While in the midst of
goodbyes, I began to reflect upon what I have grown to treasure during my year
in the States. Though many things top the list, people and
food are my most favorite. Combine the
people and the food = utopia! I thought
I would share one such treasure from this Spring.
Each Tuesday evening I
studied the Bible with a dear group of folks from my home church, Lakeland Church. This group has evolved over the
year and one of our qualities that I have treasured is the inclusive nature. I made some great friends because we didn’t
put out the no vacancy sign. We are a
multi-generational group and by that I mean age 13-80+. One of our other qualities that I have
treasured is that we often gather around food.
People + Food = 1 happy Sarah
Fred and Lois are in the 80+ category. One night Fred and Lois brought this…
The display of layered yumminess (not a real word) brought
forth much admiration from the gathered faithful. As we partook of food and fellowship, I sang
the praises of Fred’s dessert. I must
confess I ate at least 4, but to my credit I probably had missed dinner that night and the
pieces were small. Watch for me in one
of Eric’s future posts about weight control furlough-40.
The best part of the story is the next time Fred and Lois
brought the layered dessert to Bible study.
Fred handed me my very own
box of sweet goodness to take home. I
was the only one to receive a special take home package. I was thrilled! Fast forward a few months...Fred and Lois joined my family for dinner a
week ago. They brought the layered
dessert AND they let me keep the leftovers.
In case you wanted another view…
I’ve adopted new motivation in
my running: “Marathon….what? Run so that
you can eat whatever you want.” I
promise this makes running slightly more challenging.
I apologize because the recipe is tightly packed in a
shipping container in Ann Arbor, MI which is humorous to me at this point now
that I realize I have no idea how many of the ingredients will be available to
us in Burundi. In Kenya I could have
pulled this dessert off smashingly (not as smashingly as Fred) with just a few
substitutions!
Melted butter, crushed graham crackers, chopped walnuts,
chocolate chips, coconut, sweetened condensed milk
From memory I think everything is 1 cup except a lot less
butter, the chocolate chips is 1 heaping cup, and an 8 oz. can of sweetened
condensed milk should do just fine. Layer
a 9x9 pan with the ingredients in the order I listed and bake at 350 F for
approx. 10 minutes or until the sweetened condensed milk bubbles. Chill, cut, and keep chilled. Eat one every time you open the fridge or better yet - share with your neighbors. :-)
3 comments:
I have always loved these "7-layer bars" as my mom used to call them. We were just in Burundi for nearly a month -- I don't recall seeing many baking-type ingredients in the markets we visited. You will have to get creative for sure. I have come across a few recipes for homemade sweetened condensed milk on food blogs. Hope you can find a way to duplicate these, good luck!
Digestives. Great substitute for graham crackers. :) Feel free to try out this recipe as many times as you have to in Burundi until you feel like you have it right!
My family calls them "hello dollies" - my grandmother always made them at Christmas, and the tradition continues. Yum!
Post a Comment