Rachel R. Smith's Blog, page 14

Making Mochi-Vacation Fun with Japanese DIY Candy!

This week, Hubby is off work for the holidays, so I’ve been taking (some) time off from writing as well. We’re a bit behind on our Japanese candy DIY kits from our monthly Japan Crate, so in between binges of Gotham and playing Lego Harry Potter, we decided it was time to crack open those DIY candy kits. After all, we didn’t get enough candy at Christmas (haha).

Here are the four kits we did this afternoon: Funassyi Furi-Furi Shake (top left), Tororin Parfait (top right), Chitto Soda (bottom left), and Chocoroom (bottom right).

The Chitto Soda looked the most exciting, so we tried that one first. It’s a soda-flavored mochi candy mix. I love mochi, so I was sure this would be a hit. There were quite a few steps to this one, so I’ll just hit the highlights.

The first step was to mix one of the powder packets with water, which formed a blueish-purple solution. We poured the blue solution into each of the six molds.

Next, we mixed the second powder into each one. I think the second powder has baking soda in it because the solution bubbled and fizzed and changed from blue to pink. My inner chemistry nerd was loving it. After the reaction, the candy turned into the sticky/squishy consistency characteristic of mochi.

The last step was to add the blue soda-flavored syrup topping. End result: our candies don’t look as cute as the drawings on the package, but they were delicious!

Next up: Funassyi Furi-Furi Shake

This one was really easy! Just mix the powder packet with milk and a little bit of ice and shake.

Ta-dah! The pear flavor was nice (though Hubby swears it tasted like banana), but a bit too sweet for me. Still, the little mascot is so cute it’s hard to resist.

Third, we made the Tororin Parfait.

The kit even came with it’s own cup. Just mix the parfait powder packet with milk and place in the fridge for 10 min.

Afterward, top it with the strawberry syrup and a strawberry candy wedge and enjoy. It was good, but I’m sure it would have been even better if we had followed the suggestion on the package and added our own fresh fruit as well.

Finally, we made the Chocorooms (chocolate mushrooms).

The package included three tubes of flavored chocolate, crackers (to be the mushroom stalks) and a mold with a variety of mushroom shapes. The chocolate tubes were easily softened by soaking in hot water from the tap. Then we squeezed them into the mold (badly) in different layers and patterns and pushed the crackers into the center.

After letting the chocolate set in the freezer for 10 minutes, we had our candy mushrooms. They look a bit odd, but taste great–and that’s all the matters.

In the meantime, Sumo entertained himself by watching his favorite TV show, General Hospital (while laying on his favorite blanket, of course).

It’s time to take a page out of Sumo’s playbook and burn off my sugar coma with another round of Lego Harry Potter. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and I’ll be back to writing and regular posting next week. See you next year! ^_-

PS-A special thanks to Hubby for being my hand model for this post! ^_-

 

Twas the Night Before the Night Before Christmas…

Warning: Before you continue reading, just remember, there’s a reason why I’m an author and not a poet.

Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all through the house, the breezes were stirring because it’s 67 degrees outside. (!?)

The presents were (half) wrapped and scattered through the dining room with care, in a frenzied attempt to finish them before Santa would be there.

The doggy was nestled all snug on in his blankey, while visions of sugar bones danced in his head.

And when he wasn’t snugged in his blankey, he was chasing a gingerbread man throughout the house. ^_-

Merry (early) Christmas!

Tome Tender Review of Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror (and an upcoming ebook giveaway!)

Thank you to Dianne at Tome Tender Book Blog for her recent review of Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror! If you’re interested in reading her review, visit her post here.

Also–Tome Tender will be hosting a giveaway of Book 1 that will run from January 18-February 1, 2016. Be sure to check back in a couple of weeks for details on how to enter for a chance to win one of five ebook copies!

An Adorable Saboteur

It’s hard to write when you’re being stared at. And, “I can’t play because I’m busy writing,” is not an answer that Sumo will accept!

Nail Polish Sunday #3–Red glitter with a side of red glitter!

It’s that time once again! Nail polish Sunday. This week I’m doing red glitter nails in honor of Christmas. While it’s tempting to do an elaborate design to celebrate the festive occasion, I also have a pile of presents to gift wrap (which is my favorite part of Christmas!) and a fridge of food to prepare. So today’s nails are both quick and easy to do, and simple and durable enough to last through all the preparations.

I’ll be using two very similar shades of red glitter polishes. On the left is China Glaze Ruby Pumps, a jewel-red jelly with red micro glitter. On the right is OPI Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It, which is a mix of large and small flecks of red glitter with bits of large silver glitter mixed in.

I started out with two coats of Ruby Pumps on the whole nail. This color is gorgeous by itself! If you look closely, you can still just make out the tips of my nails in the photo. So, if you do wear it alone, I recommend using 3 coats for full coverage.

Two coats of Ruby Pumps

Next, I applied two coats of Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It to the tips of the nails. The large flecks of glitter in Gettin Miss Piggy With It are great for catching the light, but can be a bit overwhelming when worn across the whole nail. It also tends to drink in the top coat, leaving the nails feeling slightly rough after they dry. So, I applied it as if I were doing a french manicure. Since these two colors are so similar, there’s no need to worry about keeping the line tidy or consistent. Just brush a couple quick coats onto the tips and voila…

The end result is that the tips of the nails have an extra flash of sparkle in the light, and the polish still retains a smooth, glossy finish once its dry.

Are you doing a festive manicure for your nails? Leave me a note in the comments, I’d love to hear about it!

Author interview: Rachel R. Smith (Records of the Ohanzee)

I’d like to thank Mahjabeen at Awesomeideas2003 for inviting me to do an author interview with her earlier this week! You can view the full interview by clicking through to her blog.

awesomeideas 2003

Hi everyone!!

I am so excited today that I got my answers from author, and fellow blogger Rachel. Her blog is records of the ohanzee. It is absolutely amazing, and you should all definitely check it out if you already haven’t, because it is well worth-it. she has written two books:Reflection:the stranger in the mirror, and Reflection:harbinger of the phoenix.

So lets get started heh?

1)what was your inspiration for the book?
It’s hard for me to stay what the inspiration for my book was, since the story has been rolling around in my head for almost as long as I can remember. I used to do a lot of driving between my college and home, it was during that time period that I remember seeing the first scenes for the story in my head. Ironically, those first scenes are of characters that won’t be introduced until the third…

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Christmas Hologram Photos: A How-to

In response to my earlier post with the Christmas hologram video, I was surprised to hear from many people that they had never seen the Christmas hologram glasses, so I thought it might be helpful to do a follow-up how-to post.

A quick search on my favorite website of all time (Amazon) for “3D stereo hologram Christmas glasses” will turn up more varieties of these glasses than you can shake a stick at. It looks like you can order by the bundle or in sets of 3. If you want to save time typing out that mouthful of keywords, you can just click here to see the listings.

This is what the glasses look like:

To take pictures, you can just hold the glasses over the camera lens, but I have a hard time holding them still. So, you’ll want to cut out a small rectangle around the eye portion like this:

Next, use some very high-tech (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Scotch tape to hold the film in place over the camera lens.

Easy!

PS-On a side note, an amusing coincidence from my day. I had some dental work done this morning. The shots of Novocain made me lose feeling not only in the immediate vicinity of the work to be done, but also in my upper lip, nose, cheek and eyebrow. As I got into my car to drive home, the song “I Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd was playing over the radio. What amazing timing! XD

Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix – A Review

Thanks to Michelle at Book Adventures for her review of Records of the Ohanzee Book 2, Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix! You can read her earlier review of Book 1 here: Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror–A review

Be sure to visit her blog and check out her other great book reviews too.

As a side note: Michelle’s review came with particularly good timing, since Book 1 is available for free on Amazon today (until midnight PST)! Grab a copy today if you’re interested in trying the series.

Book Adventures

This is the second book in The Records of the Ohanzee series. This review may contain spoilers from the first book in the series – Reflection: The Stranger in the Mirror. 

After discovering the first part of a prophecy under the front cover of an ancient book, the seer Shae and her daughter, Desta, set out to find the rest of the six part prophecy. Only to be “intercepted” by the Ohanzee. Meanwhile Nerissa, the next heir of Chiyo, is hiding in plain sight as part of the Ohanzee disguised as Caeneus, a relative of the deceased royal family. Together with the Ohanzee they go on a journey to find the rest of the missing pieces of the prophecy.

Will they succeed in their mission, or will they be in danger during this journey? Will Nerissa be able to keep her disguise a secret or are some of the…

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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! (Especially if you’re wearing the right glasses)

If you’ve ever been in the Christmas section of a store, chances are you’ve seen the $2 novelty glasses with lenses that are hologram filters that turn Christmas lights into Santa faces, candy canes, or similar seasonal icons. It’s fun to try them all on and provides a few minutes of entertainment. When it comes down to it, they are mostly something amusing for kids, right?

Perhaps not. Have you ever tried wearing them in the car (not while you’re driving, of course)? Or putting the lens in front of the camera on your phone? Well, I’ve done both and here’s the awesome result:

Just put on some Christmas music and start cruzin’!

It also makes for some really fun still photographs too!

Decorations:

Trees:

And for the book bloggers out there–even your favorite books!

So put on your snowman, Santa, or candy cane glasses and go see what Christmas looks like around your town! (And if you take your own pictures, come back and leave a link in the comments to share them here too!)

Hey Book Lovers–Amazon 25% Off Code!

Just discovered this and wanted to share with my fellow book lovers. Now through December 14, Amazon.com has a discount code to receive 25% off any print book (paperback or hardback). Use code 25OFFBOOK at the checkout.

If you’re having trouble deciding what to read next, perhaps Sumo could make a couple of (not-at-all-subtle) suggestions? ^_-

Sumo recommends…