A wonderful friend came over and we made Nanaimo bars together! I hadn't made them before, but I was willing (and eager!) to try! So, we started with a recipe from my cousin, added a recipe from the World Wide Inter-Web, and ended up with a version just slightly our own. Brittany ended up getting Oreo crumbs because graham crumbs were on sale and there were none to be found! Usually a Nanaimo bar recipe calls for graham crumbs and the addition of cocoa powder, but we just went with the Oreo crumbs instead and they were aaaawwwwwesooooome!!! :) I took a batch with me to see family over the holidays, and I made another batch while visiting, and they got a lot of compliments (*blush*)! My father-in-law said he doesn't always really like Nanaimo bars, but these were the best he had ever had! That was high-praise indeed! So, here it is! Brittany & Amy-Lyn's Nanaimo Bars These bars come together in stages and require cooling between layers. Adapted from this recipe from Hidden Ponies, and my cousin Lizzie. :) Ingredients: Bottom:
Middle:
Top:
Method: Bottom Layer:
Middle Layer:
Top Layer:
*Scoring these bars before they are fully cooled helps you get a nice clean square when you cut and serve them. Without scoring, your chocolate would harden, and when you cut into the bars the chocolate would break and the delightful middle layer would squish out! Thumbs down. And there you have it!
Monday, Monday! I have a lots to do this week with the 'usuals' as well as finishing a few paintings, getting a chalk board/cork board done, and the start of rehearsals for the new show the Belleville Theatre Guild is putting on, The Drowsy Chaperone! I am looking forward to the week though, and taking the challenges on! Whatever your Monday looks like, try to have a good day!
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A few years ago I made these cookies....and they were terrible! I have a recipe from a book I bought for a fund raiser, and I was certain the recipe was good, it was just me that sucked. Well, me and my seriously crappy, circa 1960's oven I had been given. O.k, I still was getting my real "sea legs" (or, um, baking legs?), but it was a pretty close race in suckiness between me, and the oven. This same oven decided to fully crap out on me while I was trying to bake a multi-layered, multi-coloured cake for a birthday. My husband ended up having to buy a sheet cake from the grocery store. They let him buy a froze, un-iced one because I had already made a jumbo bowl of buttercream frosting I needed to use up! I digress....also, I think I've told this story before... Anywhooo, I hadn't tried making them again since that time years ago, but I sure wanted to try! I'm not a big fan of letting any baked good beat me, so round 2 was on! These cookies are super-fudgey, and simple to make for how beautiful they turn out. I mean, really, look at those beautiful cracked (crinkled) cookies? Lovely. Simply lovely. I added mint extract to make them more Christmas-y, but you can use vanilla extract if you would prefer! Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies Ingredients:
Method:
The best thing about these cookies? They are super-duper freezable (as opposed to just plain old freezable?). Would I share a possible holiday get-together cookie with you if it weren't freezable? I made mine, stashed 'em in an airtight container, and have been pulling cookies out about 4 at a time to add to give boxes and dessert plates. Oh, just be careful to only touch the sides of these though, a giant finger print in the middle of a cookie you're giving too someone else seems yucky.
Today I have a wonderful (beautiful) friend coming over and we're going to try to make Nanaimo bars! I've been told it's easy to do, but I had never tried! So, I'm looking forward to trying something new! I'll let you know how it goes! :) Well, I've seriously dropped the ball! I have a bunch of Christmas cookies I want to post about, and I feel the hands of time chasing me down, wagging it's clock arms at me shouting, "it's too late! It's tooooo laaaaaaate!!!!". I know Christmas is not technically for another 13 days (yiiiiikes!!!), but we leave to stay with family in 6 days, so I've got less time to cram all my projects into! I'm not sure if I'll be blogging while I'm away or not, so I wanted to be sure I got all my pre-Christmas ideas out into the world before Christmas. Anywhooo.....I'm rambling. Let's just move onto today's lovely treat. It's a cookie. It's a brownie. Need any more info? I thought not. Oh, p.s., if you're looking for a gluten free brownie cookie, look here. :) Brownie Cookies The dough requires a teeny bit of cooling time before baking it. This recipe is from A Bakers House Ingredients:
Method:
Like all the cookies I make for the Christmas season, these are freezable. Thumbs up!
I hope everyone has a great weekend. We have another busy one ahead of us, but it's all good things, so I'm not too stressed. I am moderately stressed, but that's acceptable, I think! Hello one and all! I'm sitting drinking my coffee and eating a piece of warm, chocolate chunk banana bread. I had a serious problem that consisted of me having one million over-ripe bananas in my freezer, threatening to start a revolt and take over my whole kitchen! O.k, well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but only slightly. The truth is that I did have way too many bananas in my freezer, and I needed a banana something recipe to use some of them up. Preferably a large number of them! I have a paleo banana bread recipe already here, but it only calls for 1 cup of mashed banana, and that wasn't going to do! Then I found the Civilized Caveman Cooking and his banana bread recipe and I was sold! 2 1/2 cups mashed banana? Hot dog, we have a wiener! Yikes, that looks more strange typed out than when I just say it out loud. No matter, enjoy the recipe! Oh, I added chocolate chunks to it too, because, well, do I even need to explain why? Paleo Banana Chocolate Chunk Bread From the Civilized Caveman Cooking. Find his recipe here Ingredients:
Method:
I have made this loaf a few times, and to store it I cut it up, then stick it into an airtight container and put it into the freezer. My favourite way to eat it out of the freezer is to put it into the oven for 15 minutes or so (just on the rack, not on a baking sheet or anything), and let the outside get crisp while the inside get warm. Yumm-o.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great Wednesday! I hope to bake and bake and bake today! That's the plan, at least. I need to get a workout in too, as well as do my usual things like tidying/cleaning, making dinner for the fam, and doing the chores at the barn. The whole day is in front of me, and I'm ready to go! Well, after one more cup of coffee. My sister makes a mean carmelita....if you've never heard of this dessert with an oat-y base and top, and filled with chocolate and caramel, well, you need to step out of that cave and live my friend! So, I was going to make them the other day and changed my mind....I wasn't in the mood to un-wrap all the caramels for making the carmelitas (basically, I was being super lazy!). But I did need to make a dessert for some friends coming over, so I decided to take the carmelita recipe, and lazy it up! Also, marshmallows are super-yum, so I didn't see how this couldn't work! Chocolate & Marshmallow Oat Bars Ingredients:
Method:
My sister makes a great point in her recipe for the carmelitas, and it applies to these bars too-they take forever and a day to cool, and if you try to cut them too early you'll just make a jumbo mess. So, the best plan is to make these in the evening, and leave them to cool over night with a clean towel over it. Or make them whenever, but just be ready to let them cool for hours. Well people, there you have it! A few simple ingredients and some simple steps gets you some fab-u-lous squares!
In the next week or two I'll be sharing an even lazier take on the carmelita, but it's so very, very good! Don't forget (those who live in and around Belleville) to stop into the Mama Market this weekend! If you are a Mom, an aunt, a grand-ma, know anybody with a kid, you'll want to go! It's on Saturday and Sunday from 9:30-3:00 each day, and you can buy some of my baking there as well as many other wonderful things! Have a great weekend! I use exclamation marks too much!!! :) xoxo Well now, a few weeks ago I asked what dessert I should make (with dented, 50% sweetened condensed milk) for my treat day, and Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Shortbread Magic Bars from Picky Palate were chosen! I decided to change the crust a bit because I much prefer whipped shortbread over regular shortbread. It can be more crumbly, but once you've caught those crumbs and put 'em in your mouth, you won't mind at all! Whipped shortbread is delightfully "light" (if you can say that about a cookie being held together by butter!), and melts in your mouth. Well, alrighty, that's all for now! Whipped Shortbread, Chocolate & Mallow Magic Bars (try saying that 10 times fast) :) Ingredients: For the base:
For the rest:
Method:
The thing about making bars with real marshmallows (and not just mallow fluff out of a container) is that they will cut waaaaay better if you just leave them alone for a whole day! I know, it seems like torture, but just tell yourself it needs to happen! If you try to cut them within a few hours of making them, the marshmallow is super un c0-operative, and they also choke you! My Keziah said when eating one only a few hours after I made them, "this treat is trying to kill me!". I love 5 year olds! :) By the way, things made with sweetened condensed milk are referred to as "magic" for some reason. I'm sure, back in the day, when someone used the sweet milk for something (probably as an experiment!), and whatever they were making turned out so good, and everyone who ate said experiment and went, "wow, this is like magic!" or some other such nonsense, and the "magic" part stuck. This false moment is history was brought to you by me, and has no real legs to stand on. But I like my story. I can imagine myself as that experimental housewife, whipping up something new and hoping it works! Haha...oh boy, I'm rambling now.... time to go!
Have a great Wednesday! I literally cannot believe that I have been writing this blog for a whole year (technically a whole year tomorrow the 18th, but geez)! This year has been an up and down one, and parts of it have been chronicled here! On the first day I decided to start the blog I put up 6 posts! Haha, I remember my sister saying something about being a little ambitious, and I just thought, "I dunno! I just had a bunch of things I wanted to post! I used up an entire weeks worth of ideas in one day! Fail. :) Anyway, I wanted to take today to highlight some of my favourite recipes, DIY and life hack ideas, and some of my posts about autism. I hope you take the time to click through and enjoy bits and pieces of what I enjoy! ...But first, I want to give you a little history here on a bushel & a peck! Not history about me, but the term itself! Because I know you were dying to know! ;) Well, a real bushel & a peck are dry measurements in agriculture. There's a pint, quart, gallon, peck, and a bushel. But the real reason people know the phrase, "I love you, a bushel & a peck" is from a song written for the musical "Guys & Dolls". Back in 1950 the song was recorded by many artists, and the song was already so well known before the musical even opened that they moved the number from the second act to the first. In the context of the show, "A Bushel and a Peck" is the intro to the Hot Box, a night club in which the headliner is Miss Adelaide. Doris Day (among many others) recorded a version of this song, but she changed the lyrics a bit to remove some of the more direct references from the show and to clean it up for 1950's radio. And there you have it! If you've never seen Guys & Dolls, you should, it's a good show! Now, onto my favourite and most popular posts (p.s., just click on the green titles to go to that recipe!)! Bad-For-You Favourites! This pie....oh this pie!!! It is honestly just the tastiest thing you'll ever eat! The homemade graham crust, the chocolate in the form of semi-sweet chips and chocolate bars of your choice, and gooey mallows....drool.... When my sister invented this evil little sandwich I loved her so much! :) Inside of that lovely, grilled and icing sugar dusted bread is peanut butter, Nutella, and marshmallows. Oh my goodness gracious, it is too good to be true. D.I.Y. & Life Hack Favourites This project felt long in coming, but I was so glad when it was finished as it gave me the extra cupboard space I needed, and it was so unique and fit my house perfectly! Hazaa! Bubble Blowing Life Hack Just do this and thank me later. :) Paleo Favourites I never thought these slightly strange looking cookie would be so popular, but it just shows you can't judge a book (or a cookie) by it's cover! The Huffington Post even had this cookie in one of it's online articles, making this ugly, humble cookie my most viewed recipe EVER with over 20,000 views! This easy-peasy recipe has been pinned on Pinterest more times than I thought it ever would be. It may be paleo, but it's crazy simple to make, has all regular pantry staple ingredients, and you can't beat a crock pot meal that's ready for you at super time! Autism Favourites I love this post because it was all Caleb! His answers to my questions, and "hearing" what he thought about different things. It shows how sweet, and strange, and fantastic he is. This post was the first I ever did on autism. It was inspired by the fact that he was getting a Terrific Kid award at school for empathy. I still admire how he sees the world through very empathetic eyes, and I try to practice empathy whenever possible. Gluten-Free Favourites I am always amazed by this recipe, and how often it is viewed and pinned on Pinterest. It literally was a recipe of. "oh crap! People are coming over! What do I have!", but I think that kind of recipe hits home for a lot of people! It is simple, but tasty. Win/Win! This dessert is a layer of brownie, a layer of mallow fluff, and a chocolate peanut-butter Rice Krispie layer! What? I know! I wanted to pick my all time favourite post, but I couldn't! In fact, my little Dory (from Nemo)-like brain was actually going through the blog and going, "oh yeah....I forgot about that....". Whomp whomp. Memory fail.
Suffice it to say that writing this blog has (so far) been a blast. I have enjoyed being more experimental in the kitchen, getting some of my thoughts out of my brain, and knowing people like a few of the recipes and articles is a great big cherry on this Sunday! I'm still writing this blog, fear not. I have been toying with the idea of buying my domain (instead of having it hosted by Weebly), and maybe changing my design too....but we'll see. I'm not a big fan of change! So (insert cheesy music, and hear my voice all teary like I'm winning an Oscar), to all those who read here regularly, or just now and again; to those from Pinterest and Foodgawker who share recipes and ideas (hint hint-feel free to follow or 'heart' me!), and to my Mom, who almost never remembers to read my blog, merci beaucoup! :) I know, I'm a cheeky bugger. Here's to another year! Woot woot! (I love you Mom) xoxo Amy-Lyn As per my usual, I decided to experiment with a dessert for guests that were coming over. I know, it's against the "rules" of inviting people over (you're not supposed to try something new for guests), but I felt the urge to make a pie, and to make it paleo-fied because it wasn't a treat day. Besides, the people we had coming over weren't super-duper dessert freaks, so there was a chance they wouldn't even have any! So, worst case scenario, I took the time to make it, and then had to eat it all to myself, or I took the time to make it, and it bombed, but my friends don't care because they didn't want dessert anyway! So, this pie really combines a few other things I've made before, but I've only just introduced each thing to the other for the first time here. They became kindred spirits, and I think you will appreciate their friendship to one another. There is a quote from Anne of green Gables about October (see it up there?), perhaps that's why I felt Anne-ish & kindred spirited about this pie. :) Chocolate, Caramel & Banana Pie Ingredients:
For the Crust:
For the Caramel:
For the chocolate:
Method: For the crust:
For the Caramel:
For the Chocolate:
Put it all together!:
My super skeptical son, who almost automatically dislikes something he knows that I have made gluten free (even though I have far more successes than failures!!), devoured his piece, then asked for seconds. Then asked for some for breakfast the next day. If you're looking to bring a pie to any Thanksgiving festivities this weekend, why not a paleo friendly pie! I know it's not "festive" (with pumpkins, apples, or the like), but it will make you thankful! And if you have gluten-free, or dairy-free or refined sugar free people in your family, they will be happy too! Happy Thanksgiving weekend my Canadian friends!!! :)
xoxo Something strange has been happening in my kitchen lately.....it all began a few months ago when a hinge on our oven door broke. It should be fixed, but I just sort of shrugged, and figured out a way to keep it from falling off completely (though it did a few times, and let me tell you, that sure messes with baking times!). Anywho, then my beautiful vintage stand mixer was in the middle of mixing when suddenly shhrrruncchhhweeellcchhh.....the engine seized (that strange word is the official sound of a vintage stand mixers engine seizing, btw). So, I was down to only using my hand mixer to recipes, which in some cases proved to be a great arm workout as my hand mixer is also vintage, and weighs at least 8 pounds! Then, in the middle of whipping up some avocado cookies, SNAP, one of the attachments snapped off. Oh well, I thought, I can use a hand mixer with only one mixing attachment... A few weeks back I was going to make some treats for a fundraiser I had volunteered to bring some desserts to, and I turned my oven on, only to watch as the bottom element of the stove caught fire, and burnt its way down the entire element, until only a crunchy, burnt, useless element remained. "No worries!" said I, "Our BBQ has a thermostat, I can bake in there!" It's true, I can bake in my bbq....though it can take twice as long because I only really have 1 rack to use. But, I wasn't worried, I would press on! Then, yesterday during a macaroon experiment in which I was attempting to really mix the ingredients together well in a blender, the bottom ring (the threaded part that holds the blender glass to the base of the blender), broke in half, and everything in the blender came flying out as the glass top came crashing to the floor! ....I think the Lord may be trying to tell me something. It's either A: to make more microwave cakes & leave the oven alone, to B: win the lottery and buy a new oven, C: Stop buying vintage appliances, D: Be a little more gentle when screwing the bottom on a blender on, E: to send a truly heartfelt thank-you card to my father-in-law who bought us our bbq a few years ago, or F:....to stop trying to bake altogether. I really can't imagine the lesson would be that last one, but I can't be sure. All that to say, I made my own birthday cake a few weeks ago on our bbq! My husband shook his head in disbelief....though I'm still not sure if it's because I made a cake on the bbq, or because I made myself a birthday cake? No matter, it worked out really well, and I got a paleo(fied) birthday cake! It wasn't a treat day, after all, and I didn't see why I should have a treat day just because it was my birthday! I thought it more fitting that I would celebrate my birthday eating what had gotten me to the new, healthier place I was in! So, here it is, many stages, a little step-intensive, but overall a simple and tasty cake! Paleo Chocolate & Chocolate Chunk Layer Cake *I only have one small round cake pan, so I made the chocolate cake first, then while it was baking I prepared the chocolate chip cake layer. When the chocolate layer was done baking, I washed and dried the cake pan and used it again. If you have 2 cake pans-all the power to ya!* Chocolate Cake Layer: Ingredients:
Method:
Chocolate Chip Cake: Ingredients:
Buttercream Frosting: Ingredients:
Method:
Cake Assembly:
Pictured above is the spray I use for cake pans. And dusting the pan (with cocoa for a chocolate cake, or flour/starch for white cakes) really helps to ensure the came will come out of the pan when you're finished baking it. And so, there you have it! My tale of kitchen woes, and how I refuse to be woe-d by such things! :) Seriously, stubbing my toe makes me angry, but my kitchen falling apart around me? Naw, I'll just figure something else out!
I've made this cake, some cookies, muffins, mini muffins, and even a pie on my bbq! It's like having an old fashioned summer kitchen! That's how I will look at it, at least! Once the snow flies I may feel differently though...whomp whomp. And I'm doing fine without a stand mixer, and a hand mixer with only one mixy-thing on it is still easier than trying to whisk everything by hand! I can't make smoothies until I get a new blender, but my Mom gave me a Yonanas for my birthday, so I will just use my frozen fruit for that instead! The glass if half-full for me folks, looking on the bright side is something I want to spread around! Later peoples, and happy Wednesday! Pass on some positive attitudes! :) So, here in Tweed they always have a lot of food on 50% off at the wee grocery store. It's for many reasons, usually because we're a super small town, and they can't sell everything they need to before the expiration date, so, on clearance it goes-and I swoop in and buy it! Go Dutch! Anywho, recently they had a few dented cans of sweetened condensed milk for $1.50! Whaaaa? Yes, I know that a dented can can (haha, can can) release chemicals into the food, and poison you, but it's sweetened condensed milk, it wasn't doing you any favours to begin with!!! Sheesh! With that, I ask you what I should make with said sweetened condensed milk for my treat day this weekend!?! I have 3 different squares that have been on my (super un-healthy) Food Board on Pinterest, and I neeeeeds to try me one of them! Some of my treat days I have nothing in mind and am happy noshing on a Cadbury Bubbly Bar, but other treat days I look forward to immensely, and this is one of those times! The SCM is calling to me! :) 2 of these recipes are totally new to me, and involve some of my favourite ingredients-chocolate, marshmallows, and maple! The third bar is one I've made before, and surprisingly has fruit (jam) in it, but man oh man, it's goooood. And I am long overdue in making a another batch! So, I'll let you see each one, then you need to help me decide which one to make this weekend!!! Don't forget to click on the green highlighted words to send yourself through Internet Land to get to the other blogs to see the recipes! Maple Chocolate Walnut Bars Mary at One Perfect Bite has created these Maple Chocolate Walnut Bars, and they look soooo good, don't they? Yumm-o! They also have a fall feel to them somehow, and make me want to test drive them as a possible treat to bring to any upcoming Thanksgiving get-togethers. You bake the crust, sprinkle some chocolate chips on it, then beat the sweetened condensed milk with an egg and some maple flavouring (or real maple!), add in the nuts, spread it over your base, and bake it! Easy peasy! Rosie's Raspberry Bars Here are the bars I have made before, and let me tell you, no one, and I mean NO ONE has ever not liked these Raspberry Bars! I'm not kidding! Sharon (my beautiful sister) has the recipe for these crazy delicious squares over at her blog, The Good Kind of Crazy. A fantastic shortbread base is baked, then has raspberry jam spread over it, then the sweetened condensed milk poured over that, then coconut pressed into the milk and baked until perfect! Perfect! Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Shortbread Magic Bars Yes, I know the name of these is a little laboured, but whaaaaaaa???? How delicious does this look! Drool..... The lady behind The Picky Palate has created a bar that only someone as coo-coo as me for marshmallows and chocolate could have invented! These bars have a chocolate chip shortbread base that is baked, then sweetened condensed milk poured over it, then chocolate chips and marshmallows all baked to campfire perfecting to top if off! Yowza! Thumbs up! So, whad'ya think I should do?
I am a youngest child, and classically cannot make decisions easily, so I ask you for your help! P.S. anyone who reads this who lives in Belleville or Tweed will get a sampling of whichever one I decide to make!!! Incentive to help me! :) Alright, well, that's all for today! I hope you help me decide which bars to make, and I also hope you check out the other blogs and perhaps decide to make yourself some squares too! Happy Weekend! |
Hi, I'm Amy-Lyn! I am the lady behind this here blog! I live in the sticks with my animals, my super handsome husband, and my
3 amazing kids! Here you'll find things from recipes (gluten-free, paleo, and strait up junk food!), DIY ideas, thoughts on raising a son with autism, and whatever else pops into my brain! : ) Read more about me by clicking here! Want to Stay Connected?
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