If this is your first time here you may be better served heading over to look at popsicles or brownies and coming back another day… It’s been an, interesting, few weeks on a few different fronts and I’m feeling a bit ranty.
Still around? Well you’ve been warned, and as always there is cake at the end so make yourself a cup of tea and take cover.
It’s not just that I’m ranty, I’m relatively pissed off and generally annoyed — at people who blame others for their mistakes or don’t take responsibility for anything, ever — at those who are passive aggressively nasty or ignorantly nasty or naturally nasty — at individuals who need to put others down to feel good about themselves.
Take for example the woman at a table next to us at brunch this past weekend. The one who’s screeching toddler, about 5 minutes into sitting down, pushed a glass of water directly onto my foot.
Whatever, it happens (and for the record I take no sides over the kids-in-restaurants-merry-go-round), so with no comment and little more than a sideways glance I simply picked up a napkin and proceeded to dry my sandal.
Now the lady could have apologised or, based on my indifference, could have even pretended it didn’t happen — however she instead flicked her hair and hissed in my direction “ugh, its ONLY water” while rolling her eyes at her dining companions and a second, equally screechy, toddler.
Eff.Off.
Of course I didn’t tell her where she could put that water, but had I it would have gone something like this…
“Dear nasty lady, are you pissed that I didn’t smile and say it’s ok and make you feel better that my shoe is soggy? Does my indifference make you feel uncomfortable? Does trying to make me feel bad about something that is not remotely my fault make you feel better?
How about you order another double shot skim latte and get over yourself. Because I don’t need your bull and I certainly don’t deserve to be the focus of your attitude problem.
Had you tried to help or even pretended to apologise for the accident I certainly would have smiled around the two-day headache pounding through my eyeball and said ‘no worries, no harm done’, but instead you directed your insecurity my way and made an already challenging day worse. Thanks. Oh, and eff off.”
Ugh.
We finished our otherwise lovely brunch and went to sit at the beach and soak up the end of summer. Then we headed home and I had chocolate cake with peanut butter sauce — because, cake.
Then late last night between making this bread and making lists for the coming week I stumbled across a little gem on Instagram. It seemed to fit, so I figured I’d share it here.
In short, at the end of the day everyone around you has a life full of things you have no idea about — be gentle with them as you pass through.
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Ok, rant over, and I did promise you cake so lets get to it! This month my Secret Recipe Club assignment was Bklyn Locavore. A few years back Melissa embarked on a project to eat as locally as possible, sourcing pretty much everything — from produce, meat and fish to bread and condiments — from local markets and producers, and supplementing anything else with fair-trade goods bought in bulk from a local co-op. Brilliant.
In looking for a recipe to make her Pumpkin Ale Bread caught my eye immediately (as did her Pumpkin Granola and Bourbon Pecan Truffles however we’ll get back to those some other day) but as usual I waited until the last minute… and last night in the absence of a pumpkin in the crisper I turned to a bag of sweet potatoes, roasted a few weeks earlier and frozen. A quick defrost and blitz with a hand blender, and a rummage for the bottle of beer hanging in the back of the fridge from a BBQ Brisket earlier in the week, and I was good to go.
I swapped out and reduced the sugar; changed the butter for coconut oil; used whole spelt; and added a healthy spoonful of cinnamon, because why not. The resulting bread was moist and dense and just a touch spiced. Next time (and there will be a next time) I’ll probably make it as muffins simply to reduce the baking time, but this one is certainly here to stay. Now to somehow prevent myself from eating the entire loaf today…
Sweet Potato Stout Quick Bread
A wonderfully fragrant quick bread, perfect for any time of day. Adapted from Bklyn Locavore.
Makes 1 loaf
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ½ c whole spelt flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ c coconut oil, melted
- ½ c sweetener (I used half coconut sugar and half rice syrup)
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 c dark beer
- 1 c roasted sweet potato puree (see note)
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Oil a standard loaf tin with a bit of coconut oil, line base and two long sides with a strip of baking paper and lightly dust exposed short sides with a bit of flour.
Whisk wet ingredients — oil through beer — together in a large bowl. Whisk in sweet potato puree.
Sift dry ingredients over wet and fold to combine well. Tip into prepared pan and smooth top.
Bake for approximately 75 minutes, removing from oven when sides pull away from pan and a toothpick inserted into the centre has only a few crumbs clinging to it. Cover with foil for the last 15 mins or so if browning too quickly.
Cool in pan 15 mins then turn out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
COOK’S NOTES
- Sweet Potato Puree: Scrub sweet potatoes, pierce a few times with a fork, wrap in foil and roast for about an hour until very tender. Puree with skins on once cool. You can also use pumpkin or carrot puree.
- Beer: dark beer like stout is best but you can also use a good ale and add a tsp or two of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.
vegetarian // dairy-free // nut-free // soy-free
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Look at that beautiful, dense loaf. Hand me the butter, please!
Really, it isn’t hard to be nice to people. Don’t understand people who are snarky when they don’t have to be and when they have to be. Karma takes care of that though. Sorry you had to bear the brunt of that. Hope that shoe dried up okay and glad you had a nice soak at the beach 🙂 x
Thanks xx lying in the sun helps most things ;D
AND … good looking loaf 🙂
I hate that you had to deal with such a rude person, you bit your tongue a lot better then I would have! It’s a shame she is teaching her child such bad manners, but I do strongly believe in karma, so trust me she will reap her actions one day.
As for your bread, it looks absolutely delicious. I’m with Dorothy, pass the butter!
Apologies from a mother with a boisterous toddler. Yes it was wrong and if it was me I’d be on the floor mopping up your foot. Being out with a toddler is hard but there is no excuse for rudeness. Hope your day got better.
Yes, rude people are miserable. I am hope you are able to avoid them for a while. This bread would certainly make me feel better. It looks delicious! Happy Reveal Day!
What an awesome looking loaf of bread! And completely off the topic, I absolutely LOVE that I had to do a math problem to prove I was human as I commented. I am a math teacher, so I completely appreciate that! 🙂 Happy reveal day!
Love your writing. And your photography. You’ve just become my favorite blog. Next to mine, of course. The quick bread ain’t bad, either.
Hi! Great post and great website. 🙂 The bread looks delicious! You did very well dealing with that lady. Good on you.
Great loaf of bread, sweet potato and stout, wow, must be absolutely delicious, and quite filling. Perfect for the weather we are having at the moment
Sorry about the soggy shoe and rude mama but what a great SRC pick this month!!
Looks beautiful! Great choice..happy reveal day 🙂
Ugh, I’m sorry about that horribly rude person and the example she is setting for her child. Beautiful looking bread!
Oh dear. People can be so entitled, can’t they? Glad you had cake! Beautiful bread and a fun read. =)
Some people are unbelievable aren’t they? Maybe she was really embarrassed and that was her defense mechanism kicking in but how rude!
This would be perfect for me right now. Stout is great for feeding!
Thanks for taking such good care of my recipe! I love the addition of coconut oil and sweet potato swap. I wish the original photographed so well.
Yum! I would have never thought of using sweet potatoes. Great choice. Fellow group D’er
OMG…If that was my child that spilled the water I would have been so embarrassed and constantly apologizing followed by my child apologizing and owning up for their mistake…that is so rude of that lady. If we don’t show good manners to our children how will the learn….on the bright side you post looks awesome as usual!
Love this loaf, I wouldn’t be able to resist eating it all in a day either!
Love the sound of this recipe. Now, I do have an opinion regarding kids in restaurants. If the parents can’t control them, or the child isn’t capable of manners and restaurant etiquette then they don’t belong there, simple. That also goes for the parent too, obviously that one missed manners 101.
I love baking with beer!! This sounds like an awesome twist on beer bread!!
Rant read and approved. I don’t have a problem with children at cafes – its the way the parents act that is often the issue. I LOVE children and the other day at a cafe, a child at the table next to me turned around on her chair and stared at me for 20 minutes straight. She didn’t want to talk to me despite trying to engage her, but after 10 minutes it got pretty awkward. The parents then made a comment along the lines of “why do you keep looking at my child?”.. um, maybe you should engage your child in conversation so she isn’t bored out of her brain staring at strangers rather than talking to your friend over skim chai latte’s about your terribly wonderful and amazing life.
In other news, I love the sound of this bread! And how you’ve managed to reduce the quantities of bad stuff in it.
What gorgeous photos!! And what a beautiful sounding recipe. I’ve made a yeasted sweet potato bread and loved the texture the sweet potato brought to it. I’m definitely trying this one! Great SRC pick. Oh, and I totally enjoyed the rant. We all need a rant now and then. And the mother’s response to the spill was truly amazing.