Peach Bars

Last Sunday morning, I experimented around a tish in the kitchen with some peaches that were ripe and needing to be used.  Crisp was what I had on the brain but I wanted it to be a good for your body version, not just a good for your soul version.  

Remember how I mentioned I sat in a semi with my brother and ate part of his lunch while we waited for the tractor and grain cart?  Well...the part of his lunch I ate was a homemade granola bar my sister-in-law whipped up.  It was delicious in its chewy peanut buttery and dark chocolatey and oats combination.  

So when I was standing in the kitchen the next morning holding my coffee mug and staring at the peaches - literally staring - waiting for some idea of what to make to appear from thin air, I thought of the granola bars and made a phone call to that fabulous sister-in-law of mine.  

After a quick discussion, we determined peaches could be added and they would just be a chewier bar because of the extra liquid.   

The dough looked sketchy at best but the final result was rather delicious.  My parents stopped over for lunch and when I brought out the mug of coffee and peach bar to my dad, I waited for him to take a bite and say something about it tasting healthy.  But, he didn't.  He ate it and seemed to enjoy.  I texted Sil that we had ourselves a success story and then made her a pan and Karen a pan.  The peaches I stared at on the counter with my coffee cup in hand were gone, used up in some good for your body peach bars. 

The original recipe that Sil found for the granola bars came from Kitchen Stewardship and here's how we tweaked it to make some peach bar business.  

1/2 c. peanut butter (the kind that is like just peanuts chewed up and spit back out - ingredients of peanuts and that's it, maybe a little salt)

1 c. honey

1 tsp. vanilla

4 1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 c. sliced into tiny bits fresh peaches 

Whip together the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix the whole wheat flour and baking soda together.  Add that to the creamy mixture and stir.  Then, throw the oats in a cup at a time until all mixed together.  

At this point, it will be thick.  As in thick thick.  Add in the two cups of peaches and then like magic, the dough becomes workable again.  

Pour in a buttered or greased or nonstick (whatever floats your boat in that land) 9 x 13 pan and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes.  The edges will be light brown but they will still look gushy and that's okay.  

Take the pan out of the oven and let cool completely.  THEN here's the step that is the coolest for the cool bars.  Cut them up, place parchment paper on a baking sheet, and then put the cut bars on the sheet so they aren't touching each other.  Re-bake them at 325 for about another 13-16 minutes.  Let cool again and they become a little bar that really holds together.  I packaged mine individually and threw them in the freezer.  They are perfect for grabbing on the run for breakfast or for a pick me up snack.

Cookies all Around

Happy Veteran's Day!  Teaching on an Air Force base has given me much perspective on how thankful we all should be for the men and women who serve this country.  We should be thinking of them and their families every single day, not just on a holiday.  I wrote about it a long time ago and it still holds true.  Absolute true. 

If you are at home today, you are in luck because here's where I get back to the sharing of the cookie recipe from the night in which I baked cookies with only the under cabinet lighting, because it was prettier.  

Chocolate Chip Fabulous-ness should be the title but it's really Chocolate Chip Cookies Doubled (Debi) in the book.  Which means they came from Momma D. and they have been made more times than one could count. 

2 cups softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
4 tsps. vanilla
5 cups all purpose flour (I tend to lean towards a solid 5 1/2)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsps. baking powder
2 tsps. baking soda
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.  In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, soda, and powder.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Scoop dough onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges are brown.   

There's more butter and sugar than ever should be allowed but trust me on this. 

And flour will fly all over hell because it's a gigantic doubled batch.  Taking deep breaths and thinking of the end products works to combat the white mess. 

Because of the enormity of the dough, the spatula will break.  Which will cause you to get out the supposedly fancy pink one from a certain store, the one nobody likes because it doesn't really work.  That's what fancy gets you.

After that, you will run out of normal sized semi sweet chocolate chips and have to add in mini chips as a substitute and then you'll always want to do that, serendipitous surprise.  

The wooden spoon you inherited from Grandma Gladys will need to come out to do the final mixing as you stand on a chair because it's that serious.

Finally, you'll scoop and scoop and scoop because the batch goes on forever.

And if you are named Amy and an absolute bottom of the ninth-er, you will pull a comfy chair into the kitchen to sit and read your book club book while you wait in between oven dings because the next night is book blub Friday.     

Why couldn't one read the book in the living room?  Because the World Series trumped all, that's why.  Improvising is the name of the game around here.  

After the whole ordeal is said and done, you'll have enough cookies to bring a large container to work the next day, send two plates to Billy's work, and freeze three containers to be shared at a house warming party on the following Sunday. 

 

Plan appropriately.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

These gems are chewy and freeze like they were born to freeze.  Sometimes it's a good idea to do a little tester cookie or three to see if you need to add flour.  They run on the flat side but you don't want them to be run over style. 

This From the Girl

This is coming from the girl who used to consider boiling noodles as cooking and the girl who used to be entirely freaked out from the thought of raw chicken.  I blame the raw chicken loathing years on my childhood times of butchering chickens...the two nails on a board and the smell and the gut pulling...I will stop now but that business will haunt you for more than a day. 

 

Appetizing huh? 

 

Moving on. 

 

All of that oddness to say, I really love cooking.  The figuring out what combination of flavors will work and the chopping and the experimenting and the planning and really, I love it all. 

 

I tried this chicken fajita marinade last week and it was mighty tasty.  After it was cooked of course. 

 

 

Good thing I've overcome the raw chicken fear! 

 

1/2 cup of beer

1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. brown sugar (or honey if you are weird like me)

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (don't tell me if there is sugar in that sometimes it's better not to look thank you very much)

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

dash of salt

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

 

Whisk and marinade for at least three hours as chicken doesn't like to let marinade in.  They are independent ones, not wanting to break down their walls...

 

And that is why I should not have this much free time.  I'm one step away from chicken relationship psychology analogies.   

 

 

Let me count the ways I can photograph garlic and lime.  Again with the free time. 

 

 

Then, chop your fajita veggies and admire their beauty. 

 

 

Then right before the chicken is thrown on the grill, make some homemade guacamole with avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, salt, pepper, and lemon or lime juice. 

 

 

Once you go homemade with guacamole, you'll never go back.

 

 

And finally, right as the chicken is hitting the heat on the patio, give your veggies a slight dusting of Cajun spice and olive oil while they sauté in the kitchen.  I've never used Cajun before for this task, but it really worked well with the flavor from the marinade and the smear of guacamole I put on every single bite.  Delicious! 

 

Cooking.  Oh how I love you. 

 



More About This One

It's called Buttermilk pie and it's a little bit better than fabulous.  I don't know where I first saw it or why I thought, "Hey!  I know!" on Saturday morning with my cup of coffee and menu planning, but thought I did.  A quick search landed me on Emeril's recipe.  I figured Emeril is fairly credible in the cooking realm, so I went for it.

Very easy to make and it's reminiscent of Crème Brulee which is a total win. 

But it takes much longer than 25 minutes to bake.  I'm not sure who planned that ridiculousness but it is not freaking true.  No way is that thing set up in that amount of time, more like double or nothing baby.  It was past midnight by the time it came out of the oven and I had a nasty oven rack burn on my hand and was fall over tired.  And really, it could have probably baked even a scooch more.  But at that point, it was time for it to be over. 

Here's the only other bit of advice when it comes to Buttermilk Pie, do not let the filling sit in the crust while the apple pie finishes baking.  It was a bit crystal-ish around the edges and my deductive reasoning tells me the sit time was the cause.  So, whip it together and pour it in and bake it up right away.

Also, I just looked at the reviews for the recipe and I think doing the extra flour thing and baking it on the bottom rack would probably be a smart idea...next time.   

Either way, it's delectable.  I served it with real whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a strawberry.  Because it was pretty that's why.

Also, might I add that saying out loud the name Buttermilk Pie to company while standing in the kitchen with a spatula in your hand will make you feel a tad southern and we all know how I feel about that.  I have no research behind saying it is from the South but it sure seems fitting.  Buttamilk Paa.  Say it with me.

Clean Cookies

Snow day around these parts today.  I think it probably is more of an ice day but I'm not the expert on those kinds of things.  I just know my phone rang at 5 something this morning with a recording of something to the effects of there's no school today so wear your pajamas until 10:20 am, write a blog post about oatmeal and raisin cookies you made, drink too much coffee, and...

 

Well, really it just said no school. 

 

Here's what is not nice about a snow day, you have to make it up. 

 

Here's what is nice about a snow day, it's not a planned day off so all of the laundry and cleaning and organizing and other getting stuff done that is usually saved for those days off...is well...done. 

 

 

This morning I tried out a recipe I found on Pinterest.  And it is a win.   

 

Basically, you take 2 large too ripe bananas and 1 cup of quick oats and mash them together.  You might have to add a little more oats because all bananas are not created equally. 

 

That's the base of the cookie and anything could be added after the initial mix.  Chocolate chips, chopped up walnuts, cinnamon, tiny apple pieces, raisins, etc...  Whatever your heart desires.  I added a quarter cup of raisins to mine. 

 

Then make sure you grease your cookie sheet because caked on oatmeal is about as fun to clean up an entire bowl of popcorn spilled on the floor of your car.   

 

Drop cookies and slightly smash down with fork.  I made 15 cookies. 

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and then place the cookies on either parchment paper or a wire rack so they don't get soggy while they cool. 

 

 

But I recommend eating one or two while they are warm.  Delicious. 

 

If you make fifteen cookies, each one has 37 calories.  That's figured with the raisins added.  If you added other things, it would change.  Stating the obvious there.

 

 

I enjoyed two this morning with my third cup of coffee, they filled me right up and are still sticking two and a half hours later.  That's a winner of a breakfast. 

 

 

I know these will also come in quite handy when I have that I'm so hungry I might eat my own hand feeling. 

 

Hand...handy...I'll stop now. 



Pizza Pizza Pizza

Homemade pizza crust.  Once you go there, you'll never go back. 

This whole wheat version was given to me by the technology director of our district.  Karen and I were students of his in grad school one semester and ever since we gave him nonstop hugs and ridiculousness, he has kept tabs.  Like the time I ran into him in the gym and he said, "I figured out a really great way to make whole wheat pizza crust."  And I said back, "Well share it with me!" 

So he did.  Sent me the recipe and now I'm a pizza crust making fool. 

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

• Warm the water to "baby bottle" temperature (this is Momma Debi terminology) and add the olive oil.
• Add the yeast to the warm olive oil water and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast starts to do its thing (this is my terminology.
• In your mixer's bowl, combine all dry ingredients and add the yeast concoction to the top, mix with bread hook on low until well combined, and then switch to just a titch faster for about 5 minutes.  I can always tell dough is ready when it starts to slap the sides of my bowl.  You'll know what I mean when you make it.  Slap, slap, slap it goes. 
• Take the dough out to a floured counter and knead for 5 more minutes.  
• Put it back into the bowl.
• Cover bowl with damp cloth and let dough rise in a warm place for 10 minutes.  In front of fireplace is rocking.
• Split dough in half and form into discs (freeze one now if you want).
• Coat pizza pan with cooking spray, spread one dough disc.
• Use fork to put some holes in the top.
• Bake crust at 450° for 7 minutes or until just barely crusty to the touch, take it out of oven.   
• Pop the oven temp up to 500° (just to ensure the oven is hot hot when the pizza goes in). 
• Top the crust with sauce, toppings, and cheese.
• Put the oven temp back down to 450° and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely browned.  Remember it's a whole wheat crust so it will look more brown than usual.  You don't want a soggy middle pizza!  

**Yes I use the tablespoon of sugar in this recipe.  I haven't tried honey as a substitute yet or tried it without but I'm thinking it would probably be just fine either way. 

Making pizza dough is especially the greatest while still not showered and changed from the gym, with hood up too.  That's really classy but there's not much you can do about it while your hands are in the dough and someone flips the hood on top of your head.

Also I have noticed I tend to do my cooking with cupboard doors open.  Is anyone with me on that?   

I think of my grandma every single time I knead dough.  Every single time. 

Sunday sunlight streaming makes spending time in the kitchen a beautiful thing. 

The recipe makes enough for two large pizzas so after it has risen, I lop it in half and know there is a crust ready and waiting in the freezer for a quick week night meal.  And yes, I made this pizza back on January 6, 2013 in case you wanted to know. 

After you squish the dough around on a pan, take a fork and make some holes; I learned that trick from Momma Debi when I was growing up.  It helps with air bubbles.  It's also important you bake the crust for about seven minutes before you put the sauce and toppings on, prevents the soggy crust syndrome.  I learned that from my first ever real job of being a Hot Stuff Pizza girl at the local gas station when I was fourteen. 

Pizza sauce from the garden is the best ever.  Plan to have a garden next year please. 

This day, I had leftover ham in my fridge so it was shredded and put on the pizza.  It was different and delicious in its very own way.   

Sometimes figuring out what to do next is difficult for me. 

Voila!  Pizza!  I bet you can guess which part is mine.  No pepperonis and white cheese only, thank you very much.  

I was so hungry by the time it was out of the oven I forget to take a picture of the finished product.  So instead look at my plate of cut up pizza.  And here's one more bossy Amy moment for the road...cutting in squares is totally the way to go. 

Now, go forth and pizza crust.  Shoot.  That was bossy again.