Gaming Gastronomy Header

Do you like playing games? Do you enjoy cooking? Do you like to occasionally have more than just soda pop and potato chips as snacks for game night? In this Monday blog series, game industry personalities will be sharing some of their favorite recipes for game night munchies. Welcome to Gaming Gastronomy! This week our scrumptious seafood side dish comes from David Miller of subQuark.

So who is David Miller (BGG, Facebook, Kickstarter, LinkedIn, Twitter, Website)? As he puts it…

Just a cubicle jockey who loves daydreaming and thinking about games. =)

I was born in Quebec and went to US colleges where I earned degrees in Geology and Science Education. I taught high school a few years, was a volunteer firefighter and paramedic, worked as a radiocarbon geologist, taught college, and now do eLearning for a global company. A few years ago I decided to try making board games, the kinds I like – light, Euro, quick, and compact in play size.

Mint Tin Games were born and we’ve done two Kickstarters. Kate and I are very proud of the success Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse saw in 19 days. That was followed up with two intense months of making 4,000 games! We stamped the lids ourselves, inspected every meeple, dice, cube, and coin, and shipped them ourselves. Only two packages were lost! In total, we’ve shipped 7,000 mint tin games to 49 countries and do each step of the process ourselves. And we also source all are parts from American vendors. And our games are archived in the US Library of Congress and formerly trademarked with the US Copyright Office, that’s only important because I’ve always wanted to be a publisher.

I firmly believe that if I can do it, so can you. Most of you have better game ideas you’ve thought about and, if you like them, share them with others and Kickstarter is awesome for that.

What’s next for us?

Mint Tin LunaSyr (rhymes with buccaneer) – a two-player competitive game about two work crews vying to be the best lunar miners. You work for the LunaSyr Mining Corporation and, as foreman of your crew, you want to show you’ve got the guts to claim the glory!

Thanks for slogging through all of this and here’s an uber special top-secret (well, it’s only being mentioned here in T.R.’s awesome make-me-fatter-than-I-already-am Gaming Gastronomy series!) 15% discount code in case you gotta have uber tiny games: GastroGaming

Happy gaming and win often! =)

This recipe goes way back and has been my go to recipe for events needing a covered dish. By events and way back I mean 30 years ago when I was a teacher fresh out of school and when I met the love of my life Kate. At some school fundraiser, a parent shared with me her very yummy dip and I’ve claimed it ever since and it’s easy. I typically double this recipe (but I’m pretty much a double on everything!).

EZ Cheezy Crab & Shrimp Dip

15 minute from cans to table

Ingredients:

  • 1 8 ounce block Philly cream cheese (not whipped and never low fat)
  • 1 10.75 ounce can Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
  • 1 4 ounce can of shrimp, drained
  • 1 6 ounce can crab, drained
  • green onion

Directions:

  • on low heat, stir all ingredients into a sauce pan
  • stir regularly until it starts to bubble
  • remove from heat, transfer to a bowl (or not), and garnish with chopped green onion
  • Serve with a 9.1 ounce box of Nabisco Wheat Thins Original (their nutty sweetness plays well with this dip helping the dip’s flavour notes crescendo in your palette).

Now the green onion is getting fancy (I learned this recipe in Dallas) and there’s no need to worry if you don’t have any. Trust me, people will eat this because it’s simple and tasty. Now if you want to get fancier, you could add some smoked paprika (it sounds funny, but the absolute tastiest smoked paprika I’ve ever had is McCormick’s – and I’ve had some fancy pants ones in fancy tins and imported but that McCormick’s in your grocery stores spice section is really smoky, yum!). You could also add a few squeezes of lime (lemon too, but I prefer lime) and/or a dash of Worcestershire sauce and/or a dash of Tabasco (a tiny bit of heat helps raise the flavour profile, ooh). *raises nose*

But seriously, the simple 1950’s Americana-canned-food-recipe kitschiness of this is what makes it so easy to eat – it’s like comfort food, it’s something easy to enjoy with the company of good friends. Speaking of which, this dip has gone to many a game night and is always asked for. I’ve tried offering other things, like real gourmet type things with handmade duxelles with crostini, coquilles St. Jacques, fried cheese broccoli puffs, and blah, blah, blah. But the dip’s a hit!

“Simple to make, simple to transport, simple to eat.”

It lets you be relaxed with your friends and have fun. If they need schmancy food to be impressed, the heck with them – me and my meeps are outta here! =D

I do love to cook and if you backed the Mint Tin Mini Apocalypse Kickstarter, you’ll have seen a few food recipes with pics – food goes with games and makes the world a pretty awesome place. =)

  • grilled bacon lobster sandwich – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subquark/mint-tin-mini-apocalypse/posts/1383078
  • mushroom quesadillas – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/subquark/mint-tin-mini-apocalypse/posts/1446564

In the coming weeks, check back here on Mondays for more delectable recipes from personalities around the game industry.

#GamingGastronomy – EZ Crab & Shrimp Dip by David Miller

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