Goodbye, Coconut

I was hoping that the final coconut adventure would go out with a blast, but we had to settle for a creamy, buttery sweetness instead.

The little tag that came belted around the grocery store coconut had a recipe for something called Baked Bananas With Coconut Flambe. The whole thing sounded easy enough until I got to the part that read, "be careful, a flame will shoot up above the pan."

I remember that an old college roommate of mine once lit a pan of chicken with cognac on fire, and we all survived.

So how hard could this be, really?

So we got to it.

We melted 1 stick of butter in a large skillet with 1/2 cup brown sugar.

We sliced bananas lengthwise and cooked those in the yummy syrup.

We added the last of the shredded coconut (about 1/4 cup) and let it get good and caramelly.

Then we poured in the 1/4 cup dark rum, and attempted to light the stuff.

Several times.

No flambe.

Oh well. The whole thing was ultra rich. So rich, we wished for the vanilla ice cream that the recipe suggested to serve with it, but we did not have. Nonetheless, we were all warm and happy after this, the last of our coconut adventures.

Have you ever made flambe anything? Do you still have your eyebrows?

Hello Coconut

"What's that hairy thing?!" she says.

We were at the grocery store.

"It's a coconut and we're buying it." I say.

This is why I try to do the grocery shopping by myself.

Actually I've been meaning to coordinate the buying of a coconut and a visit from my formerly known as Peace-Corp-Volunteer-stationed-in-Jamaica mother-in-law for awhile now, but I keep on forgetting to buy the coconut. If I know anyone who can crack a coconut, it's this woman.

So the coconut comes home with us. We hold it, shake it, listen to it, smile at it.

One child is beside herself at the possibility of milk coming out of that thing. Later I learn it's actually coconut water that drips from it. The milk is rendered by soaking, then straining, the pureed coconut flesh. Details.

Grandma comes and the coconut experience begins. Girls giggle. A man gets involved.

Tools fly. I mentally flip through recipes.

First we made two holes for the water to drip out.

We tasted it.

We struck the coconut to break it into pieces and scraped out the flesh with a knife.

We pureed the flesh with water, strained it, and voila, it's coconut milk.

I love how the pureed coconut has brown flecks in it, reminding me that it did not come from a bag, thank you.

We used the coconut milk to flavor that night's brown rice and curry lentils. Delicious and tropical.

Some of the pureed coconut appeared in this Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe from Cooking Light, April 2010. Amazing.

The rest of the coconut milk and the pureed flesh appeared in these Coconut Cupcakes from Baking in America. I'm done for.

What about the family? They're a little hard to read.

Stop Requested

The girls and I took an adventurous trip this morning.

On a city bus.

Some of you know my affinity for field trips.

A few months ago, our local library was participating in something to the effect of "Public Transit Awareness Week" and we walked out of there with a handful of free, one-time-use bus passes.

With Music Man out of town, and a school supply list burning a hole on my magnetic board in the kitchen, we caught the #6 and had ourselves a taste of public transportation.

Our destination: the local grocery store, which has a mean back-to-school sale going on now.

And a penny pony named Sandy.

And then, the return trip, complete with waiting at the bus stop.

With all that excitement this morning, we may need to spend the afternoon relaxing at the local pool. Yeah, that sounds right.

a most floury and fragrant week: Camp Create and the Ultimate Yeast Feast

We just finished Camp Create, which is our church's version of Vacation Bible School. Really it's a mini-arts camp and a few months ago, I heard myself suggesting that they offer a bread-making class called Bread of Life. And then I heard myself agree to teach it.

Nice.

Actually, it was way better than nice. It was so fun!

And beautiful.

I had 10 students, from age 5 - 11, and 2 adult helpers. Praise the Lord for adult helpers. They were relentless in their dishwashing.

We used 35 lb. of flour, 8 lb. sugar, 30 eggs, 1 lb. butter, 3 lb. carrots, 3 lb. zucchini, 12 tomatoes, and a whole list of other stuff. We ended up making quite an impressive list: 30 loaves of bread, 73 muffins, 126 mini-muffins, and 10 servings of bruschetta.

Kids used rolling pins, garlic presses, food processors, serrated knives, cookie sheets, loaf pans, muffin tins, measuring devices of all kinds.

Only 1 egg cracked on the floor, no one was cut, and we had only 1 minor burn. So overall, a golden week.

And another fun detail: the bible verses.

1) So the people took their dough before the yeast was added. From Exodus.

2) "I will rain down bread from heaven for you." God to Moses. Also from Exodus.

3) "I am the Bread of Life." Jesus to the disciples in the book of John.

4) "I am the Bread of Life." Again, Jesus, later in John.

5) "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast." From a parable in Matthew.

There were other fun classes going on as well.

Photography,

Abstract Art,

Gardening,

Cake Decorating (Frosting is like love; it covers a multitude of sins.)

and a few other classes like Superheroes, Tie Dye, Poetry, Dance/Drama, String Instruments, Flag Twirling, Global Art.

I could really feel the creative joy this week! I wonder if God felt this way when he was creating weird stuff, like the coconut, or the giraffe.

Oh, yeah, our trip.

I was so excited about Camp Create that I almost forgot to post the pics from our little vacation up north.

Here's a synopsis:

Playing

Crafting

Swimming

Playing

Wading

Snuggling

Roasting

Brewing

Kayaking

Sitting Around

Hanging Around

More Snuggling

It's a party. It's a work day. It's a Muffin Exchange!

Here's what ran through my head last week:

1. We're going on a little road trip soon.

2. We like muffins.

3. We get bored of our own muffins after a while and need a little variety.

Solution: a muffin exchange!

The idea is simple and beautiful. Friends come over, bringing muffins. The kids play, and the moms chat and swap muffins.

And unexpected bonus was that I happened to mention that I pay 1 penny for every black walnut that kids collect from the backyard. The mention of coins sent all 10 kids around in a flurry, seeking and finding over 300 fallen walnuts in mere minutes.

And while the moms divvied up the muffins, the kids fell into this sweet story:

Thanks to the generous and creative talents of Carrie, Mari, and Siri, we enjoyed Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins, Apple-Walnut Muffins, Rhubarb-Custard Muffins, Bran-Chocolate Chip Muffins, and homemade bagels!

No one will be getting bored with this tasty selection!

they get ideas of their own

This is what happens when you cook with children.

Sooner or later, they are bound to get ideas of their own.

This past weekend was the 4th of July, and at 7:30am, this is what we were doing:

And why not? So what if we consumed our yearly allotment of food coloring in one quick breakfast?

I'm all for creativity in the kitchen, especially when it's as cheerful as this toast.

Or this lemonade.

(1/2 cup juice from squeezed lemons, 4 cups cold water, 1/3 cup sugar, adjust to taste).

God bless America, and my little chefs.