Nutter Butter Brownies

Yesterday afternoon, moments after school got out I sent Y a text:
"You got a smile on your face and a skip in your step?"
"Hahahahahaha Yes!" was his reply.
An hour previously, despite the no cell phone rule in school, curiosity got the best of Y as his dad sent him a text saying:
"Call me if you want to hear some good news."
Y called his dad and received good news and was thus headed out of school with a smile on his face and a skip in his step.
Yesterday- doors were opened.
I’ve always told my kids that opportunities are expanded when you do the right thing by God. He will open doors for you.

Strangely enough, we've recently been a little worried about Y and how he was feeling about his senior year. A few nights ago we had discussed with Y the fact that he had been looking tired lately. We worried that he wasn't content with the immanent opportunities before him. He tried to assure us he was fine and that his fatigue was simply because he thinks he's having another growth spurt. We agreed as parents we would revisit this conversation with him again soon...

Days later, after a door was opened, I think we are all feeling better about near term opportunities.

Last night as I was headed down the hall to bed after encouraging Y to do the same, I hollered out "Woot! Woot! Y did awesome on the ACT!"

Unexpectedly awesome!!- Just like these brownies. I think it’s the crunch and the perfect pairing of peanut butter and chocolate. Oreo brownies are quickly becoming the most often requested brownie for me to make for people. These are very similar with just a different cookie and frosting choice. I've been thinking for months that I should try these so today I did.

Nutter Butter Brownies

Make a pan of brownies as outlined here.
For the 12x17 size pan, frost cooled brownies with 1 ½ cans of canned chocolate frosting. (Honestly, I prefer to use 2 brownie mixes in a 10 x 15 pan and 1 can of frosting.- adjust with what you have/like best.) Cut 1 package of Nutter Butter Cookies into small pieces. Gently press the cookie pieces into the wet frosting. Heat ½ cup creamy peanut butter in a quart size freezer strength Ziploc for 10 seconds in the microwave. Snip the corner and drizzle atop the cookie pieces. Gently heat remaining 1/3-1/2 can of frosting (or use 2-3 1.55oz. Hershey bars) in a quart size freezer strength Ziploc bag. Clip a small hole in the bottom corner of the bag and drizzle the frosting over the peanut butter layer. Let set. Cut and serve.

Y has spent sometime today exploring scholarship offerings -already guaranteed.

As an earthly parent, I get to relax a bit tonight and watch a kid - who has worked hard, had plenty of character building experiences and has served his God well- be happy. And -have some fun contemplating opportunities through the open doors all while munching on these unexpectedly awesome brownies.

Jamaican Jerk BBQ Chicken Pizza

Today is the second game for my daughter’s 7th grade volleyball season. Her first game was just two days ago. W was driving straight from work to the home team’s gym in a nearby town. I had Y as my navigator and we were expected to arrive about the same time. W texted “At the gym”. I took a wrong turn, glanced at the clock and noticed my heart race a bit. We would be close to not making it on time. I had tried in the past few days to find out from J where she settled in amongst her teammates. She assured me she wasn’t good enough to start but she didn’t think she was the worst one on the team.
I knew what it was like to be the worst. My mind flashed to my rookie volleyball season. I recalled the first day of practice where we were told to serve 25 times and record the number we successfully got over the net in the coach’s notebook. Volleyballs were flying every which way in the gym that day. Half-way through I had yet to make any over, yet I knew there would be many of us with low numbers based on the direction the balls were flying off the sides of server’s hands. I had served 20 times, all unsuccessful attempts. I was bound and determined to get my last five over. Unfortunately I did not. I sullenly wandered over to the grade book to record my 0. I scanned the numbers written before me and saw mostly high numbers. Tears immediately blocked my vision and my heart pumped nearly out of my chest as I resolved to tell the truth and scribble a sad 0 in the book.
A few minutes later, I took another wrong turn just as W sent another text. Y read the text out loud. “She’s starting…”
“What?!?” I screeched as I U-turned over the curb and onto a sidewalk- all four wheels. I screeched into the parking lot, took the buses only lane short cut to a parking space and moments after parking, and locking looked at Y and said “RUN!” We both sprinted leaping over curbs, bushes and perhaps even a small child or two all while trying to navigate which exterior door would lead us straight to the gym. We entered the gym at a whistle- the first whistle signaling the initial serve. We glanced at the scoreboard- 0-0. We made it! We high-fived each other and took our seats next to W at the top of the bleachers to settle in and watch J play her first volleyball game.
Several rotations in, it was her turn to serve. My heart raced a bit even though she didn’t look nervous at all. She actually had put forth descent effort this summer in preparing for the season. The $20 Wal-Mart net we purchased was strung across the basketball court. W, Y and I took turns shagging balls for her as she worked on serving.
My dad had done the same for me the summer before my sophomore season. I had decided in June that when I showed up for volleyball try-outs the next fall, I would be serving overhand successfully. My goal was to get 50 serves over every day. The first several weeks, the task had taken me hours each day to try and complete. I had strung a rope across an area of the lawn from a second story window to a tree at the edge of the lawn. I looked over my effort and decided the sag created about the right height of a volleyball net. Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit later in June. Grandpa watched as diligently served every evening to meet my goal. Grandpa went to town and worked for hours the next day to install a real net set in concrete. It was beautiful. I spent a lot of time there that summer. I would often only be half-way done with my goal when Dad would return from work. He would shag balls for me as they careened every which way.
J had practiced all summer. The referee whistled her to serve. I held my breath. Her serve successfully cleared the net and entered play. I sat back, enjoying the opportunity to watch my daughter play her sport that she is truly loving.
I didn’t quite exert that much effort this summer on my new recipe for Jamaican Jerk BBQ Chicken Pizza- but almost. Y had fallen in love with it at California Pizza Kitchen. I went with him once to taste “the best pizza ever”. I thought the ingredients on top were a little sparse. So I load mine up considerably more. Celebrate dutiful efforts today and make this pizza:

Jamaican Jerk BBQ Chicken Pizza

Jerk Chicken Pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast grilled, or cooked on stovetop
1-2 teaspoons jerk seasoning (depending on how spicy you want it)


Caribbean Sauce
1/2 cup taco or chilli sauce
½ cup BBQ sauce
3/4 teaspoon jerk seasoning
Cook on low heat, simmering for several minutes.

Prep for the Pizza
pizza dough- purchase at favorite pizzeria or make your own
Caribbean Sauce
1 cup+ shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup diced red and yellow peppers
1/4 cup diced red or green onions
1/4 cup crispy bacon pieces
Jerk Chicken pieces

Pizza Assembly

Use a spoon to spread the Caribbean sauce to within an inch of the outer edge of a stretched pizza dough.
Distribute ingredients to within 1/2-inch of the outer edge of the pizza.
Distribute Jerk Chicken over the sauce.
Distribute mozzarella over the chicken.
Distribute peppers over the mozzarella.
Distribute onions over peppers.
Distribute bacon over the onions.

Bake at 450 degrees in your oven or on a heated grill (I heat the grill then turn off the burners on the side I place the pizza on. The burners on the other side stay on and keep the grill cavity warm enough) until ingredients are hot and cheese is melted.

Cowboy Cookies

I recently received an email from my eldest who is serving a two-year LDS mission. He is only a few weeks out of the Missionary Training Center where he spent nine weeks learning Spanish. He is serving in Salt Lake City, Utah and has been entrusted with the responsibility to teach and minister to several communities there. There are rewarding times, and some hard times. He wrote, “Sister McPherson came to the rescue! I love her to death! She brought me some cookies!”
I believe without a doubt angels are among us. They help bear us up when times are tough, when we struggle a bit, or when loneliness or heart ache sets in and tries to stay for awhile. Sometimes these angels are our neighbors, our friends, a family member, or even a perfect stranger.
Sometimes our kind smile, warm greeting, loaf of bread, or plate of cookies offers much more than we realize.
Sometimes… we are someone else’s angel.
We took a family trip to Portland, Oregon to get the clothes B needed to prepare for a mission. We also stopped in at the Nike Factory Outlet- because we always do…A few blocks away is a fabulous corner bakery. I can’t remember the name of it, but I remember how tasty their Cowboy Cookies are. This recipe is close… sort of.
Have a little extra time? Mix up some of these cookies and just maybe you’ll be an angel- just like Sister McPherson.

Cowboy Cookies

Cream:
1 cup shortening (Butter flavored Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Stir in:
2 eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
Add at once and stir:
1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Soda
2 cups quick oats
Stir in:
2/3 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup chopped nuts
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

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Oops!

B printed my blog for me for Mother's Day! I love it. Tonight I made a recipe and realized a mistake. I had the wrong amount of baking soda i fixed it here and on the original blog post. I can promise you two things:
1. It won't be the last mistake I find.
2. I will post corrections as I find them.
It just so happens that J's 6th grade class has a very important standardized test tomorrow. The home room teacher is promoting the idea that if you eat a good breakfast, you will test better. So J will proudly take some pumpkin muffins to school tomorrow so that her and her classmates test better.
I had been out washing the car while she was in getting ready for bed. I come in, wet and tired to see a note hung from the top of the door frame reminding me to "Please make pumpkin muffins for J"s class". And so I did...


Mom's Holiday Pumpkin Bread
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
3/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
3 T soft butter
I lazily toss dry ingredients and then add the wet. As a muffin, don’t over mix.
Bake them at 350 degrees. Time depends on size of baking cup. I prefer Texas size muffins.
Variations:
Mom always added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 6 oz. chocolate chips, omitting the cloves. Then she would glaze the cooled bread with a clove infused powdered sugar glaze.
I often substitute some whole wheat flour, scant the cup of sugar, use skim milk instead of buttermilk, and skip the nuts and chocolate inside. This way, I feel okay about having two!
I do like to pretty it up with a simple crumble on top:
1T cold butter
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup oatmeal.
I pulse it in the Cusinart for a bit and throw in a few tablespoons of mini chocolate chips.
Mix-Bake-Share

Buttermilk Cookie Salad

Tonight for dinner is fish- at my in-laws home. The boys took a day off Saturday and went fishing with Grandpa. They caught 71 fish and filled my kitchen with story after story of their adventures upon their return.

My thoughts drifted toward gratitude to Grandpa for creating the perfect day, and gratitude that they were safely returned home.

A few years ago a fishing day with Grandpa was cut short and ended with us meeting up at the Emergency Room. B was learning to fly fish. A cast went amuk and the hook landed squarely in the center of his ear lobe. We eventually secured an exam room after everyone else at the hospital was triaged and moved in front of us! The nurse came in. She took a look at B, and his ear and curtly chastised him. She told him there were safer ways to pierce his ear. She left the room to get supplies.

"She thinks I did this on purpose?! She's s freak show!" B observed in disgust.

"She’s a freak show?" I asked him as we waited for her return, a fishing hook dangling from his ear...

Tonight I know just what to make to contribute to the fish fry. It's a “salad” my mom-in-law taught me to make.

I'm not too fond of fish caught in a pond, but I'll lick the bowl clean of this “salad” any day!

Buttermilk Cookie Salad

1 lb. Strawberries- cleaned, hulled and sliced, then chilled.

3 bananas, chilled. (Slice just before serving.)

1 small package vanilla pudding

1 cup buttermilk

1 8oz tub Cool Whip

4-5 single serving packages of Keebler Fudge Striped Cookies (minis).


Thoroughly mix pudding and buttermilk. Fold in Cool Whip.

Refrigerate.

Just before serving, fold in strawberries, bananas and cookies into chilled pudding mixture. Garnish with cookies.


As we go through life, opportunities present themselves daily; some of which have potential to create a lasting memory. It’s painful to reflect and think, “I wish I had.”

Saturday’s fishing trip helped me to refocus my efforts in leading my life with the resolve of being able to claim, “I’m glad I did!”

I have two boys who are certainly glad Grandpa agreed to take a day off too, and create a lasting memory at the fishing pond.

Indoor S'Mores

One sunny Saturday afternoon - the summer after my senior year of high school I heard a strange car horn down at the corner, seemingly approaching. I went to the front porch and shrieked with delight. "You finished it!!" Without even being invited, I gently climbed in the front seat of the newly rebuilt 196-(something-I should know this!) navy blue Ford Mustang Convertible with white leather. I was taken on a ride. We stayed on paved roads; carefully making sure neither dust nor gravel would mar the pristine finish.
I helped my friend rebuild this mustang. It began as a seemingly pile of junk on the floor of his garage. When I say I helped, my job was to take my perch in the corner of the garage and chatter endlessly for hours, touching nothing while Brett worked. This division of labor was repeated throughout the summer of 1987, the following school year and into the summer of 1988. Brett was a good friend. I always felt blessed to have him as a friend and undeserving of his loyalty.
Brett was unassuming and very accepting. He treated me with incredible respect and helped me try to understand my potential. Despite his efforts, I was still a bit if a trouble maker.
One Friday at school in the fall of my senior year, I asked Brett what we were doing that weekend. He told me I was on my own because the boys were all going camping- no girls allowed! While pretending not to, I listened in on their conversation at lunch outlining the details of their campout including a specific description of where the site was located. I drug along a girlfriend and we set out to crash their “man” camp-out. I took a wrong turn on a darkened road in Allegheny National Forest. The turn left us stuck in a muddy cornfield. It was well past curfew by the time we became free and my friend and I headed to the car wash and then home having never found the boys.

Today I was saddened by the news of Brett's passing. He was 40 years old: A husband, a father, and no doubt, a treasured friend by any who knew him.

If I were to make him some Indoor S'Mores, I think after 20-some years I could tell him about the time I tried to crash his camp-out.
And knowing Brett, he would be grateful and overly enthusiastic with any treat prepared for him -because he really was that nice of a person.

Indoor S'mores

(adapted from Pampered Chef)

1 cup finely crushed graham crackers

¼ cup powdered sugar

6 T melted butter

5 Campfire sized marshmallows

5 Hershey milk chocolate candy bars (1.55oz.)
Preheat oven to 350°F . Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and butter . Place scant scoop of crumb mixture in each cup of 9 tins in a muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 5-6 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place three rectangles into each cup.
Cut marshmallows in half crosswise. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Broil in oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are just gently roasted. Cool Slightly.
Melt remaining candy bars and place in a freezer strength Ziploc bag. Microwave on HIGH in 3o second intervals until melted. Drizzle the top of each marshmallow with melted chocolate.

So Brett- if your new job in heaven allows you to read my blog-

"Thank you for the ride of a lifetime in the car "we" rebuilt. - Until we meet again dear friend. And may the family you left behind be comforted today and in all of their tomorrows -pass on the rich legacy you left behind."

Red Velvet Cakesters

When I was a sophomore in high school our family moved from the only place I'd ever known as home to a small village in Pennsylvania. I had been blessed to have a best friend live right next door to me for almost ten years in the small farming community in Iowa that we left behind.

The move was rough on me at an especially tough time in my formative years. I longed for a friend. One night, after coming home late from an out of town basketball game, I woke my mom up to tell her I was home. Customarily she would barely wake enough to acknowledge me. This particular night, I needed help. She sat up in bed and I took a seat too. I told her I was having a hard time- had been having one for over a year. I told her how much I missed my childhood friend.

Mom gave me sound inspired advice that night. She told me to "Pray, and ask Heavenly Father for a true friend."

I quickly left her bedside and retreated to my own, where without delay I took her advice.

A few weeks later, the seasons changed and track began. I knew I had no speed, but was gifted with endurance. I took a position with the distance runners. There was a runner a year younger than me. We could carry the same pace through our workouts and ran together every day. Meanwhile I was still asking God every day as I prayed - for a friend. As days turned into weeks I realized how much I looked forward to track practice every day. Not for the running- but rather because my prayer had been answered.

Carolyn was a true friend to me. I'm sure I never completely told her how much I appreciated her. I graduated high school and our family moved again. We've each married, and are raising our families thousands of miles apart. This time of year especially, I’ll often think of her and silently thank my Father in Heaven for a friend.

Yesterday, I visited with a neighbor friend. I stood at the front door and noted packed boxes neatly stacked in each room. She will soon move to another town in another state. I brought her a rendition of some treats that she first had at Starbucks. I received a photo and a text--and a challenge. I've experimented a few times and am content with the results-



Red Velvet Cakesters



1 red velvet cake mix

4 eggs

1/3 cup oil

2 T water

3/4 cup sour cream

1 package instant vanilla pudding



Mix all ingredients well. Grease muffin pans. Drop a one inch dollop (small cookie scoop) in each space. Bake at 350 degrees for six minutes. Immediately dump pan, re-grease and re-fill until you've baked all of the batter. Let cakes cool completely.

Prepare cream cheese frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting



12 oz. softened cream cheese

3/4 cup soft butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla



Bear until smooth. Spoon into freezer strength ziploc bag. Cut a triangle off of one corner. Pipe a layer of frosting on half of the bottom of the cakes and put a "lid" on top.

Put remaining frosting in a clean ziploc and clip a small hole in the corner. Drizzle some frosting on top. This recipe makes 40 Cakesters.



As my friend does final preparations for the move, I share in her excitement in beginning a new chapter in their family’s life. And I acknowledge that I'm sure I have never completely told her how much I appreciate her being my friend. But I’m ever more aware that as people come into our lives; we are blessed -just simply by knowing them.