in which I finally make something that almost doesn't suck

I've been cooking this week; cooking AND baking, in fact, but my success quotient is, er, down. Way down. I'm gonna hold off on playing the lottery for another week or so, let's say.

First, I started off with Shirley Corriher's Mile High Popovers. I knew Shirley wouldn't let me down. Surely, Shirley?

Or not.




Huh. I just don't remember anything in the recipe warning me that there would be an abyss the size of a black hole in every. single. popover. WTF?

I followed the recipe uber-closely; the only difference was that since I don't own a dedicated popover pan (yet), I made them in muffin tins. I don't think this accounts for popover sinkholes, but I am not a food scientist, nor do I play one on tv, so what do I know.

Next! Roasted Broccoli and Bell Pepper. Simple! Straightforward! And, bonus, something not laden with sugar and butter!

A few weeks ago, I read Melissa Clark's NYT article about roasted broccoli and shrimp, and it reminded me that I hadn't roasted veggies in awhile, which is a crying shame. Because roasting vegetables is a beautiful thing. So, I took some broccoli florets, a yellow bell pepper that was languishing in the veg drawer, some olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and thyme, and then because I was feeling reckless, dashed some sesame seeds in there and mixed the whole thing up.

Despite my photography skills, the veg didn't look that bad.




But here's the thing about broccoli. If, in the midst of making a dinner of pot roast, mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli, you get so absorbed in the work of the kitchen that you, say, turn off the timer but forget to turn off the heat or take the roasted veggies out of the oven? Well, bad things happen. Bad, unable-to-be-photographed kinds of things. I briefly considered taking a picture of the blackened, mushy morass, but for the sake of the children, thought better of it.

Which leads me to today. I live at home with a husband and two adolescent boys who I dearly love. But they do make a lot of man jokes. And they fart a lot. Which, for reasons unclear to me, brings them endless amounts of glee. I am happy that flatulence fills them with such joy, but I have to say that living with the Three Fartketeers does sometimes make a girl feel like it's not a home, so much as a never-ending frat party.

So when they leave for the weekend to go on Scout campouts (with other joyful farters), there's a certain je ne sais quoi about the peace, quiet, and lack of malodorousness in the house that I enjoy very much. So much so, that I am happy to bake fun treats for them, to encourage them to leave.

Today I made them some Snack Mix Bars. They are... what is the word I'm looking for? Killer. Sweet, salty, sticky, crunchy, chocolate, peanut butter bliss. In the office where I used to work (filled with women), we named them PMS bars, for obvious reasons. However, the name is somewhat less apropos on a Boy Scout Campout, so this weekend they are Snack Mix Bars. You can name them Hello, Sailor Bars if it makes you feel better, I'm pretty easy about stuff like this.



Even these didn't turn out as good as they usually do for me; they didn't set up all the way, and many of them started to fall apart. Eh. They're in a ziploc bag, being eaten by a bunch of 12-16 year old boys who will not care if they happen to morph into Snack Mix Trail Mix. Normally, if you follow the directions and you're not, ahem, living under a bad kitchen moon, they will set up so that they can be cut into bars.

Snack Mix Bars

2 1/2 cups of halved pretzel sticks
1 1/2 cups plain m & m's
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
5 cups mini-marshmallows

Mix pretzels, candy, peanuts and cereal in a bowl. Melt butter and peanut butter together. Once melted, stir in marshmallows until melted. (I dump this all in a large microwaveable bowl and end up zapping it again in 30-second increments to get the marshmallows completely melted. YMMV.) Stir melted mixture thoroughly into snack mix, then press into a well greased 9x13 pan. Cool, and cut into squares.

a hint - I save the wrapper from the stick of butter, and use it, buttered side down, to press the sticky mixture solidly in the pan. Works like a charm.