Most of these weights are either a whole or half packet – don’t be too fussy. You just need to make sure you have enough chocolate to cover all of your fillings!

Ingredients:

• 125g of Arnott’s Scotch Finger biscuits
• 125g of Marshmallows
• 180g of Cadbury Fry’s Turkish Delight (I buy a share pack)
• 750g of milk cooking chocolate (although I’m sure dark or white would work fine too!)

Method:

In a bowl, break the biscuits into sixths, the marshmallows into halves (if you’re using the large size – mini marshmallows can be used whole) and the Turkish delight pieces into halves too. This job is much easier with a helper, so if you have a willing child or a partner who you can trust won’t eat all of the fillings before they make it into the rocky road, now’s the time to use them.

Once your fillings are ready, it’s time to melt the chocolate. You can do this in one of two ways:

(1) Put some water in a pot and place this over low-medium heat. Fill a bowl with your cooking chocolate pieces, and place this bowl on top of the pot (make sure it’s heat resistant – a metal bowl works best for this method). The secondary heat from the simmering water will heat your chocolate. Make sure you stir constantly so that it doesn’t burn – burnt chocolate is impossible to rescue!

(2) Fill a bowl with your cooking chocolate pieces and place it in the microwave (make sure it’s a microwave safe bowl for this method). Nuke it for 30 seconds, and then stir. Then nuke for 10 second intervals, stirring inbetween each. It may sound like a painfully slow process, but I reiterate: burnt chocolate is impossible to rescue!

As soon as the chocolate is entirely melted, place all of your broken filling ingredients into the bowl. Coat them in chocolate and then pour the mixture into a lined slice tray. Refrigerate for about an hour before cutting into pieces. This mixture should make approximately sixteen servings. Enjoy!

Wither was honestly one of my favourite reads last year, and one of the toughest books to put down, even when I was starving or when I had spent the entire night up reading it!

It’s been over a year since Rhine was snatched off the road and married off to Linden by his father. Fever starts off right where Wither ended; Rhine has witnessed two of her three sister wives pass away, started a relationship with the servant, and has finally escaped!

After their close escape, the two are on their journey to Rhine’s childhood home in Manhattan to find her twin brother, Rowan. But of course things never go perfectly as planned! Rhine and Gabriel run into this very strange carnival filled with tents. It houses young girls as prostitutes, selling their bodies to men. At this carnival, the couple picks up another traveler on their way out: a mute girl named Maddie, the daughter of one of the girls working at the carnival who wishes to give her child a better life. The three then spend the night in the house of a First Generation couple who are struggling with their own issues.

When they finally arrive at Rhine’s childhood home, they find it burnt down and without much remaining. Unsure of what to do next, Rhine, Gabriel, and Maddie head to the orphanage that has flyers posted all over the neighborhood.

For some reason, Rhine can’t get away from Vaughn. Everywhere the group goes, he seems to be right on their trail and she can’t escape when he shows up in a car and forces her to come back to the mansion. She knows she has no other options; if she doesn’t, Gabriel or Maddie could get hurt, so Rhine gives in and goes with him.

Her life doesn’t go back to the way it was when she arrives; instead she is locked up in the basement and drugged. Rhine has no idea how long she’s been there because she’s drugged so heavily and she only wakes up for a few delirious minutes at a time.

Rhine is scared. She’s worried that she’ll never see Gabriel again, that she’ll never see her brother again, and that she’ll never get out of there. She knows that she’s become another one of Vaughn’s science experiments, and that the chances of her getting out of this basement are low.

The Chemical Garden trilogy is so far out of this world! It’s like nothing I’ve ever read. I absolutely loved Wither, as well as Fever.

After reading the first book, I felt some disappointment and confusion about why the author skimmed over some very serious topics that were introduced, but in this second book I quickly learned that the world Rhine lives in is just that messed up. A lot of things we think of as wrong aren’t all that wrong in the type of world displayed in The Chemical Garden books, but instead are very common.

As before, I adored Rhine; she was smart and kind, even though she’s been through many horrible situations. Besides Rhine, in Fever we also get to her much more about Gabriel, which I was very happy about! He was so sweet, caring, and considerate of Rhine’s entire situation. My heart was broken when Vaughn showed up and snatched Rhine away, for the second time, from a boy who loves her.

If you’ve already read Fever then you know just how explosive the ending was! I still can’t believe everything that happened! Poor Rhine! Finally, it’s about time Cecily stands up and does something! And Linden is starting to open his mind to the idea that his dad isn’t who he thinks he is! That’s so long overdue!

Again, Fever was an AHH-MAZING read! And if I hadn’t already read the third and finally book, I would completely fan girl about it right here!

Brisbane writer, Alison Mather, makes this delicious self-saucing pudding from the Donna Hay Magazine Issue 8 and shares her delight!  Alison says, ‘Couldn’t be easier to make for a huge pay-off.’

Method:

3/4 cup brown sugar

80 g butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 milk

Sauce:

 1 cup boiling water

2/3 cup brown sugar, extra

1/4 cup golden syrup

1 1/2 tsp plain flour, extra

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 F). For the puddings, beat the sugar, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer for 5 mins or until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, and milk and beat until combined. Spoon into 4 x 1 cup capacity greased ovenproof dishes and place on a baking tray.

For the sauce, whisk together the water, sugar, golden syrup, and extra flour. Spoon sauce over puddings. Bake for 35 mins or until golden brown an set.

(I would also add here: squeal with delight as the puddings rise up through the sauce in little puffy domes!)

 Enjoy ’em!

 Alison

Wow! How does one review the last book in a series a) without giving away HUGE spoilers to the 4 books previous in the series, and b) without giving away all the important bits in this book?

I was given a copy of the trade paperback to read, but as I’ve been plagued by migraines of late, I enlisted the lovely efforts of both Bolinda Audio and Brisbane City Council Libraries to keep up with, not only the in-between books, Entice, Emblaze, and Endless, but also this final instalment in the Violet Eden Chapters, Empower.  Online borrowing is da bomb.

The journey has been far from easy for Violet. I believe Empower is most certainly the best and most satisfying book of the lot. You’ll be swept up in the maelstrom of insanity, but the resolutions are exactly how they should be. The series really should be read in the correct order to gain maximum inpact.

Rebecca Macauly’s voice has brought the series to life for me, and on more than one occasion I caught myself tearing up or gasping in horror of what Jessica has Violet enduring.  For me, this is what Violet sounds like, and I genuinely hope you’ll give the audio books a chance.

Purchase the Violet Eden Chapters from Bolinda Audio

If you are a member of the Brisbane City Council Libraries you can borrow the audio books online, through the BCC online catalogue, just follow the links and log in to borrow anywhere up to 10 books for 14 days.

 http://www.jessicashirvington.com/

 Paperback, 464 pages

Published, November 12th 2013

ISBN 0734415109 (ISBN13: 9780734415103)

This one is a kid-special, though I’m pretty sure grown-ups will like it too–especially those in need of a sugar-hit. Seriously smooth chocolate fudge filled with marshmallows, gummy bears and sprinkled with popping-candy to top it off. Perfect for children’s parties, or, just because…

What You Need:

Fudge:

400g milk chocolate, chopped

50g butter, cubed

385ml can of condensed milk

Filling:

Popping candy

Gummy Bears

Marshmallows – I chopped mine into about four pieces each

How it’s Done:

Start by preparing a slice tin by greasing and lining with greaseproof paper. My tin is about 18cm square. Place about a cup (or handful) of Gummy Bears and chopped marshmallows into the bottom of the tin randomly. Now, it’s fudge time.

I’ve blogged about this fudge recipe a couple of times before. It’s ridiculously simple. Just add your butter and condensed milk to a small saucepan, and stir constantly over a medium heat until the butter has melted completely. Add chocolate and continue to stir vigorously until it all comes together. Working quickly, add the fudge mixture to your prepared tin, directly over the top of the Gummy Bears and marshmallow. Add a few extra Gummy Bears on top, then sprinkle with Popping Candy. Place the slice tin into the fridge for about an hour.

And that’s it! Told you it was too easy.