Of course, this means we’re eating standing up at the moment, but it’s only temporary. We’re hitting up garage sales this weekend for stools of an appropriate height. We were also able to return the kitchen table and chairs we borrowed from Grandma & Grandpa E., oh, about 7 years ago, so thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!

In order to express my gratitude, I of course decided to make cupcakes. When I first bought Vegan with a Vengeance back in October ’08, I was entranced and intimidated by the ”Fauxstess Cupcakes,” Isa’s veganized version of the snack food I’ve always associated with what Dad and I called “gas station breakfasts” when I was a kid (usually enjoyed on the way to or from a camping trip or some other early-morning activity). I never quite recovered from the revelation that the originals had beef fat in them. I mean, really? Is that necessary? Well, I’m here to tell you it is not. After nine months of honing my baking skills (and the purchase of an accurate oven thermometer), I screwed up my courage and set to makin’ cupcakes!

Now, don’t get me wrong; these cupcakes take some doing. There are no less than three types of icing involved: the fluffy white filling, the chocolate ganache, and the white squiggles. That alone was time-consuming, but every moment I spent in my inferno of a kitchen was totally worth it. I followed the recipe very closely since it was so complicated. The only substitution I made was Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder for “black” because it was the darkest I could find, and the color and taste turned out beautifully. I also don’t have a hand mixer (another garage sale hope!), so Chris and I took turns whipping the fluffy icing, and it turned out every well.

I didn’t take pictures because they weren’t quite as pretty as I had hoped (my squiggles need practice, and my ganache should be smoother), so I’ve included an old picture of Isa’s for the same cupcakes.

Laura’s husband Jonathan can’t eat chocolate (is there really any point in living?, I ask you), so I whipped up a batch of jelly donut cupcakes from the Veganomicon for him. And when I say “whipped up,” that only refers to the fact that they took me approximately a third of the time the others did. Regardless, they were both pleased with this demonstration of my gratitude.

Hey, I’ve suffered a few Great Kitchen Failures recently, so… baby steps.

I subsituted 1-for-1:

• black beans for white
• the juice of 1 lime for the juice of 1 lemon
• fresh cilantro for fresh dill

I also added a little salt but otherwise made the dip exactly as the other recipe reads. I envisioned the results being a deep, lovely black like the shiny skins of the beans, forgetting for the moment that the “meat” of the bean is significantly lighter, so I was initially disappointed by the purplish quality of the dip. (This is kind of the norm for me. I’m a very visual person, and if whatever I’m making doesn’t look exactly like I intended, I’m usually a little miffed.) But after I stopped pouting, I started to really appreciate the velvety texture of the dip, and the color, although not the deep midnight I had planned, is striking and not at all unappealing (pics forthcoming). The lime juice is a little sharp, so in future incarnations, I’ll probably scale that back to maybe 1/2 a lime and then adjust to taste.

I took the end product in to work today, and it met with hearty approval. The only “constructive criticism” I received just confirmed my analysis about the lime juice, and a coworker has asked me to make two batches each of the white bean and black bean for a party she’s going to next weekend!

On a more personal note, I’ve decided to call my new blender Annabelle.

ETA: Velvety purple goodness!

While I was making fresh hummus on Sunday, my 1o-year-old Hamilton Beach blender started to smell… well… shall we say overly warm? Yeah, it died, leaving me with a half-blended batch of hummus! So on a Sunday afternoon, I struck out for the distant West Side of Springfield, where I quested for over an hour for the perfect blender. I had no idea this was going to be such a gruelling ordeal. And the worst part? I found the one I ended up buying at my very first stop but balked and insisted on driving to three more stores to compare prices, features, etc., growing more and more aggravated with the lousy selection I found. I wound up with a PowerBlend Duet™ Blender/Food Processor.

That’s right. Be jealous, suckers. 

It was a bit pricey, I admit, but I (obviously) put my small kitchen appliances through hell, so I grudgingly parted with the money. I’ve used it three times already (hummus, grating carrots, and refied beans), and it works beautifully. It’s much quieter than my ancient Hamilton Beach, and it has great settings and blinking lights! (Yes, it really takes that little to make me happy. The benefit of being easily amused is that you’re amused more often.)

Next on my blender agenda? Salsa, black bean dip, and a super secret project coming soon to a blog near… this one.

(At this point, I’d like to mention how patient Chris is when I get transfixed… okay, obsessed with things like this. Yes, fried potatoes are bland on their own. Yes, dumping a bottle of paprika on them will turn them a lovely orange. No, woman cannot live by paprika alone.)

After a year of experimenting, I’m finally getting comfortable with a wider array of spices. In fact, I’m kind in love with toasted mustard seeds, and little glass bottles of spices are encroaching on cereal’s real estate in the pantry. I found the following recipe in an old Vegetarian Times issue. I clipped it out without jotting down the date, and I couldn’t locate it on the website.

Salt-Free Seasoning

1 tsp. each:

• paprika
• dried parsley
• dried oregano
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• ground black pepper
• ground red pepper
• celery seed
• ground cumin
• dried lemon peel

Blend all ingredients and fill a large-holed shaker with the mixture. Makes about 3 tablespoons.

I didn’t have ground red pepper or dried lemon peel on hand, so I just omitted them and have been using this veggie burgers, tofu steaks, and yes even fried potatoes. It’s an excellent low-sodium, vegan replacement for something like Lawry’s Seasoned Salt with a better, fuller flavor than Mrs. Dash.

Skillet-fried potatoes for the win!

Vanilla Pound Cake

5 oz. silken tofu, drained

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 vanilla soymilk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat 9X5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Blend tofu, suga, oil, soymilk, and vanilla extract in food processor until smooth.
3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Fold in tofu mixture. Pour into loaf pan and bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Learning experience: I had never used cake flour before. It’s ridiculously fine! And even messier than the original! Brilliant! Also, I made this before getting my new oven thermometer, and I think the temp discrepancy may have been responsible for the sub-par rising.

While maybe visually disappointing, the pound cake had a fantastic taste–vanilla-y but not too vanilla-y. Topped with a strawberry-sugar mixture (half as much sugar as Chris wanted, twice as much as I wanted; hey, marriage is about compromise, right?) and vanilla Soy Dream ice cream, it more than satisfied my strawberry shortcake craving!

Shannon (my brother’s awesome girlfriend and the talent behind starletfire designs) made a fantastic white bean dip while we were in Florida in May and was kind enough to share the recipe. In the past two months, I’ve made it three times. It’s fast, it’s easy, and when we had a potluck at work this week, it was specifically requested. I’ve also had several requests for the recipe, so here it is.

Shannon’s White Bean Dip

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lemon

3-4 cloves garlic

salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

fresh dill to taste

Combine all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Garnish with dill weed or roasted garlic (optional).

I’ve omitted the S&P every time I’ve made it, and as yet, no one has said, “Hm… This could really use some salt.” It pairs well with Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits.

For Father’s Day, I delved into one of my favorite cookbooks–The Veganomicon. I’ve already gushed about The Post Punk Kitchen forums. Well, this cookbook is by the lovely ladies behind the PPK. I’ve had nothing but good luck with the recipes in this book, and I’d recommend it to anyone–vegan, vegetarian, or omni.

Heartened by my new oven thermometer, I was eager to start baking again. One of the things that’s frustrated me since gong vegan is the inability to buy junk food at random. (I know, such a tragedy, right?) When I want something sweet, I want something sweet, gosh darn it! And why the heck aren’t Snickers vegan?! If you couldn’t infer as much, sweets and baked goods are a big deal in my family, especially on my mom’s side. Mom used to have four sisters, but one was trampled to death when she blocked the path to the Texas cake. (Just kidding. She’s recovering from her injuries nicely.) I’d been craving oatmeal raisin cookies for weeks, and Chris isn’t much of a chocolate fan (FREAK!), so when I stumbled across Isa and Terry’s recipe, I knew my search was over.

(Please be patient with my food photography skills. Like the blogging in general, it’s something I’m learning as I go along.)

Since going vegan last October, I’ve tried to show up for family events with a desert and a main dish. I admit that it was kind of a “survival” tactic. I mean, who wants to starve through family gatherings? But that isn’t my only motivation. I also want to make sure my family (particularly Grandma Betty, who’s prone to worrying) don’t worry that I’m living on salads and water. Not to mention that I really love cooking for other people. The week of Father’s Day was brutally hot, and I didn’t feel like heating up the kitchen more than necessary, so I opted for The Veganomicon’s “gazborscht,” which the book describes as “a surprisingly delicious, earthy version of [gazpacho] or… a piquant version of [borscht].” C’mon! How can you resist that?! The minimal cooking time coupled with my recently reading Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume made the prospect of beets too tempting to pass up. I’d never worked with beets before. In fact, I’m not sure I’d ever eaten beets before, so the chance that this experiment was going to go horribly awry was fairly high, but I was thrilled by the lush, vibrant color unlocked when I put the beets through the food processor. I wished I’d taken a picture before I boiled the shredded beets, but my hands were stained purple at that point.

Here’s the finished product:

Curse my novice photography skills! I promise I’ve been searching for tips online. Look for marked improvement in the coming months…

As it turns out, several members of my family are huge fans of the beet (who knew?), and the gazborscht and the cookies were huge hits! Father’s Day was saved by vegan cooking! All is right with the world!

Okay, so it’s not a great picture. Chris ambushed me with the camera. Man, I hate that! Maybe I should invest in a hair, makeup, and wardrobe crew. Anyone willing to work for salsa? Here’s a detail picture of the fabric.

The Knit 4 Ewe & Sew 2 collection is available at The Blue Door in Springfield, IL, and the Fabulous Miss Laura also does custom work, including knit cupcakes and donuts, which are, of course, vegan! She can also be contacted at knit4ewe@comcast.net . Thanks again, Laura! I love my apron!