Special K Peanut Butter Cookies by Colleen

Hi Barbara ---

Well, everyone has vanished and gone back to college or work, leaving me with odd and ends in the fridge and the cupboards - some things I toss and some I gamely try to use up in blueberry muffins or whatever.

I found most of a box of Special K with Chocolate cereal that both William and Charlotte eat. I figured there has to be some cookie one can make with leftover cereal in the vein of rice krispie treats. 

So I wandered around the Internet and found a few options but I didn’t want to head to the store to buy extra ingredients, so I made SUBSTITUTIONS! (guess where I learned that?)

They are good - if you like chocolate and peanut butter you can’t go wrong and the bar part has a nice chewiness to it. Plus they have all 8 essential vitamins and minerals! They are SPECIAL ;-

I took these into school today and left them in the teacher’s lounge. By noon they were nearly all gone.

--Colleen

Special K Bars

Bars:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup**
1 1/2 cups peanut butter **
7 cups Special K with chocolate cereal*, crushed

Frosting:
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of butter

Heat the sugar and corn syrup on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Mix in the peanut butter (you can use smooth or chunky). Put the cereal in a large bowl. I briefly considered trying to fish out all the little chocolate pieces, but decided that was too much trouble and just left them in. I should have crushed the cereal before I added the sugar/peanut butter mixture (but I didn’t - next time). The large flakes were a little tricky to work with. Once you’ve mixed it all together, press the mixture evenly into a greased (I sprayed it with Pam) 9x13 pan. Press down hard - you can use parchment or waxed paper if you want to press to keep the mess off your hands.

In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate chips and butter in the microwave and stir until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter and spread evenly over the bars. Once the topping firms up, cut into bars.

Some recipes call for peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips for the topping, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I just used peanut butter and it seemed to work fine.

*If you don’t have Special K with chocolate pieces, you can use any flake cereal. .

**Spray the measuring cup with Pam before you measure the corn syrup/peanut butter so they don’t stick to the measuring cup.

Lavender Crème Brûlée

Dried Lavender from our garden at the lake

A fantasy I once had was becoming a lavender farmer.  This was back when I was still working at my corporate job, and I had a subscription to Gourmet magazine. In April 1994 they featured a lavender farmer in Oregon or Washington State, and it seemed like that life would be wonderful.

In 1995, Tom and I stayed on Martha's Vineyard in September at the Inn at Blueberry Hill where they made a memorable lavender crème brûlée.  We remember how unusual and how good it smelled and tasted over 20 years later.  So, I found a Martha's Vineyard recipe from the Sweet Life Cafe which I thought I would try.  

It was silky smooth and had a mild lavender taste. 
---Barbara

Lavender Crème Brûlée
(Sweet Life Cafe, Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard
originally published in The Coop Scoop, 2010)

Serves 6

1 quart heavy cream
2.5 T. dried or fresh lavender
1.5 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs, plus 6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for the brulee topping

hot water (about 2 quarts)

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and lavender until boiling.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk vanilla, eggs, yolks, and 2/3 cup sugar.

Slowly add the cream and lavender mixture to the sugar mixture.  Don't add it all at once or the eggs will cook, i.e., temper the eggs first.

Let steep for at least an hour, at room temperature, to absorb the lavender flavor.

Strain to remove the lavender buds.

Transfer to a large pitcher or Pyrex measuring cups with spouts so you can easily and evenly fill the ramekins.

Pour into six 6-ounce ramekins.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  (use convection oven if possible)

Okay here's where I don't know enough about making crème brûlée to give good advice about cooking methods and time.  I did not use a convection oven and my custards took hours to set.  But they were perfect. Other versions start with a 325 degrees oven.    I think the key is to measure the temperature of the custard until it is 170-175 degrees.

Place the ramekins in a large roasting pan with handles. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the outside of the the ramekins.

Bake until the custard is just set but still trembling in the center and temperature reads 170-175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.  Takes approximately 30- to 40 minutes in a convection oven. (see note above, mine took hours to set.)

Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving time.

Dab custard gently with paper towel if any moisture beads formed during chilling.

Evenly sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup sugar atop the 6 custards.

Use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelize the sugar to form a deep-brown crisp crust on top.

If you don't have a blowtorch handy, preheat broiler with a rack positioned just below the broiler.  Place ramekins on a baking sheet under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes.

Keep oven door open to avoid overheating the custard, and watch carefully so as not to burn.

Allow the to crème brûlée to sit for a few minutes before serving.

Note:  I ordered the kitchen torch from Amazon.  It was inexpensive.  And we found the butane canister at Home Depot.

Garlic Dill Semi-sweet Refrigerator Pickles

This year's crop of cucumbers

Tom really likes these because they are garlicky and dilly but also a little sweet and spicy.  I used what I had on hand --- head of garlic, sweet onion, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, peppercorns ---plus a big bunch of dill from our local farmer's market.  I think I am getting the hang of making pickles now.  

Packed them in these pretty aqua pint-sized jars which I found at Tractor Supply where they have lots of canning gear.

---Barbara

Garlic Dill Semi-sweet Refrigerator Pickles

Makes 4 pints 

1 head of garlic cloves, papers removed, and sliced lengthwise
1 large sweet onion, chopped
12 small pickle cucumbers, sliced in thin circles
2 T. mustard seeds
1 large clump of fresh dill (1 packed cup)
2 T. hot red pepper flakes
1 t. mixed peppercorns, or all black
1 T. sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups purified water  (mineral free)
2 cups white vinegar

Wash the containers and lids well, and dry completely.

In a large heat-resistant bowl like Pyrex, about 4 quarts, add the chopped onion, sliced garlic, and the sliced cucumbers.

In a large saucepan, add the sugar, water, vinegar, and the spices:  dill, red pepper flakes, peppercorns, salt, mustard seeds.  Take a few of the garlic slices from the bowl and add too.

Bring to a full boil, and then turn it down, but keep it boiling for 1 - 2 minutes.

While still very hot, pour over the cucumbers mixture, and stir with a large spoon until everything is well coated and all the veggies come in contact with the pickling mixture.

Note;  my dill became a big clump, like seaweed.  I tired to separate it with no luck.  Perhaps it should be chopped or separated into individual strands when it goes into the liquid before boiling to prevent this.

Add a plate to hold the veggies down into the liquid.   Cover and refrigerate until completely cool.

Into  the bottom of each jar, ladle a little liquid.  Then fish out the cucumbers and divide evenly into the jars, i.e., pack the jars.  Be sure some of the garlic, onions, and the spices get into each of the jars along with the cucumbers.

The pickles will gain more flavor as they age in the refrigerator.

Fill the jars with the remaining liquid.  Screw on the cap well.  And turn upside down to be sure the liquid comes to the top, then turn back over after a little while.

You may have a little too many cucumbers and liquid.  Just put them in a little snacking cup.  They'll be gone before you know it.

---Barbara