Supernatural 9x05 "Dog Dean Afternoon"

I think they kind of set themselves up for high expectations with the opening previously bit. It was all clips from past funny episodes, thereby making us expect this episode to also be super funny. Did it succeed? Eh. I personally didn't find it all that funny, though maybe others did. For me it was more hokey than funny.

Shush, Sam, I have become the dog whisperer.

But the show was due for a more lighthearted episode after so many bleaker ones focused on the overall arc. Though they've been holed up in the Men of Letters bunker for a while know, ostensibly to let Sam heal from the trials, Sam is ready to get back to hunting. Dean, of course, is less than receptive to the idea, knowing all the secrety secrets that he does about Sam being angelfied inside. But, Sam will not be denied. They must go find out what happened to a man whose entire skeleton was seemingly broken.

They don't have a whole lot to go on when they research what happened to said dead taxidermist. Is it a giant snake monster because he was constricted to death? But also venomized, which apparently one snake alone cannot do both? Well, guess what, another dude is killed in a completely different animal-y way, so that can't be it! Oh no! What to do! How about we ask the dog that happened to be at both crime scenes!

The way to a dog's heart? Belly rubs.

Yes. We're going to ask the dog, because he barked at a guy in a cowboy hat, which seemed very suspiciously helpful. So Dean takes this potion that allows him to mind meld with the dog, named Colonel, who happens to have a gravelly voice and is generally sort of ornery. Colonel tells them all he can about the man in the hat, but it's not really enough. Good thing that this spell also allows Dean to hear other animals too, because he can interview the other dogs from the pound where the second murder happened.

So they talk to some more dogs, give one a hefty belly rub, and after setting them free, figure out that the bad guy in question is a local chef. He's doing some kind of shaman spell that involves eating animal parts to gain the aspects of the animal. Hence the snake-like kill and the other face-slashy kill. And he has a whole lot of other body parts to choose from. They track him down to his restaurant and have themselves some fisticuffs. Sam gets rather badly scratched by the guy and Zeke takes over to heal him, which makes the guy like oh shizz, I better eat you because that is some crazy healing power going on. So, he knocks Sam out.

Of course, Dean finds them and gets to hear him blather on about having cancer and there being no cure apart from this shaman spell, blah blah. Ultimately, Dean manages to lead the guy outside and calls on his dog posse that he let go from the pound earlier to basically rip the guy apart. Dead guy is dead.

Sam is becoming more and more aware that there's something weird going on with him, because Dean is terrible at coming up with decent lies that don't sound like obvious lies. And Dean loses the power of animal-speak just as the Colonel was about to tell him what a dog's purpose is, since it's really not being man's best friend. Ba dum bum.

Random Thoughts:

- I mean, I guess I'm glad they didn't go too overboard with the dog stuff becoming one with Dean, but even still it was kind of weird. Like looking at the poodle all sexy-like just felt stupid rather than funny. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, who knows.

- How long until THE TRUTH comes out? And what is Sam going to do once he finds out? Will Zeke get the boot, or does he really have some secret plan for doing what he's doing? It always seems like everyone has some kind of secret plan.

- This episode really just made me want to watch some of the better funny episodes of the past. Yellow Fever. Wishful Thinking. Tall Tales. Changing Channels. Ghostfacers. Ah, good times, good times.

Quotes:

Dean: All right, let's keep digging. But not here. I don't like the way that owl's looking at me.

Dean: Hey, you know who wears sunglasses inside? Blind people. And douchebags.

Sorry, that's all I have. I just didn't think it was super funny this week. Feel free to add any of your favorite quotes in the comments!

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Super Soft and Dense Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was go over to my grandma's house, because I knew we'd make chocolate chip cookies. We didn't always make them homemade, oftentimes it was out of a tub because we were short on time, but you know she'd let me stick a spoon right in the tub and eat some dough, because that's what awesome grandmas do.

Of course, I thought those cookies from the tub were pretty great. But that's before I became something of a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur. Yeah, I have about six different recipes for chocolate chip cookies on this site already, and all of them have their own merits depending on what you're in the mood for. Jacques Torres' are great if you have some time and like a little crisp around the cookie edge, the Chewy Molasses ones will delight if you want a deeper flavor less concentrated on the chocolate chips, the soft and chewy are similar to these but don't have as much longevity (though they take less time), so it's really all just a matter of personal preference.

This particular variety of chocolate chip cookie is super soft and dense and will be super gooey straight out of the oven. And that's how I love my chocolate chip cookies. I'm sorry, but crunchy? No. Nuts? No. I will make note that I took these to a pot luck get together thing and they were the only dessert to be eaten straight up. They were allllll gone, though there were still bits of every other dessert left. So, I mean, they must be pretty dang good, right?

Super Soft and Dense Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl and set aside for now.
2. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, melt your butter, then whisk in your sugars until it's lump-free. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk, and finally, the vanilla. It's a whole lot of whisking going on.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon, or perhaps a spatula. The dough will be thick, man. That's how it should be. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days.
4. Once you've chilled it, let it sit out for 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 325F. Line your baking sheet(s) with parchment paper or your fancy silicone baking mats, if you have those.
5. Roll the dough into balls, roughly 3 Tablespoons worth each depending on how big you want your cookies. For thicker cookies, keep the balls taller rather than wider. You can fit about 8 of these on your baking sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes. They won't look fully cooked, which is how it is supposed to be. Take them out of the oven and let sit on the baking sheet to continue baking for 10 more minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely.

(Recipe via Sally's Baking Addiction)

In Photos:

 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cornstarch and baking soda. Set aside for the moment.

In a medium bowl, melt your butter, then whisk in your sugars until no lumps remain.

Whisk in your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. You're better off if your eggs are room temperature than straight out of the fridge. You can put them in a glass of warm water for a few minutes before you add them to get them there.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon or spatula, then fold in your chocolate chips. Put that in the fridge to chill for at least two hours, or up to three days.

After it's chilled, let it sit out to soften for about 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 325F. Then, form into balls with your hands and place on your parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 11-12 minutes. They will look soft and underbaked, but trust. Leave them on the pan for another 10 minutes to finish baking.

Then stick them on a wire rack to cool. They'll be soft and gooey and delicious.

And will last in your cookie jar for days!

Supernatural 9x04 "Slumber Party"

I'm not in Kansas anymore.

Though they kicked Cas out of the bunker last week, the brothers Winchester are still hanging out in the home of the Men of Letters. Sam has been investigating what went on with the map board going haywire when all of the angels landed, and thinks there must be some way to wire it to track the angels. Only the decades-old computer they find downstairs is really out of their league, so they have to call up an expert.

Yep, Charlie's back. And it turns out she's been doing some hunting on her own in the meantime. The boys are less than approving of her hunting alone, and with good reason, but nonetheless it's to business. She's able to hotwire the computer or something, but before they can use it, they notice something weird on the wall. You see, earlier, when they were messing with the computer, they knocked over this bottle of liquid that spilled onto the wall. And now a girl spills out of a cocoon-like thing that grew from the liquid. Just who is this girl?

Auntie Em, Auntie Em!

Well, let's flash back to the 1930s Men of Letters to find out! It turns out that she's none other than Dorothy, the Dorothy that went to Oz. Because apparently now we can insert completely new "fairy worlds" into the world of Supernatural, and that's okay. But, this Dorothy is more of a hunter than a girl in distress. She's brought the Wicked Witch to the bunker to find a way to kill her. Alas, the Men of Letters don't know how to do that, so she ends up doing a spell that locks her and the witch inside that bottle.

So, back in the present, the trio gets caught up on Dorothy and the Witch, who came to this world looking for some key. Luckily, Dorothy knows just what key she means. That is, a key that opens any door directly into Oz. She believes the witch would like to go back to Oz and decimate it for good.

Luckily, there are now ways to at least slow the witch down thanks to some tireless research done by some old Men of Letters. Charlie whips up some poppy bullets and they head out to find the key that Dean conveniently had just seen not too long ago, and also has somewhere in his room. He and Charlie go to get the key, only to get the witch after them. She goes to green lightning bolt Dean, only Charlie jumps in the way, which kills her. But because this is Supernatural and death means nothing, Dean asks Zeke to bring her back. Zeke agrees, but says that he's only at half strength so this is going to mean he'll have to stay in Sam longer.

V-necks for Hunters.

Anyway, when Charlie reminds Dorothy that the stories in the books aren't all lies told by her father to gloss over the truth, Dorothy has a brainwave - she still has the ruby slippers, and they have magic in them. Pointy heel magic, I guess. And just plain red pumps, no glittering rubies to be seen. Dean and Sam get possessed by the witch, which is really weird because um, Sam is already possessed? They do battle with Dorothy while Charlie slips away just as the witch is opening the portal to Oz and beckoning her minions to come to her, come to her, my pretties. Yes, she did not want to go back to Oz, but rather bring her baddies to our world.

But, no luck for her, because Charlie saves the day, killing her with the red high heels. And, because she's had a nice connection with Dorothy, Dorothy invites her along to go back to Oz with her and finish whatever rebellion she started. And, because Charlie has been lamenting the lack of magic in the hunting life, she of course decides to go with her. So, I guess that gets rid of Charlie for a while.

Random Thoughts:

- Game of Thrones references! Always love me a good GoT reference. Also fun to see what the boys do in their downtime, because honestly, they must have some downtime, you know?

- There's a lot of talk about how Sam hasn't moved in to the Men of Letters bunker and how he's never really had a home and anytime he has, it's pretty much gone up in flames, blah di blah. Age old discussions of misspent childhoods for $200, Alex.

- How many times are we going to see someone die arbitrarily so Zeke has to save them? Can we be done with that now? At least Sam finally heard the name Zeke and is wondering just who that is. Sam ain't no dummy. Dean's stories aren't making a whole lot of logical sense.

- When the young, impressionable Man of Letters was killed after being all starry-eyed about everything, it seemed to me that meant Charlie would die too because of the symmetry and whatnot, but then I thought to myself, no, that would be too obvious. Well. She did die. Ba dum bum.

- Next week's episode looks stupid, I'm sorry. Do we not remember the last time we had some dog-centic storyline and how terrible that episode was?

Quotes:

Dean: This was your idea?
Sam: Do you see anyone else in here?

Charlie: I took down a teenage vampire and a ghost. Which sounds like a YA novel when I say it out loud.

Sam: So... you've been hunting.
Dean: Alone.
Charlie: I know. Not a good idea according to the Supernatural books.
Sam: You really can't delete those from the internet?
Charlie: Not even I can do that.

Sam: Nothing. Nobody. No bells. No.

Charlie: You keep your porn meticulously organized, but not--
Dean: Don't judge me.

Charlie: Ding dong, bitches.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Challah Bread

Challah holla!

Sorry, I had to do it. 

Did you know, I'd never had challah bread before making this homemade version? It's true. Unless I ate it unbeknownst to me at a restaurant at some point, which I suppose is entirely possible. Truth be told, I had never even heard of it until probably a few years ago. Or if I did hear it, I probably thought someone was just saying holla and didn't think twice.

Which is really sad, because ummmm.... this bread is pretty great. And I love me some bread. It's not without some work, mind you, but you'll probably be really happy you put in the time once it's done. Plus, this makes two loaves, so you'll feel really accomplished, and you can totally freeze one for later so you don't have to do it all again.

This bread is particularly great for things like french toast, which is always better with a thick bread, grilled cheese sandwiches, and even BLTs with your pieces just toasted. Tell me you don't want to take a big bite into that right there. Bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and even some avocado too, plus homemade bread? Yes please.

I will not lie to you, though, the braiding part is kind of hard. Unless you've done it a bunch of times already, then it's probably easy peasy lemon squeezey, but I only know how to do a basic regular braid, man. I can't even do the fancy french braids the girls used to do in junior high. Or those fishtail ones? I mean, that was entirely foreign. Ah, the days when we'd braid our hair during leadership class... good times, good times.

Challah Bread
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 2 loaves
Prep time: 02:30

Cook time: 00:35

Total time: 03:05

The classic braided Challah Bread, great for French toast, sandwiches, and just to eat with some butter slathered on!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ packages active dry yeast
• 1 Tablespoon plus ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ¾ cups lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 5 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 8 to 8 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and the 1 tablespoon of sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water. Not too hot, not too cold. As Goldilocks would say, juuuuust right. Let that sit for about 5 minutes to get activated and frothy.
2. Whisk the oil into the yeast mixture, then beat in 4 of the eggs, one at a time, with the 1/2 cup remaining sugar and the salt. Gradually add in the flour, one cup at a time. When the dough holds together, it is ready for some hand kneading. You can use a mixer with a dough hook if you want, but not if you have the basic Kitchenaid like me. Doing too much dough hooking will kill your motor. Truth.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Either clean out your bowl from earlier or get another big one and grease it up. Return your dough to the bowl, greasing both sides of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for an hour, until almost doubled in size. Your warm place can be an oven that was heated to 150F and then turned off before you stick the dough in. After the hour has passed, punch down the dough and let rise again in that warm place for another half hour.
4. Now it's time to form the braids. Honestly, I don't have good directions for the braiding. The ones I read were confusing, and we kind of just made it up as we went. Basically, you split your dough in half, then from that half make 6 balls the same size. Roll those balls into strands about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place them in a row next to each other, pinch the tops together, then... braid. You can try following these directions. After you've got your braid, pinch the bottom ends together. Repeat with your second half. You can also turn it into a circle if you prefer.
5. Place the loaves on a greased cookie sheet about two inches apart. Beat your 1 leftover egg and brush it on the loaves. Let rise another hour, and keep that egg for after the hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 375°F and brush your loaves again with the egg after the hour has passed. At this point you can sprinkle with poppyseeds if you so desire. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden. If you have a fancy thermometer, the insides should be 190°F. Cool the loaves on a rack, then get to slicing!

Recipe via Smitten Kitchen

In Pictures:

 Yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar go into lukewarm water, then you whisk in 4 of your eggs and the other 1/2 cup sugar. It's very liquidy. It's fine.

Start mixing in your flour, 1 cup at a time. You'll be like oh man, there are some lumps of flour in that liquid. It's okay. They'll go away.

Keep going. You can do it! Forearm strength!

See? It can be done. It's now ready to be kneaded.

Plop!

Knead it, baby! Those aren't my hands, btw, those are boyfriend hands. We switched it up and I took most of the pictures this time, while he did a lot of the mixing and kneading and braiding!

Grease your bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, let it rise in a warm place for an hour until about doubled.

It. Shall. Rise!

Everyone's favorite part - the punch!

Wa-pow! Once you've punched it down, put the wrap back on and back in the warm place for another half hour.

It will rise again!

Take half the dough, and split that half into six balls.

Turn those balls into strands.

And braid those bits together.

Repeat with the other half. Put on a greased cookie sheet and brush with your last egg. Let rise for another hour. Preheat your oven to 375F.

After that hour, brush again with the egg. Then stick that in the oven for 30-40 minutes until golden.

Golden and delicious! Let it cool!

Then slice into it! Make some french toast. Make a BLT. Just eat it straight from the loaf. Enjoy!

Supernatural 9x03 "I'm No Angel"

Last week's episode was all about the demons. This week's is all about the angels. Speaking of angels, just where has our favorite angel, or former angel, been up to since last we saw him on the side of the road somewhere? The Winchesters are wondering about that as well, because the angels are out to get him, so they better find him first. Also, Zeke seemed to imply that maybe the angels and demons would start working together to find him, but maybe I just heard it wrong and he was just talking about the angels getting organized.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

Anywho, the angels are indeed getting organized, thanks to the online presence of a reverend who is telling the masses to let in the angels. Yeah, they're getting vessels much easier now. The angel at the top of this new food chain? Bartholomew. He's taken up where Naomi left off, it seems, and is spearheading the search for Castiel. One may wonder why they're so intent on finding him since it just seems like revenge times, but it turns out that they think he must know how to reverse what happened. Alas and alack.

Just what has Cas been up to? Basically hanging around homeless shelters and generally finding out what it's like to be a human - hungry, cold, etc. And that the people who have the least tend to be most generous, which is a sad and also true fact, it would seem. Some of the other homeless guys share their food with him, and also a cute waitress... who shares more than just a PB&J, oh ho!

Meanwhile, the boys are on Cas' trail. But they're not the only ones. Bartholomew has hired a special Reaper who I guess works as a tracker. See, Cas was smart and got a tattoo to ward off angel detection, so they can't find him so easily. But they know that Sam and Dean will be looking for him, so a Reaper starts tailing them. But, duh, the Winchesters aren't so easily tailed without their knowledge. They capture him, find out the dealio, then shove the angel blade through his skull. Lovely.

I whip my hair back and forth

Cas gets to have a nice night with the aforementioned cute waitress, April. And you want to trust her, you really do, but you know how things work on this show. Come the morning after, we find out she's not really April anymore, but rather another Reaper hired to find Cas. And apparently these Reapers are also of the angelic variety? I guess we'd never seen one die before, but they glow just like the other angels.

Reaper April starts torturing Cas for information on how to get Heaven back, but of course he doesn't know how to do it, only that maybe because Metatron took his grace for the spell that maybe he's important in reversing it. Things aren't looking too good, but that's when Sam and Dean burst in to go all heroic. Alas, this time around, they do not prove victorious in time. Yes, Dean does manage to kill April, who I keep wanting to call Amy, but before he does, she delivers a fatal stab to Castiel's fair stomach.

Yes, fatal. But, luckily for him, and for Dean's psyche, Sam has an angel riding shotgun inside of him. Zeke comes forward and heals Cas, but not without a physical cost to himself (or is it to Sam?). Nonetheless, Cas is alive.

Thanks for the se---oh wait.

They bring him back to the bunker, but Zeke is quick to inform Dean that he can't stay. That he's a danger to them, a beacon to other Reapers and angels looking for him, despite the tattoo and the underground nature of the bunker. Dean is obviously very against the idea of tossing his friend out on the street, but Zeke says that if Cas doesn't go, he'll leave Sam's body. Which means Sam would probably die.

So, Dean has to tell Cas he has to leave. Poor wittle Cas. He's never looked so sad. Whatever will he do without the support of the Winchesters?


Random Thoughts:

- Angels enter through the mouth as well? I guess we've never actually seen it. The parallels to demons never ceases.

- The guy playing Bartholomew looked really familiar. Anyone know what else he's been in? Same goes for the girl playing April, I know I've seen her in something before. I almost feel like maybe she's actually been on this show before. You know they love to recycle people.

- What if the angels and demons start working together? Chaos! Anarchy! What would they be working for, exactly? One never knows, but it could be an unexpected turn of events.

- Do we think Cas will get his grace back? And if so, before the end of the season? Do you think they'd ever actually kill him off for good? I can see him sacrificing himself in some way.

- When the boys found out Cas had sex with the girl... that scene was pretty priceless.

Quotes:

Castiel: Do you ever tire of urinating? I'll never get used to it.

Sam: I grabbed you real bacon and eggs, extra grease. Not even gonna argue.

Sam: Look at these chemicals, do you even read the label?
Dean: No. I read pie. The rest is just blah blah blah.

Dean: Never do that again!
Castiel: All right.

Cas: You lied.
Dean: I did. I do that.

Dean: I haven't seen half of the nerdy stuff you do, doesn't mean you don't do nerdy stuff.

Dean: So, did you have protection?
Cas: I had my angel blade.
Dean: He had the angel blade.

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