Visions of Pomegranates

Hello there, dear friends. I have a head cold, and I keep sneezing and blowing my nose. I hope it goes away soon. I went into work tonight and I think it was a mistake - I feel worse now, plus I was really cranky to the senior citizen bus groups.* I took some cold medication and now I'm way out of it. I think that stuff makes me feel even worse.

One of my remedies at the moment is sticking a kleenex up my nose and leaving it there to stop the running and itchiness. This is one of my great, embarrassing secrets that many people don't know about. I've been doing this since I was a kid. I only do it in the privacy of my bedroom nowadays. It really works! And it looks like you have a mustache made out of kleenex.

My other remedy is drinking POM pomegranate juice. I went out and bought a bottle today, because I know how good it is for me. I think I'm starting to feel better already! I know I keep talking about POM, but I really, really like and believe in their products.



November is National Pomegranate Month, because November is the height of the fresh pomegranate season; you can now find POM Wonderfuls in your grocery stores. To celebrate, POM has offered to give away three Sugar Plum readers each a case of pomegranate juice! Isn't that so nice?! Thank you, POM.

To win the juice, you have to play a little mad lib game with me today. In the comment section, leave suggestions for the following, in this order:

1. adjective
2. celebrity name
3. adjective and noun
4. emotion
5. the first thing you see when you look around you
6. your favorite thing
7. food item
8. favorite food dish
9. guilty pleasure
10. the last place you visited

Anyone can enter; you don't have to have a blog - just be sure to leave your name and a way to contact you. Also, you can only comment once. The giveaway starts today and ends on Thursday, November 12th at 11:59 PM (CST).

I will post the story I wrote on Friday's blog, and you can fill in the blanks with your answers, and I'll also post the three winners and their answers. I'll pick the winners using a random number generator. Good luck!



Does that make sense? I hope so. Anyway, let's get to today's recipe: Chocolate Pomegranate Bliss Bars, in honor of National Pomegranate Month.
These are kind of like dessert energy bars. Ground pomegranate seeds, oats, cranberries, figs, almonds, pistachios and honey are combined together and pressed into a pan to form bars, then slathered in almond butter and covered in dark chocolate.


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Chocolate Pomegranate Bliss Bars (Recipe by Me)

1 cup pomegranate seeds
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried figs
1/2 cup ground toasted almonds
1/2 cup ground toasted pistachios
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup skim or soy milk
6 ounces chopped dark chocolate
2 tablespoons almond butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9-inch pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

Pulse pomegranate seeds, oats, cranberries and figs, in a food processor until very finely chopped; add to medium mixing bowl. Stir in almonds, pistachios, honey, vanilla and salt until well combined. Press mixture into pan. Bake bars for 20 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

Bring milk to a simmer, in a small saucepan, over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and stir in chocolate until melted and smooth. Spread almond butter over bars; cover with chocolate and evenly spread. Freeze until set, before lifting out foil and slicing into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 16 bars

*This woman seriously took ten minutes to order.
"Ma'am?... For you, ma'am?... Are you ready to order?... Can I get your order?... What will it be?... WHAT DO YOU WANT?! My eyes are starting to bulge, my face is bright red) Chicken livers? Okay then."
Five minutes later I drop off the food. Woman: "Are these livers? I didn't order chicken livers." Me: "Yes, YES YOU DID." Woman: "No I didn't." Other bus group members sitting at her table: "Yes you did." Me: "Can I get you something else?" Woman: "No, I'll just eat my side dishes. Take these livers away from me."

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Caramel Apple Bars

So I signed up for this thing called "Twitter" the other day. I guess it's like, some sort of social networking site where you update what you're doing and talk to people. Something like that. :0



I had a Twitter account a few months ago, but I deleted it because I didn't use it, and then one day I wanted to get it back, and they wouldn't let me! So that Twitter account is gone forever. I hope I don't do the same thing with this one. I'm very wishy-washy when it comes to Twitter. Some days I like it, some days I don't. And I usually forget to update it and talk to people and stuff. But the other day I had a lovely conversation with my friend, Sue, about pear crisp, and that was nice. She's having a cookbook giveaway, by the way.

Where was I going with this? Well, I'm not sure. I guess I just wanted to tell you I have Twitter now. So we can like, talk and stuff. I even have it on my phone. Oooh. I'm so technologically savvy.



Other topics for today, November 6, 2009, include:
-I bought a new $9 Hamilton Beach hand mixer from Walmart. My other hand mixer was gradually falling apart every time I used it. Beater by beater. Switch by switch.
-Did you watch the Top Chef reunion dinner the other night? Zzzzzzz.
-I worked out on the treadmill today for the first time in years. While watching Paula Deen make sausage balls.
-I made caramel apple bars using leftover caramels from my pie.

These are spicy-cakey bars with applesauce and grated apple in them, topped with caramel frosting and toasted pecans. Glorious!

Caramel Apple Bars (Recipe by Me)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated apple, drained
1/2 cup applesauce

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
16 caramels, unwrapped
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 13x9-inch baking dish.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together 1/2 cup butter and brown sugar until creamy - about 1 minute; beat in egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, apple and applesauce until well combined - about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until combined.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the caramel glaze, melt 6 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook for 3-4 minutes or until butter foams and turns golden brown. Reduce heat to low and stir in caramels and milk until melted; whisk in confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt until combined. Pour and spread glaze over the top of apple bars; evenly sprinkle with pecans. Cool completely before slicing.

Makes 20 bars

Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie

Why do people eat cheese with their apple pie? I have never understood that. My family has never done such a thing. But I've had friends who think cheddar cheese is a requirement for apple pie.



I did some research on the subject, and the only information I could find was, people eat cheese with apple pie at the end of a meal because it helps with digestion. Ehh I don't know about that.
I think I'd rather have ice cream with my apple pie.

I definitely use apples and cheese together for savory cooking but never in a dessert. Maybe I should? Next time I make apple pie I'm going to pair it with Cheetos.... or cheese popcorn. Or Cheez-Its.

Yes. Cheez-Its. Everyone love Cheez-Its - especially my two year old nephew, Jayden.



I think he could be the Cheez-Its spokesperson. Whenever he's over visiting, he finds the box of Cheez-Its immediately, brings it to me, and shoves my hand in the box to feed him some. That's actually the only thing I've ever seen him eat.
They're his source of power. :)

He was Yoda for Halloween. My mom made him the costume! She's super crafty like that.



So I made this pie, and it was really good. The double crust pastry was perfect, the amount of spice was perfect, the caramel was perfect. The apples were almost perfect. I used only granny smith, but I think I should have used a combination of apples. I was just trying to keep it simple, you know?

I broiled the apples before I put them in the pie, to pre-cook and give them a bit of caramelization. Apple pie is one you can never master, but this one is pretty close.

Deep-Dish Caramel Apple Pie (Recipe by Me)

Double Crust Pie Dough
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
10-12 tablespoons ice water

5 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
30 caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

To make the crust, in a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Work the butter in, using a pastry blender or your fingers, until pea-sized lumps form. Sprinkle in the water, 1 tbsp. at a time, stirring gently with a fork after each addition and adding only enough of the water to form a rough mass.

Using floured hands, pat the dough into two smooth, flattened discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before rolling out.

Preheat oven broiler. Place apples on a large sheet pan. Broil 5-6 minutes, stirring once, until apples start turning golden brown; remove apples from oven and place in a large mixing bowl.

Melt the caramels and milk together in the microwave and stir well; stir in vanilla, cinnamon and ginger until combined. Stir caramel mixture into apples until combined.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll one dough disc out thinly on a floured surface, using a rolling pin, and fit into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate, and place on a cookie sheet; fill pie shell with caramel apples. Roll out additional dough disc and top apples; trim and flute edges. Slice some cuts in the center of pie. Brush a little milk whisked together with an egg evenly over pie dough and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake an additional 40 minutes (covering with foil in the last fifteen minutes) or until deep golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve with caramel sauce, toasted pecans, and vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 servings

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Candy Compost Bars

Happy November 2nd! It's November! Can you believe that? That's crazy to me. I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween weekend. Did you eat lots of candy? I kinda like peanut M&M's - they're almost healthy for you. I think I'm going to go out today and stock up for treat-making. However, I will not be stocking up on Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses. What a shady, shady candy that is.
They're always slightly unwrapped when you get one, which draws suspicions that there is a razor blade or needle strategically placed inside, just to off you.

So Eric and I went to a party this weekened. We needed costumes and I wasn't feeling creative, so I asked him what we should be. He only had one idea, but once he said it, I knew that was it. I went over to his apartment, before the party, to assist in the transformation.


This is before. He grew his facial hair out specifically for this costume.


Umm, don't ask. Actually, I should probably explain. He has a pillow taped under his stomach. He is wearing a mask out of a t-shirt to prevent inhaling hairspray/hair dye fumes.


This is me looking frustrated as I fix his hair.

Okay! Are you ready for the big reveal??

It's Ultimate Recipe Showdown's Guy Fieri and me!


Let's compare:



Yeah! These costumes are off the hook!


Yo. Fo' shizzle my nizzle.


Oh, that's money.

Guess what? Halloween is also our one year anniversary! We started dating at the same party last year. :) But we actually worked together years before, at the restaurant where I still work at. Remember this blog post from November 3rd of last year? I wasn't feeling that way about foccacia.

Guy needs some lovin'!

I'm very grateful to have him as a boyfriend. He is always there for me when I need him, and I know he'd do anything for me. I love his personality, his humor, his interests, his values, his family... he's pretty perfect! Not to mention he's smoking hawt. Especially in his Guy Fieri/Sammy Hagar costume.

A year is the longest amount of time either of us have been in a relationship (that doesn't make us sound very good), so we need to thank our sponsors. We couldn't have done it without:

-Spearmint Stride. The gum of our relationship.
-Taco Bell. For those three AM gordita runs.
-Target. For Eric's wardrobe.
Steak 'n Shake. The first establishment we ate at together.
Walmart. For our weekly shopping trips together. Milk? Check. French bread pizzas? Check. Mini waffles? Check.
Seinfeld. The television show of our relationship.

I could go on and on, but I better stop. Let's get to the Candy Compost Bars.
What to do with leftover Halloween candy? Make these!

I thought and thought about what I wanted to make; cookies and brownies seemed boring, cakes and pies didn't seem fitting. I finally decided to make a bar.



The first layer is chocolate cookie with oats, chopped peanuts, and chopped candy bar mixed in. I used Snickers, but you could use whatever candy bar you still have left. The next layer is a peanut butter popcorn layer, which I stirred chopped Twix in, but once again - you could use whatever your heart desires. Chocolate is drizzled over the top, and M&M's are pressed into the surface.

Oh my goodness. These are so delicious! Get them out of this house! Give these a try, most definitely. You may even want to throw in some crushed potato chips or pretzels into one of the layers.

Candy Compost Bars (Recipe by Me)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus an additional 1/2 teaspoon
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips, melted, plus an additional 1/4 cup, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
1/2 cup finely chopped mini candy bars (such as Snickers)

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup peanut butter chips
4 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup finely chopped mini candy bars (such as Twix)
1/2 cup M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking dish and line with foil; butter foil.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt; whisk in oats until combined. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together 1/2 cup butter and sugar until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in 3/4 cup melted chocolate until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until combined; beat in peanuts and candy bar until combined. Dump the batter into the prepared dish and flatten evenly into one layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set and golden brown around edges.

To make the popcorn layer, melt the additional 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; stir in peanut butter, corn syrup, and additional 1/2 teaspoon salt, and bring mixture to a simmer. Remove pan from heat and stir in peanut butter chips until melted; stir in popcorn until well combined, followed by chopped candy bar. Spread and pack popcorn over chocolate cookie layer.

Pipe or drizzle remaining melted chocolate on top of bars, then sprinkle and press M&M's into the surface. Cool completely before slicing into bars.

Makes 18 bars

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