Food and Drink!

[Kamen]

Ah, tabletop gaming, getting together with your friends and rolling dice to slay monsters, tell stories, and have a good time! But what is a good time without some snacks to chow on and and beverages to wash 'em down? What does everybody like to nosh and sip while they, as Ross so eloquently put it once, facilitate battles between imaginary elfs? Anything from simple snacks to full blown meals, sodas and juices to beers and whiskey are all invited. Also, if you have recipes or suggestions feel free to share! I know my hunger is never truly sated and new tastes are welcome!

Personally, my group tends to grab a few pizzas or a boat-load of Chinese food before we get into the nights adventure. We also usually have some sort of chips, with or without dip, or cookies, but those usually come later in the night. In the past I've made whoopie pies and chocolate cake that have turned out pretty good, if not a little messy. My latest plan is to cook up some pierogies and see how they go over.

Drinks range from water, Mountain Dew, and Coke, to alcoholic beverages like ciders (usually Woodchuck, but Strongbow and Angry Orchard have shown up before), Kraken Rum, and usually whatever bourbon or scotch I decide to pick up. I'm a fan of Jura scotch and Wild Turkey bourbon, though I've acquired some Booker's True Barrel bourbon and Pendelton Canadian Whiskey that are both pretty good. Beer does have its place at the table, but it really depends on who shows up that night for the quality. We've gone from borderline water like Natty Light to more substantial stuff like Blue Moon and Shock Top to craft stuff like Rogue and Dragon's Milk.

That's about all I got for now, but I'm sure I'll come up with more!

[Tim]

The age of my group is closer to 40 than it is 30 and that with other factors means we only play once a month if we are lucky and I like to entertain and so I try to cook something. Two games ago we did a Sunday morning game and we did breakfast which was fun but normally it is a hearty soup/stew. The wife and I just took the plunge on sous vide so we are playing with that and I think the next game I am going to do a sous vide roast.

So how I have managed to live this long with out owning a BBQ but have been eyeing a few different ones and if I pull the trigger on that I suspect we will go through a round of grill all the things.

From the drinking front people tend to bring something they like but we always have beer. I also am a cocktail geek so mix drinks for people (simple things like old fashions or negronis, not tiki drinks) if they want and there is neat scotch, rum, or tequila.

My current favorites scotchs -
Sprintbank 10 Year
Ardbeg Galileo
Glendronach 15 year

My current favorite rums:
El Dorado 15 year
Mount Gay XO

The nice thing is being a bit older people know there limit so I don't have a problem serving hard alcohol since people don't tend to get shitty.

[Biest]

I have two groups. In one we do bring whatever we want to drink and snack and sweets to share. Then order food from a delivery service when it is time to eat. Usually italian. It is pretty much gluttony.

With the other groups we change venues and whereever we will play the host will cook something and then we each split the cost. We drink lots of tea during those games, provided by the host usually or bring whatever we want to drink. Usually some kind of soda.

Not too big of a fan of drinking and gaming and neither are my groups. Sometimes someone opens a beer but I keep the drunk gaming to special ocassions.

[Tim]

I don't want to give the impression that we pound drinks and play games. Most people have a beer of two of maybe a cocktail of neat pour of something. That with food over the course of a four hour gaming session means most people don't really get more than slightly buzzed.

Not that there has not been a board gaming session or two where those rules went out the window. A buddy has hosted weekend board gaming marathons and when you are staying the night people tend to give them selves license to act a bit different.

[Graywalker]

It use to be that I would get together with my pals and down pizzas' and sodas while we played our D&D sessions. Now the group is split up into two groups and I am with a new batch of pals. The venue has changed from pizza joint to Gamer Bar where if things start to become to outlandish I can order a beer or two and keep up with the crazy things my friends think of doing.

[clockworkjoe]

drink: goat's blood

food: congealed goat's blood



 

[Mr. Purple]

I'll admit that my palate is a midwestern one, so when it comes to food during the game I will inevitably choose the unhealthy option.  Deep fried, fatty, salty whatever; mostly chips with the occasional dip, mixed nuts, hard candies, etc.  If there's a meal to be had, we try to eat before the game; nothing interrupts the recording worse than a doorbell in the middle because someone ordered a pizza. ^_^

As for drinks, I like rum.  I think you all know I like rum.  I generally have a rum and coke at the game, maybe two, or one Sailor's Curse (which is rum mixed with rum and more rum, on the rocks to break it up a little.)

[Kamen]

Oh Ross, you horrible monster.

Thanks for sharing everybody! Definitely seeing some stuff I'll have to try.

[Tim]

drink: goat's blood

food: congealed goat's blood
[/quote

But son, it is only Tuesday.

[Flawless P]

I have two groups.

One only gets together sporadically, and we play marathons, like 8 hours or more. Usually we take a break in between to eat. Although there have been one or two times where meal time coincided with a meal in game, which works out, eating and role playing is strangely fun.

As for drinking, it's usually light across the group. Everyone there enjoys drinking but tend to keep it confined to 1-4 beers throughout the day.

My other group meets Thursday nights and we almost always get pizza. About half the group drinks, one of which catches crap for drinking nearly an entire large bottle of wine to himself.

The Thursday game is a little less serious though due to the sheer amount of people all trying to play.

On average we have 7 players at the table and the group actual size is 9 players 1 gm which is nigh impossible.

We make it work to the best of our abilities but battles generally take entire sessions to complete.

[Teuthic]

I'm going to resurrect this thread and hijack it for my own purposes! So I'm trying something new today and cooking with tripe: the meat was cheap as shit and the one time I've had cow stomach I liked the weird taste. Who else here has seen something utterly strange at their local supermarket and decided they had to do something with it? Experimentation is the soul of cooking after all!

I'm making a soup with the stuff: a simple onion, tomato and chile affair with some added spices. I'll tell you all how it tastes when I'm done! If it's good, I may make it for my next game night.

[Tim]

Being pretty high on offal in general it is somewhat sheepishly that I confess I on the fence with regards to tripe. I have enjoyed it in the past but also have really not enjoyed it as well. Given this ambivalence I have many other cooking unicorns to pursue so I personally have never cooked it although I still will occasionally order it to see if my tastes have changed.

If you end up liking tripe you might give this a whirl. Had it a few times in restaurants and it is one of the few tripe dishes I have always enjoyed.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/04/the-nasty-bits-trippa-alla-romana.html

[Kamen]

I'm going to resurrect this thread and hijack it for my own purposes!

Go right ahead! I figured this is just a general topic so it's all good!

While not venturing into the unusual edibles, I have been experimenting with cooking lately and just fried up some Japanese-style croquettes! They're beef and potato with some onion and panko crumbs on the outside.

[Teuthic]

So I made the soup: it's a little lighter than I expected, but tasty. Next time, I think I'll add potato to the equation and up the amount of chile in it.

[Tim]

I'm going to resurrect this thread and hijack it for my own purposes!

While not venturing into the unusual edibles, I have been experimenting with cooking lately and just fried up some Japanese-style croquettes! They're beef and potato with some onion and panko crumbs on the outside.

What are you using as a binder? Been thinking about some salt for croquettes for a bit now and I might just have to get off my butt and get moving on that project.