Home is where the heart is

and a recipe for delicious breakfast cookies that will nourish you fully

What is the meaning of home?

Is it where we live and the comfort of our surroundings? It might be a favourite overstuffed armchair to sink into, a pocket garden in which to contemplate the morning, an abundance of windows that welcome in the sun and rain alike.

Or is it more intangible than that?

As we get older, many of us have moved far from the place where we were born. Others have stayed close to that familiar ground, living their entire lives within a close circle of family, old friends, well-known places. But no matter where we find ourselves, we begin the immediate task of creating talismans and markers that will make that place, that space, our own. Our animal nature understand that in order to inhabit a place fully, we must give it our own imprint, something that we can recognise immediately, and that will ground us when we’re far away.

Those creature comforts both sustain and soothe us. But they are only one part of the story.

Home away from home

When we leave our home base, whether to go to school, to travel for work or to pack our bags and venture forth for adventure and pleasure, we carry our sense of home inside us. And, while the lure of the new and the unknown can thrill and nourish us, still, deep inside, it is those little markers, those talismans, that give us a grounding.

It can be as simple as a familiar taste. I have a dear friend who lived in Singapore with her family for over 10 years. Whenever anyone was coming to visit, she would ask if they could bring a can (or two or three) of Habitant French-Canadian Pea Soup. Those cans, that soup, meant home for her kids, a small reminder of where they came from and where they would eventually go back to.

Finding home in unexpected places

But home can also be something that we’re seeking, a longing that we haven’t quite identified yet.

It was my husband’s cousin Charles who reminded me of that this week.

Charles and Richard were both born in Montreal, two days apart. They grew up not knowing one another, the unintended consequences of family differences, estranged siblings, imagined grievances, petty disputes. These two first cousins lived lives separate and distinct from one another, and things might have continued thus if Charles hadn’t decided to seek out family he never knew.

Cousins well-known and long-lost, together again

And so it was that Charles came to visit us this week. And, just like that, a new sense of home, of familiarity was created. Stories told, memories compared, laughter shared. Hours of talking, of puzzling out relationships and the tangled skeins of a splintered family history. Deciding to leave the baggage of a previous generation’s grievances behind and forge new paths.

As we sat around the dinner table, these cousins both known and new brought together for the first time in more than 40 years, Charles leaned back and said, “I’m home.”

Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies

From Baked, by Suzie Durigon

makes 5 dozen

When you have guests and lots on the go, these breakfast cookies are a lifesaver. More power snack than sweet, with a soft chewy texture that’s perfect with a cup of coffee, breakfast cookies go beyond the morning and help you snack healthily all day long.

Ingredients

½ cup butter, room temperature

½ cup nut butter (peanut, almond or cashew)

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

½ cup honey

½ cup maple syrup

½ cup apple sauce

20 pitted dates, soaked in water to soften, and finely chopped

2 cups grated carrots

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup almond flour

½ cup hemp seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup (1 scoop) protein powder

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add nut butter and mix again until smooth.

3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

4. Add vanilla, honey, maple syrup and apple sauce, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir in carrots and dates until well-combined.

5. In another bowl, combine oats, both flours, hemp seeds, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and protein powder. Stir together with a whisk to thoroughly combine.

6. Add dry ingredients to the carrot mixture, ½ cup at a time, combining thoroughly after each addition. Stir in walnuts.

7. Scoop mixture onto prepared baking sheets in large tablespoon drops and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown (note that cookie tops will not brown as much because there is no refined sugar).

Eat warm or cool and keep in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Cookies can also be frozen for up to two months.