Today is my husband's birthday. We've been married for eleven years and I love him so much. I'm not telling this story to poke fun at all, I just love how it's a typical interaction in our family and it conjured an image of my very early cooking experiences living at home.
It is a Monday evening after dinner. I walk into the kitchen to find my husband standing in front of the cupboard wishing there was some "good" junk food but instead, settling for eating a stale marshmallow from a bag.
Him: You should make Rice Krispy Treats or something out of these
Me: I know - I've been meaning to make something or throw them out.
Tuesday evening after dinner. He's standing in the same spot, this time not only eating the marshmallows but also feeding them to Little because she finished her dinner.
Him: You should make Rice Krispy Treats or something out of these.
Me: I know but I haven't been to the grocery store since you told me that yesterday.
Him: I didn't tell you yesterday; I told you on Monday.
Me: Today is Tuesday.
Him: Oh.
Wednesday afternoon after gymnastics
Me: Hey [Big]! Let's make some Rice Krispy Treats.
Big: What's that?
Me: You know, those marshmallow crispy bars.
Big: We can make those at home?
We make a big pan. It's gone in about 3 days and I'm not sure if my husband actually ate any of it.
When I was young, my cooking repertoire consisted of Rice Krispy Treats and Kraft Mac & Cheese. After not making Rice Krispy Treats for a decade, here are my reflections: Why aren't there more desserts like this that you don't have to bake? Can you imagine how many chocolate chip cookies we'd eat if they were that fast? I mean, I know you can burn the roof of your mouth really badly if you don't wait for Rice Krispy Treats to cool, but this is the easiest cooking method ever. Did the marshmallows always stick so badly to the pot and is there a trick to cleaning them up? Isn't it amazing that a 9x13 pan can hold so much goodness that has absolutely zero nutritional value? How many marshmallows did my kids actually eat before I took their picture and took them away?
If you need a recipe for making these, it's on the back of even the generic rice crispy cereals at the grocery store. Or here.
I loved these as a kid. Are they just as good when you're all grown up?
ReplyDeleteAagh, we didn't know it was his birthday! I hope you all had a wonderful celebration.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure my kids don't know you can make Rice Krispy Treats at home. Can we try to keep it that way? hahaha.
Did you know you can make no-bake chocolate cookies?
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/06/30/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-oatmeal-cookies/
Also, chocolate bark has always seemed to me to be so easy it's like cheating -- and I can't believe the insane amount of money the candy store charges for it!
AH - almost as good and pretty addicting.
ReplyDeleteLee - Your secret is safe with me . . . especially after giving me that no-bake chocolate cookie recipe!
prediction: you will make a boatload of these in days to come when you pack school lunches day after day, week after week, year after year. I did. Or maybe not, I fed my kids much more sugar than you do - you should see how they turned out!
ReplyDeleteLooked at your blog this morning and now I'm making Rice Krispy Treats. You are inspiring!
ReplyDelete