Yeasted Whole Wheat-Vanilla Waffles with Coconut Whipped Cream + Record Shopping & Sky Gazing.

Yeasted Whole Wheat-Vanilla Waffles 

with

Coconut Whipped Cream

(+ Record Shopping & Sky Gazing).

waffle therapy.

Last week was kind of shitty. Lots of unanticipated stress and weirdness. Lots of scattered thoughts and interrupted sleep, lots of anxious heart pounding, lots of forgetting to eat for an entire day. Nothing earth shattering, just...disrupting. So the weekend called for some serious food therapy, hence waffles, and some serious soul therapy, hence flipping through bins of musty old records. 

Both helpful in their own ways, though one smells significantly better. 

A little riff on an old favorite because, as we all know, 

everything's better with coconut. 

Yeasted Whole Wheat-VanillaWaffles 

with Coconut Whipped Cream

(serves 4/ makes about 12 waffles)

2 14oz cans organic full fat coconut milk,

refrigerated (unopened) overnight

1/2c lukewarm water

1 1/2c whole wheat flour

1c all purpose flour

1/2c unrefined coconut oil

2 1/2tsp active dry yeast

1tsp raw sugar

1/2tsp ground sea salt

1tsp vanilla bean paste (extract will work, too)

2Tbsp ground flax seed + 6Tbsp boiling water

1tsp baking soda

additional 2-3tsp unrefined sugar + 1/2tsp vanilla paste for coconut cream

1c wild blueberries or other fresh fruit, for serving

nice nooks.

"Thank You, Summer" Ratatouille + 36 Hours in Midcoast Maine.

good times, (metaphorical) noodle salad.

"Thank You, Summer" Ratatouille

+

36 Hours in Midcoast Maine.

summer kicks ass.

When I originally posted this recipe just about a year ago my folks were packing up the last of their boxes and getting ready to make the permanent move from Virginia to Maine and I wasn't handling it particularly well. It's hard to let go of a place where so many of your firsts happened. First steps, first words, first kiss, first love, first heartbreak...you know the drill. At the time it felt like the end of an unbearably large number of things; I pulled out of the driveway for the last time
and cried all the way across the blue ridge mountains. 

Melodramatic, I know, but that's how it went down. 

And that's probably why I gave this recipe such a depressing name the first time around. Summer's End Ratatouille?? Sheesh. Shoulda just called it "we all die" vegetable medley... Over the past year I've come to realize that home is where your people are, that past is past, present is present, and memories are yours regardless of where your parents live. I've also come to realize that (as a tidy little bonus) coastal Maine is a pretty kick-ass place for said people to be, especially in the summertime. 

So, in the spirit of newfound emotional maturity,
I'm re-branding this recipe "thank you, summer" ratatouille. 

No melodrama, no sad-sackery. 

Just an unabashed appreciation of the season, while it lasts. 

Knowing full well it'll be back around again soon enough.
Nothing but good times and noodle salad (bonus points if you get that reference).

every little bit of it.

"Thank You, Summer" Ratatouille
now with even less melodrama

(serves 4-6) 

3Tbsp olive oil

2-3Tbsp red wine 

1 large onion (yellow or red), thinly sliced

1 full head of garlic, cloves finely minced

two bell peppers, green red or yellow, sliced thin

Diced eggplant (any variety), about 3-4 cups

1-2 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into thin slices

3-4 medium-sized tomatoes, diced (about 2c)

salt and black pepper to taste

1/2c shredded fresh basil leaves

full recipe here.

And now a few of my favorite Maine-based things: