había una vez

That’s “Once Upon a Time” in Spanish. I hope. Unless I messed up the spelling. *sigh* It was a long and wonderful weekend. And it’s been a long time since my last Spanish grammar lesson, come to think of it. Eeek! But enough of that. This post is a wrap-up/summation/endnote for the Once Upon a Time IV Challenge, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings, which officially ended on June 20.

I said I’d read five books that fit into the category of fantasy, myths, or fairy tales. Not all of these books are classic ‘fairy tales,’ but all of them contain elements of the fantastic, and thus count for the contest. Click on the titles to see my reviews.

White Cat by Holly Black

Sleepless by Cyn Balog

The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey

No worries that I’m going to drop fantasy any time soon…I’ll continue to read fairy tales for the rest of the year because I’m also taking part in the Once Upon a Time 2010 Reading Challenge. Do you have any recent fairy tale reads to recommend?

running behind

It seems that I’m always a couple of days late in announcing giveaway winners. I want to apologize for that. Not that it won’t happen again (and again, and AGAIN), but I do feel bad. Then I get over it. And go on to worry about something more important (ever notice how there are about 14 things to worry about at any given time?). Many thanks for bearing with me!

I talked about my Patricia C. Wrede love in this post. And I offered up three copies of her reissue/omnibus A Matter of Magic. Please join me in congratulating the three winners!

Ryan G of Wordsmithonia

McKenzie of The Book Owl, and

April (BooksandWine) of Good Books and Wine

I hope you enjoy Wrede’s Mairelon the Magician and Magician’s Ward as much as I did. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway, and be sure to check out my current giveaway and look out for future offers (there will be many this month!).

teaser tuesday (44)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“A young fellow a year or two older than Meggy, wearing a brown doublet and hose of strawberry red, pounded down the stairs. He grinned at Meggy and his hair flopped into his eyes. ‘Roger,’ said Master Ambrose, ‘this be…err…my…err, daughter. See to her. I must return to my work.’”

-p. 9 of Karen Cushman’s Alchemy and Meggy Swann

death by chocolate, with a side of pear

The tarte tatin dish I reviewed for CSN Stores has changed my (baking) life. It came with a little recipe book, and I’ve been obsessed with trying all of the different dishes. They’re ALL awesome. One of my roommates told me this was the best chocolate dessert she had ever tasted. EVER. I beamed with pride, and then noted that she mustn’t have had many chocolate desserts. But it is fairly fabulous, and actually very easy. I’ll definitely be making it again soon.

Chocolate Pear Dessert with Chocolate Ganache

INGREDIENTS

Cake

1/4 cup demerara sugar
(I used a regular brown sugar)

15-16 oz. can of pear halves, drained


1 cup softened butter, plus 2 tablespoons

1 cup caster/superfine sugar
(I used regular granulated sugar)

4 medium size eggs


1 1/2 cups self-rising flour


1/2 cup cocoa powder


2 level teaspoons baking powder



Sauce



6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
chips (1/2 bag)

2 tablespoons butter


1/2 teaspoon coffee granules


1 tablespoon golden syrup (I used molasses, but corn syrup works too)

3 tablespoons crème fraiche (again, the translation = heavy whipping cream)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven at 160°C/325°F/Gas 3.

Put two tablespoons butter into the tatin dish and place on a low heat to melt it. When melted turn the dish so that the butter coats the sides. Remove from the heat. Sprinkle the demerara/brown sugar evenly over the base and arrange the pear halves (cut side down) in a pattern to fill the base.

Put the softened butter, sugar, eggs, flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a food processor bowl and process for 30 seconds, scrape down the bowl and process again for 10 seconds. (If you don't have a food processor, put all the ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy). Spread this mixture evenly over the pears, taking it right to the edges.

Bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes. The mixture should be well risen and springy to the touch. Leave it to cool for 3-4 minutes before easing round the edge with a knife and inverting onto a serving dish.

Whilst the dessert (cake) is baking, make the sauce. Put the chocolate, butter, coffee granules and syrup into a bowl over a pan of hot water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and beat in the crème fraiche. Keep warm in the bowl over the hot water, or this sauce can be cooled, when it will thicken, and served like whipped cream.

The sauce can also be made in the microwave. Put all the ingredients (except the cream) into a small microwave bowl. Heat on medium power for 1 - 2 minutes until the chocolate has melted. Beat thoroughly, then beat in the cream or crème fraiche.

My other roommate just wandered by and asked what I was posting about. She wanted to give a testimonial as well. A lot of excitement about this cake, I guess. She said, “Why would you want to eat anything else?” Indeed. Now, go make some of your own!