Skyrim: Bethesda's Strange, Beguiling, Magnificent Dance with Dragons
01.01.70
You begin in a prison cart, hands bound, juddering down a mountain path as a chorus of French horns plays a mournful melody. You'll spend a lot of time navigating Skyrim's mountains—whether you're climbing through their snowy heights or just staring up their slopes, they're a physical presence unlike any you've experienced in a game. They surround you on all sides, their tops shrouded in rolling banks of clouds and reaching for what seems like miles toward the stratosphere. The clouds sometimes descend from the highest slopes, filling pine-thick valleys or rocky, scrub-covered flatland with curls of fog.
The sun pushes through those clouds as you trundle along, in the company of thieves and rebels. Bright hues cascade over woodland and ice-rimed stone, chasing away the gloom. You're a prisoner, because you're always a prisoner at the outset in an Elder Scrolls game, though never of them—they work harder to unfetter you than anything else in this genre.
And then the dragons show up, because this is a game about dragons showing up, as if to rectify their absence from prior installments. And we're not talking the tender-bellied, winged lizards native to so many fantasy settings, but cruel-barbed, hook-mouthed horrors that can stun with ice-like cones of pure sound. Will you escape? How? And go where? The answer's...
Source: PCWorld (blog)
Sweet Potato Recipes Beyond the Marshmallows
01.01.70
In anticipation to the holidays, sweet potatoes will remain a seasonal feature at markets across the area. Beyond the marshmallow sweet potato casserole, consider including one of this week's recipes to your Thanksgiving menu, compliments of The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.
Sweet Potato Cornbread Stuffing
2 1/2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
2 tablepoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 (16-ounce) package cornbread stuffing (about 5 cups)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
One 24.5-ounce can chicken broth
Heat oven to 375˚F. In a skillet, sauté sweet potatoes, onions and celery in butter for 7–10 minutes, or until onions and celery are tender. Spoon mixture into large mixing bowl. Stir in parsley and ginger. Add cornbread and pecans and toss to mix. Slowly add chicken broth and toss to moisten. Place stuffing in a lightly oiled casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes, covered. Remove cover and bake for 15 more minutes to thoroughly heat through and brown top of stuffing. Makes 8 servings or 6 cups.
Source: Patch.com
