Posts Tagged ‘bread’

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Test cookies, care package and Food Not Bombs

Monday, June 9th, 2008
My latest batch of test cookies for Kelly and Garrick’s vegan cookie book were Peanut Butter Molasses (or Mary Jane) Cookies. Apparently they taste like the candy Mary Janes, but for those of us who have never had it, they taste to me kind of like PayDay candy bars. If you’ve never had either, just trust me that they taste like awesomeness.


I am glad I found time to bake four test recipes this last week, because I’m pretty sure I won’t be making any this week. I have a wedding cake and groom’s cake due on Friday, and believe it or not I’m a little baked out. By the end of this post you may understand why.


I sent a little package to my friend Cloudy last week, and now that I know that everything arrived in okay condition, I’ll post what I made (all vegan, of course)!

Low Fat Banana Bread:


Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti (my first ever biscotti!):


Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies (I call this photo “cookiehenge”):


Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:


Spicy Savory Nuts:


Spicy Sweet Nuts:


And here is a shot of everything together, all wrapped up and ready to go:


Cloudy informed me that everything arrived in good condition, and amazingly still fresh! I guess my mad wrapping skillz payed off. One day I will figure out how to ship a decorated cake.

On Friday I made some cupcakes and cookies for our local Food Not Bombs group. The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center put together a huge event called Bands not Bombs on Saturday, at which Food Not Bombs had a booth and planned a little bake sale to raise money for the pantry, which is used to feed the less fortunate.

My contribution was 16 (I know, weird number, whatever) Vegan Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes, brushed with Kahlua and topped with Espresso Buttercream (sound familiar?):


And five dozen Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies:
I don’t know how the sale went yet (I wasn’t able to make it out to the event), but I’m hoping we were able to raise at least a little money.

And that is why I am kind of tired of baking.

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Compensating

Friday, May 23rd, 2008
We have water! We still have to have someone come out and rehang drywall so they can put the sink back. Right now it’s living on our (wet) bedroom floor:


The plumber cut a very large hole to find a very small pipe:



Hopefully all of that will be over with soon. Oy.

This post is pic heavy because I am both trying to make up for my lack of posts, and trying to make up for the fact that it will probably be Monday before I post again. I have a wedding cake and groom’s cake to make and deliver to Oxford, MS tomorrow, and another small wedding cake to be delivered in Memphis on Sunday. I will be crazy busy/extremely exhausted, so I’m apologizing in advance.

In the meantime, pictures!

Banana Wheat Germ Muffins from V’con. These were very tasty, and not too sweet. I baked them in muffin liners with little animals on them, because they are adorable.


My first ever seitan! I used the recipe for Seitan O’Greatness from the PPK forums. I really liked the flavor and how easy it was. The Brit loved the texture, but wasn’t so crazy about the flavor. Anyone who knows him would know what a huge deal that is – he actually almost liked it! I’m going to make it again and switch up the seasonings until I find something he’ll like.


I will take this opportunity to introduce two of my favorite kitchen tools. First, my cast iron wok (all oiled up here, ready for action):


Second, my rice cooker. I freaking love my rice cooker:


Using these two tools, together with my Seitan O’Greatness, I made a yummy sweet and sour stir-fry that was actually pretty good. Even The Brit ate it!


I always make a little extra rice so I can have rice pudding. This time I added some currants, which I love! I shook up the soy milk before adding it, and for some reason it stayed really foamy even after cooking it with the rice. You can see the little bubbles:


We bought some more strawberries and I decided we should have strawberries and champagne. After trimming and cutting the strawberries, I macerated them in some Grand Marnier and a little sugar for about half an hour. Then I poured on a little Silk Soy Creamer (The Brit used real cream) and served them up with a glass of nicely chilled champagne. Indulgent, I know! (sorry for the crappy picture)


And last, this morning I made ‘Egg McVegans’ using this recipe. I pressed the tofu overnight in the fridge so I would have more time this morning. Also, I used Gimme Lean ‘sausage’ instead of the veggie bacon. The tofu was a little too vinegary for my tastes, but I may try making these again with less vinegar and maybe some more seasonings. All in all they were pretty good, though.

They sure looked like the real thing!

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Pumpkin muffins

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
This morning I made The Best Pumpkin Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance. I made my standard changes (whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose, turbinado sugar for the white), but I also subbed blackstrap molasses for the regular. These changes almost allowed me to convince myself that they were healthy… almost.

The recipe says it yields 12 muffins, but I must have some abnormally small tins because I managed to get 18 out of the batch, although I only baked 6 of them this morning. The rest I divided up into a lined tin then stuck the whole thing in the freezer. Once they were frozen I put them in a zipper freezer bag, and now I’ll be able to bake however many I want at a time. Is anyone seeing a theme here?


Oh yeah, and they are really good still warm with a little Earth Balance… mmmmm…

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The muscles from Brussels

Monday, March 10th, 2008


I had two firsts on Friday night. My first time cooking Brussels sprouts, and my first time enjoying Brussels sprouts.

I grew up hating them – no, loathing them. The very smell of Brussels sprouts could make me gag and lose my appetite. I’ve discovered, it’s all in how you cook them. This is probably old news to everyone else, but rather than boil your Brussels sprouts beyond recognition like my mother does, you should roast them. Roasting gives them a nice crunch on the outside, and makes them almost… creamy inside. I don’t know what made me try them, but I’m so glad I did.


On Saturday I felt like baking. I found a way to use the pulp from making almond milk – scones! I used the recipe for Hazelnut Scones from Vegan with a Vengeance, subbing almond meal for the hazelnut meal and omitting the chopped hazelnuts. My almond meal was still kind of wet, so I cut back on the wet ingredients a bit – although I don’t think I cut them back enough because the dough was still pretty soft. They were tasty anyway. Next time I think I’ll add more spices, though.


Now, I will leave you with a gratuitous shot of my adorable nephew, Jonah. He’s about to go Kung fu on yo’ ass.


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