Peas and Thank You

Hot Cross Buns

I’ve always had my favorite days of the week.  The determination now is based on when I have Pea Daddy home to help unstick zippers from skunk costumes and mop up accidents of both the sippy cup and potty training natures.  Back when I was in grade school, though, the two best days were Art Days and Music Days (the worst days were Square Dancing in P.E. Class days, but that’s another story for another time).

My music teacher, Mrs. W, was a peculiar woman. She wore a mass of crazy curls close to her head, brightly colored polyester pantsuits a generation too late and adult braces that lasted my entire grade school career.  I would place the $.42 cents remaining on my Starbucks gift card and a temporary tattoo from the Thriftway Kids’ Club that she’s wearing those braces still today, which is a testament to either how bad of an orthodontist she has or how poorly public school teachers are paid.

Mrs. W always had a wide, albeit sparkly mouth, almost as wide as the tennis ball she had talked her husband into slicing in half to show her students how to form their mouth into an “O” while singing.  Thank God for visual aides.  Had I not had mutilated sporting goods in my life, I’d be forever humming my kids to sleep.

The most exciting day ever in Mrs. W’s music class was when I was introduced to the first musical instrument I ever laid my lips on: the recorder.

I still get goosebumps thinking about Mrs. W carting in the huge plastic tub filled with the beautiful chocolate brown plastic windpipes.

The wealthier kids, or perhaps just the kids with germophobes for parents, brought their own recorders.  I remember looking at my friend Rebecca’s blue velvet bag with the yellow cords and envying her shiny, black pipe that had never crossed another child’s lips.  Slightly embarrassed, I’d make my way to the community tub,  to pick the “best” one.  The mouthpieces were worn, having been victims of the same fidgety, overstimulated kids that chewed their pencils into totem poles.  As I pieced the pipe and mouthpiece together, against Mrs. W’s warning, I blew as hard as I could.  My ears were filled with a piercing shrillness that sent exhilarating tingles into my jaw.  I still remember the taste of dish soap, the curve of the holes beneath my fingers and the thrill of knowing that someday I might turn this simple plastic pipe into a beautiful messenger of musical love.  As I’ve heard so many times in the high brow circles I travel in, “song selection is everything.”

My song of choice: “Hot Cross Buns.”  Now had I been given the artistic freedom, I would have gone with something a little more challenging, utilizing my left hand in addition to my right, perhaps a “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or even a “Mary Had A Little Lamb.”  But Mrs. W wanted to see me excel.  And excel I did. My fingers flew across the C, D and E holes like I was born to play this magical pipe.  I took that classic and I made it my own.

Please tell me that they’ve ended this sadistic practice in grade school music classes.  I don’t even have six months until Gigi enters public school, and I’m ready to neither purchase the implement by which I will be subjected to listening to a bag of cats dying.

But for now, I’m working my magic again.  I’m taking the classic “Hot Cross Buns” of Easter days gone by and approaching it from a vegan perspective.  Do you feel me, Dog?

Hot Cross Buns

Dough:

• 1 cup non-dairy milk, warm
• 1 packet yeast
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 c. organic unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/4 c. organic sugar or stevia baking blend
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 T. raisins (if desired)
• 1/4 t. salt

Icing:

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• ~1 T. non-dairy milk
• 2 T. vegan cream cheese (if desired)
• splash of almond extract
• pinch of salt

Dissolve yeast in warm non-dairy milk.  Set aside.  Combine whole wheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and raisins, if using.  In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and set aside.

After yeast and milk is foamy (about 5-8 minutes or so), stir in pumpkin.  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until a dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured bread board and knead for a minute or so (about 20 times), or use a dough hook on a stand mixer.   Knead in as much extra flour (~1/4 c.) as necessary so that dough is no longer sticky.

Place dough in a greased bowl and allow to rise for an hour.

Separate dough into eight small mounds and place in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Either cover rolls and place in the refrigerator overnight, or if planning to bake immediately, let dough rise in a warm place for at least40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake rolls for 18- 20 minutes.  Make a cross on each bun with icing, and allow icing to harden.

***In other news, for those that are interested, I’ve started a BFL page here, to keep track daily of my progress, meals and workouts. Check back daily for updates!