Banana Bread

Hi Ya'll! Oh what a week! I'm down to only 3 days a week at work and they like to spread my days out.. Of course having so many days off in a row leaves plenty of time for baking and reading! I have not been real motivated to do much baking lately though. We are short on funds (as is everyone I'm sure..) so the baking will be slow for awhile. There are so many recipes out there that I want to try, but they are just going to have to wait a bit..

In the mean time I had some bananas that were fixing to go bad. And what do you do with very ripe banana's? Make banana bread of course! This is another awesome recipe from my Flour cookbook. This bread was awesome!

Banana Bread:

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (230 grams) sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup (100 grams) canola oil

31/2 very ripe, medium bananas, peeled and mashed (about 340 grams/1 1/3 cups mashed)

2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup (75 grams) walnut halves, toasted and chopped

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment beat together the sugar and eggs on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy

On low speed, slowly drizzle in the oil. Don't pour the oil in all at once. Add it slowly so it has time to incorporate into the eggs and doesn't deflate the air you have just beaten into the batter. Adding the oil should take about 1 minute. Add the bananas, crème fraîche, and vanilla and continue to mix on low speed just until combined.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture and nuts just until thoroughly combined. No flour streaks should be visible, and the nuts should be evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 to 11/4 hours, or until golden brown on top and the center springs back when you press it. If your finger sinks when you poke the bread, it needs to bake a little longer. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes, and then pop it out of the pan to finish cooling.

The banana bread can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, it can be well wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 weeks; thaw overnight at room temperature for serving.

 

Eat and Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

Hi Ya'll! When you want to make cookies, but are sick of oatmeal raisin (god forbid!) and have no chocolate chips, what do you do? Make Snickerdoodles of course! This is another fabulouse recipe from my Flour cookbook! I have loved all the recipes I've tried so far. Look for another one later this week!

Snickerdoodles:

1 cup of unsalted butter, room temp

1 1/2 cups  granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for coating

2 eggs, room temp

2 1/2 cups unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup ground cinnamon for coating

Using your stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed. Beat for 4-5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl. When the mixture is very fluffy, slowly add the eggs. Beat in the eggs for 2-3 minutes or until combined.

 Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and kosher salt. On low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time. Beat until the flour and butter are incorporated and the dough starts to come together.

 Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. For best results, let rest 24 hours.

 When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350.  Mix together the remaining sugar and cinnamon. Roll into balls and drop into the cinnamon sugar and roll them to ensure even coating. Place on cookie sheet and smoosh with the palm of your hand.

 Bake for 14-16 minutes . The cookies should be slightly brown on the edges but still soft in the center. Let cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Eat and Enjoy!

Review Thursday- My Fair Godmother

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah Delano wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrissy (Chrysanthemum) Everstar: Savannah’s gum-chewing, cell phone–carrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Showing why she’s only Fair—because she’s not a very good fairy student—Chrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White. Finally she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannah’s class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight. Laughs abound in this clever fairy tale twist from a master of romantic comedy. (summery taken from goodreads)

Oh how I loved this book. Savannah a pretty, popular high school girl is having the worst week ever! First off her older, smart, unpopular sister steals her boyfriend and then to top it off, she is visited by her Fair Godmother. Yup, her Fair Godmother Chrissy has not passed the test to become a Fairy Godmother just yet and Savannah is her latest project.

Savannah gets 3 wishes, but Chrissy won't let her finish her sentence before Chrissy sends her off into a wacky adventure in the Middle Ages. When one of her wishes lands hunky Tristan in the middle ages Savannah must find a way to get them both back home before the Black Knight ruins everything.

I found that at first I did not much care for Savannah's personality, but as I kept reading I began to really like her. I loved Rallison's take on the fairy tales. Her writing and sense of humor was very entertaining!

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Tuesday's

Hi Ya'll! I have been getting so many books lately (bought and won) that I have decided its time for

Operation: Read Your Own Books!

I have too many library books and way too many of my own books that are getting ignored. So I am saying goodbye to my stack of library books (except for Uglies. I've been dying to read it and was on a waiting list for like ever! I'm not giving it up now! lol) and am going to start on this stack..

Passion by Lauren Kate

Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Echoes by Melinda Metz

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran (ARC)

Casting Spells by Barbra Bretton

Garden of the Moon by Elizabeth Sinclair

Dark Gate by Pamela Palmer

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Bite Club by Rachel Caine

The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie Mcgill

Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney

Demon Song by Cat Adams (ARC)

Kiss It by Erin Downing

This is just the stack of recently acquired books. I have more in my bookshelf plus I have about 50 or so in my kindle that I would like to get through as well.

Also, I got some pretty awesome stuff in the mail this week!

 

I won a signed copy of The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard from the Read-a-Thon I participated in and I got some Secret Year bookmarks!

I got a signed bookmark and 3signed buttons for The Near Witch that I won from a giveaway done by Victoria Schwab.

What I read:

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
Loved it!  Can't wait to read My Unfair Godmother

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Such a great series. I can't wait to read the Iron Knight!! Which by the way I got from NetGalley on my kindle!!

That's all for me this week.. What have you been reading?

Review Thursday- My First One!

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

A modern retelling of the German fairytale "Tristan and Isolde", Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.

First off I would like to say thanks NetGalley for the chance to read this book. It is my first review book.

Oh what can I say about this book? It was absolutely without a doubt the worst book I have ever read.

Throughout the the whole story I felt like Izzie was more of a 12 year old middle schooler than a 16 year old high school student.. What with the way she flitted from one thing to the next. The way she thought she could get her best friend Branna to take a love potion after Branna made a point to say she did not want to find love that way. The way she treated Mark and Tristan was horrible. I understand she thought she was under a love spell or whatever, but her actions were very selfish.

I believe this could of been a good story, if the author had developed the plot more. As it is, I felt like it was rushed. The writing was also very choppy and often times child-like.

The author put in details that were not needed. Such as "It was a serpent with eyes that burned as brightly as two suns and scales of red and yellow and orange, with hints of blue at the edges, like the center of a flame, where there is the most heat." Was it really necessary to add that last part? I mean really? She could of just ended it with "like the center of a flame" and I think everyone would know what she meant.

Over all I felt like this story was being told by a group of little girls playing make believe.

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Samoa Truffles

Hi Ya'll! I thought I would try something a little different over the weekend. I have been wanting to try out making truffles and a few other things. So here we go! What a better way to start my experiments other than with Samoa Truffles? I know Girl Scout cookie season is over, but Keebler makes a cookie called Coconut Dream that tastes just like the Samoa's! I promise! I got this recipe from Cookies and Cups

Samoa Truffle:

2 packages Coconut Dreams

1 pkg cream cheese softened

melting chocolate ( I used the last of my Euphoria Chocolate melting disks)

1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Crush the cookies in a food processor (or in a baggie with a rolling pin) until they are turned into a fine crumb.

Mix crumbs with the cream cheese using the back of a spoon or your hand. Roll mixture into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Place in the freezer for about 15 min.

Meanwhile toast your coconut and melt your chocolate. Dip each ball into the chocolate then sprinkle with the coconut. Place back onto the wax paper and let dry.

Eat and enjoy!

Book Tuesday's

Hi Ya'll! So last week I read a bunch for that Read-a-Thon and I won a book! Yay! This week my reading was a little slower. I got 2 books read. I plan on starting a new feature here on The Watson Kitchen. On Thursdays I plan on sharing a review of a recent book that I have read. Look for my first on this Thursday!

From the library:

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

I read a preview of this one on my kindle and could not wait to get the book!

The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal

Got in the Mail:

Echoes by Melinda Metz

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Kiss It by Erin Downing

I got all of these from Lena at Addicted 2 Novels. Thanks!

Bite Club by Rachel Cain (Signed!)

I won this from I Read Banned Books Bloggiversary giveaway!

Tikmia by F.H. Faizal

Also won from I Read Banned Books

What I Bought:

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

All of these were bought for my Kindle. I can't wait to read them all!

What I Read:

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkings

Loved Hex Hall and can not wait to read Demonglass!

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ive Harrison

Look for my review on Tris & Izzie on Thursday!

My What a busy week for getting books! I'm starting to fall behind on my library stack again.. Gonna have to put down my kindle for awhile so I can get caught up!

What are you reading?

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Last Day

 Hi Ya'll! So yesterday (Tuesday) I had to work, so I didn't get much of anything read. I started on Hex Hall Last night but did not get it finished.. I was rather lazy today and did not feel like reading much..

Over all I am proud of what I did get read. I read a total of 4 books. All of which were on my Kindle! I have not gotten to use my kindle too much because of all the library books I always have on hand..

Here is my complete list of what I read:

Black Moon by C.L. Bevill

Amber Moon by C.L. Bevill

Silver Moon by C.L. Bevill
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross

I'm not sure of the page count since these were all on my kindle and I'm having trouble finding a page count for them..

That's all for me! What did you read?

Book Tuesday's

Hi Ya'll!
Okay, so I'm still reading away for that Read-a-Thon!
Here is my count of books read so far:

Black Moon by C.L. Bevill

Amber Moon by C.L. Bevill

Silver Moon by C.L. Bevill
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross


My haul from the Library:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

In the mail:

The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie Mcgill
I got this one from Simon & Schuster as a mix-up. I had won a book from Goodreads called The Mistress's Revenge, but got this one by mistake. They told me to keep it and that they would send the right one out! How awesome is that!?

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

Garden of the Moon by Elizabeth Sinclair

The Dark Gate by Pamela Palmer

All of these I won off of an auction site called Listia! They were all free!!

Bought:

Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Awesome find! I got Acheron at Half Price Books for only $4! Yup you heard me! $4!!

Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur

I was so happy to find books by Keri Arthur at my local Half Price Books! I can never find her books and my library only carries the first 2 in this series.. I wanted to get more, but I already have a huge stack of books waiting to be read..

What have you been reading?

Once Upon a Read-a Thon

Hi Ya'll! For the next 3 days I am participating in the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon! There will be mini challenges everyday and prizes given away at the end of the event! For more info you can go here or click on the picture in my side bar..



Here is my planned stack to read. My goal is to try and read some of the book that I own and not my library stack! I have quiet a few on my Kindle I plan to read as well!

So far I have read 2 books from my Kindle!

Black Moon by C.L. Bevill

Amber Moon by C.L. Bevill

Mini Challenge Question 1:
What type of mythology do you like the best (Greek, Roman, Egyptian etc)?

I like Greek the best. Probably because that is all I've ever read..

Mini Challenge Question 2:
What is your favorite book with some type of mythology in it?

I have to say the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon!  There are plenty of other great books out there, but I just love that series!!


There is still time to sign up, so go!

What will you be reading?


 



Double Stripped Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Hi Ya'll! So here is the other peanut butter recipe I promised you! We have been on a peanut butter kick here in the Watson house! We just love peanut butter! lol! Throw in some oatmeal and chocolate and we're in heaven!

These cookies are awesome! I found that the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips/ peanut butter chips was a little too much for the drizzle.. I had a bunch of chocolate/peanut butter left over. But that for you to decided! There is nothing wrong with left over chocolate and peanut butter!!

Double Stripped Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/3 cups quick-cooking oats, divided

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 teaspoons shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil)

1/2 cup  peanut butter chips

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat peanut butter and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together 1/2 cup oats, flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the ball in the remaining oats. Then place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten cookies with palm of your hand or tines of fork if you want the crisscross pattern.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

 Place chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon shortening in medium microwave-safe container. Microwave at 30 seconds; stir. If necessary, microwave an additional 10 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred. Drizzle over cookies. Repeat procedure with peanut butter chips and remaining 1 tablespoon shortening. Allow drizzles to set.

(I put the melted chocolate and peanut butter chips into zip loc baggies and cut the tip of one corner to make my drizzle..)

Eat and Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Coffe Cake

Hi Ya'll! Love Peanut butter? We do! I had bought some peanut butter chips and couldn't figure out what to do with them.. Then I came across this recipe. This coffee cake is awesome! Hope you like it as much as we did! I will have another peanut butter chip recipe coming soon!

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake:

1-2/3 cups (10-oz.-pkg.)  peanut butter chips

3/4 cup creamy peanut putter

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Place peanut butter chips and peanut butter in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred.

 Combine flour, brown sugar, butter and peanut butter chip mixture in large bowl. Beat on low speed of mixer until mixture resembles small crumbs; reserve 1 cup crumbs for topping. To remaining crumb mixture gradually blend in baking powder, baking soda, milk, eggs and vanilla; beating until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top evenly with reserved crumbs.

 Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. 12 to 16 servings.

Eat and Enjoy!

Book Tuesday's

Hi Ya'll! This weeks book feature is going to be short..

What I read:

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

I Loved Wicked Lovely, so I was excited to read this one. But It took me awhile to get into it (which is why I only have one book read this week..). Once I got into it, I loved it. I love the tattoo design and almost wish I hadn't already gotten my one and only tattoo just so I could get this.. I can't wait to read the next one in this series!!

What I'm Reading:

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

So far I am really loving this book!!

What have you been reading?