cooking light's chocolate mint bars

i love the library. i get to check out all sorts of books, but you know i head straight for the cookbook collection followed with a veggie tales vhs stop over. the other day i brought home cooking light's recipe annuals for 2008 and 2009. in the 2008 collection i found a make over recipe for these chocolate mint bars and just knew i wanted to give them a whirl. i did. my brother roger and his wife miranda came for supper on friday and this was dessert, along with a slab of leftover hummingbird cake. let me say, um, they were different. i wouldn't say they were "knocked out of the ballpark" good or anything, just different. i think they like the five day old cake better. if you like peppermint and fudge this is for you. the bottom is really chocolaty and dense topped with a layer of sweet, sugary peppermint filling smothered in semi-sweet chocolate. it is sorta like a girl scout thin mint cookie, but not. i can see me making them again, but not anytime soon. they are pretty rich and potent. i bet they would travel well though. you can find the recipe here. enjoy.

look what i got!

a vintage martha stewart chicken cake mold! a gift from my hip chick friend lisa. am i a lucky duck or what? okay, i am going a fowl with the poultry jokes. gotta fly.

hummingbird cake

no hummingbirds were harmed in the making of this baked good. i promise. i saw this recipe in the latest issue of the foodnetwork magazine and thought it would be perfect for easter. it was. it was a big hit with the whole three adults who attended lunch. my kids, they were too busy stuffing their cake holes with candy. i tasted a small bite for reviewing purposes, only. it tasted like carrot cake, well sorta, except for the bananas. it was moist, dense and flavorful. the cake is chockful of toasted pecans, banana chunks and pineapple tidbits. the only changes i made the network's masterpiece was to use can pineapple rather than fresh. oh and fyi, the cream cheese frosting recipe listed makes a ton, delicious, but way too much. yes, sometimes you can have too much icing, hard to believe, but true. i ended up stashing the leftovers covered in the fridge. hmmmmm, do i sense red velvet cupcakes in the future, only time will tell.

anywho, this cake is a definite keeper and a do over, again and again. once you try it i think you will agree. enjoy.

easy vanilla granola

while on my never ending search to find something that i would actually like to eat for breakfast, i decided to give granola a try. i searched the net looking at hundreds, no thousands, no millions, no gazillions of granola recipes. holy cow, there are tons of them out there, so i just made my own. i love it! it has a slightly sweet vanilla flavor with lots of yummy crunchy clusters. i added coconut and dried cranberries, but you can add anything that you like. also, it can be thrown together and baked in about thirty minutes! you gotta love that. give it a try. enjoy.

in a large bowl mix four cups old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 -1 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup of flax seed, 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt and 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon.

in a saucepan heat a 1/3 cup of canola oil, 2 tbsp. of honey, and 1 tbsp of agave(i ran out of honey). heat till warm, whisk in 4 tsp. of real vanilla extract. pour this mixture over the oat mixture mixing thoroughly till everything is completely coated.

now spread this evenly on a parchment or silpat covered cookie sheet. bake at 300 degrees fahrenheit for about 25-25 minutes till slightly golden brown. now here is the trick for clusters, don't stir during baking. once done, cool completely and break into pieces. store in an air tight container.

happy easter!

the kids were up bright and early to check out what the easter bunny had dropped off! hey, this ain't christmas, punks, what did you expect? i think candy, pj's and new video games is right generous of the ol'hare. anyway, here are a coupla pics of the funky deviled eggs i made for our easter lunch. kinda wild, huh? i just boiled eggs, peeled them and let them soak overnight in beet juice. then deviled as usual. i betcha no one will eat them, too funny. enjoy.

i hope everyone has a hoppy day!



oh and you can't have easter without chickies!

the purse of the chickens

i rarely, rarely buy my self anything. anything decent that is. if you could see my underwear drawer you would agree. i am cheep, but i cracked and recently ordered a purse from my favorite etsy shop-jp's accessories. i mentioned joyce and her handy work a few posts back. well, my chicken bag, that i custom ordered, is on its way! i wanted to post some pics here courtesy of joyce. isn't is adorable. i love it. the bad part, now i will be pacing the floor till it gets here. i found the fabric online, convo'd her and she whipped it up in a matter of days! you can't beat that for service. she is a good egg, that joyce pleasant.

eggcellent!

easy bird's nest cookies

three ingredients, only three-one bag of butterscotch morsels, one can of chow mein noodles and your eggs of choice whether it is jellybeans, malted robin's eggs, or in my case, little cadbury candy coated chocolate eggs.

zap the morsels in the microwave beginning with one minute, stir and keep zapping in 15 second intervals till it is melted, not scorched! watch it closely. stir in the chow mein noodles, folding and crunching till completely coated in butterscotch. spoon onto parchment/waxed paper or a silpat. shape like a nest with a little indention in the middle. place your eggs pushing them down slightly to make sure they stick when dry. let them air dry about thirty minutes and that's it. enjoy.

ps-i happened to have the large bag of chowmein noodles, so i just dumped what i thought was enough. i am thinking that the can will be a perfect amount. i used probably 2/3 of the bag.