Coupon Deal Worth Bragging About

I bought an excessive amount of air freshener this morning! I say excessive because I bought 15 cans! FIFTEEN!! My house doesn't smell that bad, but I had a coupon and there was a store sale, so we got a super deal on a product we normally use anyway. I love getting a deal on practical items.

So here was the coupon deal: Buy $15 worth of Glade products, get $10 off. 

Normally the air freshener sells for $1.29, but this week there was a sale and it was on for $1.00!

So 15 cans = $15 = $10 off.  Awesome.

So before the sale and with tax, 15 cans cost: $1.29 x15 x1.13 = $21.87

And with the sale, with the coupon, and with tax, 15 cans cost: ($1.00 x15) -$10 =$5 x1.13= $5.65

Each can cost only $0.38. DEAL!

Now that is a lot of air freshener!! :)

The Internet Told Me What To Bake!

I had planned on making peanut butter fudge for gaming night tonight, but the recipe called for Reese Peanut Butter Cups (16 of them!) and the econmy pack I usually buy was all sold out. Instead of buying the higher priced Reese Cups, I decided to put the fudge recipe on hold and look to the internet for suggestions of something else to make.

I had some Oreos on hand, so I asked the internet what to make with them. I don't usually go to Pinterest, but my Google search led me to a Pinterest page filled with photos of Oreo Cookie recipes. So I began surfing and clicking and ended up at The Picky Palate, finding a recipe for "Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars". Sounded good to me.

The recipe called for a devil's food cake mix, which I didn't have on hand, but decided to use the sprinkle cake mix I did have as a substitute.

The recipe and photos over at the The Picky Palate are great, so if you are thinking about making these, head over there for the original instructions. These are layered bars, and the layers are super easy to prepare.

Bottom Layer: Cake mix, mixed with 1/2 cup butter and 1 egg, 

spread evenly in a 9x13 pan.

Layer Two: Broken up Oreo Cookies (I used 20 cookies).

Layer Three: A can of sweetened condensed milk.

Top Layer: Chocolate chips!

It bakes on 350 for about 30 minutes and comes out of the oven looking like this

 (I think it looks like a dessert pizza!):

These bars are really sweet and really gooey as their name suggests. The sprinkle cake worked, but they probably would have been better made with the devils food cake. This version is still pretty good, but these bars are really super sweet. I could only eat one!

Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

My favourite book from 2012 was The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.

I know I like a book when I can't sleep. I either stay up way too late reading page after page, or I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about a part of the story. With this book I did both of those things.

The plot surrounds a small town council, an empty council seat, and all those involved in vying for power. The plot initially reminded me of Game of Thrones, but instead of seeking the Iron Throne, these characters are fighting to be elected to local government. Not all the characters are likeable, and there are a lot of bad things happen, but I couldn't put the book down.

I think this book works because Rowling is such an excellent storyteller. Each page made me want to know more about these people and made me anxious for what could happen to them. She even made me care about characters I didn't like, which I find amazing.  There are some heavy themes in the book, including domestic violence, child abuse, drug addition, mental health issues, poverty, and classism, but these themes didn't make it any less enjoyable to read. Rowling writes in such a way that despite the tragic elements, I was still enthralled by the story and desperate to know how it would play out.

The Casual Vacancy had the potential to be a complete disaster, and I'm filled with "Team Rowling" pride that it wasn't. Writing anything after of the success of Harry Potter had to be a gamble, especially in a different genre, and the pressure for it to be 'good' had to be great. Not everyone liked the book, but I really enjoyed it and I applaud Rowling for having the guts to go for it and try something new. It find that very inspiring.

This book review was part of the Author Appreciation Day Blog Hop, happening over at Book Reviews by Sus.

 

Author Appreciation Day Blog Hop

Book Reviews with Sus is hosting an Author Appreciation Blog Hop tomorrow.

The goal of the blog hop is to promote doing book reviews and rating books for authors.

I have been reading a lot of books lately and even joined Goodreads in January to encourage myself to read more. I am pretty good at rating a book when I finish it (you just have to click which star you like!), but I haven't actually reviewed a book yet. So tomorrow's blog hop is going to challenge me to do just that! Do you have a book you feel like rating or reviewing? 

If you are up for reviewing/rating a book tomorrow, hop over to Book Reviews by Sus and join up so everyone can read your review! 

Signs of Spring

Only a week and a half ago it was below zero, and yesterday it got up to 26. A quick change that gave me a headache at first, but now that The Weather Network is showing consistent temperatures, I am feeling good and happy! It looks like it is going to be a beautiful weekend!

With such a beautiful day yesterday, I spent most of it outside reading a book. The sun was hot and there was a lovely cool breeze. It was just perfect. It was also just perfect for getting my first sunburn of the year. I will be more cautious when I am out there today. Shade and sunscreen!

Here are some of the signs of spring I found in the backyard:

Some Dandelions were out!

The Narcissus are well on their way.

Also saw this Robin - a sure sign of spring!

Hope the weather is amazing where you are!