Friday, January 31, 2014

King of the Nerds 2x02 "Weird... Science?"

The poll has spoken! I will be doing weekly reviews of our dear King of the Nerds! Luckily the show is only eight episodes long, I believe, so this won't be a huge undertaking. Last week, there wasn't much competing going on with it being the first episode, other than in the Nerd Off. This week, we get an actual challenge where some true colors were put on full display for the first time. And oh boy were they.
Subtlety!

The challenge was all about science, more specifically about creating a science fair-like presentation about volcanoes. They would be judged both on the science and the wow factor of their presentations. The teams went in wildly different directions for this challenge, which is always fun to see. It was interesting, actually, because while one team was more scientific in their presentation, their actual mountain was fantastical, while the other team was more fantastical in their presentation, but was more realistic in their mountain - ie, it was a real volcano.

Both teams were not without some drama in the creation of their projects. Team Midas Touch Attack, aka team yellow, at first seemed to get along better than the Titans of Rigel, aka team purple. Kayla was very concerned about the science of their presentation, while the rest of her team was more focused on theatricality of the actual presentation, and this caused some disparity. Team yellow was hampered by Zack, who seemed to be on a bit of a high horse, meditating and taking naps while the rest of his team worked. Of course, he believed he was the backbone in making their presentation. It's hard to say because of editing what the 100% truth is, but he did not come off well, let's just put it that way. I believe I did predict he would possibly get drunk with power? Hmm.

Fare thee well, Josh. I was rooting for you!
Anyway! When it came down to it, the purple team ended up winning. Bill Nye the Science Guy was a guest judge and appreciated their use of Yellowstone as their mountain, and the theatricality of their presentation. He was also joined on the judging panel by Mayim Bialik and... some whiz kid genius. Sorry, I forgot to write down his name. This meant the yellow team was to go up on the chopping block, and here is where the true drama began. Zack figured he was safe, but all of his teammates were not on the bandwagon, and voted him into the Nerd Off. He had a bit of a tirade when this went down, and made all of us audience members root for the purple team's choice - Josh. Their reasoning was he would not be very good at science, and they wanted to keep Zack on the other team to cause more strife.

Alas, the purple team's plan worked. Josh got a little too harried in the Nerd Off, which basically involved memorizing not only what the human organs do, but some "alien" equivalents as well. Josh messed up on figuring out it was the heart that had ventricles and chambers, and that pretty much lost him the game, which is only going to bolster Zack's megalomania at this point. Perhaps the show is painting him more as a villain than he is, but I don't know. He was pretty rude to Josh when they were both voted into the Nerd Off, so it's hard to say.

Anyway, next week is sure to be full of drama now that Zack remains on the yellow team. I do hope the contestants don't make the same mistake as last year by keeping in someone they don't see as threat for a super long time, who then ends up winning the whole thing when they shouldn't. Grumble, grumble.

So, who are you rooting for to take it all? I think it's still a little too soon to say who might make it. After next week I will probably have a better idea who I'm rooting for, and who I think will at least make it to the finals.

Until next time...

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Supernatural 9x12 "Sharp Teeth"

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x12 "Sharp Teeth" by freshfromthe.com
Going full smolder.
Well, we're to that point now - a filler episode. Granted, this was a filler episode with a bit more meat to it since it involved a previous guest star in the form of Garth, aka DJ Qualls, and was a step toward reconciliation between the brothers Winchester. Still, not much to add to the main storyline other than Sam and Dean exchanging some information on what they've been up to in their separate lives lately.

Anyway, on to this week's plot. Garth ends up in the hospital after getting hit by a car, which is after he was chased by a farmer with a shotgun through the woods. Sam and Dean both separately find him and end up having to work together to figure out what's going on with him. Turns out, some months back he was hunting a werewolf and was bitten while in the process of killing said werewolf. He had planned to kill himself, but instead met the new lady in his life, Bes? I think her name was Bes? Either that or Ves? We'll go with Bes for now. So, she brought him home and they got hitched.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x12 "Sharp Teeth" by freshfromthe.com
Sam, always in the suit.
Dean, of course, is less than thrilled at this news, and would like to just go in there, silver bullets blazing, and kill the whole pack that Garth has been assimilated in to, but Sam is like, dude, let's listen to the dealio here. Because they're claiming they are peaceful and non-human-killing werewolves. Or, you know, lycanthropes, if you want to get politically correct about it.

But, this is Supernatural, so things can't quite be all cherry pie happy times. When the local sheriff attacks them, and Garth and his lady go missing, it's time for the Winchesters to get into investigation mode. Apparently a small faction of this pack is part of some Ragnarok cult thing wherein they want to kill humans and take over the world. You know, that kind of cult. While the Bes' stepmom expounds on her grand villainous plan, it gives Dean time to come in and get to killing.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x12 "Sharp Teeth" by freshfromthe.com
Garth the werewolf, er, lycanthrope.
So, all was not well in the land of the lycanthropes, but with the nefarious Ragnarok group done and dusted, Garth and his wife can go on living their lives without killing people, and perhaps without hunters trying to kill them. Are we amazed Garth came out of this unscathed? Remember that time Sam had to kill Madison because she was a werewolf, and how sad it was? I felt no such emotion in this episode, and she wasn't even a recurring character. Blah blah, the earlier seasons were better, blah.

Anyway, the boys bid farewell to Garth, and have one of their patented roadside, by the car, end of episode, emotional round ups. Dean basically tells Sam that they work better together, and while Sam agrees that it helps them share the burden of all the crap, he does not agree that getting a couple of wins under their belt will help them mend their brotherly relationship. Though he doesn't really give any way of actually mending their relationship, he does agree to go on hunting together.

Next week it looks like we get a lighter episode, with Sam in a tank top?! Oh my goodness, one layer?! Whatever will we do?

Random Thoughts:

- What in the heck were Sam's "terms" there at the end? That Dean can't expect them to be brothers again or something? That was a bit unclear.

- The Mark of Cain thing was kind of breezed over. Sam definitely seemed interested in it, but Dean just la-di-da'd out of talking about it. Perhaps whatever will happen to him because of said Mark will help to bring their relationship back together.

- Did you like this turn of events for Garth? Personally it seemed a little out of nowhere to me.

- Supernatural is likely going to be renewed for season 10. Am I alone in hoping it will be the last?

Quotes:

Sam: He's a skinny, Ichabod Crane-kinda looking guy.

Dean: Did he steal a car?
Sam: Did he steal a car, naked?

Not many quotes this week, a pretty serious episode.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Friday, January 24, 2014

King of the Nerds Season 2 premiere

You may remember my post from last year lamenting who was voted as winner in the finale of the first season of King of the Nerds, because, you know, she was not really the nerdiest of them all. But I digress. We're moving on, now, to a whole new season of fun and awkward. Because let's just get this out of the way now - nerds are awkward, normally because of social skills not exactly being top notch. I'm not trying to take a dig right now; I think most nerds would agree.

From Pokemon masters to Japanophiles to Gaymers, we've got a whole host of new contestants.
Anyway, there are new contestants, and I feel like I can't really comment much on what's going on yet because it's the very first episode, but I will say I feel kind of bad for Kelsey for being the first to go home because she happened to be one of the more socially awkward people there, and was probably not envisioned to be a very strong ally to some of the people around. In fact, she was the one not chosen for a team right from the start. Of course, she ended up getting on a team anyway in a bit of reversal trickery that nearly involved someone going home before any contests even happened, but ANYway, she DID make it on to a team, only to be the team's first choice to send to the nerd off. Sheesh.

Kelsey and Chris are the first two to face off in a Quidditch-inspired duel. Chris does not look pleased.
To be honest, Kelsey should've won that game if it were based on fantasy knowledge merits alone. But, alas, the competition merely went on to show that hand-eye coordination is somehow equally important in this thing, even though it's pretty established that nerds get picked last in such competitions. The whole gym class thing, you know? So Chris ended up winning just because he was able to get a ball of "potion" into a cauldron worth more points than Kelsey, even though she got more questions right. I suppose this is the same as last year, and they make it out to be some kind of recognizing relative space and arcs and when is the right time to throw based on knowledge, but.... sometimes it just comes down to hand-eye coordination.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling a little bit. The truth is, I really like this show. The people on it are much more interesting than those on some other reality competitions. They genuinely care about each other (usually) and are truly excited to be part of the whole Nerdvana experience. It's hard to say off the bat who I'm routing for and who I think is going to win, but I will say one of the nicer people on the show so far seems to be our resident Gay Gamer (aka Gaymer) Xander. I will say I think maybe Kayla could be a dark horse, and that while Nicole and Zachary already have an alliance, they seem like they could become drunk with power and lose it.

That's all for now. Not sure if I'm going to do actual weekly recaps of this show. Would you guys like that, or just like me to check in every now and then? Let me know and vote below!

Weekly recaps or various check ins?
  
pollcode.com free polls 

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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Supernatural 9x11 "First Born"

As you may recall from last week, Sam finally found out that he was possessed, Gadreel was expelled, and Crowley was set free for his help. Oh, yes, and Dean and Sam had a very melodramatic talk and went their separate ways, etc. The times, they never change.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x11 'First Born' by freshfromthe.com
Heyyy I'm Crowley.
Dean is on the search for Gadreel, but instead he finds himself visited by Crowley. Crowley wants to team up with Sir Winchester to find something called the First Blade, which was used by the archangels to kill the knights of hell. You know, so he can go and kill Abaddon and reclaim his place as the king of hell. Just your average, every day, search and destroy mission. He needs Dean's help for this because apparently back in the day, John and another hunter came upon the blade.

Well, not really. They came upon mention of the blade, as they find out thanks to said co-hunter, a buff lady named Tara. Tara kept up the search for said knife of destruction, but was never able to complete the locator spell she found because she needed essence of Kraken. Turns out, Crowley has some of that lying around, so they're able to do the spell, even though Tara is none too pleased to be working with a demon, blah de blah.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x11 'First Born' by freshfromthe.com
Don't mess with Dean when he's in fight club mode.
The locator spell leads them to a place in Missouri, where apparently Cain has been hanging out all this time. Yes, that Cain, of Cain and Abel fame. He was, I guess, one of the first demons and actually created the knights of hell to begin with, but hasn't been seen in many years. You know, because he fell in love with an understanding lady. But she didn't need to be that understanding, because, yeah, Cain's just all misunderstood. His brother was in talks with Lucifer and would've become his lap dog or something, so Cain made a deal with him instead to send Abel to heaven and Cain to hell. So misunderstood. Parallels to the Winchesters, too, it would seem.

Cain, however, refuses to help Dean and Crowley in their mission to find the first blade. Some other demons show up and Dean has to kill some while Cain watches, which is all some kind of test to see if he's really worthy of the blade and, apparently, the actual mark of Cain. Yes, Cain transfers his physical branded mark to Dean, which I guess makes him able to wield the blade or some such? I don't know. It will also come with some sort of consequences, so we'll see just what those may be. He does finally tell them that he hid the blade at the bottom of the ocean, so Crowley goes off to get it. Dean gets a bit huffy with him before that because Crowley was being nefarious as usual and knew who Cain was and what his past was with Abaddon and all that. Yeah, Cain went to kill Abaddon once before, but she was possessing his lady, so he hesitated and ended up just killing the girl instead. Sob story, etc and so on. Dean promises to kill Crowley once he gets rid of Abaddon, but I'm not sure this show can survive anymore without a dose of Crowley wit every now and then.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x11 'First Born' by freshfromthe.com
Things never go well when huge needles are involved.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, the bunker, Men of Letters place, Castiel and Sam are having some bro time. Cas is intermittently healing Sam up to fighting strength and trying to teach him some life lessons along the way. Like, you know, maybe he should reconcile with Dean. He notices that Sam has some kind of angel residue still inside him while doing one of his ritual healings, and this leads them to find a spell of some kind that would possibly help them find Gadreel. You see, apparently when an angel leaves a body it was inhabiting, it leaves a bit of its grace behind, and you can extract is quite simply by sticking a giant needle in said body's neck. Sam, of course, says to go ahead and extract away. Cas does it for a while, but when it starts to make Sam regress to the state he was in before Gadreel possessed him, he stops, because human lives are important and Sam should want to live, damn it. He extracts some of the grace but they aren't able to find Gadreel. Wah wah. Bit of a waste plotline, really just more of some bonding time for Cas and Sam.

Random Thoughts:

- I guess the big question here is what is the mark of Cain going to mean for Dean? It's funny because I was just saying the other day how they always give Sam these possessions and demon-y magic things, but hardly ever Dean, so maybe he's finally getting something like that. Guess we'll see.

- The Cas/Sam hug was really awkward. Like, kind of a random hug, Sam. I guess you're thanking Cas for making you see that you should want to live? Okay. Sure.

- Something about Crowley makes you want to trust him, but he always seems to have some nefarious plan up his sleeve.

- Honestly a lot of the stuff happening lately feels like someone went "hey, what if this!" and because it sounds kind of cool, they just go with it. Suddenly Cain is in the mix? Suddenly we're able to extract graces from humans?

- It was fun to see Timothy Omundson as Cain, though. I love me some Psych!

Quotes:

Dean: You wanna hunt. With me.
Crowley: I do love a good buddy comedy.

Crowley: You're gonna play hard to get? We have time for a montage?

Castiel: Tastes like... molecules.

Crowley: Didn't they teach note-taking at Hunters Hogwarts?

Castiel: You have a guinea pig? Where?
Sam: Me, Cas. I'm the guinea pig.

Crowley: Your problem, mate, is nobody hates you more than you do. Believe me, I've tried.


Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Brown Butter Baked Donuts

So what's the deal here? Am I supposed to call them donuts or doughnuts? I'm left in a conundrum. It seems like it can be either way! I'm going donuts, just because that is how I have always and forever done it. Ok then.

Brown Butter Baked Doughnuts by freshfromthe.com

Donuts!

Yes. Baked donuts are a thing right now. They've become such a thing, that even though it seemed silly to get a donut pan, I put one on my Christmas list anyway. These are the first donuts in what I'm sure will be many varieties. They're a pretty basic version with some browned butter and just a regular ole glaze. Nothing too fancy here, because sometimes all you really want is a plain donut.



In the original recipe, there was a whole lot of nutmeg going on. Now don't get me wrong, nutmeg is a perfectly decent spice, but too much of it can be super overwhelming. Also, it seems a bit weird in a donut unless you're going totally holiday-themed. So I'm recommending NO nutmeg. I mean, add a pinch if you really like the stuff, but otherwise, these don't need them.



Brown Butter Baked Donuts

Ingredients
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, browned
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • FOR THE GLAZE:
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2-4 Tablespoons water or milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking Directions
  1. Place one of your oven racks in the upper third and preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease your donut pan and set aside for now.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Set that aside for the moment.
  3. Brown your butter. Basically you melt your butter over medium-high heat until it starts turning brown and gives off that lovely nutty aroma. It changes pretty quickly, so keep your eye on it. Put that aside to cool a little.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together your egg, buttermilk and vanilla, then add in your browned butter and whisk some more.
  5. Add those wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Dollop the dough into your prepared pan, about 3/4 full of batter per donut.
  6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. You can insert a toothpick or testing device to make sure that they are cooked through, as the tops do not really brown. Let them cool in the pan a little before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. Now, make your glaze. Whisk together your sugar, milk/water and vanilla until you get the consistency you like. When your donuts are cool, dip them with the top side down into the glaze. You can sprinkle with toppings at this point or dip both sides to get more of a completely glazed donut thing going on. Set for 30 minutes and eat within two days before they go stale.
(Adapted from Joy the Baker)

In Pictures:


Whisk together your flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.


Brown your butter. Marvel in the delicious smell.


Whisk together the butter, egg, buttermilk and vanilla.


Mix your wet with your dry. Love the brown better specks.


Dollop into your donut pan and bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.


While they're baking, whip up your glaze. Some powdered sugar, milk and vanilla do the trick.


The tops don't brown or anything, so be careful not to overcook. These are also mostly a little overfull.


Let them cool in the pan a little, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Then dip in your glaze. You can just dip one side, or dip both if you want it fully glazed. Let those sit for 30 minutes if you can before chomping down!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Supernatural 9x10 "Road Trip"

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x10 'Road Trip' by freshfromthe.com
Confused. Look confused and alarmed.
Well guys, the hellatus is over, though it hardly felt like a hiatus at all to me! Time flies and all that (especially during the holidays). Anyway, last we saw the brothers Winchester, things were not so good. Sam was possessed by Gadreel and killed Kevin, then left Dean alone in the aftermath. Castiel regained "his" grace by killing another angel and stealing his, and Crowley was still left tied up in the basement.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, Dean can at least finally tell Castiel why he had to be so very rude to him some episodes ago. But they don't have much of a plan for how to find and get Sam back. Because the only way to get Gadreel out of Sam's head is to get Sam to realize he's being possessed. Enter Crowley, who previously had hard-wired an angel and was able to get inside his brain, or energy, or whatever angels are made of.

Meanwhile, Gadreel is still doing Metatron's bidding, killing angels on a mysterious list. After he kills his heavenly prison tormenter, he's assigned the angel who was in prison with him all that time, and while you may hope that Gadreel would have some doubts about killing him, he of course is so focused on this greater good and redeeming himself, that he doesn't stop to think that maybe mass angel murder isn't really the way to go. Once you trust one deceiver, I guess you just trust them all.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x10 'Road Trip' by freshfromthe.com
I'll point you out of my brother, Gadreel, just you watch!
Anyhow, Dean must make a reluctant deal with Crowley for his help - to take him with them into the outside world. A field trip, as it were. They find one of Crowley's ex-minions to help track down the Impala that Gadreel also took, because he's just a dang jerk, and are able to track down Gadreel after he's just killed his best bud. It's a good thing they have Castiel all angel-powered up now, or things would not be going so well for Dean in getting Sam back.

They take Gadreel to some dingy warehouse for Crowley to work his mojo on him. He pokes Sammy's head with some needle things and is able to access some of the angel code. Namely, they are able to figure out that he's Gadreel, which Castiel gets very upset about indeed, and would very much like to kill him and all that. But no, he's still in Sam's body. We can't have none of that. But apparently Gadreel is so used to being tortured that it's going to be very difficult to access Sam in this manner. The only way they can think of is to have someone else also possess Sam and find him inside his head.

While Dean wants Castiel to do this, as obviously he is the more trustworthy of the two gents, he, alas, cannot. Because angels need permission to possess and la di da. But Crowley, now Crowley doesn't need permission. So Dean must make another deal - if Crowley can get Sam out, then he's free to go. So, Crowley smokes out of his body and into Sam's.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x10 'Road Trip' by freshfromthe.com
You have a little something there. Let me get it for you.
Enter Sam's brain. He's in a dream world where he thinks he's working on some ghoul case involving cheerleaders. Crowley shows up, and thanks to the secret code word from Dean, Poughkeepsie, he's able to convince Sam that things are not as they seem. Which is further evidenced by Gadreel showing up in his past possessed body and basically trying to beat them up a bunch. But Sam is strong enough and manages to take control.

So, Gadreel leaves his body and heads back to his previous one, that of Tahmoh Penikett for those that wanted to see more of him. Crowley also vacates the joint, just in time for Abaddon to catch up with him. Abaddon has some minion demons in tow with her as well, but they don't seem to be super attached to her as their leader. The battle for control over Hell commences now, I guess.

Then we have our final moment near the car. Sam is upset with Dean for lying to him again, because he was happy to die for the cause and yada yada. Dean is like, I'm poison so I'm going to go off on my own and kill Gadreel because everyone around me dies and boo hoo. Sam's like yeah you just go, just GO! Even though that's not the real problem here, just GO!

And Cas is left to look conflicted, as Cas is wont to do.

Random Thoughts:

- Have we seen Crowley's smoke before? I feel like maybe we have, but I forgot it was different and red. Kinda cool that he gets special smoke. Oh gosh, that sounds so ridiculous when you say it without context.

- You can be double possessed? Has that ever been a thing before? Hmm. I'm trying to think back and I'm not sure it was ever a thing before, but I could be wrong. Anyone remember?

- That little girl the angel bestie was holding was a bit creepy. Seriously, go back and watch her. She'll freak you out.

- I'm sure people are going to be quite upset that things between Sam and Dean are strained yet again, and that they are not hunting together, etc. and so forth. I'm sure it won't last long; it never does.

- I kind of would like to see Dean get into trouble like this sometime instead of it always being Sam who gets possessed and whatnot. I'm sure it's a conscious choice on the writers' part but it does start to become very samey.

- In case you're interested, I'm hosting a Blu-Ray giveaway that's open until this Sunday 1/19. Go enter it HERE.

Quotes:

Dean: I ain't rubbing you.
Crowley: God, no.

Crowley: The poor giant baby is in trouble again, isn't he?

Castiel: I have a vehicle. It stopped four miles from here, inexplicably.
Dean, minutes later, like he was expecting it: Yeah. It's out of gas.

Crowley: Really? What are you, a pimp?
Castiel: I like it.

Crowley: Eat me.


Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Giveaway! Seasons of Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, Weeds and Boss on BluRay

And the winner is... Megon Burkit! Congratulations! Hope you enjoy the BluRays! (Winner was chosen at random)

Christmas may be over, but that doesn't mean you can't still get a gift! I've got a prize pack of some random seasons of TV shows to give away today. Are you ready? Are you into it?



This is called a bit of Jen cleaning out her collection of shows she doesn't watch. I used to watch Mad Men, but I don't anymore. I know, sacrilege and blah blah. But my loss is your gain, people! I also never watched any of Nurse Jackie, Weeds or Boss. These are a bit random in the seasons department, I admit, but maybe some of you are missing some of these, or know just the right person for each one of them.

Or maybe you're a hoarder. No judging here.

The seasons up for grabs here are: Mad Men season 6, Nurse Jackie season 4, Weeds season 8, and Boss season 2. These are all on Blu-Ray (fancy!). That makes this pack worth about $100. I thought about splitting them up and doing separate giveaways, but you know what? I have even MORE stuff I can give away coming up, so let's be generous! None of these are opened or have ever been viewed, so you're not getting used sets or anything. BRAND. NEW.

HOW TO ENTER:

You can enter up to three times in the following ways:

1. Leave a comment here

2. Like my Facebook page and leave a comment there

3. Follow me on Twitter and RT the tweet about the giveaway

Entries will be accepted until Sunday January 19th at 11:59pm, and a winner will be chosen at random.

So, get entering! Spread the word! I'd love to have more of these giveaways, and it's more encouraging for me when lots of people enter.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Crescent Cookies (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies)

When I was a kid, I hated these cookies. I also did not know them as Crescent Cookies, but as Mexican Wedding Cookies, so maybe eating something called a wedding cookie did not sit well with the young me. Actually, no, it was the nuts. I absolutely, positively, did NOT want nuts in my cookies. You give me a chocolate chip cookie with hidden nuts in it and my nose would wrinkle in disgust. And these cookies? These are chock FULL of nuts!

Crescent Cookies (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies) by freshfromthe.com

Not gonna lie, I still don't much like my chocolate chip cookies with nuts in them, and actually I was quite skeptical that I would even enjoy these, but being one of my boyfriend's favorite cookies, decided I would try them. And you know what? I really like them! Yes, they are full of nuts, but they're pecans, and I think we can all agree that pecans are pretty great. I can pass over a walnut any day, but pecans are perfectly pleasant.

I guess this is a sign of growing up - liking cookies with nuts in them. I'm an actual adult now?! But I still like to eat boxed macaroni and cheese! Oh well.

These cookies are really simple to make. They're not overly sweet, but can satisfy your sweet tooth when you're having a craving. You can make them into different shapes, hence the name of Crescent Cookies as you can make them in a crescent shape, but I have most often seen them in balls, as made here.



Crescent Cookies aka Mexican Wedding Cookies by freshfromthe.com

A typical holiday cookie treat, chock full of toasted pecans.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chopped and toasted pecans
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and water and mix together. Stir in flour and salt, then fold in the pecans, making sure they are evenly distributed.
  3. Using walnut-sized portions, roll into crescent or round ball shapes. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F. While still warm, roll in powdered sugar.
In photos:


Toast and chop up your pecans. Or you can buy them already toasted if that's how you roll.


Dough it up! Cream together your butter and sugar, then add in the water and vanilla. Stir in the flour and salt.


 Then fold in your pecans until they are evenly distributed.


 Scoop out walnut-sized amounts onto your cookie sheet. You can keep them pretty close together as these don't really spread. As you can probably tell, we used a scoop for these. I highly recommend it. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F. They won't look much different coming out, but they will smell good.


While they're still warm, roll them around in powdered sugar.


Keep on rolling, rolling, rolling.


And you'll have a whole pan full!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Most Popular / Most Overlooked Recipes

I may be a few days behind the New Year, but I figure you get a week of reflecting back, right? Sure you do! Right now I'm reflecting on what baking/food posts on these here blog have been the most popular, and which have been the most overlooked. As you know, or you maybe don't know, I often give props to TV shows that I love, and also those that are underappreciated, so I figure, why not do that with some of my recipes too?

Now normally I would probably just do this for 2013, but because this is a brand new thing I haven't done before, I'm going to do alllll of my baking posts! Which maybe isn't as fair because the 2013 ones don't have the benefit of time like the older ones for most popular, but oh well! This is not science! Or is baking a science? An art? My boyfriend and I could not quite decide. It's an artful science! That you get to eat!

Onward!

Five Most Popular Recipes

These are REALLY amazing. Soft, chewy, full of chocolate and toffee bits. Yum.


I know this is blurry. It was taken quite a while ago and sadly the camera I was using was not the best! Nonetheless, these are an alternative to buying fiber bars at the store.


 I mean, who doesn't want to dig into their very own gooey chocolate chip cookie souffle?


These cookies are quite flat, so you may think they wouldn't be chewy. But they ARE! Pretty great chocolate chip cookie option.


This is probably just taunting you right now, huh? So summery and delightful! One of the best bundt cakes I've ever tasted, that's for sure.

Five Most Overlooked Recipes 
* These are a little more opinion based than the straight most-popular above. I included ones that have low numbers that I also think are really good, rather than just low numbers alone. *


It saddens me that these have not been very popular on here. Of course, they're one of the older recipes before anyone knew about this blog, so that could be one contributing factor. Nonetheless, an older recipe does not mean a worse recipe (just sometimes worse photos!). These are great for anyone who likes peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. They are soft and delightful and not OVERLY peanut butter-y.

 Literally my first recipe posted on here - EVER! You can see I did not know how to take pictures in the right kind of lighting. Maybe one day when I make this again I will update it! Anyway, this is something that is made almost every single year for Thanksgiving. It rolls your pie and your cake into one, and you really won't be able to resist the topping. One of my all-time favorites.


 These are actually a more recent recipe. I'm not sure if Nutella is passe now or people see blondie and think I'd rather have a brownie, but in either case, they would be missing out. These are a great little bar with flavors that compliment each other without overwhelming each other. If you like Nutella at all, you should try this!


These are serious crowd pleasers. I don't think I've ever had someone NOT like these. They are, granted, super sweet. But man, the gooeyness that the marshamallows give to these bars just send them over the top into amazingness.

Coffee Cake Muffins

 These are a great morning muffin. Or even a dessert muffin. You can make them in these big muffin tins so you eat only one, or do a regular-sized variety, but then you're gonna eat two. Or three. 


There you have it! I hope you do check out some of those overlooked ones. Honestly, I wouldn't post about them if I didn't fully back them as being really good. I also apologize for the terrible nature of some of the photographs. Yeesh! I swear I'm getting better! I mean, the toffee bits cookies ones are decent, right?!