This afternoon we took our drums to a neighborhood Baha'i children's class held in an apartment complex in Arlington Texas. I had no idea before hand what we'd be asked to do, and I was happily surprised. I was given the whole hour(after they sang a prayer in Spanish...their little voices so sweet)) to share my love and knowledge of drumming with a lawn full of beautiful smiling children who had been anticipating this class for days. They ranged in age from 2 to 14(at least) and a few young mothers. Many of the people present did not speak much English, so I had the opportunity to hear what I said after I said it and it helped me stay focused. Focused on helping everyone have a joyful experience making music together(and I loved hearing another language floating all around me). 3 girls in particular, all around 12 or 13, seemed to fall in love with the sound of the drum, with the sound they could make together. Many of the smaller children drummed along on their stools through everyone's turn. All the children were respectful and involved, happy to wait their turn. Devyn and Matthew were polite, helpful and allowed me to tend to other children with out complaint, simply being a part of the whole. Matthew did two cute magic tricks for all of us. Devyn helped pass the drums around as we went, and at one point held a big drum off the ground so Matthew could play and make a good sound. It was joyful! This retelling only skims the surface. Clearly the prayers from my mom, David, Louise and all the people that regularly pray for this group were surrounding us and lifting us all higher, to a place our spirits already know exists.
Many people have asked for this recipe and I have now offered it to another blogger so here it is.
Preheat oven to 350
1 1/4 cup sucanut(from the bulk bin)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa( this last batch I used Ghirardelli brand and I like it best so far)
1 3/4 cup flour(I've used whole wheat flour, but now am gluten free and find Bob's Red Mill all purpose baking flour to be good and cake like-not like a rock)
3 tbs flax meal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
mix all this in one bowl
then in a food processor blend 4 medium bananas and 1 cup of fresh cooked or unsalted canned kidney beans
add 3 cups of this to the dry mix(approx)
1 cup soy, rice, or almond milk(unsweetened)
1/2 cup coconut oil or 1/2 a shredded zucchini or whatever oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix this all in well
then add 1/2 cup boiling water, mix
I have found that cup cakes are best, stay moist, though pouring into a cake pan works fine
Frosting
mix 2/3 cup cocoa w/ 1/2 cup melted good earth vegan margarine, the add 1/3 cup vegan milk and 1 cup sucanut. keep adding sucanut by the 1/3 cup until desired consistency. I have never made the frosting like typical frosting consistency. Probably using powdered sucanut or powdered sugar(which we don't eat) will have the desired effect.
For anyone who tries this, I hope it turns out yummy.
Two rules. Set a timer and write something somewhere. That's for each time I get on the internet. Otherwise my good intentions pile up and eventually get lost...waiting for a better moment...when I feel more together, less likely to wrote the "wrong" thing. I cannot be this careful and expect my friendships to grow. I am not made of glass, though I'd like to believe this sometimes rather than make the effort. With this permission to communicate, or rather expectation, I am free.