San Diego Bound
One week from today, I will be doing something gloriously geeky: attending San Diego Comic Con! Not just attending, though. I have two signings and a panel! I’m Someone with a badge!
I have never been to San Diego Comic Con before. Actually, I’m a native Californian who has never been to San Diego at all! This is a really fast trip, too, but I hope to have a couple of hours in there to wander the infamous Comic Con floor where I will hopefully not be stampeded by fangirls/boys in pursuit of a celebrity.
Here’s where you can find me!
Thursday, July 9th
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
IN BOOTH HarperCollins Publishers #1029: Beth Cato Free Signing + Clockwork Crown promo giveaway
That’s right. I’ll sign stuff AND you might just get a free book. Which I can then sign.
Friday July 10, 2015
10:00am – 11:00am
Romantic Adventure
SFF fans are always down for an adventure, from a daring airship expedition to space-age exploration, but what’s the fun in an adventure if there’s no one to share it with? Some of the most compelling stories in genre fiction spring out of the relationships between two equally awesome characters when they’re thrown together in an out-of-this-world situation. Come discuss the lure of romantic adventure with Chloe Neil (The Devil’s Isle series), Sam Sykes (The City Stained Red), Beth Cato (The Clockwork Crown), Suzanne Young (The Remedy), Gena Showalter (Alice in Zombieland), and Mary E. Pearson (The Heart of Betrayal). Moderated by S. J. Harper (Reckoning).
Room 32AB
Link to the Comic Con scheduler
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Panel Signing: Romantic Adventure
Room AA09
I’ll sign stuff! Books! Anthologies! Napkins! Scones!
If you’re at Comic Con, please drop by to say hi!
Read MoreBready or Not: Custard/Pudding Powder Chocolate Chip Cookies
Happy Canada Day! Celebrate with some luscious chocolate chip cookies that have custard powder or pudding powder right in the dough.
See, I have a container of Bird’s Custard Powder sitting in my pantry that I want to use up. This stuff is great for Nanaimo Bars (a very appropriate recipe for Canada Day) but I wanted to use it for something less labor intensive.
Custard powder isn’t common in the States. It’s very much a Canadian/British thing. When I read up on Nanaimo Bar recipes ages ago, a lot of them said that regular Jell-O pudding powder could be used as a substitution for the custard layer. I got to thinking… I have made a number of cookie recipes that use pudding mix powder. Why not try it with custard powder instead?
I did. They turned out AMAZING. These pictures you see here were done without chilling the dough, which is what I usually do to create thicker cookies. It’s not necessary here, though the dough can still be chilled or frozen for later, if needed.
So, what does custard powder or pudding powder do?
– embodies cookies with a richer vanilla flavor
– makes thicker, more cakey result (like corn starch in the dough, but with the flavor oomph)
– seems to keep them fresh longer, too
Whatever your nationality, whatever your powder of choice, give these a try. Live deliciously.
Bready or Not: Custard/Pudding Powder Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 Tablespoons custard powder or instant vanilla pudding powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 11 ounces chocolate chips or peanut butter chips or a mix, one bag
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, stir together the flour, custard powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly blend the dry ingredients with the butter mix. Add the chocolate chips.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to place dough onto a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
- OM NOM NOM!
