For the Haters: Coconut Spice Crispies

I recently got my first snarky blog comment. An anonymous person actually took the time to write, "Do you ever cook from your 'own' recipe book? I understand your blog but it seems that any individual who watched the food channel and or watched a repeated 'youtube' episode could just as much reproduce your blog."

First of all, YES, I do cook from my "own" recipe book. Every day, in fact. My typical meals are things I simply throw together without a recipe using what's on hand in the kitchen, nothing special or complicated. But, that's not what this blog is all about. You, dear anonymous commenter, obviously do NOT understand my blog...because if you did, you'd know that I focus on NEW things I've tried in the kitchen...like cleaning squid, perfecting homemade biscuits, cooking wild duck, or skinning out a pig's head & rigging up a make-shift sous-vide machine to make Porchetta di Testa. I would encourage you, Mr. or Mrs. Anon, to reproduce THAT! Seriously. DO IT. And then leave me a link to YOUR food blog.

Besides, I HAVE posted several family recipes (like Aunt Anna Mae's rice pilaf, Grandma Martin's cranberry salad, Mom's fried tacos, & my husband's great-great-grandmother's sauteed spinach) and some original recipes (like flourless chocolate & red wine cake, our favorite fried green tomatoes, or my version of Thai beef lettuce wraps) as well.

And as far as anyone being able to reproduce my blog...isn't that true for almost any food blog? There are thousands of food blogs out there and only a handful are 100% original. That is true for most cookbooks as well. Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics or Mark Peel's New Classic Family Dinners don't include all original recipes, but they are both great cookbooks. I mean, home cooking is all about adapting other recipes...learning a basic technique and tweaking it to fit your own tastes. I didn't invent flourless chocolate cake or fried green tomatoes or lettuce wraps, but I did add a little personal touch to those recipes.

Take, for example, this recipe...which was inspired by one in Heidi Swanson's cookbook Super Natural Cooking for "Do-It-Yourself Power Bars." Her "Power Bars" are made with puffed rice cereal, rolled oats, oat bran, nuts, dried fruit, and brown rice syrup (see my previous post on that recipe here). Her online version features coconut and ground espresso. I've been wanting to try the Power Bars again, and I thought a spicy version would be good, a more "adult" version of classic Rice Krispies. So, here is MY take on her recipes:

Coconut Spice Crispies

2 cups unsweetened puffed rice cereal (I used organic brown rice crisps from Whole Foods)

3/4 cup sweetened coconut

1 cup brown rice syrup (also from Whole Foods)

1/4 cup raw sugar

1 tablespoon candied ginger, minced

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter.
• Toast the coconut in a non-stick skillet on the stovetop or on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes or so, until golden and fragrant. Cool before using.
• In a large bowl, mix together the cereal, coconut, & candied ginger.
• Combine the rice syrup & sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil and thickens, about 4 minutes.
• Pour the syrup over the cereal mixture & sprinkle with the spices; stir until evenly combined.
• Press into the buttered dish. Chill in the refrigerator until set.