Game Night with Friends

I've been friends with Jules for years...14 years to be exact.  We met on the big bad internet but since we live practically right down the road we met in person and she has been stuck with me ever since!
Jules and I have been trying to plan a game night for years.  Really YEARS!  A random stop at the local game store resulted in finally planning a game night that night.

The kids (her 2 and my 1) had full run of my house while we played games all night.  I think I will be finding nerf darts and elastic bands ( I have no idea how this happened) for months.  We set up in the dining room and proceeded to play for hours.

First we played Pandemic Legacy: Season 1.  Since my husband and I played January, we started the night playing February and we managed to win!   Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 is a co-op game that changes each time you play depending on how well you and the other plays do.  You actually change the game board by adding stickers, rules, and upgrades each time you play.  Sometimes it helps you and other times it hurts.

The world is on the brink of disaster. In pandemic legacy, your disease-fighting team must keep four deadly diseases at bay for a whole year. Each month will bring new surprises, and your actions in each game will have repercussions on the next. Will you let cities fall to the diseases? Will your team be enough to keep the viruses at bay for a whole year? Craft your own unique pandemic experience with pandemic legacy.  - Description from Amazon

 We love playing the original Pandemic and this just adds a whole new dynamic.  I'm looking forward to the next time we get together and play Pandemic Legacy: Season 1!

The second game of the night was Mansions of Madness.  The setup of Mansions of Madness took a very long time but the artwork is great and the game play was so much fun!  I love how the game changes each time you play it as well depending on how the keeper sets up the board.  It was a bit slow for us at first but I think it's a game that you have to play a few times to get the setup and rules down pat.  I definitely want to play this again.  

Mansions of Madness is a macabre board game of horror, insanity and mystery for 2-5 players. Gather your fellow investigators and unravel the dark mysteries within before it's too late. Based on the horror fiction of master writer H.P. Lovecraft, Mansions of Madness creates an engrossing new narrative every time you play. Each game takes place within a pre-designed story that provides players with a unique map and several combinations of plot threads. These threads affect the monsters that investigators may encounter, the clues they need to find and which climactic story ending they will ultimately experience. One player takes on the role of the keeper, controlling the monsters and other malicious powers within the story. The other players take on the role of investigators, searching for answers while struggling to survive with their minds intact. Both the engaging plot and the stunning components will draw you in to a world of cosmic horror. The beautifully rendered modular map tiles show every intricate feature of the rooms you'll search and the monster figures represent the otherworldly forces of evil in horrific detail. The bases for each monster figure even have slots into which you can insert that monster's token, displaying only the pertinent statistics. All together, the thirty-two included figures, over 300 cards, over 200 tokens and markers and nearly 70 puzzle tiles,will help immerse you in a sanity-bending story of terrifying mystery. Do you dare enter the Mansions of Madness? - Description from Amazon

We had a blast during our game night and I can't wait to get together again soon and play again :)

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RECIPE: Grandmother Snook's Apple Walnut Cake

This recipe/posts received so much positive attention from family and friends that I had to repost it on my personal blog.  It's been said that my Grandmother Snook only baked her apple walnut cake for special occasions and I can see why.  It was delicious!  I also want to keep the tradition alive and also reserve it for special occasions.  My family however is very impatient!

(Originally posted on 7/31/2016 on my genealogy blog Discovering Family Roots. ) 

Mildred Snook (nee Swezy) is my grandmother on my dad's side.  She was born 1919 and died young at the age of 43 in 1953.    About 6 years ago in 2010 I received a letter from my cousin (actually first cousin once removed) who enclosed a few old family recipes.  Sometime after that I had misplaced the letter, I was devastated.  Even after moving from our old condo into the new house, I still could not find them.  Making up the spare room this past July I moved an old photo album and they fell out!  I was so excited!   I showed my father the Apple Walnut Cake recipe the following week.  He hadn't had that cake since he was about 12 years old.  It was a cake that she was known for.  I knew I was going to have to make it soon.

My grandparents Edward & Mildred (Swezy) Snook

My Grandmother Mildred Snook (Swezy)

This past weekend I finally made it!  I called my dad to check on a few things hoping he would remember, like how big were the chopped apples and what kind of pan did he remember her using.   Once it came out of the oven, I sent a picture to him and it let me know that it was just as he remembered.  Success!  The house smelled wonderful and my husband and daughter both agreed, it was delicious.  

  My father also said that the walnuts came from an English Walnut tree they had on their property.  It was the only in in Vernon.  Unfortunately that tree is no  longer here, it was in 1967 cut down to make room for the now Minerals Spa.  At that time it was 5ft in diameter.

I've included the recipe in my post.  If you plan on using it, I only ask that you please credit me & my blog in anything you post.  Thanks so much!