Candy Dipped Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches

Yes, I realize that title is a mouth full, but I didn't think of it myself. It actually came from Kevin and Amanda's blog. Amanda posted this recipe the other day and when I first saw it, I thought, Hmm.. what a weird combination, but yet it looks so tasty! So when Gramps went to the store later I had him pick up some Ritz and some vanilla candy chocolate. Unfortunately, the store was out of the chocolate so I had to wait until I felt up to going myself. Which was today.

Which goes to show just how amazing these are, because instead of posting cupcakes, I'm posting these.

After I got home with the chocolate though, they kind of stopped sounding good to me. Because they have kind of weird ingredients that make you go Hmmm. But, seeing as how I had everything I needed anyway and I'm rolling on 2 hours of sleep, I figured Eh, what the heck and made a dozen.

And Gramps loved them so much that even after that first batch, he asked me to please make some more so he could have them as dessert when he was finished with dinner.

He never does that.

Ever.

That's how good these are.

So, her pictures over there are way better than mine, but this is my blog, so here are my pictures.

The players:

And this is the one thing I love so much about these.. They are so incredibly easy. No oven. No stove. Only 3 ingredients. 

Anybody can make these.  

I used Reduced Fat Ritz (hey- it's what Gramps bought), Simply Jif Low Sodium Peanut Butter (hey- it was on sale), and vanilla candy chocolate, which is basically just white chocolate, don't be fooled. 

You can totally use regular Ritz and regular peanut butter, but you can also make it less bad for you by not. They came out so, so, so amazing that I will forever choose the oh-so-slightly-less-bad-for-you option. 

Makes me feel less guilty since I can't stop at eating just one. 

So, spread some peanut butter on your Ritz. Be generous, peanut butter is a gift from God. 

And make it a little peanut butter Ritz sandwich by topping it off with another Ritz. 

By the way, I think this might be the best food picture I've ever taken. 

Melt your chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. I did 45 seconds, stirred, 45 seconds, stirred, until it was done. 

It doesn't take that long. 

And then dip and coat. I forgot that picture, but I bet Amanda has one. 

And then I stuck them on a cookie rack on top of foil to dry. 

But if your as impatient as I am, I suggest you put them in the fridge for a few minutes. 

Then you can eat them right away. 

And as long as you make them the not so bad for you way, you'll love eating them so much that you won't start to feel guilty until you're on number four. 

Trust me. 

T-Bones (surprising) fail.. and then success.

I love hamburgers. A lot. They are always my favorite thing to order when I order or eat out. They are just so delish. I don't know what it is about them that I love so much, but man do I love them. One of my favorite places to order burgers from out here is a place called T-Bones. They have a few locations around New Hampshire, but they are still family owned and only a NH chain. I've never had a problem with them before and totally understood why they had been rated #1 burger in NH for the last 100 years, or something like that. 

The other night though, I ordered a hamburger for take out as we had absolutely nothing in the house to eat. When I was ordering it, the woman on the other end said it would be about 15-20 minutes, so I went with 20 just to be safe. Once I got there I had to wait an extra 10 minutes, which is fine, except I had to listen to one of the employees complain the entire 10 minutes extra. I don't mind waiting extra, I know things get backed up sometimes, it happens, so I really didn't mind, but the waitress complaining the entire time about someone she works with was just over the top. 

Then when I got home, this was my lettuce (courtesy of my camera phone)..

I know, right?

That led me to sending the following email to let them know about my experience. 

Hello,

I wanted to just you know about an experience I had in your restaurant tonight. I'm not upset or angry, just a little disappointed in the level of service and quality. First, let me say that you really do have the best burger's and everyone I know knows I love them and good they are. Tonight I ordered a B.L.T. burger for pick up. I was told that it would be ready in 20 minutes, but I ended up having to wait an additional 10 minutes. Which really doesn't bother me at all, I know the kitchen gets backed up and what not. However, my problem was that the entire time I was waiting I had to listen to one of the waitresses complain and complain about her job and the other girls that she worked with to the hostess- and it wasn't just an "Oh my gosh, I'm so frustrated!" moment- it lasted at least 10 minutes and was still going on when I left. I know we all get frustrated with our jobs, but that's what break-rooms or out best friends are for, not the greeting area of a restaurant. The other issue I had was in my burger. While the quality is usually exceptional, tonight this is what I found: [picture above]. Brown squishy wilted lettuce. Unfortunately all my lettuce was like this. Which in and of itself isn't a big deal- lettuce wilts, but to have it brown and squishy and just gross and then to put it on someone's burger? Ick! I have a really hard believing that this was just an oversight as how can you miss it? I really believe it was just laziness and not caring. After having to listen to the disgruntled employee for 10 minutes and then to come home to this when I went to eat it was just really disappointing. Thanks for taking the time to read about my recent experience. 

But then they turned that fail into a success by replying with the following

       Thank you for writing. I am so sorry to hear of your experience! As you can

imagine, the type of bantering you overheard while waiting in the lobby is

completely unacceptable; we are truly disappointed that this was your

experience and I assure you it will be addressed. As for your burger, it

looks as if your e-mail was supposed to include further details regarding

your meal, if that too was less than satisfactory please do not hesitate to

share the details, we certainly appreciate your feedback.

If you would be so kind as to forward me your full name and address I would

love to mail you a gift certificate with hopes of making this up to you as

well as to thank you for your feedback, allowing us to learn from your

experience.

Regards, Lisa 

And I can't tell you how unexpected that was. I didn't really expect anything in return other than a "thanks for bringing it to our attention," but they went one step further. I just wanted to them to know what had happened and instead they turned my bad visit into something really positive, which only makes me want to brag about them more. I wish more companies worked like this too. I know things happen, which is why I wasn't terribly upset with my experience, it was after all, only the first time, and I still would have eaten there again in the future, but instead of taking that chance that I might go somewhere else, T-Bones automatically fixed their mistake and insured that I would continue being a customer. Kudos to them! It's nice knowing that where I choose to spend my money is appreciated, because that's really what it comes down to. 

Apple's (as if there was any doubt) success!

I love Apple. No, like really love. And it's not just because they're products are sophisticated, sleek and stylish. It's also because they're quality products and I know when something goes wrong, which is hardly ever, I can count on Apple to fix it. They stand behind their products and I never have to think twice about the money I spend when buying a new laptop.

Here's my most recent story which happened last night, but by the time this posts it will have about 3-4 days ago (yes, I'm that ahead on publishing posts). Last night my battery charger for my MacBook stopped working. It worked and then it didn't. The light on it stopped going on. I was able to wiggle it and get it to work for the rest of the night, but this morning it was back to being dead. My MacBook is only about 6 months old, definitely still under warranty, so I made a Genius Bar appt. for this afternoon to take it down there.  

                                   

My appointment was for 3:30, but me not even making the connection that it's the Christmas shopping season AND I needed gas, didn't end up getting there till about 3:45-3:50. No problem though because a very nice associate quickly made me a new appointment for 4:00.  

4:00 came and my name was called immediately. I didn't have to wait until 4:05 or even 4:01. I sat at the bar explained what happened, they tried a couple things then promptly went out back, got me a new charger and I was on my way and back in my car by 4:15. 

Now that is service. 

And this is why I don't mind paying extra for a top quality laptop. This was the first time in my life of owning iBooks and MacBooks and iPods and iShuffles that I've ever had to stop at the Genius Bar for them to look at something. My computer never crashes and never gets viruses. My iPods always play and my iShuffles always shuffle. And when I did finally need help with something, they didn't ask me a bunch of silly questions, they just gave me what I need and sent me on my way. I love that. 

Cuteness.

I found this online and I thought it was absolutely adorable, so much so that I had to make one, post it, add a permanent thumbnail link to it, and then write about it for you.

So, basically, go check this out. You can put in your own words, or give it a link to something, in this case I told it to use The California Transplant for words and ta-da! There it is. You can then customize the font, the layout, the amount of words, the color, and lots of other stuff to make it uniquely you.

And mine definitely is, uniquely me!