My Grandfather has always been an inspiration to me and continues to inspire me everyday.  For as long as I can remember, he has been baking incredible brownies, cookies, quiches, noodle koogles – just to name a few.  I have been fortunate enough to enjoy all of his delicious recipes over the past twenty-seven years.  Now, with my new-found love for cooking, I feel fortunate for all of the moments that I get to sit down and chat food, recipes and life with him.

This past Saturday, my cousins and I went out to visit my Grandfather (Pop) and my Aunt in Long Island.  We were planning on a family beach day, but the nearly 100 degree weather deterred us.  We still, however, got to have our beach lunch!  My aunt put out a big spread of DIY PB & J sandwiches and we all dug in and enjoyed feeling like kids again.  To top this lunch off and to ensure that our stomachs were sticking out as far as possible before hitting the pool, Pop brought out my favorite of his desserts, blondies.  He was nice enough to send me the recipe to share with you.  I recommend his “embellishments”…

2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
11/2 cup flour……(combine flour, baking soda & cinnamon)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups of uncooked oats
beat butter & sugar till fluffy
add eggs/vanilla–beat well
add flour mixture –stir well
add oats–stir well
EMBELLISHMENT: choose your favorite add-ons
choc chips, various nuts, blueberries, raisins etc.
I used dark choc chips + honey sesame almonds (crushed) STIR IN
Bake 350–9X13 pan–approx 35 min
cool–cut into squares

A big thanks to a guy who continues to teach me new things and give me constant inspiration and motivation…