Technical Difficulties

I apologize for my absence the past couple weeks. But… honestly I have a good excuse.

The dog didn’t eat my homework, my car didn’t break down on the way to work, and trust me, I haven’t been on a long tropical vacation anywhere.

My computer died. Well, actually the hard drive on my laptop (where all of my recipes, photos and work is stored) died – at least that is according to the guy at the apple store.

Yet, before I make any formal funeral arrangements, I am sending my computer to a data recovery computer service in hopes to retrieve years worth of work.

It’s a shame, too, because I had some great blog posts planned for the month. With all of the June gloom I made a Spicy Tortilla Soup with Goat Cheese and wanted to share a wonderful weekend of Chocolate Cakes. But I guess it will have to wait until next month, when hopefully I will have my recipes and photos back. (And you don’t have to say – I’ve learned my lesson, I will also be backing up my work onto an external hard drive.) So, please keep your fingers crossed for me.

I also look forward to posting some great summer recipes including:

Hand Cut Pasta with Basil Pesto, Green Beans and Potatoes
Summer Panzanella (Bread Salad)
Red Quinoa with Arugula and Roasted Veggies and a Lemon Pistachio Gremolata

A Quick and Easy Dessert

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Blondies
These bars are chewy and loaded with oatmeal and chocolate chunks, and can become quite addicting. I think these bars will make the perfect dessert to take to your upcoming summer barbecues, as they are quick and stress-free to make, cut easily and clean, and stack and transport well.

Makes 24

Ingredients

- 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups oatmeal
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips/chunks (semi-sweet, dark, milk)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour, salt and baking powder and gently stir everything together. Add the oats and chocolate chunks. Use a spatula to evenly spread the dough into the baking dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until light brown on the edges. Let cool completely. Cut into squares. These bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.