Door 14 – Reveal & Task 1, Door 15 – Book, and Door 16 – Task 1
The king is dead; long live the king … with Halloween Bingo behind us, Festive Tasks is already well under way! Since we ran a poll this year to determine which holidays were to be included in the game, we’re starting with a calendar pre-seeded with 10 holidays and will be opening the remaining doors in the order of the poll’s outcome — so the most popular holiday is hidden behind door No. 1 and will be revealed last.
Diwali
Today was the day of the first surprise holiday (emerging from the poll) to be revealed: It is Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light(s); the winner of the run-off poll we held for the final spot on the list of the 14 holidays to be included in addition to the 10 pre-seeded holidays.
Task 1: Make an Indian dish or bake some Nankhatai (eggless cardamom cookies) – here’s the recipe: https://www.tashasartisanfoods.com/blog/nankhatai
What better to complete my first task for this square with than a favorite dish? Chicken Tikka Masala with fresh pineapple (albeit with tikka masala paste courtesy of my local supermarket … as were the other ingredients, for that matter):
My first completed tasks were for doors 15 and 16: Día de los Muertos / All Saints’ Day, and Melbourne Cup Day.
Door 15: Día de los Muertos / All Saints’ Day – Book:
Reread a favorite book by a deceased author or from a finished series, or read a book set in Mexico or a book that either has a primarily black and white cover or all the colors (ROYGBIV) on the cover, or a book featuring zombies.
This month’s book book from the Agatha Christie Centenary project was a shoe-in for this category, so it was a natural choice. Never mind the ridiculous plot — I just love Tommy and Tuppence’s youthful exuberance. Can’t reread this one often enough.
Door 16: Melbourne Cup Day – Task 1:
Pick your ponies! Pick the top 3 horses of this year’s Melbourne Cup race (and, if you want, 1 alternative.) As always, the horses in this year’s running will be announced 1 day ahead of the race (this year: Nov. 2) and the outcome as soon as the race is run (on Nov. 3).
My three picks were:
- Sir Dragonet
- Prince of Arran
- Anthony van Dyck
I got Prince of Arran right (he’d been a lucky horse for me once before, so I figured I’d pick him again) … but my second bonus point has the rather tragic background that Anthony van Dyck broke down in the final straight and later had to be put down … so our Captain of the Cup gave everyone who had picked him a memorial point “because he was a VERY GOOD BOY and gave his all.”
Poor, brave boy. 🙁 He was a beautiful horse and would have deserved a long and happy life (as do all creatures).
(Source)
For the record, Sir Dragonet finished 6th.
