Peanut Butter Cookies and Birthdays

"Keep your face to the sun and you will never see shadows."

~ Helen Keller 

In the past week, my cookbook turned two years old, and I crept over to the dark side of 50 by celebrating my 46th birthday. Both are terrific achievements, to be sure. I love how I'm still getting emails from people buying my cookbook, and baking from it. Your messages are true inspiration, and I save every one. Thank you thank you thank you! Those early days of my book baby's release into the world were a crazy mix of emotions, not unlike turning 46. Gratitude, joy, feeling a little overwhelmed, all come to mind. 46 is a no nonsense number. 

The goals are set and there is plenty of stuff I want to do, places I want to go, food I want to eat. You know, the important stuff. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread & That Time I Went to Georgia

Disclosure:  The Peanut Bureau of Canada paid for my travel and accommodations.  All opinions about peanuts and this trip are mine.  They did not pay me to write this post.  

What a difference a month makes!  On the first day of September, I was recuperating from ovarian cyst surgery, my mom was here taking care of me, and I was watching way too much Daytime TV.  Today, I'm all better - just a few scars remain - and my routine has gone back to "normal" - whatever that may be.  I even hopped a plane (or four!) and headed down to Georgia to see how peanuts are grown.  And .... I had dinner with President Jimmy Carter - yes that Jimmy Carter - just to make things even more awesome.  But, let's start at the beginning, because that's where I always like to start things.

Good For Ya: Peanut Butter Date Cookies with Cacao Nibs

I had second thoughts on telling you about these cookies, mainly because I didn't think they were super photogenic.  Silly me.  While they don't necessarily rack up the food porn points, they score a ten out of ten for their delicious healthy goodness.  I first spied these cookies over on Sprouted Kitchen (naturally) and knew right away I must make them.  I'm a fan of the date, especially the fat and juicy Medjool variety, and any time I can sneak dates into baked goods, I'm there.  Plus all you need for these cookies is a food processor, your hands and a fork.  Gotta love a low maintenance cookie.  Save the oven for another baking experience because these babies are raw, as in unbaked.  Did I mention they're vegan and gluten free too?  Well now you know. You know what else?  There is no butter in the recipe, and I don't even miss it.  That's a fact.  These cookies are good for ya!  So let's jump to it!  

True: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cup Crème Brûlée

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose the other ages you've been." 

~ Madeleine L'Engle

When I was a kid I wanted to be Molly Ringwald.  Me and my sister watched and re-watched Sixteen Candles over and over until my brothers had had enough and confiscated both the remote control and VCR, not without us putting up a fight I might add.  We never got tired of the Geek and Jake and Long Duck Dong and the annoying little brother.  And the ending.  I mean how perfect is the ending?  Samantha finally gets to see Jake after her horrible sister gets married, and there he is looking all super hot in his super hot car.  On her sixteenth birthday no less.  I mean, come on.  What girl in her right mind didn't want to have a birthday like that one day?  She set the bar high, that Molly Ringwald girl.  

The Quest For A Better Granola Bar...

...than this granola bar.  Not to toot my own horn or anything...but I make a pretty crazy good granola bar.  So, I'm always on the lookout for another recipe that could be better than the one I have.  There have been some contenders, but this recipe is still my favourite.  With a butter/peanut butter/brown sugar/honey goo spilled over lots of large flake oats and nuts, dried fruit and chocolate....it is a gooder.

Whenever I go on a road trip I bring my own snacks....I'm not much of a pop-and-chips kind of girl, so gas station food does nothing for me.  In preparation for the drive to my sister Juanita's this weekend, I whipped up a batch of these granola goodies.  The drive to her place is only 3 hours, but on long and lonely stretches of Prairie highway, it can feel a lot longer.  It's true - you really can see for miles.  Have a little snack, turn the music up and we are there before we know it.  Plus I know her girls will go nuts for these bars - especially Miss O, who loves anything smothered in peanut butter.  Miss M is too little, but she may have a nibble, with her tiny, yet mighty chompers.

I first made these bars when I worked as a staff cook at a fancy fishing lodge in the beautiful Yukon Territory, way way back in the late '90s, early 2000's.  Funny how one bite takes me back to the land of the the midnight sun. Full of protein and other good things, these bars were taken on many a heli-hike and shore lunch.  I even ate them for breakfast, or for a late night snack after a terribly exciting game of Yahtzee.  Yep we were in the wilderness, and yep we made our own fun.  Boy, did we ever.

This recipe is very versatile...originally it calls for coconut, but I dislike coconut, so it goes nowhere near this recipe.  If you like, put it in (we can still be friends, I won't hold it against you.  But if you like raisins, we may have to break up.) I opted for extra nuts instead of coconut.  And I added flax instead of bran, and I used honey instead of corn syrup. I cut back the chocolate (I know!  Who does that?!!) and added dried apricots instead.   Like I said, you can monkey around with it and it will still turn out fantastic.  If I see another recipe for an energy/granola bar, chances are I will give it a go, but I have a feeling I'll always come back to this one.  If not for the deliciousness of it, but for the awesome memories it conjures up. 

Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup corn syrup (OR honey)
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups large flake oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut (or chopped nuts)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (or your favourite seeds.  pumpkin would be perfect)
1/3 cup wheat germ OR bran OR ground flax seed
2 tbsp sesame seeds ( I added a bit extra)
1 cup chocolate chips (I did half chocolate, half dried apricots.  You could use other dried fruit)

Preheat oven to 350*F.
Line a 9x13 pan with parchment.  In a saucepan, melt the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and honey, over low heat, stirring often.  Stir in the vanilla once it's all a melted goo.  In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Pour the goo over the dry and stir well.  Pour in to the prepared pan, and press it in.  Bake for about 20 minutes, until edges are golden.  It will set up when it cools.  Chewy good!!!

Sending Winter Away With West African Groundnut Stew

Optimism has taken hold!  This is THE week temperatures are sure to rise, and the three feet of snow left in my yard will disappear.  I'm banking on it, cuz I've taken the parka to the dry cleaners, and stuffed the winter boots in a box in the basement.  I'm done with ya Winter,  move along now.  In celebration, I thought I would make one of my all time favourite cold weather comfort bowls:  West African Groundnut Stew. This is perfect student/peasant food - with the bulk of the ingredients being cabbage and potatoes, it's easy on the budget, and lord knows we ate it often enough.

My dear friend Stacy put a special request in for this recipe, as she was a fixture at my kitchen table way long ago in Montreal.  Dinner music then was REM and The Smiths and Duran Duran (I met them once - that's a funny story for another time!)  Conversation was about boys (of course), and home, and 90210 and "who would your rather."   Cheap red wine was purchased at the little store on the corner, and we sat by candlelight til the wee hours.  Now we live at opposite ends of this massive country, but eating this lovely stew tonight makes me think of Stacy, and that makes me happy.

I used fresh hot peppers instead of dried cayenne, but you can use either.  And I added more cilantro, cuz I likey, but I know lots of people don't, so it's up to you.  If you haven't already guessed, the "groundnut" part is peanut butter, which is truly awesome in this stew.  I served mine spooned over some steaming quinoa, for the extra boost of protein, but rice would be fine too.  While you are at it crank up some REM (their new album is fantastic, by the way).

West African Groundnut Stew

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1-2 chopped jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, unless you want it super super hot
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp grated peeled ginger root
3 cups chopped green cabbage
3 cups cubed potatoes
3 cups tomato juice
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup peanut butter (natural is optimal)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil. When it has warmed, sauté the onions for about 5 minutes. Stir in jalapeno pepper, garlic and ginger and cook a few more minutes. Add the cabbage and potatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato juice, veg stock and tomatoes. Cover and simmer 15 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.  Stir in the zucchini and cilantro and cook 5 minutes longer. Turn the heat to low, stir in the peanut butter and simmer gently until ready to serve.  Add more juice or stock if you find it too thick.  Season with salt and pepper. Add some cayenne pepper for more heat, if need be. Garnish with more cilantro. Serve over bowls of steamed brown rice or quinoa. Serves 6.