Recipes: Ooey Gooey S'mores Bars

I won't lie to you, I've never been crazy about baking. I like my desserts cold and fresh (see: ice cream with berries) for the most part... but sometimes... sometimes you just need something a little bit comfier. Now, when I think comfort food I think chocolate, and one of my all time favorite chocolate desserts is a s'more. Unfortunately, it's summer right now in Florida, so we can't build too many bonfires with all the rain, so I had to improvise. I wondered if there was some kind of baked s'more I could make, and after finding several recipes on the internet, concocted my own here for you today!

Now if for some reason you don't know what a s'more is, it means Some More and is most often a sandwich made of graham crackers, chocolate, and roasted marshmallows. The recipe below is for a baked version of this dish that is sure to keep everyone happy!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup butter at room temperature.
• 1/4 cup brown sugar.
• 1/2 cup sugar.
• 1 large egg.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour.
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs.
• 1 tsp baking powder.
• 1/4 tsp salt.
• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars. I say go big or go home: Buy the Godiva!
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff.

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Use an 8" baking pan. Grease the pan. 
2. In a large bowl, whip together the room temp. butter and the sugar until it's a smooth mixture. Next, beat in the egg and vanilla. In a small separate bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Once it's all mixed, add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix at a low speed until even.
3. Now, divide the dough in half and press one half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the greased pan. Next, layer the chocolate bars over the dough. 2 king-sized bars should fit perfectly side by side, but you can always break the chocolate up if you need to. Once the chocolate layer is done, spread the marshmallow fluff over it, so that it's even from side to side. With that done, go back to the other half of the dough. The best way to go about this is to flatten it out, and then use a pizza cutter to cut it in to squares or slivers you can layer over the top of the marshmallow fluff.
4. Place the pan in your preheated oven, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until your crust is golden brown. Set the pan on a cooling rack and let it cool for about 20-30 minutes before cutting it. Serve warm with ice cream or cool as a snack bar. Don't eat the whole thing in one sitting though... you'll get a belly ache!!

The Ultimate Oreo dunker?

Just think, no mess, and you can reach the bottom of the glass!

Seen on Reddit.com

Recipes: Oven Baked Pork Chops... with a twist.

If you're like me, you've found that Pork, of all the meats, can be the trickiest to cook. Furthermore, when cooking Pork in it's Chop form, it can be especially difficult to achieve the dish's maximum potential. Pork Chops tend to cook quickly and if you're not careful, it doesn't take much to overcook them, leaving them tough and dry.

Hopefully this quick recipe will do for you what it's done for me, and that's save Pork Chop night!

Here's what you'll need:

1. 1/2 cup ketchup
2. 1 tbsp soy sauce
3. 1 tsp chili powder
4. 1/4 tsp pepper
5. 2 tbsp brown sugar
6. 2 tsp canola oil
7. 1/4 tsp allspice
8. 2 large potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
9. 2 celery stalks, diced small
10. 2 large onions, diced small
11. 2 large carrots, diced small
12. 1/2 Lime squeezed for juice.
13. 4 boneless center-cut loin pork chops

Here's what you do: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, oil, chili powder, allspice and pepper. Make sure to take your time mixing these ingredients so that everything is perfectly blended.
3. Dip the pork chops into the sauce, coating both sides. Then set to the side on a plate. The best thing to do if you're making these ahead of time would be to cover the plate with saran wrap and return to the fridge. Once the chops are to the side, add the prepped veggies to the mix and make sure they're equally coated. It's important to make sure your veggies are chopped the same size so they will cook evenly.
4. Next, break out your tin foil. What we're going to do here is tear off 4 sheets about 8" by 8". Place the Pork Chop in the center of the sheet and then scoop about 1/4 of the veggies on top of it. Fold your foil square up to create a tightly sealed pocket for the Chop. Repeat this process for your other three Chops. Place all 4 individually wrapped chops on a baking sheet.
5. Bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes, using a meat thermometer to check your temperatures. 
6. Serve Chops with their cooking juices and the veggies, side with rice, fresh veggies, bread, or whatever you might like. 

I hope you enjoy!

Review: Flintstone's Pebbles With Marshmallows

I loved cereal. But then the world changed. America got fat. So food companies took all the good stuff out of things that kids love, and made it crap. Cereal hasn't tasted the same in years. Apple Jacks is the biggest casualty of this. Apple Jacks used to be the best tasting cereal, and then it left behind the perfect cereal milk.

Pebbles cereal is the only thing left that kinda tastes like its packed full of the goods, but you can still taste the difference. So along comes Pebbles with marshmallows. How does it hold up?

It does OK. It's not amazing. But what cereal is these days? It has the typical gimmick marshmallows that all cereals use with marshmallows, most notably, Lucky Charms. But the pleasant thing is it has the rice cereal with these marshmallows, much like if this was Rice Crispies combined with Lucky Charms. So unlike the other Pebbles cereal, this one doesn't get soggy after 15 seconds of milk hitting it.

You should add 2 spoonfuls of sugar to this. Depending on your bowl size. As for the milk thats left behind, nothing special here. If you like cereal with marshmallows and some good sweet kick, then this I recommend.

Someday, I promise you all, I will make a video featuring me taking all those nasty oats out of the Lucky Charms and eating nothing but the marshmallows.

Food Kudos: Dominos Pizza

Dear Dominos Pizza,

As a long-time consumer of pizza and pizza-related products, I want to tell you how successful I think your latest ad campaign is. Not only is it great that a company is finally listening to it's customers with such enthusiasm, but really it's something awesome when you are being so proactive to turn around customer dissatisfaction to such a degree.

I'll be honest, Dominos was never my first choice when it came to delivery pizza. For years I gave my business to your competitors, but lately, as Dominos has been working hard to gain the trust of the American people, companies like Pizza Hut and Papa John's don't seem as concerned. Sure, they were both quick to jump on the $10.99 bandwagon that Dominos established with their new campaign, but what they didn't do, was start listening to their customers. As Dominos begins to turn around profits and pick business back up, Pizza Hut continued to be lazy and inconsistent. I can say that at least 3 out of my last 5 order from Pizza Hut were missing items. The pizza is usually cold and greasy. The people taking your order over the phone usually sound miserable and are rarely helpful.

When I call Dominos, I'm greeted always by a friendly voice, and made to feel respected. My pizza always shows up piping hot and looking delicious. The new recipe Dominos is using is also a big success. The pizza was never THAT bad, but now it's actually deserving of being called really good. The sauce is tangy and light. The pepperonis are crisp and spicy. The new garlic butter crust is finger-licking good. Don't even get me started on the oven baked subs. They're scrumptious!

So Dominos, I give you kudos. Your new way of doing things is definitely working from my perspective, and that being from a loyal customer, I expect, is what exactly what you want to hear.

Check out the new customer interactive website, showusyourpizza.com!

Food Pr0n: Traditional English Fry Up

If you've never had an Englishman (or woman) serve you a traditional English fry up, I'm afraid dear chaps you have indeed missed out! The fry up pictured here is often times referred to as the "Full Monty." It's a traditional English fry up, featuring fried eggs, fried bacon, toast, beans, grilled sausages, grilled mushrooms, and grilled tomatoes. If I'm doing it right, we eat the tomatoes, mushrooms, and sausages together. The bacon goes with the eggs. The beans go with toast. If you're like me, you get a little bit of each thing in your bite. That's the best way to go!

Do you have your own favorite fry up?

Red Lobster: Peach Bourbon BBQ Shrimp and Scallops

Red Lobster is my favorite place to eat. Everytime I go I always try to get something new. So this time after eating 54 Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and the always good house salad, I tried the Peach Bourbon BBQ Shrimp and Scallops at the Red Lobster in Peoria AZ.

DELICIOUS. Now, this entree comes with crispy onion rings, in the picture here it shows rice, I didn't take a picture of my own plate, was too hungry to waste time with pictures, and I hate onions more than anything else that exists, so I replaced the onion rings with the mashed potatoes. Which seemed like it would be a better choice to begin with.

I'm a big BBQ fan, so any time I find a new BBQ sauce that hits the spot makes my day. Its got a tiny kick to it with the spice but isn't too spicy that it takes away the rest of the flavor. And unlike most BBQ sauces that have some type of fruit or other flavor on it, you can actually taste the peach in this sauce. Its one of the best BBQ sauces I've tasted.

The scallops come with bacon wrapped around them, and I'm not a huge fan of that. Not big on scallops but I hoped the BBQ might help it, it didn't too much. And the bacon wasn't fully cooked so I just tossed it to the side.

The shrimp was amazing of course. This has become my favorite item on the menu at Red Lobster. Next time I get this I will probably take out the scallops and ask for two sticks of the shrimp. And more Cheddar Bay Biscuits of course.

Welcome Bunch of Jerks and DevonLohan Readers

Since the Devon Lohan blog and Bunch of Jerks both recently posted links to our new restaurant review blog, I expect a sudden influx of tens of readers.

We would like to welcome you to our new blog about food and restaurants, Hungry Jerks. We will be bringing you plenty of reviews and possibly revisit some old favorite segments like "Lazy Cooking."

Random already has posted a Cheesecake Factory Review. So check that one out if you haven't already, and make some noise in the comments. What do you think of The Cheesecake Factory? Was it a bad choice to order Factory nachos and a burger? I haven't been there much, but I usually order steak and mashed potatoes.

The Cheesecake Factory: Factory Nachos and Smokehouse BBQ Burger

I have never been to the Cheesecake Factory before, but I decided that I should finally give it a try. I wasn't aware of their huge selection of food, thus the reason for never bothering to go. I gathered up the family and we headed into a giant place that looked very nice. We sat down at the booth and our waiter seemed like a good dude. Then our free bread came. It was a 6 inch long loaf of tiny bread.... yeah, weak sauce, but hey, it's free bread, what can ya do?

Appetizer time! I love me some good appetizers, a little snackin before the main event, couldn't wait to see what this place had in store so I went with the Factory Nachos. I love nachos, a giant plate of nachos were placed in front of me and they looked delicious. Sadly.... they tasted like something I would make at 2 in the morning in the middle of a PS3 game. Shredded cheese on top of chips with chicken does not equal nachos. We need liquid cheese goin on, some spices, something! The chicken had no taste to it even though it seemed to have some seasoning all over it. Pretty much the worst nachos I have ever had in my life. They are a step above bowling alley nachos.

But whatever, it was time to try out the main course, I went with a hamburger, wasn't in the mood for a big fancy meal since it was just 1pm. So I went with the Smokehouse BBQ Burger, which our waiter told me, was his favorite thing on the menu, yeah, right. You have to be an idiot to love that bland burger. There was no taste to it. Nothing. The BBQ was awful, it had no taste to it, the burger itself had no kick or seasonings or spices added to the meat it seemed. It was a very bland crappy burger. I could have had a better burger off the value menu in a drive thru.

I know most people don't go to The Cheesecake Factory, a place that specializes in cheesecakes, for some nachos and burgers. But holy crap it was awful food. I even reached over and got a spoonful of my sons mac and cheese and even THAT was horrible. Powdery tasting cheese on noodles, blagh! On top of all the blandness, this place is way overpriced for the quality of their food. If you're gonna charge that much for a burger, I better be able to taste it. And smile and say, money well spent!

I MIGHT give this place another chance, but I won't be rushing back any time soon at all.