Create magic with sweet and simple recipes inspired by a book club’s 100-day writing journey
My professional writing career began a dozen years ago when I threw my name into the hat for an opening with the Charleston Gazette. The paper’s advertisement for “Lifestyle Reporter: Food, Fashion and Gardening” grabbed my attention, and I wondered aloud if I could fake my way through the fashion and gardening content. The editor knew better and offered me a weekly freelance column focused on food. I won the lottery. A few weeks into the dream gig had me hunting for a writing coach, which led me to Molly O’Neill’s cookNscribble food writing courses and group retreats, where my writing began to take shape. I made lifelong friends.
“Settle yourself in a comfortable chair. Open your notebook and get your fast-writing pen. Set your timer for 10 minutes and write.” These were Molly’s rules for daily writing practice, which have helped me hone my craft as well as heal during a family trauma six years ago. While my daughter was hospitalized for four consecutive months, plus additional inpatient surgeries, writing cleared the clouds of fear and kept me afloat.
This spring, I discovered a new book by the bestselling author Suleika Jaouad: The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life. Jaouad chronicles her ongoing cancer journey that began in her twenties and the creative project that “pulled her out of despair.” At a friend’s suggestion, she committed to the “100-day project” coined by Yale professor Michael Bierut, as a vehicle for creative inspiration. She chose to journal, a lifelong habit that she says had always given her comfort. Her friends and parents joined, each choosing their own medium to anchor their days and provide needed distraction.
I enjoyed the book, the passages and writing prompts so much that I chose it for my neighborhood book club pick. I texted the group: “My book for August is The Book of Alchemy, and it inspires a creative journey. I’ll be stopping by your homes this evening with tools for the process.” I delivered pens and journals to each book club friend 100 days before the scheduled meeting at my house.
The first to report within a month of starting her journal is a neighbor enduring a cancer diagnosis and treatment. “I believe I could fill a whole journal on each prompt! Thank you so much for this magical experience.” She later shared that she assigned this project to her yoga class. Another friend texted: “Started journaling this week. I’m so excited about this project. Just what I needed!” A third to text praise said, “I am LOVING this book so much! It’s been something I look forward to every night, and I am so grateful to have a new tool for processing things and decompressing. I’ve welcomed everyone I know to join!”
Dictionary.com defines alchemy as “any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value,” such as a pen and notebook turning ink and paper into a lifeline. I also transfer the concept to the kitchen, combining simple ingredients and meditative techniques into soul-nourishing breakfast treats. Whisking together flour, eggs, yogurt, sugar and oil creates a soft batter for an adored French yogurt cake. Swap out milk for the yogurt and butter for the oil, and just a pinch of sugar, and you have a tender dough for scones. Roasted coffee beans, ground and steeped with near-boiling water and pressed into awaiting cups is our treasured morning brew. Cook and scribble. Alchemy.
French Yogurt Cake with a Flourish
I once read that this is the first cake that children in France learn to bake. It is whisk-together simple, and I have made it with lots of young kids who are indeed gleeful at the alchemy of the process. I reduce the granulated sugar in the original recipe and add a touch of powdered sugar glaze and crushed freeze-dried berries for fruity sprinkles.
1 cup unbleached flour
1⁄2 cup almond flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1⁄4 tsp. fine sea salt
3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1⁄2 cup plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1⁄2 cup neutral oil (canola, safflower, avocado)
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract
For Glaze and Topping:
3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk
Crushed freeze-dried berries
Butter an 8x4x4-in. loaf pan, and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk together sugar and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in yogurt, eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir until eggs are fully incorporated. Add flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula just until smooth.
Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan and bake until golden and split on top and a tester comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes.
Let cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Run a thin knife blade around perimeter of pan to help release cake, then tip it out onto cooling rack top-side-up, and let cool completely.
Combine powdered sugar and milk and drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with crushed berries and serve in thick slices with your morning brew.
Cake keeps, covered at room temperature, up to 5 days.
Makes 1 cake.
Ginger Scones
Lemon zest and crystallized ginger are my favorite scone enhancements. Orange zest and dried cranberries are also nice additions. Make them how you like them.
4 oz. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, grated with the large holes of a box grater
2 cups unbleached flour, plus more for work surface
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp. granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1⁄2 cup diced crystallized ginger
2⁄3 cup milk, plus more if needed and for brushing
Freeze grated butter while you prepare remaining ingredients.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Add baking powder, salt, lemon zest and 2 tsp. sugar, and whisk to combine. Add grated butter and cut it into flour mixture using a pastry blender or large fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add diced ginger.
Gently stir in milk, tossing it together to create a dough that just holds together, and no crumbly bits remain in bottom of the bowl. If dough is too dry, add more milk, 1 tsp. at a time.
Sprinkle a clean tea towel with a little flour and turn dough out onto towel. Pat it out into a round, about 3⁄4-in. thick. Using a sharp knife, cut like a pizza into 8 triangles and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush with a little milk, and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake until light golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.
Makes 8 scones.
Coffee from French Press
So simple and satisfying. Suleika Jaouad lets her coffee steep while selecting her morning writing prompt, then presses and enjoys while journaling.
2 Tbsp. ground coffee
3/4 cup boiling water, cooled briefly before steeping
Place coffee grounds in bottom of French press. Slowly pour in water. Stir with a long spoon. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. Slowly push the press’s plunger down to bottom of pot. Pour into cups and serve immediately.
Makes 1 serving.
