Alabama + Graffiti

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Book Review – Treat

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Do you remember when Rice Krispies came out in those little pre-wrapped packages, so you didn’t have to beg your mom to make them for you?  I don’t really remember it either — I just kind of remember them appearing in those shiny blue packages.

TREAT

Anyway, this book Treat by Stephanie Banyas explores all possibilities with a rice cereal treat.  She gives recipes to make marshmallows at home, and then also has recipes for the treats in the back, either using marshmallows you can make, or just buy at the store.  For example, she has a recipe for Cream Cheese Marshmallows and Strawberry Marshmallows!

Then once you get toward the back of the book, she’s got recipes for a MULTITUDE of rice cereal treats – including sweet treats, a healthy after school power snack, buckeyes with puffed cereal, and even snickerdoodle treats.

This book is amazing — it gives so many variations on a popular treat, and well, they just don’t take very long to make!  The book has so many recipes that you’re bound to find something you like!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Infuse – A Book Review

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I will start out by saying that these two guys are incredibly enthusiastic about their infusions, and it shows in every picture, recipe and detail that they put into their recipes.

infuse

Infuse is a book with over 50 infusion recipes for oils, spirits, and waters.  They are much known for their simple infusion of taking local peaches and infusing them with bourbon.  Which can I tell you for this Southerner sounds like a perfect drink for game day!

A lot of the infusions can be quick — as in 24 hours, and some take a little bit longer, like their peach bourbon — the longer it sits, the better.

I’m not big on infusing oils, but the water is something I’m trying to get better at, and this book provides many easy recipes, such as the Cucumber Mint Water and the hangover cure, the Sunday Morning Reviver.

Also included in this book are recipes on which to use the infused oils.

This book is creative and fun, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to make their own fun alcoholic drinks, salad dressings and refreshing waters.

Below is one we tried at the house, and while I can’t drink it now, it smells delicious, and I know B enjoyed it.

coffee liqueur

8 oz aged rum

4 oz of turbinado simple syrup (combine 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar and 1/2 cup water in a sauce pan over low heat until sugar is dissolved.  let cool before using)

1/2 cup of whole been coffee – ground coarsely.  (we just used normal ground coffee and it turned out lovely).

Seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean (again, we just used vanilla extract and it turned out fine).

** Combine all the ingredients in a 16 oz Mason jar.  Seal and shake to combine.  Refrigerate and let infuse for 24 hours.

** Strain through a double layer of cheesecloth (we just used our French press).

You can use it to make a white Russian or they even suggest pouring it over some ice cream!  Yum!

** I received this book from Blogging for Books for my honest review.  All opinions are my own **

Quiet – Susan Cain

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Once upon a time, there was this person that I just happened to meet.  She was friends with one of my friends.  We hung out for a good portion of the night, and then B and I ended up staying the night at her house.  Because we couldn’t drive.
Because we’re responsible people.
Anyway, I had only known this girl for a few hours, and she gets up, walks to her bedroom and hands me this book.
Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain.
I was really surprised that someone who knew me for a very small amount of time could peg me for the introvert I believe myself to be, and while reading the book, proved to be true even further.
I took psychology in college; I tested on the introversion side in the 5 Big Personality Traits, but never really knew what that meant until this book, and how to handle situations that are normally incredibly stressful to an introvert.
The book explains that an introvert doesn’t necessarily not like people, it doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily quiet, unlikeable, or any of the other negative connotations that normally come with the word “introvert.”  Being an introvert solely means that maybe you like to hang out with a group of one or two people instead of ten, or that maybe you would prefer to stay at home and read one night instead of jumping out of your comfort zone and going to party all night long. 
It goes into talking about how introverts will sometimes practice extroversion, even while it is uncomfortable, because that is the social norm.  It talks about students at Harvard Business School, and how students are expected to participate endlessly in class, join every social group known to man, and then go out at nights with their fellow classmates.  It goes into the differences between Western and Eastern cultures.  It talks about successful introverts, and why the world would not be the same without them.  It speaks about how to raise children that are on the opposite side of the introversion-extroversion scale than you, and even how to disintegrate arguments in couples that are on opposite sides.
Mainly it talks about how being an introvert doesn’t make you weird or unwanted or any other negative term, but that in fact, being an introvert can put you in a very highly desired position above others.
It was an incredibly good book, and I highly recommend it to anyone; especially if you are an introvert, or an extrovert trying to understand one.

Book Review: About Face: The Secrets of Emotionally Effective Advertising

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Now, I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that this is the sort of book I read all the time. Yes, I am interested in advertising ( I am drawn to commercials, like, I may be the only person on the planet who doesn’t fast forward through them when I’ve recorded a show, well, except for American Idol, but that’s another story for another day), and yes, sales is now my career (Hello RSR role! yep that’s me!), but this book would be helpful in any light. It teaches you facial cues, and how to grab someone’s attention.

“ABOUT FACE: THE SECRETS OF EMOTIONALLY EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING reveals new keys to success, covering how modern ads can target emotions using data from eye tracking and facial coding to analyze consumer response. Ten rules for such emotionally effective strategies pinpoint techniques and powerful results from high-impact emotion-driven marketing.”

– From Midwest Book Review

So usually while I skim the fiction section, I do occasionally put on the smart girl glasses and dork it out. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in marketing/advertising, or is thinking of opening a business or promoting a product. Or if you just like to read about 21st centry marketing. There is a lot of “well, duh” moments in the book, but I like how they back it up with examples to make it easy for us people who would much rather be reading the latest Candace Bushnell book to understand what is going on. Even if you want to just pretend that you’re a smart kid, this is a good book to start that act!

Book Review: I Was Told There’d Be Cake

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from contemporarylit.about.com“The back cover of I Was Told There’d Be Cake says that “Sloane Crosley can do no right.” This is not quite true. Although these essays detail the many misadventures of Sloane, clearly she’s done something right indeed in this witty and entertaining book.Sloane Crosley is a young New Yorker. She’s heard every Ferris Bueller’s Day Off joke (for a grand total of 3,567 times) about her name. She attended a Christian-based summer camp for eight years, despite being “one hundred percent Jewish,” and once ended up with the part of Mary in the Christmas-in-July nativity play. She had an impressively complicated time moving to a new apartment in New York City. And she has a knack for making just about any experience into a funny story.I Was Told There’d Be Cake features fifteen essays ranging from childhood to present, some with coming-of-age themes, others about making transitions and embracing change, many about the ways in which we discover our own identities. The stories vary in length and can be read in any order; you can easily take a piece or two of Cake at a time or devour the whole thing in one sitting.
I Was Told There’d Be Cake fits cozily between self-reflective tales of quarter-life crisis, such as those in Generation What?, and highly sardonic works such as Laurie Notaro’s. If you’re a young urban professional, if you have been young at some point, perhaps recently, or if you simply enjoy snarky humor with a little reflection (and much truth), I Was Told There’d Be Cake is an excellent choice for your summer reading list.

laura james’ review: i freakin loved this book. i don’t know if it was because i could pretty much relate to whatever it was she was talking about (oregon trail, being a bridesmaid, baking for a group of friends), or just because i was pretty much laughing the whole time. i’m usually not one for non-fiction, but this was a great and fast read. she has a great sense of humor and pulls you in from the very first essay. i would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a non-serious read, or pretty much anyone who is old enough to remember the original oregon trail.