beer bread with pears

beer bread is super easy, since the yeast in beer is yeasty enough to make the bread rise.  this recipe is a great way to use up really ripe fruit or a beer that you took a chance on and hate.  in my case, it was a Blue Moon Caramel Apple Spice beer and a dying pear.  I've made regular ol' beer bread with this recipe in the past (and an oatmeal stout beer) and liked it, so I thought I'd toy with it.  the result was pretty good - not really sweet, but not really savory.  next time, I'd probably bump up the amount of sugar a bit, add some vanilla, and try adding more fruit if I have it.

beer bread with pears
active time: 5 minutes | cook time: 60 minutes  |  yields: one loaf (6 to 8 slices)
adapted from here
ingredients
3 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder - omit if using Self-Rising Flour
1 teaspoon salt - omit if using Self-Rising Flour
1/4 cup sugar (next time: bump up to 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
(next time: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla)
1 (12 ounce) can/bottle beer
1 chopped pear or apple
1/4 cup melted butter

directions
preheat oven to 375 F degrees.  

mix dry ingredients and beer.  add a little water, if necessary, to get everything all mixed.

mix in chopped fruit.

pour into a greased loaf pan.

pour melted butter over mixture.  sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired.

bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

notes
- pouring butter over top before baking creates a very hearty bread with a crunchy, buttery crust. alternatively, mixing the melted butter into the dough results in a softer crust.
- you can omit the sweet stuff to make a savory bread.
- try using rosemary and lemon juice or oregano or other dried herbs/spices instead of the sweet stuff.

horrible photo courtesy of my cell phone.  deal with it.

homemade (and way cheap!) granola

add this to some greek yogurt or ice cream.  or a spoon.

homemade granola
adapted from too many recipes to bother linking
makes about 3 cups (a quart-sized ziploc)
active time: 15-20 minutes / cooling time: 30 minutes / totally done in: 1 hour
ingredients
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
1/2 cup sliced/chopped nuts/seeds
1/3 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, etc)
1/4 cup dried sweetened coconut (A: you could leave this out altogether [lookin' at you, Summer]; B: I'd rather use unsweetened coconut but can't find that stuff anywhere)
sprinkle o' cinnamon

directions
spread oats on baking sheet and toast under broiler, stirring occasionally.  keep a close eye on them so they don't burn!  remove from oven and set aside.  turn off broiler.

if using raw nuts/seeds, toast 'em in a dry pan over medium low heat, stirring occasionally.  I chose to do this separately from the oats so the nut/seed oils wouldn't mix in with the oats and possibly sog things up.

at this point, I scooped the toasted oats and nuts/seeds into a giant liquid measuring cup so it'd be easier to dump them into the skillet later.  this was a really good move, since attempting to pour the oats from a giant rectangular pan into a much smaller circular one would have been certain disaster.

in a medium skillet, melt butter.  add honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt, cook for 1 minute.  add toasted oats and nuts/seeds, cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly.  mix in dried fruit and coconut, cook 1 minute more.

spray baking sheet lightly with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.  spread granola evenly on baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon.  throw the whole thing back on the top rack of the still-warm oven for 15 to 30 minutes to get everything nice and crunchy.

remove from oven and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before shovelling into your face or a plastic bag for storage.  

next time: 
- since the coconut was sweetened and raisins are pretty sweet on their own, I'd probably cut back the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon.  if I'd used just cranberries, I'd leave the brown sugar measure at 2 tablespoons
- I'd stir it around a little less after it comes out of the oven to leave some bigger chunks intact

(faux) banana ice cream

just do it.

(faux) banana ice cream
ingredients
ripe banana(s)
a freezer
about 8 hours

directions
slice a ripe banana into coins. 
freeze ‘em solid. 
throw the chunks in a food processor and hit go, scraping down the sides periodically and adding a splash of milk if needs loosening. 

there you are, Peeeter.

its crazy, and comes together really suddenly. some good mix ins (I recommend blending 'em in, then popping the whole thing in the freezer for a few minutes, since the other ingredients'll bring down the temp of the ice cream and make it melt): peanut butter, frozen strawberries, chocolate chips…the options are endless.  I like mine best top with something crunchy, like crumbled homemade kind bars.

DIY KIND bars / fruit & nut bars

the Boy loves-loves-loves Clif bars and KIND bars and the like.  I love to cook and bake and figure out how to make things for a fraction of the market price.  I stumbled across a recipe on a blog and the rest is history...
fruit & nut bars (knockoff KIND bars)
adapted from here
ingredients
1 1/3 cups toasted or raw nuts, coarsely chopped after measuring
1/4 cup crisp rice cereal
1/2 cup seeds
1/3 cup dried fruit, chopped after measuring
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1/4+ cup honey (see notes, below)
directions
preheat oven to 325 degrees F. line an 8-inch square pan with foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray (if you don't, you'll be sorry!).  tear off a separate piece of foil for pressing, spray with non-stick spray and set aside. 
in a medium bowl, combine the chopped nuts, seeds, and chopped dried fruit.  add salt and honey, stir to coat evenly.
scrape/dump mixture into prepared pan. Use sprayed foil piece to to press mixture evenly into pan.
bake for 18 minutes (the bars will not be hard at this point). place pan on cooling rack and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes until partially set up.  use the sides of foil to lift the bars from the pan. do NOT try to remove from foil at this point — they're not ready yet! cut into 8 bars.
allow bars to cool completely. once cooled, the bars will lift right off of the foil. Wrap in cling wrap, parchment or wax paper and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

notes
the first time we made these, we didn't use enough honey.  the second time, there was too much and the bars didn't really solidify.  I'll try about 1/3 cup next time, that might be the winner.
optional
for just nuts bars: omit seeds and dried fruit, increase nuts to 2 cups, keep other ingredients and process identical.