There isn’t a lot I like to remember from my school days. I really didn’t like school…had no interest in it, sadly. But I do remember my school friends and still think of them often. My friend Patrice, who I recently reconnected with…..YAY!!!!….was my good buddy in high school. We were the best of friends and got into some mischief together. We would stand in line at the school cafeteria for these delicious peanut butter chews. The chews were only made once or twice a week and they were fifty cents if I recall. You could smell them throughout the campus. I would sneak some quarters from my dad’s jar just to buy these chews. After I had graduated, I thought about those bars often. One day I was reading the newspaper, several years later. I saw that a reader had requested the recipe. Was I ever excited to see that the recipe was right there in the newspaper!!!!!!!!!!! The caption read “San Diego Unified School District gladly shares their recipe for a childhood favorite”. WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went home that night and made a batch and I have been making them ever since. They are amazing. So rich, chewy, sweet, buttery and oh so comforting. They are drizzled with a peanut butter glaze and melt in your mouth. YUM-M-M.

Peanut Butter Chews
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, plus 2 tsp butter, shortening or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup oats

Glaze
6 Tblsp powdered sugar
2 tsp peanut butter
Hot water

Mix butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until well creamed. Add peanut butter..mix till combined. Add dry ingredients and mix till combined. Spread it out into a 12×18 sheet pan. Bake at 350 for 20-24 minutes. DON’T OVERBAKE. You want them chewy, not cakey. Allow to cool somewhat.
Mix the glaze ingredients…adding enough HOT water just to make a nice semi thick drizzle. Spread over the bars…cut, eat and enjoy!
SOOOOOOOOOOO good.

Last week it was blueberry glazed scones. Tonight I made orange cranberry scones. I guess I am back on my scones kick. As I said before, I just love them. They are the perfect partner to a rich, good cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I brought back some Dutch Bros. coffee from Oregon last week and these should go quite nicely with that coffee. If you haven’t had Dutch Bros. coffee, you are missing out on some delicious stuff. I love their Iced Mochas. Delicious. I only wish they had a store here in San Diego!! Anyway, back to the scones. These are my go to scone. If you recall, I have mentioned before that I love anything ORANGE. I love the aroma of orange in baked treats. These are orangey, delicate, moist….not at all dry like a lot of scones. The combination of heavy cream and oange, gives these a very rich, intense flavor. I hope you will make them.

Orange Cranberry Scones

2 cups of AP flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
4 tablespoons  sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tablespoons very cold butter, diced
1 cup heavy cream, plus 2 Tablespoons
1 tablespoon of fresh grated orange zest
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. add the cold butter and using fingers, mix until you have big crumbs. Chill for about 20 minutes. Not YOU, but the butter/flour mixture. 🙂
Add the cold heavy cream, orange zest and cranberries.Combine just until mostly mixed together, leaving a lot of dry crumbs. Turn it out onto a floured board and knead just to combine the crumbs into a soft dough. DONT GO NUTS and over knead. Don’t be kneady. hahahhahah, Kneady……get it? ok, ok….
Pat it into a circle about 3/4″ thick. Cut it into 8 wedges. Or pat it into a square and cut into 9 squares. Sprinkle with sugar. Put the wedges onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 420 degrees for about 12-14 minutes, turning the pan once. Test with a toothpick. Toothpick should have a wee bit of crumbs on it. Allow to cool if you can unless you want to scorch your mouth.

Sunday nights are terrible…It is just a reminder that it is back to work tomorrow. Big sigh….
Oh and the time change. Don’t much care for that either…but something that does make me happy, is steaming hot, cheesy potato casserole. Another great comfort food…how could oozy goozy cheese not make you happy?
This is a super simple recipe. You can use any kind of cheese that you like. I even add green chilies sometimes…..hot spicy ones. But then, I like things on the spicy side. I shred fresh raw potatoes, but you could use frozen hashbrowns. Either way, you wont be disappointed! I promise you. So, make these soon!!!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

3 medium size raw potatoes, shredded
1/2 of a small onion, minced
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar in this picture)
1/2 cup yellow cheddar cheese

Mix everything together and dump into a buttered baking dish. Top with more cheese. bake at 350 for about 45 minutes-1 hour. That’s it…super simple

Happy Friday all. It has been a long week. I went to Oregon last week and returned to work Wednesday. So really it was a short week, but it sure didn’t feel like it. Came back to the office with alot of work waiting for me and I need a margarita!! I’m sure my coworkers won’t mind a little cheer on a friday….end of the week, either. A little tequila, some zesty lime and pinch of salt….what a way to end the week, right? So, if you are in to margaritas, you will love this cupcake. I have made the cake from scratch, but honestly, a good white cake mix doctored up is every bit as good. I hate boxed cake mixes. To me they have an after taste. But the only after taste you’re going to have here is a little bit of tequila. How could that be wrong!!!
I hope you all have a good weekend. CHEERS!!

1 box white cake mix
(replace 1/2 cup of the water lime juice and tequila)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
zest of 2 limes

Mix it all up, pour into your baking cups and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. While warm, brush the tops with tequila. Take a shot for yourself and let the cupcakes cool.

Frosting:
1 block of cream cheese
1 stick of butter
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 2 limes
3 or 4 tablespoons of tequila (or more)

whip it all together, spread or pipe on the cooled cupcakes

What better way to start your day than a warm blueberry scone, drizzled with blueberry glaze. Add a steaming cup of coffee and you’re all set. I love scones……a GOOD scone. I will settle for the ones they sell at that big name coffee shop, but I would rather make my own. The ones in the coffee shops are always dry. I HATE that! The ones pictured here are so moist. I over did it on the butter however, so they didn’t rise as much as they should have. But they are delicious, melt in your mouth, buttery, crumbly scones. I drizzled them with a blueberry glaze, but you could simply sprinkle them with a course sugar before baking. That is the way that I prefer them. I hope you will try these.

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup COLD butter
1 cup buttermilk (you made need a little more)
1 cup fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put dry ingredients in food processor, pulse to mix. Add butter, pulse until you have big crumbs.
Dump into a bowl. Add buttermilk and mix with a fork until a shaggy mass forms. Add a little more buttermilk if necessary to bring the dough together. Form into a disk about 1 1/2 inches high, and cut into 4ths or 8ths.

Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and freeze for 20 minutes Remove from freezer, sprinkle with course sugar.

Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool slightly on wire racks and serve, or drizzle with blueberry glaze:
Glaze: just a few blueberries in the food processor, with some powdered sugar and a few little sprinkles of water or lemon juice, to get the consistency that you want. Drizzle it on the scones. DELICIOUS.