Homemade Granola Bars

I found this recipe in a local newspaper and tweaked it a bit based on items we had on hand:

2 C rolled oats

3/4 C brown sugar (I used 1/2 C)

1/3 C ground flax seed

1 tsp cinnamon

1 C whole wheat flour

3/4 C raisins (I used 1 C assortment of dried apricots, cranberries and raisins)

1/2 C honey

1 beaten egg

1/2 C Canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350, line a 9″ x 13″ pan w/foil and grease.  Add oats, sugar, flax, cinnamon, flour and dried fruits together in bowl.

Next add egg, oil, vanilla and honey and mix with hands.

Press mixture into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool and cut into bars. Delicious!  Use any crumbly pieces in cereal with milk or as dessert on top of ice cream.

Dough Letters and Sculptures

I used to refer to this activity as pretzel letters, but it’s really bread dough, and we seldom end up with anything that resembles letters – but we DO have a WHOLE lot of fun!

You can either make or purchase bread dough ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 400. Throw out bit of flour on work surface to minimize sticking. Break off golf-ball size pieces of dough and roll, smoosh, twist, work into letters, whatever works!

Place on baking sheet and brush on coat of beaten egg.  Top with cinnamon, parmesan cheese or sea salt.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes depending on thickness of dough pieces.

Making Banana Bread for Grandpa

We’re going to see Grandpa and decided to make some banana bread.  I go the ole Joy of Cooking route with a couple of tweaks:

Preheat oven to 350

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour (I use half whole wheat, half all-purpose)

2 1/4 tsp double-acting baking powder

1/2 tsp salt (I skip)

Sift above ingredients together (anyway you choose to sift!)

Blend together:

1/3 C shortening

2/3 C sugar (I use 1/4 C)

3/4 tsp grated lemon rind (I use 1 tsp)

Beat in 1-2 eggs and 1- 1 1/4 C ripe, mashed banana (mashing the banana is the BEST part)

Add sifted ingredients to the egg mixture in increments and stir (or smoosh) until smooth.

Put batter in greased bread pan and bake about 1 hour.  

Top with cream cheese and enjoy!!

Beet Ice Cream, with Orange Zest, Mascarpone, and Poppy Seeds

This recipe comes from “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home.”  Thanks go to June Gillis, who gifted the book to me.

Wrap two medium beets in aluminum foil and roast, at 400 degrees, until very soft, about 90 minutes.

When cool to the touch, peel and chop, and then puree in a food processor.  Press the puree through a sieve, and combine 1/2 cup puree with 2 tablespoons sugar and set aside.

To the beet puree, add 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.  Mix until smooth and set aside.

Combine 2 tablespoons whole milk with 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch to make a slurry.  Set aside.

Combine 2 cups whole milk, 1 and 1/4 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup (or 1 tablespoon Agave Nectar), and zest of one orange (use a vegetable peeler so the zest is large pieces) and bring to a rolling boil for four minutes.  Remove from the heat and wisk in the slurry, return to the heat and boil for one minute, until it thickens.

Remove the thickened base from the heat and slowly wisk in the beet/mascarpone mixture.

Pour the mixture into a one gallon zip-lock bag and submerge in an ice bath for 30 minutes, or until chilled.

Once chilled, remove the orange zest and pour into an ice cream cannister.  Add 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds and churn according to the manufacturers instructions.  Once the ice cream has the thickness of soft serve, put into a one-quart container, cover with parchment paper and freeze, in the coldest part of your freezer, until firm, at least four hours.

Sure to please!