Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Harvest time MoFos!


Happy Fall everyone! 

It's October 2nd, and I'm feeling the amorous arms of Autumn enfolding me in her colorful embrace! Tonight I'm in my new sublet, sipping on tea, listening to Lord Huron (thank you Morgan!) and feel cozy as hell on this crisp, fall evening.

I just moved back to Wisconsin this summer, back to my homeland and family, after being gone the last 12 years (in California mostly). My tumbleweed days are over and I'm settin roots in Madison, and it feels great to be here! The first two months back here I stayed with my sister, brother-in-law and lil nephew, in their lovely house down in the quaint and lovely Shullsburg, WI. It was an incredible homecoming to be at their home in the country. Nothin but a blanket of stars, mooing cows, corn fields, golden rolling hills, and more heirloom tomatoes than you can shake a stick at!

It's been a long while again since last I posted, but I've got a little fire under my tushy this month by the name of Vegan MoFo. Vegan MoFo stands for Vegan Month of Food, clever eh? It's a dear little side project of PPK, Post Punk Kitchen for those of you not familiar. To explain further, PPK is how Miss Isa Chandra Moskowitz (vegan cupcakes take over the world) got her start, and now she's the famed vegan cookbook author. I've never been a part of this before, so I figured why the hell not! If anyone should be a part of this MoFo action I should! I always love a good excuse to get in the kitchen and document my creations. What this entails is a commitment to blog at least 20 times for the month of October.  All vegan, all yummeh, bring it on!

Grapes!
After chatting with my sis about this MoFo business, we both thought it would be great to dedicate my Mofo ramblings to the amazing and ever giving Harvest and the Autumn delights therein. I've never canned or preserved so much in my life than I did in the last month. Everyday it was 40 more pounds of tomatoes to can, or we were picking apples for applesauce, or bringing home buckets of elderberries, grapes or raspberries, diggin the tators out of the ground, picking spinach for the salad that night.... the list goes on.

Elderberries!
Harlansan Apples

Heaven, is what it was! Just me and my sis, and hours, DAYS, to play with incredibly fresh, beautiful, homegrown food! Therefore, I'd love to dedicate this month to all of that gorgeous bounty and share the beauty that my sis and I cooked, baked or put in jars, and also all of the other delights that Autumn brings forth.
Crackled Spicers
So let's get to it!! Today's post is a scrumptious spicy fall cookie.
My sister was craving a pumpkin cookie, or some kinda spicy goodness, and before I knew it we were bustin em out. The result was reminiscent of a molasses ginger cookie my dad would often buy when we were growing up. These came out soft and chewy inside, crunchy on the outside from the cinnamon-sugar they were rolled in, and bursting with spices. We didn't hold back, and threw in a gang o' spices, and I'm glad we didn't. They were spice-tastic and lasted only a couple of days.Wish I had one right now! They went fabulously with chai, soy lattes and tea. Mmmm.




Spicy Fall Cookies 
2 cups Unbleached Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Ginger powder
1 1/2 tsp. Clove powder
1 1/2 tsp. Cardamom powder
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, fresh grated
1 cup Earth Balance (baking sticks or spread)
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Cane Sugar
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Additional for rolling dough in: 
1/4 cup Cane Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon


1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2) In a medium sized bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and spices. Stir to mix them all together. Set aside.
3) In a larger bowl or stand mixer, cream together the Earth Balance, sugars, vanilla, salt and maple syrup. Scrape down the sides and mix again.
4) In 1/2 cup increments, add in the dry flour/spice mixture into the mixer until the wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.
5) Combine additional sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Roll balls of dough in your hands and drop into the spiced sugar. Roll them around to coat completely, then place on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly. The cookie will spread slightly, so keep them 1-2 inches apart. 
6) Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes, depending how soft you like them. 

Enjoy! See you soon for more MoFo action :)

9 comments:

  1. Yay harvest theme! I'm drooling over your pictures. I've never seen actual elderberries before!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey thank you! It was my first time actually making something with Elderberries, it was quite the feat! There was about 1/4 mile of bushes by my sister's house so we raided them and picked about 25 pounds! We turned them all into Elderberry syrup, for pancakes, icecream, cocktails and best of all- cough syrup! Elderberries are incredibly useful for any respiratory ailments. We're set for the winter :) Thank you for reading!!

      Delete
  2. So glad to see a post from you! We miss you around here, but sounds like you are happy & well. I am looking forward to your MoFo posts! I did not sign up this year, as Vegenista is on a bit of a hiatus, just for the moment. Looking forward to more beautiful creations from your kitchen!

    Melissa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, this is fascinating reading. I am glad I found this and got to read it. Great job on this content. I liked it a lot. Thanks for the great and unique info. premium porn sites

    ReplyDelete
  4. i am always looking for some free stuffs over the internet. there are also some companies which gives free samples. נערות ליווי לוד

    ReplyDelete
  5. New web site is looking good. Thanks for the great effort. top black porn sites

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me. Toronto Escorts

    ReplyDelete
  7. I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. web porn tube

    ReplyDelete
  8. This free trial is limited as to the features and benefits you can enjoy, but is good enough to give you a feel of what the site has to offer. BDSM websites

    ReplyDelete