Just Right Energy Bites

 

~Survey says...!~
This is about the quickest, best sweet-tooth satisfying, one-bite bang for your buck! And with summer knocking on our doors, these no-bake cookies are a must. We almost always have all the ingredients on hand, so I whip these up fairly often. I recently shared these with three of my favorite girls - Susan, Angelina and Katryna - with two thumbs up all around. That's SIX thumbs up, people!  Whoa.

Just Right Energy Bites
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup ground flax seed (flax meal)
1/2 cup fiber cereal (I use Fiber One)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use Trader Joe's Sesame Honey Almonds)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the peanut butter, honey and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and kind of mix them together atop the peanut butter mixture. Then dredge the peanut butter mixture from the bottom and thoroughly combine all ingredients.

Use a tablespoon to shape into balls or domes like mine.  I have a round tablespoon that use, pressing it against the side of the bowl to form a tight dome.  Then I scoop it out and place the little dome on a plate.  Keep refrigerated; we think they are too soft otherwise.

These probably keep for longer than a week in the refrigerator, but I can't say for sure.  They never last that long here.  And at 74 calories each, why would they?

Makes 36 cookies.

Enjoy!

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Nut Rolls

~Out of Season~
Hey.  I know this recipe is posted out of season.  In three years, it just never made its way to the blog right before the holidays.  Besides, I got a request for it today.  Crazy, huh?  So while every other food blogger in the world is posting Irish recipes this week, here I go with a traditional eastern European Christmas recipe.  It's okay; I've been accused of quirky before.  Just promise me you will come back here in, say, eight months and pretend like this post couldn't be more timely.

This recipe is a Keeper that goes back several generations.  It was given to my mom by her Aunt Lois.  Aunt Lois got it from her mother-in-law, whose family brought it with them from Lithuania in God-knows-what-year-but-let-me-tell-ya-it-was-a-loooong-time-ago.

Every holiday season of my childhood, we were never without these gems lined up on every square inch of counter space.  I'm sure Mom gave many of them away, but all I remember is we snacked on these morning, noon, and night for about three months each year.  It seems like we constantly had one on the counter from early November until mid-January.  Each one unwrapped and re-wrapped so many times that the foil was a crinkly mess by the time we got down to that last end piece.  Each time one disappeared, another reappeared in its place.  Did I ever mention my dad's never-ending, unstoppable sweet tooth before?  Heck, maybe Mom didn't give any of them away...

So.  You know when you really think a lot of someone, but going out and buying them an actual Christmas gift seems a bit much?  Well, The Dougster (aka HotDog) and I solve that dilemma each year with these nut rolls.  It's become a tradition to gift our good friends and neighbors with these Keepers every year.  Well, almost every year.  What's that saying?  "If the good Lord's willing, the creek don't rise, and the holiday frenzy doesn't get the best of you."  Yeah, that.

Nothing fancy.  I still wrap them in foil like Mom did.  When they are gifted, we adorn each roll with either a stick-on bow or tied with curly ribbon.  (Okay, maybe we DO get fancy.)  We deliver them in person with wishes for the happiest of holidays.  Then we go home, brew a pot of coffee, and eat the ugly ones that didn't make the cut - wrapping and rewrapping until the foil is a crinkly mess, down to the last piece.

Aunt Lois' Nut Rolls
dough
1 cup sugar
1 pound butter
1 can evaporated milk
1 cake yeast
1 teaspoon salt
8 eggs
filling
1 pound box brown sugar (2 1/4 cups)
2 cups sugar
1 pound butter
4 pounds walnuts
1 can evaporated milk

First, plan to make the dough the day before you intend to actually bake the nut rolls.  Since this recipe makes 12 rolls, give yourself plenty of time on baking day.

To make the dough, warm the evaporated milk to 110 degrees F.  Stir in the yeast.

Mix all of the dough ingredients with an electric mixer until the dough comes away from your mixing bowl clean. (Or, in my case, until your old mixer can't continue under the strain, and you have to finish it by hand.)  Place in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

To make the filling, grind or finely chop the walnuts.  I find a food processor works well.

Melt the butter.  Combine all the filling ingredients in a large bowl or container.  I like to use a rectangular container so I can mark off 12 equal squares.

To assemble and bake those rolls, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Take the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 12 equal balls.  Sprinkle sugar on your counter or table and roll a ball of dough in sugar until it is 12-14" by 8-10".  Spread a "square" of filling on it, leaving about an inch on all sides.  Slowly make each roll, starting from one of the long sides.

Tuck the ends under and move to a baking sheet, seam side down.  Sprinkle each with a little more sugar.  Plan to bake three rolls per baking sheet; otherwise, they will spread out too much.  It helps to line your baking sheets with parchment or wax paper, which I learned after this batch.

Bake each sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until golden brown.

Let nut rolls cool about 15 minutes before very carefully transferring them from the baking sheet to foil sheets.

When completely cooled, wrap tightly in foil.  I hear they freeze well, but they never made it that far in our house.

Enjoy!

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Kimmers' Red Sauce

~ Out of my Head ~
This recipe was a staple of my childhood. Never written down, my mom made it from her head. She learned it from her mom who, of course, made it from her head. When I went to college and had an apartment of my own, I craved it something fierce. Calling my mom, I got instructions that went something like this:  "Brown some ground meat with some onions and garlic powder, add some sauce and paste - more paste than sauce - with some water to thin it, add some basil and oregano - more basil than oregano..." Umm, yeah. Thanks, Mom. I'm sure it will taste exactly the same.

I cleverly refined my approach:  drive to Mom's house, sit down with paper and pencil, and say, "Okay, make sauce." So I did, and so she did, and so I watched with a keen eye and took careful notes. I still didn't have exact amounts, but I felt confident I could recreate this masterpiece. Wrong-o!

The first time I made it was a disaster. Do you know what happens when you make lasagna with sauce that is way too thin? Those noodles slide all around on your plate like Bambi's attempt to ice skate. It does not stand nicely in cubed form, but rather resembles what I can only describe as "pasta splat". That's what.

In time, I found success. I learned not to over-water. I replaced the garlic powder with real cloves. Sometimes I add fresh basil and oregano. I discovered that a bit of hot sausage is nice. Both my lasagna and I can stand tall. I had achieved making the family red sauce from my head, too.

It's taken many batches of red sauce and trial-and-error with measurements to get this Keeper written down. No longer stuck in anyone's head, I am finally able to share it with you.

Kimmers' Red Sauce
3 generous tablespoons of olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
5-8 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 pounds ground meat (I use 1 pound each of ground turkey, sweet Italian chicken sausage, and hot Italian chicken sausage.)
3/8 cup dried basil
1/4 cup dried oregano
30 ounces canned tomato sauce (I use two 15 ounce cans.)
30 ounces canned tomato paste (I use two 12 ounce cans and one 6 ounce can.)
28 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes (I use Muir Glen brand.)
15 ounces water

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

In a large pot over medium heat, add onions to olive oil and stir until evenly coated. Add ground meat, garlic, basil, and oregano. (If you use link sausage, remove meat from casing first by running a sharp knife longways along link.) Break up meat into small pieces and cook thoroughly.

Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and sauce. Fill one of the 15 ounce cans with hot tap water. Use that water to swirl around in the cans to get all the tomato sauce and paste, then add this tomato-water to the pot. Stir thoroughly. Your red sauce should have a nice consistency, kind of on the thick side.

Using my amounts as guidelines, add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. The sugar will cut the acidity of the tomatoes to give your sauce a nice flavor.

Ladle sauce over prepared pasta and garnish with grated cheeses if desired. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

* This recipe makes a large batch, which is convenient because it freezes so nicely. To freeze leftover sauce, put it in freezer bags and lay flat on a baking pan until frozen. When ready to use, loosen the freezer bag by running it under hot tap water. Then cut the bag to remove the frozen block of sauce, and place in large pan on low heat to thaw. Stir and turn frequently until heated through.

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Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ever so slightly adapted from epicurious.com, this is my go-to buttercream recipe.  The little bit of extra time it takes to make the meringue is worth every second.

4 large egg whites, room temperature
Generous 1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla
candy thermometer

Place water and 1 1/4 cups sugar in medium saucepan and bring to boil, making sure all sugar is dissolved.  Let boil until the syrup reaches 240 degrees F on candy thermometer.

Meanwhile beat egg whites until frothy, then slowly add the remaining 1 Tablespoon of sugar.  Beat until soft peaks form.

Slowly pour the hot syrup along the side of the bowl and into the egg whites mixture.  Beat on high, scraping sides of bowl until meringue is cool to the touch.  This takes me about 10-15 minutes with this plastic bowl.  A metal bowl may hold the heat longer.

Once the meringue is cool, and it is very important that you are patient enough for it to cool, thoroughly incorporate the butter a piece at a time.

Continue beating until all the butter is added and buttercream is smooth and fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat another minute or two.  Frost your favorite cake and prepare yourself for rave reviews.

This recipe will frost 48 Guinness Cupcakes like this:

Enjoy!

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Guinness Cupcakes

~Divine Intervention~
I enjoy running.  It offsets my weakness for carbs and calibrates my mental compass.  When I run, my mind freely wanders from long stretches of nothing to the occasional tangible thought.  Mostly my mind pecks around like a free-range chicken - light, easy, happy - and this is when I get very thankful for the good things in my life.  These thoughts always includes my ankles.  Yeah, I said it.  My ankles.

Now, let's pause a minute and give some honest thought to the relatively unglamorous life of the ankles.  I mean, other than a brief mention in that skeleton song, they get no notoriety.  They receive no ego boosts of positive encouragement.  No one says, "Oh, what svelte ankles you have!"  There's no Anklepolitan Magazine for ankle models, no sexy articles with tips for attracting the ideal ankle partner, no exercise secrets for how to live a life free from cankles.  Face it, they only get periodic careful attention when the stubble can no longer be ignored, and that is only because a razor nick to the ankle is a real pain in the you-know-what.  Ankles, if given any thought at all, are regarded more in a Mr. Rogers' I Like You Just Because You're You kinda way.  Poor things.

Let me give you a glimpse into why I get thankful for my ankles each time I run.  We got a terrific deal on a commercial grade treadmill; however, Giant Clue #1 should have been the fact that four young strapping dudes loaded it on our truck.  These things are heavy beyond belief.  Little did we know.  We lost control of the beast as we eased it off the truck and toward our basement doorway.  It slid, knocking me backwards onto the floor.  Somehow, miraculously, the treadmill got hung up on the door frame as it came to rest across the tops of my ankles.  Holy close call, right?  Thank goodness, we have terrific neighbors who helped us out of this pickle.

When I reflect on that night, I feel stupid.  Astoundingly STUPID.  I can't imagine how or if I would be able to run today if that single event had taken a different turn, if old houses didn't have narrow doorways, if the good Lord didn't watch over me.  I shudder to think it took a near-crushing for me to acknowledge these gorgeous little body parts that gloriously connect the leg bone to the foot bone.  This is why I savor every run as wonderful and delicious and good.  REALLY, REALLY GOOD.

Almost as good as these cupcakes.  They, too, have some divine intervention of sorts.  It's called Guinness.  They will help YOU have good neighbors, too.  I can't make any promises about cankles, though.

Guinness Cupcakes
14.9 oz. can Guinness or other stout beer
2 cups unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
4 cups flour
4 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
2 - 5.3 oz. containers vanilla Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the beer and butter in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer then add cocoa powder.  Whisk until smooth.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.  Using a mixer, beat eggs and yogurt.

Add chocolate stout mixture until just combined.  Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until well combined.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.

Bake 18-22 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly.  Makes approximately 48 cupcakes.

Top with loads of Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

Enjoy!

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Salted Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

~ The Break Up ~ 

My old friend, The Kitchen Aid Mixer, had started leaking after nearly 18 years together. That alone was not enough to say good-bye, as it's an easy fix to replace the grease (at least the online instructions and videos say so).  She also started complaining every time I suggested we bake some bread; she actually became quite childish, bogging down and dragging her feet like an unwilling toddler as I pleaded with her to mix the dough.  This scene always ended with me saying, "Fine.  I'll do it myself," as I finished the mixing and kneading by hand.  Our tastes in culinary adventures were clearly moving in two different directions.  The Kitchen Aid Mixer and I had a good run of it together, but it was time to move on. 

During one of our arguments over dough, I said a hurtful thing right in front of her.  With much resolve I looked at HotDog and asked, "You know how you wanted to buy me a new stereo for Ruby Redbug for my birthday...?"  He, who clearly doesn't know me well (ha!), replied with, "You want a new mixer."  It was much more statement than question, to which I beamed and said, "Yes, please."

And that was the official break-up.  She immediately started looking for a new place to live, while I delved deeply into the wiles of cyber matchmaking (aka research) to find my forever mixer.  As I waited for my new love, the old one promptly found a new home with a friend who loves her for who she is.  It ended as best it could have.

I hear you.  "Soooo, what did you get?  What did you get?"  I was going to save that part for a future blog, but here you go:  an Electrolux Verona Assistent.  I'll gush about all the wonderful reasons why we belong together later.  Feel free to Google in the meantime.

It was two long months before the new mixer arrived on my doorstep.  While I waited and obsessively checked the order status every couple days, a couple memorable moments made me feel like a genius.  The first came when I set out to bake cupcakes for HotDog and his son, the ManBoy.  I perused my small kitchen appliances and noticed my blender has a batter function.  I put the water, oil, and eggs in the pitcher and gave them a few pulses.  Then slowly added the box cake mix with the blender on low.  After a couple cycles of the batter program, I poured the perfectly blended batter right from the pitcher into 24 waiting cupcake liners.  Also, a food processor works wonders with frosting.  Those cupcakes were delish, and I self-elevated to baking savant!  HotDog tasted these and declared I didn't need a mixer.  I shot him a look.

Then there was the potluck at work.  I settled on an old Keeper from my childhood, because it can easily be made without a mixer.  The second stroke of sans-mixer creative genius struck when, while putting the cake together, I caught a glimpse of the finishing salts starter kit that my awesome sister-in-law, Tama, gifted to me.  Check out how cool!

The cake alone is fantastic.  However, Chocolate + Sea Salt = Sheer Tastebud Ecstasy.  When HotDog took a bite, he demanded to know why I have been keeping this from him all these years.  Do it:  buy some sea salt and make this cake.  Throw in a dash of cardio for each piece you eat, and I promise the trade-off is well worth it.

Salted Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

cake
2 sups sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon regular ol' salt

1 cup water

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup butter

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk -or- sour milk (1 Tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to make 1/2 cup; let sit several minutes)

1 teaspoon vanilla

frosting

1/2 cup butter

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

6 Tablespoons milk

1 lb box powdered sugar (~3 1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1-3 teaspoons sea salt, optional and to taste  (I used Maldon sea salt flakes.)

For the cake:

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.  In a saucepan, melt the butter and combine with the water and cocoa powder; bring to a rolling boil.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Beat or whisk into the flour mixture; add cocoa mixture.

As I tried to show here, it is a very thin batter.

Pour into greased and floured 15 1/2" x 10" jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 min, or until cake starts to pull away from sides and middle springs back when lightly touched.  Frost while warm.

For the icing:

Whisk the butter, cocoa powder, and milk over low heat until combined.  Do not boil.

Remove from heat and beat or whisk in the vanilla, then the powdered sugar.

Spread on cake.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  This picture should give you a good idea of the amount of salt I used.

Add nuts (the 1/2 cup for the cake and a bunch of lovable ones to help you eat it).

Enjoy!

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