...Set: Life Unexpected 1x06 "Truth Unrevealed"

This week was all about the ladies' love triangles. In the red corner we've got Baze-Cate-Ryan and in the blue corner we've got Bug-Lux-Jones! Who will come out victorious? And who will lie their way out of a possible break up? If you've been paying attention, you might expect it to be Lux who lies, because that is her way, but this week she actually acts the grown up. But wait, I'm spoiling things for you, aren't I?

But hey, since I'm talking about Lux, let's start with her little triangle. If you remember from last week, Bug "borrowed" Jones' car and ended up getting arrested for it. Now, he's facing a possible two year jail sentence, or a six month plea bargain. Lux wants him to take the bargain, but he decides there's actually another way to get around all of this - by Lux going to Jones (QB Abercrombie gets a name I actually remember) and asking for him to drop the charges. Jones'll do it, but he wants Bug's motorcycle as penance.

Bug's not so into giving up his bike, it was the only thing his dad ever gave him you know, but eventually agrees. Jones proposes he and Lux skip class once he has the bike, but he can't even get the thing started. So naturally, Lux starts up the bike herself and tells him to hop on - time for some fun! No, not really. She just wants to make Jones understand why Bug likes the bike, I guess. She takes him to Bug's old house and tells him his sad story, as well as one of her own having to do with a locket. Jones decides he doesn't want the bike after all, but then he goes and tries to kiss Lux. As if we did not see that coming. She rebuffs him and he takes her home, but of course Bug is waiting and proceeds to punch him in the face, even though he didn't even know about the kiss.

Lux is upset by the whole thing, as she should be, because, as Cate tells her, she deserves better. She confronts Bug and tells him about the attempted kiss, but he just tells her she deserves better and kicks her out. By the end, he leaves town, leaving poor Luxy to cry a little. Even though Jones was super sweet and tried to give her a locket. There's probably more for them in the future, and actually they're rather cute together. I can get behind it.

Now, for the more interesting triangle! At least, I think it's more interesting, but maybe that's just because I'm not a high schooler anymore. Basically, Ryan's upset with Cate because he thinks she's obsessed with Baze (which she kind of is). Not helping matters is the fact that their corporate bosses tell them that Cate's likability has gone way down of late, and the only way to clear things up is to have Baze come on the air with them. During said on air show, they are confronted with a question asking if anything has happened between them since high school, to which they both answer with a not so concealed LIE. Ryan later confronts Cate about it, and she just LIES some more, saying nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Jamie (token black friend) accuses Baze of losing his lady game, and secretly being in love with Cate. To combat this heinous (totally true) notion, he flirts with a lady who just happens to be Ryan and Cate's corporate boss! What a coinikidink! They end up starting up some fireworks, but Cate walks in on them and gets all uppity about it, despite her saying that the recent sex between her and Baze meant nothing (which resulted in a rather puppy dog look from Baze that I admit, I sort of loved). She goes home and after having a nice heartfelt conversation with Lux about truth and trust, she decides to tell Ryan the truth.

Except, she LIES. She tells him that Baze tried to kiss her that night, but that she pushed him away and that's all that happened. Now, I'm not really remembering entirely, but I think it was actually she who kissed him. I could be wrong. Feel free to correct me if I am. And, of course, they had some hot sex. I believe they even had it more than once that night. But, nope, she doesn't tell Ryan. Because that will surely end well when the truth finally does come out, as it most certainly will. The previews even seem to indicate that it will happen next week! And it's no wonder, really, since it seems like quite a few people apart from Ryan already know about it.

And, one last thing. At the end of the episode, Cate sets a date for the wedding while Baze listens (Ryan had been upset about the no date thing earlier, of course). Ah, poor Baze. But people, if I know one thing about TV, it's that things are certainly not over between Cate and Baze. And good thing, too, because I find them much more interesting than Cate and Ryan.

I also just want to say that I think this episode was pushing things along in a much better direction than last week. I didn't even give you my patented SHLOCK ALERT! Wow. No, but there were a couple places where I could've, I just glossed over them. Wah wah. The big question we should really be asking ourselves - Will Life Unexpected be picked up for a second season? TBD.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are a staple of mine that I bust out whenever I feel like a quick batch of cookies. Except that I always forget that they're not necessarily as quick as you'd like, because you do have to refrigerate the dough for 1-3 hours. Details, details. 

I have not a clue where I first got this recipe, because doing a quick Google search, most of these are not quite the same, and never ask for the dough to be refrigerated, which I think is an essential step. I guess we will just pretend it is my own special cookie genius! Yes, that's it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The...
Servings: 20 Cookies
Prep time: 01:10 

Cook time: 00:12
Total time: 01:22

A staple cookie recipe that has just the right amount of peanut butter to chocolate chip deliciousness.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together well in a separate bowl. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and then refrigerate in a covered bowl for 1-3 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Drop cookie dough by tablespoonfuls (or use a cookie scoop like me) onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden. 

All of the wet ingredients. I usually just do this recipe by hand with the spatula because it's pretty easy and there isn't so much that it's overwhelming.

And the flour mixture is in.

 I once tried adding in chocolate chips after refrigerating dough. It is not a good idea.

Fresh out of the oven, they are a little bit puffy.

Give them a little bit of time on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Oh look, there's my recipe card! You get a glimpse at Jen's handwriting.

Some on the rack, some on the sheet. All mmm mmm good.

These cookies last pretty well for a few days in a cookie jar or other air-tight container. They almost always have a great consistency, and you can never eat just one. At least, I can't. Two? Three? Maybe sneaking a fourth? Yeah, it's been known to happen. You can probably also do these with crunchy peanut butter, but I don't really like cookies with nuts, even though I love crunchy peanut butter. Go figure.

...Set: Life Unexpected 1x05 "Turtle Undefeated"

This week, Lux decided to continue her clearly winning streak of lying and getting caught, by doing it again, more than once! Way to go, Lux! Cate, meanwhile, was upset that she was not connecting to Lux more (because she's the responsible bad cop!) and Baze was having more of his economical crises, trying to figure out a way to get more people to the bar. I kind of am feeling this show just repeats the same themes every week. Hopefully if it gets renewed for a second season, they will explore more stuff.

So, basically, Lux is still having issues with the mean girls of Westmonte High being, you know, mean. But the cute quarterback seems to have taken a liking to her, and Baze informs her that if she gets in with the popular quarterback (which he used to be, remember?), then she'll be in with everyone. And because she's suddenly concerned about fitting in, she decides to have a party for QB Abercrombie's birthday at Baze's loft after Brynn can't. That's right, her name is Brynn. QB Abercrombie is like woo hoo, let's do this thing! In order to have said party, though, she ends up lying to her foster friends Bug and Tash, who wanted to take her out to the Newberg Drive-In for Shaun of the Dead.

Meanwhile, Baze and his buddies are working on a plan to get more bodies in the bar. For some reason, turtle racing ends up being the winning idea. While the lackluster races start, Cate takes her friend Alice out for a night on the town, but ends up at Baze's because she wants to check on Lux's party. She abandons Alice down in the turtle races to cuddle up to Baze's friend Jamie and goes upstairs to party with the kids half her age, who are now swilling beer, thanks to Lux who lied to Baze and brought up beer from the bar. Say that ten times fast. Lux's foster peeps Bug and Tash show up as well, and get mighty PO'd that Lux lied to them about the party and didn't invite them.

Baze ends up going upstairs after a Yoda cookie jar, or something, gets thrown out a window, and has a mighty yell at Lux about her not using her head, using the exact same phrasing his own dad used on him earlier, mind you. Lux and her buddies head out, and Bug suggests they take the party over to the drive-in, then proceeds to "borrow" QB Abercrombie's car. They get pulled over, Cate and Baze show up to try to stop the cops from arresting them and get arrested themselves, and it's Baze's dad to the bail out rescue.

While in the clink, Cate suggested to Baze that he try to reconnect with his dad, because maybe he has become the bad cop and can't figure a way to change it. Baze tries to take her advice and offers his dad a do over, but gets rebuffed. The hurt puppy goes back to the bar and finds that the turtle thing turned out to actually be a moderate success. And I'm skipping over everything to do with the three-legged turtle because it's CHEESY, so there. And, in the end, Baze's dad shows back up at the bar to have some bonding time with his son. Awww. Actually, it was rather sweet.

Because this week's SCHLOCK ALERT goes out to... Lux! It seems to usually do that. She apologizes to Tash about lying about the party, saying she wanted to know what it was like to fit in, and she's not really ashamed of her foster friends but rather, "ashamed of me." Oh god, she didn't say that? No, she did. She did indeed. Sigh.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Supernatural 5x14 "My Bloody Valentine"

Well, I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever been so grossed out by an episode of Supernatural to date. When the episode started I thought to myself, "This must be Ben Edlund." Indeed! Indeed. He has presented some of the craziest deaths and most memorable suicidal teddy bears, so you know when people start eating each other to death, he's probably behind it. The distended stomach... and the reaching into the fryer with the... and all of that raw beef... and those teeth, you know whose teeth... and... UGH! I was making faces and disgusted noises, I'm sure, throughout the episode, and when Dean came upon that guy face down in the fryer, I was like please, please, please do NOT pull him out of that oil. Thankfully, we were spared that imagery, though my imagination can do its own version. *shudder*

Okay, now that I've got that out of my system! So basically, people have suddenly become crazy in love with each other, to the point where they literally cannot get enough - eating each other alive, or doing some other form of double suicide so they can be together forever. Sam discovers that they all have an Enochian sigil on their hearts and Castiel confirms that they have, in fact, been touched by an angel, of the cherub, third class, variety. They track the dude down and after a hilarious, though meandering, bit where he hugs all of them in turn as a greeting, in all of his naked glory, we find out that he is not responsible for the people going crazy, just for them falling for each other.

A couple other things we find out from this encounter with "Cupid" - a similar angel brought John and Mary together back in the day. Apparently, before that, they hated each other. And it was all to bring Dean and Sam into the world. Although, that seems a little bit strange after last week when they wanted to completely get rid of Sam altogether. Was Anna actually working on her own? Was there someone else making the rules? Kind of weird. We also find out that Castiel can read minds? I don't think this was ever mentioned before. Maybe he can only read a cherub's mind or something? Hmm. Hmm, I say.

They start to figure out what's going on when both Sam and Castiel start acting strangely. Castiel has suddenly developed a taste for hamburgers, thanks to his vessel Jimmy, while Sam has started longing for the taste of demon blood again. Cas figures out that it's actually one of the Four Horsemen they're dealing with - Famine, to be more precise. He rolls into a town and everyone starts going crazy for what they hunger after, whether that be actual food, sex, or, like Sam, some bloody blood blood. But Dean, he seems to not be affected. In fact, he seems to be having a reverse effect - he's not hungry, he doesn't want to go out and bag a lady on his favorite holiday, Valentine's Day. Dean asserts that he gets these things whenever he wants them on a regular basis, so it's not affecting him like it does everyone else. Shenanigans, Dean. I don't believe that is correct. In fact, I surmised the truth before we had to be told what it was. I even said it out loud. To myself, of course, because I was alone. But aloud nonetheless. Should I give it away now? Okay, I will. It's because he feels nothing inside. Nothing inside! Dun dun dun. I'm sure anyone who watches the show on a regular basis could figure that out. More extrapolation on that when we actually get to it, however.

Anyhow, Sam tells Dean that they have to leave him behind while they go after Famine, who has a demon guard dressed like Agents out of The Matrix, don't you know, and Sam won't be able to resist their bloody blood blood. They handcuff him in the bathroom and... I'm sure we have all figured out by now that Famine is going to send him some demons to devour, so don't act all surprised when that actually happens. Dean and Castiel head over to Famine's joint, Big Gerson's (I do believe that is the same place they won the free food at in Bad Day at Black Rock, yes?). Castiel pops in and Dean gives him five seconds before deciding it's been too long, and goes in after him.

And, to all of our dismay, he finds Castiel knee deep in raw beef, unable to control himself. GROSS. Dean gets a little ass kicking from some of Famine's demons, then gets to meet the Horseman himself, in all his grossy, skin peely, yellow teethy, wheelchairy glory. Yes, that is all very scientific. Anyway, Famine tells us what I've already mentioned. The reason Dean has not been afflicted like everyone else is because his soul is empty. He puts on a big show for everyone, but inside he's still broken. I was very reminded of Buffy, I must say, after she came back from the dead, though I have a hard time imagining Dean in a musical singing about how he wants his fire back. Nonetheless, that would be his song to sing.

Anyway! I digress. Sam, all demon blooded up, comes charging in. While Famine tries to get him to keep engorging himself on the rest of the demons there, because apparently Sam can never have too much blood, Sam decides no. He exorcises all of them, though Famine tries to take them into himself. Oh, yes, because he eats souls. I forgot to mention that earlier. Moving on! Famine haves himself a giggle about Sam not being able to kill him like he can demons, but Sam's like "screw you, ugly teeth" (I may be abbreviating slightly) and proceeds to exorcise the demons out of Famine. Which, I guess, kills him? Because they didn't seem to take his ring. I kept wondering why Dean didn't just jump in and cut off the guy's ring during all of this. He didn't want to be left there with all of the demons or something? Seems a little bit flimsy to me, but whatever.

In the end, Dean and Castiel have to lock Sam back up in Bobby's special panic room to detox once again. Dean can't handle hearing crazy Sam screaming like that again, and goes for some air. And, man, Jensen Ackles can just break my heart. He's struggling to keep it together as he looks to the sky, asking for help. And I don't know about you, but it seems like it would be very easy for Dean to say yes to Michael when he has nothing to live for himself. Wouldn't it be easier for him to say yes now, when Lucifer isn't in Sam?

And now, for this week's quotes. There are a fair few!

"Go ahead. Unleash the Kraken. See you tomorrow morning." - Sam, telling Dean to go get his Valentine's Day jollies off

"Refrigerate after opening." - The coroner to the boys, about the harvested organs

"You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?" - Dean
"They're not incontinent." - Castiel

"Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?" - Dean, after the Cherub has given them all a big, naked, hug
"This is their handshake." - Castiel
"I don't like it." - Dean
"No one likes it." - Castiel

"I believe you upset him." - Castiel

"Exactly. My hunger. It's a clue actually." - Castiel

Half the reason why Castiel's lines are so funny is just based on the delivery of Misha Collins. I'm not always a fan of Castiel, but I am always a fan of Misha, if that makes sense.

Anyway, thanks to the 2010 Winter Olympics (which are taking place in Vancouver BC, actually, where Supernatural, and many other shows, are filmed), we won't be getting a new episode until March 25th. It appears to be about a bunch of zombies. They are really trying to gross me out a lot right now, aren't they?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Oreo Truffles

So, much like my peanut butter balls, I'm lying when I say these are from the oven. But they are a dessert-y thing, so whatevs. I was making these in an attempt to make something football-related for a Super Bowl get together I was going to, and after seeing how cute they could turn out thanks to Bakerella, I decided to give them a go. So what are "they," you must be wondering. Well, they were supposed to be little football-shaped Oreo Truffles, complete with laces. But I didn't have time to do the laces, and got fed up halfway with making them football-shaped, so there are some blobby football-ish shaped ones, and a bunch of balls.

And clearly some pretzels got thrown into the mix as well, as I had leftover chocolate. I also could not do the whole "dip the whole ball" thing, because I don't have a double boiler to keep the chocolate warm enough, and I don't think this chocolate was the right consistency to work all that great for it anyway. In the end, however, they tasted fine.

original Oreo Truffles recipe, via Bakerella

1 package oreo cookies (divided… use cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
white chocolate bark

1. Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later.
2. Crush remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.
3. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.
4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration. 5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy!
Makes about 36 truffles.

I used mint oreos instead of regular, and clearly I did not use white chocolate, but rather just melted some chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips, to be exact, but I probably should've just used semi-sweet. I also did not sprinkle the tops with any crushed Oreos because I thought I would have time to pipe on laces. Wrong-o! Oh well.

The crushed up Oreos. I really should've taken a picture of the ziploc bag I used to crush these in! It was a sight! It took forever, so if you have a food processor, I would definitely recommend using that instead.

After the cream cheese is all mixed in. I just used that spoon you see in there and it worked just fine since my cream cheese was nice and soft.

After refrigerating the "dough" for a little bit, make into balls or, as you can see, attempt to make into footballs. My hands got so sticky it became really hard to do.

Cover with melted chocolate. I just used a spoon and blobbed the chocolate on top, because I am impatient.

Ready to be served!

These tasted fine enough, but didn't blow my mind or anything. If you have a food processor, they are probably really easy, but this took a while for me to do manually in the ziploc bag thanks to the mushy creamy centers of the Oreos. There involved a lot of scraping off the sides and being generally disgruntled. I think using the mint made them have more pizazz than using regular, but then I don't really like regular Oreos, so who knows!

...Set: Life Unexpected 1x04 "Bong Intercepted"

The bong lamp that won't die played another major role in this week's episode, even featuring in the title of the episode itself! Yep, that, now legendary, bong was found in Brin's (or is it Bren? I can't keep these crazy names straight) locker. Because obviously that's the best place to keep it if you can't keep it at home in case your parents might find it. Nevermind if the school finds it and your parents find out anyway! Which is exactly what happens. And any short-lived friendship between Lux and Brin becomes even more short-lived when Brin rats Lux out as the seller of said bong. Result: Suspension.

Meanwhile, both Cate and Baze have received Lux's file from her social worker (whose name is Vern, if you ever wanted to know), in which they find a letter Lux wrote to Santa when she was eight, explaining how she wanted a family. Upon hearing of Lux's suspension, Cate decides to use that file to make the Principal see that Lux deserves a second chance. And here we get a plot contrivance, wherein Cate says something like, "Here! Take it! Make a photocopy and look it over!" The principal takes it, hands it to an assistant and says, "Here! Make a photocopy and give the original back to the mother." The assistant takes it and we pan on over to our resident She-Bitch of Westmonte High School, who has it out for Lux, don't you know, smiling slyly at her joyous occasion of luck and amazing coinkidink! I did not see that coming ten miles away at all! And her name is Kasey, or Kaycie or Casey, however these crazy folks end up spelling it. And I'm not sure how much we need to care at this point.

So she, predictably, makes another copy and plasters it all over Lux's locker. Brin is upset because Lux lied to her about Jerry Garcia using that bong lamp and something about a summer in San Francisco. The other kids play their mean high school personas saying little things like, "Merry Christmas, Lux" cackle cackle cackle. Lux, as she is wont to do, takes it all out on Cate. After basically telling her she doesn't get it and she never will, Lux decides the only way to make her see is to get up on stage at the Drink & Date event Cate and Ryan are hosting and out them as an engaged couple. Because, remember, everyone thinks they are single and cynical co-hosts. The entirety of Portland goes BA-nanas over the whole thing. And again I question credibility, because who really cares that much about radio personalities anymore?

But it did lead to the best part of the episode, which was Cate giving Lux the what for, for once. She pointed out exactly what's been annoying me about Lux so far: all she does is run away. And all Cate is doing is trying her best. And Lux has been a bit of a whiny little baby pants about it. She gets another talk from Math about being the unwanted one and how the answer to her issues is in that Santa letter and yes, you guessed it, that's our SHLOCK ALERT for the evening. Copious amounts of voiceover follow, with Lux reading out the rest of her Santa letter about how she doesn't need perfect parents, but rather just parents in general who are nice and yada yada yada.

I've barely mentioned Baze at all. He was acting rather childish the whole episode too, getting all shirty over that Santa letter because he wasn't the rich and famous father little Lux had said she wanted. Apparently he did not read to the end of the letter either, because get a clue. And Ryan also gave him the what for when he was being a whiny little baby pants about it at the aforementioned Drink & Date event. Ryan basically reminds him of who Lux always goes to when she's running away from Cate: Baze. She spent all her savings on him, etc. etc. Clearly she's sees something, so get off it and start acting like a father if you want to be one. Well said, Ryan, well said. He seems to be the most sensible person on this show, really.

Baze also gets Lux her bong lamp back, as well as the money he owed her for the rent she paid last week, thanks to the Drink & Date event that he finagled into being at his bar rather than the rival one across the street.

In the end, Lux goes back to Cate's, which is a relief to her. And can we now hope that she stops running away every episode and gets something else to do? Pretty please?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Chuck 3x07 "Chuck versus the Mask"

This episode was all about budding relationships! Chuck and Hannah. Sarah and Shaw. And I have to say, I enjoy both of those pairings rather a lot! Though, it does maybe seem a little abrupt for Shaw to be so into Sarah after he just admitted to the whole wife's-death-is-my-fault thing, and seemed to still be getting over that. I guess I don't remember how much time has passed, so maybe he is over it. Or maybe he's hiding something further, if that look at the end of the episode is any indication!

The mission this week was all about the Mask of Alexander. The Ring has been using famous artifacts as vessels for transporting nefarious thingamabobs, and the Mask is likely the next on the list. Our crew must pull a switcheroo with the Mask for a fake, so they can find out what's inside the Mask. This is, of course, harder than it would first appear. Shaw tries it out at the top of the hour, but gets tripped up by a fallen screw, almost dying when the air gets sucked out of the room (rather similar to something I recently saw on White Collar!). Chuck comes to the rescue, though, but not without Hannah tagging along for the ride, thinking it is a standard Nerd Herd operation. Having successfully "fixed" what the curator assumed was a faulty security system, he invites them to come to the unveiling of the Mask that evening to make sure nothing else goes wrong.

But hey now, this is Chuck. Something always goes wrong. While Chuck and Hannah hang (and smooch) in the security room, Shaw and Sarah pose as a couple for the main event. Shaw is laying on the flirtatiousness, but Sarah is having none of it. And Casey? Oh yes, he gets to be surveillance in the van. While Chuck is working with Hannah, he flashes on a Ring dude at the party, one of the same ones they had spotted previously taking one of the other artifacts. Visilis? I guess that was his name. So many hard and confusing names on this show! Manoosh last week, Visilis this week. As the ridiculous robot Alpha 5 would say on one Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Aye yi yi yi yi!

Chuck ditches Hannah to go tell the S's about Visilis. They decide Chuck and Sarah should go pull the switch on the Mask since Visilis knows Shaw and could spot him (at least, I think this was the reason!). While they are working on it, they are surprised by some bad guys and Sarah works some serious butt-kicking skills. Hannah also has work to do, because Chuck has made the security system freak out so they can do their thing. When he finally makes it back to her, she is pissed. As she has every right to be in her situation.

While Sarah and Shaw work to open up the Mask, Visilis looks at the security footage and sees Chuck with Hannah. He decides to get her back to the museum and locks her in the vault with he air sucking out. At the same time, Sarah and Shaw get the Mask open, only to get gassed by a toxic vapor. They've only got an hour to live - and it's up to Chuck to save them as well as Hannah. He and Casey fashion another fake Mask with bonus fake gas and deliver it back to Visilis, who is supposed to have the counteragent. But the counteragent is actually hidden in one of the vases in the museum, so Chuck has to get the Intersect to flash on which one, because of course there are about 100 of them in that room alone.

In the end, he finds the vase and is able to get Hannah free just as the oxygen runs out! And Shaw has, meanwhile, carried an unconscious Sarah to the museum (well, carried and drove, I assume), so they both get the counteragent. They also had a moment earlier on while they were both gassed where Shaw admitted he was flirting, and Sarah admitted she kind of liked it. In the end, they share a moment while Chuck and Hannah make out in the home theater room, all enmity forgotten in the face of his heroic rescue of her.

In the side story, we had Morgan and Ellie teaming up to figure out what was going on with Chuck and Devon. The only weird thing about that was that they both referenced Devon as well as Lester and Jeff, yet we didn't see any of them. I know that is probably budgetary, but it felt really weird. Anyway, they decide they've got to confront Chuck, intervention-style (thinking he's going through some sort of post-Sarah bender), and track him down to the Buy More, heading for the Home Theater Room. We're made to think they're going to catch him going down into Castle, because Morgan almost did earlier, but in fact he is in there making out with Hannah! Ellie is ecstatic, Morgan betrayed. He liked Hannah, you see. And probably also because Chuck never told him something was going on with her. Betrayal! Intrigue!

In the final scene, we see Visilis talking to the Ring command in a very '90s looking, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure-reminiscent space. He tells them he saw Shaw and asks what they're going to do to him. Their answer? The same thing we're doing to you - which means, shooting him in the head! So, was Shaw once part of the Ring? Do they just want him because he's tracking them down? Is it something more nefarious? We won't find out for a few weeks thanks to the Winter Olympics, but c'est la vie.

Oh, I almost forgot this little bit. The crew tells Chuck that they're just his training wheels. The Intersect is really meant to work autonomously one day. Chuck looked very horrified at the thought, as I'm sure the audience is as well.

There weren't a ton of funny lines this episode, but here are the few I did catch:

"...if you're into the strong, Superman type of guy." - Chuck (aaaand yet another reference to Brandon Routh's former role!)

"Thanks for the coffee. Just the way I like it. Black and bitter." - Casey

"When do I get to blow something up?" - Casey

"Hope you're ready for your big boy bike, Bartowski." - Holy Alliteration, Casey!

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

...Set: Supernatural 5x13 "The Song Remains the Same"

Well, I don't know about you, but that episode broke my heart. And has ratcheted right up to my favorite of the season. Thus far, anyway. Though, to be fair, that's not so hard this season, for whatever reason. But! Yes! Loved it. Loved it so very much. Though I will point out that Mary and John aged A LOT between that last scene of pregnant-with-Dean-Mary and the pilot. My one quibble.

Where to begin? Okay, basic plot. Anna has come back from Heaven. She claims that she escaped in a dream message to Dean, but Castiel thinks differently. No one escapes. And he's right. She goes back in time to kill Mary and John before Dean and Sam are born, thus making it so Sam can never be Lucifer's vessel. After some initial squabbling on the matter, Castiel agrees to take Dean and Sam back in time to stop her.

Once back in time (to 1978, I think), Dean and Sam head over to warn the young, yet-to-be-parental Winchesters that they need to get out of dodge. After some battling with Anna, ending with Sam doing that blood symbol on the wall thing that makes them poof out of there, they head to some sort of bunker the Campbells set up in the past. And here Dean tells Mary that he and Sam are her sons, and it was heartbreaking. They tell her that the only way to stop all of this is for her to leave John. But she says she can't - she's already pregnant.

Eventually they are found, though, and this time Anna brings along help - Uriel. The past Uriel, see, as the other one she actually killed back in another favorite episode of mine, "On the Head of a Pin." After she has stabbed Sam to a swift death (yep, he dies again!), and is ready to kill Mary, all of us get a surprise...

Michael! In John's body! I did not expect this! He disposes of Anna and sends Uriel packing back to Heaven until his later Winchester adventures. Michael-John does the mind whammy on Mary, so she and John, once Michael vacates his body, will never remember what has occurred. He then has a little chat with Dean about capital D Destiny, brothers and fathers, or Fathers. And asserts that Dean will eventually say yes, as he is supposed to. He fixes up Sam and sends the pair of them back to the present, to drink to their Free Will. Do they really have said Free Will? It's a question that will continue to be explored, to be sure.

And the last scene of the night is of young Mary and John, setting up a nursery for the soon to be born "troublemaker" Dean, with a prominent Angel watching over it (which Mary got for 25 cents). Angels are watching over him. I don't know about you, but that was haunting.

Interestingly, my favorite moments all were the quieter ones that weren't necessarily serving the main plot. The little bit in the car where John is dealing with finding out monsters are real and telling everyone to shut up or he'll "turn this car right back around!" Awkward family road trip, indeed. When Sam first saw Mary and John, when he told her how beautiful she was, and his whole speech to John about how he never got to tell his dad that he understands now, that he loves him. Oy mama, pulled at my heart strings! And let's not forget Mary finding out that Dean and Sam are her sons, and Dean's bits of proof about the tomato soup with the rice and... um, excuse me while I wipe a tear. Man. The look on Dean's face when Michael tells him that he's wiped their memories, so upset that she'll still walk into that nursery.

Revelatory fact of the evening: Dean is Michael's true vessel, but John is still a vessel. It's in the bloodline, which apparently goes back to Cain and Abel. He also reveals that his vessels do not turn out to be drooling empty-heads after he's through with them, that they can continue on with their lives - unlike that guy we saw who was taken over by Raphael in "Free to Be You and Me."

Basically: wow. I can't say with certain certainty until the season is over, but this episode could possibly be in my top 10 of all time of the show. In case you want to know some of my other favorites: Mystery Spot, In My Time of Dying, Lazarus Rising, What is and What Should Never Be, A Very Supernatural Christmas.... etc. etc. etc.

Though this was a rather serious episode, there were some light moments that get to be included in my...

Potable Quotables:

"So she's gone all Glenn Close. That's awesome." - Dean
"Who's Glenn Close?" - Castiel
"Just this psycho bitch who boils rabbits." - Dean

"So you're like a Delorean with no Plutonium." - Dean
"I don't understand that reference." - Castiel

"I mean, the mustaches alone." - Sam

"Wow. Awkward family road trip." - Dean

"Six degrees of heaven bacon." - Dean

"I am very surprised." - Castiel

Next week: Evil Cupid. Incidentally, I almost wrote a spec episode with that exact idea. Good thing I did not.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies (version 2)

That's right, I tried my hand at another round of chocolate chip cookies! This recipe was recommended by my friend Brittany, and is featured here at the NY Times website. As you know, I have been looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. This is all subjective, as everyone has their own personal taste in what constitutes the perfect cookie. What is most interesting about this recipe, as well as the last one, is that they both tasted better the second day after baking! Usually cookies taste the best right after they're done, at least in my experience, but maybe something about my Peanut M&M cookie jar is magically making them taste better the day after? It's a mystery!

In any case, this recipe. It's kind of complicated, and as I didn't want to buy all of the various kinds of special flour, I adapted it to fit what I had, though I don't think I adapted it exactly right with regard to the baking soda & powder. Basically, I was a little nervous about the ratio of flour they were calling for versus the rest, which was fairly normal. Almost twice as much flour and only 1/2 stick more butter? It sounds crazy. How can this be right?! And since I used regular all-purpose flour instead of the mix of bread flour and cake flour, I used less.

Are you wondering the difference between cake flour, bread flour, and all-purpose flour? I was too. In the most basic sense, they have different amounts of protein in them. Bread flour has the highest amount, thereby making the results denser, whereas cake flour has the least amount, making things lighter. All-purpose is somewhere in between. Which makes me a little suspicious of this recipe because why bother with the two types of flour, which basically cancel each other out, when you could just use all-purpose, which is in the middle of the two to begin with? Hence, my using all-purpose with little qualms. I also used regular ole semi-sweet chocolate chips rather than going to the extra lengths of finding these special bittersweet chocolate disks or feves the recipe calls for. Rather gourmet, aren't we, recipe??

I also get a little miffed at recipes that assume their bakers are going to have a Kitchenaid mixer with special paddle attachment. Not all of us are so lucky! I am still using a lowly hand mixer here, guys! Anyway, on to the recipe...

Chocolate Chip Cookies  - via NY Times, who adapted it from Jacques Torres

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Sugars and butter mixed together. My butter was not as soft as I would've liked, but I was impatient and didn't want to microwave it.

After adding in the eggs.

And finally, the flour mixture.

All wrapped up and ready to be refrigerated.

A little less than 24 hours later, it's time to bake these babies. Sorry for the window slat shadows!

Voila!

So, blast it all yet again, my oven ruined the first batch by deciding it wanted to be 25 degrees hotter than it was supposed to be! Ugh. I hate that oven SO much! I got it under control after that, but these still turned out to be kind of crisp, though as I mentioned above, they are a bit chewier the second day. I also added more than I should have of the baking powder and soda since I used less flour, so that could also be a culprit. Though again I wonder at having both of them in the recipe when they sort are opposites, much like the different flour types. It just seems an extra step to sound more fancy. 

As you can see, I'm not exactly gourmet! Comfort food, down home cookin'... yeah that's much more like it.

...Set: Life Unexpected 1x03 "Rent Uncollected"

First up, what do you guys think of the titles of the episodes all being similar to the title of the show ("Rent Uncollected", "Home Inspected")? Clever? Cloying? I'm on the fence. The show does have a certain cheesy factor at the end of every episode so far, so I guess it's fitting the titles reflect that aspect.

ANYWAY. This week Lux got to meet a lot of her extended family - Baze's parents as well as Cate's mother and sister. This all came about when Baze's father heard about his daughter on Cate's radio show. He threatened to take over the bar - because Baze was late on that month's rent - if he did not bring Lux and Cate over for dinner. Baze had some trouble getting them to come because Cate had already planned a family dinner of her own for her, Lux and Ryan. I don't know, I thought she was being rather insensitive about that whole thing. Maybe that is supposed to be part of her character, being sort of selfish? I guess. Or maybe I just like Baze better! Ha.

Baze finally got her to agree to come, but they were doubly surprised to find that the Baziles had invited Cate's mother and sister over too. Things got tense at the dinner table, as things usually tend to do, when all of the grandparents decided they would be better equipped to raise Lux than Cate and Baze. I think this was my favorite scene of the episode. Who doesn't love a good family scene where all of the issues come out? It all ended with Baze's dad saying he was going to take the bar back anyway.

Meanwhile, Lux is having issues with Cate deciding to move her to a different school without consulting her about it. Mostly because the move means she'll no longer be going to school with Tasha. Bug, the boyfriend, if you remember, tells her they should go with their plan of moving out on their own together with her start up savings money, but in the end she decides to use the money to pay off Baze's owed rent. Which I saw coming miles and miles away. He owed $3200, she happened to have $3000 and sold a lamp for $200. Oh wait, that matches exactly? How nice! I was also a little annoyed that the plot with her friends was nearly the same as last week - them wanting her to leave with them. Obviously that's not going to happen.

In the end, Cate tells Lux she's going to make a better effort to make it a family discussion before just changing things for her. She also suggests that they get to know her foster family better, and have a nice little get together on the roof of Bug's apartment toasting some hot dogs over a garbage can fire. It was... pretty cheesy, you must admit. But that's the tone of the show, so, you know, Tone Accepted. See what I did there?

As an aside, Lux seems to be very good at lying. She was able to make up a bunch of stories on the fly while trying to fit in with the popular bitchy girls at the new school, as well as making up a story about that bong-inspired lamp she sold for $200 by claiming it belonged to... Bob Marley? I think she said Bob Marley. Anywho, she is the hardest character to keep a grasp on because she seems so changeable sometimes, but then that's what her life has been, so perhaps it is a product of that instability.

Okay, I'll stop before I go way too in depth analyzing!

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...Set: Chuck 3x06 "Chuck versus the Nacho Sampler"

I don't know about all of you, but this episode has to be my favorite of the season so far. It was all about how Chuck has changed since he first had the Intersect sent to him 3 1/2 years ago. We even got bookend flashbacks of the fateful first meeting of Chuck and Sarah to round it all out. Vicki Vale, Vick Vi Vicki Vale...

The main plot of the night was all about a guy named Manoosh (Fahim Anwar), who was somehow involved with the Ring. Chuck was tasked with figuring out what he was doing for them by getting close to him much like Sarah did back in the day. Turns out, Manoosh is very similar to how Chuck was back when we first met him - a bit of a geek, brilliant, lonely. When Chuck first tries to get close to him, he goes a little overboard and scares him away, but is able to fix it later with a set up meeting. Things go south, however, when the Ring comes looking for Manoosh. Sarah comes in and does a quickie seduction before tranqing Manoosh.

The trio opens up Manoosh's secret briefcase to figure out what he's been working on (a weapon, we know at this point), and pull out a mysterious red cubey thing. They arrange for Chuck to hand back the briefcase to Manoosh sans cubey thing at the Buy More. He does so, but when Manoosh goes to leave, he's surrounded by Ring operatives. And now we find out the cubey thing was a red herring - what he was really working on were a pair of glasses that are a mobile Intersect! Manoosh takes out the operatives and heads off to Weap Con, an annual weapons conference that Casey attends every year (of course!).

Our spy trio heads off to Dubai for the Weap Con, where Manoosh plans to sell his Intersect to the highest bidder. Things, of course, get a little hairy when the Ring guys show up. It turns into a showdown between the Ring guys and our guys, all with guns on Manoosh. Chuck's Intersect flashes come to the rescue, and at first he tells Manoosh he can go, because he feels bad that he might have to be burned (sent to some isolated bunker and never let out), much like he almost was. But, Chuck mans up and ultimately gives Manoosh over to the government to send away for good.

In our side plots... Devon is having trouble readjusting to regular life and dealing with keeping Chuck's secret from Ellie. Chuck tells him that if he doesn't do it, he and Ellie will probably be sent into witness protection, and no one wants that. This leads to more strife between Devon and Ellie, and growing suspicions on Ellie's part about what is up with the two of them...

...which is also happening with Morgan. He finds out from Hannah, who has started working in the Nerd Herd at the Buy More, that Chuck went to Paris and never told him. But it's not just that, he's been acting weird for a while. By the end, Morgan has told Jeff and Lester they can turn their stalking skills on Chuck (earlier they had been using them on Hannah), to find out what's going on. Morgan and Ellie vent their frustrations to each other and decide they're going to figure out what's going on. But what happens once everyone finds out?

Chuck's growing up and becoming more ruthless as a spy, which Casey thinks is a good thing, but Sarah is not so sure. It's definitely an interesting development to watch, and one I'm glad they are exploring.

Favorite quotes:

"All right, let's give Jeff a chance to realize he's in public." - Chuck

"May the best stalker win." - Lester

"It's my constitutional right to fornicate." - Jeff

"Finally." - Lester, on Morgan giving them the go ahead to stalk Chuck

Song pick of the episode: 

Datarock - Amarillion 

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