Michelle's corner

You might ask what the hecks wrong with me; managing to review two books in as many days, after months of nothing. Well, part of that is down to Prison Ramen being structured in an easy, bite-sized way.

These short stories are, for the most part, each an important life lesson and an eye opener as to how cheap life can really be in some of the American prisons. One of the two-pagers is a section from a film script, but mostly these are real accounts. Some are snippets of the joy that people manage to find in the most adverse situations (the makeshift birthday cake was inventive) but a lot of them are melancholy and one particularly made my heart hang heavy.

Not a book to be read if you want escapism (deliberate pun there) or entertainment, but some real thoughts that... you never know... might stop someone from doing something stupid someday... because some of these pages are heartbreaking.

I leave you with one of the recipes which is worth keeping in your arsenal... The Belushi... useful also for diabetics on a serious sugar crash, and similar is taught to us in First Aid.

Lifesaving Coffee

 

Once at the L.A.County jail, I saw a man lying on the floor, shivering and sweating like crazy. You could tell he was a big-time addict by looking at his arms. Another inmate brought him this special drink - the Belushi. About 30 minutes later, after finishing it, he was calm and composed enough to walk over and thank the man.

 

I asked the lifesaving coffee maker why he called it a Belushi. He explained that John Belushi was a great comedian who died of a drug overdose. I guess having a sanity-saving, sugar filled coffee drink named after you isn't a bad way to be remembered. It's loaded with sugar and helps with the symptoms of heroine detoxing.

 

*) 1 Tablespoon instant coffee granules

*) 1 tablespoon sugar

*) 3 tablespoons French vanilla creamer

*) 1 cup boiling water

*) 1/2 full-size (52 gram) or 1 miniature Milky Way bar

 

Place coffee in large mug. Add the sugar and creamer. Add the water and stir well. Then add the Milky Way and drink immediately while the candy bar melts.