Thankful for:
1. Neighbors who own chainsaws, because when it snows with the trees still in full-leaf, you are going to need a chainsaw.
2. That I didn't have to be all that greatly involved with the aforementioned mess. And now it is all chipped up and the path in my garden has a new layer of mulch. Note we still have a leaf problem even though we've mulched countless bags of them. Maybe one more weekend of that and we'll be done. Maybe.
3. This vegan banana cake with chocolate/coconut glaze. I don't even like bananas...but, trust me, this cake is to die for. It was completely eaten before it even cooled. And then Ryan came in and said "You guys ate the whole cake?" Yeah. Sorry. We did.
4. That I got to spend some time with of a group of teenage girls who were stuffing Christmas bags for the troops in Afghanistan.
Vegan Banana Cake with Chocolate/Coconut Glaze
Cake:
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of canola oil
4 ripe bananas
1/4 cup of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, beat sugar and oil. Mash and add bananas. Beat until fully incorporated. Add water and vanilla and beat until smooth. Fold in the dry mixture. Bake at 350 in an oiled pan (8 inch round) for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Glaze:
Melt a couple handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Stir until creamy and spread over the top of the cake while still warm.
