Grin and slurp it

I think we've hit a new milestone.  I got to sleep until 7:45am on a Sunday morning.  When I got up, both girls had been up for a little while, but it seems they didn't feel the need to get me out of bed as well.  Gillian has done this a few times lately, so I think she may have finally given up on insisting that I be awake anytime she is. =)  Oh, and we did have one other milestone this weekend:

really not sure how it's possible for her to be old enough to be losing teeth

Once I'm up, though, the questions begin.  "Is breakfast ready yet?"  "What are we having for breakfast?"  "Why haven't you started making our breakfast yet?!"  I like to bake muffins or scones on the weekend so we'll have stuff to eat for a few days during the week, but B & G aren't very patient about waiting while I do that.  Today, though, we tried something new.  Brianna asked me the other night if I knew how to make fruit smoothies.  I've been trying to find ways to get a greater variety of fruits into our diet, and this was a perfect opportunity.  When we went grocery shopping, I picked up some frozen raspberries and mango chunks as well as some fresh raspberries.  (I already had frozen peaches in the freezer, though I should probably make sure they haven't turned into a solid block of ice, since I'm not sure how long they've been in there.)  

So to hold off the ravenous horde while I did some baking, I pulled out my blender.  I can tell it's been a while since I've done that, since G commented that "I didn't know we had one of those!" =)  I started with a cup of plain yogurt.  (I usually keep Brown Cow full-fat yogurt on hand to eat with my granola.)  I added a bit of honey, since I know the girls aren't big fans of the plain yogurt as it is.  I tossed in some chunks of frozen mango and some of the fresh raspberries and about a quarter cup of milk to keep things from being too thick.  I blended it all until it was fairly smooth.

The verdict?  Definitely a hit!  Both girls finished their smoothies pretty quickly.  It doesn't hurt that they love drinking through straws.  I tasted a bit of what was left in the blender and thought it was pretty tasty.  We'll have to try some different fruit combinations to see what else they like.  And I've got a way to shut down the constant nagging. =)

Raspberry Mango Smoothies

225 grams (8 ounces) plain yogurt

22 grams (1 tablespoon) honey

85 grams (3 ounces) frozen mango chunks

60 grams (2 ounces) raspberries (fresh or frozen)

60 grams (2 ounces) milk (we used 1%)

Add all of the ingredients to a blender.  (I find it easiest to put my blender container on my scale and add everything to it, taring between ingredients.)  Blend until the mixture is smooth, which may take a minute or two if you use all frozen fruit.  Divide the mixture between two glasses and serve with straws. =)

Thank you, thank you, Sam-I-am!

I do not like granola.  I do not like it from a box; I would not like it with a fox.  I will not eat it as a bar; I will not eat it in a car...  

I bought some granola several years ago to make these TWD cookies, and as Brianna would say, it was okay, but not my favorite--definitely not something I'd eat outside of a cookie, or on a regular basis.  I can sort of understand the appeal--it's a good way to get some fiber, and it can have assorted fruits and nuts in it, which are good for you.  It just doesn't taste all that great, and way too much of it seems to have coconut of some sort.  No need for that.  And don't get me started on store-bought granola bars.  Ick.  

In spite of my dislike of granola, when I saw my friend Tracey's blog, I was intrigued.  I had just made some oatmeal scones for breakfast using toasted oats.  I don't like cooked oatmeal due to the texture, but sometimes I wish that I did like it, since you can add so many interesting things to it.  The granola Tracey made had lots of ingredients that I like--pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon.  I also have a giant bag of dried cranberries (thank you, Costco) in my pantry, so I was excited to see a way to use some of them.  I figured, what the heck, if I hate the granola, I can always give it away. =)

I wasn't sure how much I'd like the honey in the recipe (another thing that isn't my favorite), but decided to make the recipe as written.  It's really easy--first you mix together the oats, pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a big bowl.  Then you put the oil, granulated sugar, and honey in a small saucepan and warm them up.  I'm guessing that's to make it easier to mix into the dry ingredients, since honey is a lot more fluid when it's warm.  You stir in a whole bunch of vanilla (I used my good stuff) once the rest of the ingredients are warm, and pour the liquids over the oat mixture.  Once everything is stirred together, it goes into a somewhat low oven (300ºF) for about half an hour, stirring every ten minutes or so.  That's another thing that I liked about the recipe--some granola recipes have you baking the granola for a hour or longer.  Once the granola is out of the oven and cool, you mix in the cranberries.  

The verdict?  Wow.  This stuff is fantastic!  It's a perfect example of why you should make things at home--freshly made granola is a whole different thing from the stuff you buy at the store.  Who knew?  I took a bunch of this batch to work--everyone seems to be avoiding sweets right now, having indulged too much over the holidays, so I thought maybe they'd appreciate something healthier.  It was a big hit all around.  I promised them that I'd bring in more as I try different variations.  I can't wait to play around with the recipe to see what else I can come up with.  Today I tried substituting grade B maple syrup for the honey--the honey taste isn't overpowering in the first version I made, but I really prefer other sweeteners.  And how can you go wrong with maple & pecans & brown sugar?  The result isn't super mapley, but it's really good.  It's a bit drier/less sticky than the honey version, probably because the maple syrup isn't as viscous as honey.  I also rubbed vanilla bean seeds into the granulated sugar, and cut the vanilla extract back to just one teaspoon.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  

If you'd like to try the original granola recipe for yourself, you can find it here on Tracey's blog.  Be sure to look around while you're there--she posts so many delicious recipes, both sweet and savory. =)

A sticky situation (TWD)

Despite what I said last weekend about avoiding time-consuming recipes for breakfast, I did it again.  But it was for a good cause--this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  What was on the menu this week?  Pecan Honey Sticky Buns, courtesy of Madam Chow's Kitchen.  

As is too often the case, I was getting down to the wire in making the sticky buns.  I had to work Saturday, and we had a wedding to go to on Sunday, so I knew I wouldn't be able to make them before Monday morning (yay! for holidays).  I did remember to start the dough fairly early Sunday evening, so I'd have enough time for it to rise and be "slapped down" in the fridge before I went to bed.  And as with when I made this dough for the Brioche Raisin Snails, thank goodness for my Kitchen Aid mixer!  I know a number of people made the dough by hand, but it is so much easier to just let the mixer do its thing on my counter.  That way I could work on dinner at the same time, pausing occasionally to toss in another piece or two of butter.  

Monday morning I pulled the dough out of the fridge to divide it in half.  I really thought that I'd put the weight of the dough into my notes (in my paper notebook) last time, but I couldn't find it.  The whole batch weighed about 41 ounces.  I set aside half of that for the sticky buns. Last time I used the extra dough to make brioche rolls.  I'm not sure yet what I want to do with the rest of this batch, so I put the second half into a ziploc bag and tossed it into the freezer.  

I knew I didn't want to make 15 or 16 buns, so I decided to go with half and use an 8 inch square pan.  I made half the glaze, and only put pecan halves on about two-thirds of the pan, since I know Brianna doesn't like nuts.  I rolled out the dough that I'd set aside, spread the butter over it, and sprinkled it with the cinnamon sugar.  I had to work quickly, since the dough gets a bit harder to work with as it warms up.  I rolled the dough into a log as directed and used my handy dental floss (regular unwaxed) to cut 8 buns from half of it.  I put the buns cut-side up on top of the glaze in the pan.  I wrapped the rest of the dough log and put it in my freezer for another time.  

I put the pan in the oven, and then realized that I forgot to put it on a sheet pan as Dorie directed.  So I took it back out and put it on the pan before putting it back in the oven.  I wish I'd just left it alone.  At about 25 minutes, the buns looked quite brown on top, and I thought they were done.  After waiting a couple minutes for most of the bubbling to die down, I flipped the buns onto a plate.  That's when I discovered that they weren't as done as I thought.  Argh! The ones in the center, in particular, weren't all the way baked.  I stood there for a minute, trying to figure out what to do.  I decided that they had to go back in.  So you can just imagine me here in my kitchen, trying to figure out how to get the buns back into the pan, glaze-side down, without getting molten sugar all over myself.  I finally managed it with only a small burn on my finger, and stood there, consoling myself by eating the goo left on the plate, while the buns baked for another ten minutes.  They ended up a bit darker than I would have liked, but at least they were cooked.  I swear, I'm going to quit putting pans on another sheet pan to bake, no matter what Dorie says.  Most of the time it just doesn't work for me.

Anyway, the verdict?  I don't know if I'll make this exact recipe again.  I love the brioche dough. I enjoyed the sticky glaze and the pecans.  But the two together were just too rich for my taste. I'd like to make the sticky buns with a different dough (maybe with the one that I used for the cinnamon rolls) to see if I like that better.  And the brioche is fabulous all by itself.  As for the already prepped dough log in my freezer, it'll most likely end up as cinnamon rolls.  

Don't forget to check out the blog roll over at the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see how everyone else fared!