Young Adult Vampire Books Contest

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Top 20 quotes from ‘True Blood’ Episode 2: 'Beautifully Broken'

Top 20 quotes from ‘True Blood’ Episode 2: 'Beautifully Broken'

Book Review: Shades of Midnight (Book #6)

Shades of Midnight by Lara Adrian


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was not one of my favorite Breed books, but I did like that it deviated from Adrian's usual formula in a couple of ways. First, it takes place in Alaska, not Boston like 90% of her previous books. Second, the breedmate has some past experience with the Breed society (albeit a negative experience), so she is more accepting of the news that Vampires exist. Lastly, there were some interesting developments with the Ancient that were suprising to me, mainly that he has some humanity in him.
Overall is was another enjoyable read and I look forward to the next one in the series.

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Magic Study by Maria Snyder

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the second novel in the "Study" series by Maria Snyder, the first being Poison Study.
First, let me say I still have a hard time with Snyder's simplistic writing style. It reminds me of a something an aspiring high school novelist would write. Some of the dialogue between characters is awkward at times. Snyder gives her characters one-liners that while humorous, appear out of place in the world she has created. Also, Yelena's magic abilities develop unrealistically fast. Snyder talks about the need for magical abilities to be honed and developed, yet Yelena becomes a master overnight.
All that being said, I really like these books for a couple of reasons. These books are unlike any fantasy novel I have read. Snyder has created an entire new world and culture.
Also, these books are definately acceptable for teens and young adults, as they contain NO sex scenes. They do allude to them, but do not provide any details (PG rating).
I am excited to read the 3rd installment in the series, Magic Study".

***On a side note, I bought this book in the YA section because it was $3 cheaper than the "adult" version. Same book, different price.

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New Trailer for Rachel Vincent's latest

Rachel Vincent's newest Soul Screamers book is out and Kayla can't wait to read it. Check out the trailer below.

My Soul to Keep Trailer



Buy the book on Amazon

Rogue by Rachel Vincent





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Hello Raw Fish!

While attending my cake decorating class in Santa Rosa, I was craving sushi for lunch. Luckily, Sappora Restaurant is right next door. This is the gorgeous Chirashi they have there. YUM! The round yellow vegetables are pickled daikon radish and they tasted awsome.....hmmm...must learn how to pickle daikon....

Cake Decorating 101

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to score a spot in a cake-decorating class taught by Lorrette Patzwald at the Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Arts Center. Although Lorrette is better known for her bread work, she won a James Beard award for it, the class was very informative and I enjoyed it immensely. The picture is of the cake I made in class. It's a strawberry butter cake filled with lime curd flavored cream cheese frosting and frosted with White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting. The roses on top were made in advance and are made of royal icing with cream cheese icing leaves.

Strawberry Cupcakes

In case you haven’t guessed, I am a huge follower of the locavore movement. A locavore is someone who tries to base their diet on food raised or grown within a certain distance of their home. This means eating what is in season. While I have explained the concept to Kayla on many occasions, her twelve year old brain refuses to accept the idea that strawberries should not be eaten year round, for every meal.
In an attempt to stave the strawberry crisis, I purchased some frozen strawberries (shame on me!) and tried to come up with a strawberry dessert for her.
I adapted the Cream Cake recipe from Sky High: Irresistible Three Layer Cakes and added strawberry puree in place of some of the cream it called for. Additionally, I replaced the rest of the cream with nonfat milk and whipped the egg whites to add the needed fluff to the batter. “Fluff” is my own non-culinary term for air.
I made a frosting out of cream cheese, strawberry puree, lemon juice and powdered sugar. The frosting was way too runny, and ended up more like a glaze. Despite the issues with consistency, the frosting tasted just like fresh strawberries and the whole house smelled like summertime.
Overall, they turned out pretty good for an improvisation.

Hazelnuts, hazelnuts, hazelnuts..and chocolate

Have I ever mentioned I love nuts? Cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc. It probably stems from my childhood home which was surrounded by walnut orchards. During the Fall, if we needed a snack while we were out playing, we ate walnuts from the ground.
One nut I have never been a huge fan of; the hazelnut. However, I am determined to bake my way through the Sky High Triple Layer Cake book I just bought on Amazon which features several hazelnut cakes.
The hazelnut cake which caught my eye was the “Chocolate-Hazelnut Gianduja Cake”. Gianduja, as explained in the cookbook, is a “Nutella” type sweet chocolate featuring hazelnut paste.
I was unsure of how powerful the hazelnuts would be in the cake, so I added some hazelnut extract just to be certain the flavors would come through. Boy, was that a mistake! This cake was so rich; I couldn’t even finish one slice. Both David and Kayla loved it because it features chocolate whipped cream frosting that is to die for.
The cake texture was good and the frosting was yummy. I would probably make it again upon special request.
As always, if any of these recipes interest you, just email me and I will gladly provide it. nicolerene @ peoplepc . com.