SOMETHING .....

If you have followed my madness .... you may rememember I was telling a story of the wonderful things that have happened to me! Inspiration has seeped into my soul ... lol... omgosh! how dramatic .... and I'm not sure how long it will last, but while I have it, I am planning to make good use of it! I hope you do the same with your Inspiration! I was telling you about ..........

SOMETHING!: Since I've been on vacation, I'm reconnecting with old friends. Last week I had lunch & shopping with a Dear Friend!  We stopped at the book store. As usual, I headed for the baking aisle... found a stool ... browsed for a colorful book ( yes, I'm that simple that colors attract me!) Can't resist brown & pink so I picked up the book and just from the cover ... I could feel the bubbling start! I sat down, placed the book in my lap and slid my hand over the smooth paper cover. Ok, I have to describe it this way because you have to understand my excitement! ; ) When I flipped the book over, OMGOSH!! I just knew the pictures in the book were going to get me going! I could only hope it had a Centerfold!! LOL!!! No, it wasn't that kind of a book, but for me ... it might as well have been! I am so glad I am writing this down because to say it out loud would just make me sound ..... CRAZY!! (which we all know I am not ... ). Anyway, I finally opened the cover and exhileration coursed through me, already, at the sight of the simple flowers ... then ... I couldn't stop myself from running my fingers around the scalloped edges of the pages! Yes, can you believe it? SCALLOPED EDGES!!! As I flipped throught the pages, I knew I had to have this book! The need to try a new recipe .... copy someone else's .... & inspire so many more ideas of my own has been lacking in my life for a long while now. But this Book!! Omgosh ... I had to have it! **sounds of plates crashing or breaks screeching or whatever sound you hear that slams you back into reality** $30!! What?? for a book? With reluctance & sadness, I put it back. Not that I wouldn't have spent that ... I just had to think about it. I know ... anticlimactic, huh? We all thought this was going to be a Happy ending! Well ... Hold on! There's more! Just then, my friend comes around the corner and sees the look on my face, whips out her cell phone and looks it up! Half Price including S&H! I Love Her!! Ok, I'm as furious as the next that books & bookstores are becoming a thing of extinction. The smell & library atmosphere of a bookstore is a total turn on, but when they raise the prices so high ... well ... they sort of force us to sneak around the back alleys, looking for that sweet deal that can't be beat! I don't do it all the time, actually, this was the first, but I'm afraid that it's probably not going to be the last. So, Yes, I went right home and ordered that book online. I can't wait for it to get here!

By now you have to be wondering what the name of this Book Of Books is called and what it looks like! Well, no pics yet, but the name is "miette" by Meg Ray w/Leslie Jonath. Go ahead .. look it up .. and when you do, look at the cute little video Ray made that just oozes inspiration.... the imagination runs wild ...

On my way home ... my mind was reeling with what I was going to whip up first ... something creative & a little challenging! At home, Kylee says, "Beck, when you going to make some s'mores?" well, so much for challenging, but I enjoy making them because Ky Loves them! Very quick & easy.

KYLEE'S S'MORES

32 squares of graham crackers
8 X-large marshmallows, cut in half
16 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups



16 graham cracker squares.

Now THATS a marshmallow!

Cut marshmallows in half.

Yep! Those are Peanut Butter Cups!

Melt in oven ... 5 minutes.

SQUISH!!

One day, Kylee & I saw these Marshmallows ... HUGE! With my LOVE for marshmallows & her LOVE of S'mores ... It was a match made in HEAVEN! There's a regular size marshmallow in the middle... but I ate 'em all! Who knew I was going to be taking pictures??

Lay out 16 graham crackers on parchment. Remember marshmallows are messy!




Cut the X-Large marshmallow in half and place on graham square.





Place a peanut butter cup on each one. You can use chocolate bars, but this is so much tastier.   




Melt in oven for 5 minutes to get them nice & Gooey!






Place the remaining 16 crackers on top. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Gently press.  The Gooey marshmallow & peanut butter cup will SQUISH & hold together.



These can hold up for a couple of days. Eat them cold or return them to the oven or microwave for a few minutes to melt them again.  DO NOT!! I repeat ... Do Not try to eat them in one sitting!  Kylee & I tried this the first time I made them .... UGH!! Made ourselves SICK! I'd like to say lesson learned ... but, you know ... I can't resist marshmallows & she can't resist S'mores! What are you gonna do??        

Happy Baking ...... & don't forget your Apron!

INSPIRATION!!

I admit it! I have been playing it SAFE! You know that place you arrive at and have no idea how or when you got there? One day, you just open your eyes and realize everything around you is so not where you wanted or ever intended to be ... it's quiet and warm .... no ripples, no struggles, no surprises .... just peaceful floating along wherever the current takes you! and if you hold your breath long enough ... noone notices you have not moved, talked, thought or acted upon anything exciting or worthwhile. Or so you think! Then someone says or you see something that jolts you out of your automatic pilot so-called life!  Although, this could apply to every day life ... I am also talking about Passions! I talk alot about Inspiration! You know.... it's that little something that whispers in your ear *you can do it!* *you're Great!* It doesn't mean you have to be the Best but you know it's something you do well and when you do it .... IT makes you feel Good! Now, you HAVE to be thinking of what Inspires You, right?

In it's many forms ... Inspiration could be that SOMEONE that nudges you with a kind word, a tender smile or even an admiring look telling you they believe in you! Inspiration could be that SOUND you hear that sends a shiver down your spine that starts from the top of your head and moves down in a warm fuzzy that envelopes you in comfort and confidence! Inspiration could be that SOMETHING that you see that exhilerates you from deep down in a place that you almost forgot existed! Something that excites your creative juices and says, "YES!! That's It!!!"

I realize how this sounds (a little Crazy, a little Risque) and you might be surprised when I tell you that in the span of one week (last week) ... all of those things happened to me!!

I can't wait to tell you the story, and I will, in detail and in a 3 maybe 4 part version. I hope you stay tuned for every recipe that goes with each part. Did I ever tell you I also like the word .... Anticipation?? ........ anyway ..........

I think I told you about a cookie that has been dancing in my head for a while now. I have started experimenting with it. As my Dad used to say, "The operation was a success ... but the patient died!" For years I wondered what that meant. This is a good example of that. The cookie tasted Great, but the cookie as a whole, was a disaster! It's a work in progress!

                ROCSalted Cookies

{Raisin Oatmeal Caramel Salted Cookies}

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks margarine, melted
• 1- 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal (not instant)
• 1- 1/2 cups raisins
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1 bag of wrapped caramel candies, cut in quarters
• course sea salt

Prep: Preheat oven to 350*. For chewy raisins, skip this step. I like plump raisins so I soak them in warm liquid for about a 30 minutes. For really good raisins, soak them in Brandy overnight. ; )

Note: all ingredients should be room temperature for best results.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt (not sea salt). Set aside. Cream margarine, & sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat in eggs (one at a time). Stir in oats & raisins. This will be dry so stir in the corn syrup. The mix will be shiny.  Drop 2 Tablespoons into a ball. Push about 5 pieces of caramel into the tops of each cookie, brush with corn syrup, then sprinkle with sea salt. The corn syrup adds a sticky surface so the salt will stick. Bake for 13 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.

Thick & Dry!

Baked in Balls!

Here, I think, is where it went wrong. The oats soaked up the fats. I prefer a chewy cookie that spreads and this came out in a ball if it was not flattened by hand.

The caramel didn't hold up in the heat and oozed over the top. I'll work on that, but the aroma and flavor of the cookie itself was Great! If you'd like to try it ... i'd suggest cutting the oats down to 1-1/2 cups and 1-1/2 cups flour.

Brush with corn syrup...

...oozed over top!

 Good Luck and let me know how you do. Stay tuned for a revised version of this cookie! To be continued........

Happy Baking! ...... & don't forget your Apron!