Hermits and Donkeys and Friends - Oh My!

"Donkey Donkey!"...this is what my kids and husband have been repeating randomly with gusto for the last 24 hours.  And I tell them, just think how boring their lives would be without all my crazy friends.

But let's go back.  A couple months ago, one of said crazy friends asked me if I'd make some finger foods for a "donkey show" on Mother's Day weekend.  I didn't ask what a donkey show was.  I just said Yes, because I love said crazy friend.  We met 4 or 5 years ago when I was in pursuit of chicken and turkey knowledge, before I started my own flocks.  I thought her name was Karen (it's not).  She likes to stay incognito.  These days she goes by Bird Brain, and her Facebook info says she lives in Budapest (she doesn't).  Through the years I helped her with butchering her poultry (we're both big into "local" and knowing where your food comes from...and I wasn't vegan then).  We've swapped plants, food, and tidbits of factitious and personal info.  She has introduced me to other interesting people, and I just like the chemistry between us.  She gives her everything to her yard, her barn, her plants, and her animals (think "crazy chicken/cat/plant lady" but in a good way).  And over the past year or so she's come to realize butchering isn't so easy anymore, even if you know where your meat comes from.  Maybe especially because you know where your meat comes from...'cause you hatched it from an egg, nourished and protected it, looked in its eyes every day, watched its personable and funny interactions out your window, and slowly realized it was a creature who had as much right to live as any, despite it having the label of "barnyard animal."  She's gone soft, is evolving into vegan territory, and it fills me with glee.

Turns out the donkey show was at a local orchard.  The sign at the turn read "Donkey Donkey."  I made chocolate chip mixed-berry streusel muffins and iced hermit bars.  The family tagged along when I went to drop them off in the morning.  The girls and my husband ended up babysitting Bird Brain's three donkeys, watching the peacocks in the petting yard, while Bird Brain and I helped the others set up a bit. 

Turns out it was quite a to-do.  Notably, some of the others at the show included the Save Your Ass Long Ear Rescue, who brought a donkey, a mule, and a cool red-tick coon hound on the side (I'm a sucker for a dog, not so much a donkey).  My husband's aunt recently adopted a couple mini donkeys from SYA, so it was cool to make the connection with them.

(the adopted ones...Franklin and Everett)

We also met Miriam and Aram from VINE Sanctuary.  Bird Brain had shared with me last year a video of them making Borscht; and apparently she told them about my blog too - they've been following it!  They're pretty cool people...tattooed, radical, and vegan...lovers of food and animals.  I kinda love them already.  I need to check out more of their videos and hope to make their acquaintance again.

Hermits!  You've been waiting patiently. 

These are neither the hermits I grew up on, nor the hermits of somebody else's recipe box, but a conglomeration of the two, with some yummy icing...because, well, most everything's better with icing. 

The Hermits:
1 cup Earth Balance butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
6 tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 8 Tbsp warm water
4 cups white whole wheat (or all purpose) flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cloves
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350.  Coat an 18 x 13-inch sheet pan with baking spray.
In a mixer bowl beat the butter, brown sugar, Ener-G eggs, and molasses. 
Mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl, and then add to wet mixture until just combined.  Stir in the raisins.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.  Bake for 15+ minutes (I baked my batch for 20, and the edges were a little on the dry side...when it comes to hermits, the moister the better).

Let the bars cool on a wire rack.

The Icing:

4 cups confectioner's sugar
4 Tbsp Earth Balance butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
4 Tbsp hot water

Whisk all together til smooth.  Spread out over bars (it's OK if they're still a little warm).

Share with your crazy donkey/chicken/vegan friends...but save some for your mom too (if she loves hermits like mine does)!  After all, it's Mother's Day.