Book Review: You Should Have Known

I love reading! I like most genres, but I'm not really a fan of fantasy. It's okay but not favorite. 

I usually read Adult Fiction. My library staff has a section of staff favorite so I usually read those. I think there's only been one on that shelf that I haven't liked. 

 This book was called You Should Have Known, which is the perfect title for the book. If I was the author, I would have picked the same name. In the book, the main character, a traditionally married marriage counselor, writes a book by the same title about how there's things you should have known before you marry your partner. The fact that she wrote this book is so ironic. The beginning's a little rough to get through because it feels like a marriage counseling book, but it gets a lot better after you get into it. 

Warning: If you are going to read the book, don't read any further, unless you just like spoiling books before you read them. 

The book really changes tone when Malaga Aves is brutally murdered in her apartment. The author does an amazing job of characterization of Grace. I had no clue that Jonathon was anything but a perfect husband until Grace finds the phone. Even then, I still didn't suspect that he had been having many affairs over many years. I was especially surprised when the the detective said he had been fired from his job several months before!

By the end, I really hated Jonathan, as the author intended. What kind of person kills his younger brother and feels no guilt?! I also hated how Grace kept defending him. After all that the police had told her, could she not see that she was lied to? It was very frustrating!

The book Grace wrote was so perfect. She should have known. She trusted Jonathon too much. She should have asked why she never saw his colleagues or why they had no friends.

I thought it was funny how Grace was paying $38,000 in her son's tuition, but he liked the public school better. It was also funny how she held on to the teachings of the violin teacher more than Henry throughout the book.   

I loved this book! I thought the author did a very good job of keeping the pages turning. If I were writing a book like this, I don't think I would be able to withhold so much information from the reader, which is why I have yet to write a book--One of the reasons anyways.

The Destruction of Remolding

We're currently remolding our kitchen. Here's a word of advice for you: don't remolded your kitchen. or anything in your house beyond something very small like a bathroom, for that matter. It's not worth it. 

Okay, so I guess I can't really say it's not worth yet since the entire house is a complete disaster, but it sure feels like it now. We had to box up and move all the dishes and utensils and things like that in the kitchen and move all the food. We can still use the fridge and the stove, but the stove is covered in drywall dust, so food made in/on it will be of questionable safety. There's also drywall dust everywhere inside the house. It's horrible.

So my suggestion to you is to either buy a house with a kitchen you already like or learn to live with it. 

Unreasonable Searches of Students in Schools

The September/October topic for Public Forum refers to the rights that students have in schools. In this case, we're talking about the searches of students. The topic is basically whether or not the Probable Cause Standard morally should apply to searching students in public schools.

I don't really know where people get the idea that the Constitution shouldn't apply to public schools or students/minors in general don't have any rights, but it's just wrong. There are places that the Constitution gives an age range for whom in which it is referring, but that it quite rare. Some examples include the right to vote and the right to run for Office. But in general, the Constitution is referring to all people, as specified by the words, We the People. Public schools are provided by the government, so therefore they need to abide by the Constitution. 

Currently, schools can search students based on "Reasonable Suspicion" which would be okay, except for the fact that "Reasonable Suspicion" is based on that what a reasonable police officer could/would infer. Because people other than police officers can search students, they can not be using "Responsible Suspicious" which invalidates the searches. 

Because students have the same rights regarding the fourth amendment as every other citizen of the United States and currently, schools are unreasonably searching students, the Probable Cause Standard ought to implemented in schools. Technically, non-citizens/people not lawfully here, would be exempt from the Constitution, so they could be subject to unreasonable searches. But that would require schools to (gasp) actually ask for proof of citizenship and that's a different story altogether. 

Split Between Levels

I was reading through one of the cookbooks that we have on our shelf (there are a lot). I didn't really like most of the recipes because they were meant more for people who are just trying to get dinner on the table, not for those who are cooking to spend time and actually create the best result. This was a recipe collection from a church. I only found a couple of recipes that I actually wanted to make. This was my first time using this cookbook. 

I found a chocolate dessert called Split Levels. I never heard of it before, but it looked good. It had a cream cheese chocolate topping on a shortbread type crust. 

This recipe starts with combining chocolate chips, cream cheese, and evaporated milk in a saucepan over low heat. If you don't have as much time, you can cook it over medium heat. Stir it constantly so it doesn't burn if you use higher heat. Be really careful that it doesn't burn because that would taste horrible. If it does, you should just start over--there's not fix for burnt chocolate. 

 The mixture will be very lumpy at first, but it will come together as it cooks. 

 As the mixture cooks, start the crust. I combined the dry ingredients and then cut in the butter with my fingers. I then added the egg and cut that in my finger as well. The recipe said to use almond extract, but since I was using pecans instead of walnuts, I didn't know that would taste. I just used vanilla instead. 

 I used the chopper I used for the nuts to make the butter easier to cut into the flour. 

At this stage, the filling is done cooking. Take it off the heat and stir in chopped pecans (or walnuts) and some extra chocolate chips if you so wish. I left it a little lumpy to give it more texture. I also added more cream cheese than the recipe called for because I really like cream cheese. I would suggest melting the cream cheese in the microwave so it doesn't take so long in the pan. 

 After pressing the crust into the pan (of which I forgot to take a picture), I poured the filling and used pecan halves to make the pieces. 

 I think this is where the dish receives its name. It is a split level between the chocolate and the shortbread. 

Next time I make this recipe, I might do a separate cream cheese and chocolate filling recipes and then swirl it.

The actual recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips (plus more for adding to the filling at the end)
• 3 oz Cream Cheese
• 1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans
• 1/2 Teaspoon Almond or Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 1 Egg

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of chocolate chips, the cream cheese, and the milk. Cook over low heat until melted and smooth. Stir in the nuts, the extra chocolate chips, and a 1/4 teaspoon of the extract.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter and then the egg. Stir in the remainder of the extract until well combined.
4. Pat the crust into a well greased 8x8 inch pan. Pour the filling and smooth. Garnish with pecan halves or chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Power Balls (I'm Not Giving Away Money)

I'm a runner and I was looking for snacks to eat after practice. My coach was talking about nutrition last week and was saying how you only have about thirty minutes to eat to fully recover after a hard workout. He also talked about needing a 1:4 ratio of protein to carbs when you eat. Something like chocolate milk or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich which has a lot of carbs and some protein. 

One of friends did a race a couple of weeks ago and before the race, she ate one of these type balls. She said she had made them herself with chia seeds, flax, peanut butter, honey, and oats. I thought this was a great idea and thought I'd try it myself. 

In mine, I used flaked coconut, already ground flax, honey, peanut butter (I used the creamy kind with added sugar because we bought it on Friday to make cookies and I needed to use it. I just scaled the amount of honey back to accommodate the added sweetness), chia seeds, vanilla, oats, and chocolate chips. Chia seeds are one of my favorite foods. They contain many essential vitamins and minerals, and leave you feeling more energized. During school, I put about a tablespoon in my water bottle every morning. They kind have a slimy texture when put in water that takes some getting used to, but it's really not that bad. Just make sure to wash your water bottle every week or so and never leave chia water in the bottle for more than a day. For these, I would grind the chia seeds if you feel like it. It will leave a better texture.

 I toasted the coconut in coconut oil to add some extra flavor, but it's probably not necessary. Make sure to use unsweetened coconut to make these as healthy as possible. 

 I use Haitian vanilla because it 99% vanilla extractives and 1% alcohol, instead of 53% vanilla extractives and 47% alcohol like the vanilla that is bought in the United States. I always use pure vanilla because the taste is so much better than the imitation. I've heard the best vanilla comes from Madagascar, but I've never been there to buy any. 

 I didn't have any mini chocolate chips which would be ideal, so I just chopped the regular sized ones into small pieces. I've been using Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chip because they're cheaper, but the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips are my favorite. 

 This is after I mixed everything together and formed balls that I placed on a cookie sheet. 

The nice thing about this recipe is that it is very easily adaptable based on the ingredients you have on hand or allergies. Here's a list of suggestions for extra things:

• Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans, etc. I don't think almonds would work too well because they're so hard)
• Fruit (Mashed banana, bits of strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc. Dried fruit would also work well)
• Almond butter
• Coconut oil

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 1 Cup Oats
• Peanut Butter
• Chia Seeds
• Honey
• Mini Chocolate Chips
• Ground Flax
• Vanilla
• Toasted Coconut

Instructions: 

1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until you have reached a desired consistency. 
2. Form into balls and refrigerate in a airtight container.

The Electoral College

This is my first non-food post in a while. I have to start with I want Donald Trump (call me crazy) to win the November election. I think that he is the only one who will actually change anything in this country. Hillary is just mini-Obama and I don't think Johnson will have enough power or support to even win the election. 

When the electoral college was established, America looked a lot different. The largest colony had almost 500,000 people (Virginia), while the smallest only had just over 23,000 people (Georgia). There are still very large population disparities among the states, but everyone can now vote. When the Constitution was written, only white, male landowners could vote.  That was only 6% of the population. Currently, 68% of the population is eligible to vote (not saying that all of them do, but that's for a different post). 


The electoral college was intended to give more power to the smaller states, with smaller populations of white, male landowners, which was successful. That was more than two hundred years ago. The electoral college is now outdated and instead of giving power to the smaller states, it limits it. I live in New Mexico, where a general sediment is: why vote? The state's electoral votes won't matter anyway and the state is mostly liberal so the votes will go to the liberals anyway. 

Additionally, the electoral college creates a very two party country. Forty-eight states have a winner-takes-all method of the electoral college, which makes it almost impossible for a third party candidate without the publicity of a more popular party to even win a state. 

I meant to write about Donald Trump's economic policies today, but that just didn't happen. I hope you liked what I had to say on the electoral college and I'll see if I have time to do Trump's economic policy before his speech in Ohio tonight. 

I would love to hear you're feedback so either comment or email me if you have anything to say.

Sticky Buns Continued

I won the fair with my sticky buns! Okay, to be fair, I didn't win the whole fair, only the culinary section. You now know that I'm not lying to you and the recipe is actually good. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the display and the ribbon and plate, so you're just going to have to believe me. 

Sticky Buns!

Sticky buns are one of my very favorite dessert breakfasts! They are diabetes in a roll, which makes them very delicious. I've never entered anything in the county fair, but I took a salsa canning class on Friday. The teacher had a lot of information about the fair and it turns out that there are many baked goods categories. I decided to enter into pecan roll (sticky buns) because I didn't think it would be as widely entered. Also, it is really hard to ruin a dish with that much sugar. 

My recipe came from the Joy of Cooking, which my brother gave me for my birthday one year. It requires 6 1/2 to 18 1/2 hours in rising time, making them a great dish to make the night before. We usually make them on Christmas Eve for Christmas morning. 

The recipe starts with making the dough. A yeast coffee cake is used for this recipe. It is made kind of like a bread, but it is much sweeter and contains a lot more butter. The dough seems much too dry to come together, but it is smooth and elastic after kneaded. You can either knead by hand or with a stand mixer. It is kind of an oily dough after the butter is added, but that makes it all the more delicious. This time, I only let the dough rise for three hours in the fridge instead of four to twelve, but I think they will be fine. 

Just before the dough is taken out of the fridge, the topping is made. It is just butter, dark brown sugar (it doesn't really matter if you use dark or light brown sugar, but the dark brown sugar contains more molasses, so that flavor will be more prevalent), and honey. Then the pecans are added. While they are technically optional, sticky buns just aren't sticky buns without pecans.        

After the topping is set to cool in the pan, the dough needs to be rolled out. Because I cut a hour off the rising time, I couldn't get the desired 16" by 12" rectangle. This was okay, I still made eight rolls that would rise well. I just pored the melted butter into the center of the rectangle and spread it with a brush. I sprinkled the brown sugar with my hands, but used a mini sifter to ensure the cinnamon was spread evenly.  

 The last roll looks a little sad, but hopefully it will rise to be larger. I accidentally had one of the burners on low on the stove, so the middle of the topping didn't cool. It was just a little harder to put the rolls into the pan. 

They should be golden brown when finished and cooked. My sticky buns probably would have filled up slightly more of the pan had I let them rise more in the fridge. After I let them cool for five minutes, I lined with aluminum foil and flipped the sticky buns out. You don't want to wait too long to turn them out because the topping will harden very quickly. 

 All ready for the fair!!

Finally, here's the actual recipe:

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 Cup Warm Water
• 1 Package Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 Teaspoons)
• 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 Cup Bread or All-Purpose Flour
• 1/3 Cup White Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Milk
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Sticks of Butter (1 Cup)
• 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 Cups Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Honey
• 2 1/2 Cups Chopped Pecans
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Dissolve the yeast into the water. Add a 1/2 cup flour, the white sugar, the milk, the eggs, the vanilla, and the salt. Gradually add the remainder of the flour (2 to 2 1/4 cups). 
2. Knead by hand for ten minutes or for six to seven minutes with a mixer. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Add six tablespoons of very soft butter and knead vigorously until it is again smooth. Cover and place in a greased bowl in a warm place. Let rise until double(1 1/2 hours). 
3. Punch down and slightly knead. Let rise in the fridge until doubled again (4-12 hours). 
4. Combine a stick of butter, one cup of brown sugar and the honey in a saucepan over meduim heat, cooking till the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the pecans. 
5. Pour into a buttered 13" by 9" pan and let cool. 
6. Roll out the dough into a 16" by 12" rectangle with a rolling pin. Spread with the remaining butter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and cinnamon. 
7. Roll into a log and cut into eight slices.
8. Place over the topping cut side down and place in a warm spot and let rise for a final hour. 
9. Preheat the oven to 350 and cook the rolls for 30 minutes or until golden brown and the topping is bubbling hot. 
10. Let rest in the pan for five minutes and then turn out onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Serve and enjoy!