(not so perfect) Vegan Banana Chia Waffles with Peanut Butter Honey Topping

I've been searching diligently for the perfect waffle recipe.  I want waffles that are crisp on the outside, fluffy inside.  I would prefer that the waffle is vegan, and that it fit the bill for both a "healthy" and "indulgent" treat.  This, it seems, is is a highly elusive recipe. 

After trying dozens of recipes, I thought I would try to create my own.  Why, I ask, do I think that I can master a perfect waffle recipe after the failed attempts of so many who have gone before me?  And, let's be honest, if all these waffle recipes are too soft, too chewy, too sticky, perhaps it isn't the recipes (or their creators) that are failing, perhaps I am. 

Or, perhaps it is the very fact that I consider these overcooked, undercooked, dense, wispy waffles to be, somehow, failures.  The fact is, I (and Jordan) have enjoyed eating all of the "failed" waffles.  The beautiful think about working with food is that, inevitably, something will go awry.  You've creamed the butter and sugar, added the eggs and vanilla, sifted together the flour, salt and...Wait, where is the baking soda?  Oh, right.  You ran out of baking soda four days ago and forgot to get some when you went to the grocery store.  Now what?

Or, perhaps you're making macarons.  You have all of the ingredients, you diligently separated the egg whites from the yolk the night before and left them at room temperature.  You painstakingly whip the whites with a whisk rather than in your mixer, ensuring that you add the sugar at just the right moment and fold in the almond meal when stiff-but-not-too-stiff peaks have formed.  Carefully, you pipe the batter onto the baking sheet and gently set them in your oven.  When you pull them out of the oven, however, they have not formed feet, their tops are not shiny, they are lopsided. 

Cue the panic attack. 

Do you experience this in the kitchen?  I find that, for me, the kitchen is something of a microcosm of life.  No matter how hard I try to perform every task with precision and consistency, something reminds me that I am entirely out of control.  The air is too humid, the oven temperature is off, the butter hasn't softened, the spatula breaks.  With every unexpected twist, my anxiety heightens.  It would seem that my identity is an ingredient in the recipe, and that it is inextricably tied to the success or failure of the dish. 

So, when I set out to create my own waffle recipe and this happened,

I was tempted to melt into a puddle of tears and self-loathing on the floor.  But, on this particular occasion, I set my teeth and resolved to more heavily coat the waffle iron, let the waffles cook longer, open the iron very slowly...

Julia Child once said, "The only real stumbling block is fear of failure.  In cooking, you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude."  She also said,

"...This awful American syndrome of fear of failure.  And if you're going to have a sense of fear of failure, you're just never going to learn how to cook because...well, lots of it is one failure after another and that's how you finally learn.  You've got to learn to develop a sense of... 'I don't care what happens, the sky can fall...I can overcome.'"

I have a hunch that if I can learn to maintain this attitude in the kitchen, it just might spill out into the other parts of my life. 

So, that is why, today, I am sharing with you a not-so-perfect waffle recipe.  It is one that requires you to spray your waffle iron heavily and to very, very carefully open the iron so that the waffles do not pull apart. It is a recipe that produces rather chewy waffles.  Or, so I thought.

 The trick is to let the waffles sit for several minutes before eating them.  They will soften and take on a consistency somewhere between banana bread and waffle.  Drizzled with peanut butter and honey sauce, they are a healthy, vegan, indulgent breakfast.  Sure, we're missing the crisp outside and the fluffy middle, but, hey, these are good.  Let's eat them!

Vegan Banana Chia Waffles with Peanut Butter Honey Topping

For the waffles (yields 8 4-inch waffles):
     3/4 cup whole wheat flour (for lighter waffles, use whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour)
     1/2 cup unbleached white flour
     2 tsp baking powder
     1/4 tsp salt
     1 Tbsp ground chia seeds + 2.5 Tbsp water
     2 overripe bananas
     1 cup milk
     1/2 tsp vanilla
     1 Tbsp coconut oil

- Heat waffle iron.
- In a small or medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Whisk together ground chia seeds* and water.  Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mash banana thoroughly with fork.  Mix in milk, vanilla, coconut oil, and chia seed mixture. 
- Once wet ingredients are well incorporated, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- When waffle iron is ready, spray generously.  Add batter.  Allow the waffles to cook just a bit longer than usual.  Remember!  Lift the waffle iron top very carefully.  If you need to, use a fork to help pull the waffle away from the iron. 

 *The chia seed mixture here provides the structure that eggs generally provide in a waffle recipe.  Flax seeds may also be used in the same proportions.  Chia seeds are high in protein, omega-3 fats, and fiber.  To grind them, place 3/4 tablespoon in a coffee grinder until they become a soft powder.

 For Peanut Butter Honey Topping:
     2 Tbsp natural peanut butter
     1 Tbsp water
     1-2 tsp honey
     1-2 Tbsp milk (I used unsweetened almond)

- Heat the peanut butter and water together in a small pan on the stove or in a small bowl in the microwave.  If in the microwave, heat for 15 seconds, or until peanut butter has softened.  Whisk together until smooth.  Whisk in honey.  Whisk in milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture reaches a pourable consistency.  
    

Here's to finding the beauty in a less-than-perfect Monday.

The Sunday Post: sound walks, Henri, farro, and more

Happy Sunday, y'all!

  I hope your weekend thus far has been full of rest and rejuvenation.  And, if it hasn't, I hope that you find some space in your Sunday to take a few deep breaths and drink in the beauty of summer, family and friends, or solitude. 

Each week, a few of my favorite bloggers (Nicole of Making It Lovely and Tracy from Shutterbean) post a round-up of their favorite articles, posts, photographs, videos, and so on from around the web.  Although I can't promise a weekly list, I do want to make a habit of sharing with you the things that have inspired or challenged me, made me laugh or cry, caught my eye, or made me hungry.  So, welcome to my version of the Sunday Post.

1. Speaking of resting and drinking in the world around you, July 18 was World Listening Day.  We were all supposed to quiet down and listen -- REALLY listen -- to what was going around us.  If you missed it, listen to this BBC report and then head out on a sound walk.

2. Henri the cat makes me giggle.

3.  Maybe I've been watching too much Mad Men, but I am loving anything and everything mid century modern.  Antonia Osswald's house tour over at ABeautifulMess makes me swoon.  Check out the floors in her bedroom!

4. This one-pan farro with tomatoes from Smitten Kitchen needs to get in my belly.

5.  There are a lot of important things being said regarding the Trayvon Martin case.  Talib Kweli, Nelly, and Abby Dobson performed "Before He Walked" on The Tonight Show in tribute to Trayvon. President Obama's remarks were important.

6.  Let's end with a little bit of hope.  Check out this Philadelphia school's approach to ending violence and increasing student support.   Kids are awesome.  This video of kids reacting to a Cheerios commercial (and to other reactions) is proof.

Have a great day!  Remember, take some time to be still and listen.

 

St. Augustine and Raw Tacos: Summer of the South Travel Series

This summer, Jordan and I have had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture of the land south of the Mason Dixon line.  In late May, we took a road trip through Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina.  In June, we took a quick trip through Tennessee and Kentucky.
Today, I'm beginning a series based on our travel in which I will share our favorite (and maybe not-so-favorite) stops of our trip.  I'll talk about how I found places to stay and eat while traveling on a budget.  Occasionally, I'll include a recipe inspired by the local flavor of the place featured in the post.

In this post, I'm talking St. Augustine, Florida and raw tacos.  Oh, baby.

We arrived in St. Augustine on the third day of our trip, after visiting Atlanta, Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery.  Stay tuned for more on those places.  The city, located at the northern tip of eastern Florida, is the oldest in the United States.  It was founded in 1565 by Menendez and became the capital of Spanish Florida.  Two hundred years later, control of the territory was assumed by the British.

Today, the city is full of buildings constructed hundreds of years ago, most in a classic Spanish style.  The architecture alone provides reason enough to visit.  However, for those of you not as fascinated with construction and design, I assure you, there are plenty of reasons to send St. Augustine to the top of your "must vacation here" list.  That is, if you're a fan of water, sun, tropical trees and plants, history, shopping, good food, and/or quaint bed and breakfasts.

Let's talk first about those bed and breakfasts.  While the city boasts several upscale hotels, including the Casa Monica which was formerly the world's most expensive resort, and is loaded with budget friendly chains, it is full of charming bed and breakfasts.  Although we were operating on a budget (or at least trying to), we decided to shell out a bit more cash than we typically would when traveling in order to stay in one of the latter.  Many of the area B&B's were around $200 a night, but, after some digging, I found a room at the Peace and Plenty Inn for a little over $100. 

Located on the edge of downtown St. Augustine, the Peace and Plenty Inn was a little slice of paradise for this weary traveler.  The Inn has rooms in the main house as well as in a guest house.  Our room was located in the guest house, just a few steps across a serene sitting area from the main house.  Our cozy room was called a spa suite, which meant we had a whirlpool bathtub.  At night, the hosts set out cake, port, and sherry for the guests.  Water from the Fountain of Youth was accessible to guests all day.  (I never drank any, though.  That may have been the biggest mistake of my life.) In the morning, we were served an enormous breakfast including omelets, juice, coffee, and pastries. 

The courtyard and main house.

 

Our sweet little entrance.

We loved St. Augustine so much that we canceled our plans to head to Georgia the next day in order to stay one more night.  Unfortunately, the Peace and Plenty was full for the night, so we found another bed and breakfast.  Our experience there was not so delightful.  

If you are a history lover, or if you were ever a child, you must visit the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the United States.  The fort served to protect the city both under Spaniard and British rule.  The walls are made of coquina, a soft stone made of shells.  Our tour guide told us that when the men built the fort, they did so with fear and trembling because of the soft, crumbly nature of the stone.  However, they found that, when fired upon by a cannon, the stone would actually absorb the cannonball.  At night, the soldiers could creep along the wall and patch up the dents made by the cannon fire, making it look as if the fort hadn't been touched.  

 

 The fort's chapel.

 Like every place, the city's history is tainted by injustice and greed.  Slaves were brought to St. Augustine by Menendez on the day of its founding.  At the center of the city stands the Slave Market, built in 1872.  It is pictured below.

 If you're into tourist traps (as I believe we all secretly are), head over to St. George Street to get your kitschy t-shirts, old timey photographs, and bad coffee.  If that doesn't fill your craving to shop, there are outlets on the outskirts of the city. 

And, at the end of the day, when you're getting hungry, hit up The Floridian or The Present Moment Cafe for veg friendly, absolutely delicious food.  The Floridian has a great, hip atmosphere and serves southern style fare for "omnivores, herbivores, and locavores" at the edge of downtown St. Augustine.   The grit cakes there were unbelievable.

The Present Moment Cafe is a raw food eatery that will make you long for the 60's.  Jordan and I shared a lunch sample platter that included an kale-massaged-with-avacado salad, white truffle pesto pasta, maki sushi rolls, and raw walnut tacos.

If you're looking for a good cup of coffee, check out The Kookaburra.  It was recommended to us by a local, and, after a cup of bad coffee from another spot, it was a breath of fresh air.  If its macarons that you want...go to BonAmi Confections.  Go there even if you aren't craving macarons.  After you eat one, I guarantee you'll crave one every day for the rest of your life.

Speaking of craving...For the remainder of the trip, and for the days following our arrival back at home, I craved those tacos.  They were bright and light yet rich and hearty.  I knew I had to try and recreate them.  I came close, I think, and although they aren't quite as good as the cafe's, they satisfy my cravings.

If you're weirded out by the thought of raw anything, I totally get it.  But, trust me.  These are good.  Really good.  And you'll feel good after you eat them.  Really good.  I promise.

Raw Tacos with Walnut Pate and Coconut Cream

For the "meat":

     1 cup walnuts

     1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes 

     1/2 tbs lemon juice (or more, if you want)

     1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

     1 tsp cumin

     1/2 tsp smoked paprika (use regular if you don't have smoked)

     1/4 tsp cayenne (more or less depending on your heat tolerance)

     1/4 tsp chili powder

     1/4 tsp oregano

     salt and pepper to taste 

 Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined.  You will want the mixture to resemble taco meat.  This should take about 30 seconds to 1 minute of pulsing.  Don't worry, it isn't hard, you just don't want to overdo it lest you end up with seasoned walnut butter.  

For the Coconut Cream:

     1 can full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight 

     1 tsp apple cider vinegar

     1-2 tsp lemon juice

     tiny pinch of salt (optional)

After refrigerating the coconut milk overnight, carefully remove the thick, white coconut cream from the top of the can.  As it chilled, the fat separated from the coconut water.  You can use the water in smoothies later!  Scoop the cream into a small bowl and whisk together with lemon juice and apple cider vinegar until smooth.  The taste resembles sour cream, but the consistency will not be as thick.

To assemble:

     1 head of Romaine lettuce, washed and separated into full leaves

     1/2 red onion, chopped

     1/2 green pepper, chopped

     1/2 red pepper, chopped

     1/2 tomato, chopped

     handful of chopped cilantro

     1 avocado, cut into chunks or smashed

 Of course, you can include any other veggies you want.  Squash and zucchini, corn, jalapenos, shredded carrots...be creative! From here, you just throw everything together like you would any other tacos.  Use the romaine leaves as your shell, scoop in your walnut meat, throw on the veggies, and top with coconut cream.

again

When you stop doing something, it is so difficult to begin again.  They say that, if you have learned to play piano, your fingers will remember the smooth white and black keys, recalling the shape of chords, the flow of scales, the nuances of modulations.  Perhaps this is true.  Although I have not played piano for years, I can still recall the movement my fingers would need to make in order to call forth the sound of familiar songs.  Yet, seat me at a piano with a sheet of music in front of me, and I guarantee that I would sound no better than the fourth grader I once was, fumbling my way through a song, attempting to translate the series of lines and dots on a page into music.

I really like things to come easily.  Beginning anew takes work, energy, the willingness to learn again, try again, fail again, succeed again.  I also feel that in order to begin again, one must commit to consistency.

I want to be consistent.  A few years ago, a dear friend and mentor told Jordan and me that consistency is what matters when one is trying to live a meaningful, effective life.  We simply cannot all do everything perfectly all of the time.  But, we can choose to do a few things well.  It is this consistency, this willingness to commit with rigid determination to values, to people, to dreams and hopes, that others will notice.

I am, at the very least, consistently attempting to be consistent.  That's a start, I suppose.

All of this is to simply say that I am going to start blogging again.  I am determined to do so with some regularity.

Why blog?  I've been asking myself this for years.  Ok, really more like months.  The word "blog" makes me inadvertently wrinkle my nose.  But, this is the world in which we live.  It is one that is increasingly impersonal, but, oddly enough, one in which the personal opinion, style, and day to day life of individuals known or unknown fascinate us.

I read a lot of blogs.  I draw a great deal of inspiration from the things that people share.  I have learned that having a jar of fresh flowers in my home actually refocuses my mind on the beauty of the simple.  I have learned that I can DIY most things, with a little research and a lot of determination.  I have learned that I love photographs, words, patterns.  I love making the ordinary a little more special, a little more intentional.

As it is, blogging is a way for me to share tidbits of my life and to express myself, the things that hold my interest, the people and words and images that inspire me, the values I cannot shake.

In the coming weeks and months, I'll be converging my blogs into one.  I hope that this space will, in some way, live up to its name.  I need it to be a space in which I learn to try and fail, to openly demonstrate my shortcomings, to accept that my photographs will not be heartbreakingly beautiful, all my words will not be profound, and my knowledge of HTML code is dismal.

So, here we go (again).