Ok, since the last time we spoke, I have crossed a total of, um, nothing, off of “LA” to do list. I have, however, started rewatching all the seasons of Entourage. I figured it’d be a great segue into the big move. You know, because my life will absolutely mirror the life of Vinnie Chase and his buddies from Queens, right?
Or you could just insert a straw and go to town.
I’m actually gearing up to head to LA this Sunday for four days of work and apartment-hunting. This will be my second solo trip out there and I gotta tell ya, I relish the ‘aloneness’ of it all for about 24 hours and then I start to really miss my people. It’s weird, but I was single for so long in my 20s that I felt proud to be comfortable traveling by myself or just living life for myself. There were definitely times when I felt lonely but I was blessed to have an amazing group of friends who were in the same stage of life as I was. We were all there for each other and very present in each other’s lives. Heck, I fancied myself as an openly-Jewish “Carrie Bradshaw”— grabbing life by the horns and really living it (albeit it with A LOT less cash, uglier shoes and a little less promiscuous). I think about my four years in Chicago, specifically, and I feel proud of myself for doing my thing, you know? I was woman, could you hear me roar!?
Tahini, how I love it so.
But now that I’ve got this amazing kid and husband, I’ve gotten VERY used to being needed and always having someone around. And so while I sit in my seat on the plane, anticipating 5 or so hours of uninterrupted reading and movie-watching time, while also making a mental list of what I want to order from room service later that night for my eagerly anticipated, “dinner-in-bed-while-watching-uninterrupted-hours-of-Bravo”, one of my most FAVORITE things to do while traveling solo (I know, I really live out loud, right?), I know the novelty of this aloneness will wear off very soon. It’s the second day of solo travel when I start to feel the homesickness and the weirdness of a few days by myself.
She got her hands on some lip gloss. That’s my big mouth laughing at her in the background. The kid cracks me up.
This is what we do after dinner – hang out and goof off. It’s the best. P.S. Pink’s really his color, don’t you think?
Of course, I try to snap myself out of these pangs of homesickness or weirdness about not having my kiddo by my side by reminding myself that I’m THIS close to entering into my temporary single-parent status and I might just want to cherish this alone time while I got it, you know? Hashtag, get-it-while-you-can-sister.
The other thing I did besides start binge-watching Entrouage is bake a cake in honor of LA. Well, it’s not really a cake so much as a ‘loaf’, but whatever, I baked it nonetheless and it came out very tasty and very pretty. I had the idea after two incidents—-the news that there was an earthquake about a month ago, the epicenter of which was something like .5 miles from the school I’m about to work at, and my new-found obsession with tahini and chocolate. Thus, the chocolate and tahini ‘Earthquake’ cake was born. Do enjoy and don’t be afraid to replace your healthy, Whole30 breakfast with a slice of this and some coffee . . . just this one morning. I won’t tell anyone, I promise. 🙂
“Earthquake” close up
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces dark chocolate bar (equivalent to one bar of dark chocolate)
- 1/4 cup raw tahini (sesame paste)
- 4 tablespoons of hot water (or more dependent upon thickness of sesame paste)
- 2 teaspoons of sea sat
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan by measuring out a piece of parchment paper against the loaf pan and cutting it to fit into the pan with plenty of extra paper sticking out the top.
- Whisk together the eggs, sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix the flour mixture in the egg mixture until just combined.
- Transfer 1/3 of the batter into a small bowl.
- Break the chocolate bar into small pieces and melt in a microwavable bowl.
- Dump the melted chocolate bar into the batter and mix well. Set aside.
- Place the 1/4 cup of tahini into a small, yet deep bowl.
- Slowly add the hot water, one tablespoon at a time until the tahini has the consistency of batter (not too thick, not to runny). Add the salt and stir.
- Drop the chocolate batter into the prepared pan.
- Slowly add the tahini to the top layer of the chocolate batter.
- Using a knife, swirl the batters together to create a marble effect.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the loaf pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan, return to the wire rack, and cool for at least 40 minutes before slicing.
