Ever heard the expression, “Life is short, eat dessert first”? I’m the exception that proves that little rule. Given the choice between having another pork chop — or meatball, or slice of meatloaf, with maybe some more mashed potatoes and gravy and … wait, where was I? — oh right, given the choice between a second helping and saving room for dessert, I’ll take the second helping nearly every time.
Sure, I like sweets, but I don’t love sweets. I once had a bowl of Halloween candy on my desk that was still around come the next October. So it might not surprise you to know that I don’t make a lot of desserts, either.
Which is all a really roundabout way to say this is sweets week on How To Cook Like Your Grandmother.
Ingredients
~2 dozen vanilla wafer cookies
4 large graham crackers
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
plus more for greasing the pan
Directions
If I made more sweets, I’d be starting with my recipes for vanilla wafer cookies and graham crackers. But this might be the only graham cracker crust I make this year. I’m not going to make my own crackers just so I can crush them. I’ll be loose on my definition of “from scratch” for this one.
Dump all the wafers and crackers together in a large bowl.
Remember that there’s no way in the world to crush these in a bowl without making a complete mess, and dump them into a heavy-duty zip-top bag.
Roll with a rolling pin until everything is crumbled very fine.
Grease a 9×13 baking dish — this is actually 8×11 — with butter. Concentrate on the edges, you’ll get the bottom in the next step.
Pour the crumbs into the pan and spread evenly.
If you’re excessively picky — yes, that’s my hand in the picture, not my wife’s — spread the crumbs very flat.
Melt the half-stick of butter and pour it evenly over the crumbs, then mix it together.
Once the crumbs are moistened, spread them evenly and now make sure it’s nice and flat.
And that’s it.
Except for filling it with something of course. That’s tomorrow’s post.
