One evening I went looking for a bar recipe to share with some neighbors. I thought the batter and the cake for the Chocolate Marshmallow Squares had been interesting, and I was curious how chocolate syrup would affect a brownie recipe. I settled on Marie Saastad’s “Chocolate Syrup Brownies,” which were wonderfully straightforward and quick. I found them in the “Cakes, Cookies, and Candy” section.
Again, I substituted butter for margarine, included the ½ cup of optional walnuts, and squeezed a pint of Hershey’s chocolate syrup into a two-cup Pyrex measuring cup. I still haven’t seen it in a can.
The instructions just say, “Beat together margarine and sugar” which I interpreted as beating by hand, given my experiences making other brownies. The rest of the steps were very clear—to add each egg separately, then the remaining ingredients to mix prior to baking. The batter looked very nice—rich and smooth; it tasted fantastic, like chocolate syrup! Such a surprise. Also, there is very clearly a splatter on this recipe—that is not from me. Grandma Martha must have made something from this page too.
As prescribed, I baked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The last direction indicates to “frost with your favorite frosting,” but since I live with Luke, I dusted it with powdered sugar. Our daughter was deeply disappointed the next morning.
The Baby and the neighbor children all enjoyed the brownies but roundly abused me for my audacity for including walnuts. I think they’re wrong; really, they could have used more. I liked these, but I prefer a more cake-like brownie. These are so moist that it’s a bit difficult to pick them up. They also remain fairly flat, though I imagine a thick frosting would add some height.
Marie Saastad was not in my McHenry County book either, and I did not recognize her name. The internet supplies the explanation for not being in the county directory; she lived in Ward County, near Sawyer, the next small town on Highway 52 on the way to Minot. Sawyer is an eight-minute drive northwest, approximately six and a half miles. Marie was, however, from Velva originally, the daughter of Julius and Caroline Wojahn, who farmed south of Velva. Marie was born in 1917 and attended Velva High School. She lived on a farm near Sawyer with her first husband, Otto Bick, and after his death, later remarried to Walter Saastad. She had two children, Phyllis and Mitchell Bick. In addition to working as a nurse’s aid at Trinity Hospital, she belonged to Oak Valley and belonged to Circle and the very busy quilting group. Marie’s other contributions to the cookbook are “Chocolate Frosting,” “Ship Wreck” (a casserole!), “Watergate Salad” (umm…what? What don’t I know? Does everyone else know that a pineapple, pistachio pudding, Cool Whip, marshmallow, pecan, and cherry confection is associated with the Watergate scandal? Was it Nixon’s favorite? I’m astonished that I’m the last to know… A history lesson will be shared soon!), and “Potato Salad Dressing.”
