German Apple Cake

Nom! Nom! Nom!

One of the things I've really wanted to do with this book club/blog is to try foods that are mentioned in the books! That's what I call making reading interactive...and delicious!


There was actually a lot of different foods mentioned in Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl. I kept a list
as a read. Some things sounded much more delicious than other things. As delicious as bean and lard stew sounds, I decided to go with something else for my culinary experiment.

There was one food mentioned twice, and that was apple cake.

Seeing as the book is based off of a German fairy tale, I went in search of German apple cakes. There are many varieties, and I may try another one at some point just to compare. I wanted something more on the authentic side, and since the recipe sharer said her German mother used to make the recipe, I'm thinking I found a good option.

I followed the instructions almost exactly (I will elaborate in a moment). It ended up differently than I expected, but not in a bad way. Mostly just the texture and sweetness was different. Having been in Europe before and having desserts that are no where near as sweet as out desserts, I was surprised to find that this cake is indeed sweet. It's a bit firmer around the edges (although, that could just be because my timer mysteriously turned off, so I'm not actually sure how long I left it in the oven...not long enough to destroy it, and that's all that matters). The middle is soft and, I almost want to say, chewy. That with the apples and cinnamon make a pretty good combo.

My fellow destiny seekers lent a hand.

The Equipment:

The first thing you'll want to know is this lovely cake requires the use of a springform pan. The other equipment I used was a Kitchenaid mixer and one of these fancy schmancy apple corer, peeler, slicer machines of goodness. You may not actually want to use one of those fancy schmancy things and choose to do it by hand instead. Keep reading to find out why!

What I Did Differently:

This section seems to need bullet points! Make it so!

• I didn't use Granny Smith apples. This was mostly because I already had gala apples, and I was perhaps too lazy to go and buy some Granny Smiths. That being said, it still worked, but I think the Granny Smiths would be a nice touch as they are more tart than gala apples and would therefore create a beautiful balance between tart and sweet. 
• I used a fancy schmancy apple corer, peeler, slicer machine of goodness. The pro of this it that it takes care of all three steps in one! The con in this case is that you get very thin slices of apple. I ended up doubling up in layers of apple to make sure I had enough apple on there. If you compare my pictures with those in the original recipe you'll be able to see the difference. I think I may slice the apples by hand next time so I can get bigger chunks of apple.
• I didn't use shortening to grease the pan. Sure it's a little thing, but hey, I'm kind of anti shortening. I never use it when recipes call for it, and so far the recipes have turned out great. What I did in this case was sprayed it with some Pam and then dusted it with the flour. You could just use butter instead, or if you're not anti shortening, feel free to use that.
• I added a dollop of whipped cream to my piece. I couldn't resist.

Recipe Side Note:

Yes, I'm going to make you scroll all the way to the bottom to get to the recipe, but I want to make sure you read these notes for consideration before you actually get started. I've had to many times where I'm in the middle of the recipe and realize there were totally tips and tricks or important directions that I skipped over.

Here's your side note: this is a thick, sticky batter. You'll have to work it with a rubber spatula to
spread it evenly along the bottom of the pan. Also, it's not a very thick cake.

The Recipe:

Since I didn't change enough of this recipe to make it my own, just click here to be taken to the recipe.

Final Thoughts on the Recipe:

Judging by the fact that it disappeared withing a few days at my house, I'm taking it to mean that the recipe has earned a stamp of approval! I enjoyed the texture, and like I mentioned above, next time I'll make the apple slices bigger.

Now it's your turn! Make this cake for yourself and share pictures and impressions. Is there anything you would change about the recipe?

The Goose Girl

Rating: 4.5/5

Author: Shannon Hale
Pages: 383
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Synopsis:

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, or just plain ol' Ani, is the crown princess of the kingdom of Kildenree, although she doesn't think she's very good at the role. As a child she would much rather spend time listening to her aunt's stories and learning to talk the language of the birds, something the queen frowned upon to say the least. As she grew older, she tried to be the princess she ought to be, and often found solace is long rides on her horse with her father riding his own steed beside her.

But when the king dies, Ani's mother determines that the best use for her first born is to marry her off the prince of the neighboring kingdom Bayern and thus avoid any potential future threat of war. Ani reluctantly sets off never guessing what her future would hold. Before they reach her destination, Ani's lady in waiting, Selia, rises up against her with a devious plan to take over Ani's identity as princess of Kildenree. Ani's only choices are to run or lose her life. Forced into hiding and finding work tending the king of Bayern's flock of geese, Ani must form a plan and bide her time to stop Selia before her treachery leads to, not only the deaths of many of her kinsmen, but the death of Ani herself!

My Reaction:

The Goose Girl is a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. I enjoy a good retelling of a fairy tale, and when I saw the cover of this book on a bookshelf some years ago it stuck out to me. It's about time I actually got around to reading it!

The story is based of off the fairy tale of the same title by the Brothers Grimm. It wasn't one I was familiar with, so I didn't know entirely what to expect, which I think was a good thing because I had no idea where things were going. In retrospect, I feel like I really should have seen some of those things coming. So I suppose Shannon Hale gets some points for keeping me interested with some surprises.

I really enjoyed this book. I read a synopsis of the original fairy tale, and I feel that Hale did a good job of staying true to the story while at the same time making it uniquely her own. She has good use of simile in her writing that I enjoyed. Ani is a relatable character with some insecurities, but also with such a great desire to do her part and to do well. It's good to see her change over time and become more of the princess she always wanted to be--strong, confident, capable of changing lives for the better.

It's a great story with some great characters. I also loved the way things were wrapped up in the end. Overall, a good book I could recommend, and I look forward to reading the companion books to it!

Reader Guidance:

It shouldn't surprise you that a book based on one of Grimm's fairy tales should have some grim moments...pun intended. I'll try not to give any spoilers, but here's some bullet points of violence and suggestive material in the book:

• The queen near the beginning pricks her finger with a broach to put a few drops of blood on a handkerchief as a symbolic gesture when Ani leaves on her journey.
• A man hits on Ani a bit, saying something like, "You like that I'm a man." I don't recall the exact quote.
• There are multiple stabbings in the back, a few mentioning swords going clean through the chest, some just cuts because the attacker was unsuccessful in getting their sword/knife deep enough in to kill. There's also a javelin to the back at one point.
• In Bayern, after men have been hanged for their crimes, their bodies are left hanging from the wall of the city. This sight and the sickening effect it has on Ani is mentioned a few times.
• There's one scene at a knacker's yard, a place where dead or unwanted animals are disposed of, especially those not fit for human consumption (some of the meat would be used for dog food). It's a bit of a gross and traumatizing scene through the eyes of Ani. It mentions blood and things like fur and feathers and discarded animal parts.
• A horses head is hung up at a gate.
• At one point a character relates an old story about women encouraging their men during war by alluding to the fact that they would be captured and the enemy would have their way with them.
• There is one line that says, "You would have touched [her]. You would have shared her bed." The man who says it is jealous and angry towards a man that was meant to marry.
• There's also someone who gets stabbed with a knife to the side and a man who receives a sword wound to the shoulder.

With things like war and treachery, there's bound to be some dark stuff. It is intended for a teenage audience. 

Similar Books:

There are three other books that take place in Bayern. My understanding is that they are independent stories from The Goose Girl, but they do involve characters first mentioned in this book. They are:

Enna Burning

River Secrets

Forest Born

Other fairy tale type books you may enjoy include:

- Anything by Gail Carson Levine

- Beauty by Robin McKinley

- Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey

Next Book:

I think I've got to give one of these companion books a try! I really liked Enna in The Goose Girl, so I think the next book up will be Enna Burning.

What did you guys think of The Goose Girl? What should we read after Enna Burning? Happy reading!

Sheer Power Video Edition

In case you are unaware and may be interested, while I've been posting on the blog every Friday, every Monday I've been posting a video on YouTube. I know some people prefer the video route. If that's you, check out the YouTube channel! I've been posting each new video under the video tab at the top of the page. Check it out there! Or for your convenience, I'll put the video here! Thanks for reading!

Sheer Power: Crossing Paths

Rating: 3.5/5

Author: Vye Brante
Pages: 308
Genre: Young Adult/Action & Adventure

I had a couple of big accomplishments today:
1. I finished reading "Sheer Power" (that means you get a review!
2. I went into town, found the library, and got myself a library card! Woot!
3. I picked up the next book up for review :)
4. A young girl complimented me on my Harry Potter shirt I wore today (See! What did I tell you about Harry Potter love passing down the generations!)

So let's talk about "Sheer Power: Crossing Paths." This book tells the story of Seisho, a recent high school grad who's just looking for a summer job to pass the time, and Juto, a well known master energy user. Energy users have the ability to harness the energy within themselves and expel it in a variety of techniques. Mostly, the practice of energy use is meant mostly for sport or self discipline. In Juto's case, it's a little more complicated--in order to complete the special tasks specifically assigned to his family, Seisho will have to learn to master energy control whether he likes it or not.

Juto is just looking for someone to help clean up around the house, but he gets a lot more than he bargained for when he hires Seisho. When Juto attempts to investigate Seisho's strange behavior, they both quickly find themselves mixed up in the beginnings of a rebellion. There are some who believe that there are too many restrictions on energy users, that energy users need to take control. They are meant for so much more than mere sport, and if you refuse to join, you will really wish you hadn't.

Can Seisho overcome his dislike of energy control and with Juto's help stop a rebellion?

My Reaction:

As you may recall from last week, one of my first impressions of this book was, "Hey, this is like Dragon Ball Z." I wouldn't actually know as I haven't seen the show...at least I don't think changing the channel whenever it was on counts as actually seeing it. But don't let that deter you. I don't think it's really like the show at all.

The reason I made the connection to Dragon Ball Z is the fact that one of the main elements with the book is the energy use. Plus, for some reason, when I read the prologue I envisioned the opening sequence to an anime show. Perhaps it's because the cover of the book is anime inspired, or perhaps it's the fact that my husband, Corey, and I have been watching a bunch of Studio Ghibli films.

But I digress.

I'll admit that I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I wasn't sure I would like it. Part of the reason why is, well, I started to judge the book by its cover so to speak. I knew it was an independently published book, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but my experience with independently published books has been mostly poor. Mostly this is due to the fact that they don't have a publishing house backing them up and the resources that provides (like a sound copy editor). So I was kind of surprised when I found that this book had a pretty good story behind it.

Overall, I enjoyed it. There's some mystery behind it that is slowly divulged overtime, keeping the reader interested. There were a couple of things I noted that didn't seem completely resolved, but not in a bad way. It was done in a foreshadowing sort of way. There is another book in the works, so I'm sure those things will be addressed. In fact, there's one thing in particular I'd like to know about one of the characters because if you ask me, he totally had his memory wiped. Just saying. Read the book for more details.

Another good thing about this book is that the author clearly has a great understanding of the world she has created. Not only does she talk about energy users, but she mentions the different techniques of energy control. She even introduces us to a new sport played by energy users called enervipe. I also thought that Seisho's personal conflict and how he comes to terms and faces it in the end worked out well.

Now, I hate to mention negative aspects, but there were a couple things I should probably point out. For me, it wasn't enough to fully distract from the story or keep me from recommending this book to people who like this sort of thing. My main issue comes back to that "need of a copy editor thing." Even books produced by major publishing companies will have grammatical errors--I get that (I remember finding a few in the "Twilight" series, for example. It happens.). But I do think this could have used another look over. It wasn't just missing words, but some of the language was passive, and the phrase "as well" was used far too many times. So a bit of the language got repetitive, and there were moments where I really wanted the language to be more active (more show, less tell). Again, overall, I was able to look past that. I've read books where those sorts of things drive me nuts, and it's way too distracting to even be able to enjoy the story. In this case, I felt the story itself was good enough that I could look past the grammar stuff.

I think the author shows potential, and in the end I decided to give this a rating of 3.5 out of 5.

Reader Guidance:

This book does deal with physical combat (mostly in the form of shooting energy at each other), but I didn't feel that it was over the top--nothing too dramatic. There is a reference to a man being beat up so badly that he's sent to the hospital with broken bones and some burns. There is also a moment where an energy user uses her power to break someone's arm. It's basically described as the energy user grabbing the other's arm, they hear a snap, and the person screams.

Similar Books:

You know, I've never read something quite like this before, so I'm not sure what to compare it too. Anybody out there have any suggestions?

Next Book:

It was suggested that I check out Shannon Hale. I've read two of her books before, but it's been awhile. I picked up one of hers that I've been curious about, but I haven't gotten around to reading: "The Goose Girl." I just learned while I was at the library picking it up that there are also a couple of companion books that go along with it. Perhaps those will be next on the list!

I encourage you to read along and share your thoughts. I don't need to be a one person book club :P

And please continue to leave recommendations!

A Walk Down Harry Potter Memory Lane

Hello all! What with this week being a holiday and everything (not to mention checking out some different schools and different jobs for consideration), I felt like I slacked a little bit in the reading department this week. But hey, can you blame me when I was extremely busy conjuring up delicious treats with which to celebrate the nation's independence?

I think not.

Magically delicious!

Look how delicious my homemade ice cream and apple crisp came out to be! That was actually my second attempt at the ice cream since someone was just learning how to use the ice cream maker she got as a wedding gift... Hem, hem. It turned out amazing when I actually did it right! In fact, my mother-in-law is now slightly addicted.

 I hope you all had a fun and safe Fourth of July full of all sorts of delicious treats, barbecued goodness perhaps, brilliant fireworks, and lots of gratitude for all of those who helped found our country.

Me totally reading (or maybe mostly just posing for the blog...)

Now, I should cut my self some slack. After a few days of celebrating and too much eating (which is what always happens around a holiday, right?), I did do some make up reading. I'm now on chapter 10 out of 24 of the book "Sheer Power: Crossing Paths." I don't want to say too much about it yet just because I want to give you a complete overview and review once I've read the whole thing. I will say this though, there is a bit of a mystery that's kept me intrigued thus far. Also, I can't help thinking about Dragon Ball Z as I read it. I've never actually sat down and watched the show, but my husband is a major fan and has a ton of the seasons on DVD. Mostly I just think of it because there are "energy users" in the book which basically can shoot out and control bright streams of energy in varying colors which is kind of part of my impression of Dragon Ball Z. Anyway, I'm rambling a bit, you'll get more on this later.

I may not have a full review for you this week, but it's Friday, and The Book Club of Destiny must go on!

So let's talk about something else that caught my attention recently that totally has to do with book stuffs. Last week I was minding my own business when something on the TV caught my attention--it was the words Harry Potter! It didn't matter what I was doing. With words like that I just had to pay attention! It turns out the news was announcing the 20th birthday of the publication of the first Harry Potter book.

Does anyone else suddenly feel slightly old?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone to those of us in the states) was first published back on June 26, 1997. It took J.K. Rowling loads of rejection letters before someone would represent her story, and look at what has become of it! Not only did we receive seven amazing books, but we have movies, video games, board games, action figures, clothing, Pottermore, a theme park, and a Lego Hogwarts Castle that unfortunately costs more than I'm willing to pay (but it's so cool)! Besides all the amazing merchandise that I probably have to much of and yet would still probably purchase more, the stories themselves are fantastic! I enjoy them so much that not only am I collecting the illustrated versions as they come out, but I also have the entire book series in Romanian (see the picture for proof even though you can't really tell in the picture that it's Romanian...).

Definitely a Romanian version.

I didn't start reading the series at that point. I'm pretty sure that's around the time I was reading Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (so sad, but so good!). And by "reading" I should say it was more like my teacher was reading it to the class...same thing. I wouldn't get into the Harry Potter series until after the fourth book was already on the bookstore shelves. I still remember the friend who introduced it to me at school (thank you, Kathryn). It was on her suggestion that I picked up a copy and quickly fell in love with the boy wizard.

What's amazing to me about this series is the way it's had such a huge impact for 20 years now! I was just reading an article that talks about some awesome statistics when it comes to the book series, the fact that it's helped with literacy and empathy in young readers for example. In one of my English classes in college, I even read a research paper that had been published in some fancy journal comparing Harry Potter to King Arthur and making all these great correlations. Basically Harry Potter as even shaped the academic world.

Above all else, I love some of the classic themes in the book--good versus evil, the power of love and friendship, even the little guy can accomplish great things. All this is done is such a fun universe that has made many fans everywhere young and old want to dress up, wave a stick, and wait for their Hogwarts acceptance letter via owl post. J.K. Rowling truly has inspired us not just to geek out every time we see something Harry Potter related, but think of some of the great things Harry Potter teaches us (besides the correct way to pronounce wingardium leviosa).

Thanks good ol' J.K. Your story is going to be alive in our hearts for many years to come (because we are most definitely going to share the Harry Potter love with all our children and grandchildren).

Tell me what you think about the Harry Potter franchise. What is it that you love about it most? Even if you're not a fan, feel free to speak up. We love muggles too :)