I took these to my boyfriend’s mom’s birthday and she completely loved them! I even decided to make them again two days later for my dad’s birthday! Super easy and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 lb of fresh strawberries

8 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate

4 oz of white baking chocolate

8 oz of chopped walnuts (you might not need this much, depends)

Method:

First be sure to wash and dry each strawberry well. If the strawberry isn’t completely dry, the chocolate won’t hold properly and drip off.

Take a mug and fill it with the semi-sweet chocolate, microwave it for about 15-20 seconds. Mix the chocolate, and put it back into the microwave for another 15-20 seconds. Repeat this step until the chocolate is completely melted.

Take half of the strawberries and dip them into the chocolate. Not too far, you still want to see a little bit of the red. Set them on a plate covered with wax paper, and place them in the fridge to cool.

Take the chopped walnuts and place them into a bowl. Continue dipping the other half of strawberries, but after each dipping, roll the strawberry in the nuts, until completely covered. Once finished, also place these into the fridge.

Repeat the same process of melting the chocolate, but this time do it with the white. Grab the plain chocolate strawberries from the fridge, and drizzle the white chocolate over them with either a spoon or fork. Put them back in the fridge to continue cooling.

Enjoy!

Actor Dustin Hoffman discusses his role in Tootsie and how he realised he’d been brainwashed into a misleading concept of female beauty. 

Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

Hardcover, 295 pages  Published September 4th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

ISBN  0374373663 (ISBN13: 9780374373665)

Last year here on the site we read Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan for a book club pick. This book, like that one, revolves mostly around the idea of sea creatures coming to live on land. The story follows a 17 year old, Hester, and the “love curse” that has fallen upon her family. We learn about the curse through flashbacks to Syrenka’s life and Hester’s research.  Monstrous Beauty is a historical fantasy fiction with a few paranormal twists; a very unique read that is full of mythology, detailed research for historical accuracy and yet draws on the emotions of a mystery/detective novel.

With some subject matter that is more appropriate for more mature readers, Monstrous Beauty takes us through a tumultuous story of a young Hester. With this curse put upon her family, she has rejected the idea of finding love for herself, yet is still drawn to two different boys as she tries to solve the mystery of the curse.

After reading several mermaid books this year, what caught my attention was the mermaids’ connection to the land and I loved the mythology behind Syrenka’s life. Elizabeth Fama’s version of the mermaid is dark, terrifying and completely engrossing. Hester on the other hand is portrayed as naive and emotional but I found it was fitting for the time setting. With a young girl trying to solve a century plus old curse, the switching between the past and present helped build the tension as the story grew. The reader will question when, if ever, Hester will catch up to what we already know. 

When Hester does put the clues together it is a very dramatic and fast paced ending with plenty of paranormal activity.  I was not expecting ghosts to show up in a mermaid story, but with several supernatural elements blending in, it makes for a very unique and interesting read.

(Gross out alert!!)

I’m sitting here with a bin full of snotty tissues and a body smeared with Vicks. But with allergies that prevent the use of any flu fighting medications, what do I normally do to knock a cold on the head?

Love the liquids!

Thyme tea; I grow lemon thyme in my garden. (Actually I just planted it and it just didn’t die… what, that’s growing it isn’t it?) I grab a small sprig of the thyme and pour boiling water over it, leave it steep for a minute and let it cool a little then drink it. Not too much of this though. Try a whole bunch of teas, chamomile sounds good too.

A steam facial with a sprig of lavender. To do this, pour boiled water over the lavender in a largish bowl and carefully cover your head with a towel over the bowel. Remember you are working with steam and boiling water. Be careful not to burn yourself.  I usually do this on my lounge room floor so I can hang my head a little to drain the sinuses.  You can use lavender oil in lieu of the actual plant.

Chicken for dinner. If anyone in my family is feeling under the weather, I pull out the chicken for dinner. Whether it be tinned chicken soup, homemade chicken soup, a chicken curry or sweet and sour, it seems to  work… that or people stop acting sick just so they can have something else for dinner.

Hot showers. Lather up the areas just under your collar bones, and add a little pressure. Also massage along the cheeks (on your face). Don’t forget to get rid of as much nose muck as you can.

Use Vicks on your feet. After your hot shower put Vicks on your feet and put socks on (rumoured to help with coughs!).

Pressure points. There are a couple of pressure points I push on to help ease sinus pressure. One is on the webby bit between your thumb and first finger and the other is on the top of the foot between the big toe and the second toe.

One thing I haven’t tried that I think would help, but looks weird, is a Neti Pot. Basically you’re washing your nasal cavity.

REST! Get as much sleep as you can.

Stock up on tissues and movies that bore you to tears.

Feel better soon!

How can such a lovely story stem from miscommunication?

Hollywood has done the mistaken phone connection before, and they’ve delved into the email realm as well. They never quite did it justice though. Meg, please.

This is What Happy Looks Like, begins with a typo and charms you from the first reply. Who’d have thought such a rampant bunch of clichés could be so comfortably nice.

Here’s what goodreads have to say about the blurb

“In This is What Happy Looks Like, Jennifer E. Smith’s new YA novel, perfect strangers Graham Larkin and Ellie O’Neill meet—albeit virtually—when Graham accidentally sends Ellie an email about his pet pig, Wilbur. In the tradition of romantic movies like “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” the two 17-year-olds strike up an email relationship, even though they live on opposite sides of the country and don’t even know each other’s first names.

Through a series of funny and poignant messages, Graham and Ellie make a true connection, sharing intimate details about their lives, hopes and fears. But they don’t tell each other everything; Graham doesn’t know the major secret hidden in Ellie’s family tree, and Ellie is innocently unaware that Graham is actually a world-famous teen actor living in Los Angeles.

When the location for the shoot of Graham’s new film falls through, he sees an opportunity to take their relationship from online to in-person, managing to get the production relocated to picturesque Henley, Maine, where Ellie lives. But can a star as famous as Graham have a real relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie’s mom want her to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs?”

This is a book in the same vein as The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, though it isn’t the same characters or setting. It is however just as warm and fuzzy. 

Jennifer has a real knack for making deliciously consumable lovable books. I am in awe of how she sucks me in every time. Through all the light and airy, there are issues to be explored. The price of fame, and does being famous automatically mean you get everything you desire?

There are tissue moments and plenty of bits to giggle over. Dialogue is easy and believable.

It’s a bit of a thick volume, however you’ll hardly notice if sweet and fluffy is your thing.

Definitely one for a gloomy day, or a blue mood. Curl up with the cat, in a blanket, and keep the tissues and hot chocolate handy.

http://www.jenniferesmith.com/

Paperback, 224 pages

Published April 4th 2013 by Headline Book Publishing

ISBN 0755392280 (ISBN: 9780755392285)