Here is a great summer salad that you will want to make with all the fabulous strawberries that we have now. These flavors from strawberries, mandarin oranges, and avocados just go together to make a fantastic combination that I would not ordinarily put together. And the avocado in this salad oh my! If you are looking hard to see the avocado you won’t. I served this salad to my book club last month and in the hustle and bustle to make a photo without holding up serving the food I forgot to add the avocado. But, don’t you leave it out thinking that it will be just as good without it. It won’t be! You’ll miss that buttery flavor. Trust me. I love this Cinnamon vinaigrette. It is a lovely salad dressing and a snap to make. I really cannot believe that today is July 1. In 30 days school starts and I must get busy on my To Do list which is absolutely nothing! Enjoy your summer.
One of my best childhood memories is my hometown bakery. My sister and I would stop by on our way home from school almost everyday. I had quite a few favorites such as huge butter cookies, cream horns dusted with powdered sugar, and date nut bars. All of the above were enjoyed with a Tab or a big cup of coffee depending on the season and the weather. I have been searching for the recipe to make the perfect date nut bars and this one is pretty close. The bottom layer is similar to a shortbread cookie and the top layer is a mixture of dates, coconut, and nuts. Delicious! Sorry, but I’ve got to run. I brought home school work which is calling my name. I have about 400 papers that are graded, but have not been put into the gradebook. So I am off to do my real job!
I really don’t know why these are called brownies. They are more like blonde brownies than the normal chocolate brownies. And not even those for heaven sake. They are full of butterscotch and marshmallows. But you will never know the marshmallows are there. Enough about the name. I know you don’t really care about that. It is the taste that you care about and you are going to love this little bar cookie. It is just the perfect size to indulge in without feeling guilty unless you are like some I know and just keep indulging until half the pan is gone. They are easy to make. In fact they are too easy. Trying to use up the bag of marshmallows in my pantry I have made them 5 times. Yes that is correct 5 times. I love the recipe because you can whip them together in one pan in 10 minutes. Bake them for 20 minutes. Then comes the hard part. Cooling. You need a couple of hours for this. They are really soft when they come out of the oven. You could just eat them right out of the pan with a spoon but try to restrain yourself because they are more attractive cut into little bars.
The Teacher Cooks 