Chewy Peanut Butter Trail Bars

Mmmm…

This recipe is good for a quick-to-fix treat or can be made ahead to have on hand for those days when you don’t have time for breakfast, or hiking snacks, or…

Also, by using rice, oats and corn, they can be made gluten-free if you have a friend or family member with allergies.

CHEWY PEANUT BUTTER TRAIL BARS

3/4 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup honey

a total of 2 1/2 cups grain stuff (1/2-3/4 cup each type) like: graham cracker crumbs, granola, quick oats, crushed Cheerios or Chex cereal, Rice Crispies, etc.

a total of 2 cups fillings (1/2-3/4 cup each type) like: chopped peanuts, walnuts or pecans, raisins, coconut, chocolate chips, carob chips, chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries, etc.

Heat honey and peanut butter until melted and smooth.  Put all other ingredients in a middle-size bowl.  Add honey and peanut butter to dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly. Press down into a 9×9 baking style pan. Score. Cool.  Eat quickly before someone else does.

 

Deadly Dessert

We don’t do it very often, because it is toooooo much, but the other day our foster daughter and her husband came for dinner and she brought brownies, so out came the deadly dessert.

Except that we were out of chocolate syrup, so I improvised and it turned out well enough that it seemed worth sharing.

EMERGENCY CHOCOLATE SYRUP

1 12oz can sweetened condensed milk

4 ounces semi sweet or dark chocolate (I used the little squares that come wrapped in paper, but chips would do)

Combine in a saucepan over med-low heat and stir until the chocolate melts. Eat as desired.

That is all there is to it!

If there are any leftovers, you should probably refrigerate them.

We had very little to refrigerate.

No-Knead Bread

Decent quality bread has become very expensive.  So, starting about two years ago, I make virtually all of our bread.  It really isn’t hard and it is so worth the time spent. 

Bakery bread runs $4-6 a loaf around here.  The bread I make costs around 70-cents for the same loaf.

Another day I will share my regular sandwich bread recipe, but for today we have:

No Knead Bread

To make 2 loaves

 6 cups flour

3 cups water

½ teaspoon yeast

1 ½ teaspoons salt

 Mix in a large plastic bowl with a lid or that you can cover.  Let sit at room temperature overnight. 

When ready to make bread, take about half of the dough and shape into a round loaf.  If it was at room temperature, let sit while the oven warms up.  If chilled, let it sit about an hour before cooking.

Preheat oven to 450F.  Dust bottom of covered Dutch Oven with cornmeal.  Place round dough into pan and cover.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove lid and bake another 15 minutes.  Increase cooking times as needed to adjust for your oven and circumstances.

ENJOY!

When you start to bake your second loaf, mix up another batch of dough in the same bowl and you will be ready for more bread the next day. 

This is my version of THIS RECIPE.  We love it with soup or spaghetti or just because.  If you are part of a smaller family (or a family with smaller appetities), this can be divided into three loaves. The dough stores in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Molasses Crinkles

When I am in the mood to browse recipes, I sometimes turn to an old favorite cookbook.

Published in 1950.  A thrift store gift from a friend.

Mmmmm…..cookies!

Molasses Crinkles

 Mix together thoroughly…

3/4 cup soft shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

Sift together and stir in…

2-1/2 cups sifted flour

2 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

Chill dough.  Roll into balls the size of large walnuts.  Dip tops in sugar.  Place, sugared-side-up, 3″ apart on greased baking sheet.  Sprinkle each cooky with 2 or 3 drops of water to produce a crackled surface.  Bake just until set but not hard.

TEMPERATURE:  375F (quick, moderate oven)

TIME:  Bake 10-12 minutes

AMOUNT:  About 4 doz. 2-1/2″ cookies

NOTE:  I have used abbreviations and spellings as printed.  I did not grease my cookie sheet and they worked out just fine.

They smell delicious baking and taste even better.

 

Dried Beans

Yep, if all you like is quilting, this is dramatically off topic.

But, I don’t just quilt.  We have to eat, too.

Thanks to my Sister-in Law (wonderful woman) I was introduced to the concept of canning dried beans.  We eat a lot of beans around here.  Cheap. Versatile. Nutritious.

But, you have to soak and cook for a long time, which isn’t bad with a Slow Cooker.  But, what about quick meals?

Enter–dried bean canning.

It requires a pressure canner and a cold day. ( I guess the “cold day” part is optional, but it takes a tougher woman than I to voluntarily do this on a very hot day.)  Even in June they happen here.  Friday was about 45F and windy with on-and-off rain.

Perfect canning weather.

Daughter and I made three batches, or 21 jars.  Yum.

Easy, too.  Take all normal sterilization precautions.  Add one cup dried beans to a quart jar.  Fill with boiling water.  1″ headspace.  Process in pressure canner for about 65 minutes at 13 pounds pressure, or correct pressure for your altitude (consult pressure canner directions).

Ta-dah.  Beans.