Melissa Jones

This is a great cake! Explorers can have tapioca, so I'm enjoying adding that to my baking, it makes up for the loss of eggs. I made these in muffin and bun pans, but I think it would work in larger cake pans (I always start small, to get things cooked through without falling, as those can be problems with gluten free baking)

Explorer Applesauce Cake
2 Cups applesauce
3/4 or 1 cup agave (use the lower amount if applesauce is sweetened)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking power (I forgot to put this in, and it still worked)
2 cups flour mix (about 1/2+ cup tapioca, 1/2 cup sweet rice, 1/2 cup teff and 1/2 cup amaranth)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup dried fruit (optional, I left out)
1 cup chopped macadamias or pecans (optional, I left out)
1/2 cup grapeseed oil and/or melted ghee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare pan with oil or ghee and a dusting of flour (I like teff's color for this cake)

Combine wet ingredients in one bowl, dry ingredients in another, then blend together. (the original recipe has more detailed instructions than this, but I liked the results I got, perhaps adding the fruit and nuts makes the other steps necessary.)

Bake cake size for 45-50 minutes, smaller muffin sizes for 20-30 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

This should work with pureed pumpkin or similar purees, just use the higher amount of agave. So if you can't have apples, try it with something you can have.

I figured last night that it would be better to be sure than sorry, so I remeasured my upper and lower legs. What I remembered to be almost equal, lower 1/4 inch longer, turned out to be upper leg longer by an inch. I guess I wasn't too careful once I figured my ring finger was equal, because that sealed my fate. All the times I said to myself, "wouldn't it be nutty if I were an explorer" but ignored the actual possibility, are over.

My body type matches explorer best, I'm more muscular than a gatherer, but nowhere near lanky or ectomorphic. My index fingerprints don't match, though I don't have a radial loop, only the more common ulnar loops. My incisors are a bit spade-like, and I have no carabelli's cusp. So, I can hunt a bit, I can gather a bit, but mostly I will explore.

I don't know why I didn't think I could be an explorer. Without BTD I'd be too sensitive to do just about anything, I know that much. There would be migraines, dizziness, spaciness, weakness, headaches, and more dizziness. BTD has helped quite a bit, but there's still a sliver of remaining problems, and I'm hopeful to be able to be comfortable in a house with air fresheners or scented candles (though mine will never have them), or around heavily scented people (though I may never be one).

There seem to be a lot of explorers in may family. We can't have a large family gathering where everyone can eat the same things (and not because anybody but me is following BTD or GTD, because of severe allergies and intolerances). Family gatherings are also quite sparse on the fragrances added to the mix. Gallbladders are disposable in this family, and I'm one of the few who still has one. Anemia is also fairly common and long-term. The celiac disease among more than half of us is more of a hunter trait, but entirely possible in an explorer as well. Adverse reactions to medications are also commonplace in a few of us.

I'm not as athletic as an average hunter. I enjoy working out, but the coordination for sports does not come naturally. I can be clumsy, especially when hormones are fluctuating, and it's not uncommon for me to have some accidental injury here or there on me at any point in time.

This is a big shock to me, even though I see it clearly now. I'm still in shock, but eager to get on track with my new plan. I'm unsure of my new identity, where I fit into it all, but after my immune system downturn, I'm eager for exploring the truth. And hey, if they tell me I'm something different at the clinic, I won't have any trouble adjusting to the other two possibilities. Without this realization today, they might have a fainting explorer in their office when they break me the news. I'm ready for anything! Well I would be a bit surprised to be a Nomad...