Category Archives: Cherry-Banana-Coconut-Butter Bread

Trailer Trumped

     Here’s a tip: DO NOT go see Charlie St. Cloud. It was long, it was slow, it was PAINFULLY cheesy, and there were way too many violins trying to tell me to feel sad. Don’t get me wrong, this definitely had its tear-jerking moments, and Zac Efron is a great crier with an even better bod, but it wasn’t worth the money paid. My favorite part of the movie was the trailer. Honestly, the trailer definitely trumped the movie, and I wish I’d just watched that and obsessed over how wonderful the movie COULD have been without actually seeing it. Those amazing trailer editors got me!

     Before the whole movie debacle, my parental unit took me out for an amazing lunch at the local Indian restaurant. We split two dishes, and a side of naan.

A slice of naan, chicken tikka masala, and saag. Sorry for the awful plating – I was focusing on my portion-control. I had another half piece of naan after this, as well as a little more tikka masala sauce and a small spoonful of saag. I left satisfied, on the edge of full.
The restaurant has this beautiful courtyard outside.
A little slice of paradise :).
     My mom and I released my dad from our girly-movie grips and headed to the theatre on our own. We were half an hour early, so we each got a child size gelato and sat outside to enjoy the fresh air before heading into the theatre. An hour and a half later, we walked out dazed and chuckling at the complete absurdity that we’d just endured.
     We swung by Trader Joe’s to pick up a few key ingredients for dinner, then headed home and put together this amazing setup:
We all split a plate of Multigrain and Flaxseed water crackers from TJ’s with some smoked gouda cheese, and had big KSSs. Each KSS had 1 chopped and sauteed zucchini with HdP, 1/2 of a cup of warmed lentils, 1/3 of the egg white salad, 1/3 of a diced orange pepper and 1 bag of chopped baby romaine lettuce. The wine of the night was Murphy-Goode’s 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – I had one glass and was content :).
     After a leisurely dinner out back, I heated up three chunks of the frozen Summertime Cherry, Banana, Coconut-Butter bread, and made a big mug of tea. The night so far has consisted of good food, good wine, and a LOT of ridiculing of Mr. St. Cloud. It is WONDERFUL to be home, indeed.
What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen? When In Rome gets my vote – I have no idea what possessed me to watch that one!

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Filed under Charlie St. Cloud, Cherry-Banana-Coconut-Butter Bread, courtyard, Indian Food, kitchen sink salad, Murphy-Goode, wine

Baking and Pottery!

     Today was a perfect day. All of my perfect days start with a Green Monsta! Today, I had a Monster Monsta!

This thing had five cups of spinach in it! FIVE!!! It definitely tasted a little more spinach-y than usual, but in a good way. I could feel myself absorbing that green energy with every sip!
     My roommate and I, fueled up with green, went on an hour long hike down and back up our ridiculously painful trail. It was a hot one outside, but it felt great to finally be moving again!
     After we got back, I threw some of the leftover Oatmeal Blueberry-Cocoa pancake batter into the pan.
The batter really thickened up overnight! I mixed up the leftover mashed banana into the batter and didn’t need to use any to top it.
They were good the first day, but today they were AMAZING! Thick and rich and gooey inside!
     Since I had gone to all the effort to make my CocoButta, I decided to put it to good use and make Angela’s Summertime Cherry, Banana, Coconut Butter Bread. This recipe has been on my mind since she first posted it in June. Prep was very easy – I find that vegan baking setup generally is very fast.
I used the cherries that I pitted, halved and froze last week.
It took a little longer to cook than she stated. Mine was in the oven for roughly an hour.
Delicious and gooey! Overall impression: it’s good, but very, VERY dense. It was so thick that I stopped after 1/4 of a slice. I think next time I’ll use fresh cherries, add another tablespoon of coconut butter, and try a different flour (I used oat flour). I also added 1/4 of a cup of walnut pieces to the batter for some added crunch.
     All that baking made me hungry, and since I’d only had a quarter of a slice of the bread, I threw together a mini-burrito.
A small raw tortilla topped with 1/2 of a cup of refried beans, 3 tbsp of salsa, 2 tbsp of guacamole, 1 tbsp Tofutti’s “Better Than Sour Cream”, all on a bed of lettuce. I finished about 3/4 of this before I was satisfied and made myself stop. So. Hard. To. Stop!
     I did a little work for the manager from home, ate 2/3 of a cup of leftover Potato-Corn Chowder from yesterday, and then it was time to head to POTTERY CLASS with my mum!!!
I was excited and grungy! I wore all old clothes, prepared to get dirty!
     We got to the studio, which is located in an adorable little neighborhood on the beautiful property of the owners/teachers. I wanted to dig up their backyard and transplant it to my house.
We went under an archway that is covered in grapevines, with HUGE bunches of grapes on them! This backyard really is magical and alluring.
     We got inside, got on our aprons, and had a quick lesson on kneading the clay, throwing it onto the wheel, centering it, opening the clay, drawing up the sides, and shaping it. It was really that quick of an introduction, then she let us get straight to the wheel.
Boo to the Yah.
Yay, mom!
     My mom made 3 bowls, a mug and a soapdish, and I made 4 (really, really flat) bowls, and a small teacup. The teacher watched us center, helped us even out the clay, and walked us through every step. It was nice to get right into it and get our hands (and clothes) dirty – I’m not a fan of watching, I like to DO! This class was perfect for me, and I got some awesome girl-time in with my mom :).
     We got out of class around 8:45pm, COVERED in clay (I found some underneath my ear when I washed my face), and headed home. I had a big mug of caffeine-free peppermint tea, and a few water crackers with a little smoke gouda on top. Since I have another day off tomorrey, I’ll be hanging with the parental unit and enjoying being HOME! Charlie St. Cloud might make an appearance too, depending on our lunch schedule :).
What’s your favorite arts/crafts to make?

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Filed under burrito, Cherry-Banana-Coconut-Butter Bread, clay, green monster, Home, Ohsheglows, pancakes, Pottery class