Crunchy Granola

My latest cookbook obsession is with Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  Lately I have been trying to cook healthier and include more vegetables and less meat into our diet.

Luckily, I married a man that isn't all about meat and potatoes, and he will eat whatever is in front of him with an open mind. I will still have a cheeseburger or steak from time to time. I am not giving up meat, I just don't  feel I need it present at dinner every night to be satisfied.

My adventures into flexitarianism. Bittman writes that the term "flexitarian" is  used to describe meat eaters who eat mostly vegetables and vegetarians who aren't strictly vegan. Bittman writes in his book about the health benefits of eating less meat and his own experiences as a flexitarian and his resulting weight loss.

 Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is definitely on my list of must have books to add to my library. The recipes are straight forward practical recipes for delicious, healthy cooking. Currently I am borrowing the book from the MLP. Definitely one of my favorite things to do is to check out cookbooks from the public library and, fortunately for me, my library has quite the cookbook collection.

Earlier this week I made Crunchy Granola from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. The recipe is fast and simple. In the book there are flavor variations and a recipe for granola bars. I made the basic granola. We have eaten it as a snack, for breakfast with milk poured over it, and as a parfait with chopped bananas and yogurt. Yum!

Crunchy Granola

6 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)
1 cup of pecan halves
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup honey
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 300.

Place a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the oatmeal to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. The oatmeal will become toasty and fragrant.

Add the pecans and the almonds and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon, salt and honey and stir to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring  twice during baking.

Stir in raisins and let the granola cool on a rack.

Store the granola in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

The recipe states that this granola will last indefinitely, but this granola is so tasty that I can't imagine it  lasting for more than a week. I'm almost ready to make another batch just to have around next week. It makes for a healthy snack and a satisfying breakfast. 

Have you ever had the cereal Great Grains? I used to love Great Grains and this is it...except better! It tastes so much better than that boxed stuff and even more so because I know exactly what is in it. I love cereal. I grew up eating boxed cereal and still love it. Or at least thought I did. I like it when I've worked late and just want something to settle that hunger before I go to sleep.

And it does wonders soaking up the tequila.

But...I'm changing my ways.

After having crunchy granola around...I may never buy that boxed stuff again! 

Really. It's that good.

Diana and Clete's Wedding

This past weekend I was so fortunate to be a part of Diana and Clete's wedding. Instead of having a traditional wedding cake Diana opted for a dessert table with a variety of cakes and desserts atop beautiful cake pedastals. The only request...yellow cake with chocolate frosting for Clete, the groom.
The wedding dessert table included classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting, a coconut layer cake with cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut, berry layer cake, mini cupcakes, french macaroons, cheesecake lollipops, and bowls of assorted berries.
The berry layer cake was dramatic with four layers of golden sponge cake topped with billowy buttercream frosting and topped with red raspberries, golden raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.
The french macaroons were stunning. Lemon, raspberry, and plain almond macaroons in vibrant colors of pink, teal, and yellow with delicious buttercream filling. These macaroons were a hit! Not bad for my venture into the world of macaroons. Macaroons are my new obsession. Definitely more to come on the subject of macaroons.

Mini yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing for Clete and chocolate minis with cream cheese frosting just to keep things interesting. The cupcakes were dressed in these adorable cupcake papers from Bella Cupcake Couture. Diana chose five different paper designs to dress the cupcakes.

Yum! Cheesecake lollipops covered in chocolate with a sprinkling of rainbow sparkling sugar.

And for the groom, Clete's favorite...a classic yellow cake with a rich shiny chocolate frosting sitting pretty on a tall cake pedestal.

Diana and Clete's wedding dessert table was by far one of the most beautiful things I have done. Thank you guys! Thanks for having faith in me and allowing me to be a part of such a beautiful day.

A Weekend of Cake

I made this ladybug cake for a baby shower. Not too bad for my first time covering a cake in fondant. I was really happy with the way it turned out.


I also made this birthday cake for my stepdad. This cake is a bit more rustic than the previous one and consisted of dark chocolate layers filled with vanilla buttercream. I made the flowers out of leftover fondant from the ladybug cake. It was a busy weekend of baking. Oh how I wish I had double ovens in my kitchen! And maybe a second refrigerator too.

The September Garden

We have had so much rain here in the last couple of months, my garden has suddenly awakened and is showing signs of life again. This Japanese eggplant is loaded for the third time this season. This one plant has been so good to me.

I grew beans earlier this summer, but then decided not too long ago to try a late summer bean crop. All I did was pop a few bean seeds into the dirt. The bean plants shot right up. It seem like just yesterday I planted them, and now every day this week I have picked a handful of green beans.

Just enough for a dinner for two. Nothing cheers me up more than a meal made of fresh vegetables grown right in my own backyard.

The basil is thriving too. It looks better now than it has all summer. I love herbs from the garden. They give foods a delicious burst of fresh flavor.

Look at this! A little baby cucumber. I grew cucumbers for the first time this year and had tons of cucumbers earlier in the summer. Then the plants stopped producing and looked quite pathetic, so I pulled all the plants up except for one, which showed signs of hope with a few young bright green leaves. The garden is now rewarding me by flowering and showing some promising signs of delicious fresh vegetables in the weeks to come. I'm thinking pickles.

I also tried growing okra this year. I only have a few plants that my mom gave me, and they are doing great. Okra rewards you every day at the end of summer. It is quite easy to grow, tolerates the heat, and I haven't seen any pests. I could pickle some okra too...since I don't have much growing. I love pickled okra. A bloody mary just isn't complete without pickled okra.

Growing vegetables makes me happy.

Indian Dosas

I recently joined an online cooking community, The Daring Kitchen. Each month members cook the same recipe and then share their results. It is a great way to challenge yourself in the kitchen by stepping outside of your comfort zone and cooking something you wouldn't normally cook; be it the type of cuisine, techniques used, or ingredients.

This is my first Daring Cooks challenge, and this month's challenge was hosted by Debyi of The Healthy Vegan Kitchen. She chose Indian Dosas from the refreshing cookbook by Ruth Tal for this months challenge.

They were easy to make...just a little time consuming. I had never eaten Indian food before, but I really enjoyed the dish. It was similar to an enchilada, but with completely different flavors. The chickpea filling was a little too spicy for me even though I love spicy foods. The curry sauce was delicious. I stayed with the recipe provided since I'm not familiar with Indian cuisine, but I would definitely like to try dosas again with different flavor combinations.

This recipe was definitely a challenge for me since it was completely vegan. I used soy milk instead of cow's milk. Hmm....what should I do with the rest of the carton? I love meatless meals, but I have never gone completely animal free before. It was a very hearty vegetarian meal and delicious!

Indian Dosas

The recipe is three parts: the dosa or pancake, the filling, and the curry sauce.

Serves 4

Equipment needed:

large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula
vegetable peeler &/or knife
large saucepan
food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes

1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Dosa Toppings

1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Coconut Curry Sauce

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Beer Can Chicken and the New Grill

We have been wanting a new grill for quite some time. Our old grill has been great. It's a small portable grill with the small propane tank, which usually runs out in the middle of grilling.

Kevin bought this grill back in his bachelor days. He used to call me up and entice me over to his house with pork chops or steak, and we would sit on his front porch and he would grill dinner for us. That's when I knew...I wanted to spend my life eating meat with this man.

We've taken our little Weber grill to Mardi Gras, football games, and Panic shows. It has seen many parking lots. It's been very good to us...this little grill. Many memories. However, its time has past.

So, last week end we looked at grills. The fond memories of our old, little grill drew us to the Webers once again. We left the store to think about it, and the next day Kevin came home with the Weber Spirit in this big box.

He spent an hour or so assembling the grill. I assisted where needed and made sure we had pictures of the whole thing. This new baby is going to change our lives. We can grill large pieces of meat such as whole chickens, ribs, and roasts on this thing. We haven't been able to do this until now.
So, I've been reading up on grilling because I want to get the most out of our new grill. I will become the GRILL MASTER. I know....usually the grill is the man's job,but Kevin just lets me take over... because I'm so bossy when it comes to food. He's okay with that. I'm passing on all that I learn to him.

I have this great cookbook by Steven Raichlen called How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques. Until now I have just drooled over the photos and used some of the marinades. Now I will finally get the most out of this book. It will help me reach my grilling potential...not just recipes...but the techniques as well. Last night I flipped through the pages of How to Grill and stopped at the beer can chicken. I thought a whole chicken would be quite the test for our new grill. That would be quite a change from the leathery chicken breast that I normally grill. Very unsatisfying....I've become quite bored with chicken.

How hard could it be? Beer can chicken. Yum!!! The first test for our new Weber Spirit.

You need:

1 chicken
1 can of beer
6 tsp of barbecue rub (or any seasoning rub you prefer...store bought or homemade)

Open the beer and pour off half the beer. I used the poured off beer to soak wood chips, or you can drink it. Poke additional holes into the top of the can and add 2 tsp. of barbecue rub to the beer.

Remove the giblets from inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken inside and out under cold water. Dry with a paper towel.

Rub 2 tsp. of rub inside the cavity of the chicken. Rub the outside of the chicken with the remaining 2 tsp. of seasoning. Rub on the skin and under it.

Carefully lower the chicken onto the can so that the can is inside of the chicken. Use the can and the chickens legs for support so the bird remains upright.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill. We decided to try smoking some wood chips to add a smoky flavor to the chicken. So we began by soaking some hickory wood chips in water and the beer we poured off. Once the chips have soaked for ten minutes, place them on a sheet of aluminum foil. Fold up the foil to make a packet and then poke holes into the top of the packet to allow steam to escape. Pop the packet right onto the grill and preheat on high. The grill is ready when the chips begin to smoke.

Once the grill is ready place the chicken on the grill, close the lid, and reduce the temperature to medium. As the chicken cooks the beer and the seasoning will infuse the chicken with flavor and moisture.

Grill the chicken over indirect heat on medium for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer registers at 180 F. The skin on the chicken will be golden and crispy...not too crispy. I can't believe how easy this was or how perfect the chicken looked.

This new grill is amazing. A week ago I wouldn't have thought I would be grilling whole chickens. Man! This is the way to cook chicken. So juicy. The texture is not what I usually get from chicken. It was so moist and tender.

I was getting a little bored with chicken. Now we're rediscovering each other. I've been wanting to spatchcock a chicken.

And now to think I can have grilled spatchcocked chicken. The in-laws are coming this weekend...spatchcocked chicken on the grill...sounds perfect. Spatchcocked.....

Coming soon: Spatchcocked Chicken

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Brad's Birthday Cake

Over the weekend we celebrated Brad's, my brother-in-law, 40th birthday. I was so excited to make this wonderful chocolate peanut butter cake for him. I made this same cake for my sister's 40th birthday earlier this year and everyone loved it. It consists of two layers of rich, dark chocolate cake, filled and covered with creamy peanut butter cream cheese frosting, and then covered with shiny, dark chocolate ganache. The cake is made with dark cocoa powder so it has that really dark chocolaty color. For the cake I used Martha Stewart's recipe "One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes". I doubled the recipe to make two 10 inch rounds and 12 cupcakes. I have used this recipe at least a dozen times and it always turns out perfectly. Not too sweet and super moist. It is so easy because you don't even need a mixer, you just throw everything into one bowl and stir it up. Yes, it's that easy. I've seen some versions of this recipe call for milk and others for buttermilk. I always use buttermilk. Buttermilk always results in a really moist cake. Here is the recipe:

Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 C unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark)


• 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour


• 2 1/2 C sugar


• 2 1/2 tsp baking soda


• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder


• 1 1/4 tsp table salt


• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk


• 1 1/4 warm water


• 1 1/4 C buttermilk


• 1/2 C plus 2 Tbs (1 1/4 sticks) butter, melted and cooled


• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners. Or spray two 8 by 2 inch round pans with cooking spray, line with parchment paper and spray parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add liquid ingredients to the bowl and whisk together.

Fill cupcake liners halfway and bake for about 20 minutes.

Cool for ten minutes before removing from pans.

* For 10 inch cakes, bake for 50-55 minutes.

* For 8 inch cakes, bake 45 minutes.

See! Wasn't that easy?

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature...that's one pound


• 1 stick butter, room temperature


• 2 lbs confectioners sugar


• 1/2 cup peanut butter

Beat cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter together on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar, mix until smooth.

For the ganache:

• 2 C heavy cream


• 1 lb dark chocolate

Bring 2 cups of heavy cream to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour the cream over 1 pound of chopped dark chocolate. Stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool and thicken to a pourable consistency.

To assemble the cake:

After the cakes have cooled completely, wrap them in plastic, return the wrapped cakes to the pans, and let the cakes chill in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight. Before frosting the cakes they need to be leveled. Using a serrated knife, I just eyeball the cake, use a sawing motion to remove the hump on the cake. My cakes are never perfectly level. Who's perfect, anyway?

Once the cakes have been leveled, place one of the cakes onto a cardboard round or cake plate, cut side up and cover the top with a thick layer of frosting. I frost the cakes by filling a pastry bag with frosting and attaching a decorating icer tip, wilton 789 icing tip. This helps the frosting go on the cake more evenly.

Next, place the second cake evenly over the first layer. Frost the top and then the sides of the cake. You want the icing to be smooth because the ganache will be poured over it and you will see any imperfections in the icing. After the cake is frosted return it to the refrigerator to chill for about an hour or overnight. This will firm up the icing so the ganache can be poured over it.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for ten minutes. Before pouring the ganache place the cake on a rack set over a sheet pan, which will catch the ganache that runs off the cake. Begin pouring the ganache over the top of the cake making sure it runs evenly over the sides. You must work quickly to cover the cake with the ganache so it doesn't set before you are finished covering the cake. You can use a metal spatula to carefully cover any missed places on the sides of the cake. Do not run the spatula over the cake though, or the ganache will lose its shine. Let the cake sit out and at room temperature and allow the ganache to set.

Finish the cake by adding desired decorations, however, the cake looks great all by itself. For the flower decorations I bought some ready-to-use fondant and tinted it blue, and then I used flower shaped cutters in three sizes to make the flowers. This was my first time to work with fondant and I will definitely be experimenting with it more. I thought the fondant flowers looked great.

I used swiss meringue buttercream to pipe a border and write on the cake.

Beware! This cake is extremely rich. Cut small slices and serve with hot coffee or a cold glass of milk.

I also made vanilla bean cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream because I know there are some crazy people out there that just don't like chocolate. Those crazies weren't at the party.

We had a lot of left over vanilla cupcakes. Not so much cake.