Sunday Brunch: Spiced Waffles

Eaten before I got a picture! Recipe adapted from The Pajama Chef, who apparently adapted it from an Epicurious recipe.

2 cups + 4 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1/2 + 2/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Dry Sweetener (vegan white sugar or organic cane sugar)
1 cup Brown Sugar (or demerara sugar)
2 tbsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Cloves
1 tsp Nutmeg (optional)
1 tsp Ginger
3 cups Almond Milk (soy would work, but I had a soy-allergy friend in town)
4 egg replacers (I used Ener-G as usual, but might try applesauce next time for flavour)
1 cup Vegetable Oil (original recipe called for coconut oil, which I did not have)
 2 tsp Vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Create a well in the dry mix and pour wet ingredients in slowly. Fold over dry until well mixed.

Coat waffle iron in spray oil and heat until golden. Serve with chopped fruit or syrup or whatever you choose!

Note: I found this recipe to be very finicky in terms of sticking to the iron, it needed re-application of oil almost every time. Just a heads up (they were well worth the hassle, though!)

A Record a Week: Herman's Hermits - On Tour

SIDE 1.
CAN'T YOU HEAR MY HEARTBEAT
I'M HENRY VIII, I AM
THE END OF THE WORLD
FOR YOUR LOVE
I GOTTA DREAM ON
DON'T TRY TO HURT ME

SIDE 2.
SILHOUETTES
HEARTBEAT
I'LL NEVER DANCE AGAIN
TELL ME BABY
TRAVELING LIGHT

This record has all the sounds of the British Invasion. The band began playing R&B style music, but probably due to the success of The Beatles, their manager geared their sound that direction. Propelled from the success of their version of 'I'm into something good', the Hermits began their career as a Brit-pop group.

You can totally hear the sound on this record. It has all the straight-forward sound of the early-Beatles pop music. It also has the wonderful sound of music recorded by minimal microphones and production. The downside to that is you get songs that fade out like I gotta dream on, where the producer/engineer didn't fade out enough before making a straight cut, resulting in a harsh stop mid-fade out.

This is one of those bands I am sure I heard as a kid (I know for sure I heard 'something good'), but may have mistaken for the Beatles. As I listen to more music, I realized I have grouped everything I heard as a kid into one of about 5 or 6 artists, never bothering to distinguish bands of similar style.

When I was a kid, I used to scour the neighborhood near our cottage to search for upcoming concert posters for the Kee To Bala and then hang them in the cabin. I can't find anything on the internet to verify this, nor am I near the cottage to check it myself, but I am fairly certain the next generation version of Herman's Hermits was listed on a couple of them, alongside regulars Doug and The Slugs and others. I guess we'll never know! (because I am terrible at remembering to check these types of things)

Sunday Brunch: 'Egg' Salad

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 Package x-firm Tofu
2 slices Onion (or 1 chopped green onion)
1 tbsp Veganaise (or other vegan mayo)
1 generous tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
dash Cayenne (depending on your heat tolerance/preference)
1 tbsp water (if needed)
Paprika & Dill for topping


Crumble the tofu into a blender (i used a hand blender). Chop onions and add, along with spices (except for topping spices, leave out water at first) to the blender. Blend on pulse, shaking to mix up as much as possible (use water if too thick).

When mostly smooth (nice to have a few chunks), spread out over toast, bread or crackers and top with a dash of paprika and dill. Also enjoy in a sandwich with sprouts or whatever else you like!

*optional - add chopped celery to achieve the crunchiness of original egg salad.

A Record a Week: Isaac Hayes - Black Moses

SIDE 1.
NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE (Clifton Davis)
(THEY LONG TO BE) CLOSE TO YOU (Burt Bacharach)
NOTHING TAKES THE PLACE OF YOU (Toussaint McCall
MAN'S TEMPTATION (Curtis Mayfield)

SIDE 2.
NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP (Leon Huff)
IKE'S RAP II/HELP ME LOVE
NEED TO BELONG TO SOMEONE (Curtis Mayfield)
GOOD LOVE

SIDE 3.
IKE'S RAP III/YOUR LOVE IS SO DOGGONE GOOD
FOR THE GOOD TIMES (Kris Kristofferson)
I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN (Burt Bacharach)

SIDE 4.
PART TIME LOVE (Clay Hammond)
IKE'S RAP IV/A BRAND NEW ME
GOING IN CIRCLES (Jerry Peters, Anita Poree)

It's hard to hear the sultry vocals of Isaac Hayes and not think of Chocolate Salty Balls or other 'Chef' songs from South Park. No matter how familiar you are with Hayes' career, I would say if you've seen South Park, that will be the image that sticks with you.

Needless to say, this album is much tamer than anything you'd hear on SP, but still displays the smooth tones that made Hayes so famous. He doesn't have quite the bass of Barry White, but the effect is the same, a deep soulful album suited for sensual grooves or lovemaking (alright, that's a bit much, maybe).

Either way, he was a great singer and for a while there, seemed to not take himself too seriously. I suppose with his ultra-christian upbringing, it was only a matter of time before South Park crossed a line for him. Even though he was no longer christian, he had the same approach to his Scientology and thaw was never going to be a subject that Parker and Stone would leave untouched.

Sunday Brunch: Rosa Parks' Peanut Butter Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Flour
2 tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
1 1/4 cup Soy Milk
1/3 cup Peanut Butter
1 Egg Replacer

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whip together peanut butter, soy milk and egg replacer. Slowly add dry mixture to wet, mixing only enough to combine.

Heat oil in a pan to just a touch more than medium. Spoon out batter in thin layers and fry for about a minute on each side.