Happy weekend, everyone! Hope you’ve had a good week? The UK has seen a good dose of sunshine this weekend, which we have taken full advantage of, by hanging out in the garden and going out for long walks in the nearby woods. Wooded areas are particularly beautiful right now, carpeted with blossoming wild garlic and full of curious wildlife – squirrels and birds mainly – checking out infrequent visitors shyly.
The woods we live by span over a ravine and its banks are overgrown with gorgeously green and beautifully ornate ferns. I’ve heard once, on a health-related podcast, that breathing in air where ferns grow is really good for ones’ microbiome (gut bacteria) and therefore for ones’ health in general. Something to do with ferns thriving in soil containing health promoting microbes and mineral elements. We have both noticed that walking around that forest improves our breathing and makes us feel more alive so we’ve been doing it daily. We are both hoping to return to running sometime next week, but walking does a great job in the meantime. Walking and light yoga, which makes us both sleep like babies. There is not much to report, we are a still in the process of recovering and under full lockdown so there is not much going on really. Recipe-wise, today I made some simple coconut cookie sandwiches with a deliciously creamy coconut filling made from raw coconut flesh, which I bought by mistake a while ago and wanted to put to some good use. I thought I was buying coconut oil, but once I got home I realised that I misread the label completely. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but it turns out to be delicious mixed in with some sweetener and plant milk. It’s silky smooth and very indulgent. I realise, however, that not many people will happen to have this in their cupboard and as now is not the time to be hunting for specialist ingredients, I have another option for you. If you have a bag of desiccated coconut at the back of your cupboard, turn it into a luscious coconut butter using your food processor and use the coconut butter you’ve made to make the filling (you can also do that with shop-bought coconut butter, of course). It’s really simple and I’ve included instructions below. I hope you’ll enjoy these and if coconut isn’t your flavour – make the peanut butter sister cookies that I created some time ago. Enjoy!
100 g / ½ cup unsweetened coconut flesh (I used TIANA brand) OR ½ cup coconut butter, homemade (see below) or shop-bought 45 ml / 3 tbsp maple syrup (or icing sugar) 60 ml / ¼ cup full fat coconut milk
HOMEMADE COCONUT BUTTER (optional)
