Brandy Slush - Joyce

Joyce brought a refreshing drink for all of us!  It was the perfect treat on a hot, summer's night!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
10 cups boiling water
4 (2g) tea bags
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 (16 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (16 ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
3 cups brandy
1 (2 liter) bottle sprite/7up

Directions:
1.  Boil the water and brew tea bags until dark, but not overly dark because that will make it bitter.
2.  Remove from heat.
3.  Add sugar, orange juice concentrate and lemon juice concentrate to tea.  Stir until completely thawed.
4.  Add brandy and stir.
5.  Pour mixture into freezeable containers.
6.  Freeze overnight, but after about 4-5 hours stir the partly frozen mixture to make sure the brandy doesn't settle to the bottom.
7.  When completely frozen, scoop into glass and pour the lemon lime soda over it.
8.  Stick a straw into it and ENJOY!!!  We sure did!!!!

Plum Spooky Discussion

Carl!!!!

Book:  Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
Meeting Place:  Kathy's home
Ratings:
Michaelene - 2
Kim - 3.5
Tracy - 2.75
Joyce - 3.5
Sherry - 2
Barbara - 1
Melissa - 2
Kathy - 3
Average Rating:  2.47

Discussion:  Barbara opened up the discussion claiming the author was a horrible writer and she did not like the book.  She felt the story was unbelievable.  Melissa agreed, and added "it was a complete waste of time".  She also hope Carl would never return after he was missing in action.  Although we all agreed the book was a "light read", we had a variety of opinions.  Joyce and Kim enjoyed the book and appreciated the humor.   We all laughed about the ridiculous fire-farter!  And we also chuckled about Lula, the plus-sized African American!  

Melissa's "monkey shirt"

Special thanks to Kathy for hosting the meeting at her home, and providing a fabulous spread.  And we can't forget Joyce, who served the refreshing Brandy Slushes!

BCDP:  Always the themer, Kathy was very clever in choosing the BCDP winner.  We all chose a food item that was eaten in the book (there was even a peanut butter and olive sandwich, which Barbara and Melissa shared).  Kathy picked the name of one of the treats, and whoever had that treat, won the BCDP.  The winner was Joyce!  She won MONKEY bread and a gift card.  As a bonus, Barbara won Carl....the stuffed monkey purchased at a thrift shop....

Happy 70th Birthday Barbara!

Recommendation:  Because we had a wide variety of ratings, some recommended the book, others did not.  Read the description and see if its of interest to you.  Proceed from there!!!!

Side note:  We celebrated Barbara's 70th birthday with Sherry's banana bread and singing!  Her birthday was in May, but unfortunately she had an out-of-town emergency and missed the meeting.  Better late than never!