I mentioned in this blog a while back that I had never made my mom Bonnie’s famous “nut goodie bars”. I rectified that over the holidays.
With Valentine’s Day coming in a few days, I figured it’d be a great time to share this recipe and story with you all.
I found the recipe in Bonnie’s recipe box (the best tangible item to take for myself upon her passing). It was written out in her pretty though at times hard to decipher handwriting. It was not completely coherent, but I knew that my sister Kelly could fill in the blanks if necessary.
Here’s the recipe exactly as written:
1-12 oz. real choc. chips
1-12 oz. butterscotch chips
1 oz. sq. unsweetened choc.
Melt over hot water. Add 1 1/2 C. peanut butter. Put 1/4 mixture in jellyroll pan, 11×17-let harden (freezer).
2 sticks marg.
1/4 C. reg. vanilla pudding
1/2 Cup Carnation Milk
Bring to a boil-remove from heat & beat in 2 lb. pkg. powdered sugar (watch so doesn’t scratch)
Spread on bottom layer. Sprinkle 1 1/2 C. spanish peanuts over this & spread remaining mixture over this.
You can imagine I had some questions, no? Funnily enough, when I texted Kelly, she remarked she was also making these bars that day. Gotta love those mysterious sibling soul connections! She clarified for me that “regular” vanilla pudding did not mean “instant”. She said she didn’t think it sets up right using instant. Hubs, good sport that he is, offered to run to the store for “regular” vanilla pudding mix, as I only had the instant variety. Kelly mentioned that “mapleine” flavoring might be hard to find at the store. “Strange”, I texted, “not only have I never heard of “mapleine” flavoring, but it wasn’t listed on the copy of mom’s recipe I had. “
How one can record two different versions of the same dish is beyond me. But then, in looking through Bonnie’s recipe box I found more than a few copies of the same recipes. I think she would write them down from memory and then forget to present them to their intended recipient. People were always asking her for various recipes because she was a phenomenal cook. It’s all such a glimpse into her personality I think, and that’s the beauty of having this sweet little box here in my house now.
Anyway, these bars turned out great. The are very sweet and rich. The perfectly decadent Valentine sweet. I hope you get a chance to make them for you and yours this Valentine’s Day!
Pollyanna's Path 
Looks so yummy!
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Oh my gosh they are!
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I used to write down recipes for me, because I was the only one cooking. So, much like your mom, I imagine, I wrote in shorthand that made sense only to me. I know what I meant. I’m having to retranscribe some of them now that my hubs and daughter are joining me in the kitchen, because they both have dyslexia and it is utterly unfair to expect them to translate my scribblings.
Once such recipe was for spanakopita. I remembered the technique, so all I needed was the ingredients, the temperature, and the time. Also, I can never remember how to spell spanakopita without Googling it. So my recipe read something like this (in my worst possible handwriting, on a corner of a sheet of notebook paper):
Δs
butter
chives
t dill
sm spinach
feta
egg
phyllo
375° 12-15
R came across this one day and said, “Don’t tell me you can cook from that.”
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Funny! It would drive me nuts if I did that-I never would remember the measurements!
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Mapleine or not, they look delicious!
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