Ina garten peanut butter and jelly bars

Yesterday I decided it was high time that I start showing the teachers a little gratitude.

After all, tonight is the back to school meeting at our K-8, and last year I remember spying a teacher gobbling down a cheese stick and crackers in the hallway right before the presentation.

Afterwards I thought, wow, the teachers are at school all day and then expected to stay through the afternoon and well into the night? That’s one helluva a long day, especially when it culminates in a million questions and many parents clamoring for just one minute more of attention.

Being a teacher is hard. They deserve all the treats they can get.

My mom was a preschool teacher and I remember her coming home wiped out from her long days with rambunctious toddlers. How hard it must have been to maintain energy, enthusiasm and a positive attitude for hours on end!

I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to have thirty or more middle school-ers in one crowded classroom and maintaining both control and keeping attention on the subject at hand.

Time to show a little teacher appreciation.

This morning I came to school prepared with something that could sustain some of the teachers during that break between school’s end and the evening’s presentation. I made it yesterday afternoon so it was ready to go early this morning.

Spicy red dal soup with butternut squash and chicken.

I brought twelve containers and not surprisingly, they were gone in no time.

I saved only enough soup at home for our own dinner afterward. The dal and basmati gave it heft and the chicken, carrots and butternut squash added nutrients and color. I also had some leftover roasted leeks and fennel from my chicken dinner the night before so I added in those, too.

Fresh basil and Sriracha thrown in at the end resulted in a last minute spike of flavor and heat.

I love fall soups, and I welcome back butternut squash with greedy open arms.

Next up, I tried to think of something sweet to bring to the open house tonight– a delectable treat for teachers to enjoy with their own families after a very long day.

Looking through some of my well-loved cookbooks, I had my answer.

We’re all familiar with peanut and jelly sandwiches, but what many of you may not know is that Ina Garten (of Barefoot Contessa fame) has taken the flavors of this lunchbox staple and turned it into what may be one of the best bar cookies around.

Peanut butter and Jelly Bars.

Truly, they are insanely good; I make them often, and every time they’ve turned out wonderfully.

Here’s how you begin.

Gather all your ingredients and pull out your Kitchenaid or electric beaters — you’re going to need it.

Do you often forget to pull out the butter ahead of time when you’ve got a recipe that calls out for room temperature butter?

No worries.

Here’s a trick when you need to take the chill off of butter quickly but don’t want to mess with the uneven defrosting of a microwave.

Before you do anything — even pre-heat your oven — cut your butter into small chunks and let it sit in the warmest part of your kitchen (mine is on the toaster oven under a under-mount light).

It should be good to go in about twenty minutes or so (about as much time it takes to pull together all the ingredients, prepare your pan, and, if you’re like me, play a turn or two on Words with Friends).

The recipe is easy to pull together.

Honestly the hardest part of making this recipe is not eating too many of the blistered peanuts while you are getting the pan ready to go in the oven.

What makes these darn peanuts so good? And why would I ever bring a two-and-a-half pound container of these in my home when my willpower is so limited?

Into the preheated oven the pan goes.

Forty minutes later, out they come –just give them a little time to cool.

(Or do what I do, wait only until you avoid burns and dig right in.)

Warm, cold, room temperature — there’s no wrong way to eat one of these bad boys.

In no time it was time to wrap them up (and get them out of the house before I ate them all myself).

After trying one, I decided that they were worthy of my favorite red gingham cupcake liners (and friends, it’s always a kind thing to do to wrap gooey goodness in a paper liner).

Some of these went to some of my favorite moms in the neighborhood.

After all, they too are a hard working group — like teachers with smaller groups but longer hours.

A few got saved for the kids and their friends after school.

And the rest of them I’ve wrapped up to give to our teachers tonight.

My kids get good grades, but I wonder when they’re older if they’ll ever wonder if it was their cleverness or Mom’s steady infusion of baked goods that brought home those A’s.

Let ’em wonder.

In the meantime, you’ll have to excuse me.

I’ve got another date with a very special friend.

BAREFOOT CONTESSA'S PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY BARS

• ½ lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1½ C. sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra large eggs
• 2 C. creamy peanut butter such as Skippy (18 ounces)
• 3 C. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1½ tsp. kosher salt
• 1½ C. raspberry or other jam (18 ounces)
• ⅔ C. salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 13 X 2 - inch baking pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until well combined.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
4. Spread two thirds of the dough in the prepared pan, using a knife to spread it evenly. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam.
5. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; the dough will spread when it bakes. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes (mine only took 40), until golden brown.
6. Cool and cut into small squares.