November 2024 Wrap-Up

November tends to be one of my favorite months, year after year. There's so much to enjoy: cooler weather, hockey is in full swing, and we get to celebrate the best holiday, which means we get to eat well. We didn't travel to Syracuse this year but we did still go up to Pennsylvania for the day. Not wanting to miss out on two turkey dinners like I usually get to enjoy, I cooked a whole one from scratch in the beginning of the month. There's really nothing better, which I talked about on this blog when I first started it. I also did a lot of gaming online, pushing me far beyond my two goals for the year. I'm glad this year's November didn't disappoint. 

Blah Blog Log

Bored Board Games

I thought that after a crazy amount of gaming last month, in part because of Solotober, that November would see a drop off. Instead, I was grinding on BGA when I had free time. I ended up having more plays than October and logged my new highest number of plays in a given month since 2022, when I started tracking them. 32 of my 157 plays were Cribbage, a quick playing traditional card game that I didn't realize was on BGA until recently. I don't think I'll set a new record this month, but I am off for Christmas week and we don't have many other plans during the month so we'll see. I will have at least a dozen plays of Under Falling Skies if I complete my challenge for Deep Dive December. This month's highlight is:

Cribbage - Since I played so many games of this in November and nothing else felt worth sharing, why not share a nearly 400 year old game. This isn't the first time I've written about Cribbage on the blog before. Back in 2020, I wrote a post about the app Cribbage with Grandpas, which is just a game app with a customizable opponent feature in it that allowed me to create an avatar that looked similar to my late grandfather, James Isom.

As I stated in that blog post, I didn't grow up playing the game but I do enjoy traditional card games. For those unfamiliar with how it plays: "each player is dealt a hand of 6 cards, from which they discard 2 into a special pile called the Crib. One card is then cut from the draw pile and turned face up - it is considered part of each player's hand and of the Crib. The players then play cards in turn, scoring points for hitting certain totals, or for making sets or sequences. This is repeated until both players have exhausted their hand of cards. Next, each player picks up their hand and determines all possible scoring combinations. The dealer then picks up the Crib and scores it for all possible points. Then the cards are shuffled and the deal alternates. The winner is the first to reach 121 points.

It's the simple and fast play that has hooked me. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be a lot of strategy, but after a few games you'll see ways to maximize your points when deciding what cards to put into the crib whether you're getting it or not. You'll also find ways to lead your opponent into setting you up for a larger point sequence by tempting them with smaller point combos. The race to 121 points adds some exciting tension, especially in a close game. Starting hands often should be played differently later in the game when either player is close to ending the game. The one negative that people have it the luck involved with the cut card that gets placed face up each hand. It can turn an okay scoring hand and crib into big points and a strong hand into only an okay one. However, that's where learning what to keep and what to put into the crib based on what could possibly come up is so important. All in all, it's a fantastic game that is still fairly popular nearly 400 years later.

Enjoyable Eats

Thanksgiving dinner is the obvious choice for this this month's segment, especially because both the one I made and the one my mom made were great. However, I'm going to use this opportunity to plug my post about my favorite breakfast, Eggs in a Frame, that is linked to in the Blah Blog Log section above. I ended up making it three times in November, using a loaf of sourdough bread I bought.
It's so simple, but oh so tasty. I'm not going to go on and on here about it because the whole point of that post was to share my love of the dish. Please go read that post and better yet, make it first and then eat it while reading.

I'm Watching 👀

We took the kids to see Moana 2 the day before Thanksgiving, since I had already taken the time off before we realized going back to NY wasn't happening this year. While I don't think the movie was as good as the original, largely due to the songs not being as catchy, it's still a good story and *spoilers* sets up another installment in the series. Without the mid-credits scene pointing towards another movie, it seemed like there was a huge plot hole with characters that never made a return when you thought they would. I'd still happily watch it again and I'm always happy to go to the movies for the experience. That's something I miss doing more often, an activity that Christine and I were doing nearly weekly for a few years when we living in NY.

Resolutions Update

Still puddling with these and was somewhat successful with one and three. I already crushed my board gaming goal and will keep piling on the plays this month as well with my plays of Under Falling Skies for Deep Dive December.
  • Goal #1: Cook More Italian Food - Made a tortellini soup that was full of "crap". I found a recipe for gnocchi soup and just threw in a bunch of extra stuff after swapping out the gnocchi with tortellini since Aldi didn't have any. I also finally tried the beloved Rao's brand jarred sauce and thought it was good but not amazing. I mean it was great for a jarred sauce, but was on the sweet side. 
  • Goal #2: Log 600 Plays of At Least 150 Games - Completed and crushing it. As of November 1st I have 825 plays across 162 games.
  • Goal #3: Write at Least 3 Blog Posts Each Month - Another month where I snuck in a second post before the month ended. Disappointed that I didn't have more to write about this year, but as I said last month, these posts do a lot of that.

Whatcha Snackin?

Most spin off products that are significantly different than the original don't tend to be very good, but that doesn't normally stop us from trying them. When I saw an ad for Pringles Mingles, I was immediately intrigued by the name alone. Walmart had a coupon for a dollar off each bag, so we of course had to buy one of each to try. They're similar to cheese puffs in consistency, but smaller in size and a fair amount denser. Of the four flavors, Dill Pickle & Ranch was the runaway favorite. Cheddar & Sour Cream was also pretty good, which wasn't surprising because it's a classic flavor that many snack brands do well. I'm not sure if these will be around for the long run, but they are good and since original Pringles are inferior to Lays Stax, I would want the Mingles if given the choice between the two.

Wrap It Up

Please comment below with any thoughts or comments on anything I've covered. Thanks for reading!



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