HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Your Cake is Delicious.

SUZY SPOON'S 2-LAYER CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE
p. 198 GOV
Prepared 5/4/2010

I knew this would be awesome, and it was. I saved the recipe for a special occasion, and the pre-schooler daddy's birthday seemed like just the right one. This is another go-the-extra-mile-with the preparation kind of cake...but its not really a big deal. And the end result is a very rich, extremely moist and delicious cake. We frosted it with some pink (color chosen by said pre-schooler) frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and topped with a hint of ganache. (Note that unlike some recipes in this triumverate of cookbooks, this one makes 2 layers. This may be obvious to you from the name of the recipe but then again, maybe not. I can't make assumptions.)

And then, for a few moments, all was right with the world.

Non-fancy Tickling Tahini

MO'S TAHINI SAUCE
p. 141 GOV
Prepared 5/3/2010

Bland and boring, I didn't care for this at all. I prefer my sauces to be more flavorful and satisfying. I served this on a full-of-potential bean salad and it was the kind of thing that could make or break the salad. Let us just say that I don't think it made the salad.

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale

We had ourselves a Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale and it was great! We raised some money, as well as awareness about how yummy a plant-based diet can be!

These Snickerdoodles Are Sublime

WOLFFIE'S SNICKERDOODLES
p. 215 LDV
Prepared 4/29/2010

Generally at this point in my life, I am all in favor of as few steps as possible in one's baking process. So I was prepared to feel resentful about the extra work involved in the snickerdoodle process-- namely the rolling of dough into balls and then rolling into sugar. But for some reason, it seems pleasant and meditative. I wonder if it isn't because I used to make these with my mom and of course had the important job of rolling the dough into the cinnamon sugar mix? And the cookies? DELICIOUS! Really well done, great recipe. Please bake.

Weirdly, I've seen snickerdoodles around a lot more in the last couple of years, maybe part of the embracing many things retro? Then the other day, I suffered the social distress known as Snickerdoodle Backlash. Some women with whom I was speaking told me that they'd never had them, didn't think they sounded all that appealing, saved all of their dessert calories for chocolate and didn't get why everyone was making such a fuss over them. To which I thought (you know what is coming!), "more for me." I will say that they are just like my grandma (and mom) used to make. And I am dead serious if I tell you to slightly underbake them and then serve them warm with vanilla coconut milk ice cream.

Go Crazy With Garlic

GLORIOUS ROASTED GARLIC SOUP
p. 82 GOV
Prepared 4/23/2010

This was good with really nice flavor- not overpoweringly garlicky at all. But I felt it was a little thin and insubstantial. I would serve this as a starter *or* give it more body with either mashed potatoes or pureed white beans. I would also throw in a hearty grain like barley. More veggies would have been nice as well, I think. I'm a sucker for the white and green soup so maybe some broccoli (my favorite!) or spinach. Let me know how it goes for you.

It Is, After All, Every Day

My friends left me this message on the sidewalk in front of my place. I love them!

Poppy. Seed.

LEMON POPPY SEED SHORTBREAD COOKIES
p. 182 GOV
Prepared 4/21/2010

These were good but not amazing. They baked up a little softer than I'd expect so maybe more baking time? I didn't have any problem eating it. It was, as you can imagine, a perfect little cookie to have with your tea or lemonade.

Slawtina, Or...Bring On the Fake Bacon

RED BEAN COLESLAW
p. 84 LDV
Prepared 4/21/2010

I used a little less Veganaise because I ran out...threw in some cilantro...used more cabbage than necessary...threw in celery root instead of celery...used more garbanzos than kidneys...less imitation "bacon" bits...and it was yummy! "Really really good," according to one adult taster. Another adult taster/unsuspecting houseguest said, "SOOOOOOOOO good, can I please have the recipe?"

Aloo Chana Soup? What Will They Think of Next!?!

CHRIS'S ALOO CHANA SOUP
p. 87 GOV
Prepared 4/15/2010

There are a lot of ingredients in the ingredient list, so you may be put off by this recipe at first. But fear not, like many good recipes, many of the ingredients are simply a lengthy list of spices and seasonings.

This soup was very hearty. I substituted kidney beans and black eyed peas for the garbanzos, and doubled the recipe for my super awesome meal share (if you can work one out, I highly recommend the experience). I also added some jarred galangal (you know, that rhizome with many culinary and medicinal uses) and extra carrots. I wish that I had had some fresh naan or other flavorful Indian bread to go with it, so you might want to take that into account when you serve it up!

I Ate This All Myself (Not Proud Edition)

PEANUT BUTTER PECAN BARK
p. 205 LDV
Prepared 4/1/2010

This big lump of poopy looking chocolate stuff was VERY GOOD! What I think is that you could probably vary the presentation in the real world to make it look less poopy but that would be really dumb because then you would have to share it would other people. Cravers of the sweet, beware! This is for you and you should be prepared to enter a sugar coma soon after this enters your system. I felt like it was kind of lumpy but nice-n- tasty. Some nice depth of flavor from the nut side of things.

More Rice Noodles, Please

TERIYAKI MARINADE
p. 300 LDV
Prepared 11/16/2007, 8/6/2008 and 4/1/2010

MOCK BEEF & RICE NOODLE TOSS
p. 135 LDV
Prepared 4/1/2010

The marinade is one of these rare situations where I prepared something and then didn't really do much with it the first time around, didn't write about it the second time around and ended up making it a third time because the recipe Mock Beef & Rice Noodle Toss recipe calls for it. Its very simple and good and I would actually like to try to make it more often to incorporate into our rotation. The smell is initially a little pungent as the ingredients are tossed in, but after a few hours they mellow out. I rarely grate things anymore now that our microplane (we had two!) is lost. These things happen when one is moving across the nation by shipping things in boxes which end up stored in one's in-laws basement for a while. We're missing some great stuff, like Mr. Bento.

But I digress. My point is that I didn't grate the ginger, and I almost never do. I just chop it up.

The marinade. Yes. Yummy. Make it. Have it on hand. Use it liberally. You'll be glad that you did. A couple of summers ago, I marinated some tofu in it, fried it up and ate it on a salad. It was delicious.

The noodle toss was good. I used up some of that Lightlife fake hamburger that we had instead of the homemade Faux Beef in the recipe. I also ended up making a lot of additions because I was initially underwhelmed with the flavoring. I added frozen broccoli, garbanzos, spinach, fresh cilantro and peanuts for garnish. I also added some rice vinegar (and hot sauce). I'm looking forward to eating it cold tomorrow as a salad!

A Delightful Surprise

CHOCOLATE ORANGE HAZELNUT COOKIES
p. 187 GOV
Prepared 3/28/2010

I spent a weekend in the city and did not --I repeat, NOT-- make a beeline for all of the widely available, extremely yummy vegan and veg-friendly haunts (you know what I mean, NYC and metro peeps). I had other stuff going on. It ended up that this was a great exercise in being able to carefully consider the art of baking and presentation, whereas normally I am carefully considering the food that is going to hit my stomach. Typically, I am giving the latter some thought but my focus is more on the immediacy of the taste sensation. Does that make sense?

Having this space to reflect meant that when I got home, I felt inspired to step out of my preferred comfort zone of cake/cake/cupcakes/brownies/chocolate/chocolate/chocolate chip cookies and into what some might term more complex or artful combinations. Not by much, but there was a perceptible shift in how I was approaching the next baking project.

Coming from that perspective, I was curious to try this recipe. I was really happy with the results. The dough (made by my partner whilst I did bedtime) was a little loose so I might add another couple of tablespoons of flour, or plan to throw the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes or so the next time I made them. The flavors were really pleasant and complementary. Though they look like nothing special in the picture above, I beg to differ. The hazelnuts, chocolate and orange were lovely together and I found this cookie especially delicious with tea, which we drank much more of earlier in the week to see us through an early spring cold snap.

I highly recommend these!

The Quest For A Delicious Brownie, Part 3

Next up on the hit parade of brownies was the recipe from Veganomicon for Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies. I was all set to go with making these fudgy, wudgy and blueberry-y but then I saw that Isa and Terry (Do you like how I call them their names like its no big thing, we're totally tiiiiiiiight etc.? We actually don't know each other) were suggesting that one could make them with raspberries and it would be also yummy. I'm a fool, a FOOL I tell you, for chocolate and raspberry so off I went on my merry way.

So these were really good. I liked the addition of the raspberry. But they DID seem more labor intensive, and maybe even more expensive, what with dumping an entire jar of fruit spread (back in my day we called it jam, or some upstarts would call it jelly) and the cost of berries these days. Ya know. So they were perfectly delicious and I jammed (no pun intended) them down my craw all day. I actually split the batter and made a personal pan sized one for our dinner exchange family- it came out so cute (I know you cannot tell that the above pic is a mini pan of brownies) that I want to get a mini pan just so I can bake things like that. In miniature.

The quest continues, though. Like Bono, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Entirely. But I'm having fun on the journey.

Soupah. And Breaddy.

TANYA & MATTHEW'S THAI COCONUT MILK SOUP
p. 85 GOV
Prepared 3/25/2010

CORIANDER BREAD
p. 168 GOV
Prepared 3/25/2010

The soup: good, but not amazing. I almost feel as if I am going to go through the trouble of procuring lemongrass and galangal, it should be amazing! This soup felt like a lot of work for a less than rock-your-socks outcome. For example, you have to brown the tofu with some scallions and sometimes multiple steps can bring me down. I liked the lime flavor and mild but pervasive spiciness. The coconut milk was a nice creamy base but thats a lot of coconut milk in there! I made a number of changes including using less lemongrass, jarred galangal, omitting the mushrooms and adding red peppers instead, substituting spinach for bok choy and using a jalepeno instead of multiple serranos. I also didn't have lime leaves so I zested a lime upon advice from someone who I know knows her eats. I also threw in leftover rice noodles because I had them and it was tasty that way.

The bread: because of the different spices (cinnamon, coriander, ginger, cloves), this bread tricks you into thinking that its sweeter than it is. Its quite dense and one taster said he thought it would make excellent cinnamon toast...I was thinking it would be great for french toast. This is NOT a quick bread and should not be attempted unless one has a couple of hours to hang out.

Oh, Hi Memory Lane

RUSTIC QUINOA & YAM SALAD
p. 93 GOV
Prepared 9/19/2008

CURRIED LENTILS
p. 159 GOV
Prepared 9/19/2008

In the lovely community in which I used to live, when families have babies (or other life-altering events), their friends, family and neighbors rally around to support the parents. This is an amazing thing to witness and be a part of. (I know it would have really transformed my own experience as a new mother if I had had that type of very broad loving support instead of it resting squarely on the shoulders of a select few.) The biggest manifestation of this support in my ex-community is to set up calendars and provide interested parties with the opportunities to feed the family.

It came to be my turn to do this for a friend who had recently had a second baby, and I decided to make extra for another friend who was due -at that point - at any time with her second child. I wanted to make as much nutrient dense food as I could for these mamas. I have to say that the lentils were tasty and all but sort of pedestrian, while the quinoa salad was outstanding! I loved it (it was our dinner too) and still can vividly recall eating it on that warm September night a year and a half ago after delivering the meals to my friends. The funniest thing is that the pregnant friend was in the throes of giving birth while I was preparing the meal and ended up having my meal be her first post-partum meal, which I still feel strangely honored by.

I miss you, Leah and Ivy-- and Anya and Stella!

The Quest For A Delicious Brownie, Part 2

You'll recall that I am on a search for a go-to recipe for a fudgy, not-so-cakey brownie. I have had some nice success with Dreena Burton's recipes so I had high hopes for her recipe for (dun dun dun!) Fudgy Brownies in her cookbook Vive le Vegan!

Yay! We made these tonight and they are - as advertised - nice and fudgy. I was assisted by an enthusiastic 5 year old and we were all pleased with the results. They aren't a mix all beefed up (literally) with a buncha extras. But they are better for taking the moral high ground and you will get multiple complements on them at a potluck or bake sale or just regular old dessert with your family (of which I'm a big fan). I am excited to have this in my quiver. And as a sidenote- I'd say it took about five more minutes than using a mix, and that was with my helper. Well worth it. I think it goes without saying that you should serve these with a side of coconut-milk-based ice cream. Though be careful that your helpful houseguest doesn't leave your desserts within dog schnozz range and then leave the room, because when he comes back there may not be as much dessert left on the plates. Lets learn from others.

Tune in for another installment in this quest, coming soon!

Getting Down With Seitan!

HOMEMADE SEITAN
p. 208 GOV
Prepared 3/16/2010

I wanted to bust out some seitan, so I did. This is so easy. Look at it up there, just bubbling away, helping you eat some chewy thing that is seasoned and yummy and doesn't hurt any creature in the making thereof. My dough was a little wet but it was ok, I kind of blotted it with a towel for a moment and went on my merry way.



HUNGRY PERSON STEW
p. 87 GOV
Prepared 3/16/2010

This was good! We were all extra hungry on the night we had it, so the title was an apt one. I used edamame instead of peas. A good meal, I would have ideally served this with a big salad but didn't. You should.



SWEE'S ROSEMARY MOCK CHICKEN
p. 123 GOV
Prepared 3/21/2010

I'm not the biggest seitan afficianado...I mean, I like it but I don't make it that often (as may be obvious) and I will certainly eat it when presented with the opportunity. But this was so simple and tasty that I'm feeling like I may have a little crush on it. I mean, gluten isn't for everyone, etc. etc. but this was really nice. A nicely browned, flavorful dish. I served it with rice but it could go well with just about anything-- I'm thinking pasta, quinoa, polenta...the possibilities are endless. Or seem so. I think this recipe is a really nice find.

Greens

SWISS CHARD & GARLIC
p. 118 GOV
Prepared 3/18/2010

Good, but sort of lame that there is a recipe for this. I don't know. This is the kind of thing that it seems to me is easy to conceive of and execute but so be it. I used mustard greens and cooked for longer than you might chard. It was a bit oily but fat and garlic = mmmmm mmmmm good. I served with some white beans and brown rice as well as some spare lentils for a quick and satisfying meal.

Chipotle-esque (Yes, That Chipotle) Salsa, He Only Eats It To Stay

BECKY'S PICO DE GALLO
p. 131 GOV
Prepared 3/8/2010

It has come to my attention that my son is going through a phase where he has basically stopped eating lunch at school. Thats cool, except the low blood sugar thing. So we're now kind of trying to both send the extra-yummy in *and* not play it up, though there is a little tension about whether he gets a small sweet for "dessert" (1 small cookie or a couple of licorice). Anyway, I notice he slurps the pico de gallo up from Chipotle when we're there, and often asks for "more tomatoes." Brilliant deductress that I am, I thought I could slip him this little container of Becky's PDG at school and he'd be slurping it up there, but no. It has been decreed that he only eats "those tomatoes" at Chipotle.

A very fine pico de gallo according to my taster, the adult one.

The Quest For A Delicious Brownie, Part 1

DECADENT BROWNIES
p. 191 GOV
Prepared 3/15/2010

I love eating a plant-based diet. I am totally in love with it. I want to marry my diet. I feel great. I am in line with my values in a way that many people are not. I am so happy together, just me and my plant-based diet. Rahr. But I also love an ooey, gooey, fudgey brownie. And that is the honest truth. I miss an ooey, gooey fudgey brownie. I've had some commercial vegan brownies that were not bad. I've made some that, well, didn't 100% rock. So I have several recipes in hand and I'm going to bake, eat and review them all.

First up, this recipe, conveniently from GOV. I have to say...not baaaaaaaaaaaaaad, but very cakey. Very very very cakey. Not fudgey, and not much ooey gooeyness -- and what little there was really came from the handful of chocolate chips I chucked in. But the thing is that my fellow adult taster said, "the first vegan brownie I've ever had that I wouldn't mind having seconds of. It tastes like a very delicious cake. Its not chalky or gross." Yes, thats right. Over three years after I made brownies that didn't 100% rock, he still remembered how bad and "chalky" they were.

So score one for the Decadent Brownies and add a few more hit points to the others.

How Could Something So Right Be So Wrong?

NUT BUTTER COOKIES
p. 184 GOV
Prepared 3/9/2010

These were really disappointing!! I wanted to like them but they are too heavy/rich and just don't have a good mouth feel. There is a half cup of Earth Balance in them, and over a cup of peanut butter so they are really high fat mamajamas. I added chocolate chips because at the time, the idea of peanut butter and chocolate sounded good to me. But these were disappointments, I recommend looking elsewhere if you are hankering after a good old fashioned peanut butter cookie that won't feel like a rock in your tummy after you eat it.

Soup and Biscuits

JEN'S GINGER BUTTERNUT LENTIL SOUP
p. 113 LDV
Prepared 3/3/2010

FRAGRANT ONION DINNER ROLLS
p. 277 LDV
Prepared 3/3/2010

A really nice meal! The soup is excellent, and easy peasy. I really liked it. Spring is in the air so soon my thoughts will be turning away from the soup/warming/squash/root veggies and more toward the fresh green stuff. But right now there is still snow on the ground, boots littering our entryway and therefore soup is really awesome. I added garbanzos because I love them, and brown rice as well.

The biscuits/rolls were very good as well. You brown some onions up in oil and toss 'em in the dough and onions fried up in fat never really hurt the flavor of much. I didn't have rye flour so I used a cup of regular old all purpose. I also added only about half the amount of caraway seeds that the recipe called for because I am easily overwhelmed by caraway (I do declare!). This recipe made a dozen biscuity muffins instead of the six the recipe alleged would result.

Our friend visited and brought cookies she'd made from here - YUM! Do I really need another vegan sweets cookbook? Is this a rhetorical question?

Couscous Porridge!

CLAIRE'S COUSCOUS PORRIDGE
p. 38 GOV
Prepared 2/26/2010

This is really not my style of breakfast but openmindedly, I gave it a try...not bad! If I were the porridge loving type, I'd have said "very good!" One taster said he thought it would be better with more spiced milk and that it was a little dry for him. Another taster said that it was just right. A third, smaller taster said, "No, I'm not having any breakfast today."

I prepared it during a 48 hour storm that dumped what is hopefully the last of the season's snow on us, so it seemed an extra good, warm and cozy way to start one's day of thumping around in the powder.

I suspect this would be extra good with a creamy topping-- perhaps cashew creme or coconut milk whipped cream?

Birthday Dinner For A Friend

The menu:

COUNTRY POTATO PATTIES
p. 43 GOV

AUNTIE BONNIE'S BEAN & OLIVE SOUP
p. 84 GOV

FRENCH BAGUETTE
p. 167 GOV

AUNT BONNIE'S WACKY CAKE
p. 147 HIAV

(all prepared 2/25/2010)




The bread was disappointing, though my son loved it. I am not sure if it was the yeast or overkneading or what but I never felt like it came together. It produced a perfectly adequate loaf of bread though, and fresh out of the oven, smothered with Earth Balance, we weren't complaining.

The soup...not really that great. There are many better soups available in this and other cookbooks, so I can't recommend it very highly. The broth was weak and the flavors didn't appeal to me. I added pasta as usual for the younger set.

The potato cakes were probably the biggest success, especially when served with some salsa verde on them! I have a hard time with frying things up-- I seem to always be undercooking stuff-- but it didn't matter since this is basically mashed potatoes mixed with some yummy vegetables. In fact, the Pre-Schooler Daddy thought the 'dough' was potato salad and consumed it liberally as one would a potato salad. Not bad that way, either (I tried).

Finally, for dessert- a repeat of one of the first recipes I ever made from any of these three cookbooks: Aunt Bonnie's Wacky Cake. This is such a simple recipe that I turn to over and over. I served it both with Coconut Bliss, chocolate sauce and toasted almonds and then later remembered I had a little leftover frosting in the freezer from the Thanksgiving cupcakes I had made et voila...perfect. Lesson: it is not dumb to save your frosting.

Total Tomatillo Satisfaction

TO




GORGEOUS GREEN SALSA
p. 131 GOV
Prepared 2/25/2010

My first time working with tomatillos! This was easy but not as quick as you'd think, for my tomatillos' wrappers stuck to them like mad. But it was worth it to have my very own, I-usually-pay-$4-for-this salsa verde. It was really good. I really recommend. We ate it up fast, serving it on potato cakes, burritos and just plain old corn chips.

More Noodle Soup Antics

SPICY ASIAN NOODLE SOUP
p. 79 GOV
Prepared 2/24/2010

This was very good though to be honest, it was far more complex in its preparation but equally delicious to the Hot and Sour Ginger Soup of a few weeks back. I used rice noodles (the other option is udon).

Who Gives A Fig?

RASPBERRY FIG BREAKFAST BARS
p. 47 GOV
Prepared 2/24/2010

Not just for breakfast anymore, I served this for dessert, piping fresh out of the oven. It went over well, despite the fact that my chocolate-head son doesn't really think its dessert unless it has chocolate in it. (insert remark about apple not falling far from tree)

These were not hard to make, just simmer some figs up, sizz up with jam in food processor and spread on your batter/dough. Bake away! I added extra oatmeal in the form of some leftover sizzed up (I'm heavy into sizzing these days) oats as a partial substitution for flour. They smell delightful while baking!

Eating Once, Eating Twice, Eating Mushroom Soup With...

WILD MUSHROOM SOUP WITH THYME
p. 78 GOV
Prepared 2/18/2010

This is a pretty standard mushroom soup. The flavors all mesh well, and I threw in some orzo to give it more body.

Artichokah, Hot

HOT ARTICHOKE BAKE
p. 103 GOV
Prepared 2/18/2010

If you crave hot artichoke dip, that gooey, creamy standard of the Standard American Diet then this is right up your alley. Don't make this unless you are serving it to a zillion other folks-- its not healthy and will give you a tummyache if you eat too much! (Believe me.)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, Round Two

NIKOLE'S BOSS'S MOM'S PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE
P. 248 LDV
Prepared 2/10/2010

Remember when I made this cake and then had a significant, turning-on-the-wrong-burner-to-start-dinner disaster? Well, I finally sufficiently recovered from the trauma to make it again a couple of years later and it was GOOD! I made a few errors in preparation because I was multi-tasking in a big way but my mistakes had no major negative reprecussions.

One thing I did incorrectly was add about 3x the amount of apple cider vinegar that it calls for, which made for quite the zizzy cake batter! I also dumped the nuts into the batter instead of sprinkling them delightfully over the topping. None of this mattered when it came to eating time, though. I wholeheartedly recommend that you make this and serve it to yourself and others in copious amounts. Some chocolate coconut milk based ice cream on the side would really be an excellent choice as well.

Tempeh, Chili Style

TASTY TEMPEH CHILI
p. 163 LDV
Prepared 2/12/2010

This was good in a not overwhelmingly special way. Hearty fare but not noteworthy. It was pretty simple to make and eat. I presume you know that the trick to tempeh success is to steam it first. One year, the Taking Action for Animals caterers didn't know that and wow, was that an entree that wasn't converting anyone to vegan fare any time soon! I can still feel the odd bitter aftertaste in my mouth lo these many years later. So steam your tempeh, cookies!!

Ho Hum, Curry

COUSIN NATASHA'S KITCHEN SINK CURRY
p. 143 LDV
Prepared 2/8/2010

This is a very straightforward curry. Nothing special, nothing bad. I added coconut milk and curry paste to it to make it more delicious, and added extra veggies like frozen broccoli and lima beans. Oh, my son added a bunch of cabbage that he chopped up with his chopper. He sure likes chopping vegetables. We also were listening to the latest podcast from the ladies over at Our Hen House and there was a funny point where my son stopped chattering away asking me WHEN COULD HE PUT THE TUMERIC IN? NOW? NOW? HOW ABOUT NOW? and then the podcasters were merrily rattling away and then there was the saying of "shit" and then an oops-but-not-really, maybe there are kids listening moment. And as it happened, there was one little pair of ears that caught the moment but don't worry, he's probably saving it for school or something. ("Oh, I learned to say shit from the computer when my mom and I were listening to how current regulations come nowhere near adequately covering animal welfare and actual humane standards. Hey, want to talk about factory farming?")

Rice Is Nice

CUMIN-SPICED BROWN RICE
p. 190 LDV
Prepared 1/5/2010

A delicious, healthy and straightforward rice dish. I got distracted and browned my onions until they were more on the blackened tips side of things but in the end, no worries. I also added black eyed peas and, as I do so very often, frozen spinach. If I were doing this over, I would double the recipe so that I would have more leftovers.

I'm Getting Old Because I Now Believe In Chocolate Overload

TERESA'S CAROB-ALMOND TRUFFLES
p. 201 LDV
Prepared 2/6/2010

I went to a Meetup with vegan types and the theme was Bring A Chocolate Dessert And We'll Have Ourselves a Dessert Potluck. Man. That was a lot of chocolate. Good, but. A LOT. And I'm not one to say such things, normally.

I made these little nutty buddies with chocolate chips instead of carob chips. They were good but definitely "time consuming" (aka a PITA) to make. I made them really big by accident, which you should not do if you make them. They are really rich and really filling. Very yummy. I made a half batch extra and ended up with the same amount that the recipe says it makes, so proof positive that my truffles were oversized. I added a little almond extract to the chocolate mixture to sass it up.

Apple Pie Spice Muffins

APPLE STREUSEL MUFFINS
p. 177 GOV
Prepared 2/6/2010


Did you know that February 6 is the late Ronald Reagan's birthday? I learned this in 4th grade and it stuck with me because its exactly a month after my mom's birthday. So every single February 6, I think of Ronald Reagan. What we remember from our childhoods is a very interesting topic...

So in the spirit of rebranding to appeal to the nowadays often picky eater in my midst, I called these Apple Pie Spice Muffins. Turned out that I needn't have worried-- the child ate 3 today.

The apple makes the muffins moist, which is a nice aspect of them and the streusel (which is really a glorified cinnamon and sugar mixture) makes them sweet without being overwhelmingly spicy. Or so I'm told.

Sometimes I like to make the pictures fancy for you, even if they are mostly taken on a phone lately. Its a little service I provide at no extra cost.

UPDATE: We made another batch of these the next day, my son was so keen on them. The second batch made a dozen muffins, easily. I also just blended up some oats and made oat flour and threw in some wheat germ.

I REALLY Like This Soup

SARAH'S HOT & SOUR GINGER SOUP
p. 77 GOV
Prepared 2/5/2010

This soup was extremely delicious and extremely easy. I can't BELIEVE this happened but sooooooomehow the ginger that was leftover from the other day went missing. Chapped my hide. But I used a bunch of dried. The soup was just the right amount of spiciness for me with the 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes but my poor kid...it was a little much for him. The pattern was Slurp Soup, Gulp Water. Slurp Soup, Gulp Water (repeat for several minutes). So tone it down if you have sensitive palates in the mix. The big chunks of tofu and put-as-much-as-you-care-to-we chose-a-lot of noodles were clutch. I look forward to making this again. Pre-schooler Daddy suggested it would be better with cabbage and broccoli. He doesn't really care much for tofu and mushrooms so that might be something to keep in mind.

Wheeew! Garlicky!

SUN-DRIED TOMATO HUMMUS
p. 134 GOV
Prepared 2/5/2010

This is your basic hummus. It is very rich and I think that it would be really good in a wrap or sandwich (we were eating it with crackers and corn chips). It calls for three cloves of garlic and by the time I noticed how gigantic the cloves of garlic were...well...my eager kitchen assistant had begun unpeeling them and ya know, sticking them in the food processor. Shawow, no vampires.

Also, my kitchen assistant was fascinated with the rehydration of the sundried tomatoes and decided he would season the water we used for the process with some herbs and spices and feed it to the dog. The perplexed dog lapped it up.