TASTY TUESDAY & NOVEL NEWS

Have you ever read a novel with an older woman and younger man as the main characters?  Was it one of the best stories you ever read, or did it fall short of your expectations?  I have not read any, but I've heard of two really good ones that have been extremely popular: The Summer of Good Intentions by Wendy Francis and On the Island by Tracey G. Graves.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Summer-Good-Intentions-Novel/dp/145166642X

If you're reading these type of romances, would you live it in real life if the opportunity became available?  Would you date or marry a younger man? Would it bug you if your mom dated someone significantly younger?  Inquiring minds want to know.

We're still celebrating frozen treats all this month, so here's a grown up drink that will take just minutes to make, and you'll be surprised how good it is.

FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 Cups of Crushed Ice
1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/8 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
6 Oz. Cold Chilled Milk

DIRECTIONS
Combine all those ingredients in your blender, blending on low until the ice breaks down.  After that, turn up the heat to high speed until everything is nice and creamy.  Top with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, then enjoy!

For extra chocolate flavor, use chocolate milk instead of white milk, and chocolate ice cream.

JUST ONE MORE THING & TUESDAY TRIVIA
While watching Chopped on the Food Network, we see a 1 hour program that includes commercials and a lot of sweating in the kitchen.  If it plays ON Demand, it's on for about 44 minutes.  In real time, and I admit this is hard to imagine, it takes 12 hours to film just one day of this show and 75 people are there during the production!

The judges make it look really simple to figure out who gets chopped, but on average, it may take them about 20 minutes, unless they really disagree, according to the host, Ted Allen.