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This one is a gift from Doug to you! People say everyone has one great novel in them. And if you take the time to listen to the life and times of your friends and family, I mean really listen; you will soon realize that is absolutely true. They will reveal tales so intriguing as to both entertain and amaze. Herein lays the real joy of the holidays -- at least for us. We have occasions set aside to get together and listen to the stories and share our own. Even the tight-lipped among us share. They may think they should maintain their facade that life is notable only for large and small accomplishments, written in yearly status reports at Christmas, but it really isn't. Don’t get me wrong I love to hear what everyone is doing, but the real fun, is in hearing the foibles and the funny stories, of trips and falls and getting up and brushing off – the story behind the story. After all as the song goes …That’s Life!
It is Halloween today, which marks the first official holiday of the season. I am already looking forward to hearing this year’s new stories, the rehashing and of course embellishment of the old tales and adding to the family folklore. It stands to reason that there will be numerous occasions to get together and in my family that is synonymous with food. Food for us helps sustain energy, gives us a reason to get together and allows us to share and feed one another. Food is for the stomach as stories are for the heart and the soul.
Along with that one great novel, I also believe we ALL have one great recipe in us, as well. Whether it was learned at the knee of a grandmother, mother, or friend or out of experimentation and/or necessity—we all have at least one. And that one recipe is what we are always TOLD to bring to family gatherings, year after year no matter how tired we are of making it, because family and food are one. Our memories and our good times are seasoned by the food we share with one another. For my family cooking has been elevated to an art form and we consider us food alchemists.
Each member of my family has more than one recipe for which we are known; we have a whole menu of items we cook and enjoy. This repertoire is expanded each year and includes items from whatever fare delights our taste buds. But our base is centered in traditional Mexican cookery and ranges from making tamales to my sister Rachel’s amazing tortillas, a skill handed down from my mother and which she hopes to hand down to her children. Making tortillas is something I have never mastered. It takes time and it takes skill to get them round and tender, but in the scope of things it is a manageable task taking about 1.5 hours from start to round, perfectly cooked and tender tortilla.
Tamales, that is another animal all together, because if done correctly, takes 3 days in preparation time alone. It involves the efforts of the entire family. Usually all the able body females over the age of 5 are drafted for the effort. It requires a thorough top to bottom cleaning of ones kitchen, to remove all the masa, (mixture of corn meal, chili, plenty of garlic and spices) that end up splattered all over the place, 6 huge pots and about 6 hours of cooking time. It is an all day and all night affair. The group effort is called a tamalada and involves making in the neighborhood of 60 dozen or so tamales for the time and expense to be worthwhile for the over 5 families that participate. Oh and did I mention the 30 plus bottles of wine consumed over the course of the nearly weeklong effort? If you see where I am going… you will realize that the stories shared at the tamalada pour out and are the prelude to some of the best memories of the holiday season.
Doug, I am sure was a bit intimidated by the amazing cooks in my family. I am sure he even secretly wonders why we don’t mill our own wheat and corn. We do everything from scratch! We are foodies and scratch snobs. We were taught that we must suffer for our culinary art. And I am sure we got that from my mother, who only knew one way to do everything. Our way of doing things involves the way time consuming and the hard way. We were brought up to proudly and defiantly invest the many hours we were told were required to do things “Right”. Almost from the day I met him, Doug bragged about his amazing Recipe Repertoire, consisting of one item. I doubted frankly that something that could be picked up from the supermarket and made in the space of 1 hour could qualify as his one great recipe, the one he would be known for and in fact be required to bring to all our family gatherings. After all, my family considers itself a purist.
So when the occasion came and Doug was in his own element -- a block party and ice cream social on his street aptly named Apple Blossom Drive. I turned a suspicious eye. I was open but wanted to reserve judgment. I have to admit unlike about 99% of America, I am not a chocoholic, with one reservation, Sees Candies, but only their Nuts and Chews. Those of you who live out West no doubt have either sampled the company’s wares or heard of it. I have always maintained that a gift of Sees Candies is an act of love and understanding that no grievance can withstand nor hurt it cannot heal. Doug had a tough audience in me and in my family, as we maintain that only time and effort can yield true genius.
I stand before you and for the record I say… I was wrong. With this recipe Doug has taken his place in our midst as a family foodie and required to bring his sumptuous,” Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars” to every gathering.
Now that the holidays are here, stories will come pouring out, lubricated no doubt by fortified eggnog, mulled wine or some other equally uninhibited winter brew. The un-sanitized versions of what happened during the year serve to remind us that we are human; they bond us and allow us to cry and laugh together. These gatherings and these stories are the glue of families and together they are the best part of the holiday season. Doug and I feel very close to our customers and the people we have met online and wanted to give back. But it had to be something we valued and something our new friends could share with their own families. So I talked Doug into sharing his amazing holiday treat. We are getting into the mood of the season of giving by giving this gift, to you. No doubt you will thank Doug for it year after year. It is a recipe that is pure Americana. It is genius without the suffering and an indescribably wonderfully rich dessert. It defies everything I have been brought up to believe about food -- it is great and it is easy!
Doug here.
Barbara just turned this blog entry over to me. She has already stated that she is from Mexican descent, but did she also tell you that she is very strong willed? The absolute first thing I did was go back and highlight the words, ”I was wrong”. Do you have any idea how infrequently I hear these words!
My story starts in 1976, when my late wife Shirley, taught first through third grades at the Somerset Village School in Massachusetts. Her school was celebrating it’s Golden Jubilee (1926 – 1976). That year some of the teachers got together and decided to contribute their favorite tried and true recipes to create a book to raise money for the school. It was not a fancy book, just 75 or so typed pages full of recipes, held together with a plastic ring binder, but it has survived being moved from Somerset Massachusetts to Raynham Massachusetts and then 3,000 miles across country to San Jose California. Shirley and I we were asked to bring a dessert to a family Thanksgiving dinner. There was only one condition, it could not be store bought! I pulled out the Golden Jubilee Cookbook opened it to the desert section, closed my eyes, flipped through the book and picked a recipe. Little did I know that I would be making it for the next 30 years! It has been shared at 11 annual block parties, 5 annual street yard sales and innumerable special occasions including, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve parties.
Credit for this recipe goes to Jean Langlois, wherever you are…Jean we salute you!
Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars:
• 2 16oz. rolls of Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough
• 2 8oz.packages of cream cheese (softened)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup of sugar
• ½ cup chopped nuts
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 9x13” un-greased pan (I have always used glass)
Freeze the cookie dough overnight. The consistency of the cookie dough has changed over the years. I can only guess Pillsbury felt softer dough was preferred by the customer that’s why freezing is now necessary.
Cream together the cheese, sugar and eggs. Add vanilla. Place to one side. Line the bottom of pan with sliced dough. Slices should be about ¼ inch thick. The dough gets messy, the warmer it gets, so work quickly, or refreeze as necessary. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the sliced cookies. Slice the remaining roll and place those slices on top of the cheese mixture completely covering it. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so until golden brown. Over the years I have tried different temperatures, probably because all ovens have peculiarities, so if you find the bars are too done for your taste, try 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares. Don’t worry if they crumble! It is not an elegant desert. And if they are still a little soft you can freeze them for about an hour.
Get your aprons out make some hot cocoa and make this with your children or grandchildren, it is sooOOoOO good and they will get a positive cooking experience …Enjoy…
Oh! ….One more thing. For as long as I have been asked to share this recipe with those who have tasted it and enjoyed it enough to want to make it for their family and friends, I have had only one stipulation.
You cannot bring this desert to any event to which we are both invited!
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