4 Layer Cookie Bars + The Worst Housewarming Party Ever

If you've been reading this blog/if you know me at all, you know how excited I was/am about our new apartment. So excited I decided to throw a housewarming party! The apartment's not huge so I wanted to make sure not to invite too many people (especially because some people might bring other people...etc.), but I also wanted to invite enough that people would actually come. I made a facebook event, and texted, inviting somewhere around 10-15 people, with around 2-3 weeks notice before the date. There were more people I would have loved to invited, but, again, space issues. I was so thrilled! A good amount of people told us they would at least maybe be coming, and some said they were definitely! I planned the menu, bought lots of soda, bought snacks, made cheesy chicken dip and 4 Layer Cookie Bars (recipe below). I decided to make the 4 Layer Cookie Bars because they looked good, but also like the kind of thing that are perfect for sharing (not like the thing you want to hide away all to yourself...like a certain chocolate decadence I will post sometime). I cooked, we cleaned the entire apartment, and then pretty much spent all of party day waiting...and waiting....and waiting. 2 people ended up showing up. One of them was my neighbor who's door is like 2 feet from mine. It was a disaster (don't get me wrong, Robert and Brandon were fun and I was so happy they came but....table full of food, me dressed up, music playing....4 people total). I was completely devastated. I started texting extra people. I got, all on that day, a barrage of texts from people cancelling (for perfectly good reasons, I'm not mad at anyone for not coming, I understand. It just figured they all would have something come up on the day of the one party I throw). It was just dead. I kept fighting back tears. Barely any of the food got eaten. Poor Michael had to eat practically nothing but chips for a couple weeks. And I ate way more of these cookie bars then my tummy should have allowed me. The cookie bars came out great, Robert and Brandon raved about them-definitely make them when you're entertaining! The moral of this story, for me, though, is that I just should not throw parties. They always end this way. *sigh*

4 Layer Cookie Bars

Adapted slightly from Picky-Palate "The Motherlode Layered Cookie Bars"

"Oreo Balls" a la Kayle (No Cream Cheese!)

This is not one of those recipes where there are...umm....measurements. It was pretty much just me doing a lot of improvising and guesswork. "Let me esplain....no, there is too much. Let me sum up" (The Princess Bride-my fav. movie):

We had only been moved in a short while. My new food processor was sitting there, begging me to use it. I had a half used package of Oreos, that had pretty much gone stale. I was having a chocolate craving (which happens at about 4:00 PM every day). I thought to myself, "Hey! I have that Oreo Balls recipe on my computer from How Sweet, I should make that!" Once I consulted the recipe, I realized....I didn't have cream cheese. Nor do I particularly enjoy it in my desserts. I searched the internet for substitutions but found nothing. But I figured...how hard could it be to just mimic the texture?

 So, I broke apart the Oreos I had left and put them in the food processor. Then I decided peanut butter might be a good substitute for the cream cheese, so I put some of that in there to. I processed for a while but...it was too thick. I added some more peanut butter. I added a little milk. Then I melted some chocolate and poured that in there too. That did the trick! They seemed to be the exact same consistency as the actual "Oreo Balls"!. Then I did as my original recipe instructed, I rolled the mixture into many little balls, and put them on a tray and set them in the freezer for an hour or so. After they'd frozen and firmed up, I melted some chocolate and dipped them in and coated them (some got covered in milk chocolate, others in dark-I definitely think I preferred the dark chocolate). Then back to the freezer (where they remained)!

They. Were. Per-fect! PERFECT! I loooved them, Michael loved them! It was a miracle! They were like yummy little peanut butter Oreo truffles and they were awesome-I hope you try them and love them as much as we did (and now I have something to do with leftover Oreos!) :).

Oreo Balls

Author: Kayle, "The Cooking Actress"

Ingredients:

• Oreos
• peanut butter
• melted chocolate (milk, dark, or white-whatever you prefer) + more to coat the Oreo balls
• Optional-milk, if the consistency is too thick

Preparation:

• Break up Oreo's and place in a food processor. Add peanut butter and melted chocolate. Proccess until it reaches a consistency that will allow you to roll them into small balls. If too thick, add a bit of milk and/or extra melted chocolate.
• Rolls the mixture into small balls (about the size of a gumball). Place on a tray that is lined with wax paper or parchment paper and freeze for about 1 hour, until firm.
• Melt some chocolate and dip the frozen Oreo balls in until coated. Place back on the wax or parchment paper and return to the freezer until the chocolate has hardened.
• Store leftovers in the freezer or refrigerator. 

Garlic Cheese Chicken Roll-Ups

This post has been a long time coming in a couple ways. First of all, these pictures have just been sitting on my computer (in my "Food" folder) for months, waiting to be posted! I actually have a quite a buildup of recipes just clamoring to be shared. The second way this is overdue, is that I haven't posted in a bit. I got super busy over last week, and then (as most of you know) there was that whole Hurricane Irene mess this weekend. We're fine, we didn't lose power or anything, but I was a little worried and was taking some precautions. Now that all of that is done this recipe can finally be shared! Yay! These are a very cool, new way to make chicken that is creative and just gosh darn yummy!

Peanut Butter Pie for Mikey

I'm new to this food blogging community--let's face it, none of them know this little silly blog exists. But I follow my favorite blogs religiously. Yesterday nearly all of them had peanut butter pie recipes-for Mikey. Another food blogger, Jennie, had the worst tragedy I can imagine befall her. She lost her beloved husband suddenly. I can't even let myself think about what I would do if something happened to Michael, and we've just been together for 2 years, not married and with children like them. My heart is breaking for these people I don't know and I just wanted to share it with you. Apparently, Mikey loved peanut butter pie, and the only thing Jennie asks is that you make some for someone you love. So go read her story and see his favorite peanut butter pie recipe, and take a look here for the peanut butter pie recipe I recently posted (and that, coincidentally, Michael keeps begging me to make again), and go make peanut butter pie for a loved one, let them know how precious they are to you and that you can't imagine life without them. And hug them close. I know I will.

Ooey Gooey Heavenly Brownies

Honestly, I probably don't even need to give you a little anecdote about these brownies. I mean, you see the picture, obviously they're amazing, and you're probably just going to be cranky that I'm delaying you from reading how to make them. But too bad for you I have a story! Back in, I don't know( April?), I had made up my mind to make these brownies. They had very few ingredients and I just wanted to gobble them up from the pictures and descriptions on How Sweet's post. So, one day I went over to my friend Charlie's apartment to visit and have dinner. Once I got there and we got talking, I decided to make these brownies for them. We went to the grocery store and picked up what we needed and I made do with the equipment they had (I had to do a lot of very fast whisking...my arm hurt). Also, they had cane sugar instead of regular granulated (it was actually pretty yummy, you could sort of feel that in the texture but it tasted great). Once they were out of the oven and cooled we all just went into chocolate comas of goodness. I left them with the leftover brownies and went on my way home.

And then I was haunted by thoughts and dreams of those brownies.

I HAD to have them again. It was imperative. So, not even a week later, I made them again, but at my apartment. And they were still amazing (and less sloppy). Right now, just writing this post, I want them. I want to talk Michael into letting me make them. (But he'll whine "too rich, who likes stuff like that, you like dumb stuff, why don't you ever make refreshing things, blah blah blahhh"). So make them for me, please, while I wait for the time to come for me to revel in their glory again.

P.S. Yes, these have mini marshmallows in them. Yes, you can kind of see them in the crust, but no-they are nothing like s'mores and there is no trace of the marshmallow save for the gooey wonderfulness of the texture.