Cookie Jar: Crispy Rice Krispies Cookies

D2 is back  home and we are digging our feet in, getting ready to brave out the last quarter of the 15-16 school year.  This year feels like it went by quickly, except when I was counting down the days for D1 to come home.

I had some big plans for this vacation, which is all but gone now (just a few HOURS left).  I managed to get some things done, but I didn't get to things I wanted to do.

I wanted to send D2 on her trip with a gigantic bag of cookies.  That never happened.  I wanted to clean my bedroom.  That didn't happen.  I was hoping to complete my pacing guides for next year.  That didn't happen (my efforts fell far short).  I wanted to buy a new car.  That didn't happen either.

Enough about what didn't happen.  Here's what DID happen (which I can smile about):

• I survived the senior prom.  Mother Nature blessed us with safe driving conditions.  I could hear thunder while the prom was going on, but by the time we hit the road for home, the rain let up.
• D2 did not appear malnourished from her trip.  And the iPhone 5C is practically bulletproof.
• I discovered a super ono sushi lunch place in Hilo.
• My cousins treated me to a Hilo Hawaiian buffet dinner on crab night.

Life is good.

These are the cookies I wish I made for D2.

She'll hafta eat the pics.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Crispy Rice Krispies Cookies

     1 c butter

     1 c sugar

     1 c brown sugar

     2 eggs

     1 tsp vanilla

     2 c flour

     1 tsp baking powder

     1 tsp baking soda

     1/2 tsp salt

     2 c rolled oats (old fashioned oatmeal)

     2 c Rice Krispies cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment.  Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredient mixture.  Fold in oats and Rice Krispies.  Drop by tablespoonfuls (#50 disher) onto prepared cookies sheets.  Moisten fingers and press gently to flatten slightly (top should be flat, not domed).  Bake 15 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.  Makes about 5 dozen cookies. 

Cookie Butter Rice Krispies Treats

I am glad today is a holiday.  I need a break.  I feel like I'm just treading water.  I can finally catch up on all of my corrections.  I'm normally good about correcting papers and giving feedback, but being out a day each week since the month began is taking its toll on being timely.

In spite of the long weekend, I could not get away from work.  Saturday was the first-ever powderpuff football game.  It was a senior class fundraiser, and the main event of the day pitted the Lady Sharks (senior girls) against a team of brave underclassmen, er, underclassWOmen.  The seniors dominated the game, but the younger girls never gave up and managed to put points on the board.  Most impressive was the ability of a few girls to throw a football. 

Of course, the half-time show, a male cheerleading contest, wow-ed the crowd.  Students are so adept at choreography, and I know the male cheerleaders took the competition as seriously as the powderpuff players.

For pics of the day, visit the poi-dog page and view the slideshow.  

My contribution to the day:  I donated food for the concession, purchased a few tickets, and patronized the concession.  My cuz made the chicken long rice, which was absolutely delicious.  D2's pal, KN enthusiastically agreed.  I need to ask my cuz how she did it and, maybe, even get her to be a guest writer here.  She is an awesome cook.  Other goodies for sale were goody-goody, malasadas, kalua pig & cabbage, spam musubi, and party mix.  I'm not sure where they got the smoked meat from, but that was really good too.  Speaking of smoked meat, I hope they will be selling that at the concession for volleyball season.  I love smoked meat.

After the full day of powderpuff football, I was ready to relax.  D2 had a friend over and eventually went over to another friend's house for a sleepover.  I think it was then that I remembered all the papers I needed to correct and the 5+ loads of laundry I had to do.  I'm not sure how I accumulated 5 loads, but I did.  Crap!

I spent the better part of Valentines Day AND Presidents Day correcting papers and doing laundry.  I even managed to make a pan of these goodies, which were a nice change from eating party mix crumbs (I'm party mix'd out. . .made for the powderpuff concession and for D2 to take to the sleepover).

If you are a fan of marshmallow treats, then you must try these.  If you are a fan of cookie butter, then you cannot afford to pass these up.  I happen to be a fan of both, and I swear I can eat a whole pan of these without breaking a sweat.  That's really not as impressive as it sounds since these treats are made in a square pan.  I think of it as a way to limit the madness, although if I'm going to share it with anyone else, I would double the recipe and pack it into a 9 x 13" pan.  For the record, I prefer these to Trix treats, hands-down.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Cookie Butter Rice Cereal Treats

     1/4 c butter

     3/4 c cookie butter (Trader Joes Speculoos or Biscoff)

     10 oz (5 1/2-6 cups) miniature marshmallows

     7 c crisp rice cereal

Grease a 9" square pan.  Heat butter and cookie butter in a large dutch oven until melted.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted.  Stir in rice krispies.  Press into prepared pan.  Cool completely then cut into squares.

Tricks and Trix and Treats

D1 has been away for 34 days, and it will be another 90-or-so days before she returns, not that I'm counting or anything.

Again, I find myself going back to the time I went away to college.  There was no texting, no facetime. . .only long-distance calling.  My parents always welcomed my calls, no matter what time of day it was.  Now I know why.

I think it's becoming very apparent that I'm missing D1 more than she is missing me.  I think, or I'm convincing myself, that's a good thing.  She doesn't appear homesick.  Maybe she is just too busy.  I'm grateful she's kept her promise of sending me a picture a day.  I've noticed a preponderance of food (eating out food, not dorm food) in her pics.  She also told me she's discovered Starbucks.  WTF?  Starbucks has been in Hawaii for years.  Prior to leaving for college, the only drink she's ordered at Starbucks has been a hot cocoa.

Not like I haven't been busy either.  I made a ton of lemon bars for KikukatMom to distribute to her friends who wished her well after her surgery.  I made so many bars that I had to ask KikukatMom to come over and help me (if she can go shopping at Costco and Target, she can help me with lemon bars).

Even though it was only a 4-day work week, it felt like forever.  I had a hard time finding my balance this week.  I'd like to blame it on the lemon bars, but I know I'm also at fault.  A short week just throws my whole schedule into a tailspin.

Oh, nvm.  I remember now why the start of my week was so shaky.  sigMAX knows, and a big bear-hug shout out goes to him for holding my hand and suffering along with me.  Let's hope we won't need endure something like that for a while.

This weekend I went to a high school football game.  I also managed to get my hair cut.  And I finally got my cotton candy fix (It's county fair time in Hilo!).  I was planning to buy a bunch of Bradda Pops, some to send to D1 and some for D2 to snack on after school, but when I went to the Bradda Pop store, there was a sign saying the shop was closed and they'd be at the county fair.  Shit.  I knew I wasn't going to the fair so the Bradda Pops would need to wait for another month or so.  Had I known this last week, I would've sent D2 to search for the Bradda Pop booth. . .just like she did for my cotton candy.

So having had my line cut by Bradda Pops, I needed to find something else to pack in the box to send to D1.  I already had the box packed nicely and included goodies for her roommates.  It had to be something that might possibly get smashed a little but suffer no permanent harm.  While I was trying to decide, I came across some cereal in the pantry.  Taking a nostalgic trip within my mind, along with a real trip to the store to buy supplies, I spent Sunday in the kitchen.  D1 should be receiving some of these shortly. . .along with her UGGs.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Tricks and Trix and Treats

     1/4 c butter
     1 lb mini marshmallows*
     12 c Trix cereal*

Grease a 9 x 13" pan.  In a large pot, melt butter.  Add marshmallows.  Stir until melted.  Add Trix.  Mix until Trix is coated with marshmallow mixture.  Press into prepared pan using a plastic glove which has been sprayed with Pam (or greased).  Cool completely.  Cut into 24 pieces using a teflon or greased knife.

*I've noticed that marshmallows come in bags ranging from 10 oz to 1 lb.  If using a 10 oz bag, use 9 c of Trix.  Treats will be slightly shorter, but barely noticeable.

D2 had a function at her school a few years ago, and there was a request for dessert.  I hemmed and hawwed about what to make and then I remembered the box of Trix I bought (thinking 1 box wouldn't be enough).  I made Trix Treats for her to take, and it took me a moment to think about how I should package the treats.  In Hawaii, nothing can stay out long without getting soggy, so I knew I had to wrap each piece individually.  Not wanting to chance Mr. Dependable bringing home a pan for me, I decided to send the treats in the Trix box.  I was going to remove the entire front section of the box, but The Help suggested cutting only 3 sides so I would have a built-in lid.  He is soooo smart!

Cookie Jar: Rice Krispies Crunch Cookies

Today is the first day of school for most public school students in Hawaii.  D2 began today, and D1 will begin tomorrow.  Today is a 9th grade-only day at her school.  I have 2 classes of 9th graders, and historically, 9th graders have been the class I try to avoid.  They are 1 step outta intermediate (middle) school and tend to be social buffoons.  In the old days, when classes were mixed grades, the 9th graders would be set straight very quickly by the upperclassmen.  Now that they are separated by grade levels (thank you, Common Core State Standards), the 9th graders will just fester.  Ugh.

I barely recovered from hosting the Japanese girls.  They were fun, but its very intense while they are here.  I'm grateful they don't come during the school year because it would just be too much.

It took the better part of last week to attempt to switch gears from vacation mode to work mode.  Work mode kicked off with a work session on Monday. We were supposed to stay until 3 pm, but the school kicked us out because of impending bad weather from Tropical Storm Flossie.  That ended up being much ado about nothing because there were no torrential rains, no thunder, no lightning, no flash flooding, and no gusty winds, at least where I was.  It was a missed opportunity (and I'm grateful) to see the flooding pattern of my classroom.

Tuesday was the first OFFICIAL day of work, and the hospitality at work was amazing.  Near-bottomless supply of candy on the table; sushi, teri beef, katsu, korean chicken and chips for morning snack; steak fry for lunch.  At my previous work site, the only type of meal was a potluck lunch (with the exception of generous meals provided solely by the High Commander).  The potlucks were a joke because there were those chronics who never brought anything to share, pretended to forget, then heaped it on when some kind person offered them a plate.  Fricking shame!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were a blur, but I know that the HHS custodians are the best!  They take care of the teachers BIG TIME.  My swivel chair and phone got swipered, but they returned my phone to me and they also got me 2 swivel chairs!  They replaced my burnt out light bulbs and also gave me another trash bin.  I totally lucked out!

I spent the weekend either at school or doing school stuff at home.  I think I am ready to begin.  I just need to get to OfficeMax to take advantage of the 50% off lamination.  School has a machine, but trying to get to use it is absolute hell, and I'm not sure if it laminates with the same thick film as OfficeMax does.

With all this work, I didn't have a decent meal all weekend.  I did have some of these cookies to snack on, but they are gone now.  I need to bake another batch to share with the custodians!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Rice Krispies Crunch Cookies

     1 lb butter
     1 1/4 c sugar
     1/2 tsp vanilla extract
     4 c flour
     1 c pecans, chopped fine
     3 c Rice Krispies

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in vanilla.  Stir in flour.  Stir in pecans.  Fold in Rice Krispies.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Plop tablespoon-sized balls (use #50 disher) onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten with fingers to 1/4" thickness.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from sheets and cool completely on rack.  Makes 76 cookies.

If you prefer smaller cookies (silver dollar size), use #60 disher (makes 102 cookies) and shorten baking time by 1-2 minutes.