i am getting so old.

can you believe i'm 26?

i can't. ugh.

luckily i have cool people who made me feel extra-special

instead of just extra-old.

it started with a few of my coworkers.

one of them made me lemon raspberry cupcakes -- 

another one baked me some cookies but i already ate them and forgot to take a picture.

then i got some fruit from ruth!

(i put it in the fridge and another one of my coworkers dropped it on the floor and broke the handle -- you can see a little bit below)

but mostly it had this awesome chocolate pineapple bunny -- 

 

then a flower bouquet from m+d+d -- 

 and some awesome bday texts (and a midnight call) from surrah -- 

 i watched some 24 with sean, played some games -- 

 ...and dustin may have made this in honor of my birthday.

still not sure about that one. 

anyway i'm getting pretty old but i'm not dead yet.

crock pot creations.

m&d were kind enough to get me a crock pot for christmas.

so i started using it and it is awesome.

(thanks guys!)

my first dish was spare ribs with carrots and red potatoes -- 

i coated the ribs in flour, browned them and popped them in the slow cooker. then i added carrots, potatoes, chopped onions and some beef broth and let it cook on low for ten hours. 

it was so tender, the meat literally fell off the bones. YUM.

then today i made chili.

browned the ground turkey --

 sauteed the veggies (two green peppers and one onion) -- 

 and threw it all together in the pot with two cans of dark red kidney beans, a packet of chili mix, an extra tablespoon each of chili powder and paprika and some tomato juice. cooked on low for eight hours and it was yummy.

oh and also i got my hair cut.

deranna bars.

so i've been working at WCIA for two months now and i have a lot of catching up to do. let's start with my most recent foray into baking. it was in honor of my friend and photographer, derek. yesterday was our last day working together (he got a job doing video production stuff) so last week i told him i'd bake him something to celebrate. he said he wanted a cookie bar that was kind of like a reese's cup.
so i made deranna bars. 

for starters, "deranna" is a combination of our names. i figured it'd be a good name for a dessert i invented in his honor: a combination of what he wanted and what i could think up. also i completely made up the recipe but here's something close to what it was.

first, (preheat the oven to 375, grease a 9x13" pan and)
make the cookie bar base -- 

mix together:

1 cup butter (softened)

3/4 cup brown sugar (plus a little more)

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

(you can use an electric mixer or do it by hand)

add two eggs, one at a time.

mix in:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

once all of that is good and mixed, add the chocolate chips.

i use a regular-sized bag, which is equal to about two cups.

spoon the cookie dough into the pan and spread it around. 

bake for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

after that, let the cookie bar cool.
i let it sit overnight, but you don't have to.

it just needs to be cool enough so it doesn't melt the topping.

while that's cooling, make your peanut butter mixture --

1 1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

mix it until it is all the same consistency
and spread it on top of the (cooled) cookie bar.

then it's time for chocolate --

melt together (over low heat on stovetop
or in the microwave a few seconds at a time):

2 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

spread that on top of the peanut butter mixture and garnish with mini reese's cups.

voila.

deranna bars.

the great thing about this is that you can cut them into reasonably small pieces and still have decent-sized chunks since the dessert has a lot of layers. i made enough for two large plate-fuls and then some...however many that is ( :