While I was away late January/first 2 weeks of February, I got a message from my co-host Donna asking if I had a copy of that old classic: The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, that she could borrow. I knew I had bought a copy once upon a time (as part of my longstanding yearning for creating a Hippy Dream Fantasy Life (HDFL)* but I couldn't remember if it had made the cut when I was packing to move to Vancouver Island or not. Well, when I got back home I went straight to the living room book case and yep, there it was! (Of course it had made the cut, being integral - in my mind - to the HDFL! 
)
By this time, Donna was able to source the cookbook from another friend so it was no longer needed but I decided to flip through it anyways, just for old time's sake. I couldn't for the life of me remember a single recipe I had actually cooked out of this book and I couldn't find any of my scribblings on any of the recipe pages either. Huh? This must be corrected!
Based on my inscription on the inside cover, I bought this book in 1994. That sounds about right as at that time I was mentally struggling to fit into managerial life and its values (a lot of which clashed with my own), hence the HDFL.
I found a recipe that sounded good and - after asking Donna if it was OK that I cooked out of the same cookbook as she had done (it was) and checking that I had all most of the ingredients - I set to work!
Apricots and almonds together? Yes please! Something sweet but not too? Also, yes please!
First step: cooking and cooling the apricot mixture. Still no backsplash...sigh. But I did contract Home Depot to just get the damn job done once I came back home. Now I wait...
Wet and dry ingredients
Orange peel, ready to go into the batter
Loaf ready to go into the oven. Already looking and smelling good!
Eating the peeled orange while I impatiently wait for the loaf to bake. It was delicious.
I decided to check on the loaf at the 1 hour mark, because 90 minutes seemed like an awfully long time at 350 degrees. I was very glad I did. Sorry Molly, but I think something must have been wrong with your oven when you made this.
Completely done at 1 hour. Next time I will check at 50 minutes.
Exactly as promised: sweet but not too. This recipe is a keeper!
There! Now I have marked up this recipe (and the book) as mine, officially! Thank you, Donna! You get the blame credit for this.
Changes I made to this recipe: I used gluten-free flour, so my daughter could enjoy it as well. I only had slivered almonds in-house, and not enough, so I improvised by completing the almond quotient with some almond meal. As noted, I cut the baking time down to 1 hour.
So, what's on your plate this month? Have you ever revisited an old cookbook and wondered why you haven't actually cooked out of it, or cooked MORE out of it? Please join myself and Donna in this month's challenge and let us know in the Comments or the Link Party, below.
Rock on,
The WB
*Hippy Dream Fantasy Life: a term I coined to express my longing for a life that is slower, richer, more artistic and meaningful than the one I was currently living. It is not historically accurate as it encompasses a lot of things I found meaningful not just in the actual hippy time (mid to late 60s) but also the 70s. So don't come for me, historians. I was just a tad too young to be a hippy in the 60s (to my parents' everlasting relief) but NOW I am working on making that dream a reality. Fantasy life no more? I think so!
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