Breakfast Sweets

Too many times, recipes for sweets calls for too much sugar or too much chocolate. There is no such thing as too sweet, you say? There is no such thing as too much chocolate, you say? Take my word for it, there is. So when there is a recipe that doesn't come out too sweet, it is definitely a good find. Here is the recipe. Trust me and put the chocolate chips in there. It is tasteless without them.

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins.
(Courtesty of Bakerella)

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.

3. In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.

5. Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.

6. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Giada De Laurentiis's Spicy Baked Macaroni

Oh my goodness! I thought this was a mac and cheese recipe! When I googled, Giada De Laurentiis' mac and cheese recipe, this one came up. But now as I'm writing this post, I realized the name of this dish is "Spicy Baked Macaroni" =( What a dummy I am...but it was still good. Beware, this dish is NOT spicy as it claims to be. Well, then again, I'm Korean so not many things that claim to be spicy are spicy to me. Eh~ What are you going to do?

Next time, though, I think I will use 2 cans of diced tomatoes. So here's the recipe! Give it a try~

Ingredients

Salt

1 pound elbow macaroni pasta

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 pound assorted mushrooms, quartered

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained of excess liquid

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cups bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup

1/4 cup Romano, plus 1/3 cup

2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons

12 ounces mozzarella cubed (about 2 cups)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and the onion is golden, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, spinach, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup Romano. Spread the softened butter in a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish and sprinkle half of the bread crumb mixture inside the dish to coat.

5. In a large bowl combine the vegetable mixture with the cooked macaroni, cubed mozzarella, the remaining Parmesan and Romano cheeses, and the nutmeg. Spoon into the prepared baking dish, top with the remaining bread crumb mixture, and dot the top with the remaining butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

When I first met Tess, I was about 15 or 16. I was young and impressionable. When Alec and Angel broke Tess's heart, they broke mine too. The anger and resentment towards Alec and Angel and the heartache for Tess was all too tangible for me. That was then.

I've come a long way since I was 16. I am no longer that fragile, impressionable girl. I've learned to become a fighter, a survivor, and a protector of my heart. Which is why Tess infuriates me. Why is she such a tragic character? She accepts these sorrows that life throws at her, as if it was her fate. Well, I'm a believer that you write your own destiny, so her actions are not okay with me!

Dear Tess,
Alec may have destroyed your body but Angel destroyed your spirit! And while what Alec did was horrible, Angel's crime is unforgivable. Love? Do you think he loved you? Wake up and smell the flowers sweetcheeks! He didn't love you! He loved the IDEA of you. Stop crying and thinking that your life is worthless. You said yourself, you are "a peasant by name, not by nature." Stop being a slave to your circumstances and become the master of your life. *snap snap snap!*
With love, your life coach

The Darnest Books...

Little Women. Ugh.

Once in a blue moon, a book comes along to waste your life. In my humble opinion, no book is ever a waste of time. But dang. Little Women sure does come incredibly close to it.

First off, the book truly has no plot to it. It's just a story of four sisters and how they grow up and enter society. Boring! But there was a charm to it. And the charm was Louisa May Alcott. Hands down, she is the most talented writer ever! The book was filled with beautiful aphorisms that touched my soul. They were so simple and yet so deep. If ever I had continued to pursue my dreams of becoming a writer, Alcott would have been model I aspired to. Still, she is the most talented writer I have come across. And the novel truly showcases that.

But but but! *Spoiler alert* Jo and Laurie don't get married?!?!?! Are you kidding me??? What's that??? I understand the book is not a true non fiction, but really??? Who on earth does that? What sister (Amy) marries a guy (Laurie) who was in love with her sister (Jo)???? No sister would ever do that!!!! I wouldn't even date, let alone marry, a guy who was in love with even just a friend of mine! Did Alcott just not get this??? I would have rather Alcott not make Jo get married at all if it should have truly been a biography! Ugh Ugh Ugh!!!! Of course in real life Jo and Laurie would have gotten married! For a book that is supposed to have found its charm through it frank and honest look at life, it lost it's charm by introducing a fake ending! That's right! A FAKE ending!

T.T Wahhhhh!!! My heart is in despair!! This book is almost as bad as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. No. It's worse! Because I believe Alcott is a literary genius and I expect more from her!!!! T.T T.T T.T I'm having nightmares because of this book, and while I loved reading her writing, I really wish I had never read the book. T.T

I obviously WON'T be watching this movie

ugh...