Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Quick Bread - dairy free, or not

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you. I will be working both days at the bakery, and I'm sure Mr Official Taster will sleep in until I get home and give him a poke in the shoulder, but I have high hopes of enjoying the beautiful autumn weather anyway.

I spent some time stalking Pinterest researching yesterday, and I'm so glad I came upon this bread idea. It turns out, it's kind of the cousin of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

The Calm

In happens in all walks of life. That moment, standing on the precipice of an event, in which you can do nothing but wait. to. fall.

Dancers experience it in the sliver of time between clearing the stage and waiting for the curtain to go up and the music to start. Bartenders have a few minutes between when they see the game winning home run on tv and when first a trickle, and then the masses, surge through the door to celebrate or drown their sorrows. Hosts wait, checking and rechecking minute details, sitting and then nervously popping up to check something, anything, until the first guests to their dinner party ring the doorbell.

You know it, too. The calm before the storm. When you've prepared all you can, but now you have got to wait until forces greater than yourself deem the time to be right.

It's how this end of September is feeling to me. Summer is clearly over but the holiday season isn't upon us yet. I'm still working part time in the bakery, waiting for the moves and the shakes that will allow me to be there full time. Nothing I can do. No more peach or raspberry madness for me to cook up in the kitchen, but apples are barely in and I refuse to start with pumpkins and Halloween until October. Nothing I can do. December is around the corner, and I know there will be chaos at work and a (perceived) push here to produce more. More cookies, more ideas, more pictures, more cakes, more inspiration.

Nothing I can do, but wait for the storm.

Easy Pancakes - dairy free

It seems that my job has made me into a morning person, which is an incredible feat. Friends and family know that I am not one by nature, and may, in fact, be astounded by this pronouncement.

However, this morning, on one of my precious days not governed by an alarm clock, I woke up while it was still dark outside, probly around 6, or a little later. I tossed and sighed and tried to get back to sleep. Mr Official Taster, who has a serious talent for sleep, mumbled "what time do you have to go to work?" and was quickly set straight that it was my day off. He promptly fell back asleep, and I was left wide awake.

Vegetarian Tomato Paella - vegan & gluten free

It's a funny time of year. The sun is warm but the air is cool. I planted mums this weekend even as my peppers are putting forth a second harvest. In grocery stores, watermelons perch next to pumpkins, and at the farmers' market, tomatoes are in their final, uber-productive throes. 

A few of us realize it and also remember that prices always come down in September because so many people, and certainly the farmers, are sick and tired of tomatoes. They feel like the've been overrun and the end is a million miles bushels away. Good thing for us, eh? It means I bought a giant box and made a big batch (or two) of sauce to squirrel away in the freezer. 

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread - dairy free

Hi friends. I've missed you. But I'm hoping this delicious, delicious banana bread will bring us close once again.

The Bakery Chronicles

Actual conversation with a customer:

Kate: Hi, how can I help you?
Oblivious Lady: I'd like a large fresh fruit tart
Kate starts to box up said tart
Oblivious Lady: [proudly] I'm getting this for my vegan coworker
Kate: Oh, this isn't vegan.
Oblivious Lady: It's not?
Kate: No, there's pastry cream and chocolate under the fruit, plus the tart shell. We do have several vegan cakes
Oblivious Lady: No, this will be fine
Kate: Are you sure?
Oblivious Lady: Yes, I've seen her eating pastries before
Kate: [internal eye roll] ok, have a good day

Seriously people, it happened.