in Making mode

Wow! I love making stuff! Let's take a tour of what I've made lately, shall we?

First up: One of the best things I've EVER put in my mouth. Homemade granola bars. OMG. Was web-cruising for a few days to find a good recipe, and I came across this one that I liked very much: Joyful Abode's Homemade Granola Bar Recipe. I know promise when I see it. Of course, I didn't exactly follow the recipe, and I'll follow it even less next time, probably. The concept is sound, though. Here's my version:

2 c oats
1 c walnuts, chopped
1 c almonds, crushed then chopped
3/4 c coconut
>1 c dried apricots, diced
>1 c dried figs, diced
>1 c raisins, golden
1/2 c honey
1/2 c brown sugar
2 pkt vanilla sugar
3-4 tbsp butter (next time I'll use my kitchen scale)
1/2 tsp salt

I toasted the oats, walnuts, and pecans in the oven for about 12 minutes, stirring often (the smell is just heavenly). While that was happening, I diced the dried fruits and rolled them in the coconut to keep them from clumping (I said >1 c because they came out to almost a c after dicing and rolling, but obviously I didn't want to press them together to get an accurate measurement!). In a saucepan I brought the honey, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and butter to a boil, simmered for a minute, removed from heat. I mixed up all the dry ingredients thoroughly in a big bowl and poured the liquid mixture on top. I mixed and mixed until everything was thoroughly coated. (I highly recommend using a sturdy utensil for this step!) Then I pressed it into a small baking dish lined with plastic wrap (haven't found parchment paper yet... but then, how hard was I looking?). I squished and squished until a nice uniform block was formed. Let cool, cut up, viola! Pocket-sized bricks of heaven.



Next up, I don't know if you all know this, but... I love baking. In fact, I was just telling mom and dad how I'm on Butter Stamps. I'm on Butter house arrest. I am Butter grounded! Every time I turned around it seemed like I was using half a pound of butter, and we started to get a little concerned for our health. So Oğuz and I made a deal that I'm only allowed to buy 250 g of butter per month. It has to last all month. If we run out, we're butterless until the calendar page turns! So as a result, thankfully, I've turned to other tasty treats to bake, ones that do not require sticks upon sticks of butter. :)

Thanks to Binnur and her awesome website of Turkish recipes, upon which I often rely. I gave her Turkish-style Breakfast Buns a try, and aren't we glad I did! I wanted to be able to offer Oğuz something a little special when he came home Thursday morning from his 24-hour guard duty, so I baked them late on Wednesday night and warmed them in the oven before he got home. He loved them! ::wagwag:: I did follow the recipe on this one (except for probably adding a little too much potato...), but I didn't have black sesame seeds to sprinkle over them, so I used my fav--poppyseeds!--and regular sesame seeds. Fresh out of the oven these are crisp on the outside, moist on the inside, and flavorful all over! Thanks again Binnur!



Ok, now on to non-edible delights. I've really gotten my knitting mojo back, and I've been working on a few things. The thing I finished today is just... CUTE! It's a hat for Oğuz, and I can't wait til he comes home from work so I can take a picture of /him/ modeling it, instead of a mixing bowl. ::giggle::


That's the conclusion of today's tour, but I'm sure I'll be making quite a few things over the next month. Stay tuned! Love!