FOODFIC: Cell - Stephen King

Tom wakes up to find a guy in mechanic’s coveralls sitting in his back yard eating a pumpkin – as in using his teeth to consume a straight-out-of-the-garden raw orange gourd – and making soft smooching sounds every time his face dives back in. 

Refugees Tom, Clay, and Alice witness the scene through the window with a mixture of curiosity, concern…and a sort of relief, because yesterday the mobs of crazies like this one were using their teeth to rip out people’s throats, and the guts they’d eaten had been of the seedless human variety.

Now the day before that, the crazies were normal folk; George the pumpkin-muncher here, for instance, was still George the mechanic down at Sonny’s Texaco. But at 3:03 pm, he had the bad luck to be on his cell phone when WHORLM (that’s the sound my imagination attributes to the pulse) he and thousands of others had their brains turned to pulp. Kinda like pumpkin guts.

Because isn’t horror always about the guts? 

Well, if you’ve got ‘em, read Cell and find out if Alice, the newly-orphaned teenager, Clay, the finally-successful graphic novelist, and Tom, the quietly strong, bespectacled man, can save the world. 

But if you’re hungry for ‘em, wait until October 1^st…and start dialing. ;)

Toastworthy Teens - Monica Murphy

Monica Murphy, Cansculptor

New Jersey teen Monica Murphy knew that if she built it, they would eat.

“They” meaning all those served by the Monmouth and Ocean County food banks, and “it” being a replica of her school built entirely out of canned goods.

Completed in the spring, Monica’s cansculpture incorporating 2,500 cans brought public awareness to a cause that’s been dear to Monica since she was in the 5^th grade and first discovered that food bank shelves, which are usually well-stocked for the holidays, are often empty during the “off season.”

Monica’s also been mentoring a sixth grader from her school district to ensure her project continues – and those shelves stay full – after she graduates.

Guess you’d say this 17-year-old has a CAN-do attitude. :)

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FOODFIC: Please Welcome Christy Dorrity, Author of The Book Blogger's Cookbooks

*After you read Christy's post below,
click on the 2011 cover above to get your FREE copy of the first cookbook!

There’s only one thing I love more than eating delicious food, and that is reading amazing books.  I love it when characters enjoy good food in their adventuring. I love it so much that I created a set of cookbooks that combine my loves of reading and eating. 

Each year I review the books that I am reading (mostly YA, but a smattering of all genres), including in the review a recipe that complements the book in some way.  For example, in The 2012 Book Blogger’s Cookbook, there are delectable recipes like “Caramel Crack” from Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi, "Everliving Soup" from Brodi Ashton's Everneath, and "Jagged Ham" from Elana Johnson's Possession.

To pick the recipes, I will often get my inspiration from something the characters eat, or a smell, or food mentioned. But I will also create recipes based on the theme, or tone of the book, or find some creative twist to play off of the title. After cooking the recipe for my family, I photograph it and post it on my blog. Every spring I compile a list of books and recipes and walla! A cookbook for book lovers.

The 2013 Book Blogger’s Cookbook is slated to release in May of 2013.

If you love food and books as much as I do, you probably like “reating” What is reating?  Read on.

5 Tips for “Reating”-the Fusion of Books and Food.

One of the greatest pleasures in life is the combination of good food and good books. When all of the kids are in bed and the lights in the kitchen are off, get ready for some “me” time. Snuggle up with a good book and something yummy! Some people say that it is unhealthy to eat while you are reading, but if you follow these helpful tips, you can give yourself permission to enjoy the fusion of great reads and great eats. 

5 “Reating Fusion” Tips

1.     Choose a Great Book—one that you can’t wait to get into. If you need help choosing a read, there are loads of great book bloggers out there that give honest reports about what’s great and what’s not.

2.     Pick a food that is a treat for you. My favorite reading treats are chocolate if I’m craving sweets, or chips and salsa when I want something salty. My husband prefers to have seconds of dinner for his dessert—especially when we have tacos. 

3.     Portion out your treat into a serving size that makes sense for you. If you are going to have a treat that comes in a large container, such as a bag of potato chips or a box of malt balls, take out a sensible amount and put away the extra. That way you won’t mindlessly munch during the intense action scene in your novel. 

4.     Find a comfortable place to snuggle up. Some of my favorite spots include my bed, a cozy couch with a soft-glow lamp, the back deck, a bench in the forest or park, and a hammock on the beach (I wish!).

5.     Relax and enjoy yourself. Immerse yourself in the experience of a tasty read and adventurous foods.  

          What’s your favorite Reating Fusion blend?

Share your thoughts with Christy in the comments below,
and/or find her here:

ChristyDorrity.com

BookBloggersCookbook.com

Twitter @ChristyDorrity

  

Thanks for stopping by to share your 

food for thought, Christy!

Toastworthy Teens - Nicholas Lowinger

Nicholas Lowinger, Gotta Have Sole

Even as a child (or perhaps because he was a child) Nicholas Lowinger recognized how seemingly small things can have huge importance. When the 5-year-old Nicholas noticed that the children at the homeless shelter where his mother volunteered had poor shoes (or none at all), he began donating his own shoes as he outgrew them. 

And Nicholas’s desire to help grew as rapidly as he did, eventually giving birth to Gotta Have Sole – the non-profit organization he founded in 2010 to get new, properly-sized shoes to children in homeless shelters. So far, Nicholas has helped 3,000 kids in 8 states and continues to expand his reach.

What inspires him? In his own words:

New shoes not only provide the perfect fit for a child, but they also aid in increasing a child’s self-esteem. The exuberant expression on the children’s faces while receiving this shoes has been greatly satisfying to me. Parents and shelter advocates continue to comment on how happy the children are when they receive the new footwear. The parents have said that, without my program, they would never have been able to provide their children with such well-made footwear and how this has made such a positive difference in their children’s lives.

To find out more, visit:
http://www.gottahavesole.org

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Happy Blogiversary!

You know how they say, Time flies when you're having fun? Well, apparently I've been on the party bullet train since last March, so busy whooping it up in the dining car that I missed the stop marked 1 Year Completed!

So here I am at my 1 and 1/2-year blogiversary, and I can think of no better way to celebrate than revisiting my very 1st post - the mission statement, if you will, for this blog. 

Since Come hungry, leave happy was already taken, I went with:

WELCOME HUNGRY READERS!

When you think of Lady and the Tramp, you go right to that romantic scene behind Tony’s with the big, beautiful bowl of spaghetti that ends in their sweet doggy kiss, right?  Can you even describe any other scene?

Thousands of fans flock to Port Angeles’s Bella Italia where Bella had mushroom ravioli with Edward.

The first thing visitors to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter do is grab a butter beer.

You might be thinking that such scenes or details were only significant in the movies, but I disagree. I think those things – more specifically, those digestible items – only made it into the films because they first resonated with the readers of the books. 

Maybe it’s the relatability of characters when they make choices that we also make in our daily lives (as opposed to whether or not to turn into a vampire) that speaks to us. Or maybe it’s that we like to think that if we eat lamb chops and mashed potatoes, we can be strong enough to win the Hunger Games, too. 

Or maybe it’s just because people are HUNGRY – for love, for power, for money, for lunch!

Whatever the reason, the food depicted in a book does something for us, and the purpose of this blog is for us to read, read, read…and then ask,  
                                              But What Are They Eating?

Toastworthy Teens - Janelle Tam

Janelle Tam, BioGENEius

 

How will you change the world? asked Canada’s Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge.

Janelle Tam provided the winning answer in the form of NCC (nano-crystalline cellulose) – an antioxidant with disease-fighting and anti-aging capabilities that is similar but superior to Vitamins C and E. 

The 16-year-old Ontarian, who discovered the potential of the tiny particles found in tree pulp, says she “envision[s] it more as an ingredient that would be added to existing formulations…to tablets or bandaids for wound dressing or [cosmetic cream].” 

Sounds to me like vision is the operative word there, and Janelle sure has it! :)

Think you have the next winning discovery?
Visit: http://sanofibiogeneiuschallenge.ca

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