Bon Appetit

Magazine articles are such a funny thing. They are often written a good 6 months to a year in advance. Actually, books work the same way. My pie book isn't scheduled to be released until September of 2008. So you're always working on projects that are way off in the future.

This is what happened with an article on Fall desserts that I wrote for Bon Appetit. I think I must have worked on it close to a year ago, so I had completely forgotten that it was coming out in October. Last week the new issue came in the mail, and it wound up sitting on my dining room table for several days. I finally picked it up the other night and started flipping through it. I noticed a picture of a pumpkin cake in the beginning and thought "hmmm, that cake looks familiar. Well duh, it was my recipe! That'll teach me to pay a little more attention.

The magazine did a beautiful job with the photos and layout. It makes me wish I had a food stylist at home when I cook. If I could just train my kids, right?


If you get a chance, check out the magazine. Alas, the recipes in the article aren't vegan though several could be veganized. Now I'll just have to come up with a decadent vegan butterscotch pudding. Yum!

Catching Up

We managed to squeeze in a couple of quick trips right before school started. These first couple of photos are from a camping trip that we took in an area called Bull Of The Woods in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Usually when we camp, we look for camp grounds with amenities. This time, it was a little different. My husband had just bought us a tent trailer off Craig's List and wanted to test it out in a remote spot.

It was in a beautiful area with some gorgeous hiking close by. Everything was absolutely perfect until we went to leave. We couldn't get Jay's car to start. That's when the word "remote" really begins to hit home. Nothing like a little adrenaline rush to jump start your day. But, after about an hour or so, Jay got the car started and we were on to our next destination.

This is a pic of our "remote" camp spot. We kind of resemble the Clampett's, don't you think?


Here we are resting at a forest service lookout. It's tough when you're the shortest one in the family.


Before going home, Jay wanted to head over to a campground (with amenities) near a favorite hot spring of his. We set up the tent trailer and enjoyed our little camp site next to the river. The fun really started though just after we fell asleep, as it began pouring rain (and I mean pouring). This was when we discovered that our tent trailer wasn't water proof. Fortunately we didn't get too wet, and thought it might be a good time to head home (and get a new canvas for the trailer).

The following week we snuck in a quick trip to Boise. Unfortunately we didn't get to meet up with Vicki, but we did have a chance to see some old friends, eat a lot of food and enjoy the very hot weather. One of my food highlights during the trip was Java, where I had an awesome bowl of oatmeal with steamed soymilk, sliced bananas and cinnamon. Oh, and the coffee was great too. I wish I had a picture, but the camera never made it out of the car.

Here's a picture though of Noah entertaining himself at The Flying M, while Jay and I enjoyed our iced tea.
I hope everyone had a great summer and got at least a few quickie trips in too.

Back To School

I can't believe that it's back to school time already. But sure enough, my kids were up at 6 this morning, ready to start a new school year. They actually seemed excited too, which is a very good thing.

Back to school also means back to packing lunches. Yes, I know that my kids are old enough to pack their own lunches, and they do for the most part. What is challenging though is having the pantry and the fridge full of easy to pack lunch box food. Although I try to make most of the food from scratch, I still need to fill in with some store bought goodies.

One product that I had that privilege to try recently is Zen Soy puddings and soy milk. This stuff is yum with a capital Y, and is perfect for packing in school lunches. The puddings come in four different flavors -chocolate, chocolate vanilla swirl, banana and vanilla. The chocolate and chocolate vanilla swirl were my favorites. If you're a big banana fan, then you will probably love the banana as it's rich with banana flavor.


Zen Soy also makes small cartons of flavored soy milk, which are absolutely delish and perfect for the lunchbox. My personal favorite is the cappuccino flavor (are you surprised?), although the chocolate and vanilla flavors were very good too. Once my son tasted the soy milk, he quickly finished the rest of my stash. Both the puddings and the individual cartons of soy milk are perfect for school (or office) lunches. I also love the fact that the puddings are low fat (only 1 gram) and run 100 to 130 calories. Now if I could only find a better hiding place for the chocolate puddings, so I could have my own stash of treats.

The Ultimate Reuben Sandwich

I think that this is one of my new favorite meals. Not the potato chips (although Kettle Chips are really yummy), but the sandwich made with corned seitan. All I can say is that it's amazing! The recipe for the seitan was generously shared with us by vegan chef Brian McCarthy. The recipe and video are up on our Everyday Dish site here. If you are a reuben sandwich lover you've got to go run to your kitchen and try this recipe. Now!

I apologize for not being a better blogger over the past few weeks (okay, month). I have finally turned in the manuscript for my pie book (Yeah!), so I can now start to turn my focus back on savory foods (and maybe a few desserts too).

Enjoy the recipe, and I'll be back soon with some fun new food as well as a few product reviews that are long overdo.

Ciao!

Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies

I was away this last weekend at the PPK gathering, and brought a batch of these cookies. They were gobbled up fast, so I thought it would be a good time to post the recipe again. They really are that good! And did I mention they're vegan too?

The cookies have a nice coffee punch, with a hint of cinnamon. Soft and chewy, they're actually even better the second day (if they last that long). If you worry about caffeine, you can use decaf, but there's only 2 tablespoons in the whole recipe, and it makes a lot of cookies. They would probably be wonderful with a handful of toasted pecans too. The cookies freeze well, which I love because then I have them on hand for a quick treat. What can I say but, start baking!

Julie's Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies
Preheat oven to 350°F
Makes about 30 large cookies

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 tablespoon finely ground espresso
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2/3 cup canola oil
2-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
Egg replacer for 2 eggs (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)*
1/3 cup soy milk or other non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned)
2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, coffee powder, espresso, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
2. In bowl of stand mixer, beat together oil, brown sugar, egg replacer (mixed with water*) and vanilla, beating until smooth. Add flour mixture to oil mixture, beating just until mixed. Add soy milk, beating until mixed. If dough is too dry, add an additional tablespoon of soy milk. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips (dough will be pretty stiff).
3. Scoop mixture onto parchment lined baking sheets, lightly press tops of cookies with hand and bake in preheated oven for 14 minutes, or until puffed and slightly cracked on top (but still soft to the touch). Let cookies cool on baking sheet completely before removing.

*Make sure to blend egg replacer with necessary liquid before adding to batter.

Soul Food

It's not always easy to get creative with dinner, especially after you've been baking pies all day. But a girls still gotta eat, and so does her family. Here's something that I made last night, and actually remembered to photograph before we dug in.

I decided to try my hand at Susan's Barbecued Ribz from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. Let me just say that they are AMAZING! So, so good! They're also very easy to make, especially if you have a grill or cast iron grill pan. Don't double the recipe though, that was where I ran into a few little problems. Follow the recipe exactly. I also used smooth peanut butter and lots of BBQ sauce. Oh, and the Ribz are even more amazing the next day, after being chilled overnight.


To go with the Ribz, I cooked up some greens and some Mac & Cheeze (it was a Southern dinner after all). For the Mac & Cheeze, I used some brown rice penne pasta from Trader Joe's (love the stuff, but you could also use regular macaroni) and topped it with a variation of Bryanna Clark Grogan's Melty Chedda Cheeze recipe. It was a really delicious dinner. Thanks Susan and Bryanna for some awesome recipes! Here's my sauce recipe for you.

Julie's Version Of Bryanna's Melty Cheeze Sauce
makes about 2-1/2 cups

2 c. water (or you can use 1 cup water and 1 cup plain unsweetened soy milk)
2/3 c. nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon taco seasoning, optional
1/2 teaspoon sweet (Hungarian) paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton)
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons light miso
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water or plain unsweetened soy milk to thin (or more as needed)
1 to 2 tablespoons Earth Balance (I use the whipped organic)
Salt to taste

Place the water, yeast, cornstarch, flour, taco seasoning, paprika, pimenton, garlic, salt, miso and lemon juice in blender, blending until smooth. Pour the mixture into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until sauce is very thick.

Whisk in water or soy milk and Earth Balance, stirring until smooth and is thin enough to use as a sauce. Add salt to taste and drizzle immediately over cooked pasta and serve.

**This sauce is also really good on nachos. If using for nachos, use 1 to 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (or to taste) and add a little ground chipotle, cayenne or chopped Jalapenos for heat.

Pie And Recipe Testers

Any bakers out there? I'm finishing up the manuscript for my pie book, and am wondering if there's anyone interested in testing some pie recipes. Let me know if your interested, either by email or posting here on the blog. Thanks!