Farmer's Market and Card-Readers

We have a very small Farmer's Market in our little town every Friday, which consisted of only 6-7 stalls. At least, there are only that many when I show up, which is first thing in the morning due to when my job lets out. I am sure that there are more as the day progresses. This morning I only had a few bucks on me and picked up 2 dozen eggs for $1.50 a dozen. Can't beat that price for farm-fresh, organic, free-range eggs. The strawberries that the woman was selling, $1.50 a pint for quarter-sized berries, looked wonderful, but I had not the cash on me and it made me stop and think.

How many sales do people like these lose on a daily/weekly/monthly basis due to not having enough cash on hand or check with them?

Game Review for Gunslingers and Gamblers

Yet another RPG.net review that I posted there, and I have to say, i love this game. Especially for any sort of game in the western genre.

Appearance

When you purchase this game, you receive a normal copy of the book with the background on each page which is very evocative of the paper that is used for Wanted posters that you see in Westerns and can even purchase. It works for the game and helps to keep you in the mindset that this is a western game. It also doesn't increase load times from the second copy of the book that you get, which has no background. While I like the mindset that the colored background gives, I much prefer the print version. Not only is it easier to print it, but the black text on a white background is much more crisp and easier to read than black text on a colored background.

Carbing it Up

I was told by another Paleo-er (which, we really need a better term to call one another now that I think about it. Unfortunately, since this lifestyle is still a bit too niche, it might actually do us a disservice though) that:

eating a crapload of carbs (complex) and low fat low pro... every 10 daya or so. Keeps your leptin up.

Now, I have been eating Paleo for the past 4 and a half months, with the only cheating I have done being small, very small, amounts. Even when cheating, I never do it enough in one day to even get down to the 80/20 principle that Mark from MarksDailyApple.com suggests for his followers and readers.

What is leptin? According to wikipedia, leptin is:

Leptin (Greek leptos meaning thin) is a 16 kDa protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. 

and:

The absence of a leptin (or its receptor) leads to uncontrolled food intake and resulting obesity. Several studies have shown that fasting or following a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) lowers leptin levels.

Two Paleo/Primal Recipes

I took the both of these from the Fitness magazine, July/August issue from 2009 and modified them to make them more Paleo friendly. Basically because the food porn pictures looked very good. Also due to my wife getting a bit tired of meat lately, so I felt that I could try to spice things up in the kitchen instead of the usual burgers and other grilled meat that I am perfectly okay with eating daily. Especially the berry-mango salsa in the second recipe, I am very interested in trying that.

Game Review for Tri-Stat dX

After writing this review for RPG.net, my wife and I got to talking yesterday in the car. We determined that Tri-Stat dX would not be used with as near of frequency as it is online for our game group if we had a real-life game group. The reasons for this are two fold: Online, Tri-Stat dX brings combats to a quick end making it the system of choice and yet, Tri-Stat dX would more than likely read and play a bit blandly when sitting around a table. There is just not enough going on in Tri-Stat dX too keep up the mental facilities I feel that games like Savage Worlds, Gunslingers and Gamblers, Apocalypse Prevention, Inc, Alpha Omega, and Spirit of the Century bring with them. That is not to say that i would not run or play Tri-Stat dX around a table, but that is why I gave it a 4/4/ score at RPG.net.

On to the review...

Wild Strawberries

One of the benefits to living in the woods is that every once in awhile, we get the opportunity for some authentic hunter-gatherer action!

This is a strawberry.  It is very tiny.  How tiny is it?

This tiny.  Here, it is pictured beside a farm-grown strawberry, purchased from a conventional supermarket.

Here's a closer look at the differences.

I think they're quite lovely, the way nature intended.  Though they get munched down by exploring children far too fast to do anything with!  But that's alright with me.

Next month we should have wild black raspberries.

Verdilak's take on their flavor:

Flavor of the Wild Strawberry: Not sweet at all, but gloriously tart. Not sour enough to make your tongue curl even a slight bit, but a great tarty flavor. If they could get this flavor in the domestic ones, I would become extremely happy.

Flavor of the Domestic Strawberry: Sweeter than the wild strawberry, but when tried one after the other, it is very evident that the Domestic is more filling due to its size but has very little flavor other than the sweetness. The Wild variety is bursting with flavor.

Update of the Feta-Stuffed Celery

Made the Feta-Stuffed Celery today as per the recipe for my kids. My youngest did not want anything to do with them but the other two loved the flavors and ate a few stalks each. My wife decided that they were decent and filling, but not her favorite thing ever. Then again, she isn't all that much of a fan of feta when  it is not in a salad.

Anyways, pictures are now up on the original post since my wife was kind enough to showcase us with her l33t photography skills.

Game Review for Alpha Omega

Another review I posted to RPG.net and I gave it a 5 for Style and a 4 for Substance due to a few things that were missing. However, it is an excellent game that I cannot wait to play again.

Disclaimer: While I received the pdf and print copy for free, it was not for me to review them, it was due to a give-a-way that was going on in the rpg.net forums around a year ago.