nibbling on granola bars

 

Made these granola bars with a recipe from the Good to the Grain cookbook. They are quite tasty, very sweet (which Kim Boyce warns her readers about in the directions) and extremely chewy  - but maybe I overcooked mine.
Amendments: I used golden raisins and fewer than she suggested because that's what I had on hand. And they are still awesome.

I also ventured into the healthy flours section of the supermarket today and found all the flours I needed to make Boyce's multigrain mix. Bob's Red Mill is prolific in its production of flours and I'm set to mix batches of multigrain flour mix as christmas gifts.

Can't wait to try this ...

I just got this book from the library. I'm planning to add it to my christmas wish list, too. There's no way I can bake all of these good foods in just three weeks.  Strawberry Barley Scones, Five Grain Cream Waffles, Graham Crackers, Onion Jam and Huckle Buckle all vie for first recipe to try.
I admit I haven't hunted for the flours used in the book yet. Some may be diffficult to find and some may be prohibitively priced which would put a damper on my enthusiasm.
But at first blush, this book has revived my hope for home baking. A friend and I had recently been bemoaning the demise of homemade baked goods because 1. no one takes the time to do it, 2. most of us can easily hop over to a bakery when we want a sweet treat, and 3. no one needs more sugar and refined white flour. I know these treats still use flour, which is, by nature, a refined food. And some of these recipes still use sugar. But the emphasis is on flavor, not sweetness. The author, Kim Boyce, incorporates a lot of fruits and vegetables in the recipes (sweet potato muffins, carrot muffins, quinoa and beet pancakes, pear and buckwheat pancakes). And she has used the ultimate taste-testers - her children.

I could wish that there was a photo for every recipe, but the photos that she does show are beautiful and I am so grateful to her for putting out a book that I can use to make fairly healthy treats for family and friends. She even has a recipe for a multi grain flour mix that I think would make a great gift for my friends and family members who like to bake.

Haralson Hurrah!

Apple Crumb Pie this time, as planned. Let's hope the pie tastes better than my crimped edges look. For the crumb pie (the original recipe is in the Star of Texas Cookbook by the Junior League of Texas) I made a crust, peeled and sliced thin 7 medium haralsons, enough to make a good mountain of apples. Sprinkled the apples with 1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp. cinnamon. Then cut 1/3 cup butter into 3/4 cup flour mixed with 1/4 cup sugar. I went lighter on the sugar than the original recipe recommends - sugar depletes B vitamins, and I can't maintain my status as a sugar nazi among my family members if I don't cut sugar everywhere possible and look disapproving when my husband eats the sugary cereal I won't let the children have.

The pie took a good 50 minutes to cook. Start at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and then lower the oven temp to 350 and bake until the apples are tender and the top is lightly browned. And with the leftover pie dough...

cheese straws like Mimi used to make (or not quite as good and more like cheese wedges than sticks/straws). Just roll out the rest of the dough, put grated cheese over half of the middle. Fold the dough in half to make a half moon shape. Seal the edges so cheese doesn't melt out and bake until crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted.