Yum

Side Quest: Craft Night - Wall Decorations

This is a really fun craft that can add a lot of fun to a game room or a kid's bedroom. It's made by gluing together bunch of one inch wooden blocks together to make your favorite 8-bit characters. For this, we made Link and an Octorok.




Gear!
Lots of 1 inch wooden blocks  - we got ours here!
Wood Glue
Damp Cloth
Paint and Paint Brushes
Spray Polyurethane

Quest!
First we decided our designs. We did this by simply Googling Original Zelda in Images and selecting designs that were easy to divide into pixels.

Once you have divided your picture up, count the number of blocks you will need. We laid our blocks out and arranged them. The blocks had different colors and grains of the wood, so take your time to make it nice.

Glue the blocks together and wipe any excess glue off with a damp cloth. Let dry completely.

Paint Time! Paint your blocks the way you like. Tip: If you are doing Link, Zelda, or other Hylian character, leave their skin unpainted. You may have to paint other areas more than one coat.

When completely dry, spray with polyurethane - again, two or three coats are recommended.

Attach a picture hanger on the back and hang on the wall. Tada!

We hope you enjoyed this little side quest into the craft closet.




Follow us on Twitter to know when the latest and greatest posts come out!

Quest 33: Lemon Sun Tart - Happy Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day! Each year, on 3.14 it is our duty as a part of the geek community to celebrate with delicious pie! Today, we will be doing our part by creating a tribute to both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. With Spring well on its way, it seemed appropriate to have something with a little Spring flair - Lemon Sun Tart. Now for those of you not playing along at home, sun markers appear in the Spirit Temple in OoT and in the Ikana Castle in Majora's Mask. This is so good, you may be making them again come Easter. Enjoy!



Gear! Get the Printable Recipe Here!
Crust
2 cups almond flour
½ teaspoon sea salt 
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla
5 Tablespoons of butter -  cut into pieces and cold 
3 tablespoons sugar
1 Large Egg
Lemon Curd
5 Egg Yolks
1 Cup Sugar
1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice and zest (about 3 lemons worth)
1 Stick of Butter - Cut into small pieces then chilled

Additions
Raspberries
Nectarines
Blueberries
Whipped Cream

The Quest!
 Start with the crust.  In a food processor, pulse all the crust ingredients until combined. 





Wrap the crust in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Press the mixture into either a greased large tart pan or two small tart pans. We are making one large tart pan for this post. 


Flash bake the crust for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely.




Now, let's make the lemon curd! In a double-boiler bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Zest and squeeze the lemons. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Place on double boiler. Continuously whisk until thickened over medium heat, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture coats the back of a spoon and is generally the consistency of pudding.


Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time. Transfer to a container and chill for at least 2 hours. 






Putting it all together! Spoon the lemon curd into the cooled crust. Slice nectarines and wash berries.






Arrange fruit by creating a circle in the center - be creative - we used raspberries and blueberries. Then add nectarines as half of the sun rays and raspberries as the other half. Use blueberries for eyes and whipped cream for the whites of eyes and mouth. 




Gorgeous! Enjoy this lovely tart.


 We hope you enjoy this recipe and Happy Pi Day!!

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and all that social media. Thanks for checking us out and we hope you stop again. 

Quest 32: Cucco Tortilla Soup


I have a new theory! I believe I may have found a new rift in the timeline. Now just hear me out. Link has issues with chickens. They wander into his way, berating him and baiting him into attacking them with his sword. Now instead of the chickens coming after Link and killing him - picture this: Link actually wins and there is a bunch of dead chickens everywhere. What to do with all this chicken? Glad you asked! Today, we will be sharing our recipe for gluten free crockpot chicken tortilla soup. This recipe is super easy, delicious and does most of the work while you're not there. Enjoy!

Gear! Get the printable recipe here!
20 oz. chicken breast - cut into small pieces
1 large red bell pepper - chopped
1 jalapeno pepper - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
2 garlic cloves - chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes - halved
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 carton of chicken stock
2 cups cheddar cheese - shredded
3 oz. cream cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt and pepper

Quest!
In a saute pan, sweat onion until translucent. Add peppers and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add olive oil to a crockpot and set to low. Add pepper and onion mixture to crockpot. In the same saute pan, add olive oil and chicken to pan. Salt and pepper and cook until white. Add to crockpot. Using the same saute pan once again, melt butter and add arrowroot powder once butter begins to sizzle and foam. Whisk together until mixture is a medium brown color. Add to crockpot. Add chicken stock to the crockpot. Simmer for 4-6 hours on low. Add tomatoes and corn - continue to simmer for about an hour. Shut crockpot off. Stir in cream cheese and cheddar cheese until melted. Serve with tortilla chips and Enjoy!


If you like the Zelda Gourmet, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. We appreciate your love of Zelda too and want to hear your ideas too. Thanks!

Quest 31: The Ocarina of Time

Has the thought of Daylight Savings Time got you down? Well in places where it affects you - have no fear! The Ocarina of Time can certainly help with this situation. Today we will be making these to just help with the shift in time. This is a slightly fancier version that you will find on the rice krispies website and I hope you enjoy!




The Gear! - Get the Printable Recipe Here
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 T. Nutella
6 cups rice krispies  - I am using GF.
1 cup mini chocolate chips
2 bags Blue Candy Melts
3-4 tablespoons of Crisco

The Quest!

In a double boiler, melt butter. Add mini marshmallows and melt. 






Add peanut butter and Nutella - mix until smooth. Turn off heat.





In a large bowl, add Rice Krispies and marshmallow mixture. Mix together first with a spoon and then get in there with your hands - you are going to have to shape them anyways, so you might as well get dirty. When slightly cooled, but still workable, add mini chocolate chips. I originally used bigger chocolate chips - they were just too big - use the mini ones instead! 

Shape into an Ocarina shape - making sure that your stick out is secure and molded to be part of the shape. - Set aside on wax paper to fully cool.





In a double boiler, melt the blue candy melts. It was a little thick, so I added a few tablespoons of Crisco to thin it out. I also added a little blue food coloring to make them a little darker. 




Dip each Ocarina in the candy melt and return to waxed paper to harden and consider decorations.
Add any decorations: black sugar dots or chocolate chips for buttons. While candy melts are still soft so they stick. Wait until hardened and Enjoy!








 If you like the Zelda Gourmet, become an email follower or Google +1 so that you get the newest recipes when they come out. Also Like us on Facebook, follow us on Tumblr and Pintrest! 

Quest 30: Golden Bug Chocolates



Hail Princess Agitha! Not only is she an interesting character in Twilight Princess, but she is also a really fun character to play in Hyrule Warriors. Golden Bugs, themselves, are an interesting side quest to Twilight Princess, but there is not better way to make a lot of rupees in order to purchase the Magic Armor and further feed it to actually use it. Today we will be making Goddess Butterflies to help us find our way to the coming Spring. These chocolates are sure to please even the Easter bunny. This is a pretty easy recipe that I am confident everyone can try and succeed. Enjoy!
Gear: 
4 oz Dark Chocolate Melts
5 tsp. Caramel Sundae Topping
1 plastic or silicone mold of bugs - Today I will be using butterflies
Silicone Brush
Gold Foil Wraps
The Quest: 
In either a microwave safe bowl or a double boiler, melt the chocolate. I prefer the double boiler method because it allows me to put the chocolate back on the stove to stay melted until I can complete the second round of chocolate -- read on, you will get my meaning.


With a silicone brush, brush the mold with a layer of chocolate. I want the detail of my mold to really show, so I am making sure to get in all the crevices. Make sure to get enough chocolate in the mold to cover what will be the outside of the chocolate. You don't want the filling to escape so easily. Put the chocolate back on the stove.





















In the meantime, form 1/2 teaspoon sized balls of caramel and place them into the molds on top of the first layer of chocolate. Next, gently press down on the caramel balls to make them level with the top of the mold.










Pour the remaining chocolate into the molds to fill them completely. Tap the molds against the counter top to release any air. Set in the refrigerator to firm up the chocolate for about 10-15 minutes.










Release the chocolates from the mold. Admire how good they look. Now for the final touch! Wrap each chocolate in a gold foil to make them both magical and worth much more to Princess Agitha. Remember that you will most likely not get to see all your detail when you put the foil on, but that makes unwrapping them that more special. 





If you like the Zelda Gourmet, become an email follower or Google +1 so that you get the newest recipes when they come out. Also Like us on Facebook, follow us on Tumblr and Pintrest! 

Quest: 29: Bombs Away!


One of the most useful items in all of the LoZ titles are Bombs. I like that they allow you to not only defeat your hard to beat enemies, but also open up new paths to explore. In honor of this awesome item, we are going to make bombs! Now, before you go getting all crazy on me - we are making edible bombs that are no way harmful unless you are allergic to chocolate, fondant or cherries. That's right~ we are making chocolate covered cherries!!! Super easy, fun and of course - delicious. Enjoy these with your sweetie for Valentine's day - just around the corner!! Enjoy!


The Gear
10 oz, Jar Maraschino Cherries with Long Stems
8 oz, Melting Chocolate
6 oz. White Fondant
Waxed Paper
Cookie Sheet

The Quest

 First thing is to drain the bottle of cherries in a colander in the sink. You can also save the juice for a lovely cocktail later. Pat them dry with a paper towel and set aside.
In a double boiler over medium low heat, add fondant and stir until liquefied. If you have a little trouble getting it to melt, add just a tablespoon or two of milk to help get it going.
Turn heat off. Dip each cherry in the fondant. you may have to use a rubber spatula to help get the fondant onto the cherry. Let excess fondant drip off back into the pot.
 Transfer to a cookie sheet with wax paper on it. Let these set up for about 30 minutes.
In a double boiler over medium low heat, add chocolate and stir until liquefied. Turn heat to low. Dip the base of each cherry into the chocolate. Let the excess run back into the pot. Transfer back onto fresh waxed paper.
Once you have gone through all the cherries, they should be ready for their final coat. Take your first cherry and start again. Only this time, dunk the whole cherry into the chocolate. Again, you may have to use a rubber spatula to cover the cherry, Let the excess drip back into the pot and transfer to waxed paper.
 Let these set up for about an hour. You can trim off some time with a 30 minutes trip to the refrigerator if you have the space. . 











If you like the Zelda Gourmet, become an email follower or Google +1 so that you get the newest recipes when they come out. Also Like us on Facebook and Share this with your friends. 
Created By Sora Templates