All posts in snacks

monday bites: soft pretzels.

by shannon on January 14, 2013 in appetizers, snacks with 19 Comments

soft pretzels.

Many of you know I’ve been hard at work sporadically at work repairing my relationship with yeast. It’s no one’s fault, really; yeast things and I have just never agreed on much. For instance, I think when I make bread, or bagels, whatever, which involve rising and punching and all that, that they should actually rise; yeast doesn’t feel the same. While I would argue that I’m a decent cook and deserve for my yeast rolls to turn out soft and fluffy, yeast would counter that it would rather see my rolls become oddly shaped and have a density akin to wet sheep. It’s a dysfunctional relationship, to be sure, but lately it seems we’ve had a breakthrough.

People, take note: in the past few months, I’ve made 3 successful yeast-based things, none of which resemble a wet sheep. Continue reading →

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vanilla almond granola.

by shannon on January 11, 2013 in breakfast, brunch, desserts, snacks with 19 Comments

vanilla almond granola.

I’ve been secretly making this granola for far too long not to tell you about it. It started a few months ago, when Faygie at Life Tastes Good posted it. I love her anyway, but I was hooked instantly: a plain vanilla granola? From someone who I know loves vanilla and treats it like a flavor and not just an ingredient? Yes, please. Growing up, vanilla ice cream is all I would eat. Seems weird now, considering I’d try almost any flavor you’d put in front of me, but I just didn’t see any need to venture out when vanilla ice cream was my jam. I didn’t like to muddy the waters. I wasn’t the kid who wanted chocolate chips, marshmallows, or chunks of bubble gum in it (gross; do they even still make that?); just hand over the plain vanilla and I was (and still am) happy. Continue reading →

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monday bites: cheddar + pecan crackers.

by shannon on November 26, 2012 in appetizers, snacks with 13 Comments

I gather from your comments and a little blog browsing that all of you had a delightful and delicious Thanksgiving, yes? I, for one, am thrilled we all enjoyed ourselves. Are you sick of leftovers yet, or are you still plowing through them? I officially hit the wall yesterday; right on schedule for me. If I had my way, I’d toss everything which qualifies as a Thanksgiving leftover (except the turkey, which I’m still adding into salads) into the garbage and call it quits. The problem with that? It would make more dishes. I can’t take it. I’m pretty sure we’ve washed every serving platter, utensil, and mixing bowl in this house ten times over by now, and it shows no signs of letting up. In fact, I’m not taking my mom to the airport until she finishes cleaning out the pie pans.  Continue reading →

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monday bites: turkey, bacon + avocado quesadillas.

by shannon on November 19, 2012 in appetizers, mains, snacks with 10 Comments

Mr. Table thinks he invented the Thanksgiving Leftover Bite. He did not. I don’t know where he saw the idea, but last year our house was filled with wonton-wrapper-encased leftovers. There were a staggering amount of combinations, people; the man isn’t normally creative with food, but within the safety net of familiar food favorites, he went wild. It was like watching Jackson Pollack paint. In fact, my kitchen resembled one of his paintings. An egg roll fever carried him to a place where anything was possible, and every exciting combination could be dipped in leftover gravy. I’ll admit it was a wee bit inspired to bake turkey leftovers into egg rolls. It was fun. It was amusing. But I need an alternative that isn’t so “I just made Thanksgiving into smaller portions and stuffed them into a thin dough pocket.”

Continue reading →

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Irish oaten rolls.

by shannon on November 17, 2012 in sides, snacks with 12 Comments

I couldn’t let the holiday go by without telling you about these rolls. Some of you know that I’m scared to attempt and subsequently fail at anything involving yeast, and I need to get over that. I’ve been working on some things which I think will help me conquer my fears, like:

  • Reading all of your comments re: my yeast ‘fraidy-cattedness over and over, because you all have been so encouraging and it makes me feel good inside
  • Gathering up recipes some of you have suggested from your blogs/grandmothers which are allegedly easy to make and may help with my confidence
  • Singing enthusiastic pop songs related to conquering one’s fears, only subbing in bread-centric, dough-related words
  • Avoiding anything that involves yeast entirely until I can really wrap my head around it. Which isn’t, as it seems, going to be this week. Maybe next. Continue reading →
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roasted grapes (another cheese plate possibility).

by shannon on November 16, 2012 in appetizers, snacks with 19 Comments

Something about roasting fruit always strikes me as vaguely exotic. Roasting vegetables seems more practical; most vegetables require a little roasting (or cooking of some sort) to become what they should be. Most fruit, however, doesn’t require any sort of heat to be delicious. We happily devour fruit left and right without a care in the world. Fruit is no big deal; it’s there, it’s ready, why bother messing with it?

But then, the weather turns. We start thinking about our ovens more. Pies seem like an excellent idea. Oven temperatures magically increase as we begin to bake and roast and cook everything we can get our hands on. Fruit misses out on this party most of the time; shoved in a pie? Sure. Baked into muffins? Yes, please. But roasted all by itself? Really? Continue reading →

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spiced pear compote (a sweet addition to a cheese plate).

by shannon on November 15, 2012 in appetizers, snacks with 20 Comments

So I have a few little fruit-themed posts to do; ones you can kick around in case you need a little something extra for your Thanksgiving feast next week. Fruit doesn’t get much of a chance to shine during the holiday; sure, there’s cranberries, and maybe an apple pie, but always a side note, never a feature. And understandably so; there’s not the summer abundance of fruit right now. Even though there’s less of a choice right now, the ones which are available should be at your table. Or, at the very least, be invited over to hang out beforehand. Continue reading →

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monday bites: parmesan + sage crackers.

by shannon on November 5, 2012 in appetizers, snacks with 26 Comments

It’s the inaugural Monday Bites post! Farmers’ Market Mondays will return when the farmers’ markets do (in the spring), so until then, I plan to keep your eyes and mouths busy (on Mondays, at least) with finger foods, appetizers, and small plates – and who couldn’t use more of those during the winter months, right? Right.

Too often, we think if we see a boxed something – frozen dinner, cake mix, macaroni and cheese – we automatically assume that the ‘from-scratch’ counterpart to said boxed thing must be very difficult to make. After all, why would someone go to all the trouble to create an instant version of something if it were easy to begin with? Is from-scratch really that much better than something pre-made? In some cases, no; pre-made can be very useful, and taste great, depending on the product. Was I going to make red velvet cookies from scratch for those cookie pops the other day? Nope, and that’s  an excellent example of how smart use of boxed things can produce great, time-saving results. But there’s something about making things from scratch that can really change how you think about what you eat. Like these crackers I made you this week. Why would anyone want to make crackers from scratch? Because they’re incredible. Also; they’re easy. Continue reading →

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seven-layer bar crunch.

by shannon on October 18, 2012 in snacks with 26 Comments

It’s true; I enjoy turning things into other things. This compulsion is why I made the cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookie into an ice cream. Or a favorite fall salad into a pizza. In my hands, beloved snickerdoodle cookies transform into ice cream vessels. Other times, I shove classic chocolate chip cookies into a muffin tin. Whatever. But it’s about time I take on something much more serious: turning the mythical seven-layer bar into a snack mix.

Fair warning: many of the photos in the links above, as well as some of these original seven-layer bars, are gross. I was just learning about light and food photography back then, and it basically looks like I took my pictures in a cave during a massive thunderstorm. Forgive my early blog photo attempts; the food is good, but the pictures don’t, in all cases, do it justice. Continue reading →

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sweet + salty rosemary party nuts.

by shannon on October 11, 2012 in snacks with 30 Comments

Quickie post! I wanted to share this little snack with you, because I make it all the time, and it gets us through what seems to be a pretty nibble-filled time of year. If Everyone seems to be in various stages of party-planning, from Halloween to Christmas; according to Pinterest, you winter holiday pinners are way ahead of the game this year. Slow down! You must to pace yourselves; there’s like, at least 2 major holidays before the Big Event in December, and I can’t think about strawberry santa-hat brownies and DIY sheet music christmas trees until I get through October. Cool out.

I know you’ve seen the santa hat brownies before if you are on Pinterest; has anyone thought those through? I have, and buying fresh strawberries around here that don’t taste like my sofa during December would cost me about $30 a pound. But they’re so cute it almost makes it worth it.

Continue reading →

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