Yet another vegan blog. Obsessed with cookies. Addicted to peanut butter. Fighting for the vegan revolution!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

A view...


Amateur skywriter? Or just a busy day at Nashville International?

Saturday, February 23, 2008

New Cookbook Overload

In the past few weeks I have bought three new cookbooks. I never got around to mentioning it, or even making anything from them, until now. Which books you ask?



I think I'm in love.

I ordered My Sweet Vegan from Barnes & Noble's website, and stumbled across the other two in store. Which was a weird experience for me, because these just aren't the kind of books you find around here. To say I am happy is an understatement. I grabbed the books and held them tightly to my chest, even though the chances of someone trying to steal them from me were non-existent. There were two other people in my vicinity, and neither looked like they even knew what 'vegan' meant, or how to turn on their oven.

Last weekend I made Peanut-Plus Cookies from My Sweet Vegan and Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I just wanted something standard as these were going to work with me, and my co-worker's are leery of "weird" foods - so basically anything I bring.
The Peanut-Plus Cookies were AMAZING. Crunchy, peanut buttery and soft - all in one cookie. Okay, I was a little put off by the ingredients, but that didn't stop me. They involve ground lentils (dried of course), mashed potato flakes and cornstarch. Yesterday I was stopped by a woman at work that wanted to know all about these cookies. She was thoroughly impressed by the taste and texure, and intrigued by the ingredients so I copied the recipe for her.


My picture differs from the book. In the book you can see flecks of red from the lentils. I must have ground mine finer. Anyways, they turned out wonderful. I halved the recipe and followed it as is. I got 13 cookies.

I love trying different chocolate chip cookies, even though all the recipes are basically the same. The ones from The Joy of Vegan Baking were really no different, just written to be gigantic. I didn't want huge cookies though. I halved the recipe, used a flax egg instead of Ener-G and chopped up an Organic Dark Chocolate Chocolove Bar instead of chips. I dropped them by tablespoons onto the sheet and baked them just until they started to get lightly brown on the edges. I love slightly undercooked cookies. They spread like mad, and came out huge anyways. I have no problem with that.

I got about 18 cookies. They were chewy and gooey while still warm, and stayed soft even the next two days. They lasted until about lunchtime on Tuesday. I was told that I am spoiling my coworker's and that they don't deserve it. They probably don't, but somebody has to eat them - I can't do it all by myself and still fit in my pants.
This weekend I am going to tackle the Cookies and Cream Pound Cake from My Sweet Vegan and some cookies, though I haven't decided which. I have a box of goodies to make up this weekend for a friend. I hope to find something in Eat,Drink & Be Vegan.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Um...

I guess I have a lot to catch up on. Might as well jump right in...

First up, a few weeks ago we had a welcoming party at work for a new department head coming in from another state, and we wanted her to feel welcome. Every shindig we have consists of nothing more than a potluck. I made the Enchilada Casserole from Fat free Vegan, and the Lemon Coconut Bundt Cake from V-Con. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the casserole, which was very pretty with the blue corn tortillas I used, but it was very well accepted and I even had some recipe requests. The bundt cake was superb. It was devored by the next day. I was worried because there was some other bundt cake competition (a banana bundt cake brought by someone who was supposed to bring a pie), but my bundt triumphed. Despite being loaded with coconut and lemon, both flavors were very light and not all in your face. I did have a bit of a problem getting it out of the pan. The top on one side stuck to the pan and I had to "repair" it. I put all the pieces I could back in place, drizzled it with a powdered sugar glaze and stuck flaked coconut to the top. It covered it well.

From this angle you can't see my boo-boo, but I would have done the same thing even if it didn't have a blemish. Bundt cakes are so plain, and I don't do plain.

Now this, is all up in your face. As it should be.

Moving on to finished knitting projects...

I have finished two scarves recently, both in the same feather and fan pattern, but with two different yarns. Both have a different look about them. I like how changing yarns and needle sizes can alter the way one design looks. The first one:

Yes, it is sideways. It's actually draped over a door and I wanted to get as much of it in the shot as possible. Here's an up close and detailed photo:

The next scarf is the same pattern:

The detail is a little more noticeable and tighter. Up close:


Here's the snood I mentioned before. A snood being a tube scarf that you wear over your head. Duh.

Another sideways shot. Pink Floyd lyrics in the background.

Now on to this past Sunday. I wanted to make something themed for Valentine's Day for my co-workers, so I made heart shaped cookies. I made both sugar cookies and chocolate cookies. The sugar cookies are from here, and the chocolate roll-out cookies from here. The chocolate ones tasted like Cocoa Puffs. I haven't had Cocoa Puffs in years, but it is amazing the flavors that the brain remembers. Anyways, I followed both completely, I didn't alter the recipses like I do with everything else. I wasn't in the mood to deviate. Both turned out soft, and stayed soft, the next day. I decorated them both with icing, which I colored pink for the sugar cookies and reddish for the chocolate (and I added raspberry extract). Here's what I was working with:

Da tools.


Da dough, chillin'. I made a full batch of sugar, and a half batch of chocolate.


Da cookies, coolin'. I didn't get a shot of the chocolate ones cooling, though. Pretty, huh?

And just because I like close-ups.

Here's the finished products:






I just went all Jackson Pollack on the second and third batches. I got over 40 cookies, total. About 30 of those made it to work, and by the end of the day yesterday, 10 had survived. I don't expect there to be any left after today. I would say my best received cookies overall.