Yogurt Cake

Confession time: I don't like peaches. In fact, I might call them gross and do an exaggerated nose wrinkle when faced with them. Peach yogurt gets the same reaction. I don't care if it's just sugary yogurt with a hint of peach flavor, when you're expecting strawberry and open up your yogurt and find it's that peachy color, it just ruins your day. Or my day. Because you might like peach, and maybe that would make your day.

But you know what's strange? I don't mind them baked into things. Weird, right? What is that about? I think it's because the overly peachy flavor gets diluted in baking. So when I found myself with an abundance of peach yogurt thanks to that Yoplait pack at Costco, I decided the solution would be to use it to bake some stuff. Because what else am I gonna do? Actually eat it? Gag!

This here is a yogurt cake, which can be used with any type of yogurt, to be fair, though I would suggest vanilla and peach are probably the most appropriate for this type of breakfast-y cake. Perhaps blueberry. Strawberry seems sort of weird, but hey, you can try it and let me know if you're so inclined. This would also probably be over the top delicious if you added a glaze, but I didn't this time.

Yogurt Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups yogurt (any flavor)

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
2. Cream butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs until smooth. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir into batter, alternating with the yogurt.
3. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

In photos:

Forgot to take photos of the beginning steps! Whoops. Here's before you add in the flour etc. and the yogurt.

And after. It's a bit lighter in color and a less thick but looks much the same!

Pour it into your bundt pan.

It'll come out looking like this.

After it's cooled a bit, flip it out onto a plate.

Cut in and enjoy!

Supernatural 7x16 "Out with the Old"

Well hi! What's this? We're back from hiatus? As Abed would say, cool cool cool. Oh sorry, I'm just happy that Community has also made its return to the airwaves as well. Yes, I like shows other than Supernatural, people.

But, let's get back to business! In case you've forgotten, the Winchesters have been dealing with these Leviathan baddies since the start of the season, and they've been getting some help from a crotchety dude named Frank who knows a thing or two about going off the grid. Also, Sam's helluciantions have returned, as the last time we saw the dear boy, he started talking to Lucifer again, which apparently opened the floodgate.

Which means now, in tonight's episode, Sam hasn't been sleeping much, because it's worse when he sleeps, though we find out it's also happening while he's awake too, he just doesn't talk about it much. Luckily, he appears to have been pretty forthright about all of this with Dean, rather than keeping it hidden. You know that wouldn't have been the case not so long ago!

Don't touch cursed objects, kids. Use rubber gloves!

In any event, Sam's dealing with it while they discover their next case, a seemingly regular one involving some cursed objects, since they can't seem to find any concrete information on just what Dick Roman and his leviathan hordes are planning with their land in Wisconsin. This cursed object business is happening in my very own hometown - Portland, Oregon! Also, there's all sorts of snow, which is kind of hilarious because it hardly ever snows much in Portland, EXCEPT this year it has snowed a lot, and only just this past week too! Craziness! Whoa, tangent alert!

Anyway, some ballerina died by literally dancing her feet off, so the boys go to find the ballet shoes that could be the culprit, wrestling them off a little girl who had just put them on. Unfortunately, Dean happens to touch them in the process, and starts getting an urge to dance out his little heart too. Lucky for Jensen Ackles, they are able to find where the shoes came from pretty quickly - an antique shop called Out with the Old, where the owner recently opened up a bunch of curse boxes his mom had previously hidden, selling a bunch of cursed objects to locals, including those ballet slippers. He still has the boxes, though, so Dean only has to suffer one longing look at them before they go back in the box.

They find more of the empty boxes, though, and have to go track down some other objects, including a creepy gramophone (I'm not sure why anyone would want that weird music playing in their house!), a tea kettle, and a, um, "gentleman's magazine." Yeah, I don't want to know how that kills someone either, though my mind can supply enough ideas easily enough. Yikes. They get them back and stick them back in their boxes. Done, right?

Not so much, because Dean notices that all of the shops, including the Out with the Old one, have been sold to the same real estate firm, which we come to find out is run by a pair of leviathans, Joyce and her assistant George. Why are they trying to buy up all of this space? Well, that's what the boys want to find out. Dean calls up Frank for some help and they find out that the real estate firm is owned by none other than Roman Inc.

Alas, they're not going to be able to surprise attack these leviathans, because Sam has a near crash incident while falling asleep driving, prompting him to stop at a coffee hut, where assistant George sees him getting a triple Red Eye (egads!). Joyce and George get the shop owner from earlier to fake that he opened one of the cursed objects, which brings the Winchesters running, unaware that the leviathans are there waiting for them.

A fight ensues, wherein George mysteriously helps out Sam by telling him where some of that cleaning agent stuff they hate is, and pointing him in the direction of a sword in which to chop off Joyce's head, which he promptly does. Once the dust has settled, they question him - why did he help? Just what is Dick Roman planning? Turns out George just hated Joyce, he's not suddenly on their side or anything like that. And though he doesn't know the big plans per se, he does know that what they have planned for this particular section of Portland is a research facility, in order to cure cancer.

Cure cancer? Cue the confused looks. George says they're there to "help," whatever that means. It's not clear whether they end up chopping off his head too, or letting him go, but in the end the brothers pack up all of the curse boxes and drive out to catch up with Frank, only to find that his trailer has been ransacked, with blood spatters all over the place. Another ally gone! They really just need to stop dragging people into these things. They always end up dead, right?

Random Thoughts:

- In case you missed it, this episode was co-written by Jenny Klein, who I was able to interview about her experience. Check it out here if you haven't yet!

- What is the leviathan plan, anyway? I guess I've just never understood the appeal of taking over the world.

- Um, I may or may not have found myself yawning after I saw Sam yawn. I didn't know that could happen by seeing people do it on TV and not in real life, but there you go.

- Dean's face when George licked that sword - priceless. Loved that reaction shot.

- Bad Moon Rising featured at the end of the episode, the same song that was playing when the car was hit by the semi back in the season one finale. You had to know things were going to end badly as soon as that song started up.

- Next week's episode features the return of someone. Whether they are the same as when they left remains to be seen, however! And, also, Sam's condition gets markedly worse. Sammy!

Quotes:

Dean: Dancers. They are toe shoes full of crazy.
Sam: And you would know this how?
Dean: I saw Black Swan. Twice. Hot tutu on tutu action. Come on, Sam, what's wrong with you?

Dean: Although, I hear they have good coffee in Portland.
Sam: Dude, that's Seattle.

"Pas de done." - Dean

"Oh what a dreamer you are." - Dean

Dean: I wonder how old porn kills you.
Sam: You probably don't want to know.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Interview with Supernatural Writer's Assistant and "Out with the Old" Co-writer Jenny Klein

Beware evil ballet slippers in this week's episode!

Today I have a special treat for all of my Supernatural aficionados! A friend of mine from our days at USC agreed ever so kindly to do a quick interview about her upcoming writing debut on none other than the aforementioned Supernatural. Jenny Klein has worked as a writer's assistant on the show for some time and has even had some story credits in the past ("The Curious Case of Dean Winchester" and "Caged Heat"). Her writing debut comes this week with "Out with the Old," which she co-wrote with Supernatural executive producer Robert Singer. Just what is the difference between a story credit and a writing credit? You'll find out below.

You've had two story credits on the show before, how was the experience different this time as a co-writer?

My experience co-writing "Out with the Old" was different from my experience on "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester" and "Caged Heat" in that with "Out with the Old", I was involved from start to finish-- from pitching my idea, to breaking the story with Bob and Sera, to writing the script with Bob, to being on production and studio & network notes calls. With the story credits, I pitched the original ideas that became the episodes, but didn't get to write the actual dialogue you hear the actors say, though it was still pretty cool to see my ideas come to life.

Did you get to be involved in the editing process at all?

When I found out Nicole Baer was going to be editing the episode, I was ecstatic because we're buds and she is crazy talented. She was cool with me sitting in with her while she edited, but I know from my own editing experience how annoying it can be to have somebody over your shoulder while you're still piecing things together, so I abstained until the director of the episode, John Showalter, came in (he was SO nice!), and a director's cut was finished. Then Nicole invited me to join her and her awesome assistant editor, Nancy Hurley, to watch the cut during the DVD output. I was kind of giddy because here were all these scenes I had written, suddenly existing in a form I could watch and hear and follow. I also recorded some background chatter at the ADR stage, so you might hear my voice in the episode, too. 

What was it like to get to see some of your words acted out on screen?

It was surreal. Jensen, Jared and the guest cast really knocked it out of the park. It's kind of a relief, too, hearing lines said in the way they were intended to be conveyed, and at the same time delightful when the actors surprised me by bringing something new and interesting to what we had written.

What is your favorite thing about working on a show like Supernatural that you wouldn't necessarily experience on another show?

One of my favorite duties as the writers' assistant is to do research for the episodes. I'm a total myth junky. Reading about cryptozoological creatures and Greek mythology is what I used to do for fun when I was growing up, and now it's actually part of my job! On what other show does your boss ask you to come up with a weapon that "shoots biblical plagues"?

Do you have any advice for aspiring TV writers that you've learned through your experience as a writer's assistant?

Write as much as you can! And if you're looking for a writers' assistant gig, I've found that having a strong handle on dramatic structure and being able to type really fast are both valuable skills, because a lot of my job is keeping up with the conversation in the writers' room and organizing the story breaks in a way that will be useful to the writers when they look at the notes.

What are some of your other favorite shows on TV?

Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, The Simpsons, Louie, Eastbound & Down, Ringer, The Office, Workaholics, South Park... and Adventure Time!

And you know I had to throw in some less than serious questions...

Sam or Dean? 

Haha, sorry, I can't choose. They're both awesome in their own ways!

Your favorite episode?

It's a three-way tie between "Clap Your Hands if You Believe", "Changing Channels", and "Abandon All Hope".

Barring any future spoilers, what is one monster you would like to see the Winchesters face at some point?

Man, I so would like to see them fight a giant ground worm like in Tremors, but I doubt that will ever happen.

---

Thanks again to Jenny for taking the time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions! You should also check out her sketch comedy group Big Game Hunters. They do live shows in LA and also have a bunch of videos you should definitely watch.

Don't miss "Out with the Old" this Friday, March 16th at 9pm on The CW, directed by John F. Showalter and written by Robert Singer & Jenny Klein.

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Philadelphia Style Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Can we just all agree right now that vanilla bean ice cream is far superior to french vanilla ice cream? Don't even disagree with me on this, because I will cut you!

Not really. You can like french vanilla better, that just leaves more vanilla bean for me! And trust me, I will eat it ALL.

Now you may be wondering just what in the world is the difference between the two in the first place? Obviously one uses vanilla beans. Duh. But if you're using this recipe, you'll also notice that it doesn't use egg yolks, which so many other ice creams call for. Guess what! You don't have to use egg yolks to make ice cream. Generally the difference is that it won't be as necessarily creamy, but also? It's so much easier to make. Like, super easy.

Just make sure you actually chill your mixture thoroughly, as the recipe suggests. I don't think I let mine chill quite long enough, and as such it took much longer in the ice cream maker churning, churning, churning.

Philadelphia Style Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 

2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine 1 cup of the cream with the sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan and drop in the vanilla pod. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 cup of cream, the milk and the vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is well chilled.

Remove the vanilla bean before churning. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 1 cup cream, sugar, salt and vanilla bean goodness.

That's what it will look like once the sugar is dissolved.

Add in the remaining cream, milk and vanilla extract. Put this in the fridge until it's thoroughly cooled.

After it's cooled, take out the bean and freeze in an ice cream maker according to its directions. Stick it in a freezer safe container and freeze until less runny than this. Try not to keep sneaking back in for spoonfuls. That's the hardest part.

Heath Toffee Bits Cookies

Toffee, I never knew I loved thee quite so much.

Fact: Hershey's Nuggets w/ Toffee and Almonds are delicious. They are one of my favorite chocolate candies, period. I could legitimately eat six in a row no problem. I mean just look at it:

So. Good. About a million times better than the ones with just almonds in them, which leads me to believe that maybe I have a thing for toffee, and I just never really knew it before. So when I saw Bakerella make some cookies with these new Heath toffee bits, I just had to try them. Toffee, chocolate, peanut butter, can you really go wrong?

Not really. I just don't think that mix of variables can ever turn out bad, right?

Heath Toffee Bits Cookies
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: About 30 Cookies
Prep time: 00:10

Cook time: 00:10

Total time: 00:20
Printable Recipe

A delicious cookie utilizing the Heath Toffee Bits you can find in your local grocery store.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup (1 8 ounce bag) Heath Toffee Bits

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, mix flour, soda and salt using a wire whisk and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter, dark brown sugar and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and mix until combined. Stir in toffee bits, reserving some to dip tops of cookies.
3. Either use a scoop to to place 1 1/4 inch balls onto a sheet, or roll them after putting the dough in the fridge for a few minutes. Dip tops of cookies in bits and place on parchment paper covered baking sheet (optional).
4. Bake about 10 minutes. Place cookies on cookie rack to cool. Makes about 30 2-inch cookies.
5. Please note! If you are only able to find the toffee bits that are just plain toffee bits (Bits o' Brickle), don't use the entire bag of toffee bits and you may also want to add in some chocolate chips (and maybe some butterscotch chips to mix things up a bit?!). But if you get the ones that have the chocolate bits, just use the whole bag and not add in anything else. Make sense? Okay.

Recipe via Bakerella

Tasty, and they last for days. I was still eating them a week later (albeit microwaved for about 8-10 seconds).