Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action. Show all posts

Friday, July 18, 2014

The Demeter Code - Russell Brooks, Author



Sugar Cakes
(A specialty from the Author)

1/2 lb. grated coconut
1/4 pt. water
3/4 lb. sugar

Place the sugar in a saucepan and add water.  simmer until the sugar melts.  Then add the coconut.  Let boil slowly, stirring constantly to avoid burning.  Allow to cook until it thickens and takes on a greasy look.  Drop mixture by tablespoonfuls onto a shallow plate or cookie sheet that has been moistened with water.  Leave to set.


The Demeter Code - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

The grounds surrounding the cottage had every kind of electronic surveillance and anti-trespassing device imaginable, including a German shepherd named Roosevelt.  If anyone were to be able to get within thirty years of the house without being detected, there was a chance that the CIA would recruit them.  Even if anyone managed to beat the surveillance and thought of shooting through the windows with a sniper rifle, the one-and-a quarter-inch polycarbonate bullet-resistant windows would present a challenge.  And if the sniper were to think of attacking at night, they'd also have to content with the blinds being closed.  In addition, the house had live-in operatives who anyone would've assumed were just the average elderly couple spending their retirement years living in the country.  Although they may not appear to present a danger to anyone, the so-called retired couple that a few people knew as Dennis and Glenda, were well versed in handling any kind of firearms.  They both came form the previous generation of spies who first cut their teeth in the business when they worked at the Moscow Station during the 1980s.... Now that is a safehouse!  And that is just the place Ridley Fox feels safe depositing his "asset" to keep her safe until all is clear for her to come back out into the public.


Ridley Fox, a former Joint Task Force 2 Warrant Officer, has joined back up with Dr. Nita Parris on a mission far more bizarre than in Pandora's Succession. As I read The Demeter Code, I came up with many guesses as to what the Code was, what it represented and who was behind it.  Turns out that I was wrong in all of my guesses.  This book scared me, it gave me cause to stop and take a good look at the world today, realizing that this could actually happen and it made me thankful that we do have security in line to prevent these events from happening, I hope.  This book may be filled with action, murder, suspense, espionage, and all those things that most men seem to  love in a book but it's so well written that I recommend it to all readers.  As with the book before this, Pandora's Secret, I couldn't put this book down.  This is one writer that I plan on following through his books.



Monday, June 11, 2012

Royal Pane Down Under - David and Linda Broughton, Authors

Dave's Good Old BBQ Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups quality tomato sauce, or ketchup
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (more or less, suityourself)
3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1-teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder (or more,  depending on strength)
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 cup Coke
Optional ingredients
2 oz local honey
More diced onions,  Vidalia or Texas Sweets

1 cup (or more) finely diced Jalapeno peppers (orwhatever kind you like)
Half cup finely shredded cheddar or provolone cheese
Salt to taste
A few dashes of Frank's Louisiana Hot Sauce, orsimilar not to hot variety like Green Tobasco

Sprinkle of Oregano flakes,
Dash of dried Basil,
Smidgen of Thyme,
Cayenne pepper to your desired heat level.

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan overmedium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until ingredients are completelyincorporated. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer until flavors have meldedand sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 to 40minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Ifnot using right away, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Letting it standat least overnight in the fridge helps the flavors meld into one harmoniousflavor, rather than many individual flavors put together


The first part makes a basic barbecue sauce, theoptional ingredients will make it your own. Don't be afraid to experiment.  A tablespoon of Hershey's cocoa powderdoes interesting things, so does a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter. You canadd ingredients as spices you might not consider. Want a little more zip butnot heat? Add a smidgen of Dijon mustard, or a touch of horseradish sauce. Iknow, you were always told not to play with your food, but why not? If you'repaying for it, and the one that's gonna eat it, it's all up to you. Only youknow what tastes suit you.


Royal Pain Down Under – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish; Think With Your Taste Buds


(This book has an added bonus.  The Author is giving you a 1/2 off code for your copy of Royal Pane Down Under through Smashwords.   Here is your code  HM48Z)


When the cheeseburgers arrive Ash about falls out of her chair.  The things are huge, probably bigger than those of the Red Top back home.  They’re certainly thicker.  No wonder they’re that price.. Ravenous Ash manages to eat only one of them.  They taste fantastic.  She has the other put in a to-go container.  On a whim, Ash has the waitress get the owner to her table, acting as if she has a complaint.  When the owner comes to the table, she tells him she won’t pay that for those burgers.  Before he can say a word, she hands him the check with a ten thousand dollar pack of bills, “That’s what I’ll pay for these burgers.”  The man if flabbergasted, totally speechless.  Exactly the effect she wanted to have on him.  She and Rodger get up to leave.  She tips the waitress a thousand dollars because she can.  Outside, Rodger quips, “What do you fancy yourself?  Some kind of Robin Hood or something?”  Ash smiles, “Something like that, when I get unexpected funds like those t the mill, I like to spread it around to those that deserve it, some of it, anyway.  Some folds give to charities, I do a bit of that myself.  I also like to help out hard working people that are doing things right.”

Ashling Pane is a woman of many faces and she doesn’t mind exposing them all when the need arises.  One of her best friends just happens to be the President of the United States. After she saved his life twice, his career once, and rescuing his daughter from kidnappers, he has declared that she has free run of whatever she might need or think she might need. Nobody dares say different.  This friendship has helped her accomplish her tasks in more ways than one.  Ash normally works recovering high dollar items for major insurance companies.  Her fees are high but her success rate is even higher, since she never gives up.  On a case where she recovered a famous violin ‘Lady Blunt’ she also recovered a young Russian immigrant, Roz, that was being and used against her will.  After taking her in, Ash discovers the girl’s musical talent affording her any instrument her heart desires to help make up for what she has been through.  Money for that job was good but when Ash is asked to go to Australia to free those being enslaved by a man named Aldridge Ainsworth, the offer becomes more than she can afford to turn down.  The Queen herself is making the request and offering her over $188,000,000 and that doesn’t count whatever she and her team might find along the way. 

As it turns out, Ainsworth has the natives working the mines producing uranium as well as gold and silver.  As the mines and compounds are attacked and the slaves freed, Ash and team find themselves collecting what ends up being several billion dollars in gold, gems, art and money hidden within the compounds.  Even after making the team members rich beyond their belief, Ash still has more than she can ever begin to spend.  Therefore she becomes ‘Robin Hood’ of sorts, taking from the criminals and giving a hand up to the working class. 


Royal Pane Down Under wasn’t a disappointment.  Ash Pane is still the person that you would love to be friends with while hoping that you never get on her bad side.  If she likes you, you will always be in good hands. If she doesn’t like you, don’t step into her path.  She is one macho woman who even the most macho men fear.  This would make a good character for Angelina.

 
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