The Green Frugal

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Back in the days of my youth–the ancient days of the 1990s–I made a great discovery. Ah yes, I remember it fondly, it was a few days after I had seen David Fincher’s Fight Club and I was wandering around the book store at my local mall. I scrutinized the science fiction section and found nothing to read. I checked the comic section and found nothing to read. I looked in the literature section and found Brad Pitt and Edward Norton staring at me from the cover of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. So I bought it and read it. And then I realized that I should always read novels after I’ve seen their movie adaptation.

I liked reading Fight Club after watching the movie adaptations because it didn’t ruin any expectations. I knew the book would be better. Palahniuk’s poetic prose was better than anything the movie had to offer. The characters were richer and darker. The themes of anti-consumerism and isolation are more focused. The book is just better. Except for the ending; I like the movie’s ending.

I tested my theory with other books and it continued to work just as well. I stumbled across Richard Hooker’s MASH. I love Richard Altman’s movie so I gave the novel a try. Once again, I loved the novel. And I never felt any frustration that the movie isn’t a direct copy of the book.

So there’s my advice. Watch a movie then read the novel. It seems counter intuitive until you realize that a copy is rarely as good as the original. Hopefully, this idea can eliminate some frustration in the future.

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Last year I attempted Thanksgiving Dinner on my own for the first time.  This experience, while a learning one, is one I will not repeat this year. I’ll leave that up to the experts, or at least those not as culinary-ily challenged.  Despite my turkey debacle (not all of the innards made it out before the bird went into the oven), thankfully the pumpkin pie did turn out. After subjecting my sweet friends to an interesting array of somewhat recognizable Thanksgiving favorites, at they least had dessert to look forward to. This year, that’s about all that I am going to attempt.  Instead of the traditional pumpkin pie, I thought it might be fun to do something different.

When pumpkin pie just won’t cut it, try something out of the ordinary for Thanksgiving dessert! Here are a few fun and yummy recipes:

Cranberry Velvet Pie

Prep Time: 4 1/2 hours
Cook Time: Ready in 12 hours
Serves: 6-8 (one 9 1/2-inch pie)

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 25-35 minutes
Serves: 6-8. Yields a 9in. cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 15 servings

Pilgrim Pies

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Serves: Yields 10-14 Pilgrim Pies

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Serves:  12 servings

Pumpkin Crunch Parfait

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: no cooking required
Serves: 6 servings

Thanksgiving Fall Pie

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45-50 minutes
Serves: 10-12 servings

I hope everyone has a tasty Thanksgiving! Enjoy your time with friends and family…and let me know how your desserts turn out!

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Recently, I had the opportunity to interview with the Music Maven on Blog Talk Radio, Musician Edition.  We had a great discussion about the history of Cash4Books.net, what kinds of books we buy, and also a little about our Book Arrival Alert system that we have on MKZbooks.com.  Also referenced in the interview is our fundraising blog post. The interview is 30 minutes.  You can listen by clicking below:

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And, here is what the Music Maven (Deborah) has about the interview: Attention Independent Artists! You have no idea what’s lining your bookshelves . Tune in to learn how to sell books to raise the funds for advertising, web hosting, marketing, posters or whatever you or your band needs to buy. I’ll be interviewing Jim Smith, Founder and CEO of MKZbooks.com and Cash4Books.net. Jim is going to share how you can raise cash through the sale of books!

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Participate in The 1st Annual Cash4Books “Decorate-A-Box Contest” & Win Awesome Prizes!!

We would like to announce the First Annual Cash4Books Decorate-A-Box Contest!  Now until December 20th you have a chance to win seriously awesome prizes by simply decorating the outside of your box of books!   Why?  Because we love being entertained, and rumor has it that customers love getting free stuff!  It’s super easy to participate! 1)      Sell your books on www.Cash4Books.net. 2)      Go absolutely crazy decorating your box* and ship your books for free! 3)      Once your box of books arrives at our facility, we will take a photograph and post it to our Facebook page for all to vote on! First Place Winner: $50 Gift Certificate to Best Buy Second and Third Place Winners: $25 Gift Certificate to Best Buy  So bust out some craft supplies and get to work have some fun!!   Introduction to Decorate-A-Box:  Keeping it 2D  1)  Read the “Hairy Details” section (below) and swear an oath that you will abide by the USPS Guidelines.   2)  Clear your kitchen table and equip your tool belt with an assortment of markers, a protractor, and that coveted holiday dinosaur stencil set. 3) Unsheathe your (USPS approved) art supplies and create the dinosaur Christmas scene of your dreams…  …or whatever strikes your fancy.  We know you can do better than that!  And remember, you could be the lucky winner of a Best Buy Gift Certificate.  Ready. Set. DECORATE!  Click here to view the complete USPS Guidelines.  *The Hairy Details:  We couldn’t think of a reason to lay down any ground rules – heck, we would love to receive a paper mache’ box resembling a 7 foot giraffe – but for the sanity of the USPS Postal Workers and the safety of your artistic creation, please take note of the guidelines below: Do not use the following materials on the outside of the box: Wrapping Paper String Masking Tape Cellophane TapeDon’t despair, there are still plenty of ways you can Decorate-A-Box!  Here are a few extremely inappropriate suggestions to kick-start your inner decorator: Create a Grinch inspired diorama of Who-Ville inside your box. Cushion your books by filling your shipment with two dozen double chocolate muffins (each individually wrapped for convenient consumption of course). One word.  Glitter.  We want to encourage you to be as creative as possible, but first and foremost, package your books in a way that ensures they will reach our facility unscathed!  Still stumped?  View a couple Decorate-A-Box examples.

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Editor’s Note: Posted to The Green Frugal by Tom on behalf of Chad

Greetings Green Frugal readers!  My name is Chad, and not only am I a weekend Shipping Associate for MKZbooks/Cash4books, but I’m also the author of a forthcoming book of horror poems called The Vampire Bridegroom.  Now that Halloween is long over (and if you’re like me), you might still have a few leftover pumpkins rotting with green fuzz on the front porch, a diminishing bowl of candy that needs to be dropped off in the break room at work, and a few pesky vampires still hanging around that need to be staked and burnt up.  As the resident vampire expert here at MKZbooks, I thought I would offer a couple of environmentally friendly ways to dispose of those bloodsucking fiends without mucking things up for Mother Nature.

First off, you want to wear a heavy garlic necklace (think a Hawaiian lei of garlic cloves).  This stuff is like Kryptonite for vampires, so you’ll find them much weaker and more pliable if you come prepared.  But here’s the key: your garlic must be organic.  I recommend a local farmer’s market.  Believe me, vampires know the difference.

Next, you have to stake your vampires through the heart.  I know a lot of salesmen will tell you that you have to use brand-name vampire-killing hardware with a toxic chemical varnish.  Folks, I’m here to tell you that’s a bunch of hooey; a wooden stake is a wooden stake after all.  You can re-use a table leg with a slight modification for a sharp tip.

Most importantly, when it’s time to burn up your staked vampire, instead of polluting the atmosphere with a wasteful funeral pyre (remember: you’re not supposed to burn up those raked leaves, either), use what Mother Nature gave us for quick, effective vampire immolation: the sun!  Solar radiation will burn up a vampire lickety-split with almost zero carbon output.

I hope that gives you a few (extra-green) ideas for dealing with those lingering Halloween guests who can’t take a hint that now it’s Thanksgiving’s turn.

A final note: for all of you vampire fans out there, remember to send your vampire novels to Cash4books.net for some quick cash.  We love all kinds of vampire books here: vampire romances, vampire histories, vampire encyclopedias, and even vampire D.I.Y. guides, but please remember not to send us any books you read while actually drinking blood–those little dribbles make resale impossible!