Pictures of Receding Snow, Two Recipe Reviews, Theme Song HAWMC #11

Today's the "Theme Song" day on HAWMC. Poignant and funny for me given that in my last post I mentioned how big a part of my life music was back in the day and how little part it plays anymore. Doubly poignant because it's been a horrendous and stressful couple days. I've had overloaded semesters before, and as the end approaches they get harder, and my coping mechanisms get more skewed. Our Anchorage trip brought some of that home in scary ways, plus the travel itself is long...

But enough of that! I have some gorgeous pictures of our springtime and our drive to Anchorage to share, and a couple recipe reviews, as well as a happy theme song I managed to find.

So much gorgeous snow still on the Kenai mountains...

But the road is completely clear of snow!

...and on the southfacing mountain slopes lower down, the snow is mostly gone! The alder tips are all red, and the birches are getting ready to bud too.

The night before we left for town, we had a big moose visitor again. This one is a cow, and she looks to be in good shape!

While we were on the road, the snow melted steadily back home. Here's the view from our cabin door--that field of snow is almost gone, running down the bluff toward the ocean as fast as it can go.

And look at this grass--it's found a southfacing rock near the edge of the bluff, warmed by the sun, baked by the rock--tall and green and thriving!

OK--what would my theme song be for this blog, for my health issues, for this space?

While I was lying awake last night, I puzzled over that. I'd love to write my own song, but wasn't in a space to do it last night. I don't listen to many songs much and don't have a very up-to-date internal jukebox. I found myself going back to the nursery rhymes, looking for something happy, but that encapsulated the rollercoaster fact of my life, the cycles, the change.
I ended up with a Hebrew nursery rhyme! I wish I could reproduce the melody as well, because it's so happy! It also involves word-play, which is right up my alley. Here it is:

Uga uga uga, ba ma'agal nachuga
nitztovev kol ha'yom
ad asher nimtza makom
la'shevet la'kum, la'shevet la'kum
la'shevet ve la'kum

And it means--well, "uga" means "cake," but it's also related to the words for "circle" and "twirl around," and it's often sung at kids' birthday parties. So it means,
"Cake, cake cake! We'll twirl around in a circle.
We'll dance around all day long
until we find a place
to sit down, to stand up, to sit down, to stand up,
to sit down and to stand up."

And of course you do the movements as you sing the song!

Speaking of cake, I tried out a couple other bloggers' cakey recipes recently. I'm incapable of following a recipe precisely, and actually I love that when I review other people's recipes, because if it doesn't come out well, I can blame myself, but if it comes out wonderfully, I can credit them for the idea!

First up, I tried out Evan's Lemon cupcakes when Terry was here this weekend--I just had a hunch that she'd really appreciate the lemony coconutty action. I billed them as breakfast muffins, and made them without the frosting, and with less sugar and some erythritol, and used four regular eggs and one small rather than two eggwhites and four eggs.

I swore I took a photo, but apparently I didn't! So my major fail is that I didn't take a picture of these, but they were beautiful! I didn't eat any, but Terry loved them--and Phil did too, which was an unexpected bonus! Thanks so much, Evan!

Second--and this time I did manage to take pics--I tried out Chocolate Covered Katie's Deep Dish Cinnamon Roll Pie. I think I've posted some bean-based cake recipes here before, but hadn't made one for ages, and was excited to try the combination with gf oats--love cinnamon too, of course. My tweaks for this one were: I used great northern beans (which are white beans, I guess). I cut the coconut oil down to just 2 tablespoons (just because); I replaced the sugar with a cup of erythritol and half a teaspoon of stevia, which was sweeter than I needed, but I was making it to share. I baked it in a 9x9, which may not be the prettiest presentation, but it was easier for me to cut into equal pieces so that my calorie-counting math would actually mean something!

The top came out a bit dry and flakey--I've had that happen before with bean-based cakes, and I suspect that my reducing the fat encouraged the tendency, as well as our tiny toaster oven. Otherwise, though, moist, delicious, subtle texture, lovely!
I didn't go to the Easter gathering with all our friends because of my 'flu, but one of my favorite people is on a diet right now and often skipping beloved dessert, so among the various goodies I sent to the party with Phil, I made sure to send some of the cinnamon cake with a note about just how diet-friendly it was!

According to Phil, it was very well received. Thank you, Katie!

Whew! That was a long post! What would your theme song be?

Great Conversations, and Full-on Maca Mojo for Terry--HAWMC #8

Remember this white chocolate maca bark I posted at Terry's urging? Since Terry herself is spending the weekend with us, I made her some dark chocolate maca bark for full-on mojo! Recipe down below.

Today's HAWMC prompt asks for a recreation of the week's best conversation. Something I enjoy pointing out in the Linguistics class I teach is the power of speech as a means of bringing something into existence. Even beyond performative speech acts (like "I pronounce you man and wife;" "I name this ship Sachem"), we create relationships, gifts, connections, and so much more, purely through our use of language.

One of my favorite conversations this week was one I wasn't involved in! But I was involved in the conversation that spawned it. Yesterday, Phil's daughter called from the library (where she works) to say a book had come in for Phil. I confessed to her:

"I thought I'd knocked that 'flu on the head, but as soon as I went out on Friday, I started to feel bad again, and it ended up I couldn't sleep last night---it was my turn to wake Phil up!..." (sympathetic noises from Amy) "I really want to go get a good hot shower or steam at the gym--but of course it's Easter, so everything's closed! Phil said I should ask Leslie (Amy's mom) if I can soak in her tub." Amy said, "Well, if you don't feel comfortable asking mom, you can take a shower at my place, but my water pump's on the fritz so I've been taking power showers, which might not be what you need right now. And you know mom would love to share her tub." "OK, thanks so much. I know you're right about that." 

A few hours later, the phone rang again, and Amy was up at Leslie's and had evidently told her about our conversation. That's the favorite conversation that I didn't even hear! So it was Leslie on the phone, saying "Come on up! Any time you like!" I said "I don't know if I should go anywhere tonight or wait until tomorrow." Leslie said, "I think the sooner you can sweat some of that crud out, the better, and the tub's just sitting there waiting for someone to soak in it."


So, Phil, Terry and I all went up to Leslie's, providing the bonus that Terry got to see Leslie's spectacular panoramic view and visit with her and Amy. And I spent probably 45 minutes in that big tub--big enough for me to lie full-length, or, if I curled in fetal position, I could float back and forth like a veritable fetus. I was grateful for the conversations that took place in my head in there too, this first moment for weeks that I disengaged from everything and just lay quiet in hot water. My thoughts went directly to the poems I'm working on, and it felt so good to have that time to process on them.


I'm so grateful both to Leslie and Amy--I felt so cared about and nurtured, and deep-muscle-relaxed, and I slept so well last night--an unusual thing indeed of late. At this point, I may not make it to our Easter/Passover celebration, which was sort of my idea in the first place, although I'll definitely send Phil laden with goodies. But this time, I'm getting over the 'flu for sure!


Recipe: Chocolate Maca Mojo (Sugar Free, Vegan, Raw)
Terry really appreciated the maca in the original version of this, and she doesn't need to avoid chocolate, so I thought this new version would take it to the next level. I knew she appreciated goji berries, so I added those and cacao nibs for texture. I've mentioned before that I think maca and coconut taste wonderful together: I think a hint of spice makes them even better, so I included some cayenne in this version.


The measurements are a little eccentric, because 3/8 cup cacao butter was what I had, but I think it'll make sense.


Ingredients:
3/8 cup cacao butter
1 cup coconut butter (or "creamed coconut," which comes in 7oz blocks, a little under a cup)
3 tablespoons powdered xylitol
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 1/2 T maca
"a good pinch" cayenne powder
"a good pinch" vanilla powder
"a good pinch" salt


3 tablespoons cacao nibs
3 tablespoons goji berries, chopped


How-to:
Melt the cacao and coconut butters together, and then simply add all the powders in gradually and stir very, very well. Once there are no lumps, stir in the cacao nibs and goji berry pieces.

Pour into molds of choice, refrigerate until set, pop out, and share with abandon! I was going to just give the whole batch to Terry, but then Phil came by and wanted to taste, and said "That's one of the best things you've made!" So he got one of the bars too. I'm so happy he liked it as well.

What was YOUR favorite conversation this week? And gosh, aren't I lucky with my friends?

FFF-Inspired Pumpkin-Carrot-Cake-Bread

Again, thank you so much for the great comments and advice on my dealing with failure post, and also for the shares about 'home-alone' time.

I didn't grow up with pumpkin. Halloween wasn't much of a holiday where I grew up, although I do remember reading a picture book about it at a friend's house, but I only remember that because the text was all rhymed and so stuck in my head ("sister's a witch all dressed in black/brother wears bones, front and back/I'm a ghost with no face/in an old pillowcase").

They didn't even have winter squash at the stores in England when I was a kid, let alone jack o'lanterns, but they do now. In Israel, there was pumpkin in the fall and my grandmother would make it as a side dish, steamed, gloopy, unseasoned, never very appealing (I wonder about that: she is an incredible cook and that's the only thing of hers I never liked--must have been some sort of traditional dish).

Over the past decade, I've come to appreciate pumpkin (and squash in general) for its versatility, working well both as a main course and a dessert vehicle; for its heartiness and nutrient-density while being very low in calories; for its usefulness in vegan and gluten free baking; for its distinctive flavor that still manages to carry other flavors beautifully.

I last wrote about pumpkin as the key ingredient in chocolate mousse (in place of tofu, avocado, etc) in my review of Peggy Kotsopoulos' Must Have Been Something I Ate. I haven't used it since then--I probably prefer sweet potatoes overall, even though they're more caloric. But having pretty much yammed myself out (here, for example), and with the season upon us, it felt like time.

And then I saw Tina's Pumpkin Carrot Cake Bread and was thoroughly intrigued that something could be both pumpkin and carrot, both cake and bread--two delightful pairings delightfully conjoined--and I knew that I had to make a gluten free and vegan version.

 So, I proceeded to do so! At the same time (but at the opposite end of the cabin) I made a regular version for Phil. He gladly ate a big slice and took the rest for journey food.

I also made this version low-sugar.
Here it is--Pumpkin Carrot Cake Bread with thanks to Tina; vegan gluten free, low sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together dry ingredients:
3/4 cup quinoa flour (I ground quinoa grain freshly)
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flax mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup xylitol
1/4 cup molasses

Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir in:
1 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup goji berries (or whatever you prefer--for Phil's, I omitted the gojis and added pumpkin seeds)

Bake for 25 minutes.

Baking is tricky here, since all I have is a toaster oven. At that time and temperature, the breads were just starting to burn on the top and were still doughy in the middle. Luckily, doughy in the middle is exactly how Phil prefers them and in a regular oven, I think this would have been perfect.

Oh, and I thought it was delicious, too. It's very moist and toothsome and spicy, but holds together well. I love how the pieces of carrot have retained some crunch and texture, not mushed completely. Carrots are definitely one of my favorite foods and were a huge selling point in this recipe. Minus the baking soda, I think this would be a great dehydrator bar recipe also.

Do you tweak recipes from cake into bread into bar, from smoothie into mousse into pie?