Again, With the Peanut Butter. I Just Can't Help It.

Last weekend was busy; I wrote about labneh for work, prepped for my final #Richmond365 interview, stared at the Super Moon, and visited with my dear friend Caylee who was visiting from Montreal.  The two of us met in Kindergarten and have bonded over our love of eating and arguing ever since.

Caylee and I (NERD ALERT) were high-school debating partners, and because of this I will unreasonably and gladly accept credit for the remarkable career she's since pursued; she studied at the United World College in Hong Kong, completed her undergraduate degree in The Netherlands, earned a Masters of Law in London, and is one semester away from her law degree at McGill.  There's also been academic and work stints in Finland, Kenya, Pakistan, New York, and Paris.  So what do to when such a worldly friend visits?  Steep some tea and make peanut butter balls, of course.  

Before you go to thinking we're any less nerdy now than we were in highschool (yes Caylee, "we"), just wait til you hear WHY we made these particular treats:  for a pun party.  My friends Dave and Zoe held a May the 4th Be With You shindig this past Friday, and since I wanted to take an edible pun (edible puns = the definition of cool), we made "Baka-Chews."  In honour of Chubaka.  From Star Wars.  Because the best comedians need to explain their jokes.

While Star Wars dictated the name, our recipe choice was fuelled fully by nostalgia; Caylee and I went through a childhood phase in which making peanut butter balls was our sole hobby.  We endlessly stirred p.b., icing sugar, coconut, and rice krispies together, formed this mixture into balls, and ate them like it was our job.  Such blood-sugar-spiked good times we had!  Since we're (sadly) grownups now, this Baka-Chews version is a little healthier:

- 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 cup oats (chopped or food-processed to make finer)
- 1 cup toasted, unsweetened coconut
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- chopped dark chocolate
- chopped toasted almonds

We mixed these together, then adjusted wet/dry until we reached a desirable taste and rolling consistency.   They were crunchy, chewy, nutty, and satisfying - not bad for something based on a furry fictional character from a movie.  

Before she returned to Montreal, Caylee left me with a book.  Secret Ingredients is a compilation of food stories from The New Yorker, and a mere 10 pages in I knew it to be one of the great literary loves of my life.  I can't wait to read it fully, and many more times in the years to come.

Thanks Caylee - you're a brilliant lawyer and an even better friend.