Toffee Party Squares

These little cookies are super easy to make, and are deceptively delicious. The title still mystifies us, as there is no toffee involved, but we haven’t been able to come up with anything better. This is another one that comes from Megan’s mom.

They are lovely to make the night before a… you guessed it… party, because the chocolate needs time to cool, and because they’re much less time consuming than individual cookies. The most labor-intensive part is probably the chopping (you can avoid this by using chocolate chips if you prefer, though we find we can get better quality chocolate by the bar).

Megan whipped these up last week for her overworked, stressed students, which seemed to cheer them up, at least for a class period. We hope they’ll bring you a smile too! They taste great with a cool glass of milk or a nice latte.

Toffee Party Squares (print this recipe here)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sifted flour
• 6 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (or chips)
• ½ cup chopped nuts (we recommend walnuts)

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, then continue beating for another minute. Add flour, and stir until combined. Spread the dough onto a 13×15 or 14×17 sheet pan (you’ll probably want to use your hands to push and flatten the dough). Bake at 350˚ for 15 minutes, until just starting to turn golden brown. Turn the oven off, sprinkle the chocolate evenly on the top, and pop back into the warm oven for a few minutes. When the chocolate begins to melt, spread it evenly to cover the dough. Sprinkle the nuts and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Leftovers

These should stay fresh in a covered container for about two to three days. They do not need to be refrigerated.

Fave-Find Friday: Girls Weekend!

This weekend Megan is heading out with three friends for a relaxing girls weekend (don’t worry: next weekend is Joe’s turn, and he’s keeping busy by making feta-brined chicken). We’ll be relaxing by the Russian River, maybe strolling through the redwoods, eating our weight in tapas, and… not much else! Amazing, right?

Have a great weekend. Just a few links today:

Chocolate beer sounds interesting.

Heat wave for you too? A round-up of cold summer dinner ideas.

Ha! Everything I Am Afraid Might Happen If I Ask New Acquaintances To Get Coffee.

Re-grow your veggies.

Some good things about marriage. Heart-warming.

Fave-Find Friday: Dad’s Here!

What are you up to this weekend? Megan’s dad is in town, so we’ll be spending lots of time in San Francisco, plus taking a day trip to Santa Cruz. The best thing about Bill’s visits are the absolute gluttony that comes with it: cheese, bread, olive oil, wine, chocolate… and repeat. It’s pretty rich. Hope you squeeze in some spoiling, too!

Need a mood boost? This dance mashup should do the trick.

Hip-hip-hurray for small apartments!

How to look like a real grown-up. Made us chuckle.

Reflecting on a wedding registry, ten years later.

We tried Millennium in Oakland last night. And it was deeeeelicious.

Ever feel like this when you’re traveling?

Portraits of students and what they will be.

Have you read this? Very interesting NYT opinion piece on what makes a woman.

Happy weekend! See you next week.

Homemade Travel Lunchables (for Grown-Ups)

In Megan and Joe’s generation, many of us got to take Lunchables to school every once awhile, and that was a very special day. Hard to say exactly why, as they are (unsurprisingly) packed with artificial ingredients and preservatives. And also kind of revolting to look at. And yet, the idea of it is still so adorably appealing, isn’t it: each food, chopped in bite-sized pieces, in its own little “cubby.”

We recently bought some assorted olives at an olive bar in our local grocery story. Joe’s immediate thought was that the provided containers were kind of like those once-exciting Lunchables, so we decided they’d be great to wash and re-use on our next road trip.

For the long drive down I-5 to LA, we cleaned out our fridge and pantry and filled out lunchables containers with lots of leftovers:

• Cheddar cheese (two kinds—Joe’s from Vermont, what can we say)
• Crackers
• Pistachios
• Hummus
• Sliced apple
• Carrots
• Peaches and nectarines
• Homemade lavender cookies
• Chocolate
• Seltzer water

Any kind of divided container can work great to pack healthy snacks on-the-go. We would have loved to include more produce, but this was all we had left in the house. Joe often likes to include some sliced salami, or you can sub in your favorite fruits or veggies (strawberries, grapes, celery, cucumber, orange slices, raisins, pickles, avocado, pineapple, blueberries…) or different cheeses or proteins (cottage cheese, goat cheese with herbs, egg salad, grilled chicken, even yogurt if you don’t required finger-food). Other nice additions would be nuts, granola, or trail mix. The combinations are endless!

Confession: We were pretty thrilled to open up our snacks on the road. We also avoided spending time and money on a stop for overpriced, unhealthy fast food.

What do you like to eat on the road? Do you pack food or eat out? How long of a stop do you allow yourself? Will you try homemade lunchables on your next road trip?