A very busy graduation season kicked off this weekend with my nephew’s college graduation. (Three more family graduations follow quickly in the coming weeks!)

The night before the big event my mom, my two older sisters and myself got together to finish up the preparations for the family party the next day. However our evening of work soon gave way to an evening of laughter and food.

It began with my mom’s homemade salsa and chips. (Oh, the fresh cilantro was wonderful!) Then we ordered Chinese take-out for supper (I just love cashew chicken!) and ended it all with some rich gooey turtle bars that I had brought.

What a combination: Mexican, Chinese, and chocolate!

The Turtle Bars were a new recipe that I had copied some time ago and never tried. This was the perfect opportunity to try them out on some very serious chocolate eaters, and they passed the test! They were given rave reviews.

Turtle Bars

Mix together: 2 cups flour, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup butter.

Press firmly into the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish.

Sprinkle the top with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Set aside.

In saucepan, combine 2/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute stirring constantly.

Pour over pecans and bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Let stand 3 minutes for the chocolate to melt. Then spread the melted chocolate all over the top of the bars.

For nice looking bars, let them cool completely before cutting so that they have a chance to set up. If you don’t care how they look, dig into them right away and enjoy the gooey melted chocolate, caramel and pecans! Yum!

This is a very rich, almost candy-like bar so you may want to cut the pieces small. You may also wish to hid them in the deepest, darkest corner of your cupboard because they are very delicious and you may not want to share them!