My favorite things about the summer? Picnics, beaches and music festivals in the park. I've hit all my favorites in the past few weeks. We vacationed in New Hampshire on a section of the state's 18 mile coastline, had a picnic with some friends in Prospect Park (see story below) and we went to Celebrate Brooklyn for some free jazz music last night. Summer you are good to me! Between eating my body weight in strawberries and watermelon, consuming lemonade by the gallon and sitting on the deck while Otis naps, old man winter is a distant memory....
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Getting three friends together for a picnic-- with their significant others, a toddler and a baby-- requires some advanced planning. There are overnight work shifts, general exhaustion, trial prep, motherhood, family functions and events that take you out of town. I, along with two of my friends, were able to schedule a "Ladies Night" a while back, but finding a weekend when the extended group could get together proved difficult. We finally found a day-- June 4th. So, on a lovely afternoon a few weekends ago, we got our group together and chowed down, picnic style, in Prospect Park.
It was a really nice gathering. The weather cooperated and the kids were in great spirits. My friend Alice and her fiance (who is a professional chef in the city) were in charge of the entree course(s): a vegetarian pasta with red pepper, zucchini, eggplant and cheese (yum) and meatball burgers that my husband said were incredibly delicious and had a bunch of unexpected flavors (topped with a homemade salsa verde sauce that was out-of-this-world). I made a French Potato Salad and a refreshing Chilled Cucumber Soup. My other friend Jeanne was in charge of dessert and she made these Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars-- they were fantastic.
I knew I had to make them again...and here they are! These are great for a summer picnic or a trip to the beach. Enjoy!
Delicious Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars (Courtesy of Allrecipes)
Serves 12 (though next time I'm going to double the recipe)
Ingredients
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch square pan, and line with greased foil.
Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.
Ingredients
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch square pan, and line with greased foil.
Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.
Made these with homemade blueberry jam and they blew my mind! Bake in parchment paper and cool in the fridge before cutting so they are easy to lift out and maneuver!
ReplyDeleteHi Lina! That sounds great. You know I was thinking about making these bars again and using some left over strawberry preserve...now you've got me thinking I should try blueberry jam (homemade!). Thanks for the suggestion. Happy cooking/baking!
ReplyDelete