Beth Cato's Blog, page 132
March 2, 2014
Sunday Quote has a lot of family birthdays in March
"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented." ~Stephen King
March 1, 2014
Poems!
Apparently, March 1st is poem publication day for me.
Over at Niteblade, you can get a sample of my poem "Bird Girl" and can read the whole thing if you purchase the issue. Which I recommend, of course, because Niteblade is awesome.
At Mythic Delirium, subscribers could read my poem "Seeds" starting in January, but now it can be read by everyone online. This is another one of my works that harkens back to my childhood obsession with horses.
Over at Niteblade, you can get a sample of my poem "Bird Girl" and can read the whole thing if you purchase the issue. Which I recommend, of course, because Niteblade is awesome.
At Mythic Delirium, subscribers could read my poem "Seeds" starting in January, but now it can be read by everyone online. This is another one of my works that harkens back to my childhood obsession with horses.
February 26, 2014
Bready or Not: Double Chocolate Irish Cream Cookies
There is such a thing as too much chocolate.
What?! Blasphemy, you say?!
No, I mean it. It drives me bonkers when cookie recipes call for so many chocolate chips that the dough is destabilized. If I wanted to eat solid chocolate, um, I'd eat solid chocolate. I like me some cookie dough. I want to taste the dough.
That's especially true here where the dough has such a lovely flavor from the Irish creamer. The creamer also does something amazing to the texture--make them soft and thick, just like using straightforward cream. It doesn't quite have the oomph of using cream cheese--it's more subtle. A good thing, I think.
You could use any variety of creamers in this recipe. Use a mint creamer with dark or mint chocolate chips--or pair hazelnut flavor and chocolate.
The possibilities. Oh, the possibilities.
Double Chocolate Irish Cream Cookies
modified from Irish Cream Triple Chunk Cookies at Something Swanky
Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 C Irish cream creamer
1/4 C butter, room temperature
1/4 C shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups mixed chocolate chips OR chopped up candy bars
Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 350-degrees. In a bowl, beat together the butter and shortening. Add the sugars and beat until creamy. Add the egg, creamer, and vanilla and mix well.
2) Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt, just until a dough forms.
3) Add the chocolate chips and/or candy pieces. [If you want a thicker dough, chill it for a few hours or overnight.]
4) With a tablespoon scoop, place cookies on baking sheet. [If the dough is firm from bing chilled, flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass.] Sprinkle some sea salt on top, if you want, to contrast with the chocolate.
5) Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until the tops are slightly tinted in color.
OM NOM NOM.
What?! Blasphemy, you say?!
No, I mean it. It drives me bonkers when cookie recipes call for so many chocolate chips that the dough is destabilized. If I wanted to eat solid chocolate, um, I'd eat solid chocolate. I like me some cookie dough. I want to taste the dough.
That's especially true here where the dough has such a lovely flavor from the Irish creamer. The creamer also does something amazing to the texture--make them soft and thick, just like using straightforward cream. It doesn't quite have the oomph of using cream cheese--it's more subtle. A good thing, I think.
You could use any variety of creamers in this recipe. Use a mint creamer with dark or mint chocolate chips--or pair hazelnut flavor and chocolate.
The possibilities. Oh, the possibilities.
Double Chocolate Irish Cream Cookies
modified from Irish Cream Triple Chunk Cookies at Something Swanky
Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 C Irish cream creamer
1/4 C butter, room temperature
1/4 C shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups mixed chocolate chips OR chopped up candy bars
Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 350-degrees. In a bowl, beat together the butter and shortening. Add the sugars and beat until creamy. Add the egg, creamer, and vanilla and mix well.
2) Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt, just until a dough forms.
3) Add the chocolate chips and/or candy pieces. [If you want a thicker dough, chill it for a few hours or overnight.]
4) With a tablespoon scoop, place cookies on baking sheet. [If the dough is firm from bing chilled, flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass.] Sprinkle some sea salt on top, if you want, to contrast with the chocolate.
5) Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until the tops are slightly tinted in color.
OM NOM NOM.
February 23, 2014
Sunday Quote is irritated that winter didn't happen in Phoenix this year
"Because a book--at least the kind of book I am writing--should contain everything that seems to me to be true. There are few enough true things in the world. It would be a kind of sin to conceal any of them or hide their little heads in technique as the squeamishness of not appearing in one's own book." ~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel
February 20, 2014
CLOCKWORK DAGGER has a back cover summary!
Lo and behold, I checked Goodreads last night and discovered my back cover summary!
Full of magic, mystery, and romance, an enchanting steampunk fantasy debut in the bestselling vein of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger
“The Clockwork Dagger was just what I needed: A steampunk adventure with an uncommon heroine, a fascinating magic system, and a young gremlin! I’m hooked and can’t wait for more Octavia and Leaf!”
—New York Times bestselling author Kevin Hearne
Orphaned as a child, Octavia Leander was doomed to grow up on the streets until Miss Percival saved her and taught her to become a medician. Gifted with incredible powers, the young healer is about to embark on her first mission, visiting suffering cities in the far reaches of the war-scarred realm. But the airship on which she is traveling is plagued by a series of strange and disturbing occurrences, including murder, and Octavia herself is threatened.
Suddenly, she is caught up in a flurry of intrigue: the dashingly attractive steward may be one of the infamous Clockwork Daggers—the Queen’s spies and assassins—and her cabin-mate harbors disturbing secrets. But the danger is only beginning, for Octavia discovers that the deadly conspiracy aboard the airship may reach the crown itself.
February 19, 2014
Bready or Not: Mini Chocolate Donuts with Irish Cream Ganache
St. Patrick's Day is about a month away. We're gearing up with a series of Irish-inspired recipes, most of which feature Irish coffee creamer.
I used the non-alcoholic stuff, but you could also use the harder variety if you wish. Maybe not for the breakfast donuts, but hey, that's your call.
Mini donuts are so much fun. They are just outright cute and I like how portion-friendly they are. In particular, this recipe bakes up as light and airy--not heavy and cakey like some recipes.
The original version of this recipe made a large amount of ganache. I cut that in half here. If you need more, it's easy to melt more, or just top donuts with some powdered sugar. Leftovers are never an issue, either--most anything is good with some chocolate.
Licking your fingers clean... a very good idea here.
Mini Chocolate Donuts with Irish Cream Ganache
modified from Something Swanky
Makes 36 mini donuts.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 Tb cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons oil
For the ganache:
about 3/4 cup chocolate chips
about 1/2 cup Irish Cream Creamer
Directions:
1) Preheat oven at 450-degrees. Prepare the mini donut pan by spraying it with non-stick spray.
2) Mix together flour, cocoa powder, and cornstarch. Add the sugar, baking powder, salt, egg, milk, vanilla, and oil, and whisk together.
3) Scrape batter into a storage bag or frosting bag. Snip off the end and pipe batter into the donut pan. Only fill about half full; for me, this is three circuits of batter.
4) Bake at 450-degrees for 7-9 minutes, until donut springs back when pressed. Let cool on a rack. Spray pan and continue with the next batch.
5) For the ganache, pour the chocolate chips and creamer into a small bowl. They should be about level. Add more of one or the other to adjust the consistency.
6) Microwave for 1 minute. Mix until a smooth ganache forms.
Dip the tops of the donuts in the warm ganache.
OM NOM NOM.
I used the non-alcoholic stuff, but you could also use the harder variety if you wish. Maybe not for the breakfast donuts, but hey, that's your call.
Mini donuts are so much fun. They are just outright cute and I like how portion-friendly they are. In particular, this recipe bakes up as light and airy--not heavy and cakey like some recipes.
The original version of this recipe made a large amount of ganache. I cut that in half here. If you need more, it's easy to melt more, or just top donuts with some powdered sugar. Leftovers are never an issue, either--most anything is good with some chocolate.
Licking your fingers clean... a very good idea here.
Mini Chocolate Donuts with Irish Cream Ganache
modified from Something Swanky
Makes 36 mini donuts.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 Tb cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons oil
For the ganache:
about 3/4 cup chocolate chips
about 1/2 cup Irish Cream Creamer
Directions:
1) Preheat oven at 450-degrees. Prepare the mini donut pan by spraying it with non-stick spray.
2) Mix together flour, cocoa powder, and cornstarch. Add the sugar, baking powder, salt, egg, milk, vanilla, and oil, and whisk together.
3) Scrape batter into a storage bag or frosting bag. Snip off the end and pipe batter into the donut pan. Only fill about half full; for me, this is three circuits of batter.
4) Bake at 450-degrees for 7-9 minutes, until donut springs back when pressed. Let cool on a rack. Spray pan and continue with the next batch.
5) For the ganache, pour the chocolate chips and creamer into a small bowl. They should be about level. Add more of one or the other to adjust the consistency.
6) Microwave for 1 minute. Mix until a smooth ganache forms.
Dip the tops of the donuts in the warm ganache.
OM NOM NOM.
February 16, 2014
Sunday Quote hopes to hit a big book sale this weekend
"Because a book--at least the kind of book I am writing--should contain everything that seems to me to be true. There are few enough true things in the world. It would be a kind of sin to conceal any of them or hide their little heads in technique as the squeamishness of not appearing in one's own book." ~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel
February 12, 2014
Bready or Not: York Peppermint Patty Brownies
Valentine's Day is two days away. Therefore, let's go hardcore chocolate with one of the best brownie recipes I've ever baked.
I'm not the only one who feels this way. My husband took this to work and had a peer declare these brownies, "...were like being punched in the face by the chocolate fairy." How is that for an endorsement?
If you want to get punched in the face too--a kinder, non-nose-breaking kind of punch--you gotta make this. If not today, then in a few days when the candy bags go on clearance.
Seriously. Don't mess with the chocolate fairy.
York Peppermint Patty Brownies
from Sweet Anna's
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted & divided (1/3 cup + 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup flour
40 miniature-sized York peppermint patties [I used a full seasonal bag]
2 cups chocolate chips or mint chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x13 pan.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and baking soda, then 1/3 cup of the melted butter until smooth. Mix in the boiling water until thick.
3) Add the sugar, eggs, remaining 1/3 cup melted butter, and the peppermint extract until smooth.
4) Stir in the flour and salt until just mixed. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Lay the unwrapped peppermint patties evenly all over the top.
5) Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are just set and starting to pull away from the edges.
6) Immediately sprinkle the 2 cups chocolate chips all over the top of the hot brownies. Let them sit for a few minutes, until they are all shiny, and then spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Let them cool before cutting them.
OM NOM NOM.
I'm not the only one who feels this way. My husband took this to work and had a peer declare these brownies, "...were like being punched in the face by the chocolate fairy." How is that for an endorsement?
If you want to get punched in the face too--a kinder, non-nose-breaking kind of punch--you gotta make this. If not today, then in a few days when the candy bags go on clearance.
Seriously. Don't mess with the chocolate fairy.
York Peppermint Patty Brownies
from Sweet Anna's
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted & divided (1/3 cup + 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup flour
40 miniature-sized York peppermint patties [I used a full seasonal bag]
2 cups chocolate chips or mint chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x13 pan.
2) In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and baking soda, then 1/3 cup of the melted butter until smooth. Mix in the boiling water until thick.
3) Add the sugar, eggs, remaining 1/3 cup melted butter, and the peppermint extract until smooth.
4) Stir in the flour and salt until just mixed. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Lay the unwrapped peppermint patties evenly all over the top.
5) Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are just set and starting to pull away from the edges.
6) Immediately sprinkle the 2 cups chocolate chips all over the top of the hot brownies. Let them sit for a few minutes, until they are all shiny, and then spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Let them cool before cutting them.
OM NOM NOM.
February 10, 2014
Award Nominee Short Lists 2013
A lot of really awesome stuff was published in 2013. As I look forward to the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy voting this year, I have done my utmost to read a smattering of what is available. I will have to winnow down my selections from here, especially in the short story category, but these are my favorites. I link to the story if it's available online.
Whether you're voting for awards or not, check out these books and stories for a nice (or not so nice) escape from reality.
Also, I have to mention my own story that I'm promoting--"Stitched Wings" at Beneath Ceaseless Skies. It's completely free to read online or in a variety of file formats.
---
Short Stories
- "Selkie Stories Are For Losers" by Sofia Samatar, Strange Horizons
- "Alive, Alive Oh" by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley, Lightspeed
- "Sparg" by Brian Trent, Daily Science Fiction
- "Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer" by Kenneth Schneyer, Clockwork Phoenix 4
- "Biographical Fragments of the Life of Julian Prince" by Jake Kerr, Lightspeed
- "The Urashima Effect" by E. Lily Yu, Clarkesworld
- "Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside an Enormous Sentient Slug" by Oliver Buckram, Fantasy & Science Fiction
- "Stranger vs. the Malevolent Malignancy" by Jim Hines, Unidentified Funny Objects 2
- "The Air That I Breathe" by Eric Del Carlo, Waylines
Novelette
- "Cartographer of Dreamland" by Robert J. Howe, InterGalactic Medicine Show #33
- "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" by Sara Pinsker, Strange Horizons
- "Devil's Posthole" by M.K. Hutchins, InterGalactic Medicine Show #32
- "Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters" by Henry Lien, Asimov's
Novellas
- "Weight of Sunrise" by Vylar Kaftan, Asimov's
- "Trial of the Century" by Lawrence M. Schoen
- "Mermaid" by Kate O'Connor, Musa Publishing
Novels, Adult
- The Daedalus Incident by Michael J. Martinez
- Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
- The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney
- Elisha Barber by E.C. Ambrose
- Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone
- The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
- Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
Novels, Middle Grade and YA
- Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell
- Dead Set by Richard Kadrey
Whether you're voting for awards or not, check out these books and stories for a nice (or not so nice) escape from reality.
Also, I have to mention my own story that I'm promoting--"Stitched Wings" at Beneath Ceaseless Skies. It's completely free to read online or in a variety of file formats.
---
Short Stories
- "Selkie Stories Are For Losers" by Sofia Samatar, Strange Horizons
- "Alive, Alive Oh" by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley, Lightspeed
- "Sparg" by Brian Trent, Daily Science Fiction
- "Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer" by Kenneth Schneyer, Clockwork Phoenix 4
- "Biographical Fragments of the Life of Julian Prince" by Jake Kerr, Lightspeed
- "The Urashima Effect" by E. Lily Yu, Clarkesworld
- "Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside an Enormous Sentient Slug" by Oliver Buckram, Fantasy & Science Fiction
- "Stranger vs. the Malevolent Malignancy" by Jim Hines, Unidentified Funny Objects 2
- "The Air That I Breathe" by Eric Del Carlo, Waylines
Novelette
- "Cartographer of Dreamland" by Robert J. Howe, InterGalactic Medicine Show #33
- "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" by Sara Pinsker, Strange Horizons
- "Devil's Posthole" by M.K. Hutchins, InterGalactic Medicine Show #32
- "Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters" by Henry Lien, Asimov's
Novellas
- "Weight of Sunrise" by Vylar Kaftan, Asimov's
- "Trial of the Century" by Lawrence M. Schoen
- "Mermaid" by Kate O'Connor, Musa Publishing
Novels, Adult
- The Daedalus Incident by Michael J. Martinez
- Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
- The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney
- Elisha Barber by E.C. Ambrose
- Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone
- The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
- Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
Novels, Middle Grade and YA
- Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell
- Dead Set by Richard Kadrey
February 9, 2014
Sunday Quote looks forward to candy clearances
"New writers are often told, 'Write what you know.' I would broaden that by saying, 'Write what you know emotionally.'" ~Marjorie Franco
