S’mores Sandwich Bar Cookies from Hershey’s—July Cookie Carnival

We’ve been BUSY!  The drive from Kansas to Utah went well, two LONG days of driving in the car.  This is how the boys were the whole way--

Bwah!  You believe that?  Come on.  Peace was minimal, but the boys actually did quite well, minus the fact that Taylor is always quite carsick and that yogurt container next to him in the back seat is a barf bowl—he used it frequently the day we left for half that day’s drive, like every 10-15 minutes for about six hours.  Fun, fun.  Had to just keep putting the lid on it until we’d stop so I could clean it out.  Between he and Parker’s frequent stops for potty breaks, and Sam’s occasional loud dismay at being locked in his car seat and the almost constant sound of Wow Wow Wubbzy and Max & Ruby playing on the DVD, we all made it in one piece.

I drove the van with the four boys and Kevin rode in the big moving truck with our friend, Dan.  They got to the house a few hours before we arrived and this is what I walked in to our house and saw---

We dug our way out and have been unpacking and organizing since Saturday.  Did I mention we’re tired?  Each night my feet are killing me and I almost can’t walk from room to room anymore.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned, but this house we were able to buy is, well, HUGE.  I’m talking 7700 square feet huge.  It has two full kitchens, 7 bedrooms, 3 family rooms and a game room and only four bathrooms ;).  It has two big pantries and a gigantic laundry room with a huge island, a table for a sewing machine and tons of cupboards and two big storage rooms downstairs.  There are two fireplaces and a fantastic master bathroom and bedroom.  Oh, it also has a theater room (the only room in the house unfinished).  It is Kevin’s dream to finish that room SOON!   Oh, don’t let me forget the two large built in fish tanks Kevin is also excited about.   The house is on one acre and there are mountains all around us with Utah Lake visible in the distance.   I know, how in the world did we get THIS house?  For one, Kevin is amazing and we worked out many, many obstacles to get this house.  It was a short sale (almost foreclosure), so we got the house for an amazing price.  I don’t tell you any of this description to brag, just wanted you to understand the magnitude of our task to unpack and settle.  Sigh!   And we have company coming in a few days.  Oh, and speaking of company, our Kansas friends, the Rowleys were in town yesterday and stopped by for a short visit.  Great to see them!

There are still boxes in almost every room.  Guess which room has no boxes left to unpack?  The kitchen!  Had to get it up and functioning, for sure, so when I need a break from the boxes, I could bake up a little something.  I didn’t mention, because the house was a short sale, basically, the people here had to get out of the house.  So, I was hoping, but knew it wasn’t going to be, that they’d CLEAN the house.  Nope.  Kinda gross.  That is really the thing that is taking so much time is all the cleaning.  I’m sick of it.  Really.  But lots still must be done.  I’m tired of scrubbing bathrooms, toilets, shower, laundry room floors, etc.  I took a cute picture of the boys all playing inside of some big boxes at the bottom of the stairs, but the picture is embarrassing to me because you can see how dirty the railings are.  Oh well.  It’ll all get done.  We love the house.   So I’ll stop sounding like I’m complaining here.

Please excuse that our white refrigerator doesn’t match the stainless steel appliances.  We’ll get that replaced at some point.

We’ll also be getting new bar stools soon.  A few of them are broken.  The house is 10 years old.

Love this cabinet that I’ve decided to put my cookbooks on.  I don’t have them all out yet.

I had packed up one huge bin full of the kid’s toys and sent it out with the first truck Kevin and Dan drove out in April.  You’d have thought we’d have just won the lottery when Sam discovered the toys after I’d put the bin in the game room. 

He’s in the big, empty game room.  Future purchases—pool table, ping pong, foosball, air hockey, bowling lane—haha, jk about the bowling, it’s not THAT big.

Get on with those “delicious hot Schmoes”, you say.  Taylor laughs and laughs whenever he sees that part in Toy Story 2 where Buzz Lightyear is talking to Woody about how fun cowboy camp will be “sittin’ around the campfire makin’ delicious hot schmoes.”

The recipe chosen for June for Cookie Carnival was for Hershey's S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies.  I was able to just get them made just under the wire, although my post will say July 1.

I doubled the recipe and made the bars in a 9x13 inch baking pan.  At first I thought they were going to be underdone and a gooey mess, but after they were substantially cooled, they sliced nicely and are actually really good.  Each of the boys had a piece when they were still gooey, they were completely cooled, but had melty chocolate.  That’s what a Smore is, right?  I actually didn’t take the greatest pictures of them and have decided my photos don’t do them justice.  I froze most of them to share at the family reunion starting this weekend. 

“Delicious Hot S’chmoes Bar Cookies”, these are certainly perfect for any upcoming July picnics, family reunions, or Independence Day celebrations. 

Taylor and Sam enjoyed helping me make them.  And I loved especially having them unwrap all the Hershey bars!