My Weekend in Pictures

As a natural homebody, I sometimes have to make myself leave the house and go places other than the grocery store and corner sandwich shop. That's why I'm so glad my best friend Anna (this is her blog!) lives in this city as well. She's one of my favorite activity partners, and also one of the only people I know that doesn't think I talk too much. Bless her, she puts up with my long-winded stories. If there is one thing that Bostonians can do, it's drink, which means that Boston is nowhere near in short supply of bars and pubs.

As a person who doesn't like to go out much, I can't stand places that play music louder than normal speaking level (Call me crazy, but when is it ever fun to literally shout out a story to a person sitting two feet away from you?). That leaves out a good chunk of establishments for me. But one place that has never failed to keep me happy is Goody Glover's in the North End. It's one of the only restaurants in the neighborhood that isn't Italian, (it's very, very Irish. Like, many of the servers have wonderful Irish accents and everything) and it ticks every box on my list: appropriately balanced audio, friendly staff, a true pub feel complete with dark furniture built into the wall, and food that is TO DIE FOR. You have not lived, my friend, until you have tried one of their potato spring rolls. It's kind of one of those places that can easily get passed up if you're not paying attention, but if you're in the mood for a Grade A burger and a pint of Magner's, find yourself at Goody Glover's this instant.

Anna and I had time to spare before our movie, so I suggested we hit up my favorite cupcakery in Boston: Sweet. It is the Girly-Girl's dream. There's pink everywhere, Marie Antoinette playing on a loop, and cupcakes with the perfect frosting-to-cake-body ratio. If you've never had a Buttermilk Pancake cupcake, Sweet is the place to fix that. AND, best of all, there are great vegan and gluten-free options that are just as sweet (see what I did there?). Sweet is the kind of bakery that I'd love to open in the (very distant) future.

Mmm Cookies and Cream.

Side note: Have you heard of the Cupcake Sandwich? If you haven't, then I can assure you, you've been eating your cupcakes all wrong. Listen, the next time you hit up a bakery, take a seat and try this little trick: unwrap the cupcake, carefully split it in half so that one half is the cupcake top with frosting and the other half is plain cake. Carefully join the frosting side and bald cake together to make a sandwich with frosting in the center. Voila, a Cupcake Sandwich. You'll never eat a cupcake the same way again.

Hamburgers and cupcakes: do Saturdays get much better?

What did you do this weekend??

Learning How to Get to Nature Valley

I love granola bars. Love, love, love them. You can find them in my lunch bag as my 3:00 snack, my purse (to stave off the hungry and angry "Bear," that I become when I go shopping), and sometimes as a cereal substitute when I've run out of Cheerios. But stocking up on granola bars can get expensive (unless you're an Extreme Couponer. Seriously, I've been marathoning this show on Netflix, and I CANNOT get over how much these people save on their shopping trips. It's very tempting, but I have neither the time, nor the basement full of floor-to-ceiling shelving units it takes.). And while I'll never quit buying my Nature Valley bars cold turkey, I thought it best to at least give my wallet a rest, and learn to make them on my own for a while. Enter this recipe: Pumpkin Granola Bars. Maybe I chose this recipe because I  can't get enough of Pumpkin...Or maybe it's  because I had a can in the fridge with the perfect amount left...Who knows, it's a mystery of life! (It's because I had a can of pumpkin left. Mystery solved.)

About a month back, our grocery store was having a sale on those big bags of Domino Brown sugar that I couldn't pass up. And in the moment, I was too BLINDED BY A GOOD DEAL, to read the label, and picked up two bags of DARK Brown Sugar, instead of LIGHT Brown Sugar. But by the time I set to work on making these granola bars, and realized my mistake, I had neither the strength, nor desire to walk the 2 minutes back over to the grocery store to buy a box. And anyway, I think my local grocery store is starting to see a little too much of me. So, I decided to substitute dark brown sugar instead, and see what happened. Not bad, I gotta say it.

It was really interesting to learn some of the elements that go into granola bars. I'm not exactly sure what I thought it was that was holding them together, but I didn't realize what a huge part honey plays. It's the glue that binds the whole operation together and without it, you've got mushy, uncooked oatmeal with pieces of fruit in it. Also interesting, this recipe called for 1/4 cup applesauce. It helps keep some of the moisture during baking, and it makes all the difference.

I liked that this recipe called for white chocolate chips for three reasons:

1. White chocolate chips were on sale today for $0.79

2. I don't think I've ever baked with white chocolate before.

3. I like white chocolate a lot. White Chocolate + Granola Mix= A really great idea!

And while the chocolate chip pieces melt away, their memory, and taste, are not forgotten. They add such a special sweetness to the mixture.

I could not stop eating this once it was finished. As a result, I don't really have granola "bars" per se, but instead granola "chunks" or granola "weirdly shaped, unevenly sized pieces." No regrets, it's not for sharing. The only person that will be appreciating this first batch is me, and my taste buds are in no way picky when it comes to presentation.

These granola bars are delicious, were easy to make, and now probably a new staple in my pantry. But bakers beware: this granola is addicting, so keep your wit's about you!

Give it a try!

PUMPKIN GRANOLA BARS:

What You'll Need:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (or try dark brown sugar! It made things a lot sweeter!)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

To Make:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet (9x9 is suggested, but I think my sheet is 9x11, and it turned out fine. Use what you have!) with foil allowing for 1 inch to hang on the sides of the pan. Spray foil with Pam, or another non-stick cooking spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine oats, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, honey, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over oats and stir until oats are moistened. Stir in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.

4. Evenly press oat mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Be sure not to under bake. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

5. Use a sharp knife to cut into bars. (Or just, eat it while you're impatiently waiting for it to cool, and make it into fun, unexpected shapes of granola like I did! Yeah!)

Source: Very minimally adapted from My Baking Addiction

Happy baking!