VeganMoFo: Goals + Cake Hit & Wreck

Welcome, my friends, to the 2nd annual vegan MOnth of FOod. Over the next 31 days this blog, and many others in the vegan blogging universe, will step it up a notch and post about the wonderfulness that is vegan food at least 5 days a week.

Here are a few posts to look forward to:

• Texas Veggin' Out Days
• Veganizing Mamaw's Kitchen
• TV show themed dinner
• Veganized Presidential Cookie Bake-Off
• Daily eats in Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, CA (I'll be there for a week!)
• Top 10 inside the 610 loop (Houston vegan dining)
  

And since I couldn't leave you without some food in my first MoFo post... here is a recent cake wreck and a cake hit.

First, the cake wreck. For our one year wedding anniversary, I wanted to recreate the top tier of our wedding cake, with a few different embellishments (a fondant bow instead of buttercream roses). I baked a vanilla & chocolate marble cake in my mom's kitchen and took it home to frost with chocolate mousse and cover with fondant. Even though I felt rushed to get it done before the sun went down (this was back when we didn't have power), I was pleased with my first fondant bow and the ivy leaf border on the sides of the cake. Little did I know that the fondant would melt into a puddle in the heat of the night....
After that massive failure I needed the next cake to redeem myself. Success came in the form of macadamia ginger carrot cake from VWAV with cream cheese frosting (which was flavored with orange oil). The top border was piped to resemble carrots. Hopefully the cake was enough to impress Kristen (the birthday girl and our SOP president). But I'd have to say that the cutest thing was watching her son pick out all the macadamia nuts and then proceed to make a "gingerbread house" out of the remaining cake by piling leftover fruit and rice from dinner on top.
By the way, if you haven't made this carrot cake yet... you should!! The macadamias and crystallized ginger really make this cake stand out compared to other carrot cakes I've sampled.

More Vegan MoFo tomorrow!

Vegan MoFo Survey

I've seen this now on quite a few blogs, so I thought I would join in on the fun. Plus, daily posts are starting to get a little tough. But I'm excited for my new food experiment tomorrow night, hopefully it will be successful and I won't have to replace question number 4 with a new story.... at least it should make for a good post :-)

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Normally I drink Soy Dream Enriched Original, but I think I may now be addicted to chocolate hemp milk. Luckily I have to order this online...

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
So tough with so many new cookbooks out! Seitan in Mole Sauce (V-con), Chocolate Pumpkin Pie (ED&BV), and Edamame Burgers (Cozy Inside), and something with carob

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Don't really like popcorn... gets stuck in my teeth. But if forced, covered with caramel and with nuts and chocolate.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
Hmmm, that would have to be my attempt at Vegan Fried Chicken from a recipe on vegweb. So many folks gave it great reviews, but it turned out awful for me. Made us stay away from TVP for quite some time.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Not really a fan of anything pickled....

6. How do you organize your recipes?
Cookbooks are on a few shelves in the kitchen. Anything non-vegan has been banned to the upper shelves :-) Recipes from the web I usually print out and stick in a folder organized by recipe type, but it's getting a little out of control at the moment.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Trash and garbage disposal, though I've been reading up on composting and would love to try that. Not sure what we'd so with the soil...

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
quinoa, mango, chocolate pudding

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
I have lots of food memories, but probably the fondest is our traditional Christmas morning breakfast; almond puff. I'm determined to veganize it this year!

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
So Delicious Chocolate Almond Brownie, but if I lived in San Fran it would be Maggie Mudd's without a doubt...

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
My food processor! And my wok.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Cilantro, it brightens up any meal :-)

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I think my mom or sis got me this while I was in college and they were worried I would never cook for myself.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Strawberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Any kind of dessert (always questions about egg and dairy replacements) and roasted veggies (because way too many people boil the heck out of them....leaving little flavor and nutrients)

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Lately, tempeh.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Breakfast, served any time of day (like in my last post!)

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Lots. A wooden cutting board, salad bowl, cake tupperware, three boxes of cereal, and countless old soy yogurt containers filled with various toasted nuts.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
wedding cake (coming up on our 2 month anniversary, we're gonna eat some!), ground flax, my mom's homemade bread (veganized!)

20. What's on your grocery list?
Oh this is helpful! I'm going after work today. Peanut butter, greens, red pepper, jalapeno, tofu, tempeh, wild mushrooms, whole wheat tortillas, tofutti cream cheese, sweet potatoes, and black seedless grapes

21. Favorite grocery store?
I shop at Whole Foods majority of the time. Wish I had a Food Fight around the corner though.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
One of my favorite late childhood desserts. It has angle food cake torn in pieces and a chocolate mousse like filling holding it together with lots of pecans sprinkled on top. The tough part is the angel food cake....any suggestions?

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
This is way too hard to choose. I discover new blogs I love everyday!

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Crispy Cat... both the roasted peanut and almond variety

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
Although I see it as a necessity, organic pure vanilla extract. Pricey! As far as most extravangant that's not necessary, hemp seed nut butter.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Phyllo dough. Going to try and overcome this on tomorrow. I did fine with rice paper and sushi making so I'm feeling okay about it...

VeganMofo: A Crafty MoFo

I recently picked up knitting as a new hobby. All I've been knitting so far are dishcloths for xmas gifts, and I figured it would be fun to knit one for myself honoring this vegan month of food. Just in case anyone wants one for themselves, I've included the pattern as well. This dishcloth is perfect for cleaning up all the messes I make in the kitchen!

Vegan MoFo Dishcloth

Supplies: worsted weight orange cotton yarn (I used Sugar'n Cream), US size 8 needles
CO 43 sts.
Rows 1-7: Knit across
Row 8 and all wrong side rows through 48: K4, P35, K4
Row 9: Knit across
Row 11: Knit across
Row 13: K4, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P4, K3, P3, K4, P1, K4, P1, K3, P1, K2, K4
Row 15: K4, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K5, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K1, P1,K3, P2, K2, P1, K2, K4
Row 17: K4, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K5, P1, K6, P1, K1, P1, K3, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, K4
Row 19: K4, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P3, K3, P1, K1, P2, K3, P3, K3, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, K4
Row 21: K4, K3, P1, K1, P1, K3, P1, K5, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P2, K2, K4
Row 23: K4, K3, P1, K1, P1, K3, P1, K5, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P2, K2, K4
Row 25: K4, K4, P1, K4, P4, K3, P2, K3, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, K4
Row 27: Knit across
Row 29: Knit across
Row 31: K4, K5, P1, K4 P1, K3, P2, K3, P4, K3, P2, K7, K4
Row 33: K4, K5, P2, K2, P2, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K5 P1, K2, P1, K6, K4
Row 35: K4, K5, P1, K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P1, K4, P1, K1, P1, K4, P1, K4, P1, K5, K4
Row 37: K4, K5, P1, K4, P1, K1, P1, K4, P1, K1, P3, K2, P1, K4, P1, K5, K4
Row 39: K4, K5, P1, K4, P1, K1, P1, K4, P1, K1, P1, K4, P1, K4, P1, K5, K4
Row 41: K4, K5, P1, K4, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K2, P1, K5, P1, K2, P1, K6, K4
Row 43: K4, K5, P1, K4, P1, K3, P2, K3, P1, K6, P2, K7, K4
Row 45: Knit across
Row 47: Knit across
Rows 49-53 Knit across. Bind off in Knit stitch.

Been a Bad Blogger

So I should come up with some really good excuse now about why I haven't blogged in over a week, truth is, there isn't one. I felt sick for a few days last week and since have been a bit unmotivated in the kitchen and busy getting ready to leave town. John and I leave Saturday for our delayed honeymoon on St John (any one have vegan food suggestions there?). I have also fallen behind on reading blogs, but I will really try to visit all of them before I leave!! I am a bit sad because I totally blew off the end of Vegan MoFo, I had so many other posts planned that just didn't make it. I could almost do a whole post on that! One of them will be tomorrow, and I'll try to fill in the rest as the month goes on.

Culinarily speaking (is that a word?), not much going on in my kitchen. Mostly we've been trying our best to clean out the fridge and pantry. But I think today I'm going to have to make a run to the grocery store because I'm craving fresh veggies and we have none! Last night I actually ate cereal for dinner. But the night before we had a real meal....

In the front is a stir fry of smoky seitan (used the V-con marinade for the smoky tempeh), red pepper, mushroom, and a bit of zucchini. Served alongside pureed white beans cooked with onion, garlic, and thyme. These taste creamy like mashed potatoes but are probably much better for you! And p.s., I used my new hand blender for the first time on these and fell in love, what a cool gadget! And up top is some pan-fried polenta (straight from the package) topped with roasted tomatoes (which I love on everything). Not bad for a meal when we had not much in the fridge.

For dessert, I indulged in some fudge that my mom sent home with me on Sunday. She enticed me over to the house with promises of fudge to help her decorate the Christmas tree. It's been a long standing tradition in our house, decorating the tree = fudge. Of course, I would have helped without it. And what's even better is that my mom now makes a vegan version, which is apparently also a lot easier than what she used to. Here is the recipe. I'll leave you with a photo of this creamy, chocolately holiday fudge.
Promise I'll be back with more tomorrow!

Blonde Ambition

This is my favorite form of vegan outreach: baked goods! Sunday evening we went to a small gathering of colleagues from work. So I used the opportunity to try the Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondies from VWAV.

Oh, these were so good!! I'm not even usually a fan of raspberries. This was a much cakier blondie than I am used to, but I enjoyed the change. Plus it was lots of fun dotting the top with the dough. Maybe next time I'll try for a lattice design or something fancy. Ah, but I am a bit saddened now thinking of the next time.... it will probably be awhile. There are so many new sweet recipes I want to try, there's just no time to make something that I've already tried!
Since this made a huge 9x13 pan of blonde babes, and the party was small, I took the remaining bars into work this morning. After about an hour they were gone. Hopefully someone noticed the "Gentle Thanksgiving" information I set beside it. I thought this was better than just labeling them as vegan blondies.

Okay, so I might veer from normal vegan mofo posting next time to put up just a few wedding photos (the professional ones have finally arrived). You don't mind do you?

Our Thanksgiving Feast

I have fallen behind for Vegan MoFo, but hopefully I will be forgiven (have been sick the last few days). Here is our Thanksgiving feast, posted just a few days late. I think my mom and I got a bit carried away with the amount of food we made for just five people, but the leftovers made it into our tummies eventually.

For starters we had Spiced Nuts from ED&BV. Very delicate and not over spiced, perfect to munch on. We made ours with a mixture of pecans, cashews, and almonds.

Pumpkin hummus with assorted veggies for dipping. The pumpkin flavor was very subtle and I think this convinced my mom that homemade hummus is the way to go! Also, not pictured for appetizers, seitan stuffed mushrooms from VWAV, requested by the mushrooms eaters in the family.
Our table, pre-dinner set up. My mom made the cutest little turkey cutouts for placecards. These will definitely be going in my scrapbook for the year! I also was a bit bored at home and printed out a fancy menu for the feast (end of table).
And finally, the main event. Clockwise from the top: green salad with apple,pecan, and dried cranberries. cornmeal masala roasted brussels sprouts (V-con), cashew-buttered sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing (my mom's veganized recipe), steamed green beans, two types of cranberry sauce/relish, chickpea cutlets (v-con) with Tofurky gravy, and my mom's homemade bread in the center (with added flax meal this time!). Wow! I tried to fit a little bit of everything on my plate. It was all very yummy but I think my favorites were the sweet potatoes, bread, and brussels.
Somehow we saved room for pie. I had a small piece of this Fudge Pecan Pie from La Dolce Vegan (made by my mom) and some of the pumkpin cheesecake I posted about previously. We brought the leftovers along when visiting family on Friday and everyone tried a piece, and no remarks about it tasting "vegan" just silence as everyone gorged themselves...
So there you have it. I will try my best to make up for my lack of posts these past few days, plus I need to visit everyone's blog. I'll get to it, promise...

Lemon Light

This afternoon I did some experimentation with light, photography, and food. I have been trying to follow along with an online photography course and this week's assignment had the student use some simple objects to play with lighting. My objects of choice were a white styrofoam block, a mirror, a box covered with an emergency blanket (, and some black and white foam core board. My subject was a few Meyer lemons that I picked up at the farmer's market this morning (yay, it's citrus time!). Here are a few of my photos....

1. Just regular sunlight.
2. Reflective box on right side. Notice the brightening of the greens on the right underside of the lemons.
3. Reflective source on both sides. This one brings out the greens on both sides of the lemons.
4. Black background. This one was my favorite of the photos.
5. White background, plus a reflective source on the right side.
I have learned a lot about my little point and shoot camera (Canon powershot SD550) from this class, and discovered some cool settings. Certainly part of Vegan MoFo is the way in which we showcase our vegan food to the world, and nice pictures help!

Other farmer's market buys this morning: green onions, zucchini (benefits of living in the south!), baby bok choy, plum tomatoes, and mixed greens. Now what to do with these Meyer lemons... I'm thinking lemon bars!

VeganMoFo: Pass the Radioactive Vegetables Please

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip....

For today's installment of vegan mofo, I cooked up a TV-themed dinner to an episode of Gilligan's Island. Gilligan reels in a mysterious crate containing seeds, but he failed to see the warning....
The seeds produced carrots, beets, spinach, and other vegetables as fast as the half life of radium-216m (7 nano seconds)! Then it was time to dig in and pass those vegetables!Mary Anne's favorite vegetable was the carrot, and these radioactive carrots had so much carotene in them that her eye sight allowed her to see miles away! Here she is pointing out a potential rescue ship as the Skipper and the Professor look on squinting.
Mrs. Thurston Howell III (aka "Lovey") just adored sugar beets! All that sugar made her a bit hyperactive though and she actually ran around the hut cleaning.
Gilligan ate more than his share of spinach, and the radioactive amounts of "oxalic minerals" enabled him to pick up entire tree trunks and even the Skipper!
So how did we eat our radioactive vegetables? I roasted the beets (along with fennel), sauteed the spinach, and made a curried carrot soup. And although we didn't experience the same effect as the castaways did, at least we didn't have to "apply the principals of theoretic chemistry to the problem of radioactivity" and eat soap to "prevent the bombardment of radioactive chemicals", as the Professor puts it.
Hope you enjoyed your three minute tour!

Haselnuss and Chipotle

Over the weekend I made two batches of haselnuss (hazelnut) themed cupcakes. Haselnuss was one of my favorite words from German class back in the day. Sorry I didn't figure out how to insert one of those s set things for those of you that speak the language. The purpose of these cupcakes was twofold: snacks for an Art Car decorating party and dessert for a townhome potluck.
Here is a basic chocolate cupcake, with hazelnut liquor added to the batter. The frosting also is spiked with hazelnut liquor. On top, you see my first experiment with chocolate transfers (inspired by Emilie's post). These things are so cool, you can't really see the green floral scroll pattern on this photo, for a better one, see flickr. I have a few kinks to work out with the process (i.e. not all the pattern transferred, streaks in the chocolate, etc.), but for my first try I was pretty happy. The bending of this piece of chocolate is courtesy of the Texas heat.
Continuing the hazelnut theme are these haselnuss cupcakes filled with chocolate mocha hazelnuss mousse from VCTOTW. The mousse is perfect on its own, and luckily the recipe makes a little extra. I know I should have gotten a shot of the inside, but everytime I bite into one it somehow disappears in my mouth.
And just because you can't live on cupcakes (darn!), I'll show you some real food as well! Last week I tried out the chickpea romesco from V-con and absolutely loved it. This was quick and easy and is one of those dishes I should remember to make for company. I had just finished watching Iron Chef, so that's why I plated my chickpeas in a row (to compliment the asparagus). Oh, and I finally invested in some real sea salt, you can see those fatty grains on the asparagus. Very worth it!
In addition to bringing cupcakes to the potluck, I also made empanadas. The dough was from V-con (acorn squash and black bean empanadas), but the filling was my own. A mixture of Field Roast chipotle sausage, black beans, canned chipotles, jalapeno, onion, and some spices. These were HOT! Unfortunately, these suckers wouldn't stay sealed, and opened up a bit in the oven. I still have some learning to do as far as pastry goes. Oh, and I'm proud to say this was my first time using dried black beans!
Finally, a super duper late vegan mofo post. Back in November, I promised that I would use these dried faux meat patties that I got ages ago. Well, finally I got around to it. Actually, John got around to it because I had decided that they scared me. He marinated them in a pseudo teriyaki with chipotle peppers. Bless his heart for trying, but I thought the texture was too meaty and it weirded me out (though he enjoyed them). On the side is a chipotle quinoa with black beans and a grilled veggie salad.
Next post I'll have an announcement! And maybe some food.

So Wishing That Sunday Wasn't Almost Over Pie

Yep, that's the new name for this pie, also known as the smlove pie from Veganomicon. Tonight we watched Waitress (one who makes awesome pies based on her current life drama) on dvd and in preparation, I was inspired to make a pie (but not the crust, it's straight out of the freezer). The heart doily (sp?) underneath is courtesy of my talented sister-in-law.

Here's an up-close shot just to get your mouth watering. The verdict? We both loved this pie. Not sure if it was the type of chocolate I used (El Rey 70-something percent cocao), but the chocolate filling itself wasn't terribly sweet, which allowed you to fully enjoy the peanut butter caramel, maple pecans, and chocolate drizzle on top. If you aren't so crazy about no-so-sweet chocolate, maybe using a different chocolate would be better, but this suited us just fine (and went along perfect with the movie:-)

For dinner tonight, another V-con special, the red lentil and cauliflower curry. I changed it up a bit and subbed red pepper for parsnip, added a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, and a big handful of chopped kale (can you tell I've kept my resolution about eating more greens?). Very filling and this made enough to feed us for the next few days I'm thinking.

And earlier in the week I covered new territory, something I had hoped to do back during Vegan MoFo (November), but never got around to it. I finally tried Soy Curls! After seeing DGMGV show us so many tasty and easy way to eat these, I dove in head first. After rehydrating these for just ten minutes, I browned them and added a healthy Texas serving of BBQ sauce. Add some black beans with sauteed onion, garlic, kale, and plenty of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, and you've got yourself a meal! I ordered 6 more bags of these from Food Fight the very next day.

Okay, time to go face reality. I think I need another piece of pie....

VeganMofo: Dia de los Muertos Means No More MoFo

Happy Halloween!! The vegan month of food has come to an end. What better way than to celebrate with Dia de los Muertos cupcakes?

Oh no! The holiday season is now upon us. Time to start making christmas presents (my goal this year is to make at least part of every present I give).
So this may be a lame way to finish mofo, but it's 3 minutes to midnight and I'm out of time!

VeganMoFo: Boo Y'all

Whenever I tell people that I'm from Texas, they are usually amazed because I don't have an accent. But I am always quick to point out that I do use the word "y'all"... a lot. I even use "all y'all" with an amazing frequency. So I couldn't resist these Halloween napkins.... the mummy cupcake is saying:
I also made some spiderweb cupcakes with chocolate ganache. Both were for a SOP vegan potluck picnic yesterday which, by the way, was a perfect Texas fall day.
Is everyone ready for the final week of mofo?

VeganMoFo: California Food Journal

Day 1: San Francisco
Since I am in California for the week, the only way I'm going to keep up with MoFo is to post my daily eats...

Started off the day at Herbivore on Divisadero for breakfast. I had the southwestern scramble hich included tofu scrable, black beans, potatoes, and cornbread. The scramble was good but the cornbread was pretty dry.

Lunch was at Weird Fish on Mission Street. I couldn't pass up the chance to try seitan "fish" and chips with vegan tartar sauce. Tasty!
After lunch we walked up to Rainbow Grocery where I nabbed a Sugar Beat Sweets peppermint patty cupcake. I devoured it before we even left the store.
And consequently for dinner we met up with the owner/baker of SBS and blogger Melisser and her partner Ryan. We attempted to try out Delfino's new location on Fillmore, but a 1+ hour waitlist drove us to get in a cab and have Ethiopian food at Club Waziama instead. The injera might still be expanding in my stomach. And I decided not to subject you to low lighting pictures (which I'm warning you I might do tomorrow).

VeganMoFo: Veggin' Out for Animals & the Economy

In recognition of World Vegetarian Day (Oct. 1) and World Farm Animals Day (Oct. 2), Society of PEACE encouraged all Texans to eat out and show our support of local vegan/vegetarian/veg-friendly restaurants. Additionally, it's probably not a bad idea to get out and support our struggling economy right now. So even if you're not located in the lone star state, get out there and support your favorite veg restaurant!

I picked up take-out from Field of Greens, a mostly vegetarian casual restaurant that can veganize almost everything on their menu. Even though I tried to encourage myself to try something new, I couldn't help getting my tried and true favorite.... the california club. Composed of toasted whole wheat bread, soy ham & tempeh, avocado, and veganaise with well-seasoned fries on the side.
And even though John isn't home yet from work, I picked him up an Eden Burger. Soy ham (subbed for soy chicken since it has whey in it), barbeque sauce, shitake mushrooms, and basil crusted bean curd on a whole wheat bun.
I don't often get dessert at Field of Greens (since I usually make my own!), but to celebrate Veggin' Out days, I ordered the chocolate cake. And after asking which chocolate dessert was better, the cake or the tofu pie, the FOG staff added in a small sample piece of pie! I think my vote (as well as the staff member I talked with) goes to the cake.
Speaking of voting, I must get back to flipping between the vice-presidential debates and Project Runway. More mofo tomorrow!