Clean Up Time

I love order, it just doesn't happen in my house. I really try. I organize my pantry, grouping all the canned tomato products together, the canned beans together, and the canned fruits together. Then I go to the grocery store and my unloading helpers put things on the shelves wherever they fit. I appreciate their help, but this totally destroys my organization.

Then the next time I need a particular canned good, I have to hunt through the entire pantry to find that one item that I know, I KNOW, I have because I bought it last week.

But the upside to that is that in the searching and hunting, I often unearth things I'd forgotten were on the shelves. Like a can of cherry pie filling. I don't normally use cherry pie filling from a can, but I had just run across a recipe in a cookbook that calls for just that. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to clear the shelf and give my husband something to take in to a work meeting.

The result? An easy recipe and a pan that came back 100% clean. So, think about it, do you have a can of cherry pie filling lurking in your pantry? Here's your chance to use it up without having to make a pie crust!

Chocolate Splattered Cherry Bars
- adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/4 cups butter, softened
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 tsp almond extract
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F with a rack in the center of the oven.

2- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugars, and butter until crumbly. Set aside 1-1/2 cups of the mixture in a small bowl. Press the remaining mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.

3- In a bowl combine the pie filling and the almond extract. Spread the filling carefully over the crust. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture.

4- Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until edges and topping are lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack.

5- In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate on high power for 45 seconds. Stir until the chocolate is smooth. Using a spoon, drizzle and splatter* the chocolate over the warm bars. Cool the bars completely before slicing.



*Homeschool moment: I used my famous Jackson Pollock technique on these. My son watched me doing it and gasped, "Just like on Sister Wendy!" (We've been watching The Story of Painting together and had just watched Jackson Pollock painting.)