“I took hold of that scourge -filled ship and crushed it between my limbs, hurtling it into the second sun, the red one that gave me strength. But I was too late." Terraformer
Colleen's blog
Fall 2020 YA Scavenger Hunt
September 29, 2020
Are You Ready to Hunt?
The Fall 2020 Scavenger Hunt is here! For those of you who don’t know what YASH stands for, the YA means Young Adult, as in books, S is for Scavenger, and the H is for Hunt! Since fall is the perfect time for hunting, what could be more fun than hunting for books?
“The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.”
Unknown
About Me
I’m Colleen Houck, your hostess for this leg of the hunt. For those of you who don’t know me yet, here are five fun facts…
The only touring I’ve done outside the US is in Brazil.
My goal this year is to learn how to machine quilt.
I prefer pedicures over manicures.
I’ve already dipped several dozen apples in caramel.
My favorite pumpkin goody is a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.
You are currently hunting on TEAM PURPLE.
Looking for my exclusive bonus content? You’ll have to keep searching.
Somewhere on this blog hop, I’ve hidden an exclusive brand new scene from the tiger series! Before you go looking for it, check out the amazing author I’m hosting. But, first, a few rules.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE RULES
DIRECTIONS:
Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on TEAM PURPLE, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!)
Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
On the FALL 2020 YASH hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each participating YA author, but you also get a secret number. Add up the numbers, and enter it for a chance to win a major prize–one lucky winner will receive at least one book from each author on my team in the hunt! But play fast. This contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until noon PST on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4th!
There are THREE contests going on simultaneously as well as a bonus contest and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the PURPLE TEAM but there is also a RED TEAM, & a BLUE TEAM! Check out each team for a chance to win THREE different sets of signed books!
If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I’ll introduce the author I am hosting on the FALL 2020 YASH!
When Amanda was a child, her father traveled frequently for business, always bringing back a book as a present for her. Whether she was getting lost in the pages of a tale about faraway knights, girls with supernatural powers, or kindly giants, she was quickly hooked on stories. Nowadays, Amanda writes books of her own. Her favorite things include Starbucks lattes, lazy summer afternoons at the beach, and stories with characters that make you go “awww.” She lives in New Hampshire with her family and furbaby, Snickers the Poodle.
Old tales, new twists ..hi. The stories you loved as a child have been twisted into wildly addictive tales that will bewitch you as an adult: enchanted castles, spellbinding magic, handsome princes, beautiful princesses, and as many happily-ever-afters as your heart desires. This mesmerizing set includes 21 novel-length retellings of different classic fairytales—all by a collection of best-selling and award-winning authors. And—because everyone deserves a fairy godmother—100% of proceeds benefit Puzzle Peace United, a children’s autism charity!
FALL 2020 Scavenger Hunt Bonus Material
Are you looking for ENCHANTED KINGDOMS Bonus Material? Then you’re in for a treat. Check out what’s being offered up during the Fall 2020 YASH!
Hello Readers! My YASH bonus material is contained on a webpage link found here: YASH Bonus Content Fall 2020 | Amanda Marin Writes. There you will see a video trailer, an image gallery, and find an excerpt posted! Enjoy!
All the Links
There you have it! If like me, you are sucked in already, you can buy the book HERE! Check out more on Amanda’sWebsite, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook page.
Don’t Forget the Secret Number!
How many purple pumpkins do you see in this picture? Add them up and you have your secret number.
Write that number down on your sheet and add it to the rest of the numbers you find on #TeamPurple, then enter to win the Purple Grand Prize, a Book from each author on the Team!
And don’t forget to enter the other two contests for a chance to win even more!
FALL 2020 YASH Bonus Contest
What? A bonus contest, you say? Nah. You guys don’t want a fall 2020 YASH Bonus Contest do you? What was that? You do? Ah, well since you insist, and since this is our final YA Scavenger Hunt, and since 2020 has been a tough year all around. I will definitely be running a bonus contest with freebies galore.
But What Do I Have to Do?
Not too much. This one’s an easy one. I’m giving away a dozen free downloads each of my two novellas, TIGER’S PROMISE & REIGNITED. I’m also giving away FIVE e-book downloads of my brand new book TERRAFORMER. For my long time readers who are comfortable with getting a package (indicate this on the rafflecopter), I’ll be putting together a special prize pack full of bonus mystery goodies. You’ll have to answer a couple of questions to prove you’re a superfan for this one though. Good luck!
Enter the Rafflecopter Below for a Chance to Win!
Superfan Rafflecopter
Are you ready to move on to the next author on the Fall 2020 YA Scavenger Hunt? Up next is CANDACE ROBINSON!
Blasts From the Past
Want to check out some FALL YA Scavenger Hunt Posts from Years Gone By? With twenty seasons under our belts now, we’ve put a lot of miles down memory lane. Feel free to take a journey with us.
New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she's not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.
Fall 2020 is here. That means it’s time to introduce your YA Scavenger Hunt teams! As some of you might already know, this season, sadly, will be our last. Though we might reinstate the hunt at some point in the future, we will be putting it on hold at least for the time being.
That means the time to win these fabulous YA Scavenger Hunt prizes is now! For those of you who have never joined the YA Scavenger Hunt before, it’s not too late. Here’s a sneak peek of the prizes that await.
Fall 2020 YASH Prizes
That’s a total of sixty YA Scavenger Hunt book prizes. Not only can you win a bunch of great new reads but authors will be giving away multiple prizes on their websites during the hunt as well and there will be a $50 Amazon gift card up for grabs too.
Which 2020 Fall YASH team are you the most excited about?
New to the YA Scavenger Hunt?
That’s totally fine. We have a YouTube video that explains the process and we will be checking in on the YASH website during the hunt to answer any and all questions you might have.
Is Your Curiosity Piqued?
Excellent. Now all you have to do is wait for the hunt to start. You can begin hunting on my blog on September 29th, or to make sure you don’t miss out, you can head over to the YA Scavenger Hunt page, scroll down, and sign up for notifications with your email on the right.
What About the Secrets This Season?
This final season of the Scavenger Hunt needs to be special so because of that, I think I’ll write something new as a gift to my readers. It will be a special little scene of something. I don’t know what it will be yet but it will be a fun surprise.
Did You Miss Out on The Last Hunt?
Not to worry. There are links to all the fun launch party events I did around my last publication, TERRAFORMER, which you can check out on this blog post.
New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she's not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.
So I’m one of those people who only JUST got herself an Instapot. Also, I know it’s probably Instant-pot or Instant Pot. Yep, I just checked. It’s Instant Pot. I don’t like it. It should be Instapot. Or Inst-A-Pot. Wouldn’t that be cooler somehow? Am I the only one who thinks it should be rebranded? Well, let me tell you about the lessons I learned using the Instant Pot and the mistakes I made along the way.
Anyway, I digress. I didn’t get the hype. I kinda still don’t. See, I think kinda like Insta should be a word. Why isna it? Huh? “Why did I need to buy an InstaNT Pot?” I asked the ladies at church potlucks. Especially when I already had, count ’em, not one, not two, but three different sizes of crockpots AND a plugin turkey roaster AAAANNND two different sizes of rice cookers? I mean…did I REALLY need to carve out a special new spot on my already burdened shelf for a brand new appliance?
Did George Forman need to make some room? Did I have to learn how to assemble my rarely used food processor parts instead of leaving them scattered along the shelf? Well, the answer was, yes. You see, I’m the type of person who has five old school ice cream machines stored in her pantry just so my family can have a proper ice cream competition come reunion time. Do you think I’m going to let a niggling problem like a lack of shelf space stop me from adding a small kitchen appliance? My husband would like to think so. But, in actuality, no.
So, buy an Instant Pot, I did.
What Did I Cook First?
Probably what everyone cooks first. Soup. Did it turn out well? Eh. My favorite soup of all time is split pea with ham and/or bacon. Preferably both. The meatier the better in my opinion. I used the soup/stew feature and the soup came out…how do I describe it…baby food-ish. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I thought it would be.
What I missed the most was the lack of viewability which made it a bit of a nail-biter for me. I wanted to control the stopping point in the cooking process. The machine was telling me when it was done and there was no stirring of the product which was irritating mentally. I like fussing with things.
The end result was gummy and, like I said, it had the consistency of baby food, which isn’t at all the way I like my pea soup. I prefer it a bit chewy and the peas to be recognizable. Not that baby food can’t be good, I just enjoy more stew-like soup.
Here’s another thing about me. I don’t like experimenting. I like it to work right the first time. Better technology is supposed to make things easier or faster or taste better. This didn’t feel that way at all to me. The time it took to heat up, pressure off, and cook didn’t feel like it was saving me a ton of time. At least not with pea soup. Having said that, I didn’t exactly follow the advice of the many skilled Instant-Pot chefs out there either. I just threw in my normal ingredients, dialed soup, and let it do its thing.
Other Failures
After that was a failed asparagus steaming attempt when I realized that steaming required unpressurized cooking. Who knew? I bought an accessory kit and pondered the possibility of cheesecake but talked myself out of that deciding that I definitely needed to master the basics before attempting a cake of any type.
I was fairly successful with a pot roast and found it did save time. But I was vastly unhappy with the veggies, preferring them roasted in the oven. Next, I proceeded with a pot of chili, and that was OKAY. Finally, I decided it was time to tackle oatmeal and I was going to do it properly this time. I was going to Google it.
The Oats
In preparation, I bought the good kind of oats. The spendy kind. There wasn’t going to be any cheaping out here. If I was going to make an effort, it was going to be the right kind of effort. But at the store I found too many options. Oh Bob’s Red Mill, what have you done? I knew Instant Oatmeal was out. I wanted Steel Cut. But then I saw these Organic Extra Thick Hearty and don’t even talk to me about the Gluten-Free options or Scottish. I bought one of each.
For my first attempt, I followed the advice of the Detoxinista and not because I’m trying to Detox. Her’s was just the first one with lots of stars that popped up. I used the hearty oats for that one, added the salt, the two cups of water to one cup of milk, chopped up two apples, added cinnamon, and behold, I got a delicious batch of oatmeal!
I also had a huge fight with my husband. Why? I’ll tell you. Not because I like to air dirty laundry, but because I learned something from it, both as a person in a relationship and as the owner of an Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Lesson One-Warm Counting Backwards
So the delicious oatmeal I’m describing was done cooking and was in the warm cycle. As described in the recipe, I was waiting for it to depressurize on its own and the machine was counting down or up I suppose, adding minutes. Since I never really read instruction manuals unless I have a problem, I wasn’t entirely sure why it was doing this.
I’d been hoping that the oatmeal would be done for my mom before she headed out to work but it went from thirteen to eighteen. She couldn’t wait any longer and headed out the door. The hubby came in the kitchen, asked what was going on and after I described the oatmeal, proceeded to open the lid.
My next mistake may not have been with the instant pot but it was certainly a relationship error. I panicked and screamed at him, calling him an idiot among other things.
Credit: Clipart.email
Now, in my defense, back in my late teens, I used to work in a grocery store deli that used huge pressure cookers for fried chicken and I have a very vivid memory of an employee forgetting to release the pressure valve and opening the lid. It wasn’t a pretty picture.
Once my hubby was done being offended, I realized the Instant Pot wouldn’t have opened if it was still under pressure. Then I figured out the counting backward thing must have meant it was on a warming cycle and it was done and was now safe to open.
Instant Pot Lesson Two-Focus on the Positives
Here’s the relationship bonus lesson for those of you in a long term relationship. You know the saying that goes something like, “When you date someone, keep your eyes wide open and when you get married, keep your eyes wide shut?” Huh…just looked that up and it appears that its a Benjamin Franklin quote. Who knew?
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.
Benjamin Franklin
Anyway, after my argument with my husband, I was still upset because he wasn’t getting why I was alarmed or that he could have destroyed the house (not really, I was over-reacting). I stomped upstairs, thinking about all the other things he did that bothered me, making a giant list, and using it to tell myself that it meant I must not be a priority for him.
For some reason, I started thinking about rose-colored glasses. The eyes wide open and half shut thing made me think of glasses and perspective. When we date, we see only the good things and the potential of the other person. It’s like looking at them through a pair of rose-colored glasses. Then, when we’ve lived with them a long time, we switch out those rose-colored glasses for say, a yellow-tinted pair, that shows only the faults and weaknesses.
Neither view is an accurate image, but surely, keeping the rose-colored pair in place is the better option. Looking for the good and positive things about your spouse, remembering why you got married, takes effort. It’s easy to see the faults and weaknesses. Who knows those weaknesses and can point them out better than a wife or a husband?
Long story short, I ended up apologizing and told him I freaked out because of the chicken thing. The countdown warmer on the Instant Pot will come up again. Stay tuned.
Instant Pot Lesson Three-Make Sure Your Appliances Are Cleaned Properly
A couple of days later I wanted to try to make oatmeal again but this time with peaches and steel-cut oats. The apple oatmeal was a hit but it didn’t last long so this time I wanted to double the recipe. INSTANT POT MISTAKE ONE.
At least I think that was an instant pot mistake. But let me get back to the pot. After the first oatmeal, I attempted split pea soup again, and once again, it came out a bit too mushy. My mom did the dishes and she has a thing against using the dishwasher.
She hates the oven and cooktop too and LOATHES the drawer microwave. We have a beautiful custom-built, brand new kitchen with state of the art JennAir appliances. I think that’s the problem. She’s scared of them. I can program my oven to cook with my phone. I love my induction cooktop.
But my mom was born in 1950 and she was a housewife in the ’70s. The dishwasher, with no knobs in sight, is a mystery to her. I’ve taught her how to use it many times but she refuses to learn. Her cell phone she tolerates, barely, but the dishwasher, no way. She washes everything by hand, including the Instant Pot pot. As a result, it had a tiny bit of residue left on the bottom.
Now I’m not talking about…this.
Image Credit: Joe Lingeman
There was only a teeny-tiny bit. I would never have used it otherwise and I might actually be over exaggerating it regardless.
It might have had nothing to do with my eventual problem. There were a lot of other potential contributing factors. Still, I ignored it and proceeded to make my oatmeal. That was the real INSTANT POT MISTAKE ONE. I needed to properly clean the pot.
I’m also a big of an organizational freak. It’s much easier people, and this is how I preach it to my hubby, to clean the appliance properly, BEFORE, you put it away, and for heaven’s sake, put it the right place so it can be found again. That includes beaters, Kitchen Aids, Crock pots or giant Turkey Roasters.
Now, most of you are thinking, Colleen, these items are too large to go missing, and you’re right. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found things stacked on top of other things. This is how scratches happen. I’m the type of girl who puts all attachments in zip bags so as not to lose them. I mean, do I have to draw circles and use a label maker? What gives?
If I went to all the trouble to carefully line my pantry shelf in the first place and spent several months drawing plans with measurements for each appliance in the pantry, then I expect a certain level of basic skill in kitchen usage. Otherwise, it’s hands-off. Especially when I can’t locate the beaters.
Mistake Alert-Don’t Double the Recipe
I know I already said it, and doubling the recipe may or may not have been a mistake but I wanted more oatmeal and the pot can hold more so what’s the problem? My guess is all the stuff on the bottom of the pot causes issues. Surely someone else out there has a big family to feed. I don’t. At least not at present. But I like cooking in large quantities to save myself time. Is this a problem for anyone else? Can you cook more oatmeal than the standard? INSTANT POTMISTAKE TWO-Don’t Double. At least not until I know what I’m doing.
Instant Pot Lesson Four-All Knowledge Isn’t Equal-Liquids Aren’t Either
I know all you Instant Pot people are shaking your heads right now. You’re thinking…her husband isn’t the idiot. It’s her! And, you’re right. I didn’t do my Instant Pot research, watch YouTube videos, or read blogs. In fact, I just now learned what Pot-in Pot meant.
What the heck? How did you guys even figure that out? Did you take a class? Who taught you how to do that? Is there an Instant Pot guru out there teaching everyone about glass bowls inside the pots that protect your delicious culinary goods? Is it in the manual I didn’t read? I feel like I missed the season of a show everyone else is talking about around the water cooler.
So here’s what I did. I wanted peaches and cream oatmeal and because of COVID-19 and a hearty food storage backup, I have a ton of powdered milk. So…after adding my oatmeal first (POSSIBLE INSTANT POT MISTAKE THREE), my salt, cinnamon, peaches, and water, I added in enough powdered milk to make the whole thing super creamy, (INSTANT POTMISTAKE FOUR) then stirred it all together, and turned it on.
You guys know what happened next.
BURN!
I didn’t even know this was possible.
Immediately, I googled it and found a helpful blog post at Kristine’s Kitchen. She described the problem and I quickly realized it was likely I’d made one of several mistakes. After canceling the cycle, I stirred the contents, hoping that would do the trick and started it up again.
BURN!
I repeated the process with fingers crossed.
BURN!
Nope. I knew I now had no choice but to abandon all hope. Canceling the cycle a third time, I sent mom to work again with a different breakfast, and proceeded to lift the pot out of the machine, burning my hands and spilling not all but a good enough portion of the hot milk onto myself and the floor just as my husband walked into the kitchen.
He helped me mop it up and then went to get cereal, leaving me to figure out the rest which still wasn’t enough of an effort for me to be happy with since I’d now been busy with the machine for an hour.
After twenty minutes of cleaning the charred pot, draining the milky contents from the peaches and oatmeal, I filled the pot with water and replaced the solids, then restarted the pot. This time, it cycled through.
SUCCESS!
Credit:HiClipart
Instant Pot Lesson Number Five-Just Because You Think You Know Something, Don’t Assume
By this time, my breakfast had been postponed for far too long, so when the clock started counting down like it had a few days before when my hubby cracked the Instant Pot lid, I figured I’d go for it.
The countdown clock only said six but the oatmeal had already partially cooked twice before, so I figured it had absorbed plenty of water by that time. I tried to open the lid. It was locked. That meant it was still under pressure.
Now, nowhere on any of the, okay, two, blogs, I’d read on the subject, did it say that oatmeal pressure was unlike any other pressure. It only said they recommended, that the pressure release naturally so the oatmeal could absorb all the liquid. I had NO IDEA what was going to happen next was even a possibility.
I pushed the valve to release the pressure.
Now I don’t know if any of you were ever as dumb enough to try this as I was. If you were, I don’t need to describe to you the ensuing mess or remind you of how you will never, ever, ever do such a thing again. But, for the rest of you who have never released the pressure on a pot of oats, let me tell you what happens.
Normally, when you release steam pressure, steam comes out. Occasionally, juices of some type also sputter out into the plastic juice catcher cup, but, honestly, I’ve never had to remove that to even clean it, and, as you know from previous paragraphs, I’m a bit fastidious when it comes to cleaning.
With oatmeal, what emerges from the pressure valve can only be described as a relentless, crackling eruption of the most diabolically, gelatinous sputum from hell. It covered the counter, the floor, the cutting board, the toaster, the cupboards, the refrigerator, my hair, shoulders, face, and shirt, the dogs who ran away yelping, and then floated in the air for several seconds before settling on every surface, slicking it with a slimy, shining-wet, deliciously peach-flavored coating.
As I stood there, dripping steaming-hot oatmeal, contemplating the enormity of this fifth and final terrible INSTANT POTMISTAKE, with my husband calmly watching from the kitchen island, still spooning cold cereal into his mouth, there was nothing I could do or say.
New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she's not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.
