Benji

Peanut Butter Puddles

…because it is definitely baking season again!

Here’s an old cookie recipe for Peanut Butter Puddles that a friend of Benji’s came up with several years ago. It has made the cut several times in the personal cook book and moving-across-country adventures, so we decided we should share it with you! The thumb-print aspect and puddles add some fun tasks for little hands to help as well –  Enjoy firing up that oven and staying warm…

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips (yep, again!)
1/3 cup peanut butter +/-

Directions:
-Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter (from wet ingredient list) together slowly in sauce pan or double boiler.
-Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl
-Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl and add this mixture to your slightly cooled off melted PB/Chocolate chip mixture.
-Place wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined into a nice cookie dough.
-Drop by Tablespoon size and leave a thumbprint in the middle of each dough ball to form a small pool…
-Put a dab of extra peanut butter (you choose how much!) in each thumbprint and bake for 12 minutes (or less) at 350F degrees.

Notes:
You can use creamy or chunky peanut butter of just about any kind – to make these super over the top, try the “grind your own” bulk peanut butter from the Oneota Food Coop (or another food coop!). Smucker’s natural is also a decent option, or of course whatever you have on hand! Feel free to experiment with amounts or add your own spices for the holidays (cinnamon? peppermint pieces? Whoohoo!)

 

 

Part four in our series “Making a Scene”, features Steve Harm and The Warehouse in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Here at Inspire(d), we do all we can to support live music in our region. Check out the links at the end of this article to the first three parts of this series, and remember, as our friend Byron says, “Live Music only happens once, you have to be there…”

Interview by Benji Nichols

All Photos with huge thanks to Bob Good. 

Since 1992 The Warehouse in La Crosse has provided an alcohol-free venue for thousands of cutting-edge touring acts like the All-American Rejects, Everclear, Mudvayne, Descendents, Static-X, Frank Black, Fall Out Boy, the Dead Milkmen, Veruca Salt, and many more. Over the years there have been many hands to help run the venue, but one person has kept the door at the bottom of the 49 steps on Pearl Street open: Steve Harm. Self-proclaimed “in-house talent buyer, soundman, poster-maker, and soda expert,” Harm has accomplished something in the past 20+ years that few others have. In fact, the Warehouse is one of the longest-running all-ages alcohol-free venues in the country. There are plans in process for the venue to become a 501c3 organization so The Warehouse Alliance can help promote and provide events, shows, workshops, classes, and learning opportunities to the greater Driftless Region. But like many things, the clock is ticking – the pressures of bills and real estate development continue to threaten the existence of this regional rock & roll resource. Fractured Atlas, a NYC based arts advocacy organization, has recently accepted the Warehouse Alliance as a fiscal sponsorship project, so if you’d like to help, your donations are tax deductible – check out more and find a schedule at www.warehouserocks.com

How’d you get into presenting events?

I first started presenting shows when I was 15, in my first band. Obviously young bands have to scramble to find places to play, and it just fell on me to find the room and make the arrangements. That was 1979.

Do you have a most “exciting” live moment?

After a 10-year hiatus, DESCENDENTS did their first show as a reunited band here in La Crosse at the Warehouse. Rolling Stone magazine sent a photographer and a writer. That was pretty exciting, watching a Rolling Stone photographer getting squashed in the front (we have no barricade) while trying to take usable shots (that was the film days – he had to make the shots count, not like digital photographers with their spray and pray), the band on stage after a decade, and people from all over the US who had come to the show going crazy.

If you could present one show with anyone in the world – past or present – who would it be, and why?

I would love to do a Depeche Mode show at the La Crosse Center. They’re one of my top three favorite bands, and I have seen them around 20 times in the past 28 years. I’d love to see them and not have to leave town, for once!

What are you excited about in the near future?

We are really hoping to be able to expand our offerings here at the Warehouse, with expanded daytime hours, internship, a studio, and more. That hinges on getting our non-profit status. Our recent partnership with Fractured Atlas arts organization enables donations to be tax deductible, just like contributions to the Boys & Girls Club, Pump House, or Community Theater in our city.  (Details at www.warehouserocks.com)

You can see the latest updates, show schedule, make a donation, and more at www.warehouserocks.com.

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You can also see Part I of this series featuring Tanya Gertz & the Luther College Center Stage Series, Part II featuring “Shameless” James Ronan, and Part III featuring Tom Fassbender of the Boats & Bluegrass festival.

Thank you for supporting live music!

The following is part III in a series entitled “Making A Scene” from the Fall 2014 issue of Inspire(d) Magazine.
Part I – featuring Tanya Gertz & the Luther College Center Stage Series can be found here.
Part II – featuring James Ronan / Dance and Stay Young can be found here.

Interview by Benji Nichols
Images courtesy of Boats & Bluegrass.

*Please note, the 2014, 10th Anniversary presentation of Boats & Bluegrass is sold out. We offer up a giant high five to Tom Fassbender and his crew for presenting such a fantastic event in our region. Buy your tickets early next year!

 

 

Ten years ago Tom Fassbender threw together an idea to help promote a fledgling outfitter company – take some great regional bands, have them play on the backwater of the Mississippi near Winona, schedule some paddle time…see what happens. What was created is a source of local magic that has magnified into one of the best small festivals in the Midwest: Boats & Bluegrass. The 2014 edition features more than 40 bands, plus paddling trips, family outings, and all the regular festival fun. Located on Prairie Island, with camping just a skip and a jump from the festival site, this event has grown to be a regional favorite. Boats and Bluegrass runs September 25-28, 2014. www.boatsandbluegrass.com

How’d you get into presenting events?

I guess helping with events all started back in High School with “field parties” on summer nights.  So that puts me at about 25 years. I’ve always had a desire to make people happy. Music has always played a huge roll in that and in my life. I enjoy making places where people feel comfortable and can relax – so being able to present music really ties it all together.

Do you have a most “exciting” live moment? 

I have been blessed to see and be a part of many shows (good and bad).  I learned more from the bad ones than the good ones, but I would have to say the one that has stuck with me the most was one of my first experiences at a show. I was maybe 12 and fighting my way to the front at an Iron Maiden show. I bumped into a big guy with long hair who stood over six feet tall – he turned and looked down at me and gave me what I thought was a big thumbs up. I returned the thumbs up, but before I knew it he had picked me up and swiftly plucked me on his shoulders – turns out I had accepted his invitation.  His desire to help a kid enjoy the show has stuck with me, and been a bit of a mantra for me.

If you could present one show with anyone in the world – past or present – who would it be, and why?

My first thought is Jerry Garcia, just on a selfish note. On a more practical note, I guess I would say Bill Graham (1960s promoting legend, owner of the Fillmore / Winterland /Fillmore East, etc). Over the course of his life he was able give the world the gift of music – not always in a way I necessarily agree with but I think he cared about the “show”. Today I think that can get lost, and it would be great to experience how he did things.

What are you excited about in the near future?

This year’s 10^th anniversary lineup is exciting. We are also planning to release a live compilation album from this year’s Boats & Bluegrass festival to celebrate 10 years. I’m looking forward to working through this process and hope to release the album around the first of the year.

— The 2014 10th Anniversary presentation of Boats & Bluegrass is SOLD OUT. Congrats to Tom and his crew, and buy your tickets early next year. Cheers to supporting live music!

Benji Nichols is the co-owner of Inspire(d) Media with his wife Aryn, and daughter Roxie. He’s been making things noisy since the early 1990s and is even known to make a living at it occasionally. Currently he is a partner in the Courtyard & Cellar in Decorah, makes magazines, and rides bikes while not being a Dad.