The Mom Weekly Volume 54: August 20, 2024
The Second Annual Grandpa Joe’s Birthday Treat Recipe
Last year, right around this time, I posted a recipe of Tunnel of Fudge Cake in honor of what would have been Grandpa Joe’s 96th birthday, and his famous sweet tooth. Many of us have inherited that sweet tooth!
I will make it an annual tradition to share a decadent sweets recipe around Grandpa Joe’s birthday in August. And also to make the dessert! This year, it will be Trinity Bars.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
Trinity Bars
I think this recipe has other names, but I’ve adjusted the recipe enough that I get to name them, and since there are three layers, I dubbed them “Trinity Bars.” Perhaps Trinity Bars could be a good teaching moment about the Trinity, much like St. Patrick did with shamrocks. But I’ll leave that to the theologians in the family. 🙂
Trinity Bars are a three-layer treat: a bottom brownie layer; a middle buttercream frosting layer; and a “goody” peanut butter/chocolate/rice krispie layer.
For the bottom brownie layer:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9×13 pan with Baker’s Joy or similar non-stick spray.
Prepare a box of Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix with these additions instead of the listed one:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 T vanilla,
a sprinkle of salt
Spread in the prepared 9×13 pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center is clean or contains only crumbs.
Allow brownies to cool completely before spreading on buttercream frosting layer.
For the middle buttercream frosting layer:
beat together
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 to 4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon-plus vanilla
teaspoons of half & half as needed to achieve good consistency.
I alternate between one cup of powdered sugar, a couple of tablespoons of half & half, and so on.
spread frosting on top of baked and cooled brownies
Important note: No, you can’t use a canned frosting. It doesn’t take very long to make homemade frosting, and it is well worth it.
For the krispie “goody” layer:
Measure out about 3 cups of Rice Krispie cereal (store brand is fine) into a large bowl.
In a big microwave safe glass bowl (I have a 4-cup pyrex that works well for this), melt:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups chocolate chips
Cook for about 1 minute in the microwave, then stir. If it’s not smooth, continue with 30 second intervals (stirring in between), until it is.
Mix in 1 teaspoon or so of vanilla.
Pour over the Rice Krispies in the large bowl and mix until combined.
Carefully spread this topping on the frosted brownies.
Chill before serving, then cut into small squares. Yummy!
Interesting/Notable:
Macroculture versus Microculture
I keep a list of interesting/notable things to share here, and revisted this one from December. It’s quite interesting, but I’m not sure how much I agree with it.
An Action Item: Consider Meal Planning or Prepping for the Week Ahead
As I’ve said before, I often put these action items in based on things that I would like to do, or do better.
I have tried, with varying levels of success, to meal plan ahead. We’ve gotten into a good routine of pizza in the Ooni on Wednesday night, salmon on Friday night, and going out for something fun on Saturday night after Mass. So there aren’t so many days to figure out what to have. Even with that, I find it helpful to look ahead about a week and a half ahead to see if there are any conflicts or days we will be away. So when I go to Aldi, I can stock up on what things I might need.
So, for example, let’s take a week of dinners from July:
Sunday: pasta with red sauce and breaded eggplant & zucchini
Monday: book group over; chicken salad, croissants, various salads (potluck)
Tuesday: cheese quesadillas with Southwest corn, raw veggies
Wednesday: pizza in the Oonie
Thursday: Culver’s (can’t remember why, but I’m sure it was fun!)
Friday: salmon, pierogi, carrots and other cooked veggies
Saturday: eat out at local Asian restaurant
It could be a good start to look back at what you had for dinners in the last few weeks, and consider a rhythm of dinners that you like and that you find easy to make.
What are you doing this weekend?
So, now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).