December 8, 2013

Review: On The Lips Of Children by Mark Matthews

I do most of my reading during daily exercise on the treadmill. As I got into the story, I realized that the main characters are also runners. There are a few minor differences however, they run outside, where I prefer the indoors, and they run, where I’m more along the lines of jogging/walking. (It’s difficult to read when you’re running.) 😀

“Meet Macon. Tattoo artist. Athlete. Family man. He’s planning to run a marathon, but the event becomes something terrible. During a warm-up run, Macon falls prey to a bizarre man and his wife who dwell in an underground drug-smuggling tunnel. They raise their twin children in a way Macon couldn’t imagine. And Macon, and his family, are next.” On The Lips Of Children – Mark Matthews.

The book was interesting and opened up a world of horror in the underground tunnels below San Diego. Unsuspecting tourists and helpless people are taken as hostages, their captors fuelled by the need for drugs and money. The family living in the bowels of the earth are much more than just dysfunctional and newly taken hostage Macon must pull himself together if he wants to save himself, his wife Erin and his daughter Lyric.

The story kept me intrigued, as I wanted to find out what would happen to the family. Matthews goes into great detail with his writing, from the aspects of running to the description and feel of what it’s like to get a tattoo. I felt in some instances there was a little too much description (like with the running), but he does take the time to ensure the reader can see what’s happening in the story, rather than just telling us what’s going on.

I did feel the ending was a little abrupt, as I wanted to know more about certain things, but it did leave me satisfied enough to have enjoyed the book.

I recommend this book for horror lovers as it was a good story with well-thought out characters and plot lines.

Three and a half stars.

MDG

November 26, 2013

Review: Things Slip Through by Kevin Lucia

When I first started reading Kevin Lucia’s book, I was extremely happy to have a new collection in my hands. Little did I know how sneaky Lucia was in putting together his book. As I approached the end of the first “story”, I thought to myself, Holy crap it’s a story within a story… How ingenious is this? As I kept reading, I realized it was a collection of stories, embedded into another story, which in turn makes it a novel. A very well written novel at that.

Story after story are laid out amongst the tales of four friends, Father Ward, Fitzy, Gavin and Chris. Chris, the sheriff of Clifton Heights, is trying to piece together the strange happenings of their little town. He finds out that his four closest friends know more than they’ve let on.

Since Things Slip Through is a story collection within a novel, I was hard pressed to pick out any single story that was better than the rest as they were all excellent and all played integral parts to the overall storyline.

This book should be picked up by all, as it’s sure to appeal to anyone who loves great stories. I highly recommandy this one.

Five out of five stars.

MDG

November 20, 2013

Review: Eulogies II – Tales From The Cellar

At 371 pages, Eulogies II (edited by Christopher Jones, Nanci Kalanta and Tony Tremblay), is a hefty tome. However, buried within it’s pages are amazing stories that will keep you reading right until the very end. *(I did receive my copy awhile ago, but I lost the book halfway through reading it, to my boyfriend who suffers from intermittent insomnia. He started it one night and was hooked, so I let him finish it before I took it back for myself.)

The stories in the anthology cover a wide variety of themes, from monsters who come out at night to the darkness that resides inside humans.

While all the stories in the anthology were well-written and entertaining, here are some of the stories that I feel deserve extra mention:

Spare the rod by Lucy A. Snyder: Jake and his brother Sam have a discussion over beers about child rearing and how to deal with a child who isn’t growing up the way he should.

A Serving of Nomu Sashimi by Eric J. Guignard: Terry works hard, but no matter what he always seems to fall short of top sales reps. When he’s invited out for dinner with the others, he realizes their success is reliant on far more than just hard work.

Chiyoung and Dongsun’s Song by T.T. Zuma: Written like a Chinese folklore tale, this story teaches us a lesson in acceptance as we follow the love struck Dongsun in his attempt to court the beautiful Chiyoung.

The Bore by John McIlveen: Munroe Dolan is the world’s most boring person… or so he thinks.

The Second Carriage by Jonathan Templar: When Danny comes across a train set in the attic, he realizes he has found much more than just a toy.

The Cat in the Cage by Nicole Cushing: Pets are supposed to alleviate stress, but as Sheila realizes, sometimes they can also be the cause of it.

Mister Whisper by James A. Moore: Four escaped convicts steal a car from a household and end up tangling with something they never expected.

The Miracle Material by Abra Staffin-Wiebe: A new material is found from the depths of the ocean. Humanity uses it for their needs, but this material comes with a cost…

Over all, Eulogies II – Tales From The Cellar was a great read which I’d suggest to anyone who loves short stories and horror.
I highly recomMandy it.

You can pick it up here on Amazon.

Five out of Five Stars

MDG

October 31, 2013

Recipe: ABC (Apple, Beet and Carrot) Salad with Lime & Ginger Dressing

The last trip to the grocery store resulted in me buying a 10 lb bag of beets. While I love pickled beets, I’ve already got a huge jar of picked beets in the fridge, thanks to Costco. I was looking for other things to make with the beets and I thought, “Hey, salad.” I’ve made a roasted beet salad before, which turned out most excellent, but this time I decided to do a raw salad. The colours are super bright and I’m sure this would make a fantastic addition to any meal.

ABC Salad

Ingredients:

1 peeled and grated red beet (I use gloves so the juice doesn’t stain everything.)

1 peeled and grated carrot

1 peeled and grated apple (I used a Cortland and immediately squeezed some fresh lemon juice on it, so it didn’t start to brown.)

1 tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp honey

Juice of 1 room temp lime*

Salt and Pepper to taste

*I keep a few lemons and limes at room temperature at all times. This allows for more juice to be expelled from the fruit. If you can’t keep them at room temp, try microwaving it, or submerging it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Also, roll the lime between your hand and the counter top, this helps release more juice.

Directions:

1 – Combine the apple, beet and carrot in a bowl.

2 – In another bowl, whisk together the ginger, honey and lime juice.

3 – Add the dressing to the salad, toss and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until needed.

Crunchy and tangy, filled with awesome anti-oxidants, this recipe will definitely be made again in my house. I think next time I’ll add some greenery to it, fresh parsley maybe. 😀

Enjoy

Chef-In-Training Mandy

October 22, 2013

Recipe: Mandy’s Three Meat Chilli

I’m a fan of one pot meals, from stews to soups to chilli, I’ve made them all. I tend to overdo them at times, size wise anyways. I always set out to make a normal sized chilli, but then I end up with enough to feed an army. While this isn’t always (if ever) a bad thing, as long as you have room in your fridge or friends to feed it. The nice thing about chilli is that they are pretty much fool proof. You can add or remove whatever you want.

Here’s the recipe for the most recent chilli I made. This recipe will turn out a vat of it, so if you’re looking for not-so-much chilli, definitely cut down the recipe.

Mandy’s Three Meat Chilli

Ingredients:

3 hot Italian sausages (casings removed)

1 lb of ground pork

1 kg of cubed beef

2 yellow onions diced

5 celery stalks

2 green peppers

1 light green Hungarian pepper

4 jalapenos (Seeds removed but reserved in a small bowl)

12 large mushrooms

4 cans of tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

2 cans of kidney beans (or the same amount in dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)

1½ tbsp ground coriander

1½ tbsp cumin + 1 tsp

1 tbsp dried cilantro flakes

2 tbsp oregano + 1 tsp

2 tsp pure chipotle powder

4 tbsp brown sugar

½ tbsp. salt + 1 tsp

1 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp cocoa + 1 tbsp

1 – Start by browning the meat, I used three different pans and did them in small batches to make sure get some nice searing on the meats. (I broke the sausage meat into “balls” so you could differentiate between the meats. I wasn’t sure if it would hold up during the simmering, but it did quite well.)

2 – While the meat is browning, dice all the vegetables into smallish pieces. (I sauteed the mushrooms, but I assume you don’t have to do this.)

3 – Seed and mince the jalapenos. I use gloves for this, to prevent burning. Reserve the seeds in a small bowl.

4 – Sautee the vegetables in the bottom of your chilli pot in a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook until the vegetables are soft.

5 – Add the first round of seasonings and cook for a few minutes. (You’ll notice the ingredient list for the seasoning is split into two for a few of the ingredients, I like to add more seasoning after the chilli has been on for awhile. The “+ whatever measurement” is what I added after the chilli had been on for a few hours.)

6 – Add the meat to the mixture.

6 – Add all other ingredients except for extra spices (kidney beans, tomatoes and paste) and allow to simmer uncovered for a few hours. Stir frequently.

7 – Add the second round of seasonings, including some of the reserved jalapeno seeds. (I figure I used about a half teaspoon of them.)

8 – Simmer for another hour or so, until desired consistency is reached.

9 – Spoon into bowl and top with some cheese of some sort and enjoy.

This chilli turned out excellent, the beef cubes were fall apart tender, resulting in mostly just shredded beef floating amongst the myriad of other ingredients. Between the cocoa and the chipotle powder, there was an amazing depth of flavour. I did add a little heat to it, by adding some of the reserved seeds to the mix, but I think it turned out just right. This chilli froze extremely well and tasted just as good, if not better, reheated.

I’ll definitely be making this recipe (or some variation of it) again.

Chef-In-Training Mandy 😀

October 16, 2013

Sub Call: Fur & Fang – Horrotica Anthology

Do you have a penchant for horror mashed with eroticism? Are you finding it “hard” to place some of your racier stories? Well, I may have the answer for you. 😀

I’ve been named editor for Fur & Fang, the upcoming horrotica anthology from Apokrupha.

Make it sexy and make it different. Apokrupha is monster agnostic.

Check out the sub call here and send me your story!

*(Well don’t send them to me, follow the instructions for the sub call.)

http://apokrupha.com/2013/09/21/fur-fang-subs/

Good Luck!
MDG

October 1, 2013

Good Eats: Lemon/Basil Roast Chicken with Root Veg

Ah chicken, the ultimate food. It goes with almost anything, aside from dessert (there are some lines I just won’t cross), and there’s nothing I love more than roasting a whole chicken. I used to shy away, thinking it was difficult to get it right, but it really isn’t. I’ve accumulated a few tricks up my sleeve over the course of learning how to rock the roast chicken and I’d be more than happy to share a few of them with you.

But Mandy, why the hell would I not just buy chicken breasts, they come pre-skinned, pre-boned and well it’s just chicken…

FLAVOUR! You’re missing out on all the goodness that comes from the skin and bones. You also lose out on the ability to make stock, which I love doing with my leftover carcasses. (If you aren’t making stock just yet, toss all the extras in a large freezer bag and save it for when you have time.) I personally find making a roast chicken way easier than cooking chicken breasts, you prep it, toss it in the oven and walk away for an hour. Good for those days when you have things to do around the house.

Here’s what I ended up doing with the chicken.

BRINING!!! Rarely do I make poultry without letting it soak in a bath of spices, salt and sugar. This process makes the meat unbelievably moist and tender. I normally let my chickens soak in a water bath overnight in the fridge… I’ve also parked the chicken in brine from frozen, which serves dual purposes. *(We’ve also had great luck brining turkeys…)

STUFFING!!! Not with carb filled stuffing, but with flavour. I usually fill the cavities of the poultry with citrus, onion and herbs. This time was lemon and basil. Also, taking the time to jam whatever you’re using under the skin, leaves for a beautifully finished product.

ROASTING!!! One pot wonders are always a good thing. The veg on the bottom will be flavoured by the chicken drippings, and well, there’s less pots and pans to wash. The veggies also keep the chicken elevated, to allow for better air circulation.

Et voila! This is what we ended up with. Beautifully roasted chicken, ready to be consumed. 😀

Noms!
Chef-In-Training Mandy

October 1, 2013

Recipe: Blueberry Peach Bread

Thanks to Mom and Dad, being the avid blueberry pickers they are, my freezer is filled with bags of the yummy, little, purple tastebombs. I put them on cereal, in my yogurt, have made blueberry scones and blueberry banana bread, but still the berries are taking over my freezer. Having a full freezer is a good thing at times, how else am I supposed to decide what to eat for dinner? The game I play now is whatever the freezer spits out (usually smashing onto my toes) is the winner.

Yes, I allow the freezer to decide what I eat.

Upon further inspection of the freezer, (as I was attempting to make room for the large hunk of beef the boy brought home from Costco) I also found I had a surplus of peaches. I wouldn’t mind the overages of frozen fruit and berries, if it weren’t for the fact that I only have a tiny freezer at the moment. While a new freezer is on my list of things to buy before I start school in January, I wonder how will I choose what to eat if everything has a place and nothing is being rejected by the cooling box.

I googled blueberries and peaches, which is normally the way I find new recipes to try. Just punch in the ingredients you have and go from there. While the boy and I are trying to avoid carbs, it’s not really helping that I keep baking stuff that needs to be eaten. Such as this blueberry/peach bread, which turned out really moist and tasty.

Blueberry Peach Bread

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup blueberries
1 cup peeled and diced peaches (about 3 peaches)
1/2 cup Non-fat greek yogurt
Zest of one lime

Instructions

1 – Pre-heat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

2 – In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

3 – Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg is added.

4 – Add in the vanilla and lime zest and mix well.

5 – Add in the greek yogurt and mix until well combined.

6 – Gently fold in the blueberries and peaches.

7 – Put batter in greased bread pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the top is lightly browned or toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8 – Cool before slicing.

*I cut the peaches a little too large for this bread, so there were holes in the bottom when I flipped it out of the pan, but it still tasted wonderful. The batter is a cross between a muffin and a cake batter, dense, soft and super yum. I’m sure it’s not that great for me, specially while trying to be all low-carby, but it makes for a great dessert. I will definitely be making this bread again.

Chef-In-Training Mandy 😀

September 26, 2013

Recipe: Thai Chilli and Old Cheddar Bread

This is my second attempt at making bread, and surprisingly, they’ve both turned out quite well. Now, I have an issue with bread… I am a breadophile. If there’s bread in the house, it’s not safe from my snacking. I have found a way around this, and that’s keeping it in the freezer. Only cause then I have to think of bread in advance and it can’t be a last minute snack idea. I’m not one for buying bread from the store, but I really enjoy making it. My first attempt at bread was a simple white bread, I halved the recipe and gave one of the small-ish loaves to my best friend. *(Along with a jar of the Guinness jelly.)

I did well on the white bread, and I had a ton of extra Thai chillies and cheese, so I opted to make this recipe.

Thai Chilli and Old Cheddar Bread

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
10 minced (and seeded) thai green chilies
2 tbsp and 1 tbsp white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup warm water (not too hot, or you’ll kill the yeasties)
2 tsps yeast
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 – In a very large bowl, combine flour, cheese, jalapenos, 2 tbsp sugar and the salt; mix well.

2 – In a separate bowl (I used a measuring cup), combine the water, yeast and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit about 10 minutes; stir until all yeast is dissolved.

3 – Add the oil to the liquid mixture, stirring . Add half of the liquid mixture to the flour mixture. Mix with hands to moisten flour as much as possible. Add remaining liquid mixture to dough and mix until flour is thoroughly incorporated. (I had to add more water to bring it all together, but it didn’t affect the bread at all.)

4 – Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until smooth and elastic to the touch, about 15 minutes, gradually adding only enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking.

5 – Place in a large greased bowl and invert dough so top is greased; cover with a dry towel.

6 – Let stand in a warm place (90 – 100F) until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. (I gave it a few more kneads here.)

7 – Form dough into a ball, then stretch out dough with both hands and tuck edges under to form a smooth surface. Pop any large air bubbles by pinching them. Form into a loaf. Place in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Cover with towel again and allow to rise until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. (I waited 45 minutes)

8 – I sliced the top of the bread (not sure if it’s needed or not) and I added an egg wash (1 egg beat with a little water) to the top of the bread and sprinkled more grated cheese on top. (The egg wash isn’t in the photo, I decided to add it afterwards. I brushed off all the cheese, egg washed it and reapplied the cheese.)

9 – Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) until dark brown and done, about 1 hour, rotating the pans after 25 minutes for more even browning. Remove from pan as soon as bread will easily lift out, after about 5 to 10 minutes.

10 – Let cool about 1 hour before slicing.

It turned out pretty good. It’s a tolerable heat, so if you’re looking for a severe burn or something of the sort, I’d up the chillies considerably. I’d also consider adding more cheese to the dough itself, as most of the cheddar seemed to disappear with the kneading. I will definitely be making this bread again. 😀

Chef-In-Training Mandy

September 17, 2013

Recipe: Guinness Jelly

I stumbled across the recipe for Guinness jelly while I was flitting around on the internet. For the past week, I’ve called it Guinness Jelly, Guinness Jam, Guinness Bread Stuff but all in all, it should just be called Awesomeness on bread. To shed a little light on what this substance might be classified as, I’ve taken the liberty to search out the definitions of certain bread spreads.

Jam: A sweet spread or preserve made from fruit and sugar boiled to a thick consistency

Jelly: A sweet, clear, semisolid, somewhat elastic spread or preserve made from fruit juice and sugar boiled to a thick consistency.

Preserves: Food made with fruit preserved in sugar, such as jam or marmalade.

Compotes: Fruit preserved or cooked in syrup or a dish consisting of fruit salad or stewed fruit.

(I figure it didn’t really fall into any of those, so then I googled “gel” and “gelée”.)

Gelée: Any gelled suspension made for culinary purposes.

TA-DA!!! It’s a Guinness Gelée.

(Gelée is also the french word for Jelly, so there you have it, after all those definitions, we’re back to Guinness Jelly.) 😉

I wasn’t sure how it would taste, so I waited until I had the chance to try it before posting the recipe. Last night, the boy and I tried it out with the homemade white bread I baked during the day and some Philadelphia cream cheese. Holy crap, it’s amazing. The tang of the cream cheese coupled with the sweet, maltiness of the Guinness Jam was an awesome taste experience.

It’s actually really easy to make, since there’s only three ingredients and using the agar agar as the gelling agent also makes it a very forgiving jam. The first time I made it, it hadn’t set the next morning, so I dumped it all back into the pot, added more agar agar and boiled it out again. I did lose most of the “head” but at least I didn’t have to use another beer. *(Score one for me!)

Agar agar is a seaweed and comes in different forms, flakes, powder and strands. I used the powder form for this recipe. I found it at an Asian grocery store, and paid $1 for the package.

Here’s the recipe…

Guinness Gelée aka Guinness Jelly

1 can of Guinness (440ml)
1 cup of White Sugar
1/2 tsp of Agar Agar powder

1 – Add the beer and sugar to a saucepan. (Make sure it’s a larger saucepan, as the carbonation will cause the liquid to expand when it boils.) Turn on med-high heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Once sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat.

2 – Sprinkle the agar agar on to the liquid and let it absorb into the hot liquid. Give it 5 minutes or so.

3 – Turn on med-high heat and bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, this will activate the agar agar.

4 – Pour Guinness Jelly into jars and let cool, then place in fridge until set. (I let mine sit overnight.)

5 – Put it on bread and eat it. 😀

*As mentioned above, it goes awesome with cream cheese. I can also see it pairing very well with cheeses, such as Brie or Cheddar. I will be using it in place of a compote for the next cheese plate I set out.

Bon Appétit
Chef-In-Training Mandy