Rhubarb Maple Baked Oatmeal

As noted in the Plan-Ahead Salad post, there has been a lot of planning ahead for meals happening lately (except for those dinners that end up being cereal or spoonfuls of nutella... guilty as charged).  Mornings tend to be a rush for the door, leaving breakfast as a last thought.  I couldn't say no to the beautiful rhubarb at the farmers market last weekend, and thought it might perfectly suit a make-ahead breakfast.

This baked oatmeal comes together in a flash, and keeps all week for easy eat-and-go breakfasts.  The rhubarb blueberry layer on the bottom gets syrupy and soft, while the oat layer over top softens and crisps around the edges.  Adding sliced almonds gives the perfect crunch in each bite, and local strawberries top the oats off just right.  I have loved eating this in the morning all week, heated in the microwave and drizzled with a bit of maple syrup.  The only downside to this dish is having to turn on the oven on a hot day... but it more than pays off!

Rhubarb Maple Baked Oatmeal

Adapted from Edible Perspective

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb

1 cup frozen blueberries (feel free to use fresh!)

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp buckwheat flour (or any flour of your choosing)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cup oats

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sliced almonds

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  

2.  Mix together rhubarb, blueberries, 2 tbsp buckwheat flour, and brown sugar.  Layer this mixture in the bottom of a pie dish or 9x9 baking dish. 

3.  Combine the dry ingredients: remaining buckwheat flour, oats, 1/2 cup almonds, flax, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Once well combined, pour evenly over rhubarb mixture.

4.  Combine the wet ingredients: almond milk, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla.  Pour over the oat layer evenly, gently moving around (not quite mixing) the layers to ensure the liquid gets to the bottom. You don't want to mix the layers here!

5.  Top with remaining 2 tbsp of almonds and sliced strawberries.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes if serving immediately, or cool completely and refrigerate if using later.

6.  Relish in how amazing your mornings just became.

no words. just muffins.

Apple and Oat Muffins
Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life by Beatrice Peltre

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats, plus more for topping
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large apple, peeled and grated

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line muffin pan with 10 muffin liners.
2. Beat eggs with sugar until creamy and airy.  Add tahini, melted butter and mix.
3. Whisk together flours, oats, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add to batter, stir to mix just until combined.  Gently stir in apple.
4. Divide into muffin liners, top with a sprinkle of oats, and bake for about 25 minutes until golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

Best served warm with tea, friends, and a small smear of butter.

The Italian Bakery

P learned about the most amazing Italian bakery in Chicago.  D'Amato's Bakery near the west side of the city is an amazing find for gorgeous Italian breads, pastries, coffees, and pizza.  We have only tried a few of the pastries- all of which I can attest to being the perfect afternoon accompaniment to tea, or a great hostess gift for a dinner party.  I recently tried their espresso... holy moly.  I haven't had a pressed espresso that good in a while! Brewed from a beautiful classical copper espresso machine, it was bitter up front but clearly pronounced the natural sweetness found in espresso.

The real star of D'Amato's is the pizza.  It is beyond worth a trip to the west side of town to get a warm slice of focaccia pizza.  I love the pizza with olives and artichoke hearts the best- the toppings help to bring extra attention to the lovely tomato sauce and flavorful cheese.  And oh, the crust.  It is the most perfect focaccia.  Crisp on the bottom, but doughy and soft throughout.  Seriously, you have to try this stuff.  Here are some of my favorite recent photos of the joint.

You can find more information about this gem here.  Run! Go quick! I promise it's worth the trip :)

Late Night Baking

Last night I stayed up doing some last minute baking for a class related event.  I decided to make Thomas Keller's shortbread cookies, that I will doll up with some icing (blue polka dots!).  They turned out great- not too sweet, but oh so satisfying.  A step-by-step recipe will be posted soon!

Recipe: Homemade Granola

I love taking Sundays to prep some meal components to keep me stocked up throughout the week.  This weekend I made some fresh granola to make breakfasts quick and easy.  It turned out great- nutty, slightly sweet, crunchy, and satisfying.  It is simple to make, and endlessly variable.  Plus, it is gluten free (if you use gluten free oats), and can be made vegan if you substitute a different liquid sweetener.  Bonus!

SLR Granola
Makes 5 cups


Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup puffed rice

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 honey*

2 tbsp brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup dried cherries


Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine oats, puffed rice cereal, pumpkin seeds, and nuts in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt until well combined.  Pour liquids over oat mixture and toss well to coat thoroughly.  Spread mixture out onto a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring well every 10 minutes.

Remove granola from oven when golden brown and fragrant (it will not be crunchy yet, don't worry! It will crisp up when it cools!).  Add raisins and cherries, tossing to distribute.  Let cool thoroughly.

*Choose any liquid sweetener you prefer.  Maple syrup or agave would be great options!

Nutritionals
Approximate, Per 1/4 cup serving
140 calories, 6.1 grams fat, 0.8 grams saturated fat, 1.2 grams polyunsaturated fat, 4.8 grams monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 25.5 grams carbohydrate, 2.7 grams fiber, 7.3 grams sugar, 2.4 grams protein

What are your favorite granola mix-ins? What other make-ahead breakfasts do you love?

happy birthday, independent america.

The 4th of July flag cake was a hit! 

It worked!

 There's a flag inside!

 I feel proud.  It looks way more challenging than it is, though. All you do is make 4 8-inch cakes (1 blue, 1 white, and 2 red), flavor of your choice but make sure it's white to begin with.  Since you'll be spending time on the layering later, I recommend using a cake mix.  Cut a 4-inch circle out of the blue and set aside - you use the outer ring as the top left square of the flag.  The other 3 layers get sliced in half horizontally and layered - red, white, red.  Then cut out 4-inch circles out of one of the red remaining layers and one of the white.  Those get layered inside the blue ring.  Each layer should be sealed with a thin layer of frosting (mine was the joy of baking's cream cheese frosting).

I messed my cake up because I started with 2 white cakes and 1 red cake instead of the reverse, but no one noticed.  It's one of those pow moments where the pow is all that matters.  Flavor also doesn't matter that much, as long as it's white and moist and yummy (I recommend using an egg white-only batter/cake mix so that the yolks don't taint the white stripes darker).  Because I used a classic crowd-pleaser white cake mix, it was a hit with kids and my sweet tooth-graced grandmother.  It was like a birthday cake for America.

When you are done making your cake, you will have lots of cake pieces left over from being cut in half/cut out of.  Put your leftover cake to use by making cake balls and/or cake pops! 

Happy birthday, Independent America.  Love, S&L.

The Cake

Last week, we had a birthday party for our mom.

(Hi, Mom!)

It was great fun!  We took her out to the spa and shopping for the afternoon, then brought her home to a houseful of people for a surprise party!

(Sorry, Mom.)

Anyway, here's the cake we made for the party!  Well, amendment - it was actually 2 cakes.  1 for looks, 1 for servin.  But they ended up both being for looks, and both were served!  We deem it a success.

Cake: 3-layer classic yellow cake by Martha
Icing: White Chocolate Lemon Curd frosting (with raspberries for the filling)
Topping: Homemade candied meyer lemons