Sorry to be so late in posting today’s prompt, I was a very busy little beaver…
As for today’s prompt… how about…
SLACKER
Category Archives: Thought of the Day
Summer Writing Challenge: Day Five
Summer Writing Challenge: Day Four
Happy July Fourth every one.
I know that every one has a Fourth of July on their calendar, but that we here in America look at the date a little differently than those of you in other parts of the world do.
So today I’m honoring one of my favorite American Heroes, Founding Father, John Adams.
Today’s prompt is a word that describes Adams’ attitude during the First and Second Continental Congresses:
Tenacious
John Adams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Summer Writing Challenge: Day Three
Welcome to day three of our Summer Writing Challenge.
Hope your writing / creating is going well.
Today’s prompt is…
FIGURES
MICROWAVEABLE Pecan Sandie Strawberry Shortcakes
“Summer” has hit with a vengeance here in Northern Baltimore County. The thermometer has been hovering in a hazy upper 80’s for several days. There was no way I was going to turn on the oven in my non – air conditioned kitchen to bake… but man… I really wanted to make some strawberry shortcake.
I thought about the microwave, but quickly dismissed the idea. Previous attempts at microwave baking had produced cakes that were both gummy and unappetizing.
Then in a fit of heat related insanity I convinced myself that “Maybe this time will be different!!!” And you know what? I was right!
So dear readers I bring you:
Photo Credit: Maggie
Pecan Sandie
Strawberry Shortcakes
(Microwave style)
INGREDIENTS:
Shortcakes–
- 1/2 c melted Butter
- 1/2 c Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 c Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 3 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of Almond Milk
- 1 teaspoon of Almond Extract
- 1/2 cup of chopped Pecans
- Plastic Wrap
- Cooking Spray
Butter Cream Icing —
- 1/4 c Butter
- 3/4 c Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
- Milk as desired for texture
Strawberries —
- 1 cup of Strawberries cleaned and sliced
1. Prepare 5 large silicone muffin cups by spraying liberally with cooking spray. Set aside
2. Combine the melted Butter and the Sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Add the Eggs and beat throughly.
4. Add the Flour, Baking Powder, Almond Milk and Almond Extract and beat or whisk until well combined and batter forms a bubble when it is folded upon itself.
5. Fold in the Pecans.
6. Divide the batter into the baking cups. They will be about 1/3rd filled. Give each one a little tap against the table to let out any air bubbles. Cover each with Plastic Wrap, but leave a little opening, so the steam can get out.
7. ONE AT A TIME put a muffin cup in the Microwave and heat on HIGH for 60-70 seconds. I did this for the full 70 seconds and it worked perfectly. Remove the plastic wrap CAREFULLY ( remember the steam? ) and place upside down on a plate to cool.
8. Repeat for the other Shortcakes.
ICING and STRAWBERRIES:
1. Melt the butter to soften it (but don’t completely melt it.)
2. Add the Powdered Sugar and Almond Extract. Mix til smooth.
3. Add Milk one tablespoon at a time until icing is smooth and spreadable.
4. Spread on the tops of the cooled Shortcakes.
5. Top with Strawberries, and add additional Strawberries between cakes.
6. TRY to wait until after dinner to eat this yummy dessert.
Here are all five shortcakes assembled on the cake dish. They taunted us all through dinner.
I got comments like “Restaurant worthy” and “5 stars” and “You can make this anytime!” for this little dessert. It was really good. The mini-cakes alone are terrific. They didn’t come out gummy or too moist. The cake consistency is just right. They really did taste like a cake version of a Pecan Sandie.
Absolutely worth a try.
Look inside that shortcake. Look at that delicious flakiness.
This recipe was inspired by one on Instructables.com You should totes go visit them and see what they’ve got cooking.
[To my VEGAN readers — These obviously don’t fit the Vegan bill, but I’d be interested in how you think we might be able to adapt this recipe to something that would work your table.]
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A Year of READING Dangerously: #50 The Kite Runner
Dear next book I read,
I’m sorry. You poor thing, there is no way you are going to be as good as The Kite Runner. It isn’t your fault that I’ve picked you randomly from my pile after reading this amazing piece of fiction. I know I shouldn’t pre-judge, and I wish you good luck, but Honey, you just don’t stand a chance.
First paperback edition book cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Kite Runner, Kaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel about Afghanistan, sits smack dab in the middle of our Banned Book List. It is the story of Amir, the privileged Aghani who acts as first person narrator. But it is also the story of Afghanistan and the country is certainly a major character in the novel.
The Kite Runner, which derives its name from the Afghan custom of kite fighting, focuses on the relationship between two boys of different social classes and religious backgrounds and the lasting effect that one boy’s moment of cowardice has on their lives. [120 Banned Books, pg 506]
The book is roughly in three parts:
- Amir’s childhood in the idyllic streets of Kabul. It is here that he struggles to define his relationship with his closest companion, his friend / servant, Hussan.
- his life as an adult — living as an expat in California. In America Amir comes to terms with is sometimes distant and demanding, but ultimately loving father, Baba.
- and lastly his time back in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Amir returns to his homeland to aid Hassan’s son and to try to redeem himself.
The book was critically lauded:
- Book Sense Bestseller List Sensation
- Boeke Prize
- Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award
- ALA Notable Book
- Alex Award
- Borders Original Voices Award, 2003
- San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, 2003
- Literature to Life Award
- Paperback – on the bestseller list for over 240 weeks (#1 for 4 of those weeks) [Book Facts, Kaledhosseini.com/media-pages]
The censors largely ignored the novel until it was turned into a major motion picture in 2007. In 2008 the book was challenged by several school districts in North Carolina and Florida.
This beautifully written book is not an easy book to read as it does contain difficult material, (including the rape scene of Hassan, a stoning scene at a football, and the horrors of life under the Taliban.) On our matrix of banned books The Kite Runner includes: Offensive Language, Smoking, Sexually Explicit material, and a lot of Violence. That said I can not recommend this book enough, and I can’t wait to read Kaled Hosseini’s other novels, A Thousand Splendid Suns and And The Mountains Echoed.
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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A Year of READING Dangerously: #42 The Fighting Ground
The Fighting Ground is a vanilla piece of historical fiction by Avi. The action takes place over a roughly 24 hour period pf April 3 and April 4th , 1778. The American Revolutionary War is ripping up the New Jersey country side skirmish by skirmish and is beconing 13-year-old Johnathan away from his farm to fight.
Unexpectedly, the quiet is cut by the sound of a bell-an alarm ringing from the nearby tavern. Jonathan is sent to find out what the trouble is. What he finds in the next twenty-four hours, when he does fight and is taken prisoner by three Hessian soldiers, changes his understanding of war and life forever. The real war, he discovers, is being fought within himself. [Avi-Writer.com]
Although The Fighting Ground is hailed as “action packed” and is an award winning publication, I found it a bland read.
I’m scratching my head as to why this one is on the banned book list. It is a book about war so there is some Violence. But that was about it.
A Year of READING Dangerously: #7 Scary Stories
My apologies for taking so long to get back to this list. I have been reading (and doing) a few other things. I also have a few books FROM the list that I have read and need to review.
Today I’ll tackle Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories (series).
I read SCARY STORIES To Tell In the Dark. The first thing you should know about this book is that it isn’t very scary. The best stories in this anthology barely make sense. It seems too much to ask for them to actually frighten the reader.
Having read it through in about an hour (in the dark, as prescribed in the subtitle) I found myself thinking “Huh?” at the end of most of these short, weirdly written stories. Granted I’m not a pre-teen boy, and I wasn’t sitting around a campfire while reading the book. But I WAS ready to be just a little bit creeped out. And nothing on these pages came to even that low standard of fear.
You’d have to dig deep to find anything particularly offensive about these vanilla, bland, lame, tales but using out “banned” matrix… I’ll go with:
- Occult Satanism for the ghost story element and
- Violence?
Mostly I’d just warn you to stay away because these stories are outdated, boring, and not well written.
(Hint: if you are relying on the stage direction of “jump out at your friends” for the climax of a scary story… it isn’t a scary enough story.)
WAIT! I just thought of something nice to say about the book… The illustrations were pretty creepy. So “Huzzah to the illustrator!”
March Madness, Jane Austen Style… Finis
Much like MARCH (the month) our little experiment in the madness of brackets has come to an end. The reader’s have voted and we have the winners!
As you can see the Colonel and Lizzie came in first in their respective categories. Hat’s off to Miss Elizabeth, who garnered all the votes from the ladies final bracket. Brandon had some competition from Knightley, but he was the winner by a large, manly margin.
This March Madness, Jane Austen Style Bracket has always been a purely academic exercise. Austen never intended for characters from different books to get together. But I couldn’t sleep last night, and as the hours began to trickle away and dawn refused to come I started to think about this impossible (dark) mash-up.
What if…
Marianne never recovers from her fever? Despite Elinor and Col. Brandon’s best attentions she dies at Cleveland?
David Morrisey played Brandon in 2008.
- Edward still becomes Rector at Delaford .
- Lucy still marries his brother, leaving him to…
- finally proclaim his love for Elinor.
Robert Swann played Brandon in 1981
They marry and the Colonel generously sets up Mrs. Dashwood and Margaret in a house closer to town and the newlyweds so the remaining family members can live in closer proximity. This leaves Barton cottage empty.
Richard Owens played Brandon in 1971
Which is good… because what if…
Kiera Knightly played Lizzie in 2005.
Lydia runs off with Wickham a week earlier than she did in the novel. Jane’s panicked letter to Elizabeth arrives at the Inn at Lampton BEFORE Lizzie and the Gardiners have a chance to tour Pemberly.
Elizabeth Garvey played Lizzie in 1980.
She doesn’t see Darcy’s beautiful house, or, more importantly his altered behavior (or — as in the BBC version — his wet shirt.) Darcy and Elizabeth’s friendship and romance doesn’t have a chance to kindle. And she and the Gardiners leave immediately for Longbourn. (Darcy doesn’t learn of the ‘elopement’ for weeks when the details have become grist for the rumor mill. By then it is too late for him to find the lovers.)
Greer Garson played Elizabeth in 1940.
Mr. Bennet goes looking for Lydia and Wickham, which results in one of these possibilities…
- He finds them, and as Mrs. Bennet sagely predicted, he duels with the rascal and dies.
- He can’t find them and his frequent trips away from his man cave to London, Gretna Green and points north prove too strenuous for him. He dies of a heart attack.
This leaves Mrs. Bennet and the remaining girls in a very undesirable position.
- Their reputation is ruined. (THANKS LYDIA!)
- They must leave the Longbourn.
- And they have very little money to live on.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 2005’s Bride and Prejudice.
Of course the Gardiners take them in, but that proves a VERY temporary fix. (Can you imagine putting up with Mrs. Bennet’s flutterings?) Mr. Gardiner uses his business connections to put out feelers for a reasonably priced home in the county, far enough away from town that their reputation might be over looked.
He finds a 3 bedroom cottage near Barton Village. It is a little less roomy than Longbourn, but the cottage would have much comfort and much elegance about it. The Bennets move in in the Spring.
Lizzie, who is fond of long walks, finds herself trespassing on the grounds of Delaford…
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This blog post has been interrupted by the hostile take over by Pemberly Digital.
Because, really… everybody KNOWS Mr. Darcy should have won.
Daniel Vincent Gordh and Ashley Clements played Darcy and Lizzie in the Emmy Award Winning Lizzie Bennet Diaries in 2013/14.
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March Madness: Jane Austen Style, round five– Men’s Semi-Finals
The action was fast and furious on the court this week as the LADIES Darling Dozen bracket narrowed down to the favorite character for each Austen novel. As with the gentlemen, there were no real surprises in this bunch. Here’s how we currently stand…
Now the competition gets REALLY hard as you have to get all inter-book and pick your fave between…
- Brandon and Darcy (good luck there)
- Edmund and Knightly (ugggghhhh!)
- Henry and Benwick (hmmmm)
You have until Thursday at 6:00 pm EST to get in your votes.
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