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.  

Sansa Stark Lemon Cakes & Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake!

Sugar rush!  For last week's Game of Thrones viewing, I put those candied lemon peels to good use & made Sansa Stark Lemon Cakes.  People who have read the books might remember that lemon cakes were a common treat that Sansa liked to indulge in (before shit went down!).  Even if you're not at that level of nerd-itude, you can still enjoy these tasty cupcakes.  The recipe comes from "Vegan with a Vengeance" & they are the ultimate cupcakes for lemon-lovers---they're so tangy & don't weigh you down, like those (delicious) towering buttercream ones. <3

Lemon Gem Cupcakes   

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla  

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line your cupcake tin with paper liners & set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt.  In a small-ish bowl, whisk together the almond milk, sugar, lemon juice, oil, lemon zest, & vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones & whisk until just combined.  This will be frothy!  Fill the cups about 2/3 full.  Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool completely, then glaze them. 

*recipe makes 1 dozen, but I got 14*

Lemon Glaze

• 1/4 cup softened margarine 
• 2-4 tablespoons almond milk
• 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Beat the ingredients together till smooth, adding a bit more milk if necessary.

After glazing the cakes, you can get all fancy & top them with candied lemon peel, tinted sugar, or sprinkles!  

 

 

As if those sweet cakes weren't enough, I also made a Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake for my friend Sage & I.  She came down from Vancouver, B.C., & we needed something to nosh on while we gossiped.  The recipe is from here, but I made it in a tart pan, & used a cookie crust, rather than a graham cracker one.  It's very delicious, but next time I'll spread the crust with peanut butter before adding the filling, so it's peanut buttery-er.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

Filling

• 1-12.3 ounce container firm silken tofu
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
• 2 tablespoons almond milk 

Crust

• 18 Newman-o's
• 1/4 cup melted margarine

Make the crust first, by putting the cookies into your food processor.  Once they're reduced to crumbs, drizzle in the margarine & give it another whirl.  Press into whatever pan you want to use (pie plate, tart pan, springform) & chill it while you make the filling.


Wipe out your food processor (a few crumbs won't hurt!), then put all the filling ingredients into it.  Blend it all up, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl several times till it's smooth.  Pour the filling into the chilled crust, & spread it around in a cute pattern.  Chill for a few hours till firm.  Slice & enjoy with your buds! 

Candied Lemon Peel!

Candied citrus peel is something I've wanted to make for sooo long, but just never got around to.  It's so dainty & seems like it'd be a cute gift to give to someone for the holidays---especially orange peel dipped halfway in dark chocolate. :)

I recently checked out "Vegan Soul Kitchen" from my local library & noticed that it had a recipe for candied orange peel in there, but the recipe said you could substitute any citrus fruit.  The reason I wanted to make lemon peel, specifically, is for this week's Game of Thrones treat...I'll make a post for that in the next few days!





Here's my adaptation on Bryant Terry's recipe:


Candied Lemon Peel

• 6 organic lemons, washed
• 1 3/4 cups organic sugar, divided

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the lemon zest from the lemons.  I got about 5-7 thick strips, lengthwise, from each lemon (save the lemons for another project...maybe lemonade!).  Put the strips in a saucepan & cover them with a couple inches of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour, until they're tender.  Drain & rinse them, then use a spoon to gently scrape any pith (this used to be the white, foamy part within the lemon) from the peels.  Cut the peels into 1/4-inch strips---no need for perfection here.  

Grab that saucepan again, but this time you'll add a cup of water, along with 3/4 cup sugar.  Bring it to a boil, add the peels, & simmer for about an hour, or until most of the sugar syrup has been absorbed.  

Drain the candied peels in a fine sieve, then roll them in the remaining 1 cup of sugar.  This part is kind of time consuming, but you can meditate or something while you work.*** 

***I recommend using the rad dredging technique where you use one hand for the wet & one hand for the dry, similar to when you bread stuff.  I used my right hand to pull out a gooey, drained strip & threw it into the sugar, then used my left to sprinkle sugar over the top, then tossed it around a little, before putting it on a rack to dry overnight.  Repeat this a million or so times, until you've rolled all your fancy strips.  They're so glittery!      

Tempeh Reubens @ The Beach

I'm visiting my family at the beach & decided to bring the fixin's for Tempeh Reubens, a decision I don't regret!  The tempeh is from here, and apparently the lady who created it won a contest with it, so that's always a good sign.  I didn't follow it exactly, so I'll just write what I did below.  Oh, & I served it with that loveable Chipotle Kale Salad. <3

Tempeh Reubens      *makes two*

• 8 ounces tempeh (cut into pieces the size of a pack of cards, then split horizontally, so they're 1/4-inch thick---or however you want it)
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• pinch chili flakes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 slices bread, preferably rye
• sauerkraut
• sauce (I do half vegan mayo & half ketchup, with some caraway seeds)

 Whisk together the olive oil, sesame oil, tamari, paprika, thyme, chili flakes, & garlic.  Heat a pan over medium-high heat, dunk a few slices of tempeh into the marinade, then toss them into the hot pan.  Cook them for a few minutes on each side, until they're done to your liking.  As they finish cooking, set them aside & add a few more slices to the pan (you should whisk the marinade before each dunking, since it tends to separate).

While the last batch of tempeh is cooking, toast the bread.  Slather some sauce onto all four slices of the toast.  Then do the following to two of the pieces: pile on some drained kraut, add a few slices of tempeh, then top with the last two pieces of saucy toast.  You could also add some cheese, avocado, sprouts, whatever.  I kept it pretty simple & it was still amazing!

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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...

Jon Snow Cupcakes!

My friend Thom hosts a Game of Thrones viewing every Sunday, & I'm unofficially in charge of bringing the treats (which rules!). I wanted to make a Jon Snow-centric pastry, because he's so pretty, & this idea popped into my head a couple weeks ago.

First, I made the Toasted Coconut Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but they were missing something...

Nerd time: I printed out a dozen cropped copies of my fave picture of Jon Snow onto cardstock, then used a 2-inch circle punch to cut out his face (you could also cut them by hand). I also punched out a dozen plain cardstock circles for the backs. (Thom thinks I should have used another pouty picture of Jon for the backs, then we could've twirled the toothpick around, animating Jon's pouty face. Nice.)

To make the toppers, I just applied a circle of glue around the perimeter of a plain circle, with a small blob for the toothpick area. Then I twirled the toothpick through the glue, so I'd be sure of adhesion. Lastly, I sandwiched a Jon onto the top, holding it together for 30 seconds or so. Don't press on the toothpick area, only around it, or you'll crease the paper & leave an unsightly imprint on his face. Do not want!

I found that my afghan was a useful place to stick these while they dried, though it was a bit intimidating!


And here's the finished product! Thom said the coconut represented Jon's stubble. :)


Yeah, I'll probably just make boring old cookies or something next week.

I'm Back...with Oodles of Recipes!

Why do I fail so hard at blogging? Not sure how some people stay motivated with it, but I go through (extended!) periods where I don't feel like documenting everything I cook & bake, ha ha. A lot has changed in my life recently---I graduated, moved to a new house (with a huge garden space!), had to leave my much-loved, long-term job (because it was through the university where I graduated), & a bunch of other personal stuff.

I feel excited about blogging again, not only because I'm back to eating a mostly vegan diet (I say "mostly" because I still eat honey, plus use wool for knitting, & don't feel comfortable identifying as a vegan) & have been cooking/baking a lot, but because I want to keep track of crafty projects I'm working on, as well as documenting the gardening process over here. It's been SO LONG since I've been able to have an actual garden, rather than little containers full of puny tomaters & such. There's so much to learn & catch up on! Luckily, the Multnomah County Library system is so effing amazing, so I've put holds on a ton of organic gardening books; in fact, I need to pick up three of them today. <3


Because I have such amazing, supportive friends & family members that have been there for me during all this upheaval, I decided to thank a handful of them by cooking a feast the other night. I feel so fortunate that people are willing to have my back & go all "mama bear" for me (Coral, I'm talking about you!), plus they live close to me. Yay! The pictures of the food are pretty terrible, but I'm putting them on here anyway, mostly because I want to share the recipes I used. I didn't take pictures of my friends, since my sister & Saurabh were stuck in traffic, & got here a little late-ish, & also because I didn't want to stick my camera in their faces while they ate. Imagine that! :)

Without further ado, here's the feast, which included Rosemary Roasted Tofu w/Chipotle Mayo Dipping Sauce, Herb-Scalloped Potatoes, Roasted Beets & Sweets, Quinoa Pilaf, Fennel-Orange Salad, Chips w/Guacamole, Salsa & Hummus (Roasted Red Pepper & Regular), then Gingersnaps for dessert:


Recipe time! I made a shitload of everything, so you might want to halve the recipes if you don't want leftovers for life....

This tofu is from Bryant Terry, the author of Vegan Soul Kitchen. It's so simple, but people loved it! The texture is simultaneously crispy, chewy, & soft. While we were waiting for Smels & Saurabh to get here, I whipped up some Chipotle Mayo, in case people were in need of a little saucy oomph. I just stirred a little lemon juice & a couple minced chipotles into a good amount of Vegenaise. Voila!


Rosemary Roasted Tofu

• 2 pounds extra-firm tofu, cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
  

Preheat oven to 450*F. Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl, then put them in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Roast them for 20-25 minutes, turning them over halfway through the baking time.

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These taters are mostly from Veganomicon, but I made them a little differently, based on my fave scalloped potatoes recipe.


Herb-Scalloped Potatoes

• 4 pounds potatoes, peeled (if desired) & thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 cups veggie broth
• 1-2 cups almond milk
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Preheat the oven to 400*F & oil a 9X13-inch Pyrex dish. Layer the potatoes somewhat loosely & artistically in the Pyrex (you want the sauciness to be able to permeate & seep into the potatoes as they bake, so don't cram them in too tightly).

In a large saucepan, saute the garlic in the olive oil over medium-low heat till fragrant. Add the flour & nutritional yeast, then whisk in the broth & almond milk. Add the herbs & keep whisking occasionally until thickened. Gently pour the sauce over & into the potatoes---it helps to give the Pyrex a gentle back-&-forth shake to allow the sauce to get in thurrrr.

Cover loosely with foil & bake for 40-ish minutes. Uncover & bake 15-20 more minutes. Mine didn't brown, because the oven was so jam-packed, so I broiled them for a couple minutes towards the end.

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This is one of my favorite dishes to make! It's super simple & doesn't require a lot of work, but everything just meshes together so beautifully.


Roasted Beets & Sweets

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 beets, peeled & cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks (or a mix of sweets & yams)
• 1 large sweet onion, cut into chunks
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  

Preheat oven to 400*F. In a bowl, toss together the beets & 1 tablespoon of olive oil, so they get coated. Place them on a heavy baking sheet in a single layer, & bake for 15 minutes.

While they're roasting, toss together (in that same old bowl) the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the sweet potatoes, onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, & sugar.

After the 15 minutes have passed, get out another heavy baking sheet & plop half the par-cooked beets onto that. Divide the sweet potato mixture between the two beet-y sheets, then toss the beets & sweets together. Put both sheets back into the oven & roast for 45 more minutes, flipping them a couple times. You probably want to rotate the baking sheets as well, so you have even browning on both pans.

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This is a nice alternative to rice pilaf, & can be made with whatever fresh herbs you have kicking around. I've made some changes to the recipe, but it's based on this one.


Quinoa Pilaf

• 3 1/2 cups veggie broth
• 2 cups quinoa
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 cup minced celery
• 1/2 cup minced carrot
• 1 cup minced onion
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• salt & pepper to taste

Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the quinoa, cover, & simmer on low for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, but set it aside to finish absorbing all the broth. In a big old cast iron pan, saute the garlic, celery, carrot, & onion in the olive oil over medium heat. When the veggies are softened & a little browned, stir in the cooked quinoa & fresh herbs, fluffing it all together. Season to taste.

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I found this recipe when I was cooking dinner for a veggie-loving, gluten-free friend. It's so light, refreshing, & simple!


Fennel-Orange Salad

• 2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced (you can mince some of the fronds & toss them in too)
  
• 4 medium oranges, peeled & segmented (or an equivalent amount of Satsumas, which I prefer!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Gently toss everything together & serve!

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The hummus was just a basic recipe, with extra cumin added. To half of it, I blended in some roasted red peppers as well---pretty & tasty! The guacamole consisted of a couple avocados, mashed w/some salsa, cumin, salt, lemon juice, & Franks Red Hot Sauce.

The chewy Ginger Cookies were especially for Ryan, who's not the biggest sweets-eater, but I guess he loves these particular cookies that I make every year for Christmas. Here's the recipe, if you wanna give 'em a go. I made this latest batch with butter, so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all, yikes!

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Last, but not least, I wanted to share some balls with you! I made a trio of balls to send to my friend Laurel, who is studying in Laramie, Wyoming. They were part of a late birthday care package. If you don't eat honey, I'm sure that you could substitute agave nectar, maple syrup &/or brown rice syrup.

The balls in the back right of the photo were date-based, & included the super-food chia. I mainly followed this recipe, but I substituted chia for the flax, & rolled them in coconut. Next time, I'd probably double the spices because they're very subtle. Orange zest would also be good!

Spiced Chia Date Balls

• 1 cup whole almonds
• 1/2 cup ground chia seeds
• 1/2 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup dried apricots
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1-2 tablespoons water (if necessary)
• extra unsweetened coconut for rolling

Pulse together the almonds, chia, dates, raisins, apricots, coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger in a food processor, adding a little water if necessary. You want the "dough" to be sticky enough to hold together, but not wet. Once it comes together, form it into 1-inch balls & then roll them in the extra coconut.

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The balls on the front right were cashew-y, & inspired by this recipe.


Cashew Butter Energy Balls

• 1 cup cashew butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup quick oats (or pulse some regular oats in your food processor)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup raisins
  
• pinch salt

Mix everything together, then roll into 1-inch balls. Mine didn't turn out sticky enough to necessitate coconut, but the original recipe calls for it. Maybe play it by ear...

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The last balls (on the left) were peanut butter chocolate balls, based on these ones.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Balls

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup quick oats (or pulse some regular oats in your food processor)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
  
• pinch salt
• unsweetened coconut for rolling

Mix everything but the coconut together. Form into 1-inch balls, then roll in the coconut.

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BALLZ!

Southern Night & Several Recipes!

The other night, my sister & her friend, Megan, invited me to their cute new house for a Southern feast! My sister made delectably tender cornbread. Megan made baked beans (which, tragically, wouldn't soften up till way after dinner) & perfect peach cobbler. I went overboard, of course, & brought BBQ ribz, coleslaw, roasted asparagus, & iced tea!

Only shot I took of the initial feast:


Smels gave me her recipe for cornbread. It is so good! She doesn't know where the recipe came from, besides her greasy Post-it note. :)

Smels' Cornbread of Delight

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Ener-G egg replacer (or a large egg)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Butter an 8X8- or 9X9-inch pan & set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients & mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pan & smooth out the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Eat with butter & honey!

Once I got home, Ethan requested some more ribz, so I made another batch of them, plus more coleslaw!


WARNING: what follows is basically an excuse for eating a bunch of BBQ sauce...

BBQ Ribz adapted from VegFamily

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
• 7 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 9 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2/3 cup cold water
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 350*F. Oil a large cookie sheet & set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the butter & peanut butter; once you've stirred them together, remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, combine the gluten, nutritional yeast, flour, paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder & garlic powder. Stir in the water. If the dough is super dry, you can add a teensy bit more water. Use your hands to form the dough into a 1/2-inch thick, vaguely rectangular, shape.

On a large cutting board, pour half the peanut butter mixture. Plop the rectangle of dough on this, then pour the remaining peanut butter mixture. Use your fingertips to poke the dough over & over, getting the peanut butter goodness into the whole thing. The rectangle will get bigger, but you shouldn't be poking holes into it, just go halfway through the dough.

Using a big knife, cut the nutty dough into strips that are about 1/2-inch wide. Carefully transfer them to the oiled cookie sheet. It's okay if some break or stretch out---those are the little taste-testers for the chef!

Bake the ribz for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn them over, & spoon about half the BBQ sauce over them.

Bake for 5-7 minutes. Turn them again, & spoon the remaining sauce over them. Bake for another 5-7 minutes. Let cool for a while, so you don't burn yourself. They're actually much tastier if you let them sit for a couple hours, or even overnight!


This coleslaw recipe is from my late Granny, who no doubt clipped this from The Oregonian. It's a copycat of the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe, so there are copious amounts of sugar in it, of course. Feel free to cut back as much as you want, but realize you won't be eating all of the sugar, unless you drink the sauce from the bottom of the bowl. :)

Best Coleslaw Evarrr

• 1/2 head purple cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
• 2 carrots, peeled & shredded
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1/2 cup Vegenaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or vegan equivalent)
• 1/2 cup sugar (I know, I know!)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in the hugest bowl you can find. Refrigerate for at least an hour, stirring a couple more times. The veggies will let go of some moisture, & will wilt down into the saucy goodness.

I discovered that a delicious wrap could be made by laying down some greens, coleslaw & 3 ribz on a scrumptious wheaty tortilla. Perfect with hot sauce too!



The Saturday Farmer's Market had some scrumptious sugar snap peas, which are a perfect snack!


Oh, I also made the famous New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies for my Feminist Biblical Interpretations class party! I'll admit that I don't follow the recipe to its utmost pretentiousness level, & they're still edible, ha ha.

Big ol' cookies, cooling in the windowsill...


Chocolate Chip Cookies w/Toffee & Pecans adapted from Jacques Torres

• 1 1/4 cups butter (I use salted, sue me!)
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4-1 teaspoon kosher salt (use less, if using sea salt, or table salt)
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
  
• 4 ounces toffee chunks
• 4 ounces chopped toasted pecans

Cream the butter, sugars & vanilla till light & fluffy. Add the eggs & beat for about a minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Either add the flour, half at a time, to the mixer, or just pour the creamed ingredients into the flour bowl & do it by hand. I prefer the latter, since I can make sure everything is combined evenly, with less of a risk of over-mixing.

Dump in the add-ins: chocolate, toffee & pecans. Work them in, stopping as soon as they're evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Cover the dough & let it rest for up to 36 hours in the fridge. I have made these immediately, & they're amazing. I think I let the last batch rest for about 12 hours...

When you're ready to bake them up, preheat the oven to 350*F. Portion out 1/4-cup balls of dough, placing about 6 of them to a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen big-ass cookies.

***The original recipe calls for portioning the dough into 1/3-cup blobs, then baking for 18-20 minutes. They make 5-inch cookies though, so look out!

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On a sad note, Ethan's Mom's oldest brother passed away yesterday, so I made Cathy some lavender & orange bath salts. All you do is mix 1/4 teaspoon of essential oil with each cup of Epsom Salts. I usually don't tint mine when I make only one type, but I added a bit of food coloring this time, to delineate between the two scents. Put them into canning jars, or any other glass bottles you have floating around. Milk bottles look really cool too!


Lavender:


Orange:

Gardening & Baking Cookies

Ethan is going to visit his parents this weekend, while I suffer with gobs of homework, so I made some cookies for Cathy & David. These are vegan chocolate chip cookies, which are just a veganized version of the Toll House recipe. So good! I make these all the time at work.


Vegan Toll House Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• egg replacer for 2 eggs (I use Ener-G)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup nuts, optional
  

Preheat oven to 375*F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, & salt; set aside. In a stand mixer, cream together the margarine, sugars, egg replacers, & vanilla; beat till light & fluffy, scraping down the side of the bowl a couple times. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl; mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips & nuts. Place 2-tablespoons-sized balls of dough on a cookie sheet, spacing them a couple inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, letting them cool on the sheets before removing.

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I had to get a few pictures of the garden. It's so sunny today & everything is growing like mad!

Here's some of the mint, hanging with its gnome guardian:


Begonia & Salvia flowers:


Violets:


Enjoy the day, wherever you are!

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!