Unique Experience : Cooking with Dice

Games are something that are popular now more than ever. Many people enjoy playing them alone or with other people. There are games for every skill level, and for those who want a challenge it can be a great change of pace from daily life to play a game. but they almost all have the same limitation, usually the only true results are simple entertainment and an engaging way to pass time. But that seems to be changing as people look at ways to creatively combine world necessities with our inherent need to be entertained.

Which leads us to our unique experience, Cooking with Dice: The Acid Test. This is a cookbook and game experience that is going to be live on kickstarter March 14th. You can find out specifics about the campaign on their website www.cookingwithdice.com. You'll be able to get your very own copy to play through and enjoy!  But I'm sure you're wondering about how it plays, or how it works. So let's have a look at how our experience here at home has gone.

So before I get too far into this, as someone who prefers tabletop games and board games to video games on the most part, I have to say I found this to be appealing. The Acid Test Cookbook is a fantastic example of creativity at it's finest offering unique kitchen experience. It includes a few different play mode recommendations, single player, group, or team based on what you feel up to attempting. But remember some of the recipes need time to 'cook' so they may not be ready for consumption immediately. I attempted to run it in group mode, but we felt intimidated, so I ended up testing it on my own in single player mode.

I must admit that my first few attempts at working through any of the recipes left me feeling a little out of my element. Partially because I'm not very good at following directions, but also due to the fact my kitchen lacks a majority of the ingredients listed on the roll tables. Which made it a little difficult to just play the book from home without purchasing the ingredients before hand. A mistake I initially made. I'm a gamer who doesn't frequent the kitchen so it never crossed my mind you need to go get your ingredients first. My bad.

So after reading through more and examining things more closely the solution I came up with, was to roll the dice and make a shopping list. Yeah I know, this is what everyone else would have done in the first place when they want to prepare a recipe. But I'm not a cook, so to me it seemed I had come up with a great solution. Less creative I suppose than I want it to sound, but by approaching the recipes and die rolls in this manner it was far easier to actually follow the recipes and continue game play.

I think my favorite part of the book is that it does not require the use of the oven. The microwave really is one of my favorite cooking centers, so a book that offers more creative and inventive recipes to be made there is highly appealing. It was surprising though that they were much easier in practice than I was expecting.

Not only were the recipes easy, the results were impressive. I'm looking forward to actually using some of them for future holiday get togethers. My favorite recipe in the whole book though is the buttermilk cheese critter. I never realized I could make a cheese ball so easily at home. I've always found them to be a rather intimidating product when the holidays come around. We often purchase them and then set them out as needed.

The recipe that I rolled up for my cheese critter wasn't extremely difficult. But I did alter my recipe slightly because I wanted to pretend that I was brave. I ended up using: 2 cups low-fat buttermilk,1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons diced Ham, and 2 tablespoons of bacon bits. Those components made up the majority of my "Buttermilk Cheese Critter". For the coating I ended up using 2 tablespoons of crushed round crackers.

Personally I like the buttery taste of the crackers, and it let the ham flavor stand out more. The bacon bits gave it a little more of a crunch, and I know they'll be safe if I repeat this with some of my friends around. I know they weren't really included in the plans, but I wanted to have a little bit of a crunch with the ham and I wasn't sure I wanted to add nuts. I think I'll call this variation porky.

I'm going to have to do it again soon though so I can make it cute and take a picture of the results. So don't be surprised if there's another post in the near future showing off my rather new found acid based cooking skills! I wasn't entirely brave in my preliminary creations because I was more interested in tasting the results and finding out how difficult it would be. But I am definitely going to have to show off some results as soon as possible.

So considering that I have actually had positive results, even though I have little skill, I recommend this cooking experience. Even for younger children, as long as you supervise them. If you're looking to make creative game based meals, or just to challenge your family to create food at home, this cookbook will be a wonderful addition to both your cookbook collection and your game collection. Check out their website for further information, www.cookingwithdice.com and MAKE SURE to check into their kickstarter once it's live! You don't want to miss out on this.

Artist Spotlight : Koalarazorclock

Today we're going to be looking at some wonderful watercolors done by Erica who makes them available through her etsy shop koalarazorclock. Watercolor happens to be one of the types of painting I love to look at, but have no knack for personally. A fact I accept happily, because it doesn't stop me from appreciating the works of others.

Realistic Watercolor, Lovebirds

So first off, these sweet little birds caught my eye when I was browsing through Erica's work on etsy. They're bright and warm, with a blush of color under their beaks.

You can find a variety of different animals on her etsy page, as she does commission paintings of pets. As well as has options to do watercolor interpretations of your favorite family photos. This is a rather unique offering in my opinion. I've never seen it before, and I personally see the offer as a rather refreshing one. After all people tend to love art that pertains to themselves.

Over the Garden Wall Print

Of course I have to mention the Over the Garden Wall images. They're cute and fun and while I may not be well versed in how the show works, her watercolors catch the heart of what I do know about the show.

Her piece captures the characters youth, while also letting the viewer wonder what he's discussing. I'd like to think he might be disagreeing with his half brother Gregory over something silly.

I also have to point out the little details. Note the houses in the background with the lights on, and the dainty leaves on the tree branch that goes across a half moon. All these details add charm to the piece. (click the link beneath the image to see it on etsy)

Dog Art - Over The Garden Wall

Another piece reminiscent of characters from over the garden wall. She made this one after being inspired by an unnamed wolf character in the show.

This one is also multi purpose though, for those of you that may want to decorate a child's room with fairy tale like images. After all, a wolf with the quote "You Have Beautiful Eyes!" Sure makes me think about Little Red Riding Hood.

Custom Animal Print : Animals in Clothing 

I can't show off her pieces without mentioning this adorable as well as classically charming option. Many people laugh at the idea of dressing their pets up in clothing, often because the task itself isn't an easy one. After all pets aren't really shaped for real apparel.

But that's where these adorable paintings come in. You can have your pet painted into clothing. That's right! Your pet painted into an adorable outfit, an image to add whimsy to your home or office, while still keeping the focus on your pet.





I asked Erica what her favorite subjects were to paint. She responded: "My favorite subjects are people, I like trying to capture something about them. I also like doing animals for the same reason, I think they have just as much personality most of the time."

You can really tell this is true when you look through the pieces that she has displayed as both available and as examples in her etsy shop. She takes good care to keep her pictures true to their source, while still giving them a loving touch of her own flare.

When asked where she found the inspiration to create her paintings she had a wonderful answer.

I'm inspired by seeing other people's artwork, and since I work in a museum that's easy to come by. Richmond also has a lot of murals, which I love. Even when I don't like them I find it inspiring to see someone's vision just in my day to day life on a building I happen to be passing. They're popping up all over so it's lovely to run across a new one, or to know that your errand will take you by one of your favorites.

One of the last questions I asked is one that I feel is very important. When it comes to newer artists it's always nice to have advice from someone who has done pieces that may inspire them. I asked her what advice she has for aspiring artists.

My best advice would just be to practice without judging your work. The more you do anything the more you'll learn and get better, but if you think you suck or are no good you'll become discouraged and won't give yourself the opportunity to improve. So just keep going, try to analyze what you like and don't like about what you've done and what other people have done without passing judgement on yourself. Its not necessary to be the best and no matter how good you ever get there will be people better, and people who don't like your stuff.

If you were interested in seeing more of her work, or maybe even commissioning a piece of your own, please check out her etsy shop koalarazorclock (Just click on the name and it will take you right on over). She's a sweetheart to communicate with, and she has a beautiful collection of available pieces, all you need to do is look.