I’ve been watching a lot of Proleague recently and I’m excited to see Broodwar players earn their stars on the battlefield. Admittedly, this is my first Proleague experience and I’m quite enjoying it. I’m still waiting to see Flash make this face:

Figure 1.0: The face of Terran

KT has been doing pretty OK… Just OK (aside from the fact that they have been putting on the pain train so far. All aboard!) But the league has just begun, so there’s many more games and many more chances for all of the teams. Also, more Flash. Yay!

Figure 1.1: The result of coffee based stim packs

Anyways, enough Proleague FOR NOW! It’s time to discuss food; more specifically food that involves the delicious Atlantic salmon. I’m a big supporter of salmon because it’s tasty, healthy and easy to prepare. Salmon doesn’t even take that long to cook, so it’s pretty time saving. Oh, did I mention it’s pretty tasty?

Yeah, it’s pretty tasty. Maybe even tastier when coated in herbs:

This recipe is fairly simple and you could probably* finish it during the Proleague breaks. DAMN, THOSE BREAKS ARE PRETTY LONG.

*maybe not

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. olive oil
4. crushed garlic
5. lemon
6. 1 tablespoon of parsley
7. 1 tablespoon of oregano
8. 1 tablespoon of rosemary
9. 1 cup of bread crumbs
10. 2 skinned salmon fillets (6oz – 8oz in size)*
11. 1/2 cup of brown rice
12. 1/4 cup of crimini mushrooms
13. 3 cups of spinach

Let’s talk about Overlords for a second. I think they’re terrifying and incredibly nosy. I’m minding my own business, buildin’ SCVs and stuff, and this Overlord just waltzes on over to my base and starts telling all of his Zerg buddies about my business. Seriously?

I understand you’re just trying to do your job, Mr. Overlord, but can you please knock or something?

The worst thing is that these Overlords got their fancy speed boost, so now my early game marines and their stubby little legs can’t catch up them before they conveniently drift away. Basically, my problem with these space meat balloons is that they’re lowering the property value of my base and it needs to stop.

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. garlic powder (if you have fresh garlic cloves, please us that)
4. 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon
5. 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
6. 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
7. 1 teaspoon of olive oil
8. 1/2 onion
9. 1 lb of pork loin (cut into 1 inch medallions)
10. 2 -3 red plums
11. 1/2 lb of bok choy
12. 1/2 cup of rice

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time will be about ~30 minutes. Total cook time will be about 45 minutes. This recipe will serve 4 people. Optional: You can marinate the pork in the soy mixture for up to 24 hours. Details to follow!

OPENING

1. Cook rice over the stove or with a rice cooker.
2. Slice the onion.
3. Cut the plums in half and remove the pit (stone).

MID GAME

1. Pre-heat oven to 375° F (190° C)
2. Place pork loin medallions, onions and plum halves in a baking dish.
3. Sprinkle salt, pepper and cinnamon over all of the ingredients. Sprinkle garlic powder over just the pork.
   
4. Combine olive oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce in a bowl.
5. Drizzle sauce over the ingredients.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes.

LATE GAME

1. Steam bok choy.
2. Remove dish from the oven and let rest for about 5 minutes.
3. Place bok choy on a dish, then place pork, onions and plum over the bok choy. Drizzle sauce from the baking dish over the pork. Serve with rice.
4. Eat!

GG WP, Overlord.

Collegiate Starleague founder and all-star, hazelynut, had the inside scoop prior to this recipe’s posting. So, she tried it out and returned with epic results! She did a minor change though — and that is marinating the pork in the sauce instead of pouring it over. 

You can try this and it may yield a slightly better result, or if you’re short on time, you can leave the marinading process out. All up to you! Hooray for choices!

I was fortunate enough to get an invite to the Heart of the Swarm CBT. To my dismay, I was also (un)fortunate enough be invited at the same time all of the pros were receiving their invites. This resulted in a total of 74 players online at a time. I’m very confident that if I did ladder, I would be placed in negative bronze league. Not regular bronze league, but rather, negative bronze league.

However, I did enjoy messing around in custom games with the new Terran units. To this day, I still mourn the lost of our dear comrade, the Warhound. Perhaps one day he will make his grand return, but I’m not that hopeful.

So here’s a recipe to get you hyped for the upcoming expansion. Get ready because the swarm is coming…

Please note that many of the ingredients are used in different parts of the dish (example: garlic is used in the sauce and the marinade).

UNIT COMPOSITION

FOR THE LAMB MARINADE

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
4. 1 teaspoon of cloves
5. 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
6. 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
7. 5 garlic cloves
8. 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
9. 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
10. 1 cup of greek yogurt
11. 1 1/2 lbs of lamb shoulder (cut into strips)
12. olive oil (for cooking)

FOR THE GARLIC SAUCE & EXTRAS

1. salt
2. 4 garlic cloves (roasted in the oven)
3. 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
4. 1 cup of greek yogurt
5. 1/2 of an onion
6. pita bread

FOR THE SALAD

1. salt
2. pepper
3. dill (fresh is better)
4. parsley (fresh is better)
5. 1 cucumber
6. 2 heirloom tomatoes
7. 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time will be about ~35 minutes. Since this recipe does require a marinating process, the total idle team will be about 12 – 24 hours. Total cook time will be about 35 minutes. This recipe will serve 4 people.

OPENING

1. Dice your garlic.
2. Place a sealable plastic bag in a bowl. This plastic bag will be used to hold the marinade. If you do not have a plastic bag, just use a bowl and cover the finished marinade with plastic wrap.
3. Combine your ingredients: yogurt, lemon juice, diced garlic, salt, pepper, vinegar, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Stir to combine ingredients.
5. Slice your lamb into thin strips.
6. Place lamb in the marinade.
7. Allow lamb to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

MID GAME

1. When the lamb has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator.
2. Set a pan to high heat and place a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan.
3. Place lamb strips in the pan. Let lamb strips cook for about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Remove from pan and let rest.
5. Chop your onions.
6. Place your chopped onions in the hot pan.
7. Sauté onions until translucent.
8. Pre-heat oven to 400°F (204° C).
9. Place 4 garlic cloves in a small oven-safe dish. Roast garlic until soft (~20 minutes).
10. When garlic is cooked, remove and let cool.
11. Place garlic in a food processor (if you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender) with salt, lemon juice and yogurt. Process until combined.
12. Remove from food processor and set aside. This will be your garlic sauce.

LATE GAME

1. Dice your cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes.
2. Place in a small bowl.
3. Combine with salt, dill, parsley, pepper and lemon juice.
4. Drain any excess liquid from the salad before plating.
5. Plate your shawarma, garlic sauce, salad and pita bread.
6. Eat!

And that’s all you need! GG WP.

Now you have a dish to celebrate the upcoming HoTS release… Or, celebrate your latest acceptance into HoTS beta! Or, if neither of those are your things, you can enjoy watching The Avengers! Hooray shawarma!

Last Saturday, I journeyed just a few miles north to San Francisco to attend the IPL TAC3 event. In short, it was amazing.

But before I dive into the details about my experience at the IPL TAC3 event, let’s talk about food! Specifically, food that kind of maybe looks like overseers. Maybe…

UNIT COMPOSITION

• salt
• pepper
• balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup feta
• 6 black mission figs (cut in half)
• 1/2 cup of arugula

BUILD ORDER

Prep time should be about 10 minutes. Cook time should be about 25-30 minutes. This dish will serve 2 people. Since this recipe is very simple, you can adjust the ingredient amounts to accommodate more people.

OPENING

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (~176°C).
2. Cut your figs in half.

MID GAME

1. Place figs on a baking sheet (if you have parchment paper, place this on your baking sheet for easy clean up).
2. Salt and pepper your figs.
3. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over your figs. Make sure your figs are coated. You will want to have a little bit extra of balsamic vinegar to use for a salad dressing.
4. Roast in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Figs will be golden and the balsamic vinegar will have been reduced.

LATE GAME

1. Remove figs from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.
2. Place arugula on a plate.
3. Spoon up any reduced balsamic vinegar from the baking dish and drizzle it over the arugula.
4. Place figs over the arugula.
5. Sprinkle feta cheese over the figs.
6. Crack pepper over the dish.

And that’s all you need to do to make balsamic overseers. GGWP.
Now that you’ve learned this simple recipe, let’s talk about something more exciting: IPL TAC3.

I was able to attend the IPL TAC3 in San Francisco. Of course, driving and parking through San Francisco is a nightmare, but the fun I had at this event was all

worth it. This was my first ever Starcraft 2 event and I was completely overwhelmed.

I even had time to make a quick cheerful! (please excuse the poor quality of the following photos; they were taken with my iphone)

It says “Probe Parade”

I’m pretty sure it made zero sense to those looking at it, but that’s OK!

All of the pros were incredibly friendly. I took photos with most of the players and some of the pros even humored me by also copying my stereotypical Asian peace-sign gesture.

I even had a chance to speak to DoA (a little sad to hear the news that he’s leaving the IPL though)! If you haven’t had a chance to speak with DoA, I suggest you do so soon before he leaves for Korea. He’s a great guy on camera and in person. Thanks for the high five, DoA!

The games were incredible. I’m so glad I had a chance to watch pro matches in person. I felt like I’ve learned so much just by watching them live. I’ve even started practicing LiquidTaeja’s mass CC style. It’s been working so far, so hooray!

Anyway, the entire experience of watching pro games was amazing and I highly recommend that any SC2 fan should attend one of these events.

As a kid, I don’t know if there was anything more satisfying than waking up on a lazy Saturday morning to a heaping pile of French Toast. It may be almost as satisfying as dropping chain fungal growths on an entire Terran army — I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been on the side of the swarm.

I wanted to make an alternative to the traditional French Toast… Something with a bit more personality and complex, yet deceivingly simple. Oh, and of course purple! No Zerg can be without that goopy creep spread. Mmm, Blueberry Creep Spread.

UNIT COMPOSITION

FOR THE TOAST

• 6 slices of bread (I used sprouted whole wheat bread, but feel free to choose regular white bread)
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1/2 cup of cream (I used soy cream)
• 2 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of Vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 tea spoon of butter (not shown)
• 1/2 tablespoon of powdered sugar (not shown — also optional)

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1/3 cup of Grade A maple syrup (or the purest syrup you can find… don’t get syrup with additives in it)

BUILD ORDER

The procedure to make this is pretty simple. The entire process, from prep work to plating, should take about 35-45 minutes. This recipe makes 3 French Toast sandwiches.

OPENING

1. Crack your two eggs into a bowl. Whisk eggs.
2. Add vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.
3. Whisk in your cream.
4. Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish. This will be used to dip the sandwiches.

MID GAME

1. Place a skillet on high heat.
2. Slice your bananas.
3. Spread peanut butter on each slice of bread.
4. Place bananas on one peanut buttered slice. Place another piece of peanut buttered bread on top to make a sandwich.
   
5. Place butter in the hot pan.
6. Place your completed sandwich in the egg/cream mixture. Let it soak for a few seconds and then flip the sandwich over to coat the opposite side.
7. When sandwich is fully coated, remove it and place in the hot pan.
8. Let the sandwich cook for about 1 – 2 minutes on each side, or until the side is golden brown.
9. Remove sandwich and place on a plate.
10. (OPTIONAL) Dust with powdered sugar.

LATE GAME

French Toast would not be complete without a syrup. But this isn’t just French Toast, this is Infestation Pit Toast. If you’re a true Starcraft pro, use your APM and multi-tasking abilities to create the Blueberry Creep Spread while cooking Infestation Pit Toast.

1. Place a small pan on high heat.
2. Add your maple syrup.
3. Add in your blueberries.
4. Reduce heat to medium.
5. Let the sauce reduce. The sauce will begin to turn purple when it’s done.
6. Remove from heat and plate sauce with the toast.

If you’ve completed your opening, powered through the mid game and survived the late game, then you’re deserved a GG WP.

Enjoy your Infestation Pit Toast with Blueberry Creep Spread with a loved one, such as a lovely Queen or loyal Overlord.

Oh, and to make that fancy Zerg symbol out of powdered sugar? All you’ll need is a computer, a printer, tape, scissors (or x-acto knife) and an index card (or any thick paper). Start by finding an image of the Zerg symbol and print it out. You may need to re-size it.

Once you’ve printed it out, tape the index card behind the symbol. Now start cutting and make that stencil! Just place the stencil over your toast and sprinkle your powdered sugar over it. It should leave you a fancy logo. Hooray!

GL HF GG.