155 Tasting Notes
I’ve been looking forward to making cornmeal pancakes with fruit (started out thinking about ripe Texas peaches) and cottage cheese all week. One of my favorite breakfasts. I decided to use a different cornmeal pancake recipe this morning. And who better to go to for a good recipe than Mark Bittman? Apparently, in the case of cornmeal pancakes – almost anyone. I have no pancakes. I have a bowl of fried-ish polenta-ish cripsy globs with some AMAZING cherry compote I made from frozen organic cherries, some lemon zest, freshly ground cardamom and little maple syrup. I knew better than to attempt pancakes with no leavening. I started in my extremely well seasoned cast iron skillet that is basically non-stick because it’s been cooked in for well over 50 years as it belonged to my grandmother. I used a little oil to ensure success. My poor skillet has crunchy chunks of polenta-ish stuff clinging to it like I would be to George Clooney’s leg if he showed up. I decided to try in the non-stick skillet which I almost never use. I have chunks of crunchy polenta-ish stuff which was scooped into a bowl along with the yummy cherry stuff and some cottage cheese.
In need of comfort and reassurance and inspired by TheTeaFairy, I turned to this tea. Chocolaty, chocolaty goodness. It goes really well with my cherries (also inspired by TTF this morning), and I am getting less hostile toward Mark Bittman by the minute. A big chocolate bomb that is smooth and delicious with zero bitterness or astringency even when steeped around 5 minutes is something that makes my semi-broken heart happier.
Flavors: Chocolate
Spring 2014 version
Dear Mr. He:
Thank you so much for picking this tea. Like the dearly beloved “regular” LB, this smells and tastes like like roasty chocloate malto meal. It is a sweet, malty cocoay cup of comfort and I’m very glad that I get to have some.
Having said that, I believe I love my regular LB just a little bit more. There is a little more depth and body to the later pickings I think. I really and truly appreciate having both and the opportunity to compare the nuances and subtleties. I love that Verdant finds and supports the tea farmers to bring us these sips of lusciousness.
This is a perfect cup of tea to have pretty much any time and I’m really enjoying it (much too early) on this Sunday morning.
Flavors: Chocolate, Grain, Malt
Preparation
Texas has been in a drought for quite a while now. It has been dry and sad. A few years ago, Texas caught on fire. I wish really hard for rain all the time.
This afternoon on my way home from work, I stopped at my local herb shop for some additional dried elderberries because of Northern Sweet Tea (ask Brenden). The shop is in a small stone house in a neighborhood and is a magical little place. In addition to herbs, they have tea and teaware. I got my elderberries and a darling little tea mug with infuser in a delicious green.
Just as I walked out of the shop it began to rain slowly at first but with great fat drops that increased in speed and decreased in size. I stood on the sidewalk and let the rain pour down on me for about 10 minutes. I’ve missed it so much.
As soon as I got home, I washed my new mug and brewed 2 teaspoons of this dainty looking little tea in 12 ounces of 180 degree water for 1.5 minutes. Now, I’m not a huge fan of green tea. It has to be right. I was not surprised to find that this tea is very, very right.
TeaFairy called it a lullaby and I agree. It would send you off to sweet dream land. But I can also imagine this iced on a brutally hot August day in Texas when it’s 109 and I’m in need of sweet cool salvation. The combination of sweet clean green tea with wildcrafted pine needles and a delicate jasmine is perfectly balanced. None of the ingredients overpower the others. Too often jasmine tea takes up your whole mouth-space with JASMINE – not this, it’s sweet and tastes like pure floral rain after a long dry spell. ADORE!
Brenden sent this tea as a sample a while back. I’ve been ignoring it in favor of all the other delicious tea I have. The other night I read a note on it by TheTeaFairy. It reminded me I needed to try it. Another new WPTC addiction.
And here’s the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N1DdwrsdTo (heh :)
Flavors: Jasmine, Pine
Preparation
Love that you just stood in the rain…I do that to. I’m really glad you got some.
And this tea is fantastic…
I love the rain – and we got big thunder too – it was AWESOME!
I’m in PA and we had huge thunderstorm for more than 2 hrs. I’m sure it’s flooded in some areas. At some moments it felt like it was right above my house. And electricity went off several times.
Every time I want to order this blend its out of stock. I want to place a big order by Fall cause some blends just meant for it.
I love those kinds of storms boychik – the big bangs right on top of you :) I’ve missed those. I will be ordering some of this as well.
@boychik, there’s 4 ounces in right now from the July pine harvest :)
Very tempting…
@MzPriss, I miss those southern thunderstorms! They are few and far between here north of the wall (GoT reference). Also, this tea is perfectly balanced? Totally shocked (need sarcasm font!)
I try to reduce the balance on some teas just for the fun of it ;)
@Brenden – I woke up and had Northern Sweet Tea first thing. It’s a glass-licker.
Lol, totally glass-licker. Can’t wait for my elderberries :-)
I can’t wait until your WP box gets there either!
:) Don’t you love it?!
Yes I do! And I was going to link to your recipe on my blog – but, ahem, it isn’t up on your site yet.
Me too, can’t wait!!!! Have you tried the you know what???
No. I’m totally waiting for you.
Haha! You are so cute :-)
What I AM going to do today though is make 2 quarts of the Northern Sweet Tea. It was amazing o wake up to. I want some all weekend.
I’m out of maple syrup :’(
:O oh no!
Fedexing you a few litres now. No one should ever be without maple syrup, ever!!! :-(
You guys crack me up. :)
Speaking of crack – this Ailaoshan Black is pretty crack-y
I want to try it!
Sarsonator, join the party :-)
Yep, Ailaoshan made a junkie out of me….
@Sarsonator – check your PM missy
PM checked!
And now I’m looking around my house to figure out what I can sell in order to feed my tea habit…
i sold the kids and then the grand-kids for tea money and now….anybody need a cat?
that was dual-purpose mrmopar – now you have room for more cakes
This was my 3 am middle of the night tea and I’m having it again at 6 with a little break for morning Special Dark (mmmmm) ritual. I was going to switch it up it, but it’s hard to mess with perfection so…
This is from my stash of the “old” vanilla, and while I do love the “new” vanilla just bit a more, I have to say that in the unlikely event you can let your stash of GO lounge around for a while, it just gets better and better – even more vanilla fudge flavor. Just so smooth and lovely.
Oh, MzPriss, I don’t know how you do it. I would DIE with only that much sleep. But this is an excellent tea for the middle of the night….the morning….the afternoon lol
I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this one yet…I love the new vanilla too! ( 3am? We are creatures of the night…)
@mj – I don’t know how I do it either, but I’ve been doing it so long, it is just how it is – but hey! at least I have good tea to do it with
@TFI can’t believe you haven’t reviewed it either!!! and yeah 3 am – we really are creatures of the night. I get some books read that way though :)
Yep, thank god for tea and books! Lol, I went to bed at 5 and it looks like I’m up now! Oh well, at least I don’t have to go to work, so no complaints here. And I,m like you, been going on for so long, I’m used to it!
It’s impressive! My brain does not work if I get less than 7 hours of sleep, which makes lab activities pretty difficult….plus it makes me pretty cranky. I guess I’m just a big baby when it comes to sleep haha
You know, for the most part, I love my life pretty well. I am fortunate to have a job that while extremely intense and stressful, I love it, I’m good at it and I work with really great people, I live in a place I love, have sweet little house with a HUGE yard and a great garden and I’m really lucky with my the friends I have – but seriously – not being able to sleep reallyreallyrealyrealyreally SUCKS it and I envy those of you that can. I would give up a significant amount of things to be able to sleep.
I had a serious struggle with insomnia for about a year. It is an awful feeling and I sympathize with you MzPriss. All you want to do is sleep and your body/mind will not let you. My husband could fall asleep in 2 mins once his head hit the pillow so he never understood. I hope you are able to find ways to get as much rest as you can.
Awww thank you. It’s been going on for years and I manage it, but I’m really envious of people who can sleep. And having GO in the middle of the night and a good book helps :)
@MzPriss, are you reading anything good lately?
I have been a Creature of the Night for most of my life. When I was 6 I was prone to wander in the middle of the night. It started with wandering around my house (mom was a very heavy sleeper & dad was in the navy). I’m hypersensitive to a lot of things, including sounds, so I loved (& still love)the silence, plus everything looks so amazingly different in the dark, there is a soothing quality to a lack of color. My wanderings took me into my back yard, then into my front yard. All around the neighborhood. I laid in the damp grass, looking at the stars. I became life long friends with the moon. It came to a screeching halt when my friend Jill spent the night & we went for a full moon stroll in our PJs. We played on the school playground, walked all over the place, then some lady asked us why we were out at night.
“She was spending the night & got scared, so I’m walking her home” I replied (creativity has it’s perks…including the ability to make stuff up, just like that!).
She kept driving around the block, so I slipped into stealth mode & we went into my next door neighbor’s backyard, thinking we gave her the slip. When she was gone, we silently crept back into my house, & tried to go to sleep.
Next thing you know, the doorbell rang, then Mom’s voice, “Terri…”
Busted! That lady had called the cops!
I go through periods of late nights activities, & if I start to do anything, especially of a creative nature, after 10pm, I’ll be up til 3:00. But I have noticed as I’m getting older that I require at least an average of 7.5 hours of sleep. I can get by on 6 for a few nights, 3 occasionally, but my body really needs the rest.
Oh terri, we have so much in common…I’ve been that little girl too…still am I think. You were right, you do have some fairy blood! LOVE your story, thanks for sharing :-)
OMG this kind of freaks me out that we all have this in common. I used to do what my vraother called “waking the house”. She had an old house with creaky floors. I believed that I knew where all the creaks were and that she didn’t hear me when I did all my roaming. Although she thought I stayed IN the house and just walked around – I always always went outside and walked around her neighborhood. It was a small town and I would walk around, climb up into the big oak trees, play in the park and I spent hours upon hours upon hours looking up at the moon.
I have no idea what a “vraother” is. That was supposed to be grandmother. I hate doing this from my phone :)
@mj – I’m reading a yoga book right now called “The Subtle Body” and I’m also working my way through that tea shop mystery series. The Indigo tea shop one. I do ’t think her writing is all that great and she gets a few tea things wrong – like the being stores in glass jars – but they pass the time OK. What are you reading?
Ok…this is freaky. My story is at my grand parent’s farm. Acres and acres of land. I’d go bare footed also in my nightgown with the dogs and climb the the apple trees. I’d just stay stay there and look at the moon.
You gals, your stories are amazing :-)
(And I can’t get passed vraother, I’m snorting out loud!!! )
Yeah – bless my heart, I’m laughing too.
Seriously? You girls are the only people I’ve ever known that did this besides me! Unless you want to count adults with Alzheimer…
ROFL!!!!
My vraother (I decided to embrace vraother) wanted my mom to take me to the doctor because she was worried that I “walked the house” all night long and thought I was sleep walking and might hurt myself. I was totally awake and I like outside at night. When we lived in the country, my hub and used to take futon mattress out onto our top floor deck and sleep out there if the Mosquitos weren’t too bad.
My own vraother would sometimes join me :-) no wonder I,m an insomniac, I got encouragement!
Awww, the futon thing is adorable…
I go sleep outside in the Gazebo all the time…especially when it rains.
LOL I sleep on my back screen porch when it rains. It just never rains here enough anymore :(
And I LOVE that your vraother did it with you! That is awesome!!!
I never night-wandered, probably because my parents put a healthy fear of being abducted/and or murdered into me (you can’t blame them; they both worked in law enforcement and saw a lot of terrible things). I did, however, like to go out and swim in the pool late at night, but my mom or grandma was usually with me. I got away with NOTHING lol and even when I thought I got away with something, I found out years later that my mom knew and just let it slide.
MzPriss, I’ll have to check that tea shop series out! I just finished the second book of The Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss. It was ok, but not great. I needed a stand in for game of thrones and it’s kind of like that.
My mom started giving me a nightly ‘hot toddy’ of warm milk with a bit of brandy in it, to get me to go to sleep. Of course, this is before they realized that alcoholism is genetic, hahaha.
Pretty soon I was coming to let her know I was ‘ready for my hot toddy’, & she realized maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. When the brandy bottle ran dry, that was the end of hot toddies…
It is no secret that I’m an enthusiastic fangirl for Whispering Pines teas. I was very gratified (and in excellent company with the lovely TheTeaFairy) to be one of the first tasters of the new WPTC blend Elderwood. When Brenden sent a list of the ingredients along with the sample, I was already salivating before I even tasted it. A blend of Imperial Grade Dian Hong, Ailaoshan Black and hand-cut Tahaitian Vanilla Beans sounded to me like my very much beloved Golden Orchid turned up to 11.
Only it’s not the big bold vanilla-fudge bomb I was expecting. This tea is a lady. An elegant lady dripping with class and good taste. This is a whole different experience from Golden Orchid – more subtle and nuanced. The word that comes to mind for me is pretty – though lovely is a far better word. Have you ever seen Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday? She’s so bright and beautiful and adorable, a pixie who is also a princess.
The dry leaf is gorgeous with sparks of gold. This is like nectar – not just merely sweet, but complex and nuanced with an earthy bass note. There is a hint of malt and bit of chocolate, with a luscious creamy vanilla winding it’s way through it and a fruity undertone. There is a bit of a floral lingering taste toward the end from the vanilla and absolutely zero astringency. This lady is smooth and sublimely elegant. If Cate Blanchett showed up at my house wearing her Oscar gown, this is the tea I would serve her.
Elderwood has lots to give. I took it though 4 steeps and the put the leaves in a cold steep overnight and woke up to a silky little honey taste. I really loved the third steep (though the first was my favorite), by that time it was really down to basiscs – earthy cocoa and a little jammy fruit. I had extremely high expectations for this and it did not disappoint – it’s enchanting.
I want to thank Brenden for letting me do this preview!
The song for this? Well this lady is a classic, so Beethoven I think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkcvrxj0eLY
Preparation
LOVE YOUR NOTE!!! The comparison to Cate Blanchett and Für Elise ARE so spot on…it js such an elegant blend, your so right. And I think we pretty much got the same type of notes.. This was so much fun! More Girl Power ;-)
I have a little music box that my grandmother gave me when I was a child. It plays Fur Elise and I immediately thought of it when I tasted this tea. YES! Way more Girl Power!
I see I got the little slider bar wrong on the temperature – I used 200 degree water…
Hehe, I’m so glad you two got the chance to try this before the release date :)
Awesome review!
Amazing review making me salivate and making it oh so hard not to want to buy some when it becomes available.
I too used to have a music box that played Fur Elise and this sounds like one classy tea.
@Frolic thank you so muc. It is indeed beautiful tea and it is available right now! I love Fur Elise. If you haven’t tried any WP tea you really should!
It’s back in stock, by the way, and if you haven’t ordered with us before, “sip-inspiration” as a coupon code will save you 15% off your first order :)
Great Review!!!! This Tea is in fact a Lovely Lady!
You know those wee little packets of enough black Chinese tea to make a big cup that only have Chinese writing on them so you have NO idea what they are? I’m having one of those now. I really wish I knew what it was. It’s nice and chocolaty with lots of body. I got a shitload of these little bags one day and I’m glad I did as they will be good for my travel bag and the tea stick.
I still have some sheng leaves left from yesterday that I will likely be getting back to today. Right now, I’m being MzMicrobe. Terri has inspired my microbiologist side. I’m working on: Root Kimchi (recipe by Terri), milk kefir and water kefir using my new kefir grains. After lunch I’ll be making some blackberry cobbler with the blackberries from my garden with a batter using almond flour and a recipe thoughtfully provided by Terri. In between I’m trying to organize my tea.
Yummy day!
So glad to inspire!!
I have milk kefir granules in my frig, if they are still alive. My son Leif was making & drinking a lot of Kefir for awhile. I used them with coconut milk to make Coco-Keifer, which is awesome, but in spite of giving them a good rinse before putting them in the coconut milk, I still seemed to have a dairy allergy reaction. I’ll probably give it a try again, because I’m a scientist at heart. I did have a successful water kefir thing going for awhile, & they work good in coconut milk too, but it’s a completely different drink :) The only thing I don’t like about water Kefir granules is they seem to have a tendency to start making ‘hooch’, if you know what I mean.
I do know. I’m wondering if I can shorten the time it ferments and avoid that. Did you ever do the water grains in coconut water?
Oh and my kimchi is in the jar. I’m about to put together the batter for the cobbler. My berries are all washed and ready. I’m probably not going to cook them first like the recipe does with the peaches
Good plan with the cobbler, I think. I need to make berry cobbler this week.
I have also made water kefir with coconut water, & it’s a lovely fuzzy drink, especially if you include a couple of slices of ginger in the fermentation! The Granules love it it & grow like crazy, but THAT one really has a strong tendency to turn into Hooch! LOL
Oh I want that though – with the ginger and coconut water, I’ll just try to watch the time. This is giving me all kinds of ideas though.
Now I’m thinking I need to get new water kefir grains & give it another try :)
YES! We can be Mad Kefir Scientists!
LOL
So. I am in a hotel, traveling for business. I had a really nice tea set up all packed in a zippered bag that has: a wee little stainless electric kettle, a tea stick (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/gamila-tea-infuser-stick/s132094?a=1552&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CLGWqtfchb8CFSJo7AodYxEAlA ), and sevral kinds of awesome tea. I was willing to live with the little glasses they have in the room to brew in. I’m guessing the little tea things bag looks really cute sitting on my kitchen table where I left it.
The hotel lobby has a coffee set up and has some boxes of tea beside it. No hot water at 4:30 am, but there is a teeny coffeemaker in my room. So I am drinking two bags of this infused into one cup of whatever temperature of water comes out of the in-room coffeemaker.
And you know what? It’s not that bad. Except for the clove explosion which is a bit much and kind of overwhelms everything else, but I think I stepped it a little too long.
It reminds me of what my parents used to make for us when we went camping as kids. It was called Spiced Tea. It included: Nestea Instant Tea, Tang, cloves, cinnamon. It was all mixed together in a tupperware container and we would spoon the mix into cups and fill with hot water from the camp stove. We LOVED that stuff. And this reminds me of that, so I’m enjoying this.
Flavors: Clove, Orange
Oh, bummer! I hate when I forget the things that make me comfortable when I travel. :( On a different note, I loved spiced tea as a kid!
Darn…you must have been so bummed out. Glad you were able to find something that wasn’t too awful though :-)
I like Constant Comment as a nostalgia thing, for the same reasons I like Ragu and Kraft mac & cheese, even though I know there are “better” ones out there.
Yes but I’m home now and having H&S Golden Monkey. Life is good!
Ah yes, good old Constant Comment. We had it a lot when I was a kid and I drink it a couple of times a year just for the nostalgia. What is it about odors that stimulate memory so sharply? Sometimes when I’m traveling, I deliberately leave my teas behind so I can appreciate them that much more when I return.
How’s the H&S Golden Monkey? I’ve had a few other versions and love it. It’s the closest thing we have to a “house tea” because everyone in my family favors it. When I first got it, my then-adolescent son immediately dubbed it “Monkey Butt” and so it has been known in our house ever since.
That’s funny. Adagio has those dragon pearls, and we call the “dragon poop” here.
My son likes to pronounce Assam ass-am. Drives me crazy. :)
@Hillel – I LOVE the Harney Golden Monkey very very much. Its a little pricey but it is delicious. Teavivre’s is also very nice and more affordable
A nostalgic tea for me, for sure. I drank tons of it while growing up.
And also the same spiced tea recipe as yours, MzPriss! ;-)
You know I don’t know if I would still love that spiced tea anymore – or for that matter, if you can still even get Tang – but I would try it again
Weekday mornings around my house are fairly frantic. Even though I wake up really early (translation: I don’t sleep much), I wait until pretty much the last possible second to get dressed, feed critters, etc. I also need a low-stress, low-key way to start my day. I have lots and lots (and lots) of teaware. I’ve been trying figure out the easiest weekday morning tea system. Pretty sure I’ve found it.
This mug holds a perfect-for-me 16 ounces. It comes with a nice large stainless steel infuser basket and a lid that doubles as a basket trivet. I measure the tea into the basket, pour in water of the correct temperature, set my steep timer (aka – my iphone) and when it’s done, I remove the basket, shake it into the cup to let it drain, set the basket on the lid where it waits patiently for a re-steep and I have easy morning tea.
More on my blog at:
http://mizzprissy.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/uni-brew-in-mug-with-infuser-and-lid-forlife/
Teaware addict here too… I never seem to have enough!! The tea just tastes better in proper teaware, don’t you find?
I totally agree. I WILL drink tea out if styrofoam if I HAVE to, but I really like a proper cup and a decent way to brew. This set up is pretty nice for western style.
BOOM BOOM! I’m gonna shoot you right down. Right off your feet. Take you home with me. PUT YOU IN MY HOUSE! Haw Haw Haw. Sorry. I can’t stop John Lee Hooker-ing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSnQ0bdHW0s) over this tea. Boy howdee this is good. There are many teas out there that I like a lot. But I have a pantheon of tea. Mandala’s Special Dark, my necessary shu pu-er, Verdant’s Golden Fleece – the best golden tip black, Whispering Pines Golden Orchid, my favorite black blend, and now – this. It is a genuine pleasure just to stick your nose in the bag and inhale (a quality it shares with Golden Fleece). Deep, rich luscious chocolate. Dark, creamy chocolate.
More on my blog:
http://mizzprissy.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/zhu-rong-yunnan-black-verdant-tea/
Flavors: Chocolate
Preparation
Oh my. Well I need to put this on my wish list, it seems. :)
Nommmmmy :) I’ve been wanting to try this for a while!
@Brenden – I will send you some to taste…
Love the musical links Mz
Thanks inranger! This song is an especially good one to wake up to :)
MzPriss – that would be lovely! :D
And in that case, I have just switched your sample out to a very very special new tea… :)
Look what’s ready to ship with your order: http://oi61.tinypic.com/2pobqtv.jpg :)
oooooh!!! makes me want to order from your company! I love Galdalf…..
Ooooh! I wonder what it is. I’m somewhat jealous. I got a pre release version of a tea from Butiki to taste, and that was awesome. I’ll have to be on the lookout for this one, as I’m still on a self imposed tea buying hiatus until the end of the month, at least.
I came back to check your review after I drank this one, and we totally agree on the chocolate! This tea is amazeballs!
Yes ma’am – this one is extra dreamy. I love the chocolate. I especially love this in the morning after my Special Dark. So glad you liked it :)
I got excited and wrote my review on the 1st cup. I’m on the 3rd steeping now. Still going strong!
Yeah it’s got nice stamina
I’m sorry for your epic pancake fail but this made me laugh so hard!
Pancakes with no leavening…? How bizarre. Imagining the clinging to George Clooney’s leg… Priceless. :)
The recipe ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fine or medium cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk, or more as needed
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus more for frying
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pine nuts
Honey, for serving
The recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/dining/19minirex2.html
oh god, i’m so hungry…. this sounds soo good.
@Sil – it does until you try to MAKE it. I still kind of have a heart ful of hate for ol Mark Bittman at the moment. I wanted pancakes
LOL we love bittman – have 3 cookbooks in our kitchen haha
I do too! Who would have thought he would try to pass off fried polenta as pancakes????
I got one of those skillets, over 100 now belonged to my great grandmother. And I miss her so and how she taught me to cook.
How did I ever miss this note this moning? Omg my spleen hurts that how much I laughed!
(Being attached to George Clooney’s leg brings all kind of images…)
And really, homemade cherry compote? Let me book a flight to Texas…
And count me in! I also have my grandma’s cast iron skillet…with a wooden handle. Almost as heavy as I am, but everything tastes better in it!!
Mrmopar, this is so priceless that your grandmother taught you how to cook…how precious that skillet must be.
@mrmopar – I learned to cook from my grandmother and great grandmother as well and I miss them both. My cast iron skillets are priceless to me
@TTF – LOL I’m feeling better about the whole thing now (except for the having to clean my skillet part) but I was grumpy this morning. The cherry compote was easy-peasy, just simmered the cherries and lemon zest and cardamom and some maple down until it thickened up some. I have some left for later.
Poor girl! I hate when something like that happens.
I’m thinking this recipe needs to have eggs in it, or egg replacer. Or ground flax seeds would probably work. Something that would bind things together.
I have one of mark’s books, in my crazy who’s who collection of vegan & vegetarian cookbooks from my 30+ some odd years of non-meat eating. Lately I’ve been feeling really nostalgic about all those tasty grain & bean based dishes, I really miss that stuff.
Side note…I use to love polenta, especially Fried polenta!
Maybe you were suppose to refrigerate the recipe in a loaf pan & slice it before cooking it? :)
At least the cherry compote was good, & thank god for tea!
Well if I had thought it through, I would have realized how it would turn out. I did briefly think about no leavening or egg – but Mark Bittman! They really are polenta cakes and not pancakes – but he calls them pancakes and they look like them in the recipe photo. I’m mostly over it now because I had great tea and I hsve some of the cherry stuff left over
You could spread it on toast (another food I REALLY miss).
Or layer it in a fancy wine glass with coconut whipped cream & other yummy stuff…
It JUST so happens I have some coconut whip and that had occurred to me :)
:)