I just got back from my usual summertime stop at the fro yo joint. I’m feeling much more energized after a generous helping of frozen yogurt topped with candy and more candy, so bear with me as I talk about the pookie.
Yes, the pookie. As in, a pie/cookie hybrid. Please. Don’t tell me you’ve never had one!
Have you ever had Magic Middle cookies? If not, you are missing out. I’ll be baking some in the next few weeks to share with you. Basically, it’s a chocolate cookie with a peanut butter center. It’s the best thing ever!
Well, along with these brownies. I’m a big fan of putting peanut butter cups in everything, and these are no exception. Except instead of using just mini-cups, I’ve used two sizes. Why not? Sometimes a girl just needs to go that one step too far!
There’s a bakery chain in the DC area called Firehook. They sell a lot of good stuff, to put it mildly. I used to pop in for soothing cups of tea and baked goods on long cold walks from my condo to grad school. I was not a fan of grad school, and it seems like sugar always helped me out with that.
In those long-ago days, I pretty much always hoped to find a big chocolate chip cookie behind the glass cases at Firehook. They were good. And don’t get me wrong. I still love those big cookies! But one day, I saw a big bar wrapped in plastic. It was called a seven-layer bar, and I’d never heard of that before. Don’t think I’m oblivious. It was like thirteen years ago!
When I tried the bar, I couldn’t believe all the fun packed into that one square! Coconuts and pecans and chocolate chips, all atop a fantastic graham cracker crust. I later learned that this concoction is also known as a Hello Dolly or a Magic Bar, and you know, I preferred the latter name. Those bars taste like magic!
When I was a kid, we used to take these two-day drives to New York from Indiana to visit my grandparents. It was kind of torture. There I was, in the middle of the back seat, sandwiched between my brothers with my knees hunched up as they jockeyed for leg room.
Those trips were loud. Really loud. And I really never liked car trips, not then and not now. Still, I always enjoyed the part where we drove through tunnels. Suddenly it got all dark and quiet, just a gentle flash of low lights slipping by as our car sped through the serenity. I always felt regretful when we burst out into the sunshine again and the noise recommenced.
So it stands to reason that I have a soft spot in my heart for tunnels. Tunnels of any kind. I love watching animals as they burrow or kids as they wiggle through small spaces. And I have a strange love of desserts that have a surprise in the middle.
You know how much I love peanut butter by now, right? Because I really, really, reallyreally need that fix every day. Preferably in some kind of peanut butter cup, but I’ll take the stuff straight up as well. Stirred, not shaken. With a spoon!
Years ago, I was part of a tour group in a foreign country. We stopped in a grocery store, and there on the shelf was a jar of Peter Pan, imported and outrageously marked up in price. I bought it immediately and without any hesitation, despite the fact that everyone in my group was mocking me for spending so much on a jar of peanut butter.
Well, folks, the laugh was on them. I sat on the tour bus, opened the jar, inhaled the sweet aroma and looked up, only to realize that the entire bus was eyeing my Peter Pan with what can only be described as mad lust. And for the rest of the trip, people kept asking if they could have a taste. They missed it so much, you see, and I was the smart one. I was also nice and shared, but not after a whole lotta “I told you so” lectures.
Years ago, when I was still single in the city (and pretending I could be as cool as Carrie Bradshaw), I used to go to a place called Teaism. It sold lots and lots of tea, but also really good food. One day I walked in and noticed a salted oatmeal cookie. I remember thinking, “That’s gross.”
Oh, I was so young and stupid. The salted caramel trend was still a few years away from starting and I never stopped to consider that salted baked goods were the best thing to happen to the dessert industry since peanut butter and chocolate. But like I said, I was not that clever. I was in my twenties and had perfect skin. But I was dumb.
Anyway, eventually I climbed onboard the salty dessert bandwagon. And here I stay, until long after it will be considered trendy. I’ll be one of those annoying grandmothers who still bakes salted caramel stuff while her grandchildren roll their eyes and say, “But Grandma, it’s all about sardines dipped in ganache right now.”
It's Fun Friday! Be sure to check out my link-up post to add your recipes! With the end of the week here, you'd think I would be thrilled. And I am. It's just that I have fifty thousand research papers…
Happy Friday! I’ve posted my own Friday recipe for Nectarine Crumb Pie, so take a look. It’s a doozy!
And now for something completely different. It’s a new day, and it’s time to let my fellow food bloggers shine! I want to give all of you a chance to share your recipes, so every Friday I’ll be opening up the doors here at Just About Baked. Link up and enjoy the ride!
I look forward to seeing your recipes and featuring them in the coming weeks. For today, I’ll share a few of my own personal favorites from my blog. These recipes are perfect for summer and will get any picnic or barbecue off the ground!
Do you know how you imagine things one way and they turn out another?
That was my Memorial Day weekend. We had big plans. They involved a splash park and train rides and playgrounds and ice cream and picnics. Three days of fun, all planned out! No problem, right?
Except that my son spent a majority of the weekend on the couch moaning in agony with a stomach virus which I will no doubt be getting shortly, since I kept cuddling him and giving him tummy rubs. It was sunny and 85 degrees out, not a cloud in sight. And we were huddled in the darkened living room, taking occasional breaks from the moaning to watch episodes of Curious George.
I think I’ll just move Memorial Day to next weekend.
Every other morning when it’s still dark and everyone is asleep, I do my strength training workout. You see, I used to be just a cardio girl. I’d move and move and move and it was nice, but I didn’t see the results I wanted. I kept my weight where I wanted it to be, but I wanted muscles. Like Madonna. Totally doable, right?
Well, I’m getting there! About six months ago I discovered Physique 57. They have studios in big coastal cities and in places where really rich people live, like the Hamptons or Dubai. But they haven’t hit the DC area yet, so I sweat it out to the DVD collection and their online streaming. And it’s kind of addictive, mainly because I have muscles in places I never thought about before, and I really like that.
Anyway, I was working my abs to utter exhaustion the other morning when a recipe lightbulb went off in my head, apropos of absolutely nothing. I love it when that happens. It’s so random and so appreciated, like someone you don’t know about exists somewhere in your brain just to give you fun ideas. I love that someone!
