{Recipe Recap} Peanut Butter Blondies

I’m going to keep this short and (literally) sweet.  The McHusband is off to Vegas today for the annual SEMA show, the one we went to last year.  He’s staying in the same condo building where we stayed last year, and he’s sharing the space with Shawn, Vanessa, and Eric.

So anyway, I figured I should send the McHusband across the country with some treats to share with our friends.  I’d gotten some Reese’s Pieces on sale after Halloween so I looked for a bar or blondie that would work with those.  Stephanie from Back For Seconds had a recipe that was right up my alley.

I didn’t have peanut butter cups so my mix-ins were Reese’s Pieces, white chocolate chips, and Heath pieces.

I made these late in the afternoon on Sunday so between how long they needed to cool plus the time change, there wasn’t any light left for decent photos.  But I can’t do a food post without any pictures at all so for better or worse, these are what you get.

These blondies are not at all cakey.  They are very similar to my favorite cookie texture, which is a touch crisp on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside.  The recipe was simple so I will be keeping it in my go-to arsenal.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

{Recipe adapted from here}

Vegas: Wednesday

The boys went back to the car show on Wednesday, and I shopped with Vanessa and her mom.  We knew we wanted to go to a restaurant where Eric could get a good steak for dinner, and we checked out menus as we passed the many restaurants on the strip. 

Mon Ami Gabi, a French bistro in the Paris hotel, looked like a winner: it offered several steaks and the prices were right.  And they took reservations and had one available for us.

Dinner was delicious.  I think I heard several people say the phrase “best steak ever,” and they’ve eaten a lot of them so it wasn’t uttered lightly.

From dinner, we headed out to walk the streets.  It was Halloween, after all, so the people watching was even better than usual.

And now you are expecting pictures to back up that claim, but we didn’t take any.  Sorry!

Here, have any $80 beer instead.

 

The McHusband played some poker and got a “free” beer served to him.  He and I both wish he’d had to pay for it.

Some random pictures from the Bellagio.

We visited the Jean Philippe Patisserie with its huge chocolate fountain, which has been certified by Guinness as the largest chocolate fountain in the world.

In honor of Halloween, two chocolatiers spent 70 hours creating this chocolate skeleton.

Why yes, I think we will help ourselves to a gulp.

Delicious!  We may be too old for trick-or-treating, but I hope I’m never too old to indulge in a chocolate fountain.

Two girls, one shoe

Happy Friday!  This week has not exactly flown by even though it’s been very busy so, as always, I’m looking forward to the weekend.  I have Women’s Night tonight so I spent some time in the kitchen last night whipping up a couple treats.  Cuz, you know, I’m rarely happy making just one thing.

I didn’t want to leave you totally hanging, though, so here’re a couple pictures from Vegas.

How’s that for a great way to start your Friday?

A picture's worth a thousand words...

Okay, as promised, I have pictures from our trip to Vegas. I won't bore you with my babbling, I'll just get straight to the pictures. Enjoy!

Look at those excited faces...

And here we are on our first field trip at Red Rock Canyon. Can you find Vanessa?

Unfortunately, that's not a rare bird.

Look, our very own mountain men. The boys climbed waaaaaaay up the rocks.

Adios, Red Rock!

We went to the Shelby factory for a tour and got to sign a wall inside.

After the car stuff, we went to the Hoover Dam. Here's the McHusband and me on our way to the dam when we stopped for a photo op and then at the dam during our tour. Hmmm, guess the McHubby wanted to see what the dam was like with the lights out.

We had a nice dinner at Postrio in the Venetian before our Cirque du Soleil shows. Our waiter was kind enough to take a group photo when we left. Then we took pictures on the bridge that the gondolas floated under.

After dinner, we ran into a couple of familiar faces. Jeremy, watch that right hand...

And Nic, watch your left hand! Sheesh, celebrities!

We ventured into the Secret Garden at the Mirage (and by "venture," I mean we paid $15 per ticket to be allowed in) and saw dolphins, white tigers and lions, and four tiger cubs (three white ones and one gold one) at feeding time. It was worth the $15 just to see the cubs so active.

I count three bellies in this picture...

The End. Sorry, I couldn't resist. The McHusband took this picture of Vanessa and me in the Bellagio.

If you want to see more pictures from our trip, check out my Shutterfly album.