daily random thoughts

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Cookie recipe - Peanut Butter Cookies

 



Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 cup sugar

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg until smooth.
  2. Scoop the dough onto baking sheet. 
  3. Press down with the back of a fork and then press again from the opposite direction, to form the pattern on top.
  4. Bake for 12 minutes and then let cool on the tray for 1-2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.



Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Book Review - Vortex

 



Vortex

                                                                    by Catherine Coulter


FBI Thriller

#1 New York Times bestselling Catherine Coulter returns with a brilliant new novel in her FBI thriller series, in which agents Sherlock and Savich find themselves dealing with very powerful figures from the past who could wreak havoc in the present.

Seven years ago, Mia Briscoe was at a college frat rave with her best friend, Serena, when a fire broke out. Everyone was accounted for except Serena, who was never seen nor heard from again. Mia is now  working with Agent Sherlock and the secrets begin to unravel. But some very powerful and dangerous people will do anything to keep them from learning the truth.

This is a fast paced action packed adventure that you won't be able to put down!


Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Cookie Recipe - Rice Krispy treats

 




Rice Krispy bars

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 package (10 oz., about 40) JET-PUFFED Marshmallows
  • OR
  • 4 cups JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
  • 6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal
  • Directions

    1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

    2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

    3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.
    MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
    In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

    Note
    - For best results, use fresh marshmallows.
    - 1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème can be substituted for marshmallows.

 

Friday, February 4, 2022

Book Review- Educated

 

Educated 
by Tara Westover

#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • Book Riot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library

Tara Westover is an American author living in the UK. Born in Idaho to a father opposed to public education, she never attended school. She spent her days working in her father's junkyard or stewing herbs for her mother, a self-taught herbalist and midwife. She was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom, and after that first taste, she pursued learning for a decade. She graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University in 2008 and was subsequently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. She earned an MPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge in 2009, and in 2010 was a visiting fellow at Harvard University. She returned to Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD in history in 2014.

This book is a memoir of Westover's early life homeschooling with her brothers and sisters in rural Idaho. Then it transitions to her decade of schooling at BYU and Trinity College. This book explores the complexity of families from Westover's perspective of leaving her dysfunctional upbringing and the adult relationships that are colored by her past.


Thursday, February 3, 2022

Cookie Recipe - Lemon cookies

 



Lemon Cookies

INGREDIENTS

  •  1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  •  3/4 cup granulated sugar
  •  2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
  •  1 large egg
  •  1 tablespoon lemon extract
  •  2 tablespoons lemon zest
  •  1 tablespoon honey
  •  yellow food coloring
  •  2 cups flour
  •  2 teaspoons cornstarch
  •  pinch salt
  •  1 teaspoon baking soda
  •  2 tablespoons lemon juice
  •  confectioners’ sugar for dusting 
  • INstructons

  • Preheat oven to 350F,
  • Combine the butter, sugars, egg, lemon extract, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, light, fluffy, and well combined, about 4 minutes.
  • add the lemon zest, honey, optional food coloring, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
  • add the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda 
  •  form approximately 12 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly. cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days.
  • Bake for about 10 minutes

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Book Review - A Stranger in Town

 



A Stranger in Town

by Kelley Armstrong

This is the second in a series of Rockton novels by New York Times best selling author Kelley Armstrong.

Detective Casey Duncan and Sherriff Eric Dalton are the law in the small Yukon town of Rockton. It is a fly-in town not on any maps and does not encourage visitors, certainly not strangers. You are carefully selected and pay for the privilege of living in Rockton for 2 year stints. You are assigned a job and told never to leave city limits. When a hiker stumbles in from the woods and falls unconscious, the townspeople want this mystery solved quickly. Nobody wants their secrets exposed. This fast paced thriller is a must read. 

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Cookie Recipe - Monster Cookies



Monster Cookies 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup quick oats
  • 1 cup  all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup  granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1  large egg
  • 1 cup  M&Ms
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 
  • Instructions
  • Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugar on medium-high speed for a couple minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Mix in the vanilla and egg until fully combined. 
  • Toss in the dry ingredients and mix just until the dough comes together. Fold in the M&M’s and chocolate chips.
  • Using a large cookie scoop (2oz) scoop 5-6 cookies onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. If using a regular cookie scoop, bake for 12-15 minutes.