Sundays Are For Love.

Yesterday was so awesome!! The Kansas City community really came out and supported local and sustainable foods! The meals hosted by both Dane and myself were very successful....and delicious!! For my lunch, I served up some veganized Italian foods, while Dane's dinner was a potluck this week! Fun fun fun!

Lunch!
I served Roasted Vegetable Lasagna for the main dish, and it was great! Layers of whole wheat lasagna noodles, homemade cashew ricotta, homemade marinara sauce, and roasted local veggies!! The top is Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella. Taaaaasty!I served the lasagna with a Caesar Salad--homemade dressing AND croutons, too! The bread for the croutons came from a wonderful local bakery here in KC, Fervere! Yeah!Dessert was Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti from Veganomicon. This was a huge hit!! Probably because these are some amazing cookies!! Duh!

Dinner!

Now, onto the potluck! Everybody brought amazing dishes, all vegan, too! Here are some highlights:

Dane made an Apple Pie, with local apples, of course

A lovely salad with ALL local, freshly-picked veggies! Also, local bok choy with red chilis!Yes, there was a Tofurkey! Two, to be exact. These things are so surprisingly good! We topped them with some pomegranate seeds! Yum.

I made a Shepherd's Pie! The bottom has homemade seitan and lots of local veggies, the topping is mashed potatoes...made with local potatoes! I loooooove this dish; it's just so wintery!Our friend, Adam, brought some Roasted Potatoes, with onions, garlic, and rosemary!
Vegan Pumpkin Pie!

Awesome siblings, Chelsea and Matt Huff, making some Cranberry Chutney! delish!!
There was even some awesome Rosehip Tea!Everyone sharing in the yums...Our gracious host, Bryce, who makes pretty much anything possible because of his big heart and hospitality! The potluck was at his house! Thanks, Bryce!!

Jim Button is enjoying a tasty Pumpkin Bisque....
The spread...including my Cinnamon-Chestnut Bread Pudding, and Harvest Bread (from Fervere Bakery) with agave whipped Earth Balance! Yes!Adam Brumback, showing his love for the food and the people!
More amazing people around amazing foods...And the lovely Chelsea Ringler! Always a Sustainability Sunday supporter!! Yeah, there was even organic soda. haha!

Neil, digging into the goodness.
Everyone got soooo full and sooooo happy! :)

And everybody helped out, which made it even more amazing!!

Including Emily Lodigensky...

A good...no, great....time was had by all!! Let's hope next Sunday is even better!

Yay food and yay sustainability!!

Going Baking Crazy!

Since I have been in my new apartment, I have been baking. A lot. Like kind of going crazy with it. But there have been so many occasions to which I feel compelled to bring baked goods...it's like I have no choice!

First, for a friend's birthday this past weekend, I made cupcakes! Who doesn't love cupcakes?! I made Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting!! Best combo ever! I veganized my Grandma Poe's banana cake with peanut butter frosting recipe, then made them into shareable cupcake form! They were DELICIOUS and a huge hit! hooray!
Next, for another friend's birthday a few weeks ago...Vegan Oatmeal Creme Pies!! I really wonder why they call them pies, but whatever. Little Debbie has nothing on these bad boys! I have been working on an oatmeal cookie recipe that would work perfectly in a creme pie, and I think I've done it!

Here they are, toppless. So creamy.Topped with yet another yummy cookie, begging to be savored with a tall glass of soymilk....

Vegan Oatmeal Creme Pies (makes about 12 pies)

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup vegan margarine, like Earth Balance

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

Egg Replacer for 2 eggs ( I used Ener-G brand, cuz it's my jam.)

1/4 cup barley malt syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 Tbs baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

splash of soymilk

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. In a large bowl, cream together the oil, applesauce, and sugar. Add the egg replacer, vanilla, almond, and barley malt and mix well. Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour in the splash of soymilk and raisins, and gently fold until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Roll dough into 2" balls (or about what will give you 24 cookies.) and flatten to about 3 inches across. They will not spread much in baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until browned on edges and spring back to the touch. Allow to cool on cooling rack while you make the creme filling.

Vanilla Creme Filling

3/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup vegan margarine

2 cups organic powdered sugar

2 Tbs soymilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and margarine with a hand mixer or fork and elbow grease until smooth and well combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding 1 Tbs soymilk after each cup. Whip powdered sugar with cream mixture after each cup. Mix until creamy. Stir in vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.

To assemble: Flip 12 of the cookies over so the bottoms are the tops. Dollop filling on the center of each cookie, and use all the filling so the cookies will be nice and creamy! Top the filling with another cookie and smush down a little bit to push the filling to the edges. EAT!!!

Then, for my friends' band, Capybara (check them out on myspace!) CD release party, I busted out some of Isa's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies and added Hazelnuts! ZOMG!! Chocolate and hazelnuts were made for each other! Note: Nutella/Chocoreale/these cookies. Drooling and scarfing ensued. The music was just secondary....ok maybe that's a stretch.
Now for some product reviews! I have branched out and tried a few new things lately!

I'll start with the best...Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana Soy Ice Cream!! It's still summer which means it's still ice cream season. And I couldn't believe I hadn't tried this flavor yet when I saw it on SALE at Wild Oats! Totally reminds me of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream! If you like cherry, and better yet, cherry plus chocolate, Cherry Nirvana is for you! Super duper creamy, with nice texture variations in the crunchy chocolate flakes and chewy whole cherries. I made it into a little sundae and topped it with sliced almonds! mmmm....

Then, for the just ok: So Delicious Coconut Milk, unsweetened. I couldn't resist trying this after seeing it on the shelves for a while! It was pricey, so that has kind of turned me off when I eye it. The flavor really wasn't that great. It didn't taste bad, of course, but it was kind of bland. The coconut flavor came through a little, but it was overall kinda tasteless. I liked it well enough to put on cereal, but not really well enough to drink straight up with my pb& j. I would rather drink soy or almond milk any day...especially for the price! And if I am really looking to splurge, it will be Living Harvest Hemp Milk for me! Maybe I'll try the coconut milk in vanilla next time...

Whew! I am getting a sugar buzz after just writing this post!!

Hazelnut Toffee Ice Cream!

So I am pretty convinced that summer=ice cream. After trying to come up with some cool/new/delicious vegan ice cream creation, I finally figured out a flavor combo that is just ridiculously good: Hazelnut Toffee Ice Cream!! I had some hazelnuts and some butterscotch chips, and it just made sense! If you are wanting to give this a whirl and can't find vegan butterscotch chips, try using extra chocolate chips, another type of nut, or even white chocolate chips...go crazy! I hope you try this and like it as much as I did!
Vegan Hazelnut Toffee Ice Cream (makes about 2 qts)
2 cups soy creamer
1 cup soy milk, or non-dairy milk of your choice
1/2 cup organic sugar
2 Tbs arrowroot powder whisked with 1/4 cup cold water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups chopped and toasted hazelnuts
1 cup vegan butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips

In a medium sauce pan, whisk together the creamer, soy milk, and sugar. Heat over medium flame until just boiling, then remove immediately from heat. Whisk in the arrowroot slurry and stir until slightly thickened. Stir in the salt, vanilla, and almond extract until well mixed.
Pour into your ice cream maker and make according to manufacturer's directions. During the last 5 minutes of stirring, slowly add in the hazelnuts, butterscotch and chocolate chips. Serve immediately or freeze for later service. Either way, make sure you enjoy it! I'm picturing lots of hot fudge on top.... mmmmm.....


Now, just for a little food porn treat, here's a little delight I had at the Uprise Bakery here in Columbia, which has lots of vegan options and occasionally make a vegan baked good! With all the yummy zucchini in season around here, they made Zucchini Walnut Bread with a Chai Tea Glaze! It is so gooooood! Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee for a late night snack attack or a light breakfast. And it is made in a little mini-loaf pan! Who doesn't love an individual loaf of local zucchini bread?? You would have to be crazy! Or allergic to zucchini....that would be sad.