Photo by Erika Surmi
If you look at a map of Montana, you'll find Missoula on the western edge near the border of Idaho. This gem of a town is home to Erika, who played hooky in California before returning to the city where she was born and raised.
Here, seasonal pizzas command lines out the door every fall, readings inspire in the prestigious creative writing program at the University of Montana, and local coffee roasters will keep you caffeinated all afternoon.
I'm a week late to the intentions/goals/resolutions discussion that ensues this time of year, but my word for 2015 is open.
I arrived at this word after several weeks of mostly casual pondering, then when I started reflecting on everything that occurred in 2014, halfway through December I decided. Open was the word. 2014 was a big year in ways that might seem small from the outside, but now I'm ready to go deeper and bring the concept of openness into my daily life. Open to opportunities, possibilities, joy, peace, people, conversations, grace, etc. It's not always easy for me, so I take this as the very best kind of challenge.
To welcome the year, I made muffins. I also made eggs, toast, and bacon, but it's really the muffins that most captured my attention. When I first received Good to the Grain for Christmas several years ago, I devoured it in one sitting. I had been itching to expand into whole grain baking, and Kim Boyce's cookbook was a wealth of knowledge about how to make tasty treats more wholesome.
Before the first pass at this recipe, I noticed a small note that mentioned it could easily be turned into a coffee cake. I love this batter as a coffee cake. Love it. But this year I was feeling the muffins. It might have had something to do with the fact that I FINALLY remembered to buy baking cups at the market, and I needed a reason to use them. Or perhaps I needed to be open to the idea of trying the recipe in its original state. I can't be certain.
What I am certain of, however, is that if it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you. Without question these nine words defined 2014 for me. I know I'm better for it. I prefer the person I am today than the person I was a year ago, and the growing pains were worth coming out the other side with more clarity and conviction.
One of those convictions was the importance of writing and poetry in my life. As absence tends to make the heart grow fonder, the times when I most wanted to write and read last year but didn't have the time or energy only served to remind me how valuable these gifts are. I continue to be overwhelmingly grateful for all of you who share part of your day with me whenever you stop by.
I hope Eat This Poem and my letters continue to provide inspiration as the new year unfolds.
Onward.
Slightly adapted from Kim Boyce, Good to the Grain
Embrace the bowls here. There are several components involved in bringing this batter together, and you'll be in wonderful shape if you're thoughtful enough to whisk the dry ingredients together the night before and bake the potatoes well in advance.
I've made a few changes over the years, like using spelt flour and turbinado sugar, and can't resist a nutty, crunchy topping, either.
2 small sweet potatoes (about 3/4 pound)
Dry Mix
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Wet Mix
2 ounces fat (I used half butter and half coconut oil)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup greek yogurt
6 large Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
Topping
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup mixed nuts, chopped (pecans, walnuts)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until tender when pierced with a fork. When they've cooled, peel and leave them whole.
Lower the oven to 350 degrees and put 12 paper liners in a muffin tin.
Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and yogurt.
Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a standing mixer. Attach the paddle and mix on high speed until the butter and sugars are light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then add the egg and half of the sweet potatoes. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute more, until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until partly combined. Add the buttermilk and yogurt and mix until combined. Next, toss in the chopped dates and the remaining sweet potato; mix until barely combined and pockets of sweet potato can be seen in the batter.
Scoop into muffin cups, then make the topping. combine the sugar and mixed nuts, then sprinkle evenly over the muffins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Serve warm with jam or butter, if desired.
Inevitably, the week between Christmas and New Year's often feels like a long string of dinner parties for two, which is just the way I like it. Without the obligation of work beckoning, I have time to, for example, braise pork in the morning, or roast squash, or stir risotto in the middle of the week, or make hot chocolate, then cookies, then ice cream, in one afternoon. It's a grand series of meals in quick succession, usually served with wine.
It is also inevitable that the sun disappears before I'm able to capture these wonderful meals in natural light. Like the delicata squash risotto laced with sage butter and dotted with toasted hazelnuts. There was a cluster of grilled radicchio nestled in the bowl, and a drizzle of sweet balsamic vinegar, the thick, 12-year aged variety from the slim, special occasion bottle.
See what I mean? Glorious fluorescent lighting. But this is real life, and I needed the hibernation from everything. I always do. And I'm betting you benefited from the same this month, at least I very much hope so.
After coming back from Thailand, the weeks leading up to Christmas were nonstop. There were meetings and budgets and timelines and board meetings, and I was completely blindsided by how quickly two weeks went by. I was also attempting to reset my sleep schedule, which took approximately eight days.
We did decorate, burn our pine-scented candles, and bring home a little three-foot tall tree, but I was not thoughtful or whimsical or much in the holiday spirit until Christmas Eve arrived. So I sort of missed the holidays this year, but that's what happens when you fly halfway around the world two days before Thanksgiving, and don't come back until well into December.
Tonight I'm simmering short ribs on the stove, our annual tradition for the past five years or so, and talking about our plans for the year ahead. I may or may not stay awake until midnight. We'll see. Happy 2015!
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