Happy Friday everyone! Okay, I know I’ve done a terrible job of posting regularly. I refuse to feel guilty about it though because one of my new year’s resolutions is to feel less guilty, less often, and since it’s only February, I’m still stickin’ to it (give it a couple of months). I’ve said it before, I blame it entirely on the Catholic guilt gene that I inherited from my mom. I’ve never even visited a Catholic church in my 38 years of life, but have been plagued with Catholic guilt…. God does have a sense of humor.

I’ve compiled a whole list of excuses for not blogging, first being the fact that my real job takes up most of my time (whine, wine, I know!). Secondly, I’ve come to the recent realization that the boy is never going to be 10 again, and I don’t want to look back and wonder where the time went. Then, there is the Naughty One who barks incessantly at me when I get on my laptop. I have to video it so you get the full effect. How did I end up with a blog-hating dog? It’s bizarre.

But I’ll stop here with the excuses because really they’re just excuses. Don’t you agree that even when life’s crazy you make time for what’s important? So here is the honest truth, I’m struggling with the whole blogging thing right now. I don’t do this for money (see, there are no ads), I don’t try to market myself; I’m terrible at networking, and I don’t have time to worry about my blog stats,…that’s not why I started this blog. I started this blog because I love to bake and learn from people who know what they’re doing. As things unfolded,  I realized that there is more to this than baking. It’s about trying to find the humor in my crazy life, and discovering the blessings that often come out of the insanity. It’s also been about connecting with other people who share my passion and finding people who have lived paralleled lives. You’ve given me hope for the next chapter of my life!

If you know me personally, you probably know way too much about me… Really, I’m sorry! I live in the details. Recently, I was with a group of friends and one alluded to the “back story” of my blog. Being the all-American girl that I am, I just don’t believe in censorship. In the blogging world, you can’t control who reads what you write, and that is a HUGE struggle for me. I don’t like feeling like I have to hold back. Hmmmm…. maybe one day, I’ll make the back story, the published story (wouldn’t that be fun?).  For now, I’ll try to work through my blogging issues and get back to baking!

There are sweeter things to discuss today… these Peanut Butter, Pretzel, Chocolate Chip, M&M bars.

I completely screwed up the recipe and added the peanut butter to the batter. The original recipe has you mix the peanut butter with the melted chocolate to drizzle on the bars. But you know what…. these turned out awesome! LOVE when that happens! One day I will learn to read a recipe in its entirety before jumping in.

One of the best parts of this is the pretzel, chocolately, topping! I cut these into bars and put all of the topping pieces that had fallen off in a bowl and left for work. When I came home, my mom confessed to eating it and asked me to make a batch of just the topping for a Sunday football party she was going to. We used yellow and green m&m’s because these were big Packers’ fans. We also added a cup or so of salted peanuts.

These would be fun to make with M&M team colors for a Super Bowl party, or an end of season kids’ party. Definitely a recipe worth repeating!

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

Peanut Butter, M&M, Pretzel Bars

Adapted from Food and Wine

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup peanut butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

One 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups mini pretzels, coarsely chopped

1 ½ cup M&M’s

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-by-13-inch pan with parchment paper allowing paper to hang over sides.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. Using a mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter with both sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. On low, beat in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and ¾  cup of the pretzel pieces, and ¾ cup of the M&M’s.

Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Press the batter down with a spatula. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until golden brown. The middle might be a little gooey but that is ok, the bars will set up. Transfer the pan to a rack. In a bowl, melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Sprinkle the bars with remaining pretzels and remaining M&M’s. Drizzle with melted chocolate.  Let cool until set.

Lift parchment paper out of pan. Use a knife to go around the side of the pan to loosen the bars. Cut the bars in squares and serve or store in an air-tight container.

The doctor was concerned and scheduled the Boy to have an MRI of his brain on Wednesday… scariest few hours of our lives. We got through it together, and thankfully found out that that the scan was clear. The Boy is on day 8 of a fever and we’re still trying to get to the bottom of it (hoping it’s just the virus from hell!). Talk about putting your life into perspective in a matter of seconds. When it comes right down to it, the only thing that really matters are the special people in my life. Not only have I been blessed with an awesome family that keeps me grounded, but also a core group of friends who are there through life’s unpredictable twists and turns. What I hope the boy takes away from this is knowing that his dad and I will always be here for him. The bond that the three of us share is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Okay… Now, on a much, much lighter note (I promise!), here are some of my favorite holidays recipes. Hope you’re baking up something sweet t!his weekend!

Peppermint Whoopie Pies

Snowflake Cookies

White Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Snowman Brownie Pops

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Peppermint Brownies

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bark With a Secret Ingredient

Rice Krispie Cupcake Treats

Wishing you a weekend full of happiness!

I made these peppermint bark  cookies last holiday season after seeing a recipe in Gourmet magazine (original recipe posted here). I  decided to try it again with a secret shortcut. This time of year gets crazy, so I embrace any shortcut in the kitchen, as long as it doesn’t compromise the taste. Thanks to Betty… Betty Crocker that is, these cookies are even simpler and equally as yummy as the original recipe.

Here’s how it all comes together:

The secret shortcut involves using a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix. The only other ingredients you use are a stick of butter, an egg, a cup of chocolate chips, and a few candy canes.

The dough comes together quickly with little mess. The trickiest part is smoothing it out in the pan. If you take a handful of dough at a time, flatten in your hands like a pancake and put it in the pan, it works much easier than trying to spread the dough. Don’t skip the parchment paper in the bottom. It allows you to lift it out of the pan and cut it into pieces when it’s done.

Once the dough bakes for about 18 minutes, sprinkle a cup to a cup and a half of chocolate chips on it while it’s still hot and let it sit for three minutes.

After three minutes, the chocolate chips have melted enough making it a cinch to spread on top of the cookie crust.

Immediately, sprinkle with crushed candy canes, and if you like drizzle white chocolate over the top. Put it in the fridge for a half hour or so to set and then cut into pieces.

These cookies can be easily varied. Switch out dark chocolate for semi-sweet, add Reese’s or Oreos instead of candy canes… the sky’s the limit.

I’m hoping to take these to a party tomorrow night with some of my girlfriends. Crossing my fingers the boy feels better, or I’m going to be stuck with two batches of this yumminess! Someone come save me!!

Click here for the printable recipe.

Don’t you just love people who give you advice when they have absolutely no business telling you what they think? You know what I’m talking about… you find out you’re pregnant and random women stop to ask you if you plan on breast-feeding, or you become a parent and suddenly those without children feel it’s their obligation to critique your parenting skills. It usually starts with this, “I would never let my kids do ____________.”  Then, there are those divorced people with all of the answers to making a marriage work.  So please, take everything I say with a grain of salt because I have very little credibility on the subject of marriage.

This is what I now know…

Men are SIMPLE… Women make life complicated.

(Feel free to disagree, but just so you know I was the President of the debate team.)

What evidence do I have of men’s simplicity, you’re wondering? What you may not have realized is that one of the added bonuses of divorce is that you get to show up to a lot of parties entirely full of married couples and be the lone single person in the group (a little awkward, yes, but nothing a glass or two of wine won’t take care of).  I was a Sociology major at UC Santa Barbara, and I LOVE to study people. So if I’m invited to your party, it’s entirely possible that I’ve made you and your spouse a case study (all in the name of research).

Want to know one of the simplest ways to show your man that he is loved… make these Cookies and Cream Rice Krispy treats. They are a sure thing to making your guy happy. I confirmed this last weekend. My next door neighbors throw a huge annual Labor Day party, and these are what I brought this year. In attendance were approximately 101 people, 50 adults, 50 small children, and one lone single girl (me, of course!). 25 men devoured these treats within an hour of me bringing them out. Many of them immediately went to their wives to ask if they would get the recipe from me. Of course, I loved watching it all. It just supports my belief that men find pleasure in simple things  (and it doesn’t get much simpler than this recipe!).

Here’s where I might lose some of you  (if I haven’t already), but bear with me… It’s only a suggestion ~ In addition to making these this week for your guy, send your small children away, and greet him at the door at the end of the day in some cute lingerie, while holding the tray of Cookies and Cream Rice Krispy treats. I’ll leave it up to you, but I’m just sayin’, had I known then what I know now, I’d do things a little different.  Prince Charming, if you’re following my blog (and I think you are), see what you have to look forward to!

This recipe idea is from Jenny at Picky Palate. She is the queen of coming up with simple, yet incredibly creative recipes. Her blog is one of the first food blogs I got addicted to a few years ago.

Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats  (Recipe from Picky Palate)

4 Tablespoons Butter
4 Cups mini marshmallows
8 Cups rice crispy cereal
8 oz bag mini Oreo cookies

1/2 Cup chocolate chips, melted

Place butter and marshmallows into a large microwavable bowl. Microwave for a few minutes until marshmallows puff up nice and large. Remove and stir in cereal and Oreos. Pour into a large 9×13 inch baking dish. With the back of a large spoon that’s sprayed with cooking spray press and smooth treats. Drizzle melted chocolate over top and let cool. Cut into squares.

The first day of school finally arrived… my boy started 5th grade today!

An interesting question was posed to me last week that I thought I’d share… brace yourself for this one ~ Here’s the question, “Are you ready to be pregnant again?”.  I know I’m not giving you the context of the question, which really isn’t fair, but regardless of the context, don’t you think that’s kind of an interesting question to ask a single parent of a ten-year-old, who is still in search of Prince Charming? Where do I even begin with that one? First off, being pregnant and having a baby are two entirely different questions. Here is my translation of , “Are you ready to be pregnant again?”. “Are you ready to give up Kendall Jackson for 40 weeks, gain a bunch of weight, and wear clothes that aren’t all that cute?”.  I’m gonna have to go with no for now based on my current circumstances.

I will tell you this though, when I sent the boy off to school I instantly flash-backed to his younger years… all of the hours we spent playing Thomas the Train together, his first day of kindergarten, and that cute, little boy face that used to kiss me goodnight after I would tell him,” I’m the luckiest mom in the world because I have you for a boy.” It really does go way too fast, and as much as we try to be in the moment, time always gets ahead of us, doesn’t it?

Blake’s dad came over for our traditional first day of school breakfast this morning. We’ve done this since kindergarten, and it holds a lot of significance. For me, it marks another year that we’ve continued to keep our family (which happens to have two separate homes) a whole family unit. (The truth of the matter is that Matt and I are both really selfish people and neither of us want to miss out on anything important our son goes through. I’m kidding, sort of!) I hope that as Blake grows up and figures things out, he will understand that we loved him so much, we were willing to do whatever it took to remain a family.

So today was filled with mixed emotions for me. I’m exhausted!! But you know what I have absolutely no mixed emotions about, these cookie bars. I found this recipe from Baker Girl, a blog I just discovered. You must check out all of Kerry’s recipes, so much sweet inspiration in her archives! These bars were good right out of the oven, but fantastic the next day. Don’t eat them all up in one day and you’ll see what I mean. It is the combination of chocolate and pretzels and cookie dough that make these fabulous. I baked mine for thirty minutes. Next time I might bake a few extra minutes just to get them a tad more firm in the center. They will firm up a bit overnight though.

printable recipe

M&M, Pretzel, Chocolate Chip Bars (Recipe from Baker Girl, original recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod)