Adult Candy Bars (aka Salted Caramel Cookie Bars)

Salted caramel is all the rage. Everyone is eating it as a cupcake, a sauce on something and I just received a candle that is salted caramel scented. That candle sat on my desk all of last week burning and making me hungry. All I wanted to eat were Twix bars and those tiny Brach's caramel squares. By end of the week I had enough of the smelling but not eating caramel, and I decided a Twix Bar was not going to cut it-the caramel had to be salted. A bunch of research led me to chocolate salted caramel cookie bars, which everyone said were grown up Twix bars. The recipe as is was fine, but I decided it needed some tweaking. The results have been hugely successful and several people have asked for the recipe. Here you go... Cookie Layer 2 sticks room temp unsalted butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 Tbl vanilla extract 1/2 tea salt 2 cups flour Caramel Layer 10 oz carmel candies-unwrap, use your kitchen shears to cut up 2-3 Tbl heavy cream Chocolate Layer 10 oz dark chocolate chips 1 cup heavy cream Decent quality flakey salt of your choosing Preheat your oven to 325, generously grease your 13x9 glass baking dish. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and salt, then add flour and mix to combine. Press this into bottom of prepared dish and dock the dough-meaning-pierce dough with a fork all over to keep it from bubbling up. Bake this for up to 35 minutes until it is set and begins to get golden brown. Set aside to cool. Once cooled slightly turn it out onto a baking sheet/cutting board lined with foil. Fold the edges of the foil up around the cookie to make a lip-this will help keep caramel goodness from oozing off the top of the cookie. Put your caramels and 2 tbl heavy cream into small sauce pan and heat over low heat, if you have chopped them up well with your scissors they should begin to melt quickly-keep stirring. If it isn't getting that cream caramel sauce thickness add a touch more cream. Once completely melted pour over the cookie crust. Let this set up for a few minutes before adding the hot chocolately layer-this will help keep the layers neat and distinct. Heat your 1 cup of cream in a pot, stir in the chips, remove from heat and stir til the chips melt. You can jazz this up with a tablespoon of your favorite extract or liquer. Once completely smooth pour onto the caramel layer. Immediately sprinkle with salt-to your taste-I used less. I also bought a decent salt for this in a grocery store. You don't need to buy a $30 salt that you may never use again, but don't go with kosher or table salt either. Heat your knive with hot water and cut into bars-keep the knife hot and clean for easier and cleaner cuts. It is hard to cut into but completely worth the effort.

Everybody Walk The Dinosaur (A second look at Dinosaur BBQ)

When the Troy branch of Dinosaur BBQ opened a few years ago I am positive I did a brief write up of the joint. Time has passed and more foods have been tried and it is just time to remind you all of how much I still love it there! Last night my family offered to take me out to a pre-birthday dinner and allowed me to pick my restaurant. Having decided that I really wanted the Dino, I was worried that at 5:45 on a Friday we would not get seated. The Dino gets so busy on weekends that a 2 hour wait is not uncommon. Other BBQ places were suggested and I declined, because I didn't want BBQ, I wanted Dino BBQ. It isn't the same as the other local joints-it is so specific that nothing else would do for me last night. So we took our chances and hopped in the car. The Dino birthday gods were looking down on us as we got one of the last open tables. We started with a round of beverages-they have a great beer selection featuring local, craft and national brands both on tap and in bottles. My husband opted for something dark and involving cherries which he declared great. I went for an Arnold Palmer-half sweet tea/half lemonade and all refreshing. They serve Boylans rootbeers/birch beers etc which was a great option for the child. The Swag Sampler Platter for two was next up-their version of a sampler platter one would find at any chain. This one comes with Fried Green Tomatoes, Creole Deviled Eggs, Cajun Shrimp, Wings. We passed on the shrimp and got more eggs. You get enough for everyone to have one of everything (except shrimp-you get two shrimp a piece...in our case we got 2 egg halves a piece). The tomatoes are green, fried crispy and have a bit of a tang to them. I have no other green tomato experience to compare them to but the soft tangy inside with the crispy outside and the cool creamy dipping sauce makes them the gold standard for any future fried greens I try. The wings can come in a variety of sauces, and we went for a medium one. Well cooked-no flabby skin on these boys! And sauced enough but not too much. Perfect amount of flavor, with mild heat. And the eggs....if I have a last supper those eggs are going to be part of it. Creole deviled eggs that make me swoon. I have tried to recreate the creamy spicy flavor of the yolk at home with no success. I could literally eat a dozen of them. For dinner we decided the bird is in fact the word. Daughter ordered from the kids menu-and I have to say at $5.99 for choice of entrees and 2 sides that is an amazing value. Her entree and side choices are all right from the adult menu and there is no skimping on quality for kids. Husband ordered the 1/2 chicken dinner with mashed potato and chopped salad. Perfectly smoky sticky bbq chicken. The gravy was slightly spicy but meaty. And salad was fresh looking with romaine, carrots and cukes. I went for the Jerked Chicken Sandwich with a side of mac n cheese. Oh yes, the Dino Mac n Cheese would also be on my last supper plate. Cheesey, creamy and a kick of spice to it there is nothing else equal to it in my eyes. The jerk chicken comes with jerk seasoned shredded chicken along with pickled onion and pepper on a sub roll. Actually not a messy sandwich to eat and full of flavor from jerk season, chicken and some mild crunch and tang from the pickled veg. Service was great, as usual. (Although I have friends who do not like the service there...) I personally would walk the Dinosaur any day of the week.