Margi- thanks for the quote from Ben Franklin relating to our discussion of The Light Between Oceans. 
"So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do." Ben Franklin 

Dear book club hosts,
Here is a perfect recipe for a quick and delicious dessert for book club from Food and Wine July 2000.I have been making this ever since. 
 
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Ingredients: Makes 4 6-oz cakes
1 stick of (4oz) unsalted butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Butter and lightly flour 6-oz ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet.
2. In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale.
3. Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unsold. Serve immediately 

I topped with whipped cream and berries. Yum!!!

Make ahead: the batter can be refrigerated for several hours; bring to room temperature before baking.

Wine: Chocolate is intense and bitter for many sweet wines, but not port. Try this dessert with a Ruby Porto, such as the nonvintage Sanderman Founder's Reserve or the no vintage Fonseca Bin No. 27. 

A Chocolate "Accident"
Perhaps no other recipe in recent history has caught on as fast as barely baked, just-out -of-the-oven individual-sized chocolate cakes, which under the slightest pressure from a fork, releases a flow of melted chocolate. Credit for their invention goes to Jean-Georges Vongerichten, chef and co-owner of restaurants around the world, including New York's Jean Georges and Vong. 

How did it happen? In 1987, Pierre Schutz, now the chef at Vong in Manhattan spent time working with Marc Meneau in France and brought back a recipe for an underbaked chocolate cake. Vongerichten recalls, "We started playing with it at Lafayette, where we both worked." At first, the chefs baked the cakes in tiny paper cups; they were moist but not runny because they were so small. "Three months after we started making them, a customer requested them for a party." Vongerichten says, "That's when we first made larger ones and discovered that the insides ran--everyone loved them." 

What an idea!  Alli's Book Bar pairs Books with Booze. They are reading The Light Between Oceans for January, too. The drink paired with The Light Between Oceans is a Dark and Stormy. Alli writes, "I pictured a drink that would go well with sailing ships and the light from the lighthouse signaling the rocky shore."
I  have a bottle of Gosling's Black Seal Rum in the pantry. What do you think, ladies?

Dark and Stormy

• 2 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
• 3 oz. Barrit’s Ginger Beer
• Lime for garnish (optional)

M.L. Stedman is coming to discuss and autograph her book The Light Between Oceans at Rainy Day Books in Kansas City

DATE & TIME:  Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 7:00 PM

LOCATION:  Unity Temple on The Plaza, Sanctuary, 707 W 47th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64112

Jennifer K Blog writes that she was drawn to The Light Between Oceans because of the moral dilemma at the book's core. Read her blog post for the book. Also, check out her favorite books read in 2012.

Kelly's [Former] France Blog reviews The Light Between Oceans. She writes, "This is one of my favorite books of the year. Hands down." One of her favorite lines from the book is found on page 71:
"There are times when the ocean is not the ocean-not blue, not even water, but some violent explosion of energy and danger: ferocity on a scale only gods can summon.  It hurls itself at the island, sending spray right over the top of the lighthouse, biting pieces off the cliff.  And the sound is a roaring of a beast whose anger knows no limits.  Those are the nights the light is needed most."

La Bibliofille had the same issues I had of not giving away too many details when trying to review this book. She found it interesting to read about life on a remote island. I agree, one of the best things about the book is how well the author is able to put you on Janus Rock! Read more from Alice McNamara's blog.

I was an early Stephen King fan but I hadn't read anything by him since The Stand. This 700 page novel's title and cover captured my attention and I am so glad it did. I am loving every surprise along the way. I found this video below at http://112263book.com/. In the video Stephen King talks about how he began this novel in 1973 and why he stopped writing then and why he is glad he waited to write 11/22/63 until now.