Testing take 2

If I blog in Haiti... Will this app work?




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No dryer

But an awesome new washing machine.



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How awesome is this?

Christmas gift from my super cool friend Margy. 5 types of preserves, pickles, and spiced nuts. So awesome!



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Too much time in the kitchen?

Thursday: make frosting
Friday: bake cupcakes and prep cin rolls
Saturday: bake rolls and frost everything, be at market at 9 am, get home to make dinner for party of 7- fresh spring rolls, 2 dipping sauces, pad Thai (2 batches), Thai cabbage salad
Sunday: sleep in, hang lights on the house

Cinnamon roll rejects (pumpkin spice and regular cin rolls)



Cupcake leftovers (candy cane cookies and cream, pumpkin spice, orange blossom cardamom)



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Testing

Are you there blogger? It's me iPhone.


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Broken cameras

are no fun.. bought a new one last weekend- not the best camera on the earth- but it works fine for what we want. Yay for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20!!

Cutsy cashmere mushroom made of old sweaters gifted to my little son by my amazingly talented cousin Kate Greiner Murray owner of Nancy the hippest store in Seattle.

Yosemite- Vegan Food Review

Last weekend my little family of three went to Yosemite for the first time. It was of course- amazing! However! I was a hungry little vegan! I brough a few snacks- but assumed (I have been spoiled by the Central Coast vegan-friendly-ness!) that I could find something to eat other than french fries. There were hardly even French fries. The first night we ate at our hotel the Wawona Inn. Cute hotel (biggest complaint other than the food was the blazing hot rooms with no thermostat between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm and the freezing cold rooms at night- try it with a baby- you'll see- it's no fun!) we ate here because it was late when we got in and the babe needed to get to bed. I had smartly brought leftovers from the night before to eat, but my daring husband ordered a beet salad and bruschetta. Both were gross. They tasted purely like the ingredients. What I mean by that is the beet salad tasted like old beets and the brushetta tasted like canned food chopped up together. The bill for these two dishes was $25. Breakfast redeemed the hotel slightly with a free breakfast buffet with fried potatoes, oatmeal, cream of wheat, and fruit salad (plus the serves were incredibly nice and it was a baby friendly place). For lunch on our first full day we scouted out all of the possible restaurants in Yosemite Valley. My husband is coming here with the kids he teaches next month so we needed to see what was available and where things were. We reached the last resort- cheese-less pizza at Curry Village- I have to say though they hook a sister up when she asks for garlic on her personal pizza- I was breathing garlic fire for a couple days (mmmm...). We hiked, we walked, we visited museums, outdoor exhibits, did some driving, and looked at some art. It was a jam-packed day- and our little one did a great job (yay for puffed kamut in the car!). For dinner we headed over to the Yosemite Lodge and found a food court that actually had the word vegan on the menu (doesn't that make your heart shine?). It was penne pasta and marinara for $10 (it was about 1.5 cups of food). Totally not worth it- but hot and edible. The last morning we hit up the breakfast buffet again and jumped in the car for the ride home. Yosemite is awesome- our camera broke half way through our trip- but a few pictures below.

Hello Blog! and Kransekake

thank you: Norwegian Kransekake
photo ©Kari Diehl, licensed to About.com

Hi Blog!

Well it's been awhile. We had some major things happen in our lives. Back in January we had two deaths in two days in our family. Most significantly was the death of my grandpa. He was an amazing man and the best grandpa. At his wake we tried to honor his (and our) Norwegian roots with a Norse themed meal. It involved Kransekake. Kransekake is this amazing ring cake made of dense almond paste cakes all staked up and drizzled with a little frosting. Hardly anything at this service (including the Kransekake) was vegan- so don't even get your hopes up!! But! back in my early days of having my own kitchen and when I dated someone as enthusiastic about baking as I am (turns out enthusiasm for baking isn't enough to make a relationship last!) we attempted a vegan version of this. From what I remember it was really good just after we made it, and then the following day required a saw to break it apart. In my searching I have not come across any other vegan attempts at this. It may be because of the many egg yolks most recipes call for- or maybe because it's not a common dish. Anyways- at the wake I spent a little bit of time gazing at it. It's an old school dish- I can only imagine the magnificence of it as a dish at a holiday party back before 'Ace of Cakes' or whatever that reality show is about extreme cake bakers. The Kransekake on the table tied in so many aspects of who I am and things I enjoy- family, heritage, baking, sugar... I think I'm going to try again- I'll let you know how it goes!

PETA's racy ad

'Veggie Love': PETA's Banned Super Bowl Ad

Vegan Care Package Exchange

A big Thank you!! to Lindsay at Cookingforaveganlover for organizing a great care package swap.  My swap partner was Eve from Addicted to Olives.  I came home from Christmas up north in t-town (tacoma, wa to those of you who are not hip to western washington) to find a giant package waiting for me.  My greatest regret is that I did not wait to take a picture- because I dove into it pretty quick.  There's nothing like spending Christmas around a whole bunch of non-vegans (and I will add not vegan friendly at ALL!, yep- my family) to make your heart soar with a whole sh*t load of vegan goodies at your house.  My personal favorite was the dark chocolate covered pretzels- Oh damn they were good.  It also included some great sauce/ dinner mixes, local popcorn and lots and lots of chocolate bars.  

Thank you Eve!!

This is a picture of some of the stuff I included in Eve's package:

I included an old favorite from Eugene- Rusty's handbuilt cookies.  If you find one of these and have not eaten one before- do it, you will thank me!  Also another cookie from Michelle's Naturally a new to me find (I love the lemon poppyseed cookies!).  I tried to keep all of Eve's goodies from west coast sources (It was going to be local, but I got so enticed with the Rusty!)

December- the month of the oven

I don't know how you spent your December, but by the lack of postings here I am assuming I was busy- I have just today really realized it is January and a whole year has just ended (a big one too- with a baby, wildfire, family, and life mixing together).  So we attended  4 Christmas parties, 4 Christmas celebrations, and had a wedding anniversary all within about 2 1/2 weeks.  I have found myself a little at a loss this week- trying to get back to what ever normal is with a 7 month old baby.  Needless to say as the only vegan at most of these events- I did a lot of baking and cooking.  It was really fun- I love the holidays, but I am enjoying not starting the oven at 6 am.

Minty Chocolate with Peppermint Buttercream and Gingerbread cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (from the Vegan cupcake goddesses).

Marzipan Snowmen (one of my favorites this season!) on Chocolate cupcakes and buttercream frosting and snowy sprinkles.  I also made for this same holiday party chocolate cupcakes with coconut flavoring and buttercream rolled in sugary shredded coconut to look like little snow balls.

I had a bit of trouble with the marzipan.  I bought it premade in a tube.  Good flavor, easy to manipulate- but... I should have seen this coming- this stuff does not keep well.  I tried a couple of different ways to store it the day before the potluck I was taking my little snowmen to.  I ended up having to remake all of them just before I left (only took about 15 mins) and the old sweaty melting snowmen were composted.  It was so sad to see them in the compost bucket among ashes from the fire place and vegetable stems.  I like to think they are in a better place now.

An additional unforeseen problem with these guys was how they were responded to at the party I took them to.  I arrived a little late and after a windy dark drive down the mountain all of my cupcakes had slid together and all the snowmen had been making snow angels.  So once there I quickly corrected the little guys out in the car and made my entrance with my lovely cupcakes.  Party went nicely.  When I came back to the potluck table to reclaim my platter- there were lots of cupcakes left and very few snowmen.  As I turned around I saw someone actually just munching on the snowman they had pulled off a cupcakes still on the platter.  Now, this is something I expect from my friends- especially when they have been drinking sparks or something (which by the way- if I ever need to conjure up a gag reflex, sparks is what I will use as my inspiration).  I'm not super picky about manners- but taking decorations off cupcakes and leaving them all beaten up looking on a platter seems wrong to me- at least take the whole damn thing and throw the cupcakes away if you don't want it.  On top of that I left a plate of the still intact cupcakes for my host in their fridge and when discussing this with them 2 days later, I was informed that a guest had taken the cakes I had left for them! Oh! I guess it was a wild bunch.

Additional holiday parties included about 100 mini cupcakes for my husbands school (snowballs again and plain with cute little dancing snowmen decorations).  I also made a TON of cookies as christmas gifts for about 25 people.  I'll dedicate an entire post to my favorites as I catch up here. Oh! I think I am having sugar withdrawals!!! In fact I am not going to eat any sugar for a couple of weeks (good for the waistline and maybe I won't be so cracked out all the time).   

Galaxy Cake and Thanksgiving Roast

Two big events have passed with out so much as a peep about the delicious meals I have intaked.

1st- I turned 28. My baby boy had a cold, so my fun day of going to coffee and meeting some friends to bake and craft turned into a day at home with not a lot going on.  My big present to myself was gong to be a nap, which didn't pan out either.  The gentleman in my life had to work late so I ended up eating take out from Saturn Cafe with my mom watching Grey's Anatomy.  Not all that different from a normal day, but really not all that bad either.  What was a lovelier part of the day was my adventure in cake making.  I've made a lot of cupcakes lately and wanted to have a big giant slice of cake.  So I made what I would like to call my Galaxy Cake.  

It's a chocolate cake flavored with coconut frosted with coconut buttercream.  What was really special was the awesome package I receive from my BFF Margy which contained 2 types of homemade body scrub (yay!) and a big 'ol jar of homemade vegan caramel sauce.  As soon as the package arrived I attacked it with a large spoon.  The jar came full, you you can see that as this picture was taken the day of my birthday I really had a go at it.   I smeared both layers of the cake with caramel sauce, then frosted.  On teh top of the cake I pipped a circle, then filled it with chocolate from everyone's favorite cupcake book and Margy's caramel sauce.  She found this somewhere online, I'll have to ask her where, because it was damn good.

2nd- In other exciting eating events we had thanksgiving.  I made a pumpkin pie from Karina's Kitchen that turned out fabulous (thank you so much for the recipe!) and I had my first experience with making seitan.  I tell you, it went well, very well indeed.  I used a recipe from Vegan Dad and it was foolproof! See the pictures below, I apologize for their yellow tint, the kitchen doesn't have great bulb light.   I whipped together some homemade stuffing and rolled these beauties up.  They were super easy and so delicious.  I made two hoping to have leftovers, nope!! all eaten, and there were only 2 veggies out of the 13 guests.  It was a hit.  I'll share my pumpkin cinnamon rolls with pumpkin cream cheese frosting soon.. must go bake for my man's christmas party tomorrow- 100 mini cupcakes here I come!! 

NotJello

In the depths of my love for packaged foods I have always as a vegan yearned for a cold, sugary gelatinous substance.  On a recent trip to Staff of Life, a local store here in SC- I found an old friend in a little cardboard box.  Natural Dessert- All Natural Cherry Jel Dessert!  I think I've tried this before, but my memory is a little thin in some places since being pregnant (momnesia they call it), so a shaky memory helps to keep life exciting, as I try things for the first time over and over again. 

I followed the simple instructions on the back

threw it in the fridge and hello! a jello mold!  

We topped it with Soyatoo Soy Whip (a favorite around the holidays), and it was delicious!

San Fran Part II- Maggie Mudd!

So to celebrate my soy intake I went to San Fran to see my awesome friend Margy who was in town for a conference.  And.... I finally made it to Maggie Mudd!

I can't tell you how much I love living (eating) on the west coast- where you can go out to an ice cream shop and the people know what a vegan is.  So many vegan options in this town.  

After my trip to maggie mudd where all I wanted in the world was a vegan brownie sundae (yes they have them, but no they are not wheat/gluten free).  So I came home with a mission.  And with a love of awesome dessert mixes (thank you Betty Crocker for all the good days when I was a young omnivore) I tried a gluten free brownie mix with a little ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce, and whip cream.

I have to say- the mix was pretty good.  I have a slight aversion to rice flour- it always tastes so grainy.  But all the chocolate-y goodness worked well with it.  It baked really well, with slightly gooey center (probably due to a terrible oven) and the result- moist, rich brownies.   I topped it off with some bomb ice cream- Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Cookie Dough and Cherry Nirvana- Ohhhh- it was good!

I added a little homemade Chocolate Sauce and some vegan whipped cream (always better when it comes out of a pressurized can).  I would offer the chocolate sauce recipe, but I have never measured anything, well- it goes something like this:

vegan chocolate sauce:

Heat 2 tbsp margarine, add a couple handfuls of sugar, mix until melted, add a splash of vanilla, and some soy milk (maybe 1/2 cup??), once good and hot add cocoa (I dump it until it looks like it will thicken), and stir until it begins to get thick and delicious looking- if you want it fudgey, heat and mix adding soymilk when you need liquid until the sauce is no longer shiny (thank you grandma millie).

mmm....

Turtle food

I have three beautiful box turtles.  Each of them came from a bad situation and I hope that we provide at least an adequate existence for them.  

My first turtle Magnolia was hit by a car back in NJ.  She came to me from a friend who does animal rescue who with the help of her vet husband put maggie back together and rehabbed her.  She lost most of a hind leg and a few toes and had s

ome damage to her shell.  So to the missing limb she sometimes gets stuck places so she could not be rereleased.  She is a Eastern box turtle

Salvia and Saffron came to me a little over a year ago from a woman local here in Santa Cruz who unofficially rescues pet turtles.  She had something like 20 box turtles that needed homes.  I was only going to adopt one, but came home with two.  They were pets, probably wild caught and sold into the pet market- they are older/ adults.  Saffron has scars from a dog bite and a hole in his shell that someone drilled to probably chain him up.  I think he was found after escaping.  

In the warmer months I keep Salvia and Saffron outside all day and Magnolia visits during the warmer hours of the day.  They hunt for snails, slugs, and pill bugs and I supplement them with fantastic organic veggies and fruit with occasional protein.

I spend more time everyday feeding the turtles than I do my 4 other pets (dogs and cats).  They are in for the winter so it takes time in addition to making their food to clean and make sure their heat and humidity are good.

Since I prepare food everyday for them- even when I'm not cooking for my family, I thought I would share some of the things they like to eat:

fried eggs and egg shell

melons

lettuce mix

fresh strawberries and tomatoes (store bought not as interesting turns out!)

grated squash

blueberries

kale

mango

Making up for lost time...

Who doesn't love a giveaway!!

Modish is giving away all these beautiful handmade goodies!

Giveaway ends on Sunday night!!

Check out the blog and the giveaway!

PS- politiks

Thank goodness for California as Prop 2 passed!!! If you voted or supported it- thank you so much!  (I speak for the chickens)

Shame on California for passing Prop 8. 

Tomorrow our little family of three will take part in the international protest against prop 8- you can find more information about it and a local near you at jointheimpact

Get involved!! 

Saffron and Salvia the rescue turtles

san fran part I...

Well, it's been awhile since I picked up the ol' keyboard, work has been busy and with a 5 month old in the house you never know when the opportunity will arise for showering, blogging, reading, eating, etc.  I don't know where time goes, but I imagine it's the same place as all our socks.

An update on the food elimination trial for the baby's skin-

I am back on soy (thank god! have you ever met a vegan that didn't eat soy? I have, but he really only ate sprouts and I don't like sprouts that much).  So only wheat/ gluten (yes two different allergies, but for my purposes omitted together) and nuts are void from my diet these days.

So.. in rejoicing in the re-admittance of soy into my diet I went to san fran twice last week to see my awesome friend Margy while she was there for a conference.

First on Thursday eve I met her at her hotel room and we drove the less than one mile to a chinese restaurant (that was supposed to have fantastic veggie meat alternatives.  Without eating wheat (and yes, I realized later that almost all soy sauce has wheat, so probably ate wheat with this meal- it's like starting to be vegan all over again!) we choose some tofu based dishes.  We got a tofu with mixed veggie sort of dish- which was standard and a lemon curd yuba dish.  I've tried yuba (it's the skin off the milk when they make the tofu) in a few different forms.  This was not one of my favorites.  It was fried and it left the roof of my mouth scratched and sore.  But for some reason it's chewiness and super sweet lemony sauce made me keep eating it.  And then my mouth was even more raw and sore.

On Saturday we tried to eat at Greens a place I've always wanted to patronize, but the Gods were not in our favor, as the pouring rain cancelled our picnic of Greens to Go, as did the fact that we walked in at 5:05, which was 5 minutes to late for their to go counter and a cranky baby wasn't going to fly in a nice restaurant like Greens.  So we went to the Herbivore, an old standby and a little more forgiving for baby noise.  Dinner didn't go so well, with Margy and I taking turns to eat so that one of us could walk with the baby.  Yep, he wasn't ready.

the Herbivore is good though, and they had something for me with my dietary issues (pad thai with a tomato base, no nuts!).  We seem to go to the Herbivore every time we are in San Fran- which is fine I enjoy it and they have vegan breakfast foods which is my most favorite food to eat out.  But this is like, um- trip number 6 that involved the herbivore- so it's time for something different.  Any suggestions?

part II.... Maggie Mudd and my ice cream obsession

I will leave you with a little bit to be thankful for- more pictures of our free ranging neighborhood turkeys- there were at least 30!! in our driveway on Monday!  And today I counted 31 in the yard behind the house.  I might argue that is too many turkeys in one place.  I feel like we live on a turkey farm.  My dog is sick from eating lord knows how much turkey poop.  But two of our neighbors feed them the best turkey food on the market and it's paying off, that and our dwindling population of coyotes, and I'm sure they are too big for the bobcat to take on now... who released these things?? (the USFWS) 

Look at these handsome boys!!

Country Girl Gardens

When back in Tacoma (my sort-of hometown) last May I stumbled upon Country Girl Gardens in the middle of this giant, awesome flea-market like building called Sanford and Son Antiques.  I think this maze of shopping intensity has probably been in its downtown tacoma location for some time, and I may have even been there before, but wow! this time I was truly into this place.  There are tattoo parlors, handmade clothing, retro everything, antiques, etc. etc.  

But, back to Country Girl.  Among all this chaos was this lovely little shop with beautiful organic clothes and handmade lotions and bath products.  There was a little kitchen set up right behind the counter where all the action happened.  The woman (the owner I think) in the store was super nice and had some suggestions for my expanding belly (I was almost 8 months pregnant at the time).  Anyways, not all her products are vegan (beeswax) but I bought a wonderful tin of the dark chocolate mint body butter.  Let me tell you- I'm not one to use products on my skin.  But, I want to lick this stuff right off.  The smell is so awesome I can't even believe it.  I frequently forget it's in my night stand, so that every time I find it- it's a real treat!   Anyways, check out her website  I think you would like what she has- and it's always good to support a sister with a small business.

VOTE

Don't forget to VOTE!!!! 

Thank your polling people for their long underpaid day!!

You could even make them delicious vegan cupcakes