Canada's Nanaimo Bars

Oh, Canada, why have you been holding out on me?

These classic Canadian cookie bars popped up on my Facebook feed. They are named after Nanaimo, British Columbia, but I've never heard of them. They look so delicious I've decided to make them! After googling the recipe to find that other recipes call for custard powder, another food item I've never heard of and won't find in my supermarket, I decided to go with this 12 Tomatoes recipe adapted from Classic Cooking. I like the white chocolate flavor in the custard layer. Another version of Nanaimo bars suggests making a coffee-flavored custard, also tasty! You choose. I'll go with white chocolate the 1st time.

Nanaimo Bars - 12 Tomatoes version:

Ingredients:

Photo: 12 Tomatoes - FB

Bottom Layer --
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
⅓ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed
8 oz sweetened coconut, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds)

Pudding Filling -- 

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup heavy cream 

2 tablespoons white chocolate instant pudding mix

2 cups powdered sugar

 

Photo: 12 Tomatoes

Chocolate Topping -- 

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips - See my tweak - step 6.

4 tablespoons salted butter 

Optional: ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions: (From 12 Tomatoes with my tweaks in blue font).

1) Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside. (It works in a buttered 9x9-inch baking pan equally well. I think the crust is better without parchment paper.)

2) Melt 1 stick of cubed butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder, salt, and brown sugar, remove the pan from heat, and whisk until mixture is well-blended.

3) Slowly whisk in the beaten egg and mix constantly until the egg is incorporated. Return the pot to the stovetop over medium heat and cook until the chocolate mixture has thickened, stirring frequently, for up to 2 minutes.

4) Stir in vanilla extract, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, and graham cracker crumbs. Once blended, pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes.

5) Beat 5 tablespoons unsalted butter with heavy cream, and instant pudding powder until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar until a creamy mixture comes together. Spread the cream filling over the top of the chocolate base layer and recover with plastic wrap. Return the pan to the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Photo: BBC

6) Melt chocolate chips with butter in a microwave-safe bowl, cooking in short increments of time and stirring until melted and smooth. Add salt, if using, and stir until blended. (See my tweak below👇). Spread chocolate topping over top of the cream filling. Cover with plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes or until the chocolate has completely set. My chocolate ganache is pure and simple without sacrificing flavor: Melt chocolate chips or broken dark chocolate pieces in a microwave-safe bowl with a tiny amount of any fat milk. Remember you can always add more milk, but can't remove it, so start with less. You don't need the butter or salt to make chocolate ganache. After melting, stir well and pour the ganache over the 2nd layer. Cover and refrigerate.

7) To serve, cut into squares. Store in an airtight container. If stacking your Nanaimo bars, place a layer of parchment paper in between each layer. Don't stack the cut bars as thy're moist because of the middle layer of pudding. It won't end well! 

Makes 16 bars. Refrigerate any leftovers and return the next day to eat the batch up! Let's not lie and pretend otherwise.

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Homemade Chicken Fingers

Deceptive photo, they weren't burnt or dry.

My senior mom has become a very picky eater. The supermarkets where I shop don't carry Tyson's Chicken Tenders, meat in a form she'll eat, so I bought 2 huge chicken breasts (nearly 3 pounds at $1.99 per pound = $5.49), cut them into pieces with my trusty meat shears, and made homemade chicken fingers for the 1st time ever in my life. How hard could it be? Not hard at all as it turns out. So crispy, tender and delicious, I'll post my easy-breezy recipe below (so I too can make it again):

Debbie's Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts - I had 2.76 pounds.

For the crust:

1 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup dried parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon homemade saltless creole seasoning (I now made it without salt and add salt or bouillion cubes in recipes.)

1  1/2 teaspoons Himalayan pink salt (It's what I had.)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried garlic

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1) Cut the chicken breasts into chunks or thick strips.

 

2) Into a food processor add the oatmeal flakes, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic, and creole seasoning. Pulse until finely ground and pour into a mixing bowl.

3) Spray an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray or grease lightly with butter.

4) Wet the chicken pieces with drops of milk and drop them into the dry oatmeal mixture. You need about 1/2 cup of milk to sprinkle on the chicken pieces.

5) Arrange the coated chicken fingers on a greased or sprayed baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400-degree F oven until brown. The chicken meat will turn from pink to white in about 20 minutes.

Chicken fingers (the whole breast) or tenders (the pectoralis minor part of the chicken) are about the only way my mom will eat chicken nowadays. She ate them, so tonight we got the job done.

Freeze the leftovers. 

A side dish: Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

3 potatoes, unpeeled and cubed

1 small onion, diced

olive oil

garlic powder

parsley 

tarragon

1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun or steak mix seasoning

A few turns of the peppermill

Directions:

1) Wash, slice or cube unpeeled potatoes (any variety) and onions.  

2) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the seasonings.

3) Transfer to an olive oiled, foil-lined baking tray.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 25 - 30 minutes.

Another side: BBQ Beans

Bon Appètit!

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Useful: Bigger Bolder Bakers' Substitute Corn Syrup & Molasses

PhoPhoto: Bigger Bolder Baker

There are two baking ingredients I never have in my pantry because I rarely need them. With these substitute recipes, I may never have to buy them. Thanks to Gemma Stafford, a former chef, I can make them at home (with ingredients I always have) for when I get a notion to bake a pastry that calls for one or the other. I love Gemma's recipes, tips, and videos but her website has so many ads and popups it's slowwww to load and murder to scroll, therefore although I'll link her website here I'm reluctant to send readers over there to be frustrated, so I'm reposting her 2 substitute recipes below also:

 I) Substitute Corn Syrup

Ingredients:

2 cups (16oz/450g) sugar
3/4 cup (6floz/170ml) water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (there is no substitute for this)
2 teaspoons lemon juice (stops sugar from clumping)
a pinch of salt

Directions:

1) Toss the sugar, water, cream of tartar, lemon juice, and salt into a heavy saucepan.

2) Bring to a medium boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, then turn down the heat to a gentle boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture reduces quite a bit. Once cooled the syrup thickens. 

Photo: Bigger Bolder Bakers

II) Substitute Molasses

Ingredients:

2 cups (16oz/450g) dark brown sugar
3/4 cups (6floz/170ml) water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons lemon juice freshly squeezed

Directions:

1) In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the dark brown sugar, water, cream of tartar, and lemon juice. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

2) Once the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat and simmer for 4 - 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Cool and store in a sealed glass jar.

Gemma is an excellent baker and teacher and you should check out her how-to YouTube videos, but oi vay that website!

*****************************************************************************

So now let's bake something!

All blondie photos and recipe courtesy of ATK

Let's use our homemade corn syrup to make America's Test Kitchen's Brown Butter Blondies -- linked here -- another website with inconveniences that you can overcome by watching its videos on Youtube.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons table salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup corn syrup

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, oven-toasted and chopped coarsely

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon flake sea salt, crumbled

Prepare a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with 2 sheets of aluminum foil with flaps (and crisscrossed +) so that you can lift the blondies up out of the pan after they are baked. Make sure you press the foil into the 4 corners of the pan and grease or use cooking spray on the foil.

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder.

2) Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet. Over medium heat, simmer the butter, whisking throughout until it's golden brown and has a nutty aroma, which gives the blondies a butterscotch flavor. Transfer to a large heat-proof mixing bowl.

3) Add the sugar to the hot butter and whisk. 

4) Next add the eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

5) Stir in the flour mixture until fluffy. Test Kitchen uses a spatula to incorporate the ingredients.

6) Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

7) Spread evenly into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle to top with the flaked sea salt.

8) Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 35 - 40 minutes (turning the pan around at 20 minutes) until golden brown and the cake springs back to the touch.

9) Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before lifting the foil with the pastry out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Makes 24 bars.

Sometimes it takes a professional baker to perfect a substitution that works in our recipes. Thank you, Gemma Stafford (and Test Kitchen for the best blondies). Who wants to run to the supermarket every time you turn around, not to mention, stock 2 ingredients you rarely use! Now there's no need to do either.

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Peace, Love & Joy!

The Adoration of the Shepherds, c.1650, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain - Images 1 and 2 by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

Some people get upset if the historical accuracy of Jesus' birth is questioned, but when the Gospels were written, the people they were written for had a different sensibility and way of reading texts than we do today. Gospel writers crafted their stories to make points about who they thought Jesus was [to paraphrase Matt Baker, Ph.D. in theology]. Modern scholars tell us that fact-for-fact-accuracy or historical record was secondary, which was accepted by the audience, who didn't expect factual reliability. This can rattle some contemporary believers who do.

Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618 - 1682) was a Baroque Spanish painter. Orphaned at 11 years old, the artist became a ward of his older sister and brother-in-law, in a close-net family, and lived with them until he married in 1647. The painter, famous for his religious work, also painted everyday life giving us an insight into the 17th century. He was the father of 10 children. 

The Holy Family, c.1660-70, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Murillo created warm images of Mary and Joseph playing with their happy baby, the man Catholics proclaim as fully human and fully Devine (a hypostatic union in the incarnation). The painter left us with depictions of the Holy Family as a close-net loving unit. St. Joseph is an appealing devoted father.😍

Here's a Victorian drawing of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and 5 of their 9 children surrounding their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle where the royal family celebrated Christmas. Prince Albert was also known to be a loving, involved father, adored by his children. The Prince Consort popularized Christmas trees in Great Britain, a tradition he brought from his native Germany. Unlike Prince Albert, Queen Victoria was not a natural parent, but she was a mother who loved her children and they loved her. She put a ton of time into raising them, and they grew into 9 decent adults. Let's look at one of the royal couple's homes ...

The 2022 Christmas trees are up at Osborne on the Isle of Wight which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought as a private home in 1845 to get away with their brood from court life. Queen Victoria used Osborne House for 50 years to entertain family, foreign royals (many were also family), as well as, government ministers. After Prince Albert's early death in 1861, it became her favorite home. Her son, King Edward VII, wasn't as fond of it (as it was far from London) and after his mother's death, donated the Osborne estate to the British people. It is open to the public for tours, giving us a glimpse into the private lives of Queen Victoria and her family.

Another longtime Christmas tradition is (of course!) baking cookies. My family bakes the same cookies every year and I posted some of the recipes previously. Pictured above you see (in order): Pecan cookies👇, Russian Tea Cakes, Coconut Macrarooms, and Scottish Short Bread. Other varieties of cookies are scattered throughout THE SAVVY SHOPPER. My mother always requests that I make Mini Pecan Tassies and she always makes butter cookies at Christmas and Easter. Golly, decorating cookies after pulling them from the oven is not my thing! Starting over is a hassle!! Eating is my next step (which now you know is the reason I bake Scottish Short Bread instead of butter/sugar cookies.:) 

(Here is our recipe for) Pecan Cookies 🐫

Ingredients:

20 ounces ground pecans
4 large egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (you decide how sweet)
a sprinkle of cinnamon

Optional: A little flour for your hands to help form the cookies.

Directions:

1) Using a fork mix the ingredients in a bowl.

2) Dip your hands in all-purpose flour to help form the cookies and drop in a parchment paper lined, or greased cookie sheet. If your cookie dough is too wet to handle, just add additional ground nuts (a tad more sugar for the addition) until you can handle the cookie dough.

3) Bake for 10 - 12 minutes in a preheated 350-degree F oven and remove to cool.

We always make pecan cookies and coconut macaroons at the same time since the former requires egg yolks while the latter, egg whites.

Photo: Macy's

My Dear Readers ... thank you for spending another year with me, and I welcome you who joined us recently. Here we're one global human family sharing our collective knowledge, humor, interests, tips, and holidays with acceptance of all cultures. I can't do it alone, so bring your uniqueness! Everybody is valued on THE SAVVY SHOPPER, and I love hearing from you!🌍🌎🌏 

May the Spirit of Christmas find you!🎄

xoxo💋

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Chicken Noodle Soup

Photo: iStock

Chicken noodle soup is sometimes called the ultimate comfort food. At home, it's usually made with leftover chicken, but making it fresh from scratch gives it an even better flavor. The following takes all of 30 minutes and you can use chicken breast or ground chicken, both are super tasty, and one of them will be on sale at the supermarket. Here's a super easy recipe:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Choose one - Both are delicious: {a} 1 lb of white chicken breast; or {b} 1 lb of ground chicken

1 onion, chopped

4 celery stalks and leaves, chopped

2 - 3 large carrots, scraped and sliced

8 cups of water

2 large cubes of chicken bouillon (or 4 small cubes)

1 teaspoon of dried garlic (or 4 - 5 fresh garlic cloves, minced)

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon coriander

a shake of parsley

1 bay leaf 
5 ounces dried noodles - chooose one: flat egg; shells; or curly

Optional: Toss in 1/2 cup of frozen peas at the last minute of cooking.

Directions:

1) {a} If using chicken breast, pouch them in white wine and (if needed water) for 10 - 12 minutes and after they are cooked, dice into cubes.

{b} If using ground chicken, brown it in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss the chicken of choice in a stock pot or large saucepan.

2) Add the water and chicken bouillon.

3) Toss in the sliced and diced vegetables: onions, celery, and carrots.

4) Next add all the spices. If you use ground chicken, toss the garlic in as you brown it - searing gives the garlic extra flavor, but if you pouch chicken breast, just toss the garlic in the stock pot along with the cubed cooked chicken breast.

5) Once the vegetables are in the pot, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

6) Finally add the dried noodles and simmer until they are al dente.

7) Toss in 1/2 cup of frozen peas at the last minute if you wish. The green looks lovely.

Chicken noodle soup is a later edition in my cooking repertoire, but after I ate canned soup of mostly broth without chunks of anything, I decided to stop buying canned chicken noodle soup and make my own. 

This chunky chicken noodle with vegetable soup is a light one-pot dinner. Start with cheese and crackers, and add grainy bread and a salad. Heck, make Emeril's Bloody Marys (recipe👇) to drink, or sip a glass of wine while preparing the soup. Enjoy!

 

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Black-eyed Pea Soup

Emeril's Virgin Or Bloody Mary

Secret Recipes From Popular Restaurants

ATK's Cast Iron Beer-Batter Cheese Bread

Recipe and all photos - ATK - video linked also.

As you know, my lovely readers, the recipes I want to make again end up here on the blog so I can return to find them also. This one from America's Test Kitchen is a keeper because it is a very cheesy quick bread, therefore fresh oven-baked bread without the time of waiting for the dough to rise. The beer, yeast-in-the-beer, and cheese give this bread plenty of rich flavor. Since I always stock extra sharp cheddar, it's what I will use most of the times I make it, but you can use any robust or sharp cheese to make the bread.

Cast Iron Beer-Batter Cheese Bread 

(from America's Test Kitchen here)

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

½ cup minced fresh chives 

2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cups Gruyère cheese, shredded (You can substitute extra sharp cheddar or any robust cheese if you wish.)
1 ¼ cups mild lager, such as Budweiser
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1) Whisk together flour, chives, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.

2) Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese until coated with flour. 

3) Stir beer and melted butter into the flour mixture and just combined. Do not over-stir. Expect the batter to be thick and heavy.

4) Scrape batter into a well-greased 10 1/2 inch cast iron skillet. Smooth the top and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

5) Bake in a 450-degree F oven for 20 - 25 minutes, rotating the

pan halfway through the baking.

6) Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Cast iron stays super hot for a long time, so handle carefully when (after 10 minutes) removing the bread from the skillet to cool for another 20 minutes.

Something to bake over the weekend to go with soup, chili, or stew! Or perhaps wine and a cheese platter. Bon Appetit!

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Tasting Mead Is On My Bucket List

Photo: Lifehack

Although I enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner, I don't drink more than a glass or 2 about every 4 - 12 weeks as I'd rather spend my calories eating than drinking. Unfortunately, you can't do both if you hope to maintain a healthy weight after a certain age. That said, I have never tasted mead and would like to!

The following newspaper article is so well written and since I know absolutely nothing about mead other than some vague notion that it was the drink of Vikings and medievals, I'm simply going to directly quote and link the article below ...

According to Rob Adams, a meadmaker interviewed in the Charlotte Observer, mead is " 'an alcoholic beverage made with honey and water, then fermented with yeast. It can range from sweet to dry. It can also be traditional (just honey, water, and yeast), or it can include fruit, vegetables, spices, herbs, or malted grains — like beer.' "

Photo: Lifehack

Continuing with the article: " 'To make mead, you blend honey and water to form a ‘must,’ which is what the watered down honey liquid is called before fermentation,'” according to Adams. He explains that " 'the term must is also used in wine and cider making.'

'Once you have prepared the must, yeast is added to convert the sugar from the honey into alcohol,' Adams went on ... 'Since honey is almost 100 percent sugar, you need to add nutrients during the fermentation so the yeasts are happy and healthy — and so they don’t contribute unwanted flavors.' "

Adams says," 'You can add fruit, spices, etc. at any point during the fermentation, depending on what flavor or aroma you intend to impart.' "

Age is the element that sets mead apart from cider and wine. 

Another meadmaker, Kevin Martin, explains that " 'Mead is likely the very first fermented beverage on earth ... which makes sense ... because honey as a sugar source was available before other processed sugars and sweetening methods.' "

The ingredients in a Basic Mead Recipe are the following:

10 pounds honey

4 gallons water

2 teaspoons yeast energizer

2 teaspoons yeast nutrient

2 packets of lalvin k1-v1116 yeast (wine yeast)

The website Lifehack has 10 Best Mead Recipes which look amazing!🍹 

So after reading my blog today, maybe I won't have to drink alone. Wouldn't you, too, like to have a refreshing glass of mead? Skàl! Have you ever tasted it? 

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