Crispy Bars

I am a firm believer in ‘Everything happens for a reason.’  Like that one time when I dated a guy for a year, then was engaged for a year, then called the wedding off six weeks before the knot was tied.  All that happened so I could get my almost-mother-in-law’s Banana Crème Pie recipe.  I’ll share that recipe with you all one day, but you should know that the drama and heartache of that relationship has been well well worth an occasional slice of that pie.

Today though, I want to tell you about another time.  The time we moved to Minnesota.
 

We left our Air Force life, eager for my husband to go into private practice. (He was a young strappy dentist.)  In a cute little small town, we bought our first house, and with our three incredibly young children, decided that this was the place that we were going to raise our young family.

I’ll just some up our experience in few words.  Mosquito bites, mortgage, Life Flight, mid-life crises, poop, snow shovels, small town gossip, and 100 proof Southern Comfort.  All this in temperatures well below freezing.

But there are always diamonds in the middle of the coal, right?  (Like I didn’t marry the one guy, but I got a much better one. Yay me!)  So despite our lack of enthusiasm for the weather and mosquitos, we met some great neighbors who wanted to drink all of our Southern Comfort be our friends.   They would set up huge neighborhood block parties to watch the Packers and Vikings play football.  There were hot dishes (Minnesotan for casserole) galore, and don’t cha know…..Crispy Bars.  Yes.  The very reason we lost our life’s savings and almost our minds, was for these. 

Crispy Bars

My friend Dorie told me, “Oh this is soooo easy.  Just remember cuppa, cuppa, cuppa,", and she was right.  This recipe has stayed in my head for years.  You will need 1 cup of Karo Syrup, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of peanut butter…..cuppa, cuppa, cuppa.  Melt these three ingredients in a saucepan on medium low heat until smooth.

  Pour this mixture over 6 cups of corn flakes and press into a buttered jelly roll pan.

Next, melt together one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and one bag of butterscotch chips in the microwave, stirring together until smooth.  Now pour this over the corn flake mixture and spread around until it is covered. 

Cut into small squares and serve when chocolate is set.

  (I usually end up putting mine in the fridge for about 30 minutes.)  Serves 24-36 depending on how small you cut them.

I’ll leave you with one more recipe.  A cuppa love, a cuppa detours in your path, and a cuppa God’s plan and not your own.  Mix together and you will get a sweet sweet journey.