Eat Your Undertale Obsession: Spider Cider

Still salivating for Undertale, but don’t want to jump on the Genocide bandwagon? Maybe you can whet your appetite through foodstuffs. Yes, it’s another recipe from the amazing Toby Fox game, Undertale. If you haven’t yet played this wonderful game, be aware there are spoilers in this post.

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I’ve had my share of apple ciders before, so I know the recipe isn’t difficult. But 9999 gold? Come on Muffet. That’s price gouging. You know we all scrounged to pay for it, just to avoid having to fight you. And for the record, I never stepped on any spiders.

Most cider recipes are pretty basic. Apple cider (or apple juice) jazzed up with some spices. I like this recipe by Pretty Cake Machine because she adds an amazing sugar spiderweb to the top of her spider ciders. Check it out:

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All right, because I love these cider webs so much, I’m going to give you the recipe for the cider here, but you’ll have to go to Pretty Cake Machine for the instructions on how to make the webs.

SPIDER CIDER

  • 1 quart apple cider
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 5 allspice berries
  • 10 cloves
  • 1 small orange, slices
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  1. In a large saucepan, combine the first group of ingredients. Heat on low for 30-40 minutes or until steaming nicely; do not bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and strain the cider to remove all the spices.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine the berries and sugar with 2 tbsp of the mulled cider and bring to a boil. Boil for about 3 minutes, stirring regularly, until the berries have broken down. Mash the berries thoroughly, then run the syrup through a sieve to remove the berry skins. Stir the blueberry syrup into the mulled cider.

Enjoy,

Tim Kane

 

 

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Eat Your Undertale Obsession: Spider Cider Doughnuts

I’ve spent the past month playing through Toby Fox’s Undertale. Twice. If you’ve never heard of the game, go check it out. It’s amazingly addictive.

Be aware. If you haven’t played Undertale yet, they may be some minor spoilers in this post.

Anyway, I played with my daughter (she actually did all the work). We ran the neutral route first, not knowing that you could spare people. We ended up killing Toriel, which haunted us for weeks. Finally, we restarted and ran a pacifist route.

On our second try at the game, I noticed how many food items were scattered around the Underground. Of course, we snatched up as many as possible to be able to survive some of those boss fights. (Ahh Mettaton!)

Then I discovered that recipes for these foodstuffs exist all over the Internet. So I thought I’d collect them here.

First off, we have Muffet’s Spider Cider doughnuts

Muffet

Muffet

We never got a chance to try these because we only encountered them outside of Muffit’s lair. If you’ve played the game, you know that here they cost 9999 gold. Too rich for my blood.

Spider Cider Doughnuts

Spider Cider Doughnuts

I found this recipe on Jaybug Jimmie’s Web but the recipe is originally from toxiccaves. The recipe is shown below. I added the salt because, as a home baker, I know salt enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1/3 cup of sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons of apple sauce
  • 4 tablespoons of apple cider
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 4 teaspoons of vegetable oil
  • Purple food coloring (a mix of red and blue)
  • Sprinkles

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 325° F.
  2. Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt.
  3. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl: applesauce, apple cider, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
  4. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ones, and mix. Once thoroughly blended together, add a few drops of purple food coloring until the batter is the right shade of purple.
  5. Pour the batter into a donut pan, (or a muffin tray is a fine substitute) and then pop it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out clean.
  6. Once they are done and have cooled down, roll them in a cinnamon sugar, or a glaze (made of powdered sugar and water).
  7. To decorate, look for spider-shaped sprinkles (best available at Halloween time), or use black and purple ones. Black sugar crystals will melt into the donuts a bit and make it look like you have tiny spiders baked into the dough.

You can choose to sell your spider cider doughnuts in the ruins for a reasonable price, or jack it up just outside Muffet’s lair. Stay tuned for a Spider Cider recipe.

Tim Kane

The History of the Trump Cards Giveaway

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Ceccoli has long been one of my most favorite artists. What a joy that I discovered a tarot deck has been created form her art. Win a set of Ceccoli Tarot cards and help support my blog post with Biddy Tarot on the History of the Trump Cards.

Book Blurb

When Kassandra Troy discovers an ancient tarot deck, her life takes a thrilling and frightening turn. She triggers The Magician card, and releases the mysterious and captivating Luke Rykell. He lifts Kassandra out of despair, dispelling the devastation she feels after her father’s death. But Luke has a dark secret. He wants the magical deck for himself. The only way Kassandra can save herself is to journey into the Tarot cards. But once inside, can she ever escape?

Irresistibly compelling and heart-wrenching, Tarot: The Magician is a superb fantasy tale that will haunt you long after you’ve read the last page.

Download the ebook from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords. Not sure? Read a free sample here. Or click on the fancy schmancy button below.

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Tarot Book Trailer

I worked for over two months drawing and coloring the panels you see in this trailer. I wanted it to be as special as the book. However, I was daunted by the music. I’m no musician. However, if it were silent, or had canned music, that would undermine all the hard work I put into the animation. Bradley Coy came to my rescue. For the full story on how the theme for the book trailer was created, read A Theme Song for an ebook.

Book Reviews

Don’t trust me. Here are readers who have read and commented on the book.

“I especially enjoyed Kassandra’s journey through the cards as she tries to solve the problems she’s faced with and find her way out. And the ending gives me hope for a sequel (or a series?)” by Tara at Dividing by Zero

Giveaway Details

By helping me promote Tarot: The Magician, you get your own set of astounding Ceccoli tarot cards. I’ll mail them to the winner after the April 10th deadline. Click this LINK or anywhere on the image below to take you to enter the giveaway. Hurry, this event ends Friday, April 10th!

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Discover the Hidden Secrets Behind the Tarot Trump Cards

I am very excited to announce my guest blog post on Biddy Tarot.

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Research is like a second life for me. The more I dig, my mind keeps searching out connections until there’s a whole network of ideas.

This was the case with the Tarot. While writing Tarot: The Magician and the sequel, Tarot: The Moon, I delved into all corners of the Tarot world, gathering facts along the way. I was surprised to learn that the Tarot trumps derived from the Danse Macbre and was connected to the Black Plague (both cheery thoughts, I know). If you want to learn more, click on over to Biddy Tarot to read the full article.

Also, check back on Monday for a giveaway to support this blog post.

Thanks,

Tim Kane

Surreal Lightbulbs and the Multiple Moons of Earth

Surreal Lightbulbs

Lightbulbs. Everybody has them. They serve a utilitarian purpose to illuminate. Yet one artist considers them as more than glass and filament. Pieke Bergmans has elevated the simple lightbulb into an art form.

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The young Dutch designer imagines that her lightbulbs have been infected with the dreaded “Design Virus.” She says, “It is a light bulb that has gone way out of line. Infected by the dreaded Design Virus, these Blubs have taken on all kinds of forms and sizes you wouldn’t expect from such well behaving and reliable little products.”

Bergmans calls her light sculptures “unlimited edition,” becauset each unique piece is made using an industrial process she developed that can be repeated until the end of time.

The Turnip Princess Fairy Tales

Do you remember reading Grimm’s fairytales? I sure do. What if there were hundreds more you never heard of? The Brother’s Grimm weren’t the only folks wandering around the European countryside collecting tales. Around 1850, Bavarian lawyer Franz Xaver Von Schönwerth traveled collected popular stories and folklore, writing them down. The Grimm stories survived, Schönwerth’s didn’t. Until now.

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The Schönwerth collection of 500 fairytales was discovered in a local German archive by Erika Eichenseer. Now these tales have been translated into English by Maria Tatar, chair of Harvard University’s folklore department. The collection is called The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairytales.

You can read one of the best stories for free. Click the link to see The Enchanted Quill, a tale about a magical crow.

A Webcomic That Goes On Forever

Most comics restrain themselves to tiny rectangular frames. Each frame tells a story and the reader moves from frame to frame. But what if the comic illustration never stopped. It simply rolled on the way a long tale might.

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Enter the Frostblight Saga, a tale about a fox, a bear, and what happens to the humans who invade their woods. Most webcomics are simply a digital version of their printed counterparts. But the story created  by Michael Doig and India Swift can only exist on the web.

It does feel like it has distinct pages, but the vertical format is one long illustration, effectively conveying the power of the winter setting to the reader. As I read it, I get a distinctive Game of Thrones beyond the wall feel. Check it out, why don’t you?

 Earth Has More Than One Moon

Forget the controversy over whether Pluto is a planet or not. Everyone knows that Earth has only one moon, right? We don’t even give it a specific name. It’s just, The Moon. The only natural satellite that orbits our home planet.

Starting in 1997, astronomers discovered another natural satellite, 3753 Cruithne. Now this is hardly moon-sized and it’s orbit isn’t strictly around Earth. Cruithne loops around the inner solar system in what’s called a “horseshoe” orbit.

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But it don’ts stop with Cruithne. Apparently Earth plays den mother to several other wayward lumps of rock. Our tenure as a single moon planet has ended. Long live the multiple moon Earth.

Check out more about this story here.

I hope this has fully sated your yearning for the weird and fantastical. Until next time.

Stay strange.

Tim Kane

Photographs of Reveal Victorian Monsters

I am secretly in love with all things Victorian. Old locks, vintage recipes, tea cups, and yes, photographs. Then I stumbled onto the art of  Colin Batty. He takes old photos and tintypes and paints on the actual print to create a new, surreal, scene. Yes, you heard me right, no photoshop in sight. This is a time honored technique done by the Victorians themselves.

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Since the first daguerreotypes hit the world in 1839, people have painted on the photos. To a modern person, this seems bizarre, but to a Victorian, a photograph is nothing different than a canvas where the lines have already been drawn. Originally, people wanted to make the image realistic, and that meant color. They used watercolors, oils, crayons or pastels. To learn more about painting on photos, visit Janine Kilroe’s site.

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Color and realism are not the aim of artist Colin Batty. He took up his brush to transform estate sale photos into creepy images that scare and excite the viewer. Batty hails from Manchester, England and has worked on films like Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks as well as the Oscar-nominated short The Sandman.

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Seeing Batty’s work, I can’t help but think of the Peculiar Children series written by Ransom Riggs. Riggs also digs up estate photos from years ago. Although these photos are unaltered (at least by him) and serve as inspiration for his story.

Addison, a peculiar dog

Addison, a peculiar dog

One other artist springs to mind when you look at Batty’s surreal Victorian images, and that’s Travis Louie. He hand paints each figure to resemble the old daguerreotypes prints. He does this to have full control of the image, whereas Batty simply modifies the image.

Cynthia Smithson

Cynthia Smithson

I swear, you get the three of these guys together, and they could outfit an entire gallery.

Happy viewing,

Tim Kane