“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads...
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Ramblings of a Casual Gamer: Dragon Age: Inquisition

I haven’t done one of these in a while, mainly because I’ve been playing Skyrim, and there’s not a lot to say about that other than it’s freaking addictive. I’m still largely avoiding the story line and turning bandits into human pincushions.

Over the Christmas break I started Dragon Age: Inquisition. I really love this series; the characters are always interesting, the banter hilarious, and the story line intriguing. So, I was extremely excited when they announced Inquisition, and it went straight to my wish list.

It’s a beautiful game. The characters and scenery are well-developed, and I love the color. One of my favorite things? Short load times. I love Skyrim, but sometimes it takes forever to load on my PS3.

The story’s great, continuing with some of the characters and the effects of Dragon Age 2. I’m missing the personal touches from my choices in the previous games, but my saves were lost in the Great PS3 Meltdown of 2013. (The bemoaning of which can be found in previous posts.)

Varric’s banter is pretty good—not Morrigan/Alistair awesome, but entertaining, and I like the organic feel of the conversations with my MC.

Battle is…interesting. It’s smoother than previous games, and the tactics part is cool, but I’m not great at putting it into play. It’s also different because I’ve gotten used to soloing everything. It’s kind of cool having someone to back me up while I run around a rift, trying to get in position to close it.

It’s still early for me. I’ve cleared just about everything in the Hinterlands, but I’ve barely explored the other areas, and I’m not quite dragon-killing leveled. I stumbled upon the Fereldan Frostback while exploring, and let’s just say I was one crispy elf.

And that’s about it for now. I forgot to upload a shot of my character, so I’ll have to add that later. Maybe I’ll do a Casual Gamer character post.


Anyone else playing Dragon Age: Inquisition? Or any other game that’s awesome? Fill in that little comment box and tell me all about it!

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