Chocolate Caramel Streusel Bars

Thank you for all the wonderful thoughts and prayers for my family. It's been quite a week. Can you believe I haven't baked anything in 2 weekends??? That's got to be a record for us! Good thing I had this one done a couple of weeks ago...

How is it that most of my posts are of desserts? I mean, it's not like we don't eat other things. I do cook every day for my kids. Why don't I post those things? I'll work on that. But until then, I have another fantastic cookie bar recipe for you. I found this one in my Favorite name Brand Eagle Brand Cookies and Bars Cookbook. I also got the recipe for my Two-Tone Cheesecake Bars from this one and those were amazing. This one didn't disappoint either. It was yummy!

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup cold butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped nuts (any kind)
24 caramels, unwrapped
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and egg. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts.
- Reserve 2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining mixture firmly on bottom of greased pan. I used a 13x9 but then had to double this recipe. So next time I would use an 8x8 pan.


- In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt caramels and remaining 1/4 cup butter with sweetened condensed milk.

- Pour over crust. - Top with remaining crumb mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
- Cool

Chocolate Caramel Bars (this is what I made) -
Melt 2 (1 ounce) squares of unsweetened chocolate with caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter. Proceed as directed above.


Enjoy!

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Saying Good Bye To An Amazing Man

It feels a little unreal that I am even sitting here typing this. The reality that my Grandfather passed away on Monday hasn't even sunk in. So I'm typing this in a bit of a fog. Wondering what to write and how to pay proper tribute to a man that was more than just a great man. Cliff Stewart was more than just my Grandfather - he was my hero. And I will miss him every single day.

I pray that my amazing Grandmother finds the strength and the will to live each day with out him by her side. I can't even being to imagine what that would be like.

My kids were so blessed to have their Great Grampa Cliff in their lives.

I will forever remember the stories of how he grew up in a small town in Canada, the story of how he and my Grandmother met, the poems that he could recite word for word and with a speaking voice that was melodic and comforting. I will remember the Bumbleberry Inn story he used to read to me every Christmas Eve and I will pass that tradition on to my children and their children. I will think of him everytime I see licorice allsorts and old fashioned donuts.

His laugh was contagious, his smile was full of love.

I will miss you Grampa. Thank you for being such an amazing role model for me.

Two-Tone Cheesecake Bars

Does this scream yum or what? When I was flipping through my cookbooks in search of something delicious and not everywhere in blog land to make I knew this was it. It was just what my taste buds were craving. And I'm oh so glad I made it too. Talk about deliciously delicious!

This recipe came from my Favorite Brand Name Eagle brand 3 Books in 1 Cookbook. How can you go wrong with a name like that, right?

Ingredients:
* 2 cups finely crushed creme filled chocolate sandwich cookies (about 24 cookies)

* 3 Tbsp. butter, melted

* 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

* 3 eggs

* 2 tsp. vanilla

* 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

* Chocolate glaze (recipe below)

- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

- In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Does everyone else have this problem when they put cookie crumbs in the food processor? Holy smokes, what a mess I made!

- Press into an ungreased 9 x 13 inch pan. (Little helpers are perfect for this part!)

- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth.

- Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

- Pour half of the batter over the cookie crust.- Stir melted chocolate into the remaining batter; spoon evenly over plain batter.

- Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until set. Cool. - Top with chocolate glaze.

- Chill. Store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Glaze

* 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate

* 2 Tbsp. butter

* dash salt

* 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

* 3 Tbsp. hot water or cream

- In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and add water or cream and powdered sugar; mix well.

- Immediately spread over cheesecake.

If you like cheesecake you will LOVE these bars!

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O' Henry (Where Have You Been All My Life) Bars

Would you be surprised if I said "I was craving something sweet earlier today"? You shouldn't be. I'm in love with sweets. We have a great relationship. I make them, then eat them and they make me happy. See how that works? =o)

I wanted something yummy so I went flipping through my "I need to make all these great things" book. It's huge by the way. Seriously! If I make everything before I die (and I'm planning on living until I'm at least 100) it will be a miracle. But these stood out as super yummy and perfect for what I was craving. O'Henry Bars. Yummy, right? I found these awhile back over on Mine For The Making.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup light Karo syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup peanuts (not chopped) I didn't have any peanuts =o( so we didn't add these
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 3 cups Rice Krispies
- 1 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 12 ounce bag of butterscotch chips

Steps:
- Stir together the sugar and Karo syrup. Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Add peanuts and peanut butter and stir. Microwave another 1 minute.
- Stir in Rice Krispies until combined really well.
- Spread out onto a greased 9x13 pan- In a separate bowl, add chocolate and butterscotch chips. Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Stir until well blended and spread over mixture in the pan.- Let cool.
- Enjoy! (this is the easy part!)

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Perfect Birthday Gift When 30 Sucks

A friend at work turned 30 this year. 30! That feels like forever ago. But she was kind of stressing that she was getting so old. It just made me laugh =o)

This is what we made her for her birthday. Cute, right? I found this idea over on the Cricut website.  I just love that site for ideas.

I bought a simple container at the Dollar Store.  You can use anything.  I added floral foam to the container and them poked suckers in it.  30 to be exact =o) 

Easy peasy!



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Free Entertainment and I Can't Stop Laughing

This is what we do when we are bored. It's free and totally entertaining. Yep, we take weird and goofy pictures of ourselves and laugh until we cry. Seriously, how could we not after looking at these.

We took them in Photo Booth. Do you have that program? I'm not sure if it's a PC this or just a MAC thing. We have the program at my work and every single time it makes me laugh.

So, here we are... foxy aren't we?!






But sheesh - look at those cute kids of mine...



Okay, who am I kidding. I'm just a kid at heart. I love this program!






What made you laugh today???

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

I love Beef Stroganoff. It's comfort food for me. And for some strange reason I am craving comfort food right now. So when I saw this recipe it spoke to me! I mean really. Just look at it! How could it not be love at first sight?!?!

Ingredients:
1 lb stewing beef (or steak)

1 (10.75 oz.) can Cream of mushroom soup

1 (8 oz) container of mushrooms, sliced

½ medium sweet onion, chopped

1/3 cup water

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ block cream cheese (4 oz.)

In your crock pot, combine all ingredients except for the cream cheese.

Cook on low for about 8 hours.

Before serving, mix in cream cheese and cover for a few minutes until mixture warms through and cream cheese melts.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Enjoy

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Chocolate Chip Cookies Valentine'd Up

My daughter's request for Valentine's Day was sugar cookies. My son's? Chocolate chip cookies. Not very Valentiney sounding right? Well, if only my children's requests were simple =o) No way, not in our house. His actual request was "chocolate chip cookies with red dough shaped like hearts." When I just stared at him he then added "yeah, you can do it. Then you can put it on your blog." Do my kids know me or what???

So we made chocolate chip cookie dough. I used the Toll House Recipe on the back of the bag. I always thought it was my favorite but now I'm looking for another one. I still think it tastes great but after a couple of days they don't taste fresh anymore. Maybe because I use butter??? I want chewy (not hard) and delicious. Any suggestions???

I added red food coloring and then scooped the cookie dough onto my silpat. (Please no comments on how yucky looking it looks. But that means it's seasoned, right???) That's what I keep telling myself.


When they were done I let them cool for about 3 minutes and then used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut them out. Viola! Chocolate chip cookies with red dough shaped like hearts. =o)

Horizon Organic Milk and a Sweet Deal

Do you or your kids drink Horizon Organic Products? My kids love it! The first time they tried the vanilla milk was at Starbucks. I paid a fortune for it there but did because it was a treat. Of course they loved it. They always love things that cost a ton of money. =o)

The other day I saw that Safeway (the grocery store here in town) also carried these. They sell them for $1.49 which, to me, is a lot for a single serving of milk. Of course I'll pay that for a giant soda but milk, come on. (Where is the logic there, I know.) So I didn't buy them.

Then they went on sale for $1 each. Okay, that's a little better. So I bought a couple of them and my kids slurped them down instantly.

Then I found a coupon for $1 off here. Ummmm... $1 off? That would make them free. I'm all about free. So I printed some of them off and went to the store. And went to the store... and went to the store.... You get the picture. We now have a fridge full of these and my kids are in hog heaven!

I found some other great coupons out there that I thought I would share.

Who doesn't need chocolate chips? And for us, Toll House is the only way to go. I found a coupon for 50 cents off 2 bags here. (And they are on sale at Safeway for $1.99. After I doubled it they were $1.49 each. Much better, thank you!
And my son says there's nothing better than Tree Top Applesauce. So how about $1.00 off any 2 Tree Top Products. I found it here. Again, thank you very much!

Milky Way Stuffed Sugar Cookies

My daughter requested that I make her more sugar cookies. She ate all the ones that we made and has decided they are now her favorite cookie. Her request... "heart shaped cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles". So.... we made more sugar cookies with Sue's amazing sugar cookie dough recipe. (Now my most favorite sugar cookie recipe.) But I wanted to make something new too. So I came up with this - Milky Way Stuffed Sugar Cookies. What do you think?

I remember seeing something like this around Christmastime and the blogger called it a pillow cookie. I believe they filled their cookies with jam or maybe chocolate chip cookie dough. (Both sound amazing!) But for the life of me I can't remember who it was. I am sorry if you are reading this and thinking "sheesh, don't steal my idea and not give me credit for it!)

I rolled out my sugar cookie dough (wishing I had those fancy things you put on your rollers so your dough is all the same thickness.)

I placed a Milky Way on one of the heart cookies and placed another heart shape over the top.
Smash the ends down with a fork and bake in a 350 degree over for about 10 minutes.


Of course I had to drizzle milk chocolate on them. Everything is better with milk chocolate, right?

Here's one cut in half. Oh yeah - heaven!

I thought the next time I made these I would use Rolos. Because I love Rolos! Or maybe even raspberry jelly. Wouldn't that be tasty?!?!

Enjoy!

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