Simsek Strikes

MamaBars: An Easy Version of a Pricey Snack

While shopping at the Portland Whole Foods Market, Paulo saw, and purchased, some delicious Larabar snack bars for me.  They had only three ingredients, were absolutely fabulous, and were crazy expensive.  That New England thing in my head kicked in and started saying "I bet you could make those yourself...three ingredients!  I can't be so hard.  I bet you could do it..."

So, prompted by the memory of that taste (and that annoying voice in my head), I put dates, cashews, and pistachios on the grocery list.  Today was Experiment  One, and I have to say it was such a success I am now going to share it with you.  Here goes:

You need:

One LARGE bag of dates
Pistachios
Cashews
a food processor
A mixing bowl
a rolling pin or a rectangular baking dish
parchment paper (wax paper would probably work, too)

What you do:

1.  Run the dates through the food processor.  If it starts to make groaning noises, smell hot, or belch smoke I recommend trying smaller handfuls.  These things are stiff, sticky, and hard on the machine.  (Mine may not forgive me for a while for abusing it with that first batch!)  Once a batch is well mooshed/diced/pulverized remove it to a bowl.  Continue this way until you have mooshed them all.

2.  Put the nuts in.  I went heavy on the pistachios, but you could do it however you like.  Let the processor chop them into a fine, nutty gravel.  Pour them in the bowl on top of the dates.

3.  Kneed the mixture thoroughly with your hands.  Seriously.  Get in there and really squish it up until it's all one gooey, sticky, nut-gravely ball.  Be ruthless.

4.  Gently flatten the ball on a sheet of parchment paper (or wax paper).  If you can, shape it into a bit of a rectangle.  It will be easier to cut evenly this way.  Once it's fairly well flattened and shaped, put a second layer of paper over the top and use the rolling pin (or, in my case, the flat bottom of a rectangular baking dish) to flatten the top to a uniform height.

5. Cut into bars, and pack into ziplock sandwich bags for a handy snack on the go!  That's it.

It was so easy and so cheap I had to share.  And mmmmmmmmmmmm, delicious!

A Day by the Shore

After graduation Lexi went to visit Paulo's family for a long weekend, leaving the four of us behind.  So, with soccer off the calendar for a weekend and errands out of the way, we found ourselves with a whole day for adventuring.  This is a rare commodity, and after some debate (Paulo wanted to head to the mountains and I wanted to hit the flea market) we decided to head to the coast with the kids. 

So, as soon as Ellie woke from her nap we piled into the car and headed off.  Our plan was to stop in Portsmouth to check out Anello's Gluten Free Café and pick up a picnic lunch to take to whichever beach we hit first.

Anello's was wonderful, and it was a real treat to walk in with Spencer, look at the long displays of pastries and baked goods and fresh breads and to tell him that he could have anything in the restaurant. His eyes lit up and he looked up at me just to make sure that he'd really heard me right.  "Anything?  You're not kidding, Mommy?"  Not kidding.

The staff was amazing, and so was the food.  We got lunch, but we also stocked up on GF brownies, fruit bars, macaroons, and cookies.  It was all fabulous.

Then we headed out in search of someplace to picnic.  Luckily for us, the first place we came across was Odiorne Point State Park.  Parking was cheap, the view spectacular, and the rocky coast was full of tidepools to explore, smooth stones to collect, and seashells to discover.  Ellie and Spencer climbed excitedly towards the surf, only to jump back in surprise as the waves splashed ever closer to their feet.  Paulo helped each of them out onto rocks just a little bit further into the water where they could watch the waves and feel the cold spray, and then they both returned to the endless joys of finding, hefting, dropping and tossing rocks. 

There was some kite-flying, of course, and lots of little discoveries to be made before it was time to pack up our things and head back.  Although much too brief, the day was wonderful--just the sort of day that should make it onto our summer list permanently.  I can't wait to go back.