Vegan vacation!

We recently went to Bar Harbor, ME for a wonderful and relaxing vacation. Almost all the downtown eateries had some vegetarian option distinguished on their menu. The best option for us was an all vegan restaurant offering local and seasonal cuisine. Here are a couple pics from the Eden Vegetarian Cafe.

Baked Goods

I love vegan baking!  Here is a pic of a carrot cake I made for my love’s God daughter – her 1st birthday smash cake!

And here are some cupcakes.  Friends of our recently had a private wedding ceremony in Bali.  We wanted to honor them some how so we brought cupcakes to the beach!  I decorated them using colors I think of when I think of Bali.

What’s for suppah?

This summer I’ve been making and bringing tofu kebobs to BBQs.  Veggie burgers are quick and easy, but boring.  People tend to pass them up and have animal products.  The kebobs usually fly! 

A vegetarian chef once said to me, “The key to making tofu is how long you press the tofu.”  After that I bought a tofu press and believe it is up there with the best $30 I’ve spent.  So much easier than wrapping in cheese cloth/rolls of paper towels and piling all the cookbooks in the house on top.  Since I’ve been pressing accordingly, I am getting the hang of cooking tofu.  I really think a good press makes the difference between “oh I tried tofu once and hate the texture” and “the texture is different but I like it!”

Tofu Kebobs
1 block of tofu, pressed and cubed; I do a 4x5 cut to make 20 cubes
1 1/2 T olive oil
Juice from 1 whole lime
2 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t kosher salt
1 chopped garlic clove
Depending on my mood, I usually add onion and garlic powder. 

Whisk ingredients together, place marinade in covered bowl or ziplock bag with tofu, shake to coat, marinate as long as you like or cook right away.

Thread on water soaked bamboo skewers with veggies of your choice, broil in oven or cook on grill; turn kebobs once or twice during the process.

Every oven and grill is different, 10 minutes is a good average.  You’ll know when your veggies start to char a bit and the outside of your tofu gets a bit crispy.

I find this texture is great – crispy on the outside, melts in your mouth on the inside.  Serve with your favorite summer sides!  I have it above with sweet potatoes and an avacado salsa.

I've done it.

I've done what we've all stereotypically try not to do.  I've turned into one of my parents.  I've turned into my Dad.

I looked at poison ivy and I have random outbreaks all over my body.

I never thought I'd say it, I'm just like my father.  And I can't wait for my next dose of steroids.

Cookie Dough Monster

When ever I make chocolate chip cookies I eat a lot of the dough and I think of two stories about my little sister and her early adventures in cookie baking.

One of her first times reading a recipe on her own she misinterpreted a little something.  Contrary to her belief, 2 1/4 cups of flour meant 2 cups plus 1/4 of a cup of flour.  She scooped the 1/4 cup into the flour twice to add to her dough.  When in the oven, everything seemed to melt and the dough just souped all over the baking sheet.  We helped her retrace her steps to find the issue.

The other time was when she turned off the oven and she decided to let the cookies “rest” a bit.  Then when she felt the cookies were done with their nap, they were burnt to a crisp.

Someone has been after me for a while to bake him some cookies for quite some time.  I stopped procrastinating and did so. 

I’d give out the recipe but I think I’d be crossing some copyright boundaries or whateves.  I use the recipe on the back of the semi-sweet chocolate chips and veganize it.  The chips I’ve always used are vegan to begin with, bonus!  Instead of butter, I use earth balance.  Instead of 2 eggs, I use 2 flax eggs.  I didn’t use as much flax meal this time as I think it tends to make the cookie a tad greasier.  You’d never know they pack extra fiber and omega-3s!

Namesake.

Cielo. Capri, Italy. March 2007.

From trash to treasure?

So I’ve been trying out new hobbies.

We have a lot of old furniture and fixtures.  This bench I think was found at a yard sale. 
It was unevenly painted and much build up in the crevices.  Gross.  And yes that is painted wicker you see. 
Even more dirt/gross in between.
So we decided to redo it.
With paint.
And fabric.
The process went like this: clean, sand, clean, cough a lot, buy an old curtain, buy some spray paint, prime, paint, regret paint choice, buy cushion, flip wicker seats over, upholster or whatever you call it with cushion and fabric, realize the seats don’t fit, sand the hell out of the corners of the seats, one still doesn’t fit, sand it more, set it in, still wonder if the paint choice is right, ah the hell with it, put it in unmatching room with messy floor of old paint.


TADA!
So you don’t have to scroll up, before and after…