Chewy Granola Squares

The best compliments regarding food often come from children.  Children do not know that it may be polite to smile and eat something, telling the cook that everything tastes delicious. Children don’t feel self-conscious about spitting food into a napkin or even right back onto their plates. Children can be tough, yet honest, critics. I made these chewy granola squares for some friends and their children who had come to our house to play one morning. I was hoping that these soft granola treats would be a success and guess what—the kids asked for seconds! (I did too!)

Corn and Tomato Salad

I first shared this corn salad at The Taylor's House. Chrissy was kind enough to host me on her blog. I am making this dish again at my house today and thought I'd share it with you here. Enjoy!

This corn and tomato salad is a great way to use the abundance of summer’s corn on the cob. With only a few ingredients, these simple flavors come together to make a refreshing and light side salad. Add grilled chicken to make this a well-rounded lunch or light dinner.

This recipe from Sunset magazine was the basis for my rendition of corn and tomato salad. Change up the ingredients yourself perhaps by grilling the corn or roasting the tomatoes. Add fresh herbs from your garden & a bit of dressing and you have a vibrant mix to add to a summer barbeque.

Ingredients:
2-3 cobs of corn, cooked (cut the corn off the cob)
1/2 cup tomatoes, sliced in half (I used grape tomatoes)
1/4 of a red onion
2-3 TBs parsley, chopped
2 TB prepared Italian salad dressing
Combine all of the ingredients. Allow the salad to sit in the refrigerator for one to three hours.

Click here to see where I often link up my recipes.

Double Brownie Blast Ice Cream

Now that I’ve started making ice cream at home, I can’t stop! My first attempt was this peach sherbet. Today I want to share an ice cream that should hook you just with its name: double brownie blast. Yes, it is even better than it sounds, if that is possible! This recipe comes from the book, The EVERYTHING Ice Cream, Gelato, and Frozen Desserts Cookbook by Susan Whetzel (page 84). The trick to the double brownie concoction is first adding brownie mix to the ice cream and then topping it off with brownie bits to add that chocolate brownie texture and taste.  I would suggest going overboard on the brownie bits—if some bits are good than more must be better, right?

Apricot Galette

I shared this galette with Dawn's readers at DJ's Sugar Shack earlier this week. I hope you enjoy it!

A galette is a free-form pastry usually topped with fruit. It’s also a great way to avoid making a double-crust pie. Call it “rustic” and your dessert is an instant success! I love how easy it was to pull this galette together. I took ideas from these two recipes: the pastry from Martha Stewart’s plum galette and the apricot topping from Cooking Light’s apricot-thyme galette. You could use most any pastry recipe you prefer; Martha Stewart's cookbook recommends pate brisee. Be creative with this idea of a simple round of pastry baked with summer fruits—apricots, peaches, and plums are a few choices which would all turn into fantastic desserts.

Hot Pepper Jelly

Is your garden bursting with vegetables and fruits this summer? I hope so! My gardening space consists of a few small containers on the back deck.  There are a few herbs, a tomato plant and a hot pepper plant. Some plants I grew from seeds but this hot pepper plant was already on its way to success when I purchased it. For me, it is an accomplishment to keep ANY plant alive; it’s simply a skill I don’t seem to possess…but I keep trying!  Hot pepper jelly is an ideal way to use your garden’s bounty of hot peppers. Or you could easily buy some jalapenos at the grocery store—either way this recipe is an easy way to make a special hot pepper jelly.

Blog Design {NEW!}

I am taking a quick break from recipes today so that I can say thanks to a number of bloggers for helping me with my blog re-design. I've enjoyed the standard template that I had been using from Designer Blogs but was ready to customize my blog.  I spent time playing around with graphics and fonts for a header and then jumped into the world of online tutorials to help bring the design to life. I would suggest having a "practice blog"-- a blog that only you can see which you can see-- to implement any changes BEFORE trying them live on your public blog.

My blog is a work-in-progress. Check back to see more changes in the coming weeks.


Thanks to Ashton at Something Swanky for her straight-forward and informative tutorials on these topics:

• Using Image Maps to Link Multiple URLs
• Different Ways to Make Custom Headers
• How to Create your Own Social Media Buttons (soon to come to my blog)

Thank you to Kevin and Amanda for their tutorial on how to add the "Pin It" button.

Thanks to Kate for a tutorial that I've used time and time again: How to Make a Blog Button with a Grab Box.

I appreciated this tutorial from Teaching My Calling regarding How to Remove the Shadows Around Blogger Pictures.

And I look forward to using this tutorial that I recently came across: How to Add Styles and Effects to your Images in Blogger.

I am hoping that having access to these links all in one location will help someone else work on their blog design in Blogger. Do you have any other tutorials that have shown you the way to success in creating your custom blog? I'd love to hear about them!
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Have you read all of this but still would like to see a new recipe??? You are in luck--
Pop over to DJ's Sugar Shack where I am guest posting today!
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Apricot Bread, a Twelve Loaves Baking Challenge

Do you want to enjoy the company of other bakers while you are on your own in your kitchen? Join up with Twelve Loaves, a baking challenge run by some talented bloggers that is based on the idea of baking a new loaf of bread every month. There is a feeling of community knowing that others are baking with a common goal.  Share your creation then be inspired and impressed by the breads made by the group. The August challenge was Bread with Summer Fruit. Check out the groups’ efforts at this link up. Thanks to Barb at Creative Culinary for her post which shared this idea with me.

Soft Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who is ready for a bite that combines a lot of favorite cookie thoughts into one? I was! When I came across this recipe for banana oatmeal cookies with the suggested option of adding chocolate chips, I had to give it a try. It’s nice to make something other than the usual chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie now and then. Plus you can tell yourself that you are eating a “healthy” version since there is a banana thrown in for good measure. I was surprised how soft and chewy these cookies turned out. They were puffy little pillows of cookies, which is not always easy to achieve in our dry, Colorado weather.

Peach Sherbet

Refreshing, yet slightly lighter than traditional ice cream, sherbet combines fresh fruits with sugar, water and some cream to yield a smooth and fruity dessert. Today’s recipe for peach sherbet comes from the book, The Everything Ice Cream, Gelato, and Frozen Desserts Cookbook, by Susan Whetzel. I chose peach sherbet because peaches seem to encapsulate the taste of summer for me. You can substitute most any fruit and adjust the sugar levels to achieve the sweetness you desire.

Plum Jam

I’ve gotten back into canning mode around here and this plum jam was a delicious way to preserve summer’s fresh fruit.  The recipe is simple and comes from a beautiful book produced by Williams-Sonoma called The Art of Preserving.  The photos are gorgeous and many of the jams and jellies are accompanied by recipe ideas which is a very useful effort on the part of the book’s authors, Rick Field, Lisa Atwood, and Rebecca Courchesne.  For example, this plum jam is recommended to be used as a topping for vanilla ice cream or as a complement to pork.  I plan to try both.

Ingredients:
3 lbs plums, halved, pitted and quartered
3 cups of sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Plums are an ideal fruit for making jams because the skin is left on the fruit. You can skip the fussy step of removing the skin; it, in fact, holds a lot of the pectin in the fruit which helps the jam to jell. First add the sugar to your plum slices.  This looks like a lot of sugar because it IS a lot of sugar.  One of the few pitfalls of making jam at home is that you can no longer pretend that a bit of jam on top of your whole wheat bread each morning might be healthy. Nope, you now possess the knowledge that you dredged your fresh fruit in a sugar bath. But that is ok, the result is delicious. Just go with it.  Let the plums and sugar sit in the refrigerator overnight (or at least a few hours).

Follow the usual procedure for canning when using a water bath canner: prepare and sterilize your jars and lids. Get your boiling water-bath started before you heat up the plum mixture. You want to time things such that your water-bath is ready when you have filled the jars.

Put the plum and sugar mixture into a large saucepan and add the lemon juice. The recipe stated fresh lemon juice but I recall learning along the way that bottled lemon juice has a more consistent pH level and it is best to use bottled when canning so that is what I did with this plum jam.

Cook, bringing the jam to a boil then reducing to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. (The recipe called for 10 minutes but my jam was not to the right stage at that point. It may be due to my altitude in Denver.) I had trouble getting the jam to set and had two failed jam tests using a chilled plate…so I cheated a bit and added liquid pectin. I brought the jam back to a boil for one minute then removed it from the heat, ladled it into the prepared jars and continued with the canning process.

I processed this jam for 15 minutes (altitude in Denver requires a longer processing time) but in many locations 10 minutes would be the standard.

I link up to these fantastic blogs:
http://www.thetaylor-house.com/
http://www.tipjunkie.com/

BLT Panzanella

Panzanella is a traditional Italian bread salad most often made with day-old bread. Isn’t it wonderful how a lovely word like “panzanella” transforms the thought and the taste of old bread into a special dish like this one? I’ve added the BLT to the mix (bacon, lettuce and tomato) and the result is something worthy to serve to company, yet simple enough to throw together for a lunch just for you.

Cherry Tomato Focaccia

I came across a new magazine for me this week at the library, Vegetarian Times, and was delighted that their July/August 2012 issue featured recipes with cherry tomatoes. While I’m still waiting for my cherry tomato plant to ripen, I happened to have two pounds of grape tomatoes purchased on my latest Costco trip.  Focaccia is an easy bread for beginners like me to make at home. The dough is straightforward and simple to make with or without a standing mixer; toppings can be customized to your personal taste. There are two rising periods of one hour each then the focaccia is baked for less than 30 minutes, a process that makes this bread a cinch to pull together in an afternoon just like I did today.

Banana Pancakes

This banana pancake recipe comes from Williams-Sonoma’s the kid’s cookbook on page18.  I often find great recipes in cookbooks geared towards children because the ingredient lists are generally short and the cooking process simple. The banana pancakes follow that guideline and are a nice change to the pancakes from a box mix that so many of us turn to for pancakes at home.  Make these with your kids and for your kids, the whole family will enjoy starting the day with this breakfast treat.

Ingredients:
2 TB butter, melted, plus another TB to coat the pan/griddle
1 1/2 cups flour
2 TB sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 small, ripe banana
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
maple syrup

Method:
1. Combine the dry ingredients (Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt). Set aside.
2. Mash the banana then add the milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don’t over-mix, you’ll still have some lumps in the batter.
4. Heat a griddle or pan to medium heat. Coat with a tablespoon of butter. Pour a small amount of batter for each pancake. Let cook for a few minutes until you see the bubbles forming on the pancake. Flip and cook for another minute or two. I found these banana pancakes to be a bit thicker than the usual pancake I make at home so I let each side cook slightly longer ensuring that the middle was cooked.  You could add a few tablespoons of water to thin the batter if you’d like.
5. Serve with maple syrup and additional bananas.

Make a double batch and freeze the pancakes to have on hand for busy mornings. Simply toast in the toaster on low to warm the pancakes or heat them for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.

I link up to:
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/08/06/made-by-you-monday-113/

Hermit Bars, a Martha Stewart recipe

Martha Stewart’s cookbook, Martha’s American Food, A celebration of our nation’s most treasured dishes, from coast to coast, features these Hermit Bars from the northeast. Their name gives little clue to their taste, other than to suggest that if you hide these bars away for a day or two as a hermit might do, you’ll be rewarded with an even deeper melding of flavors in these bars. The bars’ ingredient list is reminiscent of holiday baking—ginger, cloves and cinnamon—but don’t wait until the holidays to make these. The spices are not overwhelming, rather they come together with the help of molasses and brown sugar along with the usual standbys of butter, flour, baking soda, salt and egg to make an easy afternoon treat.

I chose to make the bars for their hermit quality: cookies & bars that age well are perfect for sending in the mail, which I occasionally do for my grandmother. The bars are also ideal to make on a weekend then to enjoy throughout the week in packed lunches. With school starting just around the corner, I am hoping my younger son will find these a special midday dessert.

The bars are baked similarly to biscotti, in a long log of dough which sits on a parchment-lined baking pan. This method, as opposed to pressing the dough into an 8 x 8 baking pan, allows the loaf-like log to spread and rise slightly, then later it’s cut into bars.

For the original recipe, click here for Martha Stewart’s site. I won’t repeat the recipe here other to add that this recipe is easily changed to fit your tastes. I switched out the cloves for a touch of nutmeg and next time I’ll add other dried fruits like dried cherries or apricots to accompany the raisins.

I link up to these blogs:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/08/06/made-by-you-monday-113/