Month: February 2021

The Quest (calendar) continues… part 3

I’ve certainly never had this problem before… some days, I’m tempted to flip ahead to see what’s coming on the calendar. I haven’t, but it is tempting. I’m also enjoying the daily writing exercise, though it varies how much there is to add. Anyways, the adventure picks up where part 2 left off.

Then I spotted a missing person poster, with a reward of thirty gold! I jumped on that offer, starting with a little reserach on the missing man, Victor Fellmont. It seems he disappeared a few days ago, soon after the court wizard went missing. There’s someone who frequents the inn I’m staying at that may have a lead on where he went.

Of course, it’s a dwarf, though more sober than the last one I tried talking to. He wanted five gold for information on Fellmont’s last known location. I tried to talk him down on the cost, in the interest of saving a life, but in the end, handed over the coins. He marked the spot on a map where his team abandoned the search when they were attacked by goblins.

I realize, as I’m heading into the unknown, both in terms of danger and territory, that I should leave some details about myself. If something happens to me, please deliver this journal to Wiel Leafwind, and inform her that it belonged to her sister, Faris. She’ll likely criticize my adventuring lifestyle, but our parents were traveling merchants – a trade she picked up – and they were murdered by bandits.

Before heading out, I stopped by Filly’s, thinking that rations and health potions would come in handy. A compass would be useful too, but I don’t have that much money to spare. I left West Haven following the dwarf’s map, which led me into a dense forest. The forest smelled so fresh after spending several days in town. Game and water were scarce, so I ate both meal rations. I probably should have bought more.

The next morning, I continued following the map, eventually finding – by the stench – a pair of dead horses. This is clearly where the dwarf was attacked by a handful of goblins. The saddle bags had been picked clean, but the goblins missed a hidden compartment with a bit of gold in one of the saddles.

Fwwwt! Fortunately, I found that before some goblins started launching arrows at me. I killed two of them easily, bounced an arrow off the third, but missed the fourth one entirely. I checked to see if they had anything useful, wondering if goblins even use maps. No maps, and their weapons were in such lousy condition, I’m surprised they could even fight with them. Oh wait… I guess they couldn’t.

They did leave a trail to follow. OK, it included a spiked pit trap that I narrowly avoided, but at least it’s a trail. A bit past that, I found their camp, outside a cave, and thought that maybe Fellmont was held inside. I decided to hide until they went to sleep, settling in for a meal and a bit of rest.

After resting, I snuck into the cave and found a pair of wolves chained up, apparently guarding a small room behind them. Poor things, I wished I had enough time to calm and release them. Instead I tossed a scrap of meat to them and slid past into the corpse-filled room. It seemed this was the usual source of food for those poor wolves. Happily, I didn’t find Fellmont among the corpses.

How to make the perfect omelet

Don’t let the picture fool you, I judge an omelet on its flavor. If I want food with a perfect appearance, I’ll get it from a restaurant. I generally chalk it up to luck if my omelet looks good too. I realize it’s more a matter of me being patient while cooking, but hey, let’s call it luck.

A one egg omelet, still in the non-stick pan

There are some differences, of course, if cooking multiple omelets; I’ll try to account for them. The most important part is the filling… if you just wanted to eat an egg, you could have fried, boiled, or poached it. You’ll want to pick two or three items that have complementary flavors. My default fillings are mushrooms and cheese, with a lot of variance as to what cheese I use. Costco sells any amazing Merlot cheese, and Swiss is a perennial favorite. (If you don’t like cheese, skip the cheese part! I had an amazing omelet without cheese the time we went to Philadelphia.)

If I’m cooking for just myself or one other person, I sauté any vegetables in the same pan that I’ll be cooking the omelet(s) in, starting with a tablespoon of melted butter. If I’m including garlic, I drop that in after I’ve flipped the (usually) mushrooms and turn off the burner. There’s a 50/50 chance that I’ll wash the knife and cutting board at this stage, forgetting that I need them to slice the cheese. If you’re only making one omelet, that single tablespoon of butter is all you’ll need, though make allowance for the pan you’re using. If I’m making omelets for more than two people, I’ll prepare the filling in a separate pan (if it’s something that needs cooking – leftovers work too), but I still mix each omelet individually.

While the vegetables are cooking, I crack an egg into a mixing bowl and add milk. As a general rule, a large egg is equivalent to about 1/4 cup of liquid, and I eyeball the milk at about half of that (so 1/8th cup, which is 2 tablespoons). If you want a two or three egg omelet, just adjust up with the same proportions. I dash a bit of salt and pepper in before I whisk the milk and egg together.

When the vegetables (if any) are cooked, I move them from the pan to another dish. This is the important part – the pan should still be hot, but not so hot that the egg bubbles when you add it to the pan. Pour the egg mix into the pan, make sure it spreads out, and turn the burner back on medium. (Yeah, sometimes I forget and wonder why my omelet isn’t ready yet.) If needed, rotate the pan until the top of the omelet is almost solid, then any meat (sandwich meat works great) to one half of the omelet, then the sautéed vegetables, followed by cheese (if desired).

Flip the half of the omelet you didn’t put anything on over the fillings. This is when you find out if your omelet will look perfect, or if it’s just going to taste perfect. If you didn’t include cheese, just give it a minute to finish cooking and move it to a plate. If you included cheese, turn the burner down to medium low… cheese takes a bit to melt, and you don’t want to burn the omelet in the process. At this point, the timing is going to vary based on the cheese… try to find that balance between compulsively checking it because you’re super hungry and you really want the cheese melted.

If you’re cooking multiple omelets, I’ve found about half a tablespoon of butter is the right amount for subsequent omelets. If you’re cooking in a non-stick pan, this is optional, but it’s partially for the flavor.

Just in case you jumped to the end as if this were a food blog, here’s the basic recipe: for each egg, 1/8 cup of milk, fillings of your choice. If any fillings are raw, cook them first and remove them from the pan. Cook the egg mix until it begins to solidify, add fillings (start with flattest, then vegetables, and top with cheese) to one side and flip the other side of the omelet to cover it.

The Quest (calendar) continues… part 2

My journal is filling up fairly quickly from my Quest calendar adventure, so I’ll periodically update the story. I added a new category called “Quest Calendar,” so there’s an easy way to find these specific posts. They’ll pick up where the previous post left off.

I limped away from the ladder and ran into two more rats. Ugly buggers. I killed one with Luc, my weasel’s, help, but the other bit me and ran off.

I followed a rail of blood downstream, almost walking into a pack of rats feeding on… something. Every so quietly, I turned around and snuck off, moving through a series of rooms. The first room had mice, I’m surprised they stuck around with those rats rampaging through. The second room had spider webs large enough to trap a rat. I didn’t stick around to see the spider! There was a rat in the third room, and I killed it as soon as it snarled at me.

Faris Leafwind Half-Elf Druid character sheet

And then I found the nest, with the ugliest mama rat I’ve ever seen. I hit it a couple times, and it got one good bite in at me before it died. I searched the disgusting room, filled with garbage and carcasses, for anything useful that might be lying about. The rat corpses had a weird purple slime on them, I made sure not to touch it. I did luck out and find some gold coins though. I headed back to the tavern for my hard-earned meal and a night’s rest, along with a desperately needed bath.

I woke up feeling well-rested and somehow improved as an adventurer, having survived my first solo adventure. I went down to the dining room and spent a bit of time talking to people. The elf I spoke with suggested I contact the head guard, Rufus, about working in the city – they’ve been having weird trouble lately. I assume the ginormous rats fall under that category. I tried talking to a dwarf, but he was drunk and passed out. Sadly, he didn’t even win the drinking contest, the half-orc outdrank him and then some.

I found a local job board and decided it was a good way to earn some cash and familiarize myself with the town. Why somebody named their baby hell beast “Fluffy,” I’ll never know, but I found the missing critter and took him home. Also, that was not quite what I expected from a sign that said “missing puppy.” Convincing spirits to stop haunting a house turned out to be easier than corralling Fluffy. And then I picked up a nighttime job protecting some deliveries. All in all, a good day’s haul.

Funny cat stories

I was asked recently why all of my kitten photos are of Zuko napping. Typically, if he’s not napping, I’m too busy stopping him from misbehaving to take a photo! But I have four cats, and the kitten is certainly not the only source of amusement.

About a week ago, I had just settled into bed with three of the cats when the fourth one, June, started howling from the living room. This wasn’t the normal “feed me” cry (or even her intent to use the litter box meowl), it was more of a “something is terribly wrong” anguished howl. Zuko perked up and jumped off the bed; I followed with a flashlight. As we reached the edge of the living room, June stopped howling and calmly walked to the sofa… and stood there, looking at the pillow that I had left in her normal spot. Well, yes, the rest of the sofa was available, but her spot wasn’t. I moved the pillow and went back to bed.

We have a projector and white screen rather than a TV. Zuko is the only cat who is consistently interested in what’s appearing on a screen, whether it’s my phone, computer, or the white screen. This isn’t normally a problem, but occasionally he’ll launch himself at the white screen… either grabbing at the handle, or actually attacking something onscreen. This is particularly awkward during my workouts… he’ll launch himself at the Centr.com trainer (usually Luke… I don’t know why) while I’m planking or otherwise not in a position to stop him. Oddly, when we’re watching a show, he’s fairly good about attacking the antagonist.

At night, Arwen likes sleeping under the covers. This isn’t a problem if I’m already awake enough to lift the covers for her… and otherwise, she’ll make sure to wake me up for it. In typical cat fashion, this usually means walking across my face in the middle of the night.

Diane is the most likely of the older cats to play with Zuko, and even that (at least, willingly) is infrequent. I was somewhat amused on a recent occasion when she jumped up on my bed mid-afternoon and started to play with him. A couple minutes later, he was gone and she was settled in his sun spot, so perhaps it wasn’t as friendly as it looked.

The cats are definitely not allowed on the counter, especially when food is being prepared. Arwen’s so unclear on this concept that she gets locked in my room as soon as we start preparing food. Zuko’s a bit better behaved, though he usually ends up in the room with her before food is served, sometimes just because he’s underfoot and we’re worried about tripping over him while carrying hot thigns. Diane and June are almost always well-behaved… but when Diane isn’t, despite being the largest cat in the house, she manages to jump on the counter silently. And she’s the only one who cares that she gets in trouble for it… she’ll slink off, hiding under the table, then rushing past us to go sit on the sofa with a guilty look on her face, curling up as if she had been resting on the sofa the whole time.

And that’s why I don’t usually have action shots of the cats.