It may be the end of November, but I figure there’s still time to share one last pumpkin treat before the holiday baking begins in earnest. You need something healthy for those lunchboxes and after-school snacks to offset the Christmas cookies, right? These soft-baked granola bars are easy to put together (even with little helpers). I made them for my son’s school bake sale — a not-too-sweet treat you can still feel good about.

Recipe: Pumpkin Granola Bars
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Makes 10-12 bars

• 3 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Crunchy Cinnamon Granola Bars from One Hungry Mama
• Granola Bars with Mango, Hazelnut and Ginger from Cookin’ Canuck
• Fig, Date and Almond Granola Bars from Brown Eyed Baker

{Admin Note: Voting is now open in the DC Lamb Pro-Am. I’d be oh-so-flattered if you’d take a moment to vote for FoodieTots’ Lemon-Mint Crusted Leg of Lamb. Thank you!}

It’s not often I find myself in the kitchen, a novel in one hand, sautéeing apples with the other while steering the toddler towards her refrigerator magnets and out from underfoot. And I’m pretty sure this is the first adult fiction book review I’ve done here on FoodieTots. But when I read the description of Sarah Pinneo’s Julia’s Child, I couldn’t resist: “A delectable comedy for every woman who’s ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker.”

I did have a little apprehension, though. Those of us on the whole foods-local food-organic food bandwagon can be a little, well, sensitive about our food choices. But I follow Pinneo on Twitter (@Julias_Child) and was reasonably certain she was on my side. Sure enough, the novel was an enjoyable read about a woman out to “save the world one bite at a time.” It’s good to laugh at ourselves once in a while, and I found myself laughing out loud at the main character, Julia’s, conversation with her husband about recycled toilet paper. Let’s just say we may have had that exact conversation in the FoodieTots’ house.

In the novel, Julia is a mother who leaves behind a corporate paycheck to launch an organic toddler food business, and moms of all types will relate to her struggles as she attempts to balance the needs of her own family with the demands of her growing business. Even better, a few recipes from the fictional business are included, and it was the Apple and Cheddar Muffets that I found myself baking first. A “muffet” is a savory muffin, the primary product Julia is producing and, at the start of the book, selling to the stereotypical moms of Brooklyn (of course). Aside from the cutesy name, I liked the “muffet” concept and appreciate that they are a low-sugar but still full-flavored kid-friendly snack. (With whole milk, butter and sour cream, they are not a low-fat snack, which is fine for the toddler crowd but may make you feel a smidge guilty after polishing off two in a row. Hypothetically speaking.) As I write this, the kitchen smells amazing, and just look how lovely they are.

If you own a Bugaboo (er, “Frogaboo”) or are a perky blonde co-host of The View (er, The Scene) the satire may hit a little too close to home, but otherwise I think many foodie mamas will appreciate this funny and engrossing read.

The author has also offered one lucky reader a free copy of Julia’s Child, along with a basket of mom-made food products. (Not sure if that includes the muffets…but once you have the book, you can bake them yourself.) Leave a comment below telling us one of your children’s favorite after-school snacks, and I’ll select a winning commentor at random. Comments are open until 11:59 pm Eastern time this Friday, February. 17.

Learn more about Sarah Pinneo on her own blog or Facebook page. And of course, look for Julia’s Child at your local bookseller or online.

I had these lofty ideas of my summer break with the kids, that the boy and I would spend leisurely afternoons in the kitchen while the foodie bebe napped. Of course, it turned out that we’ve spent many days rushing from camp to story time to the pool, and I’m lucky to throw together a quick dinner most nights. But today, we made time for a trip to the store (between the dentist and baseball) and the boy and I finally baked something sweet — a peanut butter pie. For fellow blogger Jennifer Perillo and the unexpected reminder that life is often far too short. Read her post (with tissues handy), and bake something with the people you love this weekend.

the foodie tots bake peanut butter pie

(The recipe for peanut butter cream pie can also be found on Jennie’s blog.)

What is it about baking a pie that strikes fear into the heart of even accomplished home cooks and, ahem, food bloggers alike? A flaky pie crust is a lovely showcase for summer’s ripest berries and fruit, but it’s that pesky crust that seems to spoil the best pie-making intentions. I’m guilty myself of scrapping plans for a pie to make a cobbler or crisp instead. Even if you have a trusty crust recipe on hand, a pie must be planned for — with the requirement to chill the dough before rolling it out, it simply cannot be left to the last minute. (And then you’re supposed to let it cool before serving — rather than immediately spooning it out and scooping a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on top.)

I dragged lured the whole family out to the Bloomingdale Farmers Market on Sunday to secure the elusive sour cherries* for pie baking. (Reid’s Orchard at the market is one of my favorite sources of summer berries and fruits.) Seriously, the mad rush for sour cherries at the more trafficked DC markets is even to put anyone off baking. Not so at Bloomingdale, where the boy observed the modest line at the berry stand and said, “Let’s come back to this one,” before continuing down to pick an array of summer squashes from Garner’s. We selected hot dogs from Truck Patch for grilling, pastries from Panorama Bakery to consume right there (with iced coffee drinks from Big Bear Cafe next door), and some cheese from Keswick Creamery (and chocolate pudding … for the husband). After cooling down on Big Bear’s patio — where the boy joined several other children in planting himself under the mister — we picked up a pint of Dolcezza gelato to go as well.

But back to the pie… Pie crust is nothing complicated — butter (or lard), salt, sugar, flour, water. Use cold butter and work quickly, and chill the dough thoroughly before rolling it out. Rolling a pie crust is an essential skill  for any child to learn, so sprinkle a generous amount of flour onto your clean counter or cutting board and put them to work — and then, should it turn out less photogenic than you’d hoped, you can just inform your guests that your little one made the crust.

Now the good thing about pie is that once you conquer your fears of crust-making, the filling is endlessly adaptable. A couple (~4) cups of berries or fruit, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 1/2-cup or so of sugar, squeeze of lemon juice and pinch of fresh herbs or spices. (I like nutmeg with cherries, a tiny bit of rosemary or thyme with peaches, and of course, cinnamon with apples.) Toss them together and pour into the prepared shell, dot the top with butter and arrange your top crust — or strips, latticed if you want to get fancy — over. Crimp the edges (again, no need to get fancy — a quick pinch will do), cut a few slices for venting, and bake. (400 degrees for about an hour, covering edges with a strip of foil to prevent over-browning.) Voila! Now just try to resist slicing into it until it’s cooled.

It’s #PieParty today, a virtual pie bake-fest created by GlutenFree Girl, and more than a thousand bloggers are conquering crust-phobia to share their pie creations.

When pie baking plans go awry (read: kids or life in general get in the way of baking time), here’s a fall-back strategy: pit the cherries (or otherwise wash/prep the fruit you have on hand), toss them with the cornstarch/sugar/spices, and pour into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Stick it in the freezer until another day… and enjoy almost-instant pie.

* Wondering what else to do with sour cherries? Try homemade bourbon cherries (for the grown ups, of course), or pickle them for a wonderful accompaniment to cheese. If time is less of an issue for you, here’s a recipe to put up sour cherry pie filling for winter, via the domestic guru Mrs. Wheelbarrow.

I mentioned last week that the boy was hosting a cupcake playdate to watch the season premiere of DC Cupcakes. (Oh yes, and if you watched the gorilla party episode really closely…in slow motion…you may have spotted the back of a blond head in the crowd — that was the foodie tot!) It was a lot of fun so I thought I’d share the details.

Step 1: Cupcake Decor. I had the picture of the boy with the cupcake gorilla blown up and posted it on the front door to greet our guests. Then I made cardstock cupcakes with pictures of each of our guests and hung them from ribbons in the doorway leading to the dining room — at the kids’ eye level. They got such a kick out of seeing themselves on cupcakes.

I also made a cupcake stencil and painted cupcakes onto kid-sized aprons, then we set out fabric markers so the kids could decorate their own when they arrived. I love that one of the girls added a cherry on top.

Step 2: Bake cupcakes a day in advance. I used very simple recipes from Martha Stewart, although it wasn’t my favorite vanilla recipe. (I’m not one to shy away from butter in my baked goods, but these were really greasy. Kept them moist, though.)

Recipes: Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate-Buttermilk Cupcakes

After baking, let cupcakes cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

Step 3: Mix up frostings, color (if desired), and divide into disposable pastry bags. Tie the bags shut with rubber bands, and place the bags in tall glasses to keep things neat. (If you make the frosting ahead of time, store in the fridge but remove about an hour before decorating time to allow it to come to room temperature.) Set sprinkles on a lazy Susan if you have one in the center of the table. (I just used my cake stand, and we passed them around.)

Recipes: Georgetown Cupcake’s cream cheese frosting (video) and Chocolate Buttercream. (I halved the chocolate frosting recipe and we still had way more than needed.)

Step 4: Have savory, healthy snacks. I made plain, air-popped popcorn that we set out in little bags — this way the kids weren’t ravenous when they sat down to decorate the cupcakes, and all the sprinkles made it onto the cupcakes first instead of directly into little mouths.

Step 5: Decorate! I bought cupcake boxes at the craft store that each held four. We gave each kid two of each flavor, and set them loose with frostings and sprinkles. After they decorated them, they each picked one to eat and we sent the rest home with them for their parents and siblings.

Step 6: Let them eat (cup)cakes!

Step 7: Ensure an unseasonably warm and sunny day, so that sugar-loaded kids can play soccer/Clone Wars tag in the back yard before getting sent home. (I realize this may be out of your control, but it worked well for us.)

~

A note about food colors: Some of my family-friendly food blogging friends have recently written about artificial food dyes and their impact on childrens’ behavior. We try to avoid foods with artificial ingredients, but occasionally use artificial colors on special treats. If you prefer to avoid them altogether, look for India Tree natural colors, available at natural food stores. Their colored sugars are a nice alternative to sprinkles.