baking posts

Reading & Recipes #3

So, here I am! Back with another Reading & Recipes post; this time featuring contemporary fiction and cookies.

If you don’t know what Reading & Recipes is… Well, for this post, I’m going to be posting a recipe I used recently along with a picture of the finished product, as well as discussing a book I was reading the same day a little bit. Annnd that’s it, that’s pretty much the post.

Recent Recipe: Lemon Cool Whip Cookies

This one isn’t exactly an original, but I’ve been seeing Cool Whip Cookies a bunch of places online. And the recipes are all pretty much the same, no matter where you look. So I’ll just write what I did here.

INGREDIENTS:
  • one box of 18.25 oz cake mix (you can use any flavor you like – I just used lemon for mine)
  • one 8 oz container of cool whip
  • one large egg
  • some powdered sugar, for rolling
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Mix the cake mix, cool whip and egg together.
  2. Form into small balls (don’t make them too big or else they might stick and not come off the pan that great – don’t do what I did, lol). Then roll in the powdered sugar.
  3. Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 10 to 12 minutes.
  4. Cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before you remove them. Then, enjoy! (Yields around 24 to 36 cookies.)

As I mentioned above, it’s important to me that you know you can basically use any kind of cake mix that you’d like. I just decided to use lemon, ’cause lemon season is almost here, and I wanted to welcome spring. I’m planning on trying this recipe with chocolate cake mix eventually, and maybe even strawberry as well.

These cookies are soft and chewy, and the lemon flavor was sweet and strong. But not overpowering or tart. Also, make sure you roll them in powdered sugar really well as they’re pretty sticky as batter.

Recent Reads: Stars and Smoke

Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

This smoldering enemies-to-lovers novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu puts a superstar global phenomenon and a hotshot young spy on a collision course with danger – and Cupid’s arrow – in an electric new series perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Nicola Yoon.

Meet Winter Young – International pop sensation, with a voice like velvet and looks that could kill. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. His rabid fans would move heaven and earth for even a glimpse of him – just imagine what they’d do to become his latest fling.

Meet Sydney Cossette – Part of an elite covert ops group, Sydney joined their ranks as their youngest spy with plans to become the best agent they’ve ever had. An ice queen with moves as dangerous as her comebacks, Sydney picks up languages just as quickly as she breaks hearts. She’s fiery, no-nonsense, and has zero time for romance – especially with a shameless flirt more used to serving sass than taking orders.

When a major crime boss gifts his daughter a private concert with Winter for her birthday, Sydney and Winter’s lives suddenly collide. Tasked with infiltrating the crime organization’s inner circle, Sydney is assigned as Winter’s bodyguard with Winter tapped to join her on the mission of a lifetime as a new spy recruit. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter’s charms, but as their mission brings them closer, she’s forced to admit that there’s more to Winter Young than just a handsome face…

Technically, I’m still reading this book – I’m only about 30% of the way through it, actually. This one’s been a bit slow going for me. I found the idea interesting, as well as a departure from Lu’s typical sci-fi, but it’s been difficult for me to get into, not to mention it isn’t what I usually read. I’m on the fence about DNF-ing it, so we’ll see what happens.

I’m not really gonna get into it, but this book has some of the same problems I had with the author’s Legend series. Mostly related to my suspension of disbelief. This book also has another big problem, however: I’m finding it kinda boring so far. But, like I said, we’ll see.

So what books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What’s your favorite meal or dessert?

Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you all have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Reading & Recipes #1: Spritz Cookies w/ The Way of Kings

Let me tell you something you don’t know about me: I love baking – and cooking in general. So I thought that I could combine it with some of my other loves, reading and blogging. (Also: double post!)

Before I continue though, I have to say that this post is slightly inspired by something I’ve seen YouTuber Cindy Pham do on her channel a couple of times. It’s called Cook & Book and she cooks herself dinner while talking about books she read recently and what she thought of them.

But Reading & Recipes is a little bit different. For one thing, there’s a huge difference in presentation between a video and a blog post. So for this thing, I’m going to be posting a recipe I used recently along with a picture of the finished product, as well as discussing a book I was reading the same day a little bit. Annnd that’s it, that’s pretty much the post.

So, I’ll stop blabbering and get on with it.

Recent Recipe: Spritz Cookies

The spritz cookies that I made last week. I used the tree shape and the snowflake shape, and decorated them with red and green sugar. :)
The spritz cookies that I made last week. I used the tree shape and the snowflake shape, and decorated them with red and green sugar. 🙂

Confession(s): Even though I really enjoy baking, I’m not a genius. Nor do I have the will or the desire to spend time testing recipes (particularly baking ones) dozens of times. So I sought out Sally’s Baking Recipes and found this recipe. This is also my first time making Spritz Cookies, so I haven’t messed around with it or modified the recipe to my tastes yet, so the one I used was exactly the same.

And, I gotta say, this recipe is pretty awesome. The only thing that I’d really change is add waaayy less almond extract (like to about 1/8 of a teaspoon). I can’t stand it when sugar cookies taste too almondy. I’d also take the cookies out of the oven a minute or two early, cuz I like my sugar cookies nice and soft.

But yeah, other than my highly specific nitpicks, three cookies turned out very well. I’ll definitely be making them again!

Recent Read: The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, Book One of the Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. 

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them. 

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable. 

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity. 

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war. 

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making. 

Speak again the ancient oaths: 

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination. 

and return to men the Shards they once bore. 

The Knights Radiant must stand again. 

So… Here’s the thing. I’m pretty sure – like 98% sure – that I’m gonna DNF this book. I just… don’t care for it for whatever reason. I don’t know what it is about some 800+ page books, but I just can’t get into them sometimes.

And the amount of scenes that use telling instead of showing grated on my nerves a little bit. That, and I really wasn’t too interested in the individual character plots. I don’t know, it was a bunch of little things, plus the fact that I’m having trouble getting into the book, plus the length of the novel. So I think I’m going to stop.

I really, really wanted to like this book. And I have oodles of respect for Brandon Sanderson. But I don’t think me and the Stormlight Archive were meant to be. Maybe someday I’ll try Mistborn…

So what books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What’s your favorite meal or dessert? How about cookies, specifically?

Thank you as always for reading, and I hope you all have a fantastic day/night! Happy Holidays, as well, to anyone who celebrates!

See ya ~Mar