Sugarbone

VEGAN MOUNDS! ALMOND JOY!

2011-04-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

As you know, Erin McKenna, of Babycakes NYC, has a new book out called Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes from Donuts to Snickerdoodles. I was sold after watching this adorable promo video, and after Andrew made the recipe for Mounds. This is a melt in your mouth confection reminiscent of the non-vegan version. Obviously, these mounds are much healthier, and taste much better. I can't even tell you how good these are. It's outrageous!

Next time, we'll store them in a heart-shaped box.

Meeting Up

2011-04-05T08:48:00.001-07:00

Andrew and I went to our first Vegan Chicago Meetup event last weekend. It was a bowling event at Timber Lanes. It was also a potluck and there was a Chocolate Inspirations tasting.

I made the old standby-vegan mac n cheese:

1 1/2 cups of plain soy milk
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil
1 box of macaroni
1 dollop of mustard (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Boil water in a big pot for the pasta.

Blend all ingredients sans pasta in a blender (you can also mix by hand).

Once pasta is cooked, drain it, dump it in a big pan, and pour the cheesy sauce over it.

"Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly browned and crispy about 15 minutes but not too crispy because that is gross."

To give credit where it's due, I tweaked this from a vegweb.com recipe which I would link to, but I can't find it anymore :(

I've tried numerous vegan mac n cheese recipes at restaurants and such, and this is by far the tastiest, and it is a very popular potluck dish.

We also made some Zesty Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Sweet Lemon Glaze-a spectacular Sporkonline.com recipe for some seriously moist and lemony cakes. These were not as popular for some reason, so we had plenty to take home with us. Fine with me!

OK, so back to the event. Andrew didn't want to go. Neither of us are social people, so we were both a bit nervous but there was no pressure. When we walked in, we were basically told that the first four lanes were Vegan Meetup designated, and "it's a party." We loaded our plates, sat down to eat, and immediately met some people who became our bowling partners. I won the first game, and came in third in the second game-which might be Heineken's fault. I'm no good at bowling under the influence.

We took home some Chocolate Inspirations Cinnamon Toast Toffee and Peanut Butter Pillows (like a vegan Butterfinger candy bar in bark form). OMG.

All in all, it was a good time, and Andrew told me that he was glad I made him go.

PB & Pumpkin Vegan Dog Treats Recipe

2011-02-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

We're fostering a pit bull puppy. Her name is Ginger and she is a handful! Chews everything, barks, pees on the couch (my beautiful couch!), plays too rough... We're trying to train her against these behaviors and instill in her some manners so's she can find a permanent home. Of course, dog treats are necessary for dog training. She loves these.

Ingredients
· 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
· 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
· 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
· 2 tablespoons peanut butter
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, whisk flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water until frothy.
3. Mix together the flax mixture, flour, pumpkin, peanut butter, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add water as needed to help make the dough workable, but the dough should be dry and stiff. Roll the dough to a 3/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes.
3. Bake in preheated oven until hard and golden brown-about 40 minutes.

And here's Ginger enjoying a treat:

Vegan Candy Corn from Scratch!

2010-10-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-01-28T21:19:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-21T16:54:00.000-08:00

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

You Will Make It only if you run

2009-09-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

I may have been too busy with kittens (below) and school to post but haven't been too busy to cook. Or more accurately, I haven't been too busy for Andrew to cook. I'm a lucky lady.

We picked blueberries in the rain and it was beautiful. Andrew made some buckwheat pancakes the next morning and this whole berry sauce which was incredible. It made our lips and teeth blue too, which we loved.

He ordered some Soy Curls from http://www.veganstore.com/ and recreated the barbequed soy curls we had in Portland. And he made corn bread, like, from real corn.

While he was ordering the soy curls, he thought he'd surprise me with a bag of Dandies Marshmallows (best marshies ever). Yay!!! I tried to copy something I saw on http://www.letsgetsconed.blogspot.com/ and chopped a few marshmallows in half and added them to some brownie batter and then in the last few minutes of baking, I tossed some more marshies on top and voila! SMORE frickin BROWNIES!

Today was Andrew's 23rd birthday. He's growing up so fast. I made these apple cider cupcakes (recipe slightly modified from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). I frosted them with cinnamon cream cheese and and a little apple butter swirled on top. Fall is here. It's official.

Awww...don't they look appetizing? We're fostering these troublemakers right now.

Vegan donuts, I love you.

2009-08-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

I think that every once in a while, a good person deserves to buy a pack of peanut butter Newman O's and eat them all within like 2 hours, tops.

Anyway...

Oh yes, donuts.

Oops. I mean DONUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish I had the time to make donuts everyday. These were so crispy on the outside, so soft and melt in your mouthy inside. The recipe for these can be found in My Sweet Vegan. I am also anxious to try the donut recipes from the current issue of Vegetarian Times. Check it out: French Toast Donuts. Apple Cider Donuts. Good Lord. But I need a handy donut pan which I can't see myself buying anytime soon (the tuition! It aches!)

And a couple of this week's dinners:

This is going to sound lame but we really just started buying beets this summer. I don't know why-they are wonderful. I like them plain or with a little maple syrup/tamari mixture drizzled over them. The kale is from our garden. We have been living off of these sausages since we bought Vegan Brunch. The bread was homeade (by Andrew), brushed with olive oil and rubbed with a clove of garlic. Rustic.

Pesto pasta. The lemon basil is from the garden as are the tomatoberries (cherry tomatos shaped like strawberries-and ohboy are they sweet!)

July Schmuly!

2009-08-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my family came over to celebrate my mom's birthday which was a few days ago and baby Brennan's first birthday, which was yesterday, but had already been celebrated. So the birthdays kinda cancelled each other out. Anyway, Andrew took pictures.

So...everyone showed up before we were ready because we spent a good part of our afternoon searching for skewers...we were dashing about the kitchen and grill like mad. Me making the marinade for the veggies, Andrew chopping, me making the ice cream, Andrew making the dough for a flatbread that he would later "bake" on the grill, me making cupcakes, Andrew lighting the charcoal... anyway, look how pretty these skewers turned out. They really stimulated the old taste buds too. The recipe was from the August issue of Vegetarian Times .

Baked beans! I threw this together, don't even remember how exactly...hm, sauteed some onions, added them to the beans, mixed in some tomato paste, maple syrup, onion powder, molasses...yeah, that's about it. Never made this before but it worked out nicely.Raspberries and blueberries, fresh from the farmer's market. Mandarin oranges, fresh from a can. When in doubt, make a fruit salad.

We Fell in Love with the Place...

2009-07-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

Our hotel room at the Jupiter. My mom thought the mural was a window. What a loon.

Our first night in Portland-We walked to Hungry Tiger Too and I ordered the corn dog basked while Andrew got the BLT (both vegan-a course) and then we shared. It was a satisfying meal after a day of waking up at 4am and then trains and planes and more trains. Tater tots are truly comfort food. This was the first time I had them in waaay to0 long.

We were so excited about Voo Doo Doughnuts. It was neat inside and there were people filming something there-a camera's dolly set up outside the place...anyway, the doughnuts! We had the girl pick a dozen for us-lots of vegan options they have. My fave was the one with the purple pixie stick like sugar on top, it was all grape-y and raised deliciousness. There was also a chick-o-stick topped doughnut and a voo doo doughnut a course-with cherry red filling and pretzel pins.

Stumptown coffee is truly perfect!!!!!! Wish we'd have brought some home with us...

At Rocco's Pizza they appeared to be only selling pizza by the slice. We were hesitant to order because we like to indulge ourselves on whole pies and didn't think one slice would be enough food after a day off walking around the city, riding the streetcars, and hours at Powell's. The vegan pizza is called The Compost Pile-which wasn't the most enticing name but this stuff was great-had just about every veggie on it and I was full about halfway into this.

We had been dreaming about this place for so long and finally we are here! A vegan strip mall, kids! Food Fight was just as awesome as I expected, this is Andrew outside of the grocery (he was chewing in most of the pics I took of him-a good thing!) We got some Dandies marshmallows (that were snacked on during our travels and later melted into amazing rice krispie treats). Sweetpea Bakery was our breakfast stop, got some Stumptown coffee a course and some muffins-we were most surprised by the nutritional yeast shaker at the cream counter-maybe that was what made us realize that we had to LIVE in Portland. We also went to Herbivore Clothing where Andrew picked up a hoodie and I got a T-shirt dress with an elephant on it that says "I'm Vegan and I Love You" across the chest. We didn't go to the tattoo parlor...maybe next time.

Our last full day in Portland was spent on our hotel-rented bicycles and I seriously rode to the end of my physical capacity (so many hills!) We were weak and sweaty as we hobbled our way up and down Alberta looking for an ATM machine...not in that bohemian neighborhood. We did eventually find a health food store that let us get cash back on our purchase so then we crawled over to The Homegrown Smoker BBQ, which was basically a big smoker in a corner lot with a couple of picnic tables. We shared this meal of Tempeh "ribs" and soy curls and coleslaw and macaroni and cornbread and went back for some barbequed beans. The picture does it no justice because I was playing with the functions on my camera when we took this...but mmmmmm.

So now we really want to live in Portland. Nice people, vegan food, mild winters, beautiful landscape, art and culture, perfect coffee, vintage shops on every block, serious farmer's markets...I'm going to cry.

Food to eat!

2009-07-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

Didn't I mention this mac and whatever? (I say mac and cheese but I realize it's not cheese and words like chreese or cheeze are just silly.)

okra from this recipe:http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8908.0 but I did not deep fry it- just a little saute action. The chickpeas were influenced by a chickpea salad that the Earthen Jar serves, it's just chickpeas and peas and onions and a little cumin and we have sooo much dill so I had to throw some of that in as well.

And more from Vegan Brunch! (what did we ever do without it?)

Andrew has been making these bagels regularly. We use them for Tofurkey sandwiches and as toasted buttery goodness in the morning. We eat the hell out of em.

Vegan omelet?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just made these. Just. For the first time. I have a feeling that I'll be making them all the time. Really, really, really, really, really good.

Cough Cough

2009-06-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have a nasty cold.

That means chili. Last night Andrew made some and I had like 3 bowls because it made my throat feel so good and it tasted great. I don't know how he did it but it was smoky and hot and beany.

On a rainy day there are biscuits and tea. Sweet Cornmeal Coconut Butter Biscuits and tea. Oh these were good. We ate them all within a day.

The recipe is from The Vegan Soul Kitchen which I bought recently along with Vegan Brunch. We love these books, the recipes look amazing and so far have been decadent.

And this morning for breakfast...Okay, our waffle iron gets a decent amount of use (usually making pumpkin waffles) but this morning Andrew made yeast waffles from Vegan Brunch. They were sweet and crispy and different but still good in that way that makes you feel a little bad about eating dessert for breakfast. But yum. And no, I didn't feel bad, I just made that up.

Lot's of cooking the past couple of days. For din-din, Andrew made beer battered tofu (Vegan Brunch) which was like eating in a bar-something we haven't done since pre-veg times. It was greasy goodness.

And the next day...

SOUP. Andrew made this, of course, as he's still been taking care of me while I'm feeling blah. It was made with kale from our abundant garden and leeks from the farmer's market...he made the croutons from his homemade bread. This soup seriously made me feel better. I'm getting used to relaxing.

eleveneleven

2009-05-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Foodwise, what's been going on? Andrew made pizza recently. I had my fam over for dinner. Cooked some Shepard's Pie (excellent recipe from the Chicago Diner cookbook) and some macaroni and cheesi, which was so good!!! gotta give it up for this recipe I found on vegweb.com: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8295.0 My 8 year old brother and 6 year old niece actually ate it! They didn't know that it wasn't real cheese! So good (and guilt free as no suffering went into it). I made strawberry shortcake for dessert and topped it with some coconut whipped topping and Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream. But none of that was photographed.

Last night I made some peanut butter bars. They aren't what I expected but they're not bad at all. Chewy like rice krispie treats and very rich.

Recipe also from vegweb, modified very slightly:

1 cup brown rice syrup

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter

1 bag vegan chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix peanut butter and oatmeal in medium bowl with hands. Boil rice syrup & sugar in a medium saucepan and then pour over oatmeal mixture. Stir quickly to combine. Press into greased 13x9 inch pan. Pour chocolate chips on top. Bake for 1 minute. Cool. Cut into bars, obviously.

Today began our 3 day weekend and what did we do? We drove a couple of hours to IKEA!

Bought a couple of these chairs...

And a shelving unit that we're going to squeeze betweet the stove and coffee cart and fill with our cookbooks, which will free up some much needed space in our book case (speaking of books, I'm reading So Big by Edna Ferber right now. It's amazing, I can't pull myself away. It won the pulitzer in 1924. Not that that means anything these days but I guess they knew their stuff back then. It's a very good book so far.)

We also got these lovely pillow...

and some other cool stuff.

We were in Canton, Mi and we couldn't be so close to Ann Arbor and not go to the Earthen Jar...so with our bellies roaring we drove another 15 miles. Oh, it's the best. I got vegan lasagna and spicy okra and squashy curry and black eyed peas with indian goodness about them. Drool.

Long day. Good day.

And I recieved my Lush order today so maybe I'll go take a bath in Vanilla Fountain.

Michigan Maple Walnut Cookies!

2009-04-30T13:57:00.001-07:00

I tweaked this, made it a bit healthier and veganized it from an omni recipe, it turned out fantastic, these were buttery and maple is my favorite flavor in the world...oh god, the frosting... Andrew said this was one of the best things I've ever made.
Cookies:
1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup coursly chopped walnuts

Frosting:
3 Tbsp vegan cream cheese
2 Tbsp earth balance, softened
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted, to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees beat earth balance and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in maple syrup. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture. On low speed, beat in oats. Stir in walnuts.

2. Drop dough by rounded Tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes or until cookies are a soft golden brown. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.

3. For frosting, beat cream cheese and earth balance in small bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in maple syrup. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cooled cookies; top with toasted walnuts.

SO GOOD.

Moonshadow

2009-04-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Been busy. And working so much that I feel like I'm going to have a mental collapse. Too many idiots in this town. Retail crushes your soul.

So...there was one weekend where we went to Chicago. Did lots of fun stuff. As you can see. One of the best things was touring Graceland cemetary though. Way cool. Oh, and we went to The Chicago Diner and I tried the biscuits and gravy and the tempeh hash (which Andrew later replicated-his was even better) and pancakes. I eat too many pancakes.

And then there was the weekend at the water park resort thingie in Ohio...kinda crazy. Spent about 10 hours driving. Ate cereal all weekend. Complained about the gazillions of children at the place. Had a decent time.

And other things that have happened lately:

CAT FOSTERING!

CUPCAKES!
YOGA! RICKY GERVAIS! SMOOTHIES! SHOPPING! PLANTING VEGGIES! AMAZING WEATHER! WALKING DOWNTOWN AT MIDNIGHT TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THE SIDEWALK CHALK FLOOD! ASPARAGUS! SLEEPING! THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL!

everything's gonna be alright, baby

2009-03-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

The kitty doesn't live here anymore...we miss her lots.
Someone came to pick her up two days ago. Her name was Melissa and she already had a cat and she has two children so that's good, little kitty will get the attention that she requires. She said they live on 2 acres of land and the kitty will be able to go outside when she wants to which is good because I think she was getting cabin fever. She was going to go to the pet store and buy cat toys and a pink collar. She was so excited to come see the cat that she took the day off of work and came like, first thing in the morning. I think that the kitty's new home is a good one.

Skyler cam over and spent Friday night with us, we went to Andrew's dad's and watched Pinnochio-I fell asleep at the whale part. Then last night we watched Over the Hedge which is a really sweet movie-great for animal lovers, and Ben Folds does the soundtrack, I highly recommend it.

Also-I finally bought Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and made the S'mores cupcakes! so fun and so delish!

Speaking of cupcakes, Andrew and I are going to do some yoga together. Oh, did I tell you that he made a table? He made our kitchen table! It's beautiful! And sturdy!

random

2009-03-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

I love the kitty. I'll be sad to see her go. We have no definate takers yet, but that's because I've been so protective. I posted a thing on Craigslist for her and got 4 responses...It's just that would rather a woman take her, and I'd rather have her fixed beforehand. I wish I could keep her.

Andrew made risotto tonight. It had leeks in it and italian "sausage." Sooo creamy. Oh my Goshalosh.

This book looks really cool.

I'm glad that there's going to be a children's book on the topic. I can't wait until it's available.
There are so many vegalicious books coming out this year!!!

loves everybody. loved by nobody.

2009-03-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

I saved a cat. What a hero I am. She had been running around Rachel's neighborhood for a week after her caregiver kicked her outside, deciding she was too big a responsibility. I had to try to help the poor thing, so skinny, so sweet. She's on my lap right now, she needs constant attention. We've only had her for a day but I am frusterated already, nobody wants a cat. Everyone is trying to get rid of their cats. I just feel bad, we're not supposed to have pets...rambling I am.

Everyone's Talking bout a Revolution!

2009-03-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

Just watched The U.S. vs. John Lennon. Good stuff. Motivating at a time when I can't stop thinking about activism. But all those hippies in the fur coats shouting for peace is kind of a contradiction in my book. Anyway, I ordered The Best of John Lennon on half.com even though I keep promising myself that I'm going to quit with all this internet shopping...oh, who needs money?
So speaking of activism, I got PETA to send me a half hour program (or series of programs) exposing fur farms and factory farmes and cruelty that can so easily be prevented and I took the DVD to my GRTV and asked them to play it on the local channel...didn't think they would, this is stuff that might be considered "graphic" but they are going to play it on these dates at these times:
Wed04/15/09 06:30 PMGRTV
Mon04/06/09 09:30 PMGRTV
Sat03/28/09 11:00 AMGRTV
Fri03/20/09 01:30 PM
And somebody is bound to see it and who knows? Maybe it will change their lives?

FOOD-wise, tonight we made barbequed tofu burritos...mmm. Just sauteed the tofu in some olive oil at high heat turning constantly for about 10 minutes, added cumin and some pre-made rice, added some barbeqe sauce, rolled it in a burrito thingie with some chopped red onions and chopped celery, ate two so fast, but you've got to. There's that feeling that if you put a burrito down that it will fall apart when you pick it up again.

Then Andrew made a rhubarb/blueberry cobbler which was amazing, jeezus. poured a bit of cream on it and enjoyed it with coffee. That stuff makes you feel alive!

Meyer may I?

2009-03-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

This morning Andrew and I went to the Meyer May House. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909 and was renovated to historacal accuracy in the 80s and given to the community. So it's a museum now and it was really cool to tour it...it's only a few blocks from where we live which is another cool thing. It's amazing. So much detail and lighting and the windows are gorgeous and my favorite things might've been the window seats although the dinner table was great, on each corner was a lamp post sorta thing with a plant under the light, difficult to explain but the guide called it a "room within a room." Apparently the garden is something so we might go back in the summer to check it out.

So later in the day the two of us made some zuchinni bread together (The Joy of Vegan Baking), it was awesome, can't get enough of it. Then I made dinner which was Orange-Chipotle Glazed Tofu (vegetariantimes.com)

Serves 6
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs. rice vinegar or cider vinegar
2 tsp. minced seeded chipotle chile in adobo sauce, drained, plus 2 tsp. adobo sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
2 14-oz. pkgs. extra-firm tofu, drained and patted dry
1 Tbs. vegetable oil

Directions
Whisk together orange juice, maple syrup, vinegar, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, and salt in small bowl. Cover, and chill.
Cut each piece of tofu crosswise into 8 slices, each about 1/2-inch thick. Place tofu in large shallow glass dish. Add 1/2 cup orange juice mixture and oil to tofu, and turn to coat. Cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours, turning from time to time. Reserve remaining orange juice mixture, covered, in refrigerator.
Preheat broiler. Line large baking sheet with foil, and coat with cooking spray. Place tofu on prepared baking sheet. Combine marinade and reserved orange juice mixture in small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook over medium heat 12 to 15 minutes, or until syrupy. Keep warm.
Broil tofu 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until golden, basting occasionally with orange juice mixture. Serve with remaining sauce.

if you dig on vegan food come over to my work i'll have 'em cook you something that you really love coz I like you

2009-03-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

Andrew made a peanut butter barbecue potato chip sandwich on an everything bagel. At first, I thought he was pregnant... but he was on to something. I decided to try it and seriously, you have to try it. It sounds preposterous but it's way ass god. I can't explain it, it needs to speak for itself, it's AMAZING!!!!

2 nights ago he made pasta with a fantastic Shiraz, garlic, tomatoey sauce and Tofurkey Italian "sausages" And I made whoopie pies (from My Sweet Vegan) but I added peanut butter to the creme. We ate them all in two days!!! No sweets for a while now. I need yoga.

Yumma, Yumma, Yumma

baby bread, punkin chowder, rain, & books

2009-02-26T21:46:00.001-08:00

I'm excited about planting. Lemon basil, calendula, peppers, tomatoes, strawberries? I was just looking through my copy of You Grow Girl and it's very motivating...so many possibilites. Oh, I can't wait until summer and the Farmer's Market!!!!

Today was a nice relaxing day off. We did some grocery shopping, discovered that Costco sells a box of 12 qts. of Rice Dream, very convenient. We went to the antique store-looking for a new kitchen table and as soon as we walked in I saw it. It was perfect, a lovely white, round, sturdy thing. But it was already sold. Bummer. It rained a lot. We watched I Love Lucy. Andrew made baby bread. Okay, so it's a huge loaf of sourdough (right) but he used the same starter from the bread he made last week. That was the momma (left)

So, yes, a wonderful, rainy day inside. I made some pumpkin chowder for dinner-and that sounds harder than it was. Andrew's mom got it for us, this cute little package. I just threw it in some veggie stock and added "cream." It was good, it definetely filled our little apartment with pumpkinny aromas. So this, with the bread...oh the bread! It's so good. It's my favorite of all the bread he's ever made. I'm lucky. I also got him to make me some Andy Oven Fries tonight (there's a little garlic n rosemary baked with 'em).

I've been doing some reading lately too and I've reviewed three excellent books on Good Reads (www.goodreads.com/amabre)

Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country is adorable. It's children's letters to President Obama! They are really sweet, some of them are heartbreaking. It amazes me how much kids know about politics these days. When I was 10 I knew nothing. A lot of the letters address homelessness and advise Obama to help the poor. Some letters scold him for smoking. Some talk about all the fun they would have if they lived in the white house. One kid wants to fill some of the rooms with mashed potatoes and have a pizza carpet and a chocolate pudding couch.

The Face on Your Plate was good stuff. Interesting and just sentimental enough to turn omnis veggies and turn veggies vegan. I learned a lot about fish, especially. They're more complex than we give them credit for. We share 85% of our DNA with fish. They are not vegetables. We are not vegetarians if we eat them.

For the Love of Animals was awesome. In a kind of devastating way. It forces you to look back at the cruelty animals have suffered throughout history but it's redeeming in that it presents the series of events that lead up to the first animal welfare organization (SPCA). The writing is captivating. I can't believe I didn't know about Humanity Dick. As vegans, we all have to know about him. We also have to know about William Hogarth.

Taters n' Beans in Curry

2009-02-20T22:06:00.001-08:00

Andrew made a video of me cooking! I was really just throwing things together. We had some leftover coconut milk and beans we had to use and the potatoes were starting to get old. Anyway, the ingredients were more or less improvised but the meal turned out to be very delish.

Birthday!

2009-02-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

I'm the big 24. As is turns out, that's not so bad after all.

Andrew got up early this morning to make me breakfast. I stayed in bed and slept, had a series of mini birthday dreams that didn't make any sense. When I finally got up, I was greeted in the kitchen by Andrew and a beautiful tofu scramble and fresh squeezed orange juice and DAFFODILS! Everywhere I put the flowers they looked so out of place. It was a dark, dismal day. Or would have been if Andrew had not been there.

After breakfast, he started making cake. It was Ginger Macadamia Coconut Carrot Cake from VwaV. Mmmm. It was delicious and I lingered as he was preparing it. I filled up on frosting and scraps before I had my first real piece. This cake is perfect.

After cake, we hung out for a while, I opened gifties and then we went to Target to buy underwear. I also bought myself a new yellow tea kettle and the 2nd season of I Love Lucy. Finally.

Then it was to Andrew's Mother's house we went. Played Scrabble, had a good time with Abe.

Tomorrow night we go to my mother's house. She actually bought soymilk and she's actually going to make me a vegan cake (a large feat, I don't think she's ever even made a cake from scratch) and she's going to bake it in a toaster oven! Results later!

I stare down the strangers at the bus stop, pretend they've been gossiping about me

2009-02-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

Today we went on a food run! We live about 2 hours from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods so we're making it a habit to go to Ann Arbor every few months to stock up on goodness. And O my goodness. We got a shitload. This photo doesn't cover the things that needed to go in the freezer right away (Cherry Chocolate Chip soy ice cream for example) or the produce. I love that Trader Joe's carries vegan bagels, and the everything bagels smell so good. Also, the marcona almonds (with sea salt and rosemary) are scrumptious.

A few other noteable items include: Wild Blueberry Fruit Spread-naturally sweetened (much more difficult to find in an average suburban grocery store than you might think). Maple/Agave syrup-for waffles, or whatever! Less expensive than pure maple syrup without all the crap usually included in "pancake syrup." Maple Brown Sugar Oat Milk. Enough Said. And over a pound of vegan Belgian chocolate with almonds for only $3.99!

While in Ann Arbor we also went to a vegetarian restaurant called The Earthen Jar. It was pretty much a first floor apartment of a house that had been converted into heaven. Lots of Indian food, when you walked in the door the spices kind of slapped you in the face but it was so worth it. It was buffet style-chickpea potato salad, curry cauliflower, vegan lasagna...the vegan choices were clearly marked (and there were many of them). Delicious. We plan to go back.

Captain Scary didn't know what to do so he jumped overboard.

2009-02-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

Skyler spent Friday night with us! We watched Journey to the Center of the Earth is 3-D, had a little popcorn, and then played Uno for way too long-he was determined to play until he won. Later, Andrew colored in our Charley Harper coloring book while Skyler wrote his story-Pirates of the Living Dead. Then, probably well after bedtime, we made sugar cookies! Skyler helped a lot and he was very proud of his baking skills. We all enjoyed the heart and star shapes as we settled down to some Looney Tunes.

Today at work I bought The Joy of Vegan Baking (finally). There are so many sweets to look forward to but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the lemon bars recipe. Tonight was my first time making lemon bars with real lemons and oh my goodness, it's redeeming. I'm practically drooling as I think about it.

Dying to say something unanswerable

2009-02-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling a little ridiculous taking pictures of food but here we go...

The recipe for these coconut cookies was on the back of a package of Let's Do Organic Coconut. I mixed 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour with a cup of earth balance and one quarter cup of confectioner's sugar. You roll the dough into balls and bake at 350 degrees for...I don't remember how long. Maybe 10 minutes. When they're done you immediately roll them in confectioner's sugar. I binged on the dough as I was making these. They turned out alright, quite dense but not in a moist way. They're crunchy and coconutty; not too sweet. All I'm sayin is you'll definetely need a glass of soymilk with them. Or rice milk or whatever.

O! It's our song! (Craig Armstrong-Let's go out Tonight)

Anyway, today we made some outrageous tofu scramble (VwaV, obviously) and fried up some Lightlife Gimme Lean "sausage" and mmmm. I love when we have orange juice in the house.
After brunch (linner?) we went to Andrew's mom's to keep her new puppy company while she was at work. We ended up making brownies (I can't go a day without baking anymore). This is the first vegan recipe that has turned out right. I don't know what it is but others I've tried have been rubbery. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a little:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes

After eating brownies and watching an episode of Northern Exposure, we made Valentine's cards with Andrew's card making mama.

This is the inside of Andrew's (to me!)
And this is the cover of mine (to him)

I am an Animal

2009-02-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I just finished watching 'I am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and Peta'

It was very well done, gave interviews with Peta supporters and non-supporters...it was interesting to see Ingrid taking part in the demonstrations. The documentary shows her planning for a demonstration at a Jean Paul Gaultier shop. She is such a pro-the way she applies the fake blood, so brisk, you know she's done it dozens of times. I never understood why people wear fur. There's no way to dissasociate it from death. Death isn't glamorous. Especially not the way these animals die.

Before seeing this documentary, I was kind of torn in my opinions of Peta but I understand that you've got to cross the line to get things done and Ingrid Newkirk really has. I became a vegetarian after discovering Peta's website about four years ago. Their tactics are effective.

I made my own bed

2009-02-01T21:39:00.000-08:00

Two days ago: Made coconut pancakes with pineapple sauce (Vegan with a Vengeance). MMMMM...

Met up with family in Holland, ate some vegan pizza made by Andrew-the omnivore's were apprehensive and they were like, "maybe I'll have some..." but they ended up eating most of it. They loved it (except for Tiffanie who is prejudiced against tofu). We all went to Crazy Bounce and had a fricking blast-I'm still sore from all the climbing, running, throwing myself through obstacle courses.

Then we went back to the hotel, took our vodka tonics into the hot tub which was partially inside and partially outside (we pretty much stayed outside and threw snow at each other). After an hour or so we ended up in the pool (shaped like Michigan) playing Marco Polo with the kids. It was all tons of fun and a lot more physical exertion than I'm used to.

And this is Abe. He's using Andrew's booty as a pillow. So funny.

Baby's First Blog

2009-01-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

I am creating this blog for myself and for Andrew and for memories and for easier access to them. It's cozy this way.

I hate shoe shopping. Its exhausting. I'm particular and if I find something I like in a store, it's usually made out of leather. Or some part of it is. And that can be frustrating. There are so many synthetic materials that are more comfortable and more durable...Fortunately, there's always cutesygirl.com

and I bought these from their website.

Now I can walk around outside!

In April we'll see The Mountain Goats or Andrew Bird. I've seen the Mountain Goats (one of the best shows ever) and I wouldn't mind seeing Andrew Bird but these are also great excuses to go to Chicago to spend some time on the trains.

Tonight we watched The Squid & the Whale. It was kind of interesting but I didn't enjoy it. It was depressing in a dull way. Maybe it was just too artsy for my taste.

We've been home almost all day, which is nice because its snowing outside and who likes to be cold? But its also getting old. This staying in. We could be taking a walk, or driving to Ann Arbor or growing basil or going to the beach but its winter, which ruins a third of the year here in Michigan. But it's not entirely bad. I baked some matzah toffee from My Sweet Vegan. Chocolicious. I'll bring some to Holland tomorrow, let the family give them a try.

I also made a Baked Leek and Sweet Potato Gratin. The recipe is from the current (Ferbruary) issue of Vegetarian Times. I love sweet potatoes. They're tasty and bright orange and soooo healthy. This recipe was even better than I expected, I planned to save some for leftovers but we actually ate it all-just the two of us!