Grrr

Grrrr! My camera is dying. Well, as far as I'm concerned it's dead! Out of 90 photos I took on two recipes and one restaurant trip, I could use no more than 4 of them. Good thing the new camera is on its way. I should have it by Wednesday!!!! This new camera will be my 3rd since Eat With Me went into business. Oh the things I do for my art! ;o)


In terms of what went down this weekend. I went to one of my favorite joints for lunch on Saturday--Punk's Grill in Annapolis, MD. I wish it was closer, but I had nothing else going on, on Saturday afternoon, so the drive was nice. If you head to Annapolis, give it a shot. Don't judge it because it's at the mall. It's really good! When I have a working camera and head back there, I'll work on a post with more details about the place. In the meantime, if you go, try the Flat Iron Beef skewer! Mmmmm.


In other fun stuff news. A week or two ago a friend shared with me a recipe for Fluffernutter Cookies. All you need is three ingredients. 1 cup of Peanut butter, 1 cup of Marshmallow Fluff and 1 egg. Beat the PB and egg together, then fold in the fluff. Spoon onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Enjoy. They are good and stupid simple to make. A lighter textured peanut butter cookie. I can't taste the Fluff, but you can see it in some of the cookies. I got one dozen cookies from the batter, a nice amount for a snack, but not so many you'll feel like you're gaining 10 pounds by having them in the house.


On Sunday, I did chores around the house and read. When it came time for dinner was enjoying a major Buffy marathon, trying to finish season 3! So Good! I had planned to leave the house and go for dinner, but I just couldn't leave Buffy alone with the Mayor and Faith. She needed me! So, I decided to make a pizza. But what to do with it? I barely have anything in the house at this point. So...I made the dough, let it rise and it rose good! Must have been the right temp and the right humidity in the house for a good rise. I decided to try a white pizza--sort of. I mixed some softened butter with grated Parm, dried Italian herbs, garlic and fresh cracked pepper. I spread that on the dough, then sprinkled some shredded cheese on top (Montery Jack is what I had). Baked until golden brown. Slice and serve. It was good, but a wee bit dry and the garlic kept coming back to haunt me throughout the night. Easy to just keep eating though!

Snack Break

Pretty much my favorite breakfast/snack, period.

English muffin--extra toasty, Super crunchy Skippy peanut butter, sliced banana and either Tupelo Honey or Orange Blossom Honey.

Your Peanut Butter is in my Chocolate

I was craving a sweet treat during the holidays and thought I would get myself together and make some Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls. I haven't had them in years. They were always available during my family's Christmas get-togethers. To make them, I took several recipes and mixed them together to this version. They are good, exactly the way I remember them. But I need to fix one thing. The chocolate didn't have a snap when you bite into it, it was very soft. Could have been the chocolate? A guest at our house said it was the missing paraffin wax...could be. I remember it being used. Will try that next time. In the meantime...


I pulled out my fancy Double Boiler to melt the chocolate and keep it smooth for dipping.


After mixing the peanut butter together, I used a small scoop to make round balls, then I inserted toothpicks to make coating the balls in chocolate easier. Remove the picks when you set the covered balls on the wax paper and dab some chocolate over the hole.


Keep the treats in the fridge, or they become soft and may become melty; especially if you have a warm house.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls
2 cups Peanut Butter (I prefer Skippy Extra Crunchy)
1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
1 TB Brown Sugar
1 cup Crisp Rice Cereal, crushed
2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 cups Milk Chocolate-Chips or Blocks
1 TB Shortening (or maybe food grade paraffin wax?)

Mix the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar until well blended. Add the crushed rice cereal, blend well. Mix sugar until smooth.

Scoop peanut butter mixture into small-ish balls, no bigger than an inch wide. Roll into balls. Insert a toothpick into each one and place in the fridge to firm up. 30 minutes to an hour.

Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler or in the microwave until smooth. Keep warm, but off of the heat.

Using the toothpick and a spoon, dip and cover each ball with chocolate. Allow excess to drip off; place on a wax paper covered sheet. Place in the fridge to chill and allow the chocolate to fully set. When chocolate is firm, covere with wax paper and plastic wrap to keep fresh.

Panic Room

If I were to have a panic room, it would be stocked with lots and lots of peanut butter. This is MY peanut butter. There are more jars in our pantry of another, LESSER QUALITY brand spouse prefers. But yeah...I had four jars here...a few a work. I'm set for the apocalypse, or the snowpocalypse we had in December.

Lunch. It's Perfect

This is more a breakfast, but for a fast lunch yesterday, it was divine.
Whole wheat English muffin, toasted.
Chunky peanut butter.
Sliced banana.
All topped with Tupelo Honey.

Warm, gooey, sweet. And totally filling!

Treats!

Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I have a new blog crush! I visit regularly and there are always new recipes and treats posted! I don't know how I first came across Culinary in the Country, but I've been bookmarking and filing away recipes to try at a later time. The first recipe I made was a hit! So why not try one of the sweet treats.

I'm surprised how quickly these treats were assembled. It took me longer to do the dishes than it did for me to get this all moving along. After a cooling for an hour, we snuck a taste...YUM...after sitting and resting over night...I liked them even better! I brought most of the bars to work and they were eaten up in minutes! Score!!! Thanks Joe.


Peanut Butter Cup Bars
Recipe at Culinary in the Country

The recipe called for mini Peanut Butter Cups...mini mini, chocolate chip size, not minature. Since I couldn't find the mini's, I went with the minature's and cut them in quarters.

The shortbread crust.

The condensed milk and peanut butter chip mixture...OH!!! I just realized I forgot the vanilla!!! Ooops...I put a little vanilla in the shortbread, so it's there, just not in that mix...oops!

The final creation before it's time in the hot box.

My treats are done! And they were delicious.
PS: I used the recycleable aluminum pan...great for bringing to work; it doesn't have to come home!