Witch's Brew

Happy Halloween! I can't believe it's the end of October. This month was a whirlwind. I bring you witch's brew with a witch's finger to celebrate today and wrap up Vegan MoFo!

The soup is a cheesy broccoli soup. While I love all of the ingredients in this soup, the flavor left me wanting more. I'm not sure what it was, but it was definitely missing something. I googled a simple bread stick recipe and used this one. The flavor was great! I just added a sliced almond on the end for the fingernail.

Thank you all so much for the great feedback during Vegan Mofo, whether it was here, Facebook, or Twitter! I loved reading your thoughts and your experiences; it made Vegan MoFo that much more fun! 

Halloween 2011 Part 1

So if you didn't notice, I missed the past two days. Part of me is annoyed with myself because I typically don't like not meeting goals. The other part of me knows how crazy the past week has been, more so than usual, and this same part of me knows how much time I spent in the kitchen over the weekend, too. So forgive me, but I have Halloween treats to make it up to you.

My cousin Johnathan and two of his friends threw a Halloween party last night, and it was crazy! They did an amazing job of transforming the garage into a legitimately cool party space, complete with black lights and fog machines, and Mike played the best dance music all night. I made some treats, but between being busy preparing everything and my camera's recent bitchassness, I didn't get a ton of photos. In fact, some things didn't get photographed at all. Womp, womp. In addition to the s'more-pumpkin cupcakes, I made taco dip, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (with better results than the first go-round), black bean dip, and vanilla cupcakes.

Another Alice! And a Mad Hatter!

Halloween and Vegan MoFo posts wrap up tomorrow with a bewitched soup and pumpkin carving. How did you spend Halloween weekend?

What Does a Vegan Eat? Baltimore Edition

Disclaimer: I know I promised Halloween-inspired posts this week. I also know this is not Halloween-inspired in the least. I wanted to share this, though, in case you find yourself in Baltimore and in need of a delicious meal!

Say what you will about Baltimore, but vegans and vegetarians have it pretty decent out here. There are several veg-friendly restaurants, and it seems that the number of such restaurants is on the rise. While this is not at all comprehensive or representative of all that Baltimore has to offer (for that, check out VegBaltimore!), here's a look at some of my favorite places to eat!

Sticky Rice, Fells Point - A tiny Pan-Asian restaurant and bar. Sometimes the service is a little slow, and weekend nights are always packed, but the food is yummy! They have plenty of veg and non-veg options, including rice and noodle dishes and sushi.

Tofu Triangles

Mock Chicken Szechuan

Johnny Rad's, Fells Point - A pizza joint with amazing black bean hummus and great pizza!

El Gato, veganized

Mr. Chan, Pikesville - My favorite Chinese place, hands down. It's a bit of a drive from my house, but the food and service are always great! They pretty much know my order when they see me come in...

Warm Protein Salad

Great Sage, Clarksville - I am sad to report that I don't have any pictures to share with you, but don't let this deter you! This all-vegan restaurant/bar is about 30 minutes outside of the city, near Columbia, but the drive is so worth it! The food is amazing, and the staff is always wonderfully friendly and helpful. Where else would the guy working the bar let two seven-year-olds sample three different smoothies before making up their minds?!

Paper Moon Diner, Remington - A funky diner that has amazing food! They are open late at night, too, which I appreciate when I'm three sheets to the wind and need food.

Life on the Pita

Amanda's Vegan Wrap

One World Cafe, Charles Village - A great all veg cafe! Since this place is totally meat free, they have tons of vegan options, too, including brunch! They have several great dinner meals, too.

Vegan Pancakes

Where's your favorite place to dine in Charm City? Any recommendations I should add to my list of places to check out?

Pumpkin Smoothie

The flash on my camera has gone haywire, so please excuse this terrible picture. I've got leftover pumpkin sitting in the fridge, so I decided to make a smoothie this evening. I've seen a bunch of different recipes floating around, so I settled for this combination of recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole bananas (frozen)
• ¼ cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ cup non-dairy milk
• a dash of ground ginger
• 1 tsp pure maple syrup
• graham cracker, crumbled

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whiz until smooth, adding more non-dairy milk as necessary to achieve proper consistency. Add more pumpkin or spice to taste. Garnish with crumbled graham cracker.

Ridiculously easy, right?

Pumpkin Brownies

I bring you yet another pumpkin baked good. At this point, it's a miracle I haven't turned into a pumpkin. I saw these on Oh She Glows and wanted to give them a try. I refused to let these sit around my kitchen, tempting me with their dark deliciousness, so I brought some into work. Omni Mom did not like the texture, but just about everyone else said they loved them! And for what it's worth, I think they're pretty good, too. ;]

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Brownie Layer:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
• 3/4 cup white kamut flour (or white)
• 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
• 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Pumpkin Pie Layer:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp almond milk
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
• Shaved chocolate, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a muffin tin.

2. For brownie layer: In a stand mixer or by hand, mix together the coconut oil, pumpkin, vanilla, and sugar until blended well. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking, soda, sea salt and mix until incorporated. Take about 2 tbsp of the mixture and place in muffin tin. Wet fingers and spread around evenly so it is smooth. I made 8 large cupcakes and 2 small ones.

Brownie batter.

3. For pumpkin layer: In a large bowl mix together the pumpkin, vanilla, and milk. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well until all clumps are gone. Now add approx 1.5-2 tbsp of the pumpkin pie mixture on top of each brownie in the pan. Garnish with grated chocolate (I used a lemon zester to grate the chocolate).

Layering the pumpkin.

4. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Remove from oven and cool for 20-30 minutes and then move to the fridge to chill for 1.5 hours.

Ready for the oven!

5. Serves approx 8-10. I made 8 large cupcakes and 2 small ones (for kids). Enjoy with vegan vanilla ice cream.

This is what I did at work the other day. I love working with pre-k, but especially around holidays. For some of my students, the activities we do, like carving pumpkins, are the first time they experience something like this. And for most of them, regardless of their previous experiences, this is when they start forming memories of this sort of thing. It's really fun to be a part of it, and seeing how excited they get over things like this makes holiday activities even more enjoyable for me. 

Stuffed Biscuits

Halloween, hands down, is one of my favorite holidays. I love absolutely everything about it, and it also happens to be Dakota's birthday. I've got loads of Halloween-inspired recipes coming up this week and I'm super excited to share them with you!

First up are stuffed biscuits. I can't remember how I stumbled across this recipe, but I immediately fell in love with it and wanted to try it. I didn't have any kids to share this cute and fun food with... but my excitement over this more than makes up for it. I followed this recipe pretty much to the tee, but added some baby carrots and a stalk of celery to the onions while sauteing. Yum!

Cutting faces was tough; I was lazy with some of them.

Now it's Monday Night and the Ravens are on MNF. Are you ready for some football?!?!

Dakota's ready.

Pumpkin Spiced Donuts

Today has been a nice, lazy Sunday so far. I wanted a yummy breakfast with minimal work. These donuts fit the bill perfectly. The recipe comes from Oh She Glows, and yields 12 regular sized donuts. Mom, Matthew, and Mandi tried them, and everyone said they were yummy, too!

You'll need:

• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar may work)
• 6 tbsp non-dairy milk
• 1/2 cup fresh or canned pureed pumpkin
• 1/4 cup organic cane sugar (or white)
• 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tbsp lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter substitute), melted
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon + 1/2 tsp ginger, + 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 1.75 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

Cinnamon Sugar:

• 1/4 cup Earth Balance (or other butter sub), melted (approx estimate only)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two mini doughnut pans or two regular sized doughnut pans with Earth Balance (or other butter substitute).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, milk, pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, brown sugar (sift if clumpy), and melted Earth Balance (or other butter sub). 
3. Sift in in the dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, and flours). Mix until just combined. I didn’t sift as I was lazy.
4. Using a ‘zip-lock’ baggie or pastry bag, spoon the batter into the bag and then secure it with the zip lock or rubber band. Twist the bag slightly and then cut off a hole at the corner to ‘pipe’ out the batter. Pipe the dough around the circle and gently flatten down with slightly wet fingers to smooth. Repeat.
5. Bake  for 10-12 minutes at 350F or until they gently spring back when touched. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully using a butter knife to remove. Place on cooling rack for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Cinnamon Sugar: Melt Earth Balance in a small bowl and dip the cooled doughnuts into butter one at a time. Transfer the dipped doughnut into a bag with the cinnamon sugar and shake until coated thoroughly. Doughnuts keep for 2-3 days.

In other, non-food news: meet Squirt!

Two friends of mine found three stray kittens under their shed yesterday. Most shelters were already closed for the day, and not sure what to do with them, they called me. Despite how insanely cute they were, I was unable to keep any. Luckily, though, Matthew took one. He's been looking for a kitten for several weeks now, so this was perfect! Squirt is super cute and sweet; I'll be sad to see him leave today.

Friday Morning Surprise!

I'm closing in on my four-year vegeversary, and in that time, I've experienced mixed responses. Some people ask me if I want a cheeseburger (or bacon, or a hotdog), which I think is completely unfunny and also unoriginal. You're not the first asshole to make that remark, but good try. And I don't go around asking you if you're ready for the heart attack that's probably coming your way. Most people accept it, and that's it. This is preferable. I'm not asking anyone to change what they do, and more importantly, I'm not asking anyone to defend themselves and their choices. Mutual respect, even if we disagree, is ideal in just about any situation. Once in a while, though, people surprise me and take a leap into veganism, and do so for no other reason than for me.

I don't mean that in a self-centered, "everyone cater to me" way, because I honestly have very low expectations in any situation involving food and people beyond a select few. Omni Mom has been the most brave and daring, dabbling in vegan baking more than once. My Aunt Corry also always makes sure she has something I can eat when we visit her, which is reason #8264 I love her. Mandi has started experimenting with things here and there, too.

Mandi, yours truly, Aunt Corry.

All of the time and effort and thought put into making food for me is so deeply and sincerely appreciated. Because food is not just food. Food has the potential to speak volumes about who we are, how we think, and what we do.

This point of this post isn't to wax philosophical, though. The point of this is just to say: I appreciate the thought, energy, and effort people put into making food for me, probably more than anyone realizes.

That's why when I came into work today and saw a dozen vegan cupcakes on my desk, I was totally surprised! Best Friday morning ever!!! My co-worker/friend Sabrina is pretty fabulous, which isn't shocking because so is her mama. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Her mom wanted to "try something different" and decided to try vegan cupcakes for me.

How awesome and sweet and nice and YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't tell you what recipe was used or speak to their preparation. I can, however, tell you that they were delicious and made a great breakfast alternative today!

If you're reading: thanks, Mel!!!!!! :D

Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is essentially how I judged this recipe and deemed it worthy of sharing with you:

• easy? Yes.
• yummy? Most definitely.
• ingredients easily found at supermarket? You got it. (I had most everything in my pantry, actually. Win!)

And here we are.

You'll need:

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 large acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14 ounce) can veg broth
• 1 cup uncooked couscous

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Arrange squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, or until tender. Dissolve the sugar in the melted butter. Brush squash with the butter mixture, and keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, celery, and carrots, and cook 5 minutes. Mix in the garbanzo beans and raisins. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper, and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.

Pour the vegetable broth into the skillet, and mix in the couscous. Cover skillet, and turn off heat. Allow couscous to absorb liquid for 5 minutes. Stuff squash halves with the skillet mixture to serve.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

My two favorite cousins are hosting a Halloween party later this month. A friend of ours asked me to make some food because I "always come up with the most delicious vegan treats." While his comment was flattering, he obvious doesn't know me well: I'd already bookmarked about 10 vegan Halloween recipes, and a whole host of other recipes that I think I could veganize.

I'm kind of paranoid with feeding other people though, because while I'll eat something slightly overcooked or something that looks a hot mess but tastes good, I've got high standards when it comes to feeding other people. So I've started testing out the new recipes in anticipation of Halloween!

I made pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies from Very Vegan Holiday (the most amazing holiday-themed blog!!) over the weekend. Prior to making these, I had a mini-lesson in types of flours, because I didn't realize just how many types of flours there are. The extent of my flour use was basically all-purpose and whole wheat. Pretty limited once I took a good look at the baking aisle in Whole Foods. This is when I accidentally bought baking flour when I wanted all-purpose flour, too. When I got home, I figured baking flour would be fine since I was baking cookies.

Not the case.

 I don't know if it's that's how the recipe is supposed to turn out, or if the flour had something to do with it, but the cookies had a serious cake-like texture. They weren't bad, and in fact were quite flavorful, but the texture was not right. And that's exactly why I test out new recipes before feeding them to people. 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, cream together the sugars, shortening, applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla until light and well-combined.
- Mix in the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips
- Drop by teaspoons onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until set.
- Let cookies cool on a rack.