we want s'more!

found at lovin' from the oven.

S'mores Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

3. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

i doubled the recipe, well tried. somehow i didn't end up with the right amount of graham cracker dough to completely cover the top. it was okay though. some of the marshmallows got a little burned, which is just how i like 'em.

everyone here loved it. we weren't able to wait long enough for it to cool completely. so they weren't as pretty as the picture, but they were fantastic!

pasta fagioli

a delicious italian soup literally called pasta and beans; traditionally a meatless peasant dish due to the availability of pasta and beans. there are many variations and it was typically made with whatever was left over from the week. but the base is beans, pasta, and tomato.

also known as pasta fazool. (this pic is almost what mine looked like. this one has turkey italian sausage in it though) -------->

as per usual, i just winged it. this is one of my favorite soups, ever. anytime i get it, even if not at italian restaurants, i'm pleased.

i like bacon! so i started out with bacon roughly chopped and 6 Tbsp of minced garlic. then added some onion. cooked to perfection (for me).

i then added canned tomato, juice and all, directly to the pot.

add chicken broth. as much soup as you want.

bring to a boil and add any type of white bean. typically cannellini. and whatever pasta you have. i had pinwheel.

boil until pasta is al dente because it will continue to soften in the soup.

add some parmesan cheese right on top when served if you like it.

i do. and so does mom.

as for the ratios, i just used a few slices of bacon, mostly for flavor. i like a lot of garlic and a little onion so that's what i used. the tomato and bean ratio is one to one. for chicken broth, 3 times the amount of bean/tomato. so if i used one can of beans and one can of tomato, i would use three cans of chicken broth. i completely guessed on the pasta, but i think it would be equivalent to two cans if using that as a measure.

it's a nice healthy soup. and just gets better as leftovers.