I Scream, You Scream
Plus a book review of The Shining by Stephen King
Today, I must make a public service announcement so that everyone remembers the most important holiday of this month: National Ice Cream Day. Who needs Labor Day, amirite? Except for the day off. The-powers-that-be need to have today be a day off so everyone can go buy ice cream cones.
Here’s a bit of trivia for ya: can you guess what ice cream and The Shining have to do with each other? (Answer below!)
I’ve seen these TikTok videos, claiming to make super cheap and yummy ice cream using only your freezer and hand-immersion blender (or a Ninja blender). So I tried it out. The recipe is below, for those of you who want to try it out, too.
Anyway, most of the dairy recipes use at least some heavy whipping cream, which defeats most of the purpose of making your own ice cream. Ahem, heavy whipping cream costs more than ice cream.
Of course, you can also put anything you want in it. Including gummy worms, if you so desire.
Seriously, is gummy worm ice cream a thing? (Maybe you could make “dirt” ice cream, aka Oreo cookie ice cream?)
How’d you like some ice cream, doc?
The Promos
Chained By Conviction by R.M. Demeester is currently on Kindle Unlimited (or you can buy for $2.99).
From the Amazon page:
Among the chaos, Elle, Kobe's fiancée, is certain of two things: Kobe loves her, and he did not kill Robert. But as the weight of circumstantial evidence swallows Kobe whole, Elle vows to exonerate him at any cost. Yet, in a world that doubts his innocence, who will dare to believe?
We also have an all-genre book giveaway called For the Love Of … with some nice covers. Needing Normal by Emme Grange looks absolutely fantastic.
A Short Book Review of The Shining
I read The Shining every year. I’m convinced that in these pages, the King of Horror himself will tell me how to write a fabulous book that everyone goes crazy over. (In fact, he actually does tell us: in On Writing, he admits that Jack is him … alcoholic and all.)
4.5 out of 5 stars
This is a classic horror novel that basically defined horror as a genre. I find the novel to be generally well written, especially since was (a) written a long time ago when standards were different; and (b) it’s still scary, which is the entire point of the novel.
The best part of the book is the plotline, which has a satisfactory ending and abundant chills. I liked the characterization, especially with Jack. I guess that’s what it means to put yourself inside your book.
I loved the setting. This is one of the few books by Stephen King not set in Maine (where he lives). It is basically in the middle of nowhere, and the Overlook Hotel needs a caretaker. Said caretaker has a good chance of getting trapped inside the hotel due to the weather. I mean, what could be better for a haunted house story?
Some of the detractions are King’s often shifting POV, which is just annoying; Wendy (the wife/mother) is a wet noodle; and the big build-up at the beginning (a Stephen King trademark, also just annoying).
If you are a fan of the book, the movie is even better. Jack Nicholson is the man.
Happenings
This week took a wayward turn on me, mostly due to laziness. I also have a ton of emails to return, and I am very sorry if I haven’t replied to you yet. That’s next on my to-do list. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time out of their day to email me.
I’m whipping up (hahaha, get it???) something special for next week, so I will be taking a book out of the archives for review.
Blender Quick Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 cups heavy whipping cream
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened, condensed milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Instructions
Whip heavy whipping cream until it kind of looks like whipped cream. Be careful not to overmix because it will turn into butter. Add milk and cocoa powder, then blend together. Put inside of a freezer-safe container until frozen, several hours. (Be patient!)
As you can probably tell, super simple as long as you have a blender.
Enjoy with a good book, and a cup of tea or coffee. The hot/cold thing is great.
Trivia Answer
In case you wanted to know what I mean about ice cream and The Shining.