“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: Going Back (Or more Dragon Age)

In the midst of my Dragon Age: Inquisition campaign, I ran across the character Hawke from Dragon Age II. Seeing that default character lounging on top of my newly acquired base of operations flipped a switch for me, and I knew right then that I had to go back.

One of the coolest things about the Dragon Age series is that what you do in the game has consequences not just in that title, but the following games as well. The alliances you form, the choices you make, even certain discussions can influence the world around your character.

You, of course, can play the games separately, create fresh characters for each one, but then you end up with a default story line and history. I thought it would be fine, that I could settle for a fresh start, but seeing that default Hawke and recalling how different my Hawke was revealed the truth:

I had to go back. Back beyond Hawke to the very beginning when, through unfortunate circumstances, my Dalish elf became a Grey Warden. I had to go back to game one. Dragon Age: Origins.

So I've started again, created a character similar to the one I lost in the PS3 meltdown of  2013, and I'm off to battle the Blight once more. In a way, it's better this time. I'm playing on HDMI this go around, which makes a huge difference when reading inventory text. The game overall looks much cleaner, and I get to play the downloadable content I hadn't been able to get before. I'm attempting to recreate the world as it was, but it's been awhile since I completed my first trip through, and I know a couple things I wouldn't mind changing.

I don't know how much impact my decisions through the next few games will have on Inquisition, but I'm excited to find out!

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