lazuysunday

Lets take a cue from the cookie monster and

have a healthy happy Sunday- deal?

Deal.

Let us begin....

[[Today’s music]]

JANELLE MONAE – MANY MOONS

[[Today's restaurant]]

LINGER LODGE

"Voted one of the top 10 most unusual restaurants in the world by Forbes Magazine in 2007, Linger Lodge offers up both typical down home southern fare along with their “Road Kill Menu” featuring such items as Guess that Mess, Swirl of Squirrel, Chunk of Skunk, and Bat Cocktail. The ambiance is just as kitschy. See a cryptozoologist’s dream as you walk past the displays of the Blub-Billed Orthlock, the Jackalope, and the Turkey Rattler. Truly delicious food at reasonable prices with sweet southern hospitality, you just can’t go wrong."

[[Today's kitchen gadget]]

BIG TOP CUP CAKES

[[Today’s news]]

CORN FARMERS SAY ‘Food Inc.’ SHOULDN’T WIN OSCAR

"The corn industry is lashing out at an Oscar-nominated documentary that has grossed out grocery shoppers, saying the film is unfair to many of the nation's farmers and shouldn't win. "Food Inc.," which was nominated for best documentary, has captured audiences with its behind-the-scenes look at the food industry, bringing cameras into feedlots, slaughterhouses and chicken farms used by corporate agriculture, describing stomach-turning practices in an effort to encourage consumers to buy locally grown and organic foods that aren't mass produced. The corn industry, one of several food industries attacked in the film, is fighting back. Though the official voting for Sunday's Academy Awards is over, the National Corn Growers Association, the industry's largest trade group, is encouraging corn farmers to get the word out in the media and on social networking sites like Facebook to rebut the documentary in the final days before the Oscars."

Want to read more?

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10012545

[[Today's random]]

BLUNT UMBRELLA

"Blunt umbrella, a water-repelling shelter whose design innovations include beefier-than-usual struts arranged in a more redundant, robust structure than most umbrellas. A "radial tensioning system" helps move the ribs firmly out against the fabric without requiring you to exert a huge amount of upward force, and there's no little metal locking clip to fiddle with or catch on your gloves: just a solid plastic collar that you push up until the umbrella snaps into shape. And finally, the ribs' tips are rounded, which keeps them from poking through the fabric."

[[Today's food clip]]

UNWRAPPED - DUM DUMS

My favorite thing everrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

[[Today's curly head]]

ALICIA KEYS

[[Today's recipe]]

MUD BARS

::Note::

This recipe calls for the mixture to be baked in a 13x9 inch pan. But I felt a little daring, so I prepared mine in 2 mini cupcake pans as well. It is a lot easier to use a13x9 inch dish instead of muffin/cupcake pans like I did. And the ones baked in the pan tasted a lot better for some odd reason – so I don’t advise using muffin tins lol. But I’ll still post the pictures of both anyway!

One more note:: Make sure you grease the entire dish/pan very very very thoroughly. If you fail to do so – then you are going to have a hell of a time once it’s time to remove and cut!

::Ingredients::

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans (or whatever nut you so choose)

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

::Directions::

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Grease pans thoroughly- if you’re using a muffin tin, don’t just grease inside the holes, grease the top of the pan as well – just incase the mixture bakes over the top.

Beat together the butter and the granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.

-Separate eggs and set the egg whites aside.

-Add the egg yolks to the mixture one at a time until well blended

-Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl

-Fold the dry mixture into the butter mixture slowly, until fully incorporated

(This mixture should look mealy, and sort of grain like. But when you pick it up and squeeze it in your hand, it should hold together- like in the picture above)

-Press mixture into greased pan and pack down firmly.

(If using muffin tins then fill about ¼ of the way. If using 13x9 inch pan, just throw it all in!)

-Sprinkle some nuts on top

-Throw on some chocolate chips...

-And of course - marshmallows!!

-Beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.

(About 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed)

-Fold brown sugar into the egg whites.

-Lastly – spread egg white/brown sugar over the mixture in the pans

- Bake for 20-35 minutes or until a golden brown crust is formed

-Transfer pan to a wire rack. Cool.....

....and enjoy!