Bar Stocking, Potlucking, and Ice Cream Making

Before I head out of town for a long weekend, I though I would share what I've been up to in the kitchen....

Here are the tiramisu cupcakes I made for an "stock the bar" engagement party. The engagement actually happened in Italy, so I thought these were appropriate. They might be my favorite from VCTOTW, although it's so hard to choose just one!

On Saturday night we hosted a small potluck to show appreciation for everyone involved in our Go Vegan art car. For an appetizer I cut up some of Julie's sausages and simply sauteed them and served them with a mustard sauce. These were a big hit.

My main course contribution was Isa's broccoli quiche from her upcoming brunch book. Oh I love her so much for sharing this recipe before the book is available. I added some tempeh bacon and a healthy dose of nutritional yeast. I was so sad to see it go so fast at the potluck, so I made another one last night.

Here's my plate from the potluck.... homemade bread with avocado butter, pasta salad, pineapple slaw, fruit, quiche, and mac and cheese (with peace sign pasta!). I had another plate with lasagna and tamales as well!

For dessert, I tried to recreate something I saw at one of our favorite cafes here in Houston (Brasil), a mini cake with chocolate base layer, fresh fruit (strawberries and blueberries), and topped with chocolate mousse (from VCTOTW). The presentation needs some work, but the taste was right on.

I finally broke down and bought an ice cream maker, an attachment for my Kitchen Aid standmixer (anyone use that one?). The last time I made ice cream was in high school chemistry class!! This try turned out well except I learned a valuable lesson, big chunks of strawberries in your strawberry chocolate chip ice cream cause major brain freeze and tooth pain! I also need to figure out a storage system since my ice cream developed ice crystals; I'm assuming because I didn't have an airtight seal. But, nonetheless, with temperatures soaring here, this is just what I needed when I walked in the door after work.

Tomorrow we leave for a San Francisco to attend the soldout VegNews launch party and then onto Las Vegas for the remainder of the weekend. Who knows, maybe I'll come back a millionaire. At least I'll come back with a tummy full of Ronald's vegan donuts....

See? I Have Been Cooking...

Looking back on my posts from the last few weeks, there has been very little vegan noodle-made food! That comes along with being out of town and just being generally busy (like everyone else isn't and you're still cooking fabulous dishes, puts me to shame...) and not cooking anything too spectacular. But I thought some of these were definitely blog-worthy. Let's see if you agree.

Here is the spinach tarragon "quiche" from V-con. It was different from other vegan quiches that I've tried because it's not made with tofu, but navy beans and walnuts and asparagus. I subbed dill for all of the tarragon, just because I needed to use it up. We both really enjoyed this dish, plus I thought it was kind of pretty. Oh, and I was really proud that I made the crust on my own, usually I just cheat and use the frozen ones.


A side and up-close shot of a slice. I served this with a simple spinach salad topped with pine nuts and grape tomatoes (and I think avocado, but I don't see it in the pic and I've since forgotten). I think next time I would top it with some balsamic glace to finish it.

The Sunday before last, my family came over for brunch since my brother was in town for a bachelor party (impressive that he made it to our place on time!). My mom was awesome enough to make cinnamon rolls from JOVB. Yum yum yum. This is the one I saved for the next morning when I was up in Calgary.

My contribution was another V-con recipe, the blue flannel hash, fitting since my latest obsession has been with blue/purple potatoes (I have a bag in the pantry, any suggestions on what I use them for next?). And of course you can never get enough tempeh.

And finally, for dessert, the lower fat deep chocolate bundt cake from V-con. It really was some seriously deep chocolate, thanks to the coffee I'm thinking. My first bundt cake ever too. I was so glad to have a piece of this on the plane ride (and shhhh, for breakfast)


I was recently tagged by LizzyQ to tell all you readers five things about myself. So, here you go...
1. I have never owned a pet (excluding inheriting my best friend's two hamsters when she moved to Singapore). But I would like to someday if we live in a place with an actual yard. I'm thinking I'm a dog person, mainly because I'm allergic to cats.
2. I am eligible to run for president in 2016. I figured this out when I was about twelve.
3. I have never eaten a fast food hamburger. As a kid I thought they were disgusting.
4. I have been married 169 days / 4063 hours / 243803 minutes / 14628214 no 15 no 16 seconds
5. Okay, what a spinoff.... I was going to write here that this year is my ten year high school reunion and instead of going to my own, I'm gonna crash (with her permission) my friend's in Las Vegas (she's the one who went to Singapore, so they're meeting back in the US). BUT out of curiosity I google my high school, and what do you know, they are actually getting together. Now I'm wondering, should I go??

Alright, I'm supposed to tag five people but I'm sleepy, so consider yourself tagged if you are reading this!

Muffins Aren't Sweets

The weekend was pretty uneventful, just finishing up wedding details, catching up on sleep and baking in the kitchen. Sunday, we attended a birthday brunch with several friends. I took a chance and made a tofu quiche with asparagus and sun-dried tomato. The results were spectacular...



I started with FatFree Vegan Kitchen's mini-tofu quiche recipe, making several alterations. I added garlic powder to the tofu mixture and put it in a pre-made whole wheat crust. Baking time was somewhat of an experiment, but I ended up cooking the quiche for about 40 minutes. Next time, I may let it go a little longer. This is such an easy meal though, and quiche makes great leftovers (which we already ate up....last night for dinner). Everyone was pretty curious about the vegan quiche, so quite a few people gave it a shot, even though there was a similar egg and veggie dish there as well!

I also brought along two kinds of muffins. I tried out Celine's adaptation of Strawberry Corn Muffins from Have Cake Will Travel. It took some searching to find corn flour (versus cornmeal), but the result was a delicately sweet muffin brimming with strawberry goodness. I also made Lemon Poppyseed muffins from VWAV, which I've had before. Although the batter had kind of a funky texture this time (very frothy and bubbly...strange), they turned out beautiful as well (love the crunch from the poppyseeds and the subtle lemon flavor). I'm starting to suspect that my oven though is a bit hotter than it says, both batches came out a tiny bit browner than I would have liked.



These were breakfast this morning, and dessert last night (and probably the next few mornings and nights!). I figured, this doesn't count as junk food/sweets, they both have fruit and are called muffins. Right?

Family Breakfast

This weekend my grandparents and aunt visited Houston, so this morning John and I drove out west to join them at my parent's home for breakfast. It was one of those breakfasts that leaves you pleasantly full, plus you feel like you've put something healthy in your body. Here is my yummy plate....

My mom gets credit for the amazingly yummy waffles and fruit salad. The waffle recipe is from VWAV, the Oatmeal-Banana-Raisin Waffles, minus the raisins. We topped them with fresh bananas, blueberries, pecans, and maple syrup. Mmmmm, so good, I'd been craving waffles for awhile now.

My contribution was mini crustless tofu quiches from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. I got up early this morning to try this recipe out, and I thought they turned out well, nice and light and a perfect compliment to the waffles. In addition to mushrooms and red peppers, I also added some bakin bits. Here they are garnished with some fresh chives:

My only mistake I think was leaving them in the muffin pan while I went to take a shower. When I came back there was a lot of moisture built up in the pan (it's been insanely humid here the past few days), making it difficult to remove the quiches. But they were still tasty, everyone tried them and gobbled them up. Next time I think I will try different veggie combinations and maybe making a big quiche in a pie crust, the possibilities are endless!

Another quick breakfast this week, my favorite smoothie. Half a banana, frozen strawberries and mangos, ground flax seeds, a spoonful of peanut butter, and plenty of vanilla soymilk. Couldn't help but show it off in my VeganDish mug....

And finally, a yummy dinner from this past week that we tried for the first time, Quinoa Hummus Casserole from Vive Le Vegan. The roasted vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, fennel)were perfectly cooked and the creamy hummus paired with the quinoa made for a protein-packed meal. Another recipe that has lots of variations, different kinds of grains, different kinds of hummus, and an endless number of vegetables to top it off with.