This weekend I saw Kung Fu Panda 2. Unlike most sequels I enjoyed it as much as the original. It was funny, sweet, and had a nice moral to the story…plus Poe as a baby Panda is too freaking cute for words! Without totally giving the movie away it touches on something that I think people dwell on a little too much…revenge. Some peoples revenge comes in different ways but always has the same results…you spend too much time obsessing over something that happened in the past and therefore you cannot control that it takes over your life. Only to either get revenge and find it not satisfying or to have it come back and bite you in the butt. Either way, clearly wasted energy.

Ironically enough, I saw the movie with my ex-husband. He has no problems going to movies himself, but we both agreed that a single male sitting in the afternoon showing of basically a kids movie seemed a bit on the pervy side, so I offered for us to both go see it together. That is not the irony part. The irony is of course that I saw it with my ex and we had a perfectly fun time. We can have a good time together because from the day we decided not to be together I decided (and I believe he did as well) to release any hard feelings over things from the past and move on.

Moving on is not a lot of people’s strong points. They may say that they have moved on but they have not. They bring up things that happened years and years ago into to arguments that are happening in the now. This is not fair and accomplishes nothing. I have a 24 hour rule. I get to give you crap about something for 24 hours (48 if you really ticked me off) and then after that, I’m not bringing it up. Plus as most people know, having the same argument over and over accomplishes nothing.

We lucked out this time in the movie. Usually when the picky eater and I used to go to the movies together we would have the worst luck with kids. Either kicking or screaming, throwing things, etc. So going to an actual kids movie was a risk. Amazingly nothing happened, other than a kid with shoes that light up randomly illuminating the row ahead of us. But we were surrounded by kids, which got me thinking about kid treats.

I had a bunch of leftover mini M & M’s that I bought half price at Valentine’s Day and decided to make something with them. Magic Cookie Bars came to mind. But I didn’t want to do the usual. I looked around and decided to go with a peanut butter them. So gone is the coconut, graham crackers, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips and in are the peanut butter chips, peanuts, mini m & m’s, and peanut butt cookie crumbs. They turned out better than expected, but you best like peanut butter or these are not for you!

So go out and see Kung Fu Panda 2, even if you don’t have kids, it’s well worth it. And then come home and make yourself a treat. And more importantly if you are dwelling on something or someone in your life right now let it go. No really, let it go.

Peanut Butter Magic Bar Cookies

1 ½ cups peanut butter sandwich cookie crumbs (like Nutter Butters)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 ¼ cup peanut butter chips
1 ¼ cup mini M & M’s
1 ¼ cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.

Combine cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan.

Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with peanut butter chips, m & m’s, and nuts. Press down firmly with fork.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars.

For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up with edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into bars.
Adapted from Eagle Brand Magic Bar Cookies

I spent my morning having brunch with a friend who moved to Portland. After brunch we swung by and said hi to our mutual friend who just had a baby less than two months ago (too adorable…nothing like a sweet sleeping baby in your arms). We were chatting along and just talking about things. We were talking about where I live now and I confessed that was not my original choice. I had actually planned on moving back to my old apartments before we moved to the house. Those apartments had gas appliances and were walking distance to a Town Center that had a great market and fun things to do. But for reasons we don’t need to go into I moved to the city I live in now as a favor and must say that I love living in it. It’s by the water (though my apartment is not) and though it doesn’t have a cute town center things are close enough by that everything is there.

But while we were talking about my old apartments both my friends chimed in that I could move back and hang out with the matching girls by the pool. It took me a second and then remembered the girls who lived across from me. There were three of them. And everywhere they went, they matched, especially by the pool. They were not related but apparently thought they were triplets. One day when I was trying to beat the heat at the pool I saw them there in the same swimsuits, just different colors. Then noticed that their towels matched their swimsuits. The next day they were there again in different suits, but again, they matched just different colors…and again with the matching towels. They did this four days in a row, each time a different suit, but always matching. So the next day I decided I would bring my camera down. This was before I was cool and had a phone with a camera in it.

I was trying to get a picture without them noticing but that backfired in a horrible way. See there was this grandma and her grandson at the pool as well. The grandson must have been by the girls I was trying to get a photo of because all of a sudden she starts screaming at me. Something along the lines of I had no permission to take photos of her grandson and basically accusing me of being a pervert and went to tell management. I waited for management and I knew the girl. So she knew I wasn’t a perv. I told her how I was trying to take a picture of the matching Barbie dolls, which had since left. It was all sorts of awesome. The grandmother left pissed off that I guess I wasn’t arrested or something and annoyed when the office manager told her it was a public place.

Sadly the girls moved out before I ever got to go back to the pool to get pictures of matching Barbies. But their memory lives on. One day it will be pool weather but for now, I say dive into this cake instead. I have a friend who always asks me to make something with marshmallows, which is hard because they don’t do well in baking. But I found HUGE and I mean HUGE marshmallows at the store and had to buy them. I decided to make a chocolate cake and stick some in the middle. Which I did and they melted (figured on that) so I added some more at the end and just torched them. Rich, gooey, marshmallow-chocolate goodness is what I ended up with. Good thing I don’t need to be getting into a matching swimsuit any time soon.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, use high quality
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
18 HUGE marshmallows or twice as many large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease large mugs that are oven safe. The ones I used are about 5-6 inches in diameter. You could use just regular cake pans if need be, but the mugs are more fun.

In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in eggs one at time, scraping down after each addition.

Beat in vanilla.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared mugs (about ¾ of the way up…maybe less).

Place three marshmallows in the middle of the cake. Place the mugs on a baking sheet…the marshmallow will spill over…it’s okay, makes for a nice effect. You will want to put tin foil over the cake as the marshmallow will brown too much otherwise…make sure you tent the foil as opposed to wrapping the cake pan in it. Loose is your friend (yes, that sounds bad )

The baking time is going to vary based on your mug or pan size. If you are just doing cake pans it will be about 30 minutes. My mugs were smaller, but much deeper and took about 50 minutes to bake. You just need to watch and see.

Remove from oven and push another three marshmallows into the cake. Either put under a broiler for a minute or two or use a culinary torch to melt them a little. Serve warm.

Now when people think pets, most people think automatically of cats or dogs. But there are plenty of other pets out there. I’ve owned quite a few. Being a teacher, a science one at that, lead to a lot of pets over the years. We always had hamsters and guinea pigs that parents generously dumped (I mean donated) on the classroom when they got tired of taking care of them. Which I would then recycle to another family at the end of the year. I’ve owned Chinchillas (super cute, but not very hardy). I’ve owned Sugar Gliders (mini flying squirrels for those who don’t know). And many, many a bunny rabbit. I used to actually volunteer for rabbit rescue and seemed to collect all of the rabbits that no one would take…otherwise known as the problem children.

My current rabbit has quite the story; you can read about it here. But basically is the most expensive rabbit I have ever owned thanks to very expensive eye issues. But he is my pet and therefore my responsibility. For the first year he was kind of a pain, but has since mellowed out and turned into quite the lovable cuddle bunny. He is way too smart for his own good, and I will never get him another rabbit as I fear it will turn into the Pinky and the Brain show. As it stands now, I am pretty sure he spends every night trying to figure out how to take over the world.

He’s a whopping 2 ½ pounds, and yet my cocker spaniel is afraid of him when he growls at her…or farts (yes, rabbits fart…loudly). Which causes my skittish cocker to go running, often slamming herself into the door. He’s a pain at feeding time, eating his favorite pieces first and then dumping out the rest to pretend his bowl is empty. Doesn’t work and I just refill it with the stuff he doesn’t like as much. He walks on a leash which is always fun as people just never know what to think of that.

He may be small but he has the heart the size of a horse. What about you? Do you own a non-conventional furbaby? If so, what?

Bunny Treats

1 small carrot, pureed
1/2 banana, mashed until really creamy
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup rabbit pellets, ground finely in a coffee grinder
1/4 cup ground oats, ground finely in a coffee grinder

Mix pureed carrot, banana and honey in a medium bowl. Add pellet powder and ground oats. Mix until blended. Knead in your hands for 1-2 minutes. Roll out the “dough” in 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick layers between sheets of plastic wrap. Cut into small cookies (about 3/4 inch across). Place cut shapes onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes (check to make sure they are not browning too much). Turn off the heat and let the cookies sit in the warm oven for an hour or so.

Weather seems to be the only universal thing people can talk about and if you live in the Seattle area it’s pretty much the only thing people talk about. Most of this spring my FB feed has been filled with “where’s my spring?” It’s right here; it’s just not how you would like it. When the sun comes out FB is filled with “finally spring is here, it’s about time”. Again, spring has been here.

It’s the go to conversation for the grocery checker, who I always confuse. “Enjoy this gloomy day” I was told last week sarcastically after a slew of sunny days. To which I replied “I will, I love days like this, it’s why I moved to the Seattle area”. Then I usually get looked at like a freak. Which I am. Don’t get me wrong, as long as there is no heat along with the sun, I say bring it. But it rarely does that. Gray days are made for cuddling with the one you love under a blanket. Sipping tea and reading books. I play an indoor sport so I could care less about what it’s doing outside. I will ride my bike or go for a walk in the rain (down pours are the exception). Though I must admit that I do love a sunny day on the days I want to work out at the gym…not a person in sight.

This weekend is Memorial Day. I fear that my FB feed will be filled with people complaining about how the weather is ruining their 3 day weekend. Let us remember why we even get that day off in the first place, the brave men and women who gave their lives for this country. And while service men and women do enjoy a good BBQ you can remember the fallen whether it is raining or the sun it out.

Since most people reading this don’t live in my area, you might actually be getting sun. It might actually be hot. My Phoenix friends will be seeing high 90’s and even 100’s. Nothing cools down hot like ice cream. This is a very rich ice cream, as the main ingredient, other than heavy cream is peanut butter. But it does make for a very creamy and tasty frozen treat. You could throw in just chocolate chips if you can’t find the mini peanut butter cups. And what I like about this recipe is no eggs. So you can pretty much not mess this up.

People do ask me all the time what ice cream maker I have. I have a Cuisinart. They make a newer model of the one I have but I am showing you the one I have now, because I have had it for 8 years and it has worked beautifully. There are many more expensive ones out on the market, but I find this one does the job just fine! If you don’t have an ice cream maker, I suggest getting one before summer comes. I plan on making a ton of ice cream and you don’t want to miss out.

Would just like to end with saying thanks to the men and women (including my father and brother K) who current serve or who have served in the US armed services. Thank you for all you do.

Peanut Butter-Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cups whole milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Jif)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mini peanut butter cups

In a medium saucepan simmer milk, cream, peanut butter, and sugar over medium heat, stirring, until smooth, about 1 minute.

Stir in vanilla and cool mixture to room temperature. Then place in fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.

Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Spread one half of the ice cream in a 2-quart container and top with ½ the peanut butter cups. Layer remaining ice cream and peanut butter cups and using a spatula swirl the candy and ice cream together.

Freeze ice cream in an airtight container for at least 3 hours in order for it to firm up.