my weekend in snacks:

a handful of pistachios: on a solo drive to fargo, accompanied by fred's coverage of the aspen festival. a 2013 me would have dreaded driving by myself to fargo, but i think driving in north dakota might be my new favorite thing. (as long as it's close enough to the border to pick up minnesota public radio.)

cheese curds: covered in ranch and ketchup, at the fargo street fair with some lovely fargo ladies!

raw chocolate (and tahini) fudge: made in a pre-coffee haze and enjoyed while chasing a fly all around the kitchen. calories burned from chasing the fly = calories consumed in the fudge. we are all even now!

muhammara: on a pizza with lots and lots and lots of caramelized (home grown!) onions. i guess that's not really a snack...

hazelnut cocoa granola bars: with eggboy, sitting in our car in the middle of a beet field, discussing wedding plans. i think i only decided we'd elope once that day.

sweet potato fries: al fresco, with the egg parents, before a wild night of folding laundry and watching wet hot american summer.

hazelnut cocoa granola bars

makes 6-8 large bars

ingredients

1 c packed medjool dates (pits removed)

1/4 c honey

1/4 c tahini

1/4 c cocoa powder

a pinch of sea salt

1 c toasted hazelnuts

1 c toasted oats*

*toast at 350º for 15-20 minutes

clues

in a food processor, grind up the dates to form a paste. add the honey, tahini, cocoa powder, and salt and process to combine.

add the hazelnuts and oats and pulse 40-60 times so that the mixture is roughly combined, and the hazelnuts and oats are coarsely chopped.

turn onto a work surface and knead the mixture so that the hazelnuts and oats are all worked in. flatten out into a rectangle on a piece of parchment paper. you can cut the rectangle into bars now, but it will be easier if you place it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before cutting.

enjoy! store in an air tight container.

-yeh!

ingredients for this recipe were provided by swanson health products, an awesome family-owned online company with a super cute store in fargo!! after hearing about my hazelnut catastrophe they sent me the sweetest ever care package filled with hazelnuts and other goodies. i took to it like a chopped box and came up with these granola bars. it was the most fun!

also, this summer marks swanson's 45th anniversary!! to celebrate, they're giving away a $45 gift certificate to one of you lucky ducks. you can use it for their vitamins, beauty products, healthy foods, or any other goodies on their site. (i'd probably buy $45 worth of justin's almond butter, but that's just me). they ship anywhere in the world, so this giveaway is open to everyone! to enter, leave a comment with your favorite childhood after-school snack! mine was lean pockets. oops, did i say that out loud?

update: this giveaway is now closed.