11.30.2008

give me smlove  

The smlove pie from veganomicon is finally done!
after chilling in the fridge for 3 hours, then sleeping, and making the peanut butter caramel sauce and the chocolate drizzle this morning, it is assembled and ready!
It's perty too.
Takin' it to my down home country bacon food family....and they are going to love it! It said in veganomicon that if Paula Deen made a pie, this would be the pie. So i'm sure they all love paula deen and her butter pumped foods. Here are pictures and the recipe!

SMLOVE PIE. from veganomicon. by isa chandra moskowitz
For the graham cracker crust:

12 graham crackers (or 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs)
1/4 cup canola oil
*I used a premade crust, which I usually don't do, but the graham cracker sticks were expensive! And I was feeling blue.

For the chocolate pie filling:
1 lb silken tofu (NOT the vacuum packed kind), drained
1/4 cup hazelnut liquer, or soymilk (I used soymilk)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons arrowroot
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted (I used a package of Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips)

For the caramel peanut butter:
1/3 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or chunky, at room temperature
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

For the maple candied pecans:
1 cup pecans
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup

For the chocolate drizzle:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 1/4 cup chocolate chips (I used the chips)
1/4 cup soy or rice milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare the crust by processing the grahams into fine crumbs. Place them in a bowl and drizzle the oil into them. Use your fingertips or a fork to mix the oil in until all crumbs are moistened.

Spray a 10 inch pie plate with cooking spray. Pour the crumbs into the pie plate and firmly press them to the bottom and sides of plate. Set aside.

Prepare the filling:
First melt your chocolate. Crumble the tofu into a blender or food processor. Add the liquer, vanilla and arrowroot and blend until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides to make sure you get everything. Add the chocolate and blend again until completely combined.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40 minutes. The center may still be jiggly, but that's fine. Let cool on a counter top for 10 minutes then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, the top of the pie should be firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, prepare your candied pecans.

Have ready a large plate, preferably covered in parchment paper. Preheat a heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the pecans and stir them very frequently for 3 minutes, until they start to brown. Stir constantly for 2 more minutes, until they are a few shades darker and relatively uniformly toasted. (If a few don't look toasted don't worry about it. That's better than having them burn.) Add the oil and salt and stir for another minute. Add the maple syrup and -sizzle sizzle- stir constantly for about a minute. The maple syrup should get bubbly and dry.

Transfer the pecans to the plate and spread them out as much as you can, it's best if they aren't touching. Place in the fridge until ready to use.

Once the pie has been chilling for at least 3 hours, prepare the peanut butter caramel and chocolate drizzle. Have your pie out and ready to be assembled.

To prepare the caramel:
Stir all the ingredients together in a small sauce pan. Gently heat everything over low heat, stirring constantly with a fork, just until smooth and heated through. It should fall from your fork in ribbons. If it seems stiff, turn the heat off immediately and add a little extra brown rice syrup, until it ribbons down.

Pour the peanut butter over the center of the pie, leaving an inch or two at the edges because it spreads. Get your pecans and place them on top of the caramel, pressing them in firmly. You may have to break the pecans apart from each other if they were touching.

Prepare chocolate drizzle:
In a small sauce pan, heat the soy milk to boil. Once boiling, add the chocolate and lower heat. Use a fork to stir it until compeletely combined. Turn the heat off and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Chill for at least 10 minutes before serving.

11.29.2008

an army of pilgrim hats  

we have a family thanksgiving tomorrow and mom made an army of pilgrim hat cookies!
they are fudge stripe cookies with mini reese cups dipped in yellow icing to place on the top, then a miniature chiclet for the buckle.
they are very cute and very un-vegan.
Mom and I have watched Gilmore Girls ALL DAY LONG and I have layed on the couch sleeping and looking pale like a vampire, according to mom. we are about to go to the store and buy ingredients for the meal tomorrow.
i am making 'smlove pie' from veganomicon. i will post later with pictures!

11.27.2008

Thanksfoddering!  















a lovely occasion shared with family. and luke danes the chocolate turkey. (please watch gilmore girls)
i baked my chocolate - pumpkin pie last night (recipe from the thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart "triple chocolate pumpkin pie") and my bbq seitan.
daunie arrived with the -free- tofurkey, vegan giblet gravy, roasted red pepper salmon, a loaf of 8 grain-3 seed scholar's bakehouse bread, and a huge bunch of kale with pumpkin seeds.
we then cooked the kale and pumpkin seeds together with vinegar, and it wilted oh so small-lee. there was about a cupful! we rationed.
mom had her real turkey, made some stuffing, had a bloppy can of cranberry sauce, & belgium brussels sprouts. And a splenda brown sugar pumpkin pie for dad.
featured on my plate is.....(clockwise L to R)
a slab of tofurkey with gravy, slice of scholar's bread, my small ration of kale, corn, a basil baking powder biscuit (i baked last night) and a large spoonful of bbq seitan.
next picture is my lovely pie. luscious graham cracker crust, topped with the crumbs on top.
this bottom picture is luke dane's pictured with my chocolate pumpkin pie and a bit o' mom's splenda pumpkin pie and daunie's fork and finger-knee.

Here is a recipe for the basil baking powder biscuits:
2 cups flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. dried basil, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 c. veg marg, 3/4 c. soymilk, and 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar.
preheat oven to 450f. in large bowl, stir together flour, bp, basil, and salt. cut in veg marg and mix in soymilk and vinegar. cut dough into 6 amounts and drop into oiled muffin tins. bake 12-15 mins.

11.26.2008

thanksgiving plans.......  

tomorrow is thanksgiving!
i am hungry for tofurkey buried in vegan mashed potatoes right now! I have to make my bbq seitan tonight and veganize a martha stewart pie recipe. the chocolate-pumpkin pie from her nov. issue.
I also have "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" for us to watch tomorrow!
Here is our vegan menu for tomorrow's ensemble:

  1. B-foods tofurkey
  2. B-foods mashed potatoes
  3. B.B.Q. seitan
  4. cornbread
  5. wilted kale with pumpkin seeds
  6. chocolate-pumpkin pie

11.23.2008

"i love a good gourd."  



daunie and i=sushi date!!!! at our japanese restaurant hangout.
veggie roll, cucumber roll, inari (little tofu pockets that are salty and sweet and stuffed in the butt with rice), and bottomless bowls of sticky steamed rice.
delish and salty and sweet.
THEN
homemade ice cream at home.....coconut milk & peanut butter.
gum gum gum.

11.19.2008

swirled berry scones for TyLea  

I watched "Dark Passage" with Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. TyLea is still at the library, and missing out on her scones which just emerged from their womb in the oven.
i baked her some berry scones, which i adapted from the Babycakes bakery recipe for their raspberry scones...used brown rice syrup instead of agave nectar, and I had some frozen handpicked black raspberries which Papaw and I picked in July. They smell like caramel & vanilla. I won't give out the recipe since I am writing the recipe in my zine, Cakewalk 2. but here is a picture to entice you, along with my dog Noodles.

11.18.2008

almost christmas-sweets.  


made some nutcracker sweets this morning for work. and finished my collage mask last night!


~Nutcracker Sweets~
8 graham crackers
3 tbsp. veg marg
1/4 cup organic brown sugar
chopped pecans
line an baking pan with aluminum foil. place graham crackers on it and preheat oven to 375. melt marg over low heat and stir in brown sugar. spread on graham crackers and sprinkle each with a covering of nuts. bake 5-7 minutes, until all bubbly. remove and cool.

11.17.2008

farmhouse. spaghetti.  



wow. no pictures but lot's of food! saturday for lunch, adree and her mom and I went out to bean blossom to a little brick house to dine for lunch. It was called the farmhouse:cafe and herb barn. really old and rustic. big yellow cat outside.
we had blackberry tea (amazing!) and I had a salad and homemade bread and they had mushroom soup and sandwiches. it was simply wonderful!
saturday night i was home with mom and i made adree's date night spaghetti and we chowed on it while watching "suspicion", cary grant....alfred hitchcock.
yesterday we shopped and went antiquing. when we got home we watched a ton of gilmore girls and mom had leftover spaghetti and i had leftover sloppy joe! and graham crackers and newman's peanut butter creme chocolate sandwich cookies, perty good!