Supernatural 12x16 "Ladies Drink Free"

It's been a few weeks, but Supernatural is back, and can you believe we're already more than halfway through the season? As promised, this season hasn't really been about one big bad in particular, but more about smaller stories along the way, with a bunch of Lucifer stuff thrown in.

After focusing on vampires not too long ago, the show forayed back into one of the other prongs of the fantasy trifecta - werewolves. The Winchesters plus Mick, who apparently wants to tag along with them in order to learn how to be a better hunter rather than just a good researcher, or something, track down a girl who was attacked by a werewolf, with her brother being killed. While talking to the girl, Mick sees that she's been bitten, but hides it to himself. The brothers also find out that a young, blonde with an attitude saying she was from the department of fish and game also stopped by earlier. Who could that be?

Yes, it's the return of Claire, who is always more fun when paired with Jody, but we can't always get what we want, I guess. Anyhow, she has secretly been hunting on her own while Jody thinks she's been off looking at colleges. Which, how many teenagers go look at colleges completely on their own, either? But whatever, she's lying, yada yada. Who else is lying? Mick, of course. He pretends to retired early for the night, but actually goes back and kills the young infected girl, because that's the way the BMOL do things.

He manages to keep it under wraps for a bit, at least until Dean figures out he's lying about what he was up to the previous night while interrogating a bar dude. He gets the truth out of him, and of course is none too happy about it. Meanwhile, Sam has paired up with Claire, who finds out that the girl in question had been seeing a guy at the bar secretly, and they deduce that the werewolf didn't kill her, but instead just wanted to change her. Sam then gives her a hard time for hunting on her own, and she goes off in a tiff, gets jumped by said werewolf, and gets herself bitten.

Now, earlier on in the episode, Mick mentioned they had tried to find a cure for lycanthropy some time ago, but claimed it didn't work. Well, apparently it worked 1 in 9 times on mice, so they want to give it a go with Claire, who is convinced she can't handle being a werewolf, that she'll go crazy and attack her loved ones. What does one need for this cure of sorts? Why, the live blood of the werewolf who turned her, duh!

Sam and Dean go off to get that while Mick watches Claire, who starts to feel the effects of the bite. The brothers end up chasing after the wrong bartender, because also duh, and the werewolf dude shows up at the hotel and knocks out Mick and takes Claire off to his apartment. Because we've only had two real supporting characters so far in this episode, the others figure out where to go, just as Claire starts to go all wolfed out.

They manage to wrestle some blood from the dude, and give her the cure. She writhes around a bit, and it seems like she may have died, but since she is one of the only girls left on this show, and it would've been a lame way to kill her, no. She's cured! And she calls up Jody to tell her that she's really been hunting, because love and feels and stuff. The Winchesters are willing to give Mick a second chance despite his lying to them about killing the other girl, because there was this whole thing about second chances earlier and blah blah.

I'll be honest, it was kind of a meh episode for me.

Random Thoughts:

- I mean, I don't dislike Claire, but you know I'd rather see Jody or Donna any day. Or at least more of them together.

- There was also some hints mentions of how the BMOL have been killing off werewolf packs, and they're meant to live in packs. I wonder if that means Garth is going to make another appearance, unless he was killed sometime offscreen.

- It was pretty precious seeing the boys react to getting their own rooms with the little shampoos and such. A three star hotel is a magical thing for them.

Quotes:

Dean: Either you get good fast, or you get dead faster.

Dean: I'm ruined, Sam. Those limey sons of bitches ruined me. I even took a swim this morning.
Sam: You brought a swimsuit?
Dean: No.
Sam: Ugh...

Dean: Young. Blonde. Pissed off. Sound like anyone we know?

Dean: Yeah. Sam's best friend. They're, like, nerd soulmates.

Claire: Sam, no offense, but who do you think the kids are going to want to talk to... me? Or an old skeezer?

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Barely Brown Butter Cake

I think maybe I've found the easiest recipe from the Milk Bar cookbook in this brown butter cake! I mean, you don't have to make anything ahead! What?! Madness! No but seriously, this is definitely one of the easiest recipes I've made from the book thus far. From starting to eating, it's only about 1-1 1/2 hours or so. You can't beat that!

The BF was concerned he wouldn't like it, as some of the things I've made from the cookbook have been a little too sweet for him (for example, the corn cookies I would only make if you have a kitchen scale, because I made them one time just using the cups and teaspoons, and they tasted much sweeter). However, while it is still sweet, being a cake and all, it isn't too sweet. And what's really interesting is the use of the kosher salt. It gives you these nice little kicks of salt every now and then that cut the sweetness down. That may sound strange, but it totally isn't in practice.

Though Christina notes in the book that you can brown your butter in the microwave, I admit I just did it the old-fashioned way on the stove. And can you beat the smell of brown butter? My goodness, no! Why does it smell so amazing?

The cake comes out light while also slightly dense. She calls for using a quarter sheet pan to bake it in, but also noted that if you didn't mix things juuuuust right, then it could bake over the edges or something! I was like hot dang, I don't want that, and a 9x13 pan is basically the same size as a quarter sheet pan, so I just did that instead. And it turned out great! It baked in exactly 30 minutes, the minimum recommended time she has below. So I would say just go with the 9x13 so you don't have to worry, the edges are taller so it's less likely to go crazy in the oven for some reason.

Definitely recommend this one! It's easy and delicious. Like, seriously, is there an easier recipe in this cookbook? Doesn't seem like it!

Barely Brown Butter Cake
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 18 Pieces
Prep time: 00:15

Cook time: 00:35

Total time: 00:50

Christina Tosi’s Barely Brown Butter Cake from the Milk Bar Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 55 g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 40 g (2 Tbsp) brown butter
• 250 g (1 1/4 cups) granulated sugar
• 60 g (1/4 cup packed) light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 110 g (1/2 cup) buttermilk
• 65g g (1/3 cup) grapeseed oil
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract)
• 185 g (1 1/2 cups) cake flour
• 4 g (1 tsp) baking powder
• 4 g (1 tsp) kosher salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the butters and sugars in your stand mixer, and mix on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, mixing again for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down that bowl once again.
3. Stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla while the paddle is on low speed. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 5-6 minutes, until the mixture is white and homogenous.
4. On low speed, add in the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix for 45-60 seconds, until the batter comes together and all dry ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl one last time and mix for another 45 seconds to make sure any lumps of flour are incorporated.
5. Spray a 9x13 pan. Spread the cake batter evenly in the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger, it should bounce back slightly and the center shouldn't be jiggly. If it doesn't do that, leave it in for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Cool the cake on a wire rack, or if you have to, in the fridge or freezer.

Recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook

Blueberry & Cream Cookies

I've made a few recipes from the Milk Bar cookbook in the past (Crack Pie, Corn Cookies, Cornflake Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookies), and decided it was time to bust it out once again to make some more! One of my friends had mentioned that she really liked the blueberry cookies, and being that they are fairly simple when it comes to a Christina Tosi recipe, I thought sure, this one we can give a go. Still, you do have to make one thing ahead of time before getting started on the cookies in earnest, so just keep that in mind if you want to make these.

Like all of the Milk Bar cookies, these are LARGE. Like almost the size of my hand large. I admit, I do not have huge hands, but still. They aren't your typical little cookie you usually make at home. I haven't tried making her cookies smaller, but as I've said before, it seems like they might not be as good because the whole point of them being so large is to get the edges slightly brown while keeping the middle nice and soft.

Anyway, what about these cookies? The milk crumb definitely gives them an interesting flavor. I bet the quality of your white chocolate can make a big difference here, and mine sure wasn't the highest quality, so they did have a little bit of that white chocolate-ness once baked, but only just. If you like blueberries, they are also a nice switch up from a typical cookie that normally has some chocolate or butterscotch instead.

Definitely yummy, though my boyfriend thought they were a little too sweet. I'm not sure it really needs that extra glucose in there, or perhaps just the granulated sugar itself could be brought down a little bit so they're not quite as sweet. In general, the recipes in this cookbook are quite sweet, so just keep that in mind if you're ever going to make them!

Blueberry & Cream Cookies
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 12 Cookies

Prep time: 01:30

Cook time:00:17

Total time: 02:00

Christina Tosi’s Blueberry & Cream Cookies from the Milk Bar Cookbook.


Ingredients:

• 225 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 50 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 150 g (2/3 cup packed) light brown sugar
• 100 g (1/4 cup) glucose
• 2 large eggs
• 320 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 2 g (1/2 teaspoon) baking powder
• 1.5 g (1/4 teaspoon) baking soda
• 6 g (1 ½ teaspoons) kosher salt
• 1/2 recipe Milk Crumb (see below)
• 130 g (3/4 cup) dried blueberries

Instructions:

1. Combine the butter, sugars, and glucose in a stand mixer and cream on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add in the eggs, and beat for another 7-8 minutes.
2. Reduce to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until it just comes together. No longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Still on low, add in the milk crumbs and mix until incorporated, no more than 30 seconds. Next add in the blueberries and mix them for another 30 seconds.
4. Using a 2 3/4 ounce scoop (or 1/3 cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of them down flat. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to a week).
5. Heat the oven to 350°F.
6. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on a parchment or silpat-lined sheet pan. Bake for 18 minutes. They should be faintly brown on the edges while still yellow in the center. Mine worked better at 17 minutes than 18, which got them a little too brown.
7. Cool completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or airtight container to store. They will stay fresh for 5 days at room temperature or you can put them in the freezer for a month.

Milk Crumb

Ingredients

• 40 g (1/2 cup) milk powder
• 40 g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 12 g (2 Tbsp) cornstarch
• 25 g (2 Tbsp) granulated sugar
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) kosher salt
• 55 g (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 20 g (1/4 cup) milk powder
• 90 g (3 ounces) white chocolate, melted

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oven to 250F.
2. Combine the 40g milk powder, the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss to mix. Add in the melted butter and toss, using a spatula, until it starts to come together and form small clusters.
3. Spread those clusters onto a parchment or silpat-linted sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. They should look sandy when finished. Cool completely.
4. Crumble any clusters that are larger than 1/2 inch in diameter and put all of the crumbs into a medium bowl. Add in the 20g milk powder and toss together until evenly distributed.
5. Pour in the white chocolate and toss until the clusters are all covered. Toss every 5 minutes following until the chocolate has hardened and the clusters are no longer sticky. They will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for a month.

Recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook

Supernatural 12x15 "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell"

Last week, Sam decided to start working with the BMOL, despite Dean's many reservations. Oh wait, he hasn't yet told Dean that he's partnering up with them, so all of these cases they've been working back to back are from his secret computer algorithm. You know, the one that texts him under the name Frodo. Luckily for Sam, he can just start spouting some techie talk and Dean zones out completely, so he doesn't really ask questions.

Said case of the week involves a kid who was killed while on a camping trip with his girlfriend. What killed him? Well, the case this week isn't so much about what this week, because it was a hellhound, plain and simple. But why is it out attacking random people who haven't sold their souls? That's the real question. And the only one who can answer that is...

Crowley! Who's still holed up with Lucifer, now boasting about how he is always ten steps ahead of whatever Luci thinks he has cooked up his sleeve. We're made to believe that some of Crowley's subdemons get the best of him, stealing the key to Lucifer's chains while Crowley is distracted by the call from the Winchesters, and subsequent visit to help them wrangle the hellhound. But, it would seem he knew all along that those subdemons actually released said hellhound in order to distract him so they could free Lucifer. Which they do, after making him "agree" to some terms, which my boyfriend said while half-watching it with me, "you know he's just going to kill them as soon as they let him go." And... yep! Poof!

Meanwhile, Crowley informs them that the hellhound on the loose is Ramsey, none other than, like, the oldest and baddest of the hellhounds who will only listen to Lucifer. Now, you may think that would mean Lucifer would come into play somehow here, but you'd be wrong. Seems an odd missed opportunity, but okay. Basically, they split up, the hellhound goes after Sam and the girl, and he manages to kill it, I should say, pretty easily. So, farewell to the boss bitch hellhound.

Crowley heads back to his lair, where Lucifer is all ready to gloat. He gets to it, going all angel-wingy, red eyes and stuff, but then Crowley shuts him down with a simple snap of his fingers. Turns out, he really is steps ahead. He had this vessel specially made with runes and spellwork directly from the cage, so Lucifer is essentially trapped again. How long will this last? Only time will tell.

But what's going on with Castiel, you wonder? Yes, Cas is in this episode, however briefly. He's on the trail of Lucifer's baby mama. Well, first he's investigating the death of another angel, but he soon finds out said angel was killed by one Dagon, prince of hell, who was protecting the baby mama. While investigating, he is approached by another angel who wants to bring him back into Heaven's fold, since they are all trying to take out the spawn of Satan, after all. He is reluctant at first, but eventually agrees.

And! By episode's end, Sam decides to man up and tell Dean where their cases have been coming from, because at least they've learned not to lie to each other for tooooo long anymore. Dean isn't happy about it, but agrees to work with the BMOL, at least until they mess up in some way. So, yeah, Sam was right when he told Mick he could get Dean to come around.

Random Thoughts:

- The joke in the beginning was not lost on me - the boys come back from a hunt with a baseball bat covered in barbwire that "dad" used to love. Aka JDM's character on Walking Dead uses. Har har.

- Totes random observation - Jared seems to have these pink patches just below his eyebrows in some scenes. Am I going nuts? Maybe it's just the lighting on the TV or something, but it does distract me from time to time.

- I didn't get as many of the longer exchanges of quotes, but there were some fun ones throughout between the boys. Their rapport lately has been a lot of fun in nearly every episode.

- Man is it a relief to have Mark Pellegrino back as Lucifer. Hot damn is he so much better than basically everyone else they've had in the role. Just a certain casual smugness and delight while still exuding menace.

Quotes:

Dean: Computers... Monsters. Porn. Is there anything they can't do?

Sam: I'm serious, dude. You smell like roadkill.
Dean: That's because I do all the heavy lifting.

Sam We say something that will give her peace, help her sleep at night.
Dean: Oh, so we lie.
Sam: Yeah. A lot.

Crowley: You miss me?

Dean: And this is why you don't drive.

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Supernatural 12x14 "The Raid"

As you may recall from last week's episode, Mary finally told the boys that she's been working with the BMOL. They're none too pleased to hear this news, and Dean basically gets into a snit and tells her to leave. Sam, always caught in the middle, seems to agree with Dean. At least for now. But he wants to at least hear her out, which pisses Dean off. What else is new! While he goes off to have a drink or two, Sam decides to answer an urgent text from Mary and see what's what.

You see, Mary is working with the BMOL, and their current goal is to take down all of the vampires. They have some special vamp killing device they've been using, and have nearly eradicated all of the nests in the midwest region of the US in record time. Sam gets a nice rundown of all of this info, along with seeing the BMOL bunker, which is much more high-tech, and as he calls it, low budget Mission Impossible.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ketch has gone rogue a bit. He doesn't really agree that the Winchesters are necessary to join the cause, but the upper BMOL want them, so he decides to pay Dean a visit, offering him some top notch Scotch and the lowdown on a nest of vampires they can go take down together. Of course, because Dean loves to take out his anger by killing monsters, he agrees. But when they arrive at the rundown hotel where the vamps are supposedly holed up, dun dun dun, they're not there! As the lone vamp left behind tells them (how convenient), they're off hunting the hunters.

Yep, because the Alpha Vamp has returned, and he wants to take out this American chapter of the BMOL taking out so many of his babies, so he told them where they're hiding out. The vamps surround the BMOL bunker, and boy do they look like someone caught with their pants down. Hardly anyone with any hunting ability, and barely any weapons on hand. But there is one special weapon they can use to take down the Alpha Vamp. You know, the Colt that Mary stole not so long ago. And it just so happens that Sam knows how to make new bullets for it! Did we know he knew this? Who the hell knows.

Anyhow, he gives the recipe to Mick and he and Mary and the other hunter they've recruited go off to get more weapons, along with that vamp killing device from earlier. Only it turns out the hunter is secretly working for the Alpha.

The Alpha shows up and corners everyone, but Sam pulls out the Colt. Of course, we saw moments before that Mick has all the bullets they made, so Sam engages in some subtle subterfuge, pretending to give up Mick in order to cause a scene and get one of the bullets. And what do you know, just like that the Colt is back in action to kill said Alpha Vamp.

Someone through all of this, Dean and Ketch have apparently just been driving the whole time to get there even though it didn't seem like it took Sam that long to get there from the bunker, but okay. Time shenanigans in whatever favor they need, I suppose. Basically, Dean admits that when he found out Mary was in trouble he went as quickly as possible, so clearly he isn't going to hold a grudge that hard against family. Meanwhile, Sam tells Mick that he's in to work with the BMOL, despite how ill-equipped they were for that fight. Because they have bigger ideas in mind, he wants to be part of that, and he thinks he can eventually get Dean to come around too.

Random Thoughts:

- Is there going to be some ulterior motive of the BMOL that gets revealed, or can we just believe that they're really doing what they say?

- Go see Logan! Ha, okay that's not Supernatural related, but that's why my review is a bit later than usual tonight, because I went and saw Logan. Sooo good!

- I also thought they had killed the Alpha vamp like back in season six or something? Was it just that they thought they had, when they hadn't really? Honestly it gets hard to keep track anymore, and I don't care enough to try to figure it out.

Quotes:

Mary: And you are not a child.
Dean: I never was.

Dean: You're always playing the middle, Sam. For once, why don't you pick a side?

Alpha Vamp: I've seen your work in England. I didn't get involved because, well, it's England.

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