Sweeties

Yesterday I inadvertently got into a dessert-making mode... I wanted to make a special treat for Bob, something that I knew that he would love. I didn't want to experiment on him (you'll see what I mean)... So I turned to my all-time tried and true cookbook, Vive Le Vegan! I cannot say enough good things about this cookbook, really. I didn't want to make any of Dreena's cookie recipes because I'm out of maple syrup at the moment, and that ingredient is what really makes her cookies shine. So I turned instead to the Chocolate P-Nut Butter Bars. They were a cinch to make, even though I had to wash my saucepan out twice during the process. And the result? Well...


It couldn't have tasted better if it had tried. Granted, peanut butter and chocolate are a match made in heaven in my book, so these treats started with automatic points before I ever even sampled them. (And that's all I did--sample them! I'm still trying to fit back into my jeans comfortably!) Bob spoke very highly of these as well... with his mouth full, of course.

Then it was time for the experiment. When Urban Vegan announced her Vegans Gone Wild! contest, I knew that I wanted to try and re-create some classic French dessert. The winner?


These cute little profiteroles, cream puffs, which are commonly stuffed with ice cream or sweet whipped cream, and always drizzled with a rich, warm chocolate sauce. I decided to do a twist on both the cream and the chocolate--I made an almond whipped crème and served these profiteroles with a warm mocha sauce. Now, I have to admit before I post these recipes that I am quite pleased with the results of the crème and the mocha sauce... but not entirely pleased with the recipe for the cream puffs themselves. I have never made vegan pastries before so I was winging it on trying to replace the traditional eggs and re-creating the texture and mouth feel of cream puff pastry. I didn't get it exactly right, and I didn't have time to experiment with it again as the deadline sneaked up on me. But darn it, I went to all that trouble so I'm submitting this anyway! They look pretty, right? And they tasted fine, just not perfect. Can't win 'em all...

Almond Whipped Crème (I made this the day before so it would be sure to set)

1/2 cup plain soy creamer
1 tablespoon agar flakes
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 block (6 ounces) lite silken tofu
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Combine creamer, agar, and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until agar dissolves and the mixture becomes translucent and begins to thicken. Remove from heat. In a blender, combine tofu and extracts, and scrape the agar mixture into the blender. Whiz together until well blended and smooth. Chill for several hours. Once set, whiz again in the blender to soften, as it will have become very firm.


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Cream Puff Pastry

3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup water
6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
6 tablespoons mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch turmeric (for color--may be omitted)

Place flour, salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl and stir through. In a saucepan, bring the margarine and water to a boil, then remove from heat and add the mixture of dry ingredients. With a wooden spoon, stir vigorously for about one minute. Place the saucepan back over low heat and cook the mixture for about two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Combine the mashed potatoes, baking powder, and turmeric, and add the mixture gradually to the mixture in the saucepan, mixing well between additions. Form the dough into 12 medium-large balls and drop onto an oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.


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Mocha Sauce

10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons coffee extract (or more, to taste)
1/4-1/2 cup plain soy milk

Combine the chocolate and water over a double boiler and heat gently, stirring constantly, until melted. Add soy milk as needed to thin the sauce to a pourable consistency. Once the mixture becomes smooth and saucy, remove from heat and stir in the extracts. Use immediately or reheat to serve.


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To assemble: Slice the cream puff in half, and place a generous spoonful of well-chilled almond crème on the bottom piece. Top with the other half of the cream puff, and then drizzle the warm sauce over the top and serve immediately.

Thank you, thank you

Thanks so much for all your well-wishes and thoughts and especially prayers for Bob's recovery. He felt much, much better today--still tired and not much of an appetite, but obviously on the mend. And as for me, so far so good. I have always been prone to throat infections, so living in close quarters like this with his particular illness just makes me a little panicky. But I believe I have been spared!

I've been cooking up some different things, trying to entice Bob to eat something more substantial than garlic soup or saltines. I made some miso soup with carrots and kale this evening, and he ate a bit of that, so I was happy to at least get some vegetables into him.

This one I was sure would win him over. I was wrong...


Mashed potatoes and lightly steamed kale, topped with The Grit's Yeast Gravy. This stuff is dangerous to have around, because I love it so much. Bob didn't feel up to it, but thank goodness he's feeling better because he loves this too, and he'll eat the leftovers so I'm not stuck with them.

I wanted to get him to eat something with some spicy mustard on it, to help clear out his congestion. He didn't want a sandwich or anything like that, but I knew if I made these he wouldn't be able to refuse them.


Everyone knows that big, soft pretzels are just a vehicle for mustard, right? Right! My little scheme worked this time--he gladly partook. I'd never made pretzels before so I referred to this recipe to get the idea down. I modified it a bit, as usual, so I'll include my recipe at the end of this post. These came out soft and chewy, just like a good pretzel should.


This is a potato stir-fry that Bob made a day or so before he got sick. He was actually able to stomach the leftovers, even with cilantro and spicy salsa. Must have been good! Someone recently asked me for the recipe for this meal so I'm going to include it here too, though the possibilities are obviously endless!

I've been drinking blueberry-banana-flax smoothies for breakfast and eating salads or kale & kraut sammiches for lunch, so despite what the above evidence may suggest I HAVE been eating pretty well--plenty of fruits and veggies and whole grains, and I've been avoiding sugar pretty well. If I must sweeten something, I generally either use stevia (for tea) or agave nectar (for porridge and such).


But what's a hot Georgia summer without fruit sorbet? I was inspired to make this champagne peach sorbet by the open bottle of champagne in our refrigerator, left over from earlier in the week when Bob and I had a little celebration. When he got sick I knew that no one would finish it before it went flat, so I used up some of it this way. Peaches and champagne pair so well, and there couldn't be a better time of year to enjoy a treat like this.

So what were we celebrating with the champagne? Well, I found out earlier this week that I have passed both of the CPA exams I have taken! Woot! Now I just have two more to go, and I'll be done by mid-July. Praise God! I couldn't have been more ecstatic.

Wishing you all health and happiness and peace and joy....

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Big, Soft Pretzels

1 cup plain soy milk, warmed (not too hot--around 110 degrees)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon demerara sugar

Combine the above ingredients in a small bowl and let sit 10 minutes, or until foamy. In the meantime, mix in a large bowl:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Make a well in the center and add the milk mixture. Begin working it together, adding more all-purpose flour as needed, about 1/4 cup at a time. I added about 3/4 cup total. Once you can form the dough into a ball, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes, incorporating more flour if necessary, until the ball of dough is smooth and soft. No rising time is necessary.

Divide the dough into 6 portions, and roll each piece out into a long, thin log. Once rolled out, let the dough rest for about 5 minutes; then roll each piece out more, if necessary, to a length of about 15 inches and a thickness about the size of your thumb.

Preheat oven to 425. Bring a pot of water to a boil. In the meantime, form each piece of dough into a pretzel shape; where you fold the ends of the dough back over the middle you may need to pinch it together slightly so that it will hold--but don't put too much pressure or you will flatten the dough. When the water is boiling, boil one pretzel at a time, for about 5 seconds, then remove and place directly on a greased pan. I found the easiest way to do this was to place the pretzel on a slotted spoon and submerge it; the pretzel stayed on the spoon and I didn't have to go fishing for it. Once on the pan, immediately sprinkle the pretzel with the desired topping (I used coarse salt on some and sesame seeds on some) and then repeat the process with the remaining pretzels. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes, until golden. Serve right away with mustard or your condiment of choice!



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Bob's "Hash Browns" (aka Potato Stir-Fry)

For each serving you wish to make, you will need:
One large or two small potatoes (any variety should be fine), sliced into wedges
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup chopped vegetables (we commonly use mushrooms, green peppers, zucchini, etc.)

Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet, adding the onions and garlic as it begins to heat. Sauté for several minutes, until the onion begins to brown. Add the other vegetables and the potatoes and cook on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add more oil if necessary to keep from sticking (but remember--it's much easier to add more than it is to remove it if you've added too much). During the last few minutes of cooking, season with salt and cayenne or black pepper to taste. Serve with ketchup or, as I prefer, with a bit of cilantro and some spicy salsa.




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Champagne Peach Sorbet

1 cup sliced frozen peaches (NOTE: If you use fresh peaches, make sure you slice and freeze them 2-3 days ahead of time to ensure a good texture)
1/2 cup champagne*
2 tablespoons white grape juice concentrate (or simple syrup, if you prefer), or more, to reach desired sweetness

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the peaches are pulverized and the mixture forms a smooth slush. Transfer to a container with a lid and freeze for one hour. Remove from freezer and stir, then retun to freezer and freeze for 2 hours or more, until set.

* If you prefer, you can just use simple syrup in place of the champagne: Combine equal parts sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes until sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has reduced slightly. Make sure to cool the syrup completely before proceeding with the recipe.

Lotsa fun

Pretty big post coming at you, so sit back...

A week or so ago, Bob and I went to a vegan cooking class at our health food store, Earth Fare. The event was sponsored through UGA's Speak Out for Species, and it was fun to be around so many vegans--the chef was not vegan, though he was cooking vegan for all of us, so it was almost as if the tables were turned in our favor, for once! Anyway, he shared this incredible recipe with us for mocha chocolate pie, which Bob and I promptly tried out for ourselves.



Mocha Chocolate Pie

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup Kahlùa (or cold coffee)
1 block silken tofu
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup or other honey substitute
1 graham cracker pie crust

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, then remove from heat and stir in the liqueur, vanilla, and syrup. In a blender, whiz the tofu until smooth, then add the chocolate mixture and blend together. Pour into the pie crust and chill 4 hours, until firm.

It's that easy and that delicious. We shared it with some of Bob's family and they immediately demanded the recipe.

I had an eggplant sitting around that I needed to cook, so I started hunting all your blogs for a good eggplant recipe. I found one here that sounds delicious (and I am sure I will try it soon!), but then I remembered that I have been meaning to try Fatfree Vegan's eggplant parmesan, which has been raved about over and over in the blogging community. It took quite a while to put together and made a mess of quite a few dishes, but in the end it was completely worth it. Delicious--so creamy and flavorful.


Reading fellow bloggers' comments, it seems that many people had a problem with the dish being mushy. I didn't have that problem. I ended up baking it about 40 minutes and then let it sit for 10 minutes before serving, and it came out fairly clean and solid.

I served the eggplant parmesan with a spinach salad and this lite goddess dressing, also from Fatfree Vegan. This dressing is so good, and contains far less fat than Annie's Goddess Dressing. I ended up adding more soy sauce to the dressing than the recipe called for, which gave it a bit more flavor and thinned it out a bit (because when I first made it, it got almost solid in the refrigerator).


As you might remember, I have been really trying to add some more variety to my breakfasts in the mornings. It's been going really well--I've been eating a lot of oatmeal, but oatmeal can be varied endlessly so it's been fun to play with. And, I've learned that you can cook oatmeal in the microwave with great results, which makes it actually do-able for rushed mornings. The best oatmeal recipe I've come up with so far is this:

1/2 cup rolled oats soaked in 1/2 cup soy milk for 10 minutes
1/4 cup applesauce
Frozen blueberries
Maple syrup
Ginger
Ground flax seed meal

Microwave for about 2 minutes, then stir in the flax seeds and some extra milk and enjoy!


This one is oats soaked in soy milk, then I added 1/2 a banana, maple syrup, and cinnamon. It's really good with peanut butter stirred in at the end. Yum!


Mixed grain porridge. It contains brown and wild rice, millet, amaranth, and barley. I added cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom, and then stirred in some maple syrup and raisins and some soy milk. It was pretty good, but it's better left over.

These pancakes from The Grit Cookbook were a weekend treat. I used white whole wheat flour, which I just recently tried for the first time. It was great in the pancakes, and I'm having fun learning how to put it in everything! These I served with sliced bananas and some warmed strawberry preserves. Pancakes are Bob's favorite breakfast, and he loved these.


Speaking of The Grit, I still had a gift card for a meal there that I received for my birthday. It was a beautiful day today, and Bob and I decided to walk to The Grit for lunch. This time, I remembered to take my camera.




We sat outside and took in the beautiful 80 degree weather. Bob ordered the Mid-E Platter with falafel, hummus, and tabbouli salad:


And I went with the day's Noodle Bowl, which was grilled tofu and veggies in a wasabi-coconut sauce.


Very decadent and full of flavor. Their noodle bowl changes daily, but I've never had one that disappointed me. We considered getting a vegan grasshopper cupcake for dessert, but we both had such a filling lunch that we had to skip it.

We also stopped by our Asian market today, and I was so excited about our findings that I wanted to share them.


Dried wakame and hijiki, some nori strips, rice noodles, green and red Thai curry paste, bok choy, Thai eggplants, Napa cabbage. $14.40 total. Later this week, I will show you what we make with all this stuff!

Oh yes... black bean chili

Okay, this is one of my favorite recipes EVER. Black bean chili from The Grit Cookbook. One of the recipes The Grit is the most famous for is its black bean chili... You ask yourself, how hard can it be to make good chili? But then you have The Grit's black bean chili, and from then on every chili you taste is "good, but not like The Grit's." At least that is how it was for me... Maybe I'm overdoing it a little. But seriously, Bob and I both get very excited when there are plans to make a big pot of this chili, and we stay excited until we eat the last bite.


It's got lots of onion, bell pepper, celery, carrots, corn, and crushed tomatoes, and plenty of good chili spices. The only modification I have ever made is to use quinoa in place of the bulgur wheat that the recipe calls for. This makes it lighter and smoother and easier on the tummy, I think. I like to eat a bowl of it....


Bob likes the occasional chili cheese dog, using Vegan Gourmet monterey jack and Yves veggie dogs, and some dijon mustard. Oh yes, and the recipe makes an enormous pot--we froze three large bags of chili and had enough left to each eat several times before it's gone. Chili makes me happy.

I do have a recipe to share with you... I had some leftover brown and wild rice that I wanted to use up, so I made this Mexican chocolate rice pudding. So named because I used the killer chocolate and cinnamon combination. Toast a little coconut to sprinkle on top, and it's quite delicious.


Mexican Chocolate Rice Pudding

1 1/2 cups leftover rice (brown and wild rice for me)
1 1/2 cups soy milk (I ran out of vanilla soy milk so I added some extra vanilla extract to compensate)
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup demerara sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt

Combine everything in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes, until it thickens and the rice is soft. Serve warm with toasted coconut flakes.

Have a lovely day! Are you seeing any signs of spring yet? Today it felt like spring here... oh joy!

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!

Back!

Thanks for your well-wishes. I'm back and feeling so much better now. Honestly, I don't know why I have been more sick lately than I usually am, but I don't think it's anything I'm doing wrong. Anyway, I hope that it will not happen again. I tried the ginger tea that Dreena and Leslie suggested (thanks!) and it really is amazing how quickly it works to make me feel better, if I drink it just when I start to notice that I need something. I think I am going to make green tea with minced ginger a regular part of my diet.

This morning I was excited because I felt good enough to go grocery shopping--and we needed to, badly (last night's dinner was steamed edamame and celery, peanut butter, and raisins, to give you an idea of how bare our refrigerator got this week). So we went to the health food store and picked up some bananas and some whole wheat tortillas. When we got home, I felt creative so I made up these peanut butter and banana quesadillas:


Spread peanut butter on one half of a whole grain tortilla, and top with banana slices and raisins; sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.


Melt a little Earth Balance in a skillet, fold the tortillas in half, and cook them for 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden and toasty and the insides have heated through.


Cut in half and serve.


With syrup, if you like!

I felt like such a kid with my little "brunch," but it was fun and it made me happy! I needed it!

For lunch I made a batch of hummus similar to the one I made last time, but I reduced the tahini to 2 1/2 tablespoons. It was definitely better than before, and I really enjoyed it on a wrap with some mushrooms, cucumbers, and red onion slices. I know, another tortilla meal... but we have not made bread in a week now (poor Bob has been pretty sick too, not just me). We're making some this afternoon.



That has been my day. It's so cold here, I predict some nice baked treats sometime soon. Mmm...

Have a great weekend, and I will be catching up with you all soon!

Birthday cake, squash, and more

Here is that birthday cake I made for my sister's 20th birthday. It was supposed to be a spice cake, but I omitted all the spices because she and her boyfriend have very plain tastes. :( It tasted so good and I could just imagine it with all the allspice, cinnamon, etc. Oh well, it will give me an excuse to make it again.


I found a recipe in a little pamphlet about going vegan that I found stuffed somewhere, and I modified it to pieces. I'll share with you what I did.

Cake:
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
(1 teaspoon allspice)
(1 teaspoon cinnamon)
(1/2 teaspoon ground cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup applesauce (substituted for oil)
3/4 cup vanilla soymilk
1/4 cup water

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until thoroughly blended. Bake in prepared 8-inch cake pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Frosting:
1/4 cup soy margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons soymilk
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Melt margarine over low heat, add brown sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the soymilk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar. Spread on the cooled cake.

It was delicious. I even sent some home for my parents and they enjoyed it too. It's very moist and a little on the dense side, so I think you could get away with adding less oil/applesauce.

I had so much fun with my sister over the weekend! I really miss living with her and hanging out with her--she lives four hours from me now, and we only see each other a few times a year. In fact, I realized this weekend how much I miss my whole family. I have not been down to visit my parents since last Christmas (we had a little rift and weren't speaking for a while, and now we're still not on the best of terms). Bob and I decided to spend Thanksgiving up here this year, either with his family or just by ourselves. It will be the first Thanksgiving I've spent without my family, and it makes me really sad to think about it.

Anyway... This is a delicious and comforting lentil soup that I made last night for dinner. It was cold and rainy here last night (and still is today, in fact), so it felt so nice to curl up with a hot bowl of soup and a slice of homemade crusty bread. Very simple:

Bring to a boil:
1.5 pounds of brown lentils
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
Oregano
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Bblack pepper
Worcestershire sauce
Liquid smoke

Cook for about 30-40 minutes, and then take it off the heat and squeeze in a bit of lemon juice and let it sit for a few minutes. There are plenty of leftovers--I had another bowl for lunch today.

When Earth Fare's organic winter squash is on sale for 0.99 per pound for a few days only, what do you do? You buy two butternut squash, two spaghetti squash, two acorn squash, and a sugar pumpkin! And then you make spaghetti.

If you've never seen a spaghetti squash before, look at this:


Once the squash has been roasted (about 45 minutes at 375 degrees), you can take a fork and pull the flesh into these beautiful strands. It tastes really nice just plain, but tonight Bob made a beautiful red sauce to serve with it.



The stuff on top is a "parmesan" that I saw a recipe for online. It was really simple:

Process together until crumbly:
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt

It doesn't taste much like parmesan really, but it's a whole lot cheaper than any vegan parmesan crumbles you can buy and really worked on top of the spaghetti.

One last thing: So many of you have blogged about it, that I had to do it too! So I ordered my copy of Nava Atlas' new veganized cookbook! I told myself no cookbooks until Christmas, but this was too good to pass up--two books for $13.50! I ordered them last Monday, and they arrived today! This time, really--no more cookbooks until at least Christmas! I'm so excited about trying out these wonderful soup recipes, but it will have to wait until after Thursday, after my exam.

I'm going to disappear again until Friday. But I hope you all have a good week--see you soon.

Been awhile

Thanks for all your well-wishes. My tests SO FAR have gone very well, actually... I still have one beastly exam, next Thursday night, so I may become scarce next week--I'm not sure. Anyway, besides tests, I really had to take a break from "extra stuff" this week and spend some personal time. All this is to say, I'm back now and ready to blog again.

So I haven't been up to much in the kitchen, but here are a few things. I made this stuffed acorn squash last week. My intent was to try to come up with some idea for a Thanksgiving dish that we can take and share with our family. I think that with some experimenting, this could really be a winner. I served this with some black-eyed peas and some turnip greens--both just out of the freezer. I was in a hurry, I think. As for the squash, I first cut it open and cleaned the seeds out. Then I mixed together 2 diced apples, 2 diced celery ribs, 2 teaspoons of minced yellow onion, about 1/3 cup apple cider, some ground sage, and a little salt. To add a little protein, at the last minute I threw in half a pack of tempeh (about 4 ounces). Then I wanted to add some breadcrumbs, but I didn't have any so I just crumbled up about six crackers and used that. After I mixed it all together I stuffed both halves of the squash; the extra I just put in the pan around the squash. I baked it at 400 for about 35-40 minutes.

This was really tasty. The apples were pretty sweet (I used Galas, I think) so next time I would probably use a more tart variety. Also, I think it would be much better with breadcrumbs, and I would probably add a little more. And I would add a splash less cider. And maybe some wild rice would make a good addition? It would also be nice to marinate the tempeh ahead of time to give it some flavor. In any case, this was delicious. I love acorn squash--sometimes I just stuff it with applesauce and walnuts and raisins.

Speaking of applesauce, I used all those Granny Smith apples I bought up in the mountains to make some homemade applesauce. I love this stuff!


Homemade Applesauce

10-12 apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4-1/3 cup demerara sugar
Plenty of cinnamon
Nutmeg
Several dashes allspice and ground cloves
1 tablespoon margarine

Just let it all cook down in a large pot for about an hour on medium-low, with the lid on for most of the time.

This applesauce is so good hot, but I really like it cold too. The amount of spices I added was really subtle but comes through just enough, I think. This made about 6-7 cups of applesauce--not bad, but it really is amazing the way those apples cook down like that.


These are my favorite gingerbread cookies ever. I made them all the time last year, and this year I veganized them. I just found this recipe online somewhere. Here it is, with my modifications. Please note, though, that this is only half the original recipe. The original recipe makes tons and tons of cookies; even half the recipe is almost too much.

Gingerbread Cut-outs

1 stick Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar (darker is better)
1 1/2 teaspoon Ener-G + 1 tablespoon water (for 1 egg)
1/2 cup molasses
3 cups flour (this time I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon FINELY ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
(I have been known to double the ginger and cinnamon, especially if the spices are not as fresh)

Beat Earth Balance and sugar until well-incorporated and not granular-looking. Mix Ener-G and water, and add to sugar mixture. Add molasses and mix well. In another bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together. Stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour in the refrigerator.

Roll dough 1/8 inch thick and cut into shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until crisp but not dark. Cool on pan for 1 minute, then cool on wire racks.

I usually make gingerbread men around Christmas time, but since it was earlier in the year I treated myself to these cute autumn leaf cookie cutters! These cookies are incredible dipped in coffee or hot tea. What you see in the picture is not the full batch--it's about 2/3 of the batch. So this really is a LOT of cookies! My parents came up briefly last weekend, and I sent about half the batch home with them.

I had some leftover red sauce and some green bell peppers, so I made stuffed peppers one night. I've never done this before, so I didn't really know what to put in it. I didn't really feel like waiting for brown rice to cook, so I used some tri-color orzo pasta that I had. I made about 1/2 cup of pasta, I think, and when it was cooked I mixed it with the sauce and stuffed these bell peppers. I baked them for 35-40 minutes at 350. We had leftover black-eyed peas and a salad with this and it was pretty good. I'd like to try some more fillings and see what we like the best.

Finally, I had some friends over last night to watch a movie (Labyrinth--who remembers this classic David Bowie movie?). I didn't have much time to put dinner together, but I threw together this lasagna. I just used a can of diced tomatoes and a can of crushed tomatoes, and I added some garlic and some Italian herbs. For the tofu ricotta, I used Basil-Tofu Ricotta from VWaV. I baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes, then let it stand for 10-15 minutes. It was good, but definitely not the best I've ever made. I guess I was just in a hurry--well that, and I didn't have any spinach or anything to put in it. Still, it was tasty and my friends seemed to enjoy it too.


Today, I am going to attempt a birthday cake. I haven't made a vegan cake yet--well, not like a layer cake anyway. But my sister's birthday was Wednesday, and she and her boyfriend are coming to visit this weekend. Eckk! We had a hard time agreeing on food--they eat the most typical American diet you can imagine! I think we're going to Moe's Southwest Grill tonight for dinner--there's something for everyone there. But I will let you know how my cake turns out.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Ahhh, September

September 1 is one of my favorite days of the whole year, because it means the end of the "summer" months and the beginning of the "autumn" months... and there are few things that I love more in the world than I love autumn. Never mind that it's still 85 degrees on a "cool" day here in Athens, Georgia. Never mind that I still pour sweat after walking 3/4 of a mile to class. September brings a promise of better things!

The reason for all the sentimental mush-mush: To celebrate September 1, I decided to bake pumpkin cookies! And better still, I decided to try concocting my own recipe. So I whipped these up in no time, and while the recipe could still use some tweaking to make it perfect, Bob and I were pretty darn happy with these!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bites

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Scant 3/4 cup demerara sugar
2 tbs. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin purée (I used canned)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Equivalent of 2 eggs (I used Ener-G)
2 teaspoons molasses
Walnuts, raisins, or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all the dry ingredients (through the spices) in a medium-sized bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and fold together until well combined, adding in the walnuts or fruit, if using. Place by small spoonfuls onto a prepared baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.

These didn't spread out when they baked, which was fine with me. Also, they're not extremely sweet--they remind me of little pumpkin oatmeal breakfast bites or something (hence the name).

I'm crazy about pumpkin, so with fall fast approaching, you will probably start seeing more and more pumpkin recipes on here!

Deviant tART

A tart as French as the Eiffel Tower.

Most people who know me know that I LOVE the French language, French culture... and French cuisine. There is nothing in the world like French bread and French pastries (in fact, one of my dreams is to live in Paris and own a vegan patisserie). So for Urban Vegan's deviant tART contest, I decided to revisit my French cookbook for some inspiration. This simple tart was the result. The flavor of the nectarines really comes through wonderfully, just accented with a hint of sugar and nutmeg.

Simple Nectarine Tarts

1/2 pound vegan pastry dough--frozen, or homemade (recipe below)
2 large nectarines
Melted vegan margarine, for brushing (about 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp demerara sugar, processed until very fine
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Roll out the pastry dough into a large rectangle (about 10x15 inches) and cut into 6 rectangles. Transfer to a baking sheet. With the back end of a knife, scallop the edges of each rectangle. Then use the knife to score about 1/2 inch from the edges, to make a border. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the nectarines in half and then slice them thinly. Process the sugar; add nutmeg to taste, and combine. Preheat the oven to 400 (this is an estimate). Working within the borders of each rectangle, layer the nectarines so that the entire center of the dough is covered. Brush the tops of each pastry with melted margarine, then sprinkle the sugar-nutmeg mixture over the tops. Bake about 15 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned and the nectarines look tender.

If you want to make your own dough, here's the recipe that I used (I was afraid I wouldn't find vegan pastry dough). I adapted this from a Martha Stewart recipe I found online.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegan margarine, cold and cut into small chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 1/2 cup ice water, mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix the flour and salt. Cut the margarine into the flour until crumbly. Slowly add the ice water, combining with your hands just until it comes together. Working on a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Fold into thirds (like a pamphlet) and roll out again. Fold into thirds the opposite way. Do this process twice more; then wrap the dough and chill for an hour. After one hour, do the process one more time (roll out, fold into thirds, roll out, fold into thirds the opposite way). Chill until ready to use. If at any time the dough begins to get soft and warm, chill it for a few minutes to allow it to firm up again. The cooler the dough is, the easier it will be to work with.

Bob and I enjoyed eating these! I have been inspired to attempt to veganize all my French favorites. Hmm... vegan crème brulée? I don't really know about that. Oh well...

Much to blog...

Well, not really that much to blog. It's been several days, but they've been busy days. We finally finished up the lentil soup, and it's the weekend, so I'll be moving on to better things.

But here's what we've been eating lately. This is a Lemon Gem Cupcake from VWaV (p. 228), inspired by my best friend's 22nd birthday, which was Wednesday. I would highly recommend these cupcakes to anyone who likes lemon-flavored treats! I reduced the sugar in the cupcake somewhat(I used raw sugar and it worked great), and it was still very sweet. The only difficulty I had with these was the icing--it never got very firm, and so these treats have had to stay in the fridge up until the very moment when it was time to eat it. But they're so good! Somehow I've managed to stay out of them, and give most of them away...

On Wednesday we whipped up another pizza. We had some leftover basil-tofu ricotta and pizza sauce that we wanted to use up. Bob said he thought this was the best pizza we've made; I might agree with him. We put a layer of spinach between the sauce and the ricotta, and we topped it with eggplant, bell pepper, and jalapeño (I won't tell you about the jalapeño incident we had...ouch). There's also a bit of pesto on there, but we went light.

Here's another picture of the pizza, to illustrate what we thought of it. This one was Bob's idea.



This morning I made baked oatmeal from Fat Free Vegan, substituting applesauce for the shredded apple, and using frozen blueberries instead of fresh. It's definitely a wonderful breakfast, served with hot tea.

Last time I made my banana cream dessert, I finally decided to take a picture. So here it is in the mini food processor, looking all swirly and cool:

Banana "Ice Cream"

1 frozen banana, cut into chunks
1-2 tablespoons soy milk
Splash vanilla
Dash cinnamon
Agave nectar, if desired
Anything else you might want

And here it is all dished up:


Tonight, dinner was sort of an afterthought. I overbooked myself on meetings and such for this evening, so when I saw Bob about to make some queso with Dragonfly's Bulk Uncheese Mix from Vegweb.com, I decided we should make dinner out of it. So we mixed it on the stove with some salsa and a can of vegan refried beans and some Louisiana hot sauce, and we had instant bean dip.
We used to like this kind of meal from time to time when we were vegetarian, but haven't had anything like it since cheese left our diet. It was quick and not entirely healthy, but not entirely unhealthy either. I really like it with Guiltless Gourmet blue corn chips. I did have a salad as well...

Thanks for all your tempeh comments. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who hasn't taken the leap yet! But I am going to do something with it tomorrow. What? Well, I haven't figured that out yet...