My mum has an expression for “leftovers” that loosely translated from German as “sideways through the refrigerator”. I was almost going to call these “Sideways Through the Pantry” Bars, because I am using up a whole lot of odds and ends: chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows, nuts, Chex cereal. They did end up sort of “Rocky Road”-ish with the chocolate and marshmallows though, so I went with that instead. Definitely gives these time to set up… For some reason, the chocolate took forever to harden!
chocolate
Ever have a craving for something random, so that you go to the store to get all the ingredients, get home and then realize “Nah, not in the mood anymore?” That is sort of what happened with these. I had a Rice Krispies Treat craving (I should have just bought the already-made ones and eaten one in the store parking lot), but then … well, let’s just say I decided to dress them up a bit with chocolate chunks, caramel bits and pretzels. I was going to call them “Everything But the Kitchen Sink Rice Krispies Squares” but I would have had o throw in peanuts, Oreo pieces and Doritos…. lucky for you, I didn’t have any of those around!
So this is what happens when you go through the pantry and you realize that you had a lot of open and half empty bags of things… pecans here, Hershey’s Caramel Kisses there. Sea Salt and bourbon are constants. So, you put them all together and you get these beauties. Delicious with a hint of bourbon and salted caramel. The Kisses melted to add on the pecans halves. Pretty ingenious, I’d say.
It’s Valentine’s Day. Or, well, it will be soon. As I say every year, I am not really into the whole Hallmark “manufactured” holiday, but it is always a good excuse to make some sweet thing. This yea, I mad these Winter Bliss Chocolates. I just made up the name … there is nothing particularly wintry about them. They do have orange and pistachios, which give them a lovely nuance. They are very very dark chocolate, my favorite. Delicious!
If there is one thing that screams “I’m from Maine” (besides lobsters, blueberries and LLBean boots), it’s Whoopie Pies. I know, I know … some people say they are from Pennsylvania, but I am still going with Maine. That said, these are mini-whoopie pies, because I don’t like the really huge ones. Just a couple of bites with these. Also, I added a touch of cinnamon to the filling, which is just a bit of a twist too. Yum.