Back with 7 Layer Bars

Just back from Yoga. I continue to amaze myself with my dedication to the gym. However, I have the feeling that this week's recipe probably counteracted any of the good done there.

I've had quite the week, as usual...
I've been completely absorbed in some fantasy novels. Every single free minute is spent drowning in them. I discovered another series by Tamora Pierce, my fav!!!! starring the daughter of my all time fav....Alanna!! I've finished the series now, and while they were really only a bit above good, it was so nice to see my favorite people again, Alanna and George, Daine, Numair, Jonathan, Myles, etc, that I'm inclined to rate the series very highly. At first I was a little skeptical of the romance between a person and a crow-transformed-into-a-human, but, it worked in the end. This was nothing like Stuart Little. I spent several long showers analyzing what it is I hate so much about Stuart Little. I think it comes down to this: you are not allowed to not acknowledge weirdness. If all the animals in Stuart Little were talking and wearing t shirts, it would have been fine. But not all of the animals were out racing boats, and yet, no one was ever like "hmm, there's a mouse racing a boat wearing shorts, that's fantastic!" Anyways, I did not mind the crow thing-there are lots of animals doing crazy things in this series. I've moved on to a new book today called the Scorpio Races and I'll let you know how that goes.
I tried to make another board on pinterest full of glow in the dark things-that has not gone far, but I did find some things that I am beyond in love with.
1.

 It is so small so you'll have to lean in close but as you can see, it is a fabulous moose with sparkly antlers. I think this is a must for the tree house I plan to live in one day.

2.


I'm compiling my own Fantasy World Map from all of my fav books. One day, when I own a house (I assume that happens at some point in time) I will have it painted on my wall behind my bed like so....



and just because it is the cutest thing you have never seen
3.

I really want a tiny pig to drink hot chocolate with.

O has been combating a cold (which he treats by staying up all night long playing on the computer) and so there are boxes of tissues cropping up all over. I personally cannot stand tissues (the powdery feel irritates to the point of making my skin crawl) so I know this means he has been to the grocery store-I'm vaguely surprised he could find the place :). In addition to the boxes of tissues, every morning when I wake up there are pans and pots all over the kitchen. My curiosity was certainly piqued. I finally asked O what he has been doing. He told me about, and offered to make me, a breakfast skillet. He is just enamoured with this new thing he has invented. I think I'll have to take him up on it (at a normal hour of the day though). Fortunately he is getting over the cold so I hope his insane hours will go back to just slightly extremely late night hours and possibly he'll eat meals during the hours of 6 am to 10 pm.

Besides these worthy activities, we had the Czech Consulate from LA staying with us for the week (which entailed me setting up a breakfast table with a spot for him and two fake spots for O and I (fake bc we have only eaten breakfast at home and/or together twice and that was over a year ago). Each night before I went to bed all I'd have to do was put out new silverware, bowl, and a cup for his spot, so it really was not too much work). We attended a Czech movie at the Sundance Film Festival-it was depressing, a prereq for Sundance I think. We had two showers for O's side of the family, a bridal and a baby, so lots of fun there, and finally, we had a dinner for two Czech delegates this week at my mom's (so I cannot claim to have been busy as she set everything up for me!) Don't ask me about the conversation as it was all in Czech.
 After dinner on Tuesday O celebrated Mitt's victory. You'd almost think O won something himself, he was that elated. Of course with the dinner and all, his Tuesday rap night had to be moved to Wednesday and I just had to listen from the bathroom while blow drying my hair. It was OK, even though I could not see him, I had the memorable image of him grooving around, lots of hip thrusts etc, in super ultra tight and crazy long jeans (he's been trying to find a pair of designer jeans so for his bday I took him shopping and this was the result in the dressing room. Suffice it to say, we left empty handed as I did not think I could handle a pair of those in the house). Of course the concert was preluded by a mini mental meltdown by O when he became all irate over our house being insanely cold. It is true, we all have to wear coats (as it is kept at 62F) and sit around all bundled up. However, as this is the only way to keep the inferno I call my bedroom bearable, I don't know what other options we have. Today, I gave up all thoughts of sleeping tonight and turned the heat up to 70 :)

So, back to baking!
This week's host was Jesse! J is one of my old roommies. She selected the......Wedding Cake!!!

My jaw dropped when I initially saw that on the list bc it would be so like J to make something horrendously ambitious and such. Fortunately, she was joking and actually selected 7 layer bars.

This Sunday I was properly prepared to make my baking assignment and I got it all done. I was going to post that night but got carried away by the Planet of the Apes (bc it is O's 28 days of bdays, he has been renting nonstop movies on the ITV. I have seen more movies this week than in the last year I think. in case you are wondering, Warrior was good, though I really did not want to see it. Contagion was good, though I only slightly wanted to see it. Planet of the Apes made me want to see the next one, though I also did not want to see it, even while watching it. I personally am going to see if I can sway him into renting the third twilight this weekend :)    ) So all in all, my posting was delayed.

OK, initial thoughts on the 7 layer bars:
Terrible! JK that is a little harsh. You know how cookies are best right out of the oven? Well, these were a gigantic mess right out of the oven. Fortunately I did not throw them out. The next morning they were.... delightful! They were well received by my panel of judges

O took this photo and said "I think that is really nice, I'm getting very good at this".

After allowing them to sit, they reminded me a bit of almond joys, which I love!
I made a few mistakes: 1. do not line the pan with tin foil as the book suggested, it was a hot mess. 2. use two cans of sweetened condensed milk. While the bars were good, I think the sweetened condensed milk I omitted would have taken them to a gooey over the top wonderful level (opinion seconded by my mom).  I will have to try these again with the proper amount and then judge them against the chocolate fillers with oatmeal shortbready crust stuff that I sometimes make (some of my judges thought those were better). All in all, I'm glad I tried these, they were lots of fun! To see the full recipe, check out Jesse's cooking blog at diariesofacookaholic.blogspot.com   She added butterscotch chips which I think would be great!

and as we have a super smart girl in our baking club we have this cool linky so you can check out some of the others who are in the group :)

...

Well, my next post for sure will finish up Budapest and a rather fun massage :)