White Chocolate Cherry Smoothie...

I don’t know about you but I’ve been addicted to cherries lately. I probably buy a few pounds per week and every morning I eat a bowl of them for breakfast. I’ve always loved cherries, but this summer they seem to be particularly ripe and delicious, and I just can’t get enough. I’ve also been really addicted to peanut butter lately, and I’ve had a strange craving for white chocolate which got me thinking this week that I might like combining all three of these things in one way or another.

This morning after a little bit of deliberation I decided to try mixing them together in a smoothie. It was either that or a dessert and I just didn’t feel like baking today. As it happens though this smoothie is like a dessert in a glass, super yummy, and decadent! Actually - as weird as it sounds this smoothie tastes a little bit like Christmas - probably the nutmeg. Anyway it came as a big surprise to me because I didn’t have any real idea of what the end result would be. I can honestly say it far exceeded my expectations, and if you like decadent dessert like smoothies definitely give this one a try!

White Chocolate Cherry Smoothie 

1 1/4 C Vanilla Almond Milk
1/3 C Vegan White Chocolate Chips
1/3 C Frozen Cherries
½ Frozen Banana
** 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter & Co’s White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter
1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 tsp Lucuma Powder
½ tsp Mucuna Powder
1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon
4-6 Ice Cubes

- Place the vegan white chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat. After about a minute the chocolate should begin to melt, add in a 1/4 cup of the almond milk and stir the two together until the white chocolate has melted fully.

- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

- Combine the white chocolate mixture with the cherries, banana, peanut butter, maca, lucuma, mucuna, nutmeg, cinnamon, remaining almond milk and ice cubes in a highspeed blender. Blend on high for 90 seconds or until the mixture is smooth.

- Pour into a glass and garnish with a dash of nutmeg and a few dried cranberries or cherries for a festive feel. Enjoy!

*** Note - I don’t know if there’s any real substitute for Peanut Butter & Co’s White Chocolate Peanut butter, but you could just use regular peanut butter and add in more vegan white chocolate to compensate. Also you can use fresh cherries rather then frozen if you prefer, but then you may want to use more ice to get the same consistency.*** 

Chocolate Cinnamon Power Shake...

I’ve always been a big fan of protein shakes/smoothies. Since I’m not normally a big eater in the morning these have always been my salvation. Since my last cleanse however I’ve been mostly sticking to fruit for breakfast in the morning, and so I haven’t bought protein powder or anything like that in ages, but lately I’ve been really craving a good ‘ole chocolate protein smoothie. Today since I was particularly ravenous upon waking, - and since I still don’t have any protein powders - I decided to just throw together my own little power shake.

I was amazed by the result. It tastes so good, and so decadent, and it’s very reminiscent of some of my favorite protein shakes. After I scarfed down a peach and a mango, I drank this, and it really hit the spot. I might just make it again tomorrow and the next day and the next! 

Chocolate Cinnamon Power Shake 

1 C Vanilla Almond Milk

1 Ripe Banana 

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder 

1 tsp Lucuma Powder

1 tsp Maca Powder 

½ tsp Ground Cinnamon 

1 tsp Vanilla Extract 

** 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter & Co’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter
1 tsp Instant Espresso Powder (Optional) 

6 Ice Cubes

- Place all ingredients into a highspeed blender and blend on high for 60-90 seconds until completely smooth.

- Pour into a glass and enjoy! 

*** Note - If you don’t have or can’t find Peanut Butter & Co’s amazing Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut butter, Sub your favorite peanut butter, with an added dash of cinnamon and a small handful of raisins. *** 

Product Review: Endangered Species Creme Filled Chocolate...

Who doesn’t like chocolate? Okay, truth is I never liked chocolate - not really - until I went vegan. I mean, I thought it was alright, but nothing special. Sitting down and eating a chocolate bar never used to be my idea of a good time. These days I feel differently though. I love chocolate now, far more then I ever imagined I would, and Endangered Species Brand is one of my favorites!  I mean what’s not to like? Great tasting cacao, great flavor combinations, tons of vegan options, and not to mention they’re fair trade, Non-GMO certified, and Rainforest Alliance Certified. However my favorite part about them is that every time you buy one of their chocolate bars your money is going towards animal and wildlife conservation. At the end of each year Endangered Species donates 10% of their net profits to environmental non-profits focused on wildlife conservation and habitat preservation. The animals featured on each Endangered Species wrapper aren’t just there to be cute selling points, these are just some of the animals that benefit from your purchases. Right now Endangered Species is partnered with The African Wildlife Foundation , and The Xerces Society  - but past partners have included SEE Turtles , Chimp Haven, The Ocean Conservancy, and The National Wildlife Federation .

But enough about the company, lets talk about the chocolate - specifically their new line of creme filled chocolate bars all six flavors of which just so happen to be vegan, how awesome is that? I first heard about these magical bars a few months ago when they were debuted at an expo in California, and I’ve been patiently waiting for them to pop up in any of my local retailers. Just before Easter my husband and I discovered them in our local natural foods store and very excitedly bought one of each flavor to test out, all of which were to die for, but of course I had my favorites.

I think the Sea Salt and Lime flavor was probably our favorite. The flavor of this bar really exceeded expectation, and I loved that luscious bold lime flavor mixed in with the richness of the chocolate and the hint of sea salt. Flavor perfection.

Raspberry Orange is probably second for me because what goes better with creamy dark chocolate then sweet, tart, and citrusy fruits? This bar is a perfect marriage of all three flavors, they work in harmony together and do not overpower one another. You can a bit of each flavor in each bite.

The Almond Butter was perhaps the most surprising flavor. I love me some almond butter and I LOVE the combo of nut butter and chocolate - I’m a totally peanut butter/almond butter cup fiend - but I wasn’t expecting it to win me over as much as it did. The creme was so - well, creamy and it had a wonderful almond butter flavor, that was rich enough not to be drowned out by the dark chocolate.

The Coconut Creme and Lavender Mint were both wonderful too, only I didn’t think that the coconut creme had a strong enough coconut flavor. I was expecting something more in your face, and felt it was a bit muted alongside the strength of the chocolate. My husband disagreed however and thought the coconut flavor was fine. As for the Lavender Mint I was really expecting this one to be my favorite since I love the marriage of lavender and chocolate and Mint and Chocolate separately I thought they’d be brilliant together. While the bar was delicious overall I found that the mint flavor was somewhat overshadowed both by the chocolate and the lavender. Perhaps this is just me because I’m used to a very strong mint chocolate or maybe it just wasn’t the best idea to marry two very strong herbs together. I suppose one was bound to be over shadowed.

Lastly the Blueberry Vanilla which was also excellent. Few things in life go together better then dark chocolate and blueberries, or chocolate and vanilla for that matter and this bar is no exception. The berries lend a real sweetness to the bar that works well against the bitter chocolate. I did not however taste an overwhelming amount of vanilla.

So there you have it, the new Endangered Species Creme Filled Chocolate Bars are delicious! Keep your eyes open for them the next time you’re at your market or health food store and give them a try. If you love good quality chocolate you won’t be disappointed. Promise.

You can learn more about the company and their products here - Endangered Species Chocolate

Celebrating Easter 2014...

I realize this is coming a few days late but I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Ours was quiet, and I preferred it that way. Normally I’m all about going ‘all-out’ for the holidays, and I particularly like Easter because of it’s association with Spring but lately I’ve been over-extending myself in the kitchen, - I’ve simultaneously been testing recipes for 3 different cook book authors! - and so I was content to keep things pretty low-key this year. Of course, low-key doesn’t mean lacking in flavor, or fun and there was no shortage of either this year.

We began the day with some delicious Cinnamon Zucchini Waffles - a tester recipe from Jessica over at Cupcakes and Kale - unfortunately I was in such a hurry to eat that I neglected to snap a photo! Sorry about that, but I can assure you they were quite delicious. Hearty, and yet somehow the perfect start to a lovely spring morning. Afterwards we went for a walk, to work off our meal and to soak up some very much needed Vitamin D - something that’s been severely lacking here in Chicagoland this winter.

Chocolate Orange Cake 

Later in the afternoon we gathered with my husband’s family to celebrate the holiday. Normally I make delicious vegan dishes to bring along but the past couple of years I haven’t felt much like doing that. Transporting an entire meal is kind of a hassle and so last year - as with this year - I opted to just make us a nice dinner upon our return home. We did snack on some chips and salsa, and raw veggies while hanging with the family though - and I did bring along this exquisite Chocolate Orange Cake which is Susan Voisin’s recipe from Nava Atlas’s cook book “Vegan Holiday Kitchen” It’s a pretty simple cake, very low-fat - using non-dairy yogurt instead of oil, and a half/half mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. It’s finished off with a chocolate glaze and an orange glaze and let me tell you, this thing went over like gangbusters. Really. Super delicious.

We arrived home around six in the evening and then I began working on our holiday dinner. Since I didn’t want to have a stack of books clogging up my kitchen space I decided to just pick a few dishes from “Vegan Holiday Kitchen” and have at it. The big feature - or our main dish - was the Citrus Roast Tofu which I’d left to marinate the entire time we were with the family. The marinade is a delicious mix of orange juice, orange marmalade, lemon juice, soy sauce, olive oil, mustard and tarragon. It’s topped with lightly sauteed carrot slices, almonds, garlic, curry and parsley. So good, and definitely one of my new favorite tofu dishes. To accompany I made the Roasted Baby Carrots which were cooked in a simple blend of maple syrup, lemon juice, parsley and cinnamon. Quite tasty - and carrots are one of my favorite vegetables so I didn’t mind the double helping.  I also made the Lemony Asparagus Risotto because... well - who doesn’t love risotto? No really, my husband is crazy for Risotto and I just love the combo of Asparagus and Lemon. This particular risotto is a little different in that it’s baked inside the oven rather then cooked on the stove top, but I kind of liked that. Less fuss you know? Overall though I’d say this risotto was a bit under seasoned for my taste, and so not my favorite risotto. There was definitely enough garlic but I think next time I would add more salt and more lemon, and maybe leave out the spinach and add more asparagus - but that’s me.

Citrus Roast Tofu

Roasted Baby Carrots 

Lemony Asparagus Risotto 

For dessert - yes we had a second dessert, so what? - I made the Classic Carrot Cupcakes, because what could be more appropriate then that? These were crazy good, and I mean that. In fact they just might be my favorite carrot cupcake recipe ever, and they were so simple. Made with Whole Wheat Pastry Flour instead of all purpose, Maple Syrup instead of sugar, and apple sauce to cut down on the amount of oil they’re practically guilt-free. The cream cheese frosting was also luscious and delicious without being too ‘cheesy’ or too sweet.

Citrus Roast Tofu - Close up

Lemony Asparagus Risotto - Close Up

Roasted Baby Carrots - Close Up 

In addition to a delicious meal my husband and I often by one another a little something special for the holiday but we were pretty low-key about that too this year. Instead we exchanged cards and bought one another 3 bars each of the new Endangered Spices Chocolate Bars - more on this in a review post to come.

Classic Carrot Cupcakes 

All in all it was a great day. A relaxing Sunday, a subdued holiday. Beautiful weather, great food, and wonderful company, what more can you ask for?

Product Review - WestSoy: Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Beverage...

I can’t believe I haven’t posted in a week - uh - well, lets chalk it up to holiday madness and laziness. I don’t know about you but it’s damn cold here in Chicago (1'F, or -17'C) and that’s put me in something of a hibernation mode.  The holidays, writing, work, and school projects have got me kind of down and tired lately. Bad weather typically makes me feel this way, and the first week after a big holiday I’m always a bit spent. Since our epic Thanksgiving brunch I’ve hardly done any cooking - at least none that’s very interesting. We’ve been eating simply - bowls of rice and steamed vegetables, or pasta, or salad. All of which are delicious but none to creative.

But, even though I haven’t any recipes to share with you today there is one thing I’ve been wanting to tell you about for some time now, and that’s WestSoy’s Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Beverage. I”ve seen this in the stores for a couple of years now, and I never buy it. I don’t know why, I love chocolate and I love peppermint and I’m crazy for the two together. Maybe it’s because I never buy WestSoy products - brand loyalty is a weird thing yo. - but whatever the reason I always passed up this interesting holiday beverage at the store. Then a couple of weeks ago I saw it on sale, and thought “Why not give it a try?” I figured even if I didn’t like it, at the very least I could tell all of you about it.

Well, as it turns out this stuff is amazing. Seriously, it’s like crack folks. One sip and you’re hooked. It tastes just like a cold peppermint mocha from the evil coffee corporation that shall not be named. I really can’t get over the perfectly delicious blend of rich chocolate and cool peppermint. A winning combination no matter what. A couple of years ago I reviewed the So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk which I loved, but I think if push comes to shove I’ll have to say that I like WestSoy just a little bit better. For me the difference is the mint vs the peppermint. This may be such a subtle difference to most people but to me it’s another world entirely. Mint and Peppermint just aren’t the same, and Peppermint is by far my favorite, it’s got that subtle sweetness that plain mint just doesn’t have, and it works holiday magic when combined with chocolate.

It is a little calorie dense at 180 calories per cup and contains 25g of sugar per serving but it’s so damn delicious! Seriously, if I could mainline it I would! Now, in all seriousness I obviously wouldn’t recommend buying and drinking this all of the time, but for a holiday treat to add a little pizzaz to your life, why not? There are worse things you could be drinking - include a little this holiday season. WestSoy is also made with organic soy milk and is Non-GMO Verified which is pretty awesome.

This is definitely my new favorite holiday beverage - and apparently you can drink it warm too, though I haven’t tried that yet, but I can’t wait to! If you try it I hope you enjoy it, and if you like the chocolate peppermint combination as much as I do I’m sure you’ll love it!

Vegan Mofo #10 - Mark’s Chocolate Stuffed Figs...

Vegan Mofo #10 - Mark’s Chocolate Stuffed Figs 

The Region - Spain
The Book - The 30 Minute Vegan’s Taste of Europe
The Author - Mark Reinfeld
The Recipe - Chocolate Stuffed Figs
Page # 117
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 20 minutes

Okay, I know I’ve been keeping all my posts for one day to a specific region, but I’ll be honest and say I haven’t got any of my other South American food pictures edited at the moment and I’m kind of in a time crunch what with the fact that I’ll be leaving for vacation in just a few hours. However, not wanting to stray to far from South America I decided to end the night by posting a dish from Spain. Spain - South America, correct me if I’m wrong but there is a connection there Is there not? So I’m not totally off the mark right? Well, that’s my story anyway and I’m sticking to it.

I picked the chocolate stuffed figs for two reasons, I love figs and well FIGS! Seriously! Late summer and early fall is the best time for figs, and yet so few recipes actually utilize them. Whenever I find a recipe that showcases the delicious, exquisite fig I always pounce on it, and this quick and easy - yet elegant dessert was no different. I knew from the first that I’d make this, I just didn’t know when or why. My husband you see doesn’t like almonds, and he’s not too keen on figs though he’ll tolerate them if they’re dried or in something else. So this was just a little something all for me you know?

As for what chocolate stuffed figs has to do with Spain I’m not quite sure, but they do appear in the Spain chapter of Reinfeld’s book and for the purpose of Mofo that’s good enough for me. Or maybe I’m just getting lazy because vacation is just around the corner. Figs are native to the Middle East and Western Asia, although from what I hear there is a delicious chocolate fig bonbon that’s popular in Spain and so maybe this is the connection for Reinfeld? Either way his recipe is delicious, and so easy.

All you need to do is pulse up some almonds, chocolate chips, orange zest, orange juice, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in a food processor then stuff 12 figs. Top each fig with a raw almond and bake for about 10 minutes. My only qualm with this recipe is that the instructions are somewhat vague. They simply say ‘stuff the figs’ well, if you’ve never stuffed a fig before you might not be sure how to really go about that. I ended up scooping a bit of the fig out with a half tsp and then pulsed it into the mixture of chocolate and almonds. Waste not want not right?

After you bake the figs you can make a tasty sauce to drizzle over them using orange juice, date syrup and cinnamon. Then garnish with mint leaves. I didn’t have any mint leaves and since I was eating the figs all by myself I decided to forgo the sauce. Really it wasn’t needed because these figs were so good all on their own. I loved the melted chocolate, the hint of orange and the crunch of almond. A perfect and light dessert or afternoon snack with tea.

Product Review - Sunwarrior: Chocolate - Raw, Vegan - Protein Powder...

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Today is the longest day of the year, today is the day to stay up and enjoy the sun, because after today the days will gradually begin to grow short again until we find ourselves in winter once more. I love summer solstice because I love the sun, and I love late-night sunsets. Seeing the sun go down at six is a little depressing to me, and I’d much rather watch it set at nine or ten. Unfortunately in Illinois today we have no sun at all, the day was bright and cherry when I woke up - for about five seconds - and then the sky quickly turned to grey, and now it’s going black. Storms are on the horizon, and so most of my solstice we be spent moping around indoors. At least I took advantage of the day before the rain hit, and had a lovely bike ride through the grey, whipping wind.

But enough about all that, I wanted to share a product with you that I’ve been enjoying quite a bit lately over the past couple of months. Since I’m not cooking anything summery or celebratory today I thought it was the perfect day to share it with you.

Sunwarrior Chocolate  Protein Powder! This stuff is amazing! Y’all know how much I love a good vegan protein powder right? Well, I first heard about Sunwarrior a few years ago when I was in Maui, and I’d been wanting to try it ever since. Of course this stuff is a bit more expensive then what I normally buy so I kept on holding off on getting some. Then my local health food store was having a sale and I scored a bag for 30% off! How cool is that? I chose to buy the chocolate flavor because I tend to favor chocolate flavored protein powders and figured that would be the safest place to start, and man oh man is this stuff good.

Now, I love me some Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein and some Vega but I think Sunwarrior beats them both in terms of just good ‘ole flavor. The texture isn’t grainy at all, or gritty like a lot of powders out there, and It has a mild chocolate flavor as opposed to a really in your face one. I also don’t find it to be overly sweet, and I don’t think it leaves that strange protein powder ‘aftertaste’ in your mouth. This stuff goes down smooth, and tastes delicious and you can really add it into any kind of smoothie that strikes your fancy. I’ve been enjoying it in all sorts of configurations latley but my hands down favorite way to drink it is the classic - almond butter, almond milk, banana, maca, cherries, and ice combo.

Other great aspects of Sunwarrior protein powder is that it’s a GMO-Free product, it’s Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, and Dairy-Free, and it’s also hypoallergenic. There are also no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, it's sweetened with stevia and it’s raw. It also contains all the essential and non-essential amino acids in a perfectly balanced profile. According to their website they have the highest amount of (non-soy) raw, whole-grain sprouted vegan protein of any product available. Pretty cool! One scoop is also only about 80 calories which is considerably lower then a lot of other protein powders I’ve seen on the market.

I look forward to trying both the vanilla and natural flavors in the future, and hope they’re just as good as the chocolate version, but for now I’m really loving this powder. So if you love protein powders as much as I do - particularly as a quick post work out, or pre-work breakfast - then check this one out and let me know what you think!

Oh and if you live in an area where the sun is actually out and shining today, make sure you go out and enjoy it! Happy Solstice!

Chocolate Berry Superfood Smoothie...

I love all kinds of smoothies but there are three kinds that I enjoy more frequently then others. One is the obligatory green smoothie, the second is a berry combo smoothie, and the third is the chocolate protein nut butter smoothie. I tend to drink green smoothies more often in the summer, a lot of berry smoothies in the winter and the chocolate nut butter combo is a wild card. I’ll take it whenever, wherever. Lately however I’ve been enjoying this third variety more often. It seems to be my new ‘go-to’ smoothie on working days, the added protein from the protein powder and nut butter, plus the cacao and the maca keep me energized long into the day.

The only problem is that I get board pretty quickly when forced to eat the same thing all the time. So Monday I was craving a smoothie, something chocolate and creamy like my typical pre-work smoothie but the idea of the same old same old just had me feeling blah. I thought about making a berry smoothie as I have a lot of delicious berries newly on hand but that just sounded so plain. After a few moments spent pondering my dilemma in my kitchen something dawned on me. “Who ever said you can’t combine a berry smoothie with a chocolate nut butter smoothie?” No one that I know of anyway and so that’s exactly what I did.

It may sound weird to you to combine berries with chocolate and peanut butter but I assure you it’s quite delicious - mind blowing really - and while the color leaves a little something to be desired the taste is phenomenal. And really, that’s all that matters isn’t it?

Chocolate Berry Superfood Smoothie 

1 Scoop Sun Warrior Chocolate Protein Powder
1 3.5oz pack frozen acai berry puree
6-8 frozen strawberries
1 Banana
1 tsp Lucuma Powder
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 Tbsp Hemp Seeds
1 Tbsp Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Butter
3/4 C Unsweetened Almond Milk
4 Ice Cubes

- Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend on high for 60-90 seconds until smooth and all the ice is crushed.

Enjoy before or after an energizing workout, or on days you have to go to work!

*** Note - You can use any kind of peanut butter or protein powder you like, but I find the Sun Warrior Protein Powder has a superior taste. As for Earth Balance's Coconut Peanut Butter, I highly recommend this. Not only is it freaking delicious but adds another flavor note to the overall smoothie. More about this peanut butter in a review post to come.***

Welcoming Spring with a Vegan Cookie Extravaganza...

Peppermint Oatmeal Carob Cookies

Spring is here! I suppose technically Spring’s been here since the 20^th which was the equinox, and truthfully the weather has been very spring-like for most of the month, but this week in particular has felt very much like spring in a lot of ways. The weather has been very warm, a little breezy and we’ve had a few of the traditional spring showers. The sun is out and shining almost everyday, and it’s staying out longer. Everything is golden, and fresh and fragrant. The grass and foliage around here and in the parks has gone from brown and dreary to green and vibrant in only a week’s time. Flowers are opening and reaching for the sky, and my favorite sign of spring, the cherry blossom is in full bloom. Life has moved from inside to outside as children flock to the parks to play and more and more people meander out and about with their dogs. The Canadian Geese and the ducks that chose to migrate further south have returned to the lakes, where they’re preparing to mate. Butterflies have emerged, and birds sing gloriously in the trees while squirrels and bunnies romp in the weeds below.

Lavender Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Spring and Autumn are by far my favorite seasons, both for the beauty they impart on the world and for the feeling of peaceful contentment they instill inside me. Each year I like to do something special to ring in and honor the season, and this year I chose to bake a bunch of spring inspired goodies. This wasn’t the original plan, but as it happens my favorite used book store was having a sale last week, and I just so happened to come across four great vegan finds while perusing the shelves, two of them being vegan baking books. With so many new - to me - wonderfully creative, inspirational, and delicious sounding recipes under my arm this seemed the perfect opportunity to give them a whirl.

Monday morning I woke early, grabbed my books and headed straight for the kitchen, where I popped an audio book into the little portable cd player I keep by the window and set to work. I started with Kelly Peloza’s "The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur." a book I’d flipped through once or twice at my friend J’s without much interest. I think it was the photography that initially turned me off. Most of the photos are dark - too dark in my opinion - and I much prefer cook book photos to be shiny and bright. She does however include a photo with each recipe which I appreciate - dark or not - and I figured for $5 what would be the harm in picking it up? I’m really glad I did because there is some super creative, inspiring and amazing stuff hidden within these pages. There are so many cookie recipes I can’t wait to try out, in fact I was having such a hard time narrowing it down that I made three different recipes from this book.

Top Left - Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies. Top Right - Lemon Cornmeal Cookies.
Bottom - Pink Lemonade Cookies

Though it was tough to choose which recipes to start with I decided to keep with the theme of spring and went for three different lemon flavored cookies. You may think I went a little lemon crazy, but I absolutely love lemons! Especially in the spring and what better ingredient to use when the sun is shining and the world finally feels alive after the decay of winter?

Lemon Cornmeal Cookies

I began with the Lemon Cornmeal Cookies. I chose them because they were relatively quick to put together and because the picture - one of the few that actually isn’t too dark - was so bright, and happy. Just looking at all that magnificent yellow put a smile on my face, and lifted my spirits. Plus you have to admit that the addition of cornmeal in a cookie is just a little bit intriguing, no? I did make a few changes, one out of necessity - I didn’t have soy milk so I used flax instead, it worked perfect! - and the rest out of preference. I used a bit less sugar, a touch of lemon juice, and only rolled one side of each cookie in additional sugar. Trust me that was enough! The cookies baked up quick and were absolutely ‘melt in your mouth’ while still warm from the oven. I loved the lemon flavor of course and really enjoyed the subtle crunch of the cornmeal.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Next up were the Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies. This recipe is also accompanied by a relatively bright and happy picture, but it’s not the only thing that put a smile on my face. I mean, is there anyone out there who doesn’t think lemon and poppy seed are a perfect combination? They are truly a match made by the gods, and I am destined to love everything with this unique flavor combination. I adore lemon poppy seed muffins, cupcakes, loaves, rolls etc... but don’t recall ever having had a lemon poppy seed cookie until now. These were absolutely scrumptious! Like the lemon cornmeal cookies these baked up quick and were fast to throw together, which you wouldn’t think from their phenomenal flavor. Again I made a couple of alterations, flax milk instead of Soy, a little less sugar, a touch of lemon juice plus additional zest and I doubled - at least - the amount of poppy seeds.

Pink Lemonade Cookies

Lastly from Peloza I made the Pink Lemonade Cookies, the very sound of which is enough to make anyone smile. However I did not have pink food coloring, nor the ingredients to make my own, and so mine are just regular lemonade cookies I suppose. Still amazing though as the pink is used exclusively for aesthetic value. These cookies, while again simple enough upon first glance were a bit more work. I used flax again, decreased the sugar, added extra zest and a touch of lemon juice. However I found the dough to be kind of sticky, so it was hard to spread into a disk shape on my baking sheet. This may have been my own fault because of my alterations but in any case it was a bit of a process to get the dough to cooperate, and as it happens I was never able to get it to spread into perfect flat disks. Oh well the flavor was impeccable and in the end that’s all that really matters. The thing that makes these cookies so great, and it’s the reason you need them to be flatter rather then round is that you make a lemon butter cream frosting which you spread over half the cookies once they’ve been baked, then place a second cookie on top to make a sandwich cookie. Sort of like a lemon oreo but a thousand times better! The frosting was super simple - again I added extra zest - and squishing the cookies together was a breeze. I highly recommend making these, as well as the other two, especially if you like lemon. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I sure wasn’t, neither were the friends I chose to share these treats with.

For my next two batches I moved onto one of my other new books, Laura Matthias’s Extra Vegan Za. Though there are so many amazing sounding recipes in this book for everything from appetizers to dessert the first recipe I knew I had to try were the Peppermint Oatmeal Carob cookies. First of all who doesn’t love an oatmeal cookie? Secondly this combination just sounded to unique and cool not to try. I’m a huge fan of peppermint as I believe I’ve mentioned, and while I’ve had chocolate peppermint cookies before and peppermint chocolate I’ve never come across the combination of peppermint carob. Nor have I had peppermint in a cookie that wasn’t an all out chocolate cookie. Though I had my heart set on making this one, I was initially a little concerned that I wouldn’t like it. I was worried it might taste overly of peppermint or that the carob would be overwhelming but thankfully neither was the case. Even though I opted to leave out the vanilla extract in favor of extra peppermint extract. This truly was a perfect cookie. Laura says in the book that it’s her favorite and I can clearly see why, in fact it just might be my new favorite as well. Peppermint is a wonderful flavor to use in spring and summer because it’s so fresh and cooling. Mint of all types is extraordinary in salads, grain dishes, desserts, teas you name it and so I thought this cookie was a beautiful choice for a Spring bake-a-thon. What I like best about this cookie though is that you have three strong flavors, none of which overpower the others so you do get a real sense of all of them and they blend together so well. Absolutely amazing, and I never would have thought of it myself!

Lastly, also from Extra Vegan Za, I made the beautiful and delicate Lavender Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Lavender is a perfect choice for spring, it’s fragrant and floral and just the scent alone brings you peace of mind. I love it. Yet even though I almost always have dried culinary lavender on hand I rarely find an occasion to use it. The minute my eyes spied this recipe I knew it was meant to be. I just knew I had to try it out. Like with the peppermint oatmeal carob cookies I was excited yet unsure. I like the taste of lavender but not if it’s overwhelming. Too much lavender can be bitter and unpleasant and so I was hoping that would not be the case with these cookies. In fact Laura states in the book that for the lavender lover or the adventurous, use two tbsp of lavender, for someone less enthused by lavender use 1 tbsp. I started off with the 1 tbsp took a look at the dough and thought ‘what the hell’ and threw in the second tbsp with a little extra for good measure. Always ready for a culinary adventure I figured ‘why not take the plunge?’ I’m so glad I decided to throw caution to the wind because these cookies were magic! With just over 2 tbsp I didn’t find the lavender overwhelming at all, it was perfect, and it blended wonderfully with the chocolate chips. Actually I would go so far as to say that lavender is to chocolate what lemon is to poppy seed. The two go hand in hand, a match made by the infinite wisdom of the universe. Seriously I can’t keep my hands off these little gems and I highly recommend Extra Vegan Za on the basis of these two cookie recipes alone. I can’t wait to see what else Laura has in store!

So that concludes my culinary honoring of Spring. Although I did continue baking Tuesday when I tried my hand at Cinnamon Buns for the first time! An amazing experience that I was going to include in this post, but seeing as how it’s already quite long as it is I’ll save it for tomorrow. Plus I think cinnamon buns are entirely deserving of their very own post anyway.

Also stay tuned for some other exciting stuff I have coming up. I know I’ve been a bit neglectful of the blog this week, and I apologize. I’ve been rather busy and as such I haven’t had the leisure to experiment much with inventing my own recipes. Mostly I’ve been enjoying trying out the cook books I received for Christmas. However since this was originally intended to be a well rounded blog, with more on offer then just recipes I have some very interesting things to share that aren’t necessarily recipe related. Tomorrow we’ll have cinnamon buns, then look out for Friday’s post which will be related to woman’s health.

PS: Apologies also for the poor lighting in some of the photos. Though the sun was bright and shining outside it wasn’t exactly pouring through my kitchen windows at the time I chose to take these photos. And yes, I fully realize the irony of talking about Peloza’s dark photography, when my own in this post isn’t very well lit either. Ha ha... it seems these things happen to all of us from time to time.

*** Note - Also please keep in mind that if you are going to use Lavender in any food recipe, please, please make sure it’s culinary lavender, and not floral or aromatherapy lavender. There is indeed a difference and I assure you, you will not be happy if you get the wrong kind. Usually culinary lavender is easily found in spice shops, herbal shops, health food stores and even some grocery stores. It can also be found for sale as a whole plant that you can then plant in a pot or your garden, which is always fun!***

The Valentine’s Day Post...

The Lovely Valentine's Day Flowers My Mom Sent Us

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day yesterday, I know I did despite a little pre-V-day stress and a last minute change of plans. The original idea you see, was to go out and have a romantic dinner just the two of us, but a culmination of things turned that into a less then stellar plan. So instead I decided to invite some close friends over for a Valentine’s Day Dinner Celebration which turned out to be a very successful good time, despite the before mentioned stress.

Banana Split Waffles

The stress as it were, was all due to the fact that I wanted to make the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner, and I wanted it to reflect the colors most commonly associated with Valentines, as well as the spirit of love. I searched and searched and searched through all my cook books and the web for recipes I had not yet made that would fit both my criteria and my budget. What I found was an endless supply of dessert recipes and nearly as many cocktail and appetizer recipes but hardly anything suitable for a main meal. It must also be said that there are WAY too many people out there who consider marinara sauce to be an appropriate expression of love. Spaghetti and marinara for Valentine’s? No thanks.

Banana Split Waffles

What I really wanted to do was utilize the beets that were in my fridge. I bought a bunch that I’d planned to use this week and I thought what better time to use them then V-day? Except virtually every beet recipe I came across was for roasted beets. Let it also be said that apparently when it comes to the beetroot most people are seriously lacking in imagination! Roast beets are great, I adore them, but there isn’t anything fancy, romantic or even particularly thoughtful about them served alongside something else.

Banana Split Waffles

The other challenge was the fact that I was cooking for others. Whenever you cook dinner for other people you always have to be mindful of their taste preferences. If someone doesn’t like spicy, or a certain vegetable or this or that it can set the whole thing off. You have to be conscious, and also when cooking for others you want to enjoy their company not spend the whole night in the kitchen. Which means you have to pick a dish, or dishes that are both simple yet elegant. Not the easiest task in the world. Finally I decided to stop worrying, forget looking for the recipe of another and just go with my gut and do what I felt was right. In the end it worked out beautifully, much to my own surprise and amazement, but before I get to the main course lets start with breakfast shall we?

Caponata

For breakfast I made the Banana Split Waffles from "Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites" by Celine Steen & Joni Marie Newman. Served with Chocolate Sauce, Rice Whip, Maraschino Cherries, and Soy Delicious Purely Decadent Cookie Avalanche Ice Cream. The authors recommend you serve these waffles with their recipe for Cake Batter Ice Cream, and as much as I would have loved that I honestly wasn’t about to dig out my ice cream maker just to make a batch for breakfast. Not to mention the fact that there isn’t room in my freezer for the ice cream maker anyway. We searched high and low for vegan cake batter ice cream at the store, but not finding any my husband picked out this flavor for the waffles. It was definitely tasty! A good choice. As for the waffles they were delicious! Full of flavor and filling and they tasted amazing with ice cream and whip. Never in my life have I had such a combination, and certainly not for breakfast but it was a nice treat. Except I’m the sort of person that while I have a serious sweet tooth I can only take so much sweet and so much chocolate in one sitting before I want to puke. By the time I got to the last of my waffles I was in that mode, and couldn’t finish off the last couple of bites. Sugar overload.

Caponata

With a breakfast like that under our belts there was absolutely no room for lunch. I did however make a lovely appetizer to proceed dinner. The Caponata from "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" by Donna Klein. Garlic, onion, tomatoes, celery, capers, olives and eggplant are cooked down with water, tomato paste, sugar, red wine vinegar, and basil to make a delicious sweet/tart antipasto for toasted bread rounds. Absolutely incredible mix of flavor and the four of us went through 2 loaves of French bread in an attempt to finish off ever last morsel.

Caponata

After that, dinner. Seeing as how I’d made the caponata to start I figured I might as well keep with the Italian theme and so I decided on pasta. I made a lovely Rotini dish with roasted beets, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and red onions. Keeping with the color theme of Valentine’s I really wanted to use pink, purple or red foods, but decided at the last minute to throw in the spinach for some added "POP" and nutrition. Thanks to the beets the pasta was stained a lovely shade of pink, which really made it feel romantic and fitting for the day. As for the recipe I promise to post it later.

Rotini With Roasted Beets, Red Onion, Spinach & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

After a long period of digestion it was time for dessert for which I’d made the Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake from "Party Vegan" by Robin Robertson. This cheesecake was delicious, very rich and very creamy, but - at least for me - it’s not the kind of thing you want to over-indulge in. The cake was very sweet, and very chocolaty so much so that by the last few bites I was beginning to feel a little ill. Chocolate coma for sure. Everyone loved the cake though, and seconds were had. My only complaint about the cake is that I thought it should have more cherry considering it’s called a Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake. Cherry Jam is spread in a thin layer overtop of a chocolate cake and then the cake is dotted with fresh cherries - or in my case maraschino since I didn’t have fresh - but I thought it would have been better to also blend some of the cherry jam into the batter, or even a few whole cherries. That’s just me though, everyone else seemed to love it as it was.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

To drink we stuck to water and Republic of Tea, though I’d originally planned to make cocktails I’m glad that in the end I didn’t. The Plum Berry White tea and Rose White Tea were the perfect accompaniment to dinner and a great way to end a good evening.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

After our guests left there was some very lovely cuddle time and then a viewing of the film "I Love You Phillip Morris" starring Jim Carry and my all-time favorite actor Ewan McGregor. It’s a film we’ve seen before, and while it is a rather unconventional romance it is still a romance nonetheless. If you haven’t seen it you should! The perfect end to a perfect day, I hope you all had a lovely time as well, and stay tuned for that Rotini recipe!