crack the plates

After that last intense (for a food blog) post, I feel the urge to post some pictures of tonight’s dinner:

Doubled recipe of the Asparagus and sun-dried tomato “Frittata” from Vegan With a Vengeance, made with tofu, nutritional yeast, mustard, and many other disparate ingredients that don’t sound like they’ll taste all that good together but actually makes one swoon. One of the best recipes in the book.

Looking to do something with the Dandies Candies marshmallows I brought back from Chicago (aside from gobble them straight from the bag), I googled and discovered a recipe from a fellow VeganMoFoer p.h.d.elicious called Chocolate Confetti. Simple concept: chocolate + peanut butter + fat (eBal!) + vegan marshmallows makes a veg very, very happy. I threw in peanuts and added a little salt.

Befitting an anniversary, I scooped out half a container of Turtle Mountain’s Purely Decadent Cookie Dough soy ice cream, drove a sharp piece of bark into it and covered it with organic chocolate sauce and peanuts. Yowzah. (To my credit, I didn’t eat it.)

And for those who care, a picture of our darling Ra-Ra type Unix, a veteran open-source user. Yay Ubuntu 9.10! Hoorah Karmic Koala!

Yesterday, my friend and Pastor–a foodie himself who, while not a vegetarian, consciously limits his intake of animal products–mentioned a new book that I might want to check out: Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals. The reviews so far sound promising. I was particularly taken by this excerpt from a review in the Huffington Post today, where the author asks us to consider how our eating choices reflect our values:

“But what Foer most bravely details is how eating animal pollutes not only our backyards, but also our beliefs. He reminds us that our food is symbolic of what we believe in, and that eating is how we demonstrate to ourselves and to others our beliefs: Catholics take communion — in which food and drink represent body and blood. Jews use salty water on Passover to remind them of the slaves’ bitter tears. And on Thanksgiving, Americans use succotash and slaughter to tell our own creation myth — how the Pilgrims learned from Native Americans to harvest this land and make it their own. And as we use food to impart our beliefs to our children, the point from which Foer lifts off, what stories do we want to tell our children through their food?”

This section stood out because I just returned from Interfaith Youth Core’s Annual Conference, Leadership for a Religiously Diverse World, where I met and learned from lots of folks from different religious traditions–Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, and Sikhism, among others. My favorite part of the conference was the “speed-faithing” sessions when, for about an hour, a young leader of faith offered a kind of 101 from her or his particular tradition.

I was particularly taken by the Jain and Sikh students who described how their eating choices fit within their entire way of looking at the world. The Jain student taught that his commitment to the fundamental Jain principle of ahimsa (non-violence) persuades him to see veganism as the most coherent choice within that ethical framework. (Jains at large reject all flesh and eggs, but take dairy products; however, in today’s increasingly factory-farm (read: suffering) laden marketplace, many are totally vegan).

Similarly, the Sikh presenter said she is vegetarian because her faith teaches her that taking life is totally wrong. (She consumes dairy but is careful as to the source.) “Life” is not confined to human life, as Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein persuasively illustrated during his talk on engaging Humanists & Atheists in interfaith work. Because we humans depend on the earth for sustenance, we must make conscious decisions to promote its health, too. (You’ve probably already read how much fecal matter from farm animals is destroying our water, so I’ll spare you any statistics here.) Humanists may not believe in a supernatural higher power who exists and acts from beyond the laws of physics, but they do believe in community and the fact that the right “community-based actions and decisions can lead to a more fulfilling and purposeful existence“.

The way we eat says something about what we believe…and most of us (at least, among my readership here at cracktheplates.com) have the blessing of at least three times a day, guaranteed, to live out those beliefs. That’s a better way of getting at the meaning of that tired and kind of obscurantist “You are what you eat” adage, isn’t it? I eat vegan (and frequently local) because, while I am definitely not in the business of deluding myself into thinking that I can eat in such a way that no living being will suffer or die because of my choices, I do recognize that I can take steps to minimize my impact. (Reflecting on the Jain concept of intentionality helped me with this one.) It may not be a perfect choice, but I firmly contend that it is a better one than eating animals and their “products”. (And, aside from that, it’s not like I’m losing out–have you read this blog lately?) This is one reason why I don’t insist everyone go vegan immediately; more constructively, I try to be encouraging and serve as a resource when folks tell me they’re trying to be more conscientious about what they eat.

For me, it comes down to the admission that eating involves making a moral choice that ought to reflect who I am and what I believe. In selecting food at a market, cooking at home, serving others, and picking up my own fork, I see moral choices for well-being or for ill. (Thanks, beloved Peter Singer!) I’m a privileged first-worlder with the choice to buy food that is demonstrably better for myself, neighbors, and planet–and so I do. This choice to minimize the negative impact on my own body, my neighbors’ bodies, and my planet’s body is one that is in line with my steadfast commitment, framed within a relational theology, to do what I can to promote the well-being of neighbors near and far, sentient and non.

Working from a Christian persuasion, I recognize that Jesus’ concerns were for the least of these. He was a radical who touched to heal the most outcast; who teaches us to feed the hungry, to quench the thirst of the parched, to welcome the stranger, to clothe the naked, to take care of the sick, and to visit the imprisoned. (Matthew 25:31-46) One of the ways I choose to embody these teachings follows from acknowledging that the way I eat is a moral choice that affects others and ought to logically cohere with how I view the world and my place in it. So acknowledged, I choose veganism.

Hello friends! Sorry I’ve been MIA for the last several days. Turns out, wedding our haste to flee to Chicago with a pragmatic zeal for unplugging appliances meant we accidentally unplugged our router–oops!I had hoped to blog my food adventures from the windy city, but that inability means I’m just gonna have to catch up now, from Richmond. Le sigh.

Relatedly, tonight marked a glum return to cooking for myself. After spoiling ourselves with Chicago Diner, vegan marshmallows, an Indian buffet, plenty of stuff from the vegan+macrobiotic bar at Whole Foods, and not to mention the fact of other people cooking, serving, and cleaning up, I sought the most fuss-free dinner imaginable. To be completely honest, this was only after resisting cooking anything for about 2 hours. Yeah, I whined.

But it is wonderful to be able to eat, to have full pantries from which to cook, to own all the tools necessary for the job, and to have the energy and ability to make something tasty. Noting these blessings (albeit a bit grudgingly), I settled on tacos. They may be embarrassingly easy to make (see below), but they’re special in their own way: tacos are one of the first main courses I learned to make vegan.

The year was 2002 and I sought something to serve to my then-major-meat-eating BF. Using the Boca crumbles, a dash of spice, and the ability to lie well, I totally passed em off on him. Not only that, but I taught my best friend (a very lovely, very Southern lady called Jessica) how to play the same trick on her flesh-loving country husband. Veg evangelism, I tell ya what.

For those who are interested in spreading the good news: Reconstitute some veggie beef crumbles (these days I use the dry stuff from Dixie Diner) in boiling water with vegan bouillon.  Saute an onion in oil with garlic and whatever seasonings one prefers. Add the veg*meat and cook. Add more seasonings. Stuff taco shells, bake at 350-400 for a few minutes, serve.

They’re not fancy, complex, or even all that attractive, but tacos get the job done.

Tonight I would like to share with you the miracle that is Chicago Diner food. The Chicago Diner is a veritable (almost-)vegan institution: it came into existence the year before I was born (1983) and serves some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, period. (Marvellously, this figure *includes* the food I cook for myself.) No joke, folks–it’s just that good.

Proof? Allow me to take you on a little foodie photo-journey.

Because buffalo wings are one of Nate’s most-missed foods, we began with that appetizer: 5-6 hearty strips of beefy seitan thoroughly soaked in a spicy, vinegary Buffalo sauce with the cooling mock-Bleu dip. As fun as dipping can be, I advise cutting the strips with your fork and knife and drenching a piece in the dip.

My app of choice was the potstickers–I can’t resist em. These were filled with fairly-typical fare: shredded cabbage, tofu, carrots, etc, and was served with an oustanding dipping sauce.

Choosing an entree was difficult. I really wanted the country fried “steak”, but something urged me towards the mushroom ravioli. (Described on the menu: Porcini & button mushroom filled pasta, over baby greens, with herbed almond alfredo sauce.) It was tasty but I’m very glad Nate chose the country fried steak because we ended up swapping entrees–we each liked the other’s better!

The gloriously crispy, gravy-covered County fried “steak”: Breaded seitan filet topped with country gravy and served with rustic mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables. It was so tasty, so greasy, and so authentic that it would fool my Grandpa.

Seeing as how cheesecake is one of Nate’s other most favorite non-vegan things and we were in the business of fulfilling our cruelty-free foodie dreams tonight, we had to end the meal with some of the famous Chicago Diner cheesecake. It was everything a pecan cheesecake could hope to be. Nevertheless, I’m glad that it wasn’t too different from one that my vegan ex Brian once made, as it demonstrates that even we mere mortals can do vegan cheesecake well. (The key, it seems, is a willingness to spend the cash on the Tofutti, or else make your own vegan creme cheeze a la Bryanna Clark Grogan.)

The vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookie milkshake: honestly? There are no words to describe it. Only this command: GET THEE TO THE CHICAGO DINER POST HASTE. I am not kidding. Iffest thou findest thyself in the Chicagolandarea and thou obstainest from such as this, thou art…effing missing out, you hear? And unless you’re allergic to peanuts, don’t even consider the other shake flavors–this one’s where it’s at (even the servers say so, a little adorably conspiratorially).

Caveat: it was expensive. As this was our first vacation together in almost a year of dating, Nate & I were willing to splurge. So please note that unless you make bundles of money, the full-on Chicago Diner experience described above is best left for a special occasion: our meal + a generous tip for our amazing server ran right around $75 (for a couple that usually hems and haws over sharing a $5 burrito, this is the furthest thing from pocket-change.)

So go, go, go to the Chicago Diner. Whatever you do, don’t believe the disaffected hipster on your friend’s couch who claims it’s overrated: go see, taste, enjoy for yourself.

Tonight I threw together what I am simply calling PVS: Pre-vacation soup. Everything in the two crispers that wouldn’t've made it six more days made it into the pot tonight: a large Ziploc bag of some local celery (mostly tops) that I chopped a couple weeks ago, 2 local japanese eggplant, a bunch of local carrots and a bag of not-so-nearby-sourced organic carrots. I also added an overgrown onion, four red potatoes sliced thin, and most of a head of garlic. An obscene amount of Bragg’s aminos, a 1/4 cup of Dixie Diner official vegan broth powder, majoram, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil and white pepper later, viola: PVS.

PVS: It's the Everything Soup!

To make the soup proteinacious I added about four cups of kidney and pinto beans I’d cooked overnight in the crock-pot with a slice of KOMBU. New to kombu? It’s a delicious sea vegetable that allegedly helps beans help your insides…not make quite so much gas. I don’t care one way or another–lookit, VEGANS TOOT–what’s significant is that it makes the beans taste great! I picked up my bag, pictured below, at the Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor while I was visiting Jiji; it was about $6.

The edible ocean plant is ready to travel!...again

Since I have a bit to spare and I’m thinkin’ it’s light enough to require a 44-cent stamp only, leave a comment with your address (I won’t reveal your details when I approve the comment) and I’ll mail you a slice big enough for a pot of beans. Not that I expect a ton of requests for this admittedly bizarre giveaway, but if any ARE many forthcoming I’ll have to limit it to the first few.

…Any takers?

One of these things is not like the other:

Hint: It is the frozen pizza I paid $4.99 for that looks very little like its cardboard counterpart!

Seriously, Kashi? The color of the base sauce on my baked pizza literally pales in comparison. Furthermore: you’re rockin twelve, thirteen pieces of delectable balsamic-glazed eggplant on the cover-shot while I count a measly SIX on mine. The roasted red peppers? Yeah, I got about half of those advertised, too. And don’t even get me started on the freaking kale.

Eh, we’ll probably get it again–it was super tasty with some quick garlic eBal sauce.

Yowzah–today I was thrilled to learn that I actually have some happy, regular readers who are interested in what I have to say! Because I haven’t been picked up by google (yet?) and don’t get a ton of comments, I tend to think that this is just an exercise for myself–to see (especially in VeganMoFo) if I have what it takes discipline-wise to keep a blog. How refreshing and encouraging it is to hear, either through the grapevine or directly, that I’m reaching folks! So whether you’re an occasional reader, a frequent reader, a non-commenter or an avid one, thanks! The thought that you’re there gives blogging zest.

On the flip-side, it makes me feel guilty about not having blogged in a couple days. (Not that you’re out there chewing off your fingers waiting for something new to read, but it does add a measure of responsibility, knowing you’re there.) The disappointing truth is that there wasn’t much extraordinary coming out of our kitchen this weekend. Saturday and Sunday were rather glum because of work we did towards recovering the stolen bike. (It seems very unlikely that we will recover it, but we did the flyer/walking around the neighborhood/talking to the neighborrhood-alliance President thing anyway.) We ate a lot of pre-packaged food: a Kashi pizza, heat-and-eat dumplings, and more veggie patties of various stripes than I care to mention. Sunday I made raspberry muffins for a Process Theology conversation group–muffins, my culinary summit for Sunday. :-/

Tonight, though, was book club! Each month a group a small group of friends gathers for a pot-luck and conversation (with tons of unrelated gossip) around a featured piece of lit. Because October is my favorite month, I claimed it months ago. We read in common Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Since I’m too tired to write my own description, here’s a link to the associated wikipedia page. Basically, Ray interweves a story of South Georgia land, its plants (long-leaf pine & wiregrass) and its creatures (assorted) that is centuries older than she and her people are (the ecological narrative) with her own memoir of growing up in on this radically-altered landscape; specifically, in a junkyard with fundamentalist parents. It is a beautiful story that can be difficult to bear at moments, especially if you have bipolar disorder in your family; nonetheless, as I noted at book club tonight, it was not the tragic moments that coaxed tears from my eyes, but the soaring ones that stole my heart and infused it with rapture.

Appropriately, the theme of the food was “that which evokes your childhood/homeland.” I made my momma’s sweet tea–

• 8 tea bags steeped briefly,
• squeezed and poured over nearly two cups of sugar that waits in the bottom of the gallon jug
• then topped off with water

Sinfully sweet. I also served some good ol’ deep-southern buttermilk cornbread, cooked in the skillet with drippings from my vegan gravy; cabbage a la mamma–

• slice off a half of a big cabbage; core it; cut into bite-sized pieces
• put a little water in your pan
• add some eBal (Earth Balance), salt and white pepper
• add cabbage, stir well; steam til the cabbage is delectable mush!

and finally, a pot of Grit collards. The collards were the only thing that weren’t really like my mom’s at all, because when she makes collards she doesn’t have much “pot likker” (pot liquor; the juice from the cooked collards that lots of folks like to sop up with savoury cornbread). I use a recipe from Athens Georgia’s famous vegetarian restaurant, the Grit, which always renders a ton of tasty pot likker. It went especially well with tonight’s cornbread.

I was grateful that B brought mashed potatoes, H, a gorgeous blueberry cobbler, J, a lentil bake, E, a mashed carrot-and-potato dish that seemed to be infused with dill and chives, and K, a perfectly-pureed pumpkin soup. We ate like queens and gossipped like songbirds. Looking forward to next month!

This just in: the katzerole Unix in a box:

Today has been kind of crummy. N & I woke to discover that his beloved road-bike had been stolen off of our porch, the lock cut through under the cover of night. As this was 1) a gift from his dad, an avid cyclist and 2) his primary mode of transportation, it is quite a blow. We’ve been carrying the associated grief and dismay around all day. It took him ages to think of something I could cook or bake that might make him happy, but he has decided on chocolate chip cookies, so I’ll get started on those soon.

Since I’m not sure I’ll post again today, let me share a recent discovery about re-invigorating/prolonging the life of uncut herbs. I recently purchased a bunch of organic cilantro from Kroger. Since I don’t tend to go through cilantro very rapidly, a large part of the bunch started to wilt. To bring it back to life, I placed it root down in a cup of water filled about an inch, covered it with a gallon-size ziplock bag, and put it in the fridge. Within 24 hours the herbs looked as good as new! Ta-da:

Sorry for the poor quality; was taken with N’s googlephone.

A little over two weeks ago I purchased four eggplants at the Saturday morning farmer’s market here in Richmond. The noblest of the eggplants travelled with high hopes to Ann Arbor but made its way back; the other three have just been lolling about in the bottom of a veg drawer since purchase. I’ve been putting off doing anything with them because my favorite thing to do with eggplant is make baigan bharta, a roasted and smashed Indian eggplant delight. But with the hour required to roast the eggplants + 35 minutes for everything else, it is a dish that takes some time…time I just haven’t really had.

But oh, I am loathe to throw away food. Side note: I haven’t always been this way. I remember my mom fussing at me frequently for purchasing vegetables and then letting them go to waste. I tell you this now, Meesar: those days are past.

Tonight was the night that I decided I absolutely had (time?) to do something with the four mostly spoiled eggplants languishing in the crisper. Ever hopefully, I speared them, brushed them with olive oil, and roasted them in a 415 degree oven for a little over an hour. When they came out, the skins were black–to be expected–but, upon prodding, so were the insides–unquestionably not to be expected.

Fresh eggplant, when roasted properly, should give way easily to gentle poking. The skin should strip away effortlessly, leaving the creamy-beige flesh to kind of sigh out. Once cut in to, the whole thing should just sort of collapse, its structural integrity destroyed by roasting. It will often be creamy enough to skip a trip to the food processor.

Let me just put it this way: all of the eggplants save one exhibited none of these characteristics. They were tough, held their form past roasting, and definitely needed to be run through the food processor!

Nevertheless, I was able to make one of my best baigan bhartas ever. Not only that, but because I had four eggplants to get rid of and I usually employ only one while making this recipe, I QUADRUPLED the recipe with devastatingly delicious results.

(Something of a) Recipe: Three huge onions chopped & browned in olive oil + 8 tsp coriander, 4 tsp cumin, 2 tsp paprika, 2 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp chili powder, a few pinches of turmeric + four pureed eggplants + tons and tons of garlic (uhm, about 10 cloves) + two chopped jalepenos + a cup of chopped cilantro + half a bag of frozen peas + 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes (I usually use fresh) + a homemade vegan creme = 16 servings of super tasty deliciousness or meals for the next three days. Good to know it can be done!

Though it is a tremendous understatement to say that baigan bharta isn’t much to look at, here’s a picture:

Since I didn’t attempt anything awesome in the kitchen today, I’m cheating and doing Whoa Wren’s VeganMoFo2009 survey.

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?

N & I drink Kroger’s Naturally Preferred Organic Red Box Plain soymilk pretty much exclusively. It’s organic, tastes great, and costs $5.00 a gallon (regular price $2.50/half gallon). With Silk climbing as high as $3.89/half gallon in this area, it’s the most economical.

NOTE: We love soymilk so much that, upon being asked at a job interview what he’d do with two million dollars, N said he’d secure a lifetime supply of the stuff for us. (To be fair, that was the “selfish answer”; he also answered magnanimously.)

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?

Kale creations, bhindi masala, baked winter squash (or spaghetti squash concoctions).

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?

The master recipe is thus: stove-top-popped corn with about a tablespoon of melted earth balance drizzled over it, then tossed, then drenched in Bragg’s aminos from the spray bottle, then tossed, then tossed with white pepper, then tossed with about a third a cup of nutritional yeast. It is so good, sometimes we eat this as a meal…because just thinking about it makes us crave it unbearably…okay, I’m pretty sure that I’ll soon be typing with nutritional yeast breath.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

Devastatingly, I recently F-ed up two desserts in one night. Sigh.

5. Favorite pickled item?

Okra! And, you know, boring old cucumbers.

6. How do you organize your recipes?

The cookbooks are on shelves under the microwave. The printed-out collection resides messily in a structurally-unsound plastic folder-type thing. I also love to tape recipes to cabinets so that I can read them easily while working.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

Compost. Thanks to our landlords, we have a super composter.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?

1) Stevia, because I’m addicted to it, but since it probably doesn’t count as a food per se I’ll name three more 2) Onions 3) Mushrooms 4) Watermelon

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

My mom’s cabbage; my dad’s everything-in-the-cupboards vegan vegetable soups; any of the insane birthday cakes mom designed and ordered for me. She did not mess around with the cake.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?

(guest written by N): Purely Decadent COOKIE AVALANCHE by SO DELICIOUS/Turtle Mountain

One cannot understand the Avalanche of Cookies without appreciating the taxonomy and characteristics of the manner of things one can find in such an Avalanche.

Surely, one does best when one encounters a veritable King Cookie (gendered bias intentional) in the course of Avalanche consumption. To qualify as Kingly, this nugget of wonder must be of sufficient size; say, approaching roughly half the size of a double stuffed oreo. Such a joyous event happens only about once per carton (so buy several cartons at once).

Princely cookies, thus, are chunks of delicious that are only about a quarter the size of a double stuffed oreo. These are still noble finds and a lucky consumer should enjoy three or four of them per carton.

We suggest giving your Avalanche lots of attention; excavate it carefully by digging in your spoon and flipping over big hunks to seek Kings and Princes jutting out. Then gently carve out the findings and enjoy.

Truly, you will discover that the thrill of cookie archaeology makes the Avalanche the most compelling and fabulous of all vegan ice cream delights.

–N

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

this one bowl that is perfect for containing things made with the hand mixer. Okay, not actually an appliance, but it facilitates an appliance!

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

I use a lot of salt, thyme, tumeric, coriander and cumin.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?

I grew up with my mom’s Southern Living Annuals. Of my own, probably Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider. I wish everyone could have a copy of this insanely expensive but gorgeous book.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?

Black raspberry from the Amish

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?

The GRIT’s vegan chicken salad (featuring GRIT yeast gravy & GRIT viniagrette)…it went over tremendously at a fourth of july get-together. Or anything smothered in GRIT gravy.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

I love seitan (especially Isa’s recipes!!) when I can get it, but I mostly cook with TVP from dixie diner and tofu.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?

time: when I’m not hungry.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

10 boxes of Kashi cereal (Richmond Kroger is closing ‘em out at $2 a BOX!!); two bicycle helmets; a pair of bicycle gloves; two rolls of unbleached recycled paper towels; dust bunnies

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

Uhm, not to brag, but I can name basically every item in my freezer without looking. There’s a pound of quinoa, two pounds of Bob’s Red Mill vital wheat gluten, wheat flour, six quart freezer bags of whole raspberries from Michigan, several pounds of butter beans, a bag of Recipe Beginnings peppers, lots of dried Frontier herbs, a 6-lb block of SoyBoy tofu, two loaves of banana nut bread, blueberries from Monica’s great-grandparents’ house in PA, two boxes of Boca burgers, some homemade veggie burgers, bread flour, sesame seeds, frozen peas…the list goes on. Hm, now that I think about it, it’s actually kind of embarrassing to have all that food stored up. Good thing I’ve planned November’s blogging project to be eat-from-the-cupboards!

20. What’s on your grocery list?

I went shopping yesterday and today; yield: Mori-Nu tofu, granola bars, organic olive oil, organic water-packed extra-firm tofu, cereal, soymilk, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, pickles, veggie burgers, and mustards.

21. Favorite grocery store?

Not too many alternative choices in Richmond. I love our Co-op, but it’s currently in transition and closed. Nature’s Nook is good for hard-to-find ingredients, but not really food. Meijer has a great fresh organic section but it also uses old-fashioned open freezer cases and for that reason I routinely boycott them. Embarrasingly, Kroger is really my BFF. Cheap soymilk, tofu, a decent natural foods section and tons of good manager’s specials.

In Atlanta: Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market & the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market!

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.

ANGEL FOOD CAKE. I purchased Bryanna Clark Grogan’s recipe but I haven’t taken the time to make it yet. Maybe this month…?!?!

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?

Probably Kittee’s because she encouraged me in this whole VeganMoFo thing. And Bryanna’s Vegan Feast Kitchen. To be honest, I’m still finding my way in the vegan blogging community.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?

Catbar by Endangered Species chocolates; coconut marshmallows by Sweet & Sara. Ritter Sport marzipan.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?

The aforementioned 6 freezer bags of Michigan raspberries I brought back from the visit with Jiji.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?

xantham gum, especially after Kittee’s post about it.

THE END