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Recipe - Parsley's Apple Bread

4/28/2022

Parsley's Apple Bread
(Makes between 8 to 10 mini-loafs or one 9x5" loaf)

Ingredients:

1 Cup of avocado oil (with a few extra drops to coat the pans)
1/4 Cup of granulated sugar
1/2 Cup of brown sugar
2 Cups of apples (peeled, grated, or chopped in a food processor)
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 Tsp of cardamom
1/2 Tsp of ginger
1-1/2 Cups of all purpose flour
1 Cup of oatmeal
2 Tsp of baking powder
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1 Tsp of vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Coat the pans (I used mini-loaf pans) with some oil or a 9x5 inch loaf pan (lightly oil the bottom and sides of pans).

Peel and process the apples. Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, brown sugar, vanilla and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Continue whisking vigorously until lighter in color and has thickened. Whisking with one hand and slowly with the other hand, pour a slow steady stream of the avocado oil into the egg mixture until all combined.

Add the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, flour, oatmeal and baking powder to the egg mixture, then fold in the chopped apples.

Transfer the mixture to the mini-loaf pans or the one larger pan. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The mini-loaves took about 40-50 minutes... the larger loaf can take up to 60-70 minutes.

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The Nyte Shades ..Where Are They Now???

4/26/2022

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Both the Dowager and Baron could not believe what they had just read. Nyte Shades! And they are what gave the power to Dragons! After a long silence when they finished reading the story, Griselda turned to Awena and asked "Do you know where the Nyte Shades went or are they still here?"

"No, I don't know. As far as I have found, nobody even knows what they looked like for sure," answered the Sleeping Sister. "There are no sketches in any of the scrolls and no descriptions. For the power of the magic they had, we can only assume that they could probably also change shapes and may be with us still."

"It is hard to believe. Another magical being gave magic to the Dragons... and I never knew... even when I received my dragon tattoo as being a member of the Dragon clan," mumbled Griselda. "They never told us," she continued to tell Awena. "The Dragons never even mentioned Nyte Shades and who would have thought to ask!"

Realizing that this discovery was upsetting the Dowager, Awena steered her to one of the seats in the library and asked an acolyte to bring them some tea and biscuits.

Soon they were sipping tea and slowly Griselda was beginning to come to terms with this discovery. "I felt betrayed by them not telling us, but now that I think more about it," she told the Sister, "I guess that it was never my place to know. It's just hard to fathom that Dragons were at one time just another being in the Realms and not the powerful creatures they became..."

After a long pause, and when Griselda did not continue, Awena decided it was best to tell her old friend of her concerns. "Griselda, I believe that the finding of the tablet by the Borrowers and your discovery of this book were meant to be. Somehow they are tied together and you are going to be a major player in the game." What the Sleeping Sister did not say but was in her thoughts was, "and I hope you have the strength for it."

As the Baron was still staring at the book and trying to turn the pages but it would not let him, a gleam was slowing starting to come to his eyes. Neither Awena or Griselda noticed as they were deep in conversation about the Nyte Shades. "A new adventure unlike any I have ever had before - to solve this mystery of the Nyte Shades," he realized. "I will need to figure out a way to have mom stay at the mansion. Also Fiddlefaddle will need to start packing again as soon as when he returns and upon us getting back home. I'll need to find someone to babysit my creatures!"

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Fiddlefaddle's Mission...

4/19/2022

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Before the Dowager Griselda and the Baron left the Baron's Mansion, Fiddlefaddle, the Baron's faithful BAT man, was given a mission. "I know mom thinks that the Sleeping Sisters may have an answer to the tablet, but I am not expecting too much. But Mom is so insistent, I want you to be working another angle while I am gone," the Baron told Fiddlefaddle. "Keep this as quiet as you can, but I want you to check out a few of our old friends to see what they may know about the tablet, but most especially more on where to locate the Borrowers. Try to be back before we return."

As Fiddlefaddle started to leave the room, the Baron remembered how exciting it was to head out on an adventure. He called out to his BAT man with a sparkle in his eyes. "If either of us find out where to locate them, you and I will be heading out on the road once again just like old times!"

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Nyte Shades... Discover the Tale

4/12/2022

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"Nyte Shades? I haven't heard of them before. What do they have to do with Dragons?" asked Griselda looking at Awena. The Baron was just as perplexed and shook his head in amazement at what he was hearing.

"Let me see if I can explain better," answered Awena but before anyone could say another word, the book the Baron was holding started to glow brighter and tried to pull from his hands.

Startled as a jolt of lighting went through his arm, he dropped the book to the floor and jumped back. The book acted like it had heard the question, opened and flipped through several pages, finally stopping partway through the book.

"Be careful son," warned the Dowager when they realized that the book was finished moving and not going to close, the Baron started to pick it up from the floor. He slowly placed it on a reading table near the bookshelf it had come from keeping his hands from the front of the book incase it decided to close like teeth chomping together.

Awena stepped up to the book and saw the page it had opened to, smiled and then stepped back, motioning for the others to read the page. "I think there is your answer."

If you would like to read the story with Griselda and the Baron...
click here or on the book below.

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Nyte Shade... What's a Nyte Shade???

4/5/2022

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"Did you bring the book with you?" asked Awena after listening to the Baron and the Dowager.

They had just finished telling her about their adventure getting the book and all that they knew about the tablet the Borrower had found too.

"No, I am sorry," answered Griselda. "It was too heavy to carry all of this way and we decided it was best to see you as soon as possible."

"It is no matter. From your description we probably have a copy of it here in our library," smiled Awena.

Neither of her guest knew about the long years Awena, as a novice, had spent reading the scrolls and tablets in the library of the Sleeping Sisters. Plus few even knew about the Sister's library or how enormous it was. The Sleeping Sisters' home looked small from the outside, but the tree they lived in had very far reaching roots, much like an iceberg, with only a small portion seen above as most being below the surface.

"Come, I will take you to the library." Rising smoothly from the cushion, Awena and the Dowager started towards the door.

"Hummm... Don't worry about me," grumbled under his breath the Baron as he struggled to rise from the floor. He wasn't going to let two "old ladies" beat him to the door.

Soon they stood before an ornately decorated entranceway with no door. "Aren't you worried about someone getting in here with all of these books and scrolls," asked the Baron thinking about how even Atian had a lock on his door. Awena just smiled and said that "they are well protected". What that meant, the Baron did not know, but after thinking about the power the Sisters had, decided it was probably better if he didn't.

Awena lead them through many rooms and passageways filled with books, scrolls, tablets, bottles, crystals, and mirrors. There was one mirror that several other Sisters were staring into and when the Baron stopped to see what they were looking at, he realized that he did not see himself in the mirror but a bridge spanning a mountain gorge with several trolls pointing at him... quickly he hurried on to catch up with his mother and Awena.

Finally the Sister stopped in front of a large bookshelf and asked the Dowager if anything looked familiar. "We try to copy everything exactly the same from other books to include the cover and binding," she explained. "Anything look familiar?"

Slowly Griselda pulled back a portion of her sleeve, revealing her dragon tattoo and started to approach the bookshelves. All at once, a book started to glow! "It looks like we found it," the Baron grinned as he pulled the book from the shelf.

As the Baron turned to the others he realized that Awena was no longer smiling. Catching his mother's eye, he gestured toward the Sister and then Griselda saw it too. "Is there something wrong?" she asked her friend. "What is it?"

Finally Awena answered. "How did you open the book? It has a magical enchantment on it and you should never have been able to open it." It was then Awena saw Griselda's tattoo and that it was glowing. "Of course, you are of the Dragon Clan! That explains much. So then you must know about the Nyte Shades?"

Griselda glanced at her son who just shook his head negatively and shrugged his shoulders before turning her attention back to the Sleeping Sister.

"What are Nyte Shades and what connection do they have to the Dragons?"

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My Brambles

Recipe - Parsley's Apple Bread

The Nyte Shades ..Where Are They Now???

Fiddlefaddle's Mission...

Nyte Shades... Discover the Tale

Nyte Shade... What's a Nyte Shade???

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