Peanut butter and chocolate are the Romeo and Juliet of the baking world. Two star-cross’d lovers, destined to be together, united in the tragic death of all diets. Let others frown upon the caloric content and fat grams spawned by such a marriage. “But soft, what smell from yonder oven wafts? It is the Peanut Butter Tandy Cake.”

(Shakespeare’s original language.)

Since all of you have been so sweet to support our family by voting for our Week 2 Video (details here), I think we all deserve a little sweetness in our day. This is the first time I’ve participated in Jen’s Tasty Tuesday, and from the looks of her site, I am going to spend the next 52 consecutive Tuesdays perusing the tasty concoctions posted on her corner of cyberspace. It’s enough to make Shakespeare drool all over his ruffled collar.

If any of you are familiar with the Tandy Cakes of Tastycake fame, you are in for a real treat.

PEANUT BUTTER TANDY CAKES

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:
2 cups Sugar
2 cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
3 tbsp. Butter
1 cup Milk
4 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla

Icing:
1 12-oz. jar Smooth Peanut Butter, roughly ¾ of jar
1 8-oz. Hershey Bar

Directions:
Mix and beat cake ingredients. Pour on greased cookie sheet (with sides). Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. (I line my cookie sheet with wax paper for easy removal after baking.)

While hot, spread peanut butter on cake. Cool completely.

Melt Hershey bar in microwave (one minute and stir – if not completely melted, zap for 30 more seconds and stir). Pour and spread over cooled peanut butter layer. Chill in fridge.

Set on counter for a few minutes before cutting (so chocolate does not crack). Best served chilled.

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The tandy cakes aren’t as sweet as you all have been to me, but man, are they ever tasty. For more tasty recipes, be sure to stop by “Tasty Tuesday”!

Readers and eaters: please take a moment and enter to win your mortgage or rent paid for a year by voting for my video: “Week 2: Memories Made from Scratch” on the Taylor Morrison website (second from the left). All votes must be submitted by Tuesday, August 31 at 11:59 p.m. (PST).

(click to enlarge)

I whipped up this batch of cookie dough this morning
while on a conference call for work.

(I spent a lot of time on hold.)

My hands started measuring out the butter and sugar before
my brain really recognized what I was doing.

It’s a stressful week.
Prayer helps. Talking helps. Sleep helps. Crying even helps.

And a little cookie dough goes a long way.

If the air in Orlando carries an extra buttery scent today, it’s because we’re hosting the 44th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest, where 100 finalists are competing to win the $1 million grand prize.

Oh, and did I happen to mention that MY AUNT IS A FINALIST?

I kid you not. Out of the thousands who entered, my Auntie Kim, of Dallas, Texas, is a FINALIST in the 2010 Pillsbury Bake-Off. She and the Dough Boy are on a first-name basis, thanks to her prizewinning Muffuletta Quiche Cups recipe—inspired by the famous muffuletta sandwich of New Orleans.

Needless to say, all of us are pretty much out of our minds with excitement right now. The category winners will be announced tonight, and the grand prize winner will be announced LIVE ON OPRAH ON WEDNESDAY.

In anticipation of Auntie Kim’s big day, I baked a batch of her quiche cups this weekend and proceeded to eat half of them myself. They are, in a word, DIVINE.

Observe what happens when Pillsbury crescent rolls die and go to heaven:

Here is a glimpse of what the judges’ faces are going to look like today:

And Oprah’s face on Wednesday (though with much better makeup and lighting):

To watch my very talented aunt in action, see her January appearance below on “Good Morning Texas.” Then go bake a batch of her quiches and prepare to enter a caloric stupor of YUM.

On second thought: better make two batches.

You can follow the Bake-Off action here. GO AUNTIE KIM, GO!

Not to be bossy, but you HAVE to make these muffins. Just imagine the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon wafting through your kitchen on Saturday morning…

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. ground pumpkin (canned)
1/2 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin cups. Mix dry ingredients together. Add eggs, pumpkin, and oil; mix until blended. Stir in chocolate chips (making sure to taste-test a handful first). Fill 12 muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

(1 Muffin = 6 Weight Watcher points, and worth every point! Thanks, Becky, for the recipe!)

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On another note, I want to thank all of you who responded (by comment, phone, and e-mail) to my last post. Wow. Every time I let my hair down, my fingers hovering for a long moment over the “Publish” button (Do I really want to share this?), someone will respond with a message of grace and encouragement. I’m thankful to have an outlet where I can keep it real and hear your “I’ve been there!” stories. You all made my day.

And you’ll be happy to hear that Noah and I are finding time for play today. Best moments so far: riding the escalators up and down (and up and down) at the mall and befriending the mannequins at H&M.

Growing up, my siblings and I each had a favorite birthday cake that my mom would faithfully prepare every year at our request. Occasionally we branched out, but the general trend was the same. Jenni wanted Strawberry Jello Cake. Teddy wanted Boston Kreme Pie. For Willie and me, only DIRT would do.

Oreo Dirt Cake, to be precise. A scrumptious concoction of Cool Whip, cream cheese, vanilla pudding, and crushed Oreos, spread in layers and topped with gummy worms. You can serve it in a Pyrex, a flower pot, or a wheelbarrow, for all I’m concerned. Just as long as there’s LOTS of it.

As I approached my 31st birthday, it occurred to me that it might be time to pick a more high-brow dessert for my annual celebration. A sophisticated slice of Key Lime Pie. A light and airy Angel Food Cake. A smoldering Chocolate Lava Cake, dusted with powdered sugar.

Then I thought: Nah. When better to act like a kid than on your birthday?

So with Baby Jude strapped to my chest in a Snugli, I pounded Oreos and stirred the pudding, making the same delicious mess that my mother had made on so many September days. Noah lingered in the kitchen, hovering like a pigeon around the growing pile of crushed cookie morsels. By 8 a.m., both of our mouths wore a telltale ring of Oreo crumbs. Jude, bored by the process, had fallen asleep in his harness. Meanwhile, Noah had the frenetic energy of a 38-pound boy injected with a pound of sugar.

It was lucky that Beki and her family were coming over that night to celebrate, or else Pete might have come home to his wife and child passed out in an Oreo coma. Friends don’t let friends eat dirt alone. As any toddler will attest.

Now here we are… Another year, another gummy worm.

Sweet days, these.

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The Recipe
(There are many versions, but I like this one best)

1 1.5-oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 8-oz. carton Cool Whip
1.5  packages Oreo cookies
1 pkg. gummy worms

Directions:
Whisk together pudding mix and milk; allow to set for 5 minutes.
Blend cream cheese and Cool Whip; add to pudding and mix well.
Crush Oreos into chunks using food chopper or processor. Layer, alternating Oreos and pudding mixture, in a 9×13″ pan or clean flower pot. Top with gummy worms.
Allow to set in fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours. (Tastes best when the Oreos get a little mushy!) Enjoy!