Some tastey photots!

A few weeks ago I felt like making Indian food. So to Manjula's Kitchen I went for veggie inspiration.

This is homemade seitan smothered in Tandoori sauce and shallow fried, rice with peas and caramelized onions and spicy bhindi. Very delish!


Today I made a lovely salad for a BBQ that everyone bailed on. But I get to eat the whole salad so its a win for me! below is the picture I took while testing out the spices in the dressing.
The somen noodles are spun into bird's nests, the diced red bell pepper, cucumber and shredded carrot added and the sauce drizzled on top. I did end up adding some siracha to the sauce and black sesame seeds instead of cashews. But the whole thing is fantastic. Check out the recipe on VegWeb!

I also have two more salads for the failed BBQ but have yet to take pictures of them. Maybe when we eat them for dinner. Just a basic veganaise Pasta Salad and an Avocado Salad with beans, tomatoes and lots of lime. So yummy!

Below are some gardening pictures!

We dug up the plants along the garage that covered half the walkway and windows and made it into a garden! The trellis is to allow the plants places to climb on without unsightly tomato cages.
Yes, that is a stone skull out in front. Im strange. I know and accept this!


My garden, full of tomato plants, string beans, bell peppers and one lonely jalapeno plant. Since this is New England I hope to get veggies around September. hahaha

Potluck!

More cake and bagels!

This is my take on a marbled cake. Alternating layers of chocolate cake and vanilla cake with fluffy buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache. I do have to admit though, I put it together too quickly and it kind of got a bit mushy. I think next time I will let the cake set for a day rather than an hour.

You can see in the slice below how things kind of smooshed into themselves. Not quite a lovely layer of light fluffy cake. But still, very darn tasty!



I also tried my hand at bagels. They were fantastic! Next time I will have to try adding a flavor or seed to the dough. Either garlic bagels or poppy seed sound great to me.

Cake!

Lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting layers alternating with blackberry preserves. Drenched with a lemon glaze and topped with fresh blackberries. Delish!

Superbowl Foodz

This is what I served at our superbowl party!

BBQ Jackfruit served on rolls.

Tempeh Wingz
These were kind of a riff off of Vegan Dad's Perfect Tempeh Burger recipe. Only I steamed the tempeh in veg broth & sage, mashed it with pinto beans and added more VWG. Oh and lots of hot sauce! Messy, but they held together great and tasted pretty darn good. Makes me kind of wonder if they are even close but I never had real "wings" before so I have no clue.


Veggies & various dips & chips



Cupcakes in 2 flavors! Margarita and Vanilla w/ Chocolate chips and chocolate frosting. Sorry but you only get the naked views. By the time they were frosted, I was too tipsy to remember pics.

Holiday fun!

The holidays are rapidly approaching and honestly, I have been too busy to post! But I will share some pictures of the last 15 days.
Our live Christmas tree is a 7 foot tall potted Norway Spruce.



We did get a pretty wreath that will eventually need to be composted but the tree is going to be planted in the back yard with our past five years worth of trees. I must admit, this is our biggest one yet! Though I think year #2 tree might have grown taller than this one is now. One of the perks of buying a loved one's home when they move is if you planted things in their back yard, they are once again yours! Whee.

Also tonight I received an envelope that made me squeal like an excited cheerleader. Something I do not even vaguely resemble.

My package from the VegWeb Secret Santa Exchange! This awesome collection came from Saskia in Southern California. She included an awesome black gift bag, a great note on spooky Emily stationary, five beautiful beads that I plan to make into a fab bracelet or necklace tonight, six lemon zinger cookies that are out of this world AND an annual subscription to VegNews! How unbelievably awesome is that?!

I already ate one of the cookies. It was everything a lemon cookie should be. Soft yet firm enough to hold up to being mailed, tangy yet sweet enough to prevent a pucker and perfectly chewy with a slightly crunchy exterior. Wow, if I had not been actively making dinner for LB, these would have been my main course! As it is, I am trying to distract myself from them by making this post! Sooo good!!!

Thank you Saskia! I do agree, we have loads in common. And I love my gift and will enjoy it all year. You rock!

I slack!

But look, food!
Bean and Teese Nachos! Soooooo good!
Bacon Spaghetti and oven roasted garlic brussel sprouts!

Cilantro Lime Tofu with black beans!



Cranberry Pear Tart!

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) bag fresh Cranberries
3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Red Wine
2-3 cups sliced Pears - I used Seckle!
1/2 cup fresh squeezed Orange Juice
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ground ginger.
1/2 cup water
2-4 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:
Simmer everything but the water and cornstarch for 30 minutes over medium low, until the cranberries all pop and cook down some. Stir the water and cornstarch mixture together, use more starch if the pot seems thin, less if its already pretty thick. Pour into a pie crust or your favorite cookie mix. Personally I made a Lemon Tea Cake cookie crust in the tart pans and it was perfect! Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.


The filling is tart, sharp and very richly bodied. The crust gives a great hint of sweet while not overshadowing the star inside it. I served mine topped with a dallop of Soya Too whip. Was perfect, though I think next time I will try to have some vanilla soy ice cream on hand!