Skip to main content

It's Time Toffee Bars...and Time for a New Book #FoodieReads


I'll admit: I picked up Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with Recipes): A Novel by Lorna Landvik* at the library for the cover...and the title. I mean, how could a book with that title be anything but hilarious. Well...
On the Page

The first time I picked it up, I got about 25 pages into it before I put it down. The second time I tried, I got further and was mildly interested in the characters. Then I just plodded along, regretting each turn of the page after about pages 200. The book is formulaic, the plot meandering, and it's far too long.

I will say that I loved the idea of the book. The so-called radical hag is an octogenarian who wrote a column in a local newspaper. She suffers a stroke early on. And the rest of the book tells her story as the current publisher - the granddaughter of the publisher who hired Haze - reprints the hag's old columns along with selected reader responses to the columns. That sounds like an intriguing literary strategy, right? Well, implementation was less than stellar. 

On the Plate

And, given that '(with recipes)' is part of the title, I expected to - at least - have some interesting recipes to try. My favorite recipe was a response written in a letter to the editor.

"Here's a little recipe I'd like to pass on to her:
1 cup personal interest stories
1/2 cup wit
1/2 cup insight
1 T local flavor
Mix well, and serve to an appreciative public. Meanwhile, toss out all political rants and smart-aleck recipe titles. (pg 243).

It's Time Toffee Bars 
slightly adapted from Landvik's book

All of Haze's recipes were baked treats, including Supreme Lemon Bars, Millie's No-Nonsense Macaroons, Spread the Love Banana Bread, and Heavenly Honey Muffins. But the one I decided to try was her It's Time Toffee Bars though I did hand the book to my boys and ask, "Tell me what about this recipe irritates me." Jake said I'm sure there's something misspelled it in. Ding, ding, ding. Correct answer. Do eggs pull little carts? Nope. So, what the heck is an egg yoke?!?

Ingredients
  • 1 C butter
  • 1 C granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 T pure vanilla paste
  • 1 bag chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)


Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted. Place flour, egg, and vanilla paste in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until a sticky dough forms. Press the dough into the bottom of a 9" x 9" baking dish and place in the oven. 

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes until the chips are softened. Use a spatula or knife to spread the melted chocolate over the top.

Cut into small squares to serve.

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.



Click to see what everyone else read in September 2019: here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn