, your crust starts to get too warm and difficult to roll out, and children start crying. At least, mine did! But you got this – because we are going to do this together.

First, in order to make things easier in the future, put a large cookie sheet in the fridge. Having something cold to put your crust shapes on while you roll everything else out will make sure they stay nice and flaky! Then we start with the filling.

Dice carrots and onion and get those peas thawed. You can do this by either microwaving for a minute or simply running them under water. The peas don’t need to be cooked, or even warm, since they will go through a few more heat steps before you eat them! Heat your pan on medium and then add your oil. Add your onions and saute (a fancy word for cooking in a minimal amount of fat over relatively high heat) until slightly tender and they turn translucent. Add your carrots and cook for a few minutes or until the carrots are tender. Add the peas next and cook until warm and mixed thoroughly. Remove your veggies from the pan to a plate or bowl and put your pan back on the heat.

Make sure your fish is thawed properly if it was frozen and, for the first time ever, we don’t need to warm it up to room temp or even pat it down! Add all your milk, your fish, and half the thyme, oregano, and dill to the same pan you cooked your vegetables in. Keep the heat on medium and allow to come to a boil. Once it’s boiling drop the heat a bit so it simmers. Simmer your fish for 2-3 more minutes on this side and then flip them and simmer for an additional 3 minutes. You don’t want to overcook it or the fish will get rubbery and gross in the pie. Remove the fish to a plate, and, if you did it right, it’ll be flaky and beautiful and still a bit glistening on the inside. Break the fish up on the plate into bite size pieces.

Now we start the roux. Roux can be seriously hard, especially if you’ve never done it before. I became really good at it when I was determined to make homemade mac and cheese. It took me a long time to get it right and I had to throw out a lot of batches before I really nailed it down. Here are my tips for a perfect roux:

Melt your butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. You could probably use a regular saucepan, but I always use my enamel dutch oven since it keeps the heat nice and even. Wait until the butter is completely melted and bubbly. Once it is, whisk in half the flour. This is important! If you try and do it all at once it probably won’t melt back down. Once all the flour is incorporated and the mixture starts to melt and become a bit liquidy again add the remaining flour. Whisk is continually until it starts to melt again. At this point start timing – you’ll want to whisk continually for at least 2 minutes or until you reach the blond stage of a roux (a little darker than when you added it. you want all the flour taste to be gone!). Once the butter/flour mixture is melty and blond start slowly adding the milk that you left in the pan. Add about half the milk – the flour/butter may ball up on itself but just keep whisking. Just keep whisking, just keep whisking, just keep whisking, whisking, whisking… It’ll sort itself out! Whisk until the mixture is homogeneous and slightly thick. Add the remaining milk and repeat. If the mixture is too thick you may have added too much flour. Add regular milk until it reaches a nice, gravy-like consistency.

If you are unlucky and screw up your roux this is how you’ll know:

The flour and butter never reach that nice, melty stage after any flour addition
The flour/butter balls up when you add the milk and never mixes properly.

Don’t worry! If one of these things happen just throw it out and start again. Especially the first one – you can sometimes come back with even more vigorous whisking from the second but it’s very difficult to fix the first.

Once you have nice sauce add veggies, the remaining spices, and the fish. Stir until combined, adjust spices for taste, and remove from the heat. This we will set aside until the crust is ready!

Phew – all done with step one. Now on to step two… which is just as long and just as rough.

Start by adding ice cubes to a cup or two of water. You want the water to be as cold as possible! Add all the flour and salt for the shortcrust (which, for those of you who are normal people, is pie crust) to a large bowl and whisk to mix. Use butter flavored shortening (for a better flavor) and cut it into large chunks. Mix in the shortening, using your hands, by rubbing the shortening into the flour until it’s combined into a nice, crumbly texture with some pea-sized clumps.

From this point forward you’ll want to handle your crust as little as possible. The more you fiddle with it the tougher and denser the crust will be. And we want a light, flaky crust because that’s the delicious way! Slowly add the water 2 tablespoons at a time and combine it with the flour mixture. I mix by hand because I have a better grasp on how the dough is actually doing. Only add water until the mixture is just combined with some flour mixture not perfectly mixed in. Too much water and you’ll be left with a tough, dense crust. Take your cookie sheet out of the fridge and lightly flour a surface. Take about 1/4 of the dough, mash it into a ball, and roll it out. You’ll want it to be nice and thin, at least 1/8-1/4 inch, or it won’t cook evenly and your distribution of crust to filling will be weird.

At this point I took a knife and, using a template I made before I started, cut out the base of the fish. If your rolled out piece isn’t big enough just tack on more from the bowl and roll it out with the piece you’re working with to make it bigger. Place this on the cookie sheet, gather up the scraps and lay them to the side, and repeat for another 1/4 of the dough. Repeat two more times until you have 4 base pieces, which will be enough for two pies. Take all the scraps, mash them into a ball, and roll them out together. From this there should be enough, if you angle properly, to cut out all your designs perfectly. Lay them to the side (or leave them where they’re at).

Fill two of the fish shapes to within 1/2 inch of the edge – don’t fill them too high and don’t fill that gap or your pie won’t close properly and it’ll leak. Wet the edges with water (I use my finger because I’m super fancy), place the other fish shape on top, and press down along the edges. Crimp each edge with a fork to help seal the dough. Repeat for the second pie. Wet the back of each of the designs and place it down on the fish shape where you’d like it. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the top crust, ensuring it pokes all the way through to the center. This will help the steam escape and keep your pie from exploding! Beat and egg and brush the tops of each pie with it. Place in the oven and bake for 40 or so minutes until the crust is golden brown!

If you want my honest opinion this pie #1) tastes way better with tartar sauce smothered on top, and #2) is more work than it’s worth. Unless you want to make something extra special and pretty I’d just cover a pie dish with your shortcrust, add the filling, cover the top, seal, and bake that way! It’ll be much easier! But this way definitely turned into a show-stopper for looks!

Link’s Salmon Meunière

- Tabantha Wheat
- Goat Butter
- Rock Salt
- Any Seafood

Fish Pie

Servings: 2 large pies
Time: 2.5 hours
Difficulty: moderately difficult
Print

White fish pot pie with vegetables

Filling

3/4 lb white fish of any kind
2 cups milk
1-2 teaspoons pepper
1.5 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2-1 tsp dill
2-3 tsp salt
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup peas, thawed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons oil

Shortcrust

3 cups flour
1 cup butter flavored shortening
4-9 tablespoons ice water
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

Directions

Put a large cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer.
Dice the carrots and onion.
Thaw the peas by microwaving for 1 minute or running them under water for 1 minute.
Heat the pan on medium. Add the oil and onion and saute until slightly tender and translucent. Add the carrots and cook for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Add the peas and continue cooking until warm and mixed thoroughly.
Add all your milk, your fish, and half the thyme and oregano to the same pan you cooked your vegetables in. Keep the heat on medium and allow to come to a boil. Once boiling, drop the heat to a simmer. Simmer your fish for 2-3 minutes on this side. Flip the fish and simmer for an additional 3 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, leaving the milk in the pan, and place the fish on a plate and break it into small pieces.
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted and bubbly whisk in half the flour. Once all the flour is incorporated and the mixture starts to melt and become a bit liquidy again add the remaining flour. Whisk continually until it starts to melt again. Continue whisking for about 2 minutes or until you reach the blond stage of a roux (a little darker than when you added it but not brown).
Once the butter/flour mixture is melty and blond start slowly add half the milk from the pan. Whisk until the mixture is homogeneous and slightly thick.
Add the veggies, remaining spices, and fish to the sauce and stir until combined. Adjust spices for taste and remove from the heat.
Add several ice cubes to a cup of water and set aside.
Add all the flour and salt for the shortcrust to a large bowl and whisk to mix.
Cut the shortening into large cubes. Add it to the flour and, using your hands, mix them together by rubbing the shortening into the flour until it’s combined into a nice, crumbly texture with some pea-sized clumps.
Make a small well in the center of the flour mixture and slowly add the water 2 tablespoons at a time. Using your hand mix the water and flour together until combined. Continue adding water until the mixture is just combined but not perfectly mixed in. Don’t add too much water and don’t overmix or the crust will be dense and chewy.
Take your cookie sheet out of the fridge and lightly flour a surface. Take about 1/4 of the dough, mash it into a ball, and roll it out to 1/8-1/4 inch thin. Using a template (or freehanding it) cut the base of the fish out with a knife. If your rolled out piece isn’t big enough just tack on some more from the bowl and roll it out with the piece you’re working with to make it bigger.
Repeat step 14 3 more times to make 4 fish shapes.
Take all the scraps, mash them into a ball, and roll them out together. From this there should be enough, if you angle properly, to cut out all your designs perfectly. Lay them to the side (or leave them where they’re at).
Fill two of the fish shapes to within 1/2 inch of the edge – don’t fill them too high and don’t go in that 1/2 gap or your pie won’t close properly. Wet the edges of the pastry with water, place the other fish shape on top, and press down along the edges. Crimp each edge with a fork to help seal the dough.
Repeat for the second pie.
Wet the back of each of the designs and place it down on the fish shape where you’d like it. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the top crust, making sure it pokes all the way through to the center.
Beat and egg and brush the tops of each pie with it.
Bake for 40 minutes at 425°F. Allow to cool for several minutes before serving.

Recipe Polls

Today’s poll is cancelled

July 24, 2017by Teri Mae2 Comments

So today’s poll is cancelled… but it’s okay, I promise! I’m heading out of town soon and I have a few ideas on how I’d like to handle that. Instead of doing a poll I’m going to choose the next two recipes. Yay! After a few in a row I haven’t been super excited about this will be a nice break! Thanks for sticking with me and show up tomorrow for the newest recipe, fish pie!

Thursday Thoughts

Changing the World One Gamer at a Time

July 20, 2017July 20, 2017by Teri Mae6 Comments

As gamers I think we have so much potential for changing the world. I actually, legitimately do. The more I think about gaming the more convinced I am that it’s a great metaphor for the world – there are different people from different countries, ethnicity’s, backgrounds, financial situations, and preferences interacting on a daily basis. We meet up in online chats for all sorts of games and we experience this thing we love together. And that, I think, gives us a positive advantage over so many other people. The skills we learn while gaming can help, to use a bit of a cliche, make the world a better place. Here are 5 reasons why I truly believe that:

Gaming online can help with positive social interaction:

When you interact with someone new it can be daunting, intimidating, and unfamiliar. It’s so much easier to bond with people who enjoy the same things you do and who, frankly, you don’t have to look in the eye when you chat. Instead of using online chat and online gaming as a toxic dumping grounds of sadness try using it to build positive social interaction. Treat it like you would if that person where sitting right next to you gaming, instead of sitting 600 miles or more away. Talk, be kind and understanding, helpful instead of hurtful. Take the opportunity to instruct in a positive way instead of criticizing and bond over the fact that you both love playing as D.Va. This will translate to how you treat people offline, as well. The kindness we show becomes a part of us and helps mold our interactions everywhere. We, because we are with people who love the same things we do, have a unique opportunity to encourage and uplift! Let’s try and make someone’s day just a bit better by being a person worth knowing.

Games can help us understand other cultures:

I love how much I learn about Japanese culture when I play JRPGs. Or the minor insights I get when I read bio’s on Overwatch. It incites my curiosity and makes me want to actually learn more about the real cultures! I don’t know about you guys, but I see that kind of infectious appetite to learn about the people and cultures that are deep within our games all around me. Learning about others helps us become more tolerant of them, more accepting of who they are, and less critical of why they choose to be certain ways. So take a leaf out of your own book and go learn about other people, both on and off screen. Ask someone in chat about why their name is unfamiliar. Read up on why a particular animation was used for a particular game. Learn something new and I bet it’ll make you love not only your game, but also those people, a lot more!

Games can help break down prejudice toward other preferences and points of view:

I love that the entire Zelda franchise has no qualms about inter-race relationships. Ruto, princess of the Zora’s in Ocarina of Time, falls in love with Link, a Hylian. A Hylian and a Gerudo wind up getting married in Breath of the Wild. Nintendo acts like it’s no big deal – and it isn’t. There are so many subtle and not-so-subtle points in a story that can help break down social barriers against any kind of prejudice. This includes sexual preference, gender identity, religious beliefs, and cultural “norms”. Everyone in the games get along based on a scale of good and evil, not a scale of differences. These messages are ingrained in us from childhood (those of us who grew up gaming) and are something we can easily translate from the screen to the real world. Lets become more like these characters and become more accepting, loving, and kind toward others. Because what they identify as or what they choose to be should not define whether they are a good person.

Goal setting and goal achieving can help our outlook on life:

Raise your hands if you’ve ever felt better about yourself after completing goal? Me, too. It has some serious motivating power and can help us feel 1,000 times better about how we are doing in our lives. Now, I know this is a mechanic developers use to try and get it hooked but achieving small goals in games can help us achieve goals in real life, too. Whether you are accomplishing a task in a game, at the gym, or at work the feelings of happiness and the endorphin rush are the same. And this motivates you to set and achieve even more goals. It’s a fantastic positive feedback loop. All we need to do is take that high we get when we finish that side quest and, when we turn off the game, use it to finish something else. Finishing that other thing will make you more likely to finish other side quests, or other real life goals. Lather, rinse, repeat and you’re an unstoppable force of awesome.

Stories can positively affect our outlook on the world around us:

How many games do you play that follow this format: some kind of evil took over the world/destroyed it, and now you have to rebuild/figure out what the evil is/fight the darkness threatening the world/etc… Horizon Zero Dawn, any of the Arkham series, and the entire Zelda franchise follow this, along with a myriad of other games. You know what this says to me? The world has been and can again be messed up. But you know what happens when it becomes like this? People step in and clean up the messes. Most of the time these stories involve some kind of destiny surrounding the hero, but not all of them. And that’s great because we, just our regular selves, can affect positive change on our surroundings! We can be the good neighbor who makes someone’s day a little better. We can take small steps to fight the enemies surrounding us and help make the world a more positive place, not more despondent. We should take the lessons we learn in our games and know that the work we do in the real world can make a difference in overcoming the darkness that threatens us.

So let’s do it! Let’s become the positive change we want to see in the world. We’re already being trained with the skills to make a difference because of our love of gaming. Why don’t we use that love and make the world a happier, safer, more accepting place to be.