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.

Strawberry-Balsamic Stoneground Cornmeal Muffins

live in the (berry stained) now.
Strawberry-Balsamic 
Stoneground Cornmeal Muffins

strawberries in all things because they are everything.

It recently came to my attention that I've been approaching this whole strawberry thing wrong for a good portion of my adult life. Call it something of a culinary epiphany. Each year I dutifully drive to the u-pick, spend the better part of an afternoon plucking perfectly ripe little gems straight from the plant, haul my pounds and pounds of berries back home and proceed to jam and can for what feels like days. Because of this my pantry shelves look mighty impressive, and I always have holiday gifts covered, but I eat shamefully few strawberries during their sadly brief season. As this summer began, I took stock of my still jam-packed (that's a pun, mind you) larder and decided NEVER AGAIN. Too much damn jam and not enough berries in my belly. This year I'm making a change. No more unnecessary self-denial.

Strawberries in/ on/ over all the things until there are no more. 

I'm living in the berry-stained moment.

Strawberry-Balsamic 

Stoneground Cornmeal Muffins

(makes 1 dozen medium muffins)

1c stoneground cornmeal

1 1/4c whole wheat pastry flour

1/2c unrefined sugar

1Tbsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

1/2tsp finely ground sea salt

2tsp apple cider vinegar

1.5tsp vanilla extract

2c fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

1Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1c unsweetened non dairy milk

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4c canola or other neutral oil

extra sugar for dusting tops of muffins

Strawberry-Rhubarb Balsamic Crumble

'tis the season for such things.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Balsamic Crumble.

things to be thankful for.

The transition from spring to summer can be a rough one. Almost overnight the once irresistible idea of leisurely days spent hanging out in back yards and on porches pales in comparison to spending said days in our underwear on the couch under an air conditioner.  But there is a brief moment in early New England summer where strawberry and rhubarb seasons align perfectly. I think it's Mother Nature's way of helping to ease the seasonal cross-over, gently reassuring us that everything will be ok. Yes, we'll be sweating through our clothes for the next two and a half months, but for now THERE ARE STRAWBERRIES. And rhubarb.
And those two things in combination are enough to make the whole "spring allergies become summer headaches coupled with unavoidable sunburn
and sweating profusely until fall" thing worth it.

So, we will gather rhubarb and we will stand in the sunshine, plucking ripe berries straight from strawberry plants until our fingers are stained red 

and we will remember that we are lucky. 

Even if we are a little bit overheated.

this is a good place to be standing.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Balsamic Crumble

(Serves 4-6)

 Filling:
2c washed and hulled strawberries, halved or quartered
1 1/2c rhubarb, sliced into 1/4" pieces
1Tbsp unrefined sugar
1Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2tsp  lemon zest
2Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Topping:
1/2c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2c light brown sugar
1/4c vegan butter or slightly chilled coconut oil
1/2tsp ground sea salt
1/2tsp vanilla
1tsp cinnamon + extra for topping
fresh mint for garnish (optional)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Sugar Breakfast Pretzels

no co-pay.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Sugar Breakfast Pretzels.

Emotional well being in tiny pretzel form.

Early spring in New England is a filthy tease. It is consistent in its confusing, frustrating... inconsistency. The first gloriously warm day will give way to snow, then wind, then rain, rain, RAIN. Those longer daylight hours I pined for all winter seem pointless because, really, it just means more gray skies. Because of you, New England spring, my body is irrationally craving gorgeous, colorful, leafy vegetables that have not yet arrived. I never know whether or not to wear a coat. Everything is muddy and, worst of all, baseball season has not yet begun. 

How do I cope?

With food, of course, and lots of it.

Pretzel therapy.

Breakfast pretzel therapy, more specifically.

Because, gray or not, any day that starts with a soft pretzel is a good day.

Cheaper than seeing your shrink and a lot more emotionally satisfying.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Sugar Breakfast Pretzels

(makes 16 mini pretzels)

1 3/4c whole wheat pastry flour

3/4c lukewarm water

2tsp active dry yeast

3Tbsp coconut sugar (you can also use organic sugar)

1Tbsp extra virgin olive oil + extra for greasing the bowl

1/4tsp ground sea salt

1Tbsp melted unrefined coconut oil

1Tbsp ground cinnamon

1Tbsp coconut or organic sugar

Baked Banana Bourbon Donuts with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

mmm...alliterative. 

Baked Banana-Bourbon Donuts with 
Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting.

The answers are all here.

I wouldn't call myself a particularly together person. Most of the time I'm bordering on what could only be described as mildly unhinged and grasping for answers, but there are two things I know with absolute certainty: 1) bourbon makes everything better and 2) the same can be said of donuts. Emboldened by these dual concrete truths and inspired by a few past their prime bananas, a donut pan and a bottle of our finest barrel aged, I embarked on some EXTREMELY CONFIDENT
baked banana-bourbon donut making. 

Plus a little cashew cream cheese frosting composition, for good measure,
and further alliterative hilarity. 

Baked Banana-Bourbon Donuts

(makes 10 donuts, using a standard donut pan)

2 large over-ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 1/2c whole wheat pastry flour

1/3c melted unrefined coconut oil

2/3c brown sugar

1Tbsp ground flax seed

+

3Tbsp boiling water

2Tbsp bourbon

1tsp vanilla extract

1/2tsp sea salt

1tsp baking soda

2tsp cinnamon

Whole Wheat Pita

Homemade Whole Wheat Pita 
or how i learned to stop worrying and love the poof.

insert "leaning tower" joke here.

Not to oversell or anything, but learning to bake bread will change your life. And, as a tidy little bonus, it will forever impress your loved ones
and save you a ton of money. Downside? Not a one.

I've been rocking this particular pita recipe for a few years now and can wholeheartedly attest to its life-change-y goodness. The mechanics of it may still confuse the hell out of me (WHY DOES IT POOF??), but the finished product is so damn good the worries and confusion just melt away.

Don't ask questions.
Just learn to love the poof.