So we're going to D's parents' for Thanksgiving this year, which is exciting, because (1) it's a miracle of God that my mom is OK with not seeing us on the actual holiday; she usually pisses all over everyone trying to mark her territory (pardon the metaphor; if you knew my mom you'd totally do that "funny if it weren't so true" thing). Oh yeah...excited to go to the in-laws b/c (2) bro-in-law is getting his GF from out of state (orig. out of country!!) to come in for Thanksgiving, and he's not the suavest guy out there, but he's a good guy & I'm pulling for him and I wanna meet this chick! And (3), even though D's folks don't really "get" the whole vegan thing, they're good people & we haven't seen a lot of them lately, and (shh don't tell this) I'd rather hang out at their house than at either one of my parents' places. Hands down.
But dammit they still don't "get" the "vegan" thing. They had trouble with "vegetarian." So...(I can't believe how long it took me to come up with this, but it is the elegant solution, no?) I told mom-in-law that hey, I'd *love* to help you out w/ Thanksgiving this year! I can bring pumpkin cinnamon rolls, risotto, green bean casserole, the cranberry stuff, and the sweet potato stuff. And of course she was all "oh how sweet" and said sure to everything except the sweet taters b/c she'd already bought those.
Sooooo it is 12:41 in the A.M.
I had enough caffeine today to keep everyone on my street awake...but I only slept 5 hours lastnight b/c yesterday was about a 14 hour day at work. Long story. So it's this weird mix between exhausted and buzzing around wired & it's almost sickening.
I just made this middle-eastern inspired herbed risotto
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Andrews-Herb-Risotto/Detail.aspx?prop31=3
which everyone raved about, and it turned out pretty nice except I added a bit too much salt (whoops...but it's definitely still alright)...not sure how well that's gonna go over at ye olde traditional thanksgiving feast though... we'll see. (obviously I used vegetable broth--that no-chicken broth to be exact--and omitted the parm, duh.) And garnished with some of the fresh fennel fronds and diced tomato (I think I must have a tomato fetish)
And this stuff:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oranged-Cranberry-Sauce/Detail.aspx?prop31=5
Oranged cranberry sauce...the world's easiest and longest tasting recipe. I exaggerate, but not by much. I swear though, I've never been too excited about cranberries, but this is incredible.
http://donteatoffthesidewalk.com/?p=129
I hope these turn out. This will be my 3rd baking with yeast attempt. I'm almost done. They're in the pan, in roll form, in the fridge, going to rise them again & bake 'em up fresh in the morning. If they're not amazing I'm going to cry b/c they were a messy pain in the ass and I really have my hopes up.
Also in the morning I'm going to whip up some green bean casserole. I have fresh portabellas and big button mushrooms waiting in my fridge for the purpose, and I can make a mean sauce to bake it up in. I'm going to use real onions, too...hope no one misses that frenchfried shit.
Kk...fingers are crossed...wish me some luck...and some sleep!!!
Happy Thanksgiving y'all.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
more deliciousness than I can handle!
I have developed some tasty new addictions. First one is (since I'm getting a cold) some fresh squeezed orange juice. They sell it at work, fresh, and I'm going to start having some every time I work. It's amazing, and b/c I only pay half price, it's probably cheaper to get it at work than to have to squeeze a million oranges to make it myself.
Another is that previously mentioned red pepper hummus. I added a large-ish jar of roasted red bell peppers (I was going to do my own, but these were so convenient!) with a little over half of a (1 lb., dried) bag of chick peas, cooked. To that, I added some sesame oil (I couldn't find tahini in my grocery store; but the sesame oil worked nicely), lemon juice, soy sauce, fresh ground black pepper, garlic (I always use the minced, jarred garlic), cumin, and just a bit of salt. Deliciousness. It makes about a ton, but I've eaten almost all of mine, 2 days later--it's that good.
Next is these cookies from this "Gifts from a Basket" cookbook that D's aunt gave me one year. I've been craving these because they're awesome; and I finally whipped up a batch. The only change I had to make was subbing vegan margarine for butter.
Raspberry Pecan Thumbprints:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I like to use 1 c whole wheat & 1 c all-purp)
1 cup pecan pieces, finely chopped, divided
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam (which I'm out of, so I used strawberry)
Cream together the margarine & sugar. Add vanilla, salt, cinnamon, allspice, pecans, and then flour. The recipe tells you to save 1/2 the pecans to sprinkle on the outside of the cookies later, but I usually just add about 2/3 cup to the batter and leave it at that because I'm that lazy. Then form the dough into 1" balls, make a dent in each with your thumb (or any finger will do I suppose), press the cracks in the dough together really well (or else they'll fall apart), and fill the indent with a "generous 1/4 tsp" of jam in each cookie.
Bake at 350 for 14 minutes or just until set. Don't eat or handle these til they cool, because the jam turns to lava for a little while. But try them and you'll be hooked.
My next recipe comes from here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Thai-Peanut-Sauce/Detail.aspx?prop31=1
It's called The Best Thai Peanut Sauce; and I've never done a ton of Thai cooking, but I tried this for the first time this morning, and the recipe's title doesn't lie. I could eat this every day. The recipe calls for fish sauce, but I used an extra Tbsp. of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil instead. Absolutely delicious. Also it creams up really thick, so I added a little extra coconut milk. Here's what it calls for:
Another is that previously mentioned red pepper hummus. I added a large-ish jar of roasted red bell peppers (I was going to do my own, but these were so convenient!) with a little over half of a (1 lb., dried) bag of chick peas, cooked. To that, I added some sesame oil (I couldn't find tahini in my grocery store; but the sesame oil worked nicely), lemon juice, soy sauce, fresh ground black pepper, garlic (I always use the minced, jarred garlic), cumin, and just a bit of salt. Deliciousness. It makes about a ton, but I've eaten almost all of mine, 2 days later--it's that good.
Next is these cookies from this "Gifts from a Basket" cookbook that D's aunt gave me one year. I've been craving these because they're awesome; and I finally whipped up a batch. The only change I had to make was subbing vegan margarine for butter.
Raspberry Pecan Thumbprints:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I like to use 1 c whole wheat & 1 c all-purp)
1 cup pecan pieces, finely chopped, divided
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam (which I'm out of, so I used strawberry)
Cream together the margarine & sugar. Add vanilla, salt, cinnamon, allspice, pecans, and then flour. The recipe tells you to save 1/2 the pecans to sprinkle on the outside of the cookies later, but I usually just add about 2/3 cup to the batter and leave it at that because I'm that lazy. Then form the dough into 1" balls, make a dent in each with your thumb (or any finger will do I suppose), press the cracks in the dough together really well (or else they'll fall apart), and fill the indent with a "generous 1/4 tsp" of jam in each cookie.
Bake at 350 for 14 minutes or just until set. Don't eat or handle these til they cool, because the jam turns to lava for a little while. But try them and you'll be hooked.
My next recipe comes from here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Thai-Peanut-Sauce/Detail.aspx?prop31=1
It's called The Best Thai Peanut Sauce; and I've never done a ton of Thai cooking, but I tried this for the first time this morning, and the recipe's title doesn't lie. I could eat this every day. The recipe calls for fish sauce, but I used an extra Tbsp. of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil instead. Absolutely delicious. Also it creams up really thick, so I added a little extra coconut milk. Here's what it calls for:
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
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