Saturday, October 24, 2009

Feed Me Seymour Mini-Challenge

My passage is from The Taste of Sweet by Joanne Chen. Check out my review of the book!

She's describing the Red Velvet cake made at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City.

Back at the Waldorf, I am working my way through a plate of petits fours, chewing with great purpose, when Mary Ellen Miller finally emerges with several round cakes on a giant baking tray. They're not so much cakes as they are cakes-in-waiting, each no more than an inch thick, their height and beauty not yet fully realized. Worse, they aren't the jubilant cherry-red-lipstick color I imagined for this Red Velvet cake, but a serious rusty brown. I have to admit, they are kind of a letdown at this stage.

But when Miller begins to frost the layers, my interest perks up. She takes the closet cake and starts at the center, her wrist quick and agile, the frosting knife swirling gracefully as she works outward. Miller knows not to overdo it; she stops a good half inch or so before she hits the edge, lest the frosting ooze out the sides and overpower the cocoa flavor of the cake itself. She places one layer on top of the first, and then another, and then another. She finishes off by creating continuous waves of frosting on the side of the cake, thereby sealing the four disks into one beautiful desert.

I taste and take care to chew well. I detect the aromatic chocolate note and a bit of earthiness from the beets, something you don't get from simple bakeshop varieties. The sweetness is subtle and balanced by the frosting's slight tangy note.



Non-Book Collection Mini-Challenge

One of the non-book collections I have is magnets. I try to get one from each place that I go.

One of my favorite magnets is the Little Miss Sunshine because it reminds me of my childhood.


Another favorite of mine are my map magnets that explore different cities worldwide. These magnets help me "travel" to those countries without even leaving my house.

Book Title Mini-Challenge


Here's my entry for the book title mini-challenge.

First Family Vanished, The President's Assassin On the Run


Dewey's Read-A-Thon Update

To any cheerleaders checking in on my status - unfortunately I probably won't be able to start reading until later on this afternoon. A few things came up that take priority over the read-a-thon.

When I get started the two books on my list are The Water's Edge by Karen Fossum and First Family by David Baldacci.

Good luck to everyone!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Update on first round of Cannonball Read

I just finished my 34th book last night. This morning I was ready to pick up a new book and keep going, but I realized that I need a little break.

I'm planning to participate in Dewey's Read-a-Thon tomorrow (10/24) and the next round of Cannonball Read starts next Sunday (11/1).

I'm hoping to post the last 5 reviews later this weekend/early next week. I'm also going to pull together a list of what I'm planning to read for November as part of the Cannonball Read II.

Stay tuned...

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Second Round of Cannonball Read

The second round of Cannonball Read is starting on November 1st.

Goal - read a book a week and post a review.

For more details see here