Vegan Mofo VI-Day 24: Poppin' Fresh (Vegan) Dough!

When I found out there were refrigerated, ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls at TJ's I just had to get them! I didn't have a lot of money when I stopped in, but my sister offered to buy me something so I let her buy these while I took care of the more reasonable purchases. I'm not even sure how much they were since the price card was missing but I'm guessing they're under $4. Does it really matter though? These are cinnamon rolls you can have in about 20 minutes, anytime!

I really want to make my own cinnamon rolls from scratch, but I admit I am still a little intimidated by the process. TJ's is not helping me to get over it by making it much to easy for me to have yummy cinnamon rolls with very little effort. You are meant to get five rolls, but I had trouble separating mine and left it at four. They come with an icing packet too so you can have all sorts of fun decorating them as nicely or as quickly as possible depending on how soon you want to gobble them up. It would be great to just keep a few tubes stashed in your fridge for the wintery months in case you have surprise visitors or you just feel like pigging out but are in a hurry to to do so. As much as I love making my own treats from scratch, every now and then it's great to take a shortcut.

Vegan Mofo VI- Day 7: Cake...It's What's For Dinner

Last night we celebrated my friend E's 4th birthday. It was right after work so I did not have time to eat dinner before I got there. I was super hungry so it wasn't really a good idea for me to be surrounded by cupcakes my sister made. There was also a cake in the fridge that her boyfriend made. It came out fine but he wasn't satisfied with the decorating job so it was hiding in the fridge. I said I would try it since looks are not a factor for me when it comes to food. So many things taste much better than they look, right?

To start, I had my first cupcake and a scoop of So Delicious Neopolitan ice cream. They were both so scumptious, I had to have more. I was going to get a second cupcake but then I remembered, fridge cake! I took it out and cut into it. It was denser and firmer than the cupcakes because it had been in the fridge, I knew I was in trouble! It also had more frosting than the cupcakes, uh-oh. I quickly announced to everyone how bomb fridge cake was, so then they wanted to try it too. I knew I couldn't get away with hogging fridge cake after they knew it was so good. So, I helped myself to another cupcake and the rest of my mom's ice cream she didn't finish.

I jokingly told my sister I would take home any extras. I didn't really need to since I had thirds, but she did send me home with a cupcake and a 4" x 4" slab of fridge cake. I couldn't believe she gave me so much after I already ate so much, but 2 of the 3 kids would be gone the rest of the week and she probably didn't want all that cake at her place. See what I good sister I am to have around sometimes!

If it's possible to overdose on cake, that is exactly what I did last night. I had a terrible tummy ache, but I still stand by my story that it can be blamed on lady time more than the cake. Anyway, I had to get a picture of my leftovers today so I trimmed down my fridge cake into a nice slice, eating the not as neat parts as I went along of course. I tried to unsmoosh the cupcake while leaving it in the wrapper but that didn't work out so well. So it's a little crumby, but it's also very sweet.





It's Cookie Time!

Girl Scout cookies are everywhere and I really want to support the troops, but since there are two different bakeries, it can be tough to find the vegan cookies in your area. I haven't been hit up by the girls in green as hard as I have the past few years, so when two adorable little girls came into the library with their order forms I couldn't say no. Fortunately for my waistline, they did not have the cookies I could eat, but I still bought some to pawn off on the rest of my family. For a second I wished I had ordered my own five boxes, but then I remembered what little restraint I have when it comes to sweets.

I wanted to make the Lazy Samoas from VCIYCJ for my niece's award ceremony after party on Tuesday but I wasn't able to finish them on time. I had never used coconut oil before and didn't know to try warming/softening it up in my hands before adding it to the mixture so it did not get mixed in as thoroughly as I would have liked but since I was running low on time and patience, I kept going. I barely got them out of the oven and onto racks before it was time to leave. Don't worry, I was already bringing about 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 2 dozen chocolate cupcakes and 2 dozen jelly donut cupcakes, so we were not short on treats.

I did the dipping and "drizzling" the next day before work. I know to use a shallower container next time. I got way more chocolate on my hands than on the cookies. I also overdippped the bottoms so there was not as much chocolate left for the drizzling. But, who cares? They came out awesome and I can't wait to make them again. Maybe with some other GS-type cookies since many bloggers have been posting recipes the past few weeks. I can't talk about girls selling cookies without giving a shout out to Troop Beverly Hills!

Did You Say Cookies?

 I've slacked on holiday baking the past few years so I think I made up for it when I made four different kinds of cookies and they were all delicious. I made my most requested chocolate chip cookies from The The Joy of Vegan Baking and the Mexican Wedding Cakes from a tattered piece of paper in my mom's recipe box. There are recipes for both of these in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar that I should also try since they are probably equally, if not more, amazing. Since I make those two every year, I wanted to add some variety and try at least one cookie that would challenge me. Done and done!

The Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies from VCIYCJ are serious crowd pleasers. Everyone who tried these was in love at first bite, no joke. I tested one while transferring from sheet to rack and immediately texted my sister something like, "these cookies are effin' bomb". I can't do an exact quote because I am smart and deleted all my text messages yesterday. Anyway, these are incredibly rich but without being too much, if that makes sense. You can probably get away with only eating one, but you'll be back in half an hour for another fix. Make these when you want to win someone over or just to hang onto what you've already got. They're that good, promise.

For my "challenging" cookie I wanted to do the Starry Fudge Shortbread, but freaked out that piping cookie dough and making ganache, each for the first time, would be pushing it. So I made the variation with candied cherries instead and they were still good. My piping skills are still under construction so I hope to do much better next time. I really want to try the ganache version soon, but I am almost out of buttery sticks. I think I had five at the beginning of the month and now I only have one, one and half at the most. Maybe I won't feel I have to bake as much in 2012 now!

Gingerbread, Gingerbread, Gingerbread Rocks!

I spent all day Saturday in the kitchen getting ready for my Tia's Tamale Party. She makes so much food for everyone, there is no way I expect her to make something special for a small group of vegans. I usually bring a snack or a dessert but this year I wanted to do both. I made Jackfruit Carnitas from The Vegan Girl's Guide To Life and the Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I also had two pots of frijoles cooking, but didn't have time to refry them in time for them to make it to the party. I really tried to fit too much into a day so I had to pack up the icing and ginger pieces to decorate the cupcakes at the party. Nobody minded since they were delicious, but I will remember to pare down the menu if I don't have enough time. I can't believe I thought I could make two desserts, but the strawberry cupcakes I planned for Saturday are in the oven right now and they smell yummy. Cookies are going in next.

There's not much to say about these cupcakes except that they are amazing. Until about a year ago I hardly ate anything with ginger in it. Now I can't get enough of it. The lemon is the perfect compliment, which I would never have figured out on my own, luckily I have Isa and Terry to teach me everything! If you don't already own VCTOTW, I highly recommend you get yourself a copy (or make someone buy it for you!). There are 75 recipes and I've only tried 8 in the three years I've owned the book. I've got a lot of catching up to do, but you can enjoy this book, and the cupcake goodness for many years. I only made two dozen of this recipe, so I might make some again for Christmas if I have time. I would eat these any time of the year, but that's just how I do. Enjoy!

"Anytime Of The Day Is A Good Time For Pie"

 Fabienne couldn't have been more right. When I made these pies sometimes I would have a slice after breakfast, sometimes after dinner and other times when I happened to pass the table and couldn't wait for any better time than the present.

If you're pie-shy, you will have to get a copy of Vegan Pie In the Sky and get over it. Before the book came out, I hadn't attempted pies in about ten years because the few attempts I made ended in failure. Now I am well on my way to becoming a pie professional. What I'm most excited about is that the substitutions for pie are much easier than for cupcakes or cookies, so it's even easier to trick and appease omni's now. My mom is totally sold on vegan pies, which is great because as amazing as they are, the other baked goods were a hard sell. Now I know I don't have to eat a whole pie by myself, even though I could if I had to.

I made "She's My Cherry Pie" and the "Chocolate Mousse Tart". They both turned out lovely. Now that I had the correct pan my tart shell turned out just right. I still have to master pressing it into the pan more evenly, but that will come with time. For the cherry pie, I did get crazy with the cutters, so I know to ease up on that for next time. Also, for the first time, I broke the rules and did not trim my crust before crimping it, so it got too crispy. I flaked it off and still had a decent amount of crust, but I definitely learned my lesson.

I can't wait to make more pies from this book. I am thinking of doing the Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie next, but I haven't seen rhubarb at the stores so I might have to do strawberry hand pies instead. That would be the perfect excuse to use the mini lattice pie mold I found at TJ Maxx a month ago. Save room for pie!

Cut It Out!

I have a love-hate relationship with sugar cookies. I love how adorable they can be, but I hate how long I take to make them. It's one of those things that I complain about from the moment I begin but by the time I am almost finished I wish I wasn't. Today I took a shortcut and used a packaged mix. I thought it would make it less stressful and more fun.

It still took forever and I swore I wouldn't do it again, until I was on my last bit of dough and wanted to roll out a few more. The directions didn't say to chill the dough, which seemed odd. I ended up adding a lot more flour to the dough since it was super sticky. I divided it into two balls and put one in the fridge, but still had to add flour to that one when I started working with it.

The leaves are cute and all but the stems were a real pain in the butt. The cutter is really small on that portion so they would break off or come out oddly and I'd just have to start over. I probably won't do that shape again unless I find a cutter with a wider stem on it. I tried to do red, yellow, and orange frosting but my red was more rose than anything. My niece had fun decorating and eating them, so it wasn't a complete loss. I am still tired from yesterday's marathon kitchen session so it probably wasn't the best time to do something that requires patience. I'll have to try these again on a whim, when I don't have other projects scheduled and I won't care how pretty they do or do not turn out. I'm going to have some beers, watch Revenge and try to get in a better mood for tomorrow's feasting.

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 V Day 23- Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

This was my wiped out weekend. It took me forever to get a grocery list together. I'm not kidding, it was at least an hour of flipping though books and binders trying to decide what to make this week. I'm still not even sure what's going on, but there should be some tasty things in the near future.My original intention was to get a lot of cooking done tomorrow since I have an interview on Tuesday. I don't want to risk not being prepared for that by having too much going on in the kitchen (I don't even want to look at my resumé!). Of course now, I'm past my bedtime for that goal, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I predict caffeine will have an appearance.

I baked from scratch all day yesterday so today I thought it was time to take a shortcut. When I was at the store today I saw the Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice cookie mix that Celeste from Growing Up Veg used a few weeks ago. I grabbed two packages and tossed them into my cart. I wasn't sure when I would make them but I knew it would be soon. I haven't made anything with pumpkin and we're almost through with October.

My mom asked me to mix and bake the brownie mix she bought, so since the oven was already on, I thought I'd bake some vegan cookies to cancel out the omni brownies. I'm glad I did since the brownies did not turn out well, they made a lovely consolation price. I do feel bad that her treats didn't work out, but I warned her I have never had much success with brownies. I have not tried the ones from VCIYCJ yet, so hopefully that will be the end of my brownie failures. I had no luck finding milk-free bittersweet baking chocolate for the pumpkin pie brownies, I'm wondering whether unsweetened will do. I'll have to consult the ppk.

Vegan Mofo V Day 5- Fix My Brain!*

When I heard my soon-to-be-nephew's birthday was coming up I knew I wanted to make a special treat for him. My sister told me he liked  zombies. I saw a brain cupcake kit at World Market and I knew I had to try and make them. I didn't buy the kit because I already have recipes for amazing cupcakes and icing thanks to VCTOTW. I looked at the directions for making the brains and it didn't look too complicated, so the only thing I was missing were the cupcake aprons.I didn't even know what a cupcake apron was until I saw these, but you could probably make your own easily. I'm too lazy and he's only going to be three so I don't think he'll mind.

I lucked out and found a cupcake decorating set at TJ Maxx, so I was even more excited for this project. I've never piped icing with proper bags and tips so I was really looking forward to learning that. I cruised the internet for ideas and found lots of great ones, my favorite one involved red velvet cupcakes. I didn't even think of that. I was just going to color vanilla ones, but if you're going to break out the food coloring, you better make red velvet (Crimson Velveteen!) , right?

My practice cupcakes were chocolate with  Vegan Fluffy Buttercream from VCTOTW. I am going to color the icing for the real ones. These were more about piping practice than anything else. I now know I should leave the icing in the fridge for a while before I start playing with it. A few cupcakes into it my squiggles were not as well defined and were starting to spread. I also thought I could get away with halving the recipe but I was wrong. I'm so glad I had the presence of mind to do a dry run or I would have had a disaster on my hands. I'm going to try to make the official cupcakes look more like these. I want to make ganache filled ones another time, they look so good!


*I love the Marked Men, don't you?

Vegan Mofo V Day 3: Muffins are Tops!

I love muffins in the morning, but I don't want to wake up and make them. I want to wake up and eat them. The solution: bake your muffins at night. This goes double if you live in a warmer climate and it is too hot to have the oven during the day. Hopefully in the next few weeks the weather will become more oven-friendly, but we have a bit of summer left on the west side.

These are "Cranberry Burst Citrus Muffins" from Deer Run Bed & Breakfast in Big Pine Key, Fla. Have I ever stayed there? No. But through the magic of an issue of "Vegetarian Times" I can pretend I did. If can go anywhere when you read a book, surely you can reach destinations via magazines too, right? They ran a feature on b & b's last year and this was one of the many recipes I wanted to try.

Part of the charm of this recipe was that all I needed to buy was a few oranges. You need juice and zest. I got plenty of zest from one orange, but next time I think I will use even more since I love citrus. I had a bit more trouble juicing and had to use two to get 1/4 cup, but a more experienced person could probably get it from one. The oranges smelled so good I wished I had bought just one more to eat on its own.  For some odd reason, I almost never buy oranges, but if someone offers me one, I will gladly eat it.

Anyhow these turned out lovely and I would definitely make them again. Even though I love the orange and cranberry bits, my favorite part is probably the sugar sprinkled on top. It reminds me of bakery muffins I used to enjoy, but now I can have more of them for less money (and more exercising!).

Beethoven's Favorite Fruit

What do you do when you have too many bananas? Make Banana Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding from Veganomicon. Well, that's what I do. You can also make banana pancakes/waffles/bread, and add them to smoothies (I did-there were still too many).

I know it is foolish to bake in the summer, especially as warm as it has been lately, but a gal's gotta have her sweets and homemade ones are slightly less terrible than store bought. They're also cheaper which is important when you are a brokie. Though I could eat this all by myself, I timed it for an occasion when I knew I would have two others to help me gobble it up. I put more bananas than I normally would, forgetting that my niece doesn't particularly care for them. My sister and I put a good dent in it, but there was still some left for the next day, and a tiny bit more for the day after that.

This is a fun treat for when you are casually entertaining and don't care about dishing things out neatly, or at all. We scooped portions into bowls this time, but in the past we each grab a fork and just go for it. You could probably make individual portions in ramekins too. I'm not sure how much this resembles traditional bread pudding since I never ate one. They grossed me out, but I assure you this has to be the polar opposite of squishy squashy chocolaty awesomeness.

p.s. The title comes from a joke I first learned on the ppk, something like,
Q: What's Beethoven's favorite fruit?
A:  Ba-Na-Na-Naahhhhh

Blueberry Bombs

We had a wonderful time celebrating my cousin's 50th birthday this weekend. It was especially great to reunite with some cousins I haven't seen since we were kids. We have plans to hang out soon so I am excited for that, hope we can keep it up. I think my cousin felt bad we couldn't eat any of the lovely cakes she made so she sent us home with the fruit that was also out with the desserts. There were cherries, green grapes, black grapes and blueberries.
I knew the others would get eaten up on their own but I wanted to do something with the berries. After looking through lots of cookbooks for a blueberry muffin recipe I decided on the "Blueberry Lemon Muffins" from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I might put a bit more lemon zest next time because we really like our lemon around here, but they are quite tasty as they are. I'm glad we're going to get a break in the weather this week but had I known that sooner, I probably wouldn't have made these yesterday. 400 degree oven and 90 degree weather, not the best idea.

Happy Ssert-Day To Me!

Today is my birthday. I had planned on going out tomorrow night but no one seemed interested so I scrapped that a week ago. Then I decided I would rather do something constructive and go for a hike tomorrow morning. I haven't hit the trail in over a month since my partner is out of commission, and I know my sister would love it. I thought this was going to be my "no one showed up to Il Cantinori for my dinner and I had to buy my own cake birthday", but I double checked and that isn't until CB's 35th birthday and I plan on it being much different for KG's 35th. I have a whole year to plan it!

Anyway, I decided I wanted a variety of desserts so I spent most of yesterday and today working toward that goal. I should have had someone else do it for me, but I like to bake and I have a ton of time on my hands these days. Plus it is fun to pretend that I burned a small fraction of the calories I would consume in advance. I mixed two cupcake batters, three icings, and another cookie type mix today. I lost count of how many dishes were washed and how many hours I was standing. I do know I finished a disc of "Arrested Development" .

I made Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes, stuffed them with Fluffy Vegan Buttercream and frosted them with Cream Cheese Frosting, all from VCTOTW. I also made the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes from VWAV, stuffed them with buttercream and topped with icing and chocolate drizzle. I also attempted a vegan version of these s'mores cookie bars. Mine didn't look too much like the photo but they are a gooey sticky delicious mess, so I am okay with it.

I'm enjoy the rest of my day by relaxing, reading and enjoying the gorgeous roses my sister and niece surprised me with this morning. This is going to be my last year of "rounding down" so I have to make the most of it, starting tomorrow.

I'm Cuckoo for Coconut!



naked



iced





close up

Its really odd, but I never really liked coconut until after I became vegan. Now I cannot get enough of the stuff. It started with moonpies at RFD (which are on menu now!), then the coconut white cake when they were out of something else I wanted. When I had the cake again it wasn't quite like I remembered. Maybe it really is never as good as the first time?

I've really been wanting sweets and I'm less and less interested in paying someone else a bunch of money to make them for me. Sometimes it is nice to be served and not have to do the dishes, but other times I feel incredibly stupid paying five dollars for a cupcake or piece of pie, when I know I could make my own at home. Maybe I am getting a bit conceited, but the last few desserts I've had while out were not nearly as good as anything I've made myself.

Of course I'm never truly at it alone since I always have my favorite cookbooks at the ready. Today I made the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes from Vegan With A Vengeance. I can't believe I have had this book for so long and have never made them. I made two little mistakes, I put the coconut in with the wet ingredients instead of folding it in at the end. They turned out fine, but I had a moment of panic. I also should have left them naked instead of frosting them all at once. The icing is not very thick and could melt/run off your cupcakes. I've got to work on my icing skills, but I think next time I pipe instead of spreading. Anyway, they turned out amazing, so the presentation won't matter so much. You'll get more calls for seconds than you will decorating critiques (unless yours came out gorgeous).



 

                                                      

                                                                

 

Truffle Shuffle

As a single gal, I am a reliable, and yet slightly boring Valentine. Every year I buy my sister and niece the same box of Sjaak's truffles. I buy one for myself too, because I love me, and I might as well get the most out of the shipping charges. We had our traditional V-day dinner last night and ate way too much food. I wasn't even going to break out the purchased treats, since we have homemade ones that will expire much sooner.

By request, or rather, pushy demand, I made cookie sammiches. These have been a favorite since the first time I made them. They're also the reason I load up on EB sticks and shortening whenever we make a run to the "nearest" veg friendly store. I hope to be able to remove the quotation marks one day but I think we'll move closer to a major area  
before they bring any goodness out our way.
For a surprise, I decided to finally make the Oreo Truffles I printed out ages ago. I feel bad I do not remember where I got it from and can't link to it or give credit. I know it is all over the internets though, so seek and ye shall find. I'm still trying to figure out if my food processor sucks because it is too small or because it shares a motor with a blender, or because I just put too much stuff in it at once. I seriously thought I killed it when I added in the cream cheese but I pushed a few other buttons and it worked just fine. I will read the instructions before I use it again, don't worry.

The rest of it was easy, kill time while the "filling" refrigerates, melt chocolate in your makeshift double boiler and dunk the little balls of yum into the melted chocolate. Of the two of us, my sister is the one who makes chocolate covered sweets so I was not as adept at fishing the truffles out and nicely laying them on the wax paper. I know if we were racing side by side she would have totally kicked my butt because I take way too long, trying to make sure each one is sufficiently coated. Meanwhile the chocolate starts to solidify and there is not nearly enough left to finish since I don't get it right until halfway through the process. Luckily I had more chocolate to melt and learned to be less picky about how they turned out. They're incredibly rich and remind me of brownies, which is fine by me since I love brownies but have yet to make them just right.

Next year I'll remember to either make or buy treats but not to do both. It's far too much of a good thing. If I really get a good thing going maybe someone will be treating me by then.

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.

Somebody Give This Guy A Muffin!

A banana surplus is not always a bad thing. If I didn't mess up and buy too many, there wouldn't be any banana chocolate chip muffins to welcome my niece and sister home after three weeks of house-sitting. I thought it would be a vacation for me and a test-run for them, but it wasn't what any of us thought it would be. My niece was still here a few days after school each week until my sister or her fiancé could collect her. I went to "their" house for dinner once each week, but it wasn't as good as at home. We complain about our kitchen being so small but it does have all the equipment we need (though there are a few things we still want of course). I think my favorite part of the visit was not having to clean up afterward.

Anyway, back to the muffins. I was going to wait for the others, but just couldn't. They turned out lovely. I really do need to get an oven thermometer before the holidays though. The baking time was 20-30 minutes so I set my timer for 20. Somewhere between 10 and 15 it started to smell like they might be burning so I opened the oven to find out they were indeed done, and a few overdone. Not a big deal, just penciled a note about the time in my book and put the toastier ones aside. I enjoy food just on the edge of burned, but I wouldn't serve it to anyone else.

Tricky oven aside, it was a great recipe from The Joy Of Vegan Baking by Collen Patrick-Goudreau. I love her recipes and I am still mad at myself that I lost the library's copy of The Vegan Table before I could even get a good look at it. I'm hoping to find it somewhere in this house. I already bought a replacement copy for the library, so if I find the old one it's mine to keep.

Fillin' Good

Last week when we were at Babycakes I was the only one stupid/nice enough to let everyone else have a taste of my dessert. I wanted to get more treats to try later but since they would have to sit in the car during the Sparks' game as well as the drive home, it wasn't a good idea. I did not get a bite of the cookie sandwich my niece chose, but I heard it was delicious.

Today I made cookie sandwiches of my own (sort of). I did all the work but I used the recipes my favorite bakers to do so. The cookies were from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. She is a genius and I cannot believe I have only made four recipes from it so far. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I slacked a bit on the uniform sizes so I yielded eighteen instead of a dozen, and they were still on the larger side. Actually there was a nineteenth cookie that no one is supposed to know about so shhhhhhh.

After I had the excellent cookies, it was time for the amazing icing. I already knew I would use the "Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Icing" from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World (my vegan she-roes, Isa and Terry!). It was my first time making half the recipe so I had to get down with some fractions before I started. I was good until I needed 1/8 cup of soymilk. I had to look that one up. For everyone else who didn't know, 1/8 cup= 2 TBSP. I penciled it in for next time (and there will be a next time). The icing turned out just as lovely as when you make the full recipe and it was the perfect amount to fill the cookie sammiches.

We each had one full sammich, half before dinner and half after. The ones we had after dinner were even better because they were nice and cold from the fridge. Just in time for summer!

p.s. I'll have to try the original Babycakes recipe to see how these compare. I already had everything I needed to make them this way.

rosas y 'ritas

Most people know that Cinco de Mayo is not the real Mexican Independence Day (¡16 de Septiembre!), even yo, la más pocha, have known that for years. However it is definitely not the first or last historical/cultural event to be turned into a reason to party. 4 de Julio anyone? Who am I to say no to a party, in any language. That would just be rude.

Porque somos pochas, the only Independence day we normally celebrate is 4th of July. Twilight zone marathon, barbecue, fireworks (still allowed in our city!), beer and cocktails= good times. This year we decided to have a special dinner for Cinco De Mayo for no particularly good reason other than the 5-letter word that has finally made vegan enchiladas possible: d-a-i-y-a. We first made them for my sister's birthday in March and have been waiting for an excuse to do it again.Last time my mom helped me and we were able to fit more enchiladas into a 13" x 9" pan. I forgot that when left to myself I will put so much filling that you can barely roll them. It's great when you are eating them, but not so good when you realize you are going to have to make three pans instead of one. The plus is that they are easier to fit in the fridge now.

For dessert we had "Mucho Margarita Cupcakes" from VCTOTW. I think this is only my 5th attempt of the 75 recipes in the book, slacker! I will definitely try them again since it was one of the quicker cupcakes to make, even with all of the lime squeezing. We have some older pans that still bake great but since they're old they leave marks on the paper liners y no me gusta. About a year ago, I bought a new pan but I think it is too light or something else is wrong with it. These and the "Pineapple Right Side Up" are the only ones I have made in that pan and they stuck to the liners so you only get about half a cupcake when you eat them. I baked three smaller ones in foil heart cups and those turned out fine so I'm thinking its the pan. The cupcakes I did get were still quite delicious and the frosting también. I do need some practice with the sprinkles, maybe next time I will follow directions and roll them in the sugar.

I also made flores de papel crepé. for the ladies That was the one thing I actually got right today. The first one I made was huge so I did next two large and medium sized. The extra large one was definitely my favorite. I love to wear flowers in my hair, especially when they are almost as big as my hair (still not sure if I should chop it before the wedding or leave it fro-tastic). My sister was having a bad day and didn't want to wear hers. My niece had taken hers off and couldn't be bothered to put it back on. Luckily my mom is a good sport and I pinned one on her as soon as she got home.