Things we love: popcorn , chocolate, dancing, cocktails.. okay only the first two are related to this recipe. Saw these popcorn topped bars in a recent Bon Appetit mag (note to self- post a pic of the absurd amounts of bon appetits we keep in the apartment) and knew they were destined for our traps. 

Essentially, this is a shortbread topped with chocolate and sprinkled with popcorn/sea salt.  Bon Appetit loves this trick where they throw chocolate chips on some sort of bar right out of the oven and pass it off as frosting.  This isn’t the most legit move but by the time popcorn is all over the top we just can’t care. 

What kind of popcorn do you ask? Popcorn from our Whirley Pop. Don’t have one? How about you clean out  the pan currently filled with box mac and cheese and throw in some popcorn kernels instead? Better yet- go to your local market (note- write about love for Union and Eastern Market) and get some fun kernels.  Market popcorn kernels usually pop smaller, sweeter and aren’t pre-laden with some powdered pseudo-butter product that makes me want to light all bagged popcorn on fire.  Microwave popcorn is offensive and if you make it so are you.

Okay… sorry… did not see that popcorn lecture coming… if you like sweet/salty combo’s make these bars.

Popcorn Bars

White Trash Option: Microwave popcorn- but really…. Does that seem like an option after the above rant?

I’ve had to learn the hard way with dessert.  I end up leaving it ’til moments before guests arrive and…surprise, surprise… instead of making dessert I’m busy assembling a bangles collage on my arm instead. This apple crisp can be made in advance,  is supa-easy, and tastes  infinity better than people expect it to taste. Shock of the century: this is an Ina recipe.

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

Ina says to combine the crumble portion of this treat with the paddle attachment on your stand up mixer. How about your hands? How about your fucking hands can crumble a few things to go on an apple pile. But if you’re jonesin for more dishes to wash do it her way.

Seriously this dish is awesome and I almost always have the necessary ingredients on hand to make it happen.

White Trash Option:  Skip the orange/lemon zest and/or replace the fresh juice with store bought.  You suck if you do this and Ina will murder you but sometimes you need this crisp and it’s too damn cold to journey to Whole Foods for lemon zest.

It’s fucking cold and canned soup is the devil.  Make this classic:

Chicken Noodle Soup

We let Tyler Florence beat out Ina for this one.  His recipe is just so simple and clean. We roasted bone-in skin on chicken breasts for his 1 ½ cups cooked chicken. We have a pretty intense arsenal of soup recipes at this joint and will get you up to date ASAP.  This is a great one to start with- the soup is basic/delicious/comforting and you can’t mess up.  Here’s a secret.  I used to be against soup- I refused to “drink” my food. What an IDIOT.  This was the recipe that took me from Darth to Luke.  Enjoy.