When I was a little girl, my family would go to Family Night Supper once a month at church.

The ladies would bring a wonderful dish that they had perfected- usually the same dish, time

after time- because everyone loved and expected it!

When I started taking dishes to Sunday dinners as an adult, it was with a different group of

people and often they would bring new food- something they wanted to try out- and sometimes

it was wonderful, sometimes not.  But it was always an adventure.

Back in my childhood, however, the very repetitive nature of the food was comforting.

Someone would bring sausage and sauerkraut, there would be chicken, hot buttered noodles with

sauteed breadcrumbs, cucumbers in vinegar, and oh- the desserts!

Glazed yeast doughnuts, brownies, postum cakes, strudels, rice krispies treats, and always, always

- peanut butter fingers- sweetened peanut butter lying thick over a dark chocolate layer and then a

oatmeal cookie base.  I always looked for them and they were always there, thanks to Katherine Nemcheck.

I don’t know how my mother got her recipe- I think it was an even exchange- the peanut butter fingers for

my mother’s cocoa brownie bars with white frosting ( although the recipe was originally Sophie’s!   )

I’ve been making these for years, although I changed them up a bit , and I’ve never shared the recipe before.

I kind of thought it wasn’t really mine to share.  But lately, with all the uproar over bloggers and recipes that

the cookbook writers are trying to keep OFF the internet, I’ve been thinking of sharing some of these old

recipes that were handed down so discretely from mother to daughter, friend to friend.

And besides, some friends on facebook said the magic words, asking for anyone who had shared those

wonderful treats from years ago whether they had the recipe.  So in memory of wonderful evenings of food

and fellowship and with a curtsy to Katherine Nemcheck, I give you the recipe for Peanut Butter Fingers.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine or butter (my recipe says oleo- my mother always called it Oleo-margarine)

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbs milk

Method:

Cream together butter and sugars, add egg and peanut butter and vanilla.  Beat all together until smooth

Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Smooth into 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle choc chips over the top.

Allow to melt and then spread over the top.  Cool slightly.

In the meantime,

mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk until very creamy.

Add enough milk so that it will drizzle from the fork.

And then slather the top with the sweetened peanut butter icing and

slice the bars.

You will get a pattern as you slice.

Let them cool so that the icing sets and then enjoy!

My husband is a meat man.  He likes potatoes- but for him it is all about

the meat.  Not fish, not pasta, not veggies.

But really- he needs less red meat.

So I’m going to try one meatless meal a week.

Tonight it was homemade ravioli with mushroom and onion, sauteed in browned butter

and crumbled sage.  I got the recipe for the  sauce and kind of used the noodle ingredients-

you know, flour salt and eggs? – here. It is an Alton Brown recipe from off of Food Network.com.

But he had a sausage center, and this is supposed to be meatless, so I substituted the filling

for a mushroom and onion mix that I sauteed onions and mushrooms and added salt and a sprinkle

of sage.    After it cooked down about 10 minutes, I added a half cup of plain yogurt and 1/4 cup

of Romano cheese.

3 cups flour

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon salt

1 good slug of olive oil (about 3 Tablespoons )

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl, create a well, and whip up the eggs and the other

wet ingredients in a measuring cup and pour into the well.  Mix the flour into the

egg mixture, a little at a time, until your dough is holding well together.  Then dump the

entire mess onto your counter or bread board and knead the lump of dough for 8 to 10

minutes until it is smooth.  You may not use up all the flour, but that is fine.   Flatten

into a disc , put into a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for about an hour.

Then, spread flour on your counter and roll out VERY THIN!

And in a rectangle- make sure it is very thin.

Now cut into small squares.

Make up a egg wash-whip an egg up with some water and

spread onto one line of squares.

Place a small amount of mushroom filling- about a teaspoon- in the center of the eggy square.

Place the square in the next row on top and smooth around the

filling and then seal the  edges as you push the air out from the center.

You can leave the edges plain or use the tines of a fork to help seal the edges.

Have a pot of salted boiling water ready on the stovetop.

And drop the ravioli into the water one at a time- don’t overfill the pot- and let them

cook for about 7 to 10 minutes.  Have a skillet with browned butter(1/4 cup) next to the pan of boiling

This is my very favorite part of the whole recipe!!!

Because right after you brown them a little- your meal is ready to EAT!!!

AND-Frank said he liked it. 

He didn’t love it- but he liked it- and that is pretty amazing.

This is the best morning cake I’ve ever eaten.

We bought a huge basket of fruit off of a truck in Onancock and had plenty of apples to eat up- so I ended up

making this cake 3 times- that’s right THREE times- in the 2 1/2 weeks we were down here over Christmas!

I can imagine it only gets better over time- but it was always gone before I got back to have another slice!

Make sure you make it in a round metal cake pan- the first time I made it was in a square glass pan and the

caramel on top didn’t brown or spread into an appetizing looking  topping!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

6 TBS. unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour, AP

1/2 tsp cinnamon, plus extra to sprinkle on apples

1/2 tsp  cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 large apples, peeled and cut into slices

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Melt 4 TBS butter in small pan over low heat, add brown sugar and stir.

Allow to bubble for 2 minutes and pour into bottom of 9" pan and spread- set aside.

Peel and slice apples and arrange on top of prepared pan, sprinkle apples lightly with cinnamon.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Warm the milk in a small pan, add butter and melt.  Let cool slightly.

Beat eggs, add sugar and beat for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves- add to flour , then milk, making a smooth batter.

Pour over apples in pan.

Bake for 45 minutes, then cool in pan for a full 15 minutes.  Turn over onto serving plate.

Great served with lightly whipped cream.

I made this version in a glass square pan- good, but pale and not enough caramel on top.

The third version had glazed pecans added after baking.

Change up the spices to your liking- I would leave out the cloves and use nutmeg.

Or allspice.  The only spices I would keep constant are the cinnamon and the cardamom.

If you try it, let me know what you did, and how it turned out !