As Yet Untitled

Sorry guys, it's coffee time again. Well, sort of. Some people are too hardcore for coffee. Or else coffee is too hardcore for them. The high levels of caffeine and bitterness of roasted coffee beans can be too much for people.  But you still need a pick-me-up amirite? So there's this thing called Choffy . It's pure cacao (that's chocolate) that you brew in a French press just like coffee. It is supposed to be healthier and easier on the system and yet deliver a caffeine kick so potent that it rivals coffee in its ability to get you on your feet and moving. Naturally, I received a bag of the stuff for Valentine's day. First of all, it brews like a dream. It smells heavenly the moment you open the bag, and the second the boiling water hits the grounds it turns deep chocolatey brown. And smells so good. Caveat: It did gum up the strainer in my French press just a little. The grounds were a little coarser than how I grind my coffee, and I am guessing tha...

First, a disclaimer: I really enjoy retellings of old fairy tales, so I was predisposed to enjoy this book. I have done my best to be objective, but I thought you should know that.  What might have seemed contrived or even trite in this era of constant reboots turned out instead to be surprisingly refreshing and undeniably engaging in Genevieve Valentine's Girls at the Kingfisher Club . Valentine captures the panache of prohibition-era New York while maintaining a pure, genuine tone for her twelve heroines--all of whom are completely themselves. This retelling of the classic fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses is gripping, lavish, and heartfelt--to the point that I had a very hard time putting it down, and an even harder time accepting that I had finished reading it. Girls at the Kingfisher Club tells the story of twelve sisters, all disappointments to their father, a nouveau-riche businessman who needs a son to inherit his empire. So he locks them all upstairs in the...

I guess it's no secret that I'm a bit of a coffee person. Although I would not say I am a coffee snob (because really, how snobby can you be when you add both cream and sugar to your coffee every morning), I do prefer dark roast coffee brewed very strong and I do notice a difference in how my coffee tastes depending on: A. Whether it was pre-ground B. What brand it is and C. The venue for brewing the coffee. And that is what I want to address with you. I do not own a drip coffee maker. For years I used only my French press (which I still love), because the hubs does not like coffee, so I just make it for myself. But after I had a kid, mom started coming to visit, and between the two of us, a French press just isn't enough. So she brought over her old percolator. And I feel deeply in love. If only this were scratch 'n' sniff! This percolator is old. The power cord has electrical tape on it, because wires were starting to be exposed. It makes a frightening b...

AND THE WINNER IS: Laura Harris! Please email mkdupre@gmail.com to collect your book! Not long ago, I wrote a review of a book called Wolves and Men .Well, now I am very excited to announce that I have been given permission to give away a copy of this super cool novel to one lucky winner! Here is a brief summary of what the book is about: The wickedness of men knows no bounds. It does not stop to consider the lives it destroys; does not feel the pain it inflicts; nor hesitates where it devours. Its appetite is destruction, and its darkness infects wherever it wounds. It prowls through night and day, seeking the weak, the innocent, and the pure. Where it finds beauty, it mars; where it sees life, it poisons; and where there is light, darkness will fall. Charlotte Benson is no stranger to the evils of men. Plagued by terrible dreams of her past, she seeks respite in the Ouachita Mountains, at a peaceful wildlife refuge called Willow's Bend in far eastern Oklaho...