The Leaf in a Page

 If I could hire a Town Crier to announce these squares to the world, I would. If you cannot afford to do that or there is no Town Crier in your community, feed some to the Mayor of your town. The word will get out! These are delicious and will be the hit of any gathering. We need say no more, except I want to say one more thing about these squares. I saw a similar square on Pinterest made with a packaged oatmeal mix.  I made these with the same recipe I use for date squares but changed the filling. So easy!  This recipe makes two 9x9?  pans. They are just yum! Make the jam part first.  3 cups hulled strawberries 3 cups chopped rhubarb 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch stirred in 1/4 cup cold water 1/4 cup fresh squeezed (seeded) lemon juice. Mix all in a pot on medium heat and cook until you have a moderately think filling. You will need to use something like a potato masher or pastry cutter to mush up your fruit once it softens. You ca...

  I love dates squares. They've always been my go-to-date recipe. In fact I've used the same oat base recipe for other delicious creations like my strawberry/rhubarb cheesecake squares,  a perfect summer treat that everyone enjoys. But classic date squares?  These timeless delights are loved no matter the season.  This recipe comes straight from The Great Bake Take and Go Baking Book   and is a combination of four different recipes. The goal? Keep the flavor rich and use the best bits from them all while keeping the calories under control. Date Square Recipe Oat Base & Topping Ingredients All-purpose flour – 245 g (1¾ cups) Cinnamon – 3 g (½ tsp) Rolled oats – 180 g (2 cups) Brown sugar – 200 g (1 cup) Butter (cold, cubed) – 170 g (¾ cup) Baking soda – 2 g (½ tsp) Salt – 3 g (½ tsp) Date Filling Ingredients Pitted dates – 600 g (4 cups) Water – 375 g (1½ cups) (may nee...

Classic Nanaimo Bars I always thought these delicious bars were difficult to make. Anything with three layers had to be, not only difficult, but time consuming. Guess what? Not so! All you really need to know, is how to warm something up, mix ingredients together, and spread the ingredients into a pan. Voila!  You don't even have to turn your oven on. The best way to quickly make these squares, or any square for that matter, is to measure all your ingredients before you start. Then you simply follow the instructions and before you know it, you have Nanaimo Bars. Bottom Layer Unsalted butter                                                          ½ cup        ...

Sometimes people just want a recipe and are bored with a back story because they need the recipe.  I prefer that too! Here is the lemon squares recipe and if you want to read why it is sharable then you must read the short story below.  Base All purpose Flour                      2 cups Salted Butter                            1 cup If you use unsalted butter add 1/3 tsp salt Granulated sugar                     ½ cup. Bring together into a crumble and press into a 9x13 baking pan. Bake 350F until sides are golden. About 15 minutes. Lemon Curd Eggs( large)               ...

  Holy Jalapeno Cheese Bread This is such a soft tasty loaf of bread. It could be made as a cheese bread if jalapenos are not your thing. I come from a family of 10. Mom struggled every day trying to find ways to feed us and the only spices we had in the house were turkey dressing spices, cinammon, nutmeg and cloves. Of course we had salt and pepper seasoning which made all the meat, potatoes, macaroni or kraft dinner tasty. As an adult living in the Halifax/Dartmouth area I finally tried jalapeno peppers on a plate of nachos at the restaurant called "The Thirsty Duck" (no longer in existence). It was my nursing class, after exam, celebration spot to go. It took several tries before acquiring a taste for the peppers. Once you do enjoy the taste of jalapenos this loaf of bread will give you just another chance to enjoy and celebrate any ol' accomplishment you choose. I wish there was another photo to share but be assured you will not be disappointed. Makes 3 loaves Bre...

  Winston Knot Challah baking in the oven.   Challah is a Jewish Celebration Bread and has much significance to the culture. It is often braided with three strands standing for truth peace and justice. Twelve humps on a braid stand for the miracle of 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel. If you shape your braid into a circle it means no beginning and no end. Each style are used in different celebrrations. The cultural meaning of so many breads gives us much to learn. Wait until I do the white bread post! For a spiritual meaning of the ingredients I found one from a web site: https://www.ohelsara.com/women-and-the-home/hafrashat-challah/the-symbolism-of-challah/ which reviews the ingredient and the significance of each. It is interesting, but the main point of bread for most is that we share it, it tastes great and it fills us. Challah has loads of protein because of the milk and eggs, which makes it especially perfect for sharing and filling you up. It makes a beautiful f...

    This recipe came from one of those cookbooks that go for sale to raise funds that mom had. The cover is no longer on the book but it did contain most of this recipe. Finding a great banana bread recipe is like finding a shiny coin while out walking.When it turns out perfectly an instant grin spontaniously forms on your face and you have no control over your glee. This one is the shiny coin. For this recipe you can add walnuts, chocolate chips or leave plain. Make muffins or banana bread. If you choose to make muffins you increase the temperature and bake for less time. If you are making the banana bread the temp is 350F for 40 -50 minutes. Most of the quick bread recipes can be either in loaf or muffin form. For these muffins I had a bucket full of mini chocolate chips and really want to use them up. They work perfectly here but there is a saying, "go big or go home". Which means regular size chocolate chips will do just fine. I am a walnut fan and would not hesitate to p...

  Before making muffins it is good to know you can make the batter a day or two ahead of time and leave it covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake them. This is so great when you have company coming for a few days. You can wow them by serving home made muffins and not even look like you worked hard preparing them.  Preheat your oven, put the coffee on, drop the batter in the muffin tray, press the timer on your microwave as you put your muffins in the oven and by the time the first cup of coffee is ready the muffins are almost out of the oven.   Basic Muffin Batter   Creaming method   Unsalted Butter                                                ½ cup/125g      Sugar       ...