3 recipies

Recipe 1 - Chris' 'see ya later' Banana and Date loaf

ingredients:

2 cups SR flour
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
soy milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 banana (the older the better)

method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Mash the banana, then combine with the flour, raw sugar, brown sugar, egg, oil and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Add enough soy milk to create a thick batter. Mix with electric beaters until smooth. Add more soy milk if necessary. Fold in the chopped dates.

Pour the mixture into a loaf-tin (greased or lined with baking paper) and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 40 minutes, or until brown.

Recipe 2 - Hot nights noodle salad

salad:

1/2 green capsicum
2/3 of a lebanese cucumber
handful of fresh snowpeas
1 carrot
handful of mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
small block of tempeh
1 standard block of instant noodles or equivalent
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

dressing:

soy sauce
chilli sauce
hoi sin sauce
sweet mango chutney

method:

Boil the noodles and hard-boil the egg in separate pots. Drain the noodles when soft and run them under some cold water. Leave the noodles and egg to cool.

Slice the tempeh into long thin strips (about 1/2-3/4 of a centimetre wide, about 4cm long). Slice the mushrooms and the garlic. Cook the tempeh, mushrooms and garlic in a small frypan over a high heat with some vegetable oil until the tempeh browns. When almost done, add a slurp of hoi-sin sauce and a slurp of sesame oil and fry for another minute, or until it starts to smoke.

Grate the entire carrot and slice the capsicum. Chop the cucumber into small cubes, and cut the snowpeas into thirds.

Shell the hard-boiled egg and slice into 5 strips.

Dressing:

In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, a few squirts of sesame oil, a slurp of hoi-sin and a dash of chilli sauce and stir thoroughly. Taste and alter as necessary.

Place the drained noodles in the base of a large salad bowl. Throw the capsicum, cucumber and grated carrot on top. Put the fried mixture of tempeh, mushrooms and garlic on top. Place the sliced egg on top of the whole pile. Looks nice.

Pour over the dressing. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Toss carefully and serve into a small bowl.

Eat with chopsticks and a glass of cold white wine.

Recipe 3 - One day in the pressure-cooker

ingredients:

1 eerie waking dream about strangers lurking in your house
5 minutes of yoga
20 minutes of meditation
25 push-ups
1 page of barely interesting headlines
30 minutes of urban transit
6 hours of trying to stay awake, interested and inspired
1 page of inspiration
30 minutes of dozing on green grass in grey shade
2 hours of attempted good conversation, mostly failures and misunderstandings
10 minutes of successful good conversation
45 minutes of quiet anxiety
20 minutes of genuine exhiliration
1 hour of desperate exhaustion
as much sleep as is left in the cupboard

method:

Arrange ingredients on a bench. Sweep roughly into a deep ceramic bowl. Toss with determination.

Enjoy with good humor, hope and follow with a sherry-glass of equanimity.