Hobbies, Family, & Geekery from a Stay-at-Home Dad
It’s a glorious time to be a Guardian, my friends! The Taken King is here and he is a little upset. He brought a ton of his friends, the massive Dreadnaught, and this sweet, sweet Collector’s Edition that we’re looking at today. Yes, we all …Read More….
It’s been a looooong time since I reviewed something from Disney Infinity. Ever since the absolute madness that was Infinity Corner over at EZ-Mode Unlocked – where I reviewed every single figure and playset that was out for 1.0 – I decided to take a …Read More….
I know most of you don’t know me. I mean, you know a lot about me, but not characteristic stuff. Well here’s something that not many people know – when I’m eating breakfast, I’m a sandwicher. If you or someone you love is also a sandwicher, then you know what it is. If you don’t know anyone like that, it basically means whatever I’m having, 9 times out of 10, I’m going to make it into a sandwich. It’s a blessing and a curse, really. A blessing because it tastes so freaking good most of the time, and a curse because whenever I’m piling something on, I look up to see my wife’s judgmental eyes staring at me. As if I’m a lion on the plains of Africa, about to dig into a freshly caught chunk of bacon.
Anyway, my undeniable love for breakfast sandwiches is about to shine through. Because yes, thanks to Wilton, making a breakfast sandwich just got a whole lot easier!
I know, it seems like all I’m ever doing now are Wilton posts. To be honest, I haven’t really been in the kitchen as much as I used to. I want to say the summer vacation Seb was on from pre-k really messed me up and cranked my laziness up to 11. But he just started kindergarten! So even though it’s unnaturally quiet around the house, I’ll hopefully be able to start working on the blog again.
And here we are! Wilton surprised the hash browns out of me when they said they were sending me these two pans. First off, they’re for breakfast! Not cakes, not cookies, not a holiday mold… Breakfast! In case it wasn’t clear, I love breakfast?! Not only is it the most important meal of the day, it’s also the tastiest (don’t argue with me over that, you’ll lose)! Secondly, it’s not only for breakfast… it’s for breakfast SANDWICHES! That’s it, I’m done. Drop the mic, second round knockout, grand freaking slam.
I knew that once I got back into the kitchen, this is the first thing I was going to do. And it totally was.
As if THAT wasn’t enough, there’s a pan JUST for bacon! I mean, if anything in this world deserved it’s own pan, it’s freaking bacon!
Yeah, you could use it for other stuff. But we all know what it’s really for. It’s ok, Wilton. I caught what you threw. I picked up what you put down. The eagle has left the nest and is headed to Baconville. WINK WINK.
At first, my plan was to make some sort of english muffin for it. Now I don’t know if you’re keen on how to make english muffins (it’s pretty easy), but doing them in a pan like this would’ve been a challenge. So after thinking about it for a few days, I figured the best thing you could utilize this pan for would be pancakes. It’s basically what it was designed for. I’m sure whoever it was that developed this pan, created it for the sole purpose of making breakfast sandwiches with pancakes. And I surely hope that person is considered for the next Nobel Peace Prize
I didn’t originally want to go with pancakes though. I thought the sandwich going to be too much like the one at that fast food joint with the golden arches and the clever names for everything. But then I got to thinking, like I do. And if you’re making these at home, that makes them about 468 times better than that other place. You know what you’re eating, there’s no additives and preservatives that could make it edible for the next 200 years, not to mention it’ll be hella cheaper than stopping over there every morning. So yeah, take that, fast food!
After I decided it was going to be pancakes, the rest of the questions started flowing through my head. Do I put syrup in the pancake batter? Will cheddar cheese in the eggs be ok with the pancakes? Is it worth the time to use that pan for bacon? …The answer to all these questions is “[expletive] yeah!”
Alright, enough beating around the bush, let’s get the breakfast train moving.
The Panwich
1 package – Bacon
3 each – Eggs
A Pancake Recipe
Salt and Pepper
Cheddar Cheese, shredded (optional)
Maple Syrup (optional)
Notes:
…If you leave that layer on the outside of your sandwich. See what I’m saying? I took pictures of my sandwich with the sticky side down (where you would be holding it) because it was better for picture taking. But when you’re making your sandwich, flip it, and have the sticky part on the inside of the sandwich where.. get this… you’ll never touch it!
Alright, let’s get crackin’.
It’s easy enough really. Hardest part is probably going to be making the pancake batter, and that in itself is just putting the ingredients in a bowl and whisking it about. Seriously, this isn’t rocket science. It’s barely 1st grade reading level.
That’s really it. Remove everything from the pan, put it aside, clean it out and repeat everything. Like I said, I had just enough batter for 2 pans worth so it’ll give you 6 sandwiches.
I’ve never used one of these special bacon pans before, but I absolutely loved it. I always put my bacon in the oven because it’s easier than tending to it in a pan. I’m also a creature of habit and I always get myself a sheet tray, line it with foil, and fill it up with bacon.
Of course, when it’s done I have to fish the bacon out from the sea of grease that rendered. And I’ll be honest with you. It’s cool and hip and manly man to be all like “Yeah! Bacon grease! Let me dip my bread in it, or use it to fry my eggs, or rub it all over my body before hitting the beach.” I mean, I’m sure that’ll smell absolutely fantastic, but no. Just no.
That grease can’t be good for you in the long run. I’m a huge lover and admirer of all things bacon, but as soon as it’s done cooking, I’m patting and trying my best to soak up all the excess grease off the bacon with paper towels.
This pan is designed to help with that. The raised platform you put the bacon on is surrounded by a reservoir where the grease pools and creates a sort of greasy mote, if you will, surrounding the island of bacon that you just constructed.
The Island of Bacon. Set me up on a cruise ship to that chunk of paradise, right?!
Anyway, you could see all that grease that your bacon isn’t floating in or soaking up. Yeah, the strips still have some grease to them, but not nearly as much as they would’ve had if they were in a regular pan.
Like these that I so happen to cook right beside the others. You can see the difference and they were in for the same amount of time. The sheet tray didn’t even fully cook where as the bacon on the Wilton pan was nice and crispy.
Still not convinced?
Same amount of time, same rack in the oven. I’m telling you right now, if I’m making bacon, it’s going to be on this pan.
Act now, and we’ll double your order!
Jkjk, I couldn’t resist. I know I’m sounding like an infomercial but I love how well it works. Only thing I would change is the size. But that can easily be fixed by just getting another one which I plan on doing. They’ll fit side by side in the oven so c’mon. No brainer.
Oh! And cleanup! I haaaaaaaaaaaate having to clean up after cooking or baking. And I hate the ridges in grill pans even more. But these are spaced out enough, and the grease trench is wide enough to make cleaning fairly simple. I just let it soak for a bit in hot soapy water and it came out clean as a whistle a few short scrubs later.
But back to the sandwich! You’re… making a sandwich. Not too hard, I’m sure you don’t need my instruction on this.
Remember, it’s a cinch to reheat it too. So when you pull it out of the fridge, make your sandwich, wrap it up in a napkin, and put it in the microwave for a minute.
Oh, and don’t follow my pictures if you plan on stretching out your bacon for all your sandwiches. I may have put a taaaaaaaaad more than I’d recommend if you want bacon throughout the week. Do what I say, don’t do what I do.
And that be that! I really do hope this gives you some confidence and inspiration to stop making a morning visit to the cashier at the drive-thru window. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with this. Simple, quick, tasty. It’s ok, you could thank me after coffee.
The last piece to the Saga Bundle comes in the form of the most notorious bounty hunter in the Galaxy… Boba Fett! Since everything came in its own retail packaging in the Saga Bundle, I’m lucky enough to dedicate an entire post to a figure …Read More….
Continuing on from the Saga Bundle unboxing, comes what will be an integral addition to your Disney Infinity 3.0 collection. Like I mentioned, the contents of the $115 Saga Bundle are timed exclusives, along with the regular starter pack you could find in stores today. …Read More….
So we picked up the Saga Bundle! And seriously, it’s the best option. There’s no deal, no special value for the bundle, you’re not saving anything, it’s just a bundle. Here, it’s all about timed exclusives for PlayStation consoles. So if you’re a PS3 or PS4 owner, consider yourself lucky because they’re the only consoles you could find this Saga Bundle on.
What’s in the Saga Bundle? Well, you’re getting the regular starter pack which you’ll see below, as well as the Rise Against the Empire Play Set with the Luke and Leia figures, and the Boba Fett figure (all will be separate posts). The play set won’t be available till September 29th, while Boba won’t be available until January. So if you’re a fan and can pay a little extra than the starter pack, it’s a must get!
Luckily, Gamers Club Unlocked helped out a lot. It knocked 20% off the price of the Saga Bundle, dropping it from $115 to $91, and on top of that we’re getting a $10 certificate in a few weeks because we pre-ordered. So a little more than $80 for the starter pack (which is $65), and early access to a play set (which goes for $35) and possibly the coolest looking figure in the game?! C’mon!! On top of that, we got the free Toy Box Takeover expansion that’s worth $20, just for pre-ordering! Seriously, it’s like we stole stuff. Dammit, Best Buy.
Ok, enough talking, let’s get into it.
3.0 Starter Pack
The starter pack is what you’ll need if you’re new to the game. It comes with the disc, the portal, the Twilight of the Republic play set piece, Anakin, and Ahsoka.
If you’re not aware, the play set is based off The Clone Wars animated show. Which seriously, if you haven’t watched it, you NEED to! The complete series is streaming on Netflix so you really have no excuse. It’s a great animated show and well worth the time if you’re a Star Wars fan.
If there’s one thing you have to admit with 3.0, it’s that the figures are amazing! With every release of Disney Infinity it seems as if they’re getting better and better with the figures. The details, the colors, the poses, everything is just amazing. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if people just buy them to sit on their shelf!
At its core, I always enjoyed the gameplay of Disney Infinity. It’s just fun, nothing else really to say. Plain and simple fun. But really though, as fun as it is, half the experience are the figures. I think you need to have an appreciation for them to really understand it, but I don’t think Disney Infinity would have taken off if the figures were lacking. But even with 1.0 and how stylized they all were, you never felt like you were getting jipped.
And 3.0 is no exception. All of these figures that we have so far look phenomenal! The details are amazing and they really bring the whole experience to life.
If you have any admiration for Star Wars, I’m telling you right now, your will is going to be tested when you walk by the Disney Infinity displays. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
So that’s all for the starter pack. Since the timed exclusive playset and figure came retail packaged in the Saga Bundle, I’m going to do separate posts for them. So if you’re looking for more Disney Infinity goodness, check out all the content I’m putting up here on the site!
Are you a fan of Disney Infinity and/or Star Wars? What do you think about the release of 3.0? The figures? The play sets? EVERYTHING, OMG, I’M EXCITED!
…sorry.
Toy Box Takeover Expansion
This is retailed at $20, but we got it free for pre-ordering. It’s an expansion for the toy box, and if you’re not familiar, the Toy Box is basically where half of the game’s fun lies. You have play sets which are the different levels you can play, and then the Toy Box where you can create and explore user created levels.
When I unboxed it, I had no idea what it was about. I knew it was a thing but I just never looked into it. But I looked into it now and it sounds AWESOME! It’s a dungeon crawler type experience and the story to it is Syndrome, the villain from The Incredibles, has stolen the magic wand used to create in the Toy Box. He wasn’t happy with the lack of villains in the game and wants to change that. So it’s up to you to stop him! As an Incredible? Sure, if you have those figures from 1.0 (which you should). But no, you don’t need them. Here’s the kicker… You could actually be anyone you want!!
Disney Infinity has always been hindered by the licenses of their properties. Yes, everything about it all is great. A game where you could put your favorite characters from different movies together. But that magic only happened in the Toy Box. The play sets, which are the levels you buy and that come with starter packs, can only be played using the characters from that universe. So you couldn’t take the figure for Jack Sparrow and play in the Guardians of the Galaxy play set.
But with this Toy Box Takeover expansion, which is essentially a level in itself, you totally can use anyone you want! Want Yoda to team up with Wreck-It Ralph to take down Syndrome? Sure! Want to get Tinkerbell and the Hulk together to fight off the threat? Heck yeah!! It’s looking like this expansion is what everyone has wanted for Disney Infinity for a long time, and that’s awesome!
There’s another expansion set to come out in the fall called Toy Box Speedway and it’ll be based around racing. Maybe because the only figures that aren’t compatible with Takeover are the Cars figures? From what I hear, it’s going to be another awesome expansion so I cannot wait to get into either one.
Twilight of the Republic Power Discs
This was another thing not included in the Saga Bundle, but I’m putting it here because it goes with the play set bundled in the starter pack, and I didn’t want to make a separate post for it. All power disc packs are sold for $10 and will contain 4 different discs with specific ones playable in the play sets and toy box.
If you’re familiar with Disney Infinity, you know about the infamous blind packs power discs came in. You got 2, completely random discs in a package and this led to very good possibility of you looking for 1 specific disc for years, and acquiring 50 of the same disc in the process.
Gone are those days! While it doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting as many power discs this time around, they’ll be sold just like this. In a clear, see through package, where you know what you’re getting. Isn’t that amazing?! Yes, the collector inside is weeping a bit, because that “gotta catch them all” mentality set in with the original power discs. It was a collecting game and one that I really enjoyed playing and torturing myself with. But at the end of the day, this will remove a lot of headaches from people who just want to have everything for the game without working for it.
I still say the original 1.0 power discs are still the most useful of all the discs ever released for the franchise, so seeing them packaged this way might be more beneficial for even those who loved the blind packs. Here’s to hoping I complete my original power disc collection soon!
This post has been a long time coming! With so much time I’ve put into Destiny, I can’t believe I’ve slacked around so much to the point where I haven’t written anything about it. Sure, with more than 100 hours total since the game released …Read More….
Here we are again! Like it or not, we are quickly approaching the end of summer. I know, it feels like it just started, but what can you do? Personally, I cannot wait to start enjoying that fresh, crisp fall air. It’s just the way …Read More….
Back in October of 2013 I played the first episode of The Wolf Among Us. I was blown away by the use of characters, the setting of the story, pretty much everything. At the time, I was ready, willing, and able to continue playing it as the episodes released. But I knew the PS4 was a short month away, and as it turns out, “Faith”, the first episode of the series, was the last thing I played to completion on my PS3. I knew I wanted to complete the whole season on my new PS4, so I was willing to wait it out and I did just that.
Fast forward to about 2 months ago and I finally finished it! Thanks, life. In a way, I’m glad I did it this way though. It took 9 whole months for the entire series to be released, with 4 of those months between episodes 1 and 2 alone. Was it worth waiting to play it? Did the strong feelings I had in the first episode last throughout the whole game? Answer: You bet your ass.
I reread an old review of Episode 1 that I had written on an older site. I was ready to just copy and paste it here because the energy and experience that you get in “Faith” (episode 1) really sticks around for the remainder of the series. Everything from the characters to the setting will pull you in. The story, how it progresses and leaves you wanting more and more, will wrap its arms around you and never let you go. Even when the game is over and the credits are rolling, you’ll find yourself like an addict, on the floor, willing to give anything for just one more episode.
At least you’re lucky in that department! The Wolf Among Us is based off Fables, a comic book series, published by DC Comic’s Vertigo. With over 20 trades available and 150 issues, there is more than enough of the Fables universe to quench your thirst for more.
But let’s get back on track here. The Wolf Among Us consists of 5 episodes. The longest of them being the first episode at a little more than 2 hours, and the rest coming in at about 1 – 1.5 hours each. So all together, the entire season is not a chore to complete. In fact, if you’re not careful, you could probably finish it in one playthrough if you’re the type to have that much time to play a game. I strongly advise not to though because you’ll be cheating yourself if you don’t indulge in what this game is offering.
What is it offering? Well, if you’re an admirer of fairy tales and folklore, and you have a soft spot for characters and story, then it’s offering everything you’ve ever wanted in a game. Much like every other Telltale game, you’re going to be forced to make choices. And with the world being so engrossing, you’ll find yourself mulling over the decisions as if your life depended on it. Revelations that happen, plot twists, and shock endings to episodes are all present and done amazingly. But those choices; those decisions you make leave you with a fear that hangs over you like the spookiest of trees leading into the darkest of forests. So many feelings and emotions are sparked throughout the course of this game, it’s ridiculous.
I mean, you’re playing as the Big Bad Wolf, or Bigby as you’re called now. You’re the sheriff of a town full of other fairy tale characters that you’ve grown up listening to stories of. Your assistant/boss is Snow White. Her boss is Ichabod Crane. Bufkin, a flying monkey from the Wizard of Oz, is the town’s historian who happens to have a drinking problem. Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows is the scumbag, foul mouthed landlord of an apartment building in the South Bronx, I mean c’mon! How can you not get into this?!
I can’t push it enough: If you love fairy tale characters, and you’re a sucker for alternate reality stories – like I am on both counts – then you need this game in your life. Heck, you might even be like me and get interested in picking up a few of the comics. I’m not usually a comic reader but these have been taunting me lately. And from what I hear, the game is a great primer for the comics, so if you’re new to the series as a whole then the game is a great place to start.
I mentioned I’m a sucker for fairy tale characters and having them in places other than their stories. For instance, I’m a huge fan of Once Upon a Time on ABC. If you’ve never heard about it, it’s just like Fables in that there’s a community of fairy tale characters living in our world. Again, if you’re a fan of characters and appreciate their stories, you’d probably love Once Upon a Time. It’s on Netflix so you really have no excuse. I did a little research and as it turns out, there are a lot more similarities that aren’t as coincidental as I thought.
Going back to 2005, a script was being worked on at NBC for a series based on Fables. It was set to premier in 2006-2007, but never made it past the script stage so nothing came of it. But in 2011, Grimm debuted with the plot of fairy tale characters mainly from Grimms’ stories existing in our world. Seem a bit coincidental? Well in 2008, ABC announced they got the rights to create a pilot for Fables for the 2009-2010 season. It was later said that announcement was premature and it won’t be happening. Instead, in 2011, Once Upon a Time debuted and it also shares an all too similar plot with Fables. The creators of the show acknowledged similarities, but they insisted they were on different sides of the field. Bill Willingham however, the creator of Fables, was open to discussion about the all to similar traits shared by Once Upon a Time and his work which precedes it. Funny enough, he’s not concerned about it at all. He actually said in that interview I just linked to that he hopes fans of Fables can coexist and accept that Once Upon a Time is its own thing. He admits they may have been inspired by his work, but he’s not mad that there is more fairy tale/folklore light being shined in the mainstream. Respectable route, if you ask me.
What does this all mean? It means Fables has some bad luck when trying to be adapted for T.V.! As of January there is a movie in the works but we’ll see how that comes about. Still though, you have to consider that maybe if Grimm and Once Upon a Time didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have gotten The Wolf Among Us game that we did. And if you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty happy with it. Heck, I bought it on PSN right after I beat the disc version just so I could have it on the hard drive. This is definitely one of those games you want to relive and experience over and over if the urge calls for it. And with an addicting story where your decisions can alter your path and what you see, playing this only once should warrant you a visit from the Big Bad Wolf himself.