It's spring finally. There are tulips not in bloom but they are there even after last weeks' snow and hail. I wore my winter coat yesterday along with a hat and scarf.Today a light jacket will be fine as I go for a walk, not that there is much to look at in this area and there is no place to go if we didn't get caught too far from home. We don't even have a registered home address so we couldn't prove our address if we were asked.
A while back a package came to the neighbor next door so since she's elderly we walked down the street to the proper address and dropped it off. As we walked away two officers appeared out of nowhere and gave us a hard time. We explained the situation and they asked our names and addresses. We didn't have any identification except a bank card. He wrote down the information we gave him. Marc got a little feisty and said to him "I don't understand what I did wrong!"
The officer said that people have been stealing packages. Of course we didn't see the logic of that since we were dropping it off. He said that we could have taken stuff out and dropped it off incomplete. I guess it makes sense but there was a time when doing good deeds were not scrutinized by the law.
We got lucky and the person came home and checked the package. The officer let us go but it really made us see how life has changed and we can be guilty of the most innocent things like going for a walk.
Anyway this morning I thought I would do something with the fruit that was left in the fridge so I made a pancake cake. I thought that pancakes would be boring so I layered them up to get a layer cake.
Pancake cake
I wanted them to be gluten free but I was afraid it wouldn't work. I don't often do things that involve flour. I added a little wheat flour to be sure. If I would have had flax I would have added a flax egg made from soaked flax seeds.
I used the blended fruit for some of the liquid and also to sweeten since I didn't want to use sugar for this one. I also added baking soda by just grabbing a pinch and sprinkling it all over. It was around 1/4 teaspoon. I'm not sure if it was that necessary. Some people would add baking powder to make them rise but I didn't have any and I didn't miss it either.
I haven't had a chocolate cake in a while because I avoid sugar as much as possible. Since most frosting is made from icing sugar and butter which would kill me if I ate them, I improvised with peanut butter and dates. The dates were the only sweetener I added. I had planned to save the added sugar for a drizzle of maple syrup but it wasn't necessary in my opinion.
In the end I had around six layers and slathered them all in between as well as outside.
It was quite rustic but without the sugar and the butter, it was easy to eat.
I had help from Marc of course. Marc's folks didn't want any. They prefer things that have been packaged from Costco.
As difficult as this current situation is for all of us, it's a good time to do things we didn't have time for before. I will be digging up a patch in the backyard soon to attempt a garden. Hopefully it will grow. It's something I have dreamed about all my life. I just wish it wasn't when the world has turned upside down.