Thursday, May 31, 2018

Round Up FnF May 2018

"I bid you welcome to my home, please enter freely and leave some of the happiness you bring "- Dracula

Spudguns! It's that time again, the round up for Foodn'Flix. And my selection this month was the 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula. Let's see what was dug up...

First up, is Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, who made Corpse Reviver and  her Stakes through the heart Sanguinaccio  She was inspired by the scene between Dracula and Mina when they are out for dinner and he serves her absinthe.

Next up, is Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm, with her Vant Your Blood Martini
She went with a classic vampire go to, lets make everything bloody good. 

Then we have Evelyne at CulturEatz with her Transylvanian Sour Cherry Margarita
She was inspired by not just the area of Transylvania, but of the sweet fruits and summer memories connected to it.

And lastly, Mine I made a trio of  hors d'oeuvres. An Impaled Tofu, homemade garlic flatbread and mushroom Tartare.  I was inspired by the character of Renfield.

With that nailing the coffin shut on this month, remember you can always join next month along with Simply Inspired Meals, and their selection The Incredibles.  

Sunday, May 27, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p6

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 336, chapter 336

Out of Time

Our heroine sniffed as she listened to the phone conversation Seward was having with Quentin. "Don't forget it's got to be like the size of a big phone book." she said from across the room, busying herself with the task of making a cake.

"She said super size it." Seward repeated into the little phone. He watched from the corner of his eye as first Ruthven, then Vlad floated through the kitchen proceeding to look over the female's shoulder, and attempt to stick their finger into the mixing bowl. Poor Edric was the third and final straw as he got his hand bitten not just slapped when he did. "Hang on." Seward spoke into the little phone before showing the photo Quentin had just sent, for approval. Nodding, our heroine dodged another attempt of Edric trying to steal a taste of the batter and ended up falling backwards into his shoulder, as he planted a kiss on her ear.

"I still hate that beard." she grumbled between giggles. "Like you've got a dead rat on your face."

"Okay, so, he said that he and Zeddy will be here by morning. This seems a bit outrageous if you ask me." Seward replied scratching the corner of the cell phone against his face. "You realize it's costing seven hundred dollars for this prop right? I mean, that's rent money for a month."

"Seward, trust me. It's a tiny price to pay if this works." Nosferatu said finally putting the cake into the oven.

"If it works. Big if." the dark haired human said pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"It has to." the female banshee sighed under her breath. "Cause we don't really have any other options."

"And what happens when this Dax fellow realizes instead of getting The Seer's family spellbook, he's gotten a fake?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet. One step of the plan at a time."

"Um...why is that mirror smoking?"  Ruthven asked pointing to the white trimmed mirror they had in the hallway between the kitchen and the living room. It had been the Van Helsing's great grandmother's.

"No...no no no no no...no!" our heroine was so taken by shock and panic that she froze at first before attempting to move through the kitchen, her legs refusing to work as she knocked over a chair and sent a bowl of corn flakes flying. "He's turned it into a magick mirror..." she gasped in near tears her hand on her chest, breathing heavily when she saw the grinning child waving at her. "Damn you William! What the hell are you doing?" our heroine's eyes went pure white of the banshee as she let her fear melt into pure anger. Tilting her head she growled at the image in the now two way mirror.

"That would be the youngest." Vlad commented softly as he moved back into the hallway from the kitchen."I don't suppose you remember me? You were barely a toddler when you and Maxwell left." he said planting a plastic smile on his face, his top fangs exposed slightly as he lend one arm on the kitchen counter, crossing his ankles. He was every bit the impressive vampire king he truly was suddenly for the sake of the child. He sensed more than saw the shiver of distrust and distaste on the little half breed's face. Vlad all but laughed out loud at the thought of it.

"Well? What the shack do you want?" our heroine nearly spat at the mirror as her shoulders slouched forward in a battle stance.

"Nosferatu." Seward blinked as he felt ashamed suddenly at her reaction.

"Fine!" she hissed not bothering to look at her human friend. "You talk to the little rodent." she moved now like a blur out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards the attic.

The silence was longer than expected and just as heavy. A deafening weight of steady uneasiness from the werewolves, and humans alike as they all stood waiting for the other to say something; anything. It wasn't until a few birds started to chirp loudly outside the kitchen window, that the silence was broken. Seward looked at the clock realizing they'd actually been standing there awkwardly for nearly two minutes half embarrassed, half confused.

"Oh my god kid, not so fast." Landin seemed to appear out of nowhere as he half stumbled down the stairs, his left palm pressed flat against his face. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his face splotchy. His cousin couldn't tell if Landin had been sleeping, crying or punched? But the area around his eyes were the colour of beets. "Yeah yeah, I'm only a shacking human I don't move at warp speed." he ignored everyone in the room heading straight for the cupboard over the stove, grabbing himself a glass and pouring it full of bourbon. Swallowing a large amount of it, the bleached blonde let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. "This is William Blacksmith Frankenstein. And he's giving me a migraine chill out!" Landin's voice rose in an unusual state of anger. "Look kid, no one cares okay. Big deal, you won some stupid jousting competition. Whoo hoo, big shacking deal." he gulped back another swallow, snorting in boredom. "No you're not." he snarked pouring another half glass.

"Would you care to enlighten the rest of the class?" Ruthven said as he lit a cigar near the back door of the kitchen.

"The little brat here is saying something about coming here and ruling or some crap." he gestured with the glass, slopping the amber liquid on his hand. Drunkenly, he shook the droplets off before wiping his hand on his jeans. "First off, this isn't a kingdom. Second, Nosferatu isn't interested in having you around. None of us are."

"Landin, what's gotten into you? Huh, he's just a kid." Seward found himself scolding his older cousin and for some reason really feeling sorry for the little boy on the other end of the mirror.

"You try having that whiny little half breed's voice in your head." he slammed the glass down on the counter, his hands now gesturing wildly at his ears. "Going on and on about how his brother is sailing somewhere looking for Loki and this Maxwell is ruling the kingdoms..."  This got Vlad's attention as he stood straight leaning forward, his hand out towards the psychic.

"What do you mean, Maxwell is ruling the kingdoms? Isn't Rolf or Reuben king?" Vlad asked.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Will the kingdom ever be safe?)

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

The Cinema Files s1 p7

The Cinema Files
page 7, chapter 7

Sun-dried Slapstick

I sat at the little laptop, a pile of files at my feet, a small container of  pecan ripple ice cream on the desk beside me, and my back refusing to straighten up. I had left the video store and gone right to my aunt's storage unit. I needed to figure something out about these murders. I couldn't help it, but for some reason, I felt those two drownings were connected. I just had no idea how to prove it yet. And I wanted to do it away from the apartment. Rudolph had talked about nothing on the way home, but he had his reporter face on. I know, because my aunt used to have the same face when she was figuring out a story for the newspaper. A blank stare, knitted eyebrows, mindless mumbling under her breath when she was adding up facts and untangling motives. That random gasp of air where her eyes would go really wide for a few heartbeats while her hands hovered in midair. Then the quick and curt excuse to leave. Rudolph didn't get as far as the gasp for air and hovering hands, we made it back to the apartment building before he could.  On top of that, the good night was very awkward. All the flirty behaviour he'd had during dinner had mysteriously melted away, leaving him a zombie like puddle of inner thoughts.  Much like my ice cream was doing. Wiping the wet dripping rings of meltedness off my desk, I let out a deep sigh.

"Coffee..." I spoke out loud to myself as I got up from the desk and went over to the little fold out card table near the door. Opening the coffee tin, I let my shoulders drop. It was empty. I think I actually pouted for a second before putting the lid on the tin and letting it back in it's spot. My eyes grazed the title of one of the crime novels but my brain wasn't registering what it was. I was too busy arguing with myself about going out to get coffee or staying for another hour. Crossing back to the desk, I reached for another of the napkins I had there, wiping more of the melted ice cream off the edge of the desk, the container it appeared had a small hole in the bottom. "Of course it does." I said again out loud to the wall. Getting back up, I tossed it into the waste basket, my hands sticky from it. I was out of napkins. Reaching for the small pad of note paper, I decided nothing to do but sacrifice a couple to clean my hands. That's when I noticed the playing card. The three of diamonds, with the numbers 413 written on it.  Nothing else. Nothing to indicate if it was a time, a date or an address or what? "Well, you're a clue." I said picking it up and examining it. "But what to? Huh little card?" I stopped stared at the map over the desk sighing deeply. "Okay time to go for a walk. Get some fresh air, grab a coffee."  My gaze shot to the corkboards sitting on the floor a few feet away. I thought the card needed to be saved where I could see it. There were no extra tacks for the boards, and I didn't see any on the desk. The little drawer on the side of the desk which one would expect to have office supplies, didn't. As I rummaged through it, I found an old photo of my aunt Jackie when she was in college. There was a day planner under it, sticky notes and folded clippings sticking out of it. Half of them recipes. I'd forgotten she'd subbed for the recipe of the week column her first year on the job. The papers were so golden yellow with age. I smirked to myself. Even in the beginning she had added her trademark little red stars to them. I looked again at them. Only five had stars, all the ones written with EJL in the byline. My stomach growled forcing me to grab my purse and sweater leaving the storage unit for the moment.

"That will be about 15 minutes." the pizza guy said taking my order. I nodded and said I'd be back to get it as I headed to the dollar store across the street. They were closing in less than that, and I had fully intended on heading back to the storage unit for the next few hours. Grabbing a package of thumbtacks and pens, I spotted the corkboards at the end of the row. I thought, why not? What's one more in that already over cramped space right? Grabbing the largest they had, I proceeded to the snacks shelf, picking up paper towels, a handful of chocolate bars, and a small container of coffee. I was about to check out when the newspaper caught my eye. The restaurant death was the lead story, written by Rudolph of course. Grabbing one, I paid for my loot and headed back out to the pizza place.


Tune in again for another installment of the Cinema Files, starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Ah, Reporter Face; I know it well.)
 

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Coffee Talk May 20th Sunday

At lest I think it's a Sunday? Honestly, Spudguns!, the last two weeks have flown past in a blur. It's a long weekend here in Canada, and this is the first moment I've had to catch my breath.

There is not going to be a serial today. I'll have this week's Cinema Files for you on Tuesday (May 22nd 2018), and back to the normal weekly schedule next Sunday (May 27th 2018) with The Nosferatu Adventures.

Disappointed that Lucifer was cancelled. It was one of the few interesting shows on tv the last few years.

There is still time to join in on Food n'Flix this month for Bram Stoker's Dracula.

And that's pretty much all the time I have today. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.


Sunday, May 13, 2018

The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p5

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 335, chapter 335

Out of Time

"Are you okay?" Seward asked as he sat down on the top stairs beside our heroine. She was sitting just outside of the attic, a cup of tea in hand.

"I needed to be alone." she hooked her thumb over her shoulder towards the attic door. "Ironic part was, once I got up here, I was suddenly hit with this uncertainty. Just couldn't bring myself to go in there by myself."

"What do you need me to do?" the dark haired human asked slapping his hand on his knees. "You need me to hold your hand?" he blushed holding his left hand out then palm upward. "Or get a flashlight for you or something? Shoo all the monsters away."

"Monsters I can handle. It's the emotions being back here have kicked up that I can't seem to face."  the banshee's voice got quiet, almost to a whisper as she ran her fingertip around the edge of her tea cup. "I'm not the same person I was when I left here." she scratched at her eyebrow, not able to look at her companion. "Um, there was a necklace...talisman actually that was with The Seer's grandmother's spellbook. I can't seem to find it." our heroine replied now suddenly needing to change the topic. "Leather cord, Celtic knot, two dragons made out of iron a rune in the center."

"Sorry, didn't see it. Important?"

"Sentimental." she remembered suddenly the latest trinket she'd brought back with her from the other reality. It was still hidden away with the clothes she'd been wearing when she returned. Given the fact Seward had dreamed of Bryon, she didn't think it appropriate to be wearing it. Bryon, herself and Harker had gone to see the Sea Witch. While there, Bryon had gotten into a fight at the tavern, and our heroine had to pull shards of glass out of him. He'd taken the largest piece which had cracked allowing some of his blood to seep into it staining it; and had it set in gold. It ended up creating this deep crimson spiderweb pattern. Nosferatu had worn that ring for the last year she'd been in that reality.  Now, it sat wrapped in her t-shirt in a drawer.  "Uh?" she shook her head clearing her mind, having been lost in her own memories.

"I asked why it was sentimental?" Seward was standing now a few steps down his body turned towards the bottom of the stairs.

"Uh...yeah sorry. It was a gift to me..." she cleared her throat trying to focus. "Edmund. The guy in the coffin...he gave it to me. The other me. Aurora. Back in the middle ages." she cleared her throat again standing up. "It was just from a simpler point in all this." she gestured with her left hand as if to brush the whole question away. "Just thought it would be nice to play with it." nodding quickly, our heroine sighed to herself as she opened the door to the attic, disappearing inside. She didn't move once she closed the door. Didn't barely breathe. The female was nearly shaking in her skin at what she knew was waiting for her in the darkly lit attic. Fear was something she hadn't felt in a very very long time. Our heroine was no longer used to it. The way it turned her flesh cold, or her teeth to grinding. But since she'd returned, it never seemed to let it's grip off of her. And this time, her fear brought friends. Doubt and guilty. They played with her, toyed with her the way a cat does a mouse before it bites it's head off.  And this cat had managed to find a way to land itself in every reflective surface it could.  Vlad had helped her banish her Harvey, but there was someone else now taunting her. Someone she'd decided to keep to herself, stay quiet about. Dax had cast a spell allowing him to turn every mirror and window into his own private magick mirror. And our heroine knew it wouldn't be long before he figured out a way to open another portal. She was actually surprised he hadn't already.  He wanted the spellbook, and he wasn't taking no for an answer anymore. Our heroine jumped as something touched her shoulder. Spinning around in a blur, she didn't see anyone at first. Then the shadows began to move, to take a solid form as they grew.
He was upon her before her mind caught up with her body, as she shoved the male hard sending him flying across the attic again. Arthur snarled as he sprang once again to his feet, his teeth snapping at her shoulder. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he crouched down on his heels taking a fighting stance, ready to pounce again. Our heroine's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Why hadn't she sensed him? Smelled him?  The male werewolf shook himself like a dog, clumps of mud, sewage and leaves still clinging to him. Relaxing her shoulders, the female banshee realized why, as Arthur had been so filthy.

"You're back." he manage to growl. Our heroine nodded. Arthur stood up then, rubbing a hand down his arm, exposing a bite mark. It wasn't healing. Quickly he turned his head lowering his injured arm as if ashamed of it. Hiding it from her. She realized then, that was the whole reason he was covered in filth. So no one spotted the bite. "Nothing. It's nothing." he said moving around the room. The table was covered in books on folklore.  "I should...I...should shower. Since you're back." he breezed past her the door closing the only evidence he'd moved.


Meanwhile...

The dark haired male struggled to open his eyes, his lungs burning for air. Another scream escaped his cracked parched lips, as his arms were slowly dislocated from the sockets. His muscles strained and snapped as he realigned himself again, popping the bones back into place. How long had this torture been going on? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Loki had no idea. He was so disoriented from the spells that constantly wound around him. He didn't even know where he was. The dark haired god couldn't even remember how he got there? Or where there really was? The spells were well secured constantly rotating around him in laser like bars, blinding him to the darkness beyond. He didn't know what was truly worse, the torture or the fact his captor taunted him daily. A formless voice that he nearly remembered from some long ago place. The tone it took when it asked him over and over again if he was ready to go another round, or just give in. Just give them what they wanted, it said over and over and over again; in a timeless loop. What was it they wanted again? He couldn't remember. They had asked so long ago, when they first brought him here. When he first woke up to find himself trapped. At one point he thought he had known. Thought he was making sense of his situation. A brief few moments when the formless voice had disappeared, and Loki's mind had cleared. But then it was over. Any thoughts of freeing himself were once again gone, overrun by the chatter and pain. There were whispers suddenly, the formless voice confessing something to a second voice somewhere in the distance. The pain lessened for a half second as he strained to listen in the fog, catching a name. A name he thought sounded familiar, that he had once spoken himself. Someone he felt was important to him. Or at lest had been once. "Nos..."he barely formed it on his empty voice before the next bolt of pain coursed through him, burning in the back of his throat as it ripped down his spine. Loki's mind seemed to grab hold of a long forgotten image as the adrenaline coursed all too quick through him. A half shadow of a female figure ruptured like a breeze as he blacked out.


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. At some point everyone needs to be rescued.)

Friday, May 11, 2018

May FnF 2018 -Bram Stoker's Dracula

Spudguns! It's recipe time again. And this month, I'm hosting one of my all time favourite movies, the 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula for Foodn' Flix.  Now, I've talked about this movie more than I should care to admit to, over the decades, so I'll skip the massive review (as I've done one on this few years ago here) and just give you the basics.

plot: After returning from the crusades, Vlad Dracula learns of his wife's suicide. Vowing revenge, he swears in a blood spell/oath, that he will return from his own death. Four hundred years later, he is visited by Johnathan Harker, whom he learns is about to marry Mina, the reincarnation of his own wife. Imprisoning Harker, Dracula travels to London with the plan to seduce Mina for himself. Dracula ends up having to seduce and destroy the friends and family of Mina in order to do so. When Harker returns to London, he joins forces with those friends still alive and they chase Dracula back to Transylvania for one last showdown.

This version of Dracula, is by far the closest to the novel that exists today, even with the addition of the connection to the real life Vlad Tempes. Who did in fact fight for the christian church in the 1400's.
 
Notes: whiskey, tea, wine, roast chicken, tomatoes, apples, bread, salad, canapes (mentioned) hors d'oeuvres (mentioned) coffee, champagne, meat (a butcher stall is seen behind Mina and Dracula on the street), fruit, bag of peanuts (during cinema scene) cake, absinthe and sugar cube, garlic, roast beef, cabbage, carrots, peas, beer, salt, pepper, roasted potatoes, stew

I find this movie to be such a lush tapestry of texture. From the richly done ball gowns both Mina and Lucy wear, to the sunset showdown, to the characters themselves.  Whenever I see the scene of Lucy talking to Dr. Seward in that over the top wedding dress, I can think of nothing but a three tier cake. Or how Renfield's hair makes me think of a cream puff, or the armor Dracula wears in the opening scene how it makes me crave manicotti or chocolate sea shells.

But it's my beloved Renfield who got my vote this time around. Played by Tom Waits, the iconic lunatic who offers a plate of bugs to his favourite doctor. It's a shame, most television edits cut his scenes.

"Would you care for an hors d'oeuvres, or a canape?" 

I ended up making a trio of offerings.  My Impaled Tofu,  homemade Garlic flatbread, and mushroom Tartare.
Ingredients

Half a package of firm tofu
Half a jar of pickled beets with juice
salt
pepper
1 can of chickpeas
1 can mushroom
1 green onion
1 green pepper
1 package beet crackers
oil
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 package cherry tomatoes
Shredded cheese
2 cup flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup water

I started by marinading the tofu in salt, pepper and about a half cup of the pickled beet juice for about an hour and a half. Turning the tofu every so often.

Pan fry the tofu until at lest two of the sides are resembling a crust.  This will help the tofu from falling apart. Cut into cubes.

Cut some of the green peppers and beets into smaller pieces. I pan fried them as well for a couple of minutes, just to let them soften enough to impale.
Assemble the kabob with a few of the cherry tomatoes.

I then made a simple flatbread.

Mix the 2 cups of flour, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/2 Tablespoon salt, 1/2 cup oil and the 1/2 cup water.

Mix into a dough, roll out to desired thickness.

Coat the dough in oil and garlic, baking for 45 minutes at 350 degrees depending on your oven.
Remove from oven, let cool for a bit before cutting into bit size pieces.

Add the shredded cheese and rest of the cherry tomatoes and return to oven for another 10 minutes at 250 degrees. This is just to melt the cheese.


Drain the chickpeas, and cook them for a few minutes until you are able to mash them.
Chop the mushrooms,
Mix chickpeas and mushrooms with a bit of the salt and pepper and oil.


Arrange mixture on the beet crackers, and garnish with the green onions.

I used a store bought cracker for this step.

I mentioned I did this as a trio. In the story, the number 3 is a common element. We have the 3 Brides of Dracula who hold Harker captive, the 3 Suitors of Lucy (Holmwood, Morris and Seward) and the 3 Suitors of Mina (Harker, Dracula and in a sense Van Helsing)
As well, I picked the green peppers and green onion to represent the lush green Lucy wears a few times in her ball gowns; as well as the garden scenes. The beets were the perfect shade of red to represent the vampire aspect of the blood as well as the mile long robes Dracula wears in his castle and the nightgown Lucy wears when she sleepwalks.

I have something to admit. I picked this for the look of it. The creativity and feel of this movie.  In fact, I said to Heather more than once, "there is only one food scene in this film."  Well, I was wrong actually, as there was more food in this movie than I had thought.
I had mentioned in my announcement post (here), that this movie is the last movie to be done completely without CGI effects. From the opening scene when Elizabeta falls to her death which is done with puppets, to the invisible footsteps of the Brides which were foam risers, to Dracula in smoke form which was layered onto the film, to the water dripping upward which was done with rewinding the film etc. It's a very beautiful piece of artistry that is nearly lost in the modern age of movies.

Come back at the end of the month for the round-up.  Don't forget to join Foodn'Flix next month for the movie The Incredibles, being hosted by Simply Inspired Meals. 

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Themed Thursday May 10th 2018

Spudguns! It's Thursday, and all month long I've got a vampire theme running. Which means, this week's theme is the Canadian classic Blood and Donuts. It's once again in video form.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

The Cinema Files s1 p6

The Cinema Files
page 6, chapter 6

Sun-dried Slapstick

Rudolph seemed oblivious to the fact he was the center of everything, as the hostess returned a few times to chat it up with him, as well as one male waiter. I wasn't completely sure if he was so used to that sort of thing happening that it didn't phase him anymore, or if he was just really that blind to the situation. I finished my glass of wine, and decided it was time to call it a night. It was already almost 1am by this point. Rudolph tilted his head to the side as if puzzled by my decision to end the evening already.

"You stay. Finish your drink, your order hasn't even come yet." I motioned to him, slapping down a few dollars for the drink. "I'm just..." I gazed at the hostess who seemed to be waiting on tip toes for me to leave. "...exhausted." I sighed closing my eyes.

"So, we get the order to go." his words were quick with zero hesitation as he stood just as quick, grabbing up his glass downing half the contents. He scooped up the money I'd just left on the tabletop, dropping it back into my hands. "This is all on me." he smiled with a hint of drunkenness already. "I mean, we are going to the same apartment anyways...er um apartment building. We are both..." his not so subtle comment was interrupted by a loud scream. Half the restaurant turned as a woman came stumbling out of the ladies room. Both myself and Rudolph went running in the direction of the woman.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! There's...there's..." she was pointing a very shaky hand towards the ladies' room. I ran ahead, Rudolph a half step behind me as we flung open the door to the bathroom. A pair of knee high black boots were sticking out of the farthest stall. Opening the door to the stall, we found a woman bent over the toilet, her face wet from having been shoved into it.

"Um..." I pointed towards her. "I think she drowned." Turning, I saw Rudolph reaching for his phone. "You calling the emergency number?"  He gazed up at me from the corner of his eye a slight guilty look on his face.

"I am now." he dialed.

"I know it's your job to be all like live the news it bleeds it leads, but if  Detective Whitechapel finds you here, you're going to be having your takeaway order in the police station." I shoved him towards the door of the bathroom and into the main lobby.

Twenty minutes later...

"Of course I would find you at another of my crime scenes?" Detective Whitechapel rolled his eyes at me. "Please tell me I should be flattered that you are actually secretly in love with me, and this has nothing to do with your family's extracurricular habits." he shook the pencil and notepad at me.

"If I say both how much crap will I be in?" I shrugged smirking at him.

"Only about half as much as the deceased here is in." Whitechapel remarked with a smirk of his own. Scratching at his temple, he let his eyes go blank for a few seconds as he was clearly deep in his own mind.

"So what are you calling him?" I asked as I began tapping my clutch purse against my thigh.

"The deceased was a woman and we haven't gotten an ID yet."

"No, I mean the killer. That's two murders in under three days both having drowned in small amounts of water."  I gestured towards the dead body.

"Now now; don't be jumping to things. There is nothing that doesn't prove this one died on her own." he moved towards the body, his turn to gesture wildly.

"Other than the bruising at her neck." I walked a few steps closer pointing out the odd colouring near the edge of her collar. "Someone held her under."

"Aw for the love of Odin." the Detective's flirting went cold as he grabbed me by the shoulders turning me around, guiding me towards the door of the ladies' room in the same manner I had with Rudolph earlier. "Out of my crime scene. Go home."


Tune in again for another installment of the Cinema Files starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Well I guess someone has sprung a leak.)
 

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Thursday Theme May 3rd

Spudguns! It's May, and I've got another theme review for you. In case you haven't figured it out, this month is all about vampires. Just to tie in with my hosting Foodn' Flix. This week, I give you my review of  Ankle Biters, in video form.


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

FoodnFlix May 2018 Announcement

Spudguns! It's that time again, I am hosting Foodn'Flix one last time, (it is #5 for me as host) and my selection is the 1992 version of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

If you've never seen this, I have to say that it is one of, if not the closest movie versions to the original novel. With a nod to the real Vlad Tepes, this makes for a spellbinding story.
This is literally the last of the "golden age of movies" film. All the effects were done physically in-camera with film layering, wire workings, shadow play, reversing film speed, puppets,etc. 

Brief plot:  After returning from the crusades, Dracula learns of his wife's suicide. Centuries later, he arrives in London, and begins the search for the reincarnation of his dead wife. He manipulates and seduces those closest to her, stopping at nothing to get what he desires most.

This movie is Rated-R  for sexuality, nudity and violence.

The rules are simple:
you watch the movie, head to the kitchen baking/cooking anything that it inspires you to. Post your inspiration to your blog with a link to both this post, and the Foodn'Flix website. The post must be current, in this case the month of May 2018.

Send me a copy of your link with your name, the name of your blog, your recipe and a photo of it. Or give me permission to pull a photo.  domesticanddamned (at) gmail (dot) com   With the email title of  "Foodn'Flix Submisson"
Don't forget to send a copy to our fearless leader Heather at  heather@foodnflixclub.com

Deadline is Wednesday May 30th 2018 6pm EST.  I plan to post round up the next day. 

If you decide to share your post to twitter you can tag me at  @coffinscookies and send me a message to let me know, as well as the group @foodnflixclub

If you decide to share your post to instagram you can tag me at  @ardethblood  and send me a message to let me know. If you do post to instagram, you must include in your caption - short intro, recipe, #FoodnFlix,

If you decide to share your post to facebook you can tag me at  @GhoulNextDoorCanadian   and send me a message to let me know. As well, you can tag Heather or the group as @FoodnFlix

And feel free to join us again next month when we'll be watching The Incredibles  hosted by Simply Inspired Meals. 

Don't forget to hang out with me all month long on facebook, as I'm making my countdown theme all things vampires.