I AM GOING HOME!!!..............ok almost home

The time has come.......the good Lord is calling me. Next week I will be officially on my way back down south. TO STAY! I have been hemin and hawin over this decision for round about two months now. While back the beau started hinting that his dad wasn't doing to good and that he would really like him to come down and me as well so he could meet me. I said that was all well and good but my beloved pigs could fly to heaven and back and I still wouldn't be getting on an air plane so help me lawd. I do not fly. Period. Some time passed and he brought up that he would like to move down there to stay and he would like me to come with. Well heck I'm only young once right? ha ha snort snort....umm no I'm a planner sorry. But time passed and circumstances were weighed then decisions were made and it came down this. Next week we are packing up two cars with 10% his stuff and 90% my stuff, 1 dog, 1 ferret and a whole lota excitement on my part. It is a dry run you could say. We will be staying with is dad in Fort Myers until we decide if we like it enough to "put down roots". I am either in a state of delirium or I'm really this flaky because all I can think is...umm will it ever be cold enough to wear my mink...where will I get my nails done...and yes now I can wear cute shoes again with out snow worries! The smart part of my brain is saying yes a Junior League that won't be a joke..thank goodness daddy got me that GPS thing for Christmas because I get lost quick as a blink, when do I have to transfer over my license, how do I change the address on my dog's chip in case she gets lost too, and how will I ever find a church I like as much as the one I go to now? However both of these are running with "Dixie" playing in the background. REAL LOUD LIKE! I can not wait to be back down south......I'm near vibrating with happiness! Now for a bit of yummy delight. Literally that's what I call these, Yummy Delight bars. I warn you do not make these when you will be alone in the house with them. You will eat them all and that will suck....just trust me on this.


These are your players
1 Cup of butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 1 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt(unless you use unsalted butter then make it a whole teaspoon), 3 cups quick cooking oats, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup toasted coconut and 1 tablespoon of cold water.

First toast your 1 cup of coconut

At this temperature, and watch it closely because if you don't it will burn just to spite your non-observant self. Trust me on this too.

Cream your sugar and butter with a blender....don't try to do it by hand you will just make yourself tired. Unless you are one of those super motivated people then have at it....you should have a decent arm workout by the time you are done.
When those are sufficiently creamed they will kinda look like grainy peanut butter you can add your egg and vanilla and when I say a teaspoon of vanilla I mean the kind where you sort of on purpose let it pour over the side for a second. Then stir...this you can do safely by hand with out to much effort :)

Next sift in your dry ingredients....I don't have a fancy sifter thingy so I just shake it through a colander. Usually I skip this step in most baked goods however these are super dense bars so this is necessary for a good end result.
Throw in your three cups of oats and put some muscle into it!

Add your other toppings. At this point I would like to add that these ingredients are completely interchangeable with just tons of other things. Ex. dried fruit, butterscotch bits, crushed bits of candy, even marshmallows the list is only limited to what you can think of. After your first three ingredients (I chose the pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips) you will need to add a tablespoon of cold water for each additional one to keep this from being a brick. First three=one tablespoon of water. Each one after after that gets its' own extra tablespoon of water. Keep in mind though that if it starts to look more like soup then a chunky dough you have ventured to far and there is no way to turn back.
This is what my dough looked like after all my ingredients were added in. We are looking for a solid yet soft mixture(soft not wet!). There should be enough of everything so that it all blends together well. If needed you can add an extra table spoon of water.

It is now time to press the mix into your pan. I highly.....very very highly suggest the use of parchment paper for this. It makes pulling it out and cutting it a snap. You can use the pan of your choice...just remember that thicker means longer baking time but to thin and it will just be crunchy.

One other reason I suggest parchment paper is since after you went through all the trouble to toast this coconut and press it into the top of the bars(that's what this step is, sprinkle your one extra cup of toasted coconut across the top of your bars..then lightly press it down so they don't all just flake up and fall off)it would be really disappointing if you decided not to use parchment paper or at least tinfoil because when you flipped it over to remove it from the pan all the coconut would fall off. On the other hand you could just serve it cut up from the pan and that would require no flipping of the bars. I can't do that option myself because then I wouldn't get to use my pretty crystal plate and I do appreciate well presented food stuffs. Set this is a preheated 325 degree oven for apx. one hour, please please please check this frequently. I have had this take 45 min and I have had it take 2 hours. I have no clue what changes it but change it does every time I make it.

All said and done this is what I had, a pile of toasty and chocolaty Yummy Delight bars. I hope you enjoyed yet another recipe. I swear I never meant for this to be a cooking blog but danged if it isn't!