Post-Holiday Recovery

So, the holidays happened.  And this blog didn't.  Mea maxima culpa!

THANKSGIVING!

Hello, you bad boy.  Get in mah tummy!

 As promised in my last post (you remember that, right?), I made my version of Vegetarian Times No Turkey-Turkey for Thanksgiving.  But this year I went all out and shaped these little babies into puff pastry turkeys!!  And they turned out beautiful and delicious.  Winner-winner, seitan dinner! 

I like to think of this recipe as more of a method then an actual recipe.  I just use my favorite seitan recipe (chicken-style), any basic stuffing (this happened to be a cornbread variation), any basic brown gravy recipe, and store-bought vegan puff pastry. 

But the real star of Thanksgiving?  Vegan Cheeseball for the win!!  Holy crap this was good.  My family devoured this and then demanded the recipe.  It was so good that I made it again and brought it to the Post-Thanksgiving Potluck (aka the Stretchy-Pants Party) at a friend's house, and was again bombarded with requests for the recipe.  You need this cheeseball in your life, seriously.

Vegan Cheeseball:  Delicious Oxymoron

Also, as promised, more catnaps were had:

Taffy tries to get in on some naptime action

CHRISTMAS

You don't really need me to say much about the Christmas holidays, do you?  I made vegan fudge and vegan peanut brittle, but didn't take pictures.  We shopped.  More than we should.  We ate a lot of good food and went to the movies and hung out with friends and family.  Just like you! 

But I got some lovely heartwarming shots of the holiday season nonetheless:

Hahahaha!  Okay, that's not really heartwarming. I had my ingrown toenails CUT OUT.  OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH.  I'm still recovering five weeks later.  It felt like someone broke my toes. 

Back to Christmas:

Why yes, that is a Chinese Take-Out Box ornament.

 

My  mother demanded a photo sacrifice.

I made a felt manatee for Jake to give to his Secret Santa. I almost died from the cuteness.

Most importantly, I scored the creepiest Clown at the Office Party White Elephant gift exchange!

Finally, more catnaps were documented.  With socks.

 Okay, I'll have more fun stuff soon.  I promise!! No, really!  Cheers to a wonderful 2014 ahead!

The Nap Report

Best sleeping friends in the whole world.

Thanksgiving!  Eating too much!  Falling asleep!  Do you have your napping buddy picked out?

I'm planning on making a No Turkey-Turkey from a recipe from Vegetarian Times from like 1990-something.  This is my favorite fancy Thanksgiving recipe of all time: it's basically seitan or baked tofu dipped in gravy and then mounded up in a baking dish, covered with a heap of stuffing, and then topped off with puff pastry and baked until golden.  Serve with extra gravy, of course!  It's delicious, and you can cut out little fiddly decorations of puff pastry to stick around your masterpiece and satisfy your inner Martha Stewart.  I promise I'll take a picture (maybe even with my good camera and not my phone!) to taunt you with later.

Planning ahead for Thanksgiving, I offer you this quick-yet-delicious recipe for soft and yeasty dinner rolls.  This is adapted from a recipe that appeared in our local paper - again, back in the 90's.  Apparently I was paying attention to recipes back then.  In any case, this has become a staple around our house and I'm often expected to bring these babies to school, work and family functions.  And I do, because they are so easy to whomp up.  I hope you enjoy!

SIXTY MINUTE ROLLS
adapted from an original recipe by Miss Eugenie Bell

3 Tbsp instant yeast (YES, 3 TABLESPOONS.  You can cut this back to 2 Tablespoons if you want.  The rolls just won't be as yeasty)
2 Tbsp shortening or Earth Balance (coconut oil is nice, too)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 and 1/2 cups your favorite non-dairy milk, warmed in the microwave or on the stovetop until lukewarm
1/4 cup warm water mixed with 1 heaping Tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour (for the batch picture above, I used 3 cups unbleached A.P + 1 cup whole wheat.  Whatever floats your boat!)

Mix your flax egg up in a small bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix the yeast, sugar, shortening, and milk until well combined.  Try and break the shortening into smallish chunks (some of which might melt.  That's okay!).  Stir in your flax egg.  Use a wooden spoon and stir in the flour and salt.  You may need to get in there with your hands and really mix it up.  This tends to be  sticky dough - that's okay! You can add a little flour if you think it's too sticky, but you want it to be a little soft and sticky.  Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and set it in a warm place for 15 minutes.  Hopefully if everything goes according to plan, the super yeasty dough should rise up quite a bit during that time.  Take your wooden spoon and push it down as best you can and then cover it and let rise for another 15 minutes.  Start pre-heating your oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease two round 8 or 9 inch metal cake pans.  When the dough is done with its second rising, turn it out onto a well floured board and cut it into 16 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and arrange in your greased pans.  Cover and let rise for another 15 minutes.  Put in the oven and bake for, you guessed it, about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am what I am

Today's recipe is for Creamed Spinach!  Get yer Popeye on!!  Seriously, this is some good shit.

I'm strong to the finish, yo

I was inspired to make this for lunch after seeing Kathy Patalsky's stuffed sweet potato picture.  It looked so yummy, except I'm not a huge fan of kale.  (I know, that's like vegan blasphemy.)  So I asked myself, what would be a good replacement for kale?  Spinach! Now there's a green I can get behind.  And what's even better than plain spinach?  Why, spinach in a creamy, garlicky sauce, of course!  I also really wanted that sweet potato, so I baked some up (see that little orange niblet in the top of the bowl?), topped them with my luscious spinach, and then some walnuts.  It was soooooo good.  And very autumnal.  And possibly slightly healthy.  Yays all around!

CREAMED SPINACH

1 big bag of baby spinach (I think mine was around 12 oz)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for about an hour
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 T. nutritional yeast
1 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Saute spinach in olive oil over medium heat.  Add a few splashes of water if you need to get it steaming.  When the spinach is soft and deep green and shrunk down, add the garlic and saute for another minute. Drain spinach in a colander to get rid of excess liquid.  Set aside.

Put the remaining ingredients in a blender and whiz til smooth.  Pour into a small sauce pan and cook over medium/medium-high heat until thick and hot.  Stir in drained spinach.  Enjoy!

Hello, lunch.  Get in ma belly!

I also wanted to share some pics of our doings over the past week:

Apple Cider Cupcakes from VCTOTW.  Holy crap these were delicious.  Go make them, now! Do it! Do it do it do it!

Nom nom nom. These got made for Caileigh's teachers for conference day.  Did someone say brown-nose?

Caileigh as the Cheshire Cat.  Her dad made this costume.  He is sooooo crafty!

The cousins:  Finn, the Cheshire Cat, the Zombie Twins, and a cute little black cat

Jake dressed as Finn.  This way he's both characters.  wink wink

OMG.  Too cute!

Athens of the South

I went on a business trip to Nashville last week, so I hopped onto the Happy Cow website and checked out where to eat while I was there.  I had a free night, and it looked like The Wild Cow needed to be on my agenda.  It did not disappoint!

The Far Eastland Bowl

Holy yum, Batman!  I had the Far Eastland Bowl, and it was delicious!  Brown rice, sauteed kale, grilled tofu, carrot-daikon slaw, peanut sauce and avocado. Awesomeness!  It was also really cool to eat at a restaurant that is totally vegan - we don't get that around my house!  On the other hand, I felt like a totally old fart eating dinner by myself there.  Not that anyone was rude to me - the staff were super friendly. I sat at the bar up front near the register and the kitchen, which was fun in itself -  it's just that everyone else in the place was twenty-something... and I'm 46.  I mean, I've got cool graying temples and four different pairs of glasses depending on what I'm trying to read and I looked like someone's mom who wandered in there by accident.  Oh well, it was fun!

I'm not really very adventurous when I travel by myself - I much prefer to have a companion when I'm banging around a new city.  So I was proud of myself for even going.  (But damn, I'm old.  I wish I had made it to Grins at Vanderbilt, but I think going to another college-age restaurant would have seriously demolished any ego I had left at that point...hahahaha!)

SO, to celebrate my middle-aged mom-ness and love of vegan food, I bring you some Halloween cookies I made with my kids:

I veganized my Mom's recipe for Vanilla Cookies, which I would share with you here, but I'm not satisfied with my veganizing on this recipe yet.  The original recipe calls for FOUR eggs, so I used Ener-G to replace them, and as Isa Chandra says, well, they had a taste.  I've never noticed Ener-G taste before, but I've never tried to replace four eggs worth of ingredient before either.  My family didn't notice; they gobbled them up!  But I need to work on this one before it's share-worthy.  The frosting is from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and the decor are just vegan chocolate chips and walnut pieces.  They were good, just not great.  I'll try to get these right by Christmas.

Happy Halloween, everyone!  I've got four more nights to squeeze in scary movies before my family tells me to knock it off!  How about you?

You're vegan? Well, here's your salad!

Ah salad, how I love thee.  Let me count the ways.

Okay, well not so much when it's the crappy bowl of lettuce starting to turn brown with a few shreds of purple cabbage and dried out carrot pieces.  Maybe a flavorless cherry tomato for garnish?  Or a big chunk of bitter, old, unpeeled cucumber.  What?  You don't want that?  You're so difficult.

Now THIS is a SALAD:

Friday Salad.

This is based on a salad from a deli located on campus.  This deli has a different main salad offered every day of the week, and they are pretty damn popular, with good reason.  They are huge salads, they load up the toppings, they're cheap, and they're delicious.  Of course, they're also NOT VEGAN.  Heck, they're not even vegetarian.  They're not good for you either, but that's a different story.

So here is my "recipe" for Friday Salad (even though it's only Thursday).  You need this salad in your life.  The original was loaded down with chicken, bacon, candied nuts, feta, and hard boiled eggs.  Mine's close, but a little healthier, and definitely more compassionate!

Friday Salad

Lettuce mix (I used romaine and baby spinach)
toasted walnuts (handful)
dried cranberries (handful)
coconut bacon (about 2 Tbsp)
One serving's worth of Meatless Griller Strips (you know, Chicken-y strips.  Pick your favorite vegan brand), cooked and chopped up
One serving's worth of Daiya Jack-style block cheese, crumbled
Agave-mustard dressing (which is basically just dijon or yellow mustard mixed with Agave syrup)

Enjoy!  And to send you on your way, here's a pic of my kids' jack-o-lanterns. Don't they look like they're having a good time?

So the first pumpkin says to the second pumpkin...

The Book I Never Wrote

Mise En Place

A novel by

sparkythewonderdog

 Chapter One

Antipasti

             She is grinning like an idiot as she quickly swirls extra virgin olive oil around the skillet.  A sprinkling of minced garlic, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper are tossed into the pan and the oil begins to sizzle and pop.  Now, a splash of white wine and the fragrant liquid begins to steam and the sizzling intensifies.  A stream of relentless chatter is bubbling out of the hostess’s mouth, which is still stretched impossibly wide by her unnatural smile.  This is the same sauce my grandma made me when I was young. Make sure not to burn the garlic! Ooooooo, it smells so yummy!  See how simple this is?  Cream, butter, and a mound of fluffy, shredded, and intensely flavored imported cheese are added in a final burst of exuberant cooking mania, and the rich, velvety sauce is complete.  She tosses in the soft pillows of gnocchi which have been gently boiling in a nearby pot and flips the contents of the skillet into a thoughtfully chosen ceramic dish.  An artful sprinkling of chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley (never curly!) and more cheese complete the rustic masterpiece.  A few minutes under the broiler and you’re sure to please your entire family! Now, on to the salad!

            Sometimes I fucking hate the Food Network.

__________________________________________________

            I love being The Opener.  There is a stillness and sense of wondrous possibility I feel about the restaurant like no other time of day.  Great food will be cooked here today, and I will initiate the orchestration of flavor, texture, smell and sensation through my actions.  Later, when I am tired, achy, sweaty, and my clothes smell like a delicatessen, I will forget the love of the food.  I will want to be hosed down the drain like all the other crud that has been smashed and ground into the floor mats.  But for now and the next hour, the kitchen is mine.  Everything is clean and where it belongs, and the morning routine can begin.

            One of the best things about opening is I get to pick the music in the kitchen.  The soundtrack for today is XTC’s anthology, Chips from the Chocolate Fireball.  It’s wonderfully psychedelic and fun musical poetry, but most importantly it sets a good pace for the prep work ahead.  Other current favorites include Tom Wait’s Rain Dogs; the Cole Porter tribute album, Red, Hot, and Blue; and just about any Talking Heads album.  This is Food Network Falsehood Number One:  no one ever listens to music while they are cooking.  I know it’s so you can hear that gently sizzling garlic, or the rhythmic chopping of the chef’s knife against the cutting board, or the delightful crooning of the beautiful hostess as she babbles incessantly about the virtues of fresh tarragon, but it still pisses me off.  

End of page 1

What's happening, hotstuff?

No recipes today, but food and life continue to happen.  Egad!  Please enjoy this photo essay.

Been a busy week or so.  James had eye surgery last Friday, although I delighted in telling everyone that they injected the eggs in one go and we expect them to hatch any day now.

Sesame Kwachik at Asian Wind.  Nom nom nom.

Tired boys take a nap together. Ain't they sweet?

Chocolate-Raspberry Blackout Cake from VWAV.  Because everyone needs cake after surgery, right?

Homemade English muffins from Vegan Brunch.  My first time making this recipe (I'm really a bagel gal), and they were perfect!  

Poppy hates having her picture taken.  She is about to kill me here.

Homemade Cobb Salad, L-R: Cherry tomatoes, turkey-style seitan a la Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day, Onion, Coconut Bacon, and Jack-style Daiya, topped with avocado.  Romaine on the bottom, dressed with homemade Ranch.  Yum!  This was totally inspired by The Vegan Cookbook Afficionado's' great Vegan MoFo Brown Bag posts, but hers is much prettier.  You should go check it out!

TTFN!!!