Three Beautiful Things 06/05/16: Breakfast in England, Plans Almost Finalized, Getting Teff and Grit Cakes Started

1. A couple of weeks ago I bought a toaster for our apartment home. I've been enjoying toasting bread and the occasional bagel. This morning I realized that because I bought some eggs at the store, I could fix one of my favorite breakfasts:  soft-boiled eggs over buttered toast with a cup of black tea and half and half. So simple. So good. So memory packed -- it's the only way I ever travel to England (or ever will again) -- this breakfast always takes me back to thirty, thirty-seven, and forty-one years ago and bed and breakfasts from Ambleside to Rye.

2. The Deke and I had planned to go to the Indiana Fiddlers' Gathering in Battleground again this year and join in the family reunion. It turns out, though, that Hiram has a job in Chicago around that time and the Diazes are going to seize the opportunity to turn his job into a family vacation. The Deke is still going to Indiana. I am going to stay behind to take care of Maggie and Charly, keep an eye on the Diaz house, and look in on their cat -- keep her company and feed her. I'll join the Deke in Chicago when the Diaz family returns and we'll fly out to Kellogg for a visit of just over two weeks. This afternoon, the Deke, the Diazes, and I worked out some of the details of our travel plans and looked at plans for other times during the summer over a dining table-sized calendar Molly made a while back. I'm very happy we almost have everything figured out -- the Deke and I just have a few Chicago wrinkles to iron out and then we'll know exactly when we are traveling to Idaho.

3. The first step in making Crispy Teff* and Grit Cakes with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Peanuts is to make a batch of teff/corn grits/creamy cashews and pour this thick porridge into 7 x 11 baking pan and let it sit overnight. I'll cut up these grits into rectangles on Monday and fry them in hot oil to make grit cakes and pour the eggplant/tomato/peanut mixture I'll prepare over the grit cakes. When I finish making it this Monday afternoon, it will be the first recipe I've prepared from the awesome Afro-Vegan cookbook that I've been reading and studying he last few weeks.

*Teff is an ancient, gluten-free staple grain of  Ethiopia and Eritea, very fine, like poppy seeds, with a nutty flavor. It's a favorite ingredient in the cookbook, Afro-Vegan.