Date Cake

I like being by myself.

It could be a habit I developed early, with being an only child to working parents. 
I always came home to animals. Cats mostly.

Truth be told, I feel most closest to being my self, when I'm at home with no one but my cat for company. That doesn't mean I'm averse to company. Quite the contrary really, both me and the cat love guests. We love the laughter that comes with them, and the smells. We love breaking bread with them and listening to their tales. Oh, we love guests! But we also love just being by ourselves.

When the husband goes away on work, which happens ever week, the cat and I have a routine.
It usually starts with picking up after the excitement of the weekend. The clutter of all the activities we undertook and abandoned.
Afterward, the cat naps and I watch an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

This past month however, the husband was around a lot. The cat got used to having him around. I got used to having him around.

So when Susheel left for the week on Monday morning, Simba and I looked at each other... unsettled.
We had our territory back to us. We could reclaim our silence.
We tried to get back into routine and we failed.
Simba slept on the ironing board while I sat on the couch with freshly washed, unfolded laundry piled in a basket next to me.

Simba's ears twitched. I was decidedly out-of-sorts. So I did the one thing I've learned to do in an emotional crisis... bake.

The clanging of pots woke Simba and he came to investigate.  For someone who doesn't care for cake, he loves to be around when I bake.

I shifted bottles in the kitchen cupboards and found nine dates in their little #6 plastic box.

"Date Cake"... It was decided.

I considered what would pair well with dates and decided on walnuts. Also, cardamom! 

Dry Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda, the powdered contents of 6 cardamom pods. Sift, mix and set aside.

Wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of apple sauce (because it had been sitting on the pantry shelf since before the dates), 1/2 cup of oil.

Blend till well combined: 

Add flour in installments and mix well. Once well combined, add a cup full of chopped dates and walnuts.

Spoon into prepared muffin pan... or new mini bundt cake pan you were dying to debut!
I didn't ration them out right, but you can be more prudent.

Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit over for approximately 25 mins.

The house is filled with lovely smells and warmth... Simba's decided to sleep on the couch again and I'm going to make me some tea to go with these cakes. Then, my napping cat and I can help J B Fletcher solve her next case.

We've saved some for you Susheel.
We're happy, but we still miss you.