I wanted to take the “You’re a keeper” line and put it into heart shaped cookies, because I can somehow imagine the girls at Hogwarts doing the same thing.

There’s no Amortentia in my recipe though, only butter sugar and vanilla. And a bit of lemon zest to combine with the bright yellow of the snitches. (Also because pink lemon cookies make think of pink lemonade!)

These are so cute and delicious, perfect for Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day!

(Also perfect to eat half a batch by yourself, I just confirmed it).

Ingredients:

For the cookies

• 1 stick of butter (non-salted)
• 1 egg
• 1 and 1/5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2  tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the icing

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons whole milk
• 3 teaspoons corn syrup (OR 2 EGG WHITES)
• 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Food coloring, I used Yellow and Red

Instructions:

1. FOR THE COOKIES: In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar until softened. Add the egg to the mixture and keep beating until well mixed.
3. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla to the same mix.
4. Slowly, add the flour mix to the butter mix. Keep beating until well combined and shaped like a dough.
5. Shape the dough into a large disk, cover it carefully and refrigerate for 1 hour. (You can also leave it overnight).
6. YOU’RE READY TO BAKE: 
7. Since I didn’t have golden snitch cookie cutters (I didn’t even have a heart shaped one…), I decided to make my own! I took a large piece of aluminum foil and rolled it until I had a large strip of aluminum (Kind of like a chewing gum wrapper, but longer). Then I just shaped it using a picture as reference and held it in place with a piece of tape.
8. Once you have your cookie cutters, transfer the dough to a clean counter and use a rolling pin to make it 1/4 inch thick.
9. Now cut the cookies! If you use the aluminum foil cookie cutters, BE CAREFUL. They’re flimsy and you will need to apply pressure slowly, making sure they don’t fold or disfigure. For the golden snitches I made 1 wing-shaped cookie cutter and also used a regular circle for the body of the snitch.
10.  Preheat the over to 350F, grease a cookie sheet and make sure to leave at least 0.5 inches between each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
11. FOR THE ICING: Mix all the ingredients except the food coloring. Then divide into different bowls and add colors to your liking.
12. Be patient. (Don’t be like me). 
13. Wait until the cookies are completely cool before decorating. If you’re adding text, wait until the first layer of icing has set, then add your favorite Harry Potter pun.
14. And Accio, Cookies! Your Valentine’s treats are ready.

I originally wanted to make 6 cookies so I could use all these puns, but, er – some cookies didn’t make it to the icing stage.

Here are other ideas you could use:

You leave me Stupefied

Neville gonna give you up

You’re a keeper

I A-dumbledore you

You’re the chosen one

You put a spell on me

Let me know if you do try them, and if you can come up with other Valentine’s puns! I’ll bake another batch for my Galentine’s celebration.

Happy baking!

The post Valentine’s Day Harry Potter Cookies appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

I’m not even going to say all those things about how the year flew by, because I feel like that’s been every year since high school…

Also, looking back, it’s been a pretty long year! It lasted twelve whole months and I’m glad to say I’m happy with the (I admit, few) goals I accomplished.

And continuing with the looking-back thing, I put together a list of my favorite books I read this year so I could share it and recommend you guys only the best of the best.

There are some movies, anime and series too, because I watched so many cool things this year! Hopefully you will find a new favorite for 2018.

Books

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Even after a rough start (the introduction was the particular kind of boring that only classic books can achieve), I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this book.

It had everything a gothic novel should have: horror, romance, tortured souls and dark secrets. Plus, it had mostly a creepy and mysterious atmosphere which I was not expecting since the movies/plays tend to romanticize the opera ghost a lot. Best book surprise of 2017 for sure. (Complete review here).

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. This one was another big surprise! I picked it up out of curiosity since the protagonist is an introvert with social anxiety (#relatable), but I was not ready to relate to the point of actually crying. Eliza is, in my opinion, a realistic portrayal of the struggles that come with being an introvert trying to have a normal life and family relationship.

I did not like the romantic interest, though. But let’s not focus on that. This book is about a girl dealing with her inner monsters and that is done beautifully. (Complete review here).

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story by Marie Kondō. Believe it or not, I do think this book can be life-changing. It’s not necessarily the most insightful read – especially because I read the illustrated version – but it struck a chord in me.

It reminded me that I cling to material objects a bit too much (book hoarder struggles, am I right?) and that sometimes my need of collecting fandom stuff can lead to gratuitous consumption.

Whoa, I wasn’t planning on getting so serious. Anyway, I hope you add this manga to your TBR! You can get it at the library if you don’t want to buy it (Complete review here).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. This book should not be on this list since I actually read it last year. But the official publication date was January 2017 and I just HAD to talk about it again! It is a story inspired by Russian folklore that takes place in a medieval village where magical things happen.

What kind of magical things, you ask?

Well, there are invisible household demons, evil shadows and girls that communicate with horses. It also has a charming and beautiful prose that incorporates bits of Russian vocabulary. (Complete review here).

Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry. I’m cheating again because I still haven’t finished this one. But I’ve been enjoying it a lot and I already decided it’s in my Top 5 favorite books! As the title suggests, it’s a retelling of Greek myths, but with the funny narration of Stephen Fry.

It stars with the beginning of life and goes through all the titans, gods and demigods and their adventures.

The audiobook version is especially fun because most interactions between the gods include witty lines of dialogue and the author makes great voices for every character.

Movies & Series

Anime

Little Witch Academia was definitely my favorite anime I watched this year. It’s a fun and charming story about a young witch attending school. The first season is mostly about getting to know the characters and the magical world of witches, but the second season gets even better since it adds a main villain and a stronger hero story.

I would recommend this series even to people who isn’t THAT into anime. If you liked Cardcaptor Sakura as a kid, you would probably enjoy Little Witch Academia.

In second place there’s a tie between:

Mob Psycho 100, about a kid with strong psychic powers that he uses to repel evil spirits. The fun part is that the protagonist, Mob, just wants to have a normal, calm life. But trouble always finds him and he has to grow as a person in order to control his powers and save the day.

and

One-Punch Man. This one is a short series about Saitama, an overpowered superhero that ALWAYS defeats his enemies with just one punch (hence the title). Saitama trains so hard that he’s the most powerful person in the world, and suddenly gets bored because of the lack of challenges. I really liked this series because it showed heroes as real people with normal lives. Saitama even gets mad when villains attack the same day he was planning on buying groceries… because, how rude! 

Series

My favorite Korean Drama I watched this year was the famous Pinocchio. I had heard a lot about it and didn’t want to start it with high expectations and get disappointed… but it honestly was really good! It tells the story of a girl with Pinocchio syndrome, which means she gets uncontrollable hiccups when she tells lies. She plans to use this syndrome to her advantage and decides to become a news reporter, but soon discovers that there’s a lot of lying in the news. There’s also a co-protagonist that becomes a reporter to clear his family’s name, which was involved in a news scandal that ended in tragedy.

There’s so much fun drama in this series!

I also enjoyed Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, a series inspired by the Douglas Adams books. The series is about Dirk Gently, this holistic detective who has no idea what’s his trying to investigate, until he suddenly gets hunches that lead him to actual clues. It’s so silly!

There’s also Elijah Wood’s character, he’s there against his will but keeps getting in trouble because of Dirk and I love his mortified expressions.

Another series I enjoyed this year were Supergirl, Strong Girl Bong-soon and Hello, My Twenties! (the last two were K-drama recommendations on Netflix).

Movies

My favorite movie I watched this year wasn’t a debut at all. I watched Rear Window (1954) for the first time. Yeah, long due, especially for a supposedly Hitchcock fan.

But it was so good I had to mention it. It’s about a guy with a broken leg that starts spying on the neighbors because he doesn’t have anything else to do. Until one day he notices the disappearance of his neighbor’s wife, and he gets a strong feeling that she was murdered.

The best part of the movie though, is that everything takes place in the broken-leg-guy’s apartment, and we see everything from the window just like he does. I also loved that he and his girlfriend (James Stewart and Grace Kelly) spend most of the movie discussing his crazy theories and the dialogues are so realistic. It was just like watching a normal couple (through a window!)

Also, this was the year of Disney’s Coco! I watched it twice in theaters and struggled so much to hold my tears. It was a beautiful movie about family and art. It also made a great effort in portraying Mexican families in a realistic way, from the customs, traditions, mannerisms, wardrobe and even the small details like food and piñata designs.

I feel like I’m biased because I’m Mexican and that made me have a strong connection with the characters and setting, but I’m pretty sure it’s an objectively good movie that anyone can enjoy.

And just to not leave these out (even though EVERYONE watched them too) I’ll give a big honorable mention to Star Wars The Last Jedi and Wonder Woman. Also the live-action Beauty and the Beast since it provided my most-listened soundtrack of 2017.

Videogames

This year I wasn’t in the mood for videogames for some reason.

I got a Nintendo Switch and played Mario Kart, Tetris and Snipperclips on it. But I didn’t finish any big games.

I started Breath of the Wild but, even though I love Zelda games, felt tired in less than 10 hours. I think I wasn’t ready for an open world game with SO MANY things to do.

Next year I’ll pick it up again because I do want to know the story.

Also played a lot of Hearthstone and improved my rank a little! If you’re a fan of card games like Magic and Yugioh, I would recommend checking this one out. It’s available for free on computers, phones and tablets and it’s a great way to pass 10-15 minutes in a match.

Did you read/watch any gems this year?? Spill the beans!

The post 2017 Wrap-Up | A year of books, movies and other fun stuff appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

And…

Let me start by telling you about the characters.

The protagonist is Aza, a teenage girl struggling with mental illness. She experiences anxiety and (what I assume) OCD episodes through her day to day life. Outside of that, she lives a normal life with her mom.

There’s Daisy, she is Aza’s best friend and in her free time writes Star Wars fan-fiction on her phone. That’s the extent of her personality, so I won’t mention her again.

And there’s also Davis, the billionaire boy who once went to “sad camp” with Aza. His father has disappeared after being accused of fraud, and he needs to take care of his little brother.

If you don’t find these characters interesting, don’t read the book, because NOTHING happens beyond these characters existing.

But why do I think the book was boring? Well, I’m glad you asked!

Aza: Though I really, really liked seeing what happened inside Aza’s mind during her anxiety/OCD episodes, I don’t think the plot was strong enough to keep me interested.

I liked learning and empathizing a bit more with her and with the way the book explained her illness. So I do like the fact that her character EXISTS, but outside of the mental illness, she lives a very normal life and doesn’t seem to have a personality, or any hobbies or interests. When she’s not having an episode, the narrator just brushes the story away like “days passed and I did stuff and I ate at Applebee’s”.

So, on one hand I liked Aza, but on the other hand I didn’t feel a connection to her because she didn’t have a personality outside of her illness. AND THAT’S BORING TO ME. Don’t tell me people with mental illnesses don’t have personalities!

Davis: a.k.a the rich cute boy love interest was blandest than mass produced white bread. He’s not a POV character, so we only get to see him through Aza’s eyes. And all she sees is “he’s cute”.

And all he says are boring lines about not being sure if people only likes him because of his money. I think he literally makes that same money comment EVERY time he talks to Aza.

Me: You’re not your money.
Him: Then what am I? What is anyone?
Me: I is the hardest word to define.
Him: Maybe you are what you can’t not be.
Me: Maybe. How’s the sky?
Him: Great. Huge. Amazing.

Sometimes he talks about other things, like being a rich kid with a busy dad that never hugs him and all that rich kid clichéd stuff. And he’s supposed to be the interesting one because of the MYSTERIOUSLY MISSING DAD.

But I guess Davis is not that bothered by his father’s disappearance because he doesn’t actively looks for him. No one really does. There’s this missing person that everyone talks about but we get to see just a little bit of INTERNET research about it.

Why even add this big mystery if the main character won’t be involved in solving it??

And I think that’s all that happens in the book. 

I have a lot of mixed feelings because I like THE IDEA of this story. Of a girl with OCD and anxiety that struggles with invasive thoughts even though she KNOWS they’re not real. Her inner dialogues (though repetitive) where the best part of the book.

As someone who has dealt with invasive thoughts myself, though in a smaller scale, I felt that the author captured them perfectly. She was in a constant battle with herself, thinking these awful things while trying to convince herself not to think them.

I also liked that she didn’t magically fixed herself with the power of friendship, or the power of love, or the power of really, really wanting to get better…

BUT, imagine if there was more to this book.

If we got more than a protagonist with anxiety, but a protagonist with an actual personality, with adventures or an interesting life. We have Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye and Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar. And both of them are characters with feelings and ideas and even dreams and actions that go beyond their depression.

Sadly, I don’t think there’s more to this book than those alluring glimpses into Aza’s thoughts. 

Also…

They repeat this line a couple of times about how “…we were looking at the same sky together” and I kept snorting because, no way, Sherlock.

How many times have you been with someone and you look up at the sky and each of you sees a different sky? 

The post Books With Bland Characters Are Boring – My Turtles All The Way Down Review appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

Nothing too crazy, right?

Well, not too crazy if you are ACTUALLY able to stick to one book until you finish it. That’s not me though.

I pick books like a kid picks candy. I get the book, unwrap it, lick it… but if a new, sweeter book comes into my hands, I’ll go lick that one too. (Is that a disgusting enough simile?)

Anyway, that’s why I always end up with a bookshelf full of half-read books that I’ll probably have to restart someday because the details are getting fuzzy.

If I tried really hard I might be able to finish the sixteen books I’m missing to complete the challenge. Or…

I COULD DITCH IT and join a new, super cute challenge I found!

I think I’ll go with that option. I’ll let 2018 be the year I learn how to stick to books and stop licking new candy recklessly.

So, Aentee from Read At Midnight came up with an Animal Crossing inspired reading challenge.

It’s called #ReadersCrossing and it was inspired by the new Animal Crossing Pocket Camp mobile game (which has been taking over my life lately).

So, as a big Animal Crossing fan and the competition motivated person I am, well, I just had to join.

The challenge works like this:

You pick up the Bingo card Aentee designed and choose a path to follow. As any Bingo card, you win by completing all the spaces in a single row.

In this case, to complete a space you have to read a book that complies with the requirements.

Here’s the original challenge post in case you want to join.

I decided to follow the Cute inspired row because cute animals are my jam. Also, it made me choose interesting books that wouldn’t have come to my mind otherwise.

The challenge starts next Sunday (December 10) and we have until the end of the year to complete it.

Being the Monica Geller I am, I feel like the competition will help me FINISH these five books. (WANNA BET I DO IT?)

Here are my choices.

GRAPHIC NOVEL OR MANGA

PINK COVER

MAIN ROMANTIC PLOT

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore. This one was a tough choice because I have millions of unread romance books. I went with Wild Beauty because I’m already 40 pages into it and would like to know how to story goes. I stopped reading it because it’s super slow paced and I wasn’t in the mood.

What’s the book equivalent of a Tom Cruise movie? That’s the mood I was in.

Now that the weather is colder I can picture myself reading this cute, slow-paced magical realism story.

Plus, the protagonists are a bunch of Latina girls with the power of growing flowers. And I kinda want to get inspired to plant some Forget Me Not seeds I have in my drawer.

MIDDLE GRADE OR CHILDREN’S BOOK

The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell. This one was chosen purely because I love the How To Train Your Dragon movies (who doesn’t?) and this book was written by the same author of those books.

Which I haven’t read. But watching the movies still counts a little?

I also peeked inside and it has the cutest illustrations. This one is the one I’m most excited about! It’s about a wizard boy without any magic and a warrior girl with a secret…

CONTEMPORARY

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. So, everyone and their dog seems to be reading this book. And I really didn’t care about it because my only close experience with a John Green story was the movie The Fault In Our Stars – which I disliked so much. I didn’t like the pretentious dialog or the way it tried to manipulate my feelings to make me cry (BUT I WON. NOT A SINGLE TEAR WAS SHED).

Anyway, I wanted to get an audiobook for the contemporary space of the Bingo so I could listen while doing chores around the house. And I though, well, you might as well read your first John Green book while washing the dishes.

Plus, this challenge wouldn’t be a challenge if a didn’t add any unusual stuff.

The book is about a teenage girl struggling with a  mental illness while also trying to solve the mystery of a missing billionaire.

Let me know if you’re joining the #ReadersCrossing challenge so we can update each other. (Or compete with each other, whatever motivates you the most).

The post Failing my 2017 reading challenge. (But joining another one because there’s still hope) appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

The author, Marissa Meyer, is hosting a bunch of giveaways to celebrate. You can check it out here!

I was lucky to receive an ebook ARC of Renegades from Netgalley, so I already finished it.

Before the review, here’s my short summary of Renegades:

Renagades is a bit like X-Men, if the X-Men replaced the government and the bad guys (Magneto’s guys) had to live underground after losing THE great battle. 

But it also has espionage, secret identities and forbidden romance (but it’s not all focused on the romance, don’t worry).

Also, the main protagonist is a supervillain called The Nightmare, with the power of putting anyone to sleep by touching them. And the other protagonist is a superhero with not just one, but two secret identities. 

Aaand that’s basically it.

• It’s fun!

The best part about this book is that I had fun reading it. Independently of how good or bad it was, I just liked the way it was written since it was mostly fast-paced and full of “things to look at”. The world building felt natural enough that it wasn’t overwhelming, but at the same time it kept showing new bits and concepts through the book, so it kept being entertaining even during slower chapters. I liked reading about the different and funky superpowers and theorizing about what kind of talent some characters could have. 

It was also fun having two perspectives of this world. One from Adrian, a hero trying to catch a dangerous villain. And the other from Nova, a villain that infiltrates into Adrian’s team to steal information. There was a lot of secret identities and broken alliances too. See? All of the fun stuff!

• But not your typical uplifting Marvel-esque superhero story.

I haven’t actually read a lot of comic books, but I’ve watched all the Marvel movies so at least I know how superheros work. And to be honest I’ve been getting tired of the same old formula from those movies.  This story has a more realistic approach to superheroes though. It shows that not everyone is happy about having heroes on the street because they’re too intimidating, and that a hero’s job can get get incredibly bureaucratic! Also, and most importantly, that in a world full of different superpowers, there would be a big chance of people using their powers for their own selfish reasons (which is a main theme in the book).

It reminds me a lot of X-Men now that I think about it, since there’s a constant battle between the Renegades (X-men), the Anarchists (Magneto’s allies) and the general public (people without superpowers). Except in this case the government and police were replaced by the X-Men and they’re currently ruling the country. Or at least they’re trying.

I especially enjoyed the first few chapters of the book since they were the most intense and felt like a combination of Sci-Fi / Thriller. They tell Nova’s origin story and in just a few chapters build a strong character with realistic motivations. 

• I felt this book was too long (576 pages according to Goodreads).

When I was about 35% into this book, I thought it had potential to be my favorite book of the year. But then it kind of slowed down. And it’s not that it got boring since, like I said, it’s overall a fun read. But I felt like the first few chapters had a lot of substance and a lot of character development… and then it felt a little flat. The characters stopped showing their human side and the plot got more predictable. It also stopped having the fast-paced action scenes from the beginning in exchange for longer and clichéd fights.

I think if the book had fewer pages, it could condense the second half were most of the “bland” stuff happens and it would feel more rich. Instead, it felt like the author was spreading a bit of butter in too much bread. (Credit to Bilbo Baggins for the analogy).

• Side characters felt a bit cardboard.

This was the saddest part! I was so in love with the first few chapters that I expected more characters to have a backstory and a strong personality. But apart from the two protagonists and their mentors, it felt like the rest of the world was just there to fill the empty space. There were a lot of sidekicks that could have been blended together to create more complete characters, instead of having so many people whose only trait was their superpower.

Even Adrian, the co-protagonist, didn’t have a lot of original thoughts after the first half of the book. He just kinda transformed into Captain America: lawful good, chivalrous, pretty, etc.

• It ends with a cliffhanger!

I hope you don’t consider this a spoiler, but I had to warn you! IT ENDS WITH AN ANNOYING CLIFFHANGER AND THERE’S NO RESOLUTION FOR “THE THING”. You will know what “the thing” is. By the way, the last chapter of the book is also very similar to X-Men.m

• You like stories that are focused on the villain’s side.
• You’re an X-Men fan and want to read a book with a similar vibe.
• You like espionage, secret identities and code names.
• You like “forbidden love” stories.
• You find weird superpowers interesting.
• You enjoy 500 pages long books (even if they don’t have a lot of action).

The post When fun books are not exactly that good (Review of Renegades by Marissa Meyer) appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

Today I want to talk about the latter, and about the content creators from Booktube (a.k.a. the book community in Youtube) that I love to watch.

You know that feeling after finishing a book when you NEED to find other people who also read it? That’s me all the time. Whether I love or hate the book, or even if I’m still making my mind about it, I just need to know that someone else in the world has been through the same emotions. 

That’s how I found Hannah from the Booktube channel Hannah Tay. I had just finished reading The Bell Jar and kind of felt like crying, to be honest. And since I really needed a bit of human interaction I decided to watch a video review instead of reading one, so I ended up in Hannah’s channel. 

By the way, she didn’t like The Bell Jar as a much as I did. And while I still felt like crying at how emotional it got at the end, Hannah described it as “[Sylvia]…just pissing about in New York!” (which was really funny – and kind of true). I’m glad I found Hannah because she reads and reviews classic, adult and children’s books, which is rare in the Booktube community. Also, her sense of humor makes me love her channel even more.

Kristin, on the other hand, was someone I started following because of her geeky blog Super Space Chick. And later discovered that she had a Booktube channel, also called Super Space Chick.

All the geeky and bookish things she likes make Kristin kind of a “fantasy connoisseur” in my mind, so I trust her when she recommends a book she loved, or a show she’s currently watching. I feel like her opinions on fantasy and YA books are more thorough than your average Booktuber.

And she also makes the best bookish “News & Stuff” videos, posts reading vlogs and talks about her other interests like anime and collecting the cutest Disney merch.

I also found Samantha from Thoughts on Tomes from blogging since she hosts Top 5 Wednesday on Goodreads (a weekly book meme for bloggers and booktubers). What I like the most about her channel is that she tends to post multiple videos for the same book, so you can watch the spoiler free review if you haven’t read the book, and then go back and watch the “gush”, “gripe” or ” discussion” video of the same book.

I think the kind of content Samantha produces is the best you can get from a booktuber. She openly addresses the things she dislikes about the books she reads, but also gets excited when sharing her favorite novels. Most of all, I appreciate a YA reader that fangirls about books while being honest and critical.

And well, after following so many Booktube channels I started getting a bunch of recommendations on my homepage, and I ended up on Hannah‘s channel : A Clockwork Reader. She also reads a lot of YA and posts mostly spoiler-free reviews and book tags. What I like the most about her channel is that she’s really good about explaining book plots without being vague or giving away too much. Kind of feels like you’re casually talking to a friend about her most recent read.

I also find her reading vlogs super inspiring! They feel so real and she gets so much reading done (even if it’s hard to always accomplish reading goals). These videos  have been helping me to get back into the reading mood when I’m struggling.

I hope you give these awesome booktubers a chance! I know everyone’s tastes are different, but I truly appreciate these booktuber’s content and would love to see their channels grow.

Also, let me know if you have Booktube recommendations (I’m specially looking for non-YA readers).

The post booktubers you might not be following (but you should because they’re awesome) appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

Also, not gonna lie, I LOVED doing that Harry Potter Food series last summer and have missed it so much! I had been considering making Queenie’s Apple Strudel since then, especially because this treat has such a beautiful scene in the movie. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready for such a baking challenge. 

But this time I decided to go for it anyway, and it turned out great! Also, I feel like it’s perfect timing because apple strudel screams FALL to me. 

With a flick of her wand, Queenie sends raisins, apples and pastry into the air. The concoction neatly wraps itself up into a cylindrical pie, baking on the spot, complete with ornate decoration and a dusting of sugar. Jacob takes a deep breath: in heaven.

As some of you may know, I’m not an experienced baker at all. My first ever successful baking experiment happened just last year, so there’s still a LOT of room for improvement. That’s why I decided to do some research before making my own Queenie’s Apple Strudel.

My main source was Rosanna Pansino’s recipe from the Nerdy Nummies video, though I made some minor modifications and took advice from all the following sources:

FANTASTIC BEASTS – QUEENIE’S APPLE STRUDEL from NERDY NUMMIES

Binging with Babish: Strudel from Inglourious Basterds

Rose Shaped Apple Baked Dessert by Cooking with Manuela

How to Make Real Deal Classic Austrian Apple Strudel by YVONNE RUPERTI 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1 apple (red, gala or Fuji)
• 1 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

Filling:

• 3-4 apples (gala or Fuji)
• 1 lemon (juice and zest)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup raisins

Instructions:

For the dough I followed the directions from the Nerdy Nummies Apple Strudel: Mix flour, salt and cinnamon, then slowly add oil and warm water. To knead the dough I liked this video better, it’s basically punching and squishing the ingredients for about 10 minutes, but they show the technique really well. I also let it rest in a bowl for about 30 minutes after kneading, though I made the mistake of not covering the bowl with plastic wrap (I just put a towel over it) and the dough kind of oxidized and turned a bit grey. The flavor was fine, dough

For the filling I peeled and diced 4 Fuji apples (but ended up using 3 because they were BIG), added the sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and about 90% of the lemon juice. I also microwaved the raisins covered in water for about 20 seconds and then added them to the mix. 

Now to the (second) hardest part of the recipe: stretching out the dough! I again used Binging with Babish‘s video for reference and used a large kitchen towel as support. After stretching the dough for what felt like hours (and with my boyfriend’s help), I decided it was thin enough (a.k.a. It wasn’t thin enough but I did my best). Many recipe sites say that you should be able to see the pattern of the towel through the dough…And well, that was really hard to achieve since the thinner it gets, it’s easier to accidentally make holes in it.

Many recipes recommended skipping all this trouble and just buy Filo dough since the flavor is basically the same. I’ll probably do that next time.

After stretching the dough I pre-heated the oven (actually toaster oven, my dear friend) to 425F. I couldn’t take a picture since my hands were too dirty at this point, but once the dough was stretched I tried to make it into an even rectangle by cutting the excess with a knife. I saved those extra pieces to make some braids.

Then I smeared the melted butter with a brush all over the dough and added the filling (only on 1/4 of the rectangle, on the far right).

Note: I diced 4 big Fuji apples for the filling, but it was a lot! I ended up using about 3 apples (and saved the rest to eat with my oatmeal yum). So after adding the filling I rolled everything like a giant burrito, adding more melted butter with every roll.

Before putting it in the oven I made some dough braids (the third most difficult part of this recipe) and covered everything with egg wash (a beaten egg + water). And into the oven for about 30 minutes at 425F and then 30 minutes at 350F. 

While the strudel was in the (toaster)oven I though I would have fun making some apple flowers. But, HA! This was actually the hardest and most tiring part! I followed this tutorial to make apple flowers in the oven. I had to cut a red apple in half-circles, add those to a bowl and microwave them covered in water and the rest of the lemon juice. Then put the half-circles together one over the over (in the shape of a garland) and rolled them to make them look like a rose. But they would not stay like that! After staring at those wet apples for almost an hour, I finally came out with a solution: make aluminum oil fixtures!

After some trial and error I ended up with the perfect aluminum rings that could hold my apple roses in place. Then I baked them at 375F for about 30 minutes.

And ta-da! After everything came out of the oven I just had to put it together: The apple flowers over the strudel, all topped with confectioner’s sugar. And I know you guys can imagine the amazing smell. I mean, this recipe has apples and cinnamon and everything nice…

The flavor was also pretty magical. And the texture of the filling was my favorite part! Like warm and mushy apple pie filling. I might add pecans the next time for a bit of crunchiness, I skipped them this time since the Fantastic Beasts script only mentions raisins, apples and pastry flying into the air. (Also, pecans were super expensive at the supermarket and I don’t exactly have a Harry Potter Food budget…)

Also, I think the crust would have been better a bit thinner. I liked the flavor but some parts were kind of thick and weren’t crisp enough. Next time I’ll definitely consider either buying ready to use pastry or learning Queenie’s spell.

But isn’t this charming?? I think Queenie’s Apple Strudel is the most complicated thing I’ve baked so far (or it might be a tie with Harry’s favorite Treacle Tart).

I’m really happy with the results, but also ready to make an improved version some other time. And I know this wasn’t as simple as a magic trick, but knowing that I can make apple strudel from scratch and then eating it for breakfast..?? That’s magical indeed

What do you guys think? Will you go pick some apples and make this strudel the Muggle way? Also, wouldn’t it be perfect for Thanksgiving? Or Christmas!

Let me know if you decide to make it

The post Fantastic Beasts Queenie’s Apple Strudel – Making Harry Potter Food Again! appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

I wasn’t sure about showing my Litcube August 2017 unboxing because it feels like it’s too late. But I had some troubles getting the mail last month and I just got my Litcube and Gilmore Girls boxes! And all the items are really cool and deserved to be shared! So, in other words, it might be late but here they are anyway:

Lit-Cube August 2017

The theme of the August Lit-Cube box was Steampunk Wonderland and it came with the following items:

• Curiouser and Curiouser (Steampunk Fairy Tales) by Melanie Karsak. To save the Hatter, Alice must work with the one man she despises so much that she might still love him.
• Steampunk Wonderland Inspired Aromatherapy Smelling Salts. I had never had smelling salts before… they’re interesting. The bottle is a nice decoration but it also smells good, so I guess I’ll pick it up when I feel sleepy to try them out. (Wikipedia says these can be used to prevent someone from fainting, so we will see!)
• Steampunk Wonderland Old Fashioned Watch Necklace. This is a real pocket watch! I feel like this box couldn’t be MORE STEAMPUNK! And it’s perfect for the Alice theme since the White Rabbit has one of these.

[Detail on the back of the watch]

• Exclusive Queen Of Hearts Rose Tea. This also smells really good! Since I got a lot of coffee this week (see the rest of the unboxings) I haven’t had tea yet, but I’m already excited to try it. The blend contains: black tea, vanilla, honeybush tea, gunpowder (this is a king of tea! haha I didn’t know) and rose petals. This blend sounds like a perfect steampunk Alice match!
• Steampunk Inspired Tea Infuser. Yes! I’m always lazy about brewing tea when it doesn’t come in a bag (tea connoisseurs, please don’t hate me). So this was a nice addition. Also, it looks cool in the kitchen.

This one has been one of the coolest Lit-Cube boxes I’ve received. They always choose their items carefully so they match with the theme of the book, but this time it turned out even more awesome (it might be because all the items are really photogenic, haha). I’m not even a steampunk fan, but this box put me in the mood to pick up Curiouser & Curiouser!

• Price: $34.95 USD +shipping 
• Discount Code: PRETTYGEEKERY for 10% off your first purchase*. Right now you can order the Hocus Pocus themed box for October

Stars Hollow Monthly August 2017

Then I opened the August Stars Hollow Monthly box. It came with the following items:

• Doose’s Market Mug. I liked this mug because it feels like an inside joke that only Gilmore Girls fan will get. The rest of the world will think I just got a free mug from a random market!
• “I Drink Coffee Like a Gilmore” Tumbler. This is just perfect. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks sturdy and it’s too cute.
• Luke’s Non-Slip Coasters (Pack of 4). Also too cute! I need a coffee table so I can show these off!
• Coffee Sample from the Stars Hollow Coffee Club “Oy! With the SnickerPoodles Already”: Yes, it’s snickerdoodles flavored! *heart eyes emoji* See the next box for a flavor review
• Price: $34.90 USD +shipping 
• Discount Code: PRETTYGEEKERY for 10% off your first purchase*

Stars Hollow Coffee Club

Finally, I opened the Stars Hollow Coffee Club box. It smelled delicious! Also, the design of the box is the prettiest I’ve seen.

• It came with a super cute mug full of Gilmore Girls quotes.

Also:

• Luke’s No-Nonsense Special 8oz (227g). A medium roast coffee blend with a full-body, citrus fruit and honey notes, sparkling acidity, a clean finish.
• Oy! With The SnickerPoodles Already 8oz (227g). This cinnamon and sugar tasting coffee will surely shut up a person that is talking non-stop and will have you smiling every time you brew a pot.

Okay, first of all, the names for both coffee grounds are perfect. Second of all, they’re actually really good! First I tried Luke’s No-Nonsense Special since I was craving “normal” coffee, and it did satisfy my cravings. It wasn’t too strong or acidic, just a nice smelling comfy drink. I especially liked the acidity level since it was just in the middle (perfect for my weak stomach, haha).

Then this morning my boyfriend and I had a cup of SnickerPoodles and we loved it! This one was our favorite from the two, we could taste the cinnamon without it being overpowering. Also, I normally add half a teaspoon of sugar to my coffee, but this one didn’t need it because it was already sweet (but not too sweet!)

Both blends and this subscription box were a collaboration Lit-Cube x Boca Java. When you go to Boca Java’s site you can create your own box including different blends (right now they have 7 different flavors). Also, for a limited time you get a FREE BAG OF OY! WITH THE SNICKERPOODLES when you subscribe to 2 or more bags. + Aaaaand, a 25% off your first purchase if you use the code POODLE25.

What did you think of these boxes? I fell like both Gilmore Girls boxes give a strong Fall vibe! I can smell pumpkin!

*Disclosure: As of writing this post I’m a Lit-Cube rep, which means I get free subscription boxes in exchange of an unboxing on my Instagram. I don’t get paid by Lit-Cube, I’m not obliged to review their boxes and all the comments are my own!

The post Litcube August 2017 Unboxing – Gilmore Girls, Coffee and Steampunk Wonderland appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

Also, as bookworm, the first thing I do when I want to get into a new hobby is getting a book. Forget all those free sources on the internet, I want to BUY books, and supplies and maybe join a club… before even learning to do the thing.

Well, while I was surfing Netgalley some weeks ago I noticed that I could request crafts books to review! And I thought ‘Well, I already have a million hobbies and almost no time for them…” And then immediately ignored myself and got 3 books with activities I wanted to try.

[A page from the book on the left. My practice pages with watercolor on the right.]

[A page from the book on the left. My practice page with a calligraphy pen on the right.]

I would totally recommend this book to hand-lettering begginers. Or to those who used to be kinda good at it when they were younger but don’t remember how they did it. Once you’re finished with the most basic exercises, you could go to the last section of the book which contains chalkboard art and watercolor ideas. And a really cute journal-ish section with 100 prompts to practice your hand-lettering. I have this book in digital format but I might get the physical version because of those prompts. I think the idea of filling the blank spaces in the book designed for practicing would inspire me to finish all the prompts!

Kawaii Doodle Class: Sketching Super-Cute Tacos, Sushi, Clouds, Flowers, Monsters, Cosmetics, and More

by Zainab Khan

[On the left: Book cover. On the right: Two examples of the doodle pages, I included the simplest and the most complicated I found]

This book was way too simple. It reminds me of children’s coloring books, those that come with activities and teach you how to draw simple things. But REALLY SIMPLE things. Since this was a “Doodle Class” I expected a more technical approach on how to make cute drawings. It would have been cool to get tips on how to choose color, line width, proportions, etc. Instead, it has 3 pages with Tips & Tricks like “use a mechanical pencil so you can erase your mistakes” or “add a face to make your drawing cute”. I think most of those tips were too simple even for kids.

[On the left: My notebook with some doodles I copied from the practice pages. On the right: Two pages from the book.]

Apart from the brief introduction to drawing doodles, this book is about 90% examples of doodles. It has a section of cute food with faces, another with cute nature with faces, or stationary with faces, and so on. I made some of those but I think my doodle skills didn’t change after the exercises. At most, I might have I learned a bit about perspective while drawing the sushi with a face (though the book didn’t explain anything about perspective, just tells you to copy the lines from the page). I think my favorite part of the book was the last section with some monster doodles. I thought those monsters were really cute and more original than just drawing food with faces. Also, at the very end it has some coloring pages and a couple of activities. (Too bad I have the ebook and not the printed version!)

[On the left: A doodle I made before reading the book. On the right: I edited my doodle following advice from the book]

Healthy Meal Prep: Time-Saving Plans to Prep and Portion Your Weekly Meals

by Stephanie F Tornatore, Adam W Bannon

The last book I got was Healthy Meal Prep by Stephanie Tornatore and Adam Bannon. And I know it might sound weird that I’m talking about meal prepping as a hobby, but it truly is! Cooking is one of my favorite things to do, and having a healthy cooking book makes me even more inspired! I also have been looking for healthy recipes lately, specially ones that I can make in advance in case I have a busy week.

If you’re looking for healthy, easy-to-make meals, you might like this book. UNLESS! Well, unless you hate eating the same thing 4 or 5 days in a row. I’m not a fan of meal prepping because most books/blogs tell you to prepare the same dish in a big quantity and then storing it in the fridge all week. And this book is not exception. It has great tips on how to save time while cooking, what to buy, how many calories are on each dish, etc. It even has a time table with a step-by-step page on how to cook 3 meals at the same time in about 1 hour. I though that was cool but I didn’t try it so I’m not sure how accurate it is.

[On the left: A page from the book. On the right: The Garlic Chicken I made! It was really good]

But I did try a couple of recipes! My favorite was the Garlic Chicken with Broccoli and Rice. I also liked the small section of the book on how to make some healthy sauces and dressings. I already went through all the recipes and would eat all of them (just not 5 days in a row). They don’t have weird or obscure ingredients and they’re simple to make. What I liked the most is that I can confidently make them in advance and store them in the fridge, since I know all the recipes were designed for that.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for sending me these digital books to review!

 Tell me if you also get books about your hobbies! Do you have a recommendation? Also, are you hungry after reading the words”Garlic Chicken”? Because I am.

The post Trying out new hobbies! 3 mini-book reviews appeared first on Pretty Geekery.

My cubicle’s drawers might have been bigger on the inside because they stored an impossible amount of junk, – you know, things I kept there for years “in case I needed them”? Like old Bic pens with leaked ink and a broken hole punch that only worked if a heavy person sat on it.

So even though my cubicle looked tidy, it was secretly a mess. A year later I found myself in a similar situation again when I moved to a new house. I needed two cars to carry the contents of my closet, bookshelves and desk only (leaked ink pens included). There wasn’t even a piece of furniture in there, only the small things.

That was the moment that made me consider I was hoarding too much stuff.

Too bad I hadn’t heard about The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up before moving out! I honestly think that it would have made my moving experiences way easier. And slightly less embarrassing.

Before starting my review I want to clarify: there are two versions of this Tidying Up book. The first one is the original book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.

The second one, the one I read, is The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story. This is a graphic novelization of the first book.

So, in other words, this second book is the same thing but with drawings. (And it was written by the same author).

In this story we follow Chiaki, a twenty-nine years old with a very cluttered apartment (and life). Hmmm, talk about connecting with a character.

So one day Chiaki hires Marie Kondo, the famous tidying consultant, to help her declutter her apartment. And the rest of the book is about Chiaki learning the “KonMari” tidying method and the impact it has in her life.

• It’s a visual summary of the “Konmari Method”.

  In the original book Marie Kondo explains her tidying strategy, which she calls the Konmari method. In the manga, Marie herself is one of the characters and she teaches her method to Chiaki in the course of ten days/chapters. At the end of each chapter, Chiaki has learned one lesson and we get to read a summary of what we went through in that chapter to take action.

  I also liked that each chapter focused on a different step of tidying, from getting in the right mindset to actually storing things. Some chapters were dedicated to specific kinds of clutter, like decluttering books, papers, clothes, etc.

  

• And the method actually worked for me!

  One of my favorite chapters was #3 Finish Discarding First, in which Marie advises Chiaki to throw out -or donate- the things she doesn’t want to keep. The focus is not “What to throw away” but “What do I want to keep?”. And it’s such a simple thing but this actually worked for me, especially when cleaning my closet. I sometimes keep clothes I never wear because when I see them I think “this is not old/stained/ugly enough to be thrown out“. After Marie’s advice, I cleaned my closet and focused on the things I like and need.

  In the end, my closet only has things that I actually wear, and so far it’s been nice wearing more cute clothes around the house.

  Also, I had two boxes in my closet dedicated to “just because” trinkets, like used batteries, spare buttons and old keychains. I almost kept my collection of spare buttons but Marie specifically mentioned in the manga “Have you ever replaced one button that came off?”. So… I threw them out. I did keep a few trinkets because they were gifts from friends and I really wanted to keep them.

• It has some tips to become more organized.

  I’m not sure if the original book has illustrations, but the manga has very cute pages with storage tips like how to fold clothes and how to store important papers. As visual learner I loved these little guides! I kept adding pointers to the pages that inspired me to organize my room, so I can find them easily the next time I’m cleaning.

• The “Does this spark joy?” thing.

  So, this is the most famous quote from the book, and I get where it comes from but… it still was a little too spiritual for me. In the chapters about choosing the stuff you want to keep, Marie advises to hold every object in your hands and ask yourself “does this spark joy?”. If it does, you get to keep it. If not, you should throw it out. (Of course this doesn’t apply to things you actually need to keep in order to live like a civilized human).

  This process also involves thanking the things for their service. Like showing your gratefulness to a sweater for keeping you warm. Or saying good-bye to an old pair of shoes and thanking them for protecting your feet. I know that showing gratefulness to your everyday tools is something they do in Japan (Marie Kondo is Japanese), but I didn’t find these bits useful. 

  However, I am grateful for the things I have and when my room is neat and clean it actually brings me joy, so I get how some people might appreciate this side of the book. Also, though joy is the basis of the Konmari method, this spiritual side can be totally ignored and the book would still be useful and en-joy-able.

  On the other hand, you could acknowledge these parts but tone them down a little as I did. So instead of saying “Does this t-shirt spark joy?” you could say “Is this cute enough to keep?” or “Would I wear this t-shirt in front of people?”. Whatever works for you!

• You have a cluttered room, house or office and want inspiration to declutter
• You have a bunch of clothes you haven’t worn in more than a year
• You have Bic pens with leaked ink in some drawer
• You like reading tips about cleaning and storage
• You want to have a more minimalistic space

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story by Marie Kondō.

Paperback. 182 pages. Published July 4th 2017 by Ten Speed Press.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. Thank you! I was actually going to buy it myself, hehe. It was really useful, inspiring and cute! I wish it was available in Spanish so I could get one for my little sister.

Let me know if you read it and what you thought about it!

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