Online Bake Sale for Philippine Typhoon Victims, #bakesale4pinas

On Monday, Tina De Guzman of Pinay in Texas will be holding an online bake sale with proceeds going to those in need after the major destruction of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines a couple weeks ago. Thousands of people are reported dead/missing and the damage is extensive with a big need for food, water, and shelter by citizens of various districts in this country.

I'm sure you've seen pictures of the destruction and many have been doing great things to help. My buddy Courtney is also holding her own bake sale to donate proceeds to those in need for this cause.

My contribution is a couple dozen freshly made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

These are one of my fave things to make in general and particularly come fall. So, stop by Tina's site on Monday, November 25th and review the list of goods that not just I but many bakers, bloggers, culinary professionals will be offering up for purchase and just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Please spread the word and stop by to donate or make a donation to places such as the Red Cross.

Happy holidays and lets hope for lots more aid to the Philippines.

My NYC Midnight Submission, 2nd Round (Flash Fiction)

Well, a whirlwind weekend with lots of outings and freelance work resulted in me drafting a quick story and editing said story and not liking the story but submitting it anyways. My luck is usually when I feel good about a piece the judges don't give it a good score, but when I dislike it I get a decent score. So we'll see if that trend continues on with this round. Didn't score great on my first round action/adventure entry. So we'll see how the genre of horror fares for me. Genre: Horror. Location: Outdoor music concert. Object: Animal crackers.

I let the animal crackers guide me on this one. I present...

"Jibber Jabbers Live!"

I check my buds to make sure they are stuffed well inside my ears putting as much of a barrier between me and the overly excited mass of kids surrounding me. The toddlers cover up almost every inch of green in this park. Several feet away my parents lift my little sister high in the air as a flag for me to wave at. They’re excited to see me work my first job. But more so they’re excited to see the Jibber Jabbers live.

Kids love the damn Jibber Jabbers. They seem to be the only thing to settle them down. The Jibber Jabbers appeared on TV two years ago and parents couldn’t live without them. I tried watching with my sister once but after a few minutes the noise, well music, made me twitch. Had me rubbing my ear against my shoulder to get rid of a scratch. But my four-year-old sister was stone with a smile on her face. She clapped to the auto tunes and the fuzzy red, yellow, blue and white creatures that looked like a bear with a giraffe’s neck and a cat’s face. It was all pretty disturbing to me but my parents, all parents appreciated the Jibber Jabbers because they provided sixty minutes, without commercials, of child-free time.

I give a limp wave to my parents and sister before adjusting my Jibber Jabbers cap. The wind is non-existent thankfully so the tri-colored tassles don’t fling in my face—hitting me in the eye, nose, making it to my mouth—unless I move my head too fast. I’m wearing a yellow shirt for the Jibber Yowza.

I’m on the outskirts of the crowd surveying to see if there are any spots on the lawn. I’m surrounded by cackling, sniffling, burping, crunching on animal crackers while trying to talk spit and crust flying into the air, hyped up kids ages four and up.

I turn back to my family and see my mom motioning for me to take out my buds. I shake my head. No way I want to hear these kids in stereo. No. Freaking. Way. They encouraged me to take this job. It got them discounted tickets and am also learning responsibility. Yeah great, I say seeing a woman on a blanket near the stage change her child’s diaper…in public.

I inhale big regretting taking this job. Management wanted teens mainly because we have the energy to deal with the kids. That anyone between the ages of fourteen and eighteen (with working papers) can deal with loud noises and children who pee anywhere and everywhere. Hey, we’re young only way to go is up!

A couple of burly, thick guys in black that remind me of secret service on TV are a barrier between the people and the stage. These guys are the only dark spot. Like any kid is getting beyond that wall of black.

The static hum increases. It buzzes in my ear and seems to be sneaking inside, coiling itself past my ear drum into my brain. I stick my finger in my ear like I want to shake it out.

I hear a bleep and the stage lights up even with the sun. I blink rapidly but look away unable to take the sun and the ultraviolet green from the arena. I stare into the audience. My sister’s face is super round and glistening in excitement with mom and dad on either side of her.

Once the announcement starts up the crowd goes crazy. Screams and screeches abound with wild clapping. I stuff my earbuds in more, while the sound isn’t completely cancelled out it is dulled a good amount.

I keep my back to the Jibber Jabbers. There’s another usher near me, Robert, who’s staring at them. He sticks his tongue out while mimicking hanging himself and I laugh. The kids that can walk get to their feet and gyrate to the beat pulsing around me.

Robert bobs his own head and then, suddenly, he’s frozen. I’m about to ask if he’s okay when my eyes dart sideways and notice I’m looking at a sea of little mannequins. The kids are statues. The adults are moving, freaking the hell out in fact. I face the guards to yell at them about the kids, but the men aren’t solid like before. They’re jittery masses with their arms twitching along with their mouths, blood seeps from their noses and veins pulse in their necks like snakes with a big old heartbeat.

My heart pumps hard and fast as I take it all in and see a mother’s eyes bleed, her pupils going black. The child in her lap is motionless and staring ahead at the Jibber Jabbers.

I dart into the audience heading straight for my sister and parents when my dad clutches his neck. I’m too far away, other people shivering and falling around me as I watch my father ooze blood from not just his eyes and mouth but from his skin like he’s sweating the stuff. I fall beside him and mom in her fold out chair. Mom slides off her body limp with my sister in her lap dazed. I look at the stage for the first time not wanting to take in anymore of the bleeding parents young and old. When I see the Jibber Jabbers they’re in a row, fuzzy beings of red, yellow, blue and white. I always thought they were just people in a suit. A hot, big suit but one of them, Jibber Yowza, smiles exposing jaw upon jaw like a shark. Wet, scaly lips close over the teeth. I can’t hear what is said nor do I want to when its large orbs lock on me noticing I’m one of the young people not comatose and not bleeding like the adults. I don’t take out my earbuds. I grab my sister and run like hell, making animal crackers dust under my feet.

You #NaNoWriMo, I'm Taking a Break

'Tis that time of year again. When writers all over choose to accept the challenge to write a novel or what-have-you that amounts to (at least) 50,000 words in a span of 30 days for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo). Madness? To some. Inconvenient? Perhaps. November is the official start of the holiday season. And for those with families, in school, or just in general trying to write period can be hard fought without the deadlines. However, deadlines work for many people. Just sayin'.

This year it's been difficult for me to balance my creative, professional, and personal life. In the end 2 out of 3 of these things got more focus with me often saying "I'll catch up on writing later." I've written a bunch: for Fiction Femme Fatale every month, for my blog bi-weekly (if not more) as well. I wrote and rewrote query letters galore and have edited in long stretches or small snippets. Not a week goes by that I don't write something. But in terms of my short story Collection? The headway made isn't as much as I anticipated.

I was considering NaNo. I'd like to focus on revising my Collection OR drafting a contemporary YA book with a male protagonist. I've had the new YA idea since late last year. But, now that I am finished with one YA book do I want to pursue another or really stick to one major project along with several shorter stories/essays on the side?

The upside is that when I was sick of the Collection I went to my YA sci-fi book and vice versa. But now that the YA sci-fi book is out for querying it's mainly the Collection. And I need to consider how I can utilize my time well for either work. I'd like to think that this is the time for me to pull up my straps and steer this Collection to where I've wanted it to be since its inception. Yet a new project with no set guidelines on where to revise or edit or finesse it is a bit more fun in terms of letting go.

Either way I do plan to write. Many December deadlines loom that I must fulfill and frankly if there's time I should utilize it. But this did get me thinking about time management. And a fellow writer Courtney had a month where she went offline. Yup, completely offline with some rules. No social media or internet and barely checking email. While I can't not check email daily because of my full-time job and my pending freelance projects I am thinking it's time for me to make November a Break Month. Meaning NO social media primarily. I'm going to start off with a week of no social media (no Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, etc.). After that week of going cold turkey I'll set in other barriers such as looking at Facebook twice a day and Twitter twice a day and such. Not repeatedly checking for more information. I'll be limiting my internet use to specific sites (no Buzzfeed or HuffPo as easy distractions). No, I'll be looking more at NY Times, Washington Post, and BBC News. Without FB or Twitter it'll be easier not to look at all these random lists people post online.

The goal for me in November is to prioritize. Maybe I'll end up writing/revising 50,000 words inadvertently for NaNoWriMo. Maybe I'll just do a lot of freelance work. Or I may do a crapton of baking. But my goal is to use less time online just wasting time because it's easy. If I'm going to waste it I won't waste it looking at a screen but going outside, baking, reading, and more than hopefully writing. My goal for November is not just to write but to find a method that makes me get stuff done with as few distractions as possible.

So, happy writing whether you do NaNo or not. Either way I hope your days are productive.

Kickstarter Home Stretch for @DrunkBakers: Pie, Cupcakes, Cocktails 7 Days a Week

Kickstarter is all the rage these days. We can fund shows, movies, publications, and the list keeps growing. Well, I support this latest venture by Allison Kave & Keavy Blueher of Butter & Scotch.

Allison was one of the first baking interviews I did and I'm a HUGE fan, as you know, of her pies. S'mores, apple, peanut butter pretzel, candy apple, strawberry basil, all of it goodness in dessert-form. And I've been introduced more to the desserts they've collaborated on (like the sticky toffee trifle) and the diversity of Keavy's mini cupcakes. So, what is this Kickstarter for? A storefront in Brooklyn!

Admittedly, my selfishness would love for them to open a store in Queens but hey dessert and cocktails on the regular? That's right. If you ordered Allison's pies or Keavy's cupcakes online you won't have to anymore. No more waiting for food fairs to spring up in warm climate or for fancy events where they are like Village Voice's Choice Eats. You'll be able to acquire these treats regularly.

Both ladies have built their businesses from being available for those in-the-know to their confections becoming signature desserts in NYC. How can you not have had the hot chocolate pie or the maple bacon cupcakes? And you haven't tried the pie shake?!? [fanning myself] Y'alls need to rectify that ASAP.

The money from this Kickstarter will pay for the essentials like equipment for one as they seek to create Brooklyn's first dessert & cocktail bar. (They need an oven to make more cupcakes!)

Allison & Keavy have been getting lots of great press, Butter & Scotch has already been named as having one of the Best Desserts of 2013 by the Village Voice. They're well known in the food community and are just super nice and generous ladies. Love 'em. I really hope to see the $50,000 fulfilled within the 8 days left on the Kickstarter as of this post, so everything can come full circle for them. You can claim some fantastically cute and/or tasty items based on the donation amount.

Whether one person reads this post and donates or 100 do every bit really does help and the more word spread the better in these last days. Need I remind you about Kickstarter? If you don't get the pledged amount you get nada, so let's bulk up those numbers! I mean in all honest who does not like pie or cupcakes or cocktails or popcorn (yes, they do popcorn too!) cool portraits in crayon or all of the above?

#Chocabaret's Debut!

On Sunday afternoon in Chelsea at the Metropolitan Room the first thing you'd see when looking at Jackie "The Singing Chef" Gordon's Chocabaret event listing is the notation in bold, white letters: SOLD OUT.

You may remember my post earlier this year about Jackie's Kickstarter campaign to fund Chocabaret. I tried several chocolate recipes of hers that came out dynamite and, like many, was excited to contribute in some way to Jackie's dream. Well, the Kickstarter was fully funded with a few days to spare before it ended and garnered a bit more money for Jackie to make a gorgeous chocolate (not real chocolate) necklace to wear for the debut of Chocabaret. The money was raised. Plans were set. Chocolate sorted. It was time.

Sold Out doesn't quite capture the packed audience at the Metropolitan Room. There were foodies, food bloggers, chocolate enthusiasts, friends and family of Jackie's. But there were also those who didn't know about Chocabaret and came to it by way of a friend who donated to the Kickstarter campaign and were unable to make it. I spoke to one audience member who got his seats from a friend in Alabama who donated and couldn't make it out to NYC. "I heard there was chocolate and singing and I was down," he said. Another audience member with a big smile on her face when I spoke with her after the show was gushing about Jackie non-stop. "She's so lively. It was so much fun!" She'd gotten tickets from a friend in Pittsburgh who donated to Kickstarter but also wasn't able to make it.

I saw how much went into Jackie's preparation. The woman is a powerhouse. I see where she gets it too, her mom Bernice is just fantastic. She knew where everything was, what needed to be done, and was the calming force while we got things set up.

Then, the lights go out. The stage is lit. Drinks have been delivered. Time for Jackie's entrance. The velvet curtain separating the performance space from the bar opened and Jackie sauntered in wearing a kind of lab coat with Divalicious Chocolates logo on her pocket. She welcomed everyone. The piano accompaniment played. Warming the crowd up Jackie made some jokes, thanked her "chums" (new ones and old ones), and then the reveal! A gorgeous strapless gown with the chocolate necklace draped over. She was chocolate head-to-toe but not in the literal sense. Though when Jackie noted this she got some hoots and hollers in the positive for wearing chocolate while singing. A saucy crowd? Of course, which also reflected their enthusiasm.

Chocabaret is not just chocolate and singing. It's a full immersion of the senses. It's a chocolate tasting. Getting educated on the aspects of chocolate. It's interactive with you and Jackie (who has owned her own chocolate shops and bakeries not just here but overseas). It's a full on blow-your-mind kind of show that showcases the chocolatiers that have supplied items as well as what you're able to taste on your palate.

The show was carefully planned out. Cocoa beans available for you to know the origins of your chocolate. Nibbling chocolates (milk and dark) at each table to satisfy you before the show began. Saltines to clean the palate. Seltzer on hand to cleanse. And cards from donating chocolate companies as well as program and flavor wheel. A lot to take in but don't worry Jackie will be guiding you through the process.

There's a lot to considering an item good chocolate. Some may like it sweet, some may like it bitter, some may like additions to their chocolates. If so, Jackie had you covered on all bases. White chocolate? Yes! And you know what if it has cocoa bean/butter in it it can be considered chocolate. Learned that from Jackie. The higher the percentage the more actual chocolate and less of everything else in your bar. Maybe you'd like some liqueur in yours? Or some nuts on top? Maybe some edible gold dusting? Done, done, and done.One of my faves was the Elvis skull filled chocolate with a hint of caramel and banana from Fika Choklad and the milk chocolate and toasted white chocolate from Fruition Chocolate. In addition to Jackie's chocolate bark with dark chocolate drizzle and sesame seeds giving a fantastic crunch. Yes, yes, and yes to all. I like my chocolate sweet, yup, I do.

Now it's time to open your box and let the tasting begin. Nine chocolates not including a tenth to take home. Your tasting started with white and milk and got progressively darker, in chocolate. Your box encompassed items from Fruition Chocolate, Oliver Kita Chocolates, Roni-Sue Chocolate (her new storefront on Forsyth St. just opened!), Fika Choklad, Bond Street Chocolate, Raaka Chocolate, Hudson Chocolate, Lagusta's Luscious, Fine and Raw Chocolate, and an additional one (Jackie's own bark) for you to take home if you're a bit overwhelmed.

Jackie guided you through every morsel with a song for each of the nine chocolates. The smooth and warm tone of Jackie's voice was enough to ease you into and out of your tasting in preparation for the next bite. Sweet and slow songs that may make you tear up thinking of home or a catchy tune she came up with for "percentages" in chocolate to a deeply felt rendition with so much soul you couldn't help but clap wildly. The music helped to invoke the feeling and background of each chocolate and enlivened the experience for many who may just like eating chocolate but aren't experiencing it.

Through it all Jackie kept a cool demeanor and the audience laughing and calm while ensuring everyone was all set. As things got straightened out and audience members sated the show did not stop, it did not lose momentum, and Jackie kept a smile on everyone's face. How could you not with that voice and chocolate in front of you?

In the end the crowd was amped up. Not just because of the chocolate but because of the overall entertainment. As Jackie thanked those who supported her and Chocabaret she got teary-eyed and you couldn't help get teary-eyed to see a dream realized and the appreciation and happiness it brought the crowd. Food continues to bring people together and when you have someone as knowledgeable and talented as Jackie Gordon to further promote it you'll leave with a smile on your face, and a high, from sugar and life.