The BEST Rice Krispie Treat Recipe EVER

So to some, rice krispie treats may seem pretty simple, a basic thing to make.  Well not me.  Rice krispie treats can be bland, dry, too hard. But this should not be an issue for anyone who reads this blog…..so all three of you!!

I have perfected the rice krispie treat.

Yep.

It is a pretty big statement for sure, but I can say with confidence that this is the truth.

They are delicious.  Amazing really.  Some people out there may not be able to handle them, as they can be more decadent, but if you are a rice krispie treat fan….well you will never go back.

I figured all this out from trial and error and feel these are perfect.

The secrets: (full recipe below)

1. Use 6 tablespoons of butter, rather than 3 tablespoons 

(This may seem like way too much and I am not trying to be all Paula Dean with butter.  The first day you eat them, you may think they seem like there is too much butter on account that they glisten!  But they will taste amazing.  And on day 2 or 3, you will be happy that the extra butter is in there because the rice krispie treats will seem as fresh as day 1.)

2. Use the 16oz bag of marshmallows.  Yes, the ENTIRE bag. 

(you will thank me later.)

3. Use a smaller pan (I suggest something around a 13 x 7.5) rather than a 11 x 17 

(I think we can all agree a thicker rice krispie treat is better than a thin one any day….can I get a hell yes?!)

4. Add stuff to your rice krispie treats, plain treats are out.  Ideas below.

5. Use a nonstick baking spray (the one specifically for baking) on the bottom of the pan, and also on the metal spoon you will use to press the treats down into the pan.

And the biggest secret of all:

6. Only melt ¾ of the 16 oz bag of marshmallow, save the rest to MIX in after the rice krispies have been mixed together.  This gives you semi-melted chunks of marshmallow in your rice krispie treat!

BOOM.

Your mind should have been blown.

And with that, I would suggest adding toppings or other “mix ins”!

In this case we used blue sprinkles because I made them for a frozen movie night!!

But I have made others, here are some:

(Note: if they have a crust, I do use a larger 11 x 17 pan as otherwise they are almost too big!)

- Sweet and Salty: I made a crushed pretzel crust* and baked that for 6-10 minutes at 400 until set and let cool and then add the rice krispies on top of that.  Then I drizzled melted chocolate over top. I mean, come on.

- Smores: Graham cracker crust, rice krispie treats and chocolate on top. *Or a layer of fudge that has harden inbetween the graham cracker crust and rice krispie treat.

- The Turtle: Drizzled Carmel, chocolate and then nuts on top of the rice krispie treat.

- Oreos – crush and mix in oreos into the rice krispies

- Your favs – Just mix in or add on top you and your kids favorites!  Sprinkles, mini (any candy), chocolate chips….whatever!

If you try this, let me know what you think! 

Recipe

6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

16 oz bag mini-marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies

13 x 7.5 (ish) size pan

Non-stick Baking Spray

Whatever Mix In’s you want!

- Melt 6 tablespoons of butter (in chunks) in a microwave safe container with ¾ of the marshmallows.  (melt in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval so not to over cook everything.)

- Once melted, mix in all the rice krispies.  Stir and coat thoroughly and work quickly. (rice krispies covered with a perfect marshmallow blanket!)

- While still warm, stir in the remainder of the marshmallows. (I had to work fast here, so no time for more pictures!)

- Use the baking spray to spray the bottom of the pan.

- Put the rice krispie treats into the pan.

- Spray the back of a large metal spoon with cooking spray and push firmly down the treats until they are nice and firm. (you could use plastic wrap too, but we never seem to have that.)

- Don’t forget your toppings!!

- Let sit out for a bit to come together, then enjoy!

 You are welcome.

*Pretzel Crust:

- 1 ½ C. crumbled pretzels

- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

- 2 Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar

- Bake at 400 for 6-10 minutes

Pinterest FAIL – Recipe Review (And Cooking with a Toddler)

Recently I have had a few successes with Pinterest recipes.  I tried these spinach and feta mini frittatas. Um, delicious!  And I tried spinachlasagna roll-ups. Awesome!  Also, I seem to like spinach.

I found this recipe HERE for white chicken enchiladas.  Now from the start I wasn’t sure, but it seemed quick and easy and was chicken and cheese so I felt Henry would love it and it would be a perfect quick dinner.  Plus it had lots of great reviews.

So the other night I tried it.  Now, normally I prefer cooking alone.  I turn on music and relax and enjoy cooking.  But this day I made the mistake of cooking this quick dinner while Henry ate his dinner.  So cooking was FAR from relaxing. 

Why you ask?! 

Well let me just get off topic for a moment and tell you.

(Now I do try to include Henry in the cooking process.  But this recipe really didn't have much he could "help with".  No stirring or cleaning veggies.  He was mad he couldn't help and partly, along with boredom, why I think ciaos ensued.)

Henry ate well at first, but when he starts getting full and is done he does what any kid would do and finds ways to entertain himself.  Apparently this dish wasn’t fast enough because he was bored.

First, Henry decided to start feeding the cats his dinner.  Then when the cats came near him he screamed. Then don’t feed the damn cats!!! 

Then he proceeded to put his mac and cheese IN his cup of milk and drink it that way.  I should have taken the cup away right then, but I was in the middle of rolling enchiladas and just wanted to get done.  Then he proceeds to dump all the contents of his cup onto his tray and splash. SERIOUSLY DUDE?!  Goodbye cup & tray. 

THEN after I took everything but a handful of mac and cheese away and am pouring the sauce over dinner I hear it.  Nothing.  Silence. I turn around and there is Henry messing with his nose and making a face.  “Henry…what are you doing?!?!  WHAT?!  Is that mac and cheese up your nose?!?!  WE DO NOT PUT THINGS UP OUR NOSE!!!” I pull the mac and cheese from his nose, throw the stupid dish in the oven and clean up the food and milk ALL over the kitchen (between his mess and mine).

I fear this recipe was just doomed from the start.

Ok, back to the recipe.  I mean really…can you tell I don’t even want to talk about it and am less than enthused by this recipe. I didn’t even take a picture of it.

Was it quick and easy to make? Under different circumstances – YES.

BUT, while it tasted OK….it just tasted OK and texturally I was not pleased.

Here is what I didn’t like:

1. The dish was white.  All white.  I like a little color in my food! Maybe some spinach?!

2. It was all the same consistency.  You have the soft flour tortillas and pour the sauce over and bake it and nothing crisps up.  It is just a soft, floppy dish. (hate when that happens)

3. Lacked flavor.  You add a can of green chilies in there and though I made some of the sauce without the green chilies for Henry, he could have eaten with the chilies.  No heat and the whole thing was bland.  It need more flavor.

4. The enchiladas had chicken and cheese.  I think they needed more.  Onion, peppers, veggies, something.  I know traditionally enchiladas are just a meat and cheese or beans and cheese or just cheese.  But these were not traditional and when I am making them at home and they are not authentic from a restaurant I want more in there.  It is the perfect way to sneak in veggies. 

What I would do differently:

1. I would not put the sauce on the enchiladas to bake.  The sauce wasn’t bad, but it was too rich for me to smother over everything.  I would make it to put on the side and I would either add more chilies or hot sauce or jalapeño.

2. Would add some spinach, sautéed onions, and garlic (maybe red bell pepper) inside with the chicken.

3. I would bake them so they crisp up.  Sort of like in this recipe HERE. 

4. I would top them with the sauce, cheese and shredded lettuce and tomato for freshness and more crunch.

I know, I know.  I am basically no longer making enchiladas.  Perhaps I just don’t like enchiladas as much as I thought!!  So maybe this recipe is actually awesome (no it isn’t) and that is why I didn’t like it.

Overall, I would definitely make a variation of the recipe and sauce but not this recipe as is.  I would also do it alone, preferably with a margarita. (hey!)  

On to my next Pinterest recipe!!  Do you have any that have been successes or failures?!?! How about cooking with a toddler...do you do it?!  

I ended up not even feeding it to Henry because I just felt the sauce was too rich for his stomach.

Get. In. My. Belly!!! Lasagna Roll-Up Recipe & Review

Yes, I AM quoting a movie from 1999! HOLLA!

I love lasagna.  To me, it is probably one of my Top 5 favorite meals.  Of course, lasagna isn’t always healthy plus it takes awhile to make and can get expensive.  The lasagna I make is AWESOME but it requires me to make a meat sauce, and then layer what turns into a 10 pound dish with ricotta, Parmesan, shredded and fresh mozzarella and provolone cheeses.  And then bake for what seems like an eternity. Seriously, it is amazing but can get pretty pricey with the cheeses and takes awhile to prepare and cook.  I make this lasagna maybe once or twice a year just because, really who has the time?!?!

But again, I love lasagna so I have been searching for variations that are less expensive and quicker to make.  I have seen recipes for Lasagna cupcakes HERE but they move away from the lasagna noodles all-together and use wonton wrappers.  Sounds good, but not the same when you are looking for a quick version of lasagna.

And then I found this, Lasagna Roll Ups!!

Recipe HERE or below.

Caprese Chicken Recipe

This is one of my FAVORITE things to cook. I shared it with Ky and thought I would share on the blog. It is perfect for the summer!


Ingredients:

-Chicken breast (grilled, baked, or breaded*)

-Fresh basil (chopped)

-Small onion (diced)

- Garlic

-2 containers of cherry tomatoes halved (I actually use more but we really love tomatoes in this house.)

-Fresh mozzarella cheese (thin to medium sliced). If you can’t find fresh shredded mozzarella cheese is ok, but if you can get fresh use that!

*Now you can grill the chicken, bake it, or bread/fry it (to bread and fry the chicken I suggest pounding out the chicken a bit so it cooks all the way through and the outside doesn’t get burnt but stays golden brown. Then for the breading - place pounded out chicken (or chicken cutlets) in flour, then egg wash, then bread crumbs and fry up in a skillet with a little vegetable oil). I have tried both breaded and grilled and both are wonderful.


Instructions:

- Grill/bake/fry some chicken breasts. (Your preference.)

Pounded out chicken

- While the chicken is cooking........In a skillet with a little olive oil and over medium heat cook up a small or half a medium onion diced with some garlic.

- After a couple minutes (just enough time to let the onions start to soften) add the halved cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Let them cook until the tomatoes start to fall apart and are soft and the onions are soft and cooked.

- Remove from the heat. Add as much chopped fresh basil as you want and let heat through.

- When the chicken is done cooking place chicken on a baking sheet or oven safe container and add the tomato and basil mixture on top of the chicken breasts.

- Add slices of fresh mozzarella over the tomato mixture. You can also add Parmesan cheese if you like. Sometimes we do sometimes we don't. Heat in the oven/broiler or toaster oven just to let the cheese melt a bit. (You are not really cooking, just melting)

- Serve with a salad, veggie, pasta or whatever sounds good!

I don’t measure…so I am not sure about the quantities but you can adjust as you go and make how you prefer :)

ENJOY!

Talk To Me – Basil

Here is my basil plant a couple weeks ago….it has at least DOUBLED since I took this picture and it is just going crazy. (Glad to see someone is enjoying this hot/rainy weather) Now I loves me some basil. I try to use it in many of our dishes. And give me some tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and I am oh so happy and could eat it every day. I make a great bruschetta with those ingredients and also make some good pasta dishes with basil. But I must say that I have SO MUCH basil growing FAST that I am having trouble keeping up with it in the cooking department and coming up with new ideas for my basil.



So I ask; what are some of your favorite recipes with basil?!


Also, does anyone have a pesto recipe they love?! I am looking for a great recipe but I do not do pine nuts or walnuts. I have tried a couple different recipes but they seem to be either too oily or way to strong. I just need to know a good combination of ingredients!


P.S. I am not kidding when I say that I could eat a caprese salad EVERY DAY and not get tired of it. Sooooooo good.

Beware…This Post May Make You Drool!

So over the years I have realized how much I love cooking and how much better I have gotten at it.  When I first started I called my mom to ask how to boil an egg.  I also have thrown many a dinners away because they did not turn out.  But it has always been relaxing to me, even through the disasters and now I love it. Not to gloat, ok to gloat a little, but I think I am a pretty darn good cook. I have started now making up some of my own recipes and experimenting with different foods. (Insert cheap joke: yes, I am experimenting with different foods…Terry doesn’t mind though because he participates sometimes as well.)


I have over 20 cookbooks, subscribe to 3 different food magazines for a few years, and watch tons of cooking shows so I have many recipes at my disposal that I can cook, however, I tend to not try anything too far out of my comfort zone these days for fear it won't turn out. That changed last month. For mother’s day I decided to do a fun pizza lunch for our mom. I made my own pizza dough from scratch and then made 3 delicious pizzas that didn’t contain any pizza sauce or traditional toppings. I made a margarita pizza (basil, mozzarella & tomatoes), a spicy sausage pizza with caramelized onions and feta (sweet & spicy!), and then my own creation of red onions, chicken, corn, pancetta, smoked provolone cheese, and then slices of avocado after it came out of the oven. Are you drooling, I am and that is why I didn’t post pictures of these. These three pizzas were delicious! I actually loved being creative and trying something new so I decided that one Sunday a month I am going to prepare something new and slightly out of my comfort zone.

Fast-forward to last night and the Thai food spectacular my sister and I made! I bought ingredients I have never used before like fish sauce (which stinks but in food tastes great) and did a bunch of research on authentic flavors and spices. I had so much fun using different spices out of my cupboard and buying new ones! I also very much enjoyed all the great ingredients out there that I have only seen on TV.

This was the dinner:

Chicken and veggie curry. – AMAZING. Look at it. Nuff said.

Spicy (could have been spicier) Beef with veggies and Mint. This had red peppers, onions, flank steak, mint and basil. Very good, but I left a lot of spice out just incase it was too much, but it could have been a lot spicier.

Turkey Larb - "Larb is most often made with chicken, beef, duck, turkey, pork or even fish, flavored with fish sauce, lime juice, and leaves" (we used mint). We put ours in lettuce wraps. Not spicy at all, very refreshing with all the acid from the limes and lemons.

Jasmine Rice – I think I like it better than regular rice

Naan Flatbread – I bought the mix and made it from scratch! These are wonderful and would just make them to eat plain.

Drool

Can I just say the entire dinner was amazing! I think it is so FUN and exciting to experiment with different foods and different ingredients. I knew it may not turn out and I know what I may change next time I make these dishes, but it gave us all the chance to try something new. I am going to keep doing this at least once a month, or when I feel like it, and I have to say I am really look forward to this! Anyone need a party catered?!?!?

Have you made any food out of your comfort zone? How did it turn out?

Just A Mindless Blog for a Friday Afternoon

Remember when you were younger and you would take the big JcPenny’s or Sears catalog and go through and circle everything you wanted from it? I loved doing that then and at the age of 29 I still enjoy doing that. When I get magazines in the mail I totally enjoy going through and marking everything I want. I know I may never get anything I circle, but it is fun to dream and have my very own wish list of things that one day we may buy.

So that is what I am doing in this post today, "circling" my favorite items from one of my favorite store as i just felt like sharing...and as my husband tells me sharing is caring :) My inspiration comes from the email ads from Williams-Sonoma I get every few days and their magazine I get every other month. I LOVE this store, even though I think I only have ever bought one or two small items from them. It is one of those places when I am in there or looking at the magazine I say; “I wish I had that, I want THAT, I NEED that”, on every other item I come across. I do have a strong LOVE of all things kitchen/dining related. Terry would say too much of a love as we have no more room for anything kitchen related.

Here is my “wish list” IF we had the money to splurge (you know from the lottery we are going to win). I didn’t put any kitchen gadgets as I want every gadget I come across.

MY LIST

Lausanne Flatware, I LOVE this flatware! A great oversized flatware done in a European style. I love nice, heavy silverware and this looks very simple, sturdy and stylish.




Espresso Cups. I have wanted a nice set of Espresso cups and saucers for awhile. Not like I am drinking espresso a lot, but we do have an old espresso machine and it is not the same drinking espresso in an 8oz coffee mug! Plus these are just simple and cute.

Grated Cheese Server!! Um, what do I need to say about this other then it is for CHEESE! Seriously, I want this. You can easily pass cheese around the table then scoop it out with the cute little scoop, Awesome. This is too perfect.

Glass Tea Pot. I saw this and fell in love with it. This partly hand-blown traditional tea-pot allows you to see your tea steeping. “Once it reaches the desired strength, press the plunger of its infuser to instantly halt the brewing process, preventing the tea from tasting bitter.” Very cool.

Frozen Margarita Machine – Um, did you see this thing?! So I ask, why would you NOT want one of these. It is just really really really cool.

Pancake Fan. I know you can get one similar at Big Lots for $19.99 (and I actually might just get one) but I just think these are great and I would love one. I even wrote a blog about these awhile back. Mini pancake puffs is just wonderful enough, but then you can fill them with chocolate, fruit, or cream – amazing.

Copper Dutch Oven. I am a big fan of the look of copper in the kitchen. We want to get a copper backsplash in our kitchen and I would love some copper pots one day to go with that. I am a big fan of this style.

Soup Tureen. Ok, this is going out there a little bit for me but I am strangely attracted to it, birds and all. My taste in dinnerware and serving dishes is very simple. All our stuff is black and white. I like the simplistic look of food on uniquely shaped white serving dishes mixed with a few black ones. However, this hand painted piece of art is just gorgeous and interesting to look at, and who wouldn’t want to serve soup in a flipp'n tureen like this at their next dinner party?! I for one would LOVE to.

Ok, these are my favorite things, just as I would have circled them in the latest Williams-Sonoma Magazine!

I Love....

Giada De Laurentiis! (click here)

I will try to not be too stalker-ish in this post, though I can not promise anything.

I seriously love her cooking shows, food, style, attitude and just think she is fun and adorable. She is currently my favorite celebrity chef (gasp, I know...I use to feel this way about Rachael Ray. Still like her but she is everywhere these days and it can be a bit annoying.) I don't own any of her cook books *cough cough* but I get her recipes offline and love her food. I also tried to ask her a question today on a live online chat, but my question didn't get there in time...I was sad :( Seriously, I love her!

I posted this today because she has kind inspired me to start something new on my blog. Something I am passionate about and want to share. Post to come later today!!!

Nearly Perfect Mac & Cheese!

It is no big secret that over the years my relationship with cooking has evolved from something I do OK but do out of necessity to something I am pretty good at that I enjoy doing to something that I am experimenting with to create my own dishes and find truly relaxing.

So you will understand why I have been frustrated that I have never been able to get the right consistency for a simple mac & cheese dish. So imagine my absolute delight when last night it finally happened, I perfected the consistency of my mac & cheese. YAY! I know this is a weird thing to be excited about but I have been trying for awhile now to get a nice thick cheese sauce. And though mine always tastes fine, it has been a bit runny :(

So what was the trick.....well I mixed the butter and flour and cooked it (like I always do), then added half broth and half milk and then here it is - I turned the heat up to med/high! Perfecto! Typically i leave it on low once I add the liquids thinking if I turn it up it may ruin the milk ...but alas, I went out on a limb and realized it was infact the heat that makes the sauce nice and creamy! I really did not know this and most recipes I have come across do not mention to turn the heat up.

I would like to say that I do understand that it is a bit sad HOW excited I got about finally getting my mac & cheese to the perfect consistency, however if you would have tried some of it I am sure you would have been JUST as thrilled as I was.

Now that I have it to the perfect consistency, I am going to try to perfect the entire dish so that it tastes fantastic! First attempt, broil the mac & cheese so it crisps up the top - YUM!

The Ancient Secret of Salsa Making

So the other night SP, Terry and myself attempted to make salsa.

Now we had a basic salsa recipe. MEANING we had a list of what items to put in our salsa and a very approximate amount. These are our attempts…..

Attempt 1: D-
We tried in the magic bullet following the recipe as close to possible. What it yielded was a very soupy and VERY pungent flavor. I am talking hello onion, hello garlic, hello cilantro – where the heck is the tomato?!?! Terry thought he could help it out by adding vinegar but he added balsamic vinegar. Ugh, I mean it sucked anyways – but that helped it suck more very nicely. Outcome - It was "edible", barely, but this salsa went straight into our garbage disposal.

Attempt 2: C+
We moved from the magic bullet to my amazingly awesome mini food processor. I love this thing and should have tried it first. We decreased the onion, garlic and cilantro and increased the tomato. Terry also felt vinegar should be used but grabbed the right kind this time. I personally don’t think vinegar needs to be used. The salsa tasted ok, but needed more tomato and salt. Outcome – We poured it in a bowl and kept adding chopped up tomatoes to the batch. Not a complete loss, but not amazing.

Attempt 3: B+
We thought we had it figured out this time. LOTS of tomatoes, a little bit of onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and garlic. No vinegar. Pulse the mixture together. We mixed it with the previous attempt (as it was edible) and had what turned out to be an ok batch of salsa. Of course we had to add more salt and pepper, but overall pretty tasty. Outcome - We are still eating it and it actually tasted better after being in the fridge for a day. Not marketable yet, but tasty.

Attempt 4: TBD
We talked about our next attempt, as we called it quits for that night because we ran out of time and also went through a half a bag of chips during the taste testing periods!! Our future process as discussed over dinner that evening: We will chop the tomato (LOTS and half of those seeded) and cilantro together and then in a separate batch we will chop the garlic, jalapeño pepper and onion (not a red though, maybe a Spanish or yellow). Then combine and season with salt and pepper and additional hot sauce if needed. Also, add fresh lime juice to the finished product for this batch.
Outcome - We'll see!!

I think salsa is so hard to perfect. It depends on what tomatoes you have, how juicy, how much flavor, how pungent the cilantro is…there is no set recipe that works….it is just a guessing game. At least for me. It is good making it, but I honestly don’t think I would do this all the time, just on occasion.

So in conclusion:
The Ancient Secret of Salsa Making is DON’T and instead just let the professionals handle it by going to the store and buying your favorite kind.

What the?!?!?!!?

Please take a moment to review the item above.

Yes, that is a large knife.

And yes, the top of the knife is broke off.

How you ask? NO IDEA! (maybe my mighty strength)

I went to use this knife and the top inch of the knife just fell off!! Yes, while chopping an onion the top of the knife just broke. Now this is a good knife and one of my favorites!! Even when T. saw it he was amazed at how clean a break it was.

WEIRD! (I didn't realize how strong I was!)

Reading Is Fundamental

So I am making about 40 individual cheesecakes for a party this weekend. I spent ALL day today baking these cheesecakes in individual 4" aluminum pie pans, made sure each batch was perfect and followed the recipe to a T. No mistakes, nothing!!! I was SO proud! All that was left to do was the easy stuff, drizzling some milk chocolate and white chocolate on the tops of 40 cheesecakes!

I thought to myself at (9pm at night) this is easy! If I can make all these cheesecakes without a problem then surely I can melt some chocolate and drizzle it on these delicious desserts!!!

Well it would have been easy if I had remembered the most simple of all rules when it comes to do anything - read the directions.

I don't know if fatigue set in or just a bit of cockiness in thinking I can do this...but I thought I don't need to read directions. But lets just say I turned "Put 6oz of chocolate into a microwave safe dish and microwave on med-high heat for one minute" into "try to create a double boiler out of things you have in your house and end up turning your chocolate into what looks like chocolate crumbles or as we called it - dirt."

Yes, I BUTCHERED my chocolate, semi-sweet morsels b/c I couldn't take the 10 seconds to read the back of the bag where it SPECIFICALLY states how to melt your chocolate. (refer to directions above) Instead I turned what should have literally taken one minute to get beautiful chocolate into 45 minutes of my husband and I trying to figure how to melt the chocolate and why it turned into dirt.

We still don't know what happened but I got smart and read the back of the white chocolate bag and in one minute had a smooth white chocolate ready for drizzling. And instead I had to drizzle Hershey syrup over my cheesecakes. (still good, but wasn't what I wanted b/c syrup doesn't get hard like the morsels. )

So the moral of this story is ALWAYS read the directions no matter how simple you think your task at hand is going to be.



P.S. I will be posting this delicious cheesecake recipe on the food for friends website later this weekend! It is seriously the BEST cheesecake I have had! However, I will be leaving off the drizzle part.

I Hope This isn't a Reflection of my Friendship Abilities?!?!?!

So last Friday one of my friends gave me a bag/mixture of friendship bread. I had never heard of this until then. For those of you who have also never heard of this basically you get a bag with some ingredients in it and you have to follow specific instructions for each of the 10 days on how to make the bread. Then after 10 days you mix in more ingredients, divide the batter into 4 parts, keep one for yourself and give 3 to friends (the friendship part), and then bake it. It is suppose to be a sweet bread.

SO....I got this when it was on day 7 from my friend. I took it home that night and laid it on the counter - excited that in a few days I would be able to bake something! Well when I woke up Saturday morning I saw that our adorable little Belle chewed through the paper bag - luckily she didn't get through the plastic bag that the mixture was in- but still did a number on the bag. So Terry decided we need to put the bag on the pantry. I say Terry, because I knew I would NEVER remember it on the pantry...out of sight out of mind! However, he assured me that he would remember!

Fast forward to 4 days later - 6:30 a.m......."Holy Shit I forgot about the bread!"

So I went downstairs and took the bag off the top of the pantry. First this bag was huge and all puffed up. I assume there is yeast of sorts, but it looks like this bag is ready to pop! Plus I haven't been "mushing" the mixture the past few days and I am two days past when I am suppose to actually make the bread!

At this point I am just thinking it is a lost cause. The directions to make this bread seem pretty specific with lots of items to add to the mixture. I am not a baker...cookies and cakes a few times a year...but that is it.

I failed at making friendship bread....how sad it that!?!?!?!

Has anyone made this stuff? Is it still ok for me to ATTEMPT to make this....or is this bread a lost cause ;-)