My husband began publishing a series of meditations a few weeks ago on the marimba, sometimes featuring neighboring sounds such as birds and suburban noise, mixed together to sound like beautiful music. They are short, mostly 5-minute and 10-minute pieces and are free for listening whenever you’d like on his website.
These types of pieces are what a lot of us need right now: more rest, more zoning out without looking at screens or words. Just simply being, in the moment, experiencing.
For those who have a hard time sitting still for a few minutes at a time (me, too), these sounds can be helpful in allowing your mind to settle and in knowing that the time will be up in a few short minutes: no need to keep a timer or look at your watch.
For those of you in DFW, he’s holding a special performance on Saturday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at Monkey & Dog Bookstore. This is Fort Worth’s independent bookstore, and even if you can’t make this event, please go and support them. If you can make the event, you’re surely in for a treat: he’s performing a piece that will be fully improvisational based on the people in the audience, and developed around the work of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. If you’re in to storytelling or the work of this great mythologist, this night is for you. If you’re curious what marimbas sound like outside of the university/classical environment, this event is for you, too.
I’ll be there and I might even have some vegan treats out for y’all. I hope you can join us. I love what’s happening in Fort Worth these days, and am so thankful for these businesses who support art and expansion. What a strong, incredible city cowtown is.
Love,
Jen
When we lived in Nashville, there were 2 desserts that everyone tried to force me to eat: Moon Pies and Goo Goo Clusters. I have never tasted either. However, I wanted to make gooey, soft, brownie-type cookies last week, and when they came out of the oven, I thought they’d be even better with frosting. So I made little cookie sandwiches with peanut butter frosting, and…. they are what I would consider Moon Pies! Maybe not the kind you eat in Nashville, but still. They are fun large desserts so would be cute for parties and they are insane good with a cup of coffee. 🙂
Meditations on Marimba and Moon Pies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 2 tbsp. flax seeds, ground
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. natural cane sugar
- 1/4 c. vegan butter
- 1/2 c. cashews
- 3/4 c. water
- 1/3 c. peanut butter
- 1 c. rolled oats
- 1/2 c. walnuts
- 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
For the frosting
- 1/2 c. peanut butter
- 1 c. powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3-4 tsp. almond milk
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix the flax with 6 tbsp. warm water, stir well, set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and sugar.
- In a high-powered blender, blend the cashews and water. Slowly add the cashew mixture to the butter mixture, stirring well. Add the flax mixture and peanut butter, and stir until combined.
- Slowly add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until fully combined. Fold in the oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips.
- Scoop the cookie batter onto the prepared baking sheets, into 1" balls, flatten gently. Bake at 350 for 16 minutes, remove from the oven, and cool completely.
- Make the icing: using a hand mixer, combine the peanut butter with the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Add in the vanilla, and then the almond milk, adding 1 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.
- When the cookies are cool, ice the bottoms of the cookies with the peanut butter frosting. Form into sandwiches, and enjoy!