Confessions of a Crazy Fox - Anna Maria Kolojaco Mullins, Author

Suzanne’s Pudding Pie

(Anna's daughter-in-law's recipe)

1 stick butter

1 cup sifted flour

1 cup chopped pecans

9½ oz Cool Whip

8 oz cream cheese

1 sm. box instant vanilla pudding

1 sm. box instant chocolate pudding

2 ¾ cups cold milk

1 Hershey bar

Combine butter, flour, and nuts. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 13X9 inch glass baking dish. Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 350°. Blend one cup Cool Whip with creamed cheese and spread over cooked crust. Combine both puddings with the milk (23/4 cups) following the directions on the package. Put this over the cream cheese mixture. Follow with the rest of the Cool Whip. Top with grated Hershey bar.

(My daughter-in-law, Suzanne Mullins, first brought this treat to a family gathering many years ago and the family has requested it for every gathering since and gave it that name. I’m not sure if it was originally a Cool Whip recipe or not but I often substitute whipped cream and make it outrageously decadent.)

Confessions of a Crazy Fox – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish and Think With Your Taste Buds

‘I stewed about it until New Year’s Day, 2010, and then I wrote Jimmy a long letter pointing out a lot of the things he and Jeannette had done to hurt me the last decade and if he didn’t put a stop to it, I was going to go ahead and release my story.  I had decided not to take the last offer I had, after Jim was diagnosed with cancer, but my sister inspired me to try again.  I knew I wouldn’t hear from my brother and posted on Facebook that New Year’s Day that my resolution was to publish my family memoir.  It did shock a few family members who couldn’t imagine what I had to write about or why.  I figured if Jeannette’s story was the one our extended family had been hearing all these years, perhaps it was finally time to broadcast mine.  That shouldn’t really surprise any of them.  They all know I write when I’m pissed and believe me, Jeannette pushed me way past that point this last time.’

I never research nor read other reviews before starting a new book and when I was sent a copy of Anna Mullis’ book Confessions of a Crazy Fox, I actually expected it to be a mystery, murder, suspense.  What I never expected it to be was the story of her life.  My first thoughts were borrrring!   And since I will decline a book before I’ll write a bad review, I almost turned this book down.  But I always give a book, any book, a chance and at least try to read the first 25-50 pages hoping it will appeal to me and that’s exactly what I did with Confessions of a Crazy Fox.

I read the first couple of chapters as Anna talked about her childhood, she sure had a streak of defiance!  I continued reading as she introduced her ‘guardian angel’ that saved her from being bitten by a snake.  When I read about her cousin Bobo I actually started feeling that I knew him.  Her parents turned out to be the kind we all wish for.  Their love for their family, friends and neighbors was something many only dream about.  Then tragedy hits, first with the death of her Dad and later her Mother and with each also comes the separation of family.  I’ve always said that the 2 things that bring out the worse in a family are weddings and funerals.  I’ve decided to add another to that list - money. 

Reading about the greed between the siblings actually reminded me of a few incidents within my own life after the death of my own parents.  I’m sure we can all relate to this greed at some level, either through our own experiences or through the pains we’ve watched others experience.  I personally feel that greed is the #1 cause of family problems throughout the world.  And greed isn’t just about money.  While reading Confessions of A Crazy Fox I finally realized that greed is nothing but jealousy.  Someone gets just a bit more, got a bit more or will get a bit more, bringing on a jealousy called greed.

I’m sure that by now you have realized I read the whole book.  Actually I had trouble putting it down.  It firmly points out that if you make someone mad enough your sorrow might just come back to haunt you by way of a book telling the whole world just how greedy you really are.  In Confessions of a Crazy Fox, Anna Mullins doesn’t just blow the top on her siblings she also includes her own sins throughout her life, and her honesty in admitting her own faults is one of the things that made this book so interesting.

Things That Make Me Nuts - Annette Bergman, Author

 

Almond Joy Cake

(An Annette Bergman Favorite)

Cake: 1 Chocolate  cake mix

            1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

Foe cake: Mix as directed on cake mix, adding chocolate pudding mix

Bake in a greased and floured cookie sheet according to directions on cake box.

First topping: 1 cup sugar

                        1 cup milk

                       24 large marshmallows

                       14 oz coconut

Bring sugar and milk to a quick boil. Melt marshmallows in hot mixture. Stir in coconut.  Pour over cake.

Second topping:  1 ½ cups sugar

                            1 cup evaporated milk

                            1 stick butter 1 package chocolate chips

                            1 ½ cups nuts (almonds or pecans)

Bring sugar, milk and butter to a quick boil. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted, stir in nuts. Pour over cake.

Things That Make Me NUTS – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts

Ball Games

‘A lot of Sunday evenings, I plan on watching a movie or maybe a favorite show and it will be delayed by an hour, an hour and a half or more so they can finish a ball game.  I’m not a late night person and I don’t want to stay up until twelve watching a movie that was supposed to come on at nine and is over at eleven.

Sports fans just think about this for a minute.  Let’s say your ball game came on at seven and you turned on the television to find there’s a live Quilting Bee in progress and it won’t be over until the last knot is tied.  There isn’t a half time, but it will be interrupted by frequent breaks that will include potty breaks, coffee breaks, snacks and an occasional interruption from a cell phone.  All quilting will have to stop until the breaks are over, hands must be washed after eating donuts and nothing can continue until the cell phone conversation is over.  Can you just imagine the turmoil that would cause in your living room when you were expecting to watch your favorite teams play?’

Apparently, like Author Annette Bergman, I’m not a sports fan so I can truly relate to this Thing That Makes Me Nuts.  I even hate it when I’m doing something else and have someone watching a game, yelling at me, ‘watch this.  You have to see this play!’  Even if I humor them and watch the replay I have no idea as to what I’m watching nor what’s even going on with what I’m watching.  So yes, I do understand her frustration.

I also understand her other frustrations and believe that if you’re a female, you too can actually say ‘yeah!  That really gets to me too!’  Have you ever wished someone would write a ‘Husband Hand Book for Dummies?’  They do need a few directions now and then and since they won’t ask, maybe a book to read would be the answer. 

Bergman doesn’t stop with just husbands and men, she even goes into the problems we women have when buying a bra.  You can only take 4 into the dressing room at one time so you undress, try them on, redress, go back out and get 4 more repeating the same procedure until you either find one that fits or you just give up.  And why do men have pockets in their pants but most women’s pants don’t?  That’s not all!  She will open your eyes to the actual cost of a gallon of makeup! 

As I read I could hear one voice in my head…Andy Rooney.  I have decided that Annette Bergman is the female version of Andy Rooney.  I’ve laughed as she voiced her feelings on topics that we all face but most of all, I understand and feel the same with EVERY ONE of her feelings.  This is a must read for women and a should read for men.  I know that some of you men can’t relate to a few of the topics but look at it like this.  Things That Make Me NUTS will give you a better insight to the true feelings of women.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil - Glenn Kleier, Author

 

Vodka Sauce

(A Glenn Kleier specialty)

Ingredients

1 stick butter

1 jumbo yellow onion, quartered

1 lrg clove garlic or 2 small ones

3-28 oz cans Dell’Aple crushed tomatoes

2-29 oz cans Hunts tomato sauce

12-oz prosciutto

½ c vodka

¼ t. crushed red pepper flakes

1—7 oz container heavy cream

4-oz grated Asiago Cheese

Directions

·         Put onion, garlic in Cuisinart and pulse until finely chopped. 

·         Melt butter in lrg heavy pot and add onion/garlic.  Heat stirring occasionally until sweating.

·         Put prosciutto into Cuisinart & pulse until extremely finely chopped.

·         Add red pepper flakes to onions/garlic.  Then add prosciutto over medium heat about 7 minutes stirring occasionally.

·         Add ½ C Vodka, mix and reduce heat slightly and let cook another 7 minutes stirring every minute

·         Simmer for 45 min, then add cream, stir and turn off heat immediately. Add Asiago Cheese

Notes

Serve with penne pasta.  Sauce freezes great.  Helps to open all cans first.

The Knowledge of Good & Evil - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds

‘He stared into his empty glass, unsure where to begin or how much to reveal.  He didn’t want to frighten them into paralysis, but he couldn’t mislead them.  The sad part was, despite his best efforts to
hide and protect them, their odds of survival were next to none… Meeting their anxious eyes, he began, “I don’t know if what you do is sinful or not, these experiments of yours with Death and Hell.  I’m a
soldier, not a theologian, I leave the moral calls to God.  But there are some who see such things as grave violations of God’s Will.  And unfortunately, they take it upon themselves to intervene.”  Ian
nodded.  “The man with the tattoo was a religious extremist.  Do you know who he was?”  “Not who.  What… I must ask your oath not to repeat what I tell you.”  They gave their words.  “This tattoo, it’s the
symbol of a very old sect.  A brotherhood of militants cast off from the Church centuries ago, known as Ordo Arma Christi.”  Ian translated, “The Order of the Weapon of Christ.”  “Yes.  Christ’s Weapon.  Ordo Arma Christi dates to medieval times.  There’s virtually no history of it outside the Bibliotheca Secreta –“ he clarified for Angela, “-the Vatican Secret Archives.  And once you hear its checkered past, you’ll see why the Church keeps silent.”


Dr. Angela Weber and former priest Ian Baringer make up the team for L.A.’s #1 Late-Nite Talk Show Probing the Paranormal.  If there appears a mystery, they investigate and solve it.  Angela and Ian have
been lovers since he left the priesthood, but due to information acquired regarding the death of his parents, Ian has decided he must go back and set his mind and heart straight regarding his beliefs.  He proposes to Angela and promises that when he returns he will be a completely new and level headed man.  Nothing could make Angela happier, but her dreams are put on hold after receiving information as to what Ian is really doing.  It appears that Ian has tracked information regarding Near Death Experiences (NDEs) which will allow him to step into the depths of hell to rescue his parents.  Their sin? Ian can only surmise that when they wrapped themselves around his 9 year old body to prevent him from burning in the wreck that took their lives, God judged it suicide . . .


Following Ian as he proceeds with his self-inflicted NDEs will bring a few questions to your mind, at least it did mine.  Are these events real or is it the mind playing tricks on the mind?  Science will give us one answer, but religion may have another.  Is there one TRUE religion or do all of them hold truth?  The answers to these questions and many more are answered with double answers.  One answer is the way Ian sees it through his NDEs.  The other answer is the way Angela sees it through science.  You be the judge of what is true.

Drama Queen Rules - Terry L. White, Author

Dream Cheese Cocktail Spread

(A low calorie favorite from Terry White)

1 8 oz. pkg low fat cream cheese
2/3 cup Apricot Jam
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)

Put cream cheese on an attractive dish.  Mix jam and pepper flakes.  Pour over cream cheese.  Serve with baguette or whole grain crackers and stand back!

Drama Queen Rules – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts

‘When I saw Skip wheel out of that parking lot in Paradox, I knew for sure I was going to break up with him.  I have known girls who had men in prison and I wasn’t about to spend every Saturday afternoon waiting for a thirty-minute visit with some con.  That wasn’t my idea of a good relationship at all.  I wanted better, and I had a plan.  All I had to do was to save up some money and enroll in the community college over to the county seat and get a degree in social working so I could help people  I never should have told anybody about it though.  All I got was a hard time.  People don’t like to think you are getting too big for your britches, and they won’t hesitate to say so. 

“What makes you think you are smart enough to go to college?” Emma Grace sneered and turned up Judge Judy when I told her what I was going to do.  “Ain’t you the one who had to do seventh grade twice?”  She took a big swig of her diet cola and burped loudly.  Emma Grace always thinks she is so smart, but she always acts so ignorant.’

Lainey Cook was just standing in line when the “big robbery” took place at Bailey’s Market in the Adirondack town of Paradox, killing the owner Hop Bailey and the store’s bag boy.  Turns out that the customers in the store stuck together and beat the heck out of the robbers by throwing everything from bricks of lard to frozen vegetables at them.  This detained them until the police got there, which wasn’t too soon or the robbers just might have been found beaten to death with food.  No one seemed to know who these men were nor where they came from but Lainey knew who turned out to be the getaway driver as he steered the car from the back of the store.  It was none other than her boyfriend Skip Boyer.  That was also the day that Skip became Lainey’s ex-boyfriend.  Which was ok too because Skip left town in hopes of avoiding the police and being hauled in for armed robbery and accessory to murder.

Lainey put her foot to the ground and started working even harder on her dream to go to college.  She was determined to bring herself out of the trailer park she had lived in her whole life no matter what her sister Emma Grace and their mother might say.  And all was going well until Skip showed up, took what little money she had, as well as her car and Lainey herself. 

I can describe Drama Queen Rules in two words – seriously funny.  The trials and tribulations that Lainey finds herself going through would “seriously” put most of us under or at least make us give up.  Lainey, on the other hand, handles her kidnapping by Skip with tolerance and humor.  She has a determined mind that won’t give up its dream no matter how hard times become nor what hardships might come her way.  Author Terry L. White has a way of telling her story in a style that reminds me of one other writer – Louis Grizzard.  She turns a back woods life into a success.  I loved every page I turned and when the book ended, I wanted more! 

2010

155 pages

Xlibris

ISBN# 978-1-4535-1104-6