A new game: Dungeon Petz

After some thought I decided to buy a new game. Vlaada Chvatil, the game designer behind the wonderful Galaxy Trucker and Through the ages, designed a spin-off game from his Dungeon Lords (which I hear was met with some mixed feelings) that tasks the player with managing a group of imps and breeding different monster pets.

I've played Dungeon Petz (Příšerky z podzemí in Czech) once so far and while the rules were a bit complex, I believe I understand about 90% of them and other sessions will go faster. The game is both a worker placement thing with some micro management. As you can tell from the box art, the game's graphics are lovely though the game board is slightly cluttered (though still keeping the graphics mostly functional).

After I play it some more, I'll write a post about it, as usual.
EDIT: Here's the post

Race for the Galaxy

I don't play many pure card games. The couple I've played can be counted on fingers of one hand. It's because I didn't see much originality in their core systems - you have cards in your hand, you use them and draw new ones. The games I own usually have cards as a side system - they either give you some kind of ability to work with the pieces on the board, work as items or actions in RPGs or add an extra layer of strategy (Loyang, LNoE, Agricola) but on their own, cards don't go further that a game of Crazy 8s, as in reacting to cards in a certain pattern, or Poker, as in working on your strategy while deceiving your opponents.

And then one day I played Dominion which did something original with the concept of cards - you were building your own deck of cards with cards that were immediately useful and cards that were useless but counted as points at the end. It was like the pre-game part of Magic: the Gathering you do at home being a part of the game itself. No wonder Dominion became such a hit. It did something, as far as I know, different with the whole deck-hand concept. Race for the Galaxy, while not turning the whole deck-hand thing upside down, achieves something similar. Something refreshing that makes it a very enjoyable game.

Rose Delight cupcakes

I made these cute cupcakes with my friend Vero almost two years ago. I remembered them as I went on a trip down the memory lane and realized I haven't shared the recipe. These are actually one of the first cupcakes I've ever made. We followed a recipe from a book (that I got from Vero) called 200 cupcakes by Joanna Farrow and I confess I haven't really made any changes to the recipe. We actually went to Marks & Spencer and bought some of the less available ingredients like the Turkish delight and rosewater. I gotta say it was definitely worth it!

The cupcakes are lightly sweet, Turkish delight has a unique flavour that might not be to everyone's liking but believe me when I say that it works as a great base for the cupcakes. As for the pomegranate seeds on the top - it looks gorgeous and very professional. While I'm not a big fan of whipped cream on cakes because it seems kinda cheap to me, here it delivers a fluffy, light feeling to the sweet rosy base and carries the seed that are both fun to eat and a treat for the taste buds.

Zabaione

I went to Rome a week ago an while it was my first time in Italy, it certainly wasn't the first time I had come in contact with it. While everyone knows that pizza and many different kinds of pasta are Italian cuisine, the Italian desserts are somewhat overlooked. I guess that anyone is able to name the ice-cream "gelato" (which actually means ice-cream but is much different from what can be bought in a store) and tiramisu but other than that? 

I've come across a recipe for Zabaione, or alternatively spelled Zabaglione, in a search for more Italian dessert recipes after I made Cantuccini about 2 years ago. I've made Zabaione couple times now because it is simple yet challenging, incredibly rewarding and infinitely customizable. See, it's only egg yolks, sugar and wine. And a lot of whisking. A LOT! It is usually served with fruit like strawberries and blueberries but you can also use soft sweet bread like panettone or a soft sponge cake. Yum.

Valentine Vanilla Heart Muffins

As the 14th February rears its heart-shaped head, you too might crumble under the pressure of being all romantic and decide it's time to make something for your significant otter. The way to a man's heart leads through his stomach (unless you plan to stab him, in which case it's better to start a bit higher) but I'm quite positive that anyone enjoys muffins especially if they are enhanced by a cute heart inside.

I discovered the idea for these muffins at a really cool site dedicated to stuff inside cupcakes and adapted it to an easy muffin recipe. Eventually, I tried to make frosting but once again it didn't end up well and I am a proud owner of a delicious cream spread that's good on cinnamon toasts but is too runny to be used as frosting. Anyway, here's the recipe!