Summer Plum Sauce specially for Alisa Joy
7-10 plums, cut into quarters or eighths (from your backyard, your neighbor’s backyard, or the farmer’s market if need be)
1 meyer lemon (from the tree out back, hopefully)
cinnamon, to taste
nutmeg, to taste
2 tablespoons sucanat, rapadora, or similar unrefined sweetener

Place the quartered plums in a saucepan with the juice of the lemon, a few generous shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg, and about 2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice sugar. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 20 minutes or until plums have released their juices and are very tender and gooey.

The sauce will be very juicy at this point – perfect for serving over vanilla ice cream, a light cake, or pork loin (if you’re not lactose intolerant, gluten free or vegetarian! ha.) If you want the plum treat to be more of a thick applesauce consistency, drain off most of the juice and save it for another use. Then enjoy the plum sauce in its mouth-watering purity.

I haven’t figured out yet what to do with my yummy plum reduction. Maybe I’ll make a special salad dressing with it? I’ll keep you posted (pum intended).

You know what. I think I may have posted this last year. I’ll have to check the archives and see if I came up with the same thing. Deja vous?

Flax Bread, with thanks to Aunt Chris for baking this for a family gathering and sharing the recipe with me

Ground flax seeds give body and a slightly nutty flavor to Jacqueline Mallorca’s flat bread, which she serves with cheese or in sandwiches.

Ingredients:
1 cup flax meal
3/4 cup garbanzo (chickpea) flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon molasses
3/4 cup water
2 large eggs (to make it vegan: 2 Tablespoons Chia seeds dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425°. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. (I actually make two small bread loaves instead, so I oiled the pans with olive oil and sprinkled the bottoms with sesame seeds.)

Combine the flax meal, garbanzo flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and anise seeds in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, molasses, water and eggs (or Chia seeds). Add to the flour mixture and beat hard with a wood spoon for about 30 seconds to activate the xanthan gum, which will thicken the batter. The dough will be sticky. Spoon two equal mounds onto the prepared baking sheet (or bread pan(s)). Using a rubber spatula dipped in water, pat the mounds into two 6-inch diameter disks about 1 inch high (or pat the dough into the pans). Sprinkle with sesame seeds (or not, if they are already at the bottom of the pan) and bake until lightly browned and firm, 22 minutes (It took much longer in the pans and with my old oven). Let cool on a wire baking rack.

Makes two flat breads; 8 servings
PER SERVING: 155 calories, 7 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat (1 g saturated), 53 mg cholesterol, 289 mg sodium, 5 g fiber.