I just look at these pictures and think of how much I took my life for granted when I enjoyed these bars. Now, I’ve been quarantined from my room and am living out of two laundry baskets. I even had to deal with no running water for a night… pouring buckets of water into the toilet to help it flush. Here’s the door to my room:
Why? Well, a water pipe burst in my house. It just so happens that my room is the only one downstairs, so it was the only one that got slightly flooded. I walked into my room and noticed my carpet was damp. Then, I saw a water stain on the wall in my bathroom. No bueno. I told my dad and then had to leave to go to a law fair at UCLA with the DB. When I came home, a chunk of my wall had been punched out. Straight up, punched out with a hammer.
My dad had shut off all the water for the night and wouldn’t turn it on until we got the pipe checked the next day. It turns out that the pipe was underneath the cement in my floor. They had to rip out my carpet, drill a hole in the cement, and temporarily fix the pipe until the insurance company could come and look at it. So, this is what my room looks like when you walk in:
There are three huge fans constantly running– one in my closet, one in my room, and one in my bathroom. The other half of my bedroom was sealed off (as you can see) so that it wouldn’t be affected. You can’t even walk on the other side of that plastic sheet because everything is crammed over there. My bed, my desk, my nightstand, everything in my closet, entertainment stand…. everything.
If you were to go into my room now, your hair would be flying into your face and your shirt would be drenched with sweat from the heat. It’s like that to keep mold from growing. After the insurance sees it tomorrow, it’ll take an additional four weeks to do the drywall, fill the cement, fix the baseboard, and repaint. Until then, I’ll be dreaming of my bed and baking out my eagerness to get my room back.
This recipe is best out of the oven. I’ve had it cold from the refrigerator, and although it’s not bad by any means, nothing beats an apple dessert straight from the oven. I haven’t baked anything with oatmeal in a while because my DB’s not a fan, but these babies just refreshed my memory. Oatmeal is delish! I forgot that I can bake for myself, sometimes.
The sour cream melts into the middle layer and you never would’ve guessed it was sour cream. The crust is crunchy and strongly resembles granola. Ummm.. LOVE! The recipe is slightly adapted from Your Home Based Mom.
Crust:
- 1 C butter, softened
- 1 C firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 C uncooked quick cooking oats
- 1 C flour
- 1 C chopped pecans
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Filling:
- 1 C sour cream
- 3/4 C sugar
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 egg
- 4 apples, unpeeled and diced
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the remaining crust ingredients and beat until well mixed.
- Press HALF of crust mixture onto bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown.
- While crust is baking, combine the filling ingredients; mix well. Gently pour the filling over the hot, partially baked crust. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the top of the fill and press down lightly.
- Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set. Cool & cut into bars. Store refrigerated.
