Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

I thought it would be fun to dye some eggs naturally this year. It's amazing what you can do with items in your refrigerator or pantry. I decided to try Turmeric, brewed Coffee, and Red Wine Vinegar. They all turned out lovely and since eating a hard-boiled egg for breakfast in the morning is a regular occurrence of mine... eating a pretty hard boiled egg is even better. 

How to hard boil an egg:
Fill a medium pot with eggs and cover with about one inch of water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let stand for ten minutes and put in an ice bath. Keep refrigerated for 3-4 days. 

I have no specific recipe for the dyes I used. I added 1 tsp of vinegar to the coffee and used about 3 C water and 2 T of turmeric and 1 tsp vinegar for the yellow eggs. I like how bright they turned out with speckles, but I also really like the grayish-purple the red wine vinegar created. Check out Bon Appetit for some guidelines on other natural dyes.  

If you're not into chicken eggs, try Martha's Chocolate Truffle Eggs even though they are so gorgeous you won't want to eat them. Oh, who am I kidding, any kind of chocolate no matter how pretty must be eaten immediately! Happy Easter and Happy Egg Dyeing. 

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween! I don't have kids, and I'm thankful San Francisco doesn't put an age limit on dressing up. Michael and I went with some friends on Wednesday to an underground restaurant/costume party at a "haunted" house in Alamo Square hosted by Stag Dining Group. We paraded through a gigantic house-turned boarding school-turned artist studio/event rental complete with a larger than life size painting of Michael Jackson in full Thriller get-up. Oh, and loads of gorgeous glitter paintings. Yes, I said glitter and gorgeous in the same sentence! Artist Rene Garcia Jr. is a genius with glitter. My limited experience with glitter involved a bottle of Elmer's Glue....

We jumped from dark rooms into dark hallways to scare other diners in a creepy empty top floor, and walked through a staged "Haunted House." We also drank some interesting cocktails by Cocktail Lab complete with basil seeds and rum that look and feel texturally like you are chewing on eyeballs. They also made a "Hannibal Lecter;"a whisky sour with chianti poured over a spoon on top to keep the colors separated, which I liked much more than the first.

image from Striking Keys

The chef's behind the Stag Dining Group created a great menu for the night:

Crab Puffs - Togarashi, lemon

Roasted Beets & Carrots - goat cheese mousse, preserved lemon-honey vinaigrette, rye crumble

Squid Ink Chowda - lobster, kabocha squash, clams

Baby-Back Ribs - smoked maple glaze, apple celery root slaw

"Drumstick" - dark and stormy brownie, rum ice cream, waffle cone 

I can't complain much about the food, only a little about the timing. It was fun and provided a good test run of the costumes. 

Saturday I spent a majority of the day decorating the house with spider webs and fake plastic spiders for our grown-up Halloween party. I also tried a new recipe for sugar cookies. They are super soft and puffy and very much like the kind you buy in the grocery store... you know, the round ones with sprinkles coordinating with every holiday. The recipe is great. The cookies are not overly sweet and pair well with the buttercream frosting. I prefer buttercream on cookies as opposed to royal icing decorated cookies - the buttercream tastes so much better. The recipe I tried came from Sweet Pea's Kitchen and I didn't change a thing (except on the second batch I rolled them a bit less than 1/4"). The general consensus was good and Michael really liked them. I believe his exact words were, "Those cookies are the Bomb!" Then we laughed and high-fived. This is the key to a good marriage. 

Hopefully I'll get to hand out some candy to neighborhood kiddies this year since we have a front door! I think I'll refrain from my creepy Black Swan costume as well... no need to terrify the little ones. 

Happy Halloween!

Apple Fritters

I've always enjoyed apple season. We used to go and pick apples at Stephenson's Orchard as a family when I was young. My sister and I would climb the trees to get some of the best apples from the tops. I have fond memories of blue rimmed heart shaped sunglasses during these adventures. Yeah 80's. I don't think you were supposed to climb the trees but we were little and probably light enough it didn't matter. We picked a ton of apples, mostly Jonathan apples, and stored them in a fridge in the garage. I miss the convenience of having an extra fridge or freezer. I don't know if the orchard still exists for picking in the Kansas City area, but the restaurant that had some of the best apple desserts does not. I was always fascinated by their caramel apples, and still am to this day. I'll be making my own soon so don't fret. I also have a special place in my heart for fried dough balls filled with apple chunks. 

I picked a variety of recipes for the month of September for the Easy Bake cOven blog but I chose to make the fritters first. I usually get around to making quite a few of the recipes but these were calling me. Michael asked why I bought so many apples at Trader Joe's when we got back from our NYC trip, my response was baking. It's usually baking when I buy an excess of one particular ingredient. Unless butter is on sale... 

I don't fry things often. Sometimes Michael and I will make tortilla chips if we're out and have nothing but corn tortillas, but this is the extent. Desserts are excessive to start and I feel worse eating something fried. Doughnuts fall in this category. I love doughnuts but don't have them often. Guilty pleasures. I really enjoyed these little fried dough balls. Simple and quick yet small enough you don't feel bad eating a few. 

Apple Fritters
Pioneer Woman
I halved the recipe and it made about 2 dozen ping pong ball sized fritters. 


2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
3 T sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 C milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 T melted butter
2 whole granny smith apples peeled and diced
powdered sugar for dusting

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Melt the butter in a large liquid measuring cup and add the milk, egg and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until little flour remains. Add in the apples and stir to combine. 

Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium heat. I kept my oil temperature around 325˚F and the fritters took about three minutes each. Using a small cookie scoop, drop a few blobs of dough into the hot oil, don't overcrowd or your oil will not stay consistently hot. Flip them over to insure even golden brown and test your first batch to make sure they are evenly cooked. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar for eating. 

Almond Spiced Granola

You know how much I like granola right? I like chewy granola and crunchy granola, and I like trying new recipes. I recently adapted a recipe from Whole Foods and though I may have cooked it two minutes longer than I should (I blame allergies for lack of smell) I've enjoyed it. It's versatile because it is sweet and crunchy and no flavor is too overpowering.

If you are like me and feel ravenous before dinner, you can eat it by the handfull while rummaging through your kitchen for something to cook. You could also sprinkle it on muffins before baking, make a delicious yogurt parfait with seasonal fruits and agave nectar (or honey), use it as a topping for ice cream, make trail mix, or scoop it from a bowl filled to the brim with milk.

I like to eat yogurt wearing a toga, but you can wear whatever you like. Any way you eat it, I'm sure you will like it. Feel free to make it something you really love.

Almond Spiced Granola
adapted from Whole Foods

3 C old fashioned oats
3 T whole wheat flour
1 C slivered almonds
1 C pecan pieces
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or equal amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger)
1 tsp almond extract (or substitute vanilla)
1/2 C honey
1/3 C canola oil

Preheat the oven to 275˚F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with a silpat. Mix the dry ingredients and nuts in a large bowl. In a measuring cup add oil, honey and vanilla and stir. Add the honey mix into the oats and stir to coat evenly.

Bake for 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally to break up the larger pieces. Remove from oven when it's light brown and fragrant. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 hour or until completely cool (it will crisp up if it seems too wet after baking). Store in an airtight container.

a fight with french macarons

I've needed a good reason for years to try making macarons, French macarons. They are finicky, crisp-shelled, chewy-centered sandwich cookies, and usually better from a professional. I am no Pierre Herme, and there are bakeries everywhere dedicated solely to making these delicious bites. They are one of the most artistic cookies you can imagine with endless flavor combinations and they scare me.

I've been drooling over some of Tartelette's recipes for a long time and finally decided to use macarons as the recipe of the month for the Easy Bake cOven blog. I hoped two months to try macarons would be enough time, but even I didn't succeed in my own deadline. Summer scheduling is always difficult, and I'm guessing some people detest the idea of turning on their oven on a blistering summer day (even a mere 280˚F). For me, the oven is always welcome on our cold, depressingly foggy summer nights. I intended to make these on the last day possible (August 31) and post at the last minute, but I didn't. I came home that night to a messy kitchen and decided I should probably clean instead of make mess upon mess. We are nearing the end of September... and I have nothing to show!

I attempted the macarons on a Sunday hoping to donate them to a bake sale. They looked like they should, feet around the edge and a crisp shell. The problem I had was that they stuck really bad to the parchment. I tried scraping them off gently but most of them mushed into a half moon. I have no clue why this happened - every new recipe is an experiment right? I'm guessing it could be two things: too heavy of a batter or I left them too long to dry before baking. Because I don't know the answers, I quickly enrolled myself in a class from Baking Arts here is SF. Putting birthday money to good use. I took a class from Richard before and learned to make some of the most delicious chocolate truffles. I trust that this class will cure my horrible first experience and I promise to share everything with you mid October after my class.

I did rescue them somewhat... and turned my crumbs into "pistachio cacao nib balls" dipped in dark chocolate. Not my best by any means but it was good to avoid wasting a tasty cookie.

Now I will keep telling myself, "Failure is the only opportunity to begin again more intelligently" -Henry Ford. 

image from bisous ciao macarons, pure art

Incredible inspiration! 

I must visit here during my nyc trip in just over a week!

Lebovitz's Mint Ice Cream

I finally let Michael eat the last scoop of ice cream this week. Mid August, I warned him I needed one scoop to photograph for the blog and he reluctantly put the tub back in the freezer and went for vanilla instead. He reminded me a few times that I needed to take photos so he could eat it, and I reminded him that I needed good light for a good ice cream photo. I also needed to be home before 7 with nothing else to do on a weeknight to make this happen. August was a busy month.

I tried a new recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. I think he is currently traveling around San Francisco and I'm resisting the urge to stalk him. I might have to visit Smitten Ice Cream soon though because he gave it a pretty good review on his blog... ice cream via liquid nitrogen. hmm.

I chose real mint ice cream. Why would I do such a thing you ask? Well, I have a garden now... you could say I'm developing a green thumb, and I'm growing mint. Mint is an easy plant even if you have a black thumb. Just beware as it is likely to take over areas of your garden unless confined to a pot. My mint is weird. It has smaller leaves and when it gets tall the leaves start to turn purple (this may mean my window box is too small). I used it anyways, even some of the purple, and it turned into a very refreshing ice cream. I added chocolate chips of course because mint needs the best flavor companion possible and I was a bit nervous about the strong fresh mint taste. If all else failed, at least the would be chocolate.

I liked it, I think Michael liked it too. He ate most of it anyways with bits of leftover cake that I didn't make into cake pops. My preference is still peppermint extract flavored ice cream, but this one was nice for a change, and nice to be able to use something I've grown in a recipe.

Mint Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz

 1 C whole milk
1/4 C sugar
2 C heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
2 C fresh packed mint leaves
1 C roughly chopped chocolate (mini chocolate chips work well too) my addition

Heat milk, sugar, and 1 C cream in a heavy bottom saucepan. Add the mint leaves and steep for one hour. This means stir them up and cover with a lid. Go do some sit-ups since you'll be eating this later, and and strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Make sure you push leaves against the strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Lebovits says your cream will be a lovely shade of emerald, but mine was barely green. Warm this mix back up on meduim heat.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Once the milk is warm, slowly add the milk, whisking constantly, to the eggs and then return all of this to the pot and continue to heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir constantly and try not to let anything burn to the bottom.

In another bowl (more dishes please!) add the remainder of the cream and set the mesh strainer on top (remove leaves). Pour the minty custard through the strainer again to eliminate scrambled eggs in your ice cream and stir into the cream. Place over an ice bath to help cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least four hours. You can add green food coloring now.

Prepare the ice cream according to your machine manufacturer's recommendations. Be sure you've frozen your bowl for as long as required or your ice cream will never get thick. Freeze again for a few hours until it's scoopable, about 4 hours.

Ice cream takes a while, so it's best to plan ahead if your're making it for an event!

Happy Churning!

Beet Chips

When I was little, the only beets I knew were in a jar the fridge submerged in dark purpleish-red juice and they were gross. I don't like pickled beets (Michael does). I don't like many things pickled but beets are at the top of my list. It wasn't until I moved to SF that I experienced beets in a positive way. A lot of restaurants jumped on the "beet and goat cheese" bandwagon, and I finally realized I loved roasted beets. Naturally sweet and earthy, how can you resist?

It's hard to cook beets any other way, or make them different because beets always taste the same. I don't  eat beets with goat cheese much anymore. The best beet salad I had recently was literally a pile of thinly sliced red and gold beets with a handful of greens, bleu cheese and candied walnuts from Chez Spencer. Yum. I often get tired of roasted beets. When this happens, I go in search of a new recipe. I've heard of beet cake, and beetloaf, but the most appealing were beet chips!

We had a little package of beet chips from Whole Foods in my office recently. One of my bosses set them out. My office likes to munch. If they had been normal potato chips, they may have made it past lunch, but the beet chips last a few days. They were thick cut and fried. Shame on you Whole Foods! You don't have to fry all things to make them taste good. Instead, I sliced up a few beets with the mandoline, sprinkled them lightly with kosher salt and baked them until they were light and crispy. They are delicious and pretty. They also don't taste as vegetal as the WF fried version. They are a great snack, and most likely an easy way to get kids to eat something different. Who would not try a purple chip?

The only unfortunate thing about beet chips is they shrink so much when you bake them. Almost by half. So, in order to feed a lot of people for an interesting party snack, you would have to peel and slice a lot of beets. Not bad if you have a little time and like pink hands.

Beet Chips
10 medium size beets peeled and sliced thin on a mandoline (or as thin as your knife can slice them)
2 T olive oil (optional)
kosher salt

Slice the beets and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat. Place the beets in a single layer and sprinkle lightly with salt. (also you can toss the chips in olive oil before placing on the sheet) Bake at 350˚ for 15-20 minutes. Most of the moisture should be gone. Let air dry until completely crisp. Enjoy!

Almond Anise Biscotti

My elementary school art teacher taught me the word "kick". No, she didn't kick us... but she did teach about "short-lived obsessions." This is the best I can do to describe a "kick" if you haven't heard it in context. She was a little wacky as all fantastic elementary art teachers should be and she would announce each time she had a new kick. Her kicks were ever changing and comprised of colors, animals, or even words. But my kicks tend to revolve around an ingredient, or type of food. I've been on muffin kicks and homemade bread kicks, but not until recently have I been dreaming of biscotti. I'd say it's a kick in the making.

I had this biscotti recipe bookmarked for a really long time. I'm guessing about a year. Strange as it seems, I was a little perplexed by biscotti. They are basically twice baked cookies if Italian origin and you enjoy them with your coffee. It's like an adult version of cookies and milk. M really likes biscotti, especially if it has a hint of anise. I have not had many biscotti in my day which may be the reason I never made them until now. I used a recipe only slightly adapted from Dorie Greenspan. They have cornmeal, which gives them a chewy factor along with the crunch. When I make the next batch, there are some proportions I should follow versus following the recipe so closely. The cookie should be a little higher and thinner. I argued that I followed the 3/4 inch direction, but M says higher and skinnier. I'll also try a completely different flavor combination too.

Short and fat, or tall and skinny, they taste nice.  They are not overwhelmingly anise-y or I'd have left them all for M. I think I'd take it up another two notches or use anise oil next time for a more intense flavor. Dipping in chocolate is a necessity, and M found by accident they are delicious frozen. I hope to share more biscotti recipes with you soon... especially if this kick really evolves into something tangible.

Almond Anise Biscotti
adapted from Baking from My Home to Yours

1 1/2 C  + 2T flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C yellow cornmeal
1/2 C butter
3/4 C sugar
2 tsp anise seed
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 C sliced almonds
1 drop anise oil (optional)

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Mix flower, baking powder, cornmeal, salt in a medium bowl.
In a mini food processor or blender, mix anise seed with half the sugar. Blend until the seeds are broken up and the sugar starts to smell faintly of anise.

Cream butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar and anise sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and make sure to scrape the bowl a few times. Add extract and mix in. Mix in the flour on low speed until almost incorporated. Add the almonds and mix until incorporated.

On a silicone mat lined baking sheet, form the dough into a 12" long log. Alternately, you can make two 12 inch logs side by side. Log should be about just over an inch high. Bake 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and place on a cutting board. Slice the dough into 1/2 inch pieces - no need to discard the ends! Set them back on the baking sheet with a little room in between each (top should face up). Bake for 15-20 more minutes or until the edges are golden and firm. Cool on a rack and store airtight.

For the Chocolate
Melt 6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave.
Dip half of the cooled biscotto (singular) into the chocolate and set on a silicone mat or parchment to harden. Store in an airtight container or freeze. You can also leave them out if you really want them to get crunchy - they will last a week or so without freezing.

Whole Wheat Cheese Crackers

I'm going to tell you first that I don't really like cheese flavored snacks. I was never a fan of goldfish crackers until they made the parmesan cheese flavor - and even those I would never buy. I don't like cheez-its either. Yellow cheese and I are not great friends. I have eaten more recently (meaning the past 5 years) in an attempt to be less picky and compromise on sandwich cheese with M. After all, we don't need to store multiple cheeses in the fridge or they get moldy too quickly. I like most other cheese, even the smelly ones. I've also grown to like bleu cheese, thanks to our good friends at Williamson Winery. It will be hard to forget Bleu cheese on top of Irish Cheddar with a little drop of honey. mmmm. 

Now that you know my history of cheddar cheese dislike, you may be asking why I chose to make cheese crackers for the Easy Bake cOven recipe of the month.... I could have made home made oreos or pop tarts. Home made graham crackers should have come before goldfish crackers as well! Fortunately for me, there was a block of neglected cheddar cheese in the fridge calling my name. It started to look a little frosty on two edges so I cut those pieces off and put the rest to good use. (yeah yeah, but all cheese is mold right?)

M and I eat a lot of crackers. They are a good snack to pack with lunch, and are good to munch on when we get home from work if we won't be cooking for a while. The whole wheat version of a goldfish cracker was pretty tasty. They puffed like goldfish (though I wasn't as interested in creating an exact replica as Smitten Kitchen). They had a nice crispy exterior, and as Nicole mentioned when she picked the recipes, you can control every ingredient that goes in. 

The recipes we used all came from Smitten Kitchen. The version I made using 100% whole wheat flour. I don't know that I need to try these with all purpose flour, but I imagine the AP flour version tastes slightly more like the original. Give them a try yourself! They are quick and cheap to make, and your children may love them! 


Whole Wheat Cheese Crackers

1 1/2 C cheddar cheese coarsely grated
4 T butter
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse a couple of times to incorporate. Mix for two minutes or until the dough forms a ball and sounds like it might break your machine. Immediately roll into 1/8 inch thickness (if I did these again I'd make them slightly thinner). Cut with any shape cookie cutter as long as it is easy to eat. (I used a 1 1/2" biscuit cutter). Place on an ungreased cookie sheet as close as 1/4" and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden. Cool on the pan for 30-45 minutes. Remove and store air tight. 

My House is a Crepe House

For the month of June, my other blog, the Easy Bake cOven was supposed to make some crepe creations. I had a base recipe from Alton Brown that allowed for great experimentation. I have eaten quite a few crepes in my day, but never made one. I know someone with a special pan, but you can make them in a non-stick and burn your fingers too. At the exact moment a little pad of butter was singeing off my fingerprints, I was wishing for a giant crepe maker like you see at fancy crepe restaurants. Oh, you haven't seen a crepe cooker before? (and I assure you this is the technical term "crepe cooker") I'll show you. 

Isn't she a beauty? Yes, I agree that had I used those utensils instead of my fingers for flipping I may not have burned them. I should probably get a heat proof spatula... 

I don't know why, but for some reason I just really wanted to make crepes this month. I have been so busy working the past couple of weeks that I haven't baked much... and I feel like I am missing a leg. I don't really have the energy to bake after a 11 hour day and I don't even want to think about dishes. I've been falling asleep randomly on the couch at night while watching tv, or trying to keep my eyelids open while watching a movie, and thankfully our project deadline has passed. This zombie is ready for a long weekend! 

While I was so busy working, I completely forgot to prepare for Meatless Monday this week. So, M and I had a meatless Wednesday. I sort of snuck it in. He caught on at dinner. hehe. I made savory crepes for dinner, and sweet crepes for dessert (along with two cakes for my office). There is nothing like catching up on your baking in one day. 

For dinner, I stole some ideas from the new grilled cheese restaurant near my office. I made crepes with rosemary and basil in the batter, filled with sauteed mushrooms, potatoes, spinach, red onion, and fontina cheese. They were pretty delicious - and super easy! You can even make a bunch of crepes and freeze them for later - or prepare the batter up to two days in advance. You can also fill them with just about anything you might want to eat for breakfast. 

During this crepe-a-thon, I realized how handy the shredding blade was for my food processor. Not for anything crepe related, but for shredding carrots for the cake. they make longer shreds, but it didn't seem to make a difference in the cake. Beats shredding those by hand with a standing grater! Everyone needs a food processor! 

I finished my cakes and started on the dessert course. I had no liquor to add to the batter, but they were still tasty. Anything smothered in hazelnut and strawberries is ok with me. I didn't use Nutella, I used the Italian counterpart Loacker, which is just as great. I sliced up some fresh strawberries and rolled up a crepe with more chocolate spread than necessary.

Results were great. If you haven't ever made a crepe, you should try it. It is super easy, and the options are endless. See what the rest of the group made at the cOven. 

Nutty Nutty Bar Cookies

Not your typical Little Debby bar, but two thousand times better... and not to forget better for you (I mean ingredients you can name here - not health food). I made some bar cookies for our second Tea and Tales Book Exchange, and they happened to be loaded with nuts. It seemed appropriate to call them "Nutty Bars" and think back to my slight addiction to the Little Debby version in my childhood. We didn't have the healthiest snacks in the pantry (our neighborhood friends loved visiting the kitchen), which may pinpoint my chubby phases, but none the less, these cookie bars topped with your choice of nuts, puts peanut butter and wafers to shame. 

My friend Joey and I throw a mean tea party. Joey is in charge of the savory and I'm in charge of the sweet. Our guests usually bring a good assortment of supplements as well. At our first tea party, we had so much food you couldn't see the counter. We did a lot better this time, and still had fantastic foods. Joey made Sausage Rolls with Sweet Hot Mustard, a surprisingly delicious combination, and I made cookie bars. We also served some left over tarts that Joey filled and decorated. We had fresh fruit, pear and brie sandwiches on tiny pumpernickel bread, and assortment of pastries that our friends brought over. 

Photo Courtesy Design Sponge, Photographer Kristina Gill

We had a smaller group than last time, but I still ended up with about 20 left over books on the coffee table to deliver to our neighborhood bookstore. Since we had a manageable group, we actually sat around and discussed some of the books, rather than relying on the blurb on the back written by some witty critic. A bunch of 20-30 something women are much better critics.... We also, left to our own measures, will offer scrunched facial expressions and hmmms when we read the first line of books like, "Before my life started properly, I was doing the usual mewling and sucking, which in my case occurred on a pair of huge, soft black breasts." from The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay. After we are all confused to what this book might be about I took the liberty to read the first 10 pages. No, its not what you think, its about a child growing up with an African wet nurse among an Afrikaans speaking people who himself only knew english. Apparently as the title suggests, he learns the Power of One at some point. I may keep this one around just to see.... 


I had a lot of nutty bars left over that I will probably contribute to the Bake sale at M's office. I switched around the recipe a bit, hopefully you are no longer surprised by this revelation. The recipe called for a 9 x 13 inch pan but I didn't want massively thick bars, so I used my 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan instead. I mentioned before you can use whichever nuts make you happy, and I used chopped Pecans, Walnuts, and Almonds in a 2, 2, 1 ratio. I also reduced the sugar a bit, but it probably could be reduced even more. They freeze exceptionally well, and since they make so many this is a good thing. The addition of buttermilk provides a nice balance to the sweet crust and nuts. The options are endless you could also add coconut which would crisp nicely, and drizzle them with chocolate or a dusting of powdered sugar. Maybe you will should make them for your next summer party. 

Nutty Bars - or - Mixed Nut Bars
adapted from The Biggest Book of Cookies, Better Homes and Gardens

2 C flour
3/4 C butter
1/3 C brown sugar
1 C sugar
1 C buttermilk
3 eggs
1/4 C butter melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 C coarsely chopped mixed nuts (no peanuts though)


To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, mix butter, flour and brown sugar until fine and crumbly. Pat it evenly into an ungreased 10 x 15 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. 


To make the filling:
Dust out the mixer bowl, and add to it eggs, sugar, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix on high for 2 minutes, then add the nuts and mix to coat. Pour over the partially baked crust and spread out the nuts evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes more, or until the center is set and it is beginning to turn golden brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack until the pan is cool enough to grab by your hand. Then stick it into the freezer for about 20 minutes. This will make it much easier to cut. cut into 3 inch by 1 inch bars. Stack them up like jenga blocks to serve.

Caramel Popcorn

Why have I never made my own popcorn before? I have no good answer, but I know I will be making it more often because: It is good; It is cheap; It is better than buying it in a little bag; It is healthier than greasy movie popcorn; it is more versatile; it is fun!

I have had this beautiful jar of popcorn for a while now. I got it as a gift from M's grandma for Christmas, and it has been living on my shelf among other jarred items like rice and pasta. I finally had a good reason to make some. The Frankenart Mart (where I began this crazy baking adventure) was having a movie themed art show, and how can a movie theater operate without snacks like popcorn? Usually I just blurt these ideas out to Leslie, and she gets really excited and holds me to them. She gave me a specific weekend (I believe they were showing a documentary about Grandmas and something else I can't remember) and I promised some caramel popcorn. Regular popcorn seemed too easy - and I get really excited about gourmet things. Does it qualify as gourmet if you can get it in a giant 5 gallon bucket (or tin - but really people it is a fancy bucket chock full of crunchy flavored popcorn) from the store in the mall during the holidays? Lets hope so.

It was really satisfying to hear the little 'tings' as the popcorn hit the lid of the pan. I imagine M thought I was a little crazy smiling and hovering over the stove. I probably do this enough that is doesn't seem abnormal to him anymore. The popping instructions below provide excellent results. Nothing was burned and everything popped. Can you say that about microwave popcorn? I don't think so.

The popcorn was delicious by itself. I could have eaten it without salt (and I like salt). I recommend the grocery bag as your mixing device if you are going to add caramel. If not, a big bowl that you can stick between you and your lovely on the couch for movie night will do. I hope you make this, just think of all the possibilities!

How to Make Popcorn on the Stovetop:

adapted from Simply Recipes

3 T canola oil

1/3 C popcorn kernels

large covered stockpot

(butter and salt if you are not covering it in caramel)

heat the oil over medium high heat. Toss in 4 kernels and put the lid on (while it is heating). As soon as all 4 kernels pop, add the 1/3 cup kernels and remove the pan from heat. Cover with the lid and shake the pan back and forth to coat the kernels. Count to 30, then put the pan back over the heat and continue heating until all the corn pops.

(If you are not covering with Caramel do this: Transfer to a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Melt butter in the pan - about 2 T and add melted butter over the top. Stir to combine)

If you are coating with caramel, follow these steps: Add the popcorn to a large paper bag. Repeat the popping process so you have nearly 5 quarts of popcorn. Add this to the bag as well.

To make the Caramel:

1/2 C butter

1 3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C honey

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 250˚F. In a 3 c saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in brown sugar and honey. Increase the heat to med-high. Bring to a boil and continue for about 4 minutes. Add salt and vanilla. Stir with a heat safe spatula. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in baking soda. Careful! This mix will foam up (like making peanut brittle) and may try to escape the pan. Quickly pour over the popcorn in the paper bag. Fold the top of the bag over and shake for 2 minutes until the popcorn is evenly covered.

Spray a large rimmed pan and pour the caramel popcorn into the pan. Stir with a spatula to make sure they are coated evenly. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour stirring every 20 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and spread across a sheet of waxed paper to dry overnight (or consume immediately). You can package them and give as gifts or serve at a party.