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I’m going off the rails on a crazy train…

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This week was brought to you by the letter C, as in crazy. Some of the crazy I will keep to myself, the other I will share. If you follow me on FB or Twitter than you may already know these examples, but not everyone does.

Crazy number one: I was at my local grocery store when a boy who could be no more than 7 asked me if I was wearing a bra. I looked at the mom and she said “he’s taking a survey”. For the record I was indeed wearing a bra (I mean it’s not like I was Wal-Mart shopping where bras are optional 😛 ). While I was amused by this, the kid did actually have pen and paper. This actually kind of fuelled a debate on FB, which was not my intention, I just thought it was funny and wanted to share.

My favorite crazy was at Winco this week. If you are not familiar with a Winco basically it’s a cheap grocery store that like Costco doesn’t take credit cards. It has a whole lot of people on food stamps in there and all types of people (I’m being politically correct here). I was going down the liquor aisle (just passing through) and there was a woman, her very LARGE (I mean LARGE) husband and their cute daughter sitting in the cart. I’m seriously thinking that child was adopted or stolen because she was far too cute to belong to them. Anyway, the little girl shouts hi to me super loud and waves. So I say hi back. Only to have the woman turn around and should at me “don’t say hi to my husband, bitch”. Ummm. The man could have had his own zip code. And while he might have been a perfectly wonderful person, I can assure you I am more than willing to be hands off with that. 😛

One thing I don’t not want my hands off of are these Ginger-Pear Jam Shortbread Bars. My mom makes some of the best jam and this is one of her creations. I’m going to guess that you don’t have this as an option so I would just use plain pear or even peach jam and add a pinch of ginger to the mix. I also threw in some caramel pieces that were left over from something else, but truthfully, I am not sure I would use them again. They made these hard to eat when you got to that part. Live and learn .

Hope your week was less crazy. I have a feeling in the weeks to come my life is going to get more crazy than less. Oh well, roll with it, eh?

Ginger-Pear Jam Shortbread Bars

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
6 TBSP Ginger-Pear Jam (or just pear or peach if you can’t find…unless you know my mom and can get some from her.  )
About 25 caramel pieces (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven racks in the bottom third and top third of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, making sure the foil is tucked into all the corners and that there is at least 1 inch overhanging the top of the pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a medium-size mixing blow and cream together with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in the egg. Stir in the vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture.

Use a spatula to smooth half the mixture in an even layer across the bottom of the pan. Place the bowl in the freezer, along with the bowl containing the remaining half of the shortbread dough, for 15 minutes to firm up.

Remove the pan from the freezer and spread the preserves in an even layer on top of the dough. Pinch off pieces of the remaining dough and scatter them evenly over the jam. Sprinkle caramel pieces if using.

Place the pan on the bottom oven rack and bake for 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to the top rack and bake until the top is light golden, another 5 to 10 minutes. Let the pan cool completely on a wire rack.
Grasping the overhanging foil on either side of the pan, lift out the squares and place them on a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares. Jam and shortbread squares will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.
Adapted from Epicurious.com

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baked goods// caramel// fruit21 Comments

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Comments

  1. Megan says

    July 24, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    These look nice and refreshing! Perfect for the summer. Envious of the Jam!

    Reply
  2. janet@fromcupcakestocaviar says

    July 24, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    These look delicious Peabody! I love bar cookies that use jam. They always go fast around here. As for the crazy, I would have been hard put to not say something back to the woman. You’re a better person than I am. 😀

    Reply
  3. Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says

    July 24, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    “I’m seriously thinking that child was adopted or stolen because she was far too cute to belong to them.” HAHA that is the funniest thing I have heard in a while. I I her some funny stuff.

    Reply
  4. B says

    July 24, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    Okay – I need to make these. Nummers

    Reply
  5. Felice says

    July 24, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    Your bars look great but I wish I knew your mom 😉 I have this yearning desire to make great jam but I have not been very successful. Could she do a guest post since there is nothing like homemade jams, jellies, and marmelades?

    Wow, you have certainly had your share of “challenging” people haven’t you? I am glad that you just handled it all with a smile because people can be more than strange these days.

    Reply
  6. Jill says

    July 24, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    “I’m seriously thinking that child was adopted or stolen because she was far too cute to belong to them.”

    I think people must think that about my kids. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Rosa says

    July 24, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    LOL! We live in a crazy world…

    Those bars look mighty delicious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  8. Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen says

    July 25, 2011 at 2:14 am

    Haha…you had a much nicer reaction to the first kid than I would of. I would have not so nicely told the mother that she should teach her child manners. Don’t get me wrong, I love children, I just hate when their parents neglect to teach them how to behave in public.

    Child rearing rant aside, these bars look super yummy! I can hardly ever find those little caramel pieces around here 🙁

    Reply
  9. Katie says

    July 25, 2011 at 4:54 am

    Come on, you know you were after her man, plenty to share right? 😉 People are so very odd.

    Reply
  10. Lauren says

    July 25, 2011 at 5:03 am

    I’m surprised his mother condoned the child actually taking a survey like that….although the results would be intriguing.

    Think about how entertaining these stories will make you in casual conversation;).

    Reply
  11. Rodzilla says

    July 25, 2011 at 6:36 am

    Should have told the little boy that he’d be wearing his first training bra soon enough. Gender confusion is a crusher for pre-pubescent boys.

    Reply
  12. Mary says

    July 25, 2011 at 7:03 am

    Of course you were looking at her husband! Why go for a sippy cup when you could have the big gulp?
    🙂

    Reply
  13. Erin says

    July 25, 2011 at 7:12 am

    Wow so pretty! And that was a very very odd survey that little boy was doing.

    Reply
  14. Elizabeth says

    July 25, 2011 at 10:52 am

    Live and learn and roll with the punches!!! Good things to remember Peabody. And that recipe looks good.

    Reply
  15. Lisa @ The Cooking Bride says

    July 25, 2011 at 11:14 am

    WTF was up with the women telling you not to talk to her husband? Did she not hear her daughter talk to you? HA!

    “I mean it’s not like I was Wal-Mart shopping where bras are optional.” Oh, the people you see in Wal-Mart . . .

    Reply
  16. Erika says

    July 25, 2011 at 11:33 am

    I am not even going to try to guess why that kids was asking about bras….can’t wait to see what he turns out like!

    Loving your interesting stories on this mundane Monday!

    Reply
  17. Kristine @ SugarBeams says

    July 25, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    Oh man, that’s great- I saw your blog in another blog list and clicked over. You are now in my favorites! Looking forward to being a fan! signed, ‘braless in Walmart’

    SugarBeams

    Reply
  18. Ed Gould says

    July 26, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    I never get any credit. I made the labels on the jars of jams.
    Dad

    Reply
  19. Mrs. L says

    July 26, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    The first two weeks of the month were crazy busy…hopefully like will settle down and I can peruse your blog more often. Preferable with a nice glass of wine…or two.

    Reply
  20. Lisa says

    July 27, 2011 at 5:50 am

    That was an oddball survey. And I like saying hi to kids or waving to them too. Luckily I’ve never had a spouse give me crap for it. :p

    I hope your week is less crazy.

    And ginger pear jam sounds *amazing*.

    Reply
  21. plume says

    August 15, 2011 at 12:37 am

    Nice!
    Must be a little similar to a wonderfull dessert in my favorite restaurant: a candied ginger and pears shortbread with a thin layer of crunchy buttery toffee. It’s served very cold so that the shortbread is very compact and almost fudge-like in consistency…

    Reply

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