Prairie Paper & Ink

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

I've had a few questions about the bars shown in the chocolate picture in this post <----click! Well they ARE Nanaimo Bars - I just assumed everyone knew what they were! I guess that they're more of a Canadian thing? Anywho - here's a recipe for them I found online (you can check out the site where I found it here - there's a little tidbit at the top about the history of the Nanaimo Bar) - if you've never had them before you gotta try them out - they are GOOD!! And FYI I've substituted chopped up pecans for the almonds on the bottom layer - really gives it a different flavor (and more texture too).

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

Bottom Layer

• ½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 5 tbsp. cocoa
  1 egg beaten
• 1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
• ½ c. finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
• 2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer

• 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

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FYI I'm feeling better - all the Tylenol I took finally kicked in and I'm not as achy and miserable as I was - here's hoping it doesn't get worse overnight tho......

Sweet Cinnamon Waldorf Salad

Serves 6-8

Salad

• 2 1/2 cups diced apples
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 cup red or green seedless grapes - quartered
• 1 cup chopped red or green peppers (I prefer using red as they give a *really* nice flavor to the rest of the salad - very yummy!)
• 1/8 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup canned mandarin oranges - drained
• 2 tbsp finely chopped pecans

Dressing

• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. In a serving bowl combine all salad ingredients.

2. In a separate small bowl combine all dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly.

3. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

This is best if made ahead of time and left to sit in the fridge for the flavor to ripen and for the salad to absorb some of the dressing. When ready to serve toss well to mix it all up.

It's great as either a side dish of a meal or as a dessert (kids like it too!!) - would make a nice snack too (we have a little left over and Tim insisted we take it home w/ us LOL!!).

This will keep well for 2 days in the fridge (tho it usually gets eaten well before that!)

TIP - for a change you can use a combination of peas and diced apples to make a total of the 2 1/2 cups.

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So yes I made this for our New Years Eve get-together and everyone seemed to really like it! Tim and I LOVE this salad - it has such a neat flavor to it!! It's SO easy to make - it's just the chopping up of everything that takes the longest.

Enjoy!!!