Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

Luke is in grad school at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and recently one of his classmates contacted me, saying that Luke told her she needed this recipe. I thought I would simply refer her to my blog, but when I checked, I realized I had not yet posted this recipe, which is ridiculous because these treats are the thing I'm expected to bring to every get-together. Kids hang around the door to see if I've brought the Rice Krispie treats.

My mom also made these throughout my childhood. I think she got the recipe off the back of the Rice Krispie box.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

In large heavy pot over low heat, place:

3/4 cup sugar
1 overflowing cup of corn syrup

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just begins to boil and you can see the sugar has dissolved. (Note from experience: If you let this come to a rolling boil, you will be in the process of making hard candy but that is not what you're going for here.)

Remove from heat and add:

1 heaping cup of smooth peanut butter

Stir until mixture is smooth then gently fold in:

6 cups of Rice Krispie cereal

Dump mixture onto cookie sheet and using oiled or buttered hands, smooth into a rectangle.

Using same pan over low heat, melt together:

1 large bag of butterscotch chips (these used to be 12 ounces but I think now they might be 11; it will still be okay.)
1/2 large bag of chocolate chips (somewhere around half the amount of butterscotch chips; does not have to be exact.)

Stir constantly and remove from heat when chips are almost melted. (This burns easily so watch closely.)

Spread chocolate mixture over top of rice krispie mixture; let cool completely before cutting. Cool and store in fridge but bring to room temperature to cut.

No Bake Cookies

Luke is in his senior year at Miami and in his first apartment and he is learning how to cook. He requested this recipe, one of he and Tim's favorites. The trick to getting these to set up is to follow the instructions to boil rapidly for one minute. I set the timer for this because under-cooking means they won't set up and over-cooking means they'll be turn hard as rocks when cool. It also helps to let the goop cool a little in the pan before dropping onto the cookie sheet.

NO BAKE COOKIES

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 T. cocoa

Cook these four ingredients together in heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, bring to rapid boil for one minute. Remove from heat and add:

1/2 cup peanut butter (stir in until smooth)
And 3 cups oats (I always have the old-fashioned, whole oats on hand, but I grind them a little bit before adding them.)

Stir all together until mixture is uniform, let cool a minute or two in pan, then drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet.

Snog wins second in National Finals

The Hee-Haw Gang is heading to Florida

The USA Beach Volleyball Junior National Finals tournament is turning into an excuse for my family to descend upon the Sunshine State at the end of this month. Me, Tim, Logan, Tyler, Grandma Rose, Poppy, great-niece Courtney, sister Joanie with her boyfriend Michael, niece Erin and boyfriend Ronnie, and I'm in the process of convincing Luke to leave camp a little early and join us. His brother's in the Junior National Finals, for crying out loud. Luke needs to be there leading the cheering section.

Logan is working out like a madman.

We are excited.

Grand

The passing of Grand today feels like the end of the era where my kids and the neighbor kids were little and the horses in our pastures were dog-like pets and best friends.

It was the best of times.

Summer

Our flower beds are abuzz with butterflies, hummingbirds, and a variety of bees.

Tee Shirts

My neighbor girl told me her mom has this tee shirt:
REHAB is for quitters.

Another one I like:
Mess with me, mess with the whole trailer park.

Got any other good ones?