Oatmeal Cake--Connie Ahlden Recipe

       Every year at Thanksgiving my mom tries to make my Grandma Johnson’s recipe for Tapioca Jell-O Salad. Every year it tastes less than thrilling.  On several occasions, I have attempted to re-create my mom’s recipe for homemade potato salad.  It never tastes quite as good as when my mom makes it.  It seems that some recipes are just meant for certain people.  I’m thinking that Oatmeal Cake must be meant for Connie Ahlden.  The Oatmeal Cake that me and Grams made was certainly delicious, but I have a feeling that this recipe goes more smoothly for Connie.

       Today is my last day home for Thanksgiving break, so I wanted to spend some time baking with Grams before I head back to school.  When I went to her house to pick her up, I quickly discovered that baking would need to be postponed a few hours.  Apparently, Grams had decided that she would haul out and hang up all of her Christmas decorations by herself.  Since she often forgets what task she is on before finishing, and certainly should not be standing on chairs, I figured I better intervene.  I was worried that if Grams was responsible for storing the decorations she took down, we would find frames in the pantry and wall hangings under the sink.  I decided to put on some Christmas tunes and get myself into the holiday spirit.  We had a lot of fun going through all her decorations, and I most enjoyed putting up her nativity scene.  This is one of the pieces that I remember always being up in Gram’s house during Christmas.  You can tell that it has been in the family for years by the wear on Mary and Joseph’s face and the hot-glued legs of the sheep.  Clearly, that swaddled baby Jesus has watched over the Ahlden Christmas for years. 

       After putting up Gram’s Christmas decorations, we delved into the baking.  The dough turned out thick and smooth by Grams’ constant stirring.  The dough turned out well and tasted like a good start.  Grams was in a great mood today.  I think decorating her house really brought up her spirits.  She pretty much took over the recipe when it called to boil the old fashioned oatmeal.  I’m pretty sure she is a pro at making oatmeal since it is one of the few things she attempts to make for herself these days.  At least oats are heart healthy.  We baked the cake for about forty-eight minutes.  The last eight minutes we bumped the heat down to 325 degrees because the edges were getting dark. 

       The trouble we had came with the topping.  I have little (or no) experience with using a broiler.  Broilers are very TEMPERAMENTAL!  Connie’s recipe warned that it would broil very fast, so we just stuck it in for two minutes to start.  Already, after two minutes, the topping was getting dark, so we pulled it out.  The trouble was that the inner topping was still somewhat runny while the outsides were burning.  We decided to remove it from the broiler and hope that the topping thickened up after standing.  We looked at it after it set out a few minutes, but it was still runny in the inside.  Grams and I turned the broiler back on and gave it two more minutes to broil.  Whoa! The edges went dark crispy, and we had to pull off a couple pieces of fried coconut.  It actually turned out pretty good considering our inexperience with using a broiler.  It tasted good, just looked a little funky.  Connie didn’t lie- watch out…it broils fast! 

       Since it is Thanksgiving weekend, I suppose I should be thinking about what I am thankful for.  I guess at this moment, I am thankful for my ability to laugh at our “less than perfect” baking product.  I should probably also be thankful that I have not burnt the house down while baking my way through the Ahlden Family Cookbook.  I have had a great year with much to be thankful for…

      Parents who are a daily reminder of love and devotion.  Every day they show me what it means to be a family.  30 years of marriage and they still keep it hot!!

      The opportunity for Ashley to make new friends and become independent at Parkside.

      A brother who keeps me in line, but more importantly keeps my laughing.

      An awesome group of friends who are ALWAYS ready for a girls’ night!

      The end in sight for my educational career.  1 semester of classes and 1 semester of student teaching left.

      An amazing boyfriend who loves me even when I throw a 22 year old tantrum because my hair didn’t turn out right.  I’m thankful for the six months we’ve been together and the forever still to come.

      The memories that Grams and I are making while baking our way through the Ahlden Family Cookbook.  It comforts me to know that when she forgets these times, I can tell her about them.

             All of you.  You have made me into a writer and listened to my rambling.  If you are actually reading this, it is likely that you are someone special in my life.  I am thankful for you. 

Oatmeal Cake—Connie Ahlden Recipe

 1 ¾ cups boiling water            3 eggs 

1 ½ cup oatmeal                      2 ¼ cups flour

¾ cup soft butter                     1 ½ t. baking soda

1 ½ cup sugar                          ¾ t. salt

1 ½ cup brown sugar(packed) 1 t. cinnamon

1 ½ t. vanilla                           ½ t. nutmeg

Combine boiling water and oats.  Let stand.

Cream butter with sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla.

Gradually add flour and rest of ingredients.

Bake at 350 degrees in a 9x13 greased pan for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Topping:

Melt ¾ cup butter.  Add 1 cup brown sugar (packed), 6 T. milk, 1 cup chopped walnuts and 1 ½ cups coconut.

Spread on cake.  Broil until brown.

Note from Connie:  Watch it!!--- It cooks fast!!! (I can vouch that this is very true.)

Pay Day Bars--Kelly (Ahlden) Milk Recipe

Kelly and I have always LOVED desserts!

             Sometimes I’m a little sweet, and sometimes I’m a little salty.  I like M & M’s in my popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels.  Sweet and salty is the perfect combination to satisfy all your taste buds.  Today Grams and I made Kelly Milk’s recipe for Pay Day Bars.  At my house, we refer to them as Frito Bars.  Over the years, these have become a staple at Ahlden family gatherings.  We have made it Kelly’s duty to bring this delicious sweet and salty treat to every holiday.  The truth is, this dessert isn’t visually appealing.  It looks kind of strange, and the ingredients don’t sound like an appetizing combination.  They taste delicious though, and that’s the most important thing!  I asked Kelly what the story was behind the Pay Day Bar recipe.  Apparently, when Kelly worked for Aunt Jan and Linda Kuipers at The Wedding Center, one of her co-workers brought it in, and she was hooked!  It’s a little odd, just like the Ahlden clan!

            You may recall that my favorite recipes are those with four ingredients or less. These desserts are easier for me to make and for Grams to understand.  After I measured the sugar, peanut butter, and corn syrup in the saucepan, Grams was in charge of the simmering.  She has patience in baking that I will never know.  I want to turn the burner on high and increase the oven temperature an extra fifty degrees to make everything done a little faster.  Baking my way through the Ahlden Family Cookbook, I have learned that this isn’t a good idea.  Now I leave the slow simmering and tedious jobs to Grams who approaches all things with patience and love.

           

             If you visit my mom’s house during Christmas, you know that she LOVES Christmas decorations.  I am not exaggerating when I say that there is a Christmas decoration within 12 inches of every space in our home.  My house basically turns into Santa’s Village during the month of December.  Grandma’s eyes lit up when I brought her into our house today.  We took a long tour of the rooms and looked at each of the holiday decorations.  Grams and I talked about our favorite decorations and the memories we have of each piece.  Not surprisingly, this lead to a trip to The Gathering in Gilman to check out their new holiday decorations. 

            Frito Bars are something unexpected.  Drizzled over corn chips, they don’t look anything like they taste.  I can tell you, but you really have to taste them to believe it.  They are a bit odd, but surprisingly delicious.  If you like Pay Day candy bars or anything sweet and salty, this recipe is for you.  They’re a little odd, but who isn’t a bit odd at times!

Pay Day Candy (a.k.a. Frito bars)

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup white corn syrup

1 bag Fritos corn chips

Bring first three ingredients to a boil in medium saucepan.  Simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly.  Spread corn chips onto cookie sheet or platter.  Pour mixture over corn chips and let cool.  Break into pieces and enjoy.

Note from Kelly:  I like to bring this to family functions, and we never have any to bring home!  It’s also fun to make just for a special treat at home.

Luscious Dessert--Naoma Ahlden Recipe

(Grandma Ahlden at her prom)

            The Luscious Dessert was so great, that I didn’t even have time to take a photograph.  Clearly, it was a hit!  I mean, who doesn’t like a dessert with four delicious layers.  Aunt Naoma’s Luscious Dessert is like Ogres and onions…it has layers:  pecan crust, fluffy cream cheese, pudding, and cool whip.  People have layers too.  Our zillions of layers make us exactly who we are.  We fill our layers with our likes and dislikes, struggles and joys, family and friends.  All our life’s memories are kept within our layers.  These days, every time I see Grams it’s as if she has lost another layer.  Another layer lost, just like the discarded outside layer of an onion.

               Yesterday, I checked to make sure that Grandma Ahlden had no plans for today.  Everyone confirmed that she was free to spend the day with me.  I called Gram this morning to see if she would like to bake with me.  She was so excited that I was home, and she immediately said yes.  About ten minutes later, I was leaving to pick her up when my cell phone rang. Grandma had called to say that she couldn’t make it because one of her kids was going to be picking her up for lunch soon.  Plus, it is also ten o’clock in the morning.  I told her that I checked with all her kids, and they said it was okay if she spent the day with me.  After that, she agreed to come.  About two hours later, we went through the same episode.  She told me she needed to go home right then because she had plans with someone else.  Again, I had to reassure her that she didn’t have plans.

               Luscious Dessert may have four layers, but it is actually easy to make.  When we made the first layer for the crust, we thought we hadn’t made the correct about of dough.  Just to warn you, it looks like it won’t be enough for the 9x13 inch pan.  Don’t worry though, when it bakes it spreads out and turns out perfect.  I chuckled a little to myself when we made the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip layer.  Before I could even get the hand mixer plugged in, Grams had the ingredients so smooth we hardly needed it.  Her muscles aren’t fading that’s for sure!  For our Luscious Dessert, we chose to use chocolate pudding.  I knew my family would prefer chocolate, but I think any flavor would be great. 

               With Thanksgiving rolling around, we couldn’t help but talk about turkeys.  Let’s face it; turkeys, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pies are on ALL of our minds.   Two years ago, my mom and I made a turkey for the first time.  Watching two women who don’t eat meat fix a turkey was more than comedic.  I asked Grams if she ever fixed a turkey for Thanksgiving before.  She said “oh, yeah.  I love turkey, especially the white meat.”  She went on to tell me that her and Grandpa Ahlden used to raise turkeys and dress them for people at Thanksgiving time.  They fixed dozen turkeys, and then sold them to their friends and neighbors.  Grandma definitely would have laughed at my mom and me trying to fix our turkey.  Ewww….guts!!!

               Today, I learned about another layer Grams.  Each moment we spend together creates a new memory for me, and a new layer of her for me to hold on to.  I just pray that I can learn about each layer before she loses them.  Just like the Luscious Dessert, Gram’s layers are disappearing quickly.                                                                                                                                                      

Luscious Dessert—Naoma Ahlden

Ingredients

No. 1

               ½ cup or 1 stick butter

               1 cup flour

               ½ cup crushed walnuts or pecans (whichever is your favorite)

Mix and press into 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

No. 2

               8 oz. pkg. or cream cheese

               1 cup powdered sugar

               1 cup cool whip

Blend with mixer and spread onto baked and cooled crust No. 1

No. 3

1 large pkg. instant pudding                         (I have used vanilla, chocolate,

 butterscotch, and coconut.  All taste great.)

               2 ¼ cups milk

Blend with mixer and spread unto No. 2.

Top with cool whip and some crushed nuts.

Note from Naoma:  This is a delicious d and refreshing dessert.  It does need to be refrigerated for several hours or overnight before serving.