And though I continue to hold all of you in the highest regard, I'll be honest; I haven't missed any of you one bit. Sorry. It's just been too busy 'round here for me to do much pining.
What, you may be wondering, could possibly be so busying that I would abandon my beloved blog?
Two words: Par. Tay.
Yes, indeed, it was that time of year again - Roomie's Birthday Weekend. It's kind of like a holiday unto itself. This is the fifth year that I have hosted the soiree and it's always rocking. If there is one thing I love more than vegan cooking & baking, it's hosting a party. It's in my blood. My mother is a consummate hostess. I have very fond memories of the Christmas parties she would throw for the hospital where my dad worked. The house all lit up, everyone in cocktail dresses, waiters in black tie with trays of drinks and hors d'oeuvres. My sister and I in stiff taffeta skirts or velvet dresses sipping sparkling grape juice and staying up way too late; raiding the cookie & candy trays, sliding around on the hard-wood dining room floor in stocking feet (after finally kicking off the patent-leather dress shoes). I love to throw a party.
Since Roomie's bday is in October, his party is usually a Halloween-themed masquerade. Crepe paper, balloons, paper lanterns, cake, ice cream, costumes, fog machines & strobe lights, souvenir buttons and t-shirts...the works. This year, though, he requested something that wasn't ghosts and ghoulies. He was turning the big two-five so I decided on a silver-bedecked gala evening. Twinkle lights, sliver and gray streamers and balloons, stars hanging from the ceiling, three white-draped tables of cakes and cookies, and, of course, an open bar. There were 40 people in our little apartment at one point, and I was dancing on top of a cooler. If you're gonna throw a party, throw it right.
Obviously a party of this magnitude takes a lot of planning and preparation. I start buying supplies in August, sending out the invites in mid-September. My mom bakes for two weeks straight. And the week of the party is a whirlwind of grocery- and liquor-store runs, furniture moving, and bruised thumbs from pushing pins into the walls and ceilings. I'm getting the hankering to throw another party just writing about the last one.
However, I'm always a little bummed the week after a party. Kinda like the day after Christmas, you know? The crash after the high. That depression combined with the fact that I'm still teaching from 6-9, four nights a week, doesn't leave much time for cooking, let alone blogging.
But I'm feeling better now (thanks in part to a manic show of poor judgement the other night at Casa and The Raccoon's visit/stop-over on her way to moving to NC with her beau), and better = blogging.
Re-Fatted ChocoPecan Banana Bread
3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 cups white flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 handfulls vegan chocolate chips
2 big handfulls pecans
In a large bowl, mash up the bananas and all the wet stuff until smooth.
In another bowl, sift together everything else (but the chips & nuts).
Add the dry to the wet, until just combined.
Add the chocolate chips, stirring to distribute evenly.
Ditto for the pecans (I crumbled them up in my hands because I didn't feel like pulling out/having to wash my nut grinder. This gave me a pretty chunky bread so feel free to grind them first, if you like a smoother nut consistancy.)
Bake in an oven, pre-heated to 350 degrees, for 45-50 minutes.
***
No matter the size of the party, from intimate dinner to beer-pong bash, everyone ends up congregating in the kitchen. This is perhaps because the bar is usually in the kitchen. Maybe it just feels more homey. Whatever the reason, the centrality of the kitchen to a successful party requires a pre-party clearing of the counters. Everything not nailed down gets tossed in the laundry room or in the trash.
Now, try as I might, and despite having very little time to bake, I just couldn't bring myself to throw away the black bananas in the fruit basket. These were so rotten, I couldn't even peel them; I just had to snip the top off and squeeze the banana part out like a gel. So in between streamer-hanging (and freaking out that I had to teach in 2 hours sans the lesson plan that I had decided was less important than party-planning), I baked some bread. It was so dubbed "re-fatted" because I took a low-fat banana bread recipe and added the fat back in via vegan chocolate chips and pecans.
This was a pretty delicious "morning after" treat with a hot cup of yerba mate to chase the tequila shots away. Keep this bread in the fridge and it will last for at least two weeks, allowing you to have "fresh" bakery on hand to offer The Raccoon, when she comes to stay the week. Don't make a face when she dumps a pudding cup on top. Anything goes at a party.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment