The most un-square of date squares

Date squares are one Newfoundland tradition that continues to thrive. You'll find them in many kitchens, most Groc 'n' Confs and in the bakery aisle of every local grocery store.

My Dad absolutely loves date squares, so this is one of my mother's staple recipes. This version, however, is decidedly more me-like.

That is to say, my recipe incorporates wholegrains and walnuts, those nuggets of omega-oil richness. I also removed the refined sugar — entirely. Dates are so potent, they serve to sweeten the whole cookie.

Another modification I credit to one of my nieces, who has recently taken to making date squares for her Nan and Pop (i.e. my Mom and Dad). Her stroke of genius was to replace the water with orange juice, which gives the squares a zing.

In my case, I used tropical fruit juice (a blend of several fruits) and the squares turned out mighty fine. You can use pretty much any kind of juice, provided it's all-fruit and contains at least some orange.

Date squares

Ingredients

Date filling:

• 3 cups dates
• 1 cup orange (or orange-based) juice (unsweetened)
• zest of orange (medium-sized)

The "crust" (i.e. top and bottom):

• ½ cup walnuts
• 1½ cups multigrain flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 1 cup twelve-grain cereal
• ½ cup butter (cut into approx 6 pieces)
• ¼ cup canola oil

Directions

Date filling:

1. Place dates and juice in medium saucepan. 
2. Heat on low-medium heat, covered, stirring as needed until dates are soft and most juice is absorbed/evaporated.
3. Remove from heat.

"Crust" mixture:

4. Place walnuts in food processor. Whir ‘em into walnut dust.
5. Add flour, soda, cereal, butter and oil.
6. Pulse until thoroughly mixed.

Putting it all together:

7. Line 8x8” plan with parchment paper.
8. Place half of "crust" mixture into pan. Press evenly with back of large spoon, until the surface is even.
9. Spoon out date mixture. Spread evenly over "crust" mixture.
10. Spoon other half of "crust" mixture on top of date mixture. Work gently to finesse this top layer of "crust", spreading it evenly over the date mixture. (If a little date mixes with the "crust", don’t despair. Imperfection = character.)
11. Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes.
12. Cool before cutting. (Scalding-hot dates on the tongue will surely lead to next-day regret!)
13. Refrigerate in tight-lidded container.

Oh yeah, and share at least one with your folks. And/or someone else's folks.   :‍-‍)

Testing, testing ...

It's winter here, of course, and we went camping — in our backyard. (Downtown St. John's. Ha.)

Chose the backyard because we were testing some new gear. A spiffy 4-season tent and, just for me, a sleeping bag. The bag is down-filled, rated to -‍20°C (that's -‍4°F. Brr!) and super snuggly.

We've had a reasonable amount of snowfall lately and it has hung around, the first real chance to enjoy the snow all season. So a great time to trial our new stuff. We're planning to use it farther afield over the next month or two, so being confident about the gear is important.

Anyway, on to the food. Even though I was camped only fifteen paces from my house, I brought along a few snacks.

In part, my stash was simply designed to up the enjoyment factor — nothing says "cozy" like a bedtime munchie-munch. But there was a more practical purpose behind the snacks, as well.

The body needs energy for generating heat (among other things). And you get this energy from food. So when out in the elements, it makes sense to gobble down a pre-bedtime snack and to have extras handy in the event you awake less-than-toasty in the middle of the night.

Here's what I brought:

• peanuts (dry-roasted)
• date square (homemade)
• plus a thermos of fennel tea.

Notice that my snacks contained a high fat-count. Fats are ideal for when you're braving cold temperatures, because fats are relatively slow to digest. That means their energy benefit is played out over a relatively long period (vs. used up all in a burst, as calories from simple carbohyrates tend to be).

But besides all that, these snacks were just yummy. Comforting, yummy and fun.

And what other rationale does one need?

Goin' sweet on me?

Few can resist the charms of fried potatoes. Whether served as a side dish or snack, they're marvelous, majestic, magnificent.

Mmm, fried potatoes. Could one possibly do better?

Turns out the answer is ... Yes.

Instead of fried, go with baked. That's a surefire way to cut fat. And potatoes? Yup, you can improve on those by going sweet.

Here's a recipe that rivals the taste of french fries by doing them much, much smarter.

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Sweet-Potato Wedges

1. Leave skin on, but cut away eyes and blemishes. Scrub well under running water.
2. Slice into wedges. Place in large bowl.
3. Add canola oil (several tbsps) and spices (see Spicing 'em below). Toss.
4. Place in oiled baking tray.
5. Bake for 30 min at 375°F (see Tip A). Flip after 15 min.
6. Serve lightly salted.

Spicing 'em

• My preferred options include: black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, wine vinegar, dijon mustard, hot pepper sauce and/or cumin.

Baking tips

• Tip A: The smaller your wedges are sliced, the lower the baking time and/or temperature. Experiment.
• Tip B: Placing wedges skinside-down on tray will reduce scorching, and may eliminate need for flipping.
• Tip C: Lining tray with parchment paper will lessen clean-up.

Serving suggestions

• Try malt vinegar. Sour cream. Salsa. Grated parmesan.

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Just what makes sweet potatoes so darn smart?

Compared with other vegetables, sweet potatoes rank tops in food value. Especially high in vitamins A and C, along with calcium, they are also a good source of B vitamins, protein and complex carbohydrates.

In case you were wondering, much of this tasty tuber's goodness lies in the skin. To peel is to lose nutrients.

For your next snack, give these wedges a whirl. Fresh from the oven, they are amazing. And they're surprisingly scrumptious as leftovers, hot or cold.

Walking and chawing ... and quenching that thirst

Wrote yesterday about the walk I did from Cape Spear and about what I brought along to eat. What did I take to drink?

Water. Plain and simple.

I don't generally bother with fancy beverages. Too many empty calories. Too many artificial colors. Too many pennies required to buy 'em.

Water is — Yippee! — free. And when your food is of high quality and nutrient-dense, water is all the body needs. Plus, it's an easy clean up. Flushing syrupy gunk out water bottles can be a chore.

In any case, it's not so much the what of my trail drinking that's interesting; it's the how.

If water is my drink of choice for day hiking, my container of choice is a stainless-steel flask. The kind most people would associate with whisky and so forth.

Such a flask is light weight, durable and free of nasty BPA, etc. Most importantly, it packs flat, fitting most pockets — so no need to bring a backpack on a shortish walk. (Another Yippee!) Plus, in temperatures below freezing, it's tailor-made to stash close to the body, preventing the contents from freezing.

I own a bunch of flasks, both 5-ounce and 8-ounce versions, so I can mix and match, depending on the length of my walk. One 5-ouncer of water will see me through anything under an hour or so. Two 8-ouncers will see me through half a day.

Sound like too little water? Especially when your putting your bod through its paces?

Well, if that were the whole story, yes, it would be too little water. But here's the thing that makes it possible: a little technique Fred calls "super-saturation".

Before setting out on a bout of hiking, you "super-saturate" via these three steps:

1) ensuring you're well hydrated beforehand. At the least, down 2 cups of water just prior to leaving home.

2) in addition to your water for the trail, pack an extra quart of water in the car, and down it — or as much of it as you're able — just before setting out on the trail

3) plan on arriving back at the car parched or even a tad uncomfortable. You can afford to arrive in this state precisely because you've had the foresight to stash an additional quart (or more) in the car. Glug glug.

In summary, "super-saturation" means setting out on your hike topped to the gills with water and returning back off the trail parched, raring to swig the refreshing liquid that awaits you the moment you arrive back at your car. This method takes but the slightest amount of fuss and lightens your on-the-trail load tremendously.

After all, you go walking to enjoy the scenery and the sensation of moving through space, not to be loaded down like a beast of burden.

Happy swigging.

Walking and chawing ... simultaneously

Went walking in the woods last weekend.



Here's what I took along to eat:

• peanuts
• dates
• energy bar
• dried apple
• chocolate pemmican.

Now, when I say "woods", I'm exaggerating somewhat. I wasn't exactly trotting through the deep, dark forest, but along a portion of the East Coast Trail, from Cape Spear in the direction of Maddox Cove. There are areas of tree cover, but many more places where you're looking out over barrens on one side and, on the other, the wide open Atlantic.

Certainly makes for dramatic vistas, as trail walking goes.

FYI, Cape Spear is the most easterly point in all of North America (i.e. Canada + U.S. + Mexico). Yup, Cape Spear is in a real sense the edge of the world, and it's only 8 miles or so from my house.

Back to the food: The dates were dried, the peanuts dry-roasted; both commercial products. I just jammed a handful of each into a couple of snack-sized ziplock bags. The energy bar was also commercially packaged.

The dried apple and "pemmican", however, were homemade, nipped from Fred's backpacking stores. Chocolate pemmican is Fred's invention — prepared similarly to regular pemmican, but substituting dark chocolate in place of the beef. I must say, as a trail treat, it's hard to beat.

Tomorrow I'll write about what we took on the trail to drink.

'Tis a snap (Part III): My wish cookie

Wish cookie?

Hmm, I'd heard of a wishbone. My sisters and I would tussle over one after every turkey dinner. And I'd heard of wishing over a cake. You know, the whole birthday candle thing.

But I'd never heard of a wish cookie. Not until a couple of weeks ago, when following up on those tremendous Anna's Thins.

What is a wish cookie?

Wish cookies (or pepparkakor) are a Swedish tradition. They're akin to ginger snaps, more or less, usually baked during the Christmas season.

The wish business comes into play when folks cradle the cookie in their palm and push a finger into the cookie's middle. According to lore, if the pepparkakor breaks into three pieces the wish will come to pass.

A smaller or larger number of pieces? Then, sorry, no wish is granted — you just have to settle for eating the cookie bits, which is not a bad consolation, I must say.

In my case, I'm pleased to report that my wish did indeed come true — my snaps turned out beautifully. (OK, to be truthful, I made this "wish" before ever having held any chocolate-peppermint snaps in my hand, back when I was merely fiddling with recipe ingredients.)  ;‍-‍)

Perhaps I'll grab another of my snaps and make another wish right now — provided I can keep the little pretty in my hand long enough.

Chomp, chomp. (Oh well.)

'Tis a snap (Part II)

OK, here's the recipe ...

Chocolate-peppermint Snaps

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups multigrain flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 cup (plus 2 Tbsp) sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup (plus 2 Tbsp) unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 2 tsp peppermint extract (pure)

Makes approx 60 snaps.

Directions

1. In food processor, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and baking soda. Pulse until mixed.
2. Cut butter into chunks and add to processor. Pulse several times more.
3. In small cup, combine milk and peppermint.
4. With food processor running, add milk mixture. Run until until mixture clumps.
5. Transfer dough to large bowl or cutting board. Knead to ensure dough is evenly blended, then form into log (14 x 1 3/4").
6. Wrap log in wax paper. Refrigerate at least one hour.
7. Move oven racks to upper portion of oven. Preheat to 350°F.
8. Cut dough into 1/4" slices (or thinner if you wish to mimic commercial wafers).
9. On baking sheet (lined with parchment paper), place each snap 1" apart.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes, swapping position of baking sheets (from top to bottom, and back to front) halfway through baking. Watch closely — snaps will puff up and deflate; they're done about 1 1/2 minutes after deflation.
11. Set baking sheets on racks to cool. (If, during cooling, snaps do not become crispy, they are underdone. Return underdone snaps to oven for more baking, then re-cool.)

(Adapted from http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/03/homemade-chocolate-wafers-icebox-cupcakes/; originally from "Pure Dessert" by Alice Medrich. With inspiration from Anna's Chocolate Mint Thins.)

Snaps may be refrigerated in an airtight container for 2 weeks. They'll last upwards of 2 months in the freezer.

Mine turned out great. I love how, at first nibble, the peppermint taste hits you right in the kisser. Then comes the chocolatey-ness, with just the right amount of sweetness.

Mmm, divinely snappy.