Gobble Gobble Gobble

This Maple Pecan Pie was my first recipe from Vegan Pie In The Sky. I've never had pecan pie but have wanted some since last holiday season when my friend told me how good they are. I was always so content with pumpkin I foolishly did not give any other pies a chance. I think this is going to be the beginning of a life-long affair. In fact, I'm not sure I can wait two more days to try this gorgeous pie. The only thing stopping me is thinking of how tacky I will look showing up to my aunt's with just half a pie, or only a wedge for my grandma. If you don't have enough for sharing, don't bring it, right?

My sister and niece are allergic to nuts so I'll  have other options for them. I'm going to make two rounds of Susan Voisin's Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake. It's a favorite and I've made it every year since first discovering it. I want to have my niece help me make some sugar cookies with the harvest cutters I bought (leaf, turkey, pumpkin). I'm cheating with a packaged mix for those. I might to give the VPITS Chocolate Mousse Tart another try tomorrow. I've never done tarts before, but I think the biggest mistake was using a flan tin that had a really light bottom (almond colored). I have a square 9" quiche pan that might work better but I'm not sure it's deep enough, so I might just scrap the whole thing and try again when I get the right pan. I only made the shell and noticed it was uneven and burned in some parts so good thing I didn't waste the mousse ingredients too!

Anyhow, I am really happy with how my pie turned out. It was only my second attempt at pie crust so I know they will get better as time goes on. I can't wait to perfect my crimping skills. I can't believe I've been in the kitchen all day long today. I'm going to have some of the "Lotsa Veggies Lentil Soup" I made last night, walk Penny and take it easy for the rest of the evening. I have a lot to do tomorrow!

Vegan Mofo IV Week 4 Schmanksgiving

Blog as my witness, one year I will do the 20 post minimum of mofo-ing. I'll have to double check but I don't think I've ever completed one. I think I did slightly better this year than last, but since this is my first post of the last full week, I'm a bit disappointed, but not ready to give up just yet.

I lost that mofo feeling toward the end of last week and just couldn't get it back. I could blame a small part of it on my cycle wiping me out, and then there was the rain which always puts me in slow-mo, but I really think I just got tired of cooking and all of the cleaning that goes with it. I did have fun trying new recipes and using ingredients I've never worked with before. I didn't have any major disasters, so even though I lost some days, this has still been a good experience. There are a few more days left so let's see what happens.

Tonight's dinner was simple and boring. I was so excited to make an amazing dinner at the beginning of the month, but as it drew nearer I was not very interested in Thanksgiving anymore. I always want to make too many things, last year I think I made t-giving three different times/ways. This year was almost an exact repeat of last year I think. Tofurky roast, mac and cheese bites, greens. At least dessert wasn't a letdown. I made my favorite cheesecake and the girls loved it. My niece said it was the best cheesecake I ever made from scratch. It chilled overnight so it was even sweating like real cheesecake, sounds gross but it was so good.

  

I also made a maple bundt, my first ever in my brand new pan. The whole house smelled lovely while it was baking, so waiting until after tomorrow's dinner to eat it will be quite a challenge.

thumbs up to scallops!

I cannot believe it took me nearly eight years of being vegan to finally make scalloped potatoes. Even more incredible is that it took me almost ten years to use the brand new mandoline my aunt gifted me when she knew she'd never use it. At the time I had not done much cooking, other than calabasitas and tons of stir fries. I was not as comfortable or confident in the kitchen and could barely wield a knife, much less use a very sharp slicer. Thankfully, I have gotten over my knife fears and have run in the opposite direction, borderline blade lust. I have a few more gadgets up my sleeve, but for the most part I still enjoy doing all the prep myself. Who doesn't love mincing garlic?

I had half a bag of yukon golds left over from last week's birthday brunch and I could not let them go to waste. I had two scalloped potato recipes saved/favorited, one from Dreena Burton and one from Susan Voisin. I love both of those ladies but since I had more ingredients for Susan's recipe than for Dreena's, she won. The only ingredients I did not use were the miso and cashew butter, both of which could have been omitted. My miso did not survive the last fridge clean out and cashew is a can't do since my niece and sister are allergic. She did say you can sub tahini so I might try that next time. I didn't have any today, for shame!

The mandoline took some getting used to, but I got my gorgeous slices and kept my digits intact. She wasn't kidding about watching the potatoes though. I didn't notice until I was layering them in the pan that some pieces were on the verge of falling apart. Next time I will aim closer to five minutes than eight. I also will drain in two collanders since it seems like there was not enough room for adequate draining. I'll put tons more paprika on them as well. I was afraid of overdoing it, but that doesn't seem possible.

Overall I think this was an excellent first effort. The ingredients/prep were not too demanding, I had nearly everything on hand you could use a food processor to slice the potatoes if you want. I think next time I will use a hand blender or the magic bullet since I don't like washing the blender (but I do!). I cannot wait to try these again, but I'm not sure what I would serve alongside them. The only thing I remember eating them with in the past was ham, no thanks! My sister and I would eat them straight from the pan if left to our own devices, so I definitely need to find a complementary dish before I make them again.

garlicious

after two lightning rounds of thanksgiving food shopping (tj's and vons), i made the garlicky kale from vwav, without the tahini dressing. this was amazing, a great first time effort, and i don't always have those. the first time i had kale was at souen with a.t.s. i was clearly blowing it up to that point. i lazily bought the emerald sesame kale at whole foods for years, continuing to blow it but not nearly as hard. three or so years later, here i am sauteeing my own kale for the very first time and loving it, almost to the point of needing a moment alone. so thanks to the a.t.s, my cooking hero isa chandra moskowitz, the organic produce at sprouts, and the instructables (how to chop kale), for making this possible. oh and i would also like to thank myself dee dee ramone style.

hopefully i can ride this wave of confidence though the holiday cooking season. i have a few new recipes i am really excited for this year. in addition to our first tofurkey, i also found some great vegetable dishes to round out the stuffing/potatoes/bread, or rather to "unround". here is what i'm making: "maple glazed sweet potatoes" and "roasted cauliflower" from martha stewart holiday, "for the love of squash casserole" from vegweb, and green bean casserole. dessert is susan v's "double layer pumpkin cheesecake" and "spiced carrot cake muffins" from happy herbivore's pudge free holidays e-book. thanks ladies, i hope i do right by you.

baking blitz (vegan mofo day 29)

after talking myself out of being totally lazy and still a bit sad, i was hellbent on doing some holiday baking. tonight i made susan v's double layer pumpkin cheesecake but since i only needed one cup of pumpkin and the can holds two, i also made isa and terry's pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes. there's no sense in being wasteful, right?

i was afraid i might not be able to pull off the double duty but i checked my ingredients and had everything at the ready, except for cupcake liners. i was short by about 8. i remembered i had a package in my room "somewhere". digging ensued and after a short while i did find the liners as well as the marine research cd i have been missing for months. i'm going to change my playlist and get through the rest of the week with some poppy and rockin' goodness. i've been shamefully unmotivated this week so i really need the boost. as soon as i got over my cold it was lady time!

cheesecake time will have to wait until tomorrow night. it will be tough, but i want to have a surprise treat for my niece. i wouldn't be a very good aunt if i offered her a slice from a half eaten pie. it's my first time with the recipe, but the few fingerfuls i scooped off of the food processor tasted great. not soon enough we will know for sure. since there is no cutting involved with cupcakes, i give them a bit longer to cool and i know i will claim at least two of them. sweet dreams!