Botox, Poppy Seeds, Versatile Blogger,

On Sunday morning there was a segment on Good Morning America talking about giving Botox injections to people with chronic migraines. A friend of mine was given such injections a couple of years or so back, she said they worked temporarily, but were by no means permanent. Her headache was constant 24/7. I don’t know how things are today, she didn’t really like to talk about it and refused to take pills which turned her into a zombie, but I was surprised to see this report on Sunday being introduced as thought it were something really new.

Another funny/serious report, a woman gave birth to a baby which was subsequently taken away from her because they said she tested positive for drugs. It finally turned out that she had eaten a bagel with poppy seeds on it shortly before giving birth. Only in certain States to they test your blood when you are delivering, but it just shows that you have to be careful when and where you eat poppy seed bagels.

I watched How to Train Your Dragon on Saturday, I rented it from a local store. I then ordered it from Amazon.com as I loved it so much.

You will notice a Versatile Blogger sticker on this page. It was awarded to me by Satima Flavell who has her own blog. See link this page. Now I believe I am supposed to come up with 7 things my readers may not know about me as part of the award. The way I write, I would doubt there is anything people don’t know about me.

1. I speak fairly tolerable French although it is a bit rusty these days. I also have a smattering of Spanish and Greek.

2. I was trained in a secretarial college in England to do Pitman’s shorthand, typing and bookkeeping

3. I tend to like most music although I am particularly fond of classical and especially like to listen to good tenors.

4. I too love chocolate, not fussy what colour, just good tasting chocolate.

5. I once had a job as a Fleet Administrator which I loved and which enabled me to travel around North America quite a bit.

6. I have lived in three countries and certainly had lots of addresses when I lived in the UK. Only 3 addresses in Canada and 2 in the US. I am pretty well travelled in Europe, at least the coastlines of Europe.

7. I love pot bellied pigs – the type you can keep as pets. Once had a friend who owned one. I wonder what ever happened to it? It bit me once, on the back of the leg. I really don’t know why. Didn’t do much harm as it had a ring in its nose which prevented any possible damage. This is a piglet by the look of it, but I think they are so cute. My friend’s pig used to love water melon rinds.

Sadly I have now finished my book The Way of Kings and I have not heard anything about when book 2 might be published, let alone book 3. I believe the next thing Brandon Sanderson will be publishing will, in fact, be his next episode of The Wheel of Time series originally written by the late Robert Jordan.

Talking of chocolate, here is a nice decadent chocolate recipe from Hershey’s. Matt loves cheesecake, but he likes the plain, unadulterated New York type cheesecake with nothing on top, just as it is. Me, I like anything with chocolate as you know.

Triple Layer Cheesecake

Source: Hershey’s Kitchens

CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST(recipe follows)

3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/3 cup dairy sour cream

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup HERSHEY'S Butterscotch Chips, melted*

1 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, melted*

1 cup HERSHEY'S Premier White Chips, melted*

TRIPLE DRIZZLE(recipe follows, optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST. Heat oven to 350°F. 2. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, vanilla and salt; beat until smooth. Stir together 1-1/3 cups batter with melted butterscotch chips in medium bowl; pour into prepared crust. In another medium bowl, stir together 1-1/3 cups batter with melted chocolate chips; pour over butterscotch layer. Stir together remaining batter with melted white chips; stir until smooth. Pour over chocolate layer. 3. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until center of cheesecake is almost set. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, immediately loosen cake from side of pan. Cool to room temperature. 4. Drizzle TRIPLE DRIZZLE, one flavor at a time, over top of cheesecake, if desired. Refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours. Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesecake. 12 to 14 servings.

CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST: Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together 1-1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 wafers, crushed), 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa; stir in 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine. Press mixture onto bottom and 1-1/2 inches up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 minutes. Cool. * To melt chips: Place chips in separate microwave-save bowls. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred.

TRIPLE DRIZZLE: Place 1 tablespoon HERSHEY'S Butterscotch Chips and 1/2 teaspoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil) in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 30 seconds; stir. If necessary, microwave an additional 10 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred. Repeat procedure with 1 tablespoon HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and 1 tablespoon HERSHEY'S Premier White Chips.

Have a great day