For years, it was tradition that my dear teacher friend, Mrs. Whitney, would bring these chocolate peanut butter bars to every school potluck. When she retired a few years ago after 30 years of teaching at our school, she handed the recipe down to me to continue the tradition. And now I’m handing the recipe off to you! they are so simple, but so good.
Bookmark it for your next potluck!!
Mrs. Whitney’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
1 cup butter 1 cup crunchy peanut butter 1 lb powdered sugar 10 sheets graham crackers, crushed to crumbs 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
Melt butter in large pot and remove from heat.
Add peanut butter to pot and stir until mixed. Add powdered sugar and stir until incorporated. Add graham cracker crumbs and stir again until fully incorporated. Batter will be thick. You may want to use your hands to make sure all crumbs are mixed in.
Press mixture into 9×13 pan with flat, heavy spatula.
Melt chocolate chips. Microwave in 30 second increments & stir until smooth. Spread evenly over pan.
Chill in refrigerator for about 30 min. Cut into small squares. Mrs. Whitney says 48 squares but l’ve never been able to get quite that many!
monitor the 30 min cool time. If kept refrigerated to long, the chocolate will crack when cut. Take out when the chocolate loses its glossiness.
Truly think that everyone should have an easy breakfast casserole recipe in their back pocket. It’s a crowdpleaser, everyone is always impressed, it takes no time at all, can be made ahead and you probably have all the ingredients on hand anyway. Bookmark this one for every brunch for basically the rest of your life. It can be made the night before and baked in the morning, or just bake it up and re-heat it in the morning. My mom made this for every holiday/special event for my entire life, and still does to this day. And now I am her copy cat because she really did know what she was doing.
If we’re having a crowd, I make the full batch, but if it’s just our family of five, I halve all ingredients and bake in a smaller baking dish. I do not deviate with extra veggies or greens thrown in, but you certainly could! Recipes are meant to be played with. We serve with salsa, hot sauce and ketchup for condiments, and always a big bowl of berries and breakfast bread on the side. Enjoy this family favorite!
Breakfast Casserole
1 doz eggs 8 oz shredded Cheddar Cheese 2 c milk Sliced white bread-crust removed, butter on both sides 1 1b fried bacon or 1 lb fried sausage ¼ t salt ¼ t pepper
Preheat oven to 350°
Spray a 9×13 baking dish with pam and cover bottom with your buttered bread. Sprinkle with ⅔ cup of cheese, ⅔ cup of bacon or sausage.
Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour in your baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining meat and cheese. Bake 50 minutes or until brown on sides. Serves 8-12
I woke Monday morning with just the twinge of a wine headache. My normal weekend limit of two glasses had been stretched to three as a result of flickering candlelight, a table full of friends, and my kids blessedly entertained by people other than me. Twelve of us gathered around two long tables pushed together, on chairs and benches that my husband and I have collected from dumpsters, curbs, and thrift stores over the years. Little jars gathered in the same way were all filled up with wildflowers that Luke and I picked early in the morning down the road from our house. Old glass yogurt containers had votive candles burning, the wine was decanted that morning, more candles burned around the house, lamplight filling the rooms, soft music (Louis Armstrong) tinkled in (And I think to myself, What a Wonderful World) on a small speaker in the kitchen. Mismatched glasses and napkins lined the table set with our white dishes and to top it all off, the windows were cracked to let in the most delicious winter breeze.
I’ve craved gatherings like these over the last few covid-ruled years. Big family style dinners where the food is so dang good, but no one actually cares if it’s fancy or just chili with cornbread because they’re just happy to be there. The fear of gathering together has held me back from creating these special memories (current health crisis and all). We’re still being diligent and of course we still wear masks when out and are vaccinated and and and…but I also know that before I know it my kids are going to be grown or too cool to hang around us and they’ll have missed out on gatherings with loved ones and community and how much longer is this going to last anyway (I fear the answer may be forever)? But anywho – I’m not actually here to talk about the virus. I’m here to talk about the warm feelings that gathering around a table brought. And of course the FOOD! Ahh what I wouldn’t give to be able conjure up for the smells filling the house on Sunday night. Of braised beef cooked for hours in the oven, of herbs I picked fresh from my own little garden, of brownies iced while still warm, of farmer’s market carrots roasted until sweet and topped with carrot top pesto.
Really though, instead of making you all hungry, I just wanted to share the menu in case it might give you some inspiration for your own gathering. And also for myself so I can refer back to it when I wonder to myself…what did I make for that winter dinner party with our people? And how did I make that perfect big batch of polenta in the crock pot? So here it is. Just click on the text to go to the recipe I used. And of course I took no actual pictures of the food because who has time for photos once the friends arrive and the wine is poured?
Big batch Parmesan Polenta in a slow cooker makes 10-12 servings
9 cups liquid (I used about 4 cups vegetable broth and the rest water) plus another 1 cup or so to add at the end if needed 3 cups fine or coarse ground corn meal 1 cup parmesan
Set slow cooker to low and pour in liquid. Add corn meal and stir. Cook for 3-4 hours, stirring every hour until thick. Just before serving, pour in parmesan and stir together. You may want to add a bit more liquid at the end too depending on how thick it looks. This is for soft polenta. Turn to warm and your polenta will stay nice and soft until serving.
To serve the ragu, I used a large white serving platter and poured polenta and spread to about 1 inch thick or so. Top with ragu, and send everything around the table family style if you’re feeling extra warm and fuzzy.
The Metroka Family 