D.I.Y. Fruit & Nut Bars!

You know those delicious, wholesome fruit and nut bars that you get at the grocery store. (Hint, they start with an L. L*** Bars.) You can make them yourself, to your taste and liking. Those bars are very tasty, the store bought ones, but they can get very pricey. Let's make some of our own! Get our your food processor, your favorite nuts, your favorite dried fruit, a pinch of salt, and optional spices (cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, etc.)

The nut to fruit ratio is simple. 1 to 1. If you like a crunchy bar, put the nuts and fruit in the food processor together at the same time and blend until combined. If you want a smoother bar, like me, grind the nuts first, then add the fruit and blend until combined. Go ahead and toss in your pinch of salt and a few dashes of your optional ground spices at this stage.

The most common fruit in these said bars are dates, but I use any ol' moist dried fruit that I have around, like these prunes and raisins. Works for me.

A good serving size is about 2 tablespoons. I line a cupcake pan with plastic wrap, drop in 2 Tbsp. of the mixture, and press them in the holes with the bottom of a cup so they become nice, flat discs.

They are nothing to look at, but these homemade fruit & nut bars are perfect for travel and snacking. I store mine in zip-top plastic bags separated by wax paper and keep them in the refrigerator. The batch pictured above was made from 1 cup prunes, 1/2 cup raisins, 3/4 cup hazelnuts, 1/4 cup almonds, and 1/2 cup walnuts. (1 1/2 cup of fruit to 1 1/2 cup of nuts.) It made about 12 servings. This recipe is perfect to mix and match. The last time I made them, I threw in some flax seeds for kicks. Just think, the possibilities are endless! Let me know what you put in yours!

Popcorn 101

I can now say I'm able to teach Popcorn 101 because I've just passed Popcorn 101. I came across a fantastic, step-by-step, FAIL PROOF recipe for popping up some homemade popcorn. I started making my own after I heard that microwaved popcorn is bad for you. Sigh, another food to add to the "Don't eat this unless you want to damage yourself" list. Why? Because "Microwaving can cause the chemicals in the lining of the bag, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), to vaporize and leach into your popcorn." To read more about it check out this article.
Just give me some popcorn. Leave the PFOA crap out, thanks.

I picked up some yellow and white popping corn from Good Earth. I'm in love with their bulk section. I can get as few or as many corn kernels as I want. For a single serving, I've found that 2 tablespoons is perfect. Popcorn 101 is how to pop popcorn without burning and popping as many kernels as possible. I only had one unpopped kernel in this batch. Yippie! I'm working on Popcorn 102 - getting the flavorings to stick to the popcorn without drowning them in butter. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Perfect Popcorn Recipe

Ingredients
3 Tbsp canola, peanut or grapeseed oil (high smoke point oil)
1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
1 3-quart covered saucepan
2 Tbsp or more (to taste) of butter
Salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat.
2. Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.
3. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.
4. Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.
With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop and nothing burns.
5. If you are adding butter, you can easily melt it by placing the butter in the now empty, but hot pan.
6. Salt to taste.

Makes 2 quarts, a nice amount for two people, or for one hungry one.
Additional tips:

- If you add salt to the oil in the pan before popping, when the popcorn pops, the salt will be well distributed throughout the popcorn.
- Fun toppings for the popcorn - Spanish smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, cayenne powder, chili pepper, curry powder, cumin, grated Parmesan cheese.