Breakfast Cookies

So I made these breakfast cookies--the ones I mentioned here.  I have never made a breakfast cookie before but it has two of my favorite words in its name, so it seemed like a sure thing.  Then I got a little scared when I saw that they had no butter, no sugar, and no eggs.  I was suddenly put in mind of these all natural "healthy" cookies my friend Carrie's boyfriend in college once made (he was all into yoga and not showering and listening to the Dead--you know the type--you may have dated one in college yourself)--and how she described them as tasting like small rocks.  Just to be clear, rocks are not my idea of breakfast or cookies.  

Look, I like the idea of something healthy, but would Beeper actually eat them as he ran out the door to catch the bus? Would I eat them as I ran out the door to work?  The answer is YES--in fact, Beeper eats them for breakfast, and then he asks for one later as an after-school snack.  Okay, I did make a few modifications to the recipe.  I did not want them too be too overwhelmingly banana-y so I actually only used 1+1/2 bananas and then substituted 3/4 cup of applesauce for the remaining bananas.  Yep--that still kept it in the realm of all wholesome.  But then I thought they might be sort of good with peanut butter so I added about 1/3 cup of PB.  And then when I tasted the batter it did seem a little bland so I went ahead and put in 1/4 cup of honey to sweeten it a bit and after that it worked for me.  They are just mildly sweet and oatmeal-y and nutty and coconutty with an undercurrent of banana.  Mine did take an extra 5-minutes of baking time too.  But I would definitely make these again--and am thinking about how I could further customize the recipe to still be healthy but maybe taste a bit more like the Ranger cookies my mom used to make.  

You can find the original recipe here, at Blueberry Girl.  Recipe customization is at your discretion--although I would not think any less of you if you were tempted to throw some chocolate chips into these. 

Eat This: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Last summer, when we visited Madeline Island, we had the pleasure of meeting a friend's 11-year-old niece, Lily.  She was a caring baby sitter, a fearless cliff jumper (evidence here, 3rd photo from the bottom), and a happy baker of this bread--which she made from memory.  We were quite smitten with her, as well as this chocolate zucchini bread.  We ate it for breakfast, mid-afternoon snacks with tea, and for dessert--we ate so much of it, we actually had to ask her if she would kindly bake a second batch.  Then we asked for the recipe.  

So, here it is--for all of you.  Because it is high zucchini season and gives you something delicious to do with a glut of zucchini--or with that enormous foot long zucchini you see at the farmer's market for $1.  

You can whip the batter together in 15 minutes--grating the zucchini is the hardest part, although, really--how hard is it to grate a zucchini?  Exactly. (You should know that you can grate your zucchini and freeze it for use later in the year for this bread too--it will seem watery when you thaw it out but throw it all in and it will work just as well as freshly grated zucchini).

I admit I did add an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder and an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla to her recipe--just because it makes the flavor a little deeper.  Oh, okay--I also added an extra 1/4 cup of chocolate chips--no need to get technical. (my modifications are included in the recipe)

I made one large loaf of this bread--as opposed to dividing it between a couple of pans.  If you make one large loaf, you will have to watch the baking time and stick it with a skewer to check that it is cooked through--mine took about 1 hour and 15 minutes but I think I could have given it another 5-10 minutes because it was just a little gooey in a small spot in the center.

We brought this on a picnic and served it up for dessert topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  Then we ate the remainders straight up for breakfast.  Don't tell anyone I said so, but it is also really good with store bought chocolate frosting slathered on top--and just think, because it has all that zucchini in it, you can still count it as a serving of vegetables.

DOWNLOAD CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD RECIPE

Where Do Doughnut Muffins Fit in the MyPlate Graphic?

Okay, maybe you should not really eat these--but you already want to, don't you?  I'm not going to stop you.  I'm also not going to tell you that these doughnuts disguised as a muffin do not taste good--because they are so yummy, so chocolate-y, and did I mention, they taste remarkably like a freshly-friend doughnut?  Oh, yeah, except they aren't fried like other naughty little doughnuts out there--these are baked, all snug and happy in a muffin pan.  

You can thank Joy for the recipe because that is where I got the recipe from.  Right here.  I have a total love-hate with her blog because I cannot resist making her stuff--like this and my goodness, I so want to make this--but really, I do not think any of these items would fit anywhere on that new MyPlate graphic from the USDA.  What do you think?

And despite all that, I'm undeterred from telling you to try these--and I am even going to suggest you double dip your muffins in the chocolate glaze (there will be more than enough from the amount the recipe makes) and just pretend that chocolate and doughnut muffins have their own special food plate graphic not yet created. In the meantime, I am dreaming about making these again, but with a nice vanilla bean glaze, then dipped in coconut.  Something to think about...

Have a Sweet Christmas

I got my candy making mojo on a couple of days ago and with a little assistance from Mr Beeper.  We managed to produce this assortment of candies over a couple of evenings.  Having personally taste tested all of them, I can vouch for their edibility.  In fact, perhaps they may be a little too edible.

Which is why we have packaged most of it up in these sweet pale blue boxes from Martha and delivered them around to friends and family.  But if you get a little hankering to make some candy for yourself, here are links to all of the recipes we used:

Bourbon Pecan Truffles

Coconut and grapefruit gumdrops

Fleur de Sel Caramels

Mint Marshmallows 

(adapted by adding 1/2 tsp mint extract to the basic recipe and then dipped half in milk chocolate)

Movie Theatre Bark

Nuts and Seeds Fleur de Sel Dark Chocolate Bark

Pistachio, Dried Cranberry and Toasted Coconut White Chocolate Bark

Toffee Fleur de Sel Truffles

Winter Bark

The cookie lollies on top of the boxes were inspired by the look of this recipe--but are actually an entirely different creation.  They were made with oreos that I pushed a lolly stick into, then dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with the red winter berries.

Hope you have a sweet holiday filled with love, laughter and some lovely treats.

Eat This: Grandma Neuman's Cookies

You might be wondering who the heck Grandma Neuman is and what does she have to do with these cookies.  Well, I have tell you I do not even know who the heck Grandma Neuman is other than that these cookies are made from her recipe.  You see, back in the seventies, my brother was a paper boy in a small Minnesota town and one of his customers was this old lady, whom was only known to him as "Grandma Neuman" (small towns, gotta love 'em).  One Christmas, Grandma Neuman gave my brother a small box of these cookies as a thank you  (again, small towns--wish my world in the city was more like this...but I am pretty sure that if we gave our paper boy a box of cookies he would scowl at us)...the cookies came home, we all dug into them, and my mom then declared we must have the recipe and sent my brother back to request the recipe the next time her delivered her paper...and here we are today, still eating Grandma Neuman's cookies every single Christmas.

And these cookies are one my holiday faves--both because of how the recipe came to us, but also because they are simple to mix up, fun to cut out, and are a wonderful simple cookie that falls somewhere in flavor between a sugar cookie and gingerbread.   I guess they are a spice cookie.  And you can see above, the dough is Beeper approved.

This was Beeper's first year that he really dug into the whole cookie making process from start to finish--and you can see the colorful (did I hear someone say gaudy?), and richly festooned (did someone say looks like rainbow vomit?) fruits of his labors.  

But you can also make these with simple white sanding sugar and they are lovely--like these little gingerbread men (that are technically not gingerbread men, I know...) that just got a light sprinkle of sugar and 3 red hot buttons and were piereced before and after baking with a skewer so they could be threaded with baking twine and hung on the tree.  Or, you can just eat them too--because you will want to and they are just plain good in the way something can only be when it comes from an old lady known only as Grandma Neuman to her town.  

You can download the recipe here:

DOWNLOAD COOKIE RECIPE

Eat This: Homemade Popsicles

This is what I have been obsessively doing for the past month--making bazillions of popsicles.  Our freezer became so overrun it was starting to look like I should I just buy an ice cream truck that plays that creepy music-box-y music and head down to the beach and go into business.  

But instead, all the kids who visit our house get to luck out and eat a popsicle of her/his choice upon entry.  The thing is, popsicles are really, really easy to make.  And so delicious--and some are even relatively healthy for you--or at least they are corn syrup free and may involve some yogurt and fresh fruit, so there's that.

I began this odyssey making some of the frozen pops from this book--Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon--which is an excellent book all around, by the way--full of how-tos on making everything from ricotta cheese to poptarts ...

...to marshmallows to several varieties of crackers...

...and even real jamaican ginger beer...and photos of everything (I love photos in a cookbook--it is always the photos that woo me into buying)--plus, an entire chapter devoted to frozen confections (the fudgesicle recipe in here is delish--a little dark, fudgey and nothing like what you find in the store in such a good way).

So, this was my popsicle primer--and then I just sort of took off from there and went freestyle--mixing all sorts of fruits and ingredients together willynilly--my family dutifully trying each new variety of popsicle and letting me know if it was a keeper.  And now I am here to share my fave new frozen pop creations with you--orange vanilla, coconut pineapple, banana-strawberry-pineapple bomb pop, and cherry lemonade.  Have at it:
DOWNLOAD RECIPE

Keep on enjoying summer with a vengeance and make some for yourself.  (and when I say make some, I mean make lots because you should, and that vanilla orange popsicle might-be mood-altering all on its own.  If you know what I mean.)

Further Adventures in Jam Making: Apricot

One year later, here I am, still making jam.  For those of you who may not be aware, I kind of went on a jam-making binge last summer--and undeterred by stifling heat and humidity, I have been back at it again.  I have already canned a year's supply of blubarb (my recipe here), and again have raspberry and raspberry jalapeno (those recipes here) on the docket--but then I also added apricot to the repetoire this year.  Do you think I have a jam-making problem?  Like, one that requires a licensed therapist?  Anyway...

...As you can see here, it all worked like a charm--apricots cooked down, jam jelled, tastes like summer in a jar.

So thought I would share the recipe with you too--just in case you were interested and suddenly realized that you too needed to go on a jam-making bender.  I am more than happy to be your jam enabler (or pusher, whatever works for you)--here's the recipe I used for my apricot:

DOWNLOAD APRICOT JAM RECIPE

And if you do make some apricot jam--here is my very strong recommendation--make yourself a loaf or two of irish brown bread (that recipe is right here too) and serve that up this weekend with your freshly concocted apricot jam and some lovely european butter.  Because these things are meant for each other--you can feel them holding hands and reading Shakespearean sonnets to one another as they glide over your tongue.  Apricot jam and irish brown bread are food soul mates, I tell you.  Try it--you'll see.  Like love in your tummy.

May Day Brunch

The first Sunday of every May we host our annual May Day brunch and group trek to the crazy liberal May Day Parade that ends at Powder Horn Park, just down the way from us. Here are a few photos from our lovely day...

(big jar of Sangria)

(rainbow cupcakes made by Adrian)

(flower lollies--later handed out by the kiddies at the parade--more about how to make them here)

(colorful faces for the kiddies)

(lemon sticky buns--recipe here)

(laughter with the girls over prosecco around the table)

(smashed crispy potatoes--one of my favorite recipes for casual gatherings--recipe here)

(scenes from the parade put on by the amazing In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre)

(kiddies up close with the parade animals)

Use What You Have: Making Stock & Soup From Bones

Hear me now (if you don't already know): Making your own chicken broth is easy. Really. And way more inexpensive than buying it in cartons or cans at the grocery. Every one should make their own chicken broth because: 1)the aforementioned ease with which it can be made, 2)the taste is immeasurably superior to anything you could buy, and 3)what else are you going to do with all those old chicken bones?

Yeah, that's right. Old chicken bones = delicious broth. Even old freezer burned and desicated looking ones like those pictured above make good broth. I keep a big plastic bag or two in my freezer at all times of the year that I toss chicken bones into--and mainly use them all winter long for making stock, which then becomes all manner of soups. Or, it might become gravy in pan of chicken and biscuits, or it might even add some good flavor to some couscous or something.

So, I really want you to at least try to make your own chicken stock if you have never done it before. It only takes about 15 minutes to prep all the ingredients, and then you just abandon it to simmer on the stove for two hours while you do other things, whatever those may be. And then you come back, taste it, maybe add some salt, drain, and refrigerate. Next day, skim the fat (as above), perhaps set half aside to freeze and use for another day (or I freeze some in ice cube trays and keep these in a bag for easily accessible smaller quantities of broth whenever needed), and use the other half to make some soup right now. Why not?

Because here's my chicken stock recipe for you: DOWNLOAD CHICKEN STOCK RECIPE

No excuses, now. Go make some and report back.

And this is one of the many lovely and warming dishes you can make from your freshly homemade stock: Home-Style Split Pea Soup. Healthy, and it smells like goodness in a bowl. And like all good soups, tastes even better the next day.

Oh, and I just so happen to have another recipe for you here: DOWNLOAD SPLIT PEA SOUP RECIPE

There are so many things you can do with your stock once you make it--like either of these recipes:

• Chicken and Biscuits
• Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

Trust me on this. You will never, ever go back to stock in a can or carton once you start doing this. Bones to broth. Like culinary magic, I tell you.

Recycle Your Food: Roasted Tomatoes & What to Do with Them

I've been wanting to do this for a while--share some of the ways I use up food that might otherwise get tossed out into the compost or trash. I love the notion of recycling your food, that you can suddenly create something not just merely edible, but something delicious with over-ripe fruits, a glut of end-of-season-not-quite-ripe tomatoes, the heels and left over bits of breads, and old chicken bones. So, I bring you installment number 1 in Recycle Your Food: What to do with all those less than ideal tomatoes you might have sitting around ripening on your window sills.

The answer is simple and a snap to prepare--make some oven-roasted tomatoes. What I love about this technique is that the tomatoes are SO lovely tasting this way--even those less than ideal tomatoes that did not ripen on the vine or those lackluster mid-winter grocery-store tomatoes. You can also include tomatoes just slightly past their prime, gone a bit wrinkly and a little mushy, if you must. And what I love about this technique even more than how lovely tasting they are is the fact that with little fuss you can prepare loads of tomatoes in this way, and simply package them up and freeze them for later enjoyment. I mean with winter setting in, I so dig hoarding food likeI am a squirrel. There is comfort in knowing you have 8 bags of roasted tomatoes in your freezer. Or maybe that's just me.
Anyway, here is the recipe for oven-roasting your own batch of tomatoes:
DOWNLOAD OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES RECIPE

And then, if you want something to actually make with those lovely little roasted tomatoes--well, this is one of my favorites--a pasta made with roasted tomatoes, feta and pesto. It is so much flavor in your mouth make sure you have some nice red wine to offset it with. Really. I'm serious. It would be a shame not to.
And here are the recipes for the pasta, as well as for the pesto you will need to make the pasta dish:
DOWNLOAD ROASTED TOMATO PASTA RECIPE
DOWNLOAD PESTO RECIPE
Happy food recyling and roasted tomato hoarding.