G is for Graham Cracker Peanut Butter Bars

SO. GOOD.

When a recipe starts with "First microwave 2 sticks of butter," you know it's going to taste good. Guys, if you like, no, if you dream about Reese's like I do, please......don't make this recipe. You will not be able to handle yourselves, because after you eat one, the next thing you know, the entire pan is gone. At least that's what happened to me.
Now I'm really not a huge chocoholic like some other members of my family (cough cough, my sister), but I  ADORE anything with peanut butter and chocolate; Tagalongs, Reese's, just dipping a spoon in Nutella and peanut butter. I used to be in a fog about the peanut butter and chocolate combination, naively eating these things and thinking they were delicious. Once I sunk my teeth into this bar of creamy chocolate frosting, then crunchy rich peanut butter, I became enlightened to the nirvana of peanut butter and chocolate.

 There was something totally unexpected, yet comforting and familiar about this recipe. It tasted exactly like a Reese's, even down to the crunchy-ness of the peanut butter that came from the graham cracker crumbs, but the fact that it came in hefty 1-inch thick bars, made it that much more delectable.

Some tips I have when making this recipe, grease or put aluminum foil in the pan, because after they are refrigerated, they become quite stiff, so for easy serving, greasing the pan up with even MORE butter, might help. 

After being refrigerated for a couple hours

Trying to save not only myself, but my entire family, from becoming fat lards and eating this entire pan, I brought a Tupperware full of this stuff and handed them out to my lunch table, The next day, my friend dashed up to our lunch table, frantically searching for something, until she set her eyes on the plastic bag I had filled with the rest of them. She finally could breathe easy and after grabbing three and stuffing one in her mouth, she cautiously said "Kayla, I went home and told my mom about these and had been craving them for the entire day!" Crowd pleaser recipe? Check.

Now I realize these posts have pretty much been about how much I love (or hate, depending on the recipe) a certain thing and how it relates to some fond childhood memory. But that's what food does for me; it kind of describes my past, future and life itself. A simple thing like a raspberry mousse can flash me back to those summer adventures to the farm, or something like a meringue, can scare me into oblivion when it doesn't come together right, but not knowing if the cookies will taste good or look like the picture is half the fun of it; the other half is eating.
P.S. While writing this post, my sister actually asked me to make more of them. My response: Gladly, but do we have enough butter? Until next time, be proud of your sweet teeth and don't forget to ask "What's for dessert?"

From All recipes.com (a very handy website for recipes; it has the prep time and total time as well as a US/metric serving converter)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peanut-butter-bars-i/