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Dec 9, 2011

Happy Friday! Help me remake this drink

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had an awesome week. I have a request. I need some help remaking a drink.

Several years ago, several of us - some friends, my now husband and myself - decided to do an impromptu pub crawl. We started at Paddy's Pub in Kentville, NS. 

I should mention, it was about this time of year - almost but not quite Christmas.

They had a drink special called the White Christmas, so we all had that. And OH MY GOD. It was incredible. It tasted like Gingerbread. Not gingerbread cookies, like actual gingerbread. So awesome.

We asked what was in it. I'm pretty sure it had four ingredients - Milk, Goldschläger, Vanilla vodka and....


I forget the other ingredient. I should mention that the drinking started before the pub crawl. And this was 5 or 6 years ago. But this drink has been tormenting me. I want it again, but I can't find anything like it online, and I've never seen it again at Paddy's. 


So, awesome people of the internet: What do you think the fourth ingredient should be?


Dec 7, 2011

Magic Video

The only way I know how to describe this video: Magical. Maybe a little whimsical, too.

Enjoy! Happy Wednesday!




Dec 4, 2011

Ad-tastic Christmas Present Ideas!

This isn't really a gift guide. Basically it's a page full of amazon ads that might spark some holiday shopping ideas for someone on your list. Yay!




I hope that's helpful to you! If not, maybe try these:

Shop Amazon's Gifting Page

Dec 3, 2011

Dual Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest




I have decided to review these two books as if they are one, more or less. The reason, mostly, is a personal one: I started The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest literally seconds after finishing The Girl Who Played With Fire. I'm a little fuzzy on where one ends and the other begins. Unlike the first book, which has a definite end, these two are more or less a part one and two of the same story.

The Girl Who Played With Fire starts of awhile after The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ends. Lisbeth Salander has been out traveling the world and pretty much being her usual self. The she goes back to Sweden and some people get murdered. She's a suspect. The media is in a frenzy and she's nowhere to be found. You spend a bunch of the book not knowing for sure if she murdered them or not, before a lot of other crazy stuff happens. It turns out her whole life has pretty much been a giant conspiracy against her. The people who know and like her seem to think that this all explains why she is the way she is, but I have a feeling she'd be how she is even if nothing bad ever happened to her. Does that make sense? Probably not. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is more or less about tying up all the loose ends from the book that preceded it. There was a trial, that was the best part, I think. Then there was the aftermath of the trial, which almost, but not exactly, finished the trilogy off nicely. It's understandable that there were still unanswered questions. There were supposed to be a total of ten books in the series, but the author died unexpectedly. A fourth book was three quarters finished at the time of his passing, and his partner - Eva Gabrielsson - has said that she is capable of finishing the book. If she did, I would definitely read it. Sadly, she doesn't have the rights to it, as her and Larsson never married and his will was written unwitnessed. I have a feeling that book will never see the light of day. Sad. Very sad.

If that found that synopsis frustratingly vague, you might have a sense of how I felt writing it. There are so many secrets and twists that I found it impossible to write without giving away my favorite thing about these three books: finding out the truth, layer by layer, moment by moment. There weren't really any big reveals or surprises, but you also don't quite know where the stories are going to lead you. It's like you're on the verge of figuring it out - if you just had one more clue - but then you get that clue and you're like - ...ok, seriously this time - one more clue please? You kind of feel for the police in the novels: like them, you're always a step or two behind Mikael Blomkvist.

A very pressing question I have: Do people in Sweden really eat that many sandwiches, or was Stieg Larsson just strangely obsessed with them? It seemed like every time you turned around, someone was eating sandwiches. Morning, noon and night - Sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches. I mean, I love sandwiches, but it was excessive. Am I missing something, culturally? Are sandwiches the main diet staple in Sweden?

Back on topic. Were these two books as good as the first one? No, not even close. That being said, if you enjoyed the first one, you will enjoy these ones as well. On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful, I would give them an Absolutely Great. 


Read my review of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo here.


                                                       

Dec 2, 2011

Happy Friday!

Hey all, it's Friday! I've been having a bit of a down week...nothing major, it's just been kind of...meh. Ya know?

This morning though, I'm pushing the blahs away! It's Friday, and that rocks. Also, youtube recommended I watch this video:



Yes, that is a BOAT FULL OF BEAGLES!

Thanks YouTube, you made my morning sparkle a little!

Now, how about a drink? It's December and it's getting colder. We don't have much snow left, even though we had a storm that dumped 40 cm over night! The weather has been so weird. Anyway, snow or no snow, it's pretty chilly out. What a perfect time to try something I've always wanted to try even though I had no idea what's in it exactly - Hot Buttered Rum!



...Also, I love her dress, and the pirate thing made me laugh.

Have you ever had hot buttered rum? It looks easy enough, I don't know though...rum, water, spices sugar and butter...sounds strange.

Whtad'ya think?