FRUIT AND NUT BAR

Hi there.......hope you are all doing well and keep good spirits. "Good spirits" - is that something in our genes, or is it something that we ought to cultivate, or is it something beyond our control. I for one, have begun to believe that it is something that a few are blessed with, and it is also something that one can learn to cultivate within oneself, by taking the one's who are already blessed with as examples. It surely is not something that is beyond one's control.

We often see a few samples of God's creation who are always seen with a smile on their face, a twinke in their eyes and a spring in their steps....and they spread that attitude to others - isint that true. We look at them and think oh - how happy she or he is....but it surely is not the case that they do not have any issues in their lives. Its just that they have that attitude of letting go. If you hang onto burdens, worries and problems, they have a tendancy to pull you down. But if you learn to give them up, even if for a short while, and allow the Almighty to handle them, maybe just say a small prayer saying that you give up the particular issue into his mighty hands, you will see that you suddenly feel lighter and better. I have tried doing it a lot of times, and maybe you should to.....

My husband was returning from a 15 day tour to Africa, and I was more than excited and happy to have him back home, so that I could fight with him and trouble him. My life is no fun without him, coz I love the constant arguments and then the making up. I wanted to do make something really special for him and God knows where I got the recipe of a "FRUIT AND NUT BAR" from and since I had all the ingredients for it. Without second thoughts, I jumped off the bed and into the kitchen. I even baked a batch of Butterscotch Brownies from MY DIVERSE KITCHEN.

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup light brown sugar (I used normal sugar)
1 1/2 cups walnuts (I used 1 cup almonds & 1/2 cup walnuts)
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries
1 1/2 cup dates, pits removed and cut into quarters
1 cup (165 grams) dried apricots, cut into bite size pieces (i did not use any)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I did not have it so substituted it with maple syrup)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C)
Line a square baking tin wiht aluminum foil & grease it Set aside.
In a large bowl, seive the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Stir in the sugar, walnuts, and dried fruit.
The fruit and nuts should be coated with the flour mixture - nothing better than God gifted hands to do this !!
Whisk the egg and vanilla until light colored and thick in another bowl.

Add the egg mixture to the fruit and nut mixture and mix until all the fruit and nut pieces are coated with the batter. Spread into the prepared pan, pressing to even it out. I did not use my hands but used a spoon this time.

Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and has pulled away from the sides of the pan.

It took all my patience to wait for it to cool down & then cut into peices. I would have got around 16 pieces.

I thought I'd click it, but not much was left to click, but it really tasted good, & am surely going to make it once again. The nuts had a really crunchy texture, n i liked them better than the fruits.