Brownies: Play With Your Food!

I'm not in a book reviewing mood lately so I've been doing everything aside from blogging at this point including, but not excluding, baking. Today I made brownies. Sorta. Turned out to have a texture almost cake-like. Anyhow here's the recipe:

1 cup butter

1 3/4 cup white sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

(but you might want to decrease 4 eggs to 3 eggs to make the brownies thicker)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. You can either grease the pan or do what I do: cover the entire pan in aluminium foil. It saves the trouble of cleaning up the pan later on.
3. Melt 1 cup butter either directly in a saucepan or use a double boiler method (bowl above of boiling water in a pan. Remove from the bowl from heat
4. Mix together sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Combine the mixture into the melted butter.
5. Now mix cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder in another bowl. Slowly pour and mix that into the bowl with the butter and sugar mixture.
6. Spread batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
8. Test if it is done by sticking a toothpick in the center and a couple of other places of the brownies. If it comes out clean every time it's done; if there are some residue left when you pull it out put it back in the oven for a few minutes.

Now here's the thing: I don't own chocolate syrup (family isn't big on chocolate). So instead I used some leftover chocolate frosting mix I made a few weeks ago. The frosting consisted of confectionery sugar, melted milk chocolate, milk, and butter. Sugar and chocolate for the taste; milk for the consistency; and butter for the shine. Now the frosting is actually a solid when it's room temperature and I had pebble-like frosting which I crushed and sprinkle over brownies:

Then I decided to melt the remains left in the microwave and pipe them on the brownies:

I did a criss cross approach--it's what came to mind first:

But I wasn't done yet. I have a large block of chocolate in my fridge that I like to store just in case. I shaved some chocolate with a cheese grater to make curls (the bigger the hole, the curlier the curls).

When cutting brownies, run the knife under some warm water first then cut. It's supposed to serve 32 but eh.

P.S. Carol, if you're reading this I'll try to send you some.

Awards, Rotten Tomatoes, and Prom!? Yes? No?

(picture used with permission from Tiger Press)

I was recently sent an email regarding the Tiger Press Young Writers Awards 2010. Here's what it's all about:

The Little Tiger Press Young Writer and Illustrator Awards are designed to encourage reading and creativity in children from an early age. It is an annual competition aimed at schools, charities and organizations in the UK.

It aims to promote a life-long love of books and to give children a sense of enjoyment and confidence in reading, writing and illustrating.

For more information, tips and tricks from the authors and illustrators at Little Tiger Press please visit: www.childrens-books-award.co.uk

With enough support this campaign can happen again next year! So spread the word :)

If you want the button I have on my sidebar use this code save the image and link it. The code is being very uncooperative with me right now, I apologize.

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And then several weeks ago I learned about YA Books Buzz. It's a website dedicated to YA Books, which one can infer from the title, but what makes this site great is because it selects reviews from the YA Book Blogging Community and calculates the "average" grade. Let's just say that I'm one of the few book reviews that seems to take the grades down a notch...or two (really I did not mean to do that!). In their release email they call themselves "the Rottentomatoes of Books. It allows the readers who hesitate to buy one book or another to make his/her choice. " They also have a "TOPS" section, which sorts books that has done the "best" according to the community and a "SOON" section in regards to about-to-release YA novels.

Overall I think it's a great website and possibly one that I'll be stopping by quite frequently. Now if only they have an RSS feed somewhere....

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Finally let's talk about my reviews or lack of therefore. I'm at the homestretch of school right now. Everyone, especially the teachers are in panic mode, and I'm juggling many things at once at this point. I will probably use the rest of May to catch up on reviews and June will be much more livelier on this blog--hopefully. Definitely expect at least 8 reviews from me during June all for tours (yikes I signed up for one too many)!

But I brought up school for a reason: would you care for some prom pictures on the blog? I brought up the idea of me attending prom to Ka-Yam and she asked for some pictures during the event so I thought 'why not post them on the blog as well?' The 'well' may be an issue because I wanted to maintain this strict 'be a professional' persona for my blog recently. But then I realize that I can't. Blogging has become an addiction for me and it is hard to constantly maintain that stoic attitude I had envisioned. Yet I'm still on the fence for this question: To post or not to post, that is the question.

I'll leave it up to you readers if you want to see "me" at prom because really. I have an actual face if anyone wants to know ;) Curious? You can comment at the end of the post for your answer, and I will also leave a poll on the right-hand sidebar for you to cast your vote.

My Brain Won't Work--Winners, Awards, and News!

So the contest winner has been decided for my IN A HEARTBEAT contest. I had a whopping 156 entries (I gave up halfway double checking if anyone entered more than once), which is really surprising! It's actually been one of the best contest for a single book in regards to unique entries. At any rate the winner is:

Lisa (A Life Bound by Books)

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Award Time! Yes I realize that this is really, really late.

This was awarded to me by Aimee from A Book Dork and by Lucy of Delightful Reviews. The rules are to: 1) List 10 honest things about yourself and 2) Pass it on to 10 other honest bloggers.

1. I can't swim, float, paddle, or waddle in water. I am, however, capable of drinking it. Look at me go drink!
2. I tried learning how to ride a bike when I was 9, 10, and 12. At the age of 12 I finally mastered pedaling on a bike whose breaks did not work. Shortly after learning to ride I ran into a pole (after I tried to emergency break twice times), chipped one of my front tooth, bleed profusely, and was promptly banned from riding ever again. Well that was a good 3 hours of having wind blowing through my hair!
3. I can't seem to be able to bake chocolate chip cookies, but I can bake a chocolate chip cookie cake to perfection. Yeah I don't understand the logic behind that either as the cake version is just like the cookie version but bigger.
4. Whenever one of my friends ask if I have a crush on someone I reply back saying that I'm asexual and reproduce by budding. It works every time.
5. I am a Twi-hard so shut it. (Just not the really crazy ones).
6. I hate the number '6'
7. I have a bad cold right now so I dare you to get within two feet of me. I double dog dare you.
8. I am rather shy in right life. But once I get to know you and we've become friends I get somewhat violent towards you. But don't take it the wrong way! It's my way of showing I care.
9. I once mailed a book out using dimes, nickels, and pennies. Let's just say the USPS worker wasn't very happy with me.
10. I dislike hanging posters above my bed. Why? Because I have an unhealthy fear that it'll fall on my face whilst I sleep and I'll suffocate because of it.

I'm passing this on to:

1. Dannie
2. Carol
3. Kate
4. Lenore
5. Steph Su
6. Krystle
7. Lenore
8. Diana
9. Jenna
10. Sharon

And since I was awarded two I'm going to list more! :)

1. Gail
2. Ka-Yam
3. Brooke
4. Adele
5. Khy

Okay I'm going to stop there. I feel nauseous now.

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was given to me by Turning Into YA Books. Rules are: answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Make sure you let them know about it though.

Your Cell Phone? Old

Your Hair? Straight

Your Mother? Loud

Your Father? Child-like

Your Favorite Food? Edible

Your Dream Last Night? Black

Your Favorite Drink? Water O_O

Your Dream/Goal? Live!

What Room Are You In? Bedroom

Your Hobby? Reading

Your Fear? Failing

Where Do You Want To Be In Six Years? House

Where Were You Last Night? Bedroom

Something That You Aren't? Male

Muffins? Crumbly

Wish List Item? Tissues (for my cold)

Where Did You Grow Up? America

Last Thing You Did? Dishes

What Are You Wearing? Clothes

Your TV? Useless

Your Pets? None

Friends? Happy

Your Life? Sick

Your Mood? Amused

Missing Someone? Friends

Vehicle? None

Something You Aren't Wearing? Jewelry

Your Favorite Store? N/A LOL

Your Favorite Color? Depends

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Now

Last Time You Cried? idk (that's one word!)

Your Best Friend? Missing

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Bedroom

Facebook?

Favorite Place To Eat? Table

Five blogs:

1. Cat
2. Velvet
3. Eleni
4. Jenny
5. Brizmus (because I love one of her blog names)

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from Little Miss Becky! I'm going to skip this one as I've already done this twice before :)

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Last but not least, Awesome Adventures!

Get in on the action with Awesome Adventure!

Discover new adventures from middle grade authors like Frank Cottrell Boyce (Cosmic), Megan Whelan Turner (A Conspiracy of Kings), Herbie Brennan (The Shadow Project), Maryrose Wood (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place), Paul Adam (Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island) and Jon Berkeley (The Hidden Boy) and see the stories come to life with free online games, book trailers, podcasts, and more.

The Adventures, The Arcade, The (weekly) Sweepstakes, and The Videos & Podcasts.

Button Me Up!

<a href="http://booksbytheircover.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Books by Their Cover" src="http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt314/ylin0621/yaniconKopie-1.png" /></a>

All credit goes to Ka-Yam for allowing me to bully her into submission to make me this button! You may also have noticed the new header as well :)

EDIT: okay apparently google reader doesn't show the html code but rather the the button--twice. the html code is visible when you just visit the blog regularly. (plus then you can see my new header ;P)

P.S. Does anyone know how to track who grabs the button?

A Note

Okay so after 7 trials, 7 trips to the invisible trash can I give up! The audio as horrendous. Argh. The point of the vlog was to apologize to Khy, Catt, and Erica for saying that I hated the Vampire Academy series. They kept telling me how awesome it was and I was all like pshhhhh. Well I'm sorry...because the Vampire Academy series is

AWESOME!

I had some issues with it but the overall effect was pretty darn good.

Just wanted to give a shout-out to Laura and Carol saying thanks! Laura has sending me the first 3 books and Carol for daring me to re-read the series. I read all 3 books in 2 days even with school and whatnot.

Anyway so I had this vlog all planned out--flipbooks, the actual series so I can show you and everything! So I was so upset that the vlog was so bad. Khy and Erica bet me to wear a tutu and prance around in a library while doing this vlog but guess that didn't work out.

P.S. hate the American covers. I have a hard time telling who's who.

The German ones are pretty good.

Life Sucks--Dealing With It

School's starting or has already started so I wanted to let you guys know that I'll be MIA/too lazy/too tired. I have scheduled posts for this entire month and working on October but while doing this I lost my interview with Thomas Fahy. I could have sworn I had it ready to go but when I checked my google reader and noticed that it was blank, I was like !@#$. This is why you should never email me with important things that involve future events.

Anyway I'm going to be less responsive and it will take longer to respond back to you--you just don't notice it yet since I've only started half of my classes. You can blame Sharon for sucking up all my free time and plus, oh and don't forget twitter.

Anddddddddddd I don't know what else to write O_O so um yeah, that's all.

Overall: Yan+school+homework=no: reading, socializing, or anything remotely ~*fun*~

My TBR Pile--Holy F***ing Shit!

Okay so Alea asked if I could show her my TBR pile--both to review and for myself--after she posted hers on twitter. So I dragged all my books from the basement, carry it to my room, and attempt a vlog. Vlog was a disaster but hey, at least the pictures turned out pretty.

So the 3 piles above are mostly my own TBR books. There are a sprinkling of review books in there. There are also some rejects that I plan not to review because a) it's a series to which I haven't read the previous books to b) not interested c) all of the above or d) I forgot that I owned the book... wait! e) I'm borrowing it but didn't feel like separating it into the other pile.

These piles consist of books that I plan to read in the near future and am definitely keeping and my review books. The 3 piles way above are the ones that I'm not sure if I plan to keep. The first stack is of course the review pile hence the ARCs. Second is the TBR that I'm going to keep and read in near future.

Anyway now that I've compiled all the books into one space I realized how much books I have O_O I still think Alea beats me in the amount of books though. Still it's all very scary looking.

If anyone sees any titles they want more clarification on, email me. Because I'm scared for my life, if want (a) book(s) email me, we can work out a trade or money sounds good right about now. *grumbles* damn you class fees, why must you be so high!? it's not like you're paying for a class trip. Granted there are some books you cannot have but I'm feeling very very lazy to make a list. Email me a list of what you're interested in~

P.S. I actually forgot some books...there are probably like 10 more scattered in my house that I forgot to bring upstairs.

The Letter Garden said I could make a chair out of my TBR books ;P

I Am A Cover Whore

The first to do when you have an addiction is to admit your problem: I am a cover whore. So of course I went out of my way to get the UK/Aus. cover of Graceling by Kristin Cashore because how can you not--that cover is amazing! So I accidentally got two copies, the UK version and the Australian version. See I was planning to get rid of one but then I noticed that the two are slightly different.

Notice that front is nearly identical. That's what I expected from the pictures that Amazon UK and Amazon Au showed.

But now notice the spine. See how the UK has the full silhouette of Katsa? The Australian edition is just a cropped version of the front cover. I much prefer the UK's spine. It seems more complete like they meant to that instead of a "opps" moment that the Australian version gives off.

Now see how the back is different? The UK has the snow on the bottom and more definition. It gives more perspective from the clouds. The Australian one is more of zoom in section from the UK. Upper right hand corner, zoom in and enlarge.

So overall the UK edition wins hands down. Too bad the one I have the spine is cracked.

BBAW and Nominations

So I'm going to follow the choo choo train that my other bloggers led and do a post as well. I was just recently informed via email that I've been nominated for 6 categories. Insert my first reaction: Hua!? Combination of wha and huh.

Most Humorous/Funniest Blog

Most Extravagant Giveaways

Best YA Blog

Most Concise

Best Reviews

Best Writing

I already submitted my entries and is now waiting...waiting...waiting. Anyway I already know I won't win (but I had nothing to lose (except for my pride and dignity lol) so I thought why the heck not) but I'm hoping to make it somewhere on one of those lists!

I already dropped out of the Best Writing category because I didn't feel like I really deserved that one. I consider myself an overgrown 5th grader with a potty mouth. I thought I knew someone who did deserve it but she didn't get nominated coughcoughStephSucough. The other nominations I'm being super optimistic about. Not expecting a lot though (oh crap, that's me being a pessimist).

As for the humorist part I was pretty much shocked about that! Whoever finds me funny is a sicko and you deserve a hug for that! I FINALLY FOUND MY PEEPS! *hugs*

All the nominations are closed and it's now in the judges virtual hands. Cross your fingers that someone you know will win and deserves it too! (And I'm not talking about me. I know a fair number of bloggers who deserve to win in their respected categories!)

Pst--I honestly didn't know what some of those categories meant like "Most Concise" so I did a guess and pray.

READ NOW!

So I found this link from Elizabeth Scott's blog and I WANT EVERYONE TO DOWNLOAD THIS NOW WHILE YOU CAN!

It's Cabel's story by Lisa McMann author of Wake.

http://www.simonandschuster.com/giveaways/lisa-mcmann-cabel-story

No Looky

So I'll be updating random posts for next couple of days filling out the buttons in the navigation bar. I finished my "books read", just recently posted my "policy" (see below) and my wishlist will follow shortly~

Policy

Books by Their Cover began as a young-adult book review blog in 21 December 2008. Current statistics are available to authors and/or publicists on request.

At this moment I am accepting the following genres and age groups for review:

• young adult novels
• middle-grade novels
• contemporary fiction
• paranormal romances/urban fantasy
• graphic novels
• historical romances that fall within the above groups will be decided individually
• GLBT works that fall within the above groups will be decided individually
• e-books though preference will always be a physical copy

I am not accepting the following:

• nonfiction novels i.e. memoirs, biographies, testimonial, historical, etc.
• crime/thriller novels
• horror novels
• self-published works
• internet articles (do I even need to mention this?)

Authors are welcomed to request an interview, but I will warn beforehand that I tend to lean on the more informal and uncommon questions. I try not to ask the same questions more than twice. I am currently swapped with other businesses that I regret to say that I will not be doing interviews as frequently as I would have before.

Reviews are a sensitive topic for me as I am not one to gush about how I love every book I read. I have dealt with this concern a few months into blogging and have asked my readers how I should approach this problem. The majority ruled that I should continue on how I was. I do try to review the books as they come, but please understand that I schedule reviews in advance (weeks/months) ahead.

• Each review will be accompanied by a "grade". 
• Books are rated from 0 to 5 stars. 0 being the worst and 5 being the best with everything in between.
• Reviews are posted a month before or after the book's release date unless it was one purchased by myself. Publishers, publicists, and authors are more than welcome to schedule a review date ahead of time.
• I follow the FTC guideline and tell my readers where I receive my books (personally bought, library, publishing houses, authors, etc).

I do participate in numerous tours. Traveling to Teens (T2T) is a young-adult book touring site that a friend and I founded, but is currently closed. I review for TLC Books Tours occasionally. I have worked with media firms in the past that sponsored giveaways and created blog tours.

You can also find me reviewing books on GoodReads and LibraryThing, and the occasional Amazon reviews. 

Most links to Amazon, Indie Bound and Book Depository are all affiliate links where I will receive a small profit (very small) if you were to buy directly with the link I provide.

Questions or concerns? Contact me.

UPDATED: June 2012

Is Testing...

So you may or may not have noticed that I've been away for quite some time. Why? One word well, two I guess. SATs (yes, again!) and finals. SATs were last Saturday and as soon as I arrived back home I hit the books and studied for my finals. While it may not be over yet (tomorrow is the last day), I'm about 90% stress free compared to the beginning of the week. Once finals are over I'll be back with loads of reviews and contests and guest posts. Until then enjoy:



Part two of randomly absurd pictures.

Update on Life

I am taking my frustration on blogger right now. Ignore me while I spaz out.

WHY!

*bangs head on desk*

IS!

*forms a wound on forehead*

SCHOOL

*blood starting to drip*

SUCH

*desk cracking*

A DOUCH!?!?

*banshee scream*

Well, now that's out of my system...

Blogroll

I decided to be a good little minion in this community and ask about blogrolls. Just tell me the title of your blog and link and I'll add it onto the list.

I have 2 weeks until my finals and once those are over with, I plan to do a lot of stalking here. I have even been commenting more~

Chillax

So a lot of tensions getting high in this community. First the ARC war, then the author war, so I decided to make another war. It's called the CHILL WAR. Personally I think we need to take a deep breath, in and out everyone, and think back to those happy times.

This entire thing has spiraled out of control and out of proportion. I have been mulling around with this post in my head for sometime now, but enough is enough. What ever happened to the love?

So if this dog can take a chill pill, I think we can too. Anyone else with me on this?

EDIT: Setting up a Mr. Linky is giving me a headache.

Trial Mr. Linky 1

Short Interlude

Is going through the whole mass of tests again so occupy yourselves with this~ Will be on and off again posts...