This post is one of books and blondies.. Books and sweet treats are among my biggest weaknesses…

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Top Ten Tuesday

The Top Ten Theme this week over at The Broke and The Bookish:  Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters Ever: This is a topic I had to think about a little. I do remember getting annoyed at some of the characters in books or telling others to ‘move on already’ or ‘get over it’ or ‘just do it’ or ‘stop it’ (with whatever they were thinking about and not doing for most of the book).

The Books

1. Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – She is not a friend or sister I would wish on anybody.
2. Dolores Umbridge from the ‘Harry Potter’ series by J.K.Rowling – well. What can I say about Dolores Umbridge that might endear her to someone? Nothing at all.
3. Amy March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott –  I found her to be a vain and self-absorbed for most of the book.
4. Last Man In Tower by Aravind Adiga– All the characters in this book frustrated me to one degree or the other.
5. Scarlett in ‘Gone with the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell – You had it all, Scarlett, yet you threw it away, in fact, again and again. (Rhett is one of my favorites)
6. The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa – Again, many characters in this book frustrated me as they stood around looking on while crimes were committed against the weaker, the less fortunate in society. The protagonist, Ramchand, did hold my admiration as did a couple of other characters, but in the end, they gave up as well and that did frustrate me.
7. Genet – from Cutting for Stone by Abraham Varghese – Her choices in life and her actions annoyed me a lot – she could have, should have done better for herself and those around her.
8. Henry Higgins – Pygmalion – an MCP of the highest degree, I would say.
9. Michael from ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ by Thomas Hardy – you will find him also on my top ten most favorite characters list but yet here he is.
10. The ones that I cannot recall – I am sure there are other characters who did frustrate me but I cannot recall them at this point. I do know that as I go over other top ten lists, I will find myself nodding my head in agreement at others lists and maybe use this #10 for one of them

Other

Teaser Tuesday

For Teaser Tuesdays over at Should Be Reading  from Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay – pg 88 of my eBook borrowed from the library.
‘I wouldn’t be me.

But maybe I’d like 
taking a break
from myself. ‘

NaBloPoMo

NaBloPoMo prompt for today: What reoccurring thought uses up a lot of your mental energy?
I do not think there is a single or specific thought that does so in my case. But I do spend a lot of my time/energy is me making up mental lists of various things; like lists of things to do! This includes top ten lists for Tuesday (above); posts I planned; goals; challenges; memes; books; things to do; and lists of lists too!!

Yummy Tummy Blondies

I am reading Chloe’s Vegan Desserts and adapted one of the recipes to make my own version of Chloe’s magical blondies. Not totally vegan though; in place of the butter, use vegan margarine to make it vegan. Also, please note, it is not the exact recipe in the book but my altered version.

Thank you Chloe for inspiring me to try this out. This disappeared within a day at our house; the kids requested it for breakfast, snack, and dessert after dinner as well!

1 cup Trader Joes Multigrain Baking Mix
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolates
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp butter (softened) (or you can use thick yoghurt for 2 tbsp of butter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 inch round baking pan lightly.
Beat the butter with the brown sugar. Add the vanilla to it and mix well.
Add the baking mix until incorporated well and then add the walnuts and chocolates.
Spread this batter (more like cookie dough in my version) on the pan; bake for 25 minutes (or until edges are lightly browned)
Once cool, cut as desired and serve.