Progressive Post Continued: Twelve Days of Holiday Eats

On The Fourth Day Before Christmas Ulterior Harmony gave to you…
Warm Orange Light Bars

A big ‘thank you’ to Lori for inviting me to chime in on this ‘progressive post,’ and for your upbeat, real, and often funny and inspiring blog!As the weather turns autumnal, and then wintry, in our northern hemisphere, I have always enjoyed the warming properties of earthy-bright colored roots and spices, and have felt a special affinity and synergy between the time of year and the ‘orange’ part of the light spectrum. As the days get shorter, dawns and sunsets become increasingly spectacular. Carrots are sweet and delicious, everyone is making all manner of things with pumpkin; first, miraculously sweet and delectable persimmons, and then all the juicy and tangy citrus varieties come into season. I invite you to go orange and warm your heart, also with the burnt umber of cinnamon, the malty tan of ginger and maca, and the bright, cheery reddish note of goji berries.

I wrote in my own blog recently that I recognize that for those of us who tend to be very strict around our food choices, relaxing some of those inhibitions around the holidays is actually a species of ‘giving something up:’ a practice we associate more with Lent or other seasons. I am exploring the concept of conscious immersion in holiday abundance as a kind of letting-go. It’s in that spirit that while I’m usually almost fanatically low-glycemic most of the time, I include two tablespoons of honey in the recipe for this bar. I used to work as a beekeeper when I lived in HI, and I used two tablespoons of my lovingly hoarded ‘Christmas berry honey’ from there, which is considered to be as medicinal as manuka honey and is light amber in color: another adjunct to our orange spectrum!

You need:

• 1 c carrot pulp (or grated carrot) *if you use grated carrot rather than pulp, the mixture will be wetter and you’re less likely to need to add liquid later
• 1 c nut pulp from making nut milk (or finely ground nuts, or half ground nuts/half protein powder)
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup maca *yes, that’s a whole cup! A wonderfully warming, energizing, adrenal-supporting, malty dominant note!
• 2 T cinnamon *two. whole. tablespoons. Great flavor synergy with the maca and helpful in balancing blood sugar
• 2 t ground ginger
• a good dash of cayenne (another entry on the reddish-orange spectrum!)
• a good pinch of high-quality salt
• 1 t orange zest
• 2 T goji berries *if you’re using grated carrot, as opposed to pulp, don’t soak these
• 2 T humane honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• as needed: liquid: water or cooled herbal chai tea is nice, could also squeeze juice from that orange you zested

Put all ingredients except for the last two in a food processor and whiz them together for a while. The food processor does more than mere elbow-grease can accomplish in incorporating the gojis and honey into the dry ingredients. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides once or twice.

When the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and is beginning to clump, add in the coconut oil while the motor is running. Blend a while longer, stopping periodically to cheek the consistency. If the mixture remains crumbly, add a little liquid with the motor running, just a few drops at a time. It’s done when it starts to come together like cookie dough.

At this point, you can form it into bars of whatever dimension pleases you the most and store in the fridge. Share, enjoy, and be aware that this is spicy, warming and energizing!

Happy Holidays to everyone.

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On The Third Day Before Christmas Mama Samaan gave to you…
3-2-1 Scottish Shortbread Cookies

This is the easiest, quickest, tastiest cookie recipe there is. 3-2-1 Shortbread Cookies are just that:

• 3 parts flour
• 2 parts (high quality) butter
• 1 part sugar

Mix 3 cups flour, 2 cups butter (yikes!!), 1 cup sugar together. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove when slightly brown on the edges; cookie itself is very pale when done.

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