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And what is Monsters of Ohio? Why, it’s my 20th(!) novel.
What’s it about? Well, if the title is to be trusted, it’s about monsters! In Ohio!
How would I describe it? Two words: “Cozy Cronenberg.”
When can you have it? November this year.
I like it. I hope you’ll like it too.
More to come about this. Stay tuned.
— JS
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senmutThey never severed the bond...
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Though I’ve followed Nadia’s Healthy Kitchen on Instagram for years, I’m not entirely certain I’ve ever actually made anything from her before. I am not vegan, gluten-free, or overly worried about sugar being in my baked goods, so I’m not entirely sure why I wanted to make these “healthy,” vegan, gluten-free, no-bake peanut butter and chocolate brownie batter bark bars, but I did! And now I’m here to tell you how difficult they were to make, and if they’re any good.
To start things off, let’s look at the video she posted that I saw:
You know, that didn’t look too hard! Here’s the recipe so you can follow along while we take a look at the ingredients list.
Despite having King Arthur’s measure-for-measure gluten-free flour in my pantry, this recipe did not call for 1-to-1 gluten-free flour, and instead calls for oat flour and ground almonds.
Now, you might notice a typo in the recipe in the measurements section. Nadia mentions ground almonds four times in the post leading up to the written recipe, and once in the instructions portion of the recipe, but makes the mistake of typing “ground oats” right below “oat flour” in the measurements. One of the comments on her recipe actually points this out, as well.
Moving on, I did not have oat flour or ground almonds, but I did have the cocoa powder, maple syrup, peanut butter, coconut oil, dark chocolate, and, of course, salt. So there I found myself in Kroger’s baking aisle buying Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten-Free Oat Flour which is different than their Whole-Grain Oat Flour which is not gluten-free, and their Super-Fine Almond Flour (not their Natural Almond Flour, but that one is also gluten-free). I know the recipe says ground almonds, but I figured since the almond flour is basically just really finely ground almonds it’d be like the same thing, right?
Thankfully, this recipe is measured by weight, so this ended up being a very easy, one bowl recipe in which I just dumped all the ingredients in and measured by weight the entire time (except the 2 tbsp of coconut oil and 2 tbsp of peanut butter that are separate for the ganache). You literally just weigh it out and mix it all together, easy peasy!
After mixing the “dough” together (I don’t know if it’s technically considered a dough. What are the qualifications of a dough?), you just roll it out into a thin rectangle and pour the melted chocolate and peanut butter over top, then freeze it just long enough to solidify it enough to cut into bars.
I was genuinely surprised how quick and easy this recipe was, and it’s honestly not very many ingredients. Obviously the oat flour is something that not everyone just has on hand, but if you are gluten-free then maybe that’s more of a common household ingredient for you and this would actually be super convenient for you to whip up.
Okay, so it wasn’t hard and didn’t take very long, but it did it actually taste good? Well, honestly, I quite liked it! I wouldn’t be so bold as to claim that it tastes exactly like a fresh-baked, full-sugar, non-vegan brownie, but it definitely is rich and chocolatey, with some nice flavor from the peanut butter and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. One thing I really like about them is that it can feel like gluten-free treats are always super dry and crumbly, but these are pretty fudgy and not like crumbly sand.
Honestly they look just like they do in the video, and I’m happy I gave them a whirl. I wouldn’t say they’re life-changing, but if you have a gluten-free person in your life you want to whip up a treat for, these might be a really good option.
Final note, the chocolate ganache gets pretty melty at room temp, so I recommend keeping these bad boys in a container in the fridge.
Do you like using measure-for-measure gluten-free flour for your GF recipes, or do you prefer recipes that have flour alternatives like this one? Do you like the addition of the peanut butter, or do you wish this recipe were also nut-free (then I guess the almonds would be out, too)? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
-AMS
senmutAppo is on a death world, hunting, but maybe he was the prey... and the wrong one at that.
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It’s February, again, and look! The groundhog brought a bunch of books with him! What here would you like to keep with you during the coldest part of the year? Share in the comments!
— JS
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writethisfanficscalziwhatever_feedOne of my favorite sakes of all time is Ozeki’s Hana Awaka Sparkling Flower Sake. At a low 7% ABV and a beautifully light slightly sweet bubbly flavor, it is truly a treat to sip on alongside some sushi. Plus, it comes in a super cute 250ml pink labeled bottle. A perfect serving for one person!
So, this past week, while perusing my local Japanese goods store in the next town over, I looked at their small sake collection and saw Ozeki’s Hana Awaka Sparkling Yuzu sake in the classic 250ml bottle, except this time it was in a yellow label to match the yuzu flavor.
I was honestly really excited to try this flavor since I adore their flower flavor so much, and the yuzu flavor was an even lower alcohol content than the flower so I imagined the flavor being even nicer.
I didn’t really care for this sake! It just tasted too much like lemon Pledge. I was hoping for a light, refreshing, bubbly citrus flavor that wasn’t overwhelming or too artificial, but sadly it was just kind of disappointing and definitely artificial tasting.
It tasted more like a 20% ABV lemon liquor than a 5% sparkling sake. It just was kind of hard to drink, unlike the flower flavor which is very easy, nice sipping. They also have a mixed berry flavor and a peach flavor that I would love to try, but haven’t seen anywhere before. Interestingly enough, the place that I first tried the flower flavor was at Sky Asian at their 9-year anniversary lunch.
Sadly, the yuzu flavor was just not up to par, and I will probably not re-buy it. If I see either of the other two flavors, I will be sure to check them out and let y’all know my thoughts!
Have you tried Ozeki sake before? According to their website, they have plenty of other types of sake besides their sparkling ones. I’d love to try some of their Junmai Daiginjo. How do you feel about sparkling sake? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
-AMS
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A good beside manner makes all the difference in your medical care. So how polite could a robot doctor or AI nurse be? Justin C. Key makes the argument that human connection in medicine is an absolute requirement, and empathy should be all the rage amongst hospital staff. He took this attitude into the creation of his newest novel, The Hospital at the End of the World. Grab you insurance card and come see how connection and community are some of the best medicines.
JUSTIN C. KEY:
It’s hard to keep your humanity in medical training.
It’s a potent thought considering the AI war brewing. We have a process of training doctors that desensitizes, burns-out, and enforces systemic biases. If we’re training people to be robots, why not let the actual robots do it better?
In crafting this book, I set out to make a case for the opposite.
I’m a science fiction author who happened to go to medical school for the same reason I’m drawn to writing: the belief in the inherent value of human connection. I learned early in my medical journey that our healthcare system makes it very difficult to uphold this value. Physicians are overworked, bogged down in red tape, swimming upstream against a for-profit insurance system, and have too many patients and not enough time.
Then there’s the training itself. I didn’t like medical school. I didn’t like the hierarchy. I didn’t like the glorification of battle scars. I didn’t like the environment that pushed my classmate to suicide just months before graduation. Though my alma mater did great work in teaching the art of medicine and the importance of being with your patient, the core culture remained.
It wasn’t until I’d gotten my degree, had some years of autonomous patient care under my belt, and had the chance to process my experiences through my writing that I realized how magical it is to become a healer. No, not in an elitist or ‘holier than thou’ way. But the privilege to build a partnership meant to enhance a human life and, in a lot of cases, save it.
My first novel follows young medical student Pok Morning. There’s the premise you’ll get on the jacket cover and in the pitches and in the interviews—AI vs medicine, who will prevail?!—but as the larger, existential battle rages on, Pok still has to navigate the brutal process of becoming a doctor. How could I strike the balance between my perceived experience and later reflections? I was also asking a deeper, more introspective question: how did I come out of training valuing human connection so much when the process could have very well stripped me of that?
The importance for humanity in medicine isn’t a given. With delivery and mobile apps, we are more and more disconnected from the people with whom we exchange services. And one can’t deny that there are some tasks a cold, calculated machine might be suited for. Even then, usually the best result comes from a pairing with human intuition. I wouldn’t knowingly get on a plane that didn’t have both an experienced pilot and a functional autopilot computer system. Would you?
And then there’s the risks of having a human in the driver’s seat. Computers can’t drink and drive. They can’t be distracted by texting. They can’t forget to check a burn victim’s throat for soot just because a cooler case rolled by in the ER (yes, I literally just rewatched THAT Grey’s Anatomy episode).
And thus winning the war of AI vs medicine is less about showing the flaws of AI (and trust, there are many and if I were an AI I’d make up a fake statistic to prove that point) but rather in making the case for humanity’s value. The most rewarding part of medicine—certainly for me and I suspect a lot of my colleagues who still hold hope—is helping someone by tapping into our own human parts. Empathy. Perspective. Community. This power is separate from outcomes. The task is easiest (and possibly even in AI’s reach) when the treatment worked and the patient improved. But what about when things go wrong? What about delivering bad news? What about being with someone during the hardest part of their life? There’s value in being seen and heard by another human. if a generated likeness said and did everything right, I’d bet that, for the patient, the experience would be as rewarding as watching a robot win the Olympics (in any category).
And yet . . . our healthcare system leaves little space for quality time between physician and patient. Those seeking help are left feeling unheard, underprioritized, and scrambling for alternative solutions. I fear that AI is going to come in and fill in these gaps (ChatGPT therapist, anyone?). Which is a shame because technology is supposed to relieve a physician’s burden and create more time for deeper connection, not eliminate it altogether. That dichotomy fuels the background of this book. Pok learns the ‘hard way’ of doing medicine while discovering its value.
There’s a moment early on in Pok’s medical school career where he doesn’t do as well as he hoped and feels he’s the only one. That everyone else is doing fine while he struggles. It’s a horrible place to be. I know because I’ve been there. But as the author of Pok’s world, I was able to imagine what it would look like to be lifted up from that, to have such disappointment strengthen community, resolve, and humility. The same way no one gets through illness alone, no one becomes a physician in isolation. The experiences that shape do so through the social lens.
Connection begets connection and that’s why it’s essential that medical education doesn’t exist in a bubble. There’s various levels of socialization, from peer to peer (Pok and his classmates), mentee to mentor (Pok and his professors) and, at some point, mentor to mentee (the student becomes the teacher). Like much of life, these interactions can go well or they can be stressful. They can build up or tear down. The types of community one experiences while becoming a physician can very much inform what they will recreate with their own patients.
The type of medicine I created in The Hospital at the End of the World reflects what I strive to achieve as a physician. How did I put it on the page? By combining the essentials from my own experiences with what I hope will change for future generations of student doctors. Pok, and hopefully my readers, are better for it.
The Hospital at the End of the World: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|The Rep Club
linaewen posting in writethisfanficscalziwhatever_feed
Me (peering at the painting on my dentist’s waiting room wall): This painting is new since the last time I was here.
Dentist: Probably.
Me: And done by the star of the Terminator films!
Dentist: What?
Me (points to the signature in the corner of the painting): Linda Hamilton.
Dentist: Dude, shut up.
For the record: Probably indeed not that Linda Hamilton. Probably also not the two Linda Hamiltons I found online who are primarily artists. One of them does “flower art” while the other does more abstract paintings. Her signature doesn’t match this one here. But in my deepest of hearts I will believe that my dentist has a painting of ducks and ponds done by the celebrated actress. Because life is more fun that way.
— JS
senmutTwo mutant ladies... and dinos?
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dw_maintenanceHi all!
I'm doing some minor operational work tonight. It should be transparent, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong. The main thing I'm touching is testing a replacement for Apache2 (our web server software) in one area of the site.
Thank you!
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Part 6 will begin next Wednesday.
Him being a magic lawyer explains very little, in fact!
--
linaewen posting in writethisfanficscalziwhatever_feedTo be clear, I did not expect to find myself in the Epstein Files, inasmuch as I have neither ever met nor have ever communicated with Jeffrey Epstein, nor do I hang out with the sort of people who find themselves on the private planes or islands of known sexual traffickers of children — a fact I’m deeply relieved about, if you want the truth of it.
Nevertheless when I learned that the database of the files is searchable, I put “Scalzi” in it to see what would pop up. I expected — and thus was not surprised by — several references to that name, because a banker with that last name handled some of Trump’s accounts at Deutsche Bank several years ago (no relation, as far as I know). But one of the references is indeed to me: Writer Rachel Sklar referenced me in an article she wrote in 2013, which is in the files for some reason, I assume because someone forwarded it to someone else in an email.
And, look: If one must have the appalling fortune to be in the Epstein Files, a one-sentence reference to an essay one wrote, located within another essay, neither about a topic that has anything to do with the exploitation of children, is almost certainly the best-case scenario. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t look at the reference when it popped up and say “oh, fuck” to myself. What a wild, unsettling and unhappy context in which to find one’s self.
So why mention it at all? One, because when people inevitably come across that reference to me in the files and email me about it, I can point them to this as a way to say “Yup, seen it, what a weird fucking thing that is” without having to type it out every single time. Two, I have enough detractors out there that one or more of them will loudly proclaim to their little pals that I am in the Epstein Files, and then slide past the actual context of being referred to tangentially, rather than being an actual participant in atrocities. Pointing this out before they do gives me “first mover” advantage, and the ability to point out what my appearance is actually about. This won’t stop some of them from misrepresenting my appearance, but that’s because they’re sad little weenies. Here’s the actual file I’m in. You can see it for yourself.
Nevertheless, a declaration:
I trust that will make my position on Epstein and his party pals clear enough.
What a strange and unpleasant time we are living through, nor are we out of it. And once again I have cause to marvel at the weirdness of my own life, that I should show up, even as an aside, as part of one of most horrible political scandals in US history. I would have just as soon sat this one out. But since I can’t, at least I can tell you how I got there.
— JS
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Last week, I was having a serious craving for some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Between the weather and the world, I really felt like a cookie would help improve my morale.
So, I decided to try out Half Baked Harvest’s recipe for what she calls “Really Good Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.” Let’s get right into the process of making them and how they turned out!
Looking at the ingredients list, it’s pretty clear that these are definitely pretty standard cookies made with just everyday household items. Sugar (white and brown), flour, eggs, butter, some vanilla, chocolate, it’s all the usual suspects. Thankfully I didn’t have to go out and buy anything, I could just get right into baking.
The first thing to do was to brown the butter. I was surprised by this step because usually if browning butter is required in a recipe, the food blogger will include such information in the title of the recipe. Like, if I make Binging With Babish’s brown butter chocolate chunk cookies with flaky sea salt, I make a point to mention allll of that.
Anyways, I browned the butter and let it cool off for just a bit while I mixed together the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Normally I use a stand mixer, but the recipe says that all you need is a bowl and a whisk, and really don’t need an electric mixer. I decided to follow in the spirit of the recipe and keep things simple. Simple ingredients, simple equipment.
After adding the butter (which was still melted but not hot so I didn’t cook the eggs), it was finally time to add the dry ingredients. The recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, and pretty much the second I put in the two cups, I could tell that it was too much flour.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I packed the measuring cups too full of flour, resulting in extra unaccounted for flour in the mix. I’ll have you know I am a pro, and I spoon all the flour into the measuring cup, resulting in a nice, loose cup of flour rather than a tightly packed one. So it wasn’t my fault (this time, anyway).
The dough immediately became very dry and crumbly, and wouldn’t hold any type of ball shape. It would crumble apart so easily that the dough wasn’t even retaining any of the chocolate chips, they would just fall out.
I knew there was only one thing to do (besides cry and throw the bowl of cookie dough off a cliff). I was going to have to press all the dough into a 9×13 and make cookie bars.
I wasn’t sure how to adjust the cooking time for that, but I figured the initial temperature of 350 would be okay, so I put them in and basically eyeballed them until they were done, which took less than twenty minutes, I think. Here’s what they looked like:
Honestly, they didn’t look too bad! They were pretty okay right out of the oven, but as they cooled they quickly got harder and harder, until eventually all I had was a pan full of chocolate chip bricks. I can only assume it’s from how dry the dough was due to all the flour, but these were definitely more like biscotti. Certainly no “chewy chocolate chip cookie” in sight.
I was definitely a little disappointed, but at least they tasted pretty good and could be slightly softened in the microwave, then washed down with a nice, cold glass of milk.
Do you like cookie bars? Is chocolate chip your favorite type of cookie? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
-AMS
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Author Veronica G. Henry has come up with a library that truly has all the answers, thanks to its ever-evolving AI. Take a tour through The People’s Library in Henry’s Big Idea, and don’t forget to pay your late fees.
VERONICA G. HENRY:
The first time I realized that the past, present, and future can be contained in one essence was when I discovered the library. For in the absence of a more suitable reality, stories can provide a transformative diversion. In quiet moments, when I reflect on seasons of births and deaths and that middle part we call life, I also think of libraries.
I don’t know the when, but I know the where. It was in my hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. that I first wandered into a library. The details are fuzzy, so I’ll flex a little creative muscle. I was an infant, already curious, definitely precocious. Determined even then to pursue the quest for more. Baby me was swathed tight against the winter cold, nestled protectively in my father’s determined arms. He marched through those painted oak double doors and introduced me to a new world and an obsession that persists to this day.
That’s how I like to remember it, anyway.
Though my career initially steered me towards a decidedly more left-brained path, the love of the written word and fate prevailed. I also became an author, one who alternates drafting my novels between home, the occasional coffee shop and yes, libraries. So it was inevitable that someday, I’d pen a story in the magical setting that planted that literary seed so long ago.
Inspiration struck as it occasionally does for me, in the form of an article. The feature extolled a library in Denmark where you could borrow a person instead of a book. Each had a title: unemployed, refugee, bipolar, etc., and in this mutually beneficial exchange, “readers” learned through conversations that challenge you to confront your own prejudice. Was it true? I didn’t much care. Because there, my friends, was my Big Idea.
The People’s Library was in large part, inspired by that article. If that was the kindling, the technical part of my brain supplied the spark. Though familiar to me, artificial intelligence (AI) was still a relatively new concept for the masses when I began writing. That changed faster than anticipated. Much of what we see today is specialized, task-focused systems that mimic human intelligence. However, its evolution, artificial general intelligence (AGI), is the promise of autonomous learning, thinking, and adapting. Think of AI as a really smart single-focus tool and AGI as analogous to the exponentially more complex functionality of a human mind.
This technology became the backbone of my future library. Only there would be no need to borrow a real person, but instead, an AGI replica of some of history’s most fascinating figures. The virtual personage, or virtus as I call them, were born. There was and still is a part of me that is as intrigued as I am terrified by this idea. I didn’t want to write it. That meant without a shadow of a doubt that I had to write it.
As the core idea solidified, I turned my attention to characters. Was there any doubt that my protagonist would be a librarian? Not for a second. She’d be forced to work in this futuristic library that is in direct opposition to everything she believes in. Echo London, anti-tech synesthete became my curator of The People’s Library. To say that she accepted the role with little grace, is an understatement. I drew inspiration from every librarian I’ve ever met and even Regina Anderson Andrews, the first African American woman to lead a NYPL.
As for the rest of the characters, I had to stop myself from thinking about all the fascinating historical figures I’d welcome the opportunity to chat it up with and focus on those who would best serve the narrative. One of the central questions that Echo wrestles with is human consciousness. What defines it, where it originates, how it exists before it finds its way into a human body. I needed a cast of deep thinkers with specialized skillsets to help her along that journey. So as not to introduce any spoilers, I think it’s best to let you discover the rest of the team organically. They were a ton of fun to research and write.
I’ll close with this food for thought. If you were to visit a future library where you could borrow a living, thinking, seemingly exact replica of a historical figure, would you? And if you did, whose consciousness do you wish you could converse with today?
The People’s Library: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powells|Sistah Sci-fi Signed Copy
scalziwhatever_feed - Monsters of Ohio: Done!senmut - GenPrompt Bingo: Wild Card (Telepathy)scalziwhatever_feed - Trying Out A New Recipe: Nadia’s Healthy Kitchen “Healthy Brownie Batter Bark”senmut - GenPrompt Bingo: A Moment of Clarity/Understandingsenmut - Mail Callscalziwhatever_feed - New Books and Arcs, 2/6/26masterghandalf in das_sporking2 - Embers: Chapter Twenty, Part IIlinaewen in writethisfanfic - WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 6 -- Fridayastra_aurora in das_sporking2 - Letterkenny: S11E6- Degensscalziwhatever_feed - Sake Of The Week: Ozeki Hana Awaka Sparkling Yuzuscalziwhatever_feed - The Big Idea: Justin C. Keylinaewen in writethisfanfic - WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 5 -- Thursdayscalziwhatever_feed - Come With Me If You Want a Paintingsenmut - GenPrompt Bingo: Freestyle Crossovermark in dw_maintenance - Minor operations; testing new serving pathegs_comic_feed - El Goonish Shive - falsekings-101linaewen in writethisfanfic - WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 3 -- Tuesdayscalziwhatever_feed - Today In “Okay, What the Actual F**k”scalziwhatever_feed - Trying Out A New Recipe: Half Baked Harvest’s “Really Good Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies”scalziwhatever_feed - The Big Idea: Veronica G. Henrybranchandroot
