Happy New Year, YAY Me!

Well, again, it's been awhile folks, but I return with much great news! First of all, Happy New Year! I feel as though this is going to be a great year and I will accomplish much. I'm going to shoot for that cookbook project I mentioned last year (making a vegan desserts book) and also try to get back into my cooking more and more.

A good fire under my ass is always that lovely company, King of the Buttery spreads, EARTH BALANCE! This past December they again held their holiday bake-off and...... I WON AGAIN! I'm so so grateful to Earth Balance for picking me as a winner. I won a $400 Whole Foods gift card, a years supply of Earth Balance product, and some other fun items including a beautiful bamboo cutting board! If that's not inspiration for starting off this new year and my cookbook project (which needs a name!) I don't know what is. So YAY ME!

Here is the winning link!
And a link to the winning recipe. Spiced Sweet Potato Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting and Brown Sugar Rum Sauce.




I was originally going to make this cake with pumpkin or butternut, but at the last moment I saw these two lovely and fat sweet potatoes on my counter begging to be featured in my experimental cake. I obliged them. The result was an incredibly moist, fluffy, beautiful cake and I was quite impressed with how nicely it came out. I took a spin off of my traditional vegan buttercream and added coconut cream and used Earth Balance's new Coconut Spread, and it tasted delightfully of sweet and buttery coconut. To finish it off I made a sort of rum caramel sauce to soak into each of the layers and to drizzle on plates and anywhere else that demanded a drizzle of rum caramel.


One of my trusty kitchen steeds, the microplane! Doin its' job on ginger, orange and nutmeg. If you don't yet have one of these tools in your kit, I highly suggest it! I could've used dried ginger and store bought nutmeg, but why do that when you can shred it fresh?! It makes a difference.


Gorgeous! The sweet potato color sure stayed vibrant, even in the baked cakes yielding a nice golden hue. Their juicy nature made for a lovely moist cake, which became even more juicy with a good dose of rum sauce in between each layer. :)




I will be posting the rest of my recipe entries in the next week. Thank you for coming and reading. Wishing you all a wonderful, happy and healthy 2012 filled with lots and lots of great food!

Juice fast day 10!

Howdy again everyone! I know it's been awhile again, and again, I apologize. Still didn't post about my dinner last month! (I will be posting recipes and photos, i promise!!)
I'm truly gonna try to post more often. Whatever it might be: a photo, a whimsy, anything fun and interesting enough to share basically. Such as this cool photo of my cupcake pan with fun new liners, how pretty is this? Very art nouveau I think. :)



I'm on a juice fast again (yes, already), and today is day 10, yay! After the 30 day juice fast I did this spring, this is nothin! I have found my greatest craving over the last couple days and it's a bowl of mixed steamed greens (mustard, kale, collards) with shiitake mushrooms, and onions all in a succulent rich broth. drooool.... I know what I'll be making when I finish this fast!

Today I made the BEST juice concoction yet on my fast and had to share it with ya. I could drink this everyday and never get sick of it. This recipe made about 2 quarts, so you can pare it down accordingly :)

3 Peaches
3 Nectarines
8 Carrots
A dozen strawberries
BIG chunk of ginger (about 4-5" chunk)
2 T. spirulina
2 tsp. coconut butter

Juice all fruit, carrots n ginger in a juicer. Then blend in your blender with the
spirulina powder and coconut butter. Voila!

If you're not strictly juice fasting, I think this would be great with additional spinach or swiss chard blended in, or perhaps a banana if you'd like it a little thicker. Flax oil too if you fancy it? Course I'm juice fasting, so I didn't wanna go too overboard. I suggest trying this combo though, while all the beautifully juicy stone fruits are still in season.

You can never get too much green in ya, and this is a scrumptious way to get lots of vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and protein, all in one big fat green mason jar. :) Enj0y!!



thanks for the inspiring chat Clea ;-) Cheers to you!!

Back in the saddle!

Howdy Friends!

It's sure been awhile since I posted, and I'm totally going to give a bunch of excuses!
Don't judge me. My guilty conscious couldn't take not posting anything anymore, I had to break the ice and post again after being dormant for a month. I got a promotion at work! Which is great, and I'm loving it! It does, however, take a little more of my time doing more managerial type things... I'm trying to find a balance though, so I can still do this and commit to at least ONE blog a week, instead of one per month. Ugh. I've also felt sorta uninspired, which to me, is a very bad feeling. Not wanting to fire up the stove, or try a new vegetable in season, or even make myself a healthy dinner?! My yoga has slipped a bit too, ugh. Does this ever happen to you, where you just give up on creating and slip into a slump? Doesn't have to be food per se, but just a block I suppose. Not sure what's been goin on the last month, but I feel like I'm in the clear now. I'm ready to cook, invent, capture it all on camera and tell YOU about it. YAY! Probably cuz we're in Leo now and my birthday is comin up :) Yah, that's it....

It's a good thing too, that I'm feeling my oats again, as I've got a BIG exciting delicious fantastic dinner party I'm cooking for this weekend! It's pretty much my first "secret dinner", which is a trend that's been rearing its' head in the last few years. Underground supperclubs are one of my favorite things. Invite a few dozen people to a big space, serve them a few courses of whatever it is you want to make, and you have yourself a beautiful evening.

This weekend the dinner will take place at a friends' home. They have an amazing urban farm here in San Diego, with bees and chickens runnin to and fro. They've got at least a dozen huge raised beds with everything you can think of planted. There's even a macadamia nut tree and guava tree! So, there's 40 people on the bill, and I'm schemin up a 5 course vegan meal to dish up for the lovely crowd. The theme is definitely summer at her peak! I'm going to post a blog of the end product with lots of scrumptious photos and recipes, so please come on back soon.

You'll be happy to know however that I haven't been TOO lazy. I revived my also dormant sourdough and made a few batches of bread. The first was a total dud, as the starter wasn't active enough just yet. I waited another week and fed it some more (she was hungry), and voila, much improved loaves! Good crumb, good rise, but not too sour. It's been about 3 more weeks of nice warm weather and plenty of feedings, and it smells good n sour now. I might make some more this week if I have time between planning/cooking my garden dinner. I also made a couple birthday cakes, some cookies, a wedding cake-birthday cake, which was super fun. Also, gotta keep drinkin those green drinks. :)






It's funny blogging, as I feel like I'm letting people down in a sense if I don't post what I'm doing. I know I'm letting myself down for sure not doing what I love, which is cooking and sharing! So there, that's my confession and I will be back more regularly. Thank you for reading my lil blog, and happy cooking to all!!

Burrito contest!

Hey all! So remember that vegan blogger conference I was wanting to go to? No? Well, there's this awesome vegan blogging convention in Portland this August and it's sold out.

But, turns out there's one ticket left and one lucky dog will get it by way of winning this vegan burrito contest being held over at Epicurious Vegan blog. How fun eh? Lucky for me, not only do I LOVE burritos, but I live in a magical burrito land where they practically grow on trees (okay, it's really San Diego) and I eat burritos every week in many variable forms. I know what makes for a good one, so it wasn't hard to bust one out this afternoon to my liking.

Right away I thought of doing something scrumptious and out of the ordinary, protein wise. All I ever get in my burritos when going out is beans, beans, and more beans. Plus they are hard to find vegan, as you all may know. Pesky chicken broth or lard often lurks. I love beans, don't get me wrong, but if given the opportunity I'm gonna explore some other options. Seitan came to mind immediately. I carmelized some red bell peppers with onions, garlic, jalapeno and simmered it all good-like with some smoked paprika and oregano. Also, instead of the obvious shredded iceberg lettuce, I thought some garlicky kale with fresh corn would be sweet, nutritious and delicious. Nice for color as well. I thought the reliable red tomato rice would still be good in there, so I cooked up a pot of jasmine rice with tomato sauce. I usually don't get the rice in my burritos when going out, as 99.9% of the time it's cooked with chicken broth. Beware fellow vegan and vegetarians! Anyway it's so nice and flavorful and sorta binds everything together nicely in the tortilla. Lastly, I LOVE LOVE LOVE any excuse to make tofu sour cream, it's so creamy and wonderful, so I made a batch of that to dollop in with all the other goodies as well. Lil squeeze of lime here, handful of fresh cilantro there, shred some red beautiful cabbage and dog-gonit i think I have me a fabulous vegan burrito entry! Not to mention incredibly delicious, my god, I'm so full right now from grazing during the whole process. I'll have lunch for the week too, yay!


[mise en place]


Seitan, Peppers and Onions
1 Package Seitan, cut into thin slices
1 red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch slices
1/2 yellow onion, cut into crescents
1/2 (or a whole) jalapeno, mine was really spicy!, cut small
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. fresh oregano
2 T. shoyu or soy sauce
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 lime, juice of
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste

In a cast iron skillet or saute pan, saute onion the onion in a touch of olive oil. Cook on low heat for about 10-15 minutes until nice and soft and caramelizing starts happening. Add in the garlic, bell pepper, and jalapeno and continue to slow cook it until everything is nice and caramelized together. Add in the seitan, smoked paprika, shoyu, oregano, cumin, and tomato sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in the fresh cilantro and lime juice. Taste for deliciousness and season to taste if needed.



Kale & Corn
1/2 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch kale, shredded thin
1 ear of fresh corn, cut off the cob
1/2 lime, juice of
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

In a large pot or large saute pan, saute the onion and garlic in a dab of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add in the kale and corn with a little splash of water and cover to steam for 2-3 minutes. Remove lid and add in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

Simple Red Rice
1 Cup Jasmine Rice
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato sauce (plain)
1 tsp. salt

In a saucepan, combine rice, water, tomato sauce and salt. Bring to a simmer and keep on a low heat, covered. Be careful to keep it on a low low heat, as the tomato sauce likes to scorch the bottom if the heat is too high. You may want to stir it occasionally, which is what I did. Check the rice after about 15-20 minutes, it should be done with no more liquid remaining and fluffy rices abounding.



[fermented tofu- like vegan bleu cheese]

Tofu Sour Creme
1 12 oz. package silken style tofu
1 lemon, juice of
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T. fermented tofu (optional, but recommended- see above photo)
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 T. Nutritional Yeast
1 T. Rice Wine Vinegar
1 T. Umeboshi Vinegar (optional- but gives a great flavor)
Sea Salt to taste

Combine all but the olive oil in the blender. While the blender is running, slowly drizzle in the oil, this will help it emulsify and get a nice consistency. Season with a splash more vinegar or salt if you need. Refrigerate until ready to use. Should keep for a week in the frig.

Tortillas and Shredded Red Cabbage also needed to complete your delicious burritos.

yum, yum and yum!

[the finished mise en place]


You know the deal, stuff that tortilla with all the fixins however you like, roll it up and devour it!


[piling it on....]


[top with tofu sour cream....]


Enjoy!!

Mercy me!

This last weekend on Saturday night, I drove up to West Hollywood after work and attended a lovely soirée at the jaw dropping mansion of James Costa, nestled way up in the Hollywood hills with a stunning 180 degree view. Downtown L.A., fireworks shooting off in the distance, twinkling lights of other stunning homes tucked away, and a sliver of a crescent moon hung low in the sky between the clouds, all setting the mood. Why was I in attendance of such a lavish setting you wonder? It was a benefit for the animals of course! More directly, honoring Mercy for Animals.

Mercy for Animals is a non-profit organization which was started by Nathan Runkle in the late 90's, who was at the time a mere 15 years old. I could regurgitate and recap all of the wonderfulness that this man is and how he started this amazing organization and how much it has grown, but instead I will link you here, to an article from 2007 Satya magazine which will introduce you nicely. I urge to you learn more about this organization and if you can, please donate to their cause! To be brief, this sweet guy is an immeasurable inspiration and hero, I love him. What an amazing soul! Mercy for Animals has grown considerably in the last couple of years, as they've accomplished several huge feats going up against HUGE farms and companies, all in the name of justice for animals. As he said that night "we're going up against people who have more money than god and we're winning!!" These heroes really are the true voice for these defenseless animals. They do the work that I know in my heart I simply could NOT do. Not in a million years, and to them I bow down in gratitude. Going under cover in the most miserable, loathsome conditions to capture footage and document the most malicious mistreatment and vile abuse of these poor factory farmed animals. If you've ever seen Earthlings or other undercover footage, you know what I'm talking about. The second you start watching your eyes flood with tears and someone reaches into your chest, pulls out your heart and serves it on a platter to some wealthy corporate asshole. Yes, it's that bad! The Ohio case last year was, I believe, one of the first real shockers they exposed to hit the mainstream, getting big press coverage on all the networks. Please, see this link for details- warning- the video is disturbing and graphic.

Alas, the evening on the contrary was quite lovely. People were meant to bring their coin purses and let em flow into those donation envelopes! The featured star of the night was Bob Barker. He was honored with a much deserved award for all of his contribution$ to MFA. That night he came with a check for $250,000. Shortly after, with some gentle prodding, people started yelling out more donations of their own "$25,000!!!", shouted Cindy Landon, widow of actor Michael Landon. "Do I hear another? $500, $1,000? $5,000?", asked James Costa, trying to rile up the obviously wealthy crowd into giving as much as they could to this wonderful cause. "$1,000!!!" yelled another woman, "$1,000!!" another yelled.... It was pretty amazing to witness, as I merely paid for my $100 ticket to attend and barely had enough gas money to drive up there and back from San Diego. I know, of course every bit helps, and you'd think I would've felt out of place in this house oozing with money and status. On the contrary, however, I didn't. I felt at home and at one, knowing everyone was there for the same reason- love and compassion for animals and making a difference in whatever way each individual could in their lives. What a dynamic guest list, it was like vegan superstar central! Filmmakers of several documentaries including Earthlings and Forks Over Knives were in house, along with Steve-O, and so many other glamourous animal activists and representatives of various animal rights groups, farm sanctuaries, vegan publications and every other kind of angle in the vegan industry you can imagine. Among the many beautiful people I met that night were a couple from Orange County running a group called Friends for Seals, who are contributing however they can to fight the endless slaughter of seals, another guy Ryan who is Vegan Filmmaker and a lovely writer named Katarina who wrote this great article capturing the evenings details. I even ran into a gal I met in Paris years ago in a vegan restaurant who was in Paris at the time working for PETA to crash the fashion week by jumping on the runway stating that fur is MURDER! I couldn't have felt more comfortable at this party actually, everyone was very lovely, approachable, and kind. One of my favorite Bob quotes of the night was, “I care about all living things. All animals, all people, all trees, all plants. I care about the world.” We would all do well to learn from this compassionate philanthropist who is approaching 90 years old.

And so, I return to my blog and making delicious vegan food and treats, doing what I can, trying to be the change I wish to see in the world. I was blessed in this life to make vegan food taste good, that is my (non-harming) weapon of choice, or should I say bait. ;-)

Wildly Edible

Tonight I am, like most food bloggers, taking photos of and reporting my dinner to you. I didn't think it was going to be anything special, as I was just about to boil some pasta when...oooh what about theees and ooh yah..... mmm, hmmmm.... Voilà! I love when these kinds of meals happen, as you can use all sorts of items you forgot you had, and the most exquisite end result is achieved. Paired with a precious Midwestern hard cider I've been sitting on for a few months, I think I've found myself with quite the little bloggable and delicious meal! :)



Spelt angel hair pasta tossed with the remainder of my "herbed buttery spread",
sauté of shallot, dandelion greens, pine nuts and hand foraged (by my very own sister in Wisconsin) Hen of the Woods mushrooms.

Hen of the Woods


"Chicken of the Woods" mushroom- Called so because they grow high up on the trees, and look like hens roostin up in the trees! Cute eh? :)


Every spring and fall my sis goes out pokin through the woods and scores loads (literally buckets) of Morels, Hen of the Woods, "Honeys" (real name?), and a few other varieties that elude me. Even my 93 year old grandma is hooked and goes lookin for the tree'd prizes so she can fry 'em up in butter. Last year Heather (my sis) dried bunches of 'em and sent me a precious ziplock full. I use them so sparingly as to cherish them, but tonight I thought with my bitter dandelion sauté they'd have just enough earthy complexity to balance it all out.
(My hunch was correct).

I feel like I've been kinda spoiled in this lifetime with mushroom foragers in my circle. When I lived up in the fertile territory of the Bay Area the chef at Millennium restaurant where I worked would bring in Porcinis fresh and bright with mustard-yellow gills, still dusty with soil from just being plucked outta the earth. He would find them on his morning mountain bike ride through Marin, and we'd use them on the menu that night. My other dear friend in Berkeley would often also bring over GROCERY bags FULL of Porcinis, Chanterelles and the highly coveted and seducing Candy Cap mushrooms who's maple aroma is so intense it smells like you've converted your kitchen to a sugar shack and have been cookin down maple syrup for days.... I extend my gratitude to these foragers and to the sweet little forest floor dwellers, for they are so varied and delicious! It is of course a skill and art to hunt and pick the right ones!
Not too many people are so bold as to go out and hunt for them,
and even less so cook 'em up and eat their harvest.

Ahh, nature and the delights which you bestow upon us! There are so many exciting options for us all, right outside our door.... dandelions, nettles, lambsquarters, mushrooms, ramps, asparagus, acorns, nuts, berries, herbs... I might just go live in the woods of Wisconsin yet! Acorn flour pancakes with elderberry syrup anyone? :) Yes, please!!



There are many community garden groups or nature clubs with excursions where one can go on walks and pick and eat these delights which grow right under your noses. See if your community offers one! I'm not too sure what grows abundantly in the San Diego area, but I'll have to investigate. If you're curious, check out this guy, "Wildman" Steve Brill. :) He's amazing, and will give you a great intro to dining in the woods or your own backyard even. If you live on the east coast, you could be lucky enough to catch a class with him.

Until next time, may you flourish, be happy and follow your heart!
Happy holiday weekend everyone~
xoxo

May Grey and Macrobiotic Tendencies

Just a short and sweet post today about a lovely lunch I just made, and wanted to share. I'm trying to do more of this... sharing business. :) Today was a perfect example of the "May Grey" phenomenon here in San Diego- overcast, windy, and drizzling. I made it to my yoga class, but afterward the weather sure made me wanna stay inside, make a big mug of earl grey tea and fire up the stove, and that's just what I did. Pretty sure I could never be a 100% raw foodist unless I lived on the balmy equator and was hot and humid all of the time. Even then I'd probably wanna make rice and beans or a soup every now and then.

Today I was feeling nostalgic for a hot macro bowl.
I was the chef at a macrobiotic restaurant in Oakland for about 2 years, and that food made itself a big place in my heart... and stomach. :) The rule of thumb for the plate of the day was that it had to be constituted of: a grain (usually rice), a protein (beans, lentils, tofu or tempeh), a vegetable side, a small raw salad and of course a big ol' pile of kale and collards, decorated with whatever pickle we were inspired to make for the day with some delicious slathering of sauce. Those macro plates were ALL about the sawce, cuz if you know macrobiotic cooking, it's very basic in seasonings and flavor and can use a little (or big) burst of flavor to keep you inspired to finish your zen-like nutritive plate. I kept it a little more simple and on the fly today, so I had no grain or salad, but the basic concept was still there for me.

Here's my macro inspired lunch of today:
Sauteed an onion, sweet potato, some firm tofu and a mess o' greens (kale and swiss chard). To finish it off, in a bowl I whisked together juice of one meyer lemon, big spoonful of tahini, lots of chopped fresh dill, splash of water, and sea salt. That's it! So simple and nurturing, and so delicious.

Not the greatest picture, but it will have to do...

Special gratitude for the ever lovely Suzie's Farm again,
for the swiss chard, kale and luscious dill.

It would have definitely been delicious with some nice nutty short grain brown rice freckled with toasted sesame seeds and served with a cup of miso broth with seaweed floaties. Should you have more forethought on your lunch, I suggest the full macro treatment. Also, don't forget the big rule of macrobiotic food- Chew your water and drink your food! Another one is "Chew once for every tooth in your mouth". In other words, be mindful while you're eating- slow it down and focus on your nourishment, be thankful and present while you eat. Hm, or how about "over the lips and past the gums, look out stomach here it comes!"? haha, whatever your food mantra is just make sure there's some mindful chewing in there somewhere :)
Hope you're having a great week and a wonderfully rainy and sunny, springy May!
Time to bake some cookies now....