Category: crime

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

These, I must say, have been a mixed bag.

Caramel Crunch Bars

Initially, I was disappointed with them. The instant coffee in the batter was too strong.  The thin cookie was too crisp. The toffee pieces got stuck in my teeth.

But this being the second day they have been in my cake dome, sliced (some broken) and ready for snacking at a moment’s notice, I feel much better about them. As in, I can’t stop eating them. But that may be because I doubled the chocolate on top.

Let me explain.

As you can see from the recipe (Thanks to Whitney, who chose the cookies we all baked this week and will post the recipe), the thin and buttery pan cookie is baked, topped with chocolate ( I used milk chocolate bars rather than the bittersweet chocolate Dorie recommended) to melt, and then sprinkled with toffee. However, I got sidetracked in the kitchen and I forgot the toffee!  When I discovered my mistake 24 hours later, I topped the cookies with another candy bar, returned them to the oven to melt the chocolate, and then sprinkled them with the toffee.

It was fine.  I sliced most of them and broke several along the way, and now am enjoyed them each and every time I walk into the kitchen….got to pass the cake dome to get to the fridge, the laundry room, the kitchen sink…. They’re not my favorite, but they’ll do.

In the meantime, my TWD posts will be few and far between for a while, as I will be moving!  Cross your fingers for good weather at the end of March.

Omelettes anyone?

Armed burglars demand egg beater, reports the Tampa Tribune (and my mother) in a bizarre story from Dec. 14.  Two Florida men were charged with armed burglary after authorities found them outside a home where the victim reported the incident.

 

http://www.originfx.com/custom/EggBeater.png

The sheriff’s office said the two men came into the victim’s home about 3:35 a.m. (The suspect) armed himself with a folding knife while (a second suspect) held a chrome pistol, arrest reports said.

(The suspect) held the knife against the victim’s neck and demanded the metal egg beater which was found in his left back pocket when he was arrested, the sheriff’s office said.

The report also said the victim knew both men.

I don’t think that last part makes me feel any better about the whole thing.

The suspects are being held without bond.

The economy hurts everyone

I’m not sure what this is signaling, per se, but there seems to be a focus on low-budget, food-related assaults recently.  Maybe the Blue Box is less expensive than a good knife?

mac_cheese_lg.jpg

From the North Platte Telegraph, we get this:

An unemployed 48-year-old North Platte man was arrested Saturday after police said he assaulted his live-in girlfriend with a cooking pot because he was upset she made him macaroni for dinner.
According to the police report, [the suspect] was intoxicated and assaulted his girlfriend with the pot when he discovered she made macaroni for his dinner. The assault caused the food to be tossed throughout the residence, as he struck her with the pot, according to the report.

And deli meat is FAR more economical than brass knuckles.  From the Florida-based TC Palm:

A 19-year-old man accused of hitting his girlfriend with a sandwich, knocking her glasses off and nearly causing a traffic crash is facing domestic battery and child abuse charges, according to a recently released police report.

The victim told police that [the suspect] got angry while she drove and “started to hit her in the arm and striking her in the face with a sandwich, knocking her glasses off her face,” the report states. [The suspect] told investigators that, indeed, he argued. He said he “didn’t want to hit her so he threw a sandwich at her striking her in the face knocking her glasses off.”

He also admitted beating the windshield with the mirror and his fist.

The type of sandwich hurled was not specified in the report.

Spaghetti is a not a weapon

As the Dallas Morning News reports, someone is vandalizing local homes with jarred sauce.

Frisco police are investigating at least eight incidents in which jars of spaghetti sauce have been thrown at cars and homes, causing several hundred dollars worth of damage. In one incident, a jar of Great Value brand onions was thrown, along with a jar of garlic spaghetti sauce. “Maybe they were trying to make a good sauce,” Sgt. Meadors said.

Specifically, jars of spaghetti sauce – various flavors and brands, according to the police report – are breaking windows and landing on vehicles, costing owners $4,600 in damages and generally making a mess.

 

 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster_2.jpg

 

One poor guy has been hit twice:

 Mr. Anglin said the first time, he came out to his porch and found a huge mess.

 “The very next Saturday, I came outside and I looked up and noticed the sauce, and then I looked down and that’s when my child said, ‘Dad, we were hit again,'” he told KTVT-TV. 

File Under: Seemed like a good idea at the time

Three young men in Maine were arrested August 29 for what I would consider bargain hunting.  The Bangor Daily News reports:

The Skinny Dip sandwich at the Black Frog Restaurant is free if you bare all and brave a jump into the cold waters of Moosehead Lake, but the court fee for indecent conduct isn’t.

Three friends who took the plunge bare-naked over the weekend and had the tasty sliced prime rib in a baguette roll may now have wished they’d ordered another meal or paid the $10.95 for the sandwich.

http://bakingbites.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/frenchdip.jpg

See, the restaurant backs up to a small lake, and have outdoor seating on a barge.  When our heroes expressed interest in dropping their pants for the free sandwich, the restaurant owner asked his other patrons if they would mind.  None did, and the young men proceeded with their naked jump in the lake.

Sadly, their jump did offend a family that was standing on a nearby boardwalk (they were the ones who called the police to complain), as well as a local gamewarden who was refueling his boat. Police came to the restaurant to arrest the jumpers.

Here’s where it gets good:

When police arrived and issued the summons, all of the restaurant patrons on the barge pitched in and donated money to the streakers to help pay the fine, according to Turner. He believed the guests provided about $150 to each of the three skinny dippers.

The Class E crime is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, but the local District attorney said the punishment for such a misdemeanor would not involve jail time and that the fine would likely range from $300 to $500 each.

And the restaurant owner will continue to offer a free sandwich for diners who take the plunge.

No doubt a seasoned criminal

Thanks for Reader Sara for allerting me to the following food crime, first reported by the AP at CNN.com:

Officials: Burglar wakes men with spice rub, sausage whack

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Spices_22078028.jpg

Fresno, CA, authorities arrested a 22-year-old man they found hiding in a field wearing a t-shirt, boxers and socks. He’d left his wallet and ID behind after he ransacked the home of two farmworkers.I feel like this part of the capture could have been avoided if he were wearing pants.

The news report is somewhat lacking in details, but it does offer this image:

 The farmworkers told deputies the suspect woke them Saturday morning by rubbing spices on one of them and smacking the other with an 8-inch sausage.

    http://lifeofando.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/sausage.jpg

The suspect is also accused of taking money from the farmworkers’ home, but it was recovered.

Like Bad Theater

Another day, another food-related crime.

(Insert Dragnet music here)

I’ll lead with this quote from the end of an article I read in the Fond Du Lac Reporter, via obscurestore.com: Officers reported that both husband and wife appeared intoxicated.

It seems that a 48-year-old woman was charged with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and misdemeanor battery because she went after her husband with some tomatoes and a knife (at least that’s what he says. She claims he fell off a lawn chair while drunk).

The article continues, She was ordered to stay out of taverns and possess no weapons.

According to police and news reports, the victim said his wife had him on the floor and repeatedly hit him and possibly stabbed him with a knife as she made slashing motions at him, he told authorities. (The victim) said he begged his wife not to kill him and was struck in the face with large numbers of tomatoes, the complaint stated. Sheriff’s officers reported tomatoes were crushed “everywhere” in the residence.

http://en.wikivisual.com/images/f/f3/Tomatoes-on-the-bush.jpg

The wife alleges that her husband was ticked off because a drink she made him wasn’t strong enough, and that he started the fight by calling her names and hitting her in the face, according to the complaint.

If convicted of all charges, the wife faces maximum penalties of more than 13 years in prison and $36,000 in fines.