First Twin Cities Birthday

I love birthdays. Not just mine. Everybody’s! I think it is important to make people feel extra special for no reason a few times a year, but a birthday, is a given. It is the one day a year friends and family celebrate you, whether that is spending the day with the person whose day is being celebrated or by picking up the phone and talking about this and that. Some people think texts and emails are okay. Not me. No one is that busy. Show you care. (I have come to realize I am one of the few people who think this way. Especially now in 2013. In 2008, more people were still calling, but now, its text, Facebook, and Twitter! UGH!)

Micky and Kathryn were leaving the day after my birthday for a two-week trip to the East Coast. I was delighted they would both be here for my first birthday in the Twin Cities. We spent some of the time painting one wall in our living room! Jeff, who we now live in the same building as, had told Lawyerboy in law school one day that they had painted, so we thought, why not! I only wanted to do a little painting, but thought it’d be nice to add a little color.

We were going out for supper at Tavern on Grand with Mike and Steph. We hadn’t seen our old roomies since we’d moved out two weeks prior! We were all looking forward to seeing them. Mike and Steph are always fun to spend time with!

When it came time for lunch, we weren’t sure where we should eat. Since it was my birthday, everyone wanted me to pick. I am terrible at decisions like this… I’m a Libra! Kathryn suggested Nelson Cheese and Deli. It was a two-minute drive from our apartment. It is a small place on the corner of Como Avenue where you can stop and pick up a hot or cold sandwich to go. I liked the idea of coming back to our place to eat, paint, and get ready to meet Mike and Steph.

There was a display of bars at the checkout counter that I kept staring at while we waited for them to make our sandwiches. Kathryn offered to buy me one for my birthday. I declined. What I really wanted was to bake some myself! There were brownies, lemon bars, and one of my favorites, seven layer bars!

Seven Layer Bars:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees – Prep Time: 15 minutes – Bake Time: 25 minutes   – Makes: 8 to 12 to 15 bars depending on the size you cut them!

1/2 cup butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs, (12 crackers)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/3 cup nuts, chopped (Most recipes use walnuts. I use peanuts or pistachios.)

1 (14 ounces) can of sweetened condensed milk

1 1/3 cups coconut, shredded

Place 12 graham crackers in a Ziploc bag. Roll over them with a rolling-pin until you get crumbs. In a small bowl, melt one stick of butter. Add the two cups of graham cracker crumbs. Stir together. Pour into the bottom of a 9×13 pan and spread evenly. Layer with one cup of chocolate chips and then one cup of butterscotch chips. Give nuts of your choice a rough chop on a cutting board. I used pistachios this time. Sprinkle them over the chips. Open a can of sweetened condensed milk and pour evenly over the bars. Lastly, sprinkle the coconut over the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. The coconut will get golden-brown. These are gooey and chewy!