Vampires & Sweet Potato Bundt Cake

Around here, you often see people selling things from the back of their truck, like firewood, or more recently, yams. My sister-in-law got a bag of yams for $3. They’re huge and dense, not at all like the sweet potatoes at the grocery store (that seem watery). She didn’t want a whole bag so I inherited a few and made Sweet Potato Bundt Cake, from the orange Bon Appetit cookbook.

It tastes very much like a spice cake but the sweet potato/yam gives it a dense moistness. The frosting is what makes the cake, it’s a caramel with butter, whipping cream, brown sugar and powdered sugar, but mysteriously the combination of ingredients adds up to taste like the glaze on a maple donut, even though there’s no maple in it. Anyway, the flavor is very appropriate for the Thanksgiving season.

I take back what I wrote about "Twilight" recently. I do still think the writing isn’t as mature as "The Host," but I’m hooked now. I’ve got the audiobooks playing all the time…I’m behind on reading magazines because I can’t read and listen and comprehend both at the same time. But the audiobooks really help combat the drudgery of things like doing dishes, I get so absorbed into the story that those kinds of mundane chores are over before I know it. I’m up to "Breaking Dawn," and was excited to read that the movie studio now has the options for the second, third and fourth books. The one I’m most looking forward to is "New Moon," I’m rooting for Jacob. I just watched "Spoilers" on MTV and got to see who some of the actors are, plus a clip from the movie. At first I wasn’t too sure about Robert Pattinson, but I think that’s because all I’d seen of him on the internet was photos of him, as opposed to him transformed, made up and dressed in character, for the movie. The actors portraying Bella and Emmett are perfect. However, I wish "Alice" was a smaller person, as is emphasized so much in the books. Next week on the Reelz channel, there is a ton of coverage, in addition to the regular promos the actors are doing for shows like Ellen and Today.

I don’t know why I like vampires so much. I was an avid Anne Rice fan but found some of her books too intense (as far as the history of the characters went). Stephenie Meyer’s books are kind of at the opposite end of the spectrum, I wish they had a bit more substance, but I like that they don’t emphasize the horror/gore aspect of vampires. What would be perfect is something in between the two authors.

Next week will also be busy for Barry Manilow, whose Greatest Songs of the 80’s is coming out on the 25th. He’ll be on the Tonight Show on Monday (11/17), as well as QVC on Thursday.