Eating all of the Irish Food while Social Distancing: Flapjacks

Hey folks, how are you all holding up while holed up? We are making it work and also, making a lot of crafts, messes, food and DIRTY DISHES! We sent our neighbors a quarantine care package, Emmett’s idea, and they sent us one.  We’ve been going on daily long walks, during which some of us invariably fall asleep. And are basically trying not to lose our just minds like everyone else in the world. THAT struggle is real! Still, we are feeling incredibly lucky for everything we have, especially our health and safety and that of those we hold dear. I am also feeling particularly grateful for all of the kits, crafts and art supplies I’ve squirreled away in various parts of the house, for a rainy day, as well as the foresight to have four kids which is 4X the insanity but also never a dull moment and a friend for everyone.  

Five-year old’s mis en place.

Four active children also means burning through food like nobody’s business. I had no idea how much my family eats. Last week, when I couldn’t find any bread at my local grocery store, in an effort to maintain social distancing, I got out my breadmaker instead of trying to find bread at another store. What I found out was, my kids LOVE fresh bread.  And also, I should have bought more bread flour because one bag only makes about 10 loaves. Thank goodness for the food section at Paddy’s which has provided me with a few bags of oats, coarse whole grain flour, and several baking mixes, including scones, Yorkshire puddings, soda bread and this one, for flapjacks. 

If you are reading this, you probably already know that flapjacks are not pancakes. According to Wikipedia, “In the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and Newfoundland a flapjack refers to a sweet, tray-baked oat bar, most commonly made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup.” So, not pancakes, though we have also been eating lots of those. 

I’ve used this type of mix in the past and it cannot be easier. All the delicious smells and fresh-baked loveliness of baking from scratch, but easy enough to throw together and do the cleanup in that 30 minutes between conference calls. #workingfromhome 

The directions on the box call for using butter and golden syrup or making them “healthier” by using coconut oil and honey.  Because I am incapable of following directions, even with a mix, I used coconut oil and golden syrup with amazing, coconutty results. Honestly, I have no idea how much 150g of coconut oil is. I could have gotten out my kitchen scale, but I just eyeballed it based on the equivalent 10 tablespoons of butter that would have been required if I went that route. It worked! 

I was not ready for how much I would LOVE these.  They are sort of in the same vein as the chocolate chip cookie brittle I made back in the blissful recent past when “global pandemic” was for Netflix series’.  Thin and crunchy and sweet but not crazy-sweet. I broke it up like brittle, not bothering to cut it in neat bars, because what’s the point? I used a bigger tray than called for, resulting in thin flapjacks, and reduced the cooking time accordingly. The directions were spot on in noting that the flapjacks would be ready once the edges began to brown. I pulled mine out after about 15 minutes.

I was the first one to dig in and once I started it was NOT easy to stop. If not for the kids, I could have, and would have, eaten an entire tray of these in no time. They were all outside playing and sort of forgot that we had made them, so it took a lot of willpower, but I was able to save some for the rest of the family. Once I let the kids try them…well, let me just say, within about 10 minutes I had to hide the container from them. Yes, there was a not-so-small part of me that wanted to make sure there was some left to crumble over my yogurt for breakfast, but also, they were like crazed animals. Flapjacks. Who knew?

Hope you are sheltering in place, happy, healthy and safe. xo

Midwest Made: Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

True story. Last time I made a pie, an apple pie, I pulled it out of the oven, set it on the counter and ran out to the grocery store.  When I returned, my dear husband, Paul, had cut into it prematurely and ALL of the juices were spilling out into the gaping hole left from the piece he had served himself. I was SO.MAD. Like couldn’t see straight mad. Like the maddest I remember being in YEARS! Which, in retrospect, is actually pretty funny. Still, I think we can all agree that it’s super frustrating to spend a few hours making a pie just to have someone ruin it the minute you pull it out of the oven to rest. I explained to him that ALL pies need to rest before you cut them. Fruit pies, so that the juices can cool and thicken properly, and custard pies so that the custard can set.  He said that leaving a warm pie on the counter was entrapment. Ok. Fair point. Regardless, I think my anger scared him straight. I don’t think he’ll ever cut into a pie without permission again.  

I guess I’m glad that cutting into a pie too soon is about the most infuriating thing Paul has done in the last several years. But trust him around baked goods? I unequivocally do not. Which is why, after finding this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle a week or so I go, I knew I had to make it when he was not home.  The directions call for “cooling completely” before removing the brittle from the cookie sheet. So unless I was up for getting in between Paul and a warm Chocolate Chip Cookie-type situation, I was waiting.  

Turns out I didn’t have to wait too long. Thanks to Chicago Public School’s and all of the random days off they give the kids, there was no school this Friday.  Perfect opportunity to bake with Emmett. Good thing he’s a lot better at waiting than his dad. I love this brittle. It’s reminiscent of a Chocolate Chip Cookie, but definitely not a cookie. 

It’s something entirely different. Even if, like me, you love thin, crunchy cookies, this is still not that, it really is more of a brittle.  The surprising accuracy of a name! I feel like you have to try it to understand. And you should! The only problem with the recipe, and brittle format, is that I feel like it’s REALLY easy to eat way too much of this.   

Child baker or serial killer? You decide. (This was actually the least wacky of the camera smiles he gave me. Ha!)

It took us under 10 minutes to prep these and after about 20 minutes in the oven they were ready.  I think it was harder for me to wait for it to cool than it was for Emmett. Truth. But don’t tell Paul. 

He jammed an animal cookie in his mouth to give him sustenance for continued whisking.

We made these with mini chocolate chips, regular chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts and sprinkled them with additional sea salt before putting them in the oven.  I think they would also be incredible with pecans, or white chocolate and crushed pretzels. I suggested pretzels but Emmett didn’t like the idea. Crazy kid. I hope the girls and Paul like this brittle as much as I do because I don’t trust myself with a whole container of this stuff in the house. 

I’m going to say this is a must make. I’m definitely bringing it to the next party I’m invited to. Maybe I’ll even bring some to the store tomorrow for the Cocoa Crawl! It’s from the book Midwest Made by Shauna Sever. If you love all things Midwest, like me, you will love this book.  You can find the recipe here. Also, I want to bake just about everything else in the book. As you can imagine, there are a bunch of homey, Scandanavian-influenced recipes in there.  Nothing Irish about it but I’m guessing it would all be Ireland approved fare. Ehhem, Potato Chip Shortbread, Brewer’s Cheddar Bread, I’m looking at you. Actually, there is a recipe for Brown Irish Soda Bread that’s on my list, so I stand corrected. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to squirrel away some of this brittle before the rest of the family gets home. Have a great weekend and if you don’t have plans tomorrow, stop by Long Grove for the Cocoa Crawl.

Chocolate and Deviled Eggs, an Irish-American Easter

Confession.  My oldest is 6 and I have yet to put together a single Easter basket. There are a lot of reasons for this - other people, like my fabulous babysitter who always comes through, along with the kids’ Aunt, Uncle and Grandpa; my borderline compulsive need to eliminate all of the little plastic items in my house; and, most importantly, the simple fact that I’ve got enough mental load to carry without having to be the Easter bunny too. I call it prioritizing.

Semi-related: Just a little shout out to the parents of the kid at my son’s school who got $20 from the tooth fairy. NO. Just. NO.

I told my little guy that the kid meant 20 CENTS and should really be brushing up on his math more.

Whew. THAT felt good. Now back to Easter.

Giant Chocolate Eggs! On my wish list every single year. I know, I know, I should have posted this earlier, because there probably aren’t any left at the store. Not to worry though, you can get your fix of chocolates from across the pond at Paddy’s on the Square year round.

No Easter Baskets? Am I the worst Momma ever? If so, not for lack of Easter baskets. My kids have yet to complain - which is saying a lot - my son mastered the art of guilting me long, long ago.  I think that I probably have these giant chocolate Cadbury eggs to thank. It seems they are ubiquitous in Ireland and they are delicious, addictive really (I keep telling myself, “I’ll just have a teensy, tiny piece” but you know how that goes). John sells out of them at the store every year no matter how many he orders. It’s proof of his love for his nephew and nieces that he always sets aside a few for us.

Never too young to aggressively hoard candy. Especially when you are the fourth child.

Just because I don’t do Easter baskets, doesn’t mean I don’t do Easter with my little ones. I’d just rather spend the time and energy I have with them, instead of on gifts for them (and if you happen to do both, go you!).  So we made Cool Whip dyed eggs, twice, which only sort-of worked. We had a flashlight Easter egg hunt with the neighbors (shout out to my amazing neighbor-mom-friend who put in 100% of the mental and physical load on that one) and a lovely spring Easter dinner outside exactly one week before (and after!) it snowed here in Chicago.  

Flashlight egg hunt was SO much fun. Also, it’s important to accessorize appropriately.

Our Easter was a small gathering this year but so enjoyable and laid back.  We had Irish bacon and potatoes (duh) plus a few other delicious things - kale salad, sweet potatoes, lemon pie.  Everything was so good that we were sad instead of relieved when the leftovers were finally gone later in the week. My little helpers made deviled eggs with me and were so proud of their contribution to our meal. I was proud too - I know that cooking, like other kinds of art, is naturally appealing to kids, but I just love that all of mine enjoy cooking.  I’m not biased or anything, but they’re good at it too.

These could not be easier, even though there are about a BILLION variations on deviled eggs, I wanted to make the simple, classic ones.  You know, the ones from the church buffet line. We garnished them with a little sprinkle of paprika and some resilient chives that braved the long, cold winter and are still growing like gangbusters in our small garden.  

Classic Deviled Eggs

• 6 large eggs

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

• ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

I don’t think you really need directions but here goes. Hard boil the eggs, or use your Cool Whip dyed eggs from last week. Peel and cut each egg in half,  scoop out the yolks, mix with mayo, mustard, cayenne and a squeeze of lemon. Find an almost-three-year-old to mash the yolks and stir the mixture until smooth. Spoon mixture into egg white halves or, if you want to be fancy, spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and fill the egg white halves that way (4-year-olds can definitely do this! 2-year-olds can too if your going for the “deconstructed” look). Garnish with chives and paprika, or whatever. Eat with gusto, especially in front of your little assistants. Enjoy the smiles.