garden party
after years of good intentions speckled with a few slightly pathetic potted herbs & tiny tomato plants, i finally have a legitimate garden at the community plots near my home. a friend & i decided to join efforts & share duties so we can have more freedom to travel & be occasionally forgetful (let’s be serious — we are both artists), but still have a successful harvest of fresh vegetables & herbs. and we have a very happy little garden, with everything from catnip for the neighborhood stray that likes to linger there (who has been snubbing us lately. i think he overheard us talking about possibly taking him to get neutered & he got really uncomfortable. can’t really blame him, i guess), to okra, beets, chard, greens, tomatoes, peppers, & herbs galore. i have been finding an incredible amount of inspiration from this small, edible patch of fecundity.
humans are meant to dig in the dirt.
there is nothing quite like taking a little stroll & cutting something that you watched & helped grow from a tiny seed, then walking home & cooking it up.
although my stroll & chard harvesting were interrupted by a fidgety, middle-aged man trying to talk me into going on a date with him to burger king & attempting to lure me into his vehicle after i turned down the bk breakfast tryst, but that is a story for another time. (my first thought of a response when he started following me in his car was, while instinctively reaching for my pocket knife, shouting, “when i said no to burger king, i said no to you!” there’s a sentence that an appropriate context for had never occurred to me as a possibility. i really couldn’t make this shit up if i tried. )
chard, sun-dried tomato, onion, dill, & tempeh bacon tofu scramble. yum.
i’ve also been in a bit of a bread baking phase the last week or two.
after two delicious attempts to get the recipe just right, may i present to you:
walnut oat banana bread
it’s gluten-free & vegan, but multiple omnivores with intestines that do not attack them when they consume wheat (lucky fuckers) gobbled it down happily.
makes one loaf
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup of earth balance buttery spread
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons ener-g egg replacer, mixed thoroughly with 4 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup potato starch
- 1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit & lightly grease a standard-sized loaf pan.
mix up your egg replacer & water until frothy (i know, i know. you had almost finally forgotten about the grossness of rick santorum & here i go reminding you — sorry!) & set aside. thoroughly mash your bananas with a fork in a large mixing bowl, then add in the buttery spread, agave nectar, brown sugar, vanilla, egg replacer, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, & salt. stir until well-mixed. there will be some banana lumps; just accept them.
in a separate bowl, stir together your xanthan gum & flours until well integrated. add it into the other bowl. (you know, the one with the banana lumps & the frothy egg replacer. mmm.) add in the oats as well & stir just until combined. don’t over do it. step away.
add in the chopped walnuts, reserving a handful to sprinkle on top for added pizzazz. stir in.
pour into your loaf pan & smooth out the top. sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top & stick it in the motherfuckin’ oven!
bake for 45 to 50 minutes. the bread will be done when you can insert a knife into the top & it comes out clean.
let it cool for a few minutes, then devour a piece (who am i kidding? like three pieces). put some buttery spread on top & have a cup of tea with it while listening to a record. i am including this part in the actual recipe, which means that i am super serious. put on a record & brew some goddamn tea!
when fully cooled, remove from the pan & wrap it up in foil. it keeps well for several days.
open up the window & sit in your favorite corner-nook & think about your day. maybe write about it too. be as honest with yourself as possible. you are going to be okay.
