Yesterday was the Christmas meeting for my book-club. I love going to these meetings when I can, because its such an interesting group of people. Its more of a book exchange than a book-club; we don’t all read the same book each month and then discuss it, we have a library of books that we all borrow from each month. Its a godsend in a place where English language books are hard to find. The club has been meeting for over 30 years and its members are ladies of all ages, many with English language background who have been living here for many years. One of the founding members is an American lady who married a Mexican and moved here nearly 50 years ago. She tells some fascinating stories about what Mexico was like in the 50s – it was a huge culture shock for her, and I’m sure, much harder to adjust than for us in the ’00s.
One of the Christmas traditions of the club is a cookie exchange. Each person brings 3 dozen cookies and we all share them out.
This was my contribution:
They don’t look that appetising in the picture, but they were pretty yummy. I chose the recipe out of a Better Homes and Garden Magazine because they were called “Super-Easy Chocolate Bars”. And they were. Here’s the recipe:
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1¼ cups)
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
½ teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350F (175C). For crust, in a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt, scarping sides of bowl. Beat in the flour on low speed until combined. press two-thirds of the crust mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13×9x2-inch baking pan.
For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sweetened condensed milk and chocolate pieces. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. remove from heat. Add nuts and vanilla. Spread hot mixture over the crust. Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over chocolate mixture. Bake in preheated oven about 35 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Makes about 25.
To Store: Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
I came home with an awesome selection of sweet treats – almond cookies, cinnamon streusel muffins, coyotas (a specialty of the region – flaky pastry with treacly-golden syrupy type filling – yum), empanadas, brownies and oat and raisin cookies. The kids and my husband are very happy (and, me too!)
