Twelve Days of Baking - Day 12

Well, I made it through 12 days of baking. It was hard work and my kitchen looks like a war zone, but I fun. My last recipe is for Bacon Date Scones. These are perfect for a Christmas morning brunch or a  Christmas Eve breakfast, like I had this morning. It is the perfect combination of salty and sweet.

 

This recipe comes from Epicurious.com. 

 

Bacon Date Scones

10 oz bacon

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup chopped dates

1/ 2 cup butter, chilled

2/3 cup buttermilk

turbinado sugar

 

Cook bacon until cooked through but not crisp. Reserve drippings. Whisk together dry ingredients. Coarsely chop bacon. Add bacon and dates to flour mixture. Toss to coat. Grate butter into flour. Stir in butter with a fork. Add buttermilk. Stir and knead until dough forms. Pat into an 8" round. Cut into 8 wedges. Cover and chill 2 hours. Brush with reserved bacon drippings. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Notes: I cooked my bacon until it was crisp because that's the way I like it, and I didn't chill the dough for 2 hours, but I did stick it in the freezer for about 20 minutes before baking. 

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 11

I literally laughed out loud when I opened the oven and saw the final results of today's recipe. I almost didn't post it, because, well you can see for yourself.

But, I'm really tired and have a million things to do before tomorrow, and making an extra recipe isn't one of them.

I saw this on a website somewhere - it's a head of Santa, made out of bread dough. I've done a little with bread sculpture in the past, but clearly I forgot some important steps.

Here is Santa before he went in the oven.

 

Kind of cute. 

 

I had a feeling, though, that making his nose so big would come back to haunt me. It did.

 

This is what I saw when I opened the oven door.

  

 



 

Poor Santa! See what I mean about the nose? And the brim of his hat? What is that? It turned into some sort of angry unibrow.

 

Luckily, Santa is just like the rest of us and has one angle that is better than the others.

 

 

 

Still not great, but you can at least tell who he is, right?

 

If you want to make your own Santa head, the instructions I followed are here.

 

 

 

Fourth Sunday of Advent - 2012

For todays advent song you have to take a little journey over to another website. The song is by a singer/songwriter named Steve Bell and is called  Keening for the Dawn.
You have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the title of the song to hear it. The lyrics are there, too.
http://stevebell.com/2012/10/story-of-keening-for-the-dawn/

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 10

Once again, today's recipe doesn't involve baking, but it's still a good one.

A popular holiday treat in my family is the buckeye. I've only actually made them once that I can remember, but everyone else always makes them and brings them to family gatherings around Christmas.

If you don't know, a buckeye is a peanut butter mixture shaped into a ball then dipped in chocolate. They are quite delicious. (Here's an interesting fact - we don't have them in Colorado, but  the buckeye is actually a tree that produces a nut that looks like the chocolate dipped peanut butter ball. I guess that's where they get their name. Google it for a picture if you're interested.)

While buckeyes are very delicious, they are also very tedious to make, so when I came across a recipe for buckeye bark, I knew I wanted to try it.

It's very simple and quick to make.

Buckeye Bark

2 1/2 pounds of chocolate
1 pound creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Melt half of the chocolate. Spread in a greased or parchment lined 9x13 pan. Freeze until set. Whip together remaining ingredients. Spread over the chocolate. Return pan to freezer. Melt remaining chocolate. Spread over peanut butter layer. Freeze until set. Break into pieces. Makes a lot.

 

Notes: I had a little less than 2 pounds of chocolate, so that is what I used and it is plenty. Also, I didn't melt the butter, just softened it, and it worked just fine.

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 9

It's very trendy these days to make things flavored like cake batter. A popular recipe going around is for Cake Batter Fudge. I was intrigued by the idea, since I like to lick the cake batter off the beater, and I like fudge. It should be a winning combination, but in this case, it's not.

There's nothing wrong with the recipe, I just didn't like it. I recommend making actual cake with the cake mix instead of this recipe.

Cake Batter Fudge
2 cups plus 2 tbsp cake mix
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut in pieces
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sprinkles

Combine the cake mix and powdered sugar. Add milk and butter, but don't stir. Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir everything together. Spread into a greased, parchment lined, 8x8 pan. Chill for at least an hour. Cut into squares.

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 8

Today's recipe is called Gift of the Magi Bread. I haven't decided if the name comes from the fact that the bread is so full of little goodies or because you're supposed to give it away as a gift. Either way, it's quite yummy - a mash up of banana bread and fruitcake. I think I will make it a tradition to bake this bread every year on Epiphany.

 

 

Gift of the Magi Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup mashed bananas

11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries

1/2 cup chopped dates

 

Combine butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture and bananas alternately to the sugar mixture. Stir in range segments, chocolate chips, coconut, nuts, cherries, and dates. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Makes 2 loaves.

 



Twelve Days of Baking - Day 7

 

I made this goofy-looking loaf of bread this morning for today's holiday recipe.

It's a Christmas bread with a tradition. To begin with, it is made of 12 strips of dough which represent the 12 months of the year. Then the strips are braided into 4 layers to represent the 4 seasons. There are nuts and raisins in the dough which indicate the type of year to come - mostly nuts represents a good year for farmers, while mostly raisins represents a poor year. Then, before it is served, the youngest boy in the house takes a saved crust from the year before to feed the birds, and a crust from  the new loaf is saved for the next year to show there will always be bread in the home.

 

 

Christmas Bread

1/2 cup warm water

1 pkg yeast

1 1/3 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

5 1/4 - 5 3-4 cups flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup raisins

 

Mix warm water and yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. Heat and stir milk, sugar, and salt just until warm. Add to yeast mixture; stir in egg. Stir in 2 cups flour, the nuts and raisins. stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rise until double in size. Punch down, cover, and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough and roll into 12 strips. Weave 5 of the strips together, pinching together the ends and tucking them under the strips. Twist and weave 4 more strips together and place on top of the first layer. Twist 2 strips together to place on top of the second layer, then twist the last strip and place it on top of the third layer. Brush the loaf lightly with oil. Secure the layers with wooden skewers. Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until bread sound s hollow when lightly tapped.

 

Notes: I wasn't paying close attention to the directions and didn't divide my dough strips correctly. When I realized what I had done, it was too late to fix it, which is why my loaf is not shaped the way it should be. I'll do better next time. Promise.

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 6

Today's recipe doesn't involve baking, but it is cooked. I've had this recipe on my list of ones to try for a couple of years, and I finally got the courage to make it.

Eggnog Fudge

2 cups sugar
1 cup refrigerated eggnog
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, eggnog, butter, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, to 238 degrees. Remove pan from heat and cool sugar mixture, undisturbed, until temperature drops to 190 degrees. Stir in nuts, cherries, and vanilla. Beat with a a wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose its gloss, 5-8 minutes. Pour into an 8x4 inch loaf pan lined with buttered aluminum foil. Cool completely; cut into squares. Makes 1 1/2 pounds.

 

 

Notes: I was pleased with how this turned out, although it is a little soft. I'm sure this is due to the fact that I didn't beat it long enough. I could tell it wasn't quite ready after about 8 minutes of stirring, but my arms were getting so tired, and a blister was forming on my hand, so I stopped stirring. Still, the consistency is smooth and creamy like it should be, and it's quite flavorful. 

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 5

I found this recipe last week some time, and basically decided to add it to my holiday baking list because I like the name.

 

Butter Ball Chiffons.

 

Isn't that cute. I was also intrigued by the flavor combination. They are essentially a shortbread cookie, but flavored lemon with toffee pieces in the mix.

 

 

 

Butter Ball Chiffons

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding

2 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 Heath candy bars (1.4 oz each), chopped

 

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in pudding, water, and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Stir in nuts and candy. Roll into 1" balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until light brown.

 

Notes: After mixing the dough, it was really crumbly and wouldn't form a ball, so I sprinkled a couple more teaspoons of water over the dough. This helped it come together. Also, these don't spread at all, so you can fit a lot of them on one baking sheet.



Twelve Days of Baking - Day 4

So I had big plans to knock out several of my 12 holiday recipes this weekend. That way I only had to do the blog during the week, but here it is, getting late on Sunday night, and I've only made two batches of cookies this entire weekend. Hmmm. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the week goes.

For today's recipe, I baked some sandwich cookies. I know they don't look very impressive. They're not very festive or colorful or in a cute Christmassy shape, but the filling is made with browned butter, and that makes for a flavor explosion! I'm guessing the flavors will get even better as they sit. 

They're easy to make. Here's the recipe. It also comes from my Taste of Home Cookies cookbook.

Sweet Sandwich Cookies

Cookie:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

Browned Butter Filling:
2 tbsp butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
4-5 tsp milk

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk. Combine flour and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and chill for 20 minutes.

Shape into 1" balls. Place on baking sheets and flatten with the bottom of a glass. Bake ate 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes Cool.

For the filling, heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat until golden brown. Remove from the heat and stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Sandwich cookies together with the filling. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Notes: The original recipe says to flatten the cookies with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. To me, that is what you do with a peanut butter cookie, so that's why I used a glass instead. I had to dip it in a little flour or it would stick to the cookies. Also, I didn't think the filling recipe looked like it would make enough for my taste, so I doubled it, because when it comes to fillings, more is always better. Right?

Third Sunday of Advent - 2012

Isaiah 40:1-11 (NKJV)

1“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
² “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”

³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
⁵ The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

⁶ The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he said, “What shall I cry?”

“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”

⁹ O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.

 

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 3

Pomegranates are showing up in abundance in the grocery stores here. I bought one the other day just for fun, but I really had no idea what I was going do with it. I'm not very fond of the seeds by themselves, but I figured there must be some recipes out there to try.

Enter Pinterest.

After a quick search, I found cookie recipe that looked promising. It's basically a recipe for a chocolate flavored chocolate chip cookie with the addition of the pomegranate seeds. The combination of sweet from the chocolate and cookie and tart from the pomegranate juice makes for one of the best cookies I've had in a long time.

Double Dark chocolate Pomegranate Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup pomegranate seeds

Cream butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Mix dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture and stir to combine. Add chocolate chips and pomegranate seeds. Shape into balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes.

Notes: This recipe is pretty strait forward. The only thing I changed was after rolling the dough into balls and placing them on the sheet, I stuck 3-4 more seeds on the top. I thought it made the cookies a little prettier.

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 2

This cookie recipe happened to be on the same page of the cookbook as yesterday's, which is how I ended up making these for my baking challenge. They're kind of cute and yummy.

Cream Cheese Delights
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
12 maraschino cherries, halved

Cream the shortening, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets. Top each with a cherry half. Bake at 3500 for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Notes: I actually rolled the cookies into balls instead of dropping them to make the cookies a little more uniform. The first batch didn't quite get done, so on the second, I flattened them a little before adding the cherry, and they were much better that way.

Twelve Days of Baking - Day 1

For some unknown reason, I'm not in the mood to make all the traditional Christmas goodies that I usually make each year for Christmas. So, this year I've given myself a challenge of making twelve new holiday recipes for the twelve days leading up to Christmas.

I have a list which I'll be working through in the next few days and posting the results here.

My first recipe is for Cranberry Swirl Biscotti. I adapted this from a recipe in a Taste of Home Cookies cookbook. They're a little time consuming to make, but the results are festive and delicious.

 

Cranberry Swirl Biscotti

 

2/3 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup plum jam

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

 

Process cranberries, jam, and cinnamon in a food processor until smooth; set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture and mix well.

 

Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half into a 12x8 inch rectangle. Spread each half with the cranberry filling then roll up, jelly-roll style.

 

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes. Cool for five minutes then slice diagonally with a serrated knife. Bake 15-20 minutes more, turning the biscotti over once, until the center are firm and dry. Makes about 30 cookies. 

 

Notes: The original recipe calls for cherry jam, but I changed it to plum because that's what I had on hand. Either would be good. It also calls to drizzle them with a powdered sugar glaze, but I decided that was unnecessary as the filling makes them sweet enough for my taste. 

It really is a magical place

I took a little trip to Florida last month to spend some time with my sister. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Disney World. I didn't think we were going to get to go, but my sister surprised me with a ticket as an early Christmas present. Isn't she the best?

My last Disney park encounter was when I was 5 and our family went to Disneyland. Suffice to say, I was long overdue for a magical Disney experience.

Leslie lives about and hour and a half from Orlando. On the way, I knew we were getting close when I saw this:

 

Here we are on the bus on the way to the park. Who do you think was the most excited to be going to Disney World? (Leslie, I'm sorry for posting this, but I just couldn't resist. And it's the only one I got of both of us.)
 

 

We were there in the late afternoon and late into the night for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. The whole place was decked out for Christmas.

 

 

Here is Splash Mountain. I'll admit that I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to rides, and after seeing people shoot down out of that thing, I decided I wasn't brave enough to ride. But I liked standing in front of it and watching.

 

 

Here is the riverboat. Pretty.
 

 

 

cenes from It's A Small World. It's hard to take decent pictures in there because everything moves so much.

 

 

 

 

There is a new area in Disney World that just opened last weekend called Fantasyland. We missed it by a couple of weeks, but were able to see some of it. The Beast's castle is there and so they have a lot of stuff from Beauty and the Beast. This is a fountain with Gaston and his little sidekick, whose name I can't remember.

  

 

Around 9 o'clock that night, there was light show at the castle, followed by fireworks. The castle was all lit up with Christmas lights. It was pretty magical to look at by itself, even without all the lasers and projected images.

 

 

At one point in the program, Tinkerbell flew out of the castle on a zip line with the help of fairy dust and disappeared over the edge of the park. See her?

 

 

Then the fireworks started. It was beautiful.

  

 

 

 

 

Even later that night, there was a parade. During the parade, Mickey Mouse waved at me.  

 

 

So did Prince Charming.
 

 

And the Beast.
 

 

I'm not sure what this guy was up to. I don't think he knew either.
 

 

Since we were celebrating Christmas and since we were in a magical place, they made it snow during the parade. Fun.

 

 

It was very late after the parade and things were beginning to close down, so we left. I was sad to go. Hopefully there won't be too many years between this visit and my next.  

Second Sunday of Advent - 2012

 

First Sunday of Advent - 2012

Waiting In Silence - Carey Landry

Waiting in silence, waiting in hope;
we are your people, we long for you, Lord.
God ever with us, Emmanuel,
Come, Lord Jesus, Maranatha!

Waiting in silence, waiting in hope;
we are your people, we trust in your love.
O Sun of Justice, true Prince of Peace,
Come with your justice, Lord, Maranatha!

Waiting in silence, waiting in hope;
we are your people, Lord, we seek your truth.
Wisdom Incarnate, teach us your way;
Show us the path of life, Maranatha!

Waiting in silence, waiting in hope;
we are your people, we long for new life.
O Key of David, open our hearts.
Give us new vision, Lord, Maranatha!

Waiting in silence, waiting in hope;
we are your people, our hearts thirst for you.
Flower of Jesse, bloom in our midst.
Make us your garden, Lord, Maranatha!

Little Bits of Christmas

I've been thinking about all things holiday related lately, and I've been collecting new recipes by the dozens off of Pinterest and other places to try in the next couple of months. I'm itching to try them all, but I'm making myself hold off for a few more weeks.

However, yesterday it was really dreary outdoors. When it started snowing, I decided I HAD to try a new Christmas recipe. So, I braved the snow and sleet to head to the store for a couple missing ingredients, then headed back to my kitchen where I created these.

 

 

 

Old-Fashioned Butter Mints. I had no idea you could make these at home. And they're so simple, too!

 

I realize it's not exactly a Christmas recipe, but since I colored them green and red, I'm saying that officially makes it one.

 

The mints are basically a dough of butter, powdered sugar, a little salt, sweetened condensed milk, peppermint extract, and food coloring. Mix it together, roll it out into logs, and cut into tiny pieces. You can find the full recipe here.

 

I think when I make them again, I will use a little more peppermint extract than what is called for in the recipe. Otherwise, I won't change anything. It does make A LOT, but they are should keep for quite a while.

 

Enjoy!

 

 



Witches and Vampires and Daemons, Oh My!

In honor of Halloween, I like to read something a little other-worldly in the month of October. This year, I picked up Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches.

It's the story of Diana Bishop, a scholar of alchemy and a reluctant but very powerful witch, who can trace her lineage back to the witches of Salem fame.

It's also the story of the charming but brooding Matthew Clairmont, a centuries-old vampire, who of course only looks 35.

One day while researching in the library at Oxford, Diana requests and receives an old manuscript called Ashmole 782. Unbeknownst to Diana, the manuscript has been missing for years and is highly coveted by witches, vampires, and daemons alike, who will stop at nothing to possess it. Her acquisition of it sets off a huge and complicated chain of events, most notably Diana and Matthew coming together in a rather strange and forbidden relationship.

I really liked this book. It's long, over 500 pages, but reads quickly. The ending leaves you hanging, but luckily a sequel came out this past summer. I haven't got around to reading it yet, but I will. Soon.

A fun read. Check it out.

The Struggle Tour

This past Wednesday night I had the opportunity to see three of my favorite bands together in concert. It was a really fun night of worship and great music.

The first band to play was Rend Collective Experiment. If I could choose to be in any band, this would be it. This was my second time seeing them, and they were just as good as I remember.

 

One of the best songs off their newest album, Homemade Worship by Handmade People, is called  Build Your Kingdom Here. Have a listen.

 



 

They were followed by Audrey Assad. I absolutely love her voice.  One of the guys from one of the other bands jokingly said that she sings so well because she swallowed an angel. I think that might be true.

 

 

Here is one of the songs she performed - Sparrow.

 

The final group and headliners of the tour was Tenth Avenue North. This was the second time I have seen them in concert, also. They are an amazing band - so full of energy and so passionate about Jesus. Their most recent album is called The Struggle. It and all their other albums are worth getting if you don't have them already.  

 

 

One of my favorite songs from The Struggle is called Worn.

 

 

I also really like Losing.

 

 

This tour is about half over, so you still have time to see it. If they come to your neighborhood, you should definitely go. You will be blessed. 

Holy (Wedding Day)

I'm loving this song by The City Harmonic right now. Have a listen.

October's Party ~ George Cooper

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came—
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."

5 Reads, 1 Recommendation

I'm in a rut of reading not very good books, and I need to get out of it. Here are five I read in the past month, of which I only recommend one.

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. Like the title states, this is the story of the Fang family: the parents, Caleb and Camille, and two kids, Buster and Annie. The Fang's make their living as performance artists, setting up and acting out ridiculous scenes in public places, and recording the reactions of the unsuspecting people around them. The story alternates between the past, where Buster and Annie are children, and the present, where Buster is now a writer of sorts, and Annie has become a well-known actress. Who they have become as adults is largely shaped by the crazy childhoods they had, and really they are not likable.

I didn't like this one. From the reviews I read, I expected something light-hearted, but there is way too much dysfunction for my taste here. Skip this one.

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones. I really wanted to like this book. It takes place somewhere in a country house in 1912 England. It is Emerald's birthday and she is having a party. Around the time the guests are arriving for the celebration, there is a train wreck nearby, and all the surviving passengers are brought to the house for shelter. Soon, all havoc breaks loose, scandals unfold, and the true colors of the characters are revealed.

This book starts out ok, I actually liked the first third or so, but then there is a weird and not unexpected twist which leads to a silly ending. Skip this one, too.

Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Here's the one I like. This is set in the mid eighties and tells the story of June, a 14-year-old girl who lives in the suburbs of New York City with her parents and sister, Greta. June's uncle, her closest friend, is a talented and famous artist named Finn. When he dies from an unspeakable illness, June's world is turned upside down.

Before he dies, Finn charges June with the task of taking care of Toby, his partner, who has been kept from her and likewise charges Toby with taking care of June. Slowly, the two develop a secret friendship of sorts, which eventually becomes life changing for everyone in June's world. This is a story of self-discovery, love, loss, acceptance, and the mending of broken relationships. Check this one out.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This book got a lot of buzz this summer, so I decided to see what it was all about. It's the story of Nick and Amy Dunn. On the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears in what appears to be quite a struggle, and of course Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. However, in the middle of the book, there is a surprise twist, and then it is quite a wild ride to the end.

I understand why this one is getting so much attention, it is quite the psychological thriller. However, I can't recommend it mostly because of the amount of profanity throughout. It is no exaggeration to say there are at least four or five instances of the f-word on every page, and for me, that's too much.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann. I kind of liked this book, but mostly didn't. It is written in five sections, each from a different point of view. The action moves back and forth, with some of the plot overlapping in each section, so something that might not make much sense at the beginning of the story is later made clear.

This story begins shortly after the end of WWII and spans the next couple of decades. It is the story of cousins Nick (a girl) and Helena and their families. At the beginning of the book, Nick is reunited with her husband who has been away at war, and Helena is getting ready to marry a Hollywood guy, who turns out to be quite the sleaze bag.

Of course over the span of the book, neither Nick or Helena's lives turn out as they expect. There is a lot of angst and discontent, and as the reader, I had a hard time figuring out the root of it all, especially in the case of Nick. Meh. It won't hurt to skip this one, too.

It's Fall!

Today is my favorite day of the year: the first day of fall. In honor of the day, I baked some pumpkin-banana bread.

I never knew the two could be combined, but they can, and together they make a beautiful loaf of bread.

 

Pumpkin-Banana Bread

 

1/2 cup sugar

1 large banana, mashed

3/4 cup oil

1 cup pumpkin

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

 

Mix sugar, banana, oil, pumpkin, and eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients until just mixed. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool before slicing.

 

Note: I thought this recipe might need a little more flavor, so I added a couple of teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice to the batter. It's a nice addition.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

There's a recipe going around like crazy on Pinterest for pumpkin snickerdoodles. Of course I had to try it.

In general, I'm not a huge fan of snickerdoodles, but I embrace them for two reasons. First,  the name is just so fun. Say it. Out loud. Snickerdoodle. :) Here's a fun fact: according to The Joy of Cooking, the name probably comes from the German word schneckennudeln which translates at crinkly noodles. Who knew?

The second reason I like snickerdoodles is that they are the only thing I recall my dad baking over the years. Not very often, but from time to time he will make a batch for me or my sister. Isn't that sweet?

So, on to the pumpkin flavored ones.

Here is the recipe.

For the cookies:
3 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

For the coating
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
dash allspice
*or, you can do like I did and just use sugar and a couple teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together to blend. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Add egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Beat until combined, but don't over mix. Chill 1 hour or until firm. Roll into balls then roll in coating mixture. Flatten with a glass dipped in coating mixture. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Slightly cool before removing from the pan.

 

 

 

These smelled really nice while baking, and I was eager to taste them. I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed in the texture as they are a bit more cakey than I would like. But that always seems to be an issue with cookies made from pumpkin. I'm glad I baked them, but probably won't ever make them again. I think I'll save my pumpkin for pie.