2014 - Book 22

"Shattered Souls" - Texas

This was a really interesting book, and I liked it quite a bit. It seemed kind of weird at first, but I was quickly sucked in. It's a story about a girl who is hearing voices and thinks she's going crazy. It all starts to make sense when she meets a boy who tells her that she is a "Speaker", a reincarnated soul who can speak to the "Hindered", souls whose bodies have died but have some unfinished task preventing them from going to heaven or hell. This boy, Alden, is her "Protector", and they supposedly work for a secret organization in charge of helping the Hindered, eliminating the "Malevolent" (evil souls), and keeping all of this secret from humans. There are a lot more details to it, but it is an interesting look at how she deals with discovering all of this and what path she will choose to spend the rest of her life on. To top all this off, she also can't remember any of the past lives that she's spent with Alden, so that complicates everything. At any rate, I rather liked this story, and I was sad when it was over. Hopefully I'll have lots more books like that in the near future :)

The recipes I have to share today are watermelon cake, grilled cranberry chicken, and Snickers peanut butter brownie ice cream cake (yes, all of those wonderful things were combined into one dessert).

The watermelon cake was the surprise cake I made for my husband's birthday. He loves fruit . . . I mean really loves fruit, way more than cake, so this was right up his alley. The whipped coconut milk was a bit messy to work with, but the real mistake was following the directions and slicing the cake before frosting. I didn't do the best job of making it a perfect cylinder, so the pieces kept falling over. Combine that with frosting that doesn't stick too well and you have one big mess on your hands. I managed to make it look okay for the presentation, but it was definitely not my best work. Next time (and I think there will be a next time, because he loved it so much he requested it for his birthday cake every year) I will not slice the cake beforehand, and I'll try to do a better job of making the sides flat. I might try cool whip or a different type of frosting too. I did read one review who left it in the fridge over night on a piece of paper towel to let it dry out a bit so the frosting would stay on better . . . that might be another tip to try. All in all though, he loved it and it tasted good, so it was a success :)

The grilled cranberry chicken was also fantastic, but I forgot to take pictures of it. I don't like jellied cranberry sauce, so I just made fresh cranberry sauce using the very simple directions on the cranberry bag. I doubled the recipe and didn't bother reboiling it before serving (the sauce wasn't applied to the chicken until it was safely cooked, so there was no fear of contamination). It's just a really good combination of sweet and savory and spicy . . .  yum. We've made this recipe multiple times now, and it's been tasty every time, give it a try.

I don't think a dessert can look too much more appetizing than this crazy pile of sweetness. It was indeed just as good as the name implied it would be, and it was pretty easy to make too. However, I've been trying to wean myself off of liking the taste of overly processed foods and candy, so all of the candy, syrup, cool whip, and boxed brownie mix wasn't quite to my liking. It was pretty impressive though, it tasted good, and everyone liked it, so I'd say it was a winner, even though I probably won't be making it again.

Now that I've been posting multiple recipes every week, has anyone actually tried any of them? I know one of my awesome aunts tried the steel cut oats and loved them, so if you do try one of the recipes I've posted, leave me a comment and let me know how you liked it :)

That's all for this week . . . talk to you again soon.

2014 - Book 21

"I Am Number Four" - Ohio

I'm generally not very fond of alien stories, they tend to give me the creeps, but I was rather intrigued by this one. A peaceful race was brutally destroyed by another, evil, alien race for their natural resources. The only hope for survival of the peaceful (Loric) race was the nine little children with special powers that they managed to send to Earth before their planet was destroyed. This book series (yep, another series) follows one of those nine children, who is now a teenager, and his guardian as they try to blend in on Earth and not arouse the notice of the evil aliens who have followed them there and relentlessly hunt for them. To be sure, the evil aliens are really creepy, but I found the main characters very likable, any bad language or smut was kept to a bare minimum, and it was an interesting new culture to explore. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good book . . . strange, but good.



Here are the recipes I have to share this week: kale and tatsoi with truffle oil, crock pot pesto ranch chicken thighs, and Neapolitan Rice Krispies.

The kale and tatsoi idea came from my desperation to find a use for those two ingredients that came in my weekly produce box. I had never heard of tatsoi before (it is a cousin of bok choy) and didn't really know what to do with it. I love truffle oil, so I got some cherry tomatoes and gave this recipe a try. It wasn't phenomenal, but it was a very tasty way to use up those greens, and I think I'd try it again.

Next is the pesto ranch chicken thighs. This was also a bit of a desperation recipe trial because I really needed a few easy meals for the week and had no time to prepare them. This wasn't my favorite way to eat chicken thighs because they were kind of mushy and fall-off-the-bone, but they were still tasty. I think they might have been better if I had used the Hidden Valley ranch packet. I didn't have that and just used some ranch seasoning that I had and so the ranch flavor didn't come through as much as I was hoping that it would. Still a very easy weekday meal though.

Nutella Krispies on the top,
Cocoa Krispies on the bottom

Also slightly disappointed with the rice krispies . . . I guess this must have been the week of good, but slightly disappointing recipes; they just didn't quite make it to the level I was hoping for. The colors weren't vibrant enough and the flavors were a little muted (check out the recipe link to see the recipe author's beautiful rendition of them, frosted and made into a "cake"). I tried grinding up the freeze-dried strawberries a little more in my second batch and that improved flavor and color, but I think there needs to be more of them. After all, I went to all of the trouble of visiting multiple grocery stores just to find them, I would have liked to have used more than a couple tablespoons :) The Nutella version and the Cocoa Krispie version were both good . . . I didn't have a real preference between the two. They were well received at both workplace potlucks that they went to, but no one fawned over them like my pinata cake ;)

I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of July . . . see you next week.

2014 - Book 20

"Hex Hall" - Georgia

So, I was going to break my cycle of high school supernatural books, but I just watched the "Vampire Academy" movie, so I had to keep it going. This book was pretty much on par for most of the rest of the genre, and I enjoyed it. More interesting ideas about angels, demons, vampires, etc. abounded, and it had a pretty good plot line too. Again, it's another series that I will probably not finish, but I still enjoyed reading it. The basic plot is that a girl with pretty poor (uncontrolled) witch powers gets sent to a reform school for young witches, faeries, etc. because she showed her powers to humans. She has to juggle fitting in at the new school with trying to learn to use her powers and making friends with her new roommate, a vampire. There are some shady things going on at the school though and she finds herself in a very dangerous place. I don't want to get too much into the plot spoilers, but it was kind of a fun read. I'll try to pick a different type of genre for my next book though so I don't bore you too much :)

As for my recipes to share this week, I have crock pot BBQ ribs and s'more blossom cookies.

The crock pot ribs turned out just okay. Nothing too special to speak of. It was an easy recipe, but I don't think I'll use it again. The cookies however were fantastic. I used Biscoff spread instead of cookie butter and it was magical. Eating one of these just a few minutes after taking them out of the oven was the closest thing to having a s'more inside the house that I've ever had. I love s'mores, so this was definitely a good find. Seriously, go find some Biscoff spread or cookie butter and make these . . . you won't regret it (unless you're one of those weirdos who doesn't like marshmallows or s'mores).  ;)

Mmm . . . s'mores

I hope you all have a good week (full of s'more blossom cookies).

2014 - Book 19

"A Beautiful Dark" - Colorado

This was actually a really interesting book. I liked the characters and I thought the story was really original. Some of the plot twists were a little predictable, but it was still good. It's a story about a teenage girl who begins to have strange powers on her 17th birthday, and it coincides with the arrival of two strange new boys in town. When she gets to know them (and struggles with deciding which one she wants to date) she finds out more about herself, her past, and who is really in control of the universe. I don't want to give any spoilers, but it will make you look at angels in a new light. Really interesting story, I thought. I don't think I'm hooked enough to read the sequel, but it was a good book to read on a summer day :)

Here are a few recipes, two good and one bad, to share with you: marinated chicken, cheesy baked rice, and slow cooker steel cut oatmeal.

This marinade was really good, especially because it's easy to mix and match with whatever spices you like and have available. The first time we made it, I think it was better, but it was still good and easy both times. I just used it to marinade the chicken before we cooked it, I didn't do the freezing step, but I'm sure that would help enhance the flavors.

The next recipe was the cheesy baked rice. I don't know if it was because I used brown rice instead of white, but I even cooked it much longer and it was still crunchy and not done. It was also WAY too salty. So here's my warning . . . do NOT try this recipe. I figure it's good to share some failures and warn you off recipes from time to time as well as promoting most of the awesome recipes that I get to try.

And finally, slow cooker steel cut oatmeal. I thought I had shared this before, but I think I forgot. It is a super easy recipe and it SO good. It's my new favorite go-to oatmeal method. It has just the right amount of sweetness and creaminess . . . yum. I can make a full batch and eat it for breakfast for two weeks. Or make it for company with a variety of toppings = awesome breakfast oatmeal bar. I like to put cinnamon, nuts, milk, and some sort of fruit on mine . . . such a yummy breakfast. Give this one a try.

That's it for today, have a great week :)

2014 - Book 18

"Deadline" - Idaho

This book was interesting and thought-provoking. It's the story about a high school senior who gets diagnosed with a fatal blood disease (the book doesn't go into specifics) and is told he only has one year to live. He chooses to forgo treatment in order to live his last year looking healthy on the outside at least, and he keeps his diagnosis from those closest to him. I can't say that I agree with all of his theology (he often has dream conversations with "Hey-Soos"), but to read of the passion in which he tries to live his last year and the lessons that he learns, is a pretty good experience. It is a good reminder to always tell the truth, try and have a purpose for your life, love the ones closest to you as well as you can, remember that you're not the only one with big secrets, and to give the other guy a break as often as possible. So it wasn't my favorite book I've read this year, but I did enjoy it.

Here are the two tasty treats that I have to share with you this week: pinata cake, and deep, dark, flourless chocolate cookies.

First off, I have to say that both of these were fantastic. The pinata cake was a huge hit at our taco pot-luck at work. No one wanted to cut into him because he was SO cute :) It was very time-consuming to make, and a lot of the reviews on the recipe were bad, but I put mine in the freezer overnight in the two sections, and just assembled it right before eating, and it was fine (no falling apart problems). It wasn't a huge surprise, but in the taste department, it just tasted like a boxed cake and canned frosting, but it was so cute, I didn't even care :)

CUTE :)

As for the cookies . . . YUM. It's an interesting recipe because it's made without butter or flour . . . a bit strange for a cookie, but they turned out great. I used about 2/3 bittersweet and 1/3 semi-sweet chocolate. This was initially because I didn't have enough bittersweet, but I'm glad I did because I think they were "dark" enough, just the way they were. They were super easy to make too, and soooo tasty.

Mmmmm

Go try out these recipes (the cookies at the very least), and have a great week.

2014 - Book 17

"If I Stay" - Oregon

This story was heartbreaking. A young girl, so full of promise, is involved in a tragic car accident. She then has an out-of-body experience where she can move around and witness what is going on around her, even though her body is in a coma. A couple of the nurses taking care of her tell her that is up to her to decide if she fights through and stays on this earth, or if she dies. I can't say that I agree with all of the religious or moral views of some of the characters in this book, but that didn't make me enjoy it any less. I thought the book was very well written and I was really able to connect with the characters. Also, as a budding cello player, I really liked the fact that she was fantastic at the cello . . . it makes me want to play more. Her love interest was good, the author kept it very PG-13, and everyone was described so well, it really made it seem like the reader could be part of the family too.

It seems this is getting turned into a movie, and a sequel is coming out as well. I don't think a movie will be able to do it justice, since so much is going on inside her head, but it might be interesting to see. As for the sequel, the first chapter was included at the end of this book, and I'm not looking forward to it too much (I'm a sucker happy endings and I'm not sure this one will be), but I am curious to see where the author takes the characters. Even though this is going to be a series, it is a good stand alone book, and you just try to keep from getting emotionally involved ;)

The recipes I have to share today are: pecan pralines and chicken nacho bake.

The pralines were not my favorite, but I might not have made them right. I guess I wanted them to be more chewy and caramel-like, but they weren't. They still had a good flavor, but since they aren't a very appealing color, they weren't a very big hit at the gathering I took them to either. They did take a bit longer to make and by the time I was finishing putting them on the parchment paper, they had cooled off and the oil had started to separate out of them resulting in very ugly pralines. Overall, the taste and time was just not worth it for me to make them again, oh well.

The chicken nacho bake on the other hand was very good and super easy to make. This is one recipe that could easily be made any night of the week. Easy and tasty . . . an excellent combinations.

Enjoy your week :)

2014 - Book 16

"The Raven Boys" - Virginia

This was a rather intriguing book. It was difficult to get into at first because there were a lot of characters introduced at once, and they all have really odd names, which made if hard for me to put a mental face to each person. Finally about halfway through the book I had most people figured out, but then as I neared the end, it seemed to me that there were far too many things that weren't resolved yet. Go figure, this is another in a series of books. I think there are supposed to be four books, but only the first two are out yet. They should not be allowed to put series books on this 50 States of YA list, because then I have to read way more than 50 books in order to truly get the whole story. I would be interested in reading the rest of this series, just to find out what happens, but I don't absolutely have to, I don't think.

I have some weird premonition that I'll write a book someday and work really hard at it and then some young person with hardly any literary training will just tear it apart (kind of like I've been doing to most of the books on this list) . . . we'll see if I eventually get a taste of my own medicine. So, if there are any authors out there reading this, I apologize for being so harsh on so many of these books, but I'm just trying to tell my opinions about the books, and I understand that lots of people like lots of different things. That being said, this book, besides being difficult to dive into, was lacking a little bit. Some of the character development was really shallow, and it was clearly written to be a series, which I think is kind of a cheap money-making scheme. If the book you write is so excellent it deserves continuation, so be it, but if you write a rather lengthy book (408 pages) just to foreshadow for the rest of your books, I feel a little taken in. There were quite a few plot elements introduced in this book that didn't have any sort of purpose or conclusion . . . yet. I'm assuming they will come up and be resolved further along in the series, but I did leave some questions at the end. Oh well . . . it really was a rather interesting story, kind of a paranormal / magical teen thriller about psychics and magical forces with a good bit of history mixed in too, so if that's your cup of tea, then maybe this series is for you. I did like the story better than the previous book I read by this author "Shiver", the first book I read this year. So all-in-all, I'd give this one a pretty medium rating . . . definitely not the best book I've read, but not nearly the worst either.

Here are a few recipes to share too: orange cardamom bunnies (here is another link to a site with pictures) and sauteed chicken breasts with balsamic vinegar pan sauce.

Bunnies :)

I made the bunny rolls to take to my family's Easter gathering. The rolls were actually very tasty, most dense and bready than pastry-like, but still good. The dough cutting directions were a little confusing, so really read through the whole thing before you start cutting it. Also, the 4 large bunnies are huge . . . I think making 20 smaller bunnies would be a better idea.

Glazed . . . yum

As for the chicken dish, it was VERY vinegary. It smelled a lot stronger than it tasted, but it was still too strong. Also, I've never made polenta before, and I don't think it turned out very well. The polenta in the recipe's picture looks kind of soft and creamy, and mine was more solid and grainy . . . not so good. That might have been my fault for being an inexperienced polenta-maker, but I think the recommendation to serve it over orzo would have been much tastier. So, I won't be making that dish again, but if you really like balsamic vinegar, than maybe you should give it a try.

That's all for now, have a great week :)

2014 - Book 15

"Devilish" - Rhode Island

This book was different from a lot of the other ones that I've read. The story wasn't as gripping as something like "Divergent", but it was interesting. Not many people write about demons and selling souls to the Devil nowadays. It was a bit chilling, but still intriguing. I didn't like how cupcakes became a tool of demons, though ;) On a serious note, since I believe that demons are real, it was kind of scary to think of how they might be operating in our world today. Hopefully the next book I read will be a bit more lighthearted.

I have a few recipes to share today, pepperoni pizza lasagna rolls, strawberries and cream cheesecake, and bird's nest cookies.

These were all actually pretty good. The pepperoni pizza lasagna rolls were pretty easy and very tasty. I don't even like lasagna that much. The only thing they were missing was a stronger pepperoni flavor, so I think chopping some up and putting them in the sauce would be a good idea.

This cheesecake was way better than my first attempt at cheesecake (Oreo Cheesecake). This one was very creamy and the baked strawberries added a really nice flavor. I had to bake it a little longer than the recipe called for (I waited until the center was at about 150 F). Give this recipe a try, you won't regret it :)

The final recipe, bird's nest cookies, turned out a bit drier than I was expecting, but were actually pretty good . . . similar to a shortbread cookie. I found the speckled peanut butter M&Ms and they looked cute in their little nests. A good spring cookie :)

Enjoy your week :)

2014 - Book 14

"The Queen of Kentucky" - Kentucky

Yup, you guessed it . . . "The Queen of Kentucky" is, in fact, set in Kentucky ;) This book was actually pretty descent. If you've seen the movie "Mean Girls", the story line is very similar, but I found this one more enjoyable and the characters much more endearing. The book chronicles the drama of being the new girl in school and starting Freshman year wanting more than anything to fit in. There is a lot of the usual teen problems, but also some bigger ones, and quite a few quirky characters so I think almost everyone will find someone in this book that they can relate too. Is it my favorite book? No, but it was a good story and I'd recommend it, especially for younger teen girls who are nervous about high school and trying to fit in.

My recipes to share this week are both sweet ones, chocolate chip cookie in a cup, and homemade pound cake.

The chocolate chip cookie in a cup was just okay. I wouldn't make it again, but I was really desperate for a chocolate chip cookie, so I tried it. It did taste more like cake than a cookie, and the recipe says that might be because I cooked it too long, but honestly, it did not look done any sooner than when I took it out. So, it was a sugar fix, but it wasn't very good.

This was the "before baking" picture. I didn't bother taking an "after" picture because it just wasn't that good. 

My second recipe was much better. I got this really fun book from some friends as a house-warming present: "Cupcakes, Cookies, and Pie, Oh My". Since we were going over to their house for dinner, I decided I should make a dessert out of the book. Most of the recipes include a lot of store-bought ingredients, and this was no exception, but I figured I could make it a little more homemade by making the pound cake myself. It turned out pretty well and stood up to all of the craziness I put it though (with much help from my husband who did all of the painstaking marshmallow work). The cake got a little hard on the outside, but that didn't really detract from the flavor at all. Let's be honest though, this isn't really about the cake . . . it's about the SHEEP :)

I only made 4 instead of 7 . . . that was plenty. 

Isn't he ADORABLE??? Quite filling too . . . at least two servings, if you can bear to eat him at all

I also whipped up some cream and put it on top of the leftover cake with some strawberries for dessert another night . . . yum.

Whew, that's a lot of dessert :) Hope you all have a great week.

2014 - Book 13

"Pretty Little Liars" - Pennsylvania

When I think of Pennsylvania, I generally think of Amish people, so I was not expecting the Pennsylvania book to be about spoiled rich girls who would probably fit in better in southern California or a big east coast city. Anyways, I'm sorry if you like this book, but to me, this book is poison. You know that song, "That girl is poison"? Yeah, these girls fit into that category. They are all lying about some big, bad thing in their past and they all have new skeletons in their closets too (homosexuality, bulimia, shoplifting, drug and alcohol abuse, kissing her sister's boyfriend, almost sleeping with her English teacher, etc.). It's just all drama and lies and nothing good at all. If you want to read a good book about a group of high school girls, I highly recommend the "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" series. They go through lots of real troubles too, but they rely on each other and the book just oozes friendship and love and sticking together . . . the antithesis of this icky book. I know it is wildly popular and even has a hit TV series based on it, but I would not recommend it to anyone.

Now, for something nicer:

First up are these are fruity Jell-O roll ups. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, but I made them in orange, and they were a big hit. I don't really like Jell-O, but they were pretty good. Make sure you check the size of your Jell-O, because I used a small 3 oz. box, so therefore I needed two. They were easy to make and I think kids would love them.

My other treat was this sweet & salty pretzel tart. Again, I didn't get a picture of it, but mine didn't look as pretty as the recipe anyways because I didn't dot the peanut butter around enough so it kind of took over the top. It still tasted good, but was not my favorite dessert. It sounded fantastic, but the flavor was a little one-dimensional for my tastes. Oh well, it was good to try. If you do make it, please ignore the stupid directions how to make the crust. I don't know if my way would improve it any, since I always try to follow a recipe exactly the first time I make it so I can do an accurate review, but the way she suggests to make the crust is super time consuming and really didn't work for me. I would just mix it all together and then press it straight into the pan, none of this chilling and then trying to roll it out . . . it did not work. I think just pressing it into the pan and then chilling it would work much better. Hopefully, I'll have better things to share in my next post!

2014 - Book 12

"Divergent" - Illinois

Yes, another winner :) I know this book series is really popular right now, and I can see why . . . it's very interesting. I don't want to give too much away for those who are going to see the movie, or haven't read the book yet, but it's another dystopian society with a pretty awesome heroine, the next "Hunger Games", I guess you could say. I liked the premise of this society better than the "Hunger Games" though. There are essentially five factions with strict rules which you must abide by until you are 16. Then you take an aptitude test to help you see where your true strengths lie, and you are finally asked to choose which faction you will exist in for the rest of your life. They all have different values (knowledge, bravery, selflessness, honesty, or kindness) and operate in very different ways. This book focuses mainly on the Abnegation (selflessness) and Dauntless (bravery) factions and the rising tensions between all of them. I know there are more books in this series, and I might read them, but honestly, getting to know the society and the characters is my favorite part, so reading the rest right now is not my #1 priority. Besides, I have lots of other books on my 50 States of YA list to read yet :)

My one negative about this book is that it was pretty violent and could be scary for the younger audience (there is a lot of discussion of various fears and the author is very good at making it seem so life-life). Other than that though, I have no complaints.

Another thing I liked is that it is set in Chicago-future. I've been to Chicago quite a few times, so I thought it was really interesting to read about the possible futures of places that I know now. Have any of you read this book? What did you think? How was the movie? I would like to see it, but I might be too scared ;)

I also have a few recipes to share this week: lasagna skillet pot pie, and "Death by Chocolate" cake.

The lasagna skillet pot pie was very good, and very easy. Make sure that you get the cinnamon evenly distributed throughout the dish. It adds an interesting flavor, but it's not very good if you get it in large doses. I would recommend this for a fast weeknight meal though.

The "Death by Chocolate" cake was mostly my own invention. I promised to make a friend a cake and he only said that he liked chocolate, so I kind of ran with that and made if full of all kinds of chocolaty goodness that I love. I used this chocolate cake recipe, and the used two of the three cakes to sandwich about a quart of Zanzibar Chocolate Ice Cream (made by Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, quite possibly the best chocolate ice cream in the world). I topped it with chocolate ganache and mini chocolate chips. I just made up my own ganache instead of using the ganache in the recipe. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished cake (it wasn't as pretty as I would have liked because the ganache didn't completely cover the sides), but I did use the remaining cake and more ice cream to make a mini version that was quite interesting. It was really good though . . . I highly recommend it :)

Assembling the large cake

The mini half cake

Yum!

That's all for now . . . have a great week :)

2014 - Book 11

Vermont - Jip His Story

Ah, this book was refreshing. It was wholesome, with good morals, and I really liked it. Considering I like Katherine Paterson as an author, and this book won the Scott O'Dell award and I like his books too, I had a feeling I would like this one . . . and I did :)

This is a story of a very hard-working young boy who is of unknown ancestry and grows up practically running the town's poor farm. He is a simple kid who knows how to love people and take good care of animals. I think he is a great role model for any young adults reading the book and it was also a good historical fiction read as well. I would recommend it to teachers and parents alike.

For my recipes to share this week, I have two treats that I liked just as much as this book :)

The first are these absolutely adorable bears in the bubble bath. They were pretty easy to make and would be a really great treat to let the kids help you make. Since they were mostly pre-made ingredients, I wasn't expecting much in the taste department, but they were actually really tasty too . . . give them a try :)

Aww . . . bathtub bears :) 

The other recipe I tried were these M&M bars. They tasted exactly like the giant M&M cookies that my mom would get me when we would go to the mall together . . . a little reminicence from my childhood :) I doubled the recipe and only used about one and a half 12 oz. bags of M&Ms instead of two. So good.

I saved some M&Ms to make these for you when you come visit, Mom :)

Give these lovely recipes a try and let me know what you think :) Have a great week!

2014 - Book 10

North Dakota - The Beet Fields

Alright, maybe I was against it from the start, but I didn't like this book. The author is Gary Paulsen, and albeit stereotypically, I tend to think of his books are more or less "boy books". Granted, "The Hatchet" was a good read, but not the type of book I, or most other girls, flock to. This book was short though, and as you can see from the rather odd cover, took place during the summer. I was cold at the time, so I thought it would be a good read . . . unfortunately, it did not warm me up.

It was basically the story of all the things that happened to him during the summer when he was 16. There was a lot of bad things and not a whole lot of plot or happiness . . . not my type of story. Maybe some would like it, but to me, there weren't really any characters I could relate to and I was left feeling kind of empty at the end. Oh well, at least it only took me about four hours to read the whole book . . . not too much of my time was wasted. Maybe there weren't too many books set in North Dakota to choose from?

On a happier note, here's a good method of baking some potatoes . . . yum :) I made 10 pounds in one day using this method and kept them warm in a styrofoam cooler . . . they stayed hot throughout our whole party and who doesn't love a baked potato bar?

Also, I made these adorable fruit and brownie kebabs. I made up my own chocolate ganache to use as the drizzle so it would harden and they could be stacked for serving. They were a big hit at our party . . . so elegant, yet so easy to make (and tasty :)).

Hope you all are doing well . . . talk to you again soon.

2014 - Book 9

Book 9 - "Bloodlines" (California)

After quite a bit of normalcy in my books, I've returned to the supernatural world of vampires. I have to admit, this book was pretty good. It was pretty clean in the language and romance departments and it would really only get a PG-13 rating for the vampire violence. The whole premise of the other races of vampires and a class of humans (Alchemists) who work to keep the vampires secret from the humans is pretty fascinating. This book is the first in a spin-off series, so I was missing a little bit of the back story (from the "Vampire Academy" series). I would be interested to go back and read that and then read this series again. For some reason, although this book is set in California (Palm Springs), I kept thinking it was in Florida. Oh well, it was still good . . . have any of you read it? What did you think?

For my recipes to share this week, I have a main dish and a dessert. My main dish is fried chicken. I got a small deep fryer for my birthday and wanted to try it out with chicken. I didn't take the time to let the chicken soak in the buttermilk because I was very hungry, but I don't think that made much of a difference. Unfortunately, my deep fryer doesn't have a temperature control, so the outside of the chicken got a bit too done before the inside was safely cooked. Also, it was not spicy at all, so if you like it spicy, I would add some more pepper or hot sauce to it. So, fried chicken is probably not the best use for this particular deep fryer, but it was a good experiment. I made some sauteed zucchini to go with it too, so it made a pretty good meal :)

Mmm . . . fried chicken

The dessert I have to share is another cupcake recipe . . . these adorable chocolate malt cupcakes. The author of that blog is right, the frosting is really easy to work with, I enjoyed that aspect of it. However, for as much malt powder was in both the cupcake and the frosting, they didn't tasty very much like a chocolate malt. The little malt ball topping really helped illustrate that they were indeed malt cupcakes, otherwise, the were just tasty chocolate cupcakes with a slight malty flavor. Give them a try and let me know what you think :)

On display

Time for their close-up :)

That's all for now . . . talk to you later :)

2014 - Book 8

"Wake" - Michigan

I had no idea this book was set in Michigan until I looked at the US of YA list after reading it. I guess they did drive up to Canada one day, so I could have guessed it was somewhere in the northern US, but other than that, it wasn't very obvious.

I did enjoy this book though. Too much foul language, but a really interesting concept. I don't want to give the whole story away for anyone who wants to read it, but essentially, the main character gets sucked into other peoples dreams. So if someone dozes off in study hall, she has a real problem because her body gets all rigid and it looks like she's having a seizure and she can't control it. Throughout the book she learns how to deal with it better and it actually becomes a pretty cool talent. It's crazy some of the things people dream about, that's for sure. This is the first book in a trilogy, so it leaves room for more story at the end, but it still has a decent amount of closure, so that's good too. Overall, not an excellent book, but still intriguing and fun to read.

In other news, I tried this new method of cooking rice in an attempt to get more "restaurant-quality" rice. Honestly, I don't think it made that much of a difference, but it was still good rice. Plus, I got to make it on my NEW STOVE. I'm very excited about it :)

Isn't it beautiful? 

An update for the crock pot meals too: the curry chicken with cabbage and peppers was just okay, I didn't really like it. It definitely needed salt and pepper added. My other stove-top curry recipe is much better. However, the sloppy tamale pie over cornbread was pretty good. It doesn't taste too much different than chili on cornbread, but it was pretty tasty.

That's all for this week, hope you are all doing well :)

2014 - Book 7

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" - Kansas

I think this is the kind of story that you either love it or hate it, and that is probably based on the movie, because I don't know if I've ever met anyone who actually read this book. To be honest, I don't like the movie, but I loved "Wicked" so I was pretty undecided about this book. It was better than I thought it was going to be, but to be honest, it was rather boring. That might be because I knew most of the story already, but it also might be because it's a very young, young adult book. It was in the children's section which confused me at first, but that was definitely correct. It is as G-rated as it gets, and I did appreciate that, but it just seemed like the conflicts got resolved too easily every single time. It would be a great book to read to your younger kids or for an early reader to dive into though. I liked it better than the movie (isn't the book always better than the movie?), but not as much as "Wicked", I might be a bit partial to musicals though ;) It was cool to hear the original story and see how some of the aspects of "Wicked" that I thought were deviations from the movie were actually true to the book. But what does everyone have against the Good Witch of the North? I don't think she was in the movie or "Wicked", I don't think she was even in the most awful recent retelling, "Oz the Great and Powerful". Someone needs to get on writing her story soon :)

For my recipe to share this week, I present these interesting-looking Raspberry Neapolitan Cupcakes.

Vanilla & Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Frosting

The cupcake was good, although I may have overfilled my pans and only got 36 cupcakes instead of the promised 48. Also, the frosting was super runny for me, even after chilling it and adding probably close to 5 and a half cups of powdered sugar. I was going to be late for work if I didn't start frosting though, so I ended up with this interesting starfish shaped frosting job. It actually gave a pretty good amount of frosting per cupcake, in my opinion, and after sitting out for a little bit, got a nice crust on it that was pretty tasty. So, they may not have been the prettiest things in the world, but they tasted pretty good. I probably won't make them again, but it was good to try.

Have a great week :)

2014 - Book 6

"The Fault In Our Stars" - Indiana

Okay, I realize some of you might have strong feelings about this book because it is very popular right now, but bear with me. First of all, I did like this book . . . it is one of the better ones on the US of YA list that I've read so far. However, I was not a fan of the premarital sex (which seems to be in every book these days unfortunately, at least it was very minimal in this one) or the view that a belief in God or heaven implies that you are unintelligent. I happen to believe in God and heaven and I don't think anyone would classify me as an unintelligent individual. But, apart from that, and the few bad words, this was a pretty quality book.

The basic premise of the book is that it is a love story between two teenagers battling cancer. I think this book is so relevant and popular now because everyone, it seems, has been personally affected by cancer in some way. This was particularly moving to me because one of my best friends in grade school died of brain cancer when we were only in 6th grade. The emotions are raw and run pretty high in this book, but not in a bad way. It's a very real book and I enjoyed that aspect of it. Also, part of it is set in the Netherlands so I felt like I got to go on a journey with the characters too, which I always enjoy.

Supposedly this is coming out as a movie this year, but I'm not so sure I want to go see it. I did enjoy the book, but I have a feeling the movie will be a bit disturbing. Cancer is ugly and I'm sure actually seeing the damage it's having on these young bodies will be even more emotional than just reading about it. Also, I'm not entirely sure I buy the casting of the male lead because that is not how I pictured him looking at all, but that's open to each person's interpretation I guess.

So, all in all, it was a good book, one of the better that I've read so far this year, but there was a little room for improvement. I'm interested to see what comes of it after the movie.

Apart from reading, I promised you more recipes this week, and I will provide those in the form of my second crock pot freezer meal prep extravaganza :)

Before I tell you about all of the recipes I made this time, I feel the need to clarify something about one of my previous recipes. My favorite of my first batch of freezer meals was one that I dubbed "nacho soup". It was a taco flavored black bean concoction of yumminess, but I think I had my recipes switched up. When making this 2nd batch, I thought I made it again, but then realized I had used a different recipe so here is the break down:

Chicken Taco Soup

This is the real recipe: "Chicken Taco Soup"

This is the recipe that I thought I was using until I realized that the real one had chicken in it, and the one I made during my 2nd batch was with hamburger: "Black Bean Taco Soup"

That's what I get for using two lists that each have a "taco soup". So, because of that mix-up, there are no repeat recipes in my 2nd batch of meals from the first batch of meals, but that's okay I guess :)

This is what I made:

Enchilada Wraps (x1) (I omitted the olives)

Sloppy Tamale Pie (x1) (Again, I left out the olives, because I just don't like them)

Chunky Chili with Veggies (x1) (I'm looking forward to trying this one because of the nice beef in it (I used a chuck roast), I think I may have ruined it by cutting with the grain though instead of against . . . I didn't know which was the right way and it was the last one I made so I was tired and ready to be done. Hopefully cooking it in the slow cooker with keep it tender)

Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken (x2)

Mom's Slow Cooker Chili (x1)

Chicken Curry with Cabbage and Peppers (x2)

A sample of what the meals look like

Black Bean Taco Soup (x1)

Teriyaki Chicken (one recipe makes 2 batches)

Think I bought enough groceries?

Almost all of the ingredients (minus some spices and garlic that I already had) came to $84.48. Not too bad for 11 full meals that will feed us for at least 2 - 3 meals a piece I'm expecting. If each only fed us both for two meals, that's only $1.92 a meal / person. Better than the Dollar Menu if you ask me :) Also, the meat was by far the most expensive part, so if you find some that are vegetarian, or reduce the amount of meat you add, you could save even more money.

Again, I'll keep you posted as we try them out and let you know which ones are keepers :) I'm happier with the variety of ethnicity of meals this time . . . there is some Asian and Indian, not just a majority of taco flavored things like last time . . . I think that will be an improvement :) Oh, and since I made these all by myself (my husband cut up all of the meat for me last time) it took 5 hours, but for the amazing amount of work I've saved in the kitchen after my last batch of freezer meals, one Sunday afternoon is a small price to pay. Try it out with your family and let me know how it works!

A well stocked freezer :)

Let me know if you give any of them a try and what you think . . . talk to you later :)