Coconut-Chocolate Bars

Coconut-Chocolate Bars

1-1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 cups flaked coconut
½ cup caramel topping *
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips**
½ teaspoon vegetable oil

*I used the Smucker’s squeezable caramel ice cream topping and just eye-balled the amount I used

**I had a hard time getting the chocolate chips and vegetable oil to the right consistency for drizzling. So I spread it the best I could then sprinkled extra coconut and chocolate chips on top to hide the blobs of chocolate. Next time, try melting it in a double boiler or maybe adding a bit more vegetable oil.

Heat oven to 350©F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. On low speed, beat in flour and cocoa until soft dough forms. On low speed, beat in 1 cup of the coconut. Press mixture in pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until center is set. Drizzle caramel over baked layer; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup coconut. In resealable freezer plastic bag, mix chocolate chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on high 30-45 seconds, squeezing chocolate in bag every 15 seconds, until smooth. Cut ¼-inch tip from corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over coconut. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows.

1 bar: 200 Calories; 12 g total fat; 95 mg sodium; 21g carbohydrates, 1g protein.

My latest read

You'll" Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/133128.Suzanne_Hansen">Suzanne Hansen

My rating: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/51739249">2 of 5 starsI read this book in about a week, just an hour or two each night, so it's quick, easy read. And I have a lot going on right now, so I wasn't in the mood for a heavy or deep, meaningful story and this fit the bill.
I think the reason for my low rating is that I was disappointed by the lack of humor. I had read "The Nanny Diaries" a few years ago and remember laughing through it. I had hoped this one would be somewhat similar.
This is the real-life account of one former Hollywood nanny and her employment with the Ovitz family, followed by a short stint with Debra Winger and then Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman's family. If her accounts are even half true I am saddened (but not shocked) by the behaviors of the Ovitzes and have a new found respect for Debra Winger and the DeVito family.
The author acknowledges that she did herself a big disservice by not insisting on a contract and not really even having a conversation up front about expectations for working hours, salary, etc. Even when she realized that she needed to say something, she didn't. I agree that alot of the strife she had with the Ovitzes was from her not standing up for herself, but that doesn't excuse some of the behavior on the part of the family.
There were times when I thought the Ovitzes actually sounded pretty nice, like when Michael called the dealership and got them to agree to selling Suzy her car at cost. But then there were other times when they just had unrealistic expectations. I'm not sure that it was intentional, I just think they didn't think beyond themselves sometimes, or didn't live in the real world enough to think about how unrealistic they were being.
I did like that you watched Suzy grow up from a naive, small-town 19-year-old to a more seasoned, and happy 25+ year old who had finally found the things that she wanted for herself.
If you want an easy read or enjoy memoirs or peeks into Hollywood, this will probably fit the bill.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/833758-michelle">View all my reviews >>