Today is our final April post for our Kitchen Matrix Project, named after Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix cookbook. You can read about the year-long project: here. This month, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm chose the recipes.
This week, she selected 'Dessert Bars'. You can read Bittman's dessert bar ideas online if you don't have a copy of the cookbook.
More Sweet Treats
Pure Exhaustion
Funny story...to give you some context. We have all been working hard to help R finish his MYP (that's Middle Years Programme in the International Baccalaureate system) Personal Project. Picture a school year-long project that's student-driven and encompasses whatever they want to explore. And, given that he's mine and Jake's, he's doomed to undertake something the polar opposite of simple. If you're interested, you can check out his blog: Weaving the Green Machine.
Over the years I've asked the boys to simplify...Tech
Challenge, Science Fair, History Day. The list goes on and on. They just laugh
at me and ask if I'm the pot or the kettle. So, for this project, we all pitched in to help him make his (already extended) deadline. This past weekend had D coloring the rivets, Jake building the base with wood, and me soldering. Yes, you read that correctly: I was soldering. For. Sixteen. Hours. Oh, my goodness.
At least I had a good teacher...and I only burned myself once. But this was all to set the stage for why I read the two 'Dessert Bars' pages in the cookbook half a dozen times. I was exhausted.
I kept looking at the photo of the beautiful brownies, not making the connection between brownies and a meringue or sponge cake base. Huh? So, I shut the book and emailed Wendy. I don't understand, I wrote.
When I re-read the pages again in the morning I realized, there was no cooking involved; it wasn't a recipe. Bittman was giving suggestions of what to offer at a dessert bar, as in a sweet smorgasbord - not a dessert bar as in a bar cookie.
So, after talking to my trio about what they would want at a dessert bar, we settled on a Banana Split Bar. Easy peasy. And, again, no cooking involved. I picked up all the fixings on my way home from a school meeting and let them sugar it up to get them through the final night of the project.
Base
Toppings
Goodies
...or this....
Banana Split Bar
So, after talking to my trio about what they would want at a dessert bar, we settled on a Banana Split Bar. Easy peasy. And, again, no cooking involved. I picked up all the fixings on my way home from a school meeting and let them sugar it up to get them through the final night of the project.
Ingredients
Base
- Bananas
- ice cream (I offered 3 flavors: cardamom, vanilla, and bittersweet chocolate)
- whipped cream
- organic berries
- mini chocolate chips
- caramel sauce
- chocolate sauce
Procedure
Peel the banana and slice it lengthwise. Place it in an individual serving bowl. Top it with scoops of ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream.
Drizzle it with sauce. And add all your extra goodies. Like this...
...or this....
Enjoy!
And while the project is not completely done, it was done enough to make it to the school open house.... I'm pretty sure the banana splits helped him stay up till almost midnight to finish!
His project is so awesome. You and Jake must be very proud. You all deserved this ice cream treat.
ReplyDeleteThanks. We are proud...but we want it to be done! LOL.
DeleteThis is pretty awesome, and I'm feeling your exhaustion just reading this!!
ReplyDelete