Chocolate Raspberry Bark

I think that cars should come with built-in signs.  Like so you could communicate with other drivers.  Maybe you could have a touchpad in your center console so you could select one to display on the side or back of your car.  I'm pretty sure it would be beneficial to have signs that said things like:  "Dude, use your blinker", "Sorry for cutting you off!", and "Stop picking your nose". 

(When you used that one you'd put on your sunglasses and look the other way so the driver thought maybe it was an accident...)

And when you were out of gas and coasting 1.6 miles to the closest gas station you could put out your sign that says "Sorry for going 3 miles an hour, my tank's dry."  and then the guy behind you wouldn't be riding your tail, honking his horn, and giving you a whole flock of birds.

Plus it would make driving a lot more entertaining. 

Like when the sign in front of you said "Honk if you think it's okay to drive while wearing a snuggie", or "If any of my six deer heads fall out of my trunk, please stop immediately.  Deer are people too."

And of course this wouldn't be distracting at all.

And obviously, my next invention would have to be a company that sells bling for your car signs.  You know, so you could put purple rhinestones and feathers on your sign that says "Dude, your truck smells horrible, and when you stare at me at stoplights, it makes me uncomfortable."


Now that you see how busy my brain has been, you can probably understand why I forgot to post this bark back around Valentine's day...  If you can forgive me maybe I can give you some free car-sign bling someday or something. 

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Frosting

 

On Valentine's day the kids and I baked up some Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix cookies to decorate.  Super yummy but super flat... maybe should've followed the baking directions for high altitude and added some more flour...  The frosting was so complimentary I thought I'd post it.  It is sweet and rich so you only need a thin layer, but it was the perfect "kid cookie".  The hearts of course got eaten up right away. 

And in case you need photographic evidence of this frosting's deliciosity:   

(The cookie is fully intact but the frosting is all licked off.)

Told ya it's good.

Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars

Anybody else feeling like winter should have been over about a month ago??  Unfortunately, where I live it's pretty much winter until May.  Seriously.  Sometimes it's still snowing.  I cry about it daily.

During this last stretch of winter I like to bake a bunch of springtime/summertime treats and pretend we don't have three more months of winter ahead of us.

These lemon bars are great because they aren't too tart and never taste metallic.  The crumb topping goes perfectly with the creamy lemon filling, and a big glass of milk.  I've made these lemon bars 4 or 5 times and probably will never look for another recipe.  They really are that good.



PS- Don't use a foil-lined pan to make these.  Once refrigerated they cut and remove pretty easily just using a small metal spatula, so you won't even need it.

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

I want you to know I like you.  Like really I do. I so appreciate everyone who reads and follows and leaves sweet comments or lets me know they've tried my recipe.  It feels good to be able to share something I am so passionate about.

I love these white chocolate raspberry scones and hope you can consider them a big (super late!) Valentine's THANK YOU from me for being part of my life.

(Yes, they turn out looking like freaky alien brains, but hopefully you can overlook this because they are super delicious and only taste a TINY bit like freaky alien brain.)

Gram Gram's Juice Can Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sweet grandmother passed away last week.  She was one heck of a lady who outran bears, saved someone's life using the Heimlich, and gave away roses from her garden to anyone passing by.  Not only was she spunky and sweet and tough as nails, she was an award winning candy maker and might've had a sweet tooth to rival mine.

When we lived in Europe I used to spend summers at her condo with my dad.  We watched Matlock and fed the geese, and made these ice cream sandwiches together.  I will always cherish those memories.

We made these a few days ago in honor of her.  I think she would have approved.


You can use any cookie/ice cream combo you want.  We used Chocolate Cherry M&M cookies and artisan vanilla bean ice cream (all other vanilla ice creams are dead to me).  You can even use store-bought cookies if you want.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Cinnamon Scones

Normally I quite like where I live. But I have two major pet peeves that get me all fired up about Utah.

Number one- pictures of Jesus with blue eyes.

*NEWSFLASH*   Jesus was Jewish.

Number two- the use of the word "scone" referring to Indian fry bread.

It's really disappointing to go to a place called SCONECUTTERS and find out that all they sell is Navajo tacos. Really, I think I might be emotionally scarred from that experience.  I know this is a difficult concept, but scones are supposed to be sweet little British biscuits that are usually triangular and served with tea.

I'm sorry, I just die a little inside every time I hear Indian fry bread referred to as a "scone".

Anyway.  These English scones are delicious and rich and triangular.  You could probably make them half this size.  Also they don't turn out a freaky deeky yellow color, I just added that effect to see if I could make them look jaundiced.

Maybe they need a bili-bed.


Hahaaaa.


It's ok if you don't get my joke... Let's just move right along to the recipe so things don't get awkward, shall we?

Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Cups

I thought I took step-by-step pictures while making these cups, but of course now they are nowhere to be found.  If the directions make them seem complicated, you should know they aren't at all.  The point is basically to throw melted chocolate and a bunch of yummy mix-ins into a silicone cupcake mold, allow to set, and pop out to enjoy. Feel free to experiment with any combinations you want.  Also if you can't find the caramel bits you can just cut regular caramels into fourths and use them like bits.