Banana Bread to Cure What Ails You

 Back when my husband was going through cancer treatments, we lived in North Carolina for a couple of months. One day our longtime pastor and his wife and another good friend decided to come visit us, and our pastor--who is an excellent baker--brought all sorts of baked goodies to share.  They were all delicious, but the banana bread spoke to me. I loved it so much that I ate a sliced, toasted and spread with almond butter, served with dark Yorkshire Gold tea, every afternoon until it was gone, and I'm not sure anyone else touched it. It was a wonderful comfort food during a very hard time. 

When a friend's family was going through a health crisis with their daughter a year and a half ago, I took them a loaf of this banana bread.  It seemed to make everyone feel better. We suspect it has healing properties!

At some point I also left some banana bread muffins with my Dad in Charleston.  He called me later to point out how good they were, and how good he felt.  So this is definitely a recipe to cure whatever ails you in life. :) 

The Best Banana Bread

(from the kitchen of a kindly Presbyterian pastor)

Mix at medium speed until well-blended:

*3-4 medium-sized very ripe bananas (I have used 2.5, to fine effect)

*2 eggs

*1/2 cup olive oil

*1/4 cup buttermilk

*1/4 cup orange juice (if you don't have orange juice, you can just use another 1/4 cup buttermilk--this is a flexible recipe)

Then add the following sifted ingredients:

*2 c. unbleached flour

*1.5 tsp baking powder

*1.5 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp salt

*one-half to one full cup of sugar (I use sucanat, and I use a scant half-cup)

Mix all this at medium speed until well-blended.  At this point you can add some nuts if you like--I don't!--or add a few very generous handfuls of dark chocolate chips (60% Ghiaradelli)--which I do. 

Pour into an oiled and parchment-lined loaf pan and bake 1 hour at 300 degrees or until a test toothpick comes out clean.  

Eat, and be comforted!

White Bean & Ham Soup and Whole Wheat Rolls

Yesterday was gorgeous and springy, with lots of sunshine and birdsong. I spent the afternoon and part of the early evening putting in most of our garden.  I planted tomatoes, a couple of butternut squash plants, peppers, basil, and some late lettuce plants, and also sowed the seeds for three types of pumpkins, green beans, cucumbers, acorn squash, and more butternut squash. When I began, I thought, our garden space is so large, I certainly will have lots of room left but by dinner last night I was thinking we really need to till up another garden plot.

Here's the sketch of this year's planting!  I will be rotating in zucchini, yellow squash, more tomatoes, and more beans in a week or two.

I wanted to get everything in yesterday because I knew today was supposed to be rainy, and it is! In fact, it's both rainy and cold.  I had to wake both of my children around 8:30. We have spent the morning reading in separate corners of the living room while the washer and dryer do my chores.  It's not even lunchtime and I've already had a cup of coffee and a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea!  

Well: some days are meant to be quiet and cozy, so I'm just going to let this one unfold that way. If the rain ceases later today, I'll take my walk; if not, I'll just make peace with having a sedentary Tuesday!

One extra cozy thing to have on a rainy, cold day is soup.  I make lots of different soups, but this one is a newer favorite.  Although I tend not to eat much meat, this soup does contain ham, because it adds such a good flavor.  It's the simplest soup in the world to throw into the crockpot in the morning, and it cooks all day and infuses the house with coziness.  Later today I'll start a batch of rolls with freshly-milled wheat--another cozy touch, and another recipe I'll include below!

White Bean and Ham Soup

1 lb. dried white beans (great northern or navy) 

32 ounces chicken stock 

2 cups diced ham*

1 onion

3 cups water

Place these ingredients into a crockpot and turn it on high.  Let it cook all day; after a few hours I usually turn it to low or warm and let it simmer.  

Half an hour or so before serving, stir in 1c. of milk (or, if you're really needing some energy, heavy cream or half-and-half!). 

The recipe is deceptively simple!  I'm serious: this may be my favorite soup of all-time. The flavor combination is just so satisfying on a cold day. 

Easy Whole Wheat Rolls 

1 c. warm water

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

2 T. butter

1 packet (or 2.5 tsp) yeast

3 1/4 c. flour** 

Combine 1 c. warm water and yeast in a bowl, and stir.  Let it sit for a few minutes.

Add 3 c. flour and 1/4 c. sugar plus 1 egg and 1 tsp salt, then chop the 2 T. butter into bits and add that. Mix with a dough hook. (I have also just mixed by hand.)

If the dough is still too wet, add 1/4 c. flour and mix. It should form a ball that is not sticky. 

Cover with a towel and let rise 1.5 hours. 

Flour hands and punch down dough, then form it into a ball again. On a lightly-floured cutting board, cut the ball in half, then cut eat half in half again, and so forth, until you have 16 mostly-equal pieces of dough.  Form these into roll shapes and place in a lightly-greased pan.

Cover with a towel and let rise 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Optional: brush tops with butter when they are hot out of the oven. 

*      *      * 

I like to serve the soup and rolls with a side of fresh fruit (or a salad for grown-ups who like raw vegetables!).  And that's dinner here tonight!

*For the ham: I buy a ham and dice it (a laborious task made better by listening to something uplifting) and freeze in 2 cup quantities in quart freezer bags for the sole purpose of making this soup! Because frankly, we don't eat ham otherwise--but it's so nice to have on hand for soup.

**You may use all-purpose flour, or half all-purpose and half whole wheat; I grind wheat berries and make these rolls 100% whole wheat, but I don't think you can do that with store-bought wheat!

Curried Red Lentil Soup (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

This is a recipe for a family staple that I make at least twice a month.  Finn absolutely loves it; Annie tolerates it; and my husband and I never tire of it.  When Finn was a little guy, our local natural foods co-op had a great little deli restaurant.  He was gluten-free and dairy-free in those days, so our Tuesday treat was to go into the city, go to the farmers' market, and have lunch at the co-op deli.  I always got this soup for Finn, and he loved it so much that one day I asked the waitress if I could get the recipe.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, "he [meaning the chef] is kind of funny about those things...."

She went to the back.  I saw the chef looking at us. He'd seen us a million times before.  A few minutes later, he shuffled out to my table, tossed a sheet of paper on it, said "hope you're good at math" with a wry chuckle, then walked away.

YES! I got the coveted recipe! And I *am* good at math, so I could reduce the enormous quantities of the original recipe in proportion and come up with something appropriate for the home cook.  Since then I've tweaked it slightly (and memorized it so I never actually look at the recipe), and the chef has moved on, and I haven't seen this soup at that deli for a long time, so I will post it here in case you need a bit of curried carrot comfort during these chilly autumn days--at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere!

*Curried Red Lentil Soup*

2 T. olive oil

2 large onions, diced (you can definitely use more!)

8 c. water

2 cups dry red lentils (rinsed and drained)

2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped 

2 14-oz coconut milk

1 tsp. salt

2 bay leaves

for the spices

1 T. olive oil

2 T. fresh ginger, minced

2 T. curry powder

1 T. fresh garlic, minced

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onions and cook until they begin to brown slightly.  Add water, lentils, carrots, coconut milk, salt and bay leaves. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the carrots and lentils are tender. Remove from heat.

In a small saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat, and then add the ginger, curry powder, garlic and cilantro, and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add to the lentil mixture.

Remove the bay leaf, puree with an immersion blender, and serve. 

*              *           * 

Although it seems like a beta carotene overkill, we like to eat this soup with my vegan, gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  The recipe for those is here (and I actually double this and make 24 muffins every time, freezing leftovers for to have for quick breakfasts or my children's bedtime snacks).  Something about the curry flavor of the soup and the warm cinnamon and ginger spices of the muffins works quite well together, at least in our opinions.

Happy cooking!

Easy Hospitality Supper, Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Recipe & A Prayer Request

I'm just wrapping up "peak week" of May in our household.  This month is extremely busy, and this week saw the perfect storm of nearly everything: from the normal (piano, violin, co-op, art, ballet, Bible study) to the less common (haircut, ballet rehearsal, attending a play, houseguests).  

Annie's ballet recital is this afternoon and her costume is enchanting: ice blue over a pinkish-beige, with a pinkish-beige flower in her hair, and blue fairy wings.  She is nervous and excited.  Three-fourths of the grandparents will be in attendance, and I'm about to go pick flowers for her bouquet.  I could have ordered roses from the ballet school, but the coral bells and peonies and lilacs are peppering my flower beds right now! And they're free! 

Tonight we're hosting grandparents after the show, so here's my Easy Hospitality Menu:

*bacon-wrapped chicken

*roasted Yukon gold potatoes

*steamed broccoli

*key lime pie cheesecake 

It's simple, healthy (I mean, minus the pie), and easy. This morning I'm prepping the chicken and bacon, cutting the broccoli, and making the pie.  So this evening all I'll need to do is cut and roast the potatoes (easy), steam the broccoli, and cook the chicken!

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The key lime pie cheesecake recipe is a standby here and one of my signature desserts, so I'd love to share it:

*Two-Layer Key Lime Pie Cheesecake*

Acquire or make a graham cracker crust. 

Set out an 8-oz package of cream cheese to soften. 

For the baked layer: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together a can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup key lime juice (I sometimes just use regular lime juice) and 3 large egg yolks. Pour into the crust and bake until set--about 8-9 minutes in my oven. Let cool.

Once the baked layer is cool, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese with 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk  (yes, more of that!), 1/4 cup of lime juice, and a little dash of vanilla. Beat until smooth, then pour over cooled baked layer, and smooth the top.  

Cover and chill until firm--at least four hours or so. If you want, pipe whipped cream around the edges before serving, but I never do it!

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And finally, if you feel led, please join me in praying for my husband.  His routine 3-month checkup with the surgeon on Wednesday revealed some anomaly that may be scar tissue from his surgery in January or it may be a recurrence of cancer. He will go in next Friday the 18th for a PET scan.  We always want to pray that God's will be done, but I'm also praying that God's will is that this is merely scar tissue.  I spent a little while in agony over the "what ifs", which are scary to consider, given this particular type of cancer, and now we're just waiting.  God very clearly gave me this Bible verse on Thursday morning: 

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. 

-Psalm 27:13-14

And so we do. 

(Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free, Whole Wheat) Christmas Cookies

I am skidding into Christmas Eve feeling exhausted.  But before exhaustion set in, I made these cookies so my husband will have a treat on Christmas.   I took a recipe I have used before and modified it, and it worked well.  

Combine: 

3/4 c. honey

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. softened vegan margarine

2 T. flax meal 

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Then add 2 cups whole wheat flour. 

Roll dough into 1-inch balls, then roll balls into finely chopped pecans (you'll need about a cup of pecans).  Place on greased cookie sheet 2" apart, then make impression in center of cookies.  Bake at 350 degrees--in my oven, these were done after about 5-7 minutes.  

After baking, fill each indention with a dollop of jelly or preserves.  In order to make them entirely sugar-free, I just blended some frozen raspberries and used that before I baked them.  I am storing these in the freezer until it's time to eat them. 

The original recipe is as follows:

Combine:

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. softened butter

2 egg yolks (reserve whites)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Add 2 cups of flour.

Roll dough into 1" balls, roll balls into egg whites, and then roll in finely chopped pecans.  Place on greased cookie sheet 2" apart. Make impression in center of cookies and bake at 350 degrees (I bake mine for 5 minutes, but the original recipe tells me to bake it for 15!).  Fill center with jelly or preserves (stir jelly before filling cookies).  

Merry Christmas! 

Sour Cherry Pie

My grandfather and his daughter-in-law came down for lunch today--to visit, to watch Finn's birthday video, and to meet the new neighbors (our eight chickens!). 

After lettuce topped with chicken salad and pecans, a tray of crackers and cheese, and a big bowl of fruit salad, I served dessert: sour cherry pie.  The original plan was shortbread, but when my father-in-law and brother-in-law brought a few gallons of sour cherries over yesterday, the plan changed. 

Picked yesterday, pitted last night, and baked into a crust today: I think this is the best sour cherry pie I've ever made *or* tasted.

My husband emailed me to ask if the pie is vegan.  "The pie is completely vegan, except for one stick of butter," I replied.  

We'll see how that plays out after dinner tonight.....

Lemon Sponge Roll

(Inspired by watching an episode of the Great British Baking Show back at the end of my flu week last month.....)

Incarnation Number One:

A sponge cake (a la The Joy of Cooking) spread with a thin layer of store-bought lemon curd and a thicker layer of sweetened whipped cream, then rolled up and sprinkled with powdered sugar. 

Too sweet for me, but a good first attempt. I'm shocked that the cake didn't just fall apart when I rolled it up! 

Incarnation Number Two (just completed, for Easter dinner tomorrow): 

The same sponge cake recipe, spread with a homemade lemon filling (also a la The Joy of Cooking) and sweetened whipped cream, then rolled up and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  It will be served alongside a few sprigs of mint, I think. 

The jury is still out and won't be in until tomorrow afternoon, but so far I think Incarnation Number Two wins.  The homemade lemon filling is creamier, more tart, and more luscious than the sad jar of boughten curd.  

I'm also taking asparagus tart to Easter dinner tomorrow, but I'm using gruyere and parmesan to up the ante a bit.  It's Easter, after all! 

The Great Baking Week*

I got a head start on this week sometime last week, but this is the Great Baking Week here.  Finn is trying to raise money to help fund a medical clinic in a developing country, and we're selling Christmas treat trays.  Delivery is this Sunday!

I'm making 10 different types of goodies.  Yesterday we did the labor-intensive chocolate truffles and peanut butter balls, and today I baked magic cookie bars and Italian nut cookies (delicious little gems rolled in crushed pecans with a wee dollop of red raspberry jam in the center).  Each day has clearly delineated work to do! The List is my friend because it keeps chaos at bay.

By the end of this week, the rest of my baking (vegan goodies for my husband and traditional fruitcakes for my father) will seem like a walk in the park! I'm having fun, though...mostly because I am following The List.

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*Having a Great Baking Week not recommended for anyone with children under the age of 5 (unless you have some seriously helpful teenagers or adults around).  Trust me on this.  Trust me on this.

Butterfly Cookies

Twice a year I make butterfly cookies for a spiritual retreat, and the fun of it is in letting Finn and Annie decorate them.  This year it was mostly Annie, because Finn was otherwise engaged at the swingset outside. 

I mix the cookies and cut them out and bake them, and then I whip up the icing and let her have at it.  I love all the color and craziness of these cookies.

Annie is such fun these days.  I just love her sparkling spirit, her precious personality, her determination, her fierce tenderness.  And her cookie aesthetics!

Pink Birthday Treats (and Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting)

My birthday was a whole month ago! But I just transferred photos from the camera to the computer....

My father and stepmother always send me a bouquet of flowers. I love this tradition. 

On my visit to the antiques store, I bought this apron.  The hanger doesn't do it justice: it's the cutest thing ever.  I love cleaning house in all these polka dots!

My carrot cake was delicious. I had been thinking about it since I made one for my friend MB's birthday in May 2014.  Yes, I thought about carrot cake for a long time!

*Gluten-Free Carrot Cake*
No pineapple, no nuts in the batter, no raisins!

2 c. all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (make your own, or buy one! I bought one for the first time ever!)

a couple hearty shakes of cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sucanat

1/2 c. brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

4 eggs

6 carrots, peeled and finely grated on a box grater

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 9-inch cake pans, I also line mine with parchment paper.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  

Beat sugars, oil and buttermilk until well-combined, then beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in the carrots, then add flour mixture a little at a time.  Pour into the pans and bake until done. (I usually don't time my baking, so I can't say how long! My guesstimate: 25 minutes-ish.)

Cool cake completely before frosting. 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

8-oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 stick of softened butter

8 ounces confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T. buttermilk

a few shakes of cinnamon

Combine cream cheese and butter and beat 3 minutes.  Add the sugar slowly and beat until combined, then add the vanilla, buttermilk and cinnamon and beat until fluffy.  

I sprinkled cinnamon on top of my icing, too, just because it looked good. When I made it for MB I put crushed pecans all around the sides, but I skipped that this time due to a nut allergy among our guests.

 Enjoy!

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Autumn is almost here!  And on this cold and rainy day it truly feels like fall and makes me think of baking with pumpkin. While wearing a sweater.

This is my go-to pumpkin muffin recipe, adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance. (Here's a photo.)

1 3/4 c. flour (I use a combination of oat flour, sorghum flour, rice flour)

Between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup sugar (or sucanat)

1 T baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (I just use a long dash or three)

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp allspice 

1/8 tsp cloves

1 cup pureed pumpkin 

1/2 cup non-dairy milk of choice, or cow's milk if you can do dairy

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 T molasses 

chocolate chips

Mix all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips together, In a separate, larger bowl, mix the wet ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined, then stir in the chocolate chips. Bake in greased muffin tins (mini or regular) at 400 degrees until they are done--in my oven, this is between 10-15 minutes.

Happy autumn!

Mother's Day Luncheon and A Gluten-Free Brownie Recipe

Today after Sunday School and church we hosted my mother-in-law (and father-in-law, and brother-in-law!) for lunch.  I basically copied the menu from my last luncheon because it was so easy for the vegan person, gluten-free child, and carnivorous guests.  I baked brownies for dessert today, though, and topped them with mint-chocolate chip ice cream because my mother-in-law likes mint!  

Many mothers were represented today: 

the tablecloth was a gift from my stepmother

the linen napkins were passed down from my paternal great-grandmother

the plates were from my mother-in-law's mother

the flatware is from my father-in-law's mother

the peonies are from my garden, but my aunt gave the plants to me a few years ago

....and we had lunch in the house my mother built! 

I did not do any of this intentionally--it's just that a sentimental sort like myself finds these connections easily.  

*            *            *

As an added bonus: Gluten Free Brownies a la The Joyful House

*Melt 2 sticks of butter (or equivalent dairy-free version like Earth Balance) on stovetop

*While it's melting, combine 1/2 c. oat flour and 1/2 c. sorghum flour with 3/4 c. (preferably Dutch-process) cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a small bowl

*Remove butter from heat and let cool slightly 

*In a large bowl, beat four eggs with 1.5 cups of sucanat (or sugar)

*Add butter to egg-sugar mixture and mix well

*Add dry ingredients to butter-egg-sugar and mix until well-combined

*Bake at 350 in 9x13 until done (about 15 minutes in my oven!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Snow Day Cookies (Flourless/Gluten Free-Nut Butter-Oat-Chocolate-Chip!)

If you are snowed-in, here's a gluten-free cookie recipe that will tide you over until spring...or at least until the next big thaw.  This recipe makes a lot of cookies--enough to share a large plateful with the neighbor who plows your driveway and the brother-in-law who pops in for dinner, with plenty leftover for the remainder of the week.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cream:
2 sticks of softened butter
1 cup of sugar (I use sucanat, and cut the quantity slightly)
1 cup of brown sugar

Add (in this order, mixing well all the while):
3 eggs (one at a time)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
1.5 creamy peanut butter--or almond butter!
4.5 cups of rolled oats (gluten-free if you need them)

Then stir in chocolate chips, M&Ms, toffee bits, raisins, whatever!  I aim for 2 cups of goodies--usually just plain old chocolate chips, which pair so nicely with the peanut butter.

Place in 1 T. balls 2" apart on baking sheets.  Mine bake between 5-6 minutes in my oven, and then cool for about 2 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Chocolate Pie

I've made this pie twice now and it is a keeper! The second time I made it, for my sister's birthday, we topped some pieces with dollops of freshly-whipped cream, for those of us who are not dairy-free...and a few graham cracker crumbs from the crust.  There is, in fact, a pie underneath all that whipped cream. I promise!

I made a graham crust with gluten-free graham cracker crumbs and dairy-free "butter". Then I followed this recipe for the chocolate filling.  It uses pantry staples and no soy, and the chocolate flavor is dark and not cloyingly sweet, which I like!

For a completely dairy-free version, you could top with whipped coconut milk.....

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Christmas Baking

The tree has been up for a couple of weeks and the house is decorated so it's baking time!

I always bake traditional fruitcakes for my father every year, full of gluten and butter (and many pounds of nuts and fruits, a dozen eggs, a pound of butter..you get the idea). 

But for our own purposes I am baking a smattering of gluten-free, dairy-free goodies that I hope will carry us through to the New Year.  Here's the list:

Chocolate truffles (a must-have holiday treat for my son!)

"Reindeer Food"--a nightmarish concoction involving rice chex, powdered sugar, peanut butter, chocolate.....my son loves this stuff....

Chocolate hazelnut meringues

Peanut Butter Balls

Almond cookies

Rice krispy candy 

Last week I made the rice krispy candy.  Today we're whipping up the meringues and the truffles.  I usually make truffles beautifully with two ingredients: chocolate and cream.  This year I had to modify to make them dairy-free. We'll make everything else later in the week. 

If I have good luck with these recipes I will share them!  

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins, that is.  Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and yummy.