Thanks, Jodie for inviting me to drop by!
I brought along Zoe, the main character in my debut novel, Stirring Up Trouble. You've seen those witches with green skin, warts, and a giant crooked nose? Yeah. They misbehaved.
Warts are one thing, but Zoe never knows how she'll be punished. She could end up with an elephant's trunk, rabbit ears, or Gorilla fur. And yeah. She's made some mistakes in the past.
Then, there are Zoe's normal problems. Her crush on her friend's ex, Jake. Oh, and the revelation that Zoe's dad has started dating Jake's mom. Seriously. The girl has some stuff to handle.
Zoe wants to be a doctor and cure disease. She’s working on potion substitutions because she knows the FDA isn’t going to allow the potions in their current form. Manufacturers can’t exactly list unicorn horn or hairballs (yes, from a cat) as ingredients on medications. Would you chug Nyquil if it had kitten teardrops in it?
Would you eat toad slime if it would cure your cold? What if you never had menstrual cramps again? Or headaches? Or whatever joyous ailment you are lucky enough to have?
No, you might say. Besides toads aren’t slimy. You're right. Most toads aren’t slimy. The scarcity of slimy toads is one of the reasons Zoe is working to find a substitution for the toad slime generally used in potions. In Stirring Up Trouble, the teen witch has a passion for science and for potions.
I’m guessing very few of us would be willing to ingest dead man’s toe. You’re in luck there. In Trouble, the witches have already discovered that fat-free margarine works just as well as dead man’s toe. Zoe doesn’t know who made that discovery, but she cannot imagine working with rotting toes day in and day out. She can barely deal with standing over cauldrons with toad slime or whichever ingredients she’s using for a possible substitute.The way the teen witch approaches potions is similar to the way a good cook massages her recipes. I’m pretty sure that talented cooks have some magic themselves. After all, the last time I cooked, the dog threw up. Seriously. My cooking made the dog sick, and you know what dogs eat. Garbage, socks, and things way grosser than my poor casserole. Fortunately for my family, I generally burn everything I cook.
Zoe kind of "feels" her way through finding the substitutions. She tries different ingredients based on hunches. What about you? If you took that approach, what strange ingredients would you mix into a potion?
How about some of these?
alligator | snake | frog legs | snails |
duck blood | Rocky Mountain Oysters | octopus | Fried Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches |
chitlins | squid | Haggis | turtle |
Surely something on this list should make your stomach turn.
How did I think these up? I didn't. These are real answers from comments the last time I was a guest on a blog. Real things that real people ate.
Some of these are cultural delicacies. Others make sense if you are hungry. And still, I'd rather eat tree bark or grass from my lawn.
What about you guys? Have you eaten any of this stuff? Would you?
Leave a comment and share your bravery and ideas with everyone.
1. What is the grossest thing you’ve eaten?2. If you could brew a potion, what would it do?
3. What three strange ingredients would your potion contain?
I'm giving away three copies of Stirring Up Trouble in the electronic format of your choice.
You can find me at julialexanderauthor.com, on twitter @Juli_Alexander, and on Facebook.
3 ebook copies of Stirring Up Trouble are being given away
Must be 13+
Ends Feb.20th
Enter Here
I am pretty brave when it comes to trying foods. I would actually love to do one of those shows on the Travel channel where they go all over the word trying crazy stuff. I haven't really tried anything too weird. I have had snails, Alligator, Octopus, and Squid. Some one at work gave me what I think he said were some type of animal brain too.
ReplyDeleteThree potion ingredients I would use, would be Chicken brains, goat spit, and rabbit hair. That's random sounding enough.
Amy @ Book Loving Mom
Wow, Amy! You are brave! I think the scariest thing you've done is eat something from a coworker. :) I love the idea of chicken brains b/c they would make the person's own brain power weak and allow the potion to take effect. I also love the goat spit, and rabbit hair. Anything from a rabbit should be lucky, either for the brewer of the potion or the subject.
DeleteThanks for stopping in to comment!
An extremely exciting study
ReplyDeleteSo what would you put in a potion? I always like old man toenails as an example.
DeleteI was thinking not snake, but snake eyes. Let's also add rat tail and a crow feather. That sounds odd enough. My husband has a huge fascination with wanting to try alligator. I think I'm fine without it. I'll stick to chicken.
ReplyDeleteSnake eyes would be perfect. Rat tail and crow feather too. Crow feather seems like it might be some sort of dark magic.
ReplyDeleteI think alligator is pretty easy to find at a Florida restaurant. I'm sure you could order him some. Along with your chicken!
I've eaten Squid. It looked gross but was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteIf I could brew a potion it would give me the ability to read minds. My potion would have to contain chimp brain, fresh snake skin, and dolphin tail.
I'll have to take your word for it being good. I'm sure it is good for you though. I think reading minds would be good. Only the ones you want to read though. I wouldn't want to have to know what everyone is thinking. Chimp brain. Excellent. Snake skin--fresh. Does that mean from a live snake? And dolphin tail. Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI have tried Squid and alligator. They were both good. When I was a kid I tried a piece of dog food and I think that was the nastiest thing I have ever eaten. My daughter who is now 10 ate a moth when she was a little girl. I would put petals from some exotic flower, hair from mountain lion and a tooth of a shark. Dont know what the potion would do yet though.
ReplyDeletePerfection with the petals from some exotic flower. I like the beauty that would add to the potion. Shark tooth could be scary, but good. And hair from a mountain lion is awesome too. Would you have to pluck that hair yourself? Poor daughter. I think we've all swallowed a bug or two. Dog food must be nasty. It sure looks nasty when the dogs vomit it back up!
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