There are times when a food blog seems like the most trivial thing in the universe. Now, for me, is one of those times. Tucked into my tiny, warm space drinking kombucha and listening to Dire Straits while the baby naps, I feel grateful but helpless. It feels as though much of the world is crumbling. And writing about food seems like misplaced effort.
But then… I’ve been reading Sarah’s blog for several years now, and I found her last post particularly eloquent. Here is an excerpt:
When bad things happen, there’s a bizarre insistence from other conscientious folks that we stop talking about flip things like what’s for dinner, but the fact is that we all still eat, and that the bad things are there, every single day. Similarly, the work never, ever ends. Timeliness of our response is important. Consistency, though, and settling in for the long haul, is paramount. We have to be able to, every single day, keep our brains and hearts open enough to fight injustice where you see it and drive yourself to work and take care of your babies or your health or your girlfriend and sometimes to eat dinner. These things are not of equal importance. But there they are, all contained in the span of the same 24 hours.
Read more: http://casayellow.com/2016/12/06/what-to-eat-when-things-arent-going-so-well/#ixzz4Sq5zgdQ7
Reading her whole post made me realize it’s okay to keep talking about and preparing food, but that staying aware and taking some sort of charitable or political action on a regular basis is important, too. My inclination the last couple of years has been to shy away from the news as much as possible- I turned off NPR four years ago this month and still haven’t been back- but I don’t think that ignorance is the answer now.
So I can tell you that I donated to this organization this morning and also that I made some really delicious sweet potato muffins a couple of days ago. I called Paul Ryan’s office a few weeks ago (202-225-3031) and voiced my opinion on the Affordable Care Act. And then I made lentil soup. I plan on participating in the Women’s March on Madison on January 21 and I intend to keep making the Moosewood Cookbook lentil soup at least weekly. This fall we adopted an “unadoptable” cat from Friends of Ferals with frost-bitten ears and only half his teeth and I will keep sneaking him a couple of bites of Half-moon’s scrambled eggs. And I’ll keep reading my favorite food blogs and I’ll continue sharing nourishing recipes and stories here, but I’ll also keep thinking of more ways to give. More things I can do. But right now I have to feed a muffin to a baby, and maybe a little to a cat.
The sweet potato muffin recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs, Dishing up the Dirt. I will post the recipe the way it was published, but I will tell you that I used whole milk instead of almond milk, I omitted the cloves (didn’t have them), I made nine muffins instead of twelve, I oiled the muffin tin (no muffin wrappers in the house) and I never made the frosting because we ate them all before I got the chance. But they were delicious all the same.
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Spiced Sweet Potato Molasses Muffins
From Dishing up the Dirt
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES COOK TIME: 40 MINUTES SERVES: 12 MUFFINS
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1- inch cubes
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup almond milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup walnut oil (or another neatural tasting light oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Maple-Cashew Frosting
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup almond milk
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
In a large saucepan cover the sliced potatoes to cover them by at least 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and place them in a food processor and process until completely smooth and creamy. Measure out 1 cup of puree and set it aside (save any leftover puree for another use).
In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
In a smaller bowl vigorously whisk together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes (this will create a dairy free buttermilk). Whisk in the eggs, freshly grated ginger, maple syrup, molasses, oil, vanilla extract and sweet potato puree. Mix until everything is well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin, about 20-22 minutes.
While the muffins bake prepare the frosting. Drain the soaked cashews and place them in the bowl of a food processor with the remainder of the ingredients and process until completely smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the processor as needed. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before gently removing them to a wire rack to completely cool before adding the cashew cream.
*Store any leftover cashew cream in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 day *Keep muffins at room temperature covered for 3 days.
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Please share any organizations you support or ideas that you have for staying connected and helping the world crumble a little less. Wishing you peace this holiday season.
WISCONSIN FUN NEXT EXIT 