Unbearably Delicious?

When I was home for Christmas, my mother pulled an old recipe book out of the cupboard and suggested I take it back to Cape Breton with me. Now that I had my own place and was amassing my own library of cook books, she reasoned, that's where it should be. I hadn't seen it in decades. Literally. It was The Best Cookie Book Ever! -- self-proclaimed, of course -- that she had bought me at a Scholastic book fair when I was nine years old. I'm guessing it was my first cook book ever.

As I flipped through it, I remembered how much I loved it. The illustrations of the bears and a little grey cat were appealing to me back then -- and the truth is, they still are. They are incredibly cute. As I flipped through the book, I saw my signature from back then. (Not quite as smooth or flowing as it is now.) It seems I enjoyed the puzzles and did them all. At the back of the book, there was a certificate of achievement. I had awarded it to myself and seemingly forged a friend's signature as the person who presented it to me. As the memories of the book came back, I quickly flipped to the only recipe from it that I actually remembered making -- Chocolate Bars. I don't recall how they turned out or if we liked them. I just know that I really wanted to make them. And my mother, as always, indulged me (after a little convincing, as I recall).

What I remember about making these Chocolate Bars was how confused we were by the measurement for the butter. A stick of butter. Sure, that seems silly now -- hundreds, if not thousands, of episodes of Martha Stewart, Anna Olson, Ina Garten, and Nigella Lawson later -- but back then we really didn't know that meant a half cup or a quarter pound. Butter didn't come in sticks and, actually, we didn't even have butter. Back then, margarine was all the rage. And, of course, those were the days when you couldn't just jump onto the internet and google the conversion. How times have changed. I don't remember how much we decided was the right amount of butter/margarine. And I don't remember if we liked the final result. I just remember the great butter debate. Funny how memory works, no?

Since Christmas, I've looked at the recipe book a few times and thought that I should make some of the recipes from it again. And so this week I decided it was the right time to visit the past.

Of course, thirty years later, I now realize how misleading the name of the Chocolate Bars recipe actually is. A kid would read that and expect a chocolate bar. Well, okay, most kids would. The ones who compete on Kid's Baking Championship probably are way more savvy. Anyhoo... The reality is, this is a brownie recipe, which is sort of strange because there is already a brownie recipe in the book. Whatever you call it, it's a chocolate square recipe that claims to be "unbearably delicious" -- so I decided to put it to the test.

Yes, indeed. I opened up the recipe book and followed the kid-oriented instructions (with helpful tips, like turn off the stove/oven as the last step). One of the things that immediately struck me as strange was the suggestion to melt the butter and chocolate on the stove top in a pot. Why wouldn't you just melt it in the microwave, I wondered. Much safer, no? More kid-friendly? Oh yeah. Because thirty years ago, microwaves weren't standard issue the way they are now. So, okay, I deviated from the recipe a little bit and melted my butter and chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Otherwise, though, I followed along, step by step. And after baking them for 20 minutes, as directed, I pulled them out without testing whether they were done (because the recipe didn't suggest a toothpick test).

I sprinkled the chocolate chips on top, let them sit for five minutes as instructed, and then smoothed the chocolate over the top. Then, sadly, I had to set them aside for an hour or so to cool.

So, the verdict? Are they unbearably delicious?

To my surprise, they are really, really delicious brownies. They have a great dark chocolate flavour and they aren't overly sweet. And the nuts give them a great texture. Best of all, the bake time seems to be spot on. I'm impressed!

Did you have a recipe book as a kid? What do you remember making back in the day?