Showing posts with label Bookish Girl in the Kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bookish Girl in the Kitchen. Show all posts

Bookish Girl in the Kitchen (#2)

Morning Lovelies,

Today's recipe I got from Jacqueline, the Artistic Farmer. I was preparing for a holiday party with my bookish gals and I was in charged of bringing some potatoes. I've been wanting to use my slow cooker to make my potatoes, so I made some scalloped potatoes, or as the recipe is called
Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes for the Crock-Pot.

Recipe: I was making the potatoes for about 12-15 people, so I made a large batch. I doubled all my ingredients but the recipes is the original with all the original measurements.

Ingredients:
-4 large russet or red potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
-1 onion sliced into rings OR minced dried onion
-3 tbsp butter
-3 tbsp flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-2 cups milk
-1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Process:
1. Grease crock-pot dish.
2. Layer sliced potatoes in crock-pot occasionally sprinkling layers with dried onion.
3. Repeat with potatoes and onions.
4. In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Stir in flour, salt and pepper.
6. Whisk in milk. {I actually recommend to add milk and flour together in order to avoid the flour to clump up.}
7. Cook mixture over medium heat until thickens. Stir in the shredded cheese; continuing to whisk until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth.
8. Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes.
9. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours OR cover and refrigerate for cooking the next day.



This is the time where I took the most time prepping. Cutting up the potatoes and peeling them 
To be honest, the need for the onions worried me because I didn't want for the potatoes to taste weird. So I was very light on the onions.
My favorite part, the CHEESE!
The flour clumped up so I had to spend an extra 5-8 minutes after I added the milk to make sure everything mixed well.  So my recommendation is to add the milk and flour together to avoid the flour to clump.

I prepared this the night before the event so this is how it looked when I put it in the refrigerator.
The next morning, time to start cooking it.
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My plate, which included the potatoes, mac and cheese, green salad, crispy and grilled chicken.

Final Thoughts:
Success! While peeling and cutting the potatoes were time consuming, I would definitely do it again. The potatoes were soft and so cheesy but it didn't feel like it was drench in cheese thanks to the sauce.  

I hope you all have a good day!

2016 End of the Year Book Survey

This survey was created by Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner

Number Of Books You Read: 69 but currently working on #70.
Number of Re-Reads: 12

best-YA-books-2014
1. Best Book You Read In 2016?
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It's a 2017 debut so I'm going to also mention This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

3. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?
I have two, Sarina Bowen and Laura Griffin. I read Sarina's Brooklyn Bruisers series, Rookie Move and Hard Hitter and I'm LOVE! As for Laura, she took me back to one of my old fave, romantic suspense with the Tracers series.

4. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Any books from the Tracer series by Laura Griffin. I could devour them within a few hours.

5. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills - SOOOO pretty.

6. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

7. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo . Better late than never is what I'm going to say.

8.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?
Shortest: Our Love Unhinged by Brighton Walsh - 88 pages
Longest: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - 624 pages

9. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

10. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?
The Darkling from The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo.

11. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.

12. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

13. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

14. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

15. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Get a Clue by Jill Shalvis. Nope. I did not like it. Not one bit.

1. Favorite review that you wrote in 2016?
Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry. I don't know exactly why but I loved this review.

2. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
Let's Chat Non-Bookish Edition: In Which I Talk Gilmore Girls Revival
3. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
Trying to keep the content fresh but also to learn how to not burnout from blogging.

4. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Review + Giveaway: Beautiful by Christina Lauren

5. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Bookish Girl in the Kitchen

6. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I did! I wrote all about it here.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?
I'm totally cheating here but I'm counting them because they are all series sequels/enders. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor and Crooked Kingdoms by Leigh Bardugo.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?
I don't actually have one! I've been trying to get through my TBR pile that I've stopped looking ahead. Book blogger fail, I know.

3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Same as above. Eeek!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?
Get a better handle of scheduling my posts. I want to be better than typing it up the night or hour beforehand.

6. A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone?
Yes, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. When it comes out, Imma need everyone to GO READ THIS BOOK. ASAP.

Bookish Girl in the Kitchen

Morning Lovelies!

Today, I wanted to do something different. Around here, we normally talk books and we are slowly starting to chat about some of other likes, like my obsessions of House of Cards, Supernatural, and Gilmore Girls. Nahomi talks about some of the activities she does with her little one. We are trying to expand ourselves and the topics we cover so as to keep things fresh for both ourselves and our readers. Today, I want to talk about food! 

Ever since high school, I loved baking. I couldn't do it as much because hello! I would have all these sweets and I couldn't eat them but I can't say no to them. After the wonderful invention of Pinterest, I've been hoarding allllll the recipes. Main dishes, appetizers, desserts, drinks, you name it, I have it on my Pinterest board. So after I got married and became in charge of the cooking, I've been willing to try out some of those recipes I have saved. Even now, after moving back home with my parents, I've been making some recipes that aren't too wild since my dad is a bit of a picky eater. So I going to start sharing some of the recipes I make with you guys! 

Recipe:
I am going to be sharing Ali's, from Gimme Some Oven, Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken recipe. I will mention that I doubled every single ingredient since I was cooking for 6 people. Except the cooking time. I cooked on High for 4 hours. But the recipe below shows the exact measurement from the original recipe.

PREP TIME: 10 MINS COOK TIME: 4 HOURS 10 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 4 HOURS 20 MINS
INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce (use low-sodium if desired)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cold water
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
(optional toppings: sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds)

DIRECTIONS:

1- Add the chicken breasts to the bottom of your slow cooker in a single layer.
2- In a separate bowl, whisk together the garlic, onion, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, and black pepper until combined. Pour the mixture on top of the chicken breasts. Cover slow cooker, and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon to a separate bowl and shred it using two forks. Transfer the remaining teriyaki sauce from the slow cooker to a medium saucepan.
3- Meanwhile in a separate bowl, whisk together the cold water and cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved and no longer lumpy. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the teriyaki sauce mixture, and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, and let it boil for about 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and pour the sauce on top of the shredded chicken. Toss to combine.
4- Serve topped with scallions (green onions) and toasted sesame seeds if desired.

This is me gathering all the ingredients and prepping the meal.
Step 2. Time for it to start cooking.
Almost ready!
The sauce! So yummy!
The end result
Final thoughts:
This recipe was a success! Everyone loved it. I will say that the chicken was a little dry because I left it in the slow cooker a little bit longer because it wasn't dinner time when it was finished. So I know for next time to keep the time in mind.

So are any of you goddesses in the kitchen? Or you rather order in or have your partner/roommate cook? Tell me of any good recipes you may have!



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