The Muse

With the stressful times we’re living in, it’s important to enjoy the little things. A quick walk on a sunny day, the show that never fails to make you laugh, and , of course, food.

But even getting food can be stressful, so I’ve made this list of meals consisting of only 3 ingredients so you can minimise your time at the supermarket and cooking.

Baked Meat and Cheese Rollups
1 ball pizza dough
8 oz. thinly sliced deli ham (or any meat)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. Press to form a 12 x 8-inch rectangle.
2. Arrange ham slices evenly over dough to within 1/2 inch of edges. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Starting at one of the short ends, roll up dough to form log. Pinch seam together to seal. Place, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet.
3. Bake for 50 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into 8 slices with a serrated knife.

Chicken WIngs with Herbs and Honey
2 pounds frozen chicken wings thawed
3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
Honey to taste for serving

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Place the chicken wings in a large mixing bowl and add the Italian seasoning. Use your hands to toss the wings and seasoning together until all the wings are coated (this may need to be done in batches depending on the size of your bowl).
3. Place the wings on a large non-stick baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until crispy and cooked through (Note: mine were in the oven for 22 minutes on the dot).
5. Remove from oven, transfer to a serving platter, and drizzle with honey.

Chicken Salad
1 cup shredded chicken
2 Tbsp mayonaisse
1/3 raisins

1. Mix ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Eat

Taco Lime Grilled Chicken
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/4 cup lime juice (~2 limes)
1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts

1. Mix the taco seasoning and lime juice, cover the chicken in the mixture and optionally marinate for 30 minutes to over-night.
2. Grill over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 3-5 minutes per side, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Dried Beef Dip
2 8-ounce containers whipped-style cream cheese, room temperature
2.5-ounce jar dried beef, chopped
4 green onions, sliced

1. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in dried beef and green onions until fully incorporated.
2. Cover and chill for at least two hours or overnight.
3. Serve with veggies, toasted baguette, or crackers.

Baked Salmon with Pesto and Pecans
4 Salmon fillets
4 Tablespoons storebought or homemade Pesto
4 Tablespoons crushed Pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Lightly grease or oil a baking sheet. Place the Salmon fillets skin side down on the prepared pan. Spoon a tablespoon of pesto per fillet and spread all over the salmon. Sprinkle the crushed pecans all over (about a tablespoon each).
2. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily when poked. Adjust the time according the to thickness of your fish. Serve immediately and have it with your favorite vegetables.

Lastly, what’s supper without some dessert? Like some Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream
3 bananas
2 tablespoons unsweetened, unsalted peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1. Slice bananas and freeze overnight in a sealed container.
2. Defrost bananas for a few minutes
3. In a processor or blender, combine the bananas and peanut butter on low speed to avoid burning out the engine.  
4. When mostly mixed, add salt a little at a time and adjust to your taste.

Hope these recipes give you some ideas. Enjoy and stay safe.

Outset Media is a Canadian owned board game company based out of Victoria BC. Founded by David Manga in 1996, Outset Media set out to provide board games that people can enjoy with their family and friends. They have recently released St. John’s-Opoly, a local spin on the classic version of Monopoly. St. John’s-Opoly is available exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.ca. I talked with Jean Paul Teskey, Senior Vice President of Outset Media, about the game’s inception, as well as Outset Media’s variety of board games and how the company got started.

How did the idea for this game come about?

The whole project came about due to Walmart US and the great success it had with a similar idea down in the states. Outset Media are the Canadian distributors of these “Opoly” games, so Walmart Canada reached out and asked us to create a bunch of games for cities and towns across Canada. We’ve done about 70 versions of Opoly games, with St. John’s being one of them. Each game is unique, in that the images and themes in the game celebrate the local places and events. For example, in the St. John’s-Opoly, we have locations like George Street and Water Street, as well as events like the Royal St. George’s Regatta. Even local business, like Yellowbelly Brewery and Railway Coastal Museum are featured in the game.

Do you plan to sell the game at local small businesses?

We have entered a deal with Walmart Canada to sell these games exclusively at their stores. So this game will only be available in St. John’s Walmart locations. It is unusual because we are a smaller Canadian company, but Walmart wanted to celebrate all the different communities they were a part of across the country. This is a big project and a great way to celebrate communities across Canada.

You have quite a few trivia and educational games, was this your goal when setting up Outset Media? To make fun, social, educational board games?

Outset Media was started by my old friend Dave Manga over 25 years ago. Dave founded the company on his Canadian Trivia game which has since become the best selling Canadian Trivia game ever. Canadian Trivia became the first of many Trivia games offered by Outset, but since then the company’s product line has included Party Games, Kids Games, strategy (and more) – all with the intention of creating fun, social and often educational products for family and friends.

How did you choose which St. John’s Locations would be featured in the game?

Outset Media is a Canadian company and we have people who work with us across the country.  The game that launched us from the outset was a Canadian Trivia game that provides a lot of great details about places all over Canada. That, combined with our own research, helps a lot. But most of all we have our wonderful staff, some of whom are familiar with St. John’s after being there a number of times, specifically salespeople who are based in the East.

You have some licensed games from franchises like Doctor Who, Goosebumps, and Archie. Are there other licensed brands you would be interested in creating a game for?

Our biggest licensed brand right now is Jeopardy. It was quite cool for a small Canadian company like ours to attain the game rights to Jeopardy for all of North America. When we go for licensed brands, we try to focus on brands that have real longevity to them and  what we call “evergreen brands”. We aren’t looking for brands that are popular at first and then run out of favor. We look towards brands that have a long history to them. We recently signed on to create Star Trek puzzles.

Do you have any future projects?

We are always looking for new products and puzzles. Cobble Hill is our puzzle brand line, and we have had amazing success with them. With puzzles and games, you need to keep refreshing them on a regular basis to keep interest. Games tend to stick around a little bit longer. For example, Canadian Trivia is a game that has been out for about 25 years, and sold over 1 million copies.

Any possibility of a Newfoundland-Opoly, or Monopoly style games based on different provinces?

You know, that is not a bad idea but it is not something we have discussed. That could be a good version later on. Since we have the deal with Walmart, we have many other cities and towns that we have to develop for them over the next couple of years. After that it sounds like a great idea.

Author: Steve Sharpe

On Tuesday (May12th), Memorial University announced that there would be no in-class sessions until at least January 2021, meaning all classes this Spring and Fall semesters will be conducted remotely. While the online platform may not be the dream of every university student, who may crave the in-person, heart pounding action of a living, breathing campus, it doesn’t mean we can’t turn this into an enjoyable experience! In this article, we explore some ways to make the best out of an unfortunate situation.

Let’s begin with setting up an area in your living space that is dedicated to learning. Be it a separate room, the basement or just a corner in the house, make it YOUR classroom, and keep it as the place where YOU attend university. Get yourself a nice lamp that you like and avoid ceiling lights. Make it comfortable. Next, buy yourself a good chair and sit up straight. Otherwise, you are going to get a bad back and neck, and will likely not have a good time. Staples has lots of options to choose from and when things open back up, used furniture and office supply stores do as well.

Now, let’s think about the technical side of things. You have to first consider what equipment you are going to use: is it a desktop, laptop or tablet? Your choice of device should be properly supported on your desk. If you have a laptop or tablet on your lap, and you are moving around, your video is shaky for everyone and it just looks amateurish. If you are using a phone or tablet, get a cheap desktop stand from Amazon. A headset is a must-have. Bluetooth earbuds with a mic or wired earphones should work just as well. If you are using a desktop computer, does it have a web cam? They are getting tough to find, so if not, you’ll want to get on that one right away!

Find out what software your classes are using for communication. Is it Microsoft Teams, or Bluejeans, or something else? Ask for that information and then download the appropriate app. You can use most of the apps to test your setup, including your mic, earbuds and video. If you do this beforehand, you will be ready to go for your first class. Also, learn the controls of the app. It is a good practice to mute your own mic whenever you are not speaking, to eliminate background noise. Learn how to mute your mic and video in the app and see if there is a hotkey for quickly unmuting your mic. These little techniques will come in handy quite often. Unless someone needs to see me, I always mute my video. Otherwise, you might find yourself forgetting it is on, and do something embarrassing! Mic and video mute will be your new best friends!

Finally, give your day structure. If your classes start at 8:00 AM, get up at 6:30 AM. Have a coffee or a water, get some breakfast, maybe go for a short walk to get some fresh air, listen to a podcast; wake your mind up before you go to your class. If you go right from bed to class (or worse, go right to class in bed!), you are not going to be mentally prepared to learn. Take your lunch break and go eat outside, or call a friend on Facetime and see how they are doing. You should try to make yourself feel like you have a life outside your living space, and that going to your class area is like leaving your home. Try to keep them separate.

These are just a few tips to consider for the unprecedented upcoming semesters at Memorial. With a little organisation, some simple structure and a bit of technical preparation, you will be on your way to a positive learning experience at home!