Maple Coconut Granola

Today is a strange day. I am in Boston in my lunch break and it is sunny and rainy and warm and February. That is strange in it of itself. But stranger yet, is where I am going tonight. This evening, I am flying back to good old Fairfax, Virginia, where I will sleep in my adolescent house for the last three nights ever.

That house, which I loathed when we first moved, was a game changer. In that house, I met some of the best friends someone could ask for. I made plenty of mistakes and plenty of advancements. I grew up from a very insecure girl to a slightly less but still awkward teenager to (what I would like to consider) a pretty squared away young lady. I've spent hours laughing, crying, watching movies with my family and gossiping with friends on my big blue couches. I've spent hours sitting at the kitchen table doing crossword puzzles and waiting for things to finish in the oven. Memories, people, memories.

So it will be a tiny bit bittersweet for me. Happy my parents are both blissfully retired and moving into their dream lives, but sad that the place I called home for so many years will no longer be ours. So here is a little taste of home, one that I can count on when things they are a-changing.

Maple Coconut Granola2.5 cups regular rolled oats

1 cup sliced pecans

1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1/4 cup chia seeds

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1/2 cup maple syrup (or honey combination)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

2 tsp sea salt 

2 tsp cinnamon sugar combination

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, chia seeds and sesame seeds. In another bowl, combine maple/honey and oil. Stir into oats mixture, making sure entire mixture is saturated. 

2. Spread entire mixture evenly in the prepared pan and sprinkle with sea salt and cinnamon/sugar. Bake in oven for 30 minutes and  stir. Add coconut and cook until lightly toasted. Should you choose to add dried fruit, stir it in after you remove granola from oven.

3. Spread on a large piece of foil to cool and store in an airtight container for up to one week.

National Chocolate Day

Who knew it was National Chocolate Day?! Well, I can dig that, and so should you. I'm not going to bore you with my words, rather, let you slip into the deep abyss of my favorite ingredient... ever. I'm sure you can find something you like.

Happy Chocolate Day!

Mississippi Mud Brownies

This one goes out to all the girls waiting by the phone for him to call. To all the girls who know they are worth more than some jerk ignoring them. To all the ladies who are fed up. Oh... and to all the girls who don't have Valentine's Day plans. I am not a cynic! I love love! It's wonderful and fantastic and rich and satisfying. But for those of us who cannot find it or do not have it, well, let me let you in on a little secret: chocolate. It comes in all shapes and sizes, flavors and consistencies. It is, perhaps, the best food on the planet. And you know I love it, don't you?

I posted this recipe about a year and a half ago, but it goes without saying that it should be posted again. So whether you are making these for your special someone or mournfully eating them straight out the the pan alone in your kitchen with The Notebook on in the background, this time of the year deserves Mississippi Mud Brownies; thank you Warren Brown!

Mississippi Mud Brownies

Dry Ingredients

7 oz AP Flour (1.5 cups)

3 oz Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (3/4 cup)

½ tsp Salt

Wet Ingredients

8 oz Unsalted Butter (very soft!)

16 oz Granulated Sugar (2 cups)

2 Whole Eggs

2 Egg Yolks

2 tbsp Heavy Cream

9 oz Unsweetened Chocolate, Melted

Topping

3 cups Mini Marshmallows

-OR- a favorite marshmallow frosting

“Mud” Icing Ingredients

4 oz Unsalted Butter, Melted (1 stick)

1 oz Cocoa Powder (1/4 cup)

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

6 oz Sifted Confectioners Sugar (4 cups)

5 oz Bittersweet Chocolate, melted

What ya do:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a 9x13 inch pan and melt the 9oz of unsweetened chocolate as directed on package. Add heavy cream, if necessary, to thin it out. Measure the dry and wet ingredients (not including melted chocolate) into separate bowls and set aside.

2. Combine butter and sugar in a standing mixer and mix on low for 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolks all together just before mixture creams.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix briefly, without fully combining. Stop mixer, scrape batter off beater and fold in melted chocolate by hand.

4. Pour into pan and bake 25-30 minutes, and beware, unlike a usual brownie, an inserted toothpick should come out with crumbs on it. Top the brownies with mini marshmallows and return to oven for 5 more minutes. Let it cool completely and top with "Mud" Icing.

5. For icing, combine all ingredients in bowl and whisk slowly to blend. When smooth, pour over cooled brownies and enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

It is February 1st. Hallelujah, January is over. I blogged one time in January, and it was in that post that I said we should all embrace the first month of the year and make it our own. Well goodness gracious, I could not be happier January is over. January was full of a lot of up and downs. A lot of up and downs. Between my social circle, we could have had a soap opera.

When life gives you lemons... well, damn, we're sick of lemonade. When it rains it pours...well, my umbrella is wearing thin.So here is to a new month and a new start for this year. I am leaving January behind me and I am moving forward. And I am eating blondies.


Chocolate Chip Blondies
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 chocolate chips (white, milk or butterscotch works too)
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (white, milk or butterscotch works too)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure 1 cup of sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sift again. Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Mix well and set aside.
2. Melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and mix well. Cool slightly. Add beaten egg  and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.
3. Spread in 9 x 9 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle 2/3 chocolate chips on top and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Cherry Crumb Bars

On the way to the gym this morning, at approximately 6:37, Julia and I were lamenting January. Maybe it was the windchill putting the temperature in the teens or perhaps it was the cool darkness filling the streets, but whatever the case, it was decided, January tends to suck. I mean, yes, a new year, a fresh start and of course, Martin Luther King three day weekend, but all in all, who needs January?

But Julia brought up a good point: you need to do things in January (and all year for that matter), that fill up your bucket. Stay away from the things that drain it. For me, as always, it's good friends, good food and the combination of the two that gets me going. So grab a group of gals (or guys), whip up a batch of these Cherry Crumb Bars, and take on January... and maybe February too.

Cherry Crumb Bars

1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 1/4 cups rolled quick oats , divided

1/2 cup butter at room temperature, divided

1 egg

1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 13x9-inch pan.

2. Combine cake mix, 6 tablespoons butter and 1 cup rolled oats. Reserve 1 cup of this for crumb topping.

3. To remaining mixture, add egg; mix well.

4. Press into pan. Pour cherry filling over crust; spread to cover.

5. In large bowl add remaining 1 cup crumb mixture, 1/4 cup oats, 2 tablespoons butter, nuts, and brown sugar. Mix well. Sprinkle over cherries. Bake 30-40 minutes until just golden brown.

Pistachio, Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

It is hard to believe that this year is almost over. We have just hours until we shut the door to 2011 and move onto the next. The past twelve months have been wonderful and terrifying. They have been freeing and constricting. They have been a learning experience and a growing experience. I have come a long way from January 1, 2011. At that point, I still had a semester left in graduate school. I knew I was moving to Boston and so was Alex. I knew I had to look for an apartment and a job and a new life. I was outwardly confident and collected, but there were certainly times where I was questioning if anything would work out. 

 Looking back, I can say they did, but I was not always as confident and certainly not so collected. It took a while for things to get but moving, but in March, Julia decided she was going to move to Boston. I got in touch with landlords. I came up here and lived off of Alex and my sister. I met a lot of people trying to make connections. I got a job doing something I didn't want to do. Jules and I moved into an apartment with our third roommate, Senty. The place was a mess. There was still furniture everywhere. Julia got a job. I started to think I would never be able to find a better job. Then I got a different job. The house is better. The jobs are stable. We are stable. Life is stable.

With a little bit of time, and a lot of careful planning, you can produce something miraculous. And sometimes, that thing will crumble right in front of you anyway. Take for example, these shortbread cookies. Even when you are being meticulous and methodical, they may break while you are handling them. But, if you can deal with a few breaks and crumbles here and there, you can rest assured that these cookies are going to turn out perfectly, and so goes it with life. Happiest of New Years to all of my readers! May your 2011 end as you had planned and your 2012 begin with great joy and aspiration.

Pistachio, Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

1 cup roughly chopped pistachios

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour and salt. In a third bowl, combine cranberries, pistachios and chocolate chips.

2. Add the flour & salt to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until it just starts to come together. Fold in by hand the dried cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate chips about a half a cup at a time until it's fully incorporated. Mix until the dough forms a ball.

3. Roll into a log about 2 inches in diameter (or wider or skinnier depending on how big you want your cookies). Wrap with wax paper and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Slice the cookie log into 1/4 inch slices and place the slices on the sheet pan.

5. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from the pan and cool to room temp.

Hot Mulled Wine

When I was little, Christmas Eve was my favorite day of the year. It was hard to tell then, as I ripped through ribbon and tore through paper, but the truth was, the build up and mystery of December 24 was always half of my pleasure. Now that I am no longer a child waiting for sleigh bells on my roof, has Christmas Eve seemed to have lost it's sparkle? Now that I can buy basically whatever present I want for myself, and I can cook any day of the year, has the magic been lost? I say no, because of tradition.

Though now decades have passed since my sister and I were small children, my family's Christmas Eve routine has remained virtually the same. We go out to breakfast. We hit the over-crowded malls for any last minute shopping that hasn't been attended to. We come home and help my mom prepare for dinner. Dad falls asleep with the remote on his belly. We have fondue. We feast and laugh and overstuff. We roll downstairs and watch a holiday movie. Dad and Vanessa fall asleep. Vanessa wakes up angry attesting that she was awake. We trudge upstairs and wait for Santa.

These memories are kept alive every year because of tradition. And while they may evolve as we do, they live on. One thing that has changed for me is my choice of beverage. Nothing smells quite like the holidays like Hot Mulled Wine full of festive flavor. So pour yourself a glass, sit in front of your tree, and take in the magic one more time.

Hot Mulled Wine

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup bourbon (or more if you're feeling frisky)

1 (750-milliliter) bottle Cabernet Sauvignon

For the Mulling Spice Blend:

2 teaspoons whole allspice

1/4 teaspoon whole cloves

1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick, broken in half (plus more for garnish)

1 (3 x 1-inch) strip orange rind

1. Combine the allspice, cloves, cinnamon stick and orange rind into a cheese cloth (or even a coffee filter). Secure with thread. Combine sugar, bourbon, wine and mulling spice blend in a large pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Discard mulling spice sachet. Serve warm with cinnamon sticks, if desired.