It's Official

I've moved. I finally finished my website, and will now be blogging there. The website is juliehasson.com.

So please come on over and say hi. I just posted the cover for my new book, and there is lots more to come. There's nothing like a fresh new look to get one blogging regularly again.

XO Julie

Happy 4th

I want to wish everyone a fab 4th of July! I can't believe that summer is already here (although I wouldn't know it by the rain outside my window).

I've been thinking about some of my favorite 4th of July recipes, which I thought I'd share. The peanut sesame noodles are always a huge hit, as well as homemade sausages (to grill), edamame guacamole, easy bean salad, breast of tofu sandwiches, artichoke dip, quick and easy corn dogs, bbq pizza, susan's ribz, homemade blackberry soda and lemonade, just to name a few. That doesn't even include the ice cream and desserts, that are just as important at a BBQ or picnic as the mains and sides.

In other news, I finally decided to have our awesome web guy help me out with redoing my website, since I was struggling with it too much. It should hopefully be up and running in the next 2 weeks or so. I'll be sure to let you know!

Until then, I hope that everyone has an awesome holiday weekend!

XO Julie

I haven't Forgotten You!

I haven't forgotten you! I am working on setting up the new site. It's taking me a little while because, we'll, I am a Wordpress virgin. I'm hoping to have everything up and running in the next couple of weeks at juliehasson.com.

I'll let you know when it's ready to go... Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

XO Julie

What's Up?

Thanks for all of the awesome comments on the cookbook. I can't wait to finally have it finished and see it on bookshelves.

I haven't totally disappeared, although it has been a few weeks since I last blogged. Well, here's the latest from the Hasson camp: I've been working on recipes for an upcoming magazine article (I'll share details when I can), still editing chapters for Vegan Diner, developed and launched a new bowl at the cart, had my daughter home for Spring break and celebrated her 19th birthday, decided to try my hand at serging, after watching the amazing Miss Kittee with hers (although it's still siting on my dining room table waiting to be used), signed up for a sewing class to make my own t-shirts, have been teaching my son how to drive so he can take his driver's test, and lastly, trying to do a blog/website redesign. Whew!

It's all lots of fun though, and I'm really enjoying the process of doing the site design. Especially since I know nothing about HTML or CSS. But, I've learned a few things along the way, and am thinking about building it at Squarespace, and moving everything (including this blog) over to juliehasson.com. I was going to use Wordpress, and still might, but Squarespace is looking pretty cool. Anyone have any thoughts or tips for me here? I'll let everyone know before I move the blog.

I hope everyone is having a great spring!

Julie

A Couple Of Pictures

I'm back editing the cookbook, and thought that I would share a few photos with you. These are just snapshots that I took while I was working on the recipes. The pictures are as follows: grilled cheese sandwich with homemade cheese, blueberry lemon cake, onion rings, almond raspberry cake and pina colada pie.

I can't wait until the book is released. I've been working on it since the beginning of last year, and it will be so much fun to finally be able to share (spring 2011). The book (aptly named Vegan Diner) will have over 100 recipes, filled to the rim with diner favorites and comfort food fare. I am so excited to see how it all comes together and magically appears on bookstore shelves.

A New Cheese On The Block

I had the pleasure of testing out a new product line recently, which I'm very excited about. The line is called We Can't Say It's Cheese, and is made by a small family-owned company in Montana called WayFare foods.

I was sent 4 different spreads to try, Cheddar-Style Spread, Cheddar-Style Dip, Mexi Cheddar-Style Dip and Hickory Smoked Cheddar-Style Spread. I immediately tasted them all, too excited to wait for the rest of my tester crew to gather round. They were all very good, but my hands-down favorite was the Hickory Smoked. So good! I immediately could see serving it with crackers and a bottle of wine. Not something that you can say about vegan cheese very often, if ever.

Once I gathered together the rest of my tasting crew, I watched them dig in, while I waited to watch their reactions. I knew right away that the cheeses were going over well. My son kept going back for more, saying "this stuff is good". His favorites were the Cheddar Spread and the Mexi Cheddar-Style Dip. My husband finally got a chance to taste, once my son was done topping off his crackers. He really enjoyed all of them, but especially the Hickory Smoked and Cheddar-Style Spread. 

These cheeses are of the spreadable variety, not firm and hard, like something you might grate on a pizza. They are made from whole grain oatmeal, sesame, pimentos, nutritional yeast, seasonings, sea salt, calcium carbonate, evaporated cane juice and a vegetable oil blend. It's refreshing to see a short ingredient list, and even know how to pronounce the ingredients.

From what I understand, the company is cranking on their production and distribution, and we should start to see it appear in stores on the west coast soon. I believe that it's also available in other areas of the country as well now too.

I will definitely be buying more, as soon as I can find it in Portland. I see some nice relaxing evenings ahead, unwinding from a long day at the cart with some Hickory Smoked and Cheddar-Style Spreads. Maybe a bottle of wine too...

Is It Almost February Already?

 Wow, I can't believe it's already the end of January! Where has the time gone?

I think that I'm ready to come up for air, and get back blogging again. You know it's bad when your mom calls to remind you that you haven't put a new post up in several months. Got it mom... Nothing like a little Jewish guilt. Anywho, the new routine of opening and working our food cart, along with finishing the cookbook and the zillion other projects I was juggling, had me put the blogging on the back burner. I just had to let the blogging go temporarily. I had a bit of creative burnout.

Thankfully, it was short lived. I'm back and excited to be blogging again. There's so much to share. Maybe my posts will be a little fresher now too.

The picture above is one of many from the new cookbook. We'll, from the testing phase at least. It's a strawberry chocolate pie. One of my tester's favorites. I have lots of other photos too, which I will start to post.

If you find yourself in the Portland area, please stop by our food cart (Native Bowl) in North East Portland and say hi.

XO Julie

Some New Videos...

Okay, I can finally share the news on my top secret project. Morningstar Farms asked me to do a series of videos for them, featuring some of their recipes. The videos are aimed at getting people excited about veg meals. The recipes aren't all vegan, though they are pretty easy to veganize with a few substitutions (which I did in the recipes using soy cheese and sour cream). I'm really excited about the videos and will post them here as soon as I figure out how. Until then, they are on the homepage of the Morningstar Farms website here and on their Facebook page. And let me just say that the quesadillas are killer with Daiya cheese in them. Yum!

I'm also putting the finishing touches on my manuscript, which I turn in after Thanksgiving. I am really happy with the way that it's all coming together. I just wish that the book was coming out sooner.

I will try and blog again before Thanksgiving, but if I don't (we're expecting a lot of houseguests next week), happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

XO Julie

Quickie

I'm still here! I've been typing and testing away, trying to finish the last part of the diner book. The recipes are finished, and the editing is just beginning. Each day I say "I'm going to do nothing but edit all day," but sure enough, there are so many details to stay on top of for the food cart, that the editing has become a slow process. Not to worry though, I am persevering, and having a great time too.

So, testers for Vegan Diner, there are quite a few new recipes to test, and LOTS more coming shortly.

We also squeezed in some filming last week, so there will be some new additions to Everyday Dish coming soon. I've also been working on another top secret project, which I'll hopefully be able to mention soon. I tell you, as crazy busy as things have been lately, it sure does keep life interesting!

Also, I put up a new post on the "Dish" page of Everyday Dish (yes, my second blog...). It has some yummy Thanksgiving recipe ideas, so if you're in need of some ideas, check it soon.

Back soon!

XO Julie

P.S. I have also been trying to tweet, semi-regularly. You can follow me on Twitter at (http://twitter.com/everydaydish)

A New Post, Finally!

 

Sorry that I am not posting as often. I'm going to try, really!

I've been wanting to share some pictures of our new food cart, all set up and open. I even brought a camera with us every day last week, but that didn't seem to help. We just never stopped to snap pics. Fortunately my friend Joanna came on our opening day, and snapped away (Thanks for letting me borrow your pic Joanna!).

We are having a great time with the cart. It's fun to have a venue where we can once again cook food for other people. I can also try out recipes that I'm developing as well, such as the seitan pastrami that is part of our awesome new reuben sandwich. Guess what? The recipe will be in the new cookbook. I also have some lofty dessert plans, and hope to start baking vegan chocolate Twinkies and a killer carrot spice cake soon. All in good time. At the moment, I've made sure to have a full cookie jar at the cart, so there's always something sweet.

If anyone in Portland is looking for our cart hours, you can follow us on twitter (nativebowl), where I've been trying to post our hours. Truthfully, we are still feeling the hours out and seeing what will work best. Right now we're open Wednesday through Friday 11:30 to 2:30ish. On Saturday and Sunday, we're  staying open later, depending on the hungry crowds.

I promise to be back soon. I still need to share the pics of my trip to the headquarters of Better Homes & Gardens this summer.

Moving Along

We physically moved the food cart to it's new home yesterday. It was so exciting to see it all tucked in amongst the other carts. There's still a few things that we have to take care of before we can open for business. We're aiming to officially open our doors next Monday, the 5th of October.

Now comes the millions of other details, like making sure that we have every tool and piece of equipment that we'll need to operate, compiling a list of all the ingredients we'll need to order, getting the right packaging, signage for the cart... There are so many details that my head is spinning. I must remember to do yoga in the mornings, to keep the stress in check.

So that's the scoop for the moment. I will let you know once we're up and running. Thanks again for all of the well-wishes and support!

XO Julie

P.S. Although I had brought the camera with us to photograph the event, I discovered the battery was dead as I went to snap photos. Thank you to the awesome woman who took these photos, and then so kindly emailed them to me!

Finally!

We finally have a spot! We were just about to take one downtown, when the phone rang with a better offer. Talk about timing! It's official now. We will be moving in to the Mississippi Marketplace with the other awesome food vendors. We are hoping to be open by October 1st, if not before. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the support!

Food Cart

Just wanted to let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We have our initial approval, but are still searching high and low for a spot to open. This part is proving to be much tougher than we imagined. How hard could it be to find a perfect spot with lots of traffic, an electrical hookup, running water... Oy! We're learning a lot through this process, for sure.

I will post as soon as we know where our location will be. Please think good thoughts for us. We need all of the help we can get!

The News

I think it's time to spill the beans about our newest project. It's not that I haven't wanted to share everything that's going on, it's just that sometimes I get a bit buggy-boo talking about things before they happen. The truth is that we're knee-deep in the permitting stage for a food concession trailer. Before we can proceed further, our plans are in the hands of the health department awaiting initial approval. This waiting is driving me bonkers.

The food cart scene in Portland has been absolutely exploding lately, and for good reason. There are so many inventive chefs and entrepreneurs, with creative food that runs the gamut from ice cream to stuffed hand pies, side dishes, stuffed waffles, vegan burritos to ethnic food, Belgian frites, vegan BBQ... You name it, it's happening in a tiny trailer on some street corner in Portland. So as a creative chef and food lover, I've often fantasized about opening a cart, wondering what type of food I would serve.

Then a few weeks back, I awoke one morning to find my husband with his laptop in hand, asking me how I felt about opening a food cart of our own. He had found a trailer for sale on Craigslist, that was all set-up and ready to go. Always up for a new adventure, I figured this sounded like a cool way to do some creative food, without the major headaches of opening an actual restaurant.

Needless to say, two days later we became the proud owners of a shiny black food trailer. The owner had set it up for himself, but had decided to move back home and was selling everything. "It's ready to go" he said. Well, maybe not quite ready to go. Jay has spent the last two weeks having the electrical fixed, replacing equipment that wasn't working and fixing things that weren't quite right. Now, hopefully, it's ready to go. For the time being we sit, waiting to get the initial approval from the health department. Then we can think about locations.

So now you all are up to speed on where we're at. We're holding our breath with our fingers crossed, hoping that we can make this newest venture a reality. Until then, I've got lots of cookbook editing to do. And a daughter to move to college. And a son going back to school... Life is good!

A Great New Find

Have you ever had one of those weeks? I've been having one this week, and it's been a wild ride. It started off with my husband and I starting a new business venture, which I can't talk about yet, but will spill the beans soon. It's really exciting, but an endless maze of red tape to maneuver through. Then in the midst of working on that and the editing of the new book, I got sick and was totally laid up. Very bad timing, I would say. Then late last night I got a phone call that my dad had been bitten by a rattlesnake (twice) and was in the hospital. WTF? Fortunately my dad should be okay, and is receiving anti-venom and responding well (ETA My dad is doing well and is back home now). We're now calling him the snake charmer. But man oh man, what a week! Please forgive me if the posts are a little slow around here for the time being.

Now, about the review. I had the privilege of trying out a fun new gadget recently, and was excited to share the results. Just so you know, I never receive payments for these reviews and have no connection with the company. But it's an uber-cool kitchen tool, especially if you cook with tofu.









As someone who is gadget crazy, I'm always searching for the next cool product. The problem is, not all new things pass the muster. First off, it has to serve a purpose, not just be another large tool to cram into my over-stuffed drawers and cabinets. Next up, the tool has to work well, be well-constructed and well designed. It also must call out to me, or else there's no way that I will remember to pull it out of said over-crowded drawers to use it. Period. So, as you can see, I'm a pretty tough and jaded critic.

Now, every once in a while, a new tool comes into my kitchen and brings a smile to my face. I must be walking around smiling a lot, because two uber cool tools/toys/gadgets have me excited lately. One will have to wait for another post, because I want to talk about the TofuXpress tofu press first.

I found that firm tofu works really well with the press (Trader Joe's organic firm tofu to be exact). I pressed it for an hour, and couldn't believe how much water was gently but firmly pressed from the block. Pretty cool. I then decided that I would let it go another couple of hours to see how it did. Even more water was expressed, leaving a fabulously firm tofu which could have been grated like cheese. No kidding. The texture was incredible. I then took my pressed tofu, and placed it in the fab "Breast of Tofu" marinade from Bryanna Clark Grogan. It made for one fabulous dinner! I also had a brainstorm that since I was going to be heading out for a camping trip, I would press more tofu, slice it and bring it along on the trip (stored in freezer bag with more of Bryanna's delicious marinade). It worked exceptionally well, and how cool to have pressed and marinated tofu waiting for you to use.

I don't believe that the TofuXpress is available in stores yet, but you can find it on their website at www.tofuxpress.com It's currently being offered at a special introductory rate for the moment. I highly recommend that you check it out, especially if you cook tofu regularly or would like to.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the last little bit of summer.
Back soon!

XO Julie

Cherry Bombs

I had planned to get this post up sooner, but have been having some trouble with photos on Blogger. Anyone else experiencing this? Photos now come up as code on the posts. Weird.

Anywho, I wanted to share my easy recipe for cherry bombs, aka cherry vodka. This has been a tradition around our house for years. Some years we even make an extra large batch and share it with friends around the holidays. You can make it with most summer fruit, but bing cherries are exceptionally awesome.

It couldn't be simpler to make, as you just dump everything together in a large (clean) crock. I used 3 pounds of firm bing cherries, 1 bottle of vodka (you don't have to use a super premium here, as a middle of the road one will work fine) and sugar (I used 1 cup, but you can do this to taste). Mix together in a sterile crock and set aside in a cool place (not the refrigerator) for about a month or more. This will keep for a very long time, or until you eat all of the cherries (and drink the liqueur). I store the liqueur and cherries together in the crock on my counter. Oh, and I keep the pits in my cherries. After a while they give the liqueur a lovely almond undertone which is fantastic.

Try the cherry bombs (infused cherries) over ice cream (with the pits removed of course) or blot them if any extra moisture and dip in melted chocolate.

Now go run and grab yourself some cherries and make a batch. I'm telling you that these are the bomb baby!

The Amazing Bean

Sorry for leaving my blog so quiet last week. I was away (without a computer) in Des Moines, Iowa, where I was invited to participate in a soybean tour. The Soyfoods Council arranged the farm to table tour, which had us visiting soybean farms, cooking at the culinary institute, watching demos, learning (a ton) about the latest studies from Dr. Mark Messina (one of the foremost researchers on soy) and had many delicious meals... I also made some great friends and laughed my butt off the entire time. It was a fantastic week.

There were about 13 of us on the trip, from cookbook authors to magazine editors to chefs and writers. All of us foodies, but some were new to the world of soy. Being the token vegan on the trip, I was probably one of the few that regularly ate and cooked with soy. But we all walked away learning all sorts of new and cool techniques and with lots of inspiration. I have all kinds of ideas for using miso and edamame, and am inspired to start making my own tofu on a regular basis.

I also learned a lot from Dr. Mark Messina about the latest in soy research, seperating all of the facts from fiction. There are some poorly written articles popping up in magazines and lots of crazy untruths. I mean, come on... drinking soymilk does not cause men to grow moobs! I will try and get my hands on some of the latest studies to share, because I think it's really important info.

I'll post the rest of the trip in another post. Pictures of us cooking at the culinary instute, more delicious vegan meals and even a side field trip to the headquarters of Better Homes and Gardens (and their test kitchens). Did I say that I had a fantastic time?

Anyways, here are some of the pics from the week.

Me, in the soy fields.

The farmer in his soy field.

Edamame guacamole which was absolutely amazing!

One of our fabulous meals, prepared by Chef Ephraim at the Tournament Club of Iowa. This dinner was unbelievable! Notice the homemade tofu at the bottom of the plate and the mashed potatoes formed into a pear, dusted with panko and ground soynuts (I think) and fried/baked. Such a delicious dinner! He used soy in so many new and unexpected ways.

Two vegan desserts. The one on the left is a mochi cake made with rice flour and a carrot cake on the right. These were absolutely delicious!

Dr. Mark Messina. My camera wasn't working well, so the pic isn't great. His presentation was excellent.

The Vegan Scoop

Ice cream is one of my favorite things in the world. Period. So when I first got my hands on Wheeler Del Torro's new book on Ice Cream, I couldn't wait to crack it open.

The book is called The Vegan Scoop, and if you haven't seen it yet you've got to go check it out. Wheeler (the vegan "ice cream man" of Boston) has a flair for flavors, which run the gamut from traditional to exotic to just plain unexpected. Imagine flavors like Cherries Jubilee, Bubblegum, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, Nectarine, Honeydew, Black Sesame, Thai Chile Chocolate, Caribbean Coffee, Seaweed and Coconut Lemongrass to name just a few. We're talking 150 vegan flavors from cover to cover. Oh, and there's also recipes for toppings, ice cream sides and desserts (Twinkies, Madeleines or cookies anyone?).

I had the pleasure of meeting Wheeler a few months back, when he very graciously filmed a couple of ice cream segments for Everyday Dish. I can tell you first hand that his ice cream is delicious. The texture is smooth and creamy and the flavors divine. Although I have only tried a couple of recipes in the book, I've got many pages marked with Post It Notes to whip up sometime soon.

I did notice that the book calls for a lot of exotic extracts that you probably won't be able to find at your local grocery store. After a quick online search though, I found that with a little searching most of the flavored extracts can be found. If you're interested, check out the lengthy and extensive list at Nature's Flavors (including vegan coriander, Lychee and white chocolate flavors).

When I was asked to participate in the blog tour for The Vegan Scoop, I didn't hesitate. This is a book that I was excited to add to my vast cookbook collection, and knew that it would get lots of use. As a special bonus for the book blog tour, Wheeler created 50 new recipes to share with bloggers. Guess what recipe I get to share? Pralines and Cream! How delicious does that sound?! Now, before I give you the recipe, don't forget to check out Wheeler's Vanilla/Curry and Peanut Butter ice cream videos (and recipes) on Everyday Dish. The book can be found on Amazon or at your local bookstore.

Pralines and Cream Ice Cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup soy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Butter sides of a heavy saucepan. Add sugars, soy milk, and salt to saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Raise heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Reduce heat and continue cooking to soft ball stage, about 234° on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat.

Add butter and vanilla, but do not stir. Cool for 5 minutes; stir in nuts. Beat with wooden spoon until candy is no longer glossy and is thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Quickly spoon candy onto buttered baking sheets or waxed paper. Let cool.

1 cup (235 ml) soy milk, divided
2 tablespoons (16 g) arrowroot
2 cups (470 ml) soy creamer
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
3/4 cup crushed pralines

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup (60 ml) soymilk with arrowroot and set aside.

Mix soy creamer, remaining 3/4 cup (175 ml) soymilk, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add arrowroot cream. This will cause the liquid to thicken noticeably.

Add vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2 to 3 hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instruction. In the last 5 minutes of freezing, stir in pralines.

Yield: 1 quart (approximately 600 g)

Joni & Celine

Just a quickie to share a fun photo from yesterday. The adorable and talented Joni (of Just The Food) & Celine (from Have Cake Will Travel) spent the day with us yesterday, filming some upcoming segments for Everyday Dish. They were so much fun and their recipes are awesome! They have a cookbook coming out soon, and it's going to be fantastic.

Thank you both for a great day and lots of laughs!

Camping

Camping is something that has always been in my blood. I think I was only about 6 months old when my parents took me camping for the first time, as they loaded down our Volkswagon with one of those old impossibly heavy canvas tents, and a kayak that my dad had built from a kit. Later on our camping trips grew from weekend excursions to month-long journeys all the way up the California coastline to the Pacific Northwest. Yes, you can definitely say that camping is in my blood.

My hubby and I have carried on the camping tradition with our children, beginning when our daughter was only a couple of months old. Our trips have always centered around the food we bring. Food takes on new meaning when you are outdoors 24/7. Our whole trip revolves around preparing the food, cooking the food, eating the food, cleaning up from the food mess, then deciding what we are giong to eat next!

As we continued to camp, our equipment arsenal began to grow exponentially too. First the giant tent, so that we could fit all of the kid's toys and necessary stuff in there, then more cooking equipment and a larger cooler and big, bulky air mattresses. It all felt so necessary at the time, but we were completely loaded down. It's truly a wonder that my husband was so patient with all of the stuff that I insisted on bringing. He was a camping minimalist at heart; just a single bowl that doubled as a cooking pot, a pocket-size single burner for cooking and a fork and a knife. Ha! He never knew what hit him!

Now that our kids have gotten older, we are slowly finding ourselves scaling back on our camping essentials. Our tent has gotten smaller (and miraculously morphed into a small tent trailor), the cooking equipment has gotten sparser and forget those pesky air mattresses that continually sprung a leak. I think that the work load has even lightened up a bit too.

So if you're wondering where I'm going with this, last week we were able to sneak away for a 6 day adventure near Bend, Oregon, meeting up with some old friends that we hadn't seen in several years. Getting together two families with 5 teenage kids was no easy task. But somehow we pulled it all together, and as we sat there laughing and playing Apples To Apples by the roaring fire, I found myself reflecting on the evolution of our camping trips. We've come a long way baby.

ETA: I put up our camping food list on Everyday Dish (on the "Dish" page).

The kids proving to me just how short I really am.

Bruno, enjoying the sun and contemplating when he gets to go home.