Jennifer Moorman's Blog, page 21

Cooking Through Fiction: Percy Jackson's Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love mazes. I love to try and solve them on paper, and I love to walk through the giant ones constructed from corn or boxwood hedges. I’m not discouraged by dead ends. I just backtrack and choose another path. I never think I won’t find the way out. Neither does Percy.In book four of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, titled The Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson must navigate Daedalus’ labyrinth in order to save the world. Again.Unlike a corn maze (or a munc...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Bear Claws

My friend Jenna says everyone needs at least one 3 a.m. friend. This is the type of friend (guy or girl) whom you can call at 3 a.m. Regardless if you have a flat tire, a broken heart, or are stranded in some seedy night club because you’ve deserted the total jerk you showed up with, this friend will answer the phone.And not only will he or she answer the phone, this 3 a.m. friend will come and pick you up, talk to you until you can breathe again, or tell you to pack a suitcase and drive over...

Cooking Through Fiction: Boone Crowe Buttermilk Biscuits

I remember watching westerns on TV with my daddy when I was a little girl. Normally, when I’m home for the holidays, there’s still bound to be a western or two watched. Because most westerns follow a specific pattern, we like knowing what’s going to happen, laughing about the swooning-but-tough-girl leading ladies, and knowing without a doubt that the good guy is going to win.I don’t know if it’s because of these westerns or because I would have always had this specific adoration, but I have...

Cooking Through Fiction: Percy's Ambrosia Brownies

Sometimes life is difficult. If you’re a demigod, you can multiply your problems by at least ten. In my day-to-day existence, I don’t normally battle monsters, such as evil Titan lords, but Percy isn’t as fortunate as I am. Monsters sniff him out. Literally.Even small tasks that Percy believes are easy enough usually result in a battle for his life. In The Titan’s Curse, Percy’s is sent out to recruit two young demigods. He ends up battling a manticore that is masquerading as a vice principal...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Black Sticky Gingerbread

Uncle Remus said, “You can’t run away from trouble. Ain’t no place that far.” Anna, from The Baker’s Man, would be the first person to agree with him. She’s tried to be a good girl, follow the rules, keep everyone around her happy, but she's in over her head with an aching heart.In Chapter 10, titled Black Sticky Gingerbread, Anna is being hit with wave after wave of complications. There are many decisions to be made, and, unfortunately, none of them are simple.Anna has always believed love w...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Mickey Mouse Club

My birthday is just around the corner! Birthday cakes are personal and normally bought or baked with a special someone’s likes in mind. They are sometimes brought to a table with candles blazing like a fire (this happens as you grow older). Sometimes they have sparking candles that you can’t blow out, and the crowd thinks it’s funny, but you keep trying to extinguish the flames anyway.I’ve had all sorts of birthday cakes through the years. My favorites are usually chocolate, but I wouldn’t tu...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Ewok Treat

Anna O'Brien works hard in Bea's Bakery, a bakery started in Mystic Water by her grandmother. Anna's creativity stretches and grows based on current trends in colors or tastes and also due to her customer's needs. She bakes all sorts of creations for birthdays, parties, graduations, and for everyday desires.I love the Star Wars franchise, and Anna knows this because we know each other pretty well. I asked if she could create an Ewok out of rice cereal, and never one to turn down a challenge,...

Cooking Through Fiction: The Sea of Monsters — Country-Fried Stymphalion Bird

Thomas Wolfe wrote a novel called You Can’t Go Home Again. I'm pretty sure this phrase isn't meant to be taken literally. Have you ever returned to a place only to find that it wasn’t exactly as you remembered? Maybe the grass wasn’t as green, the trees weren’t as tall, and the mist across the lake wasn’t as magical.Maybe the roller rink where you hosted your birthday parties was torn down and now it’s a pet store. Maybe the football stadium looks dingy, and you can’t imagine hiding with anyo...

Cooking Through Fiction: A Giant Problem — Hobgoblin Doughnuts

I like to think I’m a rebel, that I’ve bent the rules, swam against the stream, bucked conformity. I had a college professor tell me once that I was a square peg trying to pretend I could fit in a round hole. He didn’t mean this as a compliment. That screams rebel, right? Right?! Bueller?My sister would likely say that I am about as far from a rebel as a person can get. But I object! I’ve lived dangerously (I once ate escargot). I’ve tempted fate (I underage bungee jumped). I told an English...

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Mirror Glaze

The origin of the word mirror comes from the Latin word mirare meaning “to wonder at.” This brings to my mind mirrors used in fiction and how characters wondered at the reflections they saw. Alice steps through the looking glass into a wonderland. Harry Potter obsesses over the reflection of his parents that he sees in the Mirror of Erised. The Wicked Queen is consumed by who the magic mirror reveals to be the fairest in the land.One of the definitions of mirror is “an object that faithfully...