Sundays with Joy/Brown Butter Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats

I’ve just been trying to get back into the swing of things. After the long weekend last week, then my two Gally posts, then my igamemom post, then I made these crispy rice treats, and then it was Oscar Sunday and I had my party. It was a big turnout this year. Instead of just my friend and I we became five this year.  Exciting!  It was also the first time I asked my oldest to watch the babies upstairs with monetary compensation.  She did alright.  Next time I will stipulate that she must also help me get ready for the party if she wants to see any cash.  But the main goal was to keep the babies’ (please realize they are 4 and 5, but my babies) visits downstairs to a handful a piece and that goal was met.

Butter browning, then with added peanut butter and marshmallows.

No cash actually exchanged hands, mind you.  I promised a $10 transfer to her bank account and $10 cash but she had been bugging me about going to the comic book store for a few weeks so yesterday I ended up buying her $12 of books and we finally got put on a “pull list” for her comics.  We actually had a really great time just looking around and seeing all the stuff that was available and what she was into.  All this was after having a breakfast date with the husband while my son was in preschool.  We ate and I thought we were going to go home and I was going to write this post but then we went to the mall and did some shopping. And I’m sorry but I must admit it, I am really glad this post is even later than I was anticipating because we had a really nice time.  The girls got out of school early and then my oldest and I went on our comic book excursion.  The girls had dance after that and while we were gone my husband got the names for our daughter’s spring soccer team.  To me, it is so adorable when my husband has to talk to parents and stuff since he is normally really shy with new people.  It was also just nice to see him so excited for a change.  The only thing that could have made yesterday better was capping off dinner with one of these.  Sadly, we finished them off almost a week ago now.  Time to buy some more cereal…!

Sadly, I don’t think I will be having an Oscar post this year.  I asked one of my guests to bring the appetizers and I just made a simple roast.  I made a lovely cake but it was only 85% of what I wanted.  I know what I want to do to fix it but I need a break from chocolate cake.  That one was like the third in about a month.  I’ll leave a sneak peak at the bottom of the post.  However, if you’d like the recipe for these treats all you need to do is buy Joy’s Cookbook.  Also, don’t forget to check out Bakeaholic Mama for variations.  I’ll just say someone dipped them in chocolate…

For my GeekyLink this week, well, its me!  Here is my first post for igamemom!  I am so excited that I started this and yes, the particular app I reviewed Game For Two, is totally addictive (Tiles, I can’t quit you, and medium is even BETTER than easy!).  It looks like I’ll only be posting every other week, at least till after soccer season and the girls’ dance recital (dang you real life!) but please check it out!  Also the best video I have seen recapping Gallifrey One 2013.  Thank the kid for finding this one.  And yep, I realize I still owe her $8.

Look! Proof I can make a pretty ganache. Unlike my last attempt.

Sundays with Joy/Strawberry Lemon Bars (Lavender Lemon Bars)

Well, who can find lavender on a couple of days notice?  Not me anyway.  I went to a couple of places.  I made a few calls.  No luck.  I ended up adapting the recipe to make Strawberry Lemon Bars.  That wasn’t my only issue.

The other issue was my pictures.  I just didn’t like any of them.  Lately they are hit and miss because I am trying to get used to my husband’s camera.  Mine, although it was just a simple point and shoot, I miss because I knew HOW to take good pictures with it.  I had to stop using mine because after too many trips to the beach, it started to get spots behind the lens and they had begun to show up in pictures.  I have no idea how to take pictures with his camera and I am in the middle of trying to figure it out.  Plus, good light has been hard to come by lately.  Bear with me people…

Before baking and after baking…

Back to the bars, I couldn’t find lavender and I had bought strawberries with my weekly groceries without a specific purpose in mind for them and that never happens.  So I was like well, I have something extra lying around that I could use in this recipe.  The strawberry added a nice sweet element to the bar.  I do wish I had found some lavender to try it Joy’s way, though.  That’s what happens till you wait till the last minute to make your recipe.  All I did to change the recipe was to omit the lavender in the crust and used 1/4 cup strawberry puree and 1/4 cup lemon juice for the 1/2 cup lemon juice.  Then I diced up about 4 or 5 strawberries and sprinkled them onto the filling before I baked it.  With the powdered sugar on top, it was like a pink lemonade bar.  If you’d like the recipe, be sure to buy Joy’s cookbook.  Don’t forget to check out other adaptations over at Bakeaholic Mama.

My GeekyLink seems so super awesome I almost didn’t want to tell you for fear you would take my spot, because this is happening: Wanted: Mars Colonists to Explore Red Planet.  Except that if you keep reading you learn the selection process is going to be a REALITY show!  What a great way to make something wonderful and pure and almost magical (y’know except for all the science) into something gross.  I don’t like this AT ALL.  In other bittersweet news we have Fringe.  Next Friday, Fringe will air their last two episodes back to back.  While I am super bummed that Fringe is ending, they prepared us fans well in advance so I shouldn’t despair too much once it is over.  Let’s also not forget that the Science Channel is still airing old episodes.  What got me excited, though, for the last two episodes is that we get to see the crew from the redverse in the finale.  I totally shrieked when I saw Fauxlivia and Lincoln!

Sundays with Joy/Orange Gingerbread Squares with Cream Cheese Frosting

The quest for this cake began early last week when one of our group had an overflow making this cake and the group was trying to figure out what went wrong (if anything) in this fabulous concoction.  The group determined that pretty much it was just the variance in depth of pans and such.  So I was good to go.  My 8×8 pan has two edges that come out too, so I figured if there was any spillage, it would most likely rest on those edges and not spill over.

Curiouser…

Well, I was wrong.  I didn’t have a big spill at all but any spill in an oven needs to be taken care of right away or else SMOKE EVERYWHERE!  Unfortunately for me, the minute or two it took to carefully pick up the spill resulted in a deflated cake.  I saw it.  It was all nice and baking and as I go to close the oven door when I was done with the spill, I saw my middle sink.  And then so did my heart.  There was no doubt I was going to make it again because well, this particular cake just looks perfect and takes the most perfect picture.  I wanted that opportunity.  Then after I took my ruined cake out of the pan well of course I nibbled.  My idea of the kind of cakes I like would NEVER be the same.  My Top 5 took a turn.  This is just an impossible cake not to love.

…and curiouser…

Let me tell you, while making this cake I was VERY skeptical.  The dough is super dark.  The molasses made it smell funny.  Honey, and sugar, AND molasses?  I made a few faces.  I harbored some doubt.  Even with the icing I wasn’t too sure because I don’t really like cream cheese icing but I had skipped it before for the Zucchini Cream Cheese Pound Cake so I figured I’d better go all in.  I really cannot express to you how glad I am that I did.  On the one hand with baking and receiving cookies for the Cookie Swap so I am chock full of cookies right now, I should skip the cake.  But I just can’t.  The cake has a spice that is so spot on and with the frosting?!  Oh my goodness!  This is one of those cakes where you take your fork down the side of the cake for that perfect bite because it is there EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  Joy really should call this cake the Perfect Bite Cake.  It just is.

Hmmm…

My only issue was that I didn’t have quite enough orange zest for the second cake.  I only had about half left of what the recipe called for.  But don’t worry it is great either way however I did enjoy the cake with the correct amount of zest a bit more.  It really makes the cake sing.  Yes sing.  Also, if you are worried about spillage just eyeball it and if your batter comes up more than halfway up the sides of your pan well then stop pouring and put the rest in another small pan to bake along with the 8×8.  If you would like this incredibly fantastic recipe, please buy Joy’s eye opening cookbook!  This week our link roundup is going to be over at Indigo Scones so check out everyone’s adaptations and pictures of the cake that is just screaming to be photographed.

My GeekyLink today is going to be all about Fringe.  Last week they had a Wrap Party (with pictures and Seth Gabel!) for the series and to celebrate its 100th episode.  I only have about 45 days left till the finale on January 18th.  I am in super bummed mode because there hasn’t been a new episode in two weeks.  Luckily there will be one this Friday but with the end looming and my lack of current episodes, I just don’t know what to do with myself.  Oh yeah, watch old episodes of Fringe on the Science Channel, right!

Yum!

Chewy Blondies and Running Out of Time

I only had to make these twice.  No fault of my own, I made my adaptations and they were good and all would have been fine but my daughter had her soccer party the night I made these and time ran out and I couldn’t finish baking them.  However, remember when I talked about happy accidents?  The same thing here.  I added 3/4 of the add ins called for in this recipe and even with the undercooked batch I HAD to taste them.   I realized that there still were too many for me.  I really wanted to go for more of a “plain” blondie.  I love these now and am super glad I had the opportunity to adjust them!

Man, time is just getting away from me lately.  I made the blondies last week.  I wanted to post on Sunday but it just didn’t happen.  Last week was filled with trimester awards for my girls during the week and early morning participating in the 100 Mile Club.  They run for about 30 minutes but I have to stay there and walk my kindergardener to class because they start 10 minutes before the rest of the school and that is about 2-3 laps that her big sister would be behind.  The girls had Friday and Monday off and those were big work days for me and the kids.  Friday, I gave the girls a list of things to get done and all the kids and I cleaned the house.  Saturday, as always, is soccer.  Even though my daughter’s season just ended I still have two nephews that I gotta see through to playoffs!  Sunday we rented movies and stayed in but that day I tried to rest.  Monday was awesome!  My son’s preschool was still open and so I took him to school but then I took my girls to breakfast.  I had no business spending that kind of money on breakfast (I mean Christmas is coming up for goodness sake) but one thing my mom taught me is no matter how much money we didn’t have, we always had money when an opportunity to do something special came up.  Justin called us during breakfast wondering where we were and he understood.  He didn’t even make me bring him breakfast back.

The picture on the left is with one cup of chocolate and butterscotch chips and walnuts EACH. On the right is the one I prefer with just a half cup of each.

On the way back home, we returned our movies and rented Just Dance 4.  It is killing the 9 year old that we don’t have it yet and after the kids played it for awhile, it is kind of killing me too.  I actually haven’t gotten to play it yet and we kept it an extra day.  I need to sneak a session in because I have to return it today.

O yeah, did your realize Thanksgiving is next week?  Let’s just say at some point this week I realized it and began to panic just a little bit.  So I will have this week’s Sundays with Joy and that will probably be it till after Thanksgiving and then I can show you all the things I am making for that.  If you want a sneak peek of some of what I may be making, check out my This Week board on my Pinterest page.  There is one more pie that is in a cookbook that I am especially making for my dad, but other than that the board has all that I hope to bake for Thanksgiving.  I actually think I might get to make desserts this year!  Usually I get rolls, which if you know how much I am in LOVE with bread is not a bad thing either.  Speaking of bread, I believe my sourdough starter is finally done and I am making a sponge tonight and my first sourdough of the fall tomorrow!!!   I really want to make a sandwich with it but we have all gone so long without it that I do believe we will just tear into it and eat it outright.  I can’t wait!

Yes, I brought up Christmas earlier.  Your GeekyLinks today, add to my growing frustration over what to get my oldest.  Not that I don’t know what to get her, I know EVERYTHING to get her.  It is hard not to JUST BUY ALL THE THINGS!  So here now, in addition to Doctor Who stuff, My Little Pony stuff, she wants “real” Legos (we’ve got buttloads of Duplos for the under 6 set) are some gifts that cater to her love of reading.  Also, when we got our iPad, all my husband used it for was to read.  Now he plays an annoying soccer game that he is always yelling at so to get him back to reading I think I am going to get him some gift cards for eBooks.  Last year, he had a big list of books he wanted but I gotta pay attention right now to determine what he wants this year.

Pineapple Coconut Bars

I am not ready for fall.  I usually LOVE it.  I don’t know what my problem is.  I was so mad at my husband the other day for getting out the Halloween decorations and he even put them up.  OK, mostly I was mad that he didn’t put everything up and now there is a box in the middle of my living room that the two little ones have been getting into but, I digress…

Everybody is posting pumpkin recipes and recipes with lots of cinnamon and spice and…I’m just not there yet.  Maybe I’m just unsatisfied with myself that I didn’t try as many new recipes during the summer that I would’ve liked, maybe it’s only because it is still too darn hot in So Cal, I don’t know.  It’s not that I don’t like pumpkin.  I would’ve said I didn’t a few years ago but then I found a recipe that slowly made me appreciate it and it evolved into making my own pumpkin pies and really loving them.  Whereas years earlier if I ever ate a slice of pumpkin pie it would be for the mountain of whipped cream that I would plop on top to go with it.

Crust, then with the first thin layer of topping, and then…all done.

I don’t know.  Does it sound like I am trying to convince myself to “get into” fall?  Maybe so.  But when my local supermarket had pineapple on sale last week, that meant I still had a week to avoid it.  I went full on tropical summer vacation with this one.  I used the crust from those Scarlet O’Hara Pecan Pie Bars that I had made before.  If I had thought more ahead I would have put macadamia nuts in the crust instead of the pecans but the crust was still as lovely as I remember.  The topping was nice and sweet without much additional sugar either, just lovely and pretty easy too.

My GeekyLink for today is something that I had never heard of before this week.  But luckily for me, I am on Twitter and follow lots of people that live in the U.K.  Everyone this week was tweeting about a show called Red Dwarf.  From their website, “First broadcast in 1988, Red Dwarf is a half-hour science-fiction sit-com.”  Hmm…with new episodes…?  I just might have to get on this train.

Also, I am working on a Recipe Index so be on the lookout for it!

Sundays with Joy/S’mores Brownies and Frickin Mars!!!

Yadda, yadda, yadda mmmm yummy brownies.  Duh.  I can’t concentrate on anything today.  I am waiting for 10:31 PM PST.  I am waiting for it ALL DAY!  You have no idea how hard it is to write this post.  I just want to get my chores done for the day (which hopefully includes packing my girls to go away with their grandparents for 5 days, daddy is being a big baby about it) and spend the rest of the day searching for links or watching updates.  Breaking Bad?  I can DVR it and watch it tomorrow.  To prep for tonight I think I may watch my favorite episode of From the Earth to the Moon That’s All There Is (watch the first minute of this clip and you’ll get a feel for the whole episode).  Dave Foley, an all Navy crew (my husband was in the Navy) what else could you want?  Maybe Mars instead of the Moon but…whatever, space is awesome!  That episode is the main reason I love that series.  Ahhh, I can’t wait!  I hope it all goes well.

So if you haven’t guessed, this post is going to all be GeekyLinks and unfortunately not give enough attention to Joy’s fabulous S’mores Brownies.  But what else do you need to know except that they are S’mores Brownies!

So to start off did you know the Curiosty Rover has its own twitter handle?  Yup, @MarsCuriosity in case you were wondering.  There was already a Prelanding Update earlier this morning so check it out.  I have only seen a bit but believe me, that is what I am doing after I am finished writing this post.  Also, awesome astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of StarTalk (@neiltyson) actually had a twitter conversation with the rover yesterday and luckily the whole exchange survives on the internet.

NASA has released a few videos on the whole thing (no doubt they will be shown during the NASA JPL open house next year).  One narrated by Wil Wheaton who I now hate because of the envy in my heart at the fact that he will be at JPL for the landing.  I guess that is a perk of doing a voice over for NASA, whatever.  So get down with the excitement and the tension (my fingers are crossed so hard for this thing that I can’t type)!  Also, if you are reading this and are asking What Makes “Curiosity” Different from Other Rovers?, watch this and find out!  And watch the whole thing tonight (or early tomorrow morning depending on where you are) on NASA TV or on Ustream.

As always if you want the recipe for the brownies please buy Joy’s Cookbook.  I am not sure about the rest of the groups links, one of our group administrators had some technical difficulties this week so I will update the post if we get something up.  I hope you have a great night and I hope it involves staying up late and watching history!

Our Summer Days Are Numbered

Scarlett O’Hara Pecan Bars

I baked two things earlier this week but nothing I felt was good enough to share, sorry.  So I am bringing you a few things I made for my brother-in-law’s 40th we celebrated in June and a couple things I made my dad for his birthday yesterday.  Not my recipes but some pretty pics and some things to share.  First up, my sister and brother-in-law have my firstborn and have kept her almost a week, galavanting up and down the state of California (with two days in Nevada to visit my brother) and I am deep in the throes of missing her but she doesn’t get home till late tomorrow.  My husband is worse off than I am, with her siblings barely noticing.  I completely trust them but they haven’t posted many pictures and yesterday we didn’t get any.  My husband asked me three times yesterday, “Any new pictures of Angela?”

Making Pecan Bars…

Especially for my oldest, this summer has been the greatest for us as a family so far.  We couldn’t do much in June because of all the prep work for the girls’ recital (they haven’t gone back to dance once yet, it has been a nice break for all of us).  I fit in a trip to Knott’s before recital week because I knew we would be stuck not doing anything for awhile.  Then we went camping and the week after my husband had jury duty.  It lasted about a week and a half.  We didn’t do anything then because well, it was the first time my husband had a 9-5 type schedule since, well, ever.  It was nice to have him home during the evenings plus there was always the chance he might come home early.  Once that was all over, we made it a point to do something with the kids on his days off.  We went to the mountains (to play in the streams), the beach, Knott’s Berry Farm, and planning a return trip to both the mountains and the beach for their last two weeks off (yes, two weeks!).  By ourselves, the kids and I went to a few movies and Soak City and had a few lawn sprinkler and kiddie pool days.

Birthday Desserts and my first frosting rose!

My husband thinks they are doing too much.  It doesn’t help that the girls are already planning to spend the night at my aunt’s house next week.  I feel like we need to make up for last summer where we kept saying we were going to do stuff and we just let the summer slip by (to be fair, last summer was the summer of girls down the street coming over EVERY day).  Luckily for me, I already have my girls ready for school in the clothes department.  That is what I did while the 9 year old was gone.  She is not a shopper.  I do have to make a doctor’s appointment for Bob so we can have him start preschool in the fall, Angela needs some new glasses, both girls need haircuts and other than that we are all set.  Despite the fact that we have been operating on limited funds over the summer (thanks again Sally cat!) it has been a really great summer with lots of good times with the kiddos.

Zucchini Squares

Finally, some GeekyLinks from Comic Con.  Mostly, if you wanna see some cool panels check out GeekNation.  They have videos from quite a few panels at Comic Con, including Fringe, Buffy, Doctor Who, Walking Dead and more.  Lots of new trailers also came out that week, like this one, but for the life of me I cannot find the few pieces of footage that were shown for Pacific Rim, which I heard looked fantastic!  On a sadder note, Sally Rides’s passing this last week really hit my heart.  I was the little girl that wanted to be an astronaut.  That wanted to go on Double Dare just to win it all and go to Space Camp.  I worshiped the movie SpaceCamp.  I was angry at the little kids that said they didn’t want to be astronauts after the Challenger tragedy.  I just figured that was a risk I was willing to take to get into outer space.  I grew into the woman that watched Contact and just wished Matthew McConaughey would just get off Jody Foster’s back and stop trying to deter her from going on that mission.  The woman that totally geeked out the first time she went to a NASA JPL open house.  It wasn’t only because Sally Ride was a female but more because she was just a girl from California like me.  She could do it, so I could do it.  My life went a different way and other interests took precedence but she was always someone I admired.

Making Zucchini Squares…

Nutty Bar Cookies and Old (in our 30s) Friends

Finally, here is the cookie I have been working on for about a month now and I really like it.  Aside from oatmeal (which I think helps keep the crispy cereals stay crispy) I also have cornflakes and rice krispies in it.  I LOVE both of them in here but if you only want to go with one of those, go with the rice krispies.

So yep, these were the cookies that were for someone so I guess you are wondering who, right?  They are for my oldes friend, my best man, my oldest daughter’s godfather, my friend Guillermo.  Unfortunately for him, he won’t get any because he lives too far away and with the chocolate drizzled on top, it makes them precarious to send.  So he will need to come visit us to get some.  (hint, hint)

All baked!

He was in the Peace Corps some years ago and I either gave him some Nutty Bars once or twice before he left or I sent him some once he was gone (who remembers? jeez we are getting old).  I really never knew he was a big fan of the whole chocolate/peanut butter combo till after we graduated high school and we had met when we were freshman.  About a month or so after school had started, he walked right into our (my friend Kim and I) third period religion class.  We all still keep in touch. Some years more than others but still…

I know I have given him some Reeses over the years too, but the Nutty Bars have stuck with me because I actually never had them until he introduced me to them.  They are from Little Debbie and we had always been more of a Hostess family.

Melted and ready to drizzle!

I really just kinda wanted to see if I could pull it off or not and even though it took me multiple tries, I am really pleased with the results.  Plus, I know Guillermo will come and get them at some point.  We live pretty close to his family, so whenever he is in town he makes sure to come visit his goddaughter.  He is always here around Christmas, at the very least, and I am usually making Christmas goodies or something for my son’s birthday when he stops by and we have a good catch up over buttercream and wine.  Can you beat that?  I doubt it.

My GeekyLink for this week is Fashion It So.  It goes through all the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generations and goes through the fashions of each episode.  It is certainly hilarious but also a bit enlightening.  Also, I just finished Season 5 of The Guild and I don’t know how Felicia Day could have topped the first four seasons but she did.  TONS of nerd cameos and yet you still stay tethered to the story of the main six guild members.  Please watch this show!  Only 6 or so hours of your life will put you up to date with this wonderful series.  Streaming on Netflix or on the YouTube Channel geekandsundry (new episode every Tuesday).

Mexican Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

Wow, even I have to say that I have had an adventurous few weeks.  I realize that I was super lucky that both things I wanted to do came at the end of the month when we actually have some money.

Anyways…

Looks like a giant cookie, but it is about to be destroyed! Also, I should have rolled it a bit thinner.

Here are these flavors again!

I didn’t realize as I got older that you get nostalgic for certain things (besides pop culture references) like tastes and sounds and places.    For me it is surprising because these flavors are still so readily available to me.  I can drive down to the panaderia and get me some pan dulce and go home and make a saucepan full of Abuelita or Ibarra to dip it in.  I think what bums me out about it and why I feel like it is so far away from me (like far away in my youth, ugh) is because my kids don’t seem to enjoy it as much as I did.  Don’t get me wrong, give them pan dulce and they will do some damage to it.  But except for my oldest and my son dipping once or twice per bread (it needs to be EVERY bite people!) they don’t seem to be into it.  Sarah won’t even try it.  And get this, Mexican chocolate or not, my girls don’t like hot chocolate!  Are you kidding me?  You are a kid!  Have some fun!  Live a little!

I used to live for the days that we would happen to go out when it was cold and my mom would LET me order a hot chocolate!  I can’t even beg these kids to order one.  I don’t know.  Maybe they are just fuddy duddies.  I just don’t want them to tell me five or ten years from now, “Why didn’t you tell me hot chocolate was so good?”  I guess all I can say is, “I told you so.”  Did that just come out of my mouth?  Not quite yet, just out of my keyboard.

The first time I made these they were WAY too sweet.  This chocolate has sugar in it and I knew I would have to figure out some way to deal with it but I went in head first and ended up having to deal with it after a BIG batch was made and pictures were taken.  The sugar not only makes it sweeter but also seems to make the marshmallows break down a bit more (I also think a certain four year old may have distracted me during my count so there may even have been an extra cup of marshmallows in my first batch).  So I knew I had to fix it before I posted it.  The adjustments were made and I am entirely happy with it.  However, my husband, the man who will go to an Italian restaurant and order the spaghetti, smelled the cinnamon and said, “Why couldn’t you just have made plain ones with cocoa krispies?”  Ugh…

My GeekyLinks this week are outer space related.  Yay!  First, this post answers the question Why do astronauts crave spicy food in space? and the second asks Where is Curiosity while on its way to Mars?  Sweet!

Andes Mint Brownies and Cookies (and Fringe and Star Trek and Doctor Who)

O man, sometimes my husband’s job takes its toll.  Not just on him but on all of us as well.  He mostly works at night but one day of the week he works in the early evening and on his days off he tries to keep to his sleep schedule as much as possible while being awake with us in the afternoon, so basically his sleep patterns are all mixed up.

I would be fine with that.  I am a mom.  I get up with babies that need to be sleep trained or are sick, kids that need to get up for school, up early with three kids dressed and prepped for a random day at Disneyland or family function, and also on occasion try to stay up late and spend time with my husband.  When I am tired, I sleep.  He is not one of those people.  If he NEEDS to sleep, he feels the pressure of having to sleep and then he CAN’T sleep.  The weird hours he works just make it worse.  Some days it is not a problem, or mostly just a problem for me trying to keep the 3 and 4 year old as quiet as possible while he is sleeping.

Some days, the days that he can’t sleep, o geez, we are all in for it.  It will be quiet, for an hour or so and then he will come out of the bedroom to use the restroom.  Quiet for another hour and he will come down and get something to eat, saying that food will help.  Quiet for another hour, then just rail about how he is in for it and he will NEVER get to sleep.  At this point I know I am going to have to take my son with me to my daughters’ dance class (which I HATE because what is a 3 year old boy supposed to do in a confined space for 2 hours with limited distractions?), I know I am going to have to make his lunch, and feed him dinner after everyone else is finished.  It ends up being such a mess.  It has to be done, though.  I do feel bad for him but sometimes I feel like he makes it worse.  He claims this current schedule (his schedule also changes every 6 months!) is worse but actually I think he hasn’t had as many of these kind of days lately as he has in the past.  However, today is one of those days, ugh.

Overall this week has also been kind of weird (let’s not even talk about Valentine’s Day).  I usually have my kids chomping at the bit for the things I am baking.  This week was WAY different.  My nephew was the one that had asked for mint buttercream on his Despicable Me cupcakes, the cupcakes that my daughters wanted nothing to do with because of said (completely yummy!) buttercream.  No fun.  So I knew when I decided to use my Andes Baking Bits that I bought at Target about a month ago, that the bulk of these treats would be going to my sister’s house.  My baby boy had a couple of cookies and my husband sampled some brownies but my girls wanted nothing to do with them, I don’t know what their problem is.  As a mother and a baker, it is really disappointing.  Really? I can’t get you to eat a chocolate brownie or cookie, geesh!

Anyways, I was thrilled and happy with both.  If I had to pick a favorite though, it would have to be the cookie.  I adapted the recipe from one that called for peanut butter in it and replaced it with Nutella.  I just love the flavors of that cookie and it is a nice chewy cookie.

The plate that went to my sister's house.

I have a backup of GeekyLinks right now so you will get a few and also wanted to tell you about all the nerdy and exciting things that I have been doing lately.  First off, my Friday nights and Sunday lunches have just gotten FABULOUS!  I have been watching Fringe live on Fridays (as much as I can because Justin is trying to get out the door during the first 20 minutes and it is all “bye daddy” and “can you help me with my lunch”) and have been following along with The Fringe Podcast at the same time (Tweeting as well, whatever it takes to keep the show on the air!)  At the end of the show, you send in your Bunsen Burners (your ratings for the episode) and during the show you can try to figure out what the glyphs spell out.  Sundays, Clint and Darrell do the podcast live and you can chat and comment during it and sometimes they will ask the chat room questions and such.  If you sent them feedback about the show either Friday or Saturday, they may play it and comment on it during the feedback show immediately following the recap show.  It is a fun few hours if you are a fan of Fringe.

My other GeekyLinks just go to show how GREAT science fiction just goes together 10 actors with roles in both Doctor Who and Star Trek and Doctor Who/Star Trek – The Official Crossover.

Also, hopefully I will be able to go to this on Friday with my daughter who has the day off from school.