Springing into the Hodgepodge

 

 Wednesday again, and time for the Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond, where Joyce asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers.  This week, the Hodgepodge questions have a touch of spring fever! 

1. What puts a spring in your step these days? 

My knee is feeling a whole lot better and I've gotten back to walking longer distances.   It's really encouraging!  Soon we'll be seeing these on our daily walks:

They bloom every year in one of the fields behind the home place. 

2. April 2nd was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Did you celebrate? Do you like PB and J? If so how do you like yours? What's your favorite kind of jelly? 

I did not celebrate ... in fact I had no idea that National PB&J Day existed.  I do like peanut butter and jelly.  In general, I prefer jam to jelly.  If using it in a PB&J sandwich, my choice would be grape, strawberry, or raspberry jam.

One of my favorite ways to use peanut butter and jelly (jam, really) is in the following recipe:

PEANUT BUTTER JAM BARS

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or real margarine, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raspberry or strawberry jam

Glaze:
2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

 Combine sugars, butter, peanut butter, and egg.  Sift together flour,
baking soda and baking powder; add to sugar mixture and mix thoroughly.
Remove 1 cup dough and set aside.  Press remaining dough in an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2” baking pan.  Spread jam over top of dough.  Crumble reserved dough and sprinkle over jam.  Bake at 350º for 20 to 25 minutes or until bars test done.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  When cooled, drizzle with glaze.  Allow glaze to set before cutting.   

For glaze, melt margarine in small saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla.  Beat in hot water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until glaze is smooth and of desired consistency.  Yield: 24 bars.
 

Photo from Land o' Lakes

The recipe is one I got from my sister-in-law when all of our kids were young.  The classic PB&J flavor is definitely a hit with kids of all ages.  I borrowed the above photo from Land-O-Lakes because it looks very much like these bars only without the glaze.  Their recipe uses a cake mix and looks good also.

3. What's a memory you associate with spring flowers?

I may have written about this one before but I don't think so.   Decades ago when I was a teen, I belonged to a youth group that often did service projects for others.  I'm quite sure this would never fly today, but we were invited to go to the wooded property of one family where Mayflowers (trailing arbutus) grew prolifically, and pick little bouquets of these early spring wildflowers to fill May baskets for elderly shut-ins.  It was fun tromping around in the spring woods on the search for these pretty little flowers.  They can be white, as seen here, or pale pink.

4. Three things on your spring bucket list? Do you have a spring bucket list? If not pretend you do.

Let me think.  

1.  Do some volunteer work here.
2.  Open up our little camp for the season.
3.  Take several loads of unneeded items to the thrift store.

5. One place you will travel this spring? (It might be Europe or it might be the grocery store)

We are hoping for a getaway.  Possibly here:

We've stayed at York Harbor Inn a number of times and April can be a good time to go.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 It's been a busy few weeks with eldercare.   Always hard when the children sort of become the parents.

The bloodroot below is another early wildflower that will appear very soon.  It always reminds me of my father-in-law (with the Lord since 2000) because he gave the plants to our daughter Carrie for her wildflower garden.  

And that wraps up the Hodgepodge for this week!  Why not head on over to From This Side of the Pond and snag the questions to answer on your own blog?