Abbae de Flavignas: I enjoy a sweet trip through history.

In 1592, Abbae de Flavignas candies changed the way they make there candies, switching from cane sugar to sugar beet.  I recently tried three flavors of this "new" recipe a couple weeks ago.

The flavors I ate were anise, orange, and violet.  As far as taste goes, violet a lot better than I thought and my favorite.  The anise hit the hardest and was pretty good. Orange?  No.  All of the candies are rock hard, but fun to roll around on your tongue.

Truth be told, the candy eating part of this candy experience was the least interesting part for me.  Please read that year I mentioned in the first paragraph again "1592.". I discovered that when I checked out a website for the candy. I really encourage everyone to check out the story of this candy. I believe it will bring a smile to your face.

You Against Me (book review)

You Against me opens by opens with a family in chaos. Parents are absent, literally and figuratively. A sister suffers as a victim. The younger sister doesn't understand, and a brother struggles to hold it all together. While trying to comfort the victim, the brother promises revenge on the Boy that hurt her.  The declaration brings comfort to the victim, so the brother sets off to stomp that evil Boy that hurt his sister.
When the brother arrives at the boy's house, the sister of the Boy answers the door. A sister that admires her brother. A sister that doesn't, can't believe her brother is possible of such a horrible crime.  This is where our story really gets going.

The book focused on two characters. The brother of the victim and the sister of the accused.
The boy seemed to be a little bit of a cliche to me written for the book's targeted female readers: Poor, but selfless and thoughtful, a couple of vices to give him an edge, and every girl throwing their bodies at him.  Most of the growth experienced by the character, happened before the opening of the book and told to the reader through exposition. I get the point of this type of character, but I thought it was a bit overdone for this type of book.

The sister shines as a character in this book. Her insecurities make her really endearing. She's a little tough to talk about without hinting at spoilers.

As for the plot, at Its core this book is a love story. The thing is the two lovers are brought together by a horrible event. I mentioned earlier the book deals with some pretty major subjects, and it handles them all very well. There are no easy answers, and even though things get better, no happily ever after.  This being said, I did find the plot pretty predictable. I made some very specific guesses as to how things would go after the first chapter, and I pretty much hit it.  If you dont mind that, this book might be for you. 

Recommend:  Yes if you like contemporary YA novels. 

Age: 16 and up.  There are scences and dialogue of a sexual nature.   

Glass Mask anime (review)

Glass Mask is a shoujo anime based on a long running manga. It's the story of a poor clumsy girl (Maya Kitajima) with a love for acting and the theater.  One day a former diva brilliant actress (Chigusa Tsukikaga) spots Maya play acting. The older lady is enamored by Maya's natural talent and ends up mentoring her.

Maya grows as an actress and a person. A rival rises.  Romance steps in to her life. All the classic troupes of a shoujo anime are here.

Plotwise this anime is pretty great most of the way through. The last couple episodes fall off which left a pretty bitter taste though.

The characters pretty much fit their marks. The man, who plays the male half of the romantic tension in the story, interested me because he also kind of plays a villain. My favorite character is probably the rival (Ayumi Himekawa) For most of the story, she is displayed as an actress with a lot of integrity and strong work ethic. I rooted for her over Maya quite a bit. 

Overall a pretty good show, but the last 2-3 episodes do fall apart. If you find you like this check out the manga it's based on. The Glass Mask manga debuted in 1976 and is still going.

Hard Milk Candy

I tried my first international candy.  I ordered something called hard milk candy from Japan.

I have to admit I was really excited when I saw the parcel. First, I ripped away the box to get to the candy package. When I held it my hand, I studied it all over. The Japanese print made me a little more giddy than it should have, I think. I tore off a label sticker on the back that contained nutritional information in English. To me, it ruined the authenticity of the package.

After marveling at the packaging, I pulled it open, carefully pulled. I did not want to damage it in anyway.

Then I grabbed one of the little candies. They're individually wrapped, so I had another package to study. Being smaller and with less print and having the candy inside, I spent less time looking over this little package.  I tore open the wrapper and took the cream colored candy in my hand. Of course I looked it over. I circled my finger over its disc shape. Then I popped it in my mouth.  First I tasted milk then a subtle sweetness hit.  I think the best comparison is condensed sweetened milk.  I found it to be a pleasant candy that got better the more I kept it in my mouth. It's definitely worth a try.