People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically. 

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the Fast Diet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

A look at my father-in-law’s family tree shows lots and lots of German names — husbands and wives alike. And then, in 1903, one of the German sisters married an Irish man! Kate Haggerty was cousin to Dear Husband’s grandfather, but she was known to all as “Aunt Kate”. She was apparently a great baker, because one of the family’s handed-down recipes is for “Aunt Kate’s Chocolate Cake.” A note says that she developed the recipe herself. It came to me via sister-in-law Bev, who sent me a trove of family kitchen lore. Oddly, Dear Husband did not remember eating said cake as a child. But then, his mother was not a baker. So I prepared this one year for his birthday and he was delighted.

One 9” 4-layer cake	Two 9” cake pans, buttered and lined w/ parchment
½ c butter 1 cup sugar	Cream together
2 eggs	Whisk and add to creamed butter
2 squares = 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate	Melt and add to batter, stirring well.
1½ c flour ¾ tsp cream of tartar ¾ tsp baking soda	Sift together 3x to combine. NB: when making chocolate cake, I use white whole wheat flour for more nutritional value.
¾ c milk ½ tsp vanilla	Stir together. Add to batter alternately with difted dry ingredients.
	Divide between the two pans. Bake at 350F, 25 mins.
	Cool, take from pans, slice each layer into 2 layers along the equator.
	Spread 3 layers with filling*, stack, cover with glaze**.

The original way to prepare the cake is to bake two layers, and split them to make four layers. For the two of us, or even for a small group of six, I prepare one layer, split it, fill it, and glaze it. Either way, it is a very good cake!

*Chocolate Filling
½ # sweet butter, room temp 1½ c confectioner’s sugar	Cream together.
2 squares bitter chocolate ½ tsp vanilla	Melt chocolate, cool a bit, add to butter-sugar along with vanilla.
	Divide equally among 3 of the 4 layers, and spread it evenly.

**Chocolate Glaze
2 T butter 1 square bitter chocolate 3 squares semi-sweet chocolate 1 tsp vanilla	Melt together over low heat to form a very thin glaze. Put filled cake layers on a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour warm glaze over the cake, letting it drizzle down the edges.