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And one more for you "unnecessary" quotation marks fans:
And speaking of hard-to-read cakes, there oughta be a law against squiggles that look like words:
Elle? Ollie? Edie? Why does the confetti look like writing, and the diploma scroll look like a Seuss hat? Especially when everyone knows you're supposed to make them look like Swiss Rolls, like this?
- Related Wreckage: And They Say Customer Service is Dead


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16 inch 18k white gold ball chain.
|chain width: 1m
*please contact us for alternate metal and chain length/ width options.
*Due to the fact that we are a small brick and mortar style boutique, product quantities may vary. What this means is that items may be in the process of being sold at the same time you are making your online selection. If the item you have purchased is no longer in stock, we will contact you to either help you choose an alternative, place your selection on back order or refund your purchase entirely.
Please feel free to contact us directly for any product questions.
email@example.com or 780-458-4660

subset: commoncrawl


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|Home Cooking Products Range Hoods Wall Mount Hoods Viking Tuscany Series TVWH360AG
Viking tvwh360ag
In the 70's Fred Carl Jr., a fourth generation building contractor was building kitchens for his clients and saw many of them used commercial ranges in their home. When it was time for him to build his own kitchen, he realized the commercial ranges that were offered were not well suited for the home. His wife wanted a classic looking range like the old Chambers, her mother used to use. His solution was to create a hybrid range that would combine the look and styling of commercial ranges and yet have the safety features and sizes home consumers desired.
Consistency in both performance and design should be a major consideration when building or remodeling a home. With the complete Viking indoor or outdoor kitchen, every single product works together in form and function with the same level of excellence. It's something Viking calls Design Integrity.
Viking offers complete ultra-premium kitchens and truly consistent design, while delivering the quality and performance that make Viking the true market leader. Across all product categories, the knobs, handles, bezels, curves, angles, and lines all follow the same design cues â even the grain of stainless is the same from product to product. This enables the designer to create a perfectly harmonious kitchen in one of three Viking product offerings â Professional Indoor, D3 Indoor, or Professional Outdoor.
You wouldn't install mismatched cabinets and drawers or countertops. Yet design differences are even more dramatic between multiple appliance manufacturers. Traditional or contemporary. Stainless or color finish. No matter the look you're going for, no one can match the Viking kitchen and Viking Design Integrity.
Viking Ventiliation
Viking Tuscany SeriesA Taste Of Italy You Can Enjoy Every Day.
Florence, Italy is known for outstanding food, delicious wine, impeccable design, and attention to detail. Combining Italian design with Viking Professional performance, the Tuscany range was born in the heart of Italy. This sophisticated new line of Italian Provincial ranges are sized and featured to meet the needs of American architecture and lifestyles. Incorporating the highest quality materials and unsurpassed reliability Viking is known for, Viking Tuscany is offered in multiple configurations and options to meet the most discriminating tastes.
CA Residents: Prop 65 WARNING
Virtually Seamless Design
Blend in and stand out with a smooth, clean look and a virtually seamless design.
Heat Sensor
With the help of a heat sensor, cook without care as our ventilator automatically increases power if temperatures reach uncomfortable levels.
Bright Led Lighting
Dimmable lighting controls provide custom illumination for enhanced surface cooking visibility. Long-life LED light bulbs are energy efficient and consumer replaceable.
Heat Lamps
Ready when you are. Heat lamps conveniently keep food warm until it is ready to be served.
Quietest Hood And Ventilator Combination
Tough-box ventilator housing protects blower and quietly removes smoke and odor.
Backlit Led Knobs
Backlit LED knobs extend and illuminate to control lighting level and fan speed, then fully retract when not in use.
Tuscany Wall Hoods - 18"h. / 24"d.
• Heat lamps standard (250 watt heat lamp bulb not included)
• Dishwasher-safe commercial-type SS baffle filters with handles
• Separate removable grease trough for easy cleaning
• Virtually seamless stainless steel canopy interior for easy cleaning
• Canopy only; must also purchase interior or exterior ventilator kit, sold separately
Warranty Highlights
• Two-year full complete product
• Ninety-day full cosmetic parts such as glass, painted items, and decorative items
• Five-year limited all ventilator motors


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FLOW round dining table – Travertine (Travertine cylinder)
Delivered to you within 6-10 weeks
Would you like to see, feel and try our products in real life or do you need advice from our interior stylists? Make an appointment to visit our showroom in the Netherlands. If you are too far away to visit us, we are happy to schedule a videocall or assist you in any other virtual way.GET IN TOUCH
Aime Té on social mediaFollow us on Instagram


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PlasticSurgery.review is the #1 review site you can trust for Tummy Tuck San Francisco, United States surgeons, reviews and prices. Screen all the best doctors and surgeons based on real reviews and results from their past patients. Finding the best doctor to perform you Tummy Tuck has never been easier or more effective. See their before and after photos, cost and more. Read More
Making the right decision when it comes to Tummy Tuck is not always as straight forward and easy as it seems. Plasticsurgery.review has taken all the guess work out for you, enabling you to make an informed decision based on results when it comes to choosing the right candidate for your Tummy Tuck in San Francisco
All doctors are rated by past patients on these strict criteria:
Request a no obligation consultation for your Tummy Tuck procedure. For advanced prices and cost please see our surgeons profiles directly.


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Welcome to the Arbroath Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Clubs (AFVBC), we are one club within the growing network of Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Clubs; each club is run independently by their members for the benefit of their members.
56.558121324045, -2.58792055
Like other Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Clubs around the country and overseas, our ethos is mutual support. It works because we all have a similar humour, outlook and the social life we now enjoy is like our service days.
All services are welcome Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force etc (serving or veterans). If you can cope with the banter, turn up on the specified day/morning and you will be made welcome, the club is run by its members for the benefit of its members and all visitors pay for is what they eat/drink.


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Once you've decided that you want to buy a home, you should determine what payments you can comfortably afford. We provide many tools such as an affordability calculator that give you a general idea of what your payments would be, but to get a better idea of the price range of homes to view, you should apply for pre-approval. A pre-approval is beneficial in many ways. First, it gives you an idea of what loan amount and purchase price you can afford. Second, it strengthens your offer to the seller and the seller's real estate agent. Third, by getting pre-approved, you're getting a jump start on the approval process. Once you find your home and open escrow, you're already a few steps ahead. Apply for pre-approval today.
There are many loan options available from first-time buyer programs to traditional conventional, jumbo, and FHA loans. There are fixed loans and adjustable loans with flexible terms to meet your needs. If you're interested in lower payments, an interest-only loan may be a good option for you. With all the options available, you need expert advice to help you choose the right loan for your situation. Be sure to visit our loan options page to learn about all the options that are available and if you have more questions, you can call one of our home buying experts!
Once you've been pre-approved and have an idea of what price range you qualify for, you can work with a Realtor to view homes for sale in the areas you'd like to live. Need a Realtor? no problem. we can help you there too. Once you find a home you like, you can work with the Realtor to draw up an offer and complete a purchase agreement. The seller has the option to submit a counter-offer and you may go through several rounds of counters.
Depending on how much time has passed since we issued your pre-approval, we may need to collect some updated information and updated documents from you. We probably have everything we need, but it is a good idea to go over the home purchase document checklist to ensure we have everything we need.
Once we have updated your file, your home buying specialist will go over the details of your loan program, confirm the rate that you want, and go over your closing fees. We'll make sure that you understand every detail of your loan program and answer any questions you have before moving forward.
At this point, if you'd like to secure your interest rate, your licensed Loan Officer will send you a lock agreement to confirm the terms of the loan and rate.
It is advisable to schedule a home inspection with a professional who will walk you through the property to look for any red flags such as structural damages or appliances that may not be working properly and other items that may need to be fixed. It is a small investment for some peace of mind. Any major issues would need to be addressed before the close of escrow date. While your loan is being reviewed and processed, we will schedule an appraisal appointment with the seller's agent to confirm the value of the home. Unlike a home inspection, that appraisal is a requirement to determine that the home is worth what you are paying for it.
Once we have everything we need, your Processor will submit your complete file to the underwriting department for approval. Once approved, we will prepare loan documents for you to sign. Generally, it will take 30 minutes to an hour and when you're done, you're the proud owner of a new home!


text: Find Mistress is a website for men who are looking for a confident Odisha mistress, signup for free to view local women you can chat with. Find Mistress is a free adult dating community for finding a mistress in your area, all listings are private and membership takes just a few seconds. Click a city within Odisha from the list below or scroll to the left to view listings of a BDSM mistress directly.


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The Millennium Small Axe Puck is made up of an interlocking mini driver and a mini putter. The minis lock together with a patent-pending design that provides a tight secure fit resulting in a secure storage container with a storage cavity approximately 3 3/8" around by 3/4" deep. There is an optional expansion ring to increase the storage capacity by about 3/8". Expansion rings are sold separately.
Despite the tight fit, the Puck opens easily by wedging the putter edge upward. Molded from buoyant food-grade plastic and snapped together with a water resistant seal, the discs individually float in water and the Puck floats carrying all but the heaviest cargo.
The long range mini driver is called the Ratchet. It weighs about 51 grams as the heaviest flying driver in mini disc golf and sports a super large 4 3/8" diameter. Its sharp wing design and large bead help lend stability for hard throws and windy conditions. Put some snap on the Ratchet for a nice controlled S-curve. The name Ratchet is Jamaican slang for a switchblade knife, sharp and concealed, which fits the Ratchet Driver to a tee.
The putt and approach mini is called Fat Bwai (pronounced Fat Boy). It weighs about 54 grams as the heaviest flying mini ever made and sports a super large 4 3/8" diameter. It reflects the tall even-radius aerodynamic design favored by many disc golfers and its heavy weight lends stability, wind resistance and that drop to help range your shot. The Fat Bwai is a straight flyer out of the gate and holds a beefy line for those sneaky hyzer and anhyzer shots. The name Fat Bwai is Jamaican slang for a big jolly friend -- just what you want in a putter.
Colors are white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and black. Please note that matching same color Pucks provide the best locking seal. You can mix and match colors but due to the inherent variability caused by plastic colorants, results may vary when mixing colors.
Fun disc golf accessories.
- Stock: Out Of Stock
- Model: Acc - Millennium Puck Set
- Weight: 0.51lb


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Block Advisors Block Advisors
We can help your small business with taxes, payroll, and bookkeeping.
Navy Exch Sigonella 210 024
Nas 1 C Da Sigonella
Sigonella, Sr, IT 95100
(334) 998-5159
Our tax pros at Navy Exch Sigonella 210 024 in Sigonella, Sr, IT can handle all your tax needs. Whatever your situation, we know what to do. Schedule an appointment today.
If you find a bigger refund somewhere else, your tax prep is on us.
Our No Surprise Guarantee means you know the price of tax prep before you begin.
Our pros have an average of 10 years' experience handling even the most unique tax situations.
We can help your small business with taxes, payroll, and bookkeeping.
Encuentre un profesional de impuestos que hable Español cerca de usted.


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Mogliano 1744
Mogliano 1744 is a commemoration of an event happened during April 1744 when six regiments of the austrian-hungarian army stopped by Mogliano for a month. They were going to south with the goal of fighting the advancement of the Spanish army in the Naple Reign. During a month of stay in Mogliano, the soldiers established very good relationships with the locals. When they had to leave, a parade was organzed as a farewell and Mogliano was given the title of "City" by a paper of the Queen of Hungary signed by Giorgio Cristiano Lobkowitz, the prince of the empire.Read More
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You may have heard about the Fuelshark. According to the package, you may have seen it on TV. That same package also says the Fuelshark will save you 10% or more on gas, and all you have to do is plug it into your cigarette lighter. Too bad the Fuel Shark is bullshit. And it's $39.95 worth of bullshit.
Seriously, you could plug an olive into your 12V socket and get similar results to what the Fuelshark does. And most of our regular readers will know this. But there's still plenty of people out there who are bright people who don't know or care about cars, and they want to save money on gas. Who can blame them? They may Google the Fuelshark, and find videos like this one from a Pittsburgh ABC affiliate:
Which, of course, may be enough to convince them that this thing actually works. Hell, they even have a quote from a Jaguar mechanic! He's got to know absolutely everything there is to know about car electrical systems from his years of dealing with Lucas electrics.
The point is, there are still many people buying the Fuelshark. The company claims they've sold over 10,000 of them. The company also sent me two review units, out of the blue, which started all this in the first place. So, let's get to some real science here, and allow me to explain why I believe the Fuelshark is complete and total snake oil. With science.
I should also mention that Fuelshark isn't the only product like this out there. There're others that use essentially the same methods and make the same claims, like the Fuel Doctor, and the results I found here would apply to those similar products as well.
First, I did the best, most controlled test I could manage to see if the Fuelshark had any effect at all. They claimed that it would work as well on older, carbureted cars as newer ones, so this first test I did with my '73 Beetle.
In order to isolate the results as much as possible from environmental conditions, traffic, etc, I decided to do a test where I could maximize control and minimize environmental variations. So, I ran a fuel line from the fuel pump directly to a gas can with 1/4 gallon of gas, then started the car and let it idle.
By idling at a constant engine speed, I could time how long it took to drain that 1/4 gallon. One run with the Fuelshark, one without. I also turned the lights on and off at set times in the test to vary the electrical load on the engine.
Here's the results: without the Fuelshark, the Beetle ran for 44 minutes, 37.18 seconds. With the Fuelshark, the engine ran for 42 minutes, 20.51 seconds. Which means it actually did a little worse.
I don't actually think the Fuelshark made the engine use more fuel — I just think it wasn't doing anything at all, and the results I got were in the normal range of variability. In fact, the Fuelshark people suggest testing this way:
we find that actual road tests show the best results as the Fuelshark works best when driving conditions are varied by road grades, turns, start/stops/ engine cut off and restarts, and highway driving combined.
... which is pretty much the best way to introduce as many variables as possible into a fuel economy test, and would cause the most variation in MPG no matter what the car had plugged into it. You would have to do a massive amount of testing like this to get any remotely credible MPG results.
So, I saw no result on my real world test, but to really understand the Fuelshark, we need to try and figure out what it's actually doing. The company claims the Fuelshark works in two slightly different ways. On their website, they claim
To maintain optimum electrical performance and improve MPG, your car will run better with a stable voltage environment. The Fuelshark provides just that. It is a multi-purpose Voltage Stabilizer. Fuelshark's design instantly stabilizes your car's electrical system, resulting in better fuel efficiency and overall performance. By stabilizing your car's electrical system, one big benefit is that your engine's spark plugs deliver a strong even spark, resulting in better combustion. This can increase power and MPG, in addition to having cleaner emissions.
And you'll notice they're also claiming better power and emissions, too. On the package, they claim the Fuelshark works by
... supplementing the required voltage for devices such as lights, stereos, power windows, etc. By using the Fuelshark, your car's battery does not struggle to provide the additional power needed to operate these devices.
This second explanation, at least, is grounded in reality, as Mazda is using a system (a vastly more complex system) that accomplishes essentially that to remove electrical load from the engine for increased fuel economy.
With these explanations in mind, let's look inside the Fuelshark. I enlisted the help of my friend Tom Jennings for this, since he knows a great deal about automotive electrical systems.
The Fuelshark consists of a blue LED (similar to this), a 35v 1000uF capacitor (like this one), and a 4700 ohm resistor (like this), along with a fuse and the housing/plug assembly. Based on the explanations of how the device works — either "conditioning" the car's electrical system or storing energy in the capacitor to help take electrical load off the engine when needed, we could only conclude that there was no possible way these components could achieve anything remotely like that. The amount of energy capable of being stored in that capacitor is on the scale of 1x10^-6 too small to be of any possible use to assist the car's engine.
That capacitor is capable of storing about 0.0072 joules of energy. A gallon of gas, for example, has 132,000,000 joules of energy, and a capacitor like the one in the Mazda system stores around 25,000 joules. The Fuelshark capacitor is capable of storing enough energy to keep that LED lit (through that resistor, which dims the LED and lengthens the time significantly) for 20 seconds or so, and that's it.
This device physically CAN'T do any of the claims the packaging or advertising suggests. It's not a matter of test procedures, the hardware is simply incapable of storing even a millionth of the energy required to perform the task the explanations describe. There's no hedging here — anyone with a basic background in electronics would know this.
I sent this to the president of Fuelshark, and got this response back:
Over the past four years we have sold over 10,000 Fuelsharks and monitored our returns and customer feedback vigorously. To date we have had 86 returns and I have personally spoken to dozens of customers that have told me that while initially using the product they tracked their mileage very carefully and saw significant increases in MPG without changing their driving habits. We have a section in our FAQ that demonstrates proper consumer testing procedures which was sent in the package with every Fuelshark order.
Capacitors are now being used by auto makers to store and release energy in order to improve MPG. Mazda has introduced this in their SkyActive I-Eloop system using a 25 Volt capacitor. We use a 35 Volt capacitor. Article attached (Nov27 Mazda).
There's a some interesting things in this response. Most notably is that he's comparing the Fuel Shark to Mazda's system. He makes that comparison sound like one the Fuelshark wins, because, as he correctly points out, the Fuelshark has a 35V capacitor and Mazda uses a 25V. The problem is it's a totally useless comparison.
Voltage isn't a unit of how much a capacitor can store — it's something closer to a unit of electrical pressure. And, your car runs at 12V, which is why Mazda is stepping down their 25V to 12V-14V. Voltage just doesn't matter here.
The relevant measurement here would be a unit called farads. Mazda is using a capacitor in their i eLoop system that's rated at 120 farads. The Fuelshark' capacitor is rated at 1000 microfarads. If you do the conversion, you'll see that the Mazda capacitor is 120,000x larger than the one in the Fuelshark, which is why Mazda's getting the results they're getting.
Let's just think about that for a second. Even if you had a thousand Fuelsharks, you'd still need 120 times more to equal the ability to hold the same amount of charge as the one the Mazda uses. The Fuelshark simply does not have the hardware to do what they claim.
The fact that the Fuelshark people are comparing themselves to the Mazda system is amazing. In fact, if I had a hypothetical company that made plug-in capacitors for cars that allegedly saved gas — let's call it the FuelTorch — and I wanted to obfuscate and confuse people when asked how my system works, I would probably point out the voltage as a comparison. Just to confuse people. Because I would, fundamentally suck.
So, to recap, the Fuelshark not only does not give the results it claims, it physically, technically, can't give those results. It simply does not have the ability to store enough energy to be useful for anything beyond lighting a little blue LED. It's like peeing into the ocean and expecting the sea levels to measurably rise. It's not going to happen.
So, if anyone is Googling this, please consider these facts. If you still absolutely, positively must get some placebo to stick in your cigarette lighter, consider paying 1/10th as much for it.


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Along with British society, the royal family has been gradually modernizing its attitudes to birth and parenting. William's father, Prince Charles, was present at the birth of his two sons, who were born in a hospital rather than a palace -- both breaks from royal tradition. But William is the first senior royal to receive statutory paternity leave, which was introduced in Britain in 2003.
Some family campaigners say William, a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot, is setting a good example in a country where until recently new fathers have taken little time off.
But others say two weeks is not enough, and argue social and economic pressures still discourage fathers from spending time looking after their newborns.
"There is an element that employers -- and men themselves -- are thinking of them as the ones who earn the money and stick in that role when children come along," said Jeremy Davies of the Fatherhood Institute think tank. "It can be quite difficult to set yourself apart from that."
Under British law, William is entitled to two weeks off at a flat pay rate of just under 137 pounds ($206) a week. He's lucky -- the military is among employers that pay more, and he will receive his full salary for the fortnight.
The government says two-thirds of new fathers take some paternity leave, but less than half take the full two weeks. Some are ineligible because they are self-employed or haven't been at a job for at least six months. Others just can't afford it.
Mothers, who receive the bulk of parental leave, can take up to a year off, though only 39 weeks of it is paid, and not at full salary.
The rules are changing. Under recent changes, new fathers can take up to six months leave by using up some of the year of a partner who has returned to work.
But few do. Elizabeth Gardiner of campaign group Working Families said that in the first year the flexible leave was offered, only 1,650 men in Britain took it.
She said the solution is to set aside some time off for fathers only -- a practice in Scandinavia known as "daddy months."
"If you really want fathers to take up leave you have to earmark it for them and you have to pay it properly," she said.
That's what they do in Sweden, where new parents can take 16 months' paid leave, divided between the parents as they like. Two months can only be taken by the mother and two months by the father -- if not, the time cannot be transferred to the partner and is forfeited.
As an incentive, it works -- In 2000, Swedish men took out only 12.4 percent of parental leave; by 2010 their share had nearly doubled to 23.1 percent, according to government statistics.
At the other end of the scale is the United States, where there is no government-subsidized nationwide paid paternity leave, though some companies and a few states including California offer it. Many companies and the public sector offer unpaid leave to new fathers.
Britain is moving to offer fathers more time. Under legislation currently before Parliament, from 2015 parents will be able to split the 50 weeks of paid leave as they like.
Changing attitudes may be harder than changing the law. A recent study by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto found that men who take on caregiving duties at home receive more abuse at work than men who stick to conventional gender roles.
"It was a pretty powerful result," said Jennifer Berdahl, professor of organizational behavior at the Rotman School. "Men who did relatively more caregiving at home experienced a lot more `not man enough' harassment and teasing that threatens their status in the workplace."
Prime Minister David Cameron took two weeks' leave when his daughter Florence was born in 2010, and it drew comment -- some approving, some critical of a national leader stepping back for 14 days to look after a baby.
Jeremy Davies of the Fatherhood Institute said William was setting a good example -- up to a point.
"What would be fantastic would be to see Prince William to take some time where he was the primary carer at some time during the first year," Davies said. "That's the stuff that leads to a really strong relationship with the child."
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Red Sox - 012 001 000 - 4 9 0The Rays beat the Orioles 5-0 and the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 6-1, officially eliminating the Red Sox from the AL East and the Wild Card, respectively. But Boston wanted to make sure they were totally dead, so they blew leads of 3-0 and 4-2 and lost to the White Sox.
White Sox - 000 200 111 - 5 9 1
Lackey (6-3-2-2-5, 108) pitched well enough to earn a win, but the six relievers used over the last 2.2 innings allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, 3 stolen bases, and 3 runs.
J.D. Drew and David Ortiz both hit solo home runs; Jed Lowrie and Adrian Beltre had the other two RBI. Boston had a couple of singles in the eighth (Ortiz and Lowrie), but left runners at first and second.
Outside of Flo's dong in the sixth, the last man the Red Sox had at third base was with two outs in the third inning (that was also Ortiz).
We still have a chance*! Gotta win the last six games while the Yankees go 0-5.Patterson, CF
Drew, RF
Martinez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowrie, SS
Reddick, LF
Varitek, C
Lopez, 2B
*: Somewhere around 0.07%, according to BP.
A seven-game winning streak for the Sox (including last night's game) would be the longest of the season. Can New York lose six in a row? They are 17% of the way there! But their longest losing streak of the year has been only four games (which they have done twice this month).7 PM:
Yankees/Blue Jays
1975 - Four Oakland pitchers combine to no-hit the Angels. Vida Blue (5 innings), Glenn Abbott (1), Paul Lindblad (1), and Rollie Fingers (2) share the honours in a 5-0 win on the final day of the season.
1988 - Orel Hershiser sets a new record for consecutive scoreless innings: 59.
1995 - Montreal's RHP Greg Harris becomes the first pitcher to pitch with both hands since Elton "Ice Box" Chamberlain (1888, American Association). Harris faces four batters, two from each side, in a 9-7 loss to Cincinnati. During his time in Boston (1989-94), Harris wanted to pitch lefty and righty, but GM Lou Gorman refused to allow it.


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I bake cookies only occasionally as I find them far too fattening. Since my boy has been asking for Chipsmore, Tim Tam and Oreos more frequently than usual, I've decided that it's time that I start making homemade cookies as a routine. At least I know what goes into the cookies I made, than to have him snack on commercial biscuits which are usually very high in fat and sugar content.
So, here's the first batch of cookies I tried...they are none other than the familiar Chocolate Chip Cookies, originally called Toll House cookies. These must be one of the simplest form of cookies, as what all baking books will tell you, they are also know as Drop cookies. They are so called as the cookie dough is so soft that it drops off the spoon and onto the baking sheet. Drop cookies are mainly made by the Creaming method...where you beat butter and sugar till the mixture turn pale and fluffy. Eggs are then added in followed by flour and any other flavourings such as chocolate chips, nuts or raisins. It's pretty simple and straight forward. However, there are still a couple of things to look out for...besides bringing the butter to room temperature (take it out from the fridge and leave it at the counter for about 30mins); the eggs have to be at room temperature too. The butter mixture tends to curdle when eggs are added, especially if they are not brought to room temperature. To prevent curdling, it is always a good practice to add the eggs a little at a time (I do it a teaspoon at a time, I have a little helper who is always eager to give a helping hand whenever he sees me busy with butter, flour and eggs), and beat well with each addition. If the mixture does curdles, just add in 1 tablespoon of the flour before adding more eggs. To make sure the cookies do not spread too much, you can always chill the dough in the fridge before baking. I didn't have problem with these cookies though.
Another good thing about making these drop cookies is that you don't even need an electric mixer. A wooden spoon can complete the task, although it does require some arm power when you first beat the butter and sugar together. Let the machine do the job if you don't want to develop huge biceps ;)
As usual I seek my kid's opinion on what kind of cookies he would prefer, and without thinking, he requested for chocolate chips cookies, and he likes them to be crunchy, no chewy cookies for him. I went through 3 cookie bibles and almost gave up before I saw this basic chocolate chip cookies from this book The Cookie and Biscuit Bible. It is so basic that the recipe is found under the introductory pages instead of the rest of the chapters, I'm so glad that I didn't let it slipped away.
These cookies taste fabulous. They are the best chocolate chip cookies I have made. I'll have to attribute the rich flavour to the 3 main ingredients I have used: SCS pure creamery butter (those that come in a silver wrapper) which has got a very nice buttery flavour and reasonably priced; semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips which are really rich and creamy; and that one teaspoon of Madagascar Bourbon pure vanilla extract from Nielsen-Massey works wonder. It's amazing how good quality ingredients can make such a great difference to an otherwise ordinary batch of cookies. These cookies have also the right crunch, unlike store bough cookies which I find way too crunchy and dry.
Having raved about how good these cookies are, I still find it difficult to convince myself that homemade cookies can be in any way a much healthier choice. Till I can find a recipe that has been proven to yield both delicious and yet healthy cookies, it remains as a challenge, and requires some careful balancing act (I can't help for the pun!) to choose the right snacks for my growing up kid.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes about 24 cookies)
115g butter, softened
115g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g plain flour
175g plain or semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 180degC. Line baking trays with parchment paper.
- With a wooden spoon or electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg gradually. Mix well after each addition. Add in vanilla extract, mix well.
- Sift the flour over the mixture, fold in with wooden spoon or a spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough onto the prepared baking tray. Leave some space between the cookies to allow for spreading. Flatten each cookie dough slightly with the back of a fork, keeping the shape as even as possible.
- Bake for 10 mins or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
* Chocolate - substitute 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder for the same amount of flour.
* Replace chocolate chips with equal quantity of whole or coarsely chopped nuts such as macadamia nuts or hazelnuts; or use combination of both chocolate chips and nuts - 75g of each.
Recipe source: The Cookie and Biscuit Bible


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Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Retrospective: Car Wars
Among my favorite micro-games were those produced by Steve Jackson Games. Car Wars was originally released in 1980, but the first version of the game I ever saw was the 1983 edition pictured here. This edition came in a small plastic "box" that contained its short rulebook, fold-out maps, and counters to cut out. As its name suggests, Car Wars is a game of vehicular combat, set in a near-future world where oil and food are scarce and battles between heavily armed and armored vehicles -- known as "autodueling" -- are a popular form of entertainment.
Of course, the game's thin background is little more than a framing mechanism for a fun little tactical combat game. Players begin the game with a small budget with which to purchase a car, pickup truck, van, or motorcycle and outfit it with as much offensive and defensive modifications as they can both afford and their vehicle can carry. Then they enter autoduel tournaments to test their mettle and win cash prizes with which to improve (and repair) their vehicles, or purchase new ones entirely. Car Wars is a very straightforward game with a tight focus, which made it quite easy for my friends and I to pick it up and enjoy it. Of course, its tight focus also made it somewhat limited, which is why designer Steve Jackson eventually came out with supplements to the game, the only two of which I ever owned were Sunday Drivers and Truck Stop. Truck Stop, as its name implies, included rules for tractor trailers and buses, while Sunday Drivers was the "roleplaying" supplement to the game, as it had rules for playing pedestrians and using buildings in the game.
Some friends of mine had a fold-up ping-pong table in their basement, which we used as our playing area for Car Wars. I think we kept the maps from the game perpetually taped to that table (to which we added others as we acquired the rules expansions) for many years. Whenever we'd gather to play one of our RPG campaigns, there was a good chance we'd start playing Car Wars either before or after we'd roleplay. For us, Car Wars was a great pick-up game: quick to play and not particularly mentally taxing -- just the kind of thing teenage boys like. As I recall, we didn't do very much autodueling in our games, preferring instead more larcenous scenarios, with the players generally taking on the roles of criminals and I (sometimes assisted by a friend) the police.
We had a lot of fun playing Car Wars. Indeed, some of my fondest memories from those days involve the game in some fashion or other, so much so that I was thinking of trying to get a copy of the game again. Unfortunately, Steve Jackson Games no longer produces Car Wars. There is a PDF version of a "rules compendium," but it's longer than I ever remember the rules being, which suggests that it includes lots more supplementary material than I'd probably want. Plus, I don't like PDF rulebooks. There is a card-based version of the game that I recall hearing about, but it's out of print and, even if it were in print, I'm not a huge fan of card games anyway. That pretty much leaves the secondary market and I'd be amazed if many playably intact copies of the game are still kicking around nearly 30 years later. I'd love to see SJG re-release the original games; I don't expect that to happen. but a guy can dream, can't he?
43 comments:
Steve Jackson Games has re-released them, albeit in digital form on the e23 website.ReplyDelete
The Fifth Edition products are still in print ... no vehicle design rules, but I like the comic book-size booklets, and each comes with tons of accessory mayhem counters.ReplyDelete
I was always surprised nobody tried something like this during the Clix Boom of the early 00's. We were using matchbox cars for the original anyway.ReplyDelete
Check Noble Knight games.ReplyDelete
I got a copy of the original (plastic envelope) version, uncut, for about $20 US. (You might spend more on shipping than on the game!) So there are still some out there.
Great game. I wish I'd played more of it, but I was in a pretty big AD&D crowd in those days.
Car Wars was a fun game. It was a good gateway game to D&D and other RPGs and I used it that way in highschool. "oh so you like car wars did you? You liked having the same driver from game to game? Do you know there are other games in different settings that let you play with the same character from game to game?"ReplyDelete
I loved Car Wars too, as well as SJ's Ogre and G.E.V. games.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Check out Road Kill Rally from Z-Man Games - while it has no car design system and is more of a boardgame than a tac game, there's really no other modern car combat game (that I know of).ReplyDelete
Car Wars was a great game as well as all those pocket and Task Force Games. I miss those days a lot as well. Cheap games, a lot of fun to be had.ReplyDelete
Chitin was my favorite. Bugs fighting each other while trying to harvest food. Awesome little wargame.ReplyDelete
Man, I loved that game. It's where I learned what a bootlegger was, a fact I bring up to my family whenever I see one in a movie.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2011 at 11:45 AM
I still have a box of my father's old microgames around here somewhere. I keenly remember the disappointing discrepancy between the thrilling, dramatic cover art and the bland, near-blank hex-map "boards" and minimally designed cardboard rectangles that served as pieces. Didn't stop me from enjoying a good game of OGRE or Sticks and Stones, though.ReplyDelete
Car Wars, played it during lunch in High School. And speaking of Task Force games, during science lab we played Swordquest, Task Force Game #7--my personal preamble to D&D. Those were the days, as Archie Bunker use to say.ReplyDelete
This game and the Milton Bradely printing of Axis & Allies are what started me down the 'gamer' road.ReplyDelete
Old school Car Wars rocked. It would have rocked ferociously if the acceleration on the vehicles was doubled.ReplyDelete
Forget all the funky stuff that came later, the core rules (and maybe DEATHTRACK) are all you need. Deathtrack of course for the Chassis and Crossbows rules.
I've still got my micro version of Car Wars, Truck Stop, Sunday Drivers and Boat Wars. It's been a while since I've played them though.ReplyDelete
I talked to Steve Jackson a few months ago (he was at my local Game Store) and mentioned Car Wars, it sounded like he wanted to re-release it but didn't know when he'd do so.
I started as a wargamer (AH, SPI). Metagaming's Melee/Wizard microgames were my gateway to RPGs.ReplyDelete
I still have my Car Wars microgame. I remember huge miniatures table layouts for Car Wars games at conventions in the mid-80s.
Car Wars was the best. Just like all the other Microgames, you could carry them in our pocket and play them just about anywhere you wanted to. Not like today where your ONLY expected to play 40K.ReplyDelete
Never played Car Wars but this post reminds me of one of my favorite gaming podcasts, Roll 2D6, which I think got its name from the main kind of roll in Car Wars. They are still on iTunes, though they are defunct. Their episode on RPGs is nothing short of brilliant, taking a look at the description of what RPGs are from the rule books themselves.ReplyDelete
I don't have the micro box anymore but I do have the full-sized 1980s Deluxe edition. :)ReplyDelete
Ah, another game I need to introduce to the kids.:)
Wow - I remember this one - I had the black plastic box version. I used to love the old Microgames - Melee, Wizard, and Deathmaze - hey, remember Kunk Fu 2000? That was a trip!ReplyDelete
Car Wars is a great game. I was part of the first official AADA (American Autodueling Association)group out of Omaha, NE known as NOVA (New Omaha Vehicular Association). Man, those were some heady days. We playtested a lot of stuff for SJG. Tanks were a big one. In fact, we had made rules for transformers when they were first popular. Yeah, we had cars and trucks battling Deceptacons. What a blast!ReplyDelete
There was also a computer version of it called Autoduel, that is an all time fav of mine. Released by Origin Systems (Lord British's company)....ReplyDelete
There is an apparently similar Java based version called Darkwind, but I have not had the chance to try it out yet.
Car Wars, Traveller, and D&D were the best games ever...
Around 2005 Steve Jackson tried the re-releasing packaged as comic book sized games, with all of the counters you would need as cardstock inside. They're still in print, look for the "Car Wars Division" books at http://www.sjgames.com/ourgames/everything.html?line=7&show=print . It captures the small, cheap, and fast of the early games, but at the cost of completely eliminating the car creation rules.ReplyDelete
The creation rules were updated for publication as their own book. They even entered public playtest, but they were never released. I'm guessing the market proved too small to support it.
The Compendium is so large because of all of the options. The original game only had one type of engine (reconned to be electric), but now there is a parallel system for gas engines. One type of armor (retconned to plastic) is now two or three. Piles of weapons with special rules. Trikes, hovercraft, boats, and more. The Compendium was intended for long time fans to collect everything in one place, and it works admirably. But as an introduction it's a bit frightening. The good news is that the old game you love is still there, it just has all of the options that were added presented alongside. Mechanically modern Car Wars is almost identical to the 80s edition. The only big change is the addition of the Turning Key, and that was mid-90s. (And the Turning Key is a total win, eliminating the need for graph paper arenas and making more smooth turns possible with no increase in complexity.)
Typical Car Wars game circa 1985.ReplyDelete
Step 1: Spend 3 hours designing vehicles (most of the time we would all end up with a pick-up with all the armour at the front and twin Rec-rifles.
Step 2: Play a duel style game where each car would make a pass and then crash whilst attempting an impossible turn.
Step 3: Reflect on our shortcomings and plan improved designs for the next game a week later.
That probably went on weekly for about 6 months but I still have fond memories of those games.
My friend owned Car Wars and I know I read it but I can't be sure I played it. Did Games Workshop create a similar game that had road tiles?ReplyDelete
I still have all my old Car Wars stuff. I love that game, I even ran a game of it on the web a long time back, play by email where I'd use The Gimp or Photoshop to update and post the results. Good times.ReplyDelete
The new version of the rules are a lot of fun too, but the way they released them was a problem. No construction rules wasn't a big thing for me, but I know it was for a lot of people. Also they released them by division, so they released the tiny division five cars first, but if you wanted the more fun division 10 and 15 cars, you had to wait a couple months. But that aside, I did like the new rules. Definitely worth a look.
I played the Autoduel video game on my friend's Apple II. Good times.
I never played the original, but the card game version of Car Wars is fantastic. I regularly run it and Battle Cattle (same rules) at conventions, and it's a huge hit. Non-collectible, and extremely fast playing.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2011 at 3:30 PM
The thought just struck me on how maybe SJG should re-release the little black box, just as WotC has re-released the 'red box'. Probably not worth the effort, but I'd still buy it.ReplyDelete
Did Games Workshop create a similar game that had road tiles?ReplyDelete
Indeed. It was called Dark Future, and spawned a line of novels, as I recall. In a move of surprising generosity, GW have made the rules available for download here. It's similar in concept to Car Wars, but at 220 pages, it's no micro game!
Coopdevil at Fighting Fantasist has created a similar game called Axles and Alloys. The link is at the bottom of his blog.
I've still got a ton of Car Wars stuff at home, and even though I haven't played them in a while, I still am very fond of them.ReplyDelete
Car Wars Mini (equivalent to the small box, it says) is only a dollar at e23: http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG30-1119
There's also pdf copies of what looks to be every issue of ADQ ever. Now that was a gaming mag - half in-game articles, half gaming articles, some fiction, and a few advertisements which presented you with car designs.
Oh, and there was an earlier (1983) GW game called Battle Cars. This one used card counters for playing pieces, although appropriate Citadel miniatures were available, of course. A friend of mine owned a copy and raved about it, but for some reason we never played it.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2011 at 4:23 PM
I played it, but it never bit me or my group.ReplyDelete
I did see someone running a big game of this (or something similar) at Origins last year, using Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars as miniatures.
I suspect that your micro-games aren't so much gone as gone PDF. Avalon Games offers a long line of "mini-games" on e23, many of which are mini-wargames, and I believe I've seen them on other PDF sites from different companies.ReplyDelete
I was a Car Wars freak and bought everything I could for it. Oh, the fun we had mixing it up with cars, trucks, boats and even blimps. We drew the line at Tank Wars, though. Interesting idea, but too much time to set up. Doesn't mean I didn't buy it, though.ReplyDelete
I think I still have the little AADA pin somewhere. This was a great game.ReplyDelete
Car Wars Mini (equivalent to the small box, it says) is only a dollar at e23: http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG30-1119ReplyDelete
John Fiala, this is the Mini Car Wars introductory pamphlet that SJ Games put out in 1987. It was based on a simplified version of the pocket box rules (no rules for tire damage, as I recall). It gave you the bare minimum that you needed to try the game, but the rules are incomplete.
Taxonomer_X, I also still have my AADA pin!
- AnonymousJanuary 6, 2011 at 4:00 AM
GW have made the rules available for download here.ReplyDelete
yay, all the dark future articles and rules from white dwarf. i lost some of those and have been looking for ages.
thanks for posting the link! :D
If you didn't enter the arena at 100mph you were a wimp. [Even having a powerplant incapable of 100 was no excuse.]ReplyDelete
There may be a reason why our games only lasted a second or three in game time.
I find most good wargames are role-playing games. If they are not, they tend to be rather unrealistic. In a good game you identify with the units under your command.* This difference is magnified as you reduce the game to a single piece (be it a car in Car Wars or a starship in Star Fleet Battles [another game which was pure in it's original microgame format and corrupted by later expansions]).
[* One of the most profound pieces of advice I was taught when I was first taught how to wargame was that I should consider having to write a letter home to each of the parents of the troops under my command that died. Good advice, as it taught me to conserve my troops as much as possible and the benefit of having a reserve to exploit opportunities. And it came from someone that had to do the real thing far too frequently in his life.]
I have an intact and playable copy - but it's not for sale, sorry.ReplyDelete
We used to tear things up in the Armadillo Autoduel Arena on a regular basis. That map was a blast.ReplyDelete
"I find most good wargames are role-playing games."
I agree with this. I don't need a complex background, but just a simple story is enough to give me a connection to the world, and that makes it more fun for me.
There seem to be a lot of games from around the same time that are fondly remembered and out of print. Maybe someone should retro-clone them?ReplyDelete
All of the SJ mini games were awesome! I also loved his earlier Metagames stuff (Fury of the Norsemen, Melee, etc). I recently picked up the old GURPS Auto Duel supplement, which tries to flesh out the world and all the RPG aspects. One of these days, I'll actually use it!ReplyDelete
The Car Wars card game was okay, just not the same experience. I barely remember a thing about it, other than I and some friends played it in some restaurant or other.ReplyDelete
The original Car Wars was greatly enhanced with a few supplements. I got tired of the Uncle Albert's catalogs constantly coming out with new stuff, but Autoduel Champions (Car Wars with superheroes) and Car Wars Deluxe were inspired supplements.
I still have Boat Wars, Ogre, GEV, Car Wars, Truck Stop in the original little plastic packages.


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How to pay for treatment. Mental HealthAmericawebsite.
Types of mental health professionals. Mental HealthAmericawebsite.


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