Skip to main content

Brownies To Die For! by Bev Shaffer

By
Concept: Brownies, brownies, and more brownies. Mint infused, fruit topped, nut filled, white chocolate, peanut butter, in a square, in a circle, mixed with cookies...you get the idea. 

 Author: Bev Shafer is an award-winning chef, culinary instructor, food columnist, and bakery director. I had no previous experience with this author.

Food type: Desserts - Brownies, frosting, sauces and toppings. 

Monologue score (1-10) (how entertaining, not the recipes): 4 - there's not really much there except a history of brownies in the beginning. She adds a few tips every now and then, but there really wasn't much "life" and personality to the book. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate. Most aren't hard, but her basic brownie base starts with you melting your own chocolate in a double boiler and then adding the other ingredients. Not to mention making your own frosting or gathering specialty ingredients. This is much more work and has more possibilities for things to go wrong than just dumping a mix into a bowl and adding eggs and oil. I'll let you know if the end result is worth it once I've tried some.  

 Approximate percentage of recipes I would be willing to try: 90% (The only brownies I'm not interested in are those with nuts (there is always the option to take them out) and those with coffee in them. 

 Sample recipes I'm interested in trying:
  • Truffle Brownies - brownies + chocolate truffles (think Lindt or Lindor)
  • Poke 'n' Pour Fudge - Topped Brownies - Like a poke cake or "Better than" cake. I'd never thought of doing this to brownies before and I'm excited to try it. 
  • Brownie Maple Cupcakes with Chocolate Maple Fluff Frosting
  • "Honey of a Brownie" - cuts down on sugar and adds honey

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

By
Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

By
Summary: Two mice make a teeter totter. Soon a frog comes along and wants to join. Can the mice balance all the friends who want to play with them? Attention Span/reading level: 3-6 years old, usually 5 or less words on a page Good uses for book in teaching: Balance, science Favorite part:      Child: When the frog joins in     Mine: That the mice keep playing at the end  Least favorite part: None:   W arnings/negative feedback: None.  Review: This is a really simple but fun way to introduce the idea of balancing and weight to kids. It's fun to show them how it must be equal on each side to balance. Showing that size can affect weight is shown on the page where all the animals are on one side with the big bird on the other. This could be a fun activity to replicate with toys if doing a science lesson at home. 
Post a Comment
Read more

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Vin relies on her fighting skills, and a little extra "luck" to survive in the thief's world. Then comes Kelsier, a master thief and planner, showing her that what she calls luck is really much more. Kelsier and his crew plan to use a variety of special powers to free an entire population of slaves, including themselves, from tyranny. But, as always, there's far more to the story. Category Science Fiction or Fantasy Why I chose this book Rated highly on the library site My personal opinion (the review) Definitely the best story I've read in the past year. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series. Special abilities, fighting, romance, social justice - this has it all. And not a single bad word or uncomfortable situation. Warnings Language: None Violence: frequent, some mildly graphic "Adult" situations: None Death: Some, and of major characters Movie rating equivalent PG-13 Protagon...
Post a Comment
Read more