Monday, February 04, 2008

Day One, Recipe One

It was a foggy foggy morning. When I awoke, I could not see the houses right across my small street. Thankfully, as the day warmed up, the fog burned off. And, I slowly - and carefully - made it to work.

I was moving slowly anyway. After a good day at church and at the nearby nursing home where we sing on the first Sundays of the month, I headed home to do some super-duper-deep cleaning of my house. Quickly, I was sidelined with a problem in my back. It hurt so badly that I barely moved for several hours. I just stayed in the fetal position and whimpered. (Just kidding... sort of...) I ventured out for some icy-hot. (I had never used the stuff before). I used ice packs. I used hot packs. I took more Tylenol than I probably should have taken. Nothing seemed to help. After my visit to the chiropractor this morning (when I realized it was 76 degrees on my car thermometer), I discovered that I had two dislocated ribs in my back. I have no idea how that happened. He said I could have done it by lifting something heavy (a regular thing for me), shoveling snow (a regular thing lately), or just sneezing really hard (well, that's pretty regular too.) I feel MUCH better now. But, I think I'll be going to the chiropractor again tomorrow. Still feeling pretty tight and achy.

It would have been a great day for me to stay at home, relax, and enjoy some tasty treats like the ones below. I'm starting to drool just thinking about them - as they're some of my favorites.

Peanut Butter Cups
2 sticks of softened margarine (1 cup)
1 lb powdered sugar
1 cup crushed graham crackers
1 cup peanut butter (we prefer mooth, but either will work)

Mix together well and press into a 9 x 13 pan. (I end up using my hands.)

Melt 6 oz of chocolate chips. (We almost always use semi-sweet but some families prefer milk chocolate. And, our family always uses a whole 12 oz bag - or two cups - when making this recipe.) Immediately spread melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter mixture to make an even chocolate coating.

Place in refrigerator (or freezer) to cool. You may need to allow them to come to room temperature slightly to cut them into squares. We serve them chilled as they can be pretty gooey while warm.

Can't wait to see AND TRY everyone else's recipes that are posted this week. Remember, if you're participating in the blog recipe exchange, don't hesitate to leave me a comment so the other participants can check out your blog.

8 comments:

Kelly Spezzano said...

I am so sorry to hear you have been having back problems. I hope that you recover quickly!

As for the recipe... I LOVE LOVE LOVE peanut butter cups, and can't wait to try out this recipe! Thanks for sharing!

strem said...

For those wanting all of the yummy recipes being posted this week, be sure to peruse down my list of bloggers on the right column and check out these participants (from top to bottom):

Sojourning Stranger
Faith Hope and Love
Bound
Threefold Chord
Sisters
Gator Gals

And, I think Kitchen Talk will be joining us soon.

strem said...

Thanks, Kelly. I hope you love them as much as we do around here.

I am supposed to go to a Sacred Harp singing and come back to 3rd shift tonight for work, but I am considering going home to continue with the stretches, cold packs and rest. We'll see.

Elizabeth said...

Back pain. It's no good, and it seems to be catching lately. I hope your recovery goes well.

The recipe sounds great. I started a new folder so I could copy and paste them all into one place, just for the occasion. :)

Liz said...

Okay Michelle--count me in for the recipe exchange. I don't think I'm going to get one up tonight though, we'll see. I have bronchitis, AGAIN!! Anyway, I have several things to post, we'll see if I can get a recipe typed before I crash.

Piano Man said...

These sound good. I will see if Mrs. Piano Man and I can put some recipes on here as well. Since we are not "bloggers," (not yet, anyway) we might post some here in the comments section. We don't want to tie up too much space with them.

strem said...

Liz and Piano Man - I'm glad you're going to participate. We'd love to see your recipes if you're able to share.

Liz, I'm so sorry about the bronchitis! That is TERRIBLE. We'll definitely be praying for you - that you'll be healed QUICKLY and be able to keep up your energy until then.

Owl of the Desert said...

So sorry to hear about the dislocated ribs!! I'm sure that is really painful! Glad you're starting to feel better.

This recipe sounds delicious! This is going to be so much fun!

(Sorry for my delay...hopefully I'll have something up soon!)