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

Quarantine Edition: Phyllo Pumpkin Pie

The last few weeks. I cannot even.  My mind is blown by how much love and (virtual) community I’ve witnessed as well as worry about the health of our most vulnerable populations and our economy as so many lose jobs and don’t have enough savings to weather the storm.  I am also flooded with gratitude that we have the means and ability to keep moving forward and to shelter our children from some of the most devastating aspects of this global crisis, even as my heart breaks for them that they are missing so many simply pleasures of childhood like going to school, the playground, and exchanging germs with friends! Ugh. Tough people. Tough. But we will get through this and it will have lasting effects on all of us. I believe that most of those will be positive. A course correction for the too-busy lives we lead, too connected with our virtual selves and not connected enough to the people we care about with our actual, in-person selves. Believe me, I’m not throwing stones here. One of the immediate realizations I’ve come to as a result of this quarantine is that MY status quo is rushing through breakfast and getting ready for school so that I can be at work and rushing through dinner and the evening so that I can go to bed (and/or do more work). This can’t be me living my best life can it? I’ve realized in the last couple of weeks that I’ve become so used to it that I don’t really think about it anymore...until now. Mind you, working from home and attempting to “homeschool” the kids simultaneously is no walk in the park, but just being home and present with them more is a huge change for me (even though right now, it means working really early in the morning and late into the night). It really makes a person think doesn’t it? Fortunately, I haven’t had much time to think between work, the MILLIONS of dishes I’m doing, snacks I’m preparing, tantrums I’m triaging and the lack of sleep but still...eventually when we come out of this fog and things “get back to normal” perhaps normal will look different and that “different” will be better. 

Until then, there’s pie. Yes. I’ve been cooking. LOTS. Every meal, every snack, every day for six people and we’ve been eating pretty well - another thing I appreciate - being home to start dinner whenever I please. But I keep forgetting to document our dinners.  I’m glad I didn’t forget to document this beautiful pie. The kids are obsessed with making pie so we decided not to relegate pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving only and made one today, in March! It was truly delicious and SO easy to make. Making the crust with phyllo, something I’ve done before with fish pie, was a great idea and gave the kids an additional task - painting the phyllo sheets with butter and sprinkling them with spiced sugar.

Ironically, these days, I’m loving recipes with lots of separate tasks, like, crack the eggs, mix the filling, brush the phyllo sheets with butter, sprinkle the phyllo with spiced sugar - so every child has some way to contribute.  I used “cake spice” from the Spice House instead of the five-spice called for in the recipe, but pumpkin pie spice would work just fine if your crowd isn’t down with the more exotic (adult?) flavor of five-spice. Otherwise I followed the recipe, which can be found here, verbatim with excellent results. Pie is dangerous. I ate so much I wasn’t hungry for dinner. Emmett wants to make a lemon pie tomorrow. He thinks pie every day is a good idea. I’m not so sure. 

Scenes from a walk.

What I am sure of is that this global pandemic situation is temporary and we will get through it. Together. Even if together is “virtually” for a while. Small businesses are being hit particularly hard by this pandemic and the closures that have been mandated as a result. Our family (Paddy) has weathered over 40 years of highs and lows in the retail environment and we are as committed to our customers as ever. We cannot wait to see all of your faces again as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, please shop on this site and contact us if there is anything specific you are looking for or if there is anything we can do to help you get through this.  We may be able to arrange for delivery. THANK YOU so much for reading. We appreciate your loyalty during this tough time! 

Eating pie outside. Still allowed!

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.