Nigella's Breakfast Bars

I think I've told you all that I'm kind of in love with Nigella Lawson. Right?  Right?

I've been wanting to find a good recipe for granola bars for some time.  And although my friends were shocked that I didn't go my usual Ina route - they clearly don't understand the absolute love affair I have with sweetened condensed milk.  I can't really explain why I love sweetened condensed milk, but I always remember being slightly disappointed that my mom was really good at scraping every last bit of milk out of the can when I was a kid.  And I would always risk cutting off my finger to get some of its gooey goodness off of the lid.

I lived life on the edge - what can I say?

Now that I've told you all of that childhood nuttiness, you maybe understand why my inaugural attempt at homemade granola bars was courtesy of Nigella's easy-peasy recipe that contained a bunch of pantry ingredients and featured a binder of ... you guessed it - sweetened condensed milk.

Nigella's Breakfast Bars
from Nigella Lawson's "Nigella Express"

1 14-fl-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dried cranberries (**I used 1/2 c. raisins and 1/2 c. dried cherries)
1 cup mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame - I just had sesame on hand)
1 cup natural unsalted peanuts (I used mixed nuts ... again, it was what I had on hand.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and oil a 9- x 13-inch baking pan.  Because I knew this was going to be pretty messy, I actually lined mine with parchment paper so I could easily lift out and cut the bars when they were finished.  Warm the condensed milk in a large pan.  Meanwhile, mix all the other ingredients together and add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber spatula to fold and distribute. Spread the mixture into the pan and press down with a spatula to make the surface even.

Bake for 1 hour, remove, and after about 15 minutes, cut into four across and four down, to make 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely.  Makes 16 bars.  I wrapped mine up individually in waxed paper to share with some of my co-workers.  The rest, I stored in an airtight container.  And they didn't last long ... :-)

Whiskey Pretzels

I got this recipe from my beloved coworker Cindy.  This is one of those recipes that is unbelievably simple and incredibly tasty.  And it makes me a big hit at parties. 

Whiskey Pretzels

2 Bags of Pretzel Rods
1 Stick Butter
3 T Whiskey
Heaping T of Brown Sugar
1/2 t. of Cayenne Pepper
1 t. Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add whiskey, brown sugar, pepper and garlic powder.  Stir until well combined.  If using pretzel rods, place pretzels flat on jelly roll pan.  (Cindy uses two -- one fits one bag).  Drizzle melted ingredients & roll the pretzel rods to coat.   Bake 20 minutes.  Leave on pan to cool.  Store in an airtight container.  

At this point, I've made this recipe with pretzel rods and with mini twists (as seen above.)  I really like the mini twists better, because they are better for dipping.  In that case, I use the mini twists (two bags) and make the recipe in my roasting pan. 

This is really good dipped in a mustard dip.  Or it's excellent plain.

Gloria's Cinnamon Popcorn

I've already expounded on the theorem that my mother-in-law perfected recipes in an attempt to secure her daughters-in-law.  (And it worked - both of her sons are married.  Good work Gloria!)  Well, here it is ... this is the snack that she always sent home with my then-buddy, future roommate and now hubby, when he would go home to visit his folks in Dubuque, Iowa.

My mouth is watering just looking at this dish of perfection.  And I wonder where I put that extra bag of cinnamon red hots ... hrm ... Must.  Find.  Red Hot Candies.

Cinnamon Popcorn

2 sticks butter
½ c. light corn syrup
1 9 oz. package of red-hot candies
8 quarts popped popcorn

Spray pans, bowls, and utensils with baking spray.  I use an air popper to pop the corn - you can also use a stovetop method.  Place popped corn in large roaster that's been coated thoroughly with baking spray. 

In a saucepan, combine butter, corn syrup and the red hots.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Pour over popcorn and mix thoroughly.  My mother-in-law turns hers onto two cookie sheets, I actually just leave it in the roaster.  Bake 250 for 1 hour-stirring every 15 minutes.  Remove from pans (or roaster) and place on waxed paper to cool.  Break apart. Store in airtight container or plastic bag.

Wash the pans and utensils immediately when baked or the corn syrup mixture will harden and be very hard to get off.

I originally made this recipe for some of my coworkers at Christmas.  Pretty darn festive, if you ask me ... but it truly is good at any time of the year.  Because it's addictive as all get out.

Gwendolyn's Snack Mix

This super-easy recipe is from my friend and co-worker Gwendolyn.  I am in love with it because it combines my lust for things like cereal and sweetened condensed milk.  What Gwendolyn loves about this recipe is that you can have the ingredients on hand at any time in case surprise guests appear at your doorstep. (Which I might start doing now that she's told me that she will always have said ingredients on hand.)

Gwendolyn's Snack Mix

8 c. Crispix cereal
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. cashews
1 c. pretzel nuggets

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Put cereal, cashews and pretzels in a large bowl.  Combine sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a smaller bowl.  Drizzle over cereal mixture and gently stir to coat.  Transfer to 2 lightly greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Immediately remove to waxed paper and spread out to dry.  Store in an airtight container.

'Tis the Season: Rosemary Roasted Cashews

My advice when it comes to this recipe? Make this ... now. Do not pass go, do not hesitate to get into your car and get the ingredients necessary at the grocery store. If you absolutely need to, come on over and I'll spare you some sprigs of rosemary.

One note though ...  I combined the ingredients as listed by my beloved Ina, but it caused some major clumpage that was unattractive in the finished product.  When I do this again (and I have four pounds of cashews waiting to be turned into this rosemary roasted goodness in my pantry), I'd combine the dry ingredients, dump in the roasted nuts and then drizzle the butter on top and combine everything together.

These yummy treats are going to my friends who are on Santa's good list.  You know who you are.

Rosemary Roasted Cashews
by Ina Garten

1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the nuts on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, salt and butter in a large bowl. Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Serve warm.  (If you make the nuts ahead of time, you can simply rewarm them briefly in a hot oven.)

But trust me ... these are just as good cold. :)

'Tis the Season: Gloria's Glorious Snack Mix

Although I have a laundry list of reasons why I give thanks for my mom-in-law Gloria, there are two that are forefront in my mind.  1) She gave birth to my husband and if that wasn't enough, she taught the boy how to properly do dishes and his own laundry.  God bless ya, Gloria.  2) She is as addicted to cookbooks and recipes as I am.

(I read that to my husband to make sure there wasn't anything overly offensive and he was like "are you looking for a certain Christmas present?"  I tell you this, he did not get his sense of sarcasm from his momma.)

Anyway - over Thanksgiving, Gloria concocted a snack mix - dried cranberries, almonds, peanuts, white chocolate chips and sesame snacks.  I'm not sure where the recipe came from, but my God - I think I can safely say that I gained about five pounds from eating this snack mix, along with all of the other food I managed to gorge myself on over the holiday.


I am planning to send some care packages to some of my friends who are out of state or no where the immediate vicinity of my kitchen.  This is making it into little treat bags ... if I don't eat all of it first.

Gloria's Glorious Snack Mix

measurements are approximate and can be tailored to your liking

regular package of Craisins dried cranberries
1 can of dry roasted peanuts
3 c. sesame sticks (**if you have no clue what I'm talking about, this is what they look like.  I found mine in the natural foods section of the grocery store in the bulk foods aisle.)
3/4 pkg of white chocolate chips

Mix together and store in an airtight container.  Both Gloria and I had some almonds in our pantries that we wanted to get rid of, so we chucked them into the mix.  I prefer to use unsalted almonds.

Sweet and Salty Almonds

I got this recipe from Dragon's Kitchen. It was another offering I brought to the pre-wedding/Easter weekend.

Kind of interesting - when they first came out of the oven, I tried one and thought ... "oh, well this is OK." But then I kept going back for more and realized that they were pretty damn good.

Sweet and Salty Almonds
from Dragon's Kitchen

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons liquid honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups almonds
Fresh cracked pepper
Vegetable oil to grease the baking sheet

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place a baking rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with foil and grease the foil with some vegetable oil.

2. In a saucepan over low heat, combine honey, oils, sugar, cayenne, chili and salt. Heat until well the sugar is melted. Stir often.

3. Add the almonds to the honey mixture and stir until the almonds are evenly coated.

4. Spread the almonds onto the baking sheet and make sure they are in a single layer.

5. Roast the almonds in the oven for 13-15 minutes; stirring frequently until they are nicely glazed. Watch the nuts carefully as they bake because they will burn quickly.

6. Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and transfer the almonds to another baking sheet to cool. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper. Cool completely.

7. Before serving the almonds, break apart any almonds that are stuck together.

Chili Lime Tequila Popcorn

God forgive me for this admission but ... I really love tequila. I love it straight, I love it in margaritas and now, apparently, it's really good on popcorn. I found this on Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks site and she reprinted this (with permission) from Popcorn by Patrick Evans-Hylton. (Sasquatch Books 2008). **And now I'm confused ... what's the protocol here? I've cited Heidi's site and the book itself. Am I still being a blog bastard? If I offend anyone by reprinting this recipe, my sincere apologies - I'm just still drunk on tequila. Or ignorance.

Will anyone believe me when I say I did not intend for these pictures to be blurry? No, I wasn't sampling the tequila! Just cooked with it!**

Word to the wise: Don't overbake this which is easy to do if you're trying to make two different recipes at the same time.

Chili Lime Tequila Popcorn

4 quarts freshly popped popcorn
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon tequila
1/2 small jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed, minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat the oven to 300F degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat (hs note: or unbleached parchment paper). Set aside.

Put the popcorn in a large, clean paper bag or a washable muslin bag. In a medium-size bowl whisk together the butter, lime juice and zest, and tequila. Add the jalapeno. In a small bowl combine the black pepper, salt, red pepper, and cumin.

Drizzle half of the butter mixture over the popcorn, fold over the top of the bag, and shake until the popcorn is coated and moist. Taste. Add more of the butter mixture if you like, and give a second shake. Sprinkle (most of) the pepper mixture over the popcorn, fold over the top of the bag, and shake a few times to coat. Taste, and if you'd like more pepper flavor add the rest of it.
Spread the popcorn evenly over the baking sheet and bake until the popcorn is dry, five to seven minutes.

Make 4 quarts of popcorn.

**Another note - I'd cut back on the butter and add more tequila - but that's just me. I'd also add more lime zest. I love lime zest.

**Yet another comment on the photos above - A) I suck at taking pictures, truly and B) that bottle of tequila? Yeah - I have no clue what the vintage of this was, but my beloved late Grandma Boots loved margaritas and when she moved out of her home, Ryan and I inherited her liquor cabinet. This was one of our "treasures." Smells like tequila, but I'll be honest - it will be a cold day in hell before I take a shot out of that. I'm scared it's gonna kill me.

Muddy Buddies

My co-workers and I at the cab company have a weird relationship with each others' food ... namely that if someone brings something to the company, chances are everyone will eat it at some point of another. Case in point - Cheryl's taco salad. That was a Tuesday or a Thursday night and it was basically untouched, sitting on the corner of her desk. So she offered it to Jessica, who took a couple bites and then handed it to me. Another Tuesday, it was gummi bears. It's a very weird phenomenon.

Anyway - I feel like I take more than I actually give, so when Jessica said she wanted Muddy Buddies the other day, I figured that I'd look that up and whip up a batch for her. Of course, Muddy Buddies are what I grew up eating when it was called Puppy Chow. I have no clue where they get these names, but with semisweet chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar, they should just be called crack-filled heaven.

PS - I suck at making muddy buddies - they still taste OK though ...

Here's the recipe I got from AllRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 9 cups crispy rice cereal squares
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
2. Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
3. Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

Roasted Chickpeas

I've been on a health kick lately and was super excited when I saw this recipe for roasted chickpeas. Mostly because I love chickpeas. I eat them straight from the can, I eat them in hummus - I just love chickpeas.

Roasted chickpeas? Not so much. A) They take for freakin' EVER to roast and B) I'm worried that if I eat them that I'm going to do some serious damage to that uncrowned root canal in the back of my mouth. Strange - I know, but these puppies are CRUNCHY!

Who knows - this might trip someone else's trigger. I might even make them in the future for a party, but I'm afraid of the lawsuits that might ensue for the resulting dental work needed in my friends and loved ones.

Here is the recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Fat Mama

Remember this one, Lindsey? I was first introduced to Fat Mama during my sophomore year at Luther. No, Fat Mama wasn't some benevolent figure on campus, it was what would occur if we ate too much of this decandent snack mix. Lindsey gave me the recipe from Kelly, who would make it in the (forbidden!) microwave hidden in her dorm room and I, in turn, gave this recipe to my mom who made it for Christmas this year. But Fat Mama (usually referred to as Snack Mix or Crispix Snack Mix in polite company) is good any time of the year. Your cardiologist will thank me.

Fat Mama
recipe adapted from Recipezaar.com

6 c. Crispix cereal
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Karo syrup, white
1/3 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Spread the cereal over a greased cookie sheet (my mom throws hers in a paper grocery bag). Bring the other ingredients to a boil and pour over the cereal. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Shake apart.

Poor Man's Cheez Its

Uniformity is not my strong suit when it comes to forming crackers ...

Baking, baking, baking

Ryan had company the other night, so I figured that I'd make something for him and his friend Derrick to snack on (because men cannot live on apple pie alone ...). I had found this recipe for homemade cheese crackers on About.com awhile ago and it was in my "to-make" pile.

Now I'm going to be honest - at first I thought these were a pain in the right ol' arse. Part of it was that I hadn't let the butter soften long enough and then there was the whole stirring aspect and then forming the crackers into little balls ... but after they had cooled down and I started eating these crackers in earnest, I realized that these were damn tasty - kind of like a poor man's Cheez It. And if I ever get into the organic thing and have a hankering for crackers, this would be worthwhile to make because you know exactly what is in the cracker that you're eating.

So without further ado - the poor man's Cheez It.

Cheese Crackers
from About.com

1/2 c. butter, softened (do NOT skip this step! The butter will know and will thwart you!)
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. dried chives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the cheese and butter. Mix together until well blended. Add flour, salt and chives to butter mixture and mix until well blended. (HINT: This is where I got out my mini food processor and blended the ingredients that way ... seriously - do yourself a favor - use your food processor if you have it.) Form dough into one-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten balls using the bottom of a drinking glass that has also been dusted with flour. (Again ... hint to be followed - otherwise the crackers will stick to your drinking glass and cause much annoyance.) Prick each cracker several times with a fork. Bake crackers for 12-15 minutes until very lightly browned around the edges (I left them in for about 20 ...). Remove to a wire rack to cool.

The recipe also claims that these freeze well - for some reason, I don't ever see these lasting to the freezing stage unless I make about 100 of them, which I probably will never do.

Variations: The recipe called for cheddar cheese - I had a chunk in the freezer and got sick of grating it, so I grabbed the pre-shredded bag of cheddar and Monterey Jack that was in my cheese drawer. Cheddar would have made it saltier overall, but I thought the cracker tasted pretty awesome. I'd also be curious to see what a Parmesan cracker would taste like.

I also did not have dried chives in my pantry, so I used dried thyme. Which I don't think really did anything ... maybe next time I would use rosemary? Also, I'd maybe do a dusting of sea salt on the top of the cracker prior to baking.

Oh, I'm a tasty and delightful cracker floating in a sea of chili.