Quest 74: Vitreous - Gelatin Boss Fight

It's time to do a boss fight! Vitreous is the sixth boss in A Link to the Past in Misery Mire. Described as "a gigantic eyeball surrounded by smaller eyeballs, immersed in an acidic green liquid" certainly sounds yummy, but I think we can make it a little more palatable. Enjoy today's quest to defeat this monster on our quest to save the princess and ourselves from hunger. Enjoy!

Gear!

Large Box Lime Gelatin

2 cups boiling water

2 cups cold water

Small Box Instant Lemon Pudding

2 cups milk, cold

A dozen blueberries

2 envelopes Knoxx unflavored gelatin

Blueberries

Silicone Ice Cube Tray

Bundt pan

Quest!

In a bowl, add one envelope of unflavored gelatin to the bowl along with the 2 cups of cold milk. Let gelatin bloom for about 5 minutes. Add lemon pudding mix and mix together for about 2 minutes. It should be pretty thick. Set aside until you get the ice cube trays set up.

I used a flower silicone ice cube tray from IKEA. This one is nice because it has a place for the blueberries to sit in. Speaking of which, add the blueberries to the bottom of your tray. Any shape should work, but something rounded is appropriate for the eye shape we are trying to achieve.

Once you get the tray all set up with blueberries, add the lemon pudding to the tray. Set in the fridge to set up for several hours. You will have extra lemon pudding, so eat up! It's yummy!

In a bowl, add the other envelop of unflavored gelatin along with the large box of lime gelatin. Add the boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add the cold water to the mixture and stir. Once combined, pour into bundt pan to create a shape. Set in the fridge to set up until fully set.

I did have a little trouble getting my eyes out of the ice cube tray, so I did pop it into the freezer for about an hour and that seemed to help.

Add the eyes to the main gelatin mold by cutting into the gelatin and pushing the eye into the slit.

Do this all the way around until they are all in the mold.

In order to demold this thing, first add hot water to a large bowl. hold the bottom of the bundt pan into the hot water for about 30 seconds. Place a plate on top of the bundt pan and flip it over. If all goes relatively well, you should have something salvageable.

Like this! It looks a little goofy, but take a spoon and flip the eyes around a little more . . .

Ta-da! Your very own boss monster! This is pretty refreshing on these hot summer days, and I hope you will enjoy it too.

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Side Quest: Craft Night - Majora's Mask

I haven't posted a craft project in a while and I wanted to share with you one that I just finished up. So today, I share with you my newest walk decoration of Majora's Mask. This took a weekend to complete because of the drying time, but is generally pretty simple to make.

Gear!

Corrugated Cardboard
Paper Towels
Decoupage Glue - Gloss
Markers
Acrylic Paints

Quest:

Start by cutting your cardboard into a large heart shaped piece. Draw lines to determine where the base of the eyes will be and to divide the mask into four quadrants.

Cut out eye and mouth shapes to give the mask dimension. Also cut ten spike shapes for around the bottom and horns of the mask. Attach the eye and mouth shapes with glue on the top. Glue the spikes from the bottom side.

Cut paper towels into small pieces. Pour about a 1/4 cup of the Decoupage glue onto a paper plate. Dip the paper towel pieces into the glue and place, slightly overlapping each other onto the mask.

The first layer once dried does not look great. That is why I added a second layer. It also helps to develop the dimension of the layers that were added with the cardboard.

This is what the mask looks like with two layers and completely dry. The contouring comes out much better. From here, it's is about painting with the acrylic paints. Outlining the eyes and other detailing with markers. Add two more layers of Decoupage glue over the top to seal the whole thing.

Ta-da! I hope you enjoyed this craft and make one for your own Zelda den!

Quest 73: Eenie & Meenie's Veggie Lasagna

Eenie and Meenie's garden is looking pretty good these days. So today, I thought we could share a great vegetarian lasagna recipe that uses some great vegetables. Enjoy!

Gear!
2 small Zucchini Squash
8 oz. Ricotta cheese
4 T. Pesto (recipe here)
1 Egg
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups of Spaghetti Sauce
1 cup Roasted Red Peppers, chopped
2 cups Spinach Leaves
Box of Oven Ready GF Lasagna Noodles
Salt and Pepper

Quest!

Slice zucchini 3/16 thick with a mandeline. Be careful to use the guarding to keep your digits safe.

Place zucchini slices on paper towels and set a side to dry in the refrigerator for about 4 hrs.

In the meantime, let's make some cheese filling.
Mix together, ricotta cheese, 1cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, pesto, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In the bottom of a 8x8 pan place about 1/3 of sauce.

Add a layer of lasagna noodles.

Add a layer of cheese mixture.

Add another layer of lasagna noodles. Followed by a layer of spinach leaves.

Add a layer of zucchini slices

Add a layer of roasted red peppers

Add another 1/3 of the sauce.

Continue layering until you run out of room.. Top with remaining cup of mozzarella cheese.

From here you can freeze this delight and bake another day at 400 degrees F for about 45-50 minutes.

Or, you can bake it now at 400 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

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Quest 72: Cucco Wings

Cuccos - they help us float down and catch the rupees. They help us float to platforms that would otherwise be inaccessible to us. But once in a while, the cucco fails us or chases us in a large volume that makes us fight for our lives. With all these extra wings around, it is time to do something about it. So, today we will be dining on Cucco Wings. With two different sauces, there is lots to love. Enjoy!

Gear!
2-3 lbs Chicken Wings
Steamer Basket
Cookie Sheet
Paper Towels
Cooling Rack

Sauce 1: Blood Orange Sauce
Juice of 1 blood orange - pulp is okay
1/4 cup apple juice
1 T. GF Hoisin Sauce
1/2 tsp tamari
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
splash of Tabasco
3 T sugar

Sauce 2: Spicy Wing Sauce
1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup Asian BBQ sauce
1 tsp minced roasted garlic

Quest!

First let's render some of the fat off the chicken. Set up a steamer basket over boiling water. Place a single row of chicken wings in the steamer. Steam for approximately 7 minutes. It may take several batches to complete this part of the task.

Once the wings are steamed, place them on a cookie sheet and cooling rack with paper towels underneath. to catch any excess moisture. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Let's make sauces! For each of the sauces, mix the recipe ingredients together in a bowl. If too thick to coat wings, microwave for 30 seconds before coating wings.