I love quick breads - always have. So yummy, so easy to make - just perfect for breakfast or a snack. So when a friend gave me some Friendship Bread starter, I was very excited to give it a go. I pushed past the initial gross factor and kept it going for the entire 10 day stretch. The result? One of the yummiest cinnamon breads I’ve ever had. And now you will love it too.

You’re probably wondering how I can share this recipe - am I inviting you all to stop by my house and pick up your own starter? Nope. I’m going to help you get it started from scratch and then you can share the wealth and start your own Friendship Bread tradition with your friends & neighbors. It’s a recipe and an activity - fun!

First, the rules
Do NOT use metal spoons or bowls for your starter. Ceramic or plastic is fine, I use a plastic baggie or tupperware for mine. And do NOT refrigerate. (yes, really)

Now, the starter
In a plastic baggie or tupperware combine the following:
1(1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk

Stir or mush it together and let it sit on your counter. (yes it’s going to be like a science experiment fermenting away but a very yummy experiment)

The process
Day 1: after getting the starter going or receiving some starter, do nothing
Day 2-5: mush the bag or stir with a wooden spoon if you’re using a plastic container
Day 6: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir or mush.
Day 7-9: Stir or mush
Day 10: Baking Day!

Baking Day!

Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk to the starter. Stir to combine. Take out three cups, putting each into its own container or baggie. Those are three starters for you to give out to your friends. To the starter that is left add the following and mix well:
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar

in a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding

- Now stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients so you have one big bowl of batter.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 tsp cinnamon with 1/4 cup sugar. Grease two loaf pans and sprinkle the bottom of them with about half of your cinnamon/sugar mix.
- Pour your batter into the loaf pans, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon/sugar. And bake at 325 degrees for one hour.

Baker’s note: I’ve kept the starter going for two solid months and initially I made it following the recipe’s instructions which gave me three batches of starter - one to keep and two to pass on to friends. At some point in that first month, I ran out of friends and family who wanted starter. It was like a brush fire - everyone was giving everyone else starter. But I still wanted to keep the bread going so I needed to figure out a way to pare down the starter portions. My idea was to make the bread and have just one batch of starter leftover for myself. Whenever a friend of mine wants some, I can always bump up the proportions to give some away but now I can keep a batch going just for us. (and it’s so good I could eat the entire loaf myself!) How do I do it?

On Day 6 add 1/2 cups instead of whole cups. Ditto for the first step of baking day, just add 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar & milk. Then you pull out one cup of the starter to keep and the remaining will be just right to make your two loaves.

Barb lives in Crown Point with a hungry family that includes three kids. You can find her on Saturdays at the farmer’s market and the rest of the week out running, playing at the beach, on Twitter and on her daily blog, Quick Like A Bunny where you never know what she’ll be writing about.

Granola bars are yummy but I think they are a bit on the expensive side. And when you buy them in the store they are also full of bad ingredients (unless you’re totally wholesome and only buy the hard variety with no artificial sweetners, and if so good for you). A few months ago I saw a recipe in a magazine for homemade granola bars and ripped it out. And now, I may never buy a box of granola bars again. These are ridiculously easy to make. Just perfect for little hands in the kitchen. Healthier than the store bought kind and delicious. These will be making many repeat visits to my home for after-school snacks and road trip food.

Granola Bars
2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are good choices)
3/4 cup dried fruit
3 TB packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 9×13 metal pan with nonstick spray. Line the pan with foil - leaving an inch or two sticking out on the short sides - and spray the foil.

2. In a glass pie plate spread out your oats. Microwave on high in 1-minute increments for 4 minutes until they smell nice and toasty. Let them cool to room temperature.

3. In large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, nuts, dried fruit, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in honey, oil and egg whites until well-mixed.

4. Pour mixture into your prepared pan and press it into an even layer with your hands. Bake for 30-32 minutes.

ready for the oven!

5. Cool pan on a wire rack and once cool, use the foil to transfer to a cutting board. Cut them into bars and store them in an airtight container for a week (up to a month if you freeze them).

This week, ours included pecans and cranberries. You can add 3/4 cup of just about any of your favorite granola bar ingredients… I’m pretty sure my kids will be adding mini-chocolate chips to every future batch because, as they noted yesterday, chocolate is good in everything.

Are they hard or soft? well… kind of in-between. They are not crunchy but they are not the gooey soft that you are used to in the store-bought version either.

Barb lives in Crown Point with a hungry family that includes three kids. You can find her on Saturdays at the farmer’s market and the rest of the week out running, playing at the beach, on Twitter and on her daily blog, Quick Like A Bunny where you never know what she’ll be writing about.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday. (That’s why you read my blog, for the breaking news.) And whether you’re having a party, going to a party or just watching the game by yourself - snacks are in order. Heck, even if you’re not watching the game, snacks are in order because it’s a Sunday afternoon and snacking is fun. In my house, we’ll be watching intently because our Colts are playing. Go COLTS!!! But this isn’t a football blog - it’s a food blog, so the question remains: What sort of snacks should we have?? I am going to give you two recipes today. The first is more of a grown-up snack and the second is more of a kid-friendly snack.

Jalapeno Poppers
Shamelessly shared from Pioneer Woman’s website because that woman knows how to make some snacks!
20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened
1 pound Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

1. Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT).
2. Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half.
3. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle.
4. Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

—————————
You say your kids don’t like jalapeno peppers? Two out of three in my house don’t either. They’ll be eating these instead - and frankly, so will any adults in the house because they are yummy!

—————————

Ham Pinwheels
1 can crescent rolls
Spreadable cheese (I like any of the Alouette varieties for this, found near the deli section)
6 slices of deli ham
1 bag of baby spinach

1. Separate the crescent rolls into rectangles, press the perforated edges together
2. Spread some cheese (a tablespoon or so) to 1/4 inch of the edges
3. Lay a piece of ham on the cheese and then a couple leaves of spinach
4. Starting at the short edge - roll it up. Press the edges together to seal
5. Slice each roll into 5-6 slices and place cut side down on a cookie sheet
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes - until golden brown

Barb writes about daily adventures and more on her Quick Like A Bunny blog.