Monkey Lobster

sometimes you feel like a nut

 

So tasty and so easy. Lucky for me the kids that I went trick or treating with this year were not coconut fans, so I got all the Almond Joys and Mounds that were collected. I make macaroons often because I usually have the few ingredients needed on hand, they mix up so quick and so many of my friend are gluten free. The last time I made them I remembered back to halloween and decided to give them a dipping.

In a bowl mix:

• 3/4 of a cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 2 large egg whites
• pinch of vanilla bean and salt

I like to just mix it with my hands and then shape them and put them onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. Almond Joy's got nuts, mounds don't.

When they cool, dip them into melted chocolate and lay them back onto the parchment paper. They seem to keep well for 4-5 days if you hide them.

ginger ale

I love fermented things. This weekend we decided to give ginger ale a try. We did a lot of research and learned a little bit about the proses of fermentation. Now we just have to wait and see if it works. There is one bottle with a balloon on it, we are hoping it will be a good indicator of weather CO2 is building up in the bottles or not. Here is our recipe:

 

1. Chop up 4oz of ginger root (or more if you want it really spicy).

2. Simmer the ginger, juice of 1 lemon, and 2 cups of sugar in 5 quarts of water for 30 minutes to an hour or longer. 

5. Let it cool down to lukewarm.

6. On the side in a small jar, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of champagne yeast in with 1⁄4 cup warm water (not hot or you will kill the yeast).

7. After 15 minutes, add the yeast solution to your lukewarm brew.

8. Let the brew sit for 10 minutes and give it a good stir.

9. Strain it into sterile jars. We ran ours through the dish washer along with the other tools we needed such as funnels, bowls, spoons and strainers. If you don't have a dish washer you can always boil the bottles. 

I am expecting for it to take 3-4 days to carbonate. This morning Elsa ran downstairs like it was Christmas morning to see if the balloon had inflated. It had not.

 

granola: my new obsession

I didn't used to like granola until I made this one. I think that my mother-in-laws granola, that I've always made a version of for Ben, turned me away (sorry Susan). Her granola is more like muesli, not very sweet, filled with saw-dust (wheat bran, oat bran, wheat germ) and starts with a bunch of oil. 

This one is quite different. A friend of mine mentioned adding apple sauce, so I started experimenting and the results were very exciting. A crispy, crunchy, appley sweet granola without any oil! The mixture starts out pretty wet but eventually gets crispy and golden in the oven. Not enough apple sauce and it's not crispy and too much you might end up with a chipped tooth. I think that this is the right ratio:

• 1 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup honey/maple/rice syrup mixture add more if you like it sweet
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbs almond extract
• 3 tbs cinnamon
• 3 cups almonds (slivered, blanched. whole)
• 5 cups rolled oats (I really like "thick" oats)

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl. Toast in a 300 degree over in two big pans, stirring every 15 minutes for 1 hour, more often towards the end. It should feel almost dry when you take it out. Add dried fruit after it has cooled if you like. I like dried cherries with this combo. I also like pecan/vanilla/coconut with dried cranberries.

1/2 cup of frozen blueberries (thawed for 20 minutes in my bowl), 1/2 cup of plain yogurt, 1/4 of granola and a cup of tea with milk and honey = satisfying breakfast. What's even better is a tea drawer full of the finest teas and a shelf full of jars of different kids of granola to chose from. Now that's living the good life.

settling in

Cyurs is spending a lot of time cooking in his kitchen. I love how this kid can just play and play and play.

I have managed to make some room in my studio and put away enough things to clear off a small work space. I am having some guilt about spending time crafting when I should be painting but, the crafty project is for the organization of my mudroom, which now has to live up to this article (keep reading we're in there).

Ginger Oatmeal Scones

mix

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar (white works fine)

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped candies ginger

Grate 1 stick of butter into the flour mixture and toss.

On one side of the bowl beat 2 eggs with a fork and add 3/4 cup yogurt and then mix it into the flour mixture. Make into balls and bake 15-20 minutes at 400.  

I double it and freeze them in small bags and pull them out at night. They get us through most of the week. MMMM scones and tea for breakfast.

 

 

more pumpkin baked into things

Ben came home from a business trip with a couple packages of granola bars. You know, the sweet crunchy kind that come two to a crinkly package? I struggle with making granola bars, they never come out quite like the ones that have been sitting in a box on a shelf for who knows how long.

Either it just falls apart and turns into granola, or I end up using a lot of sweet stickiness to hold it together and then it's just too sweet. This recipe uses egg and flour to holds it all together but gives it a cake-like quality. That said they are pretty good, they just don't taste like the ones that come out of the crinkly packages. 

• 2 cups rolled oats 
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup dry multi grain hot cereal, with a finer grind (I added the pumpkin and needed to add a dry ingredient to absorb it, I used Bob's Red Mill 10 grain. I imagine cornmeal, wheat germ or any other grain would work) 
•  1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (they are not very sweet so add more if you want)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tsp vanilla
• I considered traditional pumpkin pie spices......... maybe next time
• I might also increase the pumpkin and decrease the oil

Mix dry together and wet together and then mix the two. Line a 9X10ish pan with parchment and press mixture in. Bake 12-30 minutes, less for cake-like and more for crunchy. I topped half of it with chocolate chips after it came out to entice my chocolate lover. Cyrus insisted on cutting it into pieces and eating it with a fork.

 This pumpkin challah has no recipe except that I added pumpkin and used less water, replaced some of the honey/sugar with molasses and added some pumpkin pie spices.  Challah is always a hit in my house, especially because it gives us an excuse to "holla, and holla back" through the construction site that is our home.

a new favorite

Morning Glory Muffins (for Kendra and anyone else who loves muffins for breakfast)

3 eggs

1/2cup oil

1 cup apple sauce

2 1/2 cups finely grated carrots

1/2 cup coconut

1 cup sugar

1 cup raisins

2 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

any spices you like, I added cinnamon

1 cup chopped fresh fruit of your choice apples, peaches, strawberries (optional)

It fills about 18 muffin tins. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. This recipe is not very sweet, so adjust the sugar to taste or add some maple if you can spare it. One day I will have bee's and honey flowing from the hives. These keep in a tin for 3-4 days. Really.