2014-2015 - Book 36

"Blood Magic" - Missouri

While interesting, this book was a little dark, and could be taken the wrong way by some people. The main characters are experimenting with blood magic, which involves cutting their fingers or palms to get enough blood to do the spells. In the wrong situation, I could see this being taken as a self-destructive behavior. It isn't portrayed that way, and that isn't the character's motivation, but some of the other characters in the book think that it is. Besides that, the story is pretty good. It's a bit violent though, so it's better suited for older teens.

For my recipes this week, I have almond cookies with blanched almonds, homemade caramels, and some really yummy banana bread.

These almond cookies are just like the ones that you can find at Chinese buffet restaurants. One of my coworkers really likes them, so when I found this awesome book on my library's free book shelf, I knew just what to make :) The book was published in 1962 and has a bunch of interesting Chinese recipes geared toward American kitchens with relatively simple ingredients. I haven't tried any of the other recipes yet, but the cookies turned out just right. I know the size of eggs can be an issue in recipes though, especially those with not much other liquid, like this one. I did have to add an extra egg, but the rest of the recipe was spot on:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup shortening (lard, chicken fat or butter . . . I used butter)
2 eggs, beaten (I used 3)
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbs almond extract
1/4 lb whole almonds blanched

1. Mix dry ingredients
2. Cut shortening into dry ingredients.
3. Add beaten eggs. Stir until well mixed. Add almond extract.
4. Roll out dough. Shape into circles 1 1/2 inches in diameter. (I used a small shot glass as my cookie cutter)
5. Put on a greased baking sheet with an almond in the center of each cookie.
6. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 25 minutes.

I have never blanched almonds before, but it turned out to be very easy, and the 1/4 lb that I measured out worked out perfectly to cover the cookies. I don't remember exactly how many I got, but I want to say it was about 4 dozen. I guess I need to be better about taking notes while I'm baking . . . oops. Anyways, this is the website that I used: How to Blanch Almonds. Basically, you just bring some water to a boil, drop in the almonds for exactly one minute. Put them in a strainer and rinse with cold water. Squeeze the almonds out of their skin, and pat dry . . . how easy is that?

Mmm . . . caramels

As for the caramels, the recipe that I used (Creamy Caramels) was really good and very easy. Much easier than the recipes I've tried in the past. The tip in there about testing your candy thermometer was very helpful to me too . . . that might have been why I had troubles in the past . . . mine was off by 7 degrees. Everyone really raved about the caramels, especially the ones that I dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. Personally, they were a bit too soft for me . . . I like the chewier caramels like Riesens, but these would make a great gift. If anyone knows a foolproof caramel recipe that's chewier, I'd love to try it :)

This banana bread recipe came from the grocery store Hyvee's magazine. They have amazing food photography, and apparently, really good recipes in there. If you live near a Hyvee, see if you can sign up for it. The only part that didn't really work was the banana slices on top. I think if they were more in the middle, they might work, but since they were next to the sides, they kind of stuck to the pan and when I tried to get the bread out, they all peeled off. The bread didn't need them though, it was fantastic without them. Give it a try.

That's all for today. Hope you have a great week.

End of 2014

Well, unfortunately, for the first time, I didn't finish my challenge :( But I did successfully read 35 of the 50 books on the 50 States of YA Literature list, plus a few others for the series books that I just HAD to know what happened. If you've noticed I haven't posted for a little while, it's because I was finishing up the last two books of the "Starcrossed" series by Josephine Angelini. The first book was by far the best, and I was really hoping they would make a movie out of it. By the time I got through the third book though, it was so "out there" that I can see why movie makers shied away from it. Not as great of an ending as I was hoping . . . things got a little too weird for me . . . but I still really enjoyed the series.

Now that it's a new year, I would usually be starting a new challenge, but I do want to finish up the 50 States of YA list. I do kind of have an idea for my 2015 challenge, but it's rather boring and not work blogging about . . . taking care of all of that adult paperwork stuff that no one wants to do but everyone really should. Things such as putting together a will, creating a stellar budget spreadsheet, and figuring out all of our insurance and investment information and getting it all consolidated in one place so we know where to go to look for our information. See, boring but necessary. If you have any tips for me, feel free to share.

One lesson I think I learned this year is that life is too short to spend your time reading books that you are not interested in (unless, of course, it is an assignment and you have no choice). But reading for pleasure is a great pastime, and just trying to read all the books off a list is not always the best way to go. There are so many books out there, I'm sure you'll find something that you are interested in reading :) I've already started a list of books I really want to read, and I want to go through  my multitudes of books and read the ones I haven't read yet too . . . that will be a more fun challenge.

So, there is my summary from 2014 . . . lots of books, lots of recipes, and now on to 2015. My husband has decided that we should try and not eat so many sugar-laden desserts, so hopefully I'll have more healthy recipes. I doubt I'll be able to completely quit making desserts though, so there will still be some now and then. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's holiday season and are well on your way to accomplishing lots of fun new things in 2015.