twd Dulce de Leche Duos

These take me back to Miami, where I lived for couple of years in South Beach loving the water, sun, and Cuban food!

My favorite cookies were a sandwich cookie with dulce de leche in the middle, and then rolled in coconut. The caramel on the side just picking of the coconut shreds. Lovely! The only downside was that they could be a little dry.

Not with Dorie's Duos, which have dulce de leche in the batter. I used half white, half whole wheat flour, and it worked really well.
The recipe calls for store bought dulce de leche, but I decided to make it. I used sweetened condensed milk and added salt and cinnamon. I put it in a double boiler and heated and stirred and heated and stirred. After about 30 minutes it still hadn't boiled. So I dumped it in a pan, and as soon as it hit the bottom, it started burning, bad. I grabbed the milk and baking soda and dumped it in, remembering a caramel recipe for New Orlenas pralines. I transferred it back to the double boiler and continued. It turned a pretty brown, and it was done. I tasted...burnt. Again, very burnt.

Dulce de leche 1, me 0.

Pop another can of milk. This time I kept it in the double boiler for over an hour. Sweet perfection!

These were actually worth all the trouble. I'm definitely making again, though I might wait for a special occasion.
Thanks to Jodie of Beansy Love Cakes for this week's pick!

Homemade Clif Bars

There are so many ways to make these. I'm ready to try all kinds of combinations after my first batch. The basic recipe is:

1 1/4 cups cereal (puffed, like rice krispies, I used Kashi's 7 Grain Puffed Cereal)
1 cup quick cooking oats
2 Tbsp ground flax seed (I used wheat germ instead)
1/4 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used sliced almonds)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I used 62% cacao chunks)
1/3 cup syrup (I used agave)
1/2 cup peanut butter ( I used natural chunky)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla (I also used 1/2 tsp almond extract)
A few pinches of salt1: Mix cereal, oats, wheat germ, dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate in a bowl and set aside.
2: Heat agave/syrup over medium-low heat. Add nut butter, cinnamon, salt, and extract. Melt, stirring occassionally to prevent burning.
3: Add the melted mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Let it sit and cool off about 10 minutes, until it begins to stiffen.
4: Pour into a pan and press even. I used a 9x9 pan and got 12 bars approximately 1.5x3x.5 inches.
5: Let the mixture cool completely. Cut into bars. I wrapped mine individually in aluminum foil and put them in a air-tight container for storage and easy picking.
These were very good, though crumbly. That's part of the reason I put them into little foil packets. The other is so that I can grab and go easily, and take them to work to replace the Hershey kisses I've been into. Everyday at around 3pm I know I don't want to be at work anymore, I have too much to do get out by 5, and pop a little chocolate to make those last few hours a little more bearable. And I actually like my job, most of the time.

Country Fried Tofu and Gravy with Veggies

I love getting tofu dishes at restaurants, but I haven't been too successful at home. I had country-fried tofu at a yummy veggie place in Atlanta (Veggieland). It was amazing! I decided to experiment and my version came out different, but very tasty.

First I drained the tofu and placed it between paper towels with a bowl on both sides, one on top to gently press down and one on the bottom to catch the drainage. I mixed up flour, salt, and pepper like my Grany does for real county-fried steak. Half of the tofu went into the dry mix and then in hot oil for a quick fry. For the second half, I added a lttle water and made a batter. I liked the first, dry batch.

I also fried some sans oil, in a nonstick pan. Oil was definitely better.

With those done, I made a simple white, milk gravy. Gravy I learned by watching. Flour, salt, and pepper in a pan. Stirring add oil. Stirring add milk and stir, stir, stir to avoid lumps. While the frying and gravy made this a rather heavy dish, it was delish!

Homemade Deodorant

I have has issues with deodorant since I started wearing it. All during middle school, I would switch brands every time I bought it to prevent it causing me any problems. Usually, I would break out in a red rash under my arm, the lymph node there swolling, getting hot and painful. Definitely the pits.

In high school I avoided all invisible solids, all frangrances and found one that worked! Dove solid, the one with added lotion. Too bad they discontinued it.

I'm not the only one in my family with this problem. My sister also has trouble, though she has reactions to different kinds. She once brought me deoderant home from ireland that was a frangrance-free, roll-on Godsend! Too bad nivea doesn't make the same kinds in the US as Europe. I've been using natural, store bought stuff for at least a year and its okay. But the homemade works so much better for me! No reapplying during the day!

With all the aluminum and suspect ingredients in regular deodorant has caused people to start testing their own this one works for me:

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
Coconut oil to mix

I'm still mastering the art of applying it. I still sweat, but even on a beautiful, sunny today, its doing its thing and allowing my perfume to be a solo performer. Yay!

twd: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys

Thanks to Mike of Ugly Food Dude for this week's TWD pick. Considering that he is one of the only guys on the TWD blogroll, I love it that he picked Thumbprints for Us Big Guys.

I'm not sure what thumbprints for little guys are like. I know people make them, sometimes around the holidays, but I've never been a big jam cookie person.

I used hazelnuts and blueberry jam. I was afraid the cookies wouldn't be sweet enough for me, but the powdered sugar and blueberry jam covered that alright. I ended up really liking the nutty cookie part, similar to shortbread.

Instead of using your thumb, Dorie's instructions say to use your pinkie or the end of a wooden spoon. I used my pinkie, and was happy the way the indentions grew in the oven. I wasn't happy though with the lopsided nature of most of them. I think I needed to make more uniform pinkie holes, straight down.

I have yet to conquer the art of pinkie hole making. Or taking good photos of food at night. Sometime, there's just no more daylight left. And then, we the sun is back, there's just no more cookies left. :)

Sweet Pepper & Hazelnut Pesto

In the midst of all this wintry mayhem, when a lovely day happens upon us, there is nothing else to do but get outside and enjoy it. That is exactly why I found myself browsing in and out of all the nearby shops. As if I needed an excuse to shop.

One of these shops is an Italian gourmet shop with all sorts of pestos and pastas and olive oils and balsamic vinegar and chocolate. I decided to treat myslef to a pesto to go with some yummy flatbread crackers I bought, picked one out (very difficult!) But then it happened, the waiting. And waiting, as the chatty group of tourists went crazy with the chocolate. And as I was waiting, I started thinking of the lovely weather, and I put the jar back and went outside.

When I got home, hungry, I wanted pesto! So I decided to make my own. I even impressed myself. I was expecting okay since I was playing around with the hazelnuts and peppers. It turned out so much better than okay. Oh happy day!

Sweet Pepper & Hazelnut Pesto
1 red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup whole hazelnuts
1/4 cupe olive oil (I used extra virgin)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of cayenne and black pepper to taste
Two large pinches of rosemary

Add all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Grind and enjoy!

twd: Toasted Coconut Custard Tart

I have found there are two kinds of people in the world. Those that don't like coconut (aka 'them people') and those that LOVE it. Put me in the love category please. In fact, when a kid and asked "what's your favorite food?" I often replied "Coconut." I like it all kinds of ways, including toasted in and on top of yummy custard and sweetened whipped cream. Yum. Thanks to Beryl of Cinemon Girl for this week's TWD pick.

I had a really hard time keeping my fingers out of the custard before popping it into the fridge overnight. I probably lost a whole mini tart right there. I halved the recipe and put it on top of toasted oats instead of pastry. I just couldn't get myself to make a pie crust just for me, and I wasn't about to share coconut custard. Even if I planned to, I knew it would disappear. So I made two mini tarts in ramikins. The sweetened whipped cream on top is great. I left out the rum, which probably would have cut the sweetness. I didn't mind, but it was awfully over-the-top sweet.