SHIFT HAPPENS

CHRONICLE: ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, JANUARY 2024

Shift happens. There’s no avoiding it.

When my son was a baby, then a toddler, (he’s now a married thirty-something) I learned that getting used to a routine meant only one thing: the routine was about to change. No sooner had I gotten good at anticipating when he’d wake from a nap, knowing which toy to grab or song to sing to soothe a fretful moment meant everything was about to change.

Once I figured out this pattern it made dealing with the shifts a bit easier. But I couldn’t, not even once, predict his new behaviors, or the new solutions I would need to implement to best help my toddler adjust to the changes his development demanded.

Ben Franklin is credited with saying, “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

I think we can add that C-H-A-N-G-E, life’s insistence on derailing well-planned routine, is also certain.

This past week has reminded me of those shifts.

I didn’t even see the last week coming.

Like a lot of people my age–I just turned 64–I am not only confronting my own aging issues, but those of the generation above me. A week ago, my mother in-law was taken to the hospital where she underwent extensive surgery. The surgery was successful. The outcome is that she will need to make significant, ground shifting modifications to her lifestyle and living arrangements. The changes she is facing directly impact the entire family.

It's been a doozy of a week.

I haven’t cooked big meals, or even really thought in advance about what to eat this week. The day the ambulance took my mother in-law to the hospital, I barely ate a thing. This is unusual for me. I am almost always thinking about food, what to eat next, cognizant of my hunger. Maybe that’s why I’m good at listening to my gut instincts, literally and figuratively.

I have found a little bit of solace in my kitchen in the last couple of days as time and energy permit.

One night I made chicken soup with store-bought bone broth, meat from roasted chicken thighs that I cut from the bone, and all the mis-fit veggies in my fridge. Breakfast for dinner–fluffy scrambled eggs with crumbled bacon and garlic toast also made an appearance late one night. But Monday afternoon, it was chocolate that I was craving. Something a little bit sweet, to take the harsh edges off this unforgiving week.

My birthday was in December, and I made a chocolate olive oil cake to celebrate. It was delicious, easy to put together and didn’t require yet another trip to the grocery store for ingredients. My husband, a dedicated vanilla lover, couldn’t wait for me to make this cake again. This cake is like a brownie but less fudgy, not too sweet, more nuanced. I think it’s the olive oil that gives it a bite of freshness. It’s great by itself or topped with vanilla ice cream. It’s also good with your morning coffee or tea.

You will need a spring for pan for the following recipe which includes volume and weight measurements. I have shifted towards weighing my ingredients when I bake and find it easier to use metric weights. But if you don’t have a kitchen scale, relax. Just use the volume measurements. It will turn out just fine. Even if shift happens.

---

CHOCOLATE OLIVE OIL CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup olive oil

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped OR bittersweet chocolate chips

• ¾ cup (3 ¾ ounces; 76g) all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup (1 ¼ ounces; 30g) buckwheat flour

• ¼ cup (3/4 ounces; 21g) cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon table salt

• 1 cup (7 ounces; 198g) granulated sugar plus 2 additional teaspoons for sprinkling on top just before baking

• 2 large eggs

• 1 egg yolk

• ½ cup milk (any fat percentage or can be dairy free)

HOW TO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, positioning rack in middle of oven.

Lightly coat bottom of a spring form pan with a small amount of olive oil.

Combine ½ cup olive oil and chocolate in microwave safe bowl. Heat until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute. Stir to combine.

In a medium bowl whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk 1 cup/7 ounces/198g granulated sugar with the eggs and egg yolk. Whisk in olive oil and chocolate mixture.

Whisk in milk.

Whisk in dry ingredients until batter is smooth.

Transfer batter to prepared springform pan.

Sprinkle remaining 2 Tablespoons sugar over surface.

Make sure clasp of pan is securely fastened. Give the pan a gentle rap on the counter to release possible surface air bubbles.

Bake until a skewer inserted diagonally into a crack comes out with just a crumb or two attached, about 30-35 minutes.

Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool for 2 hours. THIS is the hardest part of this recipe!

Release clasp on springform pan, run a small knife around edge of pan if necessary. Cut into wedges and serve.

The cake will last at room temperature for about 3 days.