Chocolate for your Valentine

Chocolate Passion Dessert Recipes, by Lisa Joy Taylor is the perfect book for Valentine’s Day baking! It’s chockfull of recipes for cakes, pies, candies, cookies, brownies, mousse and ice cream – all chocolate, of course. It has something for everyone including vegans and those who like to bake with a touch of booze! But, beyond the recipes, you’ll learn some interesting facts about chocolate and why we all seem to love it. Chef Taylor teaches us about the history of chocolate and its benefits. Knowing its health benefits will alleviate guilt when consuming this heavenly food. Just like red wine, it’s GOOD for you! Who knew? Most of these recipes can be made with what you have in your pantry right now. But there are a few ingredients you may have to make a special trip to a gourmet store to find. For the most part, these recipes are easy and pure chocolate! Life is good. Treat your Valentine to something sweet this year. Make it chocolate!

Not Grisham's Best

John Grisham has done it again. That is, he’s written another book, but certainly not his best. The Racketeer isn’t even close to being his best, but it was enjoyable and a quick read. It’s about Malcolm (or Max, depending on where in the book you’re reading) who was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. After five years and a lot of pre-planning, he manages to make a deal with the Feds when he claims to know the killer of a Federal judge. Oh, but it goes way beyond that and I can’t give away the ending. Max manages to lead a wild life for a few months and even escapes the witness protection program. But, in the end, he gets what he deserves – or not. No, this is definitely not one of Grisham’s better books but it’s quite entertaining. I think most Grisham fans will be disappointed but will also enjoy reading it. They just may soon forget it and hope his next book is back to the old Grisham style. Give me A Time to Kill or The Firm anytime.