Captured Time Books

I am pretty sure I found this idea surfing Pinterest and then adapted it to how I wanted it. 
It's fruit pizza - how you like it.  Individual sugar cookies that you get to top however your heart desires.

I had been looking for a great egg bake recipe since egg bake is well...... Egg bake.
 I needed something special.  Because my retreat attendees are about as special of people as you can get.  Discerning folks with attention to detail.  No run of the mill egg bake will do!!

I found one on http://jamiecooksitup.net

Everyone has a recipe - Many say theirs is "the" recipe and mine has beans so as far as Sheldon Cooper is concerned mine can not even be called Chili.  You can watch that episode here.  But around my neighborhood mine IS Chili and it is requested.  I should tip my hat to my dear father who started the Chili tradition and encouraged the idea that it should have the same building blocks but every-time should be a new adventure with random additions.  So what you get here are my building blocks+rough estimations +plausible potential additions with portion guesstimates.   Good luck :)

Ingredients:
3 Lbs rump roast trimmed and cut into slightly smaller than 3/4 inch cubes.
3lbs 90% lean ground beef
2 LARGE onions
1 bottle stout beer
6 cloves minced garlic
5 cans chili beans
5 cans kidney beans
4 cans diced tomatoes
1 Large 64 ounce can crushed tomatoes.

Spices:
Cumin
Chili powder
Hungarian Paprika
Dried hot chili peppers whole
Crushed Red Pepper
Black Pepper
Salt

Finishing flavors:

2-4 squares dark chocolate
1 tablespoon Sambal Olek


When roast is partially thawed ( or partially frozen depending on how you start)  cut into cubes.  Season meat liberally with salt and pepper and sear.  If you want to understand the difference between searing and steaming- and there is a BIG difference review this. 

Move seared beef to new bowl and add onions to soften and caramelize.
Then add garlic till fragrant. 
Add dry spices to bring out oils string constantly. 
Before garlic burns add bottle of stout beer and get all the bits off the bottom of the pan. 
Add your diced tomatoes and cook for a minute to cook out some of the acid. 
Add the rest of your tomatoes and enough water to make it a bit more watery than you like (it needs to cook all day and you want there to be enough liquid to simmer without burning)
When there is an hour or two left before serving add all your beans and start tasting.
Add your finishing flavors and adjust spices accordingly.

Photos to follow.

There are a lot of recipes out there for granola.  It is an easy way to save bu-cu-bucks since granola goes for a kings ransom in the stores.  I have mixed and blended several recipes to make one that I like quite a bit.  Let me know what you think.

Rachel's Granola

 First Dry

8 Cups Rolled Oats

1.5 Cups Oat Bran

1.5 Cups Ground Flax

.5 Cups Ground Flax with Blueberry

.5 cups Chia Seeds

 * Mix these first 5 ingredients in a large bowl

Wet

1/2 cup Brown sugar

3/4 Cup PURE Maple Syrup

3/4 cup Coconut Oil

4 Tab Butter

4 Tab Vanilla

* In a heavy bottom sauce pan mix the wet ingredients and simmer until brown sugar is dissolved.

2nd Dry

1 Cup Almonds- rough chopped

1 Cup Walnuts- rough chopped

1 Cup Pecans- rough chopped

2 cups Toasted Coconut

2 Cups assorted dried fruit - I use apricots, blueberries, cranberries and cherries.

Cinnamon - to taste

Sea salt - to taste

Pour wet over dry and mix well with a rubber spatula.  

Put the mixture into a baking pan in a thin layer.  Place in a 325 degree oven for 40 min.  

Mixing at 15 and 30 minutes to make sure there is no burning going on.

But be sure that the mixture is browned for maximum flavor.

Remove from the oven and cool completely