Wednesday

db is really the creative cook in our house. He can take any ingredients and make a fabulous meal out of it. (If only he had a blog! Naw...it would just be about hockey, and maybe shrooming.) On the other hand, I like recipes. We have dozens of cookbooks that I like to use regularly. I have a few standbys that I often return to, but when I have a handful of ingredients that I want to use, I'll turn to my cookbooks to guide the way. And what a selection of vegan cookbooks there are out there in the world, which is a great thing because it means more people are interested and more people are cooking vegan. Hurray! 

Yesterday, I had broccoli as my main ingredient that I wanted to use. I turned to Veganomicon to whip up these broiled polenta with broccoli mixed in. After putting all of my energy into the polenta, I put together a quick mixed greens salad with radicchio and raspberry vinaigrette with a healthy sprinkle of hemp seeds.

 Earlier in the day (I had the day off), I had time to bake another selection from the Flying Apron's Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking Book.

ginger wheel cookies 

I skipped the wheel spoke part with the fork tine making the pattern and just opted to sprinkle generously with sugar before baking. These are soft and chewy cookies. Very tasty.

Okay so I need to work on my decorating skills. In other words, I need to invest in some sort of decorating tools to apply icings and glazes. These were really yummy though.
Yes it's another recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra-Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. This recipe is called "Carrot Raisin Spice Chewies," and they taste like carrot cake in cookie form. I used currents instead of raisins because that's what I had on hand, and they have bits of coconut and walnut in them, and are spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; the grated carrot in the recipe brings it all together. 

Because I'm eager to move on to the next recipe, I don't know when I'll come back to this one. When I do,  I hope I have some decorating skills to speak of.

I also thought I'd end with a picture of Gigi because I haven't posted enough cat pictures lately. She's returned to this basket that she hasn't slept in since we moved into our new place, which is almost a year ago now. Who knows why she decided to sleep in it again? She has a few choice spots around the apartment. The basket she doesn't use as much, but whenever I can't find her I know she must be there. When she was a kitten, she was able to stretch out fully and still be contained in the basket. Aw my little kitten has grown up.

She's grown a bit hasn't she?

some food highlights of the week

Butternut squash and parsnip soup was on the menu on the night that we had the wind storm. It was a miserable day being cold, rainy, and extremely windy. Stanley Park was closed as was the Lions Gate bridge. Our backyard was scattered with small branches that had blown from the trees. It's quite something to watch those very tall trees sway back and forth in the wind. The wind blew right through me, and I felt like it would take hours to get warm again. I needed to make something quick and warming. We also had a butternut squash that had been sitting on the counter for a couple of weeks. Soup is such a simple meal to put together and is so rewarding.

More cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. These are Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies. I have perhaps an unrealistic goal of baking every cookie in this book. There are 100 recipes. I've now made 9 recipes from this book. Hmm. It could take a while. db figured out that it might take me 2 years to make every recipe. I think I can do it in less. He may have been saying that to see if I would bake more cookies more often since it's his favorite sweet treat.

I'm also trying the gluten free flour mix from the book to make my cookies so I can enjoy them without too much worry. These were loaded with chocolate chips and cocoa so they were very chocolatey.

Okay these aren't mine. I'm not a maraschino cherry fan so that's one sign that I didn't make these (no offense to the cupcake maker though. They do make them look beautiful). Another indication would be that I could never frost and decorate a cupcake to make it look so beautiful. I guess a third give-away would be the packaging. They are packaged in a take-out container.
These were chocolate (note the past tense because they didn't last long) cupcakes with vanilla icing. Actually, I would call them a Black Forest cupcake because there was a cherry filling in the middle.

They were very generously given to me from the baker. She came into the store yesterday to load up on some vegan goodies, and mentioned that she'd just come from the market. I found out that she goes to a few markets on the weekend and sells vegan sweets including cupcakes. She asked me if I liked chocolate. That's an easy one to answer. Then she dashed out to her car and came back with 2 containers of cupcakes. She also gave me some mini chocolate cupcakes with a mint frosting that I shared with customers in the store. It was so kind of her. I got her card that has her website and reads, "Sweet Delights from the kitchen of the Vegan Vixen." I think I'll be seeking out which market she's at on the weekends, and try to make it to one. We have the best customers.

a whole lotta food

I was scanning through my ridiculous amount of food photos and couldn't leave out my cookies!

These are called Lazy Samoas from my favorite cookie book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. What could make these cookies better?

Why chocolate, of course!

These were not only fun to make, but are also very tasty. They are chock full of toasted coconut (2 cups to be exact), dipped in chocolate, and then have a little more chocolate drizzled across the top. Since I used unsweetened coconut and dark vegan baking chocolate, they are not overly sweet.

Another success from our kitchen was inspired by our slow cooker. We got an awesome slow cooker with our rewards points. It's one with a timer that automatically switches into warm mode when it's done cooking Now that I'm working until 7 in the evening, and not getting home until 8, I can make something in the morning and let it slow cook all day.

This recipe is called "Almost Irish Stew" from my Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook, which actually is all vegan recipes.
I don't usually make stews, but this was flavourful and easy to put together. It's definitely a keeper.

Now onto brunch...

Sunday I made omelettes. Yes it's true, vegan omelettes are possible. I had a lot of silken tofu to use up, and I was planning on making a fritatta until I saw the omelette recipe in my Vegan Brunch book. It looked so easy, I had to try it.

I filled them with sauteed mushrooms and collard green. When I folded them together, I added a little Daiya cheese. They were delicious! They actually surpassed my expectations of tastiness.

I don't know what made me do it, but I cut of a corner and put it between two pieces of toast with some ketchup, making a little omelette sandwich. Then I remember the fried egg sandwiches my mom made me when I was a kid. I loved them. I had a nostalgic moment with this omelette sandwich as it tasted just like those sandwiches mom use to make me for a snack.

This is what comfort food is for me. It's nostalgia.

Food from this past week in whoville

Almond cookies. This is a Veganomicon recipe. I need to adjust it a little since I substituted the all purpose flour with some of my other flours (oat, rice, spelt). I'm still learning, and am determined to come up with a perfect cookie flour blend.

Two books arrived in the store this week, Flying Aprons Gluten-Free Vegan Baking Book & Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I've already mentioned the latter of these two, and I was certain that I would buy that book when it arrived, but then...the Flying Apron's book arrived. It looks like such a great book with so many delicious looking recipes.

The next time we go to Seattle, we're definitely going to the Flying Apron Bakery.

Another delicious item from our kitchen this week was a pumpkin risotto. I absolutely love risotto. I love making it, as well as eating it. This recipe is one of my favorites because the pumpkin makes the risotto so creamy. Now that we have daiya in our lives, we can also add a richer cheesey flavour, bringing it all together.

vegan cookies

chocolate spice cookies fresh from the oven

Some dark cocoa, cayenne, and a cinnamon sugar topping make these the best cookies I've baked in a long time.

Where did I get the recipe? Where else? The PPK! Isa Chandra-Moskowitz even has a video of her making the Mexican hot chocolate snickerdoodle.

The rich chocolaty sweetness with the spicy was such a nice combination, and they had an excellent sugary crunch from the topping.  (Notice that I speak about these cookies in the past tense. Yup, they're gone).

I'm very excited about the new cookie book from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. As soon as our little store gets it in stock, I'm bringing it home, and will start baking asap.

It looks like a nice match for their Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World book, which appealed to me, but I knew if I bought it I wouldn't use it as much as it deserves. I like cupcakes occasionally, but cookies are what really appeal to me, so this is the book for me.

If you usually get cookies from me at Christmas, guess what's coming this year?