From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     Here's a little treat you can make all for yourself :)! Sneak back out to the kitchen after supper is all cleaned up and everyone else is busy doing something else and make yourself one of these!!! (Of course, if you want to share, I imagine your family would love these too!! I'm just sayin...)

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup
created by Melissa at No. 2 Pencil 

1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar
1 Tablespoon of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
3 Drops of Vanilla Extract
Small Pinch of Kosher Salt
1 Egg Yolk (discard the egg white)
Scant 1/4 of All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Start by melting your butter in the microwave. Add sugars, vanilla and salt. Stir to combine. Separate your egg and add the yolk only to your cup. Stir to combine. Add flour, then stir again. Add the chocolate chips, and give a final stir. Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. Mine takes 50 seconds. 

Serve warm.

Brought to you by the lovely online pinboard PINTEREST.

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday...

     HI! It's Wednesday AND it's the day before Thanksgiving!!! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Not only do we get to eat tons of awesome food, but we get to spend time with our family and friends! Plus, I was born on Thanksgiving, so that makes it extra special...Then, there's Black Friday shopping...So much to do, so little time.
     Consequently, I'm not reading Iced by Karen Marie Moning very quickly. I will say that I am loving it, though! The main character, Dani, is a 14 year old with a mouth that says whatever she is thinking! Yet, she also is quite grown up for her age due to the walls of Faery coming down and her being a superhero and all :). Dani was mentioned in the other Fever series books, but she wasn't a main character. Now, in this new novel, she takes center stage. It was a little hard in the beginning for me because I had really grown attached to many of the other characters who now are playing more cursory roles so that Dani can be the star. Her conversation style is much younger (she is 14),  but it's very quick. She is going a thousand miles a minute. All. The. Time. Iced takes place in the same world as the other Fever novels, but from a different point of view and after everything that happened in the previous novels.
       I already can't wait because I went to the author's website and I see that she plans on writing 3 novels from Dani's perspective, and then she is going to go back to the point of view in the first 5 Fever novels and combine the two!!! Karen Marie Moning can't write them fast enough!!!
     Don't you just love it when a book is sooo good that you can't put it down and can't wait for the next one to come out!!

     What's your latest favorite read? Share it with us in the comments so we can all find a new one to get hooked on!

Book Trailer Monday...

     Have you ever read a graphic novel? Comics as a kid? The graphic novel has really risen in popularity recently. I've picked up a few just to see what they were like...it's hard for me to see things differently than I had imagined them, ya know? Regardless, here's one you may be interested in trying...

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     This one's just because I was hungry for chili and the idea that there is chocolate in this recipe intrigued me...Plus, there are no beans, so my family ate it too!! Bonus!

Cincinnati Chili (a little background from the book A Man and His Pan by John Boswell..."Somehow, as chili was passing through Ohio, a tributary broke off and headed straight for Cincinnati. This strange concoction is unlike any other chili you've ever tasted and is positively addictive. The "secret ingredient" is a chocolate bar! Cincinnatians serve their chili over spaghetti topped with grated cheese and chopped onion, and accompany it with oyster or saltine crackers. the chili also works well over rice, doubles for sloppy joes, and makes a great taco filling.")

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 can (28 oz.) stewed tomatoes
1/2 C. beef broth
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 chocolate bar (2 oz.) like Hershey's (no almonds)

1. In your nonstick frying pan, cook the ground beef, onion, celery, and garlic over medium high heat, stirring often to break up lumps of meat, until the beef loses its pink color, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. cook, stirring, 1 minute.
2. Add the stewed tomatoes, beef broth, vinegar, and chocolate; cut up the tomatoes while cooking with a pair of kitchen scissors. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 1 hour, adding more beef broth if the chili gets too thick.

Serves 4 to 6.

Note: We eat this over rice and I always add more chili powder and chocolate. Sometimes, I even add some hot peppers because we like it hot!! We also eat it with Fritos and cheese, too, if we have them. Try it and add your own twist!!

Book Trailer Monday...

Here's the book that is currently on my nightstand...Iced by Karen Marie Moning. Karen Marie Moning's Fever series is one of my absolute favorites with Shadowfever (the book right before this one) being one of my favorite books ever...but I thought she was done with the series?....Here's the latest installment...And it's written from a different character's point of view. Cool.

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

Here's one in honor of November, Thanksgiving, Pumpkins, and Janette!!!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Total Time:

1 hr 20 min

Prep

30 min

Cook

50 min

Yield:

6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Variations: For a Pineapple Gooey Cake: Instead of the pumpkin, add a drained 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

For a Banana Gooey Cake: Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.

For a Peanut Butter Gooey Cake: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter to the cream cheese filling instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.
 

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All Rights Reserved.

 

 

What's in Your Library Bag Wednesday....

     It's Wednesday again reading friends!!! What's In Your Library Bag this week?! Do you like to pick up books especially for the holidays. I know a lot of authors come out with Christmas titles every year...I've read a few and they are always a good read. And now is the perfect time to start....

Here's a list to get you started....there are definitely more, but here's a teaser....

The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
The First Gift of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans
Gideon's Gift (Part of Red Glove Series) by Karen Kingsbury
Maggie's Miracle (Part of Red Glove Series) by Karen Kingsbury
Sarah's Song (Part of Red Glove Series) by Karen Kingsbury
Hannah's Hope (Part of Red Glove Series) by Karen Kingsbury
I'll Be Home for Christmas by Linda Lael Miller
I'll Be Home for Christmas by Fern Michaels
Bring me Home for Christmas by Robyn Carr
All I Want For Christmas is a Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks
An Amish Christmas by Cynthia Keller
An Angel for Christmas by Heather Graham
Amish White Christmas Pie by Wanda Brunstetter
The Heart of Christmas Max Lucado
Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evaovich
The Christmas Bus by Melody Carlson
Of Course...A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry
The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson
A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh

Book Trailer Monday...

Here's a book that I've seen go out as a book club selection and I've seen it pop up on reading lists, but never had the urge to take it home...Now with a movie trailer out, it looks amazing!!! That begs the question: read the book first or watch the movie...