Day One – Jousting #EQ2 #EverQuest2

EQ2_000144“Pink is a flavour, right?” Stargrace tilted her head to the side and peered at the bartender, feeling a bit giddy with all of the festivities surrounding her.

“Uh. I guess it’s sort of a flavour.” Replied the woman behind the counter. “One second and I’ll bring you the pinkest drink I can find.”

Stargrace smiled and nodded.

“Here you are, enjoy your Fizzlepop!”

“Thanks!”

When the opening ceremonies finished yesterday afternoon the crowd wandered over to the main road just behind the Guard Towers in Antonica to wait for the Jousting event to start. Along the road tents and tables were set up, and vendors hawked their wares.

Sairina shouted, “Here fer yer enjoyment, on behalf o’ th’ Empire o’ Freeport, through th’ New Combine Empire… Lucan Youth Corps Cookies!  Get ’em while the gettin’s good!”

Stargrace raises an eyebrow at Sairina!

You say, “Cookies?”

Sairina says, “aye.  did I stutter?  Cookies! Lemme see… I got… Jum Jum, Chokklit Chip, um… Apple an’ Sugar.  Jes’ 3 gold a box! I also got ’em in a collectible tray, Spring an’ Winter, yer pick, while supplies last, fer twenny-five gold.”

Of course I had to pick up a box. They were delicious, even if they were sold from the ‘Lucan Youth Corps’.

Slipps (a delightful Ratonga) was in charge of running the jousting event – and a LOT of people participated. I sat in the back of the crowd and watched for as long as I could, taking note of the happenings around me. Snippets of conversation floated past me on the warm air.

Aurrie says, “Well, I would like to learn more of this jousting event.  If fun i might participate myself.  HAve you come to do that as well?”

Colerayn belches, looking around embarrassed….’scuz me’ hehe.

Halbjorn says, “I cannot say I was at words with the ooze, no!”

Sahkura pushes the rum glass back to Devereux. It is very nearly empty.

Draculine looks at the crowd with glassy eyes.

Ryni peers around and wonders where to stand to not get run over by the jousters.

Slipps shouts, “Wes startings! Gets yours drinks and comes cheers yours favorites ons!”

Slipps shouts, “Spectators offs the course unless wants tos bes runs overs!”

I couldn’t stay for the whole event, as I had other obligations, but I did stay for most of it. A few riders were injured but quickly patched up, and I believe a good time was had by all. There were at least 20-40 people who showed up, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the festival holds. I also have a G+ gallery set up where you can see the screenshots I’ve taken of the festival events so far. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Tilapia Tacos

tilapiaThese delicious tilapia tacos were adapted from Fitness magazine – Eat Healthy For Less

  • 1 lime
  • 3 grape tomatoes, chopped
  • Few sprigs of fresh cilantro, diced up
  • 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
  • 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage (red or green)
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tilapia fillet
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 2 whole wheat (or whole grain) tortillas

Cut the lime in half, and squeeze the juice from one half into a bowl. Set the rest aside. Combine the tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, and lime juice together.

In another bowl mix the yogurt, mayonnaise, and the rest of the lime juice. Add cabbage and 2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce together. Save the extra sauce.

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Sprinkle the tilapia with chili powder and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and cook 2 minutes more.

Fill your tortilla with tilapia, cabbage mixture, and salsa mixture (the tomatoes etc). Enjoy!

These were absolutely delicious. The spicy heat from the salsa mixture along with the cool crunch of the cabbage were absolutely yum.

 

 

Festival of Unity Opening Ceremonies #EQ2 #EverQuest2

The festival of Unity on the Antonia Bayle server kicked off with the opening ceremonies. I did some commentary during the event since the text is way too small to read – however xsplit (program I use to stream) did not play very nicely with recording it, so it cuts in and out a LOT. For future events I will more than likely not stream them, and just record with fraps and post after the event.

Still, a great time was had by everyone, and the jousting that followed was a blast! I’ve got screenshots of that part to post next.

For those of you who don’t know the history of the festival, it started 7 years ago with an Ogre paladin named Klumpp. He had a vision where for at least a week everyone would come together in unity and celebrate good friends, food, and entertainment. It just goes to show how much impact a single person can have.

Two Ingredient Pancakes

pancakes

 

There are a LOT of two ingredient pancake recipes out there, but I first saw the recipe over on Undressedskeleton.

  • 1 banana
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp cacao powder (optional)
  • honey (optional)
  • cinnamon (optional)

These pancakes are the easiest things to make. Mash a banana. Add an egg to the mixture. Mix. You can continue to add anything you want, oats, fruit, etc. I added a bit of natural cacao powder to mine. Fry them in a non-stick skillet until they’re cooked just like a regular pancake. Drizzle them with a little bit of honey, fruit, and cinnamon, and enjoy!

Poached Egg Salad

poachI was thinking to myself “I’d really like to learn how to poach an egg!” – turns out, it’s very easy. This simple recipe wasn’t adapted from anything I found online but rather from stuff I had in the fridge.

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 strips of bacon
  • 1 cup fresh baby spinach
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1/4 a red onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp honey mustard

You’ll need a pot of boiling water to poach your eggs in. There’s a few methods but I stuck to a simple one. When the water is boiling, spin a ladle in it around and around until you make a little tornado in the water. Then, gently lay your raw egg (from inside bowl or cup is easiest) into that tornado, pouring it out. The speed of the water spinning around will cause the egg to wrap around itself. Leave it in the water for 2-3 minutes and scoop it out with the ladle. You’ve just poached an egg!

The rest of the meal is just very basic salad fixings. I lay the eggs on top of a bed of baby spinach, with the other ingredients scattered around. Take the honey mustard, water it down a bit, and lightly drizzle it over. Add some chili flakes if you want a little heat.