Recipes of Home #9 - SURPRISE

 

SURPRISE

 

Surprise! An unexpected gift arrived in my inbox.  This gift reminds me of home – the home created by a church family, people who gather together because they want to, because they consider each other to be family. The unexpected gift will surprise those who have been at Resurrection for along time. We hear the voices of a foremother and forefather: Isabel and Peter Petersen.

 

Trudy Inglis (nee Petersen) shares her mum Isabel’s “famous chocolate peanut butter brownie marble square recipe. She made it for every single solitary meal at the church… at least every potluck I was at.” Like her mum, Trudy writes, “I made them a bit earlier this season for my church, St. John’s in Mahone Bay, where people like them as much now as they did when mum made them.”

 

The pic of the recipe is from a cookbook Isabel and Peter’s daughter Kathi made for the family of all the favourite recipes. Kathi wrote in the preface, “Our family does not get together to play board games or cards on Tuesday nights; we invariably come together over a laden table, to share food, laughter and conversation. A rich tradition of passed-down dishes are faithfully prepared, and new traditions are begun with an ever-increasing repertoire of new recipes.

 

Gathered around the table in conversation we can be surprised by the wealth of story, wisdom, jokes, sayings, deep thoughts, debate, and so on that are shared. Every home that is a home has a table where food is shared, not just physical food, but spiritual and emotional food.

Consider the tables that are home for you. How does the ‘food’ feed you? Who can you invite to your table and what will you serve?

 

 

Peanut Butter Fudge Squares

 

½ cup  crunchy peanut butter (can use smooth)

4 Tbsp margarine

½ cup  white sugar

2eggs

6 Tbsp flour

1 15-oz. brownie mix

1 egg

2 Tbsp soft margarine

 

1.       Mix peanut butter, margarine, sugar, eggs and flour.

2.       Prepare brownie mix as package directs.

3.       Spread chocolate batter in 9x9 greased pan. Dab peanut butter batter on top, and then marbleize with a knife. Bake at 350F for 30 mins.

 

As Kathi wrote, “No family feast would be complete without a head-of-the-household asking the blessings, and Dad (Peter Petersen) has contributed this prayer… may the feast begin!” A fitting way to end our ‘Recipes of Home.’ Thank you for everyone’s contributions and taking the time to reflect on the theme of home.

 

Heavenly Father,

We humbly bow to give thanks for all the blessings you shower upon us and ask that your blessing be added to all the ingredients and instructions suggested in these pages so that the result will be healthy food for our bodies and the peace of God for our whole being. May your love be reflected in the love from so many sources that joined together in this collection. All this we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.