Based on a very persuasive request by my son yesterday, we made Chewieo Bars. This is a recipe I've been making since I was in High School. I tend to make it around the holiday season, so the smell reminds me of friends and family and presents and overeating. But there's nothing holiday-specific about it so we made them yesterday.
Later in the day we took some over to our neighbors as they had invited us over for Mint Juleps and a fun evening. We found out shortly after we arrived that the Chewieo Bars were a success because Madison, their two-year-old, was starting on her second bar and both her parents had already had one.
This morning we all met out at one of the swing sets that are our impromptu meeting grounds on an almost daily basis. When one of our children just has to go outside to swing or slide they're allowed to pick which swing set/playground they want to go to. Invariably they want to go to the neighbors back yard because they might get to see their friends and swing at the same time. When my children see Madison out in their back yard you know they've got to go join in. But back to the bars...
My neighbor said she told her mother about them when she spoke to her on the phone last night and how delicious they were. In the middle of the night while nursing her son, she was reading her email and her mother had found the recipe on the internet and had emailed it to her. I told her I'd be glad to send her my recipe as it had been a favorite for so many years. I also told her about the person I got the recipe from so long ago.
Her name was Harriet and she was the mother of my then boyfriend. She would make these bars from time to time and we would eat them in no time flat. One day I came over and noticed she had a large bandage over her thumb. While cutting up the very chewey bars, she had sliced through the tendon on the back of her thumb. She was in for months of rehabilitation to regain it's use as a result. I remember seeing her with a ball of blue therapy putty in her hand for the longest time as she worked and worked on her thumb's strength and mobility.
I think of her also when I look at one of my Cutco knives. She didn't cut her thumb on the sharpest knive, no, she cut her thumb on the Sandwich Spreader. This is notoriously the wimpiest of knives as it's primary function is to spread mustard and mayonnaise and then at the very end of your sandwich making endeavor, gently cut the bread in half. Easy peasie. I can just imagine her trying to cut the very resilient chewieo bars and running into trouble with that knife.
As luck would have it, I ran into Harriet's second son and older brother to the one I dated just recently at a park. I hadn't seen him since college, which is going back quite a pace. It was a happy reunion as we caught up over the years. I met his daughter and heard about my old boyfriend's wife and seven-year-old son. I also found out his mother, Harriet, is deceased. Had I thought of it then, I would have told him how I'm reminded of her so often.
You say you're dying to know the recipe for Chewieo Bars? Here you go...
Ingredients:
- 4 cups marshmallows
- 3 cups cheerios
- 1 stick butter
- 1 can Eagle Brand Condensed milk
- 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 box yellow cake mix
Directions:
Preheat over to 350ยบ. Melt the stick of butter and spread it evenly across a large deep cookie tray. Pat the cake mix powder into the butter evenly. Add the remaining dry ingredients and then drizzle the condensed milk over the top. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars.
The Big Boy Update: "Reese, clean up so we can go eat breakfast." I kid you not, he said this twice the other morning when I was getting them up and dressed. He knows we clean up the play room before going down to eat, but he's never taken complete initiative to tidy it without prompting from me. Not only did he enlist his sister for help, he didn't stop until everything was back in place. I was very proud of him.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: "Wet, wet" She's said this several times lately and needed to go to the potty right then. I've learned the hard way more than once so now she's whisked off to the bathroom as soon as she starts saying, "wet."
Someone Once Said: When faced with a problem you do not understand, do any part of it you do understand, then look at it again.
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