PUMPKIN POP TARTS

Pumpkin Pop Tarts

Pastry:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance (or butter)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
7 TBSP ice water

Put first five ingredients into a food processor and pulse until coarse balls form.  Add water 1 TBSP at a time.
Form dough into a disk, wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Pumpkin filling:
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine in a bowl and let sit while pastry dough is chilling.

Cinnamon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 cup almond milk (any milk)

Combine and adjust liquid until desired consistency.

Now for the fun part!  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the pasty dough to approximately 1/4-inch and cut into desired shapes.  Put a heaping TBSP of pumpkin filling in the center.  Spread, but avoid the edges.  Lightly dip your finger into water and rub the outside edge of the shapes (this will act like glue to hold the top piece on.)  Place the top piece on the lightly press the edges together to seal.

Place on baking sheets and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Top with a drizzle of cinnamon glaze before serving.

PS - Here's a link to a different version of  I did a couple of years ago - pumpkin pop tarts with apple cider glaze.  Happy baking!

A FACTORY TOUR AT THEO CHOCOLATE

was on our Seattle weekend agenda and it was a delicious excursion.

Theo Chocolate shows you the process from bean to bar.  They are organic and fair trade certified, most of their dark chocolate is vegan and besides the tour being delicious, it was fascinating and informative.

If you are in the Seattle area and haven't gone on the tour, put it on your to-do list.  You'll be glad you did!

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 8

Afternoon movie, (rock-paper-scissor to see who gets to choose the flick) and Mother Goose popcorn in a delicious pink.

Mother Goose Popcorn

16 cups popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
food coloring

Pop popcorn and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water and coconut oil.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add vanilla and food coloring.  Stir well and poor over popcorn.
Spread popcorn mixture on a few cookie sheets to cool.

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 11

Eggnog cookies.  Oh me, oh my, these little morsels are amazing!

Eggnog Cookies

1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter**
2 egg yolks**
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup eggnog**
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Cream first five ingredients together until smooth.  Add remaining four ingredients and mix until just blended.
Drop by rounded teaspoon onto cookie sheets.  Bake at 300 for 21-23 minutes, or until light brown.  Place on cooling rack and drizzle with eggnog icing.

Eggnog Icing

3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter**
1/2 cup eggnog**
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix until you have a smooth and thin consistency.  Drizzle over cooled cookies.

**To make vegan substitute butter for Earth Balance, eggs for Ener G and eggnog for Silk Nog.

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 4

Spritz cookies.

I grew up with spritz cookies being made every Christmas.  My mother got a cookie press when she was a newlywed and spritz cookies were one of the recipes that came with it.  She had never heard of them before, so she decided to try it.  She fell in love with these buttery morsels and a family tradition was born.

These cookies get made many times in December at our lair - the man clan gobble them up quickly!

Spritz Cookies

2 sticks butter**
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg**
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and flavorings.  Add dry ingredients to butter mixture.  Use a cookie press to put dough on a baking sheet.  Garnish with colored sugar or sprinkles.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

** To make vegan, substitute butter for Earth Balance and Ener G for the egg.

QUINOA SALAD

This is a yummy, no fail salad.  You can use any vegetables you have on hand and it will be turn out fantastic.

1 cup cooked quinoa*
2/3 cup edamame
1/4 cup cucumber
1/4 cup carrots
I like to add tomatoes, corn and broccoli too.

Dressing:
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp fresh ginger
1/4 tsp fresh garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

*If you have never cooked quinoa before, it's super easy!  1 cup dry makes 3 cups to eat.  I use a 1:1 ratio.

Rinse 1 cup quinoa under water until you don't see "suds".  If you don't rinse, your quinoa will taste bitter.
Put in a pot with 1 cup vegetable broth, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and it's ready.

If I'm eating it as a breakfast cereal or adding it to a sweeter dish, I cook it with water.

PS - I got this salad recipe from Jenny at The Cozy Project.  Take a looksee at her Etsy shop.  Her cozies are environmentally friendly, made for hot and cold drinks and adorable!

RASPBERRY CAKE

4 eggs*
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 butter, melted*
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 cups raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 9 inch pan.

Whip eggs and sugar.  Add remaining wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Stir in 2 cups of raspberries and pour into prepared pan.  Scatter remaining berries over the top of the batter.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cake cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan for finish cooling.

When serving, top with whipped cream.*

*To make vegan, use Ener G in place of the eggs and use Earth Balance in place of the butter.  In place of whipped cream, make coconut whipped cream with your left over coconut milk.

THIS MAY NOT BE NEW TO YOU, BUT IT'S NEW TO ME AND I'M HOOKED

Larry took me to the movie tonight at Salem Cinema.  I usually don't get popcorn because of my ridiculous food allergy situation, so imagine my surprise when Larry came back informing me that this movie joint uses canola oil and they had a brewers yeast option for a topping.  I've never had brewers yeast, and man, have I been missing out.  It tasted similar to Parmesan cheese.

Do you know how long it's been since I've had Parmesan cheese?!  Brewers yeast is at the top of my grocery list now.

This popcorn was heavenly - my taste buds were singing in my mouth.  I'm one happy girl.  Happy, happy birthday to me.

NAAN BREAD

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year, to make something I've never tried to make before, for each month for 2012. I know it's only February, but I'm already behind!

Today I made naan bread (it was my January goal.) If I knew it was so easy, I'd have been making this often! I'm in love with homemade naan!

I followed Anjum Anand's recipe and here is her amazing demonstration video. The only changes I made, is instead of all-purpose flour, we grind our own flour, I used almond milk and olive oil.

1 cup flour

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup almond milk

2 tsp olive oil

Mix together dry ingredients. Make a well and add wet ingredients. Use your hand to mix into a smooth soft dough. Knead for approximately ten minutes, adding a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let dough sit 15 minutes. Form dough into five balls.

Preheat oven and baking sheet. I put the rack on the upper shelf and set the oven to broil at 500 degrees. Roll out dough, place on the hot baking sheet and put it under the broiler. Mine was done in about 1-2 minutes. I brushed with olive oil and served.

You can also top the bread with poppy, nigella or sesame seeds, chopped garlic or fresh coriander before baking.

Today I made plain naan bread for lunch. I didn't have any yummy curry to eat with it, so I had hummus. It was heavenly.

On a side note - if you don't have a Nutrimill Grainmill, you might want to put it on your Christmas wishlist. Besides it being very nutritious, the taste and texture of freshly ground flour is amazing. Seriously amazing.

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS - DAY 11 OF 30

Homemade pumpkin pie. A man clan favorite. This vegan pumpkin pie is delicious - you won't miss the dairy or eggs.

Pumpkin pie with Coconut Cream Whip

Prepare your favorite pie crust.

Filling:

2 cups puree pumpkin

1 cup full fat coconut milk

3/4 cup sugar

3 TBSP cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp cinnamon

Pour into prepared, unbaked, crust and bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

It will be a little wiggly when you take it out. Let it sit until cool and then refrigerate. We had ours within 3 hours of baking and it held up fine and was delicious. It was even better the next day.

Coconut Cream Whip:

1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled

sugar to taste

1 tsp vanilla

Whip coconut milk until fluffy, add sugar and vanilla and beat until it's thick.

PUMPKIN PASTRIES WITH APPLE CIDER GLAZE

Plan on making these again and again because they don't last long.Crust

2 cups flour
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
2 sticks Earth Balance (or butter), cold and cut into pieces
Egg substitution for 1 egg (or egg)
2 TBSP almond milk (or milk)

Filling

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup sugar
Egg substitution for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (or egg)
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 cup apple cider (or more or less, depending on desired thickness)

To make the crust, combine all dry ingredients. Incorporate butter, until it is a crumbly mixture. Add milk and egg until just mixed. Lightly knead the dough on a floured surface, until the dough starts coming together. Divide the dough into two pieces, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To make the mixture. Combine all ingredients and store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

On a floured surface, roll one of the pieces of dough to 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Cut into thirds, creating 9 rectangles. Put four of the rectangles on a cookie sheet, lightly brush with water and spoon a tablespoon of the filling in the center. Before you cover it with another piece of dough, brush the edges of the top piece with water; this will act as glue. Cover the filling and crimp the edges with a fork. Put into the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Repeat.

Preheat oven to 350. Use a knife to vent the pastries and bake until golden brown, approximately 20-25 minutes. While they cool, make the glaze.

To make the glaze, combine all ingredients and stir until smooth. Drizzle on the pastries and enjoy.

APPLE CIDER DONUTS

One of my favorite things about fall is apple cider donuts. Nothing beats homemade donuts. This vegan apple cider version is amazing.2 cups apple cider, reduced to 1/2 cup
7 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 stick Earth balance (or butter)
2 cups sugar
4 egg substitute (or eggs)
1 cup almond milk (or milk)
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
cinnamon sugar

Reduce apple cider and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Combine milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs, cider and milk. Stir in flour mixture, until just combined.

Cover and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This dough works best when kept cold, so plan on putting it back in the refrigerator when not using.

Heat oil to 350 degrees. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness, cut donuts and fry until golden brown, approximately 1 minute on each side.

Place on paper towel lined plate for 1 minute then dip in cinnamon sugar. We think they are best served immediately.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS

1 cup (2 sticks) Earth Balance (or butter), room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 serving of EnerG egg replacer (or 1 egg)
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
2 cups flour
6 oz vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a jelly roll pan.

Cream butter and add sugar, egg, pumpkin and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy this deliciousness that tastes like fall.

PS - If your house is like my man clan, these cookies will be devoured. Be prepared to make another batch.

I HAVE TWO WORDS FOR YOU

Plum GaletteHere is the recipe. You're welcome.

Crust

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup Earth Balance, (or butter) cold, cut into cubes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP ice water

Combine first four ingredients with a fork. If you have a food processor, you are a lucky ducky who gets to push a button until it looks like coarse meal. Fork or food processor, it's super easy and delicious. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time. Dough will be crumbly, but will hold together when you press it. Shape dough into a disk and refrigerate for one hour.

Filling

1/4 cup whole almonds
6 firm plums
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP flour
zest of half a lemon

Finely chop almonds.
Pit plums and slice into 1/4 inch strips. In a bowl, mix plums with sugar, flour and lemon zest.

Preheat oven to 350. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a circle, 1/4 inch thick. It's okay if it isn't a perfect circle, this is rustic, so imperfections are encouraged!

Spread almonds over dough, leaving a two inch boarder. (You'll notice on the above photo, I forgot to leave the two inch border). Spread plums on top of almonds.
Fold the two inch boarder of dough over plums.

I brushed the dough with water and sprinkled a little sugar on top. Bake until it is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

FRENCH RUSTIC PEACH TART

was dessert for Yayas.Do you remember when I told you we were working on a project involving a lot of wood? You're getting a little sneak peek - we are building a patio (meaning, my incredibly talented man is). It's going to be amazing when it's finished. Anyway, Yayas was at my house and we ate dinner on our semi-finished patio.

The table cloth you see, was hand embroidered by my Great-Grandmother, Rachel Elizabeth Smith Daniels. The photo on the right, shows the center top.

On our delicious collaborative menu:

Main Dish - Red Lentil Artichoke Stew over thin spaghetti, chicken tenders

Side Dish - Sesame Green Beans, Green Salad loaded with the works

Drink - Perrier

Dessert - French Rustic Peach Tart with vanilla ice cream

You want this recipe. You really, really do.

Pastry

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp salt

6 TBSP cold Earth Balance butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup ice cold water

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Incorporate butter, leaving small sized pieces. Slowly mix in water. Return dough to bowl, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Filling

2 pounds sliced peaches

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted**

Toss together first three ingredients. Roll out dough into a circle, the more imperfect it is, the better. Place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle almonds over the dough (leave approximately a 2 inch border), pile peaches on top of almonds and fold dough over the peaches.

Glaze

1 TBSP Earth Balance butter

1 TBSP apricot preserves

1TBSP sugar

Heat in a small saucepan until melted. Brush over dough and drizzle the remaining glaze on peaches.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and bake for 20 more minutes. Serve alone or with ice cream.

**Next time I make it, I am going to roughly chop the sliced almonds.

TASTE TEST

I was thrilled to find Rising Moon Organics had some vegan ravioli. It's been a year since I've had a ravioli and I was excited to find them! The hunt was on. I found four at LifeSource and couldn't decide which one to try, so I decided to get them all and do a taste test for dinner. I made some homemade marinara sauce (btw, it's ah-mazing!) and got the water boiling. Here's how we scored the tasty morsels.

1. Garlic and Basil Gnocchi - 5 out of 5 stars. Delicious! You would never know it was vegan.

2. Butternut Squash Ravioli - 5 out of 5 stars. Wonderful! Although, my marinara sauce was too much for it. I would serve it with a simple garlic sauce. Do you have any other ideas for sauces that would complement butternut squash?

3. Spinach Florentine Ravioli - 5 out of 5 stars. Fantastic! Loved the flavor.

4. Creamy Artichoke and Olive - 0 out of 5 stars. I thought this would be my favorite. I even saved it for last so I could savor it. I hated it. I took one bite and gave the rest to Larry. It doesn't specify on the list of ingredients, but I think the olives were kalamata and I don't like those. Larry gave it a 3 out of 5. He'd eat it if it was served to him and enjoy it, but he wouldn't go out and buy it.

3 out of 4 hit the jackpot and I'm thrilled to add them to my 'go to' grocery arsenal for those days I need something yummy, nutritious and quick.

FINDING A VEGAN RESTAURANT IN GRANTS PASS WAS A CHALLENGE,

until we found Orchid Grill. They are not a vegan restaurant but they were so nice to accommodate my crazy food allergies, double check ingredients and their food is delicious!
My clan loved every bite of their food. You should have heard the mmmm, mmmm's at our table.

Between the kalua pig, banzai burger, pupu platter, sweet potato fries, passion fruit lemonade and mango lemonade, and for me, the teriyaki veggie stir-fry with yakisoba noodles, we all left with full bellies and happy taste-buds.

Next time we are in Southern Oregon, we will definitely be stopping here again.

VEGAN - FRIED BANANA PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE RAVIOLI

These little morsels don't look like much, but wow, are they ever good and they were a huge hit with the man clan.
2 bananas, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
peanut butter
semi-sweet chocolate chips
wonton wrappers
a little bowl of water
oil for frying

Mix together bananas, almonds and brown sugar.

Wet the wonton wrappers around the edges, with your finger, with water and let the fun begin with a 'little bit of this, a little bit of that' routine.

Use the back of a spoon to smear a small dollop of peanut butter on the wonton. Top the peanut butter with 4 semi-sweet chocolate chips and top that with some of the banana mixture. Fold over into a triangle or a square and seal well.

You will learn very quickly what amounts will work well for you. If you have too much it won't seal well and the ingredients are busting out. If you don't add enough you will have too much 'wrapper'. After making 2 or 3 ravioli, you will have the proportions down; easy peasy.

We heated our oil to 375 and had them frying until golden, approximately 1-2 minutes.

Before you start, a few tips we learned:
1. Make sure none of the ingredients get on the wet edges or it will interfere with the sealing of the wonton.
2. As you are layering your ingredients in the wrapper, keep them off centered vs smack dab in the middle.
3. If you have any air pockets in your finished product, they don't turn over well in the oil. They keep flipping back over to the first side, so the golden isn't even. Make sure when you are sealing them you don't have air pockets.
4. Cool for a few minutes before eating. We may have burned a few taste buds, tongues and fingers.

RED LENTIL ARTICHOKE STEW

2 medium yellow onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tsp coriander
32 ounces vegetable broth
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 bay leaf
2 TBSP lemon juice
1 (24 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups artichoke hearts
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Rice, quinoa or pasta.

Saute onions until clear. Add garlic, cumin and coriander; cook for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes or until red lentils are cooked.

It's delicious serve by itself, over brown rice, quinoa or pasta. Salt and pepper to taste.

The original recipe is on page 70 of The Vegan Table. This is my slightly modified version.

BANANA BREAD

I have had a surplus of bananas, so I've been making my favorite banana bread recipe ( it's so easy and it's vegan - yay for me.)
Today I served it on a platter that belonged to my 2nd great-grandmother, Harriet Maria Vincent Smith.

Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup oil
2 bananas, mashed

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and bananas. Stir to combine. Put batter in an oiled loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Cool 30 minutes then take out of loaf pan to continue cooling.

Our loafs disappear within minutes, so I have no idea how long the bread lasts if not eaten straightaway.