Monday, July 30, 2012

A departure from books for...BAKING!

A first! A post about something I baked. I don't know why I haven't done this before.

Went to a local farming area and bought some peaches and cherries. I wanted to bake a dessert since we're in the horrible habit of not eating fruit fast enough. So I looked for a dessert recipe where I could use either of those fruits. I came across this recipe from Allrecipes.com. It's a peach cobber dump cake. I modified it of course, I always do. Here's my version:

3 - Fresh sliced peaches (skin on)
? - handful of strawberries
1 - box yellow cake mix
? - a few spoonfuls of brown sugar
1/2 cup - butter
? - some cinnamon
? - some sugar

(I totally guess on adding some things, easier than measuring! This is more for my notes when I make again. The link above is the actual recipe I based this off of.)

I put the peaches and strawberries in a pan and with a tiny bit of sugar and less than a quarter cup of water and a few shakes of cinnamon. I put on the heat for ten minutes, setting it to simmer. I could have skipped this, but I didn't know if the peaches would come out hard...note to self...skip this step next time!

I buttered the bottom of a 9x13 pan, poured the peach and strawberry mixture on the bottom.

I put the yellow cake mix in a bowl and but in a few spoonfuls of brown sugar and cold butter and cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender.

I sprinkled/poured the cake mixture over the fruit and then took a few pinches of sugar and sprinkled it on top of the batter along with a little bit of cinnamon.

I baked in the oven for about 28 minutes at 350. Voila - Deliciousness!




Sunday, July 29, 2012

Live Wire (Myron Bolitar #10)

Live Wire (Myron Bolitar, #10)Live Wire by Harlan Coben
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read a Harlan Coben book in a long time. I'm not big into murder mystery but I had remembering liking his books a long while ago.

When I randomly picked up this book from the library I hadn't realized this is a long, ongoing series. There were some incidents that happened in previous books that I had to guess on, but for the most part it was a great stand alone book.



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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Smooth Talking Stranger

Smooth Talking Stranger (Travises, #3)Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really, really good. One of my favorites of LK's. But. Yes, there is a but. But the ending. I hate pretty, wrapped up in a perfect pink bow endings. Too predictable and a stretch in reality. (I'm not going to spoil it.) Would have been a perfect five if it hadn't been for that too perfect ending.



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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Love, Come to Me

Love, Come to MeLove, Come to Me by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of Lisa Kleypas' first novels, originally published in 1988. While it's an enjoyable enough story, it doesn't have the grab and pull that her newer books have. Lisa said she was in her early 20's when she wrote this book and in some ways you can tell. With this book, the jealously and insecurity one feels in their younger years is apparent. I just found it frustrating...like lay off the dramatics a bit! :)

Even in her early twenties she is an amazing writer, she just was a bit less polished than she is now.

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Monday, July 9, 2012

Blue-Eyed Devil

Blue-Eyed Devil (Travises, #2)Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Usually I research books, put them on hold at the library then pick them up. This was a random shelf pick...and I loved it! I think I've read Lisa Kleypas before but it might have been an audio book. I don't know, but this book was so good!

Good like eating a Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream creation from Coldstone Creamery on a hot summer day! I could not put this book down until it was finished, like it was going to melt like ice cream if I didn't consume it quick enough.

Normally I am not a fan of contemporary romance, not the case here. Some writers are just so good it doesn't matter what century their story takes place in. I know she writes historical romance too, HELLO! Gotta get me some of them real quick like!



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Friday, July 6, 2012

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2)

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2)Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Umm, a lot of prose in this book. Sometimes a bit much, but could also be beautiful. Most of it was predictable but I still like how the story was written. I'm absolutely going to forget everything about this book except for the last page so I will definitely have to read this again before the next book is released. I am looking forward to how this series will wrap up, I'm completely stumped as to how the situation could be resolved! The big lingering question now is: WHO? :-)





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