All I can Make is Fudge Soup

 I want to make delicious fudge

But all I can make is fudge soup

I love fudge! 

Creamy chocolate peanut butter is my absolute favorite!  I have a recipe that makes it perfect. Not too sweet, not too chocolatey, just the ideal blending of flavors, and so smooth. Maybe you have the same one as I do, it is the recipe from the Hershey's cocoa can, then you add peanut butter with the regular butter.

I am almost 64 years old, so you know I have had this recipe for a very long time. Unfortunately, my success with it is not impressive.  I swear the recipe was created by the devil himself.  It is more touchy than a porcupine in a minefield.  If not for the few times I have created this masterpiece, I would have chucked it and gone on with life.  But, the victories are so delicious!  

Usually, I end up with chocolate peanut butter soup

It tastes ok but somehow a spoon of fudge just doesn't fulfill my cravings.  The cost of ingredients makes tossing it impossible so I have found ways to use this fail besides eating it by the spoonful. As an ice cream topping it is not bad and, if it's really soupy, adding oatmeal turns it into no-bake cookies.  Tasty but not what my tastebuds want.  

Chocolate peanut butter soup is not the only way this fudge defeats me.  I have over-cooked or over-stirred it and created something that resembles freshly turned dirt.

Picture credit: https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/

It is flaky and does not taste good, in my opinion.  I usually end up with soup, but when I create this mess, it does go to the trash.

In all my years of making fudge, my record stands at 4 successes and 100+ failures.  The jealousy in my eyes is evident when a friend boasts about how perfect theirs has turned out.

Do you have a favorite flavor of fudge?  

Can you share your recipe? 

If so, please know my green eyes are looking at you!

Written by Cindy J. Smith

Author of poetry and children's books

https://cindysvoices.blogspot.com/

Why Does Your Cat Smell Your Face?

Interesting facts about cats

Although a cat's sense of smell is not as good as a dogs' but it's far better than a human's. Like dogs, cats use their sense of smell to gather information, including information about us.

When your cat sniffs your face and breath, they're simply memorizing your scent. They recognize your scent and find it comforting. 

But why are they doing it every day or even a few times a day?

Cats rely heavily on their strong sense of smell to give them information about food, prey, and their general surroundings. Sniffing you often tells them a lot about your diet, the cosmetic and personal care products you're using, and your unique skin chemistry. Memorizing your scent also helps them to build trust and familiarity, so let your cat sniff away!

Cats have an organ at the roof of their mouths behind their front teeth called the vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson's organ. When your cat takes a sniff and leaves its mouth open for a few seconds, it's actually drawing air into the mouth and up into the Jacobson's organ.

Also, when your cat makes a strange face when smelling your face, hand or feet, it is because it smelled something interesting and is drawing the scent into the Jacobson's organ to get a better smell.

Posted by Erika M Szabo

Author of epic fantasy, alternate history, sweet romance, romantic suspense, dystopian and cozy mystery novels, short stories, as well as YA and children’s books

https://www.authorerikamszabo.com

Stay True to Yourself

You're unique.

There is nobody else like you!

Bad experiences cannot define who you are

A standalone sweet romance novelette, and also part of the Bedtime stories for Grownups bundle: EBOOK AND PRINT

Elana was born to a homeless, drug addict mother and left on the steps of St. Patrick Cathedral. Moving from one foster home to another, her life was a revolving door of shattered hopes and disappointments.

As soon as she felt an emotional connection to anyone, the foster kid in her quickly pushed the feeling away. The last thing Elana wanted to do was to get close to someone she would probably never see again. The necessary emotional defense served her well throughout her unpredictable life.

Until she met Luca.

Allowing them only a short time of happiness, cruel fate tore them apart. All she had was hope and half of the rosewood heart pendant he carved to hold onto. Will they meet again?

 

Imagination is My Superpower

 Reviews like this make me keep writing!

https://www.audible.com/pd/Bittersweet-Memories-Audiobook/B08KRVKTN1

Reviews like this make me keep writing!

"Think Those Memorable Old-Time Bedtime Stories

We all remember cozying up in our warm comfortable beds and settling while a bedtime story was read to us. The fun of the stories centered on the variety - not just a single book was the same but they all represented a vivid imagination and a memorable tale. Erika M Szabo refers to her imagination as her 'superpower' - I can't think of a better description of her creation of stories that span many different genres yet they all have that touch of magic that resonates with us from those old-time fairy tales. These however are adult tales with adult themes such as rising to find your dreams following loss and suffering and rising up despite hardship and fear. Tim Shafer's narration of this story helped create that comfy bedtime story mood. I will be seeking more opportunities to listen to books by this author." ~Sandy C.

Supernatural

Cozy supernatural stories

Read more: https://www.authorerikamszabo.com/messenger.html

Read more: https://www.authorerikamszabo.com/omen.html

Read more: https://www.authorerikamszabo.com/the-potion.html

 

Don't go there!

 

In case you wanna go there: https://www.authorerikamszabo.com/there.html

Ghost Story

 The Ghost of Prince Akhmose

Click to read a few chapters

A powerful curse cast thousands of years ago by the Grand Vizier. Tanakhmet cursed Prince Akhmose to never enter the Field of Reeds, the heavenly paradise. Why did he want him to linger as a restless ghost among the living, forever?

By reading the hieroglyphs, Layla, a young Egyptologist, inadvertently breaks the curse and frees the ghosts of both Prince Akhmose and the Grand Vizier whose thirst for revenge is stronger than ever.

With Layla’s help, can Prince Akhmose finally cross into the afterlife?

Or perhaps, because of the charms of the mortal woman, he doesn’t want to…

https://books2read.com/u/49lpXM

Fiction Books

 Fiction books by Erika M Szabo

“I followed my dream to become a writer. As an artist, I paint pretty pictures with my brushes, and as a writer, I paint vivid pictures with my words.”

Click below to read about the books

When The Raven Calls, Listen!

 A cozy supernatural thriller

Lauren has everything she’d ever wished for. Great career, financial security, loving husband, and devoted friends.

When her Raven spirit guide warns her of impending danger, she takes the omen seriously, but she doesn’t have enough time to perform the protection spell her grandmother taught her. Someone breaks into her office and after the brutal attack and the Raven’s repeated warnings, she knows her life is still in danger.

Who wants her dead and why?

Click to read a few chapters

My Shorts

 Novellas, novelettes, short stories

Read short snippets from my books, perhaps one or two will catch your attention.

Happy reading!

Family Tradition

 A Halloween story by

Erika M Szabo

“Sara, go put on your sparkly shoes while I talk to your grandma,” Mandy shooed her little fairy out of the kitchen and turned to her mother. “Mom, I have three this year. The first one is a bad man who lives at 21 Mayberry Street. He’s been beating his wife and daughter in his drunken rages for months and the poor woman is afraid to leave him because he threatened to kill her and the little girl if she ever leaves.

“Got it,” the old lady nodded with a serious expression on her wrinkled face.

Mandy continued, “The next one is the shifty lawyer at 13 Viola Street. She twists and turns the law and uses dirty tricks to defend her clients. A rich child molester is free because of her. They both deserve punishment. The man lives at 52 Madison Street in the big mansion.”

“Indeed, they do,” her mother exclaimed and put on a wild smile as she heard Sara running down the stairs. Are you ready, pumpkin?”

“Let’s go, Grandma,” Sarah grabbed the old lady’s hand and pulled her toward the front door. “We don’t want to miss the best candy!”

The next day as the woman opened the front door at 21 Mayberry street, she wondered where her no-good husband could be. She covered her bruised face and winced in pain. He didn’t come home last night. She thought feeling worried. Probably he drank too much and sleeping it off somewhere. I hope he’ll be sober by the time he gets home; he doesn’t get too angry with me when he’s sober.

She picked up the newspaper and as she straightened up, she spotted a large, rotten pumpkin on the bottom step. “This one is rotten already,” she mumbled, picked up the heavy pumpkin and threw it in the compost box in the back.

A weak but angry voice shouted from the pumpkin, “Put me down, you stupid woman! It’s me, don’t you see? I’m gonna kill you, I will!”

But the woman didn’t hear the voice and as the pumpkin hit the pile of rotting vegetables in the box, it exploded into hundreds of little pieces. She filed a missing person’s report two days later, but she and her daughter didn’t miss him, at all. Deep down she hoped that he would never be found.

The lawyer who lived at 13 Viola Street had a court case the next day. She had everything prepared to confuse the jurors, but the first words came out her mouth was, “My client is guilty as hell.”
She stood there feeling horrified as everyone in the courtroom cheered. From that moment on, the woman couldn’t ever tell a lie. She lost all her clients, and nobody would hire her again.
The pervert at 52 Madison Street had an awful Halloween night. He kept hearing the mother’s cries in his mind. The words she shouted at him when the not guilty verdict was announced, cut into his brain over and over. You deserve to rot in hell for what you did! You deserve to rot in hell for what you did!

 He heard the same words in his mind, day, and night, for days. “I can’t take this anymore!” he finally snapped and went to the police station to confess.

He got a long sentence but didn’t find peace. Even the hardest criminals hate child molesters, so his comfortable, rich life turned into a living hell in prison.
***
A few days later Mandy’s mom stopped for a short visit. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Mom, everything is as it should be,” Mandy said, smiling.

“You know, I’m getting too old for trick or treating. It’s time for you to continue the family’s Hallows Eve Magic tradition,” the old lady announced handing her wand to her daughter. “Next year you go with Sara, and I’ll stay home to hand out the candy.” 

Read more

The Ancestor's Secrets

New revised edition on Amazon

An alternative history fantasy series

Ilona resigns to live the simple life of a small-town doctor, but her life goes into a tailspin on her birthday. She finds out she was born into a secretive, ancient clan still hidden among us. She starts to develop unusual powers which she finds exciting as well as frightening.