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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest -Swallow that Sweet Fear: Halloween Cookie Recipe

Photo Courtesy of Domino Sugar

It’s cookie recipe day! 

If you’re like me,  you plan way ahead for any type of party or treat fest because you’ve just GOT to be sure that everything is going to go right. 

I worked with my daughter this summer in perfecting her cupcake and frosting recipe so she would have the most lovely cupcakes to take to school for her birthday.

Mind you, I can’t stand everyday cooking, but baking is my thing.  I like the fact that it’s fun, short and you get a sweet treat at the end.

Now, I’m giving you this cookie recipe early enough so you have time to experiment with it, mess it up and start again. 

 

Halloween Bat Sugar Cookies – Recipe courtesy of Domino Sugar

YIELDS

3 to 4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

Cookies

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed Domino® Light Brown Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Domino® Granulated Sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Icing

  • 3 3/4 cups (1-lb pkg.) Domino® Confectioners Sugar
  • 3 tablespoons meringue powder
  • 6 tablespoons warm water
  • purple food coloring
  • 1 tube black decorator gel icing

Click HERE for the rest of the recipe.

 

Happy Baking

 

Dahlia


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Recipes Tagged: black girl nerds, blogtoberfest, colors in darkness, cookie recipes, cookies, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, halloiween, halloween, halloween cookies, halloween dessert

Horror Movie Review – The Vault

Title:   The Vault

Summary:
Two estranged sisters are forced to rob a bank in order to save their brother. But this is no ordinary bank. (from imdb.com)

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Opinion

To say this was a pleasant surprise is an understatement. I didn’t expect much. I didn’t realize James Franco was in it until halfway through. This means that I kept looking at this guy and thinking that I know him from some movie. Like I said, it was only mid-movie that I said to myself “That’s James Franco! What’s he doing in this movie.”

My silly epiphany aside, The Vault was an interesting movie. It started out as one thing, then after a cliche line, it turned into something else, which I was completely fine with. I won’t go any further with the plot. Suffice it to say, the movie held my attention all the way through. I wasn’t tempted to look away, except for the bloody parts, and the acting was quite good for the genre.

While there is nothing new under the sun for me, having seen a huge amount of movies, I always relax and let the movie entertain me. Unless the movie is completely terrible, I try to let it roll out like the writers meant it to be. By doing this, I tend to enjoy a lot more movies.
Yes. The setup of The Vault has been done many times before. However, the actors were good, the special effects very effective and the back story scary and convincing.

Rating – B

Want more Horror Movie Reviews?  Click HERE.


Filed Under: Horror Movie Reviews, Movies--Books--Music--Television Tagged: black geek girls, black girl nerds, blerd, dahlia dewinters, horror, horror movie review, horror movies, movie monday, movie review, movies that scare

Blogtoberfest – Recipes – Cinnamon Sugar Spider Webs

Picture courtesy of FoodNetwork

Total Time: 40 min

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 30 min
Yield: about 30 webs

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus 1/4 cup for brushing
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • Jelly spiders, orange or black nonpareils, for garnish, optional

Directions

Pour enough oil in a large skillet so it’s about 1 inch deep. Heat oil over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers between 280 to 300 degree F.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center; add the milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Whisk the dry and wet ingredients together until smooth.

Transfer batter into a large size pastry bag with a # 3 or 4 open tip. Carefully squeeze batter in a circular pattern and then back and forth into the oil, to make a free form spider web-like design, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Cook until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Using tongs or slotted spoon, turn fritters over and cook until golden on other side, about 1 minute more. Transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain briefly. Brush lightly with maple syrup and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm or at room temperature alone or with the garnishes.

Copyright 2008 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

*You may use a zip bag instead of a pastry bag. Snip a corner to the appropriate size and you’re good.

Courtesy of the Food Network


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Recipes Tagged: black geek girls, black girl nerd, black girl nerds, blerd, dahlia dewinters, fall harvest, geek girl, halloween, halloween recipe, recipe

Cleanse Your Headspace

Some writers take a break from writing and go on social media. I don’t find social media relaxing.  In fact, it clutters up the mind and may even stunt creativity.

The occasional peek into asocial media platform can turn into following conversations that more often than not ended with name-calling and pointing nasty fingers. The quick scan of another social media feed included more politics than I cared to consume on a daily basis. It was becoming more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and my space, the area of my spirit I used for creativity, was suffering.

I don’t go in for controversy, detailed celeb news or negative speak. I was always one to believe actions speak louder than words. See something wrong? Do what you can in the moment. I believe that peace can overcome war. I believe in protecting my headspace.

Being an writer in the genre I chose, I understand there will always be some controversy. Someone doesn’t like this book. A reviewer gives an unfair reading of an author’s book. Readers lash out at authors. Authors lash out at readers.

I’m not going to say “can’t we all just get along”. Nope. I can only control my actions.


So, I cleaned house. I hid the posts that gave me agita. I cleared my feeds and added positive vibes, rather than negative ones. I loaded my playlist with meditative music and pulled out my mala beads.

It’s so important to stay focused on the things which have true meaning in one’s life: family, friends and the beauty of life itself. It’s very easy to get caught up in the raging tides of every day, especially when the Internet can bring it right into your home.

Certainly, this is not a post that advocates ignoring everything around you and navel-gazing for peace. There is a time and a place for everything. When you feel yourself become overwhelmed, then it’s time to take a break. It’ll wait, right?


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: authors, black geek girl, black girl nerds, boho writer chick, creativity, dahlia dewinters, headspace, namaste, writing, zen

5 Ways of Self-Care for Writers

As an author, sitting is an unfortunate by-product of the profession.  When I first began my writing career, I confess that I spent too much time at my desk, desperately typing, revising and editing, so much so that I ended up in the emergency room with a pinched nerve in my back. I’ve had three children and I have never experienced something so painful in my life. Even now, as I write about it, I cringe at the memory!

Needless to say, after recovering from that ordeal, I made definite changes to my writing routine.  By doing so, it has not only improved me physically, but also kicked up my mental processes, making writing that much easier. My muse is so much happier and she shows it by letting the ideas flow!

There are five things that I worked into my writing routine that helped me improve the way I work.

Please take these tips and mold them to your needs.  Good health is important.

As authors, we begin behind the eight-ball because we sit for such a large portion of our day.

Without further ado, here they are:

  1. Drink plenty of water.  It’s easy to slurp down coffee and soda and juice while sitting at the computer.  The sugar and caffeine give us a quick rush of energy and keep us focused on the task at hand.  However, overloading on such drinks can cause a late day crash, jitters,  and dehydration.  I have acquired a cute little water bottle and fill it with ice water with a touch of lemon juice.  Mind you, I do not skip my morning coffee, and will go for a refill if the urge strikes me.  Bu if I am going to have the coffee, I’ll make a conscious effort to finish the water bottle by noon, then go back for a refill on that too. Sipping water also keeps me from snacking too much.  The addition of the lemon gives the boring water a spiffy taste and has the  small benefit of Vitamin C.
  2. Take a Break – Try not to become so focused on your writing that you don’t get up from the computer because you don’t want to “break the spell”.  Create a break schedule.  Set a timer for fifty, thirty or twenty minutes, then working on your writing and ONLY your writing.  No checking social media or paring down your inbox.    When the timer goes off, get up.  Walk around, check the mail,  do yoga stretches – anything but sit.  This gives your body a break from sitting in a fixed position and gets the blood flowing to your brain.  Don’t skip the break, as tempting as it may be to do so.
  3. Exercise – Yes, you’ve heard it many times before.  Your brain feeds on the oxygen-rich blood circulated by the heart. Before I sit down at the keyboard with my fragrant cup of coffee, I complete a brisk 15-20 minute walk that gets my blood pumping and my brain receptive for the muse.  During these walks, I am often able to work out any issues that I might be having in my story.  Getting away from the keyboard and out into the fresh air helps immensely.I also enjoy yoga.  It’s calm, low-impact and I don’t have to get too dressed up for it!  When the weather is poor or I simply don’t feel like going outside, ten to  fifteen minutes of yoga poses can serve the same purpose.
  4. Get Enough Sleep – Most of us wouldn’t stay up half the night and try to function at the job on four or five hours of sleep, would we?  If you write full time like me, your writing is your job. Treat it like one.  Get enough rest the night before.  A full night’s sleep increases your mental sharpness, emotional balance, and creativity.  Sitting in front of your computer screen bleary-eyed and fuzzy-headed can only lead to frustration and writer’s block.  It’s all about putting yourself in the most optimum frame of mind possible.
  5. Pay attention to Posture – Nothing will fatigue you more than terrible posture.  We’ve all done it: shoulders hunched, wrists smashed against the laptop and feet in odd positions.  There’s no problem in doing it, the problem is staying that way.  Check your posture: are your shoulders back, feet flat on the floor and your wrists relaxed?  Hunching over can put a great strain on the neck, as well as the shoulders and forearms.  My weakness is that I lean to the right side, putting too much pressure on my right arm.  About fifteen minutes of that and I have to shake it back awake!  Stay cognizant of how you sit.

 

So there you have it, my magical formula for staying alert and healthy while pounding out the word count.  While I don’t always do every single thing on this list, I strive to ensure that I’m in the best mind frame possible when I sit down at the computer.  It’s not easy sticking to this routine, and I have been guilty of hunching over the computer for an hour straight. However, as long as that remains an anomaly and not a regular practice, I’m looking forward to many happy, healthy years as an author with a happy, healthy, giving muse and no more ER visits!

1Love

Dahlia


Filed Under: Wednesday, Wellness Wednesday, Writer Wednesday Tagged: author, black geek girls, black girl nerds, dahlia dewinters, geek girl, wellness wednesday, wisdom wednesday, writer, writing

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