Poems of Fruit, and Vegetables, and Bread

As Summer slowly, oh so slowly, loosens its grip on the season and gives itself to Autumn, I've been reading poetry.  Beyond Love, and War, poets write about Food.  Turning only to a few books that move around my living room, rather than searching the digitized texts that exist online, I offer a few food poems for your enjoyment.

In a nod to Meg's most recent post about banana bread, I offer a poem by Marco Altamirano.  I found this book of poems at the Maple Street Bookshop while visiting New Orleans.

Soggy Bananas

this poem is about soggy bananas. 

but this poem is about other things too

although the bananas are soggy

mush in bags

soggy banana, you tube of gooey life,

here is my boyish squeeze

watch you bleed. 

This next poem, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is also the name of a contemporary dessert of white bread, margarine, and sprinkles.   When bacon finds its way to my house, then so will this cavity inducing dessert.  But, it sure is pretty!

Fairy Bread

Come up here, O dusty feet!

Here is fairy bread to eat.

Here in my retiring room,

Children, you may dine

On the golden smell of broom

And the shade of pine;

And when you have eaten well,

Fairy stories hear and tell.

 Sometimes food isn't in the title of the poem, but it's imperative in its embedding, as in Lisa Chen's poem below:

Luna

Outside Luna, a coloratura of unnamed birds warbles, perforating the sky, blue sulk-drop dissolving in the mouth.  Ahead of us, dust rises from a landslide.  We stall in a line of vehicles.  The proprietor of the soda stand leans over the counter, working something between his teeth.  He watches his girls approach us, their baskets of Chiclets and peanuts balanced against their hips.  How they sway, indifferent yet curious, fingering the pull-string change purses around their necks.  In the green skins of their limes, each girl had carved the initials of her own true love, R for Rodrigo, J for Juarez. 

The first verse of Fruits & Vegetables, the title poem of Erica Jong's first book of poetry, goes as such:

1

Goodbye, he waved, entering the apple.

That red siren, 

whose white flesh turns brown

with prolonged exposure to the air,

opened her perfect cheeks to receive him.

She took him in.

The garden revolved

in her glossy patinas of skin.

Goodbye.

And lastly, what post of poetry would be complete without Richard Brautigan?

Cooks Together

Pauline and Al together cooked an early dinner that we had late in the afternoon.  It was very hot outside, so they prepared something light.  They made a potato salad that somehow ended up having a lot of carrots in it.

Poets adore carrots! 

Do you have a favorite food poem?

~ Trilety

I'm Bananas for Bread!

This week, while putting two more over-ripe bananas into the freezer, I realized that my stock was piling up. Do you know what that means??? Yes, it's time to make banana bread! Bananas that have been frozen are the best for banana bread. The freezing process leaves them nice and black and slimy, and will give the bread superb flavor and lots of moisture.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I always dump a cup-full of semisweet chocolate chips or cinnamon chips into my batter. These sweeties turn this traditional breakfast goodie into a dessert, to be eaten alone or put into a mug and topped with vanilla ice-cream. So good!

Until the age of 10 or so, I had no clue that chocolate chips could be paired so perfectly with banana bread. I remember the first time I tried it. It was while I was in elementary school, maybe 4th or 5th grade... One of my classmates invited me over to her home after school. Her mother had made banana bread... with chocolate chips! What?! Yes!

I went straight home and informed my mother of this amazing discovery. Mom already made the best banana bread as far as I was concerned, but without chocolate chips. That's when everything changed. The next time she made her bread, she added chocolate chips to her own recipe. My brothers and I loved it. We still do. In fact, my older brother Jason closes his remembering eyes and smile fondly while recounting the bread our mom made. This was one of a few traditional foods in my home growing up, and I am happy to keep it going.

Do you have any food traditions, either currently or from your past?

~Meg

Another Man's Muffin

The Biathlete - Pre Eat

It may seem arrogant, or self congratulatory, but when I bite into a muffin baked by these Two Birds, I actually exclaim with praise, "I love our Muffins!!"  But some mornings, if you peek through the plate glass window of Blue Line Coffee (49th & Underwood, Omaha NE), you will find me nibbling away at another man's muffin.  Pleats of paper will be pulled away from the sides of a freshly baked muffin and my fingers will be sticky for minutes.  Many of my mornings have begun at Blue Line with the biathlete muffin; a vegan, carrot, raisin muffin.  Normally, I'm not a girl who enjoys a warm muffin, but there are times when the burst of a swollen, hot raisin can be a dangerous risk that I'm willing to take.  

Chris McClellan, proprietor of Blue Line, makes these sweet, mean muffins.  He's a bit of baked good himself, as Elisabeth just told him the other day that he's like a French baguette; crusty on the outside and chewy and warm on the inside.  We should all appreciate the crust of someone, because it's the barriers to the chew that make the taste more delightful.  Oh, and that reminds me, the biathletes with the deep hued, crunchy tops are my favorites, and all the lovely baristas (Kristin, Leslie, Rachel, Cora, and Katie) know this, so as they gingerly slip a pair of tongs into the bakery case, they don't even need to be told that I like my muffins on the dark side.  

Stop into Blue Line sometime for a coffee and a muffin, and make conversation with Chris.  For those of you who don't know him, check Chris out in the video for the Mynabirds song, "Numbers Don't Lie" - it's a strangely accurate depiction of his real life persona. 

Go ahead, put another local muffin your mouth!

~ Trilety

 

August and Cupcakes...

It's August. This time of year in the midwest is hot and sticky. As my dad would say, the snakes hang straight down from tree branches just to catch a little breeze. 

In the ongoing research these birds are doing in the realm of small business and bakeries specifically, I've been perusing some bakery blogs of it. It's fun and interesting to see what other bakeries are doing. I didn't come across many cookie and muffin sites, but did discover many many cupcake blogs. Yikes! I love cupcakes. I do. I love the idea of a cake in a cup; just my size, just for me. And maybe that is the appeal for most people. When you order a humongous cake for an event, you have to worry about cutting it into slices, serving it on plates with forks and napkins, and also finding a space large enough in the fridge to store the leftovers. Cupcakes seem so easy in comparison. No need for cutting, no plates or forks necessary. Plus you can find lots of little places to put the leftover cupcakes; just shove one here and one over there and maybe a few in the vegetable drawer. Easy! 

Well, Two Birds isn't really into cupcakes. I mean, I do like them. They are delicious and fun to look at. People get really creative with them, which I love. But there are so many cupcake makers out there. We'll stick to our cookies and muffins.

So Omaha has a few bakeries devoted to the creation of cupcakes... Yay Omaha!

1. Cupcake Island

2. Jones Brothers Cupcakes

3. Bliss Bakery

4. Leslie Elizabeth Creative Innovations

5. Cuppy Cakes

Lemon Custard Cupcakes

Happy Cupcake-ing!

~Meg

Magic!

Two weeks ago, we put out a request for you to name our new cookie.  Thanks to everyone who submitted such informative, clever, and funny suggestions!  And the new name of the cookie formerly known as the Vegan-Flourless-Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie is. . . . . .  Peanut Butter Copperfields, the name suggested by Richard - here's his magical and mindful reasoning below:

These cookies are called Copperfields.

You told me what the trick was going to be beforehand: vegan, flourless, and low on sugar. I was skeptical. I kept looking for the wires. I kept looking for the mirrors or the body double. But after three bags of these cookies I am still amazed at how it's done. They're possibly the tastiest cookies you've ever had.

That's some epic prestidigitation. I've never been so exhilarated by a disbelievable absence.

It's like David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear in your mouth.

Also consider variations, such as "The Chocolate Chip Copperfield" or "Peanut Butter Copperfields." 
  
Did we choose this name because it is catchy, creative, and accurate? Or was it chosen out of some sort of psychological capitulation to his initial, declarative sentence: These cookies are called Copperfields.  Either way; Thank You Richard Penner!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's hot and humid here in Omaha.  My skin thrills me with the way it weeps, or maybe salivates, to keep me cool.  As a person who just started using air conditioning three years ago, I still feel guilty about being cool in my house, let alone the guilt that can accompany baking cookies in the middle of a sweaty afternoon.  But there resides in the sky a star whose bulk can burn skin and soil, but if harnessed gently, can also bake a cookie.  Today, I pulled out my sun oven and baked a batch of Peanut Butter Copperfields on the back patio. 

Ten minutes In. . .

Just put in the Oven!

 

Beyond reducing your energy load, there are many reasons to support the use of sun ovens, see Sun Ovens International and the Solar Oven Society for more stories.  

~ Trilety

 

 

A Savory Experiment

The thought of a savory muffin is appealing to me. It is a less sweet breakfast option that is still delicious with a coffee or tea accompaniment.

While looking through an old cooking magazine last month, I came across a recipe that offered the flavors of Bleu cheese, walnuts, and apples in the form of a tart. Oh my goodness that sounds goooood! And my mouth began to water at the thought of the combination of flavors: savory, nutty and sweet. Inspiration!!!

I want to include these flavors in a muffin! Or perhaps I should call it a biscuit? So I 've been experimenting over the past two weeks, adding those same ingredients to my own muffin recipe. In the first batch, I omitted the sugar from my muffin recipe altogether and added a bit more flour to compensate, plus the Bleu cheese, walnuts (toasted) and apples. However, I found the outcome to be too dry. Maybe the fact that I omitted the sugar didn't actually mean I had to compensate with flour. So, in the next batch I added just a few tablespoons of sugar and took out the flour that I had added in the previous batch. That worked much better! And another thing, should I put sugar on top? Sprinkling the tops of muffins with a little Turbinado sugar gives them a yummy sugar crust and a lovely glistening appearance. Trilety suggested a honey glaze to top these savory muffins/biscuits; a touch of sweetness doesn't always mean cane sugar is necessary. She uses other natural sweeteners in her baked goods, such as honey, molasses, and maple syrup. So I'll try the honey glaze! Brilliant! I love experimenting and I love it when things come together.

So, it's clear that I am quite excited about this idea. Does anyone share my enthusiasm?

~Meg

Name this Cookie!

It may say a lot about me when I divulge how excited I become when something of mine is put on a tongue, and the reply is closed eyes, a sigh, and an exclamation of sweetness.  This scenario occurred a few years ago when my friend, David Prince, put one of my vegan-flourless-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies in his mouth.  Since that day, I bake this cookie for him whenever he passes through town, and have even sent a batch or two when he was working hard at a residency.  I don’t discriminate against my own gender though, so this vegan-flourless-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookie is also the favorite of Elisabeth.  She even has the recipe.  But I only gave it to her because she is a stellar secret-keeper, and she’s also terribly persuasive, so I knew I’d likely end up tied to a chair (in the Tuesday afternoon way, not the Friday night way) and spilling my ingredients and instructions anyway.  If you know you’ll eventually give it up, then give it up quick. . .unless of course it’s a Friday night type of thing. . then I recommend anticipation. 

Anyway, back to the cookie, which for the balance of this post I will refer to by an acronym; VFPBCCC.  Or even better, VFPBC³.  These Two Birds didn't include the VFPBC³ in our original cookie lineup.  While last in Seattle, Elisabeth asked why this was so.  I explained that it was my only cookie recipe that did not use any natural sweeteners, and it had ¾ cup of organic brown sugar in it!  That amount of sugar would be alright for loved ones who had power over me to demand the types of cookies I bake, but not for unsuspecting customers who don’t need that amount of sugar in their cookie

A Sugar Aside: I used to be a fan of granulated sugar before I knew about the processing and ill effects.  I imagined living my days in a sugar cube castle with white walls that were streaked in pink from a tongue that bled after licking grains all day.

Elisabeth laughed abruptly at my reply about too much sugar in a cookie.  As she exited the kitchen, with her lovely chin over her shoulder, she looked back to me and said, “Then just reduce the sugar.” An epiphany! It hadn’t occurred to me.  The cookie seemed good as is.

So, three batches of  VFPBC³ later, I managed to reduce the sugar from ¾ cup to ½ cup.  They were then tested.  Richard’s vote was for the least amount of sugar, and Elisabeth is quoted as saying: "As a devotee of the first incarnation of the cookie, I was aghast when Trilety said she thought it was just too sweet. Why take a perfectly delightful healthy-ish cookie and make it healthier? After trying the new, lower sugar version, I was thrilled to discover I could hardly discern a difference. The rich peanut butter flavor may even get to shine a bit brighter in the new version. More, please!"

 Long story short, these Two Birds plan on adding the VFPBC³ to our roster, but first we need a name!! Take the next two weeks to send us Cookie Names, or post them below, and we’ll announce the Winner and the Prize on 31 July 2011.  

Regis already suggested this cookie, or at least a cookie, be named the Soundbite (which I love)!  What are your suggestions???

~ Trilety