2014 - Book 39c

"Boundless" - Final book in "Unearthly" series

Sigh. This book did not end the way I wanted it to. That's not to say that it wasn't a good book . . . it was, but when you have the typical love triangle story, someone has to lose. I really liked that this book made me think about angels a lot more than I typically do, and the author's take on heaven and hell was really interesting too. I think about half of you would feel the way I did about the ending, and the rest would be completely opposed, because both options were pretty good . . . not too often you find so many respectable characters in books these days :) So, I don't want to say more, because I don't want to spoil anything, but I was thoroughly entertained and captivated by this series, so I would recommend it. Now I wish there was a movie version I could watch :)

Okay, another blog with lots of recipes to throw at you. First of all, I created a recipe to enter the Sargento "Chopped" challenge. The semi-final winners got to go to New York and cook their recipe for Chopped judges, and the winner won $10,000, so I figured it was worth it to enter. The entry process was a huge headache though, because even trying different computers and different browsers, I could NOT get my entry submitted, and the little entry deadline countdown clock was looming at the top of the screen. Finally, I got really desperate and e-mailed all of my information to one of my very kind friends and he was able to submit the entry via his smart phone. So it was submitted, but I wasn't chosen . . . not really surprising since there were so many entries. Oh well, we got a really tasty dinner out of it anyways. I made roasted red pepper and spinach stuffed chicken with a side salad with roasted red pepper vinaigrette, a cheesy Alfredo sauce (not pictured) and Italian cheese crisps (cheese crisp directions).

Another success was my "Duo of Silks" pie. It was inspired by an amazing pie I had at a local diner, and I managed to recreate my own by putting half of two different recipes into store bought Oreo crusts (Peanut Butter Silk Pie & French Silk Pie). I tried my hand at making stabilized whipped cream too, but that was not so much of a success. I had lots of gelatin lumps in it, so I just ended up putting it through the strainer and having unstabilized whipped cream, which worked out just fine. One pie turned out beautifully, complete with fancy decorations, but of course, I forgot to take a picture of that one. But I decorated the other one in honor of "Pi Day" (March 14th aka 3-14) with a lovely chocolate chip "Pi" :) Both tasted equally good.

This "One Pan Veggie Fajita Pasta" was also good . . . very spicy, but very tasty. It would be even better with some grilled chicken in it. It did seem a little strange to have Mexican flavors with pasta, but I think it worked.

The Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole however was not such a success. It was rather bland, and even after the 45 minute bake, the rice was still a bit crunchy. If you were cooking for picky eaters, and let it bake a little longer, this recipe might be a good option, but it was not a keeper for me.

And finally, Bruschetta Chicken Bake. This was just okay. I liked most of it, but I really didn't like the flavor of the tomatoes in it, for some odd reason. I won't be making this again either.

Whew, okay, I think that's all for this post. I'm slowly but surely getting caught up on my posts and recipes. Thank you for bearing with these marathon posts . . . I hope you are getting some good ideas for new recipes to try, or at least are feeling inspired to find some good summer reads :) Hope you have a great week.