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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: 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.
DIY your own draenei holiday cookies with Manalicious
If you're looking to get your real life well fed buff on this holiday season, it's time to get cooking! We recommend kicking off this holiday season with this how-to from Manalicious that walks you through making your own draenei-shaped sugar cookies. We think the results, above, are pretty darned impressive -- and we might even be able to pull off our own batch of cookies with these thorough instructions. If you're not a fan of draenei, with a bit of creativity you could adapt this to any World of Warcraft race -- or you can just appreciate the fact that you get to eat cookies, no matter their shape. That is, if you can bring yourself to eat these sugary works of art.
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: 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: 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.
Patch 5.4 PTR: New recipes for 300 stat food and more
The Vale of Eternal Blossoms may see some rough times in patch 5.4, but that doesn't mean that all the secrets it holds have been discovered ... yet. Perculia over at Wowhead has dug up a variety of new recipes from the PTR server that grant 300 of a particular stat. The excellent part of this? The recipes take a bare handful of ingredients compared to the 300 stat food that exists right now. And the peculiar twist to this is that all recipes use ingredients found in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Lest you think this is a walk in the park, it should be noted that all ingredients for these new recipes currently have a freshness timer of two hours. In other words, no stockpiling these ingredients. Along with the fresh ingredients that can simply be gathered, there are three different types of aged ingredients as well. While the aged ingredients don't spoil -- they are aged, after all -- at present time it seems as though they drop from rares in the Vale, specifically the rares once required for the One Many Army achievement. The origins of these recipes don't appear to have been uncovered at this point, although they all appear to be drops rather than a recipe learned at a trainer. As far as the Noodle Carts discovered quite some time ago, it appears they are tied to a new quest chain for aspiring chefs. I don't know about you, but having more than one method of creating 300 stat food sounds like a wonderful idea to me -- and it's nice to see that the Vale and its rares will continue to be useful as the expansion moves on. For more information about the recipes, check out Wowhead's excellent roundup of what they've found so far.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Pilgrim's Bounty 2010
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. Today, we're running a special holiday guide for all those interested in stuffing themselves on turkey. The Pilgrim's Bounty holiday was introduced to World of Warcraft just last year, so it's still fairly new. This year, the event will run from Sunday, November 21st through Saturday, November 27th. On my EST server, the start and end times on both dates will be 4:00 am, but you'll want to check the times on your own realm. Pilgrim's Bounty is not part of the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. That's not to say that the holiday's without its share of rewards, though; doing the Pilgrim meta will grant both the Pilgrim title and the plump turkey pet. However, the holiday has an unbeatable side benefit; it's the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to level cooking to 350. Pilgrim's Bounty is tailor-made for anyone who needs to level cooking on a bunch of alts, or anyone who never got around to doing it on his/her main. Pilgrim's Bounty hasn't appeared at any point on WoW's PTR or beta since last year, so we're assuming for the moment that the holiday hasn't changed from its 2009 incarnation beyond a few bug fixes (that and the developers are probably working at breakneck speed on Cataclysm still). I've updated and clarified our 2009 guide past the cut, and will also be around as the event goes live to ensure all the information here is accurate.
The OverAchiever: Hail to the Chef
With so many players now sitting on high Cooking skill after Pilgrim's Bounty, I thought it might be cool to do Cooking's meta-achievement, Hail to the Chef. If you've leveled Cooking solely through the Pilgrim holiday, your character's probably sitting on around 350-ish Cooking, give or take, and completing the meta is well within your grasp with some hard work and perseverance. Grand Master Cook You'll need at least 350 Cooking Skill to train up the last rank, but as soon as you do, achievement -- simple as that. The Cake Is Not A Lie For better or for worse, getting the Delicious Chocolate Cake recipe is pure RNG (and until recently a buddy couldn't complete the meta purely because she hadn't gotten it to drop after more than a year). It's a random reward from any of the Outland or Northrend Cooking dailies, so you can increase the odds of getting the recipe by doing both every day and just hoping it eventually shows up. Once you've learned it, you'll need the following: 8 Simple Flour: Purchased from any Cooking vendor. 4 Ice Cold Milk: Purchased from most innkeepers and lots of food vendors across classic Azeroth. 4 Mild Spices: Purchased from any Cooking vendor. 8 Small Egg: For Alliance, the most convenient place to farm these is off the moonkin in the caves east of Auberdine (Darkshore). For Horde, the most convenient place is off the dragonhawks in Eversong (outside Silvermoon). 1 Flask of Port: Purchased from most bartenders or alcohol vendors -- hit the closest tavern. 3 Mageroyal: Herbalists can get these on their own, but otherwise, just hit the auction house. All set? Bake it up, and you've got your achievement.
TurpsterVision: Tipping My Hat to Cooking
We can't believe it either – Turpster has been let loose on WoW.com to bring you videos from in and around the World of Warcraft! You've heard him on the WoW Insider Show, and now see him on TurpsterVision right here on WoW.com.By the time you read this I'm already on my plane to BlizzCon, but I couldn't leave you guys without showing you the greatest addition to my gear since I fought off Arthas and forged the Argent Crusade in an alternate Warcraft time line. It is most certainly worth saving up your Dalaran Cooking Awards (all 100 of them!) since it will save you countless seconds in the heat of battle the kitchen.Make sure you stay tuned to the site over this week to follow the adventures of myself, an Englishman, Scotsman and an Irishman on our way to BlizzCon - that is assuming that we manage to survive the night of hard rocking on Guitar Hero! Check out more of Turpster's work, from his WoW parody songs to TV previously on Massively.com, not forgetting everyone's favorite podcast 'The WoW Insider Show' and of course, TurpsterVision right here on WoW.com!
The Northrend Gourmet made possible in patch 3.0.8
The Northrend Gourmet has been a hot topic achievement since Northrend hit live realms, because it simply wasn't possible. Four of the required recipes were completely missing. As of the current PTR build, that's no longer true. Two of the recipes have been re-added to the game, and two recipes have been wiped out of existence. Not added to the game, but no longer an achievement requirement either.Shoveltusk Soup and Succulent Orca Stew were the two that didn't make it back into the game, which makes one of 3.0.8's patch notes make a lot more sense. You know, the one about Shoveltusk Meat being converted to quest items? And orcas are just Chilled Meat fodder now, it seems.
Insider Trader: Cooking, the final stretch
Cooking is a secondary tradeskill that most players should strongly consider learning, and maximizing. The buffs that many of the foods award can be quite helpful, and aside from damage buffs, there are also healing buffs, tank buffs, and food for hunter and warlock pets, among other yummy treats. If you rely on purchasing the foods from the auction house, you'll find your consumables bill soaring upward. You can also make a profit from cooking, especially regarding pet food. Because many players are stubborn and won't learn any of the secondary skills, you can sell your dishes for a hefty price. Still, if you don't fall madly in love with cooking, searching high and low for the latest recipe and farming to your favorite tunes, then you might have some trouble and confusion when trying to reach 375. This week, Insider Trader will take an in-depth look at the easiest path to cooking 375, avoiding fishing altogether. Although they go hand-in-hand, they can be done separately, and many cooks do not want to become fishermen.
Blizzard's holiday contests
It's the time of year for goodies and cheer, and all of Azeroth is celebrating Winter's Veil. The good folks at Blizzard have kicked off two contests that will let you tap into your creative and festive self, as well as giving you a chance at some nifty prizes. The Royal Photographic Society of Azeroth has hereby declared that they are in need of top notch screenshots featuring your WoW holiday celebrations. If you would like to brush up on the fundamentals and technicalities of in-game photography, check out our tips for taking screenshots, or read through Blizzard's guidelines. If cooking and baking are more your style, then whip up a batch of something delicious and festive, take a photograph (or have a friend do it for you) and submit it. As I will be preparing holiday goodies this year, I would send in my own photographs, except that the contest is only open to (most of) the United States. I will have to settle for merely munching on them, and perhaps posting one or two Well Fed Buffs, instead. Make the jump to learn about the prizes you could win, and what sorts of entries are likely to be picked.
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Your guide to dailies: Cooking
Congratulations! You've hit level 70 and you're peering around Outland with hungry eyes. A multitude of new things have opened up for you, from soaring to new heights, to searching the world over for keys and epics. One of the most common activities that you'll want to begin are the daily quests, available mainly to level 70s, and often requiring certain prerequisite quests or even a certain riding skill. While the cooking quests do not award as much money as other dailies (only 7g 59s), and therefore may not be high on your list of priorities, there are several non-monetary benefits to completing them. First of all, they are fun. Currently, there are four separate quests, and they rotate, so you are not completing the same monotonous tasks day after day. Secondly, they award your choice of fish or meat, which not only helps if you're an avid cook, but also gives you a daily crate of food for your pet, if you are a hunter. In addition, you can acquire random recipes, some of which are quite nice, including the hunter pet food buff [Recipe: Kibler's Bits]. Many of the reward meats and fish can be cooked up and/or sold for a tidy profit as well. All quests are given by, and handed in to, The Rokk in Lower City. While several of the quests will require the use of a flying mount, this can easily be avoided by doing the quests in a party with a warlock willing to summon you. In addition, although the dailies often require a very high cooking skill level, this can be circumvented by purchasing the cooked meats on the Auction House, or by having your companion cook your meats for you. You will, however, require 275 cooking skill to gain access to the quests. Should you be in need of leveling your cooking skill, Lisa Poisso's got the inside scoop on the most effective ways to grind it up.
