A New Project with Roleplay Headquarters!

I have been looking forward to announcing this for several months now.

Beginning Saturday, March 18th, I will be playing a character in a live roleplay podcast called Rock'n'Roleplay. It is an unscripted RPG campaign in the Warcraft universe hosted by RPHQ: Roleplay Headquarters.

For people who read that and have no idea what I'm talking about, let me explain it a bit better.

What is it?

This live and recorded series is based on a pen and paper RPG system. Think Dungeons & Dragons but without the downtime of digging through handbooks, checking spell rules, and drawing maps. We will still be rolling dice (only digitally through a Discord chatroom) and are using the World of Darkness system (still a pen and paper RPG game, but not D&D). 

Our DM, TheHumanFloyd, leads us through the events of each episode with story and description, ultimately letting us, the players, make decisions as we go.

The Setting

I will always have a soft spot for the Warcraft universe. I gave about a decade of my life to playing WoW, read several of the books, and still play Blizzard games like Heroes of the Storm and Diablo. Blizzard and Warcraft left a heavy impression on my life and gave me amazing memories. 

But I no longer play WoW. And maybe you don't either. 

Don't worry! Our story takes place just after the fall of the Lich King so it doesn't involve any of the newer content that you may not be up-to-date on. In fact, our characters don't even know the full spectrum of info that players would know. So if you haven't played the last few expansions, you're still equipped to enjoy RnR.

The Characters

I am playing with an amazing cast of people for this and they are a ton of fun! We are acting as much as we are playing the game and get into our characters as well, speaking in their voices and acting as they would. 

We have a dangerous goblin demolitionist, a smooth-talking Forsaken tailor, a loyal and agile human huntress, and a gnome "alchemist" (who I will be playing).

Also, since this will be live-streamed on Twitch, the chat feature will be active so you can chat with characters and we will try to respond as we go.

The Episodes

Episodes will occur once per month and dates will be announced ASAP, however, we will have filler streams in between with additional content. 

Can't make it to the live version? There will be recorded versions available later. 

To find out when new content will be available, follow me on Twitter, Enjin, or check the RPHQ website. I will also be set to auto-stream all content on RPHQ from my personal Twitch channel.

Cookie Season: Chewy Brownie Cookies

They look a little like piles of poop, but I swear they are amazing!

Arguably one of the best cookies I have every made. I'm not sure where my mother got the recipe, but I'm glad she gave it to me. Instead of making cookie dough, you end up with more of a brownie batter and it makes a delicious pile of cookies! I won't lie to you, these are a pain to make in comparison to other cookies, but if you have a stand mixer it won't be as bad.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 cups chocolate chips

1. In large mixing bowl, cream shortening, brown sugar, water and vanilla. Beat in eggs.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda in separate bowl.

3. Gradually add to creamed mixture and  beat just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets or parchment paper.

5. Bake at 375° for 7-9 minutes; do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Eat until you bury the feeling of regret.

Cookie Season: Crackles

I posted the recipe for Chocolate Crackles long ago on my old blog and since this is the time of year for family baking, I thought I would give the post a face-lift.

This is obviously not my original recipe since it was published as early as the 1970s (who knows how far it goes back). There are many variations that people use and if you type "Crackles cookie" in Google it has tons of pics that all look the same, but this is the one I always made with my mom with a couple changes.

Changes I made:
-Original: 2 Slightly beaten eggs
  I don't beat the eggs at all (I always forget, they turn out well anyway, maybe better)
-Original: Grease the cookie sheet
  Parchment paper on the cookie sheet makes them better in appearance and taste.

This is a great cookie to make with kids because...

1. It is super easy.
2. There's no mixer required
3. Powdered sugar is messy and fun, but relatively easy to clean up.*
4. When you make them clean up the mess, they learn a valuable lesson about being tidy.

*You should totally make a mess when baking, but it doesn't have to be a 'get in the floor scrubbing for hours' mess. 

The best part about Crackles is that you can be creative and not spend all afternoon doing it. An hour of your time can yield 50+ cookies and they can be whatever cake mix flavor you can find.

Combo Funfetti/Orange and Funfetti/Lemon

Ingredients

1 Package Cake Mix (go crazy!)
2 Eggs 
1 Tbsp water
½ cup vegetable shortening
Confectioners Sugar

1. Combine everything except the confectioners sugar and mix with spoon until well blended.

2. Shape into balls and roll in confectioners sugar.
3. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes on baking sheet covered with parchment paper

Step 4: If you didn't get sugar all over your counter, let the kids sling the open bag around.

I use a little more water sometimes if it looks particularly dry, especially depending on the cake mix. 
The original recipe I made with my mom called for Devil's Food cake mix, but I have tried many more flavors this year.

Here are the flavors and combos I have made so far:

• Red Velvet
• Strawberry
• Lemon
• Orange
• Funfetti
• Milk Chocolate
• Strawberry/Devil's Food (Almost tasted like Neopolitan)
• Lemon/Funfetti
• Orange/Funfetti

A couple more notes on the individual flavors...

• Strawberry tastes EXACTLY like Frankenberry cereal... it is amazing.
• The red velvet and sugar free devil's food were extra sticky and hard to work with so be careful how much water you add! Don't add more than the one tbsp until you have it mixed really well.
• The lemon was by far the easiest to work with as it became more like playdo and I was able to pump them out at super high speed!
• The funfetti was a bit dry and remember there are sprinkles in it so it was okay to work with, but don't let it sit too long.

I made the orange, lemon and funfetti all at once (made the dough for all 3 first) so I could make the combo flavors. If you do this, work quickly.

Happy Baking!