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Well Fed Buff: Bag of popcorn
If you spend time on the internet -- which I'm sure everyone reading this does -- then you're well aware that popcorn is no longer simply a food, it's a verb. One that can often be applied to happenings in World of Warcraft. But hey, I'm not here for the verb version, I'm here for the delicious, edible noun. I've long thought it was a shame that the only place you could get a Bag of Popcorn in WoW was from the arena vendor in Zul'Drak (you have to wave at him--he'll toss you the item). Wouldn't it fit right in at the Darkmoon Faire? Blizzard, are you listening? Anyway, if you're not feeling up to flying all the way out to the frozen wastes of Zul'Drak to get one of these, you can make it easily in the comfort of your own home.
Well Fed Buff: Love is in the Air Heart Candy
That bell-like sound? That sweet scent wafting through the air? Ah, that's love. Love is in the Air means it's time to slip that special someone a strategic Heart Candy. It's the thought the counts; nobody can deny that Heart Candies are probably not the tastiest treats in Azeroth. Good thing nobody actually eats them! (You don't, do you?!) You can pop as many as you like in real life if you whip up a batch here on Earth instead of in Azeroth. Like love itself, the recipe for Love is in the Air Heart Candy is simple yet demanding; you'll knead your heart out for this one. We've also got two tastier and quite romantic treats to share with you today: the delectable Dark Desire and those irresistible Tauren Toenails. Mmmm, chocolate!
Well Fed Buff: Perfect instant noodles
This Well Fed Buff is a tad bit of a cheat, in that, despite the title, the noodles aren't exactly the centerpiece of the recipe. That's okay though, because this is a favorite of mine and I make it all the time. Just because you may (or may not) be getting older and your nutritional needs have outgrown plain instant ramen noodles doesn't mean you have to give them up. You just have to jazz them up a bit! This is essentially a "we need to use the stuff in the fridge before it goes bad" kind of thing, so feel free to add and substitute your own preferred veggies as desired. This recipe only takes 20 or so minutes to make, and it tastes delicious.
Well Fed Buff: Lunar Festival Fortune Cookies
Happy Lunar Festival! Need a little pick-me-up in between visiting your elders? Make your own fortune cookies! There's nothing like making your own Azeroth-related fortunes; our favorites are based on the coins of the Dalaran fountain or the humorous Twitter antics of Angryorc. Just make sure you get the fortunes all written up and ready to go before you start baking, because making fortune cookies is a fast-paced, hands-on project that will demand your full attention as you cut, bake, shape and cool the little guys in quick succession.
Well Fed Buff: Out of the frying pan and into the bacon
Photo: cookbookman17 Vegans and vegetarians, this is not the Well Fed Buff for you. This week, it's time to talk Thick-Cut Bacon. I loved bacon as a child, but once I had to cook it myself, I swore off. Popping, sizzling grease and I don't play well together, and so (I naively believed) that was that. But then last year, it was out of the frying pan and into the bacon when I discovered the wonderful world of alternative preparation methods -- that, plus a bunch of really good recipes (like Half a Lovely Apple ... With Bacon) that simply beg to be made on a regular basis. Got a hankering for some bacon? Let's go over the best ways to cook up some bacon with no fuss (and even with very little mess) and then dig in to a couple of delicious recipes from fellow WoW Insider readers.
Well Fed Buff: WoW-themed recipes for your Winter Veil feast
Image: Pictures by Ann I only managed to slide in a roundup of Pilgrim's Bounty recipes the very day of Thanksgiving, so let's get our shopping lists rolling a little sooner for a Winter's Veil feast! Some of this will be a tad repetitive from the Pilgrim's Bounty lineup, but I hope a few new winter dishes, some seasonal tweaks and suggestions, plus having the whole thing ready for you a little earlier will help everyone plan and enjoy a fun World of Warcraft-themed holiday feast. Again, let's start off with side dishes and accompaniments for your Winter's Veil feast. Oronok Tubers Old-school skinners will recognize Shadowmoon Valley's Oronok Torn-heart as that cool guy by all the boars who'll buy your greys, sell you water, repair your gear and even give you a hefty heal when your hit points run low. Questers will recognize Oronok as "the tuber guy." Following Oronok's lead, if mashed potatoes are too bland for your taste, spice things up with these spicy roasted root vegetables. Conjured Croissants Everyone at our house always fights over the last crescent roll -- oh, that happens at your house, too? Dalaran Applesauce Here's a healthy side dish that won't take up any space on the stove or in the oven. Simmer this up in a slow cooker in a quiet corner and enjoy as a side dish or even as a pie topping.
Well Fed Buff: WoW-themed recipes for your Thanksgiving feast
Okay chefs, start your electric knives and blenders: I spent this morning tagging things from our old Well Fed Buff feature (once a "category") with the Well Fed Buff tag, so now you can easily browse all four pages of WFB recipes reaching back to 2007. Now, I've wrapped up a little Thanksgiving bonus in the form of a roundup of Well Fed Buff recipes that would make great additions to your Pilgrim's Bounty lineup. Let's start off with these dishes perfect for accompanying your Thanksgiving feast. Oronok Tubers Old-school skinners will recognize Shadowmoon Valley's Oronok Torn-heart as that cool guy by all the boars who'll buy your greys, sell you water, repair your gear and even give you a hefty heal when your hit points run low. Questers will recognize Oronok as "the tuber guy." Following Oronok's lead, if mashed potatos are too bland for your taste, spice things up with these spicy roasted root vegetables. Cranberry Chutney Zarhym may not care for cranberries, but we do -- so no more jiggly cranberry sauce out of the can, okay? Dalaran Applesauce Here's a healthy side dish that won't take up any space on the stove or in the oven. Simmer this up in a slow cooker in a quiet corner and enjoy as a side dish or even as a pie topping.
Well Fed Buff: Dalaran Applesauce
You think I have a thing for apples, do you? It's autumn, people -- pick 'em while the pickin's good. Because you know what goes great with a meal of Half a Lovely Apple ... With Bacon but before Mini Candied Apples? A heaping serving of spicy, fragrant Dalaran Applesauce. The win to this encounter is the magical item we equip, the Dalaran Apple Bowl -- otherwise known as your slow cooker. It makes simmering fresh, homemade applesauce so magically simple that you'll find yourself grabbing a bag of honeycrisp apples every time you go to the store. Seriously, you do next to nothing, and the achievements just roll in. And the smell, oh, the smell ... Your whole house will smell like fresh-baked apple pie. In fact, we prefer to eat our Dalaran Applesauce hot like apple pie filling from tiny ramekins, although it's delicious in its more traditional chilled form as well.
Well Watered Buff: BlizzCon drinks edition
One of the most fun aspects of BlizzCon is the chance to toss a few back with friends, guildies, and fellow con-goers. Or, if you're a Virtual Ticket kind of person, you can invite some folks over and get your con on that way. Either way, there's probably some form of libation involved. Now, BlizzCon is all about personalities, so those are the types of drinks we've got, with the addition of the obligatory Horde and Alliance drinks. So go on and raise a glass to World of Warcraft with some of these appropriately-themed drinks! For the purposes of this column, know that 1 oz = 1 measure = 1 shot, roundabouts. Cheers! Factions Blue and Gold - 1/2 oz blue curacao, 1/2 oz Goldschlager. Pour both into shot glass, toss back, feel invigorated. For the Alliance! Red and Black - 1/2 oz Kahlua, 1/2 oz grenadine syrup. Layer the syrup on top of the Kahlua in a shot glass and admire your handiwork before downing. For the Horde!
Well Fed Buff: Mini Candied Apples
'Tis the season for candied apples! Toffee apples, caramel apples -- soft, gooey caramel wrapped around a crisp fall apple. It's the perfect blend of tart crunch inside a delectable, chewy wrapping. But I haven't always been a fan. Candied apples are just so big. Undeniably delicious for the first few bites, these sugar bombs always devolve into a sticky, gooey mess that's too much to finish and too messy to set down. Great -- now I'm walking around holding a stick with a gooey, half-chewed apple. Treated and then tricked, for sure. This Hallow's End, I'm going to solve this problem for you: We're going to flex this apple raid down to size with miniature candied apples. They're quick and easy to make, and they're quick and easy to eat. And because this is the Well Fed Buff, after all, we can guarantee if you spend at least 10 seconds eating one, you'll gain 200 parry for one hour -- yep, you'll devour the apple off that little stick just that fast. And then you get to play with the little stick afterwards. New offhands for all!
Well Fed Buff: Delicious Chocolate Cake
Delicious Chocolate Cake has an infamous history in WoW. Back in The Burning Crusade, this recipe dropped randomly as a prize in the goody bag you got for completing the cooking dailies in Shattrath. It had a pretty low drop rate, so cooking completionists would often try agonizingly every day for months to earn the recipe. I got it myself right toward the end of the expansion, which made me very happy until I learned that it was also available from the far-simpler Northrend cooking dailies. Oh well. In real life, I have not been a particular fan of chocolate cake. Typical chocolate cake is usually too dry or too sweet for me, and given a choice, I almost always prefer a yellow cake or carrot cake. Then I found this recipe. It's original name was "Million Dollar Chocolate Cake" and I discovered it years ago on a cooking blog that has long since disappeared into the aether. This is hands down the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. The recipe is a bit involved, but take my word, it is worth it.
Well Fed Buff: Herb baked egg
Ah, the herb-baked egg! Yet another mainstay of the leveling WoW cook, and it's not a bad way to work on leveling your cooking skills in real life, either. Tasty, simple, and it looks good, too. This recipe is great for a lazy day's breakfast, or in my case, dinner on a night when I really didn't want to do a whole lot. It's basically eggs and bacon in a cute little dish, baked in the oven instead of fried in a pan. It's got plenty of protein, and is quite filling despite the tiny dish means of delivery.
Well Fed Buff: Half a Lovely Apple ... With Bacon
As Ella in Valley of the Four Winds might say, "How are you today, WoW Insider readers?" Those Azerothian apples may be lovely indeed -- but everything's better with bacon. Ella's right about the satisfactions of sharing an apple, but you may find you don't especially want to share this version. We're going to show you how to skill up your apple-baking technique with one of the shortest, simplest, most delectable recipes we've ever run on Well Fed Buff.
Well Fed Buff: Brilliant Smallfish
Another classic recipe for young toons in WoW, Brilliant Smallfish is a great way to work on both your fishing skill and your cooking skill. While Brilliant Smallfish is obtainable in just about any low-level body of water in Azeroth (for the convenience of not even having to leave your nearest capital city!), I admit that despite living in a coastal region, I got mine from the supermarket. And it's not actually Brilliant Smallfish, it's lingcod. This is a simple fish dish that is a little spicy and definitely tasty. It requires use of both the stove top and the oven, so it's perfect for those of us who live in parts of the world that are starting to cool off. Southern Hemisphere and warm-climate inhabiting WoW brothers and sisters, my apologies.
Well Fed Buff: Way of the Brew
Editor's Note: Please consume responsibly; these beer recipes are for Way of the Brew fans age 21 and above. Who knew that there was such a widespread culture and fandom for homebrewing? It took me until last year to discover that brewing your own beer, ale or mead isn't difficult at all, and you can get started without a burdensome investment of time or equipment. Equally delightful has been the discovery that I already know quite a few homebrewers; the hobby seems to be a natural fit among those of us who enjoy fantasy, gaming, roleplaying, and related revelry. I knew all things ale would be a natural fit for Well Fed Buff, but I also knew I wouldn't have room here for a homebrewing play-by-play. Instead, we can cover how to get started with homebrewing, review some seasonal craft brews, and talk about cooking with beer -- amusingly enough, an accurate reflection of the reasons you might want to pursue the Way of the Brew in Azeroth. "Note that unlike the other ways, this one doesn't provide a specific stat and the only thing that gives stats are the banquets," writes Wowhead commenter Bardiches. "It's honestly for anyone who loves being drunk or wants to make some cheap banquets." ... Umm, we're all a bunch of WoW: Mists of Pandaria fans who love to cook, eat, enjoy a brew, and game around here. Perfect! What I've got for you this week, then, is a basic roadmap for anyone interested in learning more about homebrewing. Once we get that ball rolling, I'll share a few seasonal brews worth investigating this fall and divulge my not-so-secret secret of savory slow cooking. Join us in the comments afterwards to discuss your own favorite homebrew advice and share your favorite ale-augmented recipes.
Well Fed Buff: Spice bread
Many players are familiar with Spice Bread as being the first cooking recipe they learn. Spice bread is the noob's way of quickly leveling their cooking skill up to 30 or 40, and it's always a little sad when the recipe turns gray. In honor of its iconic place in profession leveling on lowbie toons, today I'm going to make spice bread. Unfortunately, unlike in the game, it's a somewhat involved process. Breadmaking itself is simple in concept, but can often be finicky in execution. A starting note: when making bread, you can either add yeast via yeast cakes or active dry yeast, or you can make a bread sponge (starter) and use that. Active dry yeast is the simplest way to do things, so that's what's in this recipe. However, bread made from a starter doesn't go stale as quickly for whatever reason, so I encourage you to try out a starter if you're interested in regular bread making.
World of WarCrafts: Soft Banana Bread
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Monkeys, monkeys, monkeys! Cataclysm introduced a new fuzzy friend for our hunters out there. The monkey class is an adorable one, if sometimes ill-tempered. Monkeys are easily fed with fruit and fungus, but what does the hunter on the go do when the bananas start going bad? Rather than let them rot into oblivion and stink up your bags, how about making a loaf or two of soft, delicious banana bread? Fruit doesn't just have to be for your primate pal! A word of warning, however -- your monkey may not eat all the bananas in your bag, but your friends might devour this banana bread before you can properly store it. Let's head to the kitchen and get cooking after the break, shall we?
Breakfast Topic: What do you nibble on at raid time?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. We've all been there, scrambling about 3 minutes before raid to buy or make our consumables before the raid leader goes into convulsions. But what of the real you? Personally, I have a whole separate collection of consumables sitting at my computer desk for the duration of every raid, with a particular preference for pizza bagels, if not the timeless classic Hot Pockets, as well as a tall cup of "raid coffee" with a delicious white chocolate caramel creamer (something my GM loves to give me grief about). Nothing gets a boss down faster than a well fed player, virtual or physical, I always say! What sort of real-life consumables do you gather before a raid? Do you prepare your very own feast, or do you run off to get fast food?
World of WarCrafts: Carrot Cupcakes
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. The process of cooking remains staunchly repulsive to those of us who don't relish time spent in the kitchen: phlegmy, runny eggs staring up unblinkingly from the bowl ... raw meat flopping about on the counter looking altogether too much like, well, raw meat ... goopy, greasy, baked-on messes piling higher and higher and higher in the sink ... Fortunately, there are Carrot Cupcakes. They're fresh. They're innocent. They're even, dare we say, cute. Who can argue with fresh, grated carrots, healthful whole wheat flour and the comforting, warm fragrance of cinnamon? If whipping up a batch of homemade Carrot Cupcakes doesn't get your nose going up and down and your tail going back and forth, then we don't know what will. We'll see you in kitchen, after the break.
World of WarCrafts: Cook up a Well Fed Buff
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; email lisa@wow.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations. The Fourth of July. Fireworks. Barbecued Buzzard Wings and Ogri'la Chicken Fingers, Oronok Tubers, Rock-Salted Pretzels and some Delicious Chocolate Cake. Or maybe Mok'Nathal Shortribs, instead, and a cold beer. Or something even frostier to drink, like a tall glass of Essence Mango. Oh, and chocolate: freshly dipped Tauren Toenails, or maybe some Maiev's Grudge. If you're not hungry for this holiday weekend to arrive, we have no idea why. We couldn't even manage to hold this installment of World of WarCrafts until its usual Monday slot -- it's time to celebrate, and we demand to be Hugely Well Fed! Join the party with recipes from the archives of World of WarCrafts and the retired Well Fed Buff (now a part of the World of WarCrafts column). It's festive and fun to share good food with friends -- and it's even more special when the recipes offer WoW-inspired strats all their own. Enjoy -- we'll see you all next week! %Gallery-96798% World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing lisa@wow.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.
