Vegan Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

I did it! I veganized one of my favorite Ina Garten recipes. . . SO exciting (and yummers!!) Just one note, I've only made it once so I'm still a little unsure as to the exact amount of milk I used. I would start with 1/4 cup and then probably add up to an additional 1/4 cup, so have 1/2 cup ready to go just in case.

-18 oz peanut butter (I used 365 brand creamy organic. . . it was one of them that you don't need to stir that has both salt and sugar in it. In the original recipe, Ina recommends Skippy or some other commercial brand because it generally works/mixes better than the "all natural stir it yourself" kind)
-1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
-1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil, whatever you have
-1 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 tsp vanilla
-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt (kosher or whatever you prefer)
-1/4-1/2 cup of your favorite non-dairy unsweetened milk (I used original rice)

-10 oz raspberry fruit spread (or any that's not clumpy)
-peanuts (raw or roasted, salted or non, whatever your preference) to sprinkle on top

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9X13 pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, applesauce, oil, sugars, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 cup milk. You might need to get your hands in there if it gets too difficult to use a spoon/fork. The consistency should be sort of like cookie dough. If it sticks to your hands too much it's going to stick to the roof of your mouth, so adjust accordingly! (I'll try to remember to update this recipe when I make it again with more precise measurements).

Press about 2/3 of the dough as evenly as you can into the pan -- no need to go too crazy though. Spread the whole 10oz jar of jam evenly over the top. Spread the rest of the dough on top of the jam (and by "spread" I really mean take small clumps of it, flatten them a bit, and place them pretty close to each other, covering as much as the jam as you can -- don't worry it will all come together in the oven). Sprinkle the peanuts on top and try to press them into the dough a bit with your hands or a spatula.

Bake for about 40 minutes, I think. . . until slightly brown on top. This isn't a bar that will be hard and crispy when it's ready. It stays pretty soft and fluffy, so more like a blondie or lemon bar than, say, granola. It's amazing when warm from the oven but WILL break apart pretty easily so you should probably wait until they're kinda cooled to cut them. And then enjoy! And remember, you're eating peanut butter, so it's not all that bad for you ;)

spinach & cheese = a match made in heaven

I'm trying out new recipes for Thanksgiving and holy holy have I got one for you to try.

It's very possible that I like anything with spinach and cheese, especially Gruyere cheese. I tried this recipe today though and thought it was extra wonderful so I wanted to share it. Even the picky husband liked it! So here we are, Spinach Gratin, brought to you by everyone's most favorite and fabulous chef, the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten:

Spinach Gratin

Ingredients

* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
* 4 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large)
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
* 1 cup heavy cream (I used all whole milk, no heavy cream)
* 2 cups milk
* 3 pounds frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (5 (10-ounce) packages)
* 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 15 minutes.** Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the spinach to a baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the Gruyere on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot.

**Next time, on Thanksgiving if not before then, I will saute the onions a little longer, until they're not just translucent but golden brown. The best part of the gratin was the golden bits of cheese around the top edge of the dish, so I think if you get the onions to brown a bit too it would have that delicious sweetness and crispness that this dish needs.

Week 3 (Mel): Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

This is definitely a plan-ahead kind of meal. With a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar to caramelize, these tomatoes roasted up quite nicely! They did take two hours in the oven, but let me tell you, it was totally worth it. I'm eager to try this recipe again with maybe other vegetables too. Mmmmmm!!! I don't think I've ever tasted tomatoes like this before. It was just delicious!

So as you can see in the recipe, all you do after the tomatoes are done is let them cool, add the cheese and basil, drizzle with olive oil, shake on a little salt and pepper, and you're all set to dig in and enjoy! I had it for dinner with some left-over mashed potatoes with peas. Oh Ina, you almost never disappoint me! Yes, ALMOST never. . . I wasn't too impressed with her Roasted Potato Leek Soup but hey, no one's perfect. I've forgiven her.

Enjoy the salad! I sure did!

Week 1 (Mel): Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This recipe came from my favorite chef, Ina. Now it's not every Monday evening that I decide to whip up a cake (though I SHOULD. . . wouldn't that make Mondays so much better???) but I had a special occasion coming up Tuesday morning. I was getting together with two old friends from high school -- one who I haven't seen SINCE high school and the other since our five-year reunion. So this was like our eleventh year reunion, which wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the magic of everyone's favorite, F*cebook. Well back to the cake, it's certainly not low-fat, but it IS indeed absolutely delicious! The only snafu I came across was not having a tube pan. I didn't think it would make a difference since I DID have a bundt pan. So after the cake was in the oven, I was thinking about it, and it dawned on me that the "top" of the cake (which was really going to be the bottom because of the design of the pan) is where I was suppose to sprinkle most of the streusel -- and I did. Except after it's cooled, you invert the cake of course when you take it out of the pan, and then drizzle the TOP with a galze. . . the TOP being ON top of the streusel. So now I had the streusel on the bottom and the glaze on the top. I decided to just go with it, slice it up, and not actually serve it as a whole cake but rather in pre-cut pieces to distract the eye. I think it worked.

But now I ask you, does this really mean I have to buy a tube pan or could I next time put the top layer of streusel on the bottom of the pan? Will that make it less crunchy since it will have cake batter on top of it while baking? What would you do?

Something old, something new

When I was little, I can remember going to my cousin's house on Christmas morning, after we opened our own gifts at home and before the rest of our family came over. It was either my aunt or my cousin, and sometimes both, who made the most delicious and special breakfast treat. It only came out on Christmas morning. Served with butter, jelly, a side of fruit (and probably a side of bacon and/or sausage that I'd rather not discuss. . .) this fabulously fantastic treat was in fact a popover. We sadly haven't seen our cousins on Christmas day in several years however I have since carried on the Christmas morning popover tradition for whoever is around. I've gone through maybe three or so popover pans since I started making them (back in high school?) usually because I scratch them up for whatever reason. My mother-in-law reminded me this past Christmas of one a few years back when I was apparently in between popover pan purchases. . . and we made popovers with a muffin tin. I don't recommend trying this at home, but I DO recommend getting yourself a popover pan, buttering it well, measuring your ingredients well, and not over-mixing your batter. Whether it's for Christmas or just a special kind of Sunday at home, they are certainly delicious:


I really hate to post this, especially right after Jenni's last post, but do keep this in mind. . .

After Jenni's first roulade, I thought, Hey, if Jenni's not afraid, then maybe I could give it a try too. I had that new Ina Garten book (and signed!) which had a great-looking recipe. It was a Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream. I figured Christmas would be a great time to try this, and so I did. It was truly a scary experience, which thankfully turned out well, but seriously. . . you roll the cake up as soon as it comes out of the oven, let it cool, unroll it, fill it, and re-roll it. You're taking a lot of chances there, right?! So I'm sure if I try it again, I won't have as much luck. . . right, Jenni?! (For the record, Jenni, I think that in the end, YOU won, not the cake -- it sounded delicious, and didn't completely fall apart. You were still able to eat it, so there you go). So now, again, I really hate to post this, but I still kind of. . . sort of. . . want to share :/


Happy Holidays!!!

The day I met Ina Garten

As most of you know (haha, all three of you who read this!) I love Ina Garten! Sure, she's pompous and probably thinks quite fondly of herself (and her good quality vanilla extract), but damn is she good at what she does. She's just so smart when it comes to everything in the kitchen. When you watch her show (The Barefoot Contessa) you know that SHE really knows what she's talking about. She does cook a lot of meat (especially chicken) but her vegetarian recipes are all totally delicious. Her pastries are also incredible.

Today she had a signing for her new cookbook, Back to Basics, at the Natick Collection from 12-2. I really had no idea what time to get there, but I knew that getting there before 12 would be ideal. I didn't have to be at work until 2:45, so the timing was going to work out pretty well for me. Before jetting out of the house, I checked the Natick Collection web site to see if it had any important information for me (like if the time changed or if I had the wrong DAY. . . ) and I found out that I had to buy the book there, she was only signing the new book, and there would be no photographs permitted. SERIOUSLY?! For starters, I bought the book the day it came out (for $22, thanks to the Borders Rewards program) and a picture would've been nice. I didn't want to get in trouble though, or even worse NOT be able to meet her, so I figured I should follow the rules.

I got to the mall around 11:45. I speed walked my way to the new, fancy section of the mall, where Williams Sonoma was. When I got there, there were TONS of people. I mean, TONS. They were all in that open area you pass through on your way to the spiffy shops. I managed to find my way to the actual WS to buy the book. . . again. This time I had to pay the full price of $35. They associate who rang me up stuck the receipt inside the book and told me to hold onto it for verification. They were serious. At this point, Ina was in the store, starting to sign some books, so I felt it was worth it to get a little sneak peak!

I found my way to the END of the line, flipped open my newer new book, and started reading. At this point it was maybe 11:55. I asked a WS associate if Ina was going to stay to sign everyone's books, and he said as long as you get in line before 1pm (I think?) that you would be okay. So whatever the cutoff time was, I was okay. At about 1:30 I'm starving, and I start panicking about what might happen if I don't actually get to work on time. A plan B had to be in order. I started texting my boss to see if she could cover for me. I also texted Scott and Jenni, just to give them updates of my fabulous Ina day. I then texted one more person I work with to see if she could cover for me, knowing that she's usually free on Mondays. I go to press "send" and my phone died! Oh no, it wasn't the battery. It was all charged up. My phone went all computer on me and actually FROZE. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even shut it off. I tried to open the battery cover in the back but was not having any luck. So now I really start to panic. I can't get in touch with anyone, I might be making myself late for work, I don't have anyone's phone numbers because they're programmed in my phone, and I have NO IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS.

Luckily I made some friends in line who were able to tell me the time. So I wait. . . and wait. . . in a line that IS moving, but still very long. And then a woman not too far in front of me passes out. Yeah. People were yelling for someone to call mall security. . . and 911. . . and yeah. Madness! She was able to sit up after a little while, and then people came to help her, and I guess she was okay. I keep checking my phone to see if it has decided to unfreeze itself yet. No such luck. I keep waiting.

I get toward the front, and there's a WS associate every twenty feet or so. It's like the finish line to a marathon. You can do it! Only a little while longer! One of them told me that if anyone tried to cut in front of me to let her know. That was a little weird, but I guess there have been such incidents.

I'm finally in front of the actual store, and I asked my new friend what time it was. It was 1:40. I was going to be alright, I think. We get inside the store, and now my heart is in my throat. I am so pathetic. I was thinking of things to say while waiting in line, but they all seemed so dumb. I was a little more concerned about my phone, not being able to get in touch with anyone, and being late for work though to be honest. Okay, maybe not MORE concerned, but it was up there. I was really close now. I hand my book to Important Person A. There's now just one person in front of me. Important Person A however is telling me how there are always SO many people at the Boston signings and how great it is. I'm not listening. Ina Garten is RIGHT in front of me. She then hands my book to Important Person B, who's sitting right next to Ina. I'm all smiles at this point. I'm likely red in the face as well. Now Ina has my book in her hand. I said, "Hi Ina! It's SO great to meet you." And she said, "It's nice to meet you too. Thank you for coming." And I said, "Thank you!" And I think she said Thank You as well. It was short and sweet. I felt like a moron.

As soon as I got out of the line, a couple of WS associates told me that there was a mini buffet of Thanksgiving dinner samplings in the back of the store if I wanted to help myself. BUT I'M GOING TO BE LATE FOR WORK, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS, AND I CAN'T CALL ANYONE! On my way out, I heard someone say it was 2:00. NO!!! I speed walked my way again through the mall, though a little faster this time. I was relieved when I got into the car that it was only 1:53. Phew! I sped off to work, and got there with ten minutes to spare. My boss was already there, ready to cover my first class. I didn't know she was available of course because how was she going to get in touch with me?! So all was well in the end. In regards to my brief Ina encounter, I wish I had handled everything a little differently, but what can you do. I'm sure someone like Ina Garten doesn't really remember any of the people she meets at her signings. I'm sure she could care less that I'm vegetarian and still love her. But I went, and I'm happy. I don't have a picture to prove it, but perhaps my memory is good enough.

Anyone want a copy of Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics?!