Chocolate & Peanut Butter Oat Bars

 While scanning my pantry one day in the midst of a yearning for a sweet snack I found a nearly empty Quaker Oatmeal box and decided to read it for ideas.  A bar cookie prep is simple and it takes less time in baking than cookies.  These bar cookies just practically melt in your mouth.  This is a recipe I made by making substitutions to Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

I eat oatmeal almost every day and my "bad" LDL is within normal limits.  A little bit of badness helps keep life interesting.  Haha.

CHOCOLATE & PEANUT BUTTER OAT BARS

1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp of butter

1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp of peanut butter

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups Quaker Oats uncooked (1/2 quick and the other half Old Fashion)

1 cup of chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 F.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of mixer until creamy.

2. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well

3. Add combined flour, baking soda, and cinnamon, mix well.

4. Add oats and chocolate chips, mix well.

5. Drop dough in an ungreased metal baking pan.

6. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool completely.  Store tightly covered.  4 dozen bar cookies.

Almond Crunched Lemon Pound Cake

This wonderful photo was taken by Suhyeon Choi @by_syeoni from Unsplash.com.

This seasonal favorite makes the most of our lemon citrus harvest as a family and friend to go to yummy places.  This recipe is adapted from an article by Christopher Kimball featuring Rose Carrarini, "An English Baker in Paris."  The article is found in Chris Kimball's Milk Street Magazine.

This recipe is not an easy one, yet well worth for the love of it.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. freshly grated lemon zest, +3 Tbsp. lemon juice divided
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 3/4 sticks (14 Tbsp. salted butter, cut into 14 pieces, room temperature
 3 tbsp. sliced almonds

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. with rack in middle position. Coat a 9x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and dust evenly with flour. Best eggs and vanilla in small bowl and set aside.
In a Stand Mixer with paddle attachment, mix the 1 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar and lemon zest on low speed until blended.  Add both flours gradually on low speed.  Continue on low speed and gradually add butter a piece at a time. Continue on low until mixture is totally crumbly with no powder bits.
With mixer still running, add egg mixture in a slow, steady stream to thoroughly mix.  Increase to medium high and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl once or twice.  The batter will be thick.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the surface, then sprinkle with sliced almonds.  Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce to 300 degrees F.  Bake until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted at center comes out clean, another 30 to 35 minutes.
While the cake bakes, in a small saucepan over medium-low, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of white sugar and 2 tbsp. of lemon juice.  Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture simmers.  Remove from the heat and stir in remaining tbsp. of lemon juice.  Set aside to cool.
When cake is done, cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Invert the cake onto the rack, then turn it upright.  Use a toothpick to poke holes in the cake at 1-inch intervals.  Brush on the lemon syrup, allowing it to soak in.  Cool completely before slicing, about 2 hours.

Note:  If you like a stronger lemon tartness, add more lemon juice or lemon extract as you prefer.

Enjoy!

Green Bean Harvest and Freeze

Green Beans are harvested about 60 days from planting  its seeds.  The beans should be about pencil size for the most flavor and tenderness.  Harvest them at that time.  I find the variety of green beans to be most yummy is Blue Lake.  I had plenty of green beans this year that I froze some.  I shared some with friends as pickles and also freshly picked ones. This fall season I am going for less numbers of each crop and more variety of veggies that my husband and I can reasonably use.

To evaluate how much of each veggie we use I plan ahead.  I calculate how often we use each one and compare it to nutritional guidelines.  Freezing the beans is accomplished by blanching them.  Rinse the beans with the use of a colander and fresh water.  Place beans in boiling water for 2 minutes and then in ice water for 1 minute.  Pack in a sealed plastic bag and identify what you have there as a meal portion with expiration date. 

In a Pickle

Gram's Sweet Pickles, Company as well as Bread and Butter Pickles are in line to be made, but dill pickles are first. First trial on a new pickle recipe was simply horrible.  It was too salty and oh so sour.  It was given a sugar substitute that just didn't do the job.  Soon another dill pickling recipe is up to be tried.  This time we will be using Blue Lake green beans from my garden harvest.

DILLY BEANS

50 0/0 Water to 50 0/0 Distilled Vinegar (2 cups each)
1/4 cup pickling Salt
Dill & Garlic Cloves
Plus Pickling Spices (Opt)

Green Beans

Clean beans and remove ends of pods. Place a sprig of fresh dill and one or two cloves of garlic in bottom of clean linear jars.  Tightly place beans in linear shaped jars so that they press each other below vinegar solution surface to pickle entire bean. Pour vinegar solution over beans to 1/4 inch from top edge of jars.  Seal with lid and ring by putting in hot bath for 10 minutes.  Sets in 3 weeks to finish pickling process.

Enjoy!

Thank you, Kathy Hesser for being such a good cook and sharing your recipe!

Creative Recipes in the Making, Peach Crisp

It is peach harvest season in the summer months.  What to do.  Eat a fresh tree ripened peach!  It is so tasty, sweet and juicy.  Remember to use organic fertilizers for those best results.  Other options are to make fresh peach pie or crisp, jam, freeze peaches for later use, or can.  Freezing preserves nutrients better than canned but, storage space and power bills might out vote freezing at least for awhile.

Peach Crisp      Oven 375 degrees  for  30 min.

4 cups sliced peaches - place in greased 8 -9" square pan.

2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
few drops of almond extract     > place in medium sized bowl, crumb, and set aside.
3/4 tsp gr. cinnamon
3/4 tsp gr. nutmeg
1/3 cup soft butter

1/2 cup chopped almonds - put directly on peaches.

Sprinkle crumb over peaches and almonds.  Bake until top is golden brown and peaches are tender, about 30 min.  Serve warm with cream or vanilla ice cream (optional).

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/274620.php

Fresh Lemonade

LEMONADE

By Carol A. Huss

Super fresh homemade lemonade may help bring your nasty symptoms to a halt.   Follow directions carefully and you’ll know that refreshing taste.

 2 cups Water

¾ to 1 cup granulated Sugar

1 cup fresh Lemon Juice

Few slices Lemon

Water and Ice.

Directions:  Heat to boiling 2 cups of water in medium saucepan.  Add granulated sugar to boiling water and stir until thoroughly dissolved.   Add and stir in some ice to saucepan to chill mixture thoroughly.  Add and stir fresh lemon juice into mixture.  Pour mixture into a 2-quart pitcher and add water to fill.  To serve:  may add lemon slices & ice to each glass of lemonade.

Hints: Use glass containers (pitcher & glasses) to help preserve fresh flavor.