[REVIEW] Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck

With snow falling down and piling up, I haven't been able to take a leisurely walk down to the local library for a random book selection. Instead, I had to select from an array of delightful titles waiting for me on my overstuffed bookshelves. Since February wins the title of "shortest month" every year, I picked Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck by Dale E. Basye. Having read the first book a couple of years ago, I knew to expect random laughs and puns and twists to keep my mind and heart happy as I raced to the end. Look at this cover, it promises everything I just described:

Despite being intended for youngsters from 9-13, this series of books fills my ancient heart with delight. In this tome, our young heroes struggle to deal with the afterlives they earned with the behavior they exhibited during their brief sojourns on earth. Some of the spirits of historically significant people who populate the realms of Heck are well known to me, but I think younger readers might miss the significance of their inclusion in the pages of this book, let alone their purpose in the terrible bowels of Heck.

A couple of other themes running through the novel actually disturbed the innocent parts of my little brain, but Mr. Basye weaves the disturbing and funny in such a way that I quickly forget to be appalled. Hopefully, I don't give away too much, but I also enjoy the loyalty and love exhibited by one of the character's pets (maybe, two character's pets). You'll figure it out, and then you'll want to get your own evil or not so evil pet.

After finishing the book, the foods most on my mind were fried chicken and popcorn. I don't want to figure out how to combine those two things, so I think we should all whip up some delightful popcorn. Honestly, why not? The popcorn does most of the work.

Of course, I should warn you that this delicious treat may cause addiction and the need for rehab, but you'll probably end up in rehab with me and we can play games and poke each other with foam pitchforks, so how could you go wrong?

S'MORES POPCORN

4-8 cups popcorn, popped (I used 4 cups because I am a chocolate addict with no interest in recovery)
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup miniature marshmallows
2 tablespoons peanut butter or Nutella
3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1. Pour popcorn into large bowl.
2. Melt butter in small saucepan.
3. Add cocoa to melted butter and blend together.
4. Add powdered sugar and milk. Stir until smooth.
5. Add marshmallows and stir.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Add Nutella or peanut butter. Stir until blended.
8. Pour chocolate deliciousness over popcorn and gently mix together. I used two spoons to gently scoop the popcorn around and kept turning the bowl until all the fluffy whiteness  had a consistent coating of brown goo.
9. Add graham crackers and gently mix together.
10. Gently transfer to a baking sheet covered with wax paper.
11. Allow to cool. (If you can, I salute you. I started munching on my batch the second I poured it out, which may explain why it has eyes and a mouth.)

Also, I started the next book in the series and I think the kids in Blimpo would go crazy for this recipe. Enjoy!