Bird Seed

This is probably the strangest recipe I have posted on this blog.  When my extended family on my mother's side goes hiking or on a picnic, someone usually brings bird seed.  I believe it is my Aunt's invention.

We often go on a picnic the Saturday before  Easter, so I associate bird seed with Easter.

Caramel Popcorn and Chocolate

I seemed to have misplaced my camera.  I'm a little disconcerted about it actually.  I took it home with me over the holidays and may have left it.

I took these picture with my phone.  I took pictures of the process, but those are still in my camera.  This with be shorter  blog post because of my missing camera.  That may be a good thing.  I'm not sure pictures of the process are needed or wanted.

Chocolate Coffee Cake

I got my haircut today.  I usually go to really cheap places like Hair Cuttery.  I'm not picky, and I don't like spending loads of money every few months to get my haircut.

I have needed my hair cut for a while, but I have been busy.  I'm leaving for a work trip tomorrow, and I wanted to get a haircut before leaving.  I was lazy today and decided to just go to a nearby salon.  With tip, I ended up spending $80.  It is a nice cut, but it's not that nice.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Granola

When I was in college, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch almost everyday.  I was a peanut butter and jelly connoisseur.  

I had perfected the peanut butter to jelly ratio.  I preferred smoothy peanut butter and jam with pieces of soft, macerated fruit.  

Mango and Banana Smoothie

According to Wikipedia, the smoothie was created in the United States after the invention of the blender.  In the west cost of the US during the 1930s, Brazilian fruit drinks were popular at health food stores.

Mabel Stegner first used the term smoothie in a June 23, 1940 article published in the New York Herald Tribune.  The Waring Corporation, who sold electric blenders, distributed a booklet in the 1940s with 12 smoothie recipes.  

My Aunt 's Five Bean Dip

When my extended family on my mother's side gets together, there are a few dishes that are traditional.  One dish is a trail mix that we call bird seed.  The other dish is my aunt's bean dip.  

It may not look like much, but it is probably my favorite dip.  At family events, I eat dish after dish of it.  She serves it with corn chips.

Honey Candy

I started a new schedule at work.  I work nine hours a day and have every other Friday off.  On the Fridays I work, I get to leave an hour early.  Today was my early day.  It felt like such a treat.

It should not have felt like a treat because I worked eight hours.  That is a full day of work in my book. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to next Friday.  

Raspberry, Coconut, and Nut Granola

There is a bakery in DC called Baked and Wired.  I have been there a couple of times to by a cookie or brownie, but my roommate recently told me they sell granola labeled as hippie crack.  It's such a funny name that the next time I go I'll probably by an overpriced but delicious bag.

This is my second granola recipe I have posted on this blog.  The first, a walnut and cherry granola, was almost a year ago.  Time flies  when your blogging about food.

Granola is a contemporary invention of Muesli.  According to Wikipedia, the difference is that Muesli is not baked dry or sweetened.  I like brown,  crunchy, and sweet things, so I'm a fan of granola.  It was invented in a health spa in New York state in 1863.  It initially looked like large Grape-Nuts.  

Hummus

In Arabic, Hummus means chickpea. Unsurprisingly, the main components of hummus are mashed chickpeas and tahini.

A town in Lebanon set a world record for the largest dish of hummus ever made in 2010. They made roughly 23,000 pounds of hummus. When I read this on Wikipedia, I thought, “Why is this a record we are preserving for future generations?”   

This is a pretty basic hummus recipe. I made a couple of alterations to a recipe from allrecipes by adding cumin and paprika.

Pomegranate, Avocado, and Tomato Dip

I just returned from visiting my family in Utah.  I enjoyed good company and good weather.  It was very relaxing.  Today was my first day back at work, and I felt very refreshed.  While at home, I made a few dishes with family members.  This is a very popular dip in my family.  We often eat it at family gatherings.  It came from my Aunt Beth; I am unsure where she learned the recipe.  The dip is eaten with crackers.

The ingredients for the original recipe are 1 small purple onion, 1 pomegranate, 1 to 2 avocados, 1 Roma tomato, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon chile powder, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.  We doubled the recipe and added more tomatoes.

We began by removing the seeds from the pomegranate.  The pomegranate originate in Persia, what we  now call Iran.  Pomegranates are mentioned in the Quran and the book of Exodus.  Grenadine is thickened pomegranate juice.

Autumnal Trail Mix

I am visiting my family in Utah this week.  It has been fun and relaxing.  Getting here was a bit of a trial though.  My plane left four hours late, and I missed my second flight.  I ended up spending the night in Denver.  I had unexpectedly checked in my baggage and had packed my pajamas and toothbrush in my checked baggage.  This experience has taught be that direct flights are sometimes worth the extra cost.

The week before coming home, I ate way too much of this trail mix.  In fact, one day I ate it for breakfast and lunch.  It isn't particularly autumnal, but I didn't know what else to call it.  There are several ingredients, and I didn't know which ingredients to highlight in the name.  I thought about calling it "Good Trail Mix," but what if I posted another trail mix to my blog? Would I have to call it "Second Best Trail Mix?  The name might not be appropriate, but it was still tasty.

Gebrannte Mandeln – Candied Almonds

Another kind friend, let’s call him Jesse, allowed me to feature him and one of his favorite recipes on my blog. He even let me use his fancy camera. A couple of years ago he spent December in Erlangen, Germany doing research. Erlangen is located in Bavaria and has about 24,000 students attending the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Before arriving in Erlangen, he was a little downhearted about missing the Christmas holiday in America. He didn’t know that since the late Middle Ages many German towns have a Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas market, during the holidays. The sell food and Christmas ornaments, among other things. He told me that Germans know how to do Christmas.

He said that at the markets the air is crisp, there is snow on the ground, and the sweet smell of Gebrannte Mandeln, or candied almond, wafts through the air. It sounds pretty picturesque. The candied almond vendors have what he described as a mini cement mixer they use to evenly heat and coat the almonds with sugar.

He spoke with one vendor and asked how to make them, and he has been making them regularly since that time. Jesse makes them for the holidays, especially Christmas, and as a snack during road trips. He said the vendors in Germany sell candied almonds in rolled paper cones, which would make an excellent Christmas gift. The ingredient quantities came from an online recipe.