Grandma Ardith’s Brownies

It’s Friday! It’s girls night! It’s your birthday? You got a raise? You had a bad day? Whatever it is, I’ll take any excuse to bake up some goodies. Last week I had a craving for chocolate so I used the “it’s Friday” excuse to bake one of my favorite treats growing up – my Grandma Ardith’s brownies or what my brother calls “the best brownies in the whole wide world.”

But we weren’t the only ones to call these treats our favorites. My childhood friends along with a number of nurses, aides, and past residents at Sheridan Memorial Hospital love these brownies too. You see, for many years my Grandma was a volunteer pink lady or what you might call “candy striper” at the Plentywood hospital. She wore a cute pink apron and visited each resident with her fully stocked cart to see if they’d like juice, coffee, or a magazine. Whenever my sister and I joined her on “pink lady days” we had our own special pink aprons that looked just like Grandmas.

In addition to pink ladying, my Grandma volunteered once a week at the hospital gift shop and never showed up empty-handed. She always had a plate of cookies, bars, salted nut rolls, or her famous brownies to share. Everyone at the hospital looked forward to Grandma’s Mondays and word spread quickly about what kind of goodies she brought in that day and how many were left. If you weren’t quick on your feet you might miss out and have to wait until the next Monday to get in on the goods.

Last Friday I followed my Grandma’s example and brought freshly made brownies to work to share. That fuzzy feeling you get when you share something good and make someone happy is what my Grandma figured out years ago. My mom must know the feeling too because she continually goes out of her way to make others happy. The whole purpose of my blog is to share good things so today I’d like to share my Grandma’s recipe for the best brownies in the whole wide world. So go ahead, find an excuse and spread some happy! It is Friday, you know! Click here to download this recipe.

A few thoughts to ponder…

What is your favorite recipe from your Grandma? Write it down. Give it a shot. Food and smells have a funny way of bringing back memories. Baking those brownies brought back so many memories of my Grandma. I remember the excitement of coming home from school and seeing her tupperware on the kitchen counter filled with goodies. I remember how our pink lady aprons hung behind the door in the gift shop and how we helped stock the cart with apple, tomato, cranberry juice. I remember thinking why would anyone pick anything other than apple juice? My favorite, of course.

So how can you keep those recipes and memories in the family? Last year my friend Sheila designed a custom cookbook and gave it to all of her family members as a Christmas present. The cookbook turned out beautifully – filled with pictures, stories, and family recipes. I would love to do the same someday.