Ashes by Ilsa Bick

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Cormac McCarthy's The Road smashed into Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy? I'm thinking it would resemble Ashes. My co-worker agreed and suggested tossing in Justin Cronin's The Passage, too. I haven't read it yet, but it's in my To Be Read pile.  From what I know about it, I think it fits perfectly.

I've shied away from the apocalyptic zombie/vampire books. I haven't read The Twilight books. I don't mix zombies with Jane Austen. But I've been watching The Walking Dead on AMC. It's good all around gore. The story and acting are okay, but the gore is supremely fun. The second season started last week which whet my appetite for a tale of zombies or The Zapped, as Alex, our heroine in Ashes, likes to refer to them.

Ashes is the first book in a trilogy by Ilsa Bick. The story pulls you in as Alex hikes into the deep woods of Michigan to release her parents' ashes and, we're not sure and neither is Alex, possibly commit suicide. After losing her parents, she discovered that she had an inoperable brain tumor which she refers to as The Monster. I'm all too familiar with brain tumors, so this aspect really drew me in. Alex runs into a grandfather and granddaughter who are trying to heal their own fresh wounds. As they start to pry into Alex's secrets, the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) hits. Birds fall from the skies, deer jump to their deaths, and Alex feels intense pain. Is it The Monster? Or something else? Alex regains her composure and discovers she's saddled with the granddaughter who is understandably freaked, but refuses to accompany Alex who sets off for the ranger station.

The apocalyptic landscape and the journey remind me of The Road which I really viewed as the son's coming of age story. Ashes ups the ante by removing Alex's parents before the story begins, and we definitely watch Alex mature quickly as the world turns to ashes. Alex is a strong female character reminiscent of Katniss in The Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss and Alex both try to maintain their human-ness as the world falls apart around them. They learn both good and not-so-great details about their character.

What happens to Alex as she discovers changes to the world and to herself brought on by the EMP. What's family? What's your true nature? Who do you trust? Who's left in the world? What or who caused the EMP? Do ethics still apply in a world turned crazy? Join Alex on her journey as she discovers the answers.

Club: BAKED: Sawdust Pie

This week's Club: BAKED installment is hosted by Tessa at The Cookin' Chemist. Check out Tessa's blog for the recipe and to check out her creation.


I love butter. I love to bake with butter. This recipe has no butter. Huh? Where's the butter? I'm typing this as the Sawdust Pie bakes in the oven, and all I can think about is how is this going to taste with no butter? I guess the pecans, white chocolate, and coconut contribute oil. But seriously, where's the butter?

The rustic collection of ingredients reminds me of something I would have made at Girl Scout Camp. Mix in nuts, sugar, crushed graham crackers, coconut, add the egg whites, toss in the oven. Younger Joan would have insisted on milk chocolate, but Older Joan is grateful for its omission.

I used sweetened coconut flakes because it was the only option available at the Cosentino's market across from my office. I was going to skip on the Simple Whipped Cream and banana slices, but decided this simple pie needed a few accessories.

I enjoyed making the whipped cream, but I gotta ask: did anyone else resort to using a mixer? I broke down after 2-3 minutes. The whisk was working, but my hand mixer really made the whipped cream come together.

I'm not a huge pie fan. Come to think of it, I'm solidly on team cake. If I do select pie, then I prefer a smoother, creamier pie. I do understand this pie's charms. I'm going to re-name it Granola Pie because it reminded me of a nutty granola bar. This pie would be an awesome addition to Thanksgiving.

Lollipop Molds

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of these lollipop molds I bought on Amazon from a Canadian store. Tick tock. Are they here yet? No. How 'bout now?

I've eaten just about every candy available, but my candy making experience is very small. I view candy making as more chemistry-related then baking. I made this awesome Salted Chocolate Pecan Toffee last year. I cooked it a little too long which kind of made it take on a slight coffee flavor. It was not perfect, but people enjoyed it. I watched my Dad make peanut brittle every Christmas since I was old enough to eat it! I love that crunchy, peanutty candy. I've never made lollipops before. I stumbled upon a recipe for Salted Chocolate Caramel Lollipops in Sweet Confections by Nina Wanat via CakeSpy.

Seriously, can you think of anything more tempting? I love the flavor combo. The lollipop might encourage me to savor the flavor.

Acorns, and squirrels, and leaves..oh my!

I made these sugar cookies for my family's fish fry over the weekend. My brother is an avid fisherman who caught enough fish to feed my gi-normous family (thanks, Eric!). I used the basic sugar cookie recipe from Cookie Craft. I love this book for fun decorating ideas. If you're looking for a way to eliminate the hassle of trying to make sugar cookies, then you need this book. I learned how to use cookie slats to roll out the dough to a perfect 1/4 inch. I also learned the trick to rollout the dough before refrigerating. The cookies cut out really easy if the dough is stif

A co-worker shared how to make these super easy acorns with me. She saw them used as cupcake toppers at a bake sale. It's really more of a craft project. You need mini nilla wafers, kisses, and baking chips. I used the multi-color nilla wafers, milk chocolate kisses (the candy corn variety would look great), and Reese's peanut butter chips. I used leftover icing from the sugar cookies to "glue" the components together. The acorns were a huge hit at the party. The little kids enjoyed them the most!

Here's a close up of the cookies. I wanted to add additional decorations, but time ran out. I think they turned out okay. I'm working on my piping skills...it's definitely a work in progress!

Fall 2011 Books I'm Really Looking Forward to Reading

Okay, this picture has nothing to do with new books, but it does represent Fall! This is Stella's lion costume from last year...but she's so darn cute, how can I not use it???

Wow, the list of books coming out over the next few weeks is impressive. I'm anxiously awaiting these books:

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides on October 11th

Zone One by Colson Whitehead on October 18th

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami on October 25th


Blue Nights by Joan Didion on November 1st

It's time to get in line at your local library, fire up the ebook reader, or buy from your local bookstore or Amazon. Happy reading!

UPDATE! I totally forgot to add Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Kaling is Kelly Kapur on The Office. Her twitter stream (@mindykaling) is highly addictive...go follow her...now. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Get!

The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson

I enjoyed this book about a Midwestern family set in the 1970's to the present, but I really wanted to love it. I found the characters interesting, but I didn't find myself caring for them. The leaps in time between chapters made this novel feel more like a collection of short stories. I don't say that as a bad thing (Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout is one of my favorites books). The chapters can stand alone. They might even be more powerful as individual stories.

The story spans three decades. We watch siblings Anita, Ryan, and Torrie struggle with emotional and financial stability at various stages of their lives. Anita marries a banker only to discover marriage and motherhood is way more difficult then she imagined. Ryan wants something more than Iowa can give him, but he's never quite sure what he needs. He moves to Chicago and ultimately lands in technology after trying to become a professor. We meet three women who influence the trajectory of his life. Torrie is the youngest who suffers a catastrophic brain injury. She accidentally discovers photography which leads to a chance to express her inner demons. I wanted to know more about Torrie.

Chip is the lost cousin who returns from Vietnam early in the novel. We follow Chip on various journeys to the Northwest, Mexico, and back to Iowa. Thompson provides varying degrees of information on Chip's journey. I found Chip to be the most compelling character. The return of his almost, but not quite, step son at the end of the novel is a welcome distraction. I would love to read a sequel about the step son's relationship with Torrie.

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Set in 1938, this book is about Kate Kontent, a smart, confident, woman who is mostly alone except for her friendship with Eve. They meet Tinker Grey at a jazz club on New Year's Eve. Tinker is drawn to Kate, but he is thrown into a relationship with Eve after she suffers major injuries when the roadster Tinker's driving crashes into a milk truck.

As guilt-ridden Tinker tries to make amends to Eve, Kate thrives in the New York of 1938. She starts as a secretary at a law firm, then moves on to the publishing world. She reads Walden, visits museums and clubs, and hangs out with a host of new friends while Eve and Tinker live in the world of the upper class. My favorite scene is when Kate quits her job, buys a lovely new dress, then takes herself to a fancy restaurant to spend the last of her money. It's heartbreaking to watch such a fun scene turn into a cathartic resurrection of sorts. Kate is a character you won't easily forget.

Towles is an intelligent writer, but his style is breezy rather than erudite. Tinker reminded me of Gatsby. The novel rides the chasm between classes which reminds you of today while echoing the past.

Club BAKED: Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

This is the latest installment of Club BAKED. I'm really glad this recipe landed on a Saturday! What better way to start the weekend then with a cheesy, salty, slightly sweet muffin? Thanks to Billie who chose this delightful recipe. It's a great way to welcome Fall!

This recipe mixes together very easily and uses ingredients that are were already in my pantry and refrigerator (except for the pumpkin seeds). I omitted the seeds, but I can totally appreciate how they would add another layer of flavor and texture. I used muffin liners which stuck a little to the muffin, but next time I will skip those and just butter the heck out of my muffin trays. I love the mix of spices. The cayenne pepper and black pepper tingle on your tongue, but not too spicy. You could serve these cheesy muffins with chili or soup to brighten a cold winter evening.

I prefer to bake from a recipe that uses weight measurements because I think it's way more precise than measuring by volume. My wish for the third cookbook from BAKED is that they add weight measurements. I'm buying farm fresh eggs from a co-worker. The eggs are in a variety of sizes so I can't go by the generic "use 2 large eggs". I researched how much one large egg weighs and discovered that it should equal about 50 grams. I used 3 eggs which weighed a little more than 100 grams. Please BAKED guys, add weight measurements!

I've also discovered that I don't really like to take a lot of pictures during the baking process. It kind of ruins the zen-like baking experience I enjoy.