When Flying to Neverland, Bring Some Chocolate

I spy a moth. Nature is all around us, even in Brooklyn, NY. What will Wisconsin have in store for me, while I vacation in a place called Three Lakes? I bet they have chocolate there too!

Leaving on a jet plane, and a recipe for dark chocolate energy bites to bring on such a journey....

I am going on a vacation.  Frankly, I cannot remember the last vacation I have been on.  Our last major vacation was our family roots tour to Poland.  Most of the times that I took off while I still worked were labeled "staycations."

Sometimes we would take mini vacations, long weekends to visit my younger brother and his family in Rhode Island.  In fact, that was our last vacation, a mini to Providence, one of my favorite cities in the USA.  We went to Rhode Island, by train, shortly before Dan was diagnosed with bladder cancer.  In hindsight, it was brave of Dan to make the trip, as he was experiencing physical discomfort in his back.

But what a time we had, what a last hurrah it was!  Josh came with us, and we played cards on the train.  Josh tried to teach us a card game he learned when in culinary school in Italy that involved a special deck of cards, that almost looked like fortune telling cards, with wands and cups and such symbols.

We shared iPhone music.  I was very into songs by The Head and The Heart, which Josh had told me about.  Dan and Josh worked on their beloved crossword puzzles.  Dan had a NYT daily mini-crossword app on his iPhone that always gave him such great pleasure.

Once in Providence on that trip, on Saturday, we all went to the outdoor farmers' market in Providence. Josh bought food to cook for supper, and took pleasure in his conversations with various farmers about the food they were selling.  Josh found foods at the Providence market that he had not seen in our own Union Square or Grand Army Plaza farmers' markets in NYC.

The Rhode Island summer farmers' market is quite a community get together.  It is like going to one big party.  People sit on the lawn and play music.  Neighbors are happy to greet each other, catch up on the latest family news, talk politics, national and world wide.  And of course they discuss food and the meal they will prepare later in the day.  Besides the farm stands, there are also food stands so people never shop while they are hungry.  Lastly, there are crafts stands, oh joy, as well.

I have never been good with packing up and leaving.  I guess I tend to be a real homebody.  And yet, except for Poland, I was always the one to pick where we went and when, and planned all of the details.  I guess I could amend that to say, a homebody until I get going.  When we prepared to travel, Dan would always pack about a day or two in advance.  I would invariably pack late at night on the evening before, or in the morning before an evening flight to Europe.

I can probably count the American States I have been in, on the fingers of my hands, and not make it count up to ten.  I come from New Jersey; live in NYC;  went to college in Connecticut; took one of my first vacations after college in California; took family vacations in Massachusetts at Cape Cod and in the Berkshires; visited my brother and his family in Rhode Island; drove Josh to sleep-away camp in Maine; and drove through various states during the college tour, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Chicago.  Ohio is too flat for me to live there.  When driving through, we passed farm after farm with "corn as high as an elephant's eye."

I may soon add a new State, as we are going to Wisconsin, to a house on a lake, in a town called "Three Lakes."  To be specific, it is the family house of my son's girlfriend.  The Wisconsin house on a lake  should be very reminiscent of my own childhood's Sackett Lake house. And I am looking forward to spending time with my son, and his girlfriend and her family, in an environment, away from home.  I understand there will be boats to use, and I may even do some fishing.  And of course there may be swimming if I "piscipate," as my friend Kate's son, Thomas, used to put it, when he was very young.  Though in his case, it was more often, "will not piscipate." I will try to take a vacation from my computer, while on vacation at the lake.

I will bring "Middlemarch" the next book for my Brooklyn Bookclub, and a knitting project.  The knitting project is a scarf, which I must have started three years ago, ripped out innumerable times and started over and over again, until I got the rhythm of the pattern.  I am now in the home stretch, on the decrease portion of the scarf.  Unfortunately, I cannot knit and talk at the same time, so it may not be the best project to bring.  Following the lace edge pattern still makes it all somewhat complicated for me.

A recipe for vacation time travel....

I follow many other food blogs.  One of my favorites is 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson.  If you are familiar with her blog, you will know that Heidi often travels.  Her travels are reflected in the foods and recipes included in her most recent cookbook, "Near & Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel."  Heidi often writes of food she prepares to bring on the plane, for her flights away.  While I am not as organized as Heidi, in that I have not prepared food for my own plane ride, I will include a recipe of hers, which I wish I had made for bringing.  As they say in yoga class, imagining you are doing it, is just as good.  And you, dear reader, if you try this recipe, may tell me if you enjoy these "Dark Chocolate Energy Bites."

When the plane leaves the ground tomorrow, to fly to Milwaukee, I will think happy thoughts, and and up I will go.

There are always Sunflowers in August, everywhere I go.

Dear Reader, here is one of my favorite songs by The Head and the Heart.  Follow the link and watch and listen to the end.  This one is a gem.  I especially like the chorus, as they sing it, which I have put in bold face.

"Down In The Valley" by The Head and the Heart 

I wish I was a slave to an age-old trade
Like ridin' around on railcars and workin' long days

Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways
Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways

Call it one drink too many
Call it pride of a man
But it don't make no difference if you sit or you stand

'Cause they both end in trouble and start with a grin
Yeah they both end in trouble and start with a grin

We do it over and over and over again
We do it over and over and over again

Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh

Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh

Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh

I know there's California, Oklahoma
And all of the places I ain't ever been to but
Down in the valley with
Whiskey rivers
These are the places you will find me hidin'
These are the places I will always go
These are the places I will always go

I am on my way
I am on my way
I am on my way back to where I started

Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh

Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh
(Continue in background)

One more for the stars and the eyes of the walls
I saw your face, I heard you callin' out

I saw your face in the crowd and you came out
Just like the sun and the moon and the stars at night

There was a sign on the door and it reads to me
Just like the sun and the moon and the stars at night

Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh

Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh

I am on my way
I am on my way
I am on my way back to where I started

California, Oklahoma
And all of the places I ain't ever been to but
Down in the valley with
Whiskey rivers
These are the places you will find me hidin'
These are the places I will always go
These are the places I will always go

So I wish I was a slave to an age-old trade
Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways

***

And here is a travel recipe for Dark Chocolate Energy Bites, which can be just as good at home, and which I intend to try, upon my return from Neverland.

Print

Dark Chocolate Energy Bites

A "nutritious and energizing snack." Perfect for travel days. Wrap them in foil candy paper, or parchment paper. Per Heidi Swanson, may be stored for a month.

Course Dessert / Snack

Cuisine American

Author Heidi Swanson

Ingredients

• 24 ounces dark chocolate loosely chopped (use a good-quality dark chocolate, such as a 74% one.
• 1 cut chopped mixed toasted nuts
• 1 cup chopped dried fruit
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• toppings: bee or fennel pollen dried rose petals, flaky sea salt.
• As to ingredients note that this recipe is very flexible. Dates, raisins, dried blueberries, all make good substitutions.

Instructions

1. Gently melt chocolate in a stainless steel mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, simulating a double boiler.
2. Melt the chocolate in a mixing bowl, and stir in most of the nuts, dried fruit, and seeds. Stir well.
3. Pour into chocolate molds, lined muffin tins, or pan. Use whatever shape, size you like.
4. Sprinkle with any topping you like and allow to set in a cool dark place for a few hours.