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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

new favorite recipe

as some of you may know on tuesday nights me and greg host game night a my house. the deal is we all bring something to share with everyone else. usually along the lines of appetizer finger foods. now this week i decided to step it up and make something pretty bomb. a while ago a close friend of mine amy, sent me this recipe because it looks just so delicious. i took on the challenged and did some old fashion baking. yes i know it is full of butter and fatness but also godness. yummy!!



Oatmeal Cream Cheese Butterscotch Squares


Ingredients


  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pea-sized pieces, plus more for pan
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 (11-ounce) bag butterscotch chips
  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Drape a 9 by 13-inch pan with overlapping pieces of aluminum foil, creating handles for easy removal. Butter the paper, and reserve.

In a food processor add the flour, oats and brown sugar and pulse to combine. Add the 2 sticks of butter, the cinnamon and the butterscotch chips. Pulse, pulse, pulse until the mixture forms clumps when pressed between your fingers. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer, reserve the other half. Bake in the preheated oven just until slightly golden and set, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Beat together the cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon zest and juice and vanilla in an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle, or with an electric hand mixer until no lumps of cream cheese remain. Spread evenly over the baked and cooled oatmeal mixture. Sprinkle the remaining half of the oatmeal mixture over the cream cheese. Bake until the top is golden, about 40 minutes.

Cool and chill before cutting. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and using the foil handles, transfer the bars to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares with a sharp knife and serve.

Call yourself a superstar!!!

Cook's Note: For a delicious and healthy variation of this recipe, try replacing the butterscotch chips with tasty dried cranberries.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Do It Myself

for valentines day i wanted to make greg something special. i could have been boring and just got him chocolate but i decided to big. so i found this website to show me how to make this do it yourself light bulb with hearts in it. to hollow out a light bulb without breaking it is harding then it might sound. i am pretty proud of it so i wanted to show it off to the world.