Muffins and Zooloretto and Harry Potter 3-D

[ckillian]

So I'm a little late in posting about this past weekend, but better late than never.

There were three things of note going on this weekend.

• Muffins. Sunday morning we got up and wanted breakfast. But we didn't want to make pancakes, didn't have any bread made, and didn't have any green pepper for burritos (and anyway, we'd had a burrito at the Zoo Saturday morning and probably would not have wanted another one immediately). So I came up with the idea of making muffins. Of course, we didn't really have anything to put in the muffins, and I don't think we were all that keen on plain muffins. But, upon consulting the cookbook, we discovered a cheese muffin recipe, so we decided to try it out. (We also saw a bacon recipe, but were too skeptical for it). I made two modifications to the recipe. First, I used sharp cheddar rather than american. It's what we had on hand. Second, I forgot the sugar. (Kristina and I were discussing the recipe later, and I denied it called for sugar, knowing I hadn't added any. She corrected me -- oops). They were actually quite good. I was very surprised. Kristina said they were a lot like biscuits, in the shape of a muffin, which is probably a fair description. The sugar might have changed that slightly. But we also decided that they'd be good if we added the bacon to that recipe too -- a cheese and bacon muffin. You should try it sometime.


• Zooloretto. This is a new game we got from my sister for my birthday. We didn't get the opportunity to play it at the beach, so we gave it a try Saturday night. We weren't going to--Kristina and I had already cozied up for an evening in when J and W, whom we had called earlier in the day, were calling to let us know they were free finally, and did we want to do something? So we invited them over for dinner and the game (yes, it was a late 9:00 dinner). It was a neat game. Not too complicated or long, but still satisfying. Others said it was like Puerto Rico in its play, but would not likely suffer the same fate where after a times playing the game would be decided based on a strategic move early in the game. Definitely on the list of games worth playing. And later, J pointed out that on the Zooloretto website, there are free downloads of some additional pieces which can be added.


• Harry Potter 3-d. Since the aforementioned friends were busy earlier in the day Saturday, Kristina and I decided to go see the newest Harry Potter movie (Order of the Phoenix) before it stopped showing in the 3-d IMAX theatre. Overall, we were pleased. No, it wasn't exactly like the book, and yes, it left out some important details/scenes, but hey, we're talking about a very long book after all. The big disappointment for us is that we expected the whole movie to be in 3-d. But instead it was just the conclusion -- the last 20 minutes or so. Granted, that was the primary action, but for it to be made a big deal of, I would have thought the whole movie would be like that. Oh well. Worth seeing, though probably okay if you want to just rent it later.

This week we're quite busy. Tonight we went to a going away party for friends moving to the Bay area, Friday we're going to a party for a friend who's just finished her kitchen remodel, Saturday morning we're going to help paint another friend's house who had to remodel/rebuild after a big flood in their house, and Saturday evening we're goint to see "Beauty and the Beast" at the Starlight Theatre. More on that after we go. What we're looking forward to at this theatre is that it's outdoors, and right in the flight path for the airport. Apparently they freeze-frame the acting when a plane flies over, which I'm looking forward to seeing.