Sugar cookies, rice pudding

So this will be my last post of 2006...

As promised, I have for you the sugar cookie recipe that my family has used every Christmas, which I veganized this year with excellent results.


Sugar Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
1/3 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
3/4 cup sugar
Equivalent of 1 egg (I used Ener-G)
1 tablespoon soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine dry ingredients; set aside. Beat the margarine and shortening until soft; add sugar and beat until fluffy and not granular-looking. (This part is best done with an electric mixer.) Add egg replacer, soy milk, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined--it will be stiff. Place the dough in plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and chill for three hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into shapes. Bake on a cookie sheet for 8 minutes or until just done. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Immediately glaze and decorate (glaze recipe follows). The most important thing for these cookies is to not let them bake too long--they should become SLIGHTLY golden but if you let them get too golden then they will become crispy when they cool.

Glaze:

1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon soy margarine, softened
2 tablespoons vanilla soy milk

Combine all ingredients and beat with a fork until incorporated. NOTE: This glaze recipe made enough glaze for me to glaze exactly 1/2 of the cookies from the recipe above--my sister and I split the cookies and she did her half with a different frosting. If you want to glaze all your cookies with this glaze, double the recipe.

Bob's little brother came and spent a couple of days with us, and as we have been traveling a lot lately, there was not much food in the house to offer. What we did have was some kale that was dying in the refrigerator, so I made a pot of sloppy lentils--a dish that always seems to impress omnis. I also made some of the Banana Bliss Pancakes from Vive Le Vegan! and served them with the Blueberry Sauce from the same book. I've posted plenty of pictures for both of these already, so I decided not to bore you with them again.

What I will bore you with is this rice pudding I made this morning, with some leftover brown rice that I was afraid would otherwise go bad before it was eaten. Bob and his brother quite enjoyed it, and I have to say that I kind of liked it myself (even though the texture of rice pudding has never really appealed to me very much).


Rice Pudding

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups vanilla soy milk
3/4 cups sugar (or less--this was very sweet)
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon allspice
Dash salt
2 tablespoons rum
1/2 cup raisins

Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour the rum on top. Set aside. Combine the rice, soy milk, sugar (or whatever sweetener you would like to use), cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice has become tender and the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat, stir in rum and raisins, and cool to room temperature before serving.

Tonight we got to hook up with one of our friends who has been in Mexico for several months, and came home just for the holidays. One of our favorite things to do together has always been to go out for sushi--so that is what we did. Bob and I shared a seaweed salad and then an inari tofu roll, an eggplant teriyaki roll, and a soba spinach roll. Bob decided he was still hungry after all that, so he ordered a teriyaki zucchini roll as an afterthought. Then we all went back to a friend's apartment and drank wine and played Catch Phrase. How I love just having fun with friends, not thinking about everything else in the world!!!

One last thing: I received a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas, so I went to the store today and asked them to order Dreena's The Everyday Vegan for me. Yay! I will finally have it, in about a week! I can't wait...

Everyone be safe, and I hope you have a peaceful, fun holiday!