the archive

I realized that the way I name my posts doesn't really lend itself to easily going back and finding something I'm looking for. The other day, I was looking for the recipe of something I had made before and couldn't find it for the life of me. So, I added a new page to my blog - if you look at the top, you'll see the "food archive."  I'll be posting the food things I made that I think are worth sharing or going back to in alpha order. So far it has everything to-date, and I'll be updating it periodically to keep it updated.

If you've seen something here you want to try to find again, but (like me) don't really understand my post naming-convention, you can click there anytime and scroll through.

There is also a comment feature on the bottom of that page, so if you have recommendations for something I should try, or comments about something on the page, feel free to leave them there.

And for fun, here's a collage of everything I've made. :)

Enjoy!

mango bars (again)

Last August, I made these mango bars and they were really tasty. I'm not sure if it's the mango, the butter crust, or the oatmeal crumbly topping. I've made them a couple of times since, and people seem to like them. And I made them, again, yesterday to bring to Easter tomorrow. They're still good, so I thought they were worth a re-post with small modifications I've made along the way. :)

 Mango Bars

Crust
2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter

Sift the flour and sugar together. Cut in butter and mix well - I kneaded it a bit at the end to make sure. Pat into a 9x13 pan evenly, covering the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Filling
4 mangoes, cut into small pieces
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
bit of lemon zest (optional)
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. water

Put mangoes, sugar, 1/3 c. water, lemon juice, and zest into a medium saucepan over medium / medium-high heat. Cook until mangoes are tender - I mashed them with a masher, as well. In a small dish, mix the cornstarch and 3 Tbsp. water well; add to the tender mango mixture and cook until thick. Pour the completed mixture on top of the baked crust.

Topping
2 c. quick oats
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. butter

Mix oats, flour, and sugar together. Cut in butter with a fork and mix well. Sprinkle over mango mixture in the 9x13 pan (and snitch a couple of pinches while you're doing it - the topping is tasty on it's own).

Bake the whole thing at 350 degrees for 50 minutes; cool and enjoy.

Happy Easter, everyone!  However/wherever you're celebrating, I hope it's filled with great food and better people.

Shared on:

S.A.D.

April (snow) showers bring May.... wait... that's not how the saying goes.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder is SAD. Clever, though. It snowed (again) and it's after mid-April now. Back by Cal (hometown) they got 6+ inches and here I shouldn't complain because we got about an inch (that I know of) this morning, and it had melted by the time I got home.

This is what it looked like here on November 13 last year:

This is what it looked like April 20 of this year:

Can you tell the difference?  Spending 5+ months looking at that is about enough to make someone (have) SAD.

I was telling mom last night that I think it's funny (but not really in a funny ha-ha way) that snow in mid-April is so upsetting because it's not new. It's the same thing every year. It gets nice for about a week or two, we get a taste of spring and warm, and -- every year -- it snows (again).

For some reason, though, this comes as a complete shock to all of us.

People are SAD, angry, upset - and even more so confused. I like to think it's that we, from the midwest, are wishful thinkers.We have faith that some year, April will come and it will be sunshine and roses and rainbows. It's just a bummer that Mother Nature has a crappy sense of humor.

Interestingly, though, after all of this for the last 5+ months, I still thought it looked really pretty in the trees - just like I did back in November. I was a little crabbier this time, but it was still pretty.

So, hopefully this is the end and we're on our way to spring. :)

In other, happier news, I had Keith help me draw the names of the two winners of the Ghiradelli chocolates from my 100th blog post!

And the winners are:

................

................

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Holly & Genni!

I'll contact you guys to figure out how to get them to you. Woot woot! Thanks to everyone for being supportive of all of my ramblings. :)