Do s’mores have a tag line?  If not, I’d like to suggest one:

S’mores — A heavenly escape while camping in a tick infested, pseudo forest with people you normally only tolerate for a few hours at a time.

It’s pretty catchy isn’t it?

I love s’mores, but I just don’t understand the appeal of family camping.  You basically have two choices — a leaky, humid, tent on the ground that can easily be ripped open by a hungry black bear, OR taking most of the shit from your house and stuffing it into a much smaller version of your house, but on wheels, with a bathroom the size of a coffin.

Why people?  WHY?!?

We as a species evolved (“created” for the God folk out there) to use tools. And we use these tools to build giant boxes called “hotels” which contain pools, celebrity chef themed restaurants, casinos, water parks, spas, and miniature shampoos and conditioners.  Doesn’t that all sound fabulous?

Maybe I’m alone on this one, but given the choice I’d prefer to spend my vacation relaxing next to a fire place in a luxurious pillow bed eating this s’mores ice cream cake.  And if I get a little chocolate on the sheets, who cares?  Let the chambermaid clean it up.

S’mores Ice Cream Cake

Slightly adapted from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:
14 graham crackers, divided
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp. sugar
6 oz. BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped
1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw)
1 container  (1-3/4 qt.) s’mores ice cream, softened
1 pkg.  (10 oz.) JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows, divided
2 tbsp.  milk

Directions:
1. Crush 8-1/2 crackers in food processor to form fine crumbs; break remaining crackers into rectangles. Place cracker crumbs in medium bowl. Add butter and sugar; mix well. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan, using bottom of a glass to flatten. Bake 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

2. Microwave chocolate and COOL WHIP in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 to 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is blended, stirring after each minute. Let stand 15 min. Spread chocolate mixture over crust. Stand cracker rectangles, top-sides facing out, around edge of pan, pressing gently into chocolate mixture to secure. Freeze 20 min. or until filling is firm.

3. Spread softened ice cream over chocolate layer. Freeze 4 hours or until ice cream layer is very firm. When ready to serve dessert, reserve 2 cups marshmallows. Microwave remaining marshmallows and milk in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. 15 sec. or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 1 min. Cool 10 min.

4. Heat broiler. Place dessert on baking sheet; top with melted marshmallow mixture and reserved marshmallows. Broil, 6 inches from heat, 1 min. or until marshmallows are golden brown. Remove rim of pan before serving dessert.

A lot of the party was inspired by Pinterest folks more creative than I, and way too many hours of image searching on Google.  You are a cruel mistress Google, as I’m not sure what I spent my time doing before you came into my life.

I knew I wanted to make a cake in a trash can…mainly because I’m not talented enough to make a cake that LOOKS like a trash can.  This was my starting point, and after I got that idea, all hell broke loose — in a good way….in a “creative mom with too much time on her hands, born party planner” kinda way.  The items on top are sculpted from white gum paste.  I used food grade markers and food coloring with a paintbrush to decorate the newly sculpted trash.

  The large trash can and three small cans are filled with dirt cake.

The cupcakes were just a yellow box mix (not homemade I know…stop judging me) I dyed green.  I used my cupcake corer and dropped a jell-o worm in the middle of each one. I frosted them with that new chocolate Cool Whip frosting…I know it’s not homemade either but have you tried it?  It’s freakin’ delicious!  And then I dipped them in crushed OREOs.  I topped them with more worms, some gum paste bits and a green icing sheet I tore into little pieces.

Here was the final display, with newspaper and a few of the recycled items we saved over the course of two months.

This was the food buffet.  All of the labels were garbage themed, fruit fly salad, BBQ garbage balls, bacon rubble pops, arti-choke dip, buffalo chicken slop, etc….Like I said, I have too much time on my hands.

The bar set up.  Yes, we had a full bar at a 3 year old’s birthday party.  If you have to ask why then you’ve obviously never attended a 3 year old’s birthday party and/or you don’t know how bad the drinking problem is in Wisconsin.

Here’s the living room with some newspaper pom poms, recycled bottle flower vases and garland.

Another shot of the fireplace decorated with the garland and a bag of paper shreds I got from the office.

Just like last year, we had lots of folks slow down as they drove past.  It’s not a Rolling Sin party if people don’t drive by the house and wonder what the hell is going on.

The best part of a garbage themed party is that you don’t have to try very hard to make things look nice, you save lots of money on decorations, and clean up is a breeze!  Everything just went into the recycle bin!

The kids formed teams and had a race to see who could pick up the most trash with their fancy trash grabbers.  They had a lot of fun, and probably would’ve roamed the neighborhood picking up trash like a miniature prison chain gang, but we rented a giant pirate ship slide/bounce house.  I know, a pirate ship doesn’t fit the theme and I struggled with that internally, but I got to bounce in it before everyone else got there and that helped me cope with the theme inconsistency.

YARRRRRR!!!  That’s my brother-in-law.  In 2006 he was captured by Nigerian pirates and held for ransom for three months, finally escaping during a French military raid at sea.  I think the bounce house may have brought back some bad memories.  I’m just kidding, you and I both know France’s military isn’t capable of raiding anyone.

And just because you’re an adult, doesn’t mean you don’t get to play a game at a Rolling Sin party.  My family members were forced enjoyed playing the Egg Toss game.  Can’t you tell how happy my mother-in-law is to be participating?  I’m sure this cemented my position as daughter-in-law of the year!

The party favors all the kiddos took home.  Mini wire trash cans with candy and a magnet that read “I got trashed at Noah’s 3rd Birthday”, and biodegradable flower pots with sweet basil seeds planted.  I planted the basil two weeks ahead of time and it still had not germinated by the time of the party, so plant early if you do this as a favor!

The back of our garbage collector outfits.  I created the logo and printed it onto iron on transfer sheets made for dark fabrics.

The happy, garbage loving family.  

Most of the items featured in this post can be found through the links I provided, or simply by doing a search for “Garbage Truck Birthday Party” on Pinterest or Google.

There was a time in history when veterans came home to a country that wanted to forget about them. My father did not come home to a ticker tape parade. He came home to a nation of protesters who called him a baby killer, instead of a hero. And what makes my heart ache the most is that none of the soldiers were looking for a thank you. None of them fought for the glory. They fought because they knew protecting America was the right thing to do. They fought for a cause bigger than themselves, without question, and prayed every day that they would make it home to enjoy the same freedoms they were fighting so hard for, thousands of miles away. Some of them didn’t make it back home. They didn’t get the chance to be mothers or fathers, like my dad did. So, I think the best way to honor those who did not make it home is to continue to show our appreciation for those who are still fighting for us. We cannot heal the wounds inflicted on soldiers who returned home to a hostile country, but by giving thanks on Veterans Day, and every day, we can ensure the tradition of gratitude is never broken again.

For Veterans Day I made a batch of maple bacon cupcakes, because I can’t think of anything more American than our love of salted and cured meat. My father isn’t much for sweets, so I bought him a boat load of sausage sticks to thank him for his service. I’m sure he’s enjoying them right now with a cold beer and the latest issue of Hot Rod magazine.

My father in Vietnam, posing like a goof ball with his pistol. Maybe the war wasn’t so bad….

Oh shit, never mind. Look at the size of that gun and all of that ammo! This was the M60 machine gun he was assigned to carry. He said it was nice to have the biggest gun, but also unnerving because the enemy was always looking to kill the guy with the biggest gun.

This is my husband’s co-worker, Jared. He served in the United States Army and fought in Operation Iraq Freedom III from January 2005 to January 2006. He was a crewman on a M1A1 Abrams Tank and had countless missions of route clearance, weapon seizures and raids, along with FOB security. He typically drove a Humvee because the canal roads didn’t support the weight of the tank.  He was too busy eating the cupcake to pay attention to my camera.

This is my father-in-law, Jerry. He served in the United States Marine Corps in Germany. I know he looks like Paul Sr. from American Chopper, but he’s one of the sweetest, most genuine people I know…and my Little Guy’s best friend.

Christine from FoodThoughtsofaChefWannabe

Christine made her husband a batch of peanut butter chocolate brownies. George was a security forces and bioterrorism specialist in the United States Air Force.

She made her brother-in-law Don banana pudding. Don was a MP (military police) for the United States Marine Corps.

She made her other brother-in-law Greg a batch of banana pudding too! Greg retired 5 years ago from the United States Air Force. Christine says he was a weatherman and worked on something major with the space shuttle but he didn’t provide details – hush hush!!

Lisa

My friend Lisa also participated in the project. She does not have a food blog (although she should!), but I’m hoping she’ll share her cupcake recipe with me soon!

Lisa’s first official cupcake drop off was to the Utah National Guard near Salt Lake City. Over the past two years since she’s moved to Utah, the National Guard has been active in flooding recovery, fire fighting, community relations, training and many more activities that help the citizens of Utah.

Her official home taste tester was her husband Tim. He sampled one for “quality control”. Tim served in the Army as a medic and she is proud of him every day for his service!

Lisa works for the State of Utah, and has had the pleasure of working alongside many military veterans. She also took her cupcake delivery to the office where she works and was able to honor Andre Sanchez – Utah Air National Guard 1978 – 1984, and Jeff Miller – Airman, United States Air Force 1998 – 2002 and Utah National Guard 2003 – 2007.

Jennifer from Not Your Momma’s Cookie

On the right is Jennifer’s step-father. He had to get his parents’ permission to enlist at 17, determined to serve during Vietnam. He contracted malaria in Africa, which still prevents him from donating blood today. He won over $10,000 dollars playing roulette at a casino in South Africa and after several days of good ‘ol debauchery with his fellow sailors, left with a couple dollars to his name.

This is Jennifer’s husband. He enlisted right after high school, putting his college education on hold to serve his country for 9 1/2 years. He spent countless days at sea, including two deployments. He was spat on and called “a white devil” in Bahrain for simply being an American.

Thank you to FoodThoughtsofaChefWannabe, Not Your Momma’s Cookie and my friend Lisa for participating in this blog project. Thank you to those who shared this project with their friends and fans. And thank you to everyone who is reading this and took time out of their day to thank a veteran for their service.

It’s that time of year again. Girl Scout cookie sales are in full force! My personal favorite is the Caramel deLites, even though I despise coconut. I’m not sure if it’s because the coconut is toasted, or because it’s drowning in caramel and chocolate, but I love these cookies! What’s your favorite GS cookie? Also, in what states are these cookies called Samoas?  And why the two different names?  And why do I have so many questions about Girl Scout cookies OHMYGOD, STOP JUDGING ME!

A friend asked me to make this cake for her birthday. I had actually never made a bundt cake before, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Plus, making a comically large version of my favorite GS cookie was something I couldn’t resist. I sliced off a little piece of the cake to taste test, and tried the caramel frosting. Both were freakin’ delicious. The reviews from my friend and her family were overwhelmingly positive (2 people asked her for the recipe!), so while I didn’t have an entire slice of the cake, I can say this recipe is definitely a keeper, especially if you like coconut and comically large versions of things!

Caramel deLite (Samoa) Bundt Cake
Adapted from BetsyLife

It’s a marbleized cake, so there are two batters

Batter #1
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup ap flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whole milk

Batter #2
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 2 T ap flour
1/2 cup + 2 T cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup milk

Frosting
1 can (13.4 oz.) Nestle La Lechera Dulce de Leche
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 T vanilla extract
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup toasted coconut

Topping
1 1/2 cups toasted coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted

Cake Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Prepare each batter separately. For each cake type, beat butter (or oil) and sugar(s) on medium high until fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time mixing well. Add in milk and vanilla (if applicable) and mix until well combined. In separate bowls sift together dry ingredients for each batter. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly and mix until well combined.
3. Add boiling water to cocoa cake batter at this point
   
4. Grease and flour the bundt pan WELL
5. Layer the cake pouring some of the brown sugar batter, then cocoa batter, then brown sugar, until both batter bowls are empty. Tap bundt pan on the counter a couple times to remove bubbles. Bake approximately 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

LET CAKE COOL ENTIRELY

Frosting Directions:

1. While cake is cooling, toast sweetened flaked coconut either on a cookie sheet in the oven on 350F tossing occasionally or in a dry skillet constantly stirring until desired color is reached. Beat dulce de leche, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and salt for 3 minutes. Add in 1 cup toasted coconut. Chill for 1 hour
2. Frost cake with frosting and top with remaining toasted coconut
3. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, place in a pastry bag with a small tip or Ziploc bag with a corner cut out about 1/4″ up from the corner, and drizzle stripes on the cake.

I’ve seen my father cry twice in my life. The first time because of a Father’s Day poem my sister wrote for him when we were very little. The second time was after someone asked him the question, “What’s Agent Orange?” He told them the story of catching up with a fellow soldier he fought with in Vietnam a few years after the war, only to find out the man had been diagnosed with brain cancer from his exposure to Agent Orange and had six months to live.

My father was an M60 machine gunner in the 1st Cavalry during the Vietnam War. After basic training, he spent a year sleeping in the bug infested jungles of South Vietnam, eating his meals from a can and fighting the Man in the Black Pajamas. He received a Bronze Star for providing cover to another soldier whose gun jammed during a fire fight. He said the strangest thing about coming home was waking up in the middle of the night in his own bed and realizing he no longer had to worry about someone trying to kill him in his sleep. I don’t know about you, but I think anyone who utters that sentence deserves my eternal gratitude and respect.

My father during basic training

In honor of Veterans Day I decided to create the “Sweets for Soldiers” blog project. Below is a guideline for participation.

1. Make something. Cook a meal. Bake some cookies. Knit a sweater. Do whatever you do best.
2. Give that something to a soldier or veteran. Maybe it’s a family member, or a co-worker. Or maybe it’s a group of veterans at your local American Legion Hall or Veterans Hospital.
3. Take a picture of them enjoying your gift and ask them to share their branch of service and any other details they feel comfortable talking about.
4. Email the picture and details to me, or post them on my Facebook wall, by Sunday November 11^th so I can post them on my blog with a link back to your blog home page (or if you do a blog post about your experience I can link it back to that post instead).

Thank you in advance for participating. Please feel free to share this with other bloggers. I know we all appreciate veterans, but it will be awesome to share our experiences with each other and thank as many folks as we can.

This week I decided to go with a “butts in mid-air” theme. I think judging standing butts was getting to be too easy, so get ready, because this week…

Hank Baskett Jr. (aka Mr. Kendra Wilkinson) formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles

takes on Kellen Winslow of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers…and this guy.

After this week there will be two more match ups and then we move on to the Butt Offs! Be sure to vote for your favorite in the comments section.

I tweaked my usual chocolate cupcake recipe to include the Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder because I wanted super rich and chocolaty cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out moist, dense and with a slight crust on top — perfect for inserting my sexy kitten skeletons! The frosting was the same meringue buttercream I used for my Salted Caramel Cupcakes, minus the caramel, but with vanilla added. FYI, the skeletons were a pain in the ass because each bone was separate in the mold, so after molding I had to use more chocolate to bind the joints together. If you can find a complete skeleton mold I would recommend using it, and then just not filling in anything below the pelvis. Or, you could act like a normal person, and just skip the sexy kitten skeletons altogether. Believe me; the cupcakes are good enough that your guests will not need to be amused by a piece of politically incorrect molded white chocolate.

Sexy Kitten Skeleton Cupcakes
Adapted from Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen by Shelly Kaldunski
Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:
3 oz bitter sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Place chocolate and butter in double boiler, stir frequently until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to room temperature. (I put mine in the fridge because I’m impatient!)

Stir sugar into the chocolate mixture until combined. Stir in vanilla and eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously until smooth after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Gently fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture; do not overmix.

Divide batter among muffin cups, fill each about ¾ full. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 22-24 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack and cool for 1 hour.

Sexy Kitten Skeleton Ingredients:
Wilton Skeleton chocolate mold
White candy melts
Black and pink candy colors (or black and pink candy melts)
Black food writer

Directions:
Paint the rib cage with black melts to look like a corset top. Fill in remaining mold pieces with white candy melts. Put in freezer to set. Once set, tap onto counter to release from mold. Using a #1 tip, or a toothpick, add pink triangle nose and black eyes. Draw whiskers using food writer. Place pieces in position you’d like and connect joints using dots of white candy melts. Add black ears and freeze. Add pink inner ear triangles and freeze or refrigerate again.

Frosting Ingredients:
3 large egg whites at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Directions:
Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer, set over a pan of simmering water. Heat the mixture while whisking constantly until sugar is dissolved (to 160F), about 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and mix on high until it’s fluffy and holds stiff peaks. With mixer on medium speed, add salt and butter a few pieces at a time. If frosting looks curdled just keep beating, it will come together! Add the vanilla, crank the sucker up to high and beat for an additional 3 minutes until everything is smooth, creamy and fluffy.

Add yellow gel food coloring to half of the frosting, and in a separate bowl add red and yellow coloring to make orange frosting. Place alternating dollops of orange and yellow frosting in a pastry bag with desired tip. Gently squeeze the pastry bag to mix the colors slightly. Frost each cupcake. Insert skeletons into center of cupcakes.

Related articles

• Classic Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream (rollingsin.com)
• Incorrect Response Cupcakes (rollingsin.com)

The husband and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary this past Saturday. He’s a great man. He really is. He tries so hard, and I know he loves me with all his heart, but if there was a sport that involved giving the absolute worst responses to a wife’s questions and/or statements he would be the Lance Armstrong of that sport. Minus all the doping and Sheryl Crow drama.

Por ejemplo,

We were getting ready to go out with two other couples to celebrate our anniversary last Saturday night. I was in the bathroom curling my hair and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Honey, both of the women that are going to be there tonight are hot and can run long distances.
Husband: Yeah?
Me: Well, that means they’re both better looking than me and in better shape, and that makes me jealous.
Husband’s Incorrect Response: Oh well.

EVIL STARE FROM ME WHILE HOLDING A HOT CURLING IRON

Husband’s Second Incorrect Response after seeing my face and going into panic mode: I mean, umm, you shouldn’t be jealous, because you have me, right?

EVIL STARE, EVIL STARE, EVIIILLLLL STARE!!!!!

Husband exits the bedroom quickly, realizing the ship is sinking and he must jump or else be sucked under by the down current that is his wife’s rage.
Five minutes later he’s found a life raft and formulated a survival plan. He returns to the wreckage bedroom.

Husband’s Correct Response: Sweetie, you’re gorgeous and have a wonderful body. There’s no need to be jealous.
Me: Thanks Sweetie.

Wife continues curling hair and smirking, knowing that she will write about this on her blog in a few days and embarrass him.

Now I know my original statement was just a sad attempt at pulling a compliment out of him. And it serves me right for trying when I should obviously know better by now. But what can I say? Girls are complicated and silly. Even though I shoot guns and like muscle cars, I’m still a girl and I occasionally need reassurance that I can “drop it like it’s hot” when dropping of said hotness is required.

So, as a tribute to all things uncomplicated, I thought I would share my experience using the new Betty Crocker Shake ‘n’ Pour cupcake mix. I know some of my recipes involve making two or three different things and stuff gets kinda complicated, but this one is fast, easy and tastes amazing! I made these for my husband and some fellow firefighters and they were so good they asked for another batch immediately! Trust me; making these cupcakes is quite possibly the easiest thing on Earth to do, besides Kim Kardashian. BA-ZING!

Your ingredients. You only need one can of frosting. I wasn’t sure how much I’d use with my pastry bag, but one can is just enough for 12 cupcakes.

Right out of the oven.

Even though the mix came from something that looks like a laundry detergent bottle, if you love Andes Candies then these should be on your list to try.

Incorrect Response Cupcakes (Mint Chocolate Cupcakes)
From the Rolling Sin Kitchen
Yield: 1 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 bottle of Betty Crocker Shake ‘n’ Pour chocolate cupcake mix
1 ¼ cups water (per the bottle directions)
3/4 cup Andes Candies baking chips
1 container of Betty Crocker whipped chocolate frosting
½ tsp. peppermint extract
¼ cup Andes Candies baking chips for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Following the directions on the back of the bottle, heat oven to 350F. Grease or line muffin pan.
2. Add ¾ cup Andes Candies chips to bottle, screw on cap and shake until chips are incorporated into powdered mix.
3. Add water and shake vigorously for 45 seconds. This is an amazing triceps workout. Really.
4. Pour batter into 12 regular sized muffin wells and bake for 15-20 minutes.
5. While cupcakes bake add ½ tsp. of extract to chocolate frosting and mix.
6. Once cupcakes have cooled, frost cupcakes and sprinkle with remaining Andes Candies baking chips.

Watching TV while home alone during the month of October is a big mistake. Big. HUGE. Every year, around Halloween, I suffer from a temporary case of Alzheimer’s, where I forget how much I hate horror movies. I am a worrier by nature, with a very active imagination, so after I finish watching a scary movie I turn into this pathetic panicked 30-year-old woman who is convinced that JAWS is going to bite off her toes if she hangs her feet over the edge of the bed. I also check behind the shower curtain before I go to bed. I’m not exactly sure what my game plan would be if I found someone hiding back there, but I’m thinking it would involve a toilet brush to the groin and reed diffuser oil in the eyes. I bet patchouli stings like a bitch.

Of course, after I watch the scary movie and it dawns on me that I don’t enjoy seeing someone saw their foot off, I then have to endure commercial after commercial showcasing newer and scarier movies coming to a theater (and nightmare) near me. I usually spend the last half of October curled up in a blanket at night praying that the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving commercials will start sooner than they did last year.

What’s NOT scary is my 99% failure free experience making treats on a stick! The last time I tried to put something on a stick the process and results were not pretty, but I learned from that experience. As a result, I made some pretty cute Frankenstein’s Monsters out of Rice Krispie Treats! My mother-in-law is throwing her annual Halloween party later this month and we’re planning to set up a station where the kids can make these as party favors. I thought I would try them ahead of time so I could work out all the kinks.

I don’t have one of those fancy chocolate melting pots, so I improvised with a fondue pot and my glass double boiler. I put about an inch of water in the fondue pot and turned it to the lowest setting. The chocolate melted nicely and the fondue pot kept it at a good temperature. Obviously you can just use your double boiler and your stove if you’re making them at home, but I was trying to experiment with what would work at the party.

Once you make your Rice Krispie Treats (RKTs) take them out of the pan and cut into rectangles. Dip sticks into melted chocolate and stick into bottoms of RKTs. At this point I let the chocolate set up and then dipped the first one in the melted chocolate. That didn’t work out too well. The chocolate was so warm that it started to melt the marshmallow binding on the treats and everything started falling apart. I cursed…LOUDLY.

I then decided to put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes. I took them out, one at a time, dipped in the chocolate, tapped on the side to remove the excess, decorated accordingly and then laid flat on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. BAM! Worked like a charm! Since you don’t have to worry about the back of the treat, laying them flat works much better than sticking them upright in Styrofoam. That way there’s no dripping chocolate or decorations sliding around. And yes, that is Fireman Sam on TV. The little guy was in bed (another lesson learned the hard way), but his DVD was on a continuous loop. “I don’t have time for any of your shenanigans, Norman. It’s Fire Prevention Day!”

The candy melts came in the light green color from Target, but you could use white candy melts and some green candy coloring (do NOT use regular food coloring or the candy melts will seize!) to get a similar effect. I used jimmies for the hair, candy eyes from the local baking supply shop (Vanilla Bean) and black cherry licorice rope for the mouth and eyebrows (also from Target). Easy peasy.

The Gingy in the back doesn’t look very happy. It’s not because he’s a monster, it’s because he’s a Gingy. The blond one looks kinda full of himself, doesn’t he? Typical.

Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats
From the Rolling Sin Kitchen
Yield: 15 (Note: They are very sweet, so you could make them smaller and make more of them!)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
Green candy melts
Candy eyes
Licorice rope
Jimmies (brown, yellow and orange…or whatever you feel like)
Cake pop sticks

Directions:
1. Melt butter in large pot. Add marshmallows and continue stirring on medium heat until completely melted. Add Rice Krispies and stir until well coated. Pour coated Rice Krispies into greased 13×9 pan and using buttered fingers press firmly to flatten. Place in fridge to cool.

2. Remove treats from pan and cut into rectangles. Melt chocolate, dip ends of sticks into chocolate and push into treats. Place treats on wax paper lined cookie sheets and put in fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

3. Remove treats one or two at a time and dip in chocolate. You can use a spoon to help cover the treats if your chocolate bowl isn’t deep enough. Tap excess on side of bowl.

4. Dip top of treat into jimmies and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Add eyes, eyebrows and mouth. Repeat process with remaining treats. Place completed treats in fridge to harden. Wrap in treat bags or store in an airtight container.

My father.

My father has a lot of quirks. I love him dearly, but he is a strange, strange man.

A few examples for you:

-He calls the Interstate I drive on to visit him, the “Sausage Grinder”

-He can disassemble an entire engine blindfolded, knows who all the current political figures are and what they’re doing, but if we go through the Culver’s drive-thru I have to lean over him and order for BOTH of us because he’s afraid “there might be trickery”.

-He believes the cure to all sickness and disease is a healthy dose of Geritol. Because sick people obviously have iron-poor blood.

-He thinks he looks young for his age, and to support this theory he says that a priest once told him he looked very young. What he fails to mention is that the so-called “priest” was actually just a guy standing outside a car dealership distributing religious pamphlets.

There’s a lot more father-craziness to go around, but if I shared any more I’m afraid the FBI would start running surveillance on my parent’s house….if they haven’t done so already.

ANYWAYS, my father loves the Chocolate Duet cookies from Panera, so I thought I would scour the internet to find a copycat recipe. I have to say, they turned out fabulous! Super, super chocolately, soft and chewy. It’s the perfect cookie for folks who love chocolate, and a very close match to Panera’s Chocolate Duet cookie.

Chocolate Duet Cookies
Adapted from the Merry Gourmet
Yield: 1.5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
9 ounces of semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (2.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons hot cocoa powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces dark chocolate chips
4 ounces white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2.  Put butter in a wide heatproof bowl or double boiler insert, and melt the butter over the hot water in the saucepan. Add the chopped semisweet and unsweetened chocolate, and stir often until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let stand, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and hot cocoa powder.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the eggs using the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until the eggs are foamy and slightly thickened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar and then the vanilla. Whip until eggs are thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium and beat in the chocolate, mixing until it is completely incorporated. Change to the paddle attachment and reduce mixer to low speed. Gradually add in the flour mixture. Remove bowl from mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, making sure to evenly distribute them.

5. Using a 2-inch diameter ice cream scoop, portion the batter onto the sheets, placing the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake, switching the sheets of the position from top to bottom and front to back, about halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set, 17-20 minutes. Do not overbake – mine were done at 17 minutes. Cool completely on cookie sheets.