Catan and cooking with friends...
I literally love board games...
Yeah, I know. There are no friends in Catan.
Biography of a nobody day 45. February 14th 2021.
I received some pretty crazy news last night that has sort of knocked the wind out of me- luckily my friends don't take no for an answer when we have booked in some time to chat. Well, we had organised a group cooking session over Zoom then we played a couple of games of Catan via the app. I promised I wouldn't write about the news I received so I won't aside to say that it happened so my blog posts are a little later than usual- I am catching up though!!
Cooking Chinese Koi-fish dumplings.
I am no chef. I can create passably edible food and I have a few specialities that I can do pretty well. I am ace at homemade garlic mushrooms, pasta bake and udon noodles dishes. Clearly nothing breathtaking. Everything else I cook is either bland or I burn it... or it is straight to oven food or out of a tin. That being said- I love trying new things and trying to make dumplings with friends sounded fun.
We all gathered at 1pm and set to making our kitchens looking like a bomb had hit them- there were eight of us in all spread over five households. Out of those five households, only two of them had any real experience cooking this sort of thing- though youtube guides also featured heavily in their kitchen so I didn't feel too out of my depth. This is my kitchen around 10 minutes in...
Luckily you can't see the floor... or the sink... or the wall...
I am not going to pretend I can remember the measurements or even if what I made should have been edible- but here is the video we basically followed. I didn't have half of the equipment I was supposed to have (like a steamer) so I improvised for a lot of it. The ingredients also had to be sourced from the internet since my local shop doesn't have potato starch for the 'pastry'. All in all, my fish worked out pretty good! I was happy with them anyway- though as I said I am no chef...
Ok, so they aren't the prettiest- but a bit of sweet chilli and they went down a treat. I made mine a vegetarian version so Bee could have some- it is Valentines after all!
My history with board games.
I enjoyed Monopoly and Chess as a kid but pretty much never played any board games after leaving home. I got into cards when I travelled and worked in various bars- most countries have a home card game and it is a great way to bond with new people and have some fun. When I started to mature and settle down I stopped going out to the pub and drinking and instead embraced poker nights at home with friends. Poker nights turned into game nights. The game night's blessed me with a new appreciation for the wealth of board games that exist and how massively fun they can be with friends. I was introduced to Catan by a german friend who said Catan is Germany's equivalent of Monopoly. Their 'home game'. It easily ranks as one of my favourite board games along with things like Carcassone, Pandemic and Talisman. I still love playing cards and I think my favourite card game is a Hong-Kong classic- Big 2's.
Catan with my 'friends'...
I am extremely competitive. This has been a great driver for me in many area's of my life... but not when it comes to board games... especially not when it comes to Catan. There are no friends in Catan! I always try to be friendly at the start of the game but by the third round, I have usually made an enemy or two. If you have played Catan you will know that trading with other players is a massively important part of the game. If you want to be successful and win it is anyway. We enjoyed two games whilst chatting over Discord... they both played out the same way. I started off clearly in the lead making enemies left right and centre. By mid-game, I was being ganged up on and no one would trade with me. Then I lose- usually in second place but a loss non the less. I suppose this shows my lack of intelligence and non-commitment to the long game... but everyone knows how I play now so even when I pretend to change the game usually ends the same way... I need to play with some new people!
My ego can only handle so many games like that- so next week we are planning to meet up online again and this time maybe play Carcassone... that way no one can gang up on me... Mwhahahahahaha!!!!!
Side note: Valentine's day.
Obviously, today is also Valentine's day. Let me say on here to the world: I LOVE YOU BEE. Thanks for supporting me and here is to many more years together. Bee got me an awesome book as a gift and I am making her something- it is not finished yet and she doesn't know what it is- so I can't write it on here. I will show you when it is done! I am excited to share it!
Happy Valentine's everybody! I hope you all had an amazing day- whether alone or with your paramour!
