Easy Sugar Cookies with Barely Pink Icing

It must have been a dozen years ago that my friend, Alison, surprised me at my Bubbie's house for Thanksgiving. Along with her came a big bag of scrumptious sugar cookies that she and her mom baked and decorated with a smooth sheen of icing.  This sugar cookie recipe remains my favorite, with minor adjustments, of course.

The beauty of sugar cookies is, granted you don't go overboard with the icing, they're not too sweet. The slightly crunchy, slightly crumbly texture of the cookie paired with the sweet almond-flavored icing makes for a scrumptious treat.  These 3 dozen cookies were gone in a matter of a few days and I wish I could say there were more than two people eating them!

I left the rolling pin and cookies cutters in the drawer, in favor of the easy "log method."  And although I'm providing the full recipe for the icing below, I only made a half batch for my full batch of cookies.

Ethel's Sugar Cookies, veganized!
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer, combined with 4 tbsp water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

1. Beat oil, sugar, vanilla, and "eggs".  Stir in the flour and baking powder, using hands if necessary. 
2. Form the dough into a long log, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 375*F.
4. Make sure that the circumference of the log is the circumference you'd like the cookies to be.  Unwrap the dough log and with a sharp, floured knife, make slices about every 1/4" or so.  You'll get about 3 dozen small cookies.  Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  They don't spread much, so you can probably pack them all in on one sheet.
5. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. If you're going for larger cookies, adjust the baking time accordingly. Decorate with icing when cooled.

Decorator's Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tbsp almond milk (or soy, or whatever, even water would be fine)
1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
coloring*

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth and spreadable.

*To get the "barely pink" icing, I defrosted a few frozen cranberries and squeezed out the juice!  You'll see I got a little cranberry pieces in the mix too.

Grape Jelly!

Do you remember these grapes from Monday's post?  Well, guess what.  They're now jelly!  This jelly is lighter in color than traditional grape jelly because most of the grapes were green.

Take that you grapey beasts!

Making jelly sure is messy, but I think the time spent making my kitchen sticky was worth it.  I now have 22 jars of grape jelly to give as gifts to friends and family.  I'm thinking about offering a jar as a giveaway the last day of MoFo.  Is that strange?  Would people not really be into a homemade jar of grape jelly?  Tell me!

22 jars of homemade grape jelly!

Tonight I had my first "real" taste (this excludes what was happening as I was cleaning up the stick jelly-cooking pot!) of the grape jelly on a homemade biscuit with some organic Earth Balance.  I base my biscuits off of the recipe found in Vegan Comfort Food, but I use canola oil instead of margarine, and just mix the wet ingredients right into the dry.  Also, I don't actually measure the anything!

Oh man!  This was really good.  I'm thrilled with how the jelly came out and, really, this was the perfect way to enjoy it.  Although, I'm thinking about making grape jelly scones this week too.

UPDATE:  I forgot to link to the recipe I used for the jelly.  Here it is!  Also, I'm replacing that horrible nighttime photo with one taken this morning!

Kale Skordalia

When I saw the recipe for Green Skordalia in my Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates book, I decided it would be perfect to try during MoFo.  According to the cookbook, Skordalia (also called Skorthalia) is a "pungent Mediterranean garlic paste" which is enjoyed on toast, whisked into soup, dolloped on veggies, or served as a dip.  Usually white with bits of herbs in the mix, this Skordalia is green due to the kale.





















The recipe was pretty quick and simple.  Basically throwing the ingredients into a food processor.  It was definitely GARLICKY with the recipe calling for 6-8 cloves of the raw stuff.  I was slightly off put by the slimy texture, which I assume came from the kale.  Still, it was tasty and I now have a ton left over.  I think I might turn the leftovers into soup.  By the way, I replaced the yogurt in the recipe with a blended cashew sour cream.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

Taking a break from the greens to enjoy some chocolate and peanut butter cookies!

Have you made this recipe from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar?  This was my first time.  I think I ended up with a too-oily batter, which made the chocolate part of the cookie flatten more than it should have, but the cookies were still quite good. 

A little more like flying saucers than pillows, but tasty all the same!

I've only tried a few of the recipes from this book, but I feel like this is the season for, among other things, cookies, so I want to give more a go!  What's your favorite cookie recipe, either from VCIYCJ or elsewhere?

A date with Kittee's cheezy kale chips

As MoFo veterans are aware and noobs will soon learn, VeganMoFo is almost as much about community-building and camaraderie as it is about the promotion of vegan food.  It's nice when you can involve your "real world" friends in the festivities too and yesterday, my friend Carly came over to make Kittee's deliciously cheezy kale chips. 

If you use your imagination, you can see kale, in its natural habitat, in the background of this photo!

Matt made it home from a hike in time to help us devour these beauties.  I think they were gone within 10 minutes, paired with Oregon-made Wandering Aengus Cider.

A fine snack!

These chips are everything you could ask for in a snack.  They're the perfect amount of flavorful and are totally modifiable to your taste preferences.  Extra spicy?  Sure!  I've even used a grated beet instead of the carrot for equally tasty results.  These chips are also pretty nutritious!  The only problems are that they're gone waaay too quickly and I guess they do take a little babysitting in the oven if you make them the way I did (see below).  I really, really recommend giving these a go!

A few notes about how we deviated from the original recipe:
-I don't have a dehydrator, so we used the oven.  I also don't have enough patience, so we adjusted the cooking temp to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and baked them for about 30 minutes total, flipping and checking on them about every 7-8 minutes.  Each time we took them out, we decided to eat the few crispy ones, since they'd just burn anyway!  -We used tamari instead of Bragg's, Aardvark hot sauce instead of Sriracha, and regular old chile powder instead of the chipotle variety.
-And, per Kittee's suggestion, we threw in a pressed clove of garlic.

Throw in that pinch of chile powder, Carly!

Gluten-Free Almond Butter Cookies

The recipe for these absolutely delightful sweets came from Madcap Cupcake's blog. Sooo tasty. I blame my oily almond butter for the spreading, but these crisp, rich cookies are so yummy, I don't mind one bit. Only five ingredients and no flour, whatsoever.

What was that? You noticed that I've already eaten a few of them since they came out of the oven half an hour ago? So?

VeganMoFo: Mom's Banana Bread

Recipe: Banana Bread
Family Member: Mom by way of Grandma Jane

Brief Description: We always had fruit in my house growing up. Bananas *ahem* ripening faster than they were eaten was a common occurrence. My mom would peel them when their peel was pretty much black, toss them in a zip lock baggie and keep them in the freezer until she was moved to make a huge batch of banana bread. Then, she’d encase the beautiful finished loaves in plastic baggies, and keep them in the freezer until it was their turn to be defrosted on the counter and devoured. A perfect process, me thinks, especially when the results are so tasty.

We don't seem to have the problem of bananas ripening too fast in our household. However, after returning from Florida following a delightful Thanksgiving at my mom's, we were left with a quite brown banana and a quite brown pear. Banana bread! Er. Banana Pear bread! Ohhhh my! This bread is goo-ood!

Original Ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
3 tbsp sour milk (2 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp lemon juice)
1 cup mashed banana (~2 bananas)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Original Directions:
1. Combine sugar, shortening, eggs, sour milk, and bananas.
2. In separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Incorporate into other mixture.
3. Fill two greased bread pans ¾ full and bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes.

Vegan Notes: I find sweet breads like this easy-peasy to veganize. Just sub non-dairy milk for milk and applesauce for the eggs (about 1/4 cup per egg). Voila! For ease and thrift, I often just use vegetable oil in place of the shortening as well.
(Note: This particular incarnation of my mom's recipe is more aptly titled "Gluten-Free Banana Pear Bread with Pecans!" I used oat flour this time and a combination of brown sugar and evaporated cane juice for the sugar. This is just how things are done in my kitchen. There's rarely any getting around substituting ingredients! Waste not, want not, and all that. You'll also notice I made four mini pans instead of two regular sized ones. I cut the baking time down to 30 minutes.)

VeganMoFo: Spiced Apple Cupcakes

Oy! Another break from my Family Recipe theme. Sorry! I have a good excuse though...I'm actually spending time with my family!

The day before we left on our trip, I made these lovely cupcakes for...uh...breakfast... I saw the original recipe at Wasabi Peas, for Spiced Apple Bundt Cake with Tofutti Cinnamon Glaze and had to try it! It would have been cuter if I had mini bundt pans, but these cupcakes won where it really counted- taste! Yums!


PS- I used canola oil in place of the shortening. :)

VeganMoFo: Bubbie's Oatmeal Cake

Recipe: Oatmeal Cake
Family Member: Bubbie

Brief Description: I have to admit, I don’t recall eating this growing up, but my dad told me that this Oatmeal Cake is amazing, so I decided to try it. It’s a very dense, not overly-sweet cinnamon-flavored cake with a ganache-type icing mixed with nuts and coconut. Very tasty. Doc was super impressed with this cake. I thought it would have been lovely with some sliced apples baked into it, upside down style, and a glaze on top. Just a thought.

Original Ingredients:
Margarine - 1/2 lb (2 sticks)
Oatmeal - 2 cups
Boiling Water - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Brown Sugar - 2 cups
Eggs - 4
Flour - 2 2/3 cups
Baking Soda - 2 tsps
Cinnamon - 2 tsps
Vanilla - 2 tsps

Original Directions:
1. Pour boiling water over margarine & oatmeal. Stir and let stand 20 minutes. Stir again.
2. In separate bowl beat sugar and eggs together. Add to Oatmeal mixture.
3. Combine last 4 ingredients and add to oatmeal mixture. Place in buttered and floured pan.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.
5. While cake is still warm frost with following frosting.

FROSTING

Original Ingredients:
Brown sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 6 tbsp
Milk - 1/3 cup
Walnuts - 1 cup
Cocoa - 1/2 cup
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup

Original Directions: Bring brown sugar, butter, and mild to a boil and remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and frost cake.

Vegan Notes: I used Earth Balance as the margarine/butter, 1 cup applesauce instead of the eggs, and soy milk as the milk.

Other Notes: It would have been good to double the frosting recipe since I used two round cake pans instead of a rectangular one. I also put some of the frosting between the layers.

(Sorry again for the horrendous nighttime photo)

VeganMoFo: Mom's Hamantaschen

Yum yum yummmmm!

Recipe: Hamantaschen
Family Member: Mom

Brief Description: Probably one of my all time favorite cookies, my mom’s Hamantaschen are not overly-sweet. Hamantaschen are a traditional Jewish dessert made for Purim. I’d imagine that the sugar cookie-like pocket containing fruit filling would very much appeal to pro-pie folks. Make a big batch and share them with friends!

Original Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
4 cups flour
½ tsp salt
Fruit filling (my mom always used Baker Fine Dessert Filling in poppy, apricot, prune, almond, and cherry)

Original Directions:
1. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add flour and salt. Mix well until a stiff dough has formed.
2. Roll flat and use a round cookie-cutter to cut circles. Fill the center with fruit filling. (Not too much!) Pinch corners to achieve a triangle shape.
3. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350* for 20 minutes.

Vegan Notes: I used 4 1/2 tsp EnerG Egg Replacer and 6 tbsp warm water for the eggs and Earth Balance for the butter.

Other Notes: I don't have a round cookie cutter, so I used the rim of a large glass, dipped in flour. Make sure you're working on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. The consistency of my dough wasn't wet enough, so I added a splash of water. Make sure you fill and form the cookies quickly, or else the dough will dry out and it will be more difficult to get them in the right shape. You also want to make sure to pinch the corners really well so that the fruit filling doesn't ooze out during baking. Also, I couldn't find the fruit filling that my mom uses, so I used some apricot preserves and some cranberry/apple butter. Both came out deliciously! I baked my cookies about 25 minutes. It all depends on what kind of cookie sheet you use. Mine is lighter in color, so it takes longer for things to bake. I got over two dozen cookies out of my batch.

Pre-shaping

Pre-baking

Pre-eating

VeganMoFo: Grandma's Wacky Cake

(Sorry for the icky nighttime photo!)

Recipe: Wacky Cake
Family Member: Grandma Jane

Brief Description: An already-vegan recipe, developed as a result of rationing during WWII, Wacky Cake is a chocolate cake made with vinegar (wacky!) and no eggs or milk. The recipe that my Grandma and mom use is a great one for kids to help with. If making this cake with kids, be sure not to skip the “wells” step! I don't have a rectangular pan, so I used two round pans. I also made a chocolate ganache-like icing for the top. So so good! My go-to chocolate cake recipe.

Original Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cups cold water
2 tsp vanilla extract

Original Directions: Mix dry ingredients directly in rectangular cake pan. Create six wells in the dry mixture. Add different wet ingredients to each well before mixing. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Vegan Notes: None!


For the ganache icing I just mixed the following ingredients until I had the consistency I wanted:

melted Earth Balance
Powdered sugar
cocoa
vanilla extract
soy milk

VeganMoFo: Dad's Pumpkin Pie

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie
Family Member: Dad

Brief Description: This is so not an original family recipe. My dad loves pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie. His preferred recipe is the one found on the label of Libby’s pumpkin puree. It’s a good balance of spices. I haven’t found a vegan pumpkin pie recipe that I really like, so I’ve decided to tweak this one. It’s still not perfect to my taste. (See the notes below about coconut.) It also wasn’t quite the perfect consistency. I think it would have done well to go in the oven a bit longer, but the crust started to burn. I’m going to try a half cup of silken tofu next time, in place of the eggs. Still, REALLY yummy! Also, it should be noted, that I used the tried-and-true Libby's canned pumpkin. The organic stuff I usually get just isn't quite as smooth.

Original Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Whipped cream (optional)

Original Directions:
MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Vegan Notes: For the eggs I planned on using silken tofu (1/2 cup), but forgot to pick some up. Instead I used 3 ½ tsps of EnerG Egg Replacer plus 4 tbsp warm water. For the evaporated milk substitution, I used 6 oz coconut milk* (not lite!) and 6 oz of vegan non-dairy creamer. I used the pie dough recipe found in Veganomicon with good results. I didn’t top mine with whipped cream, but could have whipped something up easily with pre-soaked and blended raw cashews and sugar.

*I love coconut, but not in everything. For instance, I really don’t like the coconut-based ice creams, yogurts, or milks. For my tastes, this was a little too much coconut flavor. Next time I’d use somewhere around 3 oz coconut milk to 9 oz creamer, or just all creamer. It was still really tasty. I just didn’t totally care for the hint of coconut.

VeganMoFo: Dad's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons [GLUTEN FREE]
Family Member: Dad

Brief Description: Chocolate. Peanut butter. Need I say more? An easy-to-make super sweet confection that will impress pretty much everyone out there.

Original Ingredients:
1 cup chunky peanut butter (smooth also works just fine)
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter

Original Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, melted butter, and powdered sugar. Blend with a fork until well mixed.
2. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Combine chocolate chips and solid butter. Heat until melted and smooth when stirred, either in a double boiler or in the microwave.
4. Using a fork, dip the balls in the melted chocolate. Let the excess drip off and place the dipped balls on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until hardened.

Vegan Notes: Just sub Earth Balance (or another vegan butter-like-substance) for the butter and you’re good to go!

Mini Guava Turnovers

I've been making my way through a tin of guava paste. First I made guava cake. Then it was guava puff pastries. Now, as the heat wave has ended here in the Portland area, I've turned the oven back on for guava turnovers. These are extra special because they're mini!

If I can stop eating them (I've already had 4 sitting here writing this post!) we might just top them with vanilla ice cream for dessert later.

Very simple to make, these babies come out so cute and tasty, you have to try them!

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Earth Balance
3- 4 tbsp cold water

Guava paste (approx. 3-4 oz), cut into 16 squares
(opt.) turbinado sugar for the top

Steps:
1. Mix the flour and salt. Add the EB, cutting and stirring with two knives until the mixture is lumpy. Add the water and knead with your hands a little. Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate for half an hour.

2. Roll out dough onto a greased cookie sheet with a rolling pin until very thin.

3. Using a pizza cutter, cut the rolled dough into a square. It doesn't need to be perfect. (Set aside the remaining pieces to use for an ugly jumbo turnover.) Using the pizza cutter, cut a line through the middle of the dough horizontally, then vertically. Then divide those sections each in half again, so you end up with 16 squares.

4. Place a square of guava paste on each square so that it's closer to one end than the other. Fold the dough square in half to create a triangle. Pinch the sides together and use a fork to further seal the pastry. Repeat for the remaining 15 turnovers.

5. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until the turnovers are golden and some of the filling has spilled out.

Enjoy right out of the oven!

Update: Yes! Vanilla ice cream and mini guava turnovers (reheated slightly in a toaster oven) are a winning combination!

Broccoli and Rice Casserole and Bread Pudding

This weekend, all plans for Saturday were cancelled when Doc and I realized someone had broken into our car, smashing the passenger side window and throwing the contents of the backseat and glove compartment all around the cab. They didn't take anything, mind you. Not the GPS. Not anything. After that happened, the day was filled with police report filing, (many) calls to our insurance agency, repair shops and leasing company, and driving to Norristown with a towel covering the empty window to get the window fixed. Getting back around dinner time, we decided to have a lazy evening as it continued to lightly snow outside.

On Sunday Doc made the cheese sauce from the Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas recipe from Vegweb. (Thanks C for introducing us to this dish!) I sauteed some sort of tofu taco filling, and we had a yummy pile o' nachos for lunch. Only using about half the cheese sauce, we had quite a bit left. That's why, last night, I made...

Broccoli and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:
1/2 carrot, grated
1 1/2 cups prepared rice
1 cup cooked split peas (also leftover from another recipe)
1 lg head of broccoli, cut into florets
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 medium onion, diced
garlic powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast to taste
1/2 Cheese sauce recipe
a few gobs of Earth Balance

Directions:
1. Steam broccoli for 2 minutes.
2. Saute onion with olive oil and spices in a large pot until soft. Turn the heat off. Add everything else to pot. Mix well. Season to taste.
3. Spoon mixture into a casserole dish and top with a few gobs of Earth Balance. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Out of the oven, this dish looked amazing. It was bubbly and crispy in places. Taste-wise it was pretty good. I added hot sauce to mine and Doc added more red pepper flakes.


Ever since my recent trip to Horizons with my friend, Ladybeth, I've had a hankering for bread pudding. (Photos of our visit will be posted soon!) I decided to try my hand at making bread pudding.

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups almond milk (or soy, or whatever)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 and tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp Earth Balance
1/2 apple, cubed
1/2 baguette, cubed

Directions:
1. Warm the almond milk. Add the vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and EB.
2. Place the cubed apple and bread in a baking dish and pour the mixture on top. Toss, coating the bread. Let sit for 15 minutes.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

My attempt did not come any where close to equaling Horizons' Sticky Toffee Bread Pudding with caramel apples and eggnog ice cream (drool, right?). In fact, it turned out more like sweet, cinnamon-y stuffing. I guess I needed to add more liquid. Although a caramel and ice cream topping would not hurt.

VEGANMOFO 2009: Favorite Vegans Tribute V

Well, in two hours, Vegan MoFo 2009 officially draws to a close. It's been a fun furry of food-making. I felt oddly guilty when, occasionally, I wasn't able to get a post up like I was supposed to. Being forced to make more food than usual meant that coworkers and friends got a lot of free vegan food during the month. Okay, I wasn't really forced. I enjoyed playing with new ingredients and recipes. I also LOVED reading others' posts, and look forward to continuing to do so. A great thing about MoFo was that I was exposed to some great new blogs. The downside, of course, is that I'll now be spending even more time on the computer.

My last MoFo post:

A and J are two more awesome animal lovers that I met in Gainesville. This dynamic duo went vegan together and do many great things for animals. There were AR meetings, potlucks, volunteer events, VegFest, and other events. My fondest memory of J is volunteering at Rooterville Pig Sanctuary in Alachua, FL together. I really miss that place and the great people behind it! J even interned for Rooterville.A is super awesome as well. This past February I got the chance to hang out with her and T-Cat for a weekend in D.C. We had a lot of fun and the experience made me wish even more that we had spent more time together when we both lived in Gainesville.In honor of the awesome vegan that is J, I decided to make "Pigs Are Safe in the Barn," a simple vegweb favorite. I even decorated the plate with ketchup and mustard designs, including a barn, and sauerkraut hay. (I have to admit that DocDufresne actually made the little piggies!) We also had a simple steamed yam/beet/turnip dish with garlic/lemon sauce (not pictured).In honor of A, I decided to make cinnamon rolls, as I can barely think of cinnamon rolls without thinking of our multiple trips to Sticky Fingers in February. These were from Vegan Brunch. I brought them to the Cares4Pets adoption event today, where we had hoped someone would fall in love with Henry. It remains to be determined if this actually happened. Fingers crossed. The cinnamon rolls were enjoyed. (Even though I didn't let them rise either of the times they were suppsed to rise!- Hey, I was in a rush!)

Can't wait to see you next month, A and J!

VEGANMOFO 2009: Favorite Vegans Tribute I

This week, the last week of Vegan MoFo 2009, In My Vegan Life will feature a tribute to my favorite vegans. Each day I am going to showcase dishes that remind me of a particular person and I'll also talk about what the person means to me in my vegan life.

Today I'm starting with my best friend, T-Cat. For those who know her, T-Cat offers a ray of sunshine even on the gloomiest of days. Her friendship has meant so much to me from time spent together at potlucks in Gainesville to preparing for DocDufresne's and my wedding. T-Cat has been so supportive through rough patches I've had here and there, and has been an incredible joy to be around. There are certain people in our lives that you know will be friends for a lifetime. T-Cat is one of those people for me and I'm lucky to have her!

T-Cat and I share a love of peppery food. The first dish is Creamy Tomato Soup from Veganomicon. I first had it when T-Cat made it and handed out batches to a few lucky friends. It was extra peppery and extra delicious.

I like mine chunky and unblended. Plus it's easier that way!Secondly, T-Cat has an affinity toward raw items, including salads. When we're on trips together I refuse to spend my limited meals on salads (or anything I feel like I can make easily at home), but T-Cat doesn't share this preference. In fact, this sald reminds me of one she got when we ate at Watercourse in Denver. I do like salads from time to time, especially when made at home. This salad is a tribute to T-Cat!

The ingredients include baby green mix, red cabbage, shredded carrots, apple bits, orange segments, and walnuts. I tossed it with an orange-poppy seed vinaigrette.Lastly, I've wanted to make Green Tea Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for a while. Just because they're quite lovely. As I was flipping through the cupcake book I found the pretty little photo again and was instantly reminded of T-Cat. I showed the photo to DocDufresne and asked him whom it reminded him of. He said T-Cat right away.

My cupcakes didn't come out quite as beautiful as Isa's, but I'm pretty happy with the results, although the (expensive!) matcha didn't add much except the beautiful color.Love you, T-Cat! Can't wait to see you next month!!

VEGANMOFO 2009: My Own Cookbook Challenge

Announcement #1: This week I'll be doing something that I do far too infrequently- using new recipes from my cookbooks. I tend to do two things, A. The tried and true approach- when I find a recipe I like, I continue to make it; B. I like to collect vegan cookbooks and sometimes it takes me a looong time to try out a good number of recipes.

This week I will make an attempt at getting better about this. I have ten vegan cookbooks (plus a couple of zines) and plan on trying a new recipe from each this week, which equals about two a day. I'll review both the chosen recipe and the cookbook. Here are the ten cookbooks in the order found above:

1. Veganomicon
2. The Joy of Vegan Baking
3. The Complete Vegan Cookbook
4. The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook
5. Sinfully Vegan
6. Vegan Brunch
7. Vegan With a Vengeance
8. Vegan Menu for People with Diabetes
9. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
10. Rabbit Food Cookbook

Announcement #2: DocDufresne and I have a very new house guest. We were driving home from Target on Saturday evening and trotting alongside a busy road in the cold rain was a severely emaciated pup. We took him home, cleaned him up, fed him, got him checked out by the vets of Care4Pets, and are fostering him for now. We're looking for a more "permanent" foster home, or even better- a forever family. He needs a stress-free place to recuperate. We cat tested him today and he did very well. We don't know how he is around other dogs. Anyway, I'm not going to post the crazy scary pictures of him since I don't want to rain on MoFo's parade, so here's one where you can't tell quite how skin-and-bones he is. He's uber sweet and we've named him Henry. For more information (or to have your heart broken by his skinnyness) visit Henry's Petfinder page and if you're inspired, as the kind readers of Balloon Juice were, feel free to donate *any amount* toward his veterinary care, which will be provided by the benevolent souls of Cares4Pets- any support is sooo appreciated and goes a LONG way! <3

Now on to the recipes!

Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Joy of Vegan BakingThe recipe: I actually didn't really care for the cookies when they were fresh from the oven, but after they cooled for a bit, they were yummy! These chocolate chip cookies don't flatten all that well on their own, so you might want to pre-flatten them if you're using this recipe. I added walnuts and used my favorite chocolate chips- the "vegan" semi-sweet 365 brand. They're good enough to bring into work tomorrow and label them "vegan."

The book: The best thing about The Joy of Vegan Baking is the fabulous photos. I have vowed never to buy another cookbook that lacks a good number of photos. The recipes that I've tried have been good, but truth be told, this is one of those that I categorize under, "collecting dust on the bookshelf." I really should take it out more often!


Lentil Soup from Rabbit Food Cookbook
Purchased from Herbivore when DocDufresne and I were there for our Agavemoon last year. (I think I actually bought this as a gift for someone and never gave it to them- whoops.)

The recipe: I tweaked the soup slightly as WF didn't have celery (doubled the carrot). I also doubled the curry and chili powders, used tamari instead of braggs, and used marinara sauce instead of fresh tomatoes as I had some that I needed to use. I know the photo doesn't make the soup look very appetizing, but this was really good. It wasn't intensely flavorful, which I definitely look for sometimes. This would be a good soup for those days when you're not feeling 100%.

The book: I LOVE Rabbit Food Cookbook! The illustrations are so cute and unlike many non-traditional cookbooks, it's easy to navigate through. It has handy little tabs for the different types of dishes, an index, etc. I think this was the first time I used it...oh boo on me. I will be using it again, though. Promise!