Just Because

Just because it's Friday...
(kid friendly)

Review: My Life as a White Trash Zombie (#1)

Summary (from Goodreads): Angel Crawford is a loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Before she knows it she's dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she's hungriest!

Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat.

Literally.

Review: This was a re-read, and still as amazing as I remember. Angel might think she's a loser, but in reality she is one tough cookie. She is joined by a full cast of flushed out characters, aiding to create a terrific book. Amazingly funny, filled with mystery, and fast-paced White Trash Zombie will make any reader an addict!

Formats: e-book, mass market, audiobook 

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Vegan Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes

It's officially becoming fall around here, and inspired by a recent post by Juju from Tales of Whimsy featuring Starbucks' salted caramel mocha I figured I'd whip up a batch of cupcakes! Best of all? They're vegan. Have no fear, animal product consumers, this recipe is easy enough that you can substitute the soy milk/ creamer for cow milk/ heavy cream and margarine for butter. Even if you keep it as is, no one will ever be the wiser!

Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes

Yields approx. 14 cupcakes

Download or print recipe

Cupcake

1 C.          soymilk

1 tsp.          vinegar

¾ C         granulated sugar

1/3 C         canola oil

1 tsp         vanilla extract

2 T         instant coffee

1 C         all-purpose flour

1/3 C         cocoa powder

¾ tsp         baking soda

½ tsp         baking powder

¼ tsp         salt

1)   Preheat oven to 350 F. Line pan with cupcake liners

2)   Combine soymilk and vinegar in small bowl (liquid measuring cup) and allow to rest for about 3-5 minutes until curdled.

3)   Add sugar, oil, extract and instant coffee. Mixture will become foamy.

4)   In another bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients.

5)   Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry (do this in three stages) until batter is combined. A few lumps is OK.

6)   Divide batter into liners, about ½ full. I use an ice cream scooper for easier transfer

7)   Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting.

Fun Fact: the instant coffee will not give you any flavor of coffee in your chocolate cake but, instead, will enhance the flavor of your chocolate cake making it that much more moist and delicious!

Coffee Buttercream

½ C         shortening, softened

½ C         margarine (I use Earth Balance “butter”), softened

2 ½ C         powdered sugar

1/3 C         COLD coffee

1 tsp         vanilla

¼ C         soy creamer

1)   In mixer, using whisk attachment, cream shortening and butter together until fluffy and white (2-3 min on high). Scrape down bowl frequently.

2)   Alternate whisking on medium/low sifted powdered sugar and coffee into buttercream until combined.

3)   Pour in creamer into buttercream and whisk on medium. Mixture should form glossy medium peaks.

4)   Using piping bag and starred tip, pipe FILLED CUPCAKES (see below) to desired height.

Note: If buttercream is too fluid, add approximately ¼ C more powdered sugar. Alternatively, if buttercream is too stiff, add more soy creamer.

Caramel Filling

1 C         vanilla creamer

¾ C         brown sugar, packed

¼ C         maple syrup

3 T         cornstarch

3 tsp         vanilla

½ tsp         salt, or more (to taste)

1)   In saucepan whisk creamer, sugar, maple syrup, and cornstarch over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, or until thickened.

2)   Take off heat and whisk in vanilla and salt*. Allow to cool slightly.

3)   Once cooled, pour into piping bag. It will still be slightly hot, so wrap with towel to avoid possible burns. Pipe caramel into center of cupcake (you will have to scoop part of cupcake center out), access caramel may spill out.

4)   Drizzle extra caramel over frosted cupcakes.

*Note: The salt depends on how salty you like your salted caramel. Start with ¼ tsp, and pinch more in until desired taste is acquired. I got up to ½ tsp (or a little more) before it tasted right.

Cupcake and buttercream frosting adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. Caramel filling is adapted from an unknown vegetarian magazine, October 2012 issue.

Quote It!: I Kissed a Zombie & I Liked It

"Sadie is my oldest friend. She kind of falls for the whole vampire thing, but at least she's realistic. She likes dead guys, like every other girl in school, but Marie loves them. She isn't even interested in dating living guys. She's, like, necrosexual."

I may or may not have shrieked in delight when I read this. At a very inappropriate/ inopportune time, no less.

Question of Note: If you had the possibility of dating the undead, do you think you would be 'necrosexual'? And with what type of undead?

Review: Fifty Shames of Earl Grey

Summary (from Goodreads): A shrewd, laugh–out–loud parody of E. L. James' bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey series: 

Young, arrogant, tycoon Earl Grey seduces the naïve coed Anna Steal with his overpowering good looks and staggering amounts of money, but will she be able to get past his fifty shames, including shopping at Walmart on Saturdays, bondage with handcuffs, and his love of BDSM (Bards, Dragons, Sorcery, and Magick)? Or will his dark secrets and constant smirking drive her over the edge?

Review: A delightful parody that will have you bursting out laughing. Shaffer does a fabulous job making light of 50 Shades, as well as Twilight. Readers will fall in love with Anna's inner "guidette" and her blatant naiveté (see also, stupidity). The outrageous lengths Earl Grey will go to in order to catch Anna's attention, only to dump her are equally amusing. Easy and thin, this is the perfect afternoon, easy read for all.



Formats: e-book, paperback, audiobook

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Review: The Great Escape (#7)

Summary (from Goodreads): Where do you run to when your life has fallen apart?

Lucy Jorik is a champ at never embarrassing the family she adores—not surprising since her mother is one of the most famous women in the world. But now Lucy has done just that. And on her wedding day, no less, to the most perfect man she's ever known. 

Instead of saying "I do" to Mr. Irresistible, Lucy flees the church in an ill-fitting blue choir robe and hitches a ride on the back of a beat-up motorcycle plastered with offensive bumper stickers. She's flying into the unknown with a rough-looking, bad-tempered stranger who couldn't be more foreign to her privileged existence. 

While the world searches for her, Lucy must search for herself, and she quickly realizes that her customary good manners are no defense against a man who's raised rudeness to an art form. Lucy needs to toughen up—and fast. 

Her great escape takes her to his rambling beach house on a Great Lakes island. Here, she hopes to find a new direction . . . and unlock the secrets of this man who knows so much about her but reveals nothing about himself. As the hot summer days unfold amid scented breezes and sudden storms, she'll also encounter a beautiful, troubled beekeeper; a frightened young boy; a modern-day evil queen; and a passion that could change her life forever. 

In this dazzling follow-up to her New York Times bestseller Call Me Irresistible, Susan Elizabeth Phillips tells the funny, touching, enchanting story of a young woman searching for her destiny . . . and of a damaged man who doesn't believe in second chances.

Review: Gah. I'm usually such a fan of Phillips but, man, did this feel forced. Both Lucy and her bad boy biker love interest -- Panda -- felt hollow. The story did redeem itself 3/4 of the way through, when they both felt like real characters, but by that point many readers will be lost. Instead, I'd offer up Breathing Room (by Phillips) as a better do-the-opposite-let-loose story line.


Formats: e-book, hardcover, paperback, audiobook

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Review: Ten

Summary (from Goodreads): And their doom comes swiftly. 

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury. 

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Review: Ten blows horror/suspense out of the water. Vibrant and very vivid, you’ll think you’re on the island trying desperately to avoid death from an unknown killer – most likely one of your new friends. Well written, Ten demands visceral reactions from its readers as instinct to hide or turn the page and go deeper into the mindset of each character. Simply put, it’s gleeful terror in perfection.



Formats: e-book, hardcover

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