Brownie Bottom Coconut Bars & Honoring MLK

For about 8 years my family has sought to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King on his birthday weekend.
We talk about the life and work of Dr. King, and we think about what we can do in our lives to carry on the work for equality and dignity for all people that he and his colleagues did. I posted HERE about this tradition. As my kids are getting older, I want to think of some even more significant things we can do for this holiday.

I always make a treat that somehow incorporates chocolate and vanilla to represent racial integration and togetherness.  I have made cookies and cakes of various sorts.  Like this one.

I was trying to decide what to make for this year- a new recipe, one we've done in the past, a variation on a standard.  But when I was looking for another recipe in a stack of my old Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazines I found this recipe for Brownie-Bottom Coconut Bars.  I have had the recipe in my torn out magazine pages for years but have never made them.  I knew they would have to be good since they are brownie on the bottom and coconut macaroon on the top!  I decided MLK weekend would be a good time to make them, with their black and white togetherness.  They are simple to make and they are really, really good!

They are pretty and feel special.  All of my coconut-loving people gobbled them up.

Brownie-Bottom Coconut Bars 
from martha stewart's Every Day Food magazine

Chocolate Brownie Base:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Coconut Topping:
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package (7 oz.) sweetened shredded coconut (1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling)

For the brownie:
Preheat oven to 375˚
Line a 9 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a slight overhang; butter bottom and sides of foil (not overhang)
Place butter in a large microwave-safe bowl; melt in microwave.
Add sugar and salt; whisk to combine.
Whisk in egg, then cocoa and flour until smooth.
Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake just until sides begin to pull away from edges of pan, 10 to 15 minutes (do not over bake). Let cool slightly while preparing coconut topping.  Keep oven on for topping.

For the coconut topping:
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla.  Gently mix in flour and coconut (except 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling).
Drop mounds of mixture over chocolate base; spread and pat in gently and evenly with moistened fingers.  Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup coconut.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool completely in pan.  Lift cake from pan,  peel off foil, and cut into 24 bars.

It makes 24 small bars- but they are rich- so being small is good.

In our city Regal Cinemas and Metro Public Schools teamed up to offer free admission to students to see SELMA in the theaters.  We went on Saturday and it was very impactful.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do.

It was hard  to watch.  It was emotional  and painful  and honest  and hard.  Lainey and I held hands most of the time and cried a lot during the film.  It was really important though.

It is a very well done film and a raw look at the difficulty of a tumultuous and unjust time in our country and the bravery of some amazing people. I think we need to know and remember and in doing so deepen our compassion for the not-so-long-ago events that continue to have ripple effects today.

Thanking God for the courage, clarity and spiritual strength of Dr. King and his comrades this weekend and praying that we might be people of conviction and action like them.

Last Call for Cranberries: Cranberry Orange Bread

Cranberries are so lovely.  They add such zip, color and flavor to recipes!  November and December are the main cranberry months, but if you look quick you can get some in January!  I always stock up for the following 10 months!

I am always looking for a great quick bread recipe that can be thrown together easily for breakfast or to take somewhere. This recipe is a favorite- chock full of cranberries, orange juice and zest and chopped walnuts!  (As for Cranberry muffins these, from King Arthur Flour, are my all-time favorites - though they require a little more time to prepare with more chopping and measuring than this Cranberry bread).  

My friend Emily shared this bread recipe with me a few years ago.  I can't even remember when or in what context, but I printed it out, tucked it in a notebook, and have reached for it many times through the years.

Emily continually inspires me.  She has an lovely blog Celebrate Today, where she shares about her daily life and beckons the reader to celebrate each day- in grand and small ways.   You can check it out HERE.

This week she wrote about her morning run - seeing the sun rise (inspiring, I told you) and she noted seeing the crocus flowers starting to peek through the ground, signaling that spring is coming soon.  I needed to hear that.  I needed the reminder that these gray days will end and there will be green grass, blooming blossoms, and sunny days again. This gives me hope. 

In the meantime as I wait for those spring days, I am going to use my cranberries, and try to embrace these days.

Cranberry Orange Walnut Bread

2 cups all purpose flour (or combination of whole wheat/ all-purpose or whole grain pastry flour)

1 cup sugar (or a little less)

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 egg

½ cup orange juice

grated peel (the zest) of 1 orange

2 Tbsp. melted butter

2 Tbsp. hot water

1 cup fresh cranberries (or frozen)

½ to 1 cup chopped walnuts (depending on how nutty you like it)

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  In another bowl, beat egg. Add orange juice, peel, butter and hot water.  Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Gently fold in cranberries and walnuts.  Spoon into greased loaf pan (or mini loaf pans).

Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes (if using large loaf pan- reduced if using small pans) or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack.

I made it a couple of weeks ago and doubled the recipe.  I baked 1/2 in my mini-loaf pans to slice and take to church and the other 1/2 in a large loaf pan, which I wrapped up, froze and took to the Joneses when we went to visit during the holidays. 

It freezes well, thaws easily, travels well, and is good for breakfast, lunch, or for snacking!

We got to enjoy it for breakfast at their home with omelets, yogurt and homemade granola.  Delicious! 

While the cranberry bread was baking, I couldn't resist making a jar of cranberry sauce with the rest of the cranberries in the bag.  I wrote about making cranberry sauce HERE. So easy, pretty, and delicious on sandwiches, with dinner, or in my yogurt for breakfast!

Seize the cranberries while they last, and hold out hope that spring is coming soon!

Chicken Chili on a Chilly January Day

I hope you are having a great start to the new year.  Choosing Happiness is the goal that we set for this new year.  On our road trip home on New Year's Day, Dave and I did some reflecting on 2014 and vision casting for 2015 and realized that last year was more of "survival" year in many respects and we want this year to be marked with more joy, happiness, play and laughter!  I have determined that my motto for this year is: "Complain Less, Hug More, Choose Happiness!"  We'll see how it goes.  So far, I already feel more hopeful.  I realize that when I extend love (via hugs and other extensions of generosity and compassion), it's hard not to be happier.

I'm glad that the bleak, cold, grey days are more than 1/2 way over. In the meantime it helps if I look for the wintery beauty in the midst of the bleak.  And I find great comfort with a piping hot bowl of soup!

 I have made this Chicken Chili several times over the past month.  During the winter, I really just want to eat soup, sliced apples and crusty bread everyday.  Healthy and Comforting!

This recipe has become a new favorite in our house.  I'm delighted to have another soup that is 5 for 5 at my table!  

This is so very easy to make.  In fact, there aren't very many photos because… there is not much to photograph, unless you want photos of me opening cans and stirring.  

Also, this soup is hard to capture in photos because the good stuff tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl and pictures don't do it justice.  

Every year our Social Work department has a chili supper and the faculty/staff provide crock pots of Chili for students to enjoy.  Patsy always makes this Chicken Chili and I always choose it.  It is delicious!  I got the recipe years ago, but was reluctant to make it for the family because my girls are sensitive to spicy (sad!), and my boy has a bean aversion (really sad!).  But Dave loves chili and wishes that I would make it more. So, I decided to make it with mild salsa and reduce the number of beans to accommodate my kids and give it a go.  It was very well received!  I was happily surprised!  It wasn't too spicy and Asher had just come from a 2 hour wrestling practice and was famished and therefore wasn't too picky with the beans!  Progress is being made in the bean situation!

It is a Weight Watchers recipe originally, so it is healthy and is simple and versatile. 

I roast chicken tenderloins in the oven while I "prepare" the rest of the soup.  (The original recipe says to boil them but I prefer the roasted flavor.)  It only takes about 25 minutes to roast and then I tear it apart and add it to the soup.  

I serve it with sour cream and shredded cheese, like the recipe recommends, but I also add some slices of lime, tortilla chips and diced avocado.  OH MY!

I have shared the recipe with a couple of friends and decided that I needed to post it to share with even more friends.  It's too great to not pass along!

Chicken Chili

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or I used about 12 tenderloins)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 jars (16 oz. each) of picante salsa
49 oz. chicken broth
48 oz. Northern white beans
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder

Roast chicken in oven:  Preheat oven to 400˚.  Drizzle or brush chicken with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper (and garlic powder and cumin, if you'd like).  Place on baking sheet, place it in the oven and bake until fully cooked.

Mix all other ingredients: salsa through garlic powder.  Shred cooked chicken and add to the pot.  Bring to a boil and cook 20 minutes.  Reduce heat and simmer slowly until time to serve.  (You can also put it in the crockpot in the morning and let it cook on low all day).

Garnish with sour cream, shredded cheese, slices of lime (for squeezing), tortilla chips and diced avocado.  And if you want to turn up the heat, you can splash some hot sauce in your bowl!

Another new year's goal is that I hope I will be able to blog more frequently this year.  Last year was much less often than I would choose (thus, the year of surviving). December was so full and blogging didn't happen after all of the grading and closing down of the semester, and then Christmasing and New Year's travel.  But I sure did cook a lot last month!  And I made some really yummy things, which I photographed for the time when I can post them here and share the recipes.  Some will probably have to wait until next year, as they are Christmasy, but others, I will share promptly - like this Chicken Chili.   
Enjoy! Wishing you the happiest new year!

Soup, Salad, & Snowflakes

Several friends told me about this recently published book, Bread and Wine, by Shauna Niequist, thinking I would enjoy it.  It is filled with stories of community, food, faith and life around the table – as well as corresponding recipes.  Also, the book is endorsed by Anne Lamott and Brene Brown, two of my favorite authors, so I knew I would enjoy it.

I bought the book and had the chance to read it over the holidays.   It is inspiring!  It made me want to have a cooking club, try every recipe, and keep a record of the special occasion menus we have like Shauna does.  I have tried several of the recipes and so far have loved them all.

One that I wanted to write about is her
Super-Healthy Lentil Soup, because January seems to call for soup!  This is my adapted version of her recipe. It's really simple to put together, makes a big pot, and keeps well.  Shauna introduced this recipe in the book as the one she makes when she's had too much feasting and needs something healthy, nutritious, to have on hand.

I made it a week ago and shared it with two friends, who immediately asked for the recipe and later texted me that they kept thinking about the soup.  I laughed.  Lentil Soup was not the food that I thought would make such an impression.  However, it really is that satisfying.  It's not fancy and the texture of lentils takes a little getting used to.  But it is warm, savory, and hits the spot on a cold day.   And Lentils are a great source of protein, fiber, iron and are low in fat.  I added sweet potatoes to the recipe – because I love them in soup, they are a pretty amazing source of all-things-nutritious, and I had them in my pantry.  I made it again Thursday night so I could eat on it this weekend and share it with some more people in need of a container of soup.

Super-Healthy Lentil Soup (serves 8 ish)
(adapted from Bread and Wine)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups onions, chopped (or 2 onions)
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
6-7 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
1 1/2 cups lentils (dry)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes in juice
Balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
sprinkle of chopped rosemary to taste

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to brown, about 15 minutes.  (I chopped my vegetables in the food processor for speed- it works great, though they are no cut semetrically.)
Add broth, lentils, and tomatoes with juice, and bring to boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper, rosemary and a splash of vinegar.

And this Caesar Salad was one that I couldn't wait to try after reading her description in the book. It goes nicely with the soup too!

It's basically comprised of: homemade croutons (which are like the ones I made HERE but with parmesan added to them before baking); chopped romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese and this yummy zesty dressing.









Brannon's Caesar Salad Dressing
(from Bread and Wine)
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
A few dashes of Tabasco, to taste
Juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. sugar

Chop garlic clove in food processor, then add remaining ingredients and blend together.  Or chop a garlic clove, drop it into the bottom of an old jelly jar, add everything else, and shake like crazy.

Toss lettuce with croutons, parmesan, and dressing.

Also this month, we carried on our annual January tradition of making paper snowflakes to hang in our windows.  Everything is so grey and drab in our city, it seems to add some whimsy.

We usually look online for some patterns, like THESE, and then get inspired to make our own patterns.

This year the girls went a little berserk and added frost and icicles too.  So much for simple and sweet...it's more like a blizzard in our

living room.











I hope your January is going well – that tasty, healthy soup and zippy, crunchy salad are finding their way to your table and shared with friends. And that the only snowflakes inside your home are made of paper!

Some December Favorites

December was such a busy month with a very full load of grading and closing down the semester,  followed by a child-filled holiday season. Therefore,  blogging had to be put on the back-burner.

However, two things that I made this month, that I just have to share are Cranberry Sauce and Jalapeno Poppers.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce.
I have a great love for cranberries. I wrote about it HERE.  And this very time-limited cranberry season is about to end!  So, if you haven't already stocked your fridge/freezer with cranberries, get them quick.  My Kroger had them on clearance this week for 25 cents a bag!

Cranberry sauce is one of those recipes that people think is complicated or difficult but actually it is quick and very simple. I made a few batches of cranberry sauce this season. YUM! So easy and so delicious!

Just a few ingredients!

Place a bag of fresh cranberries in a large pot on the stove (pick out any rotten or shriveled berries from the pot). Add 1 cup of granulated sugar. Pour in 1 cup of water. If you want, you can add the zest of an orange. Stir ingredients together. Heat on medium high for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the berries pop. Take off of stove and let cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools. Store in a tight container in the refrigerator.

I love cranberry sauce on top of meat, on a turkey sandwich, as a side dish with a savory meal, or swirled into my plain greek yogurt for breakfast!
Having a jar of it in the refrigerator inspires all kinds of uses.

Secondly, these Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers were a favorite of our season.

Maybe because it's been the holiday season and it inspires party food.  Or maybe it's because cooking a whole meal lately has felt overwhelming.  But I've been wanting snack dinners lately.  We have had appetizers for dinner several times during the holidays.  Sometimes we have had crackers and cheese, sliced apples,  hummus and veggies, goat cheese with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes with crackers and pita chips, texas caviar and chips.  And if we're really going for it- these bacon wrapped pepper poppers have made it on the menu!

We made these a couple of summers ago for the first time when grilling with friends and we fell in love.
They are a little kicky but the spiciness really varies pepper to pepper.

They are simple and just have three ingredients: jalapeño peppers, cream cheese and bacon.

Slice jalapeños long-wise and carefully hull out the seeds and the white inside the pepper (the seeds are the hot part of the pepper, so be careful when handling them!).
Use a knife to smear softened cream cheese into each of the peppers.  Slice bacon in half and wrap a piece around each pepper, securing the two sides together on top.  Place them on a grill over medium heat.  If you have a higher rack, use it. Cook until bacon is fully cooked and crispy, and the jalapeños are softened. Serve immediately.

Or if you don't have easy access to a grill, you can place them on a baking sheet and bake them in a 375˚ oven for 25 minutes, or until bacon is crispy.    

I love December and the foods and festivities, however, I sure enjoy starting a new year, embracing a clean slate.  So, I've packed up the Christmas decorations, made some resolutions and am thankful it's January.

 I hope you are having a great start to a new year.

Plum Spice Cake & Advent

It has been a full week.  December is here. It's nearing the end of the academic semester – wrapping up classes and grading and grading and grading. We decorated for Christmas. I did some baking.  We went to Knoxville for a quick trip last weekend for me to speak at a Women's Brunch at the church where I grew up.  It was such an honor to be there and give a charge to them (and me) to Prepare Room for Jesus this season.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity.  It has been the impetus for getting a proper focus in a month that has potential to sweep us into chaos.

I've been reading from some of my favorite Advent/Christmas Devotionals and books.  My favorite for the past few years in Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus complied by Nancy Guthrie, and this year I've added Preparing For Christmas by contemplative Richard Rohr.  They both are so rich and deep and are powerful in pointing me to Jesus at this season.

























We've been making some christmas trees out of old books from Goodwill – super cheap, easy and vintage.  I made a couple last year and one of them got crushed in my hasty, poor packing job so I am re-doing.  I learned how to make them HERE.

And I've seen some breathtaking sunsets! What a gift they have been.

And I made this simple but super-tasty Plum Spice Cake for dinner with friends.  My friend Connie makes it most every Christmas and I have been the recipient of a loaf of it for many years!  It's one of her signature goodies.  It's great for dessert, but you can call it coffee cake and totally justify eating it for breakfast. (I took 1/2 of the cake to school on Monday and it was gobbled up in the morning hours.)

I made it in a Bundt pan for guests, but you can make it in little loaf pans to give away instead!

When I think of plums, I think of visions of sugar plums dancing in heads of sleepy characters in a classic Christmas story. Don't you?  Ironically, when I think of prunes, I think of grandmothers and a digestive remedy and much stigma.  And yet, prunes are plums – dehydrated plums. The mystery ingredient in this Plum Spice Cake is...

baby food prunes.  Yep. It's true.  (You just have to hide them from your kids, significant others, and housemates before the cake is made so that they give it an unbiased chance!)
Plum Spice Cake is a much more enticing name than Prune Cake, don't you think?

My favorite part of this cake is the lemony glaze, which is quite tart, combined with the moist, cinnamon/nutmegyness of the cake.  It is delightful!

Plum Spice Cake
1 cup canola oil

2 jars prune (or plum if you can't find it) baby food

2 cups sugar

3 eggs
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Glaze: Powdered Sugar- about 2 cups
enough lemon juice to make it the desired consistency

Grease and flour bundt pan or loaf pans. (I used Baker's Joy, the all in one spray, and it worked beautifully).

Mix together oil, baby food, sugar, eggs in mixer until well blended. Add dry ingredients. Incorporate well. Add pecans. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 300˚ for 1 hour (or until done, when checked with a toothpick).

Invert onto a serving dish.  Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice in a bowl adjusting until desired consistency is reached.  Drizzle generously over cake while it is still warm.

I'm headed to bed, hopefully to have some sugar plums dancing in my head, so that I can get up early and do a little Advent reading and maybe some paper grading by the Christmas tree. I hope your advent season is off to a good start.