Now that I have started the “Bread in a Dutch Oven” method for making bread, I have decided to branch out and do something besides a plain old white bread boule. I decided to make this Cranberry Walnut and Honey loaf. Again the dough is a little gooey, but it turned out alright at the end. I think the next time, I’ll add a little cinnamon.
My mum has an expression for “leftovers” that loosely translated from German as “sideways through the refrigerator”. I was almost going to call these “Sideways Through the Pantry” Bars, because I am using up a whole lot of odds and ends: chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows, nuts, Chex cereal. They did end up sort of “Rocky Road”-ish with the chocolate and marshmallows though, so I went with that instead. Definitely gives these time to set up… For some reason, the chocolate took forever to harden!
Today is the last day of “Meteorological Winter”. No, we still have a few weeks to go before we hit Astronomical Spring, but the last day of February … things can really go warmer from here. We did get snow on this last day of February, so I figured it was still ok to make snowball cookies. This recipe is actually the same as my Vanilla Crescents (Vanillekipferl) at Christmas time, just shaped differently. Either way, they taste the same and are super delicious.
It’s Valentine’s Day. Or, well, it will be soon. As I say every year, I am not really into the whole Hallmark “manufactured” holiday, but it is always a good excuse to make some sweet thing. This yea, I mad these Winter Bliss Chocolates. I just made up the name … there is nothing particularly wintry about them. They do have orange and pistachios, which give them a lovely nuance. They are very very dark chocolate, my favorite. Delicious!
Starting the year off with something slightly more healthy than cookies, I’ve made granola bars. This is an all purpose recipe that lets you swap out the type of nut (almonds or pecans or cashews or peanuts) and the type of fruit (I’ve made these with dried apricots, cranberries, cherries and raisins). If you can’t find pecan butter, or if it is too expensive (because wow, it can be very expensive!), stick with almond butter as it is the most neutral of the nut butters. I’ve not tried it will sunflower seed butter, but I will eventually and will report back on that too.