More Lemon Cupcakes

I think I have some sort of addiction with baking these cupcakes, but at least I had better lighting this time around, & got to almost finish up the candied lemon peel I made a while back.

I took them to a dinner last night w/friends, along with these beautiful roses for my sister & Coral.  Can you believe that my roommate was contemplating hacking them down, for ease of mowing the grass by the sidewalk?  Wha?!  

Anyhoo, even though I forgot my camera at home, the point of the dinner was my sister wanted to re-create the Weeping Tiger sandwiches from the Bye & Bye.  She was definitely successful!  I'm going to tinker around & try to come up with a recipe, because they were just too good.  
In garden news, some turdy critters are eating peas, cucumbers, & beets as soon as they sprout, so I had to re-seed a bunch of stuff.  Bah!  I read that it could be birds, so I'll have to put down some netting or something to keep them at bay till the plants can fend for themselves.  

Chipotle Kale Salad

This has become a regular thing around here, & seems to be a popular salad to share with friends & family.  I'm not sure of the recipe's source, but I got it from the prep recipe binder at my last job...

 

Chipotle Kale Salad

• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed, chopped, washed & drained (about 5-6 cups)
• 1/4 cup Vegenaise
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon minced chipotle in adobo sauce
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup raisins

Try to get the kale as dry as possible, or you'll dilute the dressing; if you're the owner of a salad spinner, go ahead & spin that shit.  Place the kale in a large bowl, then whisk the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl.  Toss the dressing into the kale & eat!  (If you're one of those people who avoid "booger-y" raisins, add them right before eating, so your leftovers aren't full of plumpies.)  

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Here are a few photos of my new neighborhood, in all its glory...

Three Recipes of Delight!

Yesterday was a productive day for me. After I did homework, went to the Farmer's Market, & walked to the store, I cooked all evening! So fun. The first thing I made was a new batch of granola. I used the honey I got at the Farmer's Market, but you can also substitute maple syrup or agave, if you're vegan or don't have honey on hand.

The recipe that inspired my "regular" granola is from the Vegan Spoonful blog, which no long exists, so that's why I'm not linking to it. :(


Honey Granola

• 4 cups oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2-2 cups dried cranberries (set aside till granola has baked)
  

Preheat oven to 325*F (honey burns easily, hence the low temperature). Prepare a large jelly roll pan by lining it with parchment. In a large bowl, toss together the oats, nuts, coconut, flax seeds, salt & cinnamon. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey & olive oil. Pour the honey/oil mixture over the other ingredients & toss till combined. Spread granola over the prepared pan & bake for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Toss in the dried cranberries. Let cool & store in an airtight container.

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I recently re-watched Food, Inc., which was depressingly inspirational. I went through all my food & donated the "healthy" processed stuff & possible GMO crap to my sister & stocked up on staples at the store. I decided that, instead of munching on a Tiger's Milk Bar when I'm heading out, I'd make my own emergency energy bars. They're mostly raw, & totally delicious. The recipe is inspired by Chow's Figgy Fuel Bars, but I didn't follow it exactly.

I love how the owl is side-eying the bar...


Knock-off Lara Bars

• 1 cup raw walnuts
• 1 cup raw hazelnuts
• 1 pound Medjool dates, pitted
• 3 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Line an 8X8-inch baking pan with plastic wrap. In a food processor, pulse the nuts till pretty finely chopped. Add the dates & pulse until the nuts & dates form a sticky, chunky dough. Add the remaining ingredients & pulse until combined; you'll need to scrape the sides of the bowl & push the mixture down to the blades. Pack the mixture into the prepared pan & smooth the top. Freeze till firm, then cut into 12-16 bars. Store in the refrigerator or freezer until serving.


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I also wanted to make something from Viva Vegan!, which I got from the library. It's a really awesome cookbook, so I might buy it myself. The chorizo recipe in it kicks the ass of the one from Vegan Brunch.

I'll write the recipe as I made it, which is pretty close to the Chipotle Chorizo variation. It's tangy & spicy! I subbed a couple things, plus baked it low & slow, which I do with all homemade sausages. Amazing...



Chipotle Chorizo

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 4 tablespoons pureed chipotle in adobo sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 2/3 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup garbanzo flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 4 teaspoons paprika
• 4 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1 teaspoon ground Mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 325*F. Tear 4 square pieces of foil & set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, chipotle puree, olive oil, vinegar, & garlic. In a large bowl, stir together the vital wheat gluten, garbanzo flour, nutritional yeast, & all the spices/seasonings. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ones & mix to combine (the recipe says to knead the dough to activate the gluten, but I like mine tender).

Divide into 4 portions & place each blob on a piece of foil. Pat into a long log & then roll up the sausages, twisting the ends (don't roll them too tightly, or they'll burst open in the oven). Bake for one hour, rolling them over about halfway through. Let cool completely before slicing, or you'll have a mushy sausage log.

The book says they'll keep in the fridge for two weeks; freeze what you won't be able to eat in a timely manner.

It's difficult to take an appetizing shot of a sausage schlong, sorry!


One of my favorite ways of eating veggie sausage is with baked homefries. As soon as the potatoes are almost done cooking, sautee some diced sausage in a separate pan till crispy & fragrant; toss with the potatoes & serve with some nutty wheat toast!

I love the new bike signs on Clinton. So cute! They have a bunch of colors, but I took a picture of a pink one.


This is one of my favorite Spring views in the neighborhood. It's so much prettier in real life though!

Farmer's Market Loot

I'm embarrassed to say that my trip to the Farmer's Market this morning was my first visit of the season. Damn. I usually end up talking myself out of going, since I spend what feels like my entire existence at the PSU campus. This morning, however, I forced myself to go & battle the yuppies, ha ha, & I'm glad I did (sorry, but the PSU market crowd is pretty bourgie!). We'd been out of honey for so long, & I always seek out the lovely people from Raynblest Farm. I got a nice, tall beeswax candle too; they last forever & smell amazing!


I rewarded myself with a nice bouquet of flowers, even though our apartment is crammed with houseplants. The more the merrier!


Things are quiet around here, without Ethan, so I've been intermittently studying, gardening, & making cards. There are more cards on my Flickr page, but this one turned out pretty cute.


For now, I think I'm going to walk to the store, then make some energy bars & a batch of granola for the week.

<3 <3 <3

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

It's sort of difficult for me to transition from the quiet, nature-filled camping scene, back into the obnoxious (at least where we live, ha ha!) city environment. One cool thing was going to the Farmer's Market though. I got a rainbow bouquet of flowers, a bunch of fresh lavender, & an armful of phallic veggies: regular & yellow zucchini, plus a few cucumbers.

Pretty flowers:


I decided to make roasted zucchini, since roasting is super easy & always brings about great results. Here they are on an olive oiled sheet, after slicing into 3/4" rounds.


And here they are after being tossed with a mixture of olive oil, the juice of a lemon, a teensy bit of sugar (like 1/4 tsp.), & salt & pepper. Roast away in the hottest oven temp. possible, turning halfway through, for about 16-20 minutes. Try to hold out for the browning.


Can you see all those glorious browned bits? I wish I would have let them go longer, but I was too hungry, plus my pasta was ready to eat. The ones on the edge were the best.


At work, I made some cinnamon-raisin & cranberry-orange scones, along with a batch of orange-nutmeg cookies...


The recipe is from The Grand Central Baking Book, but I vegan-ized it for work.


I also found comfort in Mario. Ethan & I had a video game night & it was a blast. My old NES is still kickin'!


I feel better now...I'm outta here!

Stuck Inside

I think I mentioned earlier that we were having a mild summer in Portland...well, that has changed! I am super lethargic & have locked myself in the apartment for pretty much two days. It's deathly hot outside, at least for this lifelong rain-lover! I can't deal.

I've been living off smoothies again.

Raspberry:


Nectarine-Pineapple-Strawberry:


At least the flowers appreciate the merciless sun!


It was my friend Coral's birthday yesterday, so I've been working on her presents. I know it's late, but she's actually gone till Sunday or so, plus we're usually late to give each other gifts, since we're both crafty types who procrastinate to the max! I made her a French Market Bag, but tweaked it to what yarn I had on hand.

Day One:


Day Two:


It came out a little different than expected, but I am pretty sure I can snaz it up & it'll be cool. The bag is already felted, but I've gotta work on the embellishments today.


Then I'm planning on making a couple batches of Grand Central puff pastry, from my new cookbook, and putting them in the bag. I think she'll like it! I'll post the finished project in a day or two...

P.S. Some creeper from Idaho has been calling me, ever since 1:19 last night! 8 calls so far, & they're spaced so weirdly as to suggest he does not sleep through the night. I finally had to turn my ringer off last night, which I don't like to do, in case of emergencies (I'm a worry wart!), but what the hell?! He's left two messages which clued me in on the fact that some lady gave him a fake number, the reasons for which are made clear by his uber-creepiness. Now I feel bad for making up phone numbers to give to weirdos, since they probably harassed some innocent person. :(

In random news, I am SO IN LOVE with Jemaine Clement. It's become quite out of hand.


That is all.

Late Birthday Mega-post!

So, my birthday was on the 4th of July, & I have a lot of catching up to do! I hope everyone had a safe & happy 4th, if you even celebrate it. I probably wouldn't, if it weren't my birthday. :)

I ended up having a sleepover at my sister's house, since all of her housemates were gone for the weekend. It was fun, since I got to see my great friend, Jeremy! (My sister even took me to birthday breakfast at Blossoming Lotus, where Jeremy works!) As per usual, I made a crapload of food & packed too much, but whatever. Here is a delicious recipe, slightly adapted & simplified, that I got from the July/August issue of Vegetarian Times.


Corn-Quinoa Salad

*1 cup quinoa, rinsed & drained
*1 1/2 cups water
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
*1 1/2 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
*1 cup diced cucumber

dressing:

*1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
*1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
*3 tablespoons maple syrup
*1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
*1 teaspoon salt
*fresh pepper to taste

Bring the water, quinoa, & salt to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, & simmer for 15-20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside, covered, to rest. If using fresh corn, blanch it for 1 minute, then rinse & drain. If using frozen, just wait a bit. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Use a large bowl, so you can add the tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, & quinoa. Stir everything together & chill until serving time.

*The original recipe calls for blanching the frozen corn as well, but I've tried it both ways, & it seemed unnecessary. It also calls for 1 cup of finely chopped red cabbage, but I didn't have any on hand.

I also made some "lazy sushi" fixins, but didn't take pictures---nori sheets, sushi rice, sliced cucumbers, avocado chunks, pickled ginger, & wasabi...it wasn't pretty, but it was tasty, except for the gross pickled ginger I got at Fubonn. Not sure why, but it was cut too thick, & had lots of stringyness, not to mention chemicals galore. I only bought it because I couldn't find any other brands the day I went, but it was tossed out after failing in so many ways. Blargh.

I made my own birthday cake because it's fun & I love to bake! Sadly, not many of the people I hang out with on my birthday like cake, so I made a half-batch of my favorite, summery cake, printed years ago from the O Magazine website (It's no longer available, apparently).


Here's my adapted, mini-version of it:

Butter Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting

Lemon Curd:

*3 large egg yolks
*1/2 cup sugar
*2 lemons, zested & juiced
*1/4 cup butter, cut into several pieces

Cake:

*1 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
*1 1/8 teaspoons baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*6 tablespoons butter, softened
*3/4 cup sugar
*1 1/2 large eggs (I know, it's weird to divide an egg in half)
*6 tablespoons milk
*1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

*3/4 cup heavy cream
*1/4 cup of prepared lemon curd

Filling & Topping:

*1/3-1/2 cup strawberry or raspberry jam
*1/3 cup or so leftover lemon curd
*fresh raspberries & strawberries


Prepare the lemon curd first. Bring a medium pan, with an inch or two of water in it, to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, put a metal bowl on top & reduce the heat the medium-low. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, & zest in the metal bowl. Whisk over the simmering water, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thickened & pale yellow. Remove from heat & add the butter, in pieces, whisking till combined. Pour into a jar or small bowl & set aside to cool. There will be more than you need, but I'm sure you can figure out how to get rid of the rest! :)


Preheat the oven to 350*F. Butter & flour a round cake pan, either 8" or 9"; set aside. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, & salt; set aside. In a mixer, cream together the butter & sugar till fluffy. Add the eggs & beat till fluffy again.


Combine milk with vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients, stirring till mostly incorporated, then add half the milk/vanilla, stirring till combined. Repeat, stirring just enough, but not too much. Pour cake batter into the prepared cake pan & bake till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (mine took about 25 minutes, but it depends on your pan size & oven).

Cool about 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. I put mine in the window sill & the smell was intoxicating!


Once the cake has cooled, slice it in half. Place the bottom half on a pretty cake plate, then spread the jam evenly across the bottom, before topping with the top layer. Spread about 1/3 cup of lemon curd on the top layer, if you desire; I did & it was tasty!


Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold in the 1/4 cup of lemon curd, then spread onto cake. Garnish with fresh fruit, or leave it simple. Refrigerate until close to serving time. Since it's a butter cake, it should be served at room temperature, or it may appear dry. The whipped cream is quite stable, due to the eggs in the lemon curd. I had my cake sitting out for a few hours & it was fine.


After being spoiled by everyone, I had another event to attend---my friend Scott is moving back to New Jersey, so there was a shindig at Ara & Drew's house yesterday. I ran around town all morning, hitting up the Joann's sale with Coral, & buying some cutesy fabric, a couple sewing patterns, & a pack of blank cards (for stamping with these cute stamps from Mom!).


A future apron, once I can get past my fear of the sewing machine:


After Jo-Ann's crazy-sale-o-rama, I ran to Limbo (highly recommended for inexpensive, amazing produce---usually local/organic!!!) & Trader Joe's for some more party food fixin's & beer. Once home, I made a batch of pineapple salsa, which is always unique & tasty, but I forgot to take a picture. :(

But!...the main reason for shopping was to buy some lemons, raspberries, & Earth Balance, so I could make this cake for Scott, who's a vegan.


The recipe is adapted from How it All Vegan!, & I used it to bake a kinda-similar cake to my birthday one. No vegan lemon curd though, since I began baking this thing two hours before the bbq started. Whew!

Lemon Cake & Frosting

*1 1/2 cups flour
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt

*3/4 cup sugar
*3/4 cup vegan milk
*2 teaspoons lemon extract
*zest of one lemon
*1/4 cup oil
*1 egg replacer (I use Ener-G)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease & flour an 8" or 9" cake pan & set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Beat in the dry ingredients, until just combined. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

I sliced mine in half, similar to the birthday cake, then spread homemade strawberry jam on the bottom layer.

Prepare the frosting by beating together:

*1/4 cup margarine, softened
*2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
*2 tablespoons vegan milk
*1 teaspoon lemon extract

I was in a hurry, so I just went "rustic" on the cake's ass, by spreading the frosting over the top & letting it run down the sides, before placing raspberries & lemon slices on the top.

It was devoured by the people at the bbq before I could take shots of the inside. Scott was so thankful that I baked it for him. I'll miss you, Scott!!

Here are some random recent pictures...

$3 goes far at Limbo:


A hunk of fancy gianduja from Smels! Help me figure out what to do with it, before I eat it all!


A lovely sun hat from my sister.


The Grand Central cookbook, which I've been drooling over for months, also from Smels (she even got me wooden Portland Farmer's Market coins, so I can buy fresh ingredients for the G.C. recipes!!!!).


Ethan is taking me camping a.s.a.p. & got me a bouquet of sunflowers & a cheesy, singing, Twilight card, as sort of an inside joke. :)



The cute, vintage apron that Coral made me! She's amazingly crafty & sweet! And her boyfriend, Ryan, even fixed my car's leaky trunk (He also fixed my Gran's sewing machine a month ago. I feel so fortunate to have so many great people in my life!)


Gorgeous pink poppies that my sister & I saw in Northeast.


Has anyone else gotten one of these in the mail?! This came awhile back, but it was sort of funny. I thought someone had it sent to me as a joke, since I just turned 31, ha ha. Oy.


Sorry for the ginormosity of this one. Ruben thanks you for your time...snore!