I’m sure I’d benefit from some sort of program or therapy, but between the movie-popcorn-binging, the bouts of irrational rage, the obsession with True Beauty, and the Mountain Dew habit I have kicked one time less than I have relapsed, it’s hard to know where to start.
Two Saturdays ago, late in the afternoon, Dick asked me to remind him to call his mother the next day to say Happy Birthday. I felt the dismay that every daughter-in-law feels when she realizes that no gift, card, or Western Union telegram has been sent to her generous mother-in-law in time for her birthday. (This is similar to the male-visitor-seeing-Susan’s-panties-on-the-floor-of-the-bathroom dismay.)
So maybe I should start with a 12-step program for bad gift-giving. Because this missed birthday comes after the time I sent Lindt truffles (to Florida) that melted all over the rest of the package, and the time I sent a See’s Candy gift certificate (to Florida) to a woman who lives five states over from the nearest See’s Candy store.
Unfortunately, gift-giving is not my favorite thing, mostly because I suck at it. I feel like I know what people are interested in, but somehow that doesn’t easily translate into something I can find, afford, and ship across country without feeling like a dork. Like the time I bought dry ice to ship my homemade oreo cookies to Idaho. I almost wanted to drive to Idaho instead, with a paper plate of cookies on my lap.
But there is hope, in the form of the perfect neighbor/cookie exchange/birthday favor treat ever. I don’t know why you people didn’t tell me about these Rolo/pretzel/pecan thingies before, but since you’re the same people who held out on me about Smitten Kitchen, I’m not really surprised that you wanted to keep something so easy, so perfect, and so yummy to yourselves.
You probably all have the recipe (if you can call it that) memorized, but I mixed it up a bit, and gave it a new name. And then I mailed ziploc bags of the ingredients to my mother-in-law, and forgot to ever tell her how to assemble them. I did double bag the Rolos, though, and they didn’t melt all over the photos I also sent, so that’s something. Step #5 in my gift-giving course, I think.
(And if you’re wondering why I didn’t just send the finished treats to her, then you’re forgetting that they had to withstand Florida’s severe February heat — and the other beauty of these treats is that if you’re too busy watching reality television (or studying, Karin, sheesh) to assemble them, the ingredients aren’t bad straight from the bag –of course I’d never send a gift that’s useless without assembly. What am I — Ikea?).
Jane’s Round Pegs on Squares
Ingredients
Rolos, lots
pretzels, same
pecans, or more pretzels or something else crunchy
white chocolate for drizzling, if you want to get fancy
Directions
Preheat oven to 250. Unwrap Rolos. Slap little (and big) hands away from them (gently). Place on the pretzels. Soften in oven for 5 minutes. Squish a pecan or second pretzel down on the top. Eat seventeen and realize you really do need to go on some sort of portion controlly plan.
Look, I even have pictures:
These are Snyder or Hanover or, heck, Windsor. I'm not a pretzel expert. I just liked the neat squares.
One of the best things about these is that you can "cook" them while surfing the net. Dick looked over at the pile of Rolo wrappers by my laptop and thought I'd snarfed the whole bag. Nah. I'm not an animal. I waited till they were all melty to inhale.
Baked this first batch too long. Rolos keep their shape deceptively well.
These aren’t going to replace brownies any time soon, but they’re quick and delicious, and go well on those treat plates.
If you’re holding out on me on any other treats that are as easy and yummy as these, you better fess up now; I’ve got Mother’s Day anxiety looming (not to mention Valentine’s, St. Patricks, President’s Day . . . ).
Jane
Come on, what works for you?
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Ooooohhh… these look yummy! I’m going to have to try them!
Yum. I do not think eating 17 of these is unreasonable.
Those looks really good!! I’ve never seen them before…thanks!
So, I have a really great Valentines Day treat that I learned when I was working at Shepherd’s Cake and Candy. But it’s not easy and not cheap….but really really amazing. Involving lots of chocolate.
My friend in Chicago introduced me to Rolo Turtles a few years ago. I could eat a million of them. My only problem is that they are kind of pricey to make, due to the pecans and Rolos.
My mother in law just taught me about these over the Christmas holidays. And here I was wondering what to bring to book club tonight.
Also, I am a TERRIBLE gift giver. And I married a great one. Made out first few Christmases interesting. So I started keeping a list of ideas for my husband and kids and when they mention something (or I think of something) I write it down. I do better without the pressure.
I confess that I am also a terrible, waituntilthelastpossiblemoment gift giver and I failed that test on how to send an appropriate gift to a family recipient (espeically my in-laws). And I happened to marry someone even worse than me in this department. But I have to say, my Christmas gifts to the grandparents this past year was my all time best. I know this because each one of them called me, crying tears of joy, telling me this was the best gift I had ever sent. I made easy silhouettes of the kids. Really. Me. All by myself. And they turned out great. I got the idea from here: http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2008/10/diy21-making-old-fashioned-silhouettes.html
In some ways they are better than candy.
And I know what you mean about sending treats to Idaho….I grew up there!
Sorry, I didn’t send the correct link in the above comment. The correct link is:
http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2008/10/diyp21-making-old-fashioned-silhouettes.html
I left out what turns out to be a very important “p”.
Hmm…I think I found our Valentine’s Day treat. Or maybe the “day after Valentine’s Day when I go to Target to ‘return stuff’ and just happen to amble by the half-price candy” treat. Thanks for not holding out.
BTW, Chex’s Muddy Buddies are just as good, although a bit more work to assemble. Very snarfable.
Try this sometime – we got some for Christmas and were amazed when we found out what it was:
Make a Ritz Cracker Sandwich (peanut butter between two crackers) and dip the whole thing in chocolate. It makes an unbelievably good crunchy reeses-type treat, and looks impressive. I would have eaten 50 of them!
Oh Jane you have me cracking up! Any chance you could move back East and we could be neighbors?
I am laughing my tail off at the thought of sending the ingredients to your MIL to assemble herself. Thank you, though, for this post, as it gives me a heads up not to forget my OWN MIL’s upcoming 70th! That would be a bad one to forget.
We make these puppies at Christmas time and OMG!!! they are so good. Instead of the pecan (seriously, what kid likes nuts?), we use red and green M&Ms. Oh so pretty! I think I’ll have to make up a batch for my kids for Valentines day, cuz that’s just the kind of mom I am. (except unwrapping all those Rolos is kind of a pain…)
Shea — yes, the ingredients can get pricey. I buy a big bag of pecans at Costco, and they last me a long time. I think this is also why my friend tried this with two pretzels instead of a pecan. That’s great too.
Kikibib — You gotta remember that my kids basically eat anything. My 4 yo eats like a teenage boy. (But I’m sure they’d like the m&m version even better. You know, if I were the kind of mom to give them *candy* on Valentine’s
I have seen the same thing done with chocolate kisses and then an M&M on top, but the pecan/rollo version sounds tastier.
As for gift giving, why not order something on the Internet and have it shipped directly? One of my fav b-day presents ever was a gift certificate to Amazon–and I am sure my brother (giver of the gift certificate) bought it last minute. I love the gift items you can get on Red Envelope too–very classy.
Suzy — Those Ritz-Reeces sound great. Dick likes PB even better than caramel, so he’d love those. Of course, I’d have to figure out the whole chocolate-dipping thing. At least the crackers shouldn’t crumble like my cake balls did.
Becky — Yes, I should just order online, and I do do that for some (thanks to my father-in-law for having a wish list!!). Usually I feel like I should send a package myself, with a card that I’ve had the kids write, etc, and also I’m cheap (er, frugal), so . . . hm. I’ll check out the Red Envelope thing. Thanks!
Gosh Jane, I’ve known about those for forever, what planet have you been living on?
Just kidding, I actually saw them for the first time at Christmas and I’ve been wanting to try them so thanks for the recipe! They look delish! And you should do like I do, no gift giving, I just send cards and call it good. I can mail you some homemade cards if you want. Oh, and one more thing, I need you to read all the way through my Just in Case you were wondering post and leave a comment. I want you in on this one. Please? For me?
What a coincidence Jane… my teenage boy eats like a 4yo girl! He’s much better about it now, but it was touch and go for a few years.
Jane, can you stop posting any kind of yummy recipes until my diet’s done? Thanks.
What is it inherent in marriage vows that makes a wife suddenly responsible for procuring* her husband’s family’s presents? When we were dating, my husband lived in California. His family and I all lived in Australia. So for FOUR years (oh, and his whole life before that) he managed to procure cards, gifts, at least make phone calls to his parents and sisters on their birthdays. Now .. it’s up to me. The only person in this world he has to consider getting any kind of present for is me. And I talked to some friends at Christmas, and they even bought and wrapped their own presents …
OK, enough ranting. And I won’t even mention how much fun I have procuring presents …
(but it’s the expectation/responsibility I don’t like).
And I’ve got a kid (2) who also eats nuts – she found the bag with her Dad’s diet-friendly natural almonds in it, and has been snacking on those when we haven’t been paying super-close attention to her.
*I was going to say buying, but not all gifts are bought.
I think these look yummy! I’ll have to make some for my hubby, I think he would really like them. Probably much better than the store bought suckers he got as a last minute thought this year!
those look AMAZINGLY delicious and simple. i am going to make them this weekend and stuff myself silly.
thanks for sharing!
They look sooo good!