Spock's Pickled Brain

For another meal fit for a Mandalorian, here's a meal with something spicy, earthy, and sweetness. Perfect for May the Fourth or really any day you want to dine in a galaxy far away.  Most of this meal was made using recipes from the Galaxy's Edge: Official Black Spire Cookbook, which sadly I cannot share here with any specificity. But if you're looking for Star Wars-inspired cuisine that's more than just making hot dogs and French fries into TIE fighters it's a pretty good read that'd I recommend picking up.   1. Main course: Mandalorian Stew The Mandalorians are known for their hard-bitten demeanor, strong honor code, and ambitions towards self-improvement and advancement. So it's not surprising that their particular brand of cuisine is challenging and spicy. The main ingredients are chicken, couscous, and purple potatoes, well-spiced and balanced with some sweeter elements like apple and carrots. Sounds a bit strange but it is delicious.  2. Appetizer :...

  Gondor is Middle Earth's tragic kingdom. Clinging to the strength and purity of their distant Numenorean heritage, Gondor survives the brunt of Mordor's renewed onslaught largely through bravado and a nihilistic resignation to fight until the bitter end. An end they are sure is coming, and one they are certain to make as bitter as possible. Gondor is fragility itself. Edge Of Night (Pippin's Song) - Howard Shore feat. Billy Boyd Home is behind, the world ahead And there are many paths to tread Through shadow to the edge of night Until the stars are all alight Mist and shadow Cloud and shade All shall fade All shall fade  For Whom The Bell Tolls - Metallica  (Gondor faces the threat of a renewed Sauron in Mordor.) Take a look to the sky just before you die It's the last time you will Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky Shattered goal fills his soul  All My Life - Foo Fighters  (Denethor's ambition drives him and Gondor forward. He's never ab...

To finish our watching of The Mandalorian season 2 in style, Starbat and I decided to make a foray into the world of adventurous cookery. Armed with a copy of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge The Official Black Spire Cookbook and some of our own ideas, we put together a meal fit for an Outer Rim cantina.  So I don't know if you all have seen these, but as a kid my attention was caught by some Star Wars themed cookbooks. I've never been much a chef or baker, but I was lured by the theming. Unfortunately most of the recipes here aren't terribly inventive, fine for introducing kids to the culinary arts but not really things I would see being at home in the Star Wars universe.  So I was happy to pick up this most recent cookbook, which has a lot of interesting recipes with some clever twists and accessible to various skill levels. We tried two of these recipes out. The Tatooine Terrine went swimmingly and the Polystarch Bread not so much. I think I can fiddle with my methods to ma...

In a bid to be more festive year-round I've ventured into making geeky seasonal wreaths. Although in most parts of the country green in nature is a ways off, here in the south we can see year already renewing. I've also been watching the recent season of The Mandalorian , so there's that.  Materials -8inch vine wreath -Variety of ferns -Pussy willow or white spring flowers -Mandalorian figurines Tools -Scissors -Wire cutters -Glue gun 1. Gather the materials I picked up the wreath and greenery from the floral section from the craft store. For the new year but not early enough for spring flowers, I chose ferns (which frequently symbolize renewal) and and the pussy willow (a common early spring flower). I found these Mandalorian figurines at Target. 2. Arrange the greenery Experiment with some placement and movement, but leave some space for weirdness.  3. Add the figures In the spaces left, I put in the Mandalorian and his mischievous charge in with dabs of hot glue, but di...

 Hello there! As you can tell we have been off for a few weeks and may be for a few weeks more. Like R2D2 we must recharge from time to time. Have a great holiday!

Okay, so once upon a time I decided to make a Goa'uld costume for this segment. It has not gone well, due to my complete inability to work with foam like the Loonatic.  I just. I don't know.  Anyway, the top is one of the few pieces to make it out alive so you may have to imagine the rest. But the top is cool. Ignore the unfinished skirt, yeah? I don't know when that's getting out of production hell For those of you not in the know, the Goa'uld are the main villains in the Stargate: SG-1 television series (yeah, that's right, I said it. The Replicators and the Ori are penny ante villains and you know it). Technically the Goa'uld are parasitic snake things that Khan-worm into people's brains and take over their bodies. But aesthetically, the Goa'uld in their chosen hosts masquerade as gods and goddesses from Earth's various mythologies, with Egyptian mythology being the principle example. In general, they wear a lot of robes, bikinis, and gold.  Y...

Are they sandals? Greaves? I'm not sure but they're essential to the Stargate Anubis guard ensemble. From a practical standpoint I think the boots in SG-1 make way more sense, but to keep with the ancient Egyptian style I'll agree the sandals look more the part. Here's a way I found to make my own pair out of some thrift store sandals, EVA foam, nylon webbing, and elastic.  References Materials -Comfortable open-toed sandals that can be painted (Columbia or similar) -5mm EVA foam -Dark copper metallic spray paint -Turquoise acrylic paint -Clear coat sealer -1inch-wide black nylon webbing -1inch-wide black elastic Tools -Boxcutter -Dremel with sanding drum -E6000 glue -Woodburner -Heat gun -Scissors -Needle and thread -Masking tape 1. Gather the materials As you'd expect the key part of what will make this build work is having a good sandal to work with. If you're going to be wearing them for any length of time you'd better hope they'd be durable and comf...