Someone's been in the catnip again

Well, I guess I could just keep apologizing for not posting, or I could just get on with it and post when I can.  September has just turned out to be WAY busier than I thought.  Mea maxima culpa.

Mandatory apologies out of the way,  let's move onto to today's film:  The Three Lives of Thomasina.  I'm guessing this little gem of a movie is overlooked by more folks than not, but if you're an animal lover (and I'm assuming you are since it's Vegan MoFo!), get thee to the library or Amazon, stat!

Yup, it's the kid from Mary Poppins!  And her Mary Poppins brother is in this as well!

Mary McDhui (pronounced "McDewey") owns the most wonderful cat in the world: Thomasina.  Her grumpy old father is the town's new modern veterinarian, and he is a BUTT.  He wanted to be a people doctor, but his father made him follow the family business of veterinary practice.  He has no sympathy for people's pets, and has them put to sleep with no concern for hurt feelings or sadness.  UNTIL.... dun dun DUN.... Thomasina is hurt, and he tells Mary he'll have to put her to sleep as well.  Well, Mary and the other kids have a funeral for Thomasina, who it turns out, of course, is not REALLY dead.  There's a totally bizarre Cat Heaven scene involving lots of Siamese cats.  Anyways, Thomasina is saved by the Village Witch!  Huzzah! But Thomasina has no memory of her previous life with Mary and mean old Mr. McDhui.  But she feels like something is missing.  Meanwhile, Mary has a complete breakdown and tells everyone her father is dead, too.  Finally, during a big lightning storm, Thomasina recovers her memory and goes back to Mary, who is very ill but snaps out of it upon Thomasina's return.  Mr. McDhui and the Village Witch get married and everyone lives happily after.  The End!

Mean old Mr. McDhui tells Geordie he can't save his frog.

This is actually a great film for today for another reason:  it takes place in Scotland, and it's the Vote On Scottish Independence today!  Woot!  Go Scotland!  Whatever you do, I'm behind you 100%.

To celebrate our film and Scotland, I offer a method for Pumped Up Jammy Nut Shortbread Bars.  Enjoy!

Damn that's a crappy picture!

Jammy Nut Shortbread Bars

First, make a recipe of shortbread.  I used the recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (VCIYCJ).  It's pretty awesome:

Bake the shortbread bars for about 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees F, until just barely browned at the edges.  Now spread it with a layer of about 1/2 cup of Your Favorite Jam.  Mine happened to be homemade Strawberry Lemon Marmelade, but Raspberry Jam is excellent too.  Or whatever!

Now whomp up (that's the technical terminology, really) a layer of nutty-caramel-y topping.  I used the topping recipe from the Pecan Caramel Bars in VCIYCJ.  Pour it over the jam.  Throw it all back in the oven for another 25-30 minutes, until the topping is really bubbling and hopefully thickened a little.

ready to go in the oven!

The  inspiration for this recipe came from this book:

I had fond memories of making these bars in the past.  My recommendations after veganizing this would be:  consider lining the pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, because these things are SUPER STICKY.  Also, I kept mine in the fridge to keep the caramel set, but then they were really hard to cut.  So, you might want to cut them up before keeping stored in the fridge.