A mix-up

Last week, during one of the many times I was in the checkout aisle of Target, a lady in front of me was buying a box of Key lime cake mix.  

She told me she had been making bars out of these mixes with a recipe she found on Pinterest.   The mixes were on clearance now so she was buying a few more.

Key lime cake mix???  How could I have missed that?? 

 So I went home and promptly googled how to make these bars.  Keep in mind I didn't have the cake mix.

It turned out that most of the bars using Key lime cake mix that I found on Pinterest were the same bars my family loves, but when we make them we use yellow cake mix.

  We always called them Texas Gold Bars.  The recipe was given to me by a friend when we lived in Texas, of course!  

You mix 1 egg, yellow cake mix, and 1-1/4 sticks of melted butter together and spread into a 9x13 inch dish.  In another bowl mix 8 oz softened cream cheese, 2 eggs and 1 lb of powered sugar and pour this mixture on top of the cake mix layer.  Sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans on top and bake at 325 for 30 to 40 minutes.  Cool and cut into pieces.    

My neighbor knows the same recipe as Chess Squares.

*in the Key lime recipe the pecans are omitted*

 Anyway, enter the Key lime cake mix.

On a return trip to Target.......you see my son is going to college for the first time in a few weeks, so we have lots and lots of stuff to buy.  You know, towels, crates, a laundry basket, all of that and all of the school supplies too.  That explains the many trips to Target this week.  Well, some of them anyway.......  

So, on this particular trip the very next day, I happened to see the cake mix.

I wasn't even looking for it. 

Of course two of the Key lime mixes ended up in my cart and lo and behold they had Orangesicle too, so I had to get two of those.....I'm a big fan of creamsicles so it was a must.

I got home and unloaded the car.  That took awhile. We had two, yes I said two, full carts at Target. 

 Then I made the bars. I was looking forward to trying them.  

I couldn't imagine how these would taste using the Key lime cake mix, rather than our usual yellow.

 I mixed up both of the layers for the bars and I put the pan in the oven.

 Then I looked up and I saw the box of cookie mix I had just used in the recipe.

Wait a minute, cookie mix????

 Oh, no! I was supposed to use cake mix!!! How could this have happened?? These could be a real disaster!  And I was so looking forward to trying them!  Ugh!

Well, I looked at the mixes I bought and somehow I had picked up a box of Key lime cookie mix and a box of Key lime cake mix too!

  I did the same thing with Orangesicle mixes.  One cake and one cookie!  But look at the boxes!  Can you see how that could have happened?  

 Okay, besides the picture of the big cupcake on the front of one box and the big cookie on the front of the other box.

 I was bummed.  

I left them in the oven and moped around a bit, sad because I was looking forward to trying these bars.

 When the time was up, I took them out and tried a bite.

Yes, it was very hot.....

Surprisingly, not bad though.  Not bad at all!!  

When the pan finally cooled I gave pieces to my family.   

The bars with the cookie mix were a hit!

Even better than with the cake mix that the the recipe called for!! 

The bars that I thought were doomed were actually a hit. How funny is that?  

From now on, I'll be making this recipe with cookie mix!  

So, the next day another trip to Target was in order to see if there were any seasonal clearance mixes left. 

 From what I understand this was the first year Pillsbury had these limited addition summer flavors.

  Everyone seems to be into limited additions lately, which makes me want to buy two of everything, but I think that's their plan. 

  I missed out on more Key lime and Orangesicle, but I did manage to find a pink lemonade cookie mix left.  

I'll be trying these soon, since the pan of Key lime bars is almost gone!

 How could I have missed these all summer? 

 I hope they're back next year!

My happy accident changed a family favorite dessert for the better and sometimes the same thing happens in my quilting too.  

What I think might be a disaster because of a cuting error, a "wrong" piece of fabric, or a free-motion fumble, turns out much better than the original would have in the end! 

Just like the bar recipe "mix-up"!