AtoZ2020 - T is for Thirst - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Good morning my friends, I hope you are safe and well. Welcome to my blog for another vampire drabble this AtoZChallenge. A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words and I am inspired by vampires this year. Enjoy!

T is for Thirst

Ah, the joys of lockdown; my girlfriend is beginning to look delicious.

Of course, she knows I'm a vampire, but I've never explained exactly how I deal with my condition. She thinks I get transfusions from the family physician. Actually, I go out, find someone malleable but strong, and take a quick drink.

There are plenty of idiots out there breaking the lockdown, but I can't risk it. There's no way I can be infected, but something I touch could bring it into the house.

We may have talk about her becoming a vampire a little earlier than I expected.

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q. It there anything you are craving while in lockdown that you just can't get?

I'm really lucky, we have not run short of anything significant. My only craving is for chocolate, and we have plenty of that.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: T is for Tom

My apologies, I realise I forgot to attach this part to my last couple of days posts.

 AtoZChallenge Master List

Click here to see all the other wonderful bloggers taking part.

Nigella's Garlic & Parmesan Mash in the Instant Pot

💖Looking for today's AtoZChallenge post? Please scroll down to the previous entry.💖

Nigella's Garlic & Parmesan Mash in the Instant Pot

So I tried out Nigella's recipe for garlic and Parmesan mash last night and it is delicious, but since I use my Instant Pot for everything these days, I couldn't resist adapting the recipe for that. Hence, here you go. For those wondering, the recipe comes from her book "At My Table" which is an amazing book, so go check it out.

Makes enough for 6-8 people - but keeps up to a week in the fridge and can easily be reheated.

Ingredients

2 kg (4.4lb) potatoes
8 fat cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
75g (2/3 stick) butter
50g (1/3 cup/ 2oz) Parmesan (grated) or veggie equiv

Optional topping

50g (~5/8 cup) Dried breadcrumbs or panko (since I had no breadcrumbs, I took a crust of brown bread, crumbed it up and dried it out in the oven before using it)
50g (~1/2 stick) butter
35g (1/4cup /1.5oz) Parmesan (grated) or veggie equiv

Instructions

1. Peel and quarter all the potatoes.
2. Bruise the garlic cloves with the back of a knife, but do not remove the skins (they will prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pot).
3. Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
4. Add the bruised garlic and a tsp of salt to the water.
5. Put the potatoes into a steamer basket and then into the Instant Pot.
6. Put on the lid, make sure the knob is to sealing and set for high pressure for between 8-16 min. It will depend on the potatoes - they need to be very tender.
7. Do a quick pressure release after 8 mins and check the potatoes, if they are not done, put the lid back on and do another few mins with QPR. It will come to pressure quickly because it is still hot.
8. Once the potatoes are done, remove the steamer rack and place on the side.
9. Tip the water from the bottom of the pot into a jug and make sure there are no garlic skins still in the pot.
10. Put the butter in the pot and allow to melt (it will be on keep warm, so is perfect for this).
11. Add the potatoes and the garlic cloves (without the skins - they should come away very easily) back in the instant pot. (If using a potato ricer, use it at this stage).
12. Sieve the cooking water over the potatoes in the pot to make sure all garlic skin is removed.
13. Mash the potatoes using your mashing method of choice, unless you have already used something like a ricer. I have one, but can never be bothered to get it out, so I use a regular hand masher. Keep going until it is smooth or at your preferred consistency. After all you are the master of your mash (I have been watching too much Chef John from Foodwishes.com 😂).
14. Add the Parmesan and stir in - now check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
15. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan (390F/350F fan)
16. Butter a 30x25cm (12x10'') baking dish (I used a Pyrex one).
17. Spread the mash into the baking dish using a spatula.
18. Rub together the breadcrumbs, butter and Parmesan (if using the topping) to form a crumble mixture.
19. Sprinkle the crumble over the top of the mash.
20. Pop in the oven for 20-30 mins until piping hot and the topping is toasty.

And what is even better, is the left overs can be made into waffles, which is the next recipe in Nigella's book, BTW. I made them this morning and my husband and I had them with a fried egg each and they were delicious. You'll have to check out her book for that though. 😉

Banner BG Photo by Varun Gaba on Unsplash

AtoZ2020 - S is for Stake - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Welcome to my blog for the letter S. I have always liked this letter because my twin's name begins with it. It's also such a versatile letter. This year I am writing vampire drabbles (100 word stories) every day inspired by a vampire word. What else could I go for with the letter S than stake? Enjoy 💖

S is for Stake

"What the ever-loving f…"

"Oh, those old things, do you like my display?"

Lila stared at her new friend.

"They're stakes," she said.

"I know," Maggie replied with a smile.

"They are one of the few things that can kill us, and you have a wall full of them," Lila pointed out when the other vampire showed not the slightest discomfort.

"Well, yes," Maggie replied, "but they're trophies."

Lila made a confused face.

"Well, I had something of a wild youth," Maggie explained, "and I attracted attention. Each of those is a hunter who came after me. Ah, the memories."

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q. Do you have trophies (I don't mean of things you have killed ;) - more things that make you remember good times)?

I'm not really a trophy kind of person, mostly I prefer things I can use or watch or read. I suppose the wedding cake top we still have after 23 years is a kind of trophy.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: S is for Succubus

AtoZ2020 - R is for Revenge - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Greetings and felicitaions, I hope you are staying safe and well. Welcome to my blog for the letter R. Every day this April I am posting vampire drabbles - short 100 word stories all about the undead. I hope you enjoy them.

It's also podcast day on my other blog Virginia Waytes, so pop in for some naughty fiction too.

R is for Revenge

It burns around me and all I can do is laugh.

They run, terrified of the flames, but there is no escape. Every door is barred, every window sealed and only I hold the key.

They cannot believe this is happening to them.

It has taken me over four hundred years, but finally it is done. They trusted me; thought I was one of them. How blind could they be?

With a bite they took everything I had. Immortality! What is that compared to love? My husband, gone. My children, gone.

Well now they are gone too. Now and forever.

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: R is for Ritual & Episode 3 is live for listening.

AtoZ2020 - Q is for Quiet - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Hello again, and welcome to week 3 of the AtoZChallenge. I hope you are safe and well. This year I am posting vampire drabbles - that is a one hundred word story every day on the theme of vampires. Some are dark, some are funny and some are in between. Enjoy!

Q is for Quiet

"Do you know how long something like this takes to cover up?"

"Of course I do…"

"There is blood everywhere."

"I know…"

"At least you killed them all. You did kill them all, right?"

"Yes, I…"

"Satanic cult, no, that's been done too many times, maybe drug fuelled murder suicide. Do you know what they did for a living?"

"No, they just moved in…"

"Dammit. I'll get someone on that."

"Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Why in hell did you do it?"

"The music…"

"Their taste offended you?"

"No, it was loud."

"Loud?"

"Yes, for thirty-six hours. I just needed quiet."

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q.Have you ever had neighbours who played music too loud or had their TV way up all the time? Did you manage to do anything about it.

I've been lucky, most of my life I've lived in places with nice thick walls.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: Q is for Quickens

 AtoZChallenge Master List

Click here to see all the other wonderful bloggers taking part.

AtoZ2020 - P is for Photophobia - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Hello one and all. Welcome to my blog and the AtoZChallenge. This year I am writing vampire drabbles for each letter of the alphabet, all inspired by vampire related words. Enjoy! Stay safe. 💖

P is for Photophobia

Your eyes flick open and, like a switch flipped, your brain goes from off to on. You hate it. If your heart could beat it would be racing. No time to slowly wake up, no gentle transition.

You sit up, senses alert for danger. The sun is going down, you feel it, it's what woke you, but you can't shake the fear.

There, over by the window. The blackout curtains have moved in the night, just a tiny bit. There is a sliver of light. You scurry in the opposite direction. No one told you it would be this bad.

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q.  Do you have a phobia?

I'm afraid of bones in fish - can't eat it anymore, and I am terrified of spiders, although I am not sure that is phobia level.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: P is for Pippa

 AtoZChallenge Master List

Click here to see all the other wonderful bloggers taking part.

Recipe: Healthier Chocolate Mayo Cake with Healthy Chocolate Frosting

💖If you are looking for today's AtoZ post, please scroll down to the previous post. 💖

Healthier Chocolate Mayo Cake with Healthy Chocolate Frosting

Now, I'm not trying to claim this is a healthy cake - its chocolate and sweet things, but as I have mentioned I am trying to cut out as much processed sugar as possible from my diet, and cut down on the amount of other sugars too, because I was eating way too much junk. This has led me to trying sugar alternatives (not sweeteners - because I hate them and lots of them are terrible for us) like honey and maple, because these have good properties as well as all the calories. 😂 Before you say it, I know, it's still sugar, but it's better than all the processed stuff.

This is a fabulous site for working out how to bake with honey rather than sugar: BeeMaid Honey Converter.

So this recipe is based off of this one: Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, but mine is way smaller and also uses honey and maple for the main cake and has a healthy frosting.

This cake comes out very dark, moist and rich - I would recommend it to dark chocolate lovers. Probably not the best cake for children as is, since they tend to like sweeter things. [Edit - have a chance to test this out - my sister says it is delicious - see the bottom for an alternative, coffee buttercream frosting for those with a sweeter tooth.]

Makes a 7 inch cake - just scale up for more.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 large egg
• 87g 2/3cup plain/all purpose flour
• 23g/ 1/4cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 tsp baking soda
• a smidgen of salt
• 50ml honey
• 37ml maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 73g 1/3 cup mayo (full fat or light)
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in just under 1/2 cup of water (or just water if you don't want you cake so dark)
• 50g extra dark chocolate chips

For the frosting (from here)

• 50g  1/5 cup cocoa powder
• 60g 1/4 cup Greek yoghurt
• 2-3 tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Preheat the over to 160C/320F
2. Butter or spray a 7 inch round cake pan (or quiv) and line the bottom with baking paper.
3. Sieve together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl - set aside.
4. Using a stand mixer with a paddle or a hand mixer, combine the egg, honey, maple and vanilla in a large bowl on high speed for 4-5 mins until they are light in colour and fluffyish in texture.
5. Add the mayo and combine on low speed.
6. Use a spatula to make sure nothing is stuck to the sides of the bowl.
7. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, add the flour mixture and mix slowly, then some of the coffee/water, and repeat until all the ingredients are combined.
8. Fold in the chocolate chips.
9. Pour the mixture into the cake pan and place in the oven. Cook for 25-30 mins until a tooth pick comes out clean.
10. Leave to completely cool on a cake rack.
11. Mix all the ingredients for the frosting in a bowl with a spatula or hand mixer.
12. Use a spatula or spoon to spread the frosting on the cake.
13. Eat!

Now as I said above, this is a very dark recipe. We could only eat a small piece at a time, which was perfect 💖 and it goes really well with a nice coffee or tea. If you like cake less dark, I would suggest a lighter chocolate frosting, or even a vanilla one. The original recipe suggest chocolate ganache, but a butter cream would work too.

Because the frosting is yoghurt based, you will need to keep this cake in the fridge, and believe me, it improves with age too. It can be kept up to a week.

Alternative Frosting
Coffee Buttercream

This is enough to do a 9inch cake or 6 cup cakes.

• 125g (approx 1 stick) butter at room temp
• 250g icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
• a splash of vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp instant coffee
• 0.5 tbsp boiling water

1. In a ramekin or similar, mix the coffee and boiling water and leave aside so it can cool down.
2. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk the butter in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy - this can take up to 5 min.
3. Add the icing sugar slowly and whisk in each batch until combined and the mixture is smooth. Take time to prevent the mixture being grainy.
4. Add the vanilla and coffee and whisk one more time to combine.

BG banner Photo by Taisiia Shestopal on Unsplash

AtoZ2020 - O is for Old - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Welcome one and all to my AtoZChallenge post for the letter O. This year I am writing vampire drabbles. Today I have chosen the word 'old' since it goes so well with vampires. Enjoy! Stay safe.

O is for Old

I discovered the grave when we knocked down the old house. I'm a surveyor and I needed to check the foundations were sure for the planned rebuild. The stone on top was ancient, carved with a language I didn't understand.

I should have walked away.

I didn't.

She was starving. My husband, his father, and brother are all dead, sacrificed to her appetites. Me she chose to keep. A toy for her new life, claimed with single drops of blood.

I bring her victims, one, sometimes two a night. It sickens me, but I am lost, only the blood matters.

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q. What would you do if you found an old grave? Call the archaeologists? Take a quick peek?

I'd call the experts because I've seen far too many horror movies to get involved until someone else has done the opening ;).

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: O is for Oli

AtoZ2020 - N is for Nosferatu - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

So sorry this was not out at the normal time this morning. I managed to edit the post and hit save, not publish, so it was sitting in the drafts, not the scheduled. Hello, and welcome to day 14 of the AtoZ and the letter N. This month I am doing vampire drabbles - that is micro-fiction of exactly 100 words. Enjoy! 💖

N is for Nosferatu

"That was so scary," Lani said, rubbing her arms and shivering as they left the cinema. "How can you be so cheery?"

She knew it had been a bad idea when Taz had suggested the late-night screening of Nosferatu, but Taz was very persuasive. Lani had only seen her new friend at the bar before, but when you were asked out by a gorgeous woman, any sensible girl said yes.

"It was funny, not scary," Taz said.

"Funny? That makeup was horrific," Lani objected.

"Oh, that's not horrific," Taz said, smiling far too wide, all teeth, "this is."

Lani screamed.

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q. Do you have a favourite film that scares you? Or do you avoid such things?

I like a good scare from time to time. My husband and I will put on some Asian horror if we really want a good scare - something like Ju-on.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: N is for Nula

AtoZ2020 - M is for Mesmerism - Vampire Drabbles - #AtoZChallenge

AtoZChallenge 2020 - Vampire Drabbles

Hello, lovely people. First of all I must apologise for not visiting everyone back over the last few days. I have been so busy, but hope to play catch up very soon. And secondly welcome to my blog for vampire drabbles, 100 word stories using a vampire word as the inspiration. I hope you are all safe and well. 💖

M is for Mesmerism

"If you… it's… just a mom… Stop screaming!"

Julia fell silent instantly.

"Now look what you made me do," Hugo said.

The woman's empty eyes stared at him.

"If you had just let me get a word in, you would know I mean no harm, I'm just hungry so I can't put away the vampire bits."

Of course, he knew she wasn't remotely aware anymore. That was the problem with using his powers.  Another potential friend falling at the first hurdle.

"In ten minutes, you'll wake and remember nothing," he said with a sigh, clicking his fingers and walking away.

Thank you so much for visiting - drop your comments and links below - I try and visit back everyone I can.

Q. If you had the power to mesmerise someone and get them to do anything, who would you pick and what would you get them to do.

This year I am also taking part as my alter ego Virginia Waytes - all about the characters and setting for my new paranormal romance podcast and eBooks, Sexy Stories - The Manor. Check out today's post: M is for May