My Illinois upbringing collides with my Canadian food cravings. And behold, a legend is born.

My recent trip to Canada was an American rum lover’s dream!

Anyone who has read The Magical Buffet for a while knows that I love food and drink. When the opportunity presents itself to review a book that could potentially give me ideas of new things to eat or drink, I always go for it. And that is why I was thrilled that Llewellyn Worldwide sent me a copy of “Tea Leaf Reading for Beginners: Your Fortune in a Tea Cup” by Caroline Dow for me to take a look at.

My bottle of Rhum Barbancourt Estate Reserve Aged 15 Years has always been a great source of pride, but for awhile it was also a source of shame. See how I kicked shame to the curb and made the finest Rum and Coke of my life.

At long last! Yes fans of all things rum, I have FINALLY tried the rum cake recipe from Deborah Blake’s book “Witchcraft on a Shoestring”! Let the celebrations commence!

My favorite kitchen witch, Dawn Hunt, is back! After her wonderful winter Shepherd’s Pie I was eager to have her address spring and here it is, Ostara Spinach Quiche. Make it for your Ostara celebrations and/or bring it to an Easter brunch. Aw heck, it looks so simple and tasty, make it whenever you want!

In an attempt to not get flagged by every spam filter known to man I decided to call this post “Steamed Sponge Cake Pudding with Raisins” when there is really a better, more accurate, and funnier title out there on the horizon. Let’s just say, that this British sponge cake pudding is now called Spotted Richard by those who don’t wish to offend. That’s right, a chance encounter at a grocery store led me to have in my possession Spotted, cough, cough, “Richard” in a can! Better still, microwaveable! Oh, the wrongness doesn’t end there my friends….

Energy drinks have always scared me. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been nervous about trying any of them. Seriously, when did a breakfast of brownies and Mountain Dew stop being enough of a pick me up? Man, I miss my teenaged metabolism. So anyway, I’m a big energy drink ‘fraidy cat and I admit to it. However, if Suroh is to be believed, perhaps there is another more complex reason to explain my aversion to Monster Energy Drink.

I rarely do follow ups on stories we publish. I’m not certain why, but I suspect it has something to do with me being equal parts absentminded and lazy bastard. However, an invitation to my parents for dinner at our apartment presented me with a chance to follow up on an article written for The Magical Buffet by Dawn Hunt.

JB Sanders is back with more links to everything geek from December 2010! Enjoy “A Very Zombie Holiday”, 2000 year-old soup, Lovecraft, aliens, Doctor Who, and more!