Experiments in Baking
May. 6th, 2026 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
settiaiI made chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker today, because it was a bleak rainy day so it seemed appropriate. The recipe itself is very basic (chicken, cream of chicken soup, an onion, butter, chicken broth, and some spices), and I cheat and use canned biscuits for the dumplings because I'm lazy.
The issue was that I had a few biscuits left over, because I needed about 10oz but Aldi only has them in 16oz packages. So I decided to experiment and attempt to make something sweet for dessert with the leftover biscuit dough, and I think it turned out pretty well.
I cut the biscuits into quarters, brushed them with some oil, popped them in the air fryer for eight minutes, dipped them in melted butter, dropped them in a bag with some cinnamon sugar, and shook it up. Then for the dip I just mixed together some powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla.
They turned out surprisingly tasty for something that I threw together in a few minutes.
The issue was that I had a few biscuits left over, because I needed about 10oz but Aldi only has them in 16oz packages. So I decided to experiment and attempt to make something sweet for dessert with the leftover biscuit dough, and I think it turned out pretty well.
I cut the biscuits into quarters, brushed them with some oil, popped them in the air fryer for eight minutes, dipped them in melted butter, dropped them in a bag with some cinnamon sugar, and shook it up. Then for the dip I just mixed together some powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla.
They turned out surprisingly tasty for something that I threw together in a few minutes.
Aurendor D&D
May. 4th, 2026 08:48 pmsettiaiAs I mentioned previously, last Wednesday's D&D game took a sharp turn when one of the characters drew the Fates from the Deck of Many Things which allows him to rewrite one moment in time.
The players had a short video chat tonight to figure out just what moment we want to undo, and I'm posting notes from our discussion here so that we have them to look back on if needed.
( More under the cut. )
The players had a short video chat tonight to figure out just what moment we want to undo, and I'm posting notes from our discussion here so that we have them to look back on if needed.
( More under the cut. )
Brief Update
May. 2nd, 2026 11:47 ammarthawellsA week ago I got back from Japan where I was a guest at HALCon, an annual SF/F convention held in the Kawasaki International Center, and it was awesome. (Though right now I am still dead from jet-lag.) The convention itself was great, I walked to so many cool people, and was treated to so much good food. The Japanese edition of System Collapse translated by Naoya Nakamura had won the Seiun Award, and they presented me with that, which was also awesome.
Afterward we went down to Kamakura, which was the seat of the first Shogunate, and saw the Great Buddha https://www.kotoku-in.jp/en/ and two other Buddhist temples, one in a bamboo grove, and a huge Shinto Shrine. It was an incredible trip and I'm so glad I went.
Tour dates for Platform Decay, the next Murderbot novel:
https://us.macmillan.com/tours/martha-wells-platform-decay/
Afterward we went down to Kamakura, which was the seat of the first Shogunate, and saw the Great Buddha https://www.kotoku-in.jp/en/ and two other Buddhist temples, one in a bamboo grove, and a huge Shinto Shrine. It was an incredible trip and I'm so glad I went.
Tour dates for Platform Decay, the next Murderbot novel:
https://us.macmillan.com/tours/martha-wells-platform-decay/
Critical Role: Campaign 4, Episode 12
May. 1st, 2026 11:40 pmsettiaiI'm still playing catch-up on Critical Role and will be for at least another few weeks, I suspect. At this point, I'm very behind.
As with previous posts about the current campaign of Critical Role, this will be a combination of quotes, random thoughts, and some speculation. And it's obviously full of spoilers (albeit vague ones in places).
( Spoilers under the cut. )
As with previous posts about the current campaign of Critical Role, this will be a combination of quotes, random thoughts, and some speculation. And it's obviously full of spoilers (albeit vague ones in places).
( Spoilers under the cut. )
One of Cleopatra's Nights & Others: Tales & Poems of Egyptian Horror
May. 1st, 2026 04:01 pmankh_hplI have a Lovecraftian sonnet (reprint, from a back issue of Spectral Realms) inOne of Cleopatra's Nights and Others: Tales & Poems of Egyptian Horror. Out now from S. T. Joshi's own Sarnath Press, this perfect-bound paperback anthology (265 pp.) combines vintage rarities of Egyptian-themed prose horror with contemporary weird poetry on similar topics.
For more information, or to order:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX23X1ST
This is definitely something of a niche project -- but many of the items here are hard to find, & fascinating if Egyptian weird/pulp is your thing. (Guilty as charged . . . )
For more information, or to order:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX23X1ST
This is definitely something of a niche project -- but many of the items here are hard to find, & fascinating if Egyptian weird/pulp is your thing. (Guilty as charged . . . )
Aurendor D&D
Apr. 30th, 2026 11:04 amsettiaiWelp. D&D certainly happened last night.
It started out with us rolling initiative (which was expected considering how the previous game ended), so we knew it would be pretty much nothing but combat. The DM consistently rolled high, though, while the rest of us rolled low on everything including initiative. Add in the fact that all of the enemies had flight capabilities while only two of the group did, two of the people on the ground had no distance attacks, and the other two depended on magic against enemies who cause double spell slots to be expended within 100 feet of them... well, needless to say, things didn't go well.
By the end, the sorcerer/cleric was dead, one paladin was unconscious, the fighter/warlock was unconscious, the NPC who'd banished several enemies from the field lost concentration and those additional enemies returned, the other paladin was in the single digits after being brought back up, and my cleric was at almost full health but 100+ feet away from the rest of the group (as she'd gotten boxed in by some enemies near her who she'd just managed to kill). So the wizard decided to say "fuck it" and pull six cards from the Deck of Many Things mid-combat in the hope of getting something helpful.
Of course, he only got to pull five cards (none of which were particularly helpful), because the fifth one was Donjon and he immediately disappeared to an extradimensional sphere. 🙃
At that point, it was looking like my cleric might be the only character who'd have any chance of surviving as she was far enough away not to have to use double spell slots as the enemies she was fighting were down, and she did have Dimension Door so she could potentially run. The only other PC still on their feet was the paladin, who decided to take a page from the wizard's book and start pulling from the deck as well.
He pulled the Fates, which essentially lets you pick any moment in time and undo it.
... yeah, needless to say we stopped the game at that point, because that's going to be something to figure out before next week. We're definitely going to undo this combat. The question is what specific point in time do we want to pick as the changing point in the hope it will give us a better chance of surviving (and hopefully winning).
It started out with us rolling initiative (which was expected considering how the previous game ended), so we knew it would be pretty much nothing but combat. The DM consistently rolled high, though, while the rest of us rolled low on everything including initiative. Add in the fact that all of the enemies had flight capabilities while only two of the group did, two of the people on the ground had no distance attacks, and the other two depended on magic against enemies who cause double spell slots to be expended within 100 feet of them... well, needless to say, things didn't go well.
By the end, the sorcerer/cleric was dead, one paladin was unconscious, the fighter/warlock was unconscious, the NPC who'd banished several enemies from the field lost concentration and those additional enemies returned, the other paladin was in the single digits after being brought back up, and my cleric was at almost full health but 100+ feet away from the rest of the group (as she'd gotten boxed in by some enemies near her who she'd just managed to kill). So the wizard decided to say "fuck it" and pull six cards from the Deck of Many Things mid-combat in the hope of getting something helpful.
Of course, he only got to pull five cards (none of which were particularly helpful), because the fifth one was Donjon and he immediately disappeared to an extradimensional sphere. 🙃
At that point, it was looking like my cleric might be the only character who'd have any chance of surviving as she was far enough away not to have to use double spell slots as the enemies she was fighting were down, and she did have Dimension Door so she could potentially run. The only other PC still on their feet was the paladin, who decided to take a page from the wizard's book and start pulling from the deck as well.
He pulled the Fates, which essentially lets you pick any moment in time and undo it.
... yeah, needless to say we stopped the game at that point, because that's going to be something to figure out before next week. We're definitely going to undo this combat. The question is what specific point in time do we want to pick as the changing point in the hope it will give us a better chance of surviving (and hopefully winning).