Published by mel on October 30, 2009 in dessert, recipe and sides & bites.

Ok, ok! I’ll concede that I might actually have a little, teensy tiny bit of a sweet tooth. There – I said it. Though it’s true that I often pass on the candy and cupcakes at work, I think I do actually crave sweet things. Sometimes. Especially if I make them myself, which means sweet, but not too sweet and most of the times means something Salted. What can I say? I’m a salt fiend. It just makes dessert more interesting – that pop of something salty – always surprising – makes sweet taste so much sweeter.


This time of year, I love ginger snaps. They’re spicy and somehow warming. My favorite kind are the really gingery ones that have a good bite and nice chew to them. The Whole Foods brand gingersnaps are just perfect. I had a half a bag of those, some dark chocolate chips and hazelnuts. So, I made bark with them, which is basically a pretty way of saying chocolate with mix-ins.


This recipe is actually really simple. Crushed store-bought ginger snaps, melted chocolate, ground hazelnuts and a bit of flaky salt. That’s pretty much it. The hardest part is waiting for the stuff to cool. Next time, I might try graham crackers or even pretzels. The possibilities are endless, and that’s why I love recipes like this.
Continue reading ‘Salted Gingersnap & Hazelnut Bark’
Published by mel on July 31, 2009 in breakfast, dessert, recipe and sides & bites.

Every week I buy a bag of obscenely expensive granola from the grocery store. And every afternoon when my stomach begins to grumble, I have a some plain Greek yogurt with a good sprinkling of granola. It’s just the right amount of sweet, filling and crunchy for the afternoon and I’ve become completely addicted.
So, when I saw this recipe in the New York Times for Olive Oil Granola, I thought I’d give it try. I’ve been meaning to make my own granola for a long time and just never got around to it. And now I’m wondering what the hell took me so long! Homemade granola is amazing and probably half the price of that fancy stuff I buy.

I used slivered almonds and salted pumpkin seeds along with ginger-spiked sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. The olive oil gave everything a rich lushness and I was able to achieve a much more pleasant salty/sweet ratio than the over-sweetened stuff I buy. I am absolutely obsessed with it. In fact, I’m having a really hard time stopping myself from eating it all with a spoon.
Needless to say, I’ll not be buying granola anymore. This stuff is just too good and too easy.
Continue reading ‘Gingery Olive Oil Granola’
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