FLAVORFUL: 150 Irresistible Desserts in All-Time Favorite Flavors by Tish Boyle

PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 9/2015
GENRE: Nonfiction/Cookbooks/Baking
AUTHOR SITE: link
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: Pastry chefs have a secret weapon—an insiders’ list of customers’ most popular flavors. Vanilla, berry and cherry, apple, citrus, cheese, nuts, caramel, coffee, and chocolate: These are the surefire hits that appear on menus across the country time and again. Author Tish Boyle has translated this list of go-to ingredients into a stunning collection of more than 150 recipes for baked goods and other desserts, with a chapter dedicated to each singular flavor. Recipes range from easy cookies and brownies to gorgeous layer cakes to spoonable parfaits to playful takes on donuts, cream puffs, candies, and ice cream. Boyle is a favorite among pastry chefs and bakers in the know for her reliable and pitch-perfect recipes, which are given here in both volume and weight measurements. Combined with luscious photography and a timeless, classic design, this is a must-have for bakers and dessert-lovers of all stripes.

CATEGORIES: Vanilla, Berries and Cherries, Apple, Citrus, Sweet Cheese, Nuts, Caramel, Coffee, Chocolate

THINGS I'VE MADE

CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE CHUNK BROWNIE COOKIES

This recipe produced a soft dough that needed to be refrigerated several hours before baking. The dough is nice and sweet but a bit too bitter. I used bittersweet chocolate (60%) when the recipe called for dark chocolate (64%). I used 50% more salt and I doubled the amount of vanilla extract, as chocolate requires more vanilla than usual and this certainly needed more. I added mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter instead of chopped dark chocolate, and I added 1c. lightly toasted finely chopped pecans. My chocolate was slightly sweeter than the recipe called for and though the dough is sweet, 6 oz. was too much melted chocolate. I would definitely make this again but I'd use 4 oz. of melted chocolate, not 6 oz. and I wouldn't add any chocolate chips at all to the dough, as that only helped make it more bitter, and I'd add an extra 1/2 c. of nuts. I used a 1 1/4" diameter/2 teaspoon cookie scoop and got 57 dough balls.

The cookie, depending on how long you bake it, is slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy and brownie-like on the inside. It spread out nicely but not as much as I thought it would. That's why I used a smaller cookies scoop but I'd use a slightly larger one (1 1/2"/3 teaspoon) next time. This is a good looking, nicely textured cookie.

EXTRA-CRUMBLY MUFFINS

Very good and very moist. These are actually called Extra-Crumbly Blueberry Muffins are have lemon zest and cinnamon added to the batter and just cinnamon added to the crumb topping. I used frozen raspberries instead, no zest or cinnamon, as I don't like blueberries and I'm particular about what I put cinnamon in. I used slightly more raspberries than called for and I cut them in half before adding to batter. I also added a little almond extract but couldn't taste it. I made just half and got six. I baked them in a square muffin pan using square liners (Wilton brand) for 25 minutes.

I think the crumb topping shouldn't have been equal parts sugar and flour but should have used half the amount of sugar. Glaze wasn't part of the recipe but I made some, adding almond extract and vanilla, and drizzled/spread it on top of the muffins when they were only a little warm. I think almond goes great with raspberries but not cinnamon. The muffins need a pinch more salt but other than that, they're perfect and I'd definitely make them again but without the crumb topping. I don't really care for crumb toppings on cakes and muffins. I think they should be for crisps only. I almost always make a powdered sugar glaze for muffins. You could make the full recipe in a 9" square pan.

SWEET CHERRY AND PEACH CRISP

I wasn't sure how well cherries and peaches would go together since I'd never mixed the two before. I'd only used sweet cherries (canned) once before many years ago and the cake went into the trash. A sweet cherry by itself is not good so I didn't know what to expect from this recipe. I always use almond extract with cherries and sometimes with peaches so I did so with this recipe. This is one good tasting crisp.

I was supposed to use fresh peaches and cherries but I used two one-pound bags of sliced unsweetened peaches and one 12oz. bag of frozen cherries. I used an 11" x 7" 2 qt. baking dish and the filling filled it perfectly. The crumb topping is very good but a little too sweet. It has ground almonds in it. I didn't add more sliced almonds to the topping. I also used white sugar in the filling in place of brown sugar. This recipe is a definite keeper but I think I'd use one drained can of tart pitted cherries in place of the sweet ones.

LINZER COOKIES WITH SOUR CHERRY FILLING

These are actually called Pistachio Linzer Hearts with Sour Cherry Filling. I used lightly toasted ground almonds in place of pistachios and used a round fluted 2" cookie cutter in place of a heart shaped one. They're good, you can use any preserves/jam/frosting in place of sour cherry fruit spread, but the cookies softened up very soon after assembling them, making them delicate, even when stored in an airtight container. Because of that I wouldn't use this recipe again.

I divided the dough into thirds, not just two pieces like the recipe stated, because I didn't want the dough, once rolled between two sheets of wax paper, to extend past the sides of the paper so I needed to use less dough to ensure that didn't happen. After cutting the cookies out I got another long strip of dough from all the scraps from the three parts, for a total of four. I got 79 cookies, which made 39 sandwich cookies, three less than recipe stated. I layered the cutout dough between the eight strips of wax paper that was used to roll out the dough and stored it in a large plastic container in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake some, then stored the remaining dough in a smaller container in the freezer.

This same recipe is in her previously published book that I just bought, The Good Cookie, under the title Linzer Hearts, page 276.

I used a Wilton® linzer cookie cutter set that I bought 11/2014 at Walmart for just under $5. I used Smucker's® fruit spread.

APPLE CRISP WITH PECAN-OAT TOPPING 

I love me some cooked apples with cinnamon. After I mixed up the topping it was too wet so I added more flour then it was very firm. I added a bit of water to it to soften it up because I didn't know what else to do and didn't want to add anymore butter to it since it hadn't turned out as it was. That worked OK. The topping doesn't look like it should but it tastes good. But I wouldn't make it again.

I didn't follow the instructions for the filling because I'm very familiar with baking with raw apples and they take quite awhile to cook. I covered my dish with foil and baked the apples without the topping for 40 minutes, removed it from the oven, stirred the apples, put the topping on and baked them at a lower temperature for an additional 25 minutes. I basically followed my own recipe for the filling but followed the recipe for the topping and it's not one I'd make again. This was the first time a crumb topping didn't turn out.

CORNMEAL SCONES

These are actually called Blueberry Cornmeal Scones. I used dried cherries instead of blueberries and made just half. Though I measured out the flour and cornmeal by weight my dough was too wet so I had to add extra flour, then they seemed perfect. I patted it out into about a 7" circle, then cut into four pieces. They browned beautifully without using egg wash on top. I made glaze for the tops. They taste pretty good with dried cherries and a bit of almond extract in the dough. There's no egg in these.

MY THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed baking from this book. I'm happy there were some recipes using cherries. There are a few things I wanted to make but didn't get around to it, like two different lemon cakes and orange cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, ect.

The book is beautiful, I love the deep burgundy spine, but like a lot of cookbooks, this one needs more photos of the baked goods. There aren't many. Many of the recipes seem a little too fancy for me and two of the categories I wasn't interested in at all, sweet cheese and the other, coffee. The majority of recipes I'm not interested in.


I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

HE KILLED THEM ALL: ROBERT DURST AND MY QUEST FOR JUSTICE by Jeanine Pirro

PUBLISHER: Gallery Books, 9/2015
GENRE: True Crime
AUTHOR SITE: link
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: Former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro—the “true hero” (New York Post) of the hit HBO documentary series The Jinx—offers the transfixing true story of her tireless fifteen-year investigation into accused murderer Robert Durst for the disappearance of his wife Kathleen Durst.Former district attorney Jeanine Pirro was cast as the bad guy fifteen years ago when she reopened the cold case of Kathleen Durst, a young and beautiful fourth-year medical student who disappeared without a trace in 1982, never to be seen again. Kathie Durst’s husband was millionaire real estate heir Robert Durst, son of one of the wealthiest families in New York City—but though her friends and family suspected him of the worst, he escaped police investigation.

Pirro, now the host of Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News, always believed in Durst’s guilt, and in this shocking book, she makes her case beyond a shadow of a doubt, revealing stunning, previously unknown secrets about the crimes he is accused of committing. For years, Pirro has crusaded for justice for the victims, and her impassioned perspective in the captivating HBO documentary series The Jinx made her one of its breakout stars. Featuring Pirro’s unique insider’s perspective on the crimes, as well as her exclusive interviews with many of the major players featured in the The Jinx, this comprehensive book is the definitive story of Robert Durst and his gruesome crimes—the one you didn’t see on television.

MY THOUGHTS: Unfortunately this book is mostly about Jeanine. I couldn't even estimate the amount of times she mentioned by name her designer clothes, shoes, and handbags. I didn't learn anything about Robert at all. Nothing about his family either. I was really wanting to know more about his father but the man was hardly mentioned. Same goes for his mother, Bernice. She didn't say much about Susan Berman's background or current wife-in-name-only, Debrah Charatan. Debrah seems interesting enough to me to write at least a few chapters on but Jeanine couldn't be bothered to. She didn't tell us anything that wasn't in The Jinx already. She goes on ad nauseam about how poorly she's been treated in the press since getting involved with this case in 2000 and is constantly defending herself.

If someone didn't know who Robert was and decided to read this they'd be confused, I'm positive. The flow is terrible. I like for true crime books to start at the beginning with the criminal's background and work their way up to modern day but this book is all over the place. I'm stunned and disappointed in this book, to be honest with you. It's a shame Jeanine had such great subject matter but didn't know what to do with it!

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

GRANDBABY CAKES: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories by Jocelyn Delk Adams

PUBLISHER: Agate Surrey, 9/2015
GENRE: Cookbook/Baking
PURCHASE: link
AUTHOR SITE: link
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories is the debut cookbook from sensational food writer, Jocelyn Delk Adams. Since founding her popular recipe blog Grandbaby Cakes in 2012, Adams has been putting fresh twists on old favorites. Adams has earned praise from critics and the adoration of bakers both young and old for her easygoing advice, rich photography, and the heartwarming memories she shares of her family’s generations-old love of baking.

Readers will love this cookbook for its eclectic and bold recipes steeped in equal parts warm Southern charm and fresh Midwestern flavors. Not only will home bakers be able to make staples like yellow cake and icebox cake exactly how their grandmothers did, but they’ll also be preparing impressive innovations, like the Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake and the Fig-Brown Sugar Cake. Grandbaby Cakes is a collection for both new-aged and traditional bakers, but mostly it’s for anyone who wants a fresh, modern take on classic recipes as well as cakes full of heart and soul.

CATEGORIES: Pound Cakes, Layer Cakes, Sheet Cakes, Baby Cakes, Celebration Cakes, Seasons and Holidays

THINGS I'VE MADE

SOUTHERN COCA-COLA CAKE

This chocolate cake is made with a small amount of cocoa powder and has cola and melted marshmallows in both the batter and frosting. The cake needs a little more cocoa, as you can see in the photo, salt, and wasn't quite as moist as I'd hoped it would be but seemed to get moister as it sat, covered, over the next two days. The cake itself had an odd flavor. It was more work than typical cola cakes, which don't require melting some of the cake ingredients. I like the frosting better than the cake and that too needed a bit of salt. This was a typical fudge frosting where you heat all the ingredients in a pot or microwave-safe bowl then stir in the powdered sugar the pour it over the cake. I couldn't taste the marshmallows at all but will definitely experiment with it in the future by doubling the amount of them in the frosting. I wouldn't make this cake ever again.

ARNOLD PALMER CAKE (Lemon)

This cake is very very moist and dense. It has sour cream, butter, and a bit of vegetable oil in it. I didn't make the frosting that went with it. I made half in a 9" X 5" loaf pan and added poppy seeds just for looks. I used less lemon zest than it called for but it was enough. My cake sunk in the middle but that may have been my fault. It wasn't raw or gummy because of it and cooked normally there. I don't like how brown it got on all sides. No, it's not overbaked. I'm impressed with this cake and will add the recipe to my permanent collection.

LIGHTER LEMON CAKE

This cake is make with a lot of Greek yogurt, oil, and lots of lemon juice. It tastes good, is moist, and I can actually taste the lemon juice in it. It needs a bit more salt. It's a bit spongy and I'm not happy with that. I made half the recipe. It was a lot of batter, too much for a 9" x 1 1/2" round pan, so I used one that was 9 1/2" x  2" round. It filled it completely. If you make half, just know that about the batter.

I added poppy seeds because I like how they look. I also used a bit of clementine zest and juice to make up for not having quite enough lemon juice but I can't taste it, which is disappointing. I made my own glaze for it (melted butter, vanilla extract, water, powdered sugar) and didn't use the recipe in the book. I wouldn't make this cake again because of it's texture. I could only get though two slices and someone else didn't like it so the rest got thrown in the trash.

STRAWBERRY COCONUT CAKE

This was very good but not quite sweet enough. It uses puréed strawberries and sour cream. I didn't use strawberry extract like the recipe stated and this cake needed a bit of it. I could taste strawberry without it. Just not quite enough. I made half the recipe in a 9" square pan and baked it for 26 minutes. FYI- 1 c. of strawberries turned into 1/2 c. puréed. The cake was supposed to have cream cheese frosting with coconut sprinkled on it but I made my own vanilla frosting, as I don't like cream cheese. I added 3/4 c. ground toasted coconut to the batter. This is a cake I'd make again and I'd add 2 1/4 t. poppy seeds to the cake batter.

MY THOUGHTS: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in this book. There's a pretty good variety of cakes but there's not much more I'd make of out it but two or three more. Only two of the four I made were decent tasting and I'm not really comfortable making anything more from this. The layer cakes look like a whole lot of work, too elaborate, like the one on the cover.

It's physically a beautiful book but it's not for me, I guess.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

BAKING (Good Food Made Simple Series) by Love Food Editors at Parragon Books

PUBLISHER: Parragon Books, 7/2013
GENRE: Cookbooks/Baking
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: Good Food Made Simple: Baking is part of an exciting and comprehensive new series of cookbooks. Each title is packed with over 140 easy-to-follow recipes, step-by-step photographs, hints and tips, and a clear and helpful introduction. Cook and preparation times are provided for all recipes, as well as detailed nutritional analysis to help with healthy eating. With over 500 full-color photographs, this range of beautiful, yet practical cookbooks is the perfect collection to have in your kitchen. Packed full of delicious soup recipes, plus delicious sides and garnishes, if you want to expand your soup repertoire then look no further than Good Food Made Simple: Baking.



TABLE OF CONTENTS: Cakes, Cupcakes & Muffins, Small Cakes and Bars, Cookies, Desserts, Sweet Pies and Breads

THINGS I'VE MADE

SNICKERDOODLES

This type of cookie has a firm dough and is rolled into balls then rolled into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. These turned out as I expected- dry. I divided the dough in half and added lemon extract to half. The first batch was overcooked even though I baked them in less time than indicated. The second batch was baked the next day. I cooked them in less time than before and they were perfectly done. The only problem is that this recipe produced a firm, dry cookie, just like every snickerdoodle recipe I've ever tried.

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

I was very disappointed in this recipe. The muffins were dense, tough, and not quite sweet enough. You cut cold butter into the flour mixture and stir all ingredients together. Mine don't look anything like the photo in the book. I made half the recipe and got nine using a 1/4 c. dry measuring cup. I wouldn't make these again. I believe this book is European and I think something went wrong when the ingredients were converted.

PEACH COBBLER

This was very good. I used frozen sliced peaches instead of fresh and added cinnamon to them. I used a slightly smaller baking dish than required, 1 1/2 qt. I used two 16 oz. bags but it wasn't enough. The topping is a sweet drop biscuit-type that you dollop over the peaches and was good. I added a bit more milk so that the topping would be wetter so I could spread it evenly over the top of the peaches. It was too thick after baking for my small amount of peaches. The cooked topping had a very nice flavor and was like moist cake inside with a firm, somewhat crunchy exterior. I added 1/4 t. pure vanilla extract to the mixture. Very easy to make and I'm happy with this. Next time I'll dollop the topping over the peaches like the recipe states.



CORNMEAL CAKE

Now this is a different type of cake and I liked it. There's no flour in it, just a high amount of ground nuts and a little cornmeal (I used fine white), and the usual things found in cake batter. I was supposed to use blueberries and lemon zest but I used chopped dried cherries and almond extract instead. I made a powdered sugar glaze for it instead of dusting it with powdered sugar. The cake tasted great but was a bit dry and not so from overbaking. Guess that's just the nature of this sort of cake. Unusual, unique, and good. For some reason I see this being made into mini muffins.

BISCOTTI

These were typical shortbread cookies except for the addition of one egg yolk. The cookies were to have lemon and pistachio nuts in the dough. I divided the dough in half evenly and added chopped dried cherries, ground almonds, and almond extract to half and the other half, lemon extract and chopped pistachios. We were to form the dough into a log, chill it, then slice and bake them. I like that the cookies were supposed to be flat on the bottom with rounded tops, which resemble classic biscotti. I chilled the plastic wrapped dough logs on a glass cutting board to keep the bottoms flat. I sliced mine into 1/2" slices and got 26 total. I baked them for 11 minutes and dusted the tops with powdered sugar after they cooled, like shown in the photo in the book. The dough wasn't quite sweet enough so these needed the added sugar on top. The great thing about shortbread is that you can add any flavoring you want to it.

CHOCOLATE OAT BARS

These are actually called ginger and chocolate oat bars. Very simple to make. I don't like ginger so I left it out and substituted peanut butter for part of the butter and added vanilla extract. I used milk chocolate chips (1 1/2c.) for the topping instead of semisweet. These are pretty good. I think they're slightly dry, probably from too much oats. I'll use less next time. You just melt a few ingredients together, stir in oats, press mixture into a pan and bake a very short time. You melt chocolate, spread it on top, let cool, then cut into bars. This recipe is a keeper.

MY THOUGHTS: Almost all of these recipes called for salted butter. I only buy unsalted so that's what I used so I added salt to those recipes calling for salted butter. The cornmeal cake was a neat idea, having no flour in it but baking up like a normal cake. Two recipes were failures. There are several more cakes I wanted to make but my mind keeps going back to the failed muffin recipe and I'm scared to try any more cakes from this book. But I will in the future and I'll add to this review.

The book itself is beautiful. It's a large, heavy paperback. There are multiple photos for every single recipe and the pages are in color.


I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

ZENDOODLE COLORING PRESENTS: KEEP HAPPY AND COLOR ON- 75 DELIGHTFUL DESIGNS by Meredith Mennitt

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin, 10/2015
GENRE: Arts/Adult coloring books
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: A

FROM PUBLISHER: Color away the stress with these stunning book of relaxing designs that offer a therapeutic retreat into a world of beauty, inner peace, and relaxation. Each exquisite design allows you to fall deep into the calming experience of coloring, providing tranquility and ease that we so often miss in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. Perfect for framing and gift-giving, these designs bloom from creative sanctuary to modern works of art.


. Soothing designs perfect for art therapy
· Instant stress reliever
· Original designs
· 8.5 x 10 tear-out pages fit for framing
· Personalized artwork for home-decorating, framing, or gift-giving

MY ARTWORK (lol)

The first two are close ups of the larger one below them. Click them to make larger.

 

 Below are scanned images of three pages of more intricate designs from near the back of the book, as well as one image of several animal heads. Click on each image to make larger.

 

 



MY THOUGHTS: I must admit I really enjoyed coloring with colored pencils. Adult coloring books have become very popular this year. I think the craze came out of Europe. I can't say I've colored since elementary school. There are six animal heads, twenty-four animals, lots of floral designs, and some I don't now how to describe. There are cats, rams, birds/hummingbirds, tigers, horses, turtles, hot air balloons, butterflies, telephones, fish, and so on.  Most of the designs aren't what I'd call feminine, though the floral designs are my favorite, and this certainly is for both genders.

The quality of the paper is very good and bright, possibly like 22 lb. printer paper (definitely stronger than 20 lb.). The pages are blank on the back. The pages are perforated and I recommend you tear them out and use a clipboard or something else hard to put the paper on when you color. People have said about other adult coloring books that marker bleeds though so if you use markers, especially if you leave the pages in the book when using them, make sure you put a couple sheets of printer paper behind the one you're coloring to protect the page behind it. You may even want to make a copy of each one you're going to do in case you mess up and your eraser isn't any good.

Publishers say coloring books are supposed to be relaxing but for me it was a bit stressful, since I'm not artistic and can't drawl or anything like that. Choosing colors is much harder than it sounds but I did enjoy this little project. I didn't really know what I was doing and it took me more than a few hours. I used Cra-Z-Art brand from Walmart, but mine was a pack of 36. I guess they were alright. I don't have anything to compare them to. The color didn't smear while I was working, so that's a plus. A regular pencil eraser didn't work too good on it.

Evine (formerly called ShopNBC) has a set of four Zendoodle coloring books that comes with a 12-pack of Crayola colored pencils.


I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

BAKING WITH THE BRASS SISTERS: Over 125 Recipes for Classic Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Breads, Desserts, and Savories from America's Favorite Home Bakers by Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin 10/6/15

GENRE: Cookbook/Baking

PURCHASE: link

AUTHORS SITE: link

MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: In their new book, Marilynn and Sheila have gone to their collection of trusted manuscript cookbooks and handwritten recipes that number in the thousands to rediscover the home-baked treats that were brought to America from around the world - Russia, The Ukraine, Germany, Austria, France, Greece, India, Costa Rica, Armenia, Italy, England, Ireland, Norway, Canada, as well as many created here the US. They have listened to the stories of recipes that have been passed down by family and friends and interpreted them for the home kitchen. They've even included some of their own recipes created over 126 years of combined home baking experience.

Readers will find wonderful recipes for treats like Grandma Goldberg's Honey Cake, Chocolate Walnut Banana Muffins, Billy Goat Cookies, Cobblestone Apple Tart, Mother Carleton's Black Walnut Layer Cake, Nana May's Irish Yeast Bread, Jack's Chocolate Caramel Walnut Tart and many more. "Baking with the Brass Sisters is "a classic baking book that people will keep on their shelves, bake from, and cherish for years to come.

RECIPE CATEGORIES (typed by me)

RISE AND SHINE- A Little Girl's Blueberry Cake, Breakfast Corn Cake, Buckwheat Pancakes, Chocolate Walnut Banana Muffins, Cowboy Coffee Cake, Grandma Woodward's Whole Wheat Date Muffins, Harriet's Bran Muffin Bread, Irish Soda Bread, Mango Corn Muffins, Mary's Pumpkin Bread, New England Baked Maple French Toast Casserole, Sweet Potato Drop Scones, Vatrushki (Russian Cheese Pastries)

A PIECE OF CAKE- ABC Cake (apple, banana, coconut cake), Almond Chiffon Cake, Aunt Ida's French Apple Cake, Brandy Alexander Cheesecake, Edith's "Very Good" Orange Sponge Cake, Husband's Cake (Tomato Soup Cake), Macaroon Cupcakes, Mama's Jelly Roll, Mother Carleton's Black Walnut Bundt Cake, Muriel's Banana Walnut Cake with Burbon Frosting, New England Maple Walnut Cake, Orange Pecan Olive Oil Cake, Pink Velvet Cake, Shivani's Hazelnut Cake, Worcester Pound Cake

THE COOKIE EXCHANGE- Alison's Speculatius, Aunt Minnie's Date and Oat Bars, Bernice's Irregular Raisin Cookies, Billy Goat Cookies, Hazelnut Espresso Cookies, Lemon Clove Cookies, Mary Messer's Vanilla Coat Buttons, Cousin Helen's Greek Cookies (Koulourakia), Mom's Coconut Cornflake Cookies, Norwegian Spice Hearts, Polka Dot Chocolate Bars

FILLING THE BREAD BASKET- Aunt Minnie's Butterhorn Dinner Rolls, Brown Soda Bread with Dried Cherries and Toasted Walnuts, Chocolate Walnut Yeast Bread, Honey Molasses Bread (Weetabix), Coconut Banana Bread, Lise Zimmer's Sweet Banana Yeast Bread, Nana May's Irish Yeast Bread, Quick Oatmeal Bread (Yeast Batter Bread), Orange Pecan Yeast Bread, Aunt Eller's Apple Nut Bread, Salt and Pepper Potato Bread

EASY AS PIE- Kahlúa Pie, Black and White Cheese Pie, Buttery Maple Walnut Pie, Cheese Crumble Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust, Cobblestone Apple Tart, Chocolate Chess Pie, Dang Good Pie, Lemon Rio Pie, Mama Ruth's Georgia Pecan Pie, Rhubarb Streusel Pie, Sheila's Perfect Piecrust, Chocolate Piecrust

WE GATHER TOGETHER- Brown Sugar Brownies, Chocolate Bûche de Noël, Cranberry Raisin Pie (Mock Cherry Pie), Grandma Rometo's Torte, Hot Cross Buns, Italian Cream Cake, Joyce's Basbousa Cake (Armenian Farina Cake), June's Pumpkin Cookies, Lemon Almond Biscotti, Central Squares (Lemon Cream Cheese Squares), Lemon Curd, Old-Fashioned Soft Gingerbread, Passover Sponge Cake, Peanut Butter "Hermits"

TEATIMES AND COFFEE HOURS- Big Mama's Lemon-Lime Tassies, Almond Jam Clothespin Cookies, Evelyn's Strawberry Blondies, Edna's Feather Gingerbread, Irish Sweet Bread with Bourbon Glaze, Lemon Drizzle Tea Cake, Maria's Alfajores (South American Jam-Filled Cookies), Mary Frances's Brown Sugar Tea Cake, Pumpkin Tea Cake with Toasted Walnut Sugar Topping, Soft Molasses Cookies, Tutti Frutti Biscotti, Ukrainian Prune and Walnut Cake (Prune and Walnut Bars)

SUMMERTIME TREATS- Lemon Chess Pie, Marilynn's Fresh Cherry Tart, Crisp Vanilla Butter Wafers, Summertime Blueberry Kugel, Green Tomato Chocolate Cake, Merry's Upside Down Plum Squares, Rhubarb Royalle (Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake), Nanall Alleman's Sand Cookies, Rustic Ginger Peach Pie (Peach Galette), Rolled Peanut Butter Cookies, Washington Apple Crisp

MAKE MINE CHOCOLATE- Chocolate Guinness Bread Pudding, Chocolate Tea Cake, Dark Chocolate Butter Cookies, Fran's Sour Cream Espresso Brownies, Gloria's "Glorious" Chocolate Pound Cake, Jack's Chocolate Walnut Caramel Tart, Julia's Chocolate Coconut Bars, Mocha Truffle Tart, Mrs. Finkelstein's Marble Cake, Palma Snarskis's Cranberry, White Chocolate, and Walnut Squares, Shirle Broner's Fudge Squares (Chocolate Tea Brownies), Sue's Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

SOMETHING SAVORY- Cheddar Poppy Seed Biscotti, Aunt Grace's Rhubarb-Walnut Conserve, Blue Cheese and Pear Tart, Caraway Seed Cookies, Curried Cashew Rounds, Sun-Dried Tomato Parmesan Cocktail Crackers, Savory Cornmeal Parmesan Biscotti, Vidalia Onion Marmalede

THINGS I'VE MADE

AUNT ELLER'S APPLE NUT BREAD

This is incredibly moist. There's no milk in the batter so the batter's thick and has to be spooned into the pan. I made half the recipe and baked it in a 1qt. loaf pan for 32 minutes. I omitted the ginger and cloves from the batter. The nut and brown sugar topping wasn't really necessary. Though I pressed the mixture into the batter before baking, before spooning my own glaze over the top (glaze isn't part of the recipe), I brushed the nuts off the top since they were falling off anyway. A very good basic cake. I don't know why it's called bread. There's a photo of this in the book.

SUE'S BUTTERMILK CHOCOLATE CAKE

This cake alone is worth the price of the book. I made an almost identical version of this one before. It uses cocoa powder and has hot water added to it at the very end. I chose to make jumbo cupcakes out of it instead of one big cake. It's extremely moist and is moister the next day. I made two different frostings for it, including the chocolate one that went with the recipe, only I made a few changes to it, like heating the milk and butter together and used less cocoa. This cake tastes a lot like a boxed devil's food cake but more moist. I love the flavor and this cake, and the other similar versions, and is my favorite homemade chocolate cake.

FRAN'S SOUR CREAM ESPRESSO BROWNIES

These are the best flavored homemade brownies I've ever made. They're cake-like. I made half the recipe in a 1.5 qt. square pan, which is typically 8". I omitted the espresso powder, since I don't like it. The batter tasted like it needed more cocoa powder so I added an extra tablespoon (making it 3 total) and I doubled the vanilla to 1 teaspoon. I didn't make the frosting for them but did dust them with powdered sugar. Excellent.

MRS. FINKELSTEIN'S MARBLE CAKE

Very good and very moist. The flavor's nice, especially on the bottom where it got golden in color. This cake uses chocolate syrup, the kind you put in chocolate milk, in half the batter. It seems the weight of the top layer causes the batter to sink down into the bottom layer, causing a marbled effect. That explains why we weren't to swirl the batters together with a knife. The chocolate flavor is very mild and I'm disappointed in that. I made half in a 9" square pan and baked it for 31 minutes. I didn't sprinkle nuts and chopped chocolate on top of the batter but I did make my own powdered sugar glaze for the top. Next time I'll make a chocolate glaze for it. This would also be good without the chocolate syrup. There's a photo of this in the book, though it's made in a tube pan.

PINK VELVET CAKE

This cake is pictured on the cover, bottom left, and on the back cover. The full recipe makes a three-layer 7" round cake. I made half the recipe in an 8" square pan. I used sour cherry jam in the cake and frosting instead of raspberry. The cake had good flavor before adding the flour, then the cherry flavor sort of disappeared. Adding jam to the frosting (I used my own recipe for that) didn't really do much for it except give it a bit of tang, which I could have done without. I added almond extract to the frosting and that made it better. I toasted a heaping half cup of sweetened flaked coconut and ground that in the food processor with 1/4 c. lightly toasted sliced almonds. Nuts weren't part of the recipe. The recipe had you put untoasted coconut around the sides of the cake but I just put my nut mixture around the four sides on the top and boy, is it good. I also added 1/4 c. of the ground coconut/almond mixture to the frosting before spreading it on the cake.

The cake itself is very moist and a bit delicate. It has a slightly wet look to it. If you do use raspberry jam I suggest you add a bit of raspberry extract to both the cake and frosting. I'd definitely make this again but I would just frost the top with my own vanilla buttercream frosting, omitting the jam, and make my coconut/almond mixture and sprinkle it evenly over the top. I don't think I'd make this into a layer cake again. There are two photos of this inside the book. Free recipe here.

MY THOUGHTS: I'm happy with everything I've made out of this book. There are several more things I'm going to bake from this in the future, like chocolate pound cake and lemon drizzle cake.

There are some categories with recipes that don't interest me, like The Cookie Exchange, Filling the Bread Basket, We Gather Together, Teatimes and Coffee Hours, Summertime Treats, and Something Savory. There's only one recipe in those categories that I'd make and quite a few of those cookie recipes are very old fashioned and unappealing. There aren't any basic recipes like peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies. No peanut butter cake or frosting, no basic white or yellow cake, no muffins, basic biscuits, and so on.

There aren't many photos either, which is always a huge disappointment. I wish publishers would realize the importance of photos, especially when it comes to cookies. I rarely try a new cookie recipe if I haven't seen a photo of it. I'm sure you've heard the saying 'We eat with our eyes first', meaning if we see something that looks good, we may be more likely to make it before making something without a photo, since we already know what the finished product will look like.

See their live presentation on QVC.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

MURDER IN PLEASANTON: Tina Faelz and the Search for Justice by Joshua Suchon

PUBLISHER: Arcadia Publishing, 9/2015
GENRE: Nonfiction/True Crime
SETTING: California, 1984-2000's
AUTHOR SITE: link
MY GRADE: A

FROM PUBLISHER: In April 1984, Foothill High freshman Tina Faelz took a shortcut on her walk home. About an hour later, she was found in a ditch, brutally stabbed to death. The murder shook the quiet East Bay suburb of Pleasanton and left investigators baffled. With no witnesses or leads, the case went cold and remained so for nearly thirty years. In 2011, the investigation finally got a break. Improved forensics recovered DNA from a drop of blood found at the scene matching Tina's classmate, Steven Carlson.

Through dusty police files, personal interviews, letters and firsthand accounts, journalist Joshua Suchon revisits his childhood home to uncover the story of a disturbing crime and the controversial sentencing that brought long-awaited answers to a city tormented by questions.

MY THOUGHTS: This is such a sad story. Tina was picked on at school and on the bus by a few girls but Tina was also a bit troubled herself, it seems, since she wasn't the nicest to everyone. I can't help but wonder if she was mean to some because she was being picked on herself. And at least one of the girls who picked on Tina feels horrible to this day for her own behavior back then.

This book was well written in most areas. Tina's mother, brother, stepfather, and best friend were interviewed. The author needed to explore Steve's early childhood. There was something seriously wrong with that family. Steve was already a rapist/pervert before he murdered Tina when he was just sixteen and his slightly older sister, Tanya, was bulimic. She was interviewed and apparently wasn't asked anything about what she thinks may have caused both of them to have problems. The author said they were neglected by parents who liked to party and that's about it. I want to know if either of them were abused in some way by someone.

I learned of this case in September by watching a new episode of I.D.'s On the Case With Paula Zahn. Tina's episode was called Shortcut to Murder.

There's a Facebook page with lots of photos of Tina.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.