I am super excited to be participating in the Spring Blog Carnival hosted by: Candace from Candace's Book Blog, Lori from Pure Imagination and Angela from Reading Angel.
What is the Spring Blog Carnival? A whole bunch of blogs are hosting giveaways based on carnival themed booths. So make sure you click on the link and visit the many other blogs who have their own booths. This is going to be a fun week on my blog.
What booth am I hosting for you all?
The spectacular food booth. What is a carnival without food? So to celebrate every day this week I will post a carnival food recipe for you. For my booth challenge and giveaway I have several books all with a food theme:
I am offering up to two winners their choice of one of these delicious food themed books. How do you win? There are two ways. First, you can play a game of chance and enter the Rafflecopter below and hope you are the lucky draw. Second, and way more fun, you can tell me your worst carnival food experience. For we all know, that carnival food, while delicious, is often greasy and fried. Mixing greasy, fried foods and carnival rides, well not always a good idea. I personally have always wanted to know if you were on one of those gravitron rides, you know the ones that spin around so fast that everyone and everything sticks flat against the wall, and someone decided to lose their lunch it is going to fall back on the offender or will the poor souls next to the barfer get splattered?
So hit me up, tell me in the comments your worst carnival food experience. At the end of the week the best answer wins a copy of their book of choice. So bring it on, tell me your worst! Also make sure you visit my co hostess, Lila over at Babbling About Books and Stuff. She will be sharing her own recipes, books and challenge.
To play the game of chance, fill out the Rafflecopter after reading the Contest Policies. Good luck!
Now I have today's recipe from the Carnival:
Funnel Cakes
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 8 | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
- 3 cups All-purpose Flour
- ¼ cups Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoons Salt
- 3 whole Eggs
- ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2-¼ cups Milk
- Powdered Sugar (for Dusting)
- Canola Oil, For Frying
Directions:
In a large, deep pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Add a dash more milk if need to achieve the proper consistency (the batter should resemble thin pancake batter).
Pour 1/2 cup batter through a funnel (while making circular, swirling motions) into the hot oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping halfway through. Drain on a paper towel, coat with powdered sugar, and enjoy!
Source: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/breakfastbrunch/funnel-cakes-2/
Delicious right?
I also want to share with you my review of:
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
In this irresistible novel, Sarah Addison Allen, author of the New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.
Paperback, 294 pages
Published April 14th 2009 by Bantam
Five stars! This is a delicious book! A tantalizing, sweet story that you will want to savor.
Reading this book is like assembling a large jigsaw puzzle that represents four sides of love. The corners of the puzzle symbolize the four women of the story. There is Josey, a twenty seven year old women, who is living under her mother's thumb. She is still punishing herself over bad behavior committed as a young child. To atone for her supposed transgressions she has given up on a life of her own and has become her mother's primary caretaker. She is lonely and trapped. Josey escapes to a secret compartment in her closet filled with sweets, travel magazines and romance novels. She dreams of her mailman, Adam, with whom she fell in love at first sight, but she is too scared to act upon her feelings. Josey's story is about the hopeful beginnings of love. Margaret, Josey's mother, is the second corner. She is an ice queen; a woman who is confined by the strict ideals of Southern society. These constraints force her to to give up her one great love. She has a frozen heart that prevents her from showing affection to anyone, including her daughter. She embodies a lost love. Chloe Finley, our third corner, is a lovely young lady in the perfect relationship; until her lover, Jake, admits he cheated on her in a moment of drunken, reckless abandon. Her world is shattered. She is left trying to pick up the remnants of a broken love. Finally, in the last edge of our puzzle, there is Della Lee. She is a thirty eight year old woman, who has had a hard life. She is someone who has never been lucky in love. She has struck out and given up on love. She mysteriously appears in Josey's closet to find redemption and perhaps grasp at the glimmer of hope that love may still exist. Her arrival is "the moment that changes everything." Our story begins and our puzzle pieces start to snap in place. As you read the book you find that every scrap of information, each story and interaction, no matter how trivial they seem are all a part of the big picture. The magic of this story lies in uncovering each piece and discovering how and where it fits into the puzzle. At the end, you have finished a masterpiece interlocking all the characters. Completed with amazing writing; delicious, delectable descriptions and a tiny taste of magic. It is a beautifully crafted work that will linger with you like a piece of spun sugar that slowly coats and melts on your tongue.
What I Liked:
- I loved the characters. This book has alternating points of view; this allows you to see inside each character and to learn them inside and out. Observing through the eyes of each person, provides an understanding for their motives and behavior. Ms. Addison creates such intriguing characters. I was fascinated and invested in each person. The secondary characters, Jake, Adam, Helena and many others are just as complex and interesting. It is wondrous to watch them all transform.
- The writing is fantastic. This book is filled with detailed sensory descriptions that make your mouth water. I love Ms. Addison's writing. She has vaulted into my top tier of writers.
- This story is so intricate. It takes it's own sweet time to develop. It is like a lazy summer day. It builds and connects the players in unexpected ways. Several times I was surprised by the connections; the final twist had my mouth agape. I did not see it coming! The outcome is bitter sweet. Not everything resolves into a happy ending but that is the way of life and love.
And The Not So Much:
- I would have liked more background information for Chloe and Della Lee. For Chloe I wanted a little more familial input. Della Lee's story was not clear. I wish there was more insight into what led to her final choice that ultimately placed her in Josey's closet. What happened to her? Why was she feeling so desperate?
- I was sad that there was not a resolution for Margaret. At first I did not like her and I hated the way she treated Josey. Once I understood why she was so icy, I felt for her. I hoped that I would see her thaw out, but instead her story is left unfinished.
- This is trivial, but when one of the characters said, "In case I forget to tell you later, I had a good time tonight", I cringed. This used up line was out of place in this magical book.
I absolutely loved this book. This novel has real characters that you fall in love with. I am going to miss hearing their voices now that their story is complete. It is a tremendous book that smoothly fits everyone together. It has a bit of mystery and a hint of magic. Pick this book up and fall in love. Don't read it with an empty tummy, the delicious descriptions will leave you salivating for sweets and for more of Sarah Addison Allen's enticing stories.
Favorite Quotations:
"His words surrounded her like perfume."
"This is what happens when bad furniture happens to good people."
"I think heaven will be like a first kiss."
"His voice the melody to all her favorite songs."
"The moon spun a spider web of light around her hair."
Okay everyone, have fun. See you back tomorrow with another delicious post.
