Unofficial book club cake of the month...August

We decided not to have an official book club meeting in August as so many of us were away on holiday at various different times. But we agreed to meet at a local pub for a drink and a catch up during the summer. Anyone who wanted, could read the unofficial book and we spent a few minutes discussing it.

It was, as I'm sure you've guessed, Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James.

Do I really need to go into a description of the book? I'm sure you have either read it or heard of it.

Needless to say there were various opinions. The best being that it was an enjoyable, if badly written, pacey, holiday read  with 'it was terrible and I didn't finish it' at the other end of the scale! However we were all skipping the sex scenes by the end, as they became tedious. We didn't mark it, as we weren't the full group, but I would personally give it 6.5.

I didn't have chance to make the cookies for our meeting then but we did have an official meeting this week, so I brought some extra goodies along to represent fifty shades of icing! I did really mix up fifty different shades although the effect is quite subtle (unlike the book). 

Have you read it? What did you think.

xxx

Previous official book club cake of the month;

July 2012

May 2012

April 2012

February 2012

January 2012

November

July

June

March

April

February

November 

October

September

Book Club Cake of the Month...February

This month (OK last month) we read 'The Observations' by Jane Harris.

The book is written from the view point of Bessy, who happens upon a 'castle' (farm) in need of a house keeper. She has a dubious past that is sooo tragic, but her wit and humour prevent it ever becoming depressing. She works for  Arabella ('Missus'), a beautiful but equally tragic figure with her own secrets.

We all really enjoyed this book and it got 8-81/2 from everyone.

However, for some reason, it didn't really make for the most interesting discussion we have had. Sometimes the books that work less well elicit the best response. That said I would definitely recommend it, as it is pacy, witty and intriguing. The reason I liked it so much, was that I continually changed my opinion of Arabella. I dislike stories where I form an impression of a character and it is consistent to the end, I like to be challenged on my prejudices and kept on my toes, all of which this book gave me.

As for the cake, I was once again frantic with other work. At one point Bessy eats a cone of hokey pokey. So that is what I made, using Nigella's recipe. It literally took me five minutes and went down a storm.

The next book on our list is 'War of the Worlds'

Previous book club cake of the month
January

November
July

June
March

April

February

November 

October

September

Book Club Cake of the Month...January

Now don't fall off your chairs in amazement! But I have managed to post the book club cake only one (yes one!) day after our meeting. Hurrah, let's start the year as we mean to go on, efficient and organised,neat and tidy, a place for everything and everything in it's place, photo's loaded and edited as taken, slimmer and fitter! Alright enough self congratulations (lying) and on to the book.

We read 'The Silent Land' by Graham Joyce.

Zoe and Jake are skiing when they get swept away, and buried by an avalanche. They manage to dig themselves out, but when they get back to the slopes, they are empty. They ski down to their hotel which is also deserted. Assuming there has been an evacuation, because of the avalanche, they make themselves at home for the night. The next day, however, their escape is foiled, and they realise they are trapped, together, alone in the village.

There is a real eeriness and a genuine spooky atmosphere to the book, which was great, and the descriptive sections are lovely. However, this was not a winner with the group and only scored 5.5. The reason? The characters are really annoying (punchable annoying), and the dialogue is, frankly, appalling. The writing never soars. That said, we did enjoy the book, mainly because it is an easy read and a page turner. And over the holidays we got to read it in a couple of sittings. So, if you want a good holiday read take it with you...but not if you are going skiing!

I made some snowball cookies for the group, which were just my normal vanilla cookie recipe laced with Toblerone (very apt for skiing I thought). 

I shaped them into balls and rolled them in icing sugar, which totally melted in the oven, so I rolled them again, after they had cooked and cooled.

xxx

Previous book club cake of the month

November
September
October
November
February
March
April
July

June

Book Club Cake of the Month...March

Also known as 'A Cake For Owen Meany!'

This months book was 'A Prayer For Owen Meany' by John Irving.  

When I first met Mr Lemon Drizzle he told me that this was his favourite book, and so being a keen girlfriend I rushed out, bought it and read it, and...ah, well, actually, I didn't. I just shrugged and thought 'whatever!', though I did later read 'The Hotel New Hampshire' by the same author on his recommendation, which I found...strange. I have also seen bits of the film of another of his books,  'The World according to Garp' and I didn't really enjoy that either. So I was expecting to be disappointed with this months book.

But I wasn't!

It is a really lovely story, and one which had me sobbing like a baby.

But there were also some incredibly funny sections, especially the part with the VW Beetle. 

The book got the highest aggregate score from my book group that we've had yet -  9 out of 10 - although two people abstained because they hadn't finished it and the end is really crucial. We had a good discussion about the character of Owen Meany, and for me he changed from a very annoying figure into a hero. I was guessing right up until the last few pages about his destiny, which is always a plus for me as I tend to second-guess the plot of book and films at the outset (e.g. with the film 'Sixth Sense' I had guessed the 'twist' ending after ten minutes!)

As for cakes...well, there is a lot of symbolism about armlessness in the book, so I did toy with the idea of making gingerbread men without arms, but Mr LD thought that was pretty crass...and if even he thinks that, then it really must be! There is only one mention of cake in the book: when the narrator's mother marries they have cupcakes. So I decided to make wedding cupcakes. After I had made them Mr LD asked if the angel wings were to symbolise the 'prayer' in the title. I said yes, but really hadn't thought that hard about it. However, with further thought I realised how appropriate they are because I wasn't sure if Owen really was an angel!

BOOK CLUB CAKE OF THE MONTH.

You may recall that I'm in a book club and endeavour to produce baked goods for the gathering, relevant to the book we are reading.  See here for last months offering.

This month book was 'Room' by Emma Donoghue.

It was inspired (the author says 'triggered') by the notorious Fritzel case which makes it sound a lot more morbid than you would think.  Although I have to admit the begining was a difficult read and at one point I wasn't sure if I could read on but I was glad I did. For me it was more of a novel about motherhood than something more salacious.  If you have read Lionel Shriver's "We Need To Talk About Kevin" it was reminiscent of that.

As a group we gave it our highest mark out of ten so far.

I was hard pushed to find a cake in such dark material but at one point there is talk of a banana chocolate birthday cake.  So this is what I made and it was very gooey moist and delicious!

Next month is Freedom by Johnathan Franzen.

I'm two thirds the way through and somewhat at a loss!  If you've read it I'd be grateful for hints.