Howdy and happy Sunday to you. Apologies again for not being so present here at BT the past week. It has been an eventful few days across the board and maybe you get it, too. Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking! Did you know stress prevents you from being creative? Yeesh. Not to worry. I bought a boatload of groceries yesterday and I’m feeling GEARED. UP. TO COOK. Anyway! It’s Sunday. Time for 5 Favorite Things!
#5: Double Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Holy bananas, people. I have been trying FOR WEEKS to make a fudgy chocolate chip banana bread, never successfully. I should have just started at Two Peas and Their Pod’s blog. In fact, their post was the whole reason I wanted to make double chocolate chip banana bread in the first place. Their recipe is pretty much a chocolate bomb and much to Jim’s amusement*, I started my morning with it every day this week.
I think for the next brunch club, I’ll have to make this again, but use teeny-tiny loaf pans and mini chocolate chips. It’s gonna be extra cute and fudgy, and definitely be accompanied by espresso in tiny cups served affogato style.
Trying other blogger’s recipes is how I spend about half of my time! I love getting ideas from my fellow food bloggers, and Two Peas and Their Pod along with Half Baked Harvest are two of my favorites.
*I typically prefer savory breakfast food and my husband prefers sweet breakfast food–donuts, cereal, yogurt, muffins, etc. I always make fun of him for this and fondly call his breakfast “glucose.” He was delighted to turn that on me.
#4: Portuguese Port
Like I said, this was a weird week. I woke up on Tuesday–a week after getting my first COVID vaccine (Moderna) and my arm was swollen like a balloon, red, itchy, painful, and firm. This is apparently called COVID arm and is a normal, if annoying side effect that is a slight and delayed allergic reaction. I’m fine now, and I’ll still get the second vaccine.
But with my balloon arm, I wasn’t up for my usual lifting workout, so I had some extra time on my hands. All of my extra time is spent reading–fiction or non-fiction, and often food-related. I love to learn everything I can about food.
I am planning a gathering to show “How to Arrange Charcuterie Board & Wine Pairing” for The Brunch Club, and so I was researching what wine pairs best with chocolate. Milk chocolate, specifically. The answer: Portuguese Port. I picked some up, poured a tiny glass, made a mental note to acquire port glasses, grabbed a tiny Godiva milk chocolate bunny, and was sold. I understood immediately. This is how to pair wine and chocolate.
While a cabernet sauvignon and a dark chocolate truffle sound gorgeous in theory, one bite and one sip will make you pucker. The chocolate is sweeter than the dry wine, so it makes the wine taste sour. The key to pairing sweet stuff with wine is to pick a wine that is sweeter than whatever treat you pair it with. Port is sweet wine–sweeter than chocolate, and that makes it a great complement to it.
#3: Birthday Parties
Why don’t we have birthday parties as grown ups? I vote to bring birthday parties back!
I threw my buddy, Lauren, a surprise party at a pottery painting spot that offered to give 90% off the studio fee if we showed up in our pajamas. As if that weren’t excellent enough, the crowd of Lauren’s friends was a hilarious bunch and everyone got along swimmingly.
Two of my favorite parts to the evening (besides celebrating in good company, of course) were these social lubricants known as Birthday Cake Cocktails (recipe coming soon…) and the simple act of painting pottery! Above is the guacamole bowl my friend, Morgan, painted and it is adorable. (It still has to undergo glazing.) I posted hers because mine is shamefully un-complex and plain. Regardless, Morgan and I have set out to go once a month for Ladies’ Night because painting pottery is equal parts challenging and therapeutic.
#2: Revisionist History Podcast
Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favorite non-fiction authors. He has a unique approach to conveying complicated points. He brings together seemingly disparate ideas to illustrate his argument, and it’s an experience in itself to watch the points unfold in his books. If I could ever meet someone famous, it would be Malcolm Gladwell.
As if I couldn’t get enough of his literature already, he also has several podcasts. I tune in to one of his podcasts, Revisionist History, on my longer runs around the neighborhood. This podcast explores “things overlooked and misunderstood.”
The one I listened to today covered the Catholic doctor, Dr. John Rock, and his development of “the pill” in the 1950s. Before that, he gave an argument on how the LSAT is like bullet chess and the story of the tortoise and the hare.
Definitely check him out! He is such an interesting person!
#1: Middle Ground
It is exhausting to keep up with current events these days. I have re-written that first sentence four times before deciding on those specific diplomatic and vague wordings. Frustration is a good word to describe how I feel about it.
Now, more than ever, we have to be the most careful about how we express our opinion. Everything is a hot button topic these days, even seemingly innocuous things like books and colors and pronouns. It’s confusing to me, and I just try to tread lightly, keep my head down, share recipes and joke, but I’m tired.
Social media has facilitated this political divide we find ourselves in. If you don’t agree with someone, you can either attack them verbally from the safety of your keyboard, or you can remove them from your list of friends and connections.
People have become very uncomfortable with opinions that differ from their own. In a time when I’ve heard more preachings of tolerance than ever before, I observe something quite the opposite. We are intolerant of anyone who disagrees with us, and that is a terrible condition.
The most prevalent and polarizing topic of late, the one that occupies a regular spot in my brain now, is race and violence. I won’t share my thoughts on it here, but it is on my mind often.
Something that has stuck with me since Brunch Club was that this group of different people at our table were able to talk about their thoughts on touchy subjects like the Derek Chauvin trial or the Duante Wright shooting. No one got up and left mid-meal. No one stormed out to demonstrate their convictions. Voices were never raised. We had respect for one another, a common, uniting faith, friendship, and most importantly, we listened to each other. We created common ground. What a world it would be if everyone broke bread together that way.
These issues aren’t going away and talking about them with people who don’t agree with us is healthy. It might even be a start to dealing with the problems, in fact. I think social media has disillusioned a lot of people into carving out their own echo chambers of agreement. We only surround ourselves with people who say, “Yes, you’re right.” Hecklers are actually good medicine and you should keep them in your life. Even elementary English classes teach children to incorporate an acknowledgement of the opposing view.
My dad and I used to half-kiddingly claim we were on the brink of a second civil war when I was in college during the 2016 presidential election. Who knew our sense of humor was also prescient? I would challenge anyone reading my little humble corner of the internet to bring up the elephant (or donkey) in the room with someone you know has different ideas altogether than you. Invite them for coffee, talk, and most importantly, listen. I hope someday we can all find a middle ground, and I ain’t talkin’ about coffee beans.
I find myself looking forward to reading the 5 favorite things and this one just hit hone with me.
First, scary scary scary a tick on your person scares me!!! We had a discussion on ticks last week with Ryan and it really was unsettling for me. So the scream …. I get it! Sorry honey!!! I hope Jim’s eardrums are ok.
Ray and I enjoy the chocolate banana bread you left behind; matter of fact, it was added to his “lunch snacks” until it was all gone…and then he was sad.
You’ve always enjoyed painting pottery; I remember when you and I use to go, here in downtown Naper. I still have all of them!!!
Well, you really hit the nail on the head and it is unfortunate that our current state of mind is uncomfortable for a lot of people; maybe some more than others; I for one am Praying for brighter days ahead and peace toward one another….thanks for this. I really enjoyed this!!!