Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Classic blog #47: Cooking with Jen

Today, I'm sharing a recipe with you that is perfect for birthdays, your snack day at the office, potlucks, Breakfast/Brunch and other exciting times in your life: Bacon Snack Bars, courtesy of Kraft Foods & my pal, Jeffrey.

You will need:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 pkg. (2.8 oz.) OSCAR MAYER Real Bacon Recipe Pieces (Bacon Bits will work as a meatless substitute here)
4 tsp. TANG Orange Flavor Drink Mix
3 cups POST HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS Cereal, any variety


Directions:

1. MIX sugar and syrup in large saucepan. Bring just to boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Please, learn from Adam's mistake and do not stick your finger in the sugar and corn syrup boiling mixture. It burns and will hurt you. Also, I don't recommend that you talk on the phone while cooking. Not even to say to your brother, "Hey dood! I'm making these sweet bacon tang bars!" Look at the excruciating pain Adam is suffering. Learn from him. Let him be your martyr, or something.

2. ADD peanut butter; stir until well blended. Stir in bacon pieces and drink mix. Add cereal; mix well.

Don't trust any brand called, "Nature's Promise" because nature won't promise you anything except poison ivy and peanut butter that is drippy and looks a bit like the runs. Is that what you want your food to look like?

It helps to be really excited about the food you're cooking. If you are excited your friends will be excited to eat your snack bars too.

3. PRESS evenly into greased 8-inch square pan. Cool completely before cutting into 12 bars to serve.

In this case, we arranged the Honey Bunches of Oats into a J for our friend Jeffrey because they were his birthday surprise last year. Great surprise! Are Adam and I not the most stellar friends to have this side of Texas? "Indeed, Adam and Jen are the most stellar friends to have!" the masses have declared.




But, don't take my word for it. Look how much Jeffrey loves his Bacon Tang Snack Bars, Birthday Edition:
And check out these rave reviews from the users at Kraftfoods.com:
"Eeee bacon and syrup?!? I would...want to try making this."

"A co-worker appealed to my bacon fixation by making two batches of these bars and bringing them into the office. THEY ARE PHENOMENAL It's only 9:30 and people are fighting for the last crumbs and threatening to lick the tin-foil serving trays !!! The BSBs start off very sweet, take a subtle salty twist as the PB and Bacon take over and then charge your senses with a wicked-awesome hit of tang to finish. MMMMMM - just can't get enough"

"OMG, these are so good, with bacon being like my favorite food, I can't think of anything better than these bacon bars. I highly suggest dipping them in gravy."

"Went together easy, but I did...like the taste of the bacon and orange tang together."

"At first, the mouth is entertained with a mellow, peanut butter flavor which is ever so slightly 'complimented' by the TANG. And just as the TANG begins to completely take over your senses, the bacon makes its debut."



So in conclusion, drink beer while you cook and try not make this face:

Thursday, June 08, 2006

In another life, I would like to be a cat...

Me: My cat is a binge eater! She has body image issues!

Coworker: Well...she doesn't even realize she *has* a body.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Music Video Review: Hey Ya!

I just checked out the video "Hey Ya" by Outkast. This is a very catchy song and the video is pretty good too. The video is a play on those old timey television programs like the Ed Sullivan show, when the Beatles first appeared in America. Many of the shots look like they are from that era of programs, with the black and white shots of the all female audience screaming and losing their cool because they are about to see their new favorite rock and roll musical group, the fictional band, "The Love Below". I can only assume this is a play on the name of Outkast's latest CD, The Love Below. So this fictious band, The Love Below, begins singing and they are all dressed in matching green and white shirts and trousers. I thought it was very clever how all of the members of the band are played by Andre 3000, who is one half of Outkast. Andre plays the lead singer, the three back up singers, the keyboard player, the guitar player, the drummer, and the bass player with great conviction! Similar to the Beatles in the 1960s on the Ed Sullivan program, all of the Andres are wearing coordinated ensembles of green, white, and plaid. I also enjoyed how they cut between the green and white motif and the black & white shots, to resemble watching this on an old timey television set. This video has both a modern and homage to the Ed Sullivan Show, which was very clever. This song is very catchy. Another memorable part of the video is when a female audience member runs onstage to hug Andre 3000 while he is singing and dancing, then a big bodyguard picks her up and takes her offstage! Another female audience member faints as well! One other scene shows an older woman covering her ears in distate because she does not enjoy this loud devil music, but even by the end she has changed her ways and is shaking it like a Polaroid picture, as Andre 3000 says we should do in this catchy song and clever video, "Hey Ya!".

Here is the video!: