Pizza Crackers Cowabunga (Recipe)

It's Pizza (cracker) time!

Happy Friday! A while back I stopped buying snacks at the store. Looking at some of the ingredients simply made me ill. Half of the crap the put in to the processed food was chemicals to make them stay fresh longer, to make them crisper, or some even to make them taste like the fruit or vegetable they were supposed to be made of. I like a salty snack every once in a while. After a little searching I ran across this cheese cracker recipe. My wife and I decided to modify it to give it a little Italian twist. I think it taste a bit like pizza, but let me know what you think :)

Pizza Crackers Cowabunga

Ingredients:

8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (approx. 2 cups)

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1tbsp. lard

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground dried rosemary

3/4 tsp. ground dried oregano

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. fine semolina flour

1. In a large bowl beat cheese, butter, and lard with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until fluffy. On a reduced mixer speed, mix in all other ingredients EXCEPT flour.

Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour 1/2 cup at a time until combined to form a dough. (dough should be a bit dryer than normal pie dough.)

2. Turn dough out onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap and shape it into a 1 inch diameter log. Twist ends of the parchment or plastic wrap to seal. Refrigerate at least 2 hours (overnight is even better)

3. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. Remove dough from refrigerator, unwrap, and place on a cutting board. Cut the log into 1/8 inch thick slices and place on the prepared baking sheet 1/4 inch apart.

5. Bake for about 7 minutes (but keep any eye on them about 5 minutes in, due to the high fat content, they get hot pretty quick, so you have to be very careful that they don't burn.) They should be light golden brown. Transfer from pan to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. 

Stored in an airtight container at room temperature they should be good for up to a week. Though I can't say for certain, as they never last that long around here. 

Gone already?!  Oh, Shellshock!

So, if this sounds like something for you give them a try and let me know in the comments what you think and how they turn out for you.

And as always, please be sure to recommend!

Wampa - Lethal - Stay Out!

With the popularity of Star Wars, it seemed like everybody was making something "Star Wars". Marvel was no exception. They  made 107 issues from 1977 to 1986 which introduced a lot of interesting stories and characters which are considered "Non-cannon". Some tied into the storylines from the movies such as issue 78 from December of 1983...

This was one of my favorite issues, as I was a big fan of The Empire Strikes Back. We used to play out in the snow, pretending it was the frozen wastelands of Hoth. Rebels, waiting for the imminent attack from the Empire.

The story in the comic book deals with Luke Skywalker's fellow snowspeeder pilots, Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson, who are shot down and stranded on the ice planet after the 'Battle of Hoth' while trying to escape.

It is a mix of Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and  the 1985 movie "Enemy Mine" (I wonder if the film makers were inspired by the comic book ;)  ). Anyone who has had cold weather training before can already imagine some of the dangers and hardships the duo had to endure. Not to mention, Wampa, and not just one. (Luke got off easy.)

In the end, Wedge was able to escape and was eventually rescued my his friend Luke. Als poor Janson was not so lucky... Of course, because the story is not considered cannon, Janson lived on in the "Star Wars: X-Wing" book series which was cannon... until Disney bought the rights to Star Wars and made those stories "Non-cannon" as well.

They had a trove of stories to pick from, but instead we got that sequel trilogy that made close to no sense and the Han Solo movie that nobody wanted. George Lukas should have known that Disney would destroy his legacy, he should have read the caution signs...

Or maybe C-3P0 torn in down before he saw it :)

What do you think about the future of Star Wars? Let me know down in the comments below.

Be sure to recommend and follow my blog. ;)

My Quest (Poem)

My Quest

Shadows dancing on the walls

Around every corner, more pitfalls

I know that they lie in waiting for me

Those grave dangers that I dare not see

For adventure, some had tried

For treasure, still more have died

One must wonder what a fool am I

To tempt the fates when Death is nigh

Like in those stories that we’ve been told

Of kings and knights and heroes so bold

Who charge in to face their greatest fear

With honor and courage and cannot veer

Tis but my heart which drives me on

Through dead of night to breaking dawn

Cross raging rivers and the deep divide

I’d brave it gladly to stand by your side

For I know you hold strong, waiting for me

To break those chains and set you free

Now dry your eyes, shed not one more tear

Have faith, my love, our time draws near

Tales from the Dorkside Episode II: McNally's Monsters "

Growing up in rural north-western Pennsylvania in the mid 80’s could be pretty boring sometimes. We didn’t have a shopping mall, a skater park, or even a video arcade. The older kids would usually get busted for drinking behind the school building or for smoking pot. The younger kids would pull pranks, soap cars, egg house, or toilet paper trees. Just kids goofing off to chase away boredom. And nobody got hurt.

We all knew each other, and our parents knew all the kids too. You’d do something and get caught, you could be sure that somebody already called your parents before you even got home. Jobs were going away, so a lot of people were moving away too. And nobody was buying houses there especially old run down ruins. Some of these houses had been standing empty for as long as I could remember. One such house stood just down the road from where I lived, but this one was special, this one they said was HAUNTED.

For years I walked past that house on my way to the bus stop, and every time I had that sinking feeling of dread. It was as if something evil sat just behind the window pane staring out at me. Occasionally, you would hear creaks and moans coming from the old house, which would cause me to pick up my pace – or flat-out run.

On my thirteenth birthday, I had a couple friends over to celebrate with me. We were a ragtag bunch of misfits and “delinquents”. After our mandatory fun round of “pin the tail on the donkey”, boredom started to rear it’s ugly head again.

This is when Jonny had the great idea that we should do a little exploring – starting with the old McNally house. I tried to warn them about all of the spooking noises and about how I thought old lady McNally’s ghost was still in there. How I'd thought I'd seen someone in the upstairs window.
But this only encouraged my friends even more.

So the five of us, Jonny, Tommy, Matt & Mark, and I set down that dark dirt road to the "haunted McNally house". Jonny always like to envision himself as our fearless leader. Tommy was the goofball. As for the twins, well, let me just say... They always put out every fire that they started. As for myself, well, I've always been that awkward dork with a good heart.

Building up our courage we went to the front door. Strangely it was locked,  but Tommy found that the back door window was broken, so he let us all in.

That house had that old musty smell to it. There were a few holes in the floor where you could peek into the basement, so we had to be careful where we stepped. Jonny was adamant about finding old lady McNally's ghost and headed upstairs. I kept an eye on the twins, as they had found some old working fire extinguishers and were looking for something to burn. Suddenly we heard crashing coming from the kitchen! Tommy was on the kitchen table with a stack of plates. As soon as he saw us he starting throwing the plates at us, at the walls, screaming "Gremlins! Gremlins!"

Something was odd about this, these weren't old dusty, dirty plates. And that's when I really started getting scared. We made a big mistake! And at that moment, we heard Jonny yelling "Guys! there's a car pulling up to the house!"  Little did we know that the house had been purchased by some guys from Pittsburgh to be used as a hunting cabin. Through the window we saw them getting out of the car.  The men must have heard us, because they had their shotguns ready. So out the back door and into the woods we went. I honestly don't even know if they chased us, but it didn't matter. We kept running until we were at one of the neighbors barns where we hid until nightfall.

To this day, when I meet up with my old friends, if we get drunk enough the conversation goes back to that day when we decided to face McNally's ghost, only to realize that the only monsters there were us.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of "Tales from the Dorkside".  

Be sure to recommend, if you did.

Thank you

A Door to a New Universe (Stargate)

In 1994, German director Roland Emmerich introduced us to his "Stargate". This was not the first time I had heard of the idea of stable artificial wormholes used for intergalactic travel, but it was the first time I'd seen it wrapped up in Earth's mythology and on the big screen. Being a big fan of Egyptian mythology, I was fascinated by the armor worn by Ra, Horus, and of course Anubis seen in the trailer. It looked so futuristic, but at the same time, I could imagine how the ancient Egyptians could have interpreted this technology to be godly.  

Unfortunately being in Germany, I had to wait for it to be released on video cassette in the U.S.
I could have watched it sooner in the German movie theater, but I would have missed a lot of it, as my German was not yet at a level that I could understand the dialog. But I had a multisystem VHS player and T.V. so I asked my parents to mail me a copy.

It was worth the wait...

The costumes were everything I'd hoped for (Though I felt bad for the horse they put in that alien costume) and the CGI used for the masks, the Horus fighters ships, and Ra's ship - simply awesome.
I was head over heels.

I found that I could really relate to Daniel Jackson, being an clever yet awkward fellow. (Yeah, he was a "Dork" too). And Colonel Jack O'Neil, was that mission focused hardcore soldier (pretty tough, for Air Force ;) ), who reminded me of some of the guys I served with back in the Gulf War.

I was pretty excited when I heard they were making a series out of it. It took a little getting used to the different actors playing the parts, and the characters seemed different than in the film. (Jack O'Neil played by MacGyver?). It was a little disappointing. But eventually the series grew on me and I accepted the new characters. The spin-offs were different, where Stargate Atlantis was rather light, Stargate Universe just seem to get darker and darker with each episode. I was kind of glad when it got cancelled.

I heard at one point that Roland Emmerich had planned a new Stargate movie, I'm not sure if it was to be a sequel or a reboot, but after the box office failure of the second Independence Day movie, I heard he dropped it.

I honestly wouldn't know what they could do with Stargate from here. I wouldn't want the movie to be remade, because I don't see any reason for it. As for new series, I would only hope that they have a better budget, some of the sets looked flimsy ;)

This is just one dork's opinion, though. 

Are you a fan of the movie or the series?

Do you think there should be some kind of revival?

Or did you think the whole thing was a waste of time?

Let me know what you think in the comments below

And be sure to recommend :)

Is There Anybody Out There?

I have always loved science fiction. I grew up watching T.V. series like Star Trek (reruns), Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers. My favorite movies were all out of this world like Planet of the Apes and Star Wars. These movies and T.V. shows opened my mind to other possibilities and still more questions...

A question that has been asked for ages... "Are we alone in the universe?"

Alone the fact that the universe is so vast, it is impossible for me to say "Yes, it's just us." 

I believe that other civilizations exist in our universe. When I tell some people this it starts the whole "Tinfoil hat", "Conspiracy theory", "Area 51", "Where's your proof" dialog. 

Some people have seen unexplained occurrences and objects with their own eyes and attribute them immediately to  "Aliens". Some people see the same thing and dismiss it illusions or tricks. I find myself somewhere in between. I think there are people out there trying to get that sensational news story like "Bigfoot sightings" that were proven to be hoaxes. Or non-extraterrestrial UFO sightings later proven to be man made. As Fox Mulder's poster stated:

The T.V. show "Ancient Aliens", though highly entertaining, was mocked heavily in the mainstream mainly due to some of the presenter's outlandish theories and appearances. This makes it even more difficult to be taken seriously when talking about the existence of extra terrestrial life.

People often ask "If they are really out there, why haven't they made themselves known?" or tell us to "Give real indisputable proof, not just sightings of UFOs and abduction stories."

And I can understand their questions and needs, but I have to wonder, if an alien race that advanced were out there... after seeing all of the horror scenarios we've depicted in movies about aliens with hostile intent  or suspicions that "We come in peace" is a front for dubious intent; would they be eager to make first contact? 

Would mankind be ready for a devastating revelation of that magnitude? Because that's really what it would be. Don't kid yourself thinking the people of the world could handle it. And how many of the selfish people would look to use this contact for ill intent. No, I don't think we are ready yet.

And I still question if mankind, in its current stage of development, is interesting enough to an  extraterrestrial civilization advanced enough for inter-galactic travel for them to establish contact? Or would we be to them as gnats are to us? Or would it be Columbus meeting the Indians?

As mysterious sighting reports continue to come to light about unexplained objects orbiting our star (Sol) and our moon (Luna). So perhaps we will know sooner than later...

Let me know what you think in the comments below. I look forward to hearing your opinions.

And as always, be sure to recommend :)

What the hell do you mean "Retrogaming"??

When I returned to Germany in the early 90’s I had a hard time adjusting. I didn’t speak the language, so getting a job was tough, as I’m sure you can imagine. Most of the military bases closed down, so there weren’t many Americans left in the area, except a few expats. But unlike Poles, Turks, and Russian; Americans don’t really build little migrant communities. Some of my (then) wife’s family spoke English, so at least I had someone to talk with. Needless to say, the first six months were the worst, I fought with bouts of frustration of being unemployed and loneliness.

(Schwäbish Hall, Germany ca. 1993)

My father-in-law helped my find a weekend job, working scaffolding. It was dirty work, with heavy lifting, and nerve-racking heights; but I had a little cash. Fortunately, my (then) wife was able to get her old job back at the post office. It wasn’t much, but it covered the bills. (I did eventually get a good job, after I learned a bit more German – Had to, my pride couldn’t take being unemployed for so long, young and healthy as I was.)



So with my new found wealth, I did what any man in his early 20’s would…

I bought a Super Nintendo! (Yes that is it pictured below, I still have it!)

The great thing about Super Nintendo was that I didn’t have to know much German at all to start the games. The menus were mostly in English and a lot of the game content didn’t use much speech anyway. (Zelda was a challenge in that aspect, as it was in German, and I really, really liked playing Zelda :) ) I can't tell you how many hours of my life I wasted on that box, but it was better than what I'd been doing before that spending each night down at the local tavern trying to drink my problems away with the students from the Goethe-Institut (bunch of rich kids studying abroad, yeah, that really helped my ego.)

When I finally did get a job, the good old Super Nintendo got replaced with a nice PC with Windows 95. But I couldn't part with my old friend. For years it lay dormant in a box in the cellar, unused and mainly forgotten. (A terrible way to treat a friend, I must admit.)

When my youngest son was about 10, all of his friends were into video games. Not sure if it was X-Box or PS3, but some kids had them already, some kids wanted them. (My son being in the latter group.) We always want to give our children a better life than what we had, but on the other hand, we want them to appreciate what they have. Spoiled children never do. So no, I did not buy him a new gaming console. 

I dug out the old Super Nintendo and he did not complain. Later, my older son upgraded from PS2 to PS3 and he gave his younger brother the PS2. When the younger boy's friends came over, I was a little worried that they might give him a hard time about not having the newest, greatest in gaming.

But to my surprise, the kids loved it. They were all impressed with the old games, although the graphic were not the greatest, they were much less complicated to play increasing the fun factor.
I later learned that the old games were making a comeback, and there was a term coined already called "Retrogaming". Over the past couple of years, my youngest boy has become quite an expert on old games and consoles. It's probably not something he's going to be able to use in his professional life, but he's happy and my old friend the Super Nintendo is happy.



Do you do any "Retro" gaming? Do you have any old forgotten consoles stored away?
Let me know down in the comments below.

And be sure to recommend ;)