Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies And A Few Other Subjects....

In an attempt to not gross anyone out, this blog entry will be divided into sections. Each section is separate and has it's own song and quote.

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Now playing: Alice In Chains - Nutshell
via FoxyTunes

The next entry in the British baking cookbook is for shortbread flavoured with peanut butter and with a caramel filling. I switched it up a bit by tweaking the cookie recipe and making the caramel out of local honey. Mine are lightly rolled in ground nuts.

1/2 c. peanut butter (crunchy, or smooth, depending your desire)
1/4 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
vanilla
1 1/4 c. flour

Cream the peanut butter, butter and sugar together. Combine all the remaining ingredients into a smooth dough. Form into a disk and place on a flour surface in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Roll out onto a floured board and cut desired shapes. Place on Silpat, or parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Let cook slightly on the cookie sheet so they can set up. Place on a cooling rack.

For the caramel:

150 g. granulated sugar
1/2 c. honey
5 tbsp. cold water
100 g. ml cream
100 g. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Caramelise the sugar in the water. Add honey and continue to desired caramelisation. Carefully add cream slightly warmed and the butter that has been diced. This will bubble and fuss. Stir it down. Simmer the sauce into a nice spreading caramel. Add sea salt and stir in. Let cool.

When the cookies and the caramel have cooled join them into little sandwiches. Roll in chopped peanuts. You will need about a 1/2 c. for this job.




I used crunchy peanut butter.







“Warning: the Internet may contain traces of nuts”

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Now playing: The Flaming Lips - I Can Be a Frog
via FoxyTunes

I just wanted to show off Ryan's catch. He was trying to catch crayfish in a net for fishing. He blindly swiped the net into the stream and came up with this fellow. I think he should have worn a Prince t-shirt to finish the theme. He says he doesn't care for Prince's music, however. Ah, well nevermind.



“Where there are no swamps there are no frogs” -German Proverb

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Now playing: Pink Floyd - Waiting For The Worms
via FoxyTunes

I have started to vermicompost. For me this project isn't anything to do with Umami. Red worms are supposed to be very good at helping break down scraps into lovely compost for the garden. We had a broken camping cooler, the type you plug into a car. I had the bright idea to recycle it by making it into a worm hotel. A few vent holes were drilled in. To add the worms, first they need bedding material, here shredded newspaper is used. Then some scraps, misting with water along the way. This is repeated a few times and then a topping of dirt. Now is the time to add the worms. I had a few worms trying to climb up the sides. They have stopped that now and hopefully they will begin working. Follow me along as I try this experiment.



“Worm theology is too high for me” -Jack Miller