Happy Mother’s Day, Beautiful People! Our sages said, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person” (Ethics of Our Fathers, 4:1). The first person in our lives we have a chance to learn from is MOTHER. From her we learn kindness, caring, and most importantly, unconditional love. Sometimes, it’s not a biological mother who does the mothering in one’s life, as proven by a phone call I just received from my adopted son. Here is a musical tribute to all mothers by the great Itzhak Perlman and the renown cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot.
This year, Mother’s Day is followed, a week later, by a Jewish holiday Lag b’Omer. It is one of the less known holidays, yet a very important one. We celebrate it by lighting bonfires in memory of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai who was called “Botzina Kadisha” (“The Sacred Lamp”) and whose teachings “illuminate the darkness and confusion of this world and serve as a beacon of light by which to navigate the vicissitudes of life” (www.aish.com). Rabbi Shimon taught the importance of brotherhood and love among all people.
As I can’t very much light a bonfire in the blogosphere, I am contributing Chocolate Logs both to the memory of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and the fire of motherly love.
The first thing you do is make it sweet. Cream room temperature Smart Balance, or any butter substitute of your choice, with brown sugar.
Don’t let this array of ingredients scare you! Put your coconut flakes aside for now and mix everything else together with your creamed Smart Balance and brown sugar. Start by introducing spelt flour, little by little, then add coconut flour. For our purposes, spelt is considered gluten free, but if you are allergic to gluten or have a celiac disorder, make sure to consult your physician. Add some olive oil, coconut milk, a splash of vanilla extract, and a shot of rum – we are celebrating, after all! Finally, it wouldn’t be my recipe without double chocolate, so throw in a goodly measure of cocoa powder and some dark chocolate chips. Mix it all up, roll into logs, and roll your logs in coconut flakes.
Bake them for about 18 – 20 minutes, or until they pop up from the baking sheet, and enjoy the fire of love!
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup Smart Balance
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons rum
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup shredded coconut (coconut flakes) for rolling
PROCEDURE
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Mist baking sheet with oil.
- Cream room temperature Smart Balance with brown sugar. Gradually introduce both kinds of flour. Add the rest of ingredients, except shredded coconut. Mix thoroughly.
- Form logs, roll in shredded coconut.
- Bake for 18 – 2- minutes until easily removed from baking sheet. Logs will be soft and chewy, rather than crunchy. Cool on rack.
Enjoy!
Happy Mother’s Day, Dolly. These sound easy enough for even me to bake. The other day I made my first microwave chocolate mug cake. Oh oh. Now that is something I would have been better off not knowing. Fast, easy and soooo many calories.
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Oh, stop counting calories and start counting moments of joy!
Thank you, dear Judy!
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Such lovely music!
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Thank you, dear friend!
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Happy Mother’s Day to you, too!
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Thank you, darling!
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In our lives, if we are fortunate, our mothers (and fathers) light the lamps of knowledge and wisdom for us. It is our duty to do the same for our children. To pass the torch of knowledge. To bring light to a dark and sometimes frightening world. (And give a hug or firm embrace too. )
Happy Mother’s Day, my friend.
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I thank you for your wise and wonderful comment, and I completely agree with you!
Thank you for being there, dear friend!
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С днём матери!!
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И тебя, дорогая, с прошедшим!
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Whew! You stopped me with “chocolate logs”! LOL! I guess I’m not surprised you have something exceptionally nice to make for Mother’s Day sincer you always have recipes I try or thiunk I’d enjoy if I tried posted here. Happy Late Mother’s Day, Dolly!
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Thank you so much, Doug, and meows to The Adorables!
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I see your blog in the Reader and start to slobber like Pavlov’s dogs! LOL! That’s not too much of an exaggeration.
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(blushing all over the internet) Thank you, and I apologize for a two-week hiatus; car trip up North and all kinds of fun with my son and granddaughter.
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LOL! I’m sure the trip can be excused since you did if for grandma time!
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You are so understanding, dear friend; it warms my heart!
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Luscious! You are amazing! 💕
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Thank you so much, dear Gail! Happy belated Mother’s Day!
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Same to you. It was a lovely day with grandkids. 🍃🌸
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Nothing better than grandkids!
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I love the life lessons and knowledge I receive with your recipes and am ever so grateful you are a chocolate lover. Thank you!
Seeing your image of butter and sugar reminded me of when my young son first took to making cookies. He methodically creamed his butter and sugar by hand, whipping it all up so nicely, while commenting to me, “People don’t understand that this is the most important part in making good cookies!”
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“From the mouths of babes…” He was right!
Thank you for your kind comment, dear Ren!
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(big grinz)
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Fine philosophy
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Thank you, Derrick
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I hope you had a Happy Mother’s Day.
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It was marvelous, dear Jeanne, and I hope you had a great one as well!
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Glad to hear that. Yes. Mine was very nice as well. Thank you. 🙂
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My pleasure, darling!
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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Oh, how delightful these look! As sweet as a mother’s love.
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO APPRECIATE MOM!
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Thank you so much for reblogging, Jonathan.
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Good Things you post! 🙂
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You are too kind!
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Not enough, But thank you.
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I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
The chocolate logs look yummy, I’ll have to try them soon!
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Thank you so much, dear Robbye, and I hope you did too!
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I was with my sister’s so it was a different kind of Mother’s Day, but enjoyable nonetheless.
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Glad to hear that, darling!
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Reblogged this on koolkosherkitchen and commented:
As I am repeating this post from last year, I wish a very happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, even though some of us only get tom see out children and grandchildren on the screen this year. I also want to note that the holiday of Lag b’Omer this year comes two days after the Mother’s Day, rather than a week as it was last year (the quirks of Jewish calendar).
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Happy Mother’s Day, Dolly! ❤
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Thank you so much, dear Anna, and the same to you! Be well and stay safe.
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