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).

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.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies and Trek Nation

To call these cookies simply Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies, is really just wrong.  These cookies are infinitely adaptable and I love them, not only for that reason but that they are, especially this time of year, mostly guilt free, just 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of butter.  You would think a guilt free cookie might turn kids off but my eight year old loves them.  She has been asking me to make them.  Unfortunately, I wanted to jazz them up a bit but she wasn’t having any of it.  So I made half for her with raisins (yummy, but boring) and half for me with craisins, semi-sweet chocolate chips (they now have dark chocolate chips which would be awesome in this but I didn’t have any on hand), and almonds.  O man, I couldn’t be happier with my jazzed up cookies and she was so excited when she came home from school and the cookies that she had been asking for were waiting for her.

Angela's batter, with just raisins

I can’t apologize enough for not posting more.  I know everybody is just as swamped as I am right now but I don’t want to post things that I just cook or bake.  I mostly want to post stuff that I cook or bake FOR YOU, so that takes a bit more time.  This weekend I hope to post a recap of some of the stuff I made for Thanksgiving and the Saturday following for which I baked some stuff up for my Aunt’s and Grandma’s birthdays.  I don’t think I’ll be posting recipes though, just pictures and links.  We’ll see…

They bake up so nice and clean and come off the pan so easily.

If you live out in Southern California you know that the last few days have been windy (to say the least).  Some of you may not know that my husband is a truck driver and he works nights (when the wind likes to blow harder).  The first night it was so bad that I couldn’t sleep.  I had major anxiety about him driving.  When he got home he says, “What is the worst that could happen, I tip over.”  I said, “OK, I guess you are right, but what if you take the mountain?” (He likes to take the Big Bear route.)  He says, “I did.”  Well, if he tipped over while driving a mountain route, that would be bad, right?  Which is precisely why I couldn’t sleep so I stayed up to watch Trek Nation, which is my GeekyLink for this week.  It was on the Science Channel and will be on twice more this weekend.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.  Mostly, it made me want to expose my Angela to Star Trek: The Next Generation.  It is streaming on Netflix and she loves Doctor Who and Harry Potter and doesn’t mind watching Fringe.  Growing up it was sort of a big deal for me.  My brother and sister and I would watch it together and even my mom liked it too.  I just would like to share that whole history and future with her, I think she would dig it.