Archive for September, 2008
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Grilled Teese, Tomato Bisque with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Lunch 9/28
Tomato Bisque with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
It was one of those days that remind you that the calendar is in fact, correct… so for lunch, we reverted back to the third grade (yes, some of us dipped the sandwiches in the soup)
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Happy Birthday Pete!!!
Last week was Pete’s birthday. I told him that I would make him any kind of cake he wanted, and he chose chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting chocolate ganache, and strawberries. I was using the cake, frosting, and ganache recipes from VCTOTW.
My first mistake was not leaving myself enough time to finish the cake. I was rushed because we had dinner reservations, so I made some not-so-smart decisions when it came to decorating. I also should not have chosen my husband’s birthday to try and decorate my first cake.The first problem (and the root of all the other problems) was the consistency of the frosting. It was too soft, and I should have refrigerated it for at least 30 minutes before using it. But, due to the aforementioned time constraints, that was not an option.My second mistake was putting a layer of strawberry sauce in between the layers. This made for a very slippery cake, and the top layer did not want to stay in one place. I probably should have used a recipe for the strawberry sauce, but to save on time, I made up my own as I went along.The third issue was what happened while we were at dinner. We were meeting friends, so I dropped off the cake at their house, and then we all went to dinner. The cake was all in one piece when we left. When we got back, the frosting had become even more melty as it combined with the strawberry sauce (that I stupidly poured all over the top in my rush to just be done with it).It looked awful, and I was so embarrassed to serve it to other people, but I had no choice. The flavor was excellent, but the cake was awful looking. I apologize for such a sloppy picture, but like I said, I was in a rush. I didn’t even bother taking a picture of the melted down after version, because it was pretty ugly.
Pete loved his cake as it was, but I am determined to make it again, and make it right. I recently acquired a set of 4 inch and 6 inch cake pans, so I’ll make a scaled down version so we don’t have 5 pounds of cake to ourselves. I had a very specific picture in my head of what this cake should look like, and that was not it at all. I think I’ll leave the strawberry sauce as something to be drizzled on right before eating.Lesson learned? Just because it’s ugly doesn’t mean it can’t taste awesome! -
Are you there blog? It’s me, Katy…
Wow, has it really been almost two weeks since my last post??? The semester is just flying by. I get so caught up in work, homework, classes, and various school activities, that I barely have time to fix a respectable dinner. I’m so, so far behind in reading all of your wonderful blogs, that I fear I may never catch up.
Don’t fear though! I will try to get caught up this weekend. I really do miss this wonderful blogging community! I just need to manage my time better. Does anyone have any leads on how to add more hours to the day?
Although I haven’t been very creative in the kitchen, I have made a few treats. After all, I am a proud new owner of VCTOTW.First up are lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting. These are a variation of the golden cupcakes. These were everything I could ever ask for in a cupcake! Seriously, this is the only vanilla cupcake recipe I will ever use because it is perfection. The lemon added a nice hint of yumminess.
A week or two ago, I had a lunch meeting at school and I was in charge of food. Of course, I made everything vegan, which was no easy feat. Virginia is not so vegan friendly! But I had veggie and hummus wraps, salad, chips, fruit, and dessert. I knew I would never find vegan desserts, so I made them myself.For the cake I used the basic chocolate cupcake recipe from VCTOTW, and doubled it to fill a 9×13″ pan. For the topping, I just drizzled a simple glaze on it. As is to be expected, this was a delicious cake, and this recipe has replaced by previous number one chocolate cake recipe (from The Joy of Vegan Baking).
I finally had the chance to make the chocolate chip cookies from VWAV. As you all know by now, my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is from Vive le Vegan, but I wanted a recipe that made more cookies, without having to quadruple the recipe. After reading the discussions about it on the PPK, I made sure to cream my butter (EB) for a long time before adding the other ingredients. As a result, I didn’t have many of the problems that others experienced with crumbly dough. The cookies turned out great and went over very well at the lunch. I thought they were good, but the Vive ones are still my numuro unos! I also made the chocolate chocolate chip cookies with walnuts from V’con, which always turn out fabulous.
I promise to try and be a better blogger! And I promise to not start off every blog with lame excuses! And I promise to stop ending blogs with promises that I may not be able to keep. Scout’s honor. -
Vegan Chicken Burgers
I’ve never been a fan of fake meat apart from vege sausages, but Fiona bought a pack of vegan chicken burger patties from the Tofu shop (on Dominion Road, Auckland) and I’ve been loving them – we even had them for dinner two nights in a row! Instead of using buns we’ve been using spelt bagels from Mamata Bakery (Richmond Road, Auckland) – you can buy a bag of six frozen bagels if they’re out of fresh ones or you simply want to stock up on them like me.
The burgers themselves are pretty straightforward – fry the patties, toast the bagels, throw them together with some avocao, hummus, mustard, onion, beetroot, lettuce or spinach leaves and tomato!
It’s nearly BBQ season again – I think I’ll have my first one next week, after daylight savings begins – so I may be adventerous and try some more fake meat – last summer I had some BBQ’d chicken nuggets that my friend Kat got from the Health & Vegetarian store in Mt Albert. I also want BBQ’d tempeh, tofu, eggplant and I’d like to try a few different ideas with the tofu this summer. Yum, I can’t wait!
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Whittakers Mocha at Shaky Isles
Although it has been open for quite some time now I only managed to go to Shaky Isles in Kingsland for coffee for the first time this past weekend. I had the Whittakers Mocha which was really good! I think it’s just a regular mocha but with a Whittakers dark chocolate sante bar in it. So so good! But beware trying to eat the chocolate and have a conversation at the same time – it’s quite messy! Also, for those of you who don’t drink coffee, it may not be worth going there – one of the people I was with asked for a chai and was told "we only make coffee". Perhaps we should have guessed by the name of the cafe. I had a look at their menu and was happy to see that they have a vegan option for breakfast and that they have gluten free bread available. I think I’ll be going there for brunch this weekend!
As a designer, it was one of the best looking cafes I’ve seen in some time. They obviously take care with the design of their menus and their branding and the look of the cafe – it is quite different to other cafes but it definitely suits what they’re about and was refreshing to see.
While in Kingsland I also finally saw the new Mexican place I’d heard about but never been able to find – it’s where the pizza place was, Kalamaloo or something like that? Anyway, I’ll also be goign there for dinner as soon as I can!
Shaky Isles Coffee Co
492 New North Road
Kingsland
Auckland
0-9-815 3591 -
Palin’s Pathological Rage Against Wolves And Bears
The Viciousness Of Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin
VeganReader.com is not a political blog, nor do we find it correct to attempt to dictate the political views people should hold. Such choices are very personal. Rather, we speak here out of concern for the safety and well-being of all of Earth’s animal tribes and, at present, [...] -
Sloths – Respecting The Sloth People
If I tell you that Sloths are people, how do you respond?
Likely, you think, “no, human beings are people. Animals are not people.”
That is how most humans are raised to think about all species other than their own, but naturalists like John Muir, who spent the majority of his life in the wilderness, came to [...] -
California Proposition 2 – What Your Vote Really Means
The USDA and Big Ag (the people who brought California the plan of spraying pesticide on human beings in the 2007 LBAM debacle) have conspired in order to pour millions of dollars in funding into blocking California Proposition 2, up for the vote in November 2008. What is it that Prop 2 proposes that factory [...]
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Product Reviews
Since I have had less time for cooking since school started, I have been more willing to try prepackaged vegan goodies.
The first thing I tried was So Delicious soy yogurt in Cinnamon Bun flavor. I did not have high hopes for this product because I had yet to try a soy yogurt that I liked. After seeing that our co-op was carrying them, Pete and I decided it a try.
We both really liked this! It was creamy, cinnamon-y, slightly tart, yet also sweet. It was infinitely better than the other soy yogurts we had tried. We have continued to buy 1 or 2 of these a week, and we like to share them for dessert. It’s also really good served with a chopped banana.
The next product is something that I’ve been wanted to try since I first heard of it. Not only because of the rave reviews, but also because it’s a Seattle-based company, and love to support all things Seattle!
Yes, I finally tried the ever popular Field Roast Celebration Roast. Let me tell you, this was amazing! Instead of following the cooking directions (which call for roasting or steaming), I cut it into 6 slices and pan fried them with a little olive oil. They were nice and browned on the outside, and moist on the inside. It was full of flavor, and made my house smell like Thanksgiving! I’d feel confident serving this to anyone, and not just vegans or vegetarians. We both liked it so much, that it will probably be making a weekly appearance in our house.
Last, but certainly not least, are the Newman’s Own Organic Barbeque Soy Crisps. Pete and I happened to stumble upon these in a grocery store we don’t normally go to, and decided to buy a bag because we needed a snack. Neither of us were very excited about these because of the soy crisps we’d had in the past. We were expecting more of the same unflavorful, bland disks we were used to.
Boy were we wrong! The flavor on these tastes exactly like BBQ potato chips, but without all the added fat! Seriously addicting, we went through the whole bag in under 30 minutes, and were both sad when it was empty.
I found out that I can order them from our co-op, but I had to order a full case. Somehow, I don’t think the 12 bags will last very long.
Overall, we’ve been very pleased with these products and will continue to buy all of them in the future!
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What You Should Know About Your Vegetarian Lasagna Recip
Lasagna recipes are generally known to be meaty and high in calories. Aside from these it s also time consuming to prepare. It has also been commonly known as a difficult and potentially time consuming recipe to prepare. These may not always be true. A vegetarian lasagna recipe simply breaks all the old concepts about lasagna.Why You ll Love ItA typical vegetarian lasagna recipe is not only tasty…..More on Addwords Vegetarian Cooking Index Php
