Supernatural 9x23 "Do You Believe in Miracles?"

Well, we're to another finale of Supernatural. Can you believe there have been nine of them? And will at least be a tenth? Truly nutso. I really only hope it will be a tenth and not more, though. Seriously. I know a lot of people based on that poll don't feel the same way, but I know a good contingent that are on my side on this one.

We're suddenly getting a lot of screentime together, huh?

Anyhow, let's get to the finale at hand. As you may recall, the last episode ended with Gadreel coming to Team Free Will to help them in their fight against Metatron. Dean, being blood crazy first blade-y decided the best thing to do was try to stab him to death. Sam and Cas manage to get the blade away from him and lock him up in the bunker while they try to figure out what to do. First on the list? Heal Gadreel. Second? Figure out a way up into Heaven so they can find the angel tablet and take Metatron's super powers away. Because, you know, if he doesn't have super GAHG-like powers, then they can kill him much more easy peasy.

But, Dean is not so happy with being put on the sidelines. He summons Crowley to get him out of the bunker, and to also question him about what the whole blade business may be doing to him. Crowley says that, basically, the Mark of Cain was not meant for a regular human. Cain was a demon, so he could handle it. So basically, if he does not keep up the constant killing, it will eventually kill him. Well, no time to dawdle about that right now, because Metatron is still an issue.

Full metal crazy blade.

Especially because now he's decided to take his shtick down to the humans, performing miracles here and there to gain renown as the next Messiah. Sam and Dean meet back up after they both hear of one such miracle, and it looks like they are perhaps on the same page for once, deciding to leave Crowley behind and work together to find and kill Metatron.

Gadreel and Castiel, meanwhile, manage to get into Heaven by Gadreel pretending Castiel is his prisoner. Only, the angels were expecting this, and lock them away. Gadreel is not content to be locked away yet again, and decides to sacrifice himself in order to free Cas to go look for the tablet.

Back on the ground, the boys track down Metatron. Dean knocks out Sam so he can go in alone, and basically proceeds to get a walloping by Metatron, ending with Sam just waking up and running in just in time to see him stick a blade right in Dean's chest. Well, that will certainly leave a mark. Alas, Dean was not able to try and kill Metatron because it took Cas a little too long to find the angel tablet and destroy it, which he eventually does succeed in doing. They bring Metatron back up to Heaven to sit in the jail, blah blah.

Sam and Dean have some touching moments while Dean is dying, but he does indeed die. Sam decides he's going to summon up Crowley to save him with some deal or another, yet again. But, Crowley is already hanging out with dead Dean. It turns out, he wasn't telling the whole truth about the blade (what a surprise). Cain had also decided that he didn't like what the Mark was doing to him, and decided to take his own life with the blade. Crowley sets the blade in Dean's hand and places it on his chest, and sure enough, his eyes open up all black and demon-y.

And... cut to black. That's your season, folks. Are you going to survive the summer? What did you think of the episode? More of my thoughts below.

Random Thoughts:

- I did like Crowley making a comment about Sam using the same tired idea of bargaining his soul for his brother's, because seriously we have seen that way too many times now.

- But I'm not sure what to think about this whole Demon Dean business. Obviously this sets up what the next season will be about - saving Dean or whatever. I mean, is he actually just a demon, or something else? It could be I don't really remember what Cain was. A Knight of Hell or some such? Who the heck knows.

- The whole Castiel's stolen grace thing hasn't been resolved yet either. If he doesn't replenish his grace, he will eventually die. But replenishing the grace basically means killing another angel, right? Because I guess his grace is gone for good with that Metatron spell?

- The scene of Dean dying in Sam's arms felt very reminiscent of the end of season two with Sam dying in Dean's arms. I'm assuming it was intentional.

- I'm getting a bit tired of all these angel storylines. What exactly are we supposed to feel about the angels at this point? Like, just go back to Heaven already.

- Guess that's another Dean death to add to the list.

Quotes:

Dean: What the hell is happening to me, you son of a bitch?
Crowley: Liquor before beer, bad taco, how should I know?

Crowley: Hell's complicated.
Dean: Game of Thrones is complicated. And shower sex, that's complicated.

Castiel: Wookie.

Sam: I guess one of us doesn't need a demon to follow a clue trail.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 9x22 "Stairway to Heaven"

Well, only one episode left after tonight. I mean, one episode left of this season, of course, as we all know there will be another season. Anywho, with Abaddon gone, the boys can now shift their complete focus over to the angel saga. And the latest in the angel saga? Why, self-exploding angels, of course!

Hello, goodbye.

Say what? After one angel goes kabluey and kills an agent of Metatron (along with some nearby humans), Cas calls on Sam and Dean to help him figure out just what is going on, particularly after they see a video recording of said angel saying he's doing it for Castiel. Obviously our dear Cas would not ask a member of his flock to go all suicide bomber, so they set out to track down friends of the exploding angel to figure out what his deal was.

Can I be honest? Not very much really happened in this episode, despite it being the penultimate one. Basically, Dean ends up finding Tessa, former Reaper (still Reaper? who knows), who was going to be another of the suicide bombers. She claims that Castiel asked her to do it for him, despite no one believing this could be true. Dean, having brought along the first blade despite Sam vehemently saying he should not, and believing he in fact did not bring it, ends up inadvertently killing her with it. Well, technically I suppose she sticks herself with it, but he did have it so conveniently in his hand. And... another recurring female bites the dust. The other angels aren't so much happy about this development, to be sure.

In a bowling alley, Metatron is trying to convince a rogue angel general to get his flock to follow him, but is interrupted when another angel bomber shows up trying to kill Metatron. He only succeeds in killing the guy Metatron was trying to convince, so poor him.

Work it, Cas.

Meanwhile, Sam and Cas go off to investigate...something? Some other angel thing, and end finding a place where the portal to heaven might be. Alas, it is merely Metatron playing a trick on them. They head back to angel HQ to find Dean in custody. Metatron calls them up and basically says that Castiel is out of control, that he stole another angel's grace (true), that he really did order the suicide bombers (untrue), and if the angels really want to get back into heaven, that he (Metatron, that is) will forgive them for going against him if they re-join him now. Cas' angel buddies are ready to say no, but only if he will punish Dean for killing Tessa. I mean, duh, Cas most certainly will not kill Dean, so the angels defect back to Metatron.

Which was all part of Metatron's plans, he practically gloats to Gadreel. He set up the whole thing to make Cas look all evil-like, which isn't much of a surprise, unless you're Gadreel.

Gadreel decides he's had enough of Metatron and wants to switch sides to Team Free Will. Even though it looks like maybe they will decide to trust him, Dean loses it and slices him with the first blade. Whether it kills him or not remains to be seen.

So, yeah. Metatron has a lot of angels on his side. Gadreel may or may not be dead. Dean is losing his mind a bit on a blood rage. You know, just your average day in the life of the Winchesters.

Random Thoughts:

- It appears all of the angel stuff and first blade/Mark of Cain stuff is going to come to a head in the finale. I do find it a bit odd they hardly ever seem to carry stories over from season to season, because it seems like they could with the Mark stuff. Then again, you don't want to overdo it either, so who knows.

- Despite Castiel knowing a lot of pop culture references now, it's still nice to see he doesn't completely get everything. The prime numbers line actually made me laugh out loud.

- How much are we all sick of Metatron by now? If there's one thing I would like, it would be for him to bite the dust in the finale.

- It's not often we get Sam and Cas going off on an adventure just the two of them. Kind of fun, particularly when they end up having to solve door riddles and kinda go on the last crusade.

- Did I miss something about reapers being angels? And just visible to anyone whenever? It's possible I don't remember this being explained in a previous episode, but I DO remember them making a big deal about Dean needing to talk to Death/a reaper before and having to basically be dead to do so. 

Quotes:

Dean: Nice reflexes. Better hair.

Sam: Spears and Aguilera?
Cas: I noticed your aliases are usually the names of popular musicians.
Dean: Wow.

Dean: Honey, there ain't no other man like me.

Cas: Why is six afraid of seven? Now, I assume it's because seven is a prime number... and prime numbers can be intimidating.
Sam: It's because seven eight nine.
Cas: Wordplay.

Cas: I'm very pop culture savvy now.

Dean: Sure, you're Mother Theresa with neck beard.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies

This recipe is going to maybe make some of you who know me raise your eyebrows. A cookie, with coconut? Gasp! Yes. It's a cookie, with coconut. But coconut OIL, which makes all the difference. Yes, I am NOT a fan of coconut. I suppose I don't mind the flavor and smell of it so much as the texture. Any kind of coconut flake or shaving? I will steadfastly wrinkle my nose and say no thank you, no sir, not for me. However, coconut liquids baked into things? Not so bad.

Take these cookies, for example. The coconut oil gives them a slightly different flavor than if you used butter, but it's not really distinctly coconut. I'm not sure quite how to explain it, really. These cookies have a depth to their flavor, rich, deep, and, though this isn't a flavor, oh so soft. They get their softness not only from the addition of the coconut oil, but also the addition of the corn starch. Corn starch is really a miracle worker when it comes to soft cookies, let me tell you. Add some in to most any cookie, and you're going to have something that is thicker and softer around the middle.

These disappeared really quickly at my house. Of course, they don't make a ton either, so that's probably a good thing. They're best the first couple of days, then do start to dry out the tiniest bit.

A note on the coconut oil consistency when baking! Now, when you keep it in your cupboard, it can end up in a variety of different consistencies. Maybe it's rock hard. Maybe it's completely liquid. Or maybe it's that magical zone in between. It's that magical zone that you're looking for, but if you are at one or two of the extremes, don't despair. You can give it a quick zap in the microwave if it's too hard, or stick it in the fridge if it's too liquid. I recommend the fridge over the freezer, as the freezer tends to freeze the outer parts to rock hardness while the inner stays liquid. The fridge will firm it up to the right consistency in about 10 minutes-ish.

Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The...
Servings: 20 Cookies
Prep time: 02:10
Cook time: 00:10
Total time: 02:20

Fluffy brown sugar cookies that are slightly healthier by using coconut oil instead of butter.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons unsulphered molasses
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. In your mixer, beat together your coconut oil, egg, and sugar and beat on medium-high speed to cream until fluffy and light, about 4-5 minutes. A note on the coconut oil consistency - you don't want it rock hard, and you don't want it liquid. If it's rock hard, just nuke it in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds. If it's completely liquid, put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes (the freezer gives it a hard edge and a liquid center which isn't quite what you want).
2. Add in the vanilla and molasses and beat to incorporate, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the flour, corn starch, baking soda, salt and mix on low until just combined, about a minute.
3. You're going to need to chill this, so to make it easier on yourself, you want to pre-scoop your dough into cookie sized plops. I use a cookie scoop for this. Stick your dough bits, on a plate wrapped in saran wrap if you like, for at least two hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your baking sheet with a silicon mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Put your dough about 2 inches apart on the sheet, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. They won't be browned or anything, so don't overcook. Let sit on the pan for 5-10 minutes as they will cook a bit longer on the sheet. Keep for later or gobble immediately!

Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks

In Photos:

Mix up your wet ingredients. Sugar, coconut oil, egg. Beat for 4-5 minutes, then add in your molasses and vanilla and beat for another couple.

Next are your dry ingredients. Flour, corn starch, baking soda, salt. Beat for another minute on low.

Scoop your dough out onto a plate, cover with saran wrap, and stick that in the fridge for a couple hours.

Preheat your oven to 350F, then bake up your cookies for 8-10 minutes on a silpat-lined pan.

Let them sit on the pan for another 5 minutes to set up and finish cooking.

Bite in to that baby! You will eat these really quickly, I promise. Even though they last for days and days, they won't really last that long at all.

Supernatural 9x21 "King of the Damned"

Leading the troops, our man Cas.

Well, this turned out to be a bigger episode than I was expecting for the second to last episode of the season. I guess it's not really that unexpected though, because they had to wrap up at least one of the storylines soon, though I confess I was hoping the two would converge in some way rather than being completely separate as they have been. Alas, I did not get my wish. I don't think the boys even mentioned they were going after Abaddon to Castiel at all. Or, at least, not on screen.

Anywho, let's start things off with Crowley and his merry band of demons. Or, not so much his merry band of demons anymore, actually. His demon buddies have sold him out to Abaddon. She wants him to tell her where the first blade is hidden so she can destroy it before it destroys them, they work together before getting back to working against each other, etc. She brings in Crowley's long lost son Gavin from 18th century Scotland to sweeten the deal. Or rather, sour the deal, as she wants to appeal to Crowley's new human side. That is, not wanting to see his son get tortured to death.

Meanwhile, the brothers Winchester are invited to Castiel's new angel bunker where they are trying to figure out a way to defeat Metatron and get back in to heaven. They've managed to capture an angel who was bragging about his connections to Abaddon, but because Cas does not want angel on angel violence anymore, he's brought in the Winchesters to do his dirty work. Dean is all ready to lay the smack down on the angel, but Sam has a more thoughtful approach, basically goading the guy into giving up information of his own accord. Basically, there is another way in to heaven, through some portal that is constantly moving. Metatron is also recruiting some sort of secret squad, purposes unknown. After they talk to the guy, though, he turns up dead. Which means there is an angel traitor in their midst. Castiel also questions Sam a bit on what it was like with Gadreel in his head back in the day, to see if he was really evil or not, basically.

Not so much with the hugs.

Back in Crowley country, father and son have a bit of a reunion wherein Gavin actually thinks it's kind of cool to be the son of the King of Hell. But, he wants to use this information, namely that he can never go to Hell himself no matter what he does, and use it when he goes back to his time. Crowley is less than enthused to send him back to his time because, you know, he ends up going on a ship to the Americas that sinks. But, I digress. Crowley calls up the boys to tell them that he knows where Abaddon is and tells them where to find the blade. All while Abaddon listens in. Hmm. Has he reconsidered her offer to work together to defeat the Winchesters? Oh me oh my!

Castiel meets up with Gadreel on the sly to try to get a sense of his true desires. Basically, Gadreel just wants to be doing the right thing. To rebuild Heaven and whatnot, to make up for his past wrongs. Castiel tries to make him see that Metatron is not the one to be following in that endeavor, as that is not his ultimate goal. They get jumped by some of Metatron's baddies, which Cas says only proves his point. He wants Gadreel to act as spy within Metatron's camp. Will Gadreel do it? Dun dun dun.

Sam and Dean go into mission mode. They find the first blade after some shenanigans with a hell hound, then call up Crowley to get the location of where Abaddon is. He gives Dean the code word of Poughkeepsie so they know that something is up. Dean, however, does not see fit to also tell Sam of this warning, but instead tells him to go off and search the basement while he goes up and deals with Abaddon. At first, things do not look like they are going to go too tell for our Dean, but of course he's got this whole Mark of Cain thing going on, so when she magic hands him against the wall, he just goes crazy mark blade badass and, you know, kills her dead.

Yes. That's right. Dean just killed Abaddon. Right in time for Sam to come in and see him keep on stabbing after she's already gone, all crazy style. Sam wants Dean to hide that blade until they can go after Crowley again (because, you know, he manages to escape with his son and let him loose in the 21st century despite the boys telling him he needed to be sent back), but Dean just straight up says, "no." Yowza.

Random Thoughts:

- This whole ending to the Abaddon storyline felt a bit underbaked to me. As in, we hardly had much of it throughout the season, really. Or maybe the seasons are all blending together to me and there was more than I remember. But honestly I don't think so. And I really did hope it would somehow meet up with the angel story in an organic way, as I previously mentioned. As it is, it felt like a kind of anticlimactic death scene for Abaddon, who, granted, hasn't been on the show as long as Crowley or anything, but has been around for at least a couple seasons now. Another lady bites the dust.

- What exactly is Metatron's ultimate goal anyway? He keeps saying he wants to remake Heaven or something, but into what?

- Will we be seeing more of Gavin in the future, now that he's just roaming around the 21st century all willy nilly? At least he can read now. That would be awkward.

- Will this angel story really be resolved at the end of the season? Because right now it feels very much like there would still be a lot of story to tell, but there are only two episodes left.

- Sam mentioned in a patented end of episode Impala chat that he thinks Dean is being changed by the Mark. I think we can all see this happening as well. What does that mean moving forward? Do you think he'll still have the Mark by the end of the season, or will it be magically removed in some way as well?

Quotes:

Crowley: So all those with me say yo.
Abaddon: Yo. I mean I'm literally with you, not with you, with you.

Dean: Well, you just asked me to dance.

Crowley: And there you were, worried the old man wouldn't amount to much.

Crowley: Squirrel, I hope you were nice to your father.
Dean: What? Shut up.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Cinnamon Banana Bread with Crumble Topping

You know how you buy bananas sometimes, and then don't get around to eating them, and they become so ripe and soft that they seem inedible anyway? So you stick them in the freezer to use later, and then forget they're in there and eventually have to throw them away because they've gotten kind of gross? Well, don't let that happen! Use those babies for, you guessed it, banana bread. Seriously, why am I not making more banana bread?

Here's the thing about banana breads - a lot of them have nuts in them. And, I don't know, I'm not the biggest fan of nutty breads. I would much rather have this dense, moist dreamboat with a, gasp, crumble topping. Did I just say crumble topping? You bet I did. The stuff dreams are made of. Seriously, what is not made better by a crumble topping? Pretty much everything is made better by a crumble topping, and this is certainly no exception. I mean, just look at it:

Right? But also? Dare I say that this bread tasted better the second day? It was good the first day, sure, but the second day it had seemed to absorb even more moisture and was pretty much amazing. And it stays that way for days after, not that it will last that long. Particularly not when you have some banana bread enthusiasts in the house. Great for a breakfast or a dessert. Get on it!

But? Just a tip - please make sure to use at least a 9 inch size bread pan when you make this. I used only an 8 inch and it, well, let's just say it had a bit of an overflow problem. Things were dripping to the bottom of my oven and burning up and it was just generally not good. The bread, however, turned out tasting just fine despite that, even though I had to bake it longer. But just avoid that in general and use a larger pan. End PSA.

Cinnamon Banana Bread with Crumble Topping
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The...
Servings: 10 Pieces
Prep time: 00:15
Cook time: 00:50
Total time: 01:05

A delightfully moist banana bread that goes over the top with a yummy crumble topping.

Ingredients:

For the Bread:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 overripe bananas, mashed
For the Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray and set aside for now. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, egg, and vanilla until combined. Add in the butter and beat until smooth. Then, beat in the buttermilk and bananas. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients into the wet until the flour is all incorporated. Pour your batter into your prepared loaf pan.
3. For the crumble topping, combine the powdered sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Using your hands (it's easiest), crumble the mixture over the batter in the pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Recipe via Little Bits Of...

In Photos:

Mash those bananas!

Whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and set aside.

In your mixer, beat together your egg, sugar and vanilla.

Add in your butter and beat until smooth.

Then beat in your banana mash and buttermilk.

And, finally, slowly mix in your flour mixture.

Put that in your prepared pan. I recommend a 9 inch pan. This is an 8 inch and, well, you'll see what happened.

Mix up your crumble topping - flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon, butter, pinch of salt.

Using your hands, crumble that over the top. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Mine overflowed a bit, as you can see! If you use a larger pan, this will not be an issue. I also had to bake it for probably 60 minutes in this smaller pan as well.

 See? Whoops. Still tastes amazing despite the overflow, though!

Cut 'er up and serve!