Dear Daughters,

Today I’m sharing a cherished category of women’s wisdom with you.

The Family Signature Recipe. Featuring our family’s most beloved course.

Dessert!

When you girls were youngsters, one of our favorite going-out-to-eat traditions was reverse dinner.

Also known as backwards dinner.

Also known as “save room for dinner” dinner.

So to honor our dessert fanaticism, I’ve included the Weeding signature dessert recipe down below.

Edna Bars!!

So keep on scrolling.

Now daughters, maybe you are wondering what exactly a family signature recipe is?

A family signature recipe is a beloved dish passed down from generation to generation.

Edna Bars is an awesome example of a family signature recipe because:

It’s like our family brand.

You say chocolate dessert, I say Edna Bars!

Edna Bars make an appearance at every major Weeding gathering.

Sometimes there are multiple versions of Edna Bars at the same event.

Because everyone claims their version is the most authentic and the tastiest.

Also because Edna Bar bakers know that the Weeding clan appetite for those lovely bars is ginormous and they worry there won’t be enough to go around.

As of this writing, four generations have baked, shared, devoured, and hoarded Edna Bars. (yep, I did find those bars you hid in your room, dear daughter whose name shall not be revealed).

Momma Mia! Just writing about Edna Bars makes me want them right now.

I’ll be right back….in about an hour.

I’m back!

So as I was saying…

Signature Family Recipes like Edna Bars represent much more than deliciousness for our taste buds.

They also represent:

Weeding family values like a love of merriment, food sharing is caring, raucous laughter, wild games, and of course, chocolate. (Uh huh! chocolate is too a value!)

Delectable family memories rife with aromas, colors, textures, tastes, sounds…. Grandma Weeding baking Edna Bars in her avocado green kitchen. Breathing in buttery-brown sugar-chocolate warmth as I sneak a test corner.

Special heirloom dishes or platters to display the signature family recipe.

Incredible family histories and tales (sometimes tall tales) such as:

Aunt Edna created the recipe because white sugar was hard to get during the war. (true? tale)

One year all the uncles competed to see how many bars they could devour in 5 minutes. Uncle V hurled shortly after but said it was totally worth it since he won. (tall tale)

Remember when Cousin T tried to make them using dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate? She was shunned for the rest of the party and told to take the untouched bars back home. (tall tale)

Now! Onto the most important words in this blog post, the recipe.

The Weeding Family Signature Dessert

Edna Bars

1 cup butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

¼ tsp salt

1 large milk chocolate bar

Instructions

Mix brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla. Then add flour and salt. 

Bake in a 9 x12 pan at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Breakup chocolate bar into squares and distribute evenly on top of the hot crust.

Spread when melted. 

Optional: add finely chopped nuts.

BONUS!

In honor of our family’s favorite food CHOCOLATE, I’ve included two of my favorite novels that describe it in mouth-watering detail. These books are excellent examples of the Magical Realism genre. And even better, both were made into charming movies!

Warning: you will want to have large quantities of Edna Bars or another kind of chocolate on hand when reading these delightful novels as the prose will provoke serious cravings.

All my Love!

“If there’s no chocolate in Heaven, I’m not going.”

― Jane Seabrook, Furry Logic Laugh at Life