Recipes of the Forgotten Realms: Christmas!

Here are a couple favorite Christmas recipes…. ENJOY! and Merry Christmas!

Spellstitched Sugar Cookies

 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions:

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

 

 

Reason Stealer Rocky Road Fudge

 

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Combine butter, evaporated milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a hard boil for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth. Fold in the almonds and marshmallows. Pour into an 8 by 8-inch square baking pan. Chill until firm, about 2 to 4 hours. Cut into 12 squares.

New Feats: Meta…power?

Metamagic feats.

Disparagingly absent from 4th Edition, metamagic feats could take those wimpy low-level spells and make them worth using again.

Let’s cut right to the chase. I’ve outlined a few ideas for bringing back metamagic, only we’re now going to make it metaPOWER. Let me know what you think.

All feats are Heroic Tier feats.

Empower Power (Metapower): Once per day as a free action, spend a healing surge, but do not heal hp. Increase all variable, numeric effects of a power by one half. An empowered power deals half again as much damage as normal, cures half again as many hit points as normal, etc. Roll the numeric effects as normal, then multiply the result by 1-1/2.

Enlarge Power (Metapower): Once per day as a free action, spend a healing surge, but do not heal hp. Increase the range of a ranged power by one half, rounded down. For example, A ranged 10 power would become ranged 15. Resepectively, a power that has multiple effects, one of which being range, may also be modified. For example, a burst 3 within 20 squares power would become a burst 3 within 30 squares power.

Maximize Power (Metapower): Once per day as a free action, spend a healing surge, but do not heal hp. Maximize all variable, numerical effects of a power. If a player hits with a maximized power, he/she is considered to have scored a critical hit for all purposes.

Quicken Power (Metapower): Once per day, as a free action, spend a healing surge, but do not heal hp. Make the action required to activate a power one action faster. For example, a power that normally requires a standard action would require only a move action. A power that normally requires a move action would only require a minor action, and so forth. Powers that only require a free action cannot be modified by this feat.

Widen Power (Metapower): Once per day, as a free action, spend a healing surge, but do not heal hp. Increase the affected area of a burst or blast power by one half, rounded down. For example, a close burst 3 power would become a close burst 4 power. A close blast 5 power would become a close blast 7 power. Resepectively, a power that has multiple effects, one of which being burst or blast, may also be modified. For example, a burst 3 within 20 squares power would become a burst 4 within 20 squares power.