Caramel Apple Pie Bars: Oh my they taste like Freedom (Recipe Post)

Post by The Grumpy One

So every year around this time I get a weird craving for caramel apples. Maybe its because I am from Washington State, maybe because I can pretend that I am concerned with healthy eating as I snack on a "natural" snack, or maybe I just really liked the Johnny Appleseed cartoon as a kid, I don't know...but I just knew I had to do something about this craving soon. 

Now this is about to be my easiest, but tastiest treat yet.  Now you can go more of the "made by scratch" route, or be a slacker like me and look like a baking genius.

All I used for ingredients are an already made Pie Crust, an Apple (I know it shows three but I only used one) Caramel Syrup, Brown Sugar, and Frosted Flakes. Now you can use a little of cinnamon (I was going to, but I didn't have any at the house.) You can always use regular sugar instead of brown sugar or corn flakes instead of frosted flakes, but once again it's up to you.

Now comes the extremely easy awesomeness.

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a casserole dish or a deep cookie sheet, put down a pie crust.

Sprinkle frosted flakes on top (I crushed them first but it's up to you.)

Put down apple slices.

Top that with sugar and caramel.

Put a pie crust on top (don't forget to poke holes in it with a fork) 

Throw it in the oven for 50 minutes or until the crust is brown and tasty.

Once you take it out put a little more caramel on top.

Let it cool, cut it, and there you go.

Serve it plain or with a little ice cream on top, Warm or cold, anyway it goes they are a delicious taste of a caramel apple, mixed with apple pie, that you can eat without having to use a plate or a fork.

I just feel bad because I start my vacation tomorrow so these will not be going anywhere but my kitchen table, and my tummy.

So I am sorry to you guys at work, you have to wait two more weeks until I get back.

So I leave you with this....MMMMMMM. they are Crunchy, tasty, and they taste like AMERICA!!!!  They are easy to make, and depending on the age of your kids they can help you make them, or make them with your supervision.

Let me know what you think if you tried these, or any of my recipes yet, or  if you need a recipe idea, leave me a comment on this post. 

“Le Crepe Cafe”; Pretty food that makes me feel like an "Ugly American" (Restaurant Review)

Post by The Grumpy One

Le Crepe Cafe

2740 East Manoa Road

Honolulu, HI

So "The Tattooed One" has been trying to take me here for a few weeks now.  Even though I have been really busy at work preparing for my vacation (which starts tomorrow) I decided to try to fit it in since I don't know how many posts I will do while on vacation. Now "Tatoo" wanted me to be "nicer" on my posts (he does realize my nickname is "The Grumpy One" right?) So I will take this in to consideration. So here comes the review from the "Considerately Grumpy One."

So as we pulled up, I noticed that I would have NEVER found this place if it wasn't for "Tatoo." If you blink while going the speed limit on this road, you would never see it.

Now the outside reminds you of a nice European cafe, which the feel continues to flow inside with the constant "French" music playing ("The Pretty One" and I agreed that the music would be o.k. if we knew what they were saying.) and it even had...

A quaint little booth that you could pull the curtain and have a  "Paris-y" experience. Which we didn't try since our party was three guy's in our Military Uniforms (but Tatoo said he tried it with his wife and it was a little cramped, but the idea is neat.)

Now I lived in Europe for over 6 years (I know I lived in Germany not France, but still it was Europe.) And I will tell you that this place Nailed one key feature.  No matter what I did, I felt like an Ugly American.  It started with the ordering,

Now they have a huge selection of savory and sweet crepes, and those are all on a nicely displayed menu both inside and outside, but I was struggling to find a "Soda" list so I asked what kind of "Sodas" they had, this was my first Ugly American move, it turns out this a very "Healthy, Natural Ingredient, Organic" kinda place (which I think Tatoo purposely didn't tell me this knowing that I might not eat here if I knew this.) and they do not serve "Sodas." Which when she told me this in her french accent, made me feel like I just asked if I could punch all the babies in the world.  So instead of "slapping children," I ordered a Organic Orange Blossom Lemonade with mint.  

So I thought I would be nice and pay for everybodys lunch and that was Ugly American Move #2. I was ordering, and she was at a cash register, and it is a cafe, but when I told her I was paying for everybody and pulled out the wallet, she pulled out the french accent again and hinted "Don't you want to enjoy your food first, then pay." (which I will give Tattoo credit since he tried to stop me, I was just to fast.) 

So I instead sat down and waited for crepe number one. I ordered a savory and a sweet one to be able to give a better review (see I am a giver.)

So I started with "The Warrior" because I was hungry and it had the most ingredients.  It was a crepe with; Mozzarella cheese, rotisserie chicken, turkey slices, bacon, spinach, grape tomatoes, red onions, mushrooms and your choice of either pesto or BBQ sauce (I had BBQ sauce) It would have been really good except one  Huge problem, there were so many ingredients so none of them were warm, the crepe was hot, but the filling was cold which was weird to me.  The flavors were good, it just was weird to be hot and cold (hopefully that was nice enough for you Tattoo :)  When that crepe was finished, it was time for the sweet one.  Behold....THE CHUNKY MONKEY!!!

 Peanut Butter, Nuttella, Apple Bananas, in a crepe covered with powder sugar.  This more than made up for the short comings of "The Warrior."

If I got to choose my own death, I would choose to constantly eat these until I drowned myself with Chunky Monkey crepes...which wouldn't be hard to do.

I was full when this came out, but I couldn't stop eating it, and I wanted another one afterwards.

I almost ordered another sweet one when I was finally allowed to pay since I saw a little sign announcing their new "Carmel Apple Crepe" but I decided not too.

So final verdict...I think it would have been an o.k. lunch if you order a savory one with less toppings.  But if you want something sweet...defiantly the place to go.  As I am looking at the chunky monkey photo right now, I am almost tempted to get in the car and drive for an hour and a half to get another one...But next time, I will try not to be such a "Ugly American."

I will call them "Crownies" (Recipe Post)

Post by The Grumpy One

So it is time for this week's creation...I kinda wanted to make cookies, but I also wanted brownies, so I decided to make what I call "Crownies" (pronounce it like Brownies with a C.) I couldn't think of a more clever way to mix the words, and Brookies just doesn't sound that macho.

So these special treats take a lot more ingredients than I usually use, but for what we are doing, it will amaze you at how easy this is, and how great they taste.

So we start with 1/4 Cup of butter, 4 oz of cream cheese, Fudge topping, 2 eggs, 1 cup of peanut  butter, 1 box of brownie mix, and 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Start off by preheating your oven to 350.

Melt the butter in the microwave (about 30 seconds) after melted, mix in brownie mix, eggs, and cream cheese.

You could cheat and use a blender, but I just mixed it by hand.  It sounds like it would be harder to do, but my precious Seahawks just lost a game they should have won, so I needed to take out my aggression on the Crownie mix.

Now get out a cookie sheet, and since it's me cooking its no surprised that like usual I "Cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper."  The reason for this, 1. less dishes afterwards. 2. If you are doing multiple batches, it is really easy to take off one sheet to cool and immediately put another sheet on the baking sheet. 3. If you use parchment paper, you don't have to use butter or grease to make them not stick to the pan, so your crownies will not be as greasy on the bottom.  O.k. enough ranting, put tablespoon sized clumps on the sheet.

Now to make sure they don't mix together, place them about two inches apart, since I went to public school, my two inches vary a lot.

In another bowl mix the peanut butter and powdered sugar.

Just mix it with a spoon, this is the hardest thing about the recipe (except not eating them all before you get to work.)

Now make little clumps and drop them into the dough clumps.

 Once they are ready to go, put them in the oven for 10-14 minutes.  Now they are NOT going to look like regular cookies, they are more tender like brownies, so just make sure the edges are set (mine only took 12 minutes) you don't want to over cook them.

Once they are done, let them cool for about 30 minutes.  Once they have cooled, use your fudge topping to cover the peanut butter.

I tried to cover them to the point that they just looked like a chocolate cookie.  That way when you bite into the Crownie, you get a little surprise.

They are really good, and the recipe makes about two dozen... the only problem, it is going to be really tough trying to make sure any of them make it to work for people to taste test.

Cray Cray Fro-Yo Bars; AKA Crazy Fozen Yogurt Bars (Recipe Post)

Post by The Grumpy One

So coming up with this weeks recipe was really hard. Mostly since it's a four-day weekend. So whatever I made would probably be eaten before I could bring it to work Tuesday, and I am actually on a bit of a diet so that could be bad.

I ended up taking that problem and turning that into a huge advantage.  Since I don't have to worry about getting them to work, I can make something that needs to be cold.  Enter...Crazy Frozen Yogurt Bars...or as they would call them in the "Streets" "Cray Cray Fro-Yo Bars."

I saw these a few days ago and wanted to try them, so here we go.

Like usual I try to make something easy with very limited ingredients and depending on the age of your kids they can help. (Mine didn't this time because one is taking a nap, and the other can't be torn away from Toy Story.)

2- 6oz containers of peach yogurt (pick your favorite flavor), 2- 6oz containers of strawberry yogurt (pick your second favorite flavor), 14oz of sweetened condensed milk, and 1 cup of Trix cereal.

The cool thing is you can pick your favorite flavors, and cereal, I was thinking of making a chocolate and peanut butter with cocoa puffs dessert, just remember, the bigger the contrast of yogurt colors, the cooler it will look, so go crazy or like the "kids" say...Cray Cray.

Ok...start of by putting half of the condensed milk into a bowl.

 

 

 

Now mix in your first yogurt flavor to the bowl.

 

 

 

 

Once that is mixed, put it into a small pan, to make it easier to cut and serve, I first put down parchment paper in the pan (you can use foil if you want, I just don't want to use it just in case it gets stuck to in.)

 

Pour the first yogurt mix into the pan.

 

Now carefully put the Trix on top of the first layer.

 

I did this by hand so they wouldn't sink and ruin the effect we are going for.

Now IN A BOWL, mix the rest of the condensed milk and the second flavor of yogurt.

Carefully spoon the second flavor over the Trix so the yogurt colors don't mix.

 

Now throw into the freezer and wait about 7 hours or until its firm.

 

By lifting on the paper, pull out of the pan, and cut pieces.

 

 

The cool thing is it looks like you know how to cook, but its really easy to do. You can serve it in slices or put a stick in it to make a yogurt pop (even though I hate using sticks unless you can eat them.)  Let me know how yours worked. In fact if you have done ANY of my post recipes, please let me know how it turned out.