Vegan Candy Corn from Scratch!

I got the recipe from the lovely Urban Housewife.

I actually halved the recipe because I didn't have enough powdered sugar on hand, and I still ended up with lots of candy. I am pleased with the results. I haven't had candy corn in years because the commercial stuff is filthy, but this tastes just like I remember. I expected it to be a lot of work, but it took less than an hour to make, and I would say it was easy. And fun. This could be a nice Halloween tradition for us vegans.

So tonight we're going to snuggle up with some homemade candy corn and watch Nightmare on Elm Street, The Crazies, or The Innocents (I added them all to the Netflix instant queue and I'm going to let Andrew pick).

Pumpkin Pie in a Cast Iron Skillet

So, we had a darling little pie pumpkin on display in our kitchen for a week or so. And yesterday, at the World Market (where we bought our new couch), we came across a bag of Stauffer's Ginger Snaps (which are vegan). And I knew that the pumpkin and the ginger snaps must be brought together to make a pumpkin pie with a gingersnap crust. And I knew I had to do it right away. So, I saw Andrew off to work, promising pie upon his return home.

I began roasting the pumpkin: at 425degrees, sliced in half, goo and seeds removed, cut side down in a baking dish, with a little water, for about an hour)

But! I forgot! We don't have a pie pan! I was bummed when I realized this, but determined. This is where the cast iron skillet came in. Its a twelve incher, quite a bit bigger than a traditional pie pan. I knew that the recipe I planned to be used needed to be adjusted, but I couldn't quite double it because I only had one package of tofu. So I kinda made it up as I went along. I was pessimistic because I am usually a measurer and I usually have tough luck with pumpkin pies (they don't firm up or they're too rubbery or WHATEVER)...but, guess what? This pie turned out PERFECT. The husband said it was the best pumpkin pie he'd ever had.

Here's what I did:

I made the crust:

Ingredients
1 bag Stauffer's Ginger Snaps
1/3 cup Earth Balance

Directions
Crush the snaps. Melt the balance. bring them together. Press into the bottom of the skillet. Bake at 350degreesF for 5 minutes.

Then I made the Pumpkin Pie Filling:

Ingredients
1 14oz package of soft tofu (blended in a blender until smooth)
2 1/2 cups cups of pumpkin puree
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp molasses
3/4 tsp cornstarch

Directions
Cream the pumpkin and sugar.
Add salt, cornstarch, spices, molasses, and tofu
Pour into crust
Bake at 425degreesF for 15 minutes, then at 350 for 30 minutes
Cool and chill for at least 2 hours

Yumma Yumma

Fantastical Shopping List

I have been unemployed for almost a week (did I tell you I walked off the job?!?) and since we just spent a bunch of money on our new apartment (which is awesome), I have no money to spend on anything else. However, if I had a few hundred dollars lying around, I would buy this stuff.

So, I have had my eye on these shoes for about a year now. God, I want them. I don't usually wear heels (Andrew and I are the same height and I don't want to tower over him), but Poppy, by the entirely vegan shoe line Novacas, has just a small bit of heel. Very hot. They can be found here.




Now, we are definitely going to get this clock. Its great because you can position the numbers any way you like because your wall is the clock face!


Are these leggings not fantastic?


"I love white wine. And red. And rum."

Stay Tuned

We got married!

We moved to Chicago!

Andrew turned 24!

We welcomed another family member!


And the blog is reborn!

Bagels, Chili, Brownies, Ice Cream!

Lately I have gotten back into the habit of making bagels every few days or so.

But before making the bagels I made vegetable stock. We just saute up some onions and garlic and then add a bunch of kitchen scraps, like raw ends of vegetables and pieces we didn't cook with, that had been in the freezer. Add nine cups of water and bring the whole thing to a boil. Let it simmer for an hour with a couple bay leaves and some other spices and we have veggie stock. This whole technique came from the Vegan Soul Kitchen.

For dinner I made chili. First, I cooked some onion and green pepper in olive oil until soft. Then, minced garlic and jalapeno pepper were added. Last comes the really easy part. I added a big can of tomatoes and three cans of different beans. The key to great chili is lots of cumin. I garnished with a little green onion and Amber broke out the vegan sour cream. Also pictured is a cornbread biscuit from Vegan Brunch.



At some point during the day Amber made the best brownies we've ever had. Naturally we figured we had to have ice cream and caramel sauce on top of our warm brownies.

Coconut Banana Ice Cream

one banana
one can of coconut milk
1/3 cup rice milk (give or take)
pinch of salt
teaspoon vanilla
some agave nectar

For the ice cream, break the banana into a few chunks and put in blender. Add can of coconut milk, and rice milk. Blend until smooth adding rice milk if needed. Add salt and vanilla and blend. Add sweetener to taste. Pour into your ice cream maker and churn. Put in the freezer and let the ice cream get really cold while you prepare the caramel sauce.

We got the idea for the ice cream from a guy at our local health food store. Wonder if he too is a vegan.

Donuts!

Wow it's been a long time since our last post. Nothing much to report. Just made donuts!