Holiday Kitsch Alert: Sweet and Salty Bark

The other day, while searching new holiday treats to make with marshmallows and cereal (the possibilities would appear to be infinite), I came across a how-to video that made me cry with joy.  Candy sushi.  I know, right???  So while I await just the right opportunity to serve candy sushi (a state dinner for the Japanese Prime Minister?  Perhaps Kodomo No Hi, or Children's Day on May 5, a Japanese national holiday?), I settled upon a recipe that I had torn from Country Living some time ago.  Last night, my friends and I got together for our annual Christmas baking evening, which becomes less and less ambitious each year, and yet, somehow more and more fun.

After several rounds of prosecco and pomegranate seeds, we brought forth the four simple ingredients:

a sleeve of Saltines, 2 sticks of unsalted butter (nod to Paula Deen--I tried to cut that down to 1.5 but it really seems to beg for the 2 whole sticks), 1 cup of light brown sugar, and 1 and 1/3 cups of semisweet morsels.

Trial and error being the best teacher, I went at it again this morning, for my own improvement on the original recipe, which happened to come from country superstar Tricia Yearwood.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil and crushed saltines.  [The original recipe calls for them to be kept whole, but I like masking what that salty crunch is coming from.]

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil for about  5 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour over the crackers, trying to cover all the crackers evenly.  Put the cookie sheet into over and watch closely (learned that the hard way).  Bake for about 5 minutes, or until just bubbly.  Turn the oven off.

3. Remove cookie sheet from oven, and scatter chocolate chips evenly over the crackers.  Place the cookie sheet back in oven for a few moments, to speed the melting of the chocolate.  Remove from oven, and with a butter knife or spatula, spread the chocolate over the whole crackery mess.   Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so, until it's completely cold.

4.  Break into pieces.  Eat.  Yum!