Category: Food

3 Foods You Can Eat While Playing Live Casino

Live casino’s pretty awesome! It gives you about as direct of a link to the online casino world as you can possibly have thanks to the presence of a real life dealer that’s broadcast to you through a camera, allowing you to briefly forget about your own loneliness and indulge in fake human contact with another human being. Erm, I mean… I’m definitely not projecting anything, you guys. A-anyway, live casinos have become a huge thing in the last few years (if you don’t believe me, just check out a site like liveukcasinos.co.uk and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about), and that’s in no small part because the live dealers know exactly how to keep the game going. It’s easy to stay for hours at a time and come back for more when the dealer doesn’t give you a chance to look away! Unfortunately for people like me, who really like to eat stuff while they play, that leaves us in a very delicate position. What I eat needs to be substantial enough to last me a while and filling enough to make me not want seconds, since getting up after the live casino has started and pausing the fun isn’t really an option. Additionally, the food I get can’t be anything that’s going to require two hands to eat (since I still need my dominant hand free to play at all times), and at the same time anything that’s greasy and could stain my keyboard is also out (you never know when I’m going to need to type up a quick message into the chat). Those conditions narrow down a list quite a bit, but fortunately, I’ve discovered a few foods which are excellent for this activity!

1. Pizza

pizzaA friend of mine often liked to say that pizza’s like sex – when it’s good, it’s great, and when it’s not good, it’s still pretty good. Honestly, I don’t disagree with him! I mean, come on, who honestly doesn’t like pizza? Even people who say they don’t eat pizza are only saying it out of dietary concerns and not because they actually dislike the taste of pizza. By the way, pro-tip, people on strict diets – if you really want to lose weight, you should stop watching what you eat and start watching how much you eat. Technically, you can eat nothing but Big Macs and still have a stunning body as long as you watch that calorie intake. With that said, you’ve got no excuse not to order a pizza the next time you’re playing live casino, especially since it’s a food that’s regularly served in real casinos. Generally, when you order pizza from a pizzeria, it comes cut in 8 – I often like to cut each piece into 3 parts for a total of 24 tiny, narrow slides, which are super easy to consume while playing and last for a really long time!

2. Fruits & Veggies

fruitsAlright, time for the obligatory vegan option! I won’t spend too much time talking about it because… Well, it’s fruits and veggies! And yes, I am talking about just raw fruits or vegetables (please don’t mix them – the only fruit you should ever mix in with vegetables is the tomato) that you just eat directly out of a bowl. And it’s not really anything fancy or hard to prepare, either. The way I typically like to do vegetables is just get some cherry tomatoes and some baby carrots (which aren’t babies at all, those lying, lying bastards) and maybe slice in some cucumber in there or something. No sauces or anything like that required. For fruits, I just chop up and throw anything that doesn’t release a ton of fluids into a bowl. Apples, grapes, peaches, strawberries, whatever! It’s literally the easiest thing to do, doesn’t make a mess, and it’s healthy, too!

3. Chocolates

chockolateYep. Just an ordinary box of store-bought chocolates. I’m specifically talking about bonbons, not chocolate bars (since the chocolate used in bars tends to melt to the touch, which can cause a mess, while the chocolate used for bonbons has been specifically meant to not melt and make as little of a mess as possible). Not exactly the cheapest nor the most dietary solution, but honestly? It’s one that I’m super guilty of. What can I say, chocolates are delicious, they’re filled with goodness and once you pop you just can’t stop! Just, um… Maybe don’t eat the entire box? I mean, I’m not really the person to tell you how to live your life, but let’s be honest here, you came to my blog looking for advice on what to eat while playing live casino games. Perhaps a bit of a warning is in order.

MariaFood

5 Fictional Foods You Can Taste Right Now

Krabby PattyCome on, as much as we all like to cook here, let’s admit it… We’re all a little bit nerdy. What, it’s true, you know it’s true! We all enjoy SOMETHING that’s kind of geeky, whether it’s Marvel movies, sci-fi novels, videogames or anime. If you claim that you have nothing that you’d completely nerd out over, you’re a bigger liar than the average presidential candidate (ooooh, a political joke, bet you haven’t heard a million of THOSE today). I personally have quite a lot of nerdy passions, even if you’d never know it from just reading my blog, so I figured… What the hell, why not combine them with my love for cooking? You’ve read the title, you know what’s coming – here I’ll be telling you about 5 fictional foods and drinks that you can prepare right now, in the comfort of your own home!

1. A Krabby Patty

A running gag in the show “SpongeBob Squarepants” involves the villainous Plankton trying out all kinds of crazy, convoluted schemes in an attempt to steal the recipe for the Krabby Patty – the incredibly tasty hamburger that is keeping Mr. Krabs’ fast food business flourishing. Well, don’t tell Plankton that, but, uh… I actually know the recipe, and it’s not nearly as complex and mysterious as you might think! Really, the Krabby Patty is, at its core, just a regular old hamburger with celery, tomatoes and some seasoning! You can check out the recipe here and, honestly, you can probably find all of those ingredients at your local supermarket.

2. The Portal Cake

If you were on the Internet at all in the late 2000s and early 2010s, you’ve undoubtedly heard people stating that “The cake is a lie!” That phrase comes from the 2007 videogame “Portal”, in which you play as a young woman trapped by an AI and forced to participate in the testing of a portal device. The AI promises that if you succeed in the tests you will be rewarded with cake, but if you manage to open a portal juuust right you’ll see the infamous “The cake is a lie” message scribbled all over the walls. But, as it turns out, the cake is actually not a lie – you get to see it at the very end of the game, and it looks delicious! So delicious, in fact, that I wouldn’t tempt you if you’d like to try it yourself. Here’s the recipe if you do. You know, just putting it there, not saying you should or anything. Don’t blame me if you get fat is what I’m saying!

3. Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

Ah, there’s nothing quite like a night of playing online casinos while sipping on a well-prepared cocktail! Maybe a martini (shaken, not stirred), or a margarita, or a Bloody Mary… Well, the next time you’re playing, why not try the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”? The book describes it as the best drink in existence, “the effect of which is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick,” so you know it’s gotta be good! Sadly, us Earthlings don’t possess most of the materials necessary to make an appropriate substitute, but this YouTube came pretty damn close! Enjoy!

4. Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie

In the hit indie game “Undertale”, you take control of a young, gender-neutral child that, after falling through a hole in a mountain, ends up in the Underworld which is inhabited by monsters. The child is soon found by the kindly goat lady Toriel, who takes them in and asks if they would prefer a butterscotch or a cinnamon pie. But since the child, much like many videogame protagonists, is completely silent, Toriel decides to make a butterscotch cinnamon pie instead! And honestly, while I’d have absolutely no idea how that would even taste, these guys actually went and made it. And honestly? It looks delicious! I suck at making pies, but I’d genuinely love to give this one a shot sometime just because I imagine that, even if I don’t like it, it’d have a very unique taste! By the way, quick note, the guys in question, “Feast of Fiction”, are all about making fictional food real, and I could’ve easily filled this list with their videos, so go check out their channel if you want more!

5. Health & Mana Potions

We all know how RPGs work! When the hero gets wounded, even if he or she is only a papercut away from death, a health potion is all they need to bring them back to the peak of their strength! Similarly, if they’re out of mana (whatever the hell “mana” even is), a mana potion allows them to continue casting spells like nothing happened! Honestly, I never quite got exactly how this worked, but, y’know, it’s magic, so I guess it doesn’t really need to be explained! But anyway, I’m ranting here. Despite how utterly convenient health potions would be in our world (“Oh, you have terminal cancer? Drink this, you’ll be fine”), sadly it seems like their effects will forever remain in the realms of fiction… But not their taste! A company actually made real health and mana potions which are available for sale right now! Apparently, they serve as energy drinks, so… I guess they kind of work? I don’t know, I’m not brave enough to try them. But if you have, let me know how they taste!

Greek Pasta Salad – Get Healthy this Summer

Greek Pasta SaladA few dozens of batches of chunky cheesecake brownies later, I decided to balance things out and offer you a healthy salad recipe. Now, I’ve tried salads that were very healthy yet bland and others that were smothered in cheese and jam-packed with calories (Ever had a Taco Bell salad?). Since I don’t want to sway towards neither of those extremes, I look for the golden mean.

To me throwing in a few cherry tomatoes over two leaves of iceberg lettuce doesn’t count as salad. I’m more of the put all the vegetables from the fridge in a serving bowl and eat it type. That’s why I love this salad. It could work as a side dish for your favourite meats or as a meal on its own. It’s great on a summer night when you don’t really feel like cooking or there’s no one to cook for – grab a beer or a glass of wine and enjoy this quick and easy Greek Pasta Salad.

Ingredients

  • 200g whole-wheat farfalle, rotini or other small pasta
  • 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
  • 400g chickpeas from a can, rinsed
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
  • 120g Kalamata olives, quartered and pitted
  • 50g feta cheese, crumbled
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Preparation

Start by combining the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and vinegar in a large bowl. Let that stand while you prepare the pasta. Cook the pasta until tender – about 8-10 minutes or according to the directions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add the pasta to the bowl, together with the remaining ingredients. Mix gently. Makes for 4 servings, about 500 calories each.

Remarks

We’ve all heard that the Mediterranean diet is supposedly the healthiest in the world. And many think Greek salad is the king of kings at salad bars. But as much as I like a serving or two of Greek salad as an appetizer, it seems to lack something.

Enter pasta! Pasta is so versatile that it could make even its worst enemy fall in love with it given the right circumstances. If you like to experiment, try pasta varieties made of rice, corn, quinoa or a combination of those.

When you add the olive oil, your salad instantly becomes healthier for your heart. However, be careful with the extra virgin olive oil you pick. There was yet another olive oil scandal a few months ago when leading Italian brands turned out to be fake. Ironically, some of the bottles which delivered a product that was neither extra virgin nor Italian even had the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) stamp.

Chickpeas deliver extra protein and that way feed your muscle and prevent muscle loss. As for Kalamata olives, feel free to use any kind of olives you like. I personally like Kalamata but I often use black olives, Spanish or Turkish, because they have a stronger flavor. Oh, and I love using fresh oregano but if you prefer it dried, feel free to use that instead.

MariaFood

Chunky Cheesecake Brownies – Your Path to Obesity!

chunky cheesecake browniesIn our food and restaurant-themed site we sure have written a whole lot about casinos and not nearly enough about food, haven’t we? Well, I believe it’s about time for us to correct that injustice! And boy, do I have a treat for you! I’ve got to admit, I’m not really a big cook – I love eating, and I can cook most things given the proper recipe, but there aren’t many foods that I can cook by heart, so to speak. I’m just not the type of person who memorizes this type of thing (I guess the Internet has just spoiled me too much with its 24/7 recipes and cooking videos), but then again, I’m just a blogger and not a MasterChef contender. There is, however, one dish that I can absolutely make any time, recipe or not, and that is the spectacular chunky cheesecake brownie! I’ll leave its culinary qualities to your imagination, but suffice to say, you’ll be addicted into obesity before too long!

What you need for this recipe is 1 package of cream cheese (about 220g), 100g of sugar, 3 eggs, 85g of flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 60g of butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 250g of chocolate chips (or if you don’t have any, just get some cheap milk chocolate and break it down into tiny bits, or blend it). Now, the thing about the cheesecake brownies is that it’s, shockingly, two sweets mixed into one – cheesecake and brownies. So we’ll need to prepare two separate mixtures before combining them into the Voltron of diabetes! For the cheesecake, you’ll need to mix the cheese with about 30g of sugar and one egg before stirring in half of your chocolate chips into the mixture. That’s your cheesecake! Set it aside for now.

For the brownies, melt the remaining chocolate chips and combine them with the butter until the mixture is nice and evenly blended. Stir in what’s left of the sugar and eggs before adding the flour, salt and baking powder. Voila! Instant brownies, just add nothing! Now, this is the best part! Did anybody else see “Captain Planet” as a child? Well, if you did, say with me now: “LET OUR POWERS COMBINE!” Grease a baking pan and spread half of the brownies mixture onto it evenly, then place the cheesecake mixture and finally spread the remaining brownies mixture on top of it. If you’d like you can use a knife or a BBQ pick to mix the top two layers into each other, creating a marble pattern which looks pretty, but doesn’t always work out for me, personally.

Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for about half an hour, and you’re done! Enjoy the best, most caloric, but oh so very delicious dessert that money can’t buy (because you need to make it yourself). If you’d like to see a video of the recipe in action this one is actually pretty damn great. Just remember to diet for a bit after eating the brownies, and to exercise regularly, and… Ah, who am I kidding. Wanna make another batch?

Roulette – the House has the Edge (or Does it?)

There have been many talks, studies and just about anything from a chat over a drink in the local pub to serious scientists conducting even more serious studies about whether it is possible to predict (and therefore – beat the odds) when playing roulette. Even Einstein had a say-so on the topic – “No one can possibly win at roulette unless he steals money from the table while the croupier isn’t looking.” He was a funny guy as we all know. But is that really the case (don’t get me wrong, I am not going to argue with one of the smartest human beings to have ever existed).

With the rise of the internet information is easily available and it is much easier to share knowledge across continents. There are plenty of sites, such as rouletteprobabilities.com that can not only attempt to answers such questions but will also guide anyone through the process of playing the game, regardless of their level of expertise or budget. But the one thing that we all ask ourselves as players is still that – is it doable? To be honest, for me personally, even if it was the case and it was easy to use maths and determine how to swiftly win, I wouldn’t go for it. It simply kills all the charm and the very idea of the game – it should be all up to luck, right? But not everyone is me, so let’s have a look at how far we have got into beating the odds at roulette.

roulette maths probabilitiesAccording to statistics, on average, you will always lose at a 1/19 rate, so for every pound (alright, with this Brexit you should be switching to Euro maybe, cose you’re losing even when you don’t play. I know, I’m so funny. Just a thought) you bet, you will be losing 19. That is based on the American roulette wheel with 38 numbers, including 0 and 00. Then there are the progression schemes – they are used to shuffle around the risk until you don’t notice it anymore. They are pretty much the opposite of a single number bet, so when you place money on a single number, you will usually lose those. But occasionally you will win big. But not big enough to make it worthwhile. Unless you know when to stop. And even if we put maths aside, that’s pretty much the trick. But we are all in for the thrill of it, so it doesn’t really work like this. When you use a progression scheme, you will usually win some money. Until of course you lose big. So big that (you guessed it) it’s not worthwhile.

Now, if you’ve got your head on and you are actually good at maths, here is a treat for you. But for the simple mortals, like myself, let’s find something simpler and more understandable, hey.

One such example is to calculate the number of times that the ball bounces 10 pockets from where it strikes the rotor. Obviously there are many variables to determine how far it will bounce, but you are looking for the most common distance it will travel. This is very basic mathematics but it’s just an example to show how maths is properly used in gambling. You can see it is also connected to physics. A more complex example is how the deceleration rate of the ball will change over time – because of air pressure or movement for example. This is very important for roulette computer devices.

Well, I think I need to stop before my head hurts (which explains clearly why I would rather just play than try to beat any odds). But if this is something that tickles your fancy as a reader – do drop me a line and I will be happy to expand on it and get into more details

MariaFood

Derby Casino Evacuated Over Fire Alarm

Casino gamesImagine being a gambler during a winning streak at your local casino. No matter how many times you get your two cards, you always get either 20, 21 or a blackjack. It’s insane, really! You’re at the top of your game, betting your winnings each time only to have them doubled. The night, which you thought wasn’t going to be any special, just a gathering between friends for some casual gambling, literally could not be going any better. Finally, you place everything on the final hand, thinking you’re on fire… And it turns out you’re about to be. The fire alarm rings, ending your streak prematurely and sending you straight outside without even a hint of glory.

That’s exactly what happened in the Genting Casino in Derby, Nottingham. After a fire alarm rang at 3.25 AM, the staff unceremoniously escorted the guests outside, leaving them to wait on the pavement in front of the casino until a fire crew could check things out. “Fire at the casino, it’s all happening”, tweeted user bmurphy_96, obviously rather concerned about the situation. As it turned out, though, nothing was happening at all – the fire alarm was caused by a faulty sprinkler head, as a casino spokeswoman explained. On one hand, it’s great that nobody at the casino was hurt, but on the other, I would certainly not want to be one of those gamblers who were forced to abandon their lucky streaks all because of something as horribly trivial as a faulty sprinkler head!

MariaFood

Top 5 Casino Restaurants in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is the perfect place for…wait…everything. This time we will be presenting you a list of the Top 5 Casino Restaurants in Sin City just because you can fully savour the triumph of a jackpot over a glass of wine, mouth-watering stake, caviar and crab legs. Some difficult decisions had to be made while preparing this ranking because there were at least 10 more restaurants that were worthy of our attention but the casinos of the winners outperformed the others. So if you are wondering what to do with your poker winnings, here are some nice places to have a fancy meal.

#5 – Wynn – The Buffet Buffet – 15 cooking stations and Alice-in-wonderland-tea-party atmosphere will make your breakfast a special experience. It seems that most of the tourist praise the Buffet mainly on their breakfast which is just $20 and their weekend brunch with champagne at $39. Maybe that’s a bit pricey for a buffet, but come on it’s Wynn and it’s worth it.

#4 – The Venetian – CUT Steakhouse – This a la carte steakhouse is the second masterpiece of the world-renowned master chef Wolfgang Puck. The steaks range between $50-$100 because they are prime graded beef, the wine ranges from $40 – $100+ and desserts around $26. It may sound a bit expensive but you have to keep in mind that this is a top class restaurant with outstanding service and a fabulous food.

#3 – Ceaser’s Palace – Guy Savoy – Not surprisingly, this high-end restaurant has garnered two Michelin Stars. Named after its Head Chef, Guy Savoy redefines elegance and class. Dedicated to the French cuisine, this exquisite place has also won the Forbes Five Star Award and the AAA Five Diamonds Award. Impressed already? You should be. Just FYI the average price without beverages is $180 per person.

#2 – Palms Casino – Alizé – Situated on the top floor of the Palms Ivory Tower, Alizé overlooks the strip and so you can imagine that the view is nothing less than spectacular. This gourmet Michelin-starred restaurant serves French cuisine and is open only for dinner. Alizé was created by the world-renowned Chef Andre Rochat and Chef de Cuisine Mark Purdy. And a fun fact, Alizé boasts the largest cognac selection in Las Vegas, in case fine dining is not impressive enough.

#1 – Bellagio – Picasso – The top restaurant in our ranking is quite a natural choice because, seriously, what can beat a restaurant with 13 AAA Five Diamond Awards overlooking the Bellagio Fountains. There is a lot of artwork in the interior design, which enhances the classy feel. The cuisine is Mediterranean, inspired by France and Spain where Picasso spent his life and prepared by the native Spanish Chef Julian Serrano. There’s a patio, which is open seasonally and to make sure you feel comfortable even when you are outdoors there are cool misters and heat lamps.