The Arnold Classic and Payday bars
A few months ago, Donnie bought tickets for Abby and him to attend a fitness expo and the Arnold Classic finale in Columbus, OH. These events were part of the larger annual Arnold Sports Festival which is held at various locations in and around Columbus. Last year, it was the largest multi- sport festival in the nation, to provide a context for how big the event is. This year's event was slated for the weekend of March 7 and 8. The events that Donnie and Abby planned to attend were on Saturday.
A few days before the event, the fitness expo was canceled due to coronavirus concerns and spectators were banned from most events (parents of kids under 18 who were participating were allowed to watch). One of, if not, the only event that allowed spectators was the Arnold Classic finals. That event was on Saturday evening.
Due to the cancellation of the fitness expo, Donnie and Abby didn't have to leave for Columbus until late afternoon. At the event that they attended Saturday evening (The Arnold Classic), Arnold Schwarzenegger emceed and said that the state of Ohio wanted to cancel the entire event but that he and organizers fought hard to prevent that from happening. They prevailed but with concessions- athletes from five countries where coronovirus is more prevalent than average were prohibited from competing, the expo was canceled and spectators were banned from most events. Edited to add that less than a week after the Arnold Sports Festival, Ohio's governor declared a state of emergency when three cases were confirmed in the state. The entire event would have likely been canceled had the event been planned to occur after the state of emergency.
Alyssa and I didn't have big plans for when they were gone. One thing on the agenda was making Payday bars. Alyssa had a Payday bar at school for the first time (or at least the first time she could remember having one) last week and she loved it. She asked if we could find a recipe so that we could make them (or a close approximation of them) at home. I like few things better than to try to replicate food items that we have eaten elsewhere at home.
I found several recipes for them that all appeared the same. Then I found one that was different. I liked the reasoning behind some of the recipe ingredients and decided we'd make the bars from that recipe. So we did. Oh my goodness, they were good! I hadn't had a Payday bar in years but as soon as I bit into the bars that we made, I knew the recipe was a very good copy cat recipe. The bars we made tasted almost identical to what I remember Payday bars tasting like. Alyssa, who'd much more recently than I had consumed a Payday bar, said our bars tasted a lot like the candy bar. I think our bars had more nuts than the candy bar...
Also, we didn't press the top layer of nuts into the nougat layer very hard and so the nuts on the top most layer readily fall off of the bars but that isn't too big of a nuisance. We just scoop the fallen nuts from our plate and place them back on top. Next time we'll know to press the nuts more deeply into the nougat. There will be a next time... unless eating the 9x13 pan gets us sick and tired of them!
Two years ago, a 3v3 soccer team that Alyssa was part of participated in one the kids' sporting events that was part of the Arnold Sports Festival- a 3v3 soccer tournaments. The Mighty Minis won the tournament easily.
Her trophy says "Arnold 3v3 Champion"
Saturday- Abby and Donnie pose before they left the house
At the event- maybe Donnie will enter the strong man competition next year
Our Payday bars- lots of nuts and good flavor. I found the recipe here.
A few days before the event, the fitness expo was canceled due to coronavirus concerns and spectators were banned from most events (parents of kids under 18 who were participating were allowed to watch). One of, if not, the only event that allowed spectators was the Arnold Classic finals. That event was on Saturday evening.
Due to the cancellation of the fitness expo, Donnie and Abby didn't have to leave for Columbus until late afternoon. At the event that they attended Saturday evening (The Arnold Classic), Arnold Schwarzenegger emceed and said that the state of Ohio wanted to cancel the entire event but that he and organizers fought hard to prevent that from happening. They prevailed but with concessions- athletes from five countries where coronovirus is more prevalent than average were prohibited from competing, the expo was canceled and spectators were banned from most events. Edited to add that less than a week after the Arnold Sports Festival, Ohio's governor declared a state of emergency when three cases were confirmed in the state. The entire event would have likely been canceled had the event been planned to occur after the state of emergency.
Alyssa and I didn't have big plans for when they were gone. One thing on the agenda was making Payday bars. Alyssa had a Payday bar at school for the first time (or at least the first time she could remember having one) last week and she loved it. She asked if we could find a recipe so that we could make them (or a close approximation of them) at home. I like few things better than to try to replicate food items that we have eaten elsewhere at home.
I found several recipes for them that all appeared the same. Then I found one that was different. I liked the reasoning behind some of the recipe ingredients and decided we'd make the bars from that recipe. So we did. Oh my goodness, they were good! I hadn't had a Payday bar in years but as soon as I bit into the bars that we made, I knew the recipe was a very good copy cat recipe. The bars we made tasted almost identical to what I remember Payday bars tasting like. Alyssa, who'd much more recently than I had consumed a Payday bar, said our bars tasted a lot like the candy bar. I think our bars had more nuts than the candy bar...
Also, we didn't press the top layer of nuts into the nougat layer very hard and so the nuts on the top most layer readily fall off of the bars but that isn't too big of a nuisance. We just scoop the fallen nuts from our plate and place them back on top. Next time we'll know to press the nuts more deeply into the nougat. There will be a next time... unless eating the 9x13 pan gets us sick and tired of them!
Two years ago, a 3v3 soccer team that Alyssa was part of participated in one the kids' sporting events that was part of the Arnold Sports Festival- a 3v3 soccer tournaments. The Mighty Minis won the tournament easily.
Her trophy says "Arnold 3v3 Champion"
Saturday- Abby and Donnie pose before they left the house
We are hoping to say hasta la vista to Abby's boot soon.
Our Payday bars- lots of nuts and good flavor. I found the recipe here.
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