Gothic Granola

Fun fact, Gothic Granola isn't dead.  Neither am I.  I've been Instagramming my creations but haven't been blogging as I've been creative writing and working on other projects.  Since November 2015 , I have made several kinds of vice cream (vegan ice cream) including: Chocolate Rocky road Mint chocolate chip Pistachio Cherry chocolate chip Kind of whippy vanilla (that's a lot like coco whip )

Every vegan and their mom has a recipe for a berry tart. Because vegan desserts have to be fruit and plant-based, right? Nope. By the way, I learned about this crust recipe from my mother, so there. She made it in December 2012 for a holiday desserts presentation I did for Lawrence Library . My mom made the same crust again as berry mini-pies in for Fourth of July in 2013. These are my fresh berry tarts.  

Mmm, this dessert made me realise how much I miss bread pudding-type desserts! I haven't made any "pain perdu" situations in a while because I have rarely had leftover baked goods, if TC has had any say. Father-in-law gave me two small bottles of Limoncello and said to make something. TC presented it to me as an Iron Chef Challenge. Evaluating what we had on hand, I quickly made a batch of vanilla cupcakes and set some cashews to soaking. Lemon Tiramisu it would be!

Before I had my licence/parents would let me drive, for the super-early National Honor Society morning meetings, Ownie Mom would drive me to school. As usual, she gave me breakfast: a thermos of Earl Grey tea, a pot of Stonyfield Farms organic, low-fat yoghurt (chocolate please!), maybe an apple, and a bag of enhanced trail mix. Trail mix with more stuff became my vice in later years: GORP, M'n'Ms, peanutbutter-filled pretzels, and Quaker Oatmeal Squares. Of course I ate it to stay awake in 2006-2008. I made it for myself and ate it to fill some hunger for the same love and care for my success in 2009-2010.

Let us repeat lesson number one of living with food allergies: You will not be fed. Ever. So get used to it and plan ahead. You will save yourself time, money, and headache. If you learn anything from reading this blog, this is the lesson, hence why I repeat it so often. If you learn anything else, it's that with a little planning and thinking, being vegan and gluten-free can be as normal as breathing oxygen.

Ask a gluten-free person what they miss most and it's most likely bread and beer. When I brought this bread to my gluten-free friend, with shaking hands I presented it--"It's...it's bread. "

Power, paleo, pumpkin, press, pensamientos . Reading is wonderful. As I'm not driving as much during the workweek, I read for news. I'm going to do what my grandparents on both sides fear about blogs: share my opinion! As if I don't any other week.

If you have known and corresponded with me for any length of time, at some point you will receive a picture of a written page instead of a typed message. In the case of my dear friend KJC, I sent her fourteen-page letters composed over several days and Metro rides last fall, pretty much every week. Writing is more efficient for me than typing, though I type faster than I write. Not all efficiency is speed, however. Writing with pen and paper satisfies me physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally more than typing (though there of course are times where my graphomania requires digital paper and ink, and much of it). Nay, while I may seem to undergo Luddite fits in which I shun technology, generally I am amenable to the shiny devices (phone, compy, iPad, iPod, camera) and the connectivity they provide. I just make them work for me.

Sacrifice II My mother would be proud of me. This recipe contains chocolate chips. In the words of one of my fellow team members, “Is it going to be healthy, or good?” when I described the recipe I was going to present for yesterday’s Foodie Call. I remade the cereal bars I made last year for my friend Liz’s Fourth of July shindig . Calling them “Sacrifice to the Gods of Freedom and Democracy” would probably turn off most folk. Here is my recipe for the huge batch (three sheet pans!) of “Trail Treats.” You can customise the crunchy bits and trail mix to your heart’s content.

I play mindgames with myself while running. Running towards someone is much more inspiring than running away from something, in my experience (when it’s a thought experiment, anyway).  Running from zombies would of course be a different story.

Ah, it’s so nice to listen to music with lyrics again.  “Love will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division fits with today’s recipe and sermon. I remade Columba di Pasqua as bubble bread or monkey bread or pull-apart bread because I am now steward of Lady Neona’s Bundt pan. Besides, I wanted to shape the CDP this year, but I also wanted pull-apart bread. Rather than risk a flat dove, I went for a different shape (and recipe) option.

Thank you to those of you who attended the “Content, Conscious Celebrations” class at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch on Friday!  I enjoyed the seminar-style class we had and I hope I sparked your curiosity about vegan- and gluten-free baking.

Rule number one of being vegan and gluten-free: always bring your own snacks.

Toppings.  Dips.  Sandwich Filler.  Sidecars.  The lifeblood of veganinity.  The bane of my existence when the only lunch option is hommos on bread since then it's probably gluten-contaminated.  Watch for dairy in prepared hommos.  Sentence fragments rock.  P'raps I've been influenced by fragment-speaking Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games .

Hey-o.

Since I made my cake and rushed to my cousin’s graduation party, I left it in the pan and frosted it at her house.  It received good reviews from high school seniors!

I have done something unspeakable to almond butter: microwaved it in plastic. I bought chunky almond butter in bulk and stored it an old soynut butter container.  As I neared the bottom of the jar, since I hadn’t consistently stirred it before consumption, the butter at the bottom was dry.  In order to make the muffins below, I microwaved the almond butter in order to make it stir-able, and I went thirty seconds too far.  Oh well.  The muffins suffered no ill effects, and my brother ate probably half the batch before and after the bike races in which he participated last weekend.

…Not to the tune of “Spring” by Rammstein.  That song is slow, whereas cleaning needs must be quick and efficient.   I have senioritis!  Not having to spend my Fridays…and Saturdays…and Sunday evenings on my critical paper is most freeing.  Two things I will miss about college are not having class on Fridays and having break during my birthday.

The title is a reference to recovery programs; I wrote my thesis on creative recovery programs. On Monday, when I returned to campus, I had a few options: park car and think how low on gas I was for the next three days BUT have time to read, OR I could take care of it right then.  Back at school, I could do six things at once and read, OR I could sit down, proofread my thesis, and then submit it for binding.

Greetings. I was about to write, “quick post,” then I realised I’ve used that excuse one too many times here.  As Neil Gaiman writes about writing in one of the Sandman  volumes, "Never explain, never apologise."  I’m going to make time to write this because I enjoy blogging.  Simple enough.