PROFESSOR BINGO PRESENTS! BLISS: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S

"PROFESSOR BINGO  PRESENTS DAY" 
I'M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS WEEK'S
"PROFESSOR BINGO PRESENTS DAY" IS...

   GIVEAWAY ENDED

 

ABOUT THE BOOK: 
Rosemary Bliss’s family has a secret. It’s the Bliss Cookery Booke—an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes like Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles and Singing Gingersnaps. Rose and her siblings are supposed to keep the Cookery Booke under lock and whisk-shaped key while their parents are out of town, but then a mysterious stranger shows up. “Aunt” Lily rides a motorcycle, wears purple sequins, and whips up exotic (but delicious) dishes for dinner. Soon boring, nonmagical recipes feel like life before Aunt Lily—a lot less fun.

So Rose and her siblings experi-ment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke.

A few Love Muffins and a few dozen Cookies of Truth couldn’t cause too much trouble . . . could they?

Kathryn Littlewood’s culinary caper blends rich emotional flavor with truly magical wit, yielding one heaping portion of hilarious family adventure.

A MAGICAL RECIPE FROM BLISS:

LOVEBIRD MUFFINS

From Kathryn Littlewood’s BLISS, pages 101–112

 

It was in 1718 in the British country town of Gosling’s Wake that Sir Jasper Bliss brought together two most unfortunate souls, the widower James Corinthian and dressmaker Petra Biddlebumme, who were too sad and too shy, respectively, to leap into the glorious fire of love. Jasper made a special delivery of these squash muffins to each one’s house, then waited a safe distance from the dressmaking shop of Petra Biddlebumme. Two hours past the delivery of the muffins, widower James Corinthian ran to the door of Petra Biddlebumme, who asked him in for tea. They were married one month thence. Sir Jasper Bliss did grate one large green squash while chanting the name of the lonely customers thrice. Sir Jasper did pass through a metal sieve one fist of flour and one fist of sugar. Sir Jasper did drizzle two acorns of the finest distilled Tahitian vanilla over the flour. Then he did fold within the batter one egg of the Masked Lovebird, Agapornis personata, which Sir Jasper did acquire from a mystic who had collected it from the primordial forests of Madagascar. He did bake the muffins at the heat of six flames for the time of eight songs.

Makes 12 muffins
 

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs of the Masked Lovebird*
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups grated zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 cup walnuts (optional) 

*If Masked Lovebird eggs are not
available, you may substitute 2 large
chicken eggs (magical effectiveness may
be lower than with original ingredients).

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. (Always ask an adult for help when using the oven!)

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set the bowl aside. 

3. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini while chanting three times the names of people you wish to fall in love. Stir in the melted butter.
 

4. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts if using.
 

5. Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to distribute the muffin batter equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely.
 

6. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and let cool another 20 minutes.

(Recipe by Katie Bignell)  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathryn Littlewood is a writer, actress, comedienne, and bon vivant who lives in New York City, works often in Los Angeles, and has a sweet tooth for pain de chocolat and sweet novels for tween readers. 

PRAISE FOR BLISS:

“Lighthearted bliss.”--Kirkus Reviews

“Littlewood’s first novel mixes the sincere and the silly with entertaining results.”--Publishers Weekly

“The children’s attempts at magic and the subsequent flubs simply make this cannot-put-it-down delectable.”--Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“Humor abounds in this sweet story that stresses the importance of family, and readers will enjoy getting to know the eccentric Bliss family."--School Library Journal

 

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW: 

Kathryn Littlewood's BLISS is a marvelous magical manuscript to share with your children! It is a delightful chapter book for young readers in middle to upper elementary grades. BLISS is about a family who runs the Bliss Bakery where they are known for making magical foods. Three of the four Bliss children are named after herbs. The youngest child, Leigh, is the one who is not. However, they all have a very significant marking from birth that identifies them as magical cooks. When the Bliss children are left alone while their parents are out of town on an emergency to help others, their Aunt Lily surprisingly arrives and delights the whole gang of them. Although the children were strictly instructed to keep the magical family cookbook locked away for safekeeping, it isn't long before Aunt Lily talks them into letting her use the highly valuable and prized book. This is when all kinds of magic baked good are made. 

The children bake themselves into a corner it seems as they try to solve problems with the charms and magic of their yummy delights. I found the book enchanting and so much fun to read myself. I know children will immediately take to this one and will delight in it. If Kathryn Littlewood is as smart as she appears to be from her writing, she will make this the first of many about the agreeably captivating Bliss family. How Aunt Lilly plays into the whole of the story is a major twist, and what the Bliss parents do upon return is yet another magical turn that all go into the making of sheer BLISS by Kathryn Littlewood!

   GIVEAWAY 

THANKS TO THE FINE FOLKS AT

HARPER COLLINS, I HAVE ONE COPY

OF BLISS, A DELIGHTFUL BOOK, TO

GIVE AWAY TO ONE LUCKY WINNER

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE BOOK BLISS THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A RECIPE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE OUT OF A MAGIC COOKBOOK AND WHAT WOULD IT DO?

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A CURRENT GIVEAWAY THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH TO RECEIVE MORE ENTRIES

 

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, MARCH 30

GOOD LUCK!