Oven Barbecue Chicken Legs

 Hellooooo beautiful. Barbecue chicken legs should be their own food group. They're just so delicious, not to mention ridiculously easy to make. This is my all-time favorite barbecue chicken recipe, and I'm pretty sure that once you've tried it, it'll be yours too!

 Ingredients: 
12 thawed chicken legs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 cup BBQ sauce (I use Stubb's)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Rinse and pat dry the chicken and place it in a large roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.* Reduce heat to 375.
2. Remove chicken from the oven and brush - on both sides and liberally - with barbecue sauce. Put chicken back into the oven and cook for an extra 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush both sides with barbecue sauce again. Return pan to the oven for an additional 7-10 minutes until the barbecue sauce caramelizes and the chicken registers 170 F on a meat thermometer placed close to the bone. You can also slice the chicken close to the bone, and, if it's pink, cook it in 5 minute increments.  

* I am all about that barbecue life, so I usually take the chicken out after 15 minutes and apply the first coat of barbecue sauce. The more, the merrier! After that, just stick it back in the oven and proceed as usual.

Source:  The Frugal Chef

The Assassination Game - Alan Gratz

My life is basically a series of obsessive phases. One of the biggest was Star Trek. Not just any Star Trek, though; the Original Series with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of the gang. Saturday night was rerun night, and every week I'd plop myself down in front of the idiot box and watch the exciting adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. Next Generation is okay, but TOS was my first love. Despite the sometimes cheesy acting and low-budget special effects, Star Trek was revolutionary for its time, addressing controversial social issues and always envisioning a brighter future. I've amassed quite the Star Trek collection, especially since the release of the 2009 reboot, which I actually really liked for the most part. One of the results of the reboots is the Starfleet Academy series, which explores the crew's time at the Academy pre-Enterprise. There aren't very many, but the ones I've read so far have been pretty good!

James T. Kirk came to Starfleet Academy to live up to the reputation of his father, a first officer who was forced to take command while his ship was under attack and gave his life to save the crew. The responsibility he feels doesn't keep him from enjoying life at the Academy, though, especially when it comes to female cadets and the secretive rites that help students make a name for themselves. One such rite is the Assassination Game, a glorified version of tag in which players must get their target alone and touch them with a standard-issue Starfleet Academy spork, the victor of which inherits their target's target and so on until there is only one cadet left standing. Hoping to earn some respect and gain the admiration of the fairer sex, Kirk undertakes the game with excitement. It's hard enough to get by under normal circumstances, but it gets even harder when Kirk is assigned to be the personal security guard of the Varkolak, a wolf-like species that is visiting Earth to attend a medical convention and demonstrate goodwill after a period of tenuous relations with the Federation. The distrust surrounding the wild race makes Kirk's job even more difficult, especially when it appears as if there's a terrorist on campus targeting the medical convention. One attack is followed by another and the evidence starts to pile up against the Varkolak, who insist they are innocent.

Meanwhile, Cadets Sulu and Uhura find themselves being invited to join a secret society called the Graviton Society and help preserve the safety of the Federation at whatever cost. But some strange occurrences within the society seem to be related to the recent terrorist attacks, and the cadets are increasingly suspicious of the supposedly beneficent group. With the help of Commander Spock, also a member of the society, they try to uncover a mole in the system.While Kirk, Sulu, Uhura, and Spock are busy getting a piece of the action, Doctor McCoy has finally managed to overcome the slump he's been experiencing as a result of the nasty divorce from his wife and has had his eye drawn to Nadja Luther. Just when it seems like their relationship is starting to progress, McCoy is arrested for possible involvement in the attacks. As the clock starts to tick down for the terrorist's target, our cadets try to unravel the intricate plot and reveal the perpetrator of the real Assassination Game before it's too late.

I usually get a little irate when people try to come up with reboots of things I really like; it makes it seem like they didn't think the original was good enough. That being said, I own all of the Starfleet Academy books that have been released so far, which should demonstrate how much I like them. In the original series, we really don't get a ton of information about the Academy days, so it's really fun to explore them through the novels. One thing I don't like is how they change significant parts of the storyline; in the reboot, Spock and Uhura are in a relationship, which was extremely weird at first and still hasn't lost all of its weirdness. If you don't like pushy, cocky characters, you might think Kirk is a little annoying, but he comes across in a pretty humorous way. Also, the main plot and subplots can get a little mixed if you're not paying attention. Aside from that, if you're a Star Trek fan, I'd definitely recommend it, but be aware of the deviations so you don't almost have a heart attack like I did the first time around! If you're not a Star Trek fan, you can still enjoy the novel with the added bonus of not knowing what's canon.

Pros:

• Star Trek! 
• The Assassination Game (the spork-tag version) is a constant source of humor, especially when paired with Kirk's antics 
•  The plot is more intricate than it appears at first glance so you're kept guessing and addresses some societal issues that pertain to us today

Cons:

• The reboots deviate from the Original Series in some pretty significant ways, which can be a bit of holdup if you're a die-hard fan
•  Kirk's personality can be a little grating after a while (how many times can we read him trying to pick up a girl before it gets old?)
• Sometimes the plot can be a little too intricate and you lose the thread

In case you haven't seen the reboot, here's a trailer for the first one that came out in 2009. Who doesn't like trailers?

Diamond Boy - Michael Williams

Patson Moyo has lived in Bulawayo for all of his life with his little sister, Grace, and his parents. When their mother dies, Patson's father, Joseph, remarries "the Wife", a selfish, uncaring woman whose greatest desire is to live in the lap of luxury. Joseph struggles to make ends meet for his family with various teaching positions, but, despite being one of the best teachers available in the area, the government is unable to pay him anything of worth. The Wife receives a message from her brother James Banda in Marange, where he runs a diamond mining operation. Soon, she has convinced Joseph that, unless they want to starve to death, they must go to Marange. Believing he has secured a teaching position there, Joseph concedes and they begin the trek to the mining fields. Before they have even reached the fields, trouble strikes; the driver James hired to bring them to Marange abandons them on the edge of the fields and insists they go through the bush to avoid the police roadblocks. They enlist the help of Boubacar, a rough-looking Congonese man, to make it through the wilderness. On the way, they are forced to hide from murderous soldiers who are patrolling the outskirts of the fields; it is only through pure chance that they run into a member of the Banda family, who is able to escort them to the mining operations hub. The Wife is happily received, but after their initial welcome, the rest of the Moyo family is moved from the main house into tobacco sheds.

Although the original plan was for Patson and Grace to attend school while Joseph taught, they soon find that the school has been closed down and overrun by a different kind of "school" run by women. Stuck in Marange with no way of providing for themselves, they realize the only way they will survive is to become diamond miners themselves. Patson is eager to mine, knowing he can find a girazi, a pure diamond, and change his family's fate. Eventually, he is accepted into a gwejana syndicate with other young miners, each of which smuggles ngodas, small industrial diamonds, out of the fields when they are able. With the help of Boubacar, Patson is able to sell them and divvy up the proceeds to members of the syndicate. Getting caught withholding diamonds from James Banda has serious consequences, so when Patson finds his first girazi, he carefully hides it away. Then the soldiers come.

When the government realizes how much money is leaving the country in the form of precious diamonds, they send Commander Jesus, a ruthless taskmaster, to take over Banda Hill and the surrounding fields. When he and the soldiers arrive, they kill many of the miners and force the rest to continue searching for diamonds. With his father assumed dead and his sister being held up at the main house, Patson finds his second girazi, managing again to avoid detection. The gwejana syndicate makes plans to escape, all except for Patson and Arves, Patson's best friend who lives with HIV and has become very sick due to the withholding of his medication. While the rest of the syndicate escapes, Patson goes to get the medication that keeps Arves alive. After he returns, he finds yet another girazi, but this time he won't go unnoticed. Commander Jesus forces Patson out of the fields and into a trap where he is severely injured. Through the persistence of Boubacar, he manages to escape, but the injury has left him debilitated. Now, with nothing but the thought of rescuing his sister to sustain him, Patson must try to avoid the greedy commander and track his sister with Boubacar's help.

I could not put this book down. It had been sitting on my shelf for a while, and I finally decided to pick it up. I wasn't expecting much, but boy was I surprised! Despite being more of a fantasy/mystery reader, I was drawn in by the promise of hope that led Patson and his family (except the Wife, because she is one evil witch). Patson's journey, both geographically and mentally, is so engaging that you can't help but sympathize with him. To make it even more interesting, the diamond fields of Marange are real and just as ruthless as those in the novel. I read up a little on the subject and what went on there is truly frightening. I will say that this is a very intense read; James Banda is a tyrant from the start, one of the characters struggles with HIV, and there is a lot of physical violence. Plot-wise, it does stretch out quite a bit, and there are some jumps that are a little hard to follow. I've also read that it inaccurately reflects real life in Zimbabwe, painting a much more gruesome picture of the culture and government than is actually the case, but since I don't know enough on the topic, I'll withhold any comment.

Pros:

• Historically based story
• Character arc is through the roof
• Engaging 

Cons:

•  Might be a little intense for younger readers
• Some plot incongruity
• Brief instance of strong language

Lemon Bars

After futilely raiding the cabinets for an evening snack, I pulled this recipe out of a Southern Living cookbook I got at a garage sale. When all was said and done, it was about 11 PM, so imagine my surprise when I got up the next morning to find that literally half of it was gone already. I think it's safe to say my family liked it; even my "I don't even want to smell it if it contains anything remotely resembling fruit" sister loved it. Although I've never made a tart-ish thing like this, it still turned out really well! It's 50% shortbread style crust and 50% creamy, delicious lemon filling. Maybe like .005% powdered sugar on top, if you're really counting. Apologies for the semi-vague picture, but there wasn't much left for a photo shoot!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar, divided
1 cup cold butter, cut up
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. 
2. Spoon flour mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan; press into pan evenly and firmly, using fingertips. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Combine 1/2 cup flour and baking powder; set aside. Combine eggs, 2 cups sugar, and lemon juice; beat well. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture, and pour over crust.
4. Bake at 350 F for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and cut into bars.

Source: Southern Living: All Time Favorites

A brief tangent - I can't even think of lemon bars without thinking of Nancy Drew, and since this is also a book blog, it all works out okay in the end. Nancy's housekeeper, Hannah, is apparently famous for her lemon bars, something that comes up in the 2007 movie when she randomly pulls them out of her bag in perfect little tins to distribute to unsuspecting informants. It's actually a pretty good movie, if a little cheesy. At the very least, it's got plenty of humor, some of which you can see in the trailer below.

Sweet 'n Spicy Pork Chops

Mmmmm... pork chops. It's only recently that I've discovered a feeling other than hatred for pork chops. The meaty slabs of my youth were bland, tough, and always curled up on themselves, making them unappetizing and hard to eat. But now I've seen the light. With the right seasoning and cooking technique, pork chops can be good! In fact, they can be great! This recipe is one of my favorites; the chops come out sweet and a little spicy, but always juicy!

Ingredients: 
2 boneless pork loin chops (1/2 inch thick and 4 ounces each)
Dash of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard

Directions:

1. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil chops 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes. 
2. Combine the remaining ingredients. Turn chops; spread with brown sugar mixture. Broil 5-8 minutes longer or until juices run clear. Serves 2.

Source: Taste of Home - Simple & Delicious Cookbook