Healthy Fall Bars

If you’ve read some of my stories, you know about my father (aka The Prophet of Doom).  He hasn’t changed.

My mother recently had a fall and is now using a motorized scooter to get around their building which is a senior retirement community.  The scooter is great, but there is definitely a learning curve.  And my father has decided that he is just the instructor to flatten that curve.  He is also the reason I didn’t get my license till I was 21.

At 16, he would take me to a nearby college campus and have me practice driving in an empty parking lot.  He would stand on the line between parking spaces and tell me to pretend he was a parked car and to park next to him.  At speed.  No pressure there.  Misjudge by a few inches and I take out my father. I can only imagine how that conversation would go:

“Officer, I swear, he was pretending to be a car.  He was saying “beep beep” and everything.”

Then, there was the split-second timing he required to make turns.  As I sailed past some random street, he would suddenly yell, “Turn NOW!” and I was supposed to check my mirrors, check for pedestrians, check for cars, put on my turn signal, and gently guide my car to the left without ending up as a giant lawn ornament.

“What if you’re driving someone who is giving you directions, but they’re not sure of a turn and you are almost past it before they tell you to turn? ” he would demand.

“Um, I’d either go to the next street and make the turn there…or I’d slow down enough so that they could tuck and roll as I pushed them out.”  Seriously, would one block ever make that much difference?????? We live in Scranton, PA.  The next block is Spruce Street, not Skid Row.

This went on week after week, until I either became a professional Nascar driver or had a nervous breakdown.  I began to hide under my bed when I heard the car keys rattle.  I managed to “lose” my glasses, contacts, permit, shoes and mind.  Anything to avoid more practice driving.  I think I may have been suffering from PTSD.

I kinda feel sorry for my mother with him as her “instructor”, but while I love her and feel her pain, she’s on her own.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin granola crumbs (see pumpkin granola recipe)
• 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cups dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 4 dates (pits removed)
• 3/4 cup almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine the granola crumbs with the 3 Tablespoons of butter and mix well to combine.  Press into the bottom of an 8×8 pan.
3. In a small bowl, combine the nuts, chips, cranberries and seeds.  Sprinkle on top of the crust.
4. In a blender, combine the dates and almond milk and puree till smooth.
5. Pour the date/almond mixture over the top of the nut mixture in the pan, covering the whole thing.  Bake for 25 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy!