I've been grilling a lot lately since I finally got a gas grill a few days ago. I noticed a pattern for marinades: blend in some olive oil, something acidic (lemon juice or balsamic vinegar for instance), a fresh herb and some garlic and you can't go wrong.
Olive Oil + garlic + ...
1) lemon juice + cilantro : made for a delicious shrimp marinade (got it from a middle eastern cookbook).
2) lemon juice + basil : made for a great Tuna steak marinade (from a grilling cookbook
3) balsamic vinegar + basil : was awesome on portobello mushrooms (same grilling book)
How much of each you ask? Start with about a half cup of olive oil, mix in the acidic ingredient, about two tablespoons (half lemon or pour of vinegar) at a time tasting it until the balance tastes right. How much garlic depends on how spicy you want it; it could range from 2 to 10 cloves. Herbs? A handful or two of freshly chopped.
Karl
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Pirates Cove: fun board game!
My neighbor Judd bought Pirate's Cove today, and the four of us (him, his wife, me and my wife) played this evening. It's TBD whether or not it will be a classic like Settlers of Catan or Axis and Allies, but it was definitely a lot of fun.
The basic idea is that each player is a pirate, aiming to be the most famous and fearsome pirate of all the high seas (arrrr!). There are four Islands that at the beginning of each turn each player silently decides where they would like to go, and each Island has a certain type of resource used to build up specific part of your ship (hull, guns, deck hands or sails). The fun part is that if you happen to pick the same island as another player, you have to battle it out to see who gets to go to the island to get the resources there (the other pirate goes home empty handed).
I don't feel like explaining the whole game, but I will say that the game is a success for the following reasons:
- it doesn't take that long to pick up (20 minutes)
- it doesn't take too long to play (~1 hour)
- there is a reasonable amount of strategy involved
- it has a creative plot / gameplay (not another dwarfs vs goblins or military simulation game)
If you are looking for something new, try it out!
Karl
The basic idea is that each player is a pirate, aiming to be the most famous and fearsome pirate of all the high seas (arrrr!). There are four Islands that at the beginning of each turn each player silently decides where they would like to go, and each Island has a certain type of resource used to build up specific part of your ship (hull, guns, deck hands or sails). The fun part is that if you happen to pick the same island as another player, you have to battle it out to see who gets to go to the island to get the resources there (the other pirate goes home empty handed).
I don't feel like explaining the whole game, but I will say that the game is a success for the following reasons:
- it doesn't take that long to pick up (20 minutes)
- it doesn't take too long to play (~1 hour)
- there is a reasonable amount of strategy involved
- it has a creative plot / gameplay (not another dwarfs vs goblins or military simulation game)
If you are looking for something new, try it out!
Karl
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