Sweets for my sweetie

I had posted earlier that I am a really picky eater and many times I make dishes that I don't eat. I know this sound weird, but it actually how I show affection for people. I think the nicest thing we can do for someone to show our love, or our like, is to make them something to eat. We are taught at an early age to share, and this is how I share. I suppose it is also helps to feed my ego when people like something I have created for them. But more importantly for me, it make me feel happy to make someone else happy. That must be that primal instinct that woman have? Here is a recipe I made for my honey. We saw a recipe card at the grocery store when we stopped the other day. I am not a fan of raspberries (Gasp! I don't like strawberries either, unless they are pureed in my margaritas!) but he thought it looked good, so I made some for him to take to work. I cannot take any credit for this, as it is a recipe that Nestle put out. The only change I made was to not put the chocolate chips on top as he is not a big chocolate fan. Bigger gasp! What? How can he not like chocolate? That should be some kind of sin or something....

Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (well it is from Nestle, so go Tollhouse!), divided

1- 14 oz can Sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease a 9x13 baking pan. Beat butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until creamy. With floured hands *very important*, press 1-3/4 cup flour mixture into prepared pan, reserving remaining mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until just turning golden brown. While crust is baking, melt 1 cup chocolate chips and milk in microwave bowl on HIGH for 1 minute. Let set for about 30 seconds, then gently stir. If the chips are not completely melted, microwave for an additional 10 to 15 seconds. Spread over hot crust. Stir nuts into reserved flour mixture and sprinkle over chocolate layer. Drop teaspoonfuls of preserves over flour mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips (this is the step I omitted so it was too chocolatey for him). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the center is set. Cool on wire rack.

A quick note about the bowls in these pictures. I love 50's kitchen stuff, and I just love all the Pyrex patterns. My Mom gave me the two medium sized bowls, as they belonged to my Grandma Isabelle. It is from a set and I don't know who has the other two. I emailed my Dad in Florida and sent him a picture and asked him to scout out his local favorite antique stores for the pattern as I wanted a full set. I had looked in my area and haven't found this pattern. He called an hour later to tell me he had the big bowl in that pattern in his cupboard. A friend had given it to him. He tells me to check Ebay, to which I replied that I figured with all his connections he could find it cheaper and he could just bring them home when he comes home in June 2009 for our oldest daughter's graduation. I said I would pay up to $50 bucks for the two I didn't have. He called about two hours after that and said he found them online. In a week, a package from Colorado was on my door step with a complete set. Happy Birthday to me he said! I told him that next time I was going to tell him to find my a new car. Think that would show up on my doorstep with a Happy Birthday message?

Oh, and I got this cool scraper paddle for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It has silicone "wings" that scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. If you have either style of mixer, there is paddle for them. I ordered it from Chef's catalog-very cool item.