Month: May 2020

Categories
Grooks

TIMING TOAST

Grook on how to char for yourself

There’s an art of knowing when.
Never try to guess.
Toast until it smokes and then
twenty seconds less.
― Piet Hein

Categories
Grooks

ASTRO-GYMNASTICS

Go on a starlit night,
stand on your head,
leave your feet dangling
outwards into space,
and let the starry
firmament you tread
be, for the moment,
your elected base.

Feel Earth’s colossal weight
of ice and granite,
of molten magma,
water, iron, and lead;
and briefly hold
this strangely solid planet
balanced upon
your strangely solid head.
Piet Hein

Categories
Recipe

Banana Bread (wof)

  • 2 cups thoroughly mashed banana; about 4 or 5 medium bananas
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or Premium Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted if desired; optional*
  • *Leave the nuts out, if desired; or substitute up to 1 cup chopped dried fruit, chocolate or butterscotch chips, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or other mix-ins of your choice.

Topping

  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center position. Lightly grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan; if your pan is glass or stoneware, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the mashed banana, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  3. Weigh your flours; you’ll find their weight by toggling to “ounces” at the top of the ingredient section above. Or measure them by gently spooning them into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts into the banana mixture. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
  4. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter.
  5. Bake the bread for about 60 to 75 minutes, until the bread feels set on the top, and a paring knife (or other thin knife) inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs (but no wet batter). If you have a digital thermometer, the bread’s temperature at the center should register about 205°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 15 to 20 minutes of baking. Note: If baking in a glass or stoneware pan, increase the baking time by 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Remove the bread from the oven. Cool it in the pan for 15 minutes, then loosen the edges, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.
  7. Store leftover bread, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage.

Recipe Name

Ingredients:

☐ Item 1

☐ Item 2

Categories
Recipe

Carrot Cake (wof)

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour

3 cups finely grated carrots

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts

  • To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9″ round layer pans, or one 9″ x 13″ pan.
  • Beat together the oil, sugar, salt, eggs, spices, and baking soda.
  • Add the flour, stirring until well blended.
  • Add the carrots and nuts, and mix until just blended. Pour into the prepared pan(s).
  • Bake the cake(s) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.