Mr. Sean's Crazy Idea Regarding Pies

Recently my dad brought home a pie from a local business called Tuttle's Treats (link to their Facebook page here: Tuttle's Treats). It was a delicious pie and it got me thinking about pies. Thinking about pies got me thinking about the mathematical constant pi (π ≈ 3.14) and that maybe I should try to find 314 recipes for pie. As the days have marched on since eating that delicious pie (I've been told it was a chocolate chess pie) I've been coming up with how to approach the Pie-pendium. At first I was going to allow duplicates within the 314 (100*pi) recipes, but I figured that would make the collection of pie recipes less challenging. So I came up with the idea of letting pies that have multiple recipes available to me have one recipe in the first 314 pie recipe collection and the multiples would occupy the second 314 pie recipe collection, for a total of 628 (2*pi*100) pie recipes. 

The more I try to hammer out my Pie-pendium idea, the more I think of how hard it will be to properly attribute each recipe since some of the cookbooks I can look at involve groups of people from years past (such as an Enlisted Spouses Club of a military installation from around 1999). I will try my best to give proper attribution of recipes by writing the names associated with each recipe and which group of people they are/were associated with and/or the title of the cookbook I got the recipe from.

There are also some issues in the world of pies and pastries. Some people argue that quiches and tarts are not pies. Besides different baking pans and words, there aren't very many differences between pies and tarts. Then there are also the fried pastries of various kinds to take into account (empanadas are somewhat similar to the apple pie turnovers in the outer shell). My verdicts are that tarts are fair game for the Pie-pendium and so are dishes such as empanadas.

I'll have to figure out how to keep all the recipes together later, but I know that loose leaf paper will need to be placed in a binder and that five subject notebooks can be quite expensive, though with loose leaf paper, I won't have to worry about running out of room on a finite space in the way I would with notebooks.

Anyways, here's some pie to serve as visual inspiration for my crazy idea. I have got to find that postcard I bought from Lancaster County in 2009 that is a recipe for Shoo-fly pie. I love Shoo-fly pie!

Mr. Sean's Small Cookbook Collection

So recently I've been learning how to cook more so when I'm finally ready to move out of the house (with a job that pays enough to do so) I'm not a complete amateur in the kitchen. My parents have encouraged my brother and me to cook more instead of relying on take-out so much (though I think making an exception for local joints is fine). The parents fished out a few cookbooks from their stash for me to peruse and to find recipes I could probably succeed at making and that sound delicious to me. It was from reading their cookbooks that I decided to expand my collection of cookbooks and this blog post will highlight six books in my collection so far. I'm sorry for those who don't like reading, but this may be my longest blog post ever despite the omission of two cookbooks from this post (my total collection currently stands at eight).

The Chesapeake Collection

The Chesapeake Collection was, "created in 1983 by the Woman's Club of Denton, Inc." as part of a series of fundraisers to preserve the club's clubhouse which was originally a schoolhouse built in 1883 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Denton is the county seat for Caroline County in Maryland. Located on the Eastern Shore, one would expect seafood to be heavily featured in local cookbooks and that is indeed the case. There is also a section of the cookbook dedicated to the preparation of Game dishes such as Maryland Fried Quail and Muskrat Stew. The recipe I'd like to try and create from The Chesapeake Collection is Crab-Shrimp Casserole by Barbara Maske. I was able to purchase a copy of this cookbook from The Maryland Store: The Chesapeake Collection.

A Cook's Tour of the Eastern Shore

Along with The Chesapeake Collection and another cookbook later in this post, I bought this from The Maryland Store. Their website is themarylandstore.com and they have a physical location in Westminster in Carroll County, Maryland. So this cookbook was first published in 1948 by the Easton Memorial Hospital Junior Auxiliary and when I opened it up I was surprised. The recipes might be photocopied in my book, but they are photocopies of the handwritten recipes that originally went into the book. I also noticed that each recipe was credited to Mrs. *Husband's name* rather than the wife's name. 1948 was definitely a different time and the Eastern Shore keeps traditions up longer than the western shore. The recipe that I'd like to try out from this book is the Curried Chicken #2. I love curry in all sorts of forms and found it interesting that there was a curry recipe from people who live on the Eastern Shore. This book is available for sale at The Maryland Store: A Cook's Tour of the Eastern Shore

My Favorite Maryland Recipes

My Favorite Maryland Recipes are not words coming from my mouth. Instead, a former First Lady of Maryland is the person making this bold claim. This cookbook features First Lady Helen Avalynne Tawes' favorite Maryland recipes and menus which she cooked for her family and for entertaining State Guests at the Governor's Mansion. Governor J. Millard Tawes must have eaten well. There are some recipes which currently cannot be cooked exactly as stated such as Maryland Diamondback Terrapin Soup due to the depleted number of Terrapins leaving it nearly endangered in some places. Luckily for me, the recipe I'd like to try from Mrs. Tawes' cookbook is the Seven-Layer Chocolate Frosted Cake. It's not quite Smith Island Cake tall in number of layers (a Smith Island Cake typically has ten layers) but I like layered cakes with chocolate frosting. This was the third and so far final cookbook I bought from the Maryland Store. The book is available for purchase at The Maryland Store: My Favorite Maryland Recipes.

The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook

So I was looking for recipes for one as I do plan on cooking some when I move into my own place eventually when I found a neat website. The website is https://onedishkitchen.com/cooking-for-one-recipes/ and I found interesting dishes such as Cornbread for one and Pecan Pie for one. I wondered if Joanie, the creator of the One Dish Kitchen website, had a cookbook full of recipes for one serving. Yes she does, though I ordered mine from Amazon. The book is available at various online retailers and you can find the list of retailers selling the book at Cooking for One Order Page. The dish I'd like to try from the book is the Maple Pecan Breakfast Bread Pudding. Honorable mention dishes from the book and the website include Butter Chicken and the aforementioned Pecan Pie for one.

Binging with Babish

Andrew Rea, the man behind Binging with Babish the cookbook and Binging with Babish the YouTube channel, has for a few years now tried to re-create various food items from film, television, animation, and even video games. Some dishes are ridiculously sized such as Bubble Bass' order from SpongeBob SquarePants (his stream of diner lingo was translated into a 24 patty burger on toast) while others are something even a novice home cook could pull off with style. My dish to try to cook from this book is okonomiyaki. There is a video of Rea cooking the okonomiyaki from Sweetness and Lightning over on YouTube at: Binging with Babish: Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki literally translates to "cooked how you like" and the base of it is a cabbage and flour based pancake with many options to top and add to your meal such as bonito flakes atop or seafood within. Sweetness and Lightning is originally a manga series written and illustrated by Gido Amagakure but was later put on television as an anime and is basically about a widower father who, inspired by one of his students, learns how to cook for his daughter.

Joy of Cooking

Joy of Cooking is arguably the grandmaster of cookbooks in the United States. First published in 1931 by Irma S. Rombauer, this book would see nine different editions throughout the more than ninety years it has been in print. The most recent edition of Joy of Cooking, published in 2019, had John Becker, Irma's great grandson, and Becker's wife Megan Scott updating the cookbook for today's home cook. If there is a dish you'd like to create, there is a good chance that you can find a recipe for it within this huge tome. Some people prefer the older editions of this book, especially the 1975 edition of the book, but if you'd like to purchase the most up to date Joy you can! I bought my copy of Joy from Amazon but such a ubiquitous cookbook should be available for sale in pretty much every online retail store that sells cookbooks. The dish I'd like to cook from this book is the Thai-Style Yellow Chicken Curry.

Closing thoughts and Anticipations

I would have described the other two cookbooks I have, but this post is already long enough as it stands. I could probably have made a blog post for each cookbook, but that's more for the readers to decide. When I do get around to cooking the dishes I'd like to cook from each book. I'll try to make a blog post about the experience of cooking each dish and have a picture of the finished product. I'm already considering adding another cookbook to my collection. This cookbook would relate to me in that I was born in Hawaii. The cookbook is called A Taste of Aloha Favorites by the Junior League of Honolulu.

Mr. Sean's Ranks his Animal Crossing: New Horizons Neighbors: Numbers 10-1

Today I will show off my top ten Animal Crossing: New Horizons neighbors. There is an old favorite in the mix along with a really tiny villager. Here we go!

10. Kabuki

Kabuki is a cranky cat, except he isn't really all that cranky in New Horizons like he was in past Animal Crossing games. Anyways, he ranks highly because he's a good mentor to Broccolo who'll appear later in the post and is willing to sing with his neighbors even though he is shy regarding solo performances.

9. Audie

Peppy Audie may say foxtrot and seem more fox than wolf, but either way she is an interesting peppy villager. Peppy villagers in New Horizons tend to have the nebulous goal of being a popstar but Audie's main hobby is fitness. Health is important and fitness can build endurance for long tours. Bonus points to Audie's house for being perfectly themed for island living.

8. Norma

The first cow in the countdown. Norma's name is a bit on the nose as she is a Normal villager. Nintendo should come up with a better name than "Normal." Maybe try "Sweet" or "Caring" instead? Anyways, I like most of the cows in Animal Crossing and her hobby of nature pairs well with Claude so they can learn from each other about the flora and fauna of New Maui.

7. Tipper

Tipper is ranked higher than Norma for looking more like a real cow (I've yet to see a pink cow in real life). Also, despite being a snooty villager, she tended to not be snarky but helpful in her fashion advice and other conversations. I like how her eyes seem perpetually closed yet are very expressive. Also, she pulls off the Animal Crossing version of haute couture very well.

6. Skye

Skye is a sky blue wolf, but she's not hungry for meat and is rather sweet. Her house continues the sky blue coloring scheme and despite it looking like a normal house for a normal villager, she has a piano that accompanies well with her singing. She was a shy singer like Kabuki, but she was even shyer.

5. Katt

Katt isn't the prettiest cat out there, but who cares when she's got musical chops for days. Singing? Katt can belt out tunes really well. Guitar? Yes! Drums? She keeps telling me to not request her to play them but I have evidence that she has an excellent sense of rhythm. She's also defends Broccolo the mouse from haters. I personally like her color scheme, fangs, and eyes. Her hind paws (feet) are blue, which is cool.

4. Sydney

Sydney the Koala and I go way back. All the way back to the GameCube Animal Crossing. In fact, she still lives in the acre to the left of my house today. Anyways, New Horizons decided that she would be musically inclined like Katt, Kabuki, and Tangy are. Maybe she can be the lead singer and have Kabuki playing bass, Tangy at guitar, and Katt on drums? She is definitely the sunshine on my island.

3. Claude

Claude the rabbit often mentions his love of bugs. Other lazy villagers do the same thing but only a few of them can prove their love of bugs via knowledge. I'll often see Claude reading books about nature and his favorite nature book features bugs. He also has books on fish and flowers. One of my favorite things about rabbits in New Horizons is that their ears are very floppy despite being upright. The wind will blow the ears back and forth. I wonder if heavy winds give Claude a headache?

2. Broccolo

Tiny mousey boy Broccolo is my second favorite New Maui villager as I write this post. He's basically a little child who: must be protected at all costs, is ready to learn everything about the world, has a bottomless pit for a stomach, and is one of the cutest mice in the game. He can relate to each of my cat neighbors well. With Mitzi, he and Mitzi have a younger brother older sister dynamic but seem to be best friends. Kabuki is the mentor to Broccolo being the mentee. Katt will defend Broccolo against all haters and Tangy and Broccolo share a favorite song: "I Love You" by K.K. Slider. He also gifted me at least two real pieces of art for the museum. For somebody who loves to run around like an airplane, he's contributed a lot to New Maui society.

1. Mitzi

Although Mitzi hasn't contributed artwork to the New Maui museum or been the most active cat in the town square, she is my favorite villager in New Horizons and is knocking on Purrl's doorstep as my favorite Animal Crossing cat. She's friends with everybody, is an opportunist when it comes to finding places to plop down with a good book, her eyes are funny when she's surprised, and is the sweetest virtual cat I've ever met. She also loves to visit the museum and is one of the few villagers I've spent much time with looking around the museum with and seeing the growth of New Maui's culture. 

Mr. Sean's Ranks his Animal Crossing: New Horizons Neighbors: Numbers 20-11

In the past six months since I got Animal Crossing: New Horizons, various villagers have come and gone from New Maui. Some I liked more than others, one was a total disappointment to me, and one of them is an old favorite from when I played Animal Crossing on the GameCube. This post will showcase the first half of the twenty villagers that have called New Maui home.

20. Bangle

I'm from New Maui, but I'm not a fan of you up and leaving so quickly that I couldn't get at least a poster with your face on it. She may be a tiger, but she left with the speed of a cheetah.

19. Rizzo

Rizzo failed to live up to my hype. He's actually based off of a Japanese thief and folk hero called Nezumi Kozo but he was more boring than his fellow cranky Kabuki (who will be featured in the top 10). At least he was pretty funny when he was angry as he is a tiny mouse.

18. Reneigh

Reneigh's hairstyle may remind some people of Rihanna (her Japanese name is リアーナ, which sounds like Rihanna). Personally, I don't feel she added much to the culture of the island. I hardly saw her partaking in activities but she did Naruto run a few times.

17. Boone

Boone was an okay starter villager and his design is cool (in-game he is a gorilla, but he looks like a mandrill), but he was too one dimensional in terms of working out. He could have worked out his brain muscles more with reading and vocal muscles with more singing.

16. Lyman

Lyman is slightly better than Boone because he wasn't singularly focused on weight training. He was more into cardio with his running around the island. His running form could use some work though as arms behind you isn't quite optimal. He also managed to get two of his neighbors to really work their singing muscles one time. He was an okay koala.

15. Henry

Henry's ranking is bolstered by his house, which is a showing off of the ironwood furniture set. He also liked to sing and having some musical experience I'm a bit biased towards musically inclined villagers. Being a frog, he had no need for an umbrella and actually loves the rain.

14. Tex

Tex's house might not have ironwood furniture, but it is definitely cooler than Henry's house. Tex also loves music and he does a better job of showing it with a drum set, a few guitars, an amp, and a DJ booth. Also, penguins are better than frogs.

13. Tangy

Tangy is only ranked so low because she is the newest neighbor on New Maui. She'll definitely rise a few spots the longer she stays on the island. I think she'll be better than Audie. People love Tangy because she's a citrus cat.

12. Soleil

Soleil's hairstyle may remind people of the stereotypical middle-aged woman who demands the manager, but Soleil hardly complains about things, especially places to sit and read her book. Often times she'll be on the cold hard ground enjoying her read. Soleil is one of the better hamsters, certainly better than Apple.

11. Twiggy

Twiggy does not seem to be liked or disliked by the Animal Crossing community, but rather ignored. I hope this post will at least bring some awareness to her existence. This budgie bird has dreams of being a popstar, but sometimes I had convince her to stop reading fashion magazines and practice singing to help her achieve her goals.

Mr. Sean's Animal Crossing New Maui Adventures Part 4

I think it's been long enough that there aren't any spoilers for day to day events now. Anyways, more moments from New Maui, now with video! I'm sorry that most of these photos involve Katt the cat, but she's my favorite villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Here's a video of Claude the rabbit singing K.K. Swing.

I like how his ears flop around in the wind. Maybe he'll convince me to find more rabbit villagers if other villagers want out.

You called Katt uncool, you deserve the net Twiggy.

Katt rocks an unconventional style (it's unconventional for her). 

My laughing failed to wake Katt up.

Instead of the early worm, we get Tipper talking about the early cow.

The camera angle made it so the electric bass disappeared. It'd be cool if Katt could strum air bass and make a sound out of it.

Katt's hobby is music, so I am encouraging music in the island plaza.

Regular cats like lasers. Katt likes lightnin' bugs.

Mr. Sean's Spoiler-ific New Maui Adventures Part 3

I'm almost there for now. One more post after this with the Animal Crossing: New Horizons photos. Again, if you don't want to be spoiled, click away.

Kabuki: I hope nobody sees me wearing a Pusheen shirt.

Kabuki is classified as a "Cranky" villager so he tends to not get along well with people at first and is rather serious about stuff. This is just photographic evidence that even cranky villagers can't resist the Pusheen.

Blathers' "Angry" Face

Blathers has an angry face that does not strike fear into people or animals. Usually he has his bouts of angry emotion when discussing what he feels are particularly heinous insects. Some owl!

An outdated picture of all my neighbors

As of tonight, Henry the frog (upper right corner) is moving out tomorrow (5/26) so this photo will be even more out of date. When this photo was taken, Broccolo the mouse took Bangle the tiger's place in New Maui. Reneigh (to the right of Henry in this photo) moved out soon after this photo and was replaced by Katt. Maybe I'll get Raymond the cat since I already have three cats. Though I wouldn't mind an old favorite from my GameCube town of New York moving in. Some of my favorite residents from New York include Bones and Portia (dogs), Pecan (squirrel), and Kiki and Purrl (cats).

Community

Oftentimes I'll see my neighbors congregating around the main square of the island doing exercises or singing along to a song playing nearby. Some residents prefer to watch the action unfold.

Louie? That's a funny way of saying "Donkey Kong"

Every so often, a random animal NPC visits New Maui and stays in a tent at the campsite. Talk to them enough and you might be able to play a game with them. I got this photo because Louie does bear a striking resemblance to another famous Nintendo character. Too bad Louie isn't wearing a green shirt with the letter L as his name is similar to Luigi.

Flying over my island, is somewhat of a sight to see

One of the fun things about flying to other peoples' islands or back home to your island is getting to see it from air. Ten seconds of seeing a bunch of the island at once may inspire you or it may have you thinking, "what's going on with the island?"

How can he who is afraid of me threaten me?

Wisp has some nerve trying to threaten me to give his soul pieces back. In this game he is incapable of striking fear into the player's heart. The big eyes aren't helping your case Wisp, I'm not afraid.

Mitzi revels in my sadness... or does she?

Sometimes your neighbors can teach you reactions so that you can emote to them, other NPCs, and even your friends and other people when playing through online. I just find it funny that Mitzi would look so happy when I learned how to show sadness in the game.

Mr. Sean's Spoiler-ific New Maui Adventures Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my picture heavy journey of New Maui in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Again, more spoilers, so click away if you don't want to see them.

The One, The Only, K.K. Slider!

One of the things that I was surprised by was a surprise K.K. Slider concert on my birthday. The usual stipulation for getting K.K. Slider to visit your island is to get a three star rating. Planting flowers, placing furniture, erecting fences, and other beautification efforts make it possible for Tom Nook and Isabelle of Resident Services to ask K.K. to visit the island for a performance. On my birthday, my town was not rated at three stars.

Mmmmm! Fresh seafood!

It's not a true beach without some food stalls selling the fresh catch of the day. Sea Bass are abundant around New Maui, so they tend to feature on menus at food stalls around the island.

Debatable

I'm playing Animal Crossing on my own Switch and currently there isn't much for friends to do with each unless they are creative with how they interact with the islands they visit. Hopefully Nintendo brings a better multiplayer experience to New Horizons soon.

This happens sometimes

When my neighbors are asleep they tend to have their houses locked. Mitzi must have just woken up or pressed the snooze button a few times before I entered. She's not the only neighbor to do this.

Boone, you're overdoing it

It's not a good thing to brag about, rest days are imperative for weight trainers such as yourself. 

Angry Cat 1

Boone, as a jock neighbor, is sometimes inconsiderate of his neighbors' feelings. Kabuki the cranky cat was definitely feeling cranky with Boone.

Angry Cat 2

I had to make this image larger so that the angry cat neighbor Mitzi would be more visible. Boone really angered my cat neighbors one day.

Wait? Aren't you a cat?

Sure, Mitzi isn't a little cat, but she's still a cat.

Sorry if there isn't as much word content in this post as in the first post, most of these photos are somewhat self-explanatory.