Highmoon's Ponderings

Last week my wife sent me a link to a blog called Lunch in a Box, dedicated to bento lunches. Bento, a word I recognize from going to Japanese restaurants, turns out to be this whole philosophy about lunch, how to pack it, and what to eat. Since my wife takes lunch to work everyday, she fell in love with the idea of it. Thanks to Ichiban Kan, we ordered her a bento set and during the weekend, we set out to explore Miami’s Oriental markets.

After a day out and about, we got back home with all this:

When in Seattle, we picked up at Uwajimaya a sushi rice mold, not understanding that all the other funky molds we saw were for this, to create fun-shaped rice balls for a bento lunch. The next day I made two batches of sushi rice and made a few onigiri, or stuffed rice balls (and by balls, I mean shapes, even triangles) with tuna or umeboshi (a plum jam). They were fantastic! That night we also had sushi for dinner, and we made our own miso soup as well.

After filling ourselves with rolls and onigiri, I used the rest of the rice to make about 15 more onigiri, which I froze for lunches later in the week.

Yesterday my wife’s bento box arrived via UPS and today we packed our first bento lunch. It’s going to take some mental adjustment to the (visually) small portions, but it looks like a great way to eat well and correctly, plus it’s fun. I’m gonna get a bento myself as well and talk more later about making onigiri and packing a bento box (though by all means check out Lunch in a Box for far better advice than I could give).

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I better get this done before I blink and January is over!

The year 2008 was a really trying one for me on all levels for a variety of reasons. Though I normally don’t get too personal on this journal, I’ll be a bit more candid if only for my own benefit later on.

January was a somewhat slow month, except for the fact that it was my first month working at the new job I got over the winter break as Webmaster/Graphic Designer for Miami D&E Magazine, a job I considered pretty much a dream come true. The work was hard because we were trying to launch two magazines concurrently with just a handful of people, but it was enjoyable and satisfying; it was a practical application of all the lessons I had learned running Highmoon Media Productions over the last 3 years and that filled me with joy. On the personal gaming front, I started a play-by-email game of Witch Hunter: The Invisible World and a home game of Changeling: The Lost (this latter one died after only one session). I also got back to freelance writing, sending in submissions to three different companies (one of those ended up being Evil Hat’s Spirit of the Season, another is scheduled for sometime in 09 as part of larger book for Witch Hunter, and the third was rejected, which is fine).

February was a bit more of the same, until the job situation exploded. It turned out that the guy running the magazine got into some sort of problem (to this day we’re not sure what the real story was) and ended up owing us five paychecks, including one that bounced after clearing my account (my Highmoon Media account, by the way). When all was said and done, I was left about $5K in the hole and jobless. My only consolation? A copy of Adobe Creative Suite 3.

March and April were a bit of a blur. I did a lot of work on Highmoon Media at this time, and especially on The Digital Front Podcast. I also got to go to the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV thanks to a very generous benefactor who funded my trip (and no, I still won’t say who it was). This trip to GTS was actually helpful in things that are now starting to fall into place.

In May I began to do freelance work in earnest, and since then I have experienced the feast-and-famine ways of the freelancing life. In June we went to Seattle for the first time and had the time of our lives up in the great Northwest. During that trip my wife and I made the decision to try to move to Seattle, and upon our return we began the process of looking for work up there, a must for this move to happen. I also got a Utilikilt, which to this day I have yet to wear out of the house in Miami (though I have worn it at Gen Con).

July was a bit of a blur as well, caught in my usual post-trip funk. In August I went to Indianapolis for Gen Con and had a fantastic time. A few connections were made there as well that I hope will yield results later this year, maybe even at Gen Con. In August my wife and I both also got our new bicycles and began to ride around Miami Beach, very much enjoying the Slow Bike pholisophy of style over speed. I also launched Slow Bike Miami Beach, a blog to talk bikes and cycling.

In September I had the biggest scare of my life when my wife fell from her bike while riding and hit her head on the cement curb, getting a huge bump on her head and a number of hematomas. Seeing her fall and hit the curb was the most horrible thing and I learned both what it means to feel helpless and that I can teleport when the need arises. Thankfully she recovered just fine and a few weeks later she was back on the bike again.

Late September brought the High Holy Days, and in October I welcomed the new year with open arms, ready to shed the crappiness of 5768 (fully aware I still had a few months of 2008 to deal with). I felt spiritually good during this period, and even built my first sukkah with the money I collected from all my birthday gifts (ah yes, I also turned 34 and had a kick-ass Star Wars-themed party that my wife threw for me).

November brought the elections and I wept when this country elected Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. To this day, thinking of that moment makes my eyes sting and my chest swell with pride. I also launched Destination: Earth Travel Journal as a place for me to practice my travel writing skills, and became a writer for Miami Metblogs, as a way to connect with my city, get more writing practice and get a bit more exposure. In late November we headed back to Seattle for the second time in the same year. We had hoped, when we bought the (really cheap) tickets, to have a couple of interviews lined up but that didn’t happen. We did use the time to explore the city as hopeful residents-to-be, having the amazing fortune to befriend and share Shabbat with a local family that took us in as if we were distant relatives (hello Clements!).

December was very tense for me because it’s a month where most of the world shuts down but, since we don’t celebrate Christmas, for us it’s just business as usual. Which means a lot of resumes were sent but no answer would be coming back until January. I did get a chance to go to Disney’s Magic Kingdom with our dear friend Lari; got to see my brother Michael, whom I had not seen in 8 years, since he went into the Army and for whom I had prayed lots during his two tours in Iraq and the repercussions; and got a chance to play parent for a week when my 3-year-old nephew came to stay with us.

I was so ready to shed 2008 once and for all, and could not wait for it to end. I bid farewell to the year with my wife and played Guitar Hero till the wee hours that night.

It is very weird because as an observant Jew, my life is quite affected by the Jewish calendar, but the secular year also has its effects on me in the sense that I live in the secular world, interact with it on a daily basis, swim in its waters for 6 days, emerging once a week for Shabbat. So in that sense the passing of the secular year has meaning. It also carries an energy of change, an energy I had been craving for.

Here’s to 2009 and all that it will bring.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHMOON MEDIA PRODUCTIONS LAUNCHES HIGHMOON GAMES

January 6, 2009 (MIAMI BEACH, FL) — Highmoon Media Productions launches today its new division, Highmoon Games, transferring all of its hobby game-related business and products to it, effective immediately.

Highmoon Games will continue to produce and distribute the same excellent gaming products in support of the Open Gaming License as always, as well as expand into new areas, acting as a design studio for other 3rd-party companies, and producing materials for new game systems.

“Highmoon Media Productions was always meant to be an umbrella for various projects,” said owner Daniel M. Perez. “By launching Highmoon Games, we can use the new brand to emphasize our work in the hobby game industry, and let Highmoon Media Productions take its role as the parent company for a variety of endeavors, including The Digital Front and The Gamer Traveler Podcasts.”

You can find Highmoon Games‘ products on RPGNow.com and DriveThruRPG.com, and on the web at www.highmoon-games.com.

ABOUT HIGHMOON GAMES
Highmoon Games is a Miami Beach-based e-publisher of hobby gaming products, including Ancient Adventures Magazine (formerly Targum), and designers of True20 Ancients. Highmoon Games is a division of Highmoon Media Productions, which produces The Gamer Traveler Podcast and The Digital Front Podcast. Learn more about Highmoon Games and Highmoon Media Productions at www.highmoon-games.com & www.highmoonmedia.com.

# # #
Highmoon Media Productions Media Contact
Daniel M. Perez
daniel@highmoonmedia.com

My 3-year-old nephew came to stay with us for a week, and my wife got him a proper bike. We saw his “bike” at home in Orlando, an old tricycle he got when he turned 2, and it was just not working for him; his legs are now too long, so he couldn’t pedal well, making him very frustrated and not wanting to ride at all.

This new bike is the perfect size for him. Though he was fussy when he first got on, he quickly picked it up and a couple of days later, was out riding his bike with his uncle and aunt to the nearby park, a distance of about 1/2 mile round-trip. He doesn’t care for speed; he just wants to ride and see what’s out there. That’s a slow biker-in-the-making, for sure.

Despite many planned things I wanted to write before the end of 08, here I am, already January 5, now writing my first post of 2009.

Better late than never, eh?

Though I will do a Year in Review, I can say one thing about 2008: good riddance. Shoo!

To welcome 2009 and the promise of new and better things, I share with you the secrets of Coquito.

Coquito is Puerto Rico’s own “egg nog”-style drink, except it is tons better. It is customarilly made during the end-of-year holidays, and I am happy I was able to uphold this tradition this year in my house. Now that I have a good recipe that tastes just like the one I remember my grandmother making, I fully intend to make this a recurring tradition in my house as well (I can see this being a great nightcap with a donut during Channukah). Without further ado…

Coquito

This creamy drink might camouflague as egg nog but it is something all its own. The mixture of evaporated and condensed milk with the coconut milk and cinnamon water produces a sweet flavor that is a perfect compliment for the rum that goes along, creating a mildly sweet but deceptively strong drink perfect to share with friends. Make it ahead of time so that it gets very cold, a great refresher for tropical “winter” nights.

Ingredients
Yields 5 cups.

• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup white rum
• 1 cup of water
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4 egg yolks, well beaten
• Ground cinnamon for decoration

Instructions

• Toss the cinnamon sticks in the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 2-3 minutes, turn off the heat, then allow to cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon sticks.
• Combine all the milks and the rum in a blender or food processor. If you have an immersion blender (motorboat), even better.
• Combine all the other ingredients (except the ground cinnamon) and blend until well-mixed.
• Pour into containers and chill. Puerto Rican tradition has it coquito must be stored in glass bottles, but I have buckled tradition there a few times. I leave it up to you where you store it.
• Serve chilled with ground cinnamon sprinkled on top.

If you want to enhance the coconut flavor, use a bit more coconut milk or use coconut rum. Adding an extra 1/2 cup of condensed milk increases the sweetness, if you like that (and I do). You can also make the cinnamon water ahead of time and chill so that the finalized coquito has less time to go in the fridge before it is ready for drinking and sharing.

I have made coquito following the above steps and also just blending everything together at once with my immersion blender. Both times the coquito has been fantastic, so feel free to try that as well. Lastly, double up all the ingredients to make about 1/2 gallon of coquito, a perfect amount for a small party or to share a few cups with friends. If you’re having a medium to big party, be ready to make 3 or 4 times as much, because coquito goes fast. You’ve been warned.

Many thanks to Visit the Coqui website where I got the recipe for coquito, above.

Enjoy this drink and may you all have a happy new year 2009.