Caramel Swirl Hunks!

Another Recipe!

After venting in my last blog I decided it was time for another recipe.  A topic considerably more popular and enjoyable! 

Several years ago I acquired a new cookbook.  Actually, I bought it as a gift for my daughter who has inherited my love of baking.  The name of the cookbook is what grabbed my attention: “A Passion for Baking” by Marcy Goldman.   I have a passion for baking, Katheryne is working on a passion for baking, so I decided to buy it and see what it offered; I have not been disappointed!!  In fact, I loved the cookbook so much bought a copy for myself when Katheryne left home for college and took her cookbook with her.  The wonderful thing about this cookbook is it includes sweet and savory recipes: bread, scones, biscotti, cheesecake, pies, cakes, muffins, and of course, cookies and cookie bars.   So many good recipes!

My kids and I love chocolate!!  I have several favorite brownie recipes, which will be shared at some point, but it is nice to have a change-up every now and then.  This recipe is the perfect change-up.  It is baked in a 9x13 pan so you have the ease of brownies, and it has chocolate chips in it, so there is a little chocolate.  But the batter is a wonderful butter and brown sugar combination with caramel swirled over the top…awesome!!  They were a huge hit every time I took them to work for a potluck and be warned – they are dense and heavy!  So enough talk; here is the recipe.

Caramel Swirl Hunks

2 cups unsalted butter, melted

3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

4 large eggs

4 tsps. Vanilla

1 cup quick oats

4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 13.4 ounce can dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray and place pan on a baking sheet.

Blend butter and sugars.  Add eggs, vanilla, and oats and blend well.  Fold in dry ingredients and then chocolate chips.

Spread batter in prepared baking pan.  Top with dollops of dulce de leche and swirl dulce de leche into batter.

Bake brownies for 38 minutes or until batter is set (not wobbly or jiggly).  If brownies seem browned around the edges but jiggly in the center, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue baking 10-15 minutes or until set.

Refrigerate for 1 hour and cut into squares.

This recipe will not taste the same if you substitute margarine for the butter.  If you use salted butter just omit the salt from the recipe.  And the last time I made them I had to turn the oven temperature down and bake them for almost another 25 minutes; they still taste great!

A Passion for Baking

ESP?

I think perhaps I missed out on something.  There must have been a class teaching the finer points of communication not involving actual words (ESP – some other form of telepathy perhaps?) that was offered at certain schools throughout the US, or maybe only in certain states, in certain months of certain years.  And it must have been a deep dark governmental secret because I have met many people who, like myself, also missed out on the class.  And if there was no class, then we also missed the memo that words were no longer necessary for communication.  But those of us who missed out seem to be part of the minority, because there are a lot of people out there who think we should just “know” we have done something to hurt their feelings without that being communicated to us.   

Here is an example of what I am talking about.  I know of someone who was talking with a friend and after conversing for several hours found out the friend was upset with them.  When this person found out the other person was upset they said, “Why didn’t you say something?”  The other person responded, “You didn’t ask.”  Really?

In another situation I know of, the person has been angry and offended for more than 20 years and they are growing increasingly angry.  But they have never said anything to the people who they felt hurt them, so they remain angry and the other party has never been given the opportunity to make things right.

The scary thing is these people appear to be reasonably intelligent adults.  There is nothing to indicate this completely illogical approach to human relationships.   How is a person supposed to “know” someone else is upset with them?  If you are around the person a lot then you may be able to pick up some of the non-verbal clues that would indicate something is wrong.  But if you don’t know the person well, and don’t spend a lot of time around them, how are you supposed to know something is wrong?   

Seriously, I don’t understand this approach to relationships.  A relationship, by definition, involves more than one person.  Aren’t both people responsible for how the relationship goes?   

So I have been trying to imagine how to avoid this in the future.  After all, those of you who know me well know that I will be unable to avoid offending someone.  I was thinking that perhaps I should start calling my friends/family/random acquaintances every six weeks or so and apologize for anything I might have said or done that offended them.  Perhaps a mass mailing, or better yet, a Facebook message sent to all my friends...just in case.   Based on that thought, I don’t think I have time for any more friends; I will have a hard time keeping up with the ten friends I have. 

If there is a moral to my venting it is this – it is a sign of respect and a true demonstration of caring to tell someone when your feelings are hurt because of something they said or did.  Your caring enough to bring up the subject demonstrates that you are assuming the best about the other person by giving them a chance to apologize and make things right.   It is not easy – not the confronting or the apologizing.  Life is made up of relationships, relationships make life worthwhile, and most things that are worthwhile are not easy.