It's a Boy!

Avery Thomas Benoit

born on St. Patrick's Day! March 17th, 7:45 am

6 lbs 5 oz, 18.5 inches long

Here are some quick pictures for now:

We're all loving this little guy! Now, to go get some sleep.... More to come soon!

If you love Girl Scout cookies...

You must make these!!!

After we got a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies that lasted maybe 2 days with all of us munching on them, I said to Joe there has got to be a recipe online that someone has come up with for Girl Scout cookies. Specifically I wanted to make something similar to Samoas, my all time favorite! Something about that combo of coconut, caramel, and chocolate. Yum! (Yes, this is definitely a pregnant woman talking!)

I found a link on how to make the Samoas cookies. The cookies look quite complicated and since I was just going for taste, I liked their alternative to make Samoas cookie bars. I just made them last night for Joe's team at work. They are unbelievable, and I am making another batch today for us.

Here's the link for the recipe: http://bakingbites.com/2009/02/homemade-girl-scout-cookies-samoas-bars/

My one discovery in making these was that it was hard to dip the bottom of the bars in the chocolate. The coconut/caramel topping was starting to separate from the shortbread crust and it was getting messy. My solution: I just held the bar over the bowl of chocolate and used a spoon to slather it on the bottom. I used a plastic bag to pipe out the melted chocolate to drizzle the top.

I also see links to other Girl Scout cookie recipes. I'm sure they must be just as good! Happy baking!!!