Back in the early days of gaming, Flying Buffalo published a wonderful, light-hearted fantasy game called Tunnels & Trolls™. Not only was it a fun break from the rather grim tone of D&D®, but it had the advantage of having many solo adventures available. It was simple, fast, easy to play, and its author, Ken St.Andre, clearly had a wonderful (and slightly demented) sense of humor. I still have my official T&T pencil, marked "1/2 die weapon when sharpened."
Judges Guild published several adventures for T&T. One of them, Rat on a Stick, had the distinction of being the only fantasy adventure (at least, that I am aware of) involving fast food franchises! Think about it: All of those monsters crammed into a typical dungeon have to get food somehow ... so why not at the nearest Rat on a Stick stand? The adventure included the necessary rules for running a Rat on a Stick franchise and all the things that make life in the fast food industry in a fantasy world somewhat more, um, exciting than in the real world.
While sorting through the Judges Guild archives I, your humble Webmaster, unearthed the following recipe. After a bit of research and some help from a reader I found out that the author was Pixie Bledsaw, who also drew some of the first art in the early days of Judges Guild. Clearly a very creative lady!
I should warn you that I haven't actually tried this recipe yet. It looks very tasty, however. It is basically cheese-stuffed meatloaf, and the mere thought of that is making me want to abandon my computer and head for the nearest kitchen. I'll report further when I have a chance to cook up some.
- 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. ground beef
- 1/2 cup finely crushed cheddar cheese crackers
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 lb. cheese (Colby, Colby Cheddar, or Jack Colby)
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 8 wooden meat skewers or equivalent
- For optional tails - - 4 pieces spaghetti
- red food coloring
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut cheese into half-inch cubes. Impale cheese cubes on skewers, dividing cheese cubes evenly among skewers.
- In large bowl, mix beef, egg, cracker crumbs, and pepper. If mixture doesn't stick together well, add 2 tablespoons milk.
- Divide mixture into 8 sections.
- Press each section flat until 1/2 inch thick.
- Wrap each stick of cheese in a section of meat. Make sure there are no holes or cracks in the meat that would let the cheese leak out while baking.
- Shape top end of meat "rat"into a point.
- Optional tails:
- Fill a small saucepan with water and add four drops of red food coloring. Bring to a boil.
- Break 4 sticks of spaghetti in half. Place spaghetti in water, leaving one end out of water.
- When spaghetti has softened and turned pink, remove from water.
- Using unsoftened end, insert 1 piece of spaghetti into round end of "rat".
- Drape soft end of spaghetti around handle of stick.
- Place "rats" on baking sheet. (one with sides)
- Dribble honey over "rats".
- Pour barbecue sauce over "rats"
- Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees F, basting and turning occasionally.
- Serve to hungry gamers.