Kate's Short and Sweets

How to Hang a Picture Gallery

2012-02-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

Or: How to Go All OCD on Your Picture Frames

Now that we are mostly unpacked, it's time to get our (huge, diverse accumulation) of art on the walls. I've had a collection of small photos, cards, and mementos since before Mr Official Taster came along, and it's grown and evolved along with my life. Normally, I do a general layout on the floor and then just guestimate their position on the wall. However, this time I was hanging them in a small space, so I wanted to make sure they would all fit. So I went the OCD route, and I thought I'd share in case you want to as well.

I started by measuring my wall and laying down tape measures on the floor so I knew how much space I had. Then I arranged and rearranged my frames until I liked the lay out and they all fit.

Mine ended up in sort-of three columns, so not only did I want to know where the center of my wall section was, I wanted to know where the middle of the two sides lay. So I made DIY plumblines out of ribbon with pens tied on at the bottom for weight.

So I used scrap paper (newspaper would work even better) cut into the size+shape of each frame and taped them on the wall in the same configuration I laid out on the floor.

My first attempt seemed too low so I moved everything up and was much happier with the result. That's the advantage of using paper and painters tape!

To find the center of each "picture," I simply brought the top two corners of the paper together and creased the resulting center line. I wanted to be able to line up the center of each with my plumblines in order to create columns with the frames.

Then, I needed to figure out where to put the nails. I measured the back of each frame to find out how far below their top edge they hung. For the one pictured above, it was 1/2 in. So, with a ruler, I measured 1/2 inch down and made a mark on the paper.

Then I used this laser level I got Mr OT for Christmas to find the line through that point. Each frame got two nails. I've found that they are much more likely to stay straight with two than with one, but if you just use one you can skip this step. I used my pencil to make marks on the paper along the laser line.

Then all I had to do was hammer in two nails along that line, roughly equidistant from the center.

Then, I tore the paper off the wall but left the nails intact. At this point, all I had to do was transfer my frames from the floor to the wall. and voila!

I think this incarnation turned out pretty well! The large, horizontal one in the middle are our wedding vows, and there are also some wedding photos, friend and family photos, and cards and postcards we like. The frames are from IKEA and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

I may spread the bottom of the middle column down a little bit, but for now I'm happy not to put any more holes in the wall.

Avocado, Blood Orange & Spinach Salad - vegan & gluten free

2012-02-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

If you are anything like most Americans, you ate yourself silly on Sunday. I sure did. It was in the name of family and football, so it doesn't count. right? I do feel slightly more ok about it because we didn't snack on chips and whatnot all afternoon. We just had really good deep dish pizza, salad, and dessert (recipe soon). I just ate ~~some~~ a lot of everything.

So if you're feeling like you overindulged, this salad is the perfect antidote, and it's nice and seasonal. ish. I know avocados have been on sale in grocery stores, and winter = citrus fruit time. It's light and refreshing, and is good on it's own as a light lunch or as a side to something heartier, like chili. You may or may not have helpers when you prepare it, but I'm confident you'll have help eating it.

Avocado, Blood Orange & Spinach Salad - vegan & gluten free
These amounts are just what I used to make myself a lunch salad. Obviously, adjust as needed. To dress, I sprinkled some sea salt over the avocados and drizzled a little avocado oil over the salad. Because of the juicy oranges and the creamy avocados, I don't think it needs too much extra.

a couple handfuls of spinach, or other greens
1/2 an avocado, skin and pit removed, sliced
1/2 a blood orange or other citrus fruit, divided into segments*
sea salt and avocado oil to dress (optional)

Arrange spinach on a plate. Add avocado slices and orange pieces. Sprinkle salt on avocados and drizzle avocado oil over the whole thing. Enjoy!

*Any citrus fruit you'd like will work here - oranges, grapefruits, tangelos, etc. Also, for pictures, I got the blood orange segments out of their membranes because they are so much prettier that way. However, when I make it just to eat? The membranes stay on because I think it's a pain to take them off.

Guacamole - vegan & gluten free

2012-02-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I am glad the weekend is tomorrow (or tonight if you're ambitious). I am looking forward to hanging out with Mr Official Taster, wrapping up the unpacking, and spending some time with my cousin and his lovely family on Sunday. I think there will be a tv on in the background with some good commercials ~~every couple of minutes~~ ~~every time the big guys need a water break~~ between important plays.

Guacamole has somehow become a traditional Super Bowl food, and I'm not really sure how that happened since I can't tell how avocados, a traditionally tropical food, and football, a sport ~~traditionally~~ idyllically played in either snowstorms or on glorious fall afternoons, are related. But, I won't argue too hard because once I moved to the West Coast, I fell hard for avocados, and chips are just a handy vessel for getting them into my mouth. Thus: manly games = guacamole = I have something to care about during said game. It's a win-win.

Guacamole - vegan & free of just about everything
Everyone has an opinion on guacamole, and this is just the way I like mine. Feel free to ignore completely and carry on with whatever you always do. Unless that means buying it in a tub. If you buy it in a tub, stop doing that and make this.

ripe avocados, skin and pit removed
salt or sea salt
garlic powder
chili powder

I tend to make this when I need an afternoon snack, so I only use 1 avocado (2 or more if I have company). Put said avocado in a small bowl, and mash with a fork or an avocado thinger. If you like some chunks in your guac like I do, you won't have to mash very long if your fruit is ripe. Lightly sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and chili powder. Mix well and taste. Add more seasoning if you so desire.

Serve with chips or use as a sandwich spread. Some fresh lime probably wouldn't be amiss if you're feeling feisty.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili - vegan & gluten free

2012-02-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - it isn't home until it smells like home. This is the seventh place Mr Official Taster and I have lived together. Seventh! Since 2009! superdupercrazytimes.

From that statistic, you might think I like moving. You would be wrong. I hate it. One of my antidotes to the Moving Affliction (it's a real thing) is to start cooking in the new kitchen as soon as I can. Establish my territory, if you will.

The first meal I made here was nothing special - pasta, sauce from a jar dressed up with some fresh bell pepper, and a salad. But this second meal was much more exciting. First of all, I was able to make this chili in the afternoon, so the whole apartment smelled delicious all day. Second, it tasted good. And, third, it's nice and healthy and warm and comfy and cozy. The healthy part makes up for my breakfast of chocolate cake and juice, right?

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili - vegan & gluten free
This is good as written. You could definitely up the spice level, if you're into that kind of thing, by increasing the chili powder and peppers, and/or you could add in a jalapeno or two.

If you happen to be going to a party on Sunday afternoon for some sporting event, this would be a great vegetarian option to bring along. Obviously, with beer.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 bell peppers (any color), cored, seeded, and diced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp sea salt
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1-2 tsp dried basil
1/4 - 1/2 dried marjoram
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (14 oz) cans vegetable broth
approx 1/2 lb. frozen corn
2 (15 oz) cans black beans
juice of 1 lime

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and reduce heat to medium or medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes, until tender. While the onion cooks, peel and chop your sweet potatoes, peppers, and garlic. Stir in potatoes (uncooked! they will cook in the pot), peppers, and garlic, and cook another 5 or so minutes. Add all the herbs+spices. Stir now and then as you add them to coat the veggies. Add tomatoes, broth, corn, and beans. Bring to a boil and allow to bubble for 20ish minutes. Lower heat to a simmer and let it think about itself for another 30 minutes or so.

Ideally, you can make this in the afternoon, let it sit on the stove once it's cooked, and then reheat it for dinner. It'll taste better than if you eat it right away, and chili always tastes better on Day 2.

Right before you serve, remove your bay leaf and stir in lime juice. Garnish, if desired, with fresh cilantro, green onion, cheese, sour cream, or anything else that strikes your fancy. I really like fresh avocado on top.

Moved

2012-02-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the kinda-crappy cell phone photos here, but they're rather illustrative, don't you think?

As I mentioned, Mr Official Taster and I found a place to live, and over the weekend we moved in and made a large dent in the unpacking process with a lot of help from my parents. They just happened to be visiting this weekend, and I'm pretty sure seeing our move-in made them never, ever want to move out of their house.

The kitchen took some serious organizational work. I just did a rough calculation, and the kitchen (optimistically called a "galley kitchen") is about 30 square feet. When I figure out how to take pictures of it without renting a wide-angle lens, I will post some. Two people who like each other can be in there at the same time, but there's going to be a learning curve for those two people to figure out how to maneuver around together.

These guys have had quite a month, and, except for a couple vomit incidents, have done pretty well with all the changes. I have cooked two dinners now, and I went and got myself a library card today. I figured out that this is my fourth library card in five years. Mom, this is why I can never remember my account number.

All in all, this apartment is starting to be home, and I'll have a new recipe for you tomorrow.

I have one final appeal for you to please, take my survey! I really want to know what you think. It's anonymous, easy, and fast, and I dearly want to know what you like, don't like, want to see more of, and the like. So, go. Survey aweigh.

Classic White Birthday Cake & Mocha Frosting - dairy free & vegan

2012-01-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

As you may know, my birthday was Friday. (hey. take the survey.) Friday itself wasn't super exciting (though I did have a lovely dinner out) since I spent the day looking at apartments. I visited six(!) as part of my vetting process. My reward was watching tv and opening presents (with help). Now that was good times. My big birthday present and surprise was a visit from two of my favorite people, coordinated by Mr Official Taster. E and W flew down from Seattle to spend the weekend with me! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he definitely deserves a round of applause for that one. awesomesauce.

We had a great time. (and Birthday Champagne doesn't hurt) Predictably, food occupied a lot of our time and energy, but we four also went to check out the best of the apartments I looked at on Friday. Everyone ok'ed it, and Mr OT and I decided it was to be our new home. Phew. I am so glad the search is over and that we have a permanent place.

The new kitchen is insanely tiny - definitely the smallest I've ever had - but that seems to be consistent in this area. Apparently apartment builders have learned that renters prefer their square footage in their bedrooms, living rooms, and even bathrooms. Or do they just assume that people don't really cook? I know that we're told that people cook less than they used to, and I'm sure that's true, but it would be pretty sad if some people never cooked. For my new kitchen, creative organization will be required.

Anyway, back to birthdays. This so-called furnished kitchen is less than actually really furnished, so I aimed for a simple recipe with as few ingredients, pans, and messy steps as possible. 1-2-3-4 Cake is an old classic, and the name comes from the ingredients: 1 cup milk, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, 4 eggs. The finished product, however, was decadent, and the one I made this weekend was not for the faint of heart. 3 layers of cake, raspberry jam, and mocha buttercream. It was a happy birthday indeed.

Classic 1-2-3-4 Cake - dairy free

makes 3 9-inch layers. I halved the recipe and made 3 6-inch layers. You can also make cupcakes (24?)
1 C (2 sticks) vegan butter, at room temperature
2 C sugar
4 eggs
3 C sifted self-rising flour*
1 C non-dairy milk of choice (I used almond)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven 350°F. Grease your pans, place a round of parchment paper in the bottom of each, and grease the paper.

With an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy in a large bowl. Add sugar and continue to beat for another 5-7 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each one. Alternately add the flour and milk to the creamed mixture beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and mix in until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Level batter with a spatula or by dropping the pans onto the counter from a height of 2-3 inches a few times. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or tester inserted into the center comes out clean. If you're making cupcakes, start testing at 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

* Self-rising flour has both salt and baking powder in it, but you can make your own at home with the following formula: 1 cup self-rising flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour, minus 2 teaspoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Mocha Frosting - Vegan

I made one full batch for my 6-inch cake and had some left over, but I think if I had used frosting between the layers instead of raspberry jam, the amount would have been perfect.

1 stick vegan butter at room temperature
3 C confectioners sugar
1/3 C cocoa
1/4 C strongly brewed coffee or espresso at room temperature (ish. NOT an exact measurement)

Cream the butter and then add the sugar and cocoa a little bit at a time. Add the coffee slowly, until you've reached the desired consistency. It should take 10 minutes or so to combine everything and beat it enough to give it some volume.

Assemble the Layers!
Stack the layers in whatever order you'd like, and frost just like you would any other cake. I used raspberry jam between each layer, rather than frosting, and it was decadent and delicious. I highly recommend it! This and this are good tutorials if you need instructions or a refresher.

Oatmeal Bread - vegan

2012-01-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

When Mr Official Taster set his sights on moving back to California, visions of palm trees swaying in the warm ocean breezes danced in his head. To be fair, we did miss Snowpocalypse 2012: Seattle, but instead the Bay Area greeted us with classic Seattle weather: cool, cloudy, and rainy.

As part of this move, we are lucky enough to have a whole moving package, and a team of people to help us. I can't even begin to explain how helpful is has been to have a realtor to show us around, explain the neighborhood divisions, help us get a feel for the area, and aid in decoding the crazy rental market here. The other great part has been an apartment for us to borrow while we find our new one. It's a fully furnished temporary home, but apparently some people out there have a slightly different idea of what a fully furnished kitchen is. Or maybe they just don't expect any cooking to happen.

Thankfully, they did provide one baking dish, so I was able to make (box) brownies last week. When a girl doesn't have a place to call home, brownies are critical. There are no loaf pans, and mine are in storage, but if there were, this Oatmeal Bread recipe would be perfect. Nice, easy, and forgiving. Perfect for warming your kitchen whether you have this or this for winter.

p.s. you should really please take the survey

Oatmeal Bread - vegan
adapted from King Arthur Flour (the back of the bread flour bag, actually)

3 C bread flour
1 C rolled oats
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp brown sugar or honey
2 tsp instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast
1 1/4 C lukewarm water or milk

If you are using active dry yeast, first dissolve it in the warm water or milk before combining it with the remaining ingredients.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix with a spoon until it starts to come together as a "shaggy" dough. At this point, it'll be easier to continue to knead with your hands, in the bowl, until you've collected all the scraps. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for another 10 minutes or so - until it's smooth. Form the dough into a ball.

Lightly grease another medium bowl. Place dough in the bowl upside down (seam side up), and then flip it over so the seams are on the bottom. This way, you've easily coated the surface with the oil. Cover, and allow to rest for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It will become puffy, but probably won't double in size.

Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Turn the risen dough into your hands and, using gravity to help, allow the dough to lengthen and shape into a rough log. Place the log in the pan, and gently use your knuckles to convince the dough to reach into all four corners. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Ideally, it will have crested 1 to 2 inches above the rim of the pan. If not, it's ok. It'll still taste delicious.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes. Top will be golden, and you can test that an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190F. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the pan. When the pan is cool enough to handle bare-handed, turn out the loaf and completely cool on a wire rack.

Notes:
This is an amazingly forgiving recipe. I have made it successfully with the wrong amount of water, quick-oats, no oil at all, and without dissolving my active dry yeast in water first (all separate mistakes, thank goodness!). It's great for toast (the aroma is heavenly), sandwiches, or just snacking on.

The original recipe called for butter where I use olive oil and milk where I use water. Pick and choose as you like.

For the original, and for bread machine instructions, head on over to King Arthur Flour.

Tell me what you want, what you really, really want

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Although the blogiversary passed this year without much fanfare (unlike last year), I didn't forget about it. I was homeless at the time, which sort of cut down on my ability to celebrate with a new recipe or a giveaway. However, I do want to take a short moment to thank all of you for reading and encouraging me to try new recipes. It's like experimenting in science class, except now I am allowed to eat the results.

As part of my continuing effort to make this blog better and you, dear readers, happier and more satisfied, I've put together a super short survey that I would love for you to take. It's only 10 questions! The definition of short and sweet! You can do it!

Hearing from you about what you think and what you want will help me out. merci beaucoup.

Also, since today is my birthday (weeeeeeeee!), you can consider it ~~part of~~ your present to me. And really, it's Friday: do you seriously want to be doing work?

Soundtrack: Wannabe

Free Printables - 2012 Calendars Round Up

2012-01-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

via cottage industrialist

I know, I know...it's already more than halfway through January. But if you're anything like me, you're just now registering that it's a new year. So to help you realize that in full, I've got a collection of cute calendars to help you figure out what day (and year) it is.

in your choice of colors via living locurto

I found several different formats to try and satisfy all your different tastes. I know it's impossible, but I tried.

via The Tomcat Studio

This last one is from one of my favorite blogs and is completely customizable. I think it's pretty fun.

via Young House Love

They include all the months, promise. And you can put in pictures of your own kids and pups. So generous.

Has anyone else been struggling with realizing it's a new year, 19 days later?

Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet - vegan & gluten free

2012-01-15T23:02:00.000-08:00

Last week, Mr Official Taster and I relaxed in Hawaii, along with some family. We had a lovely time, and, at least for me, one of the best parts of the trip was the literal escape it allowed. As I mentioned, Mr OT got a new job in the Bay Area, and as of Saturday evening, we're here.

Since approximately the week of Christmas, our life has been somewhat hectic, very detail-filled, and constantly in upheaval. Between January 1st and 5th, Mr OT left for SanFran, I got the house ready for movers, supervised the packing of all of our worldly possessions, sent off cars for transport, cleaned so we get our deposit back, took care of a hundred moving-related details, crashed at wonderful and generous friends' house, got the puppies to boarding and myself to the airport.

By the time I landed in Lihue, I was, to put it mildly, exhausted. My week there involved indulgent amounts of sleep, many books, much lounging, and lots of ocean viewing. There was minimal emailing, interneting, and texting. It was lovely and the perfect escape.

In the spirit of escape, I bring you a Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet. If you were to make it in season, it would be warm outside, mosquitos might bother you at dusk, and, if you're lucky, you would see fireflies in the evening. However, if you need an escape from a dark and cold winter, I suggest using frozen berries and giving yourself a taste of the summer to come.

Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet - vegan & gluten free
adapted from honey & jam
It occurs to me that this would be fun and unexpected for Valentine's Day - the color is great!

2 C water
2 black tea bags
1 C sugar
3 C fresh or frozen blackberries; if frozen, let thaw completely and drain
1 Tbsp vodka
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat, add tea bags and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags, add sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool completely.

Puree blackberries in a food processor, then push through mesh sieve to remove seeds. Pour vodka and lemon juice through the sieve to help get the blackberry through. Add the tea, then pour back through sieve.

Process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Year in Review

2011-12-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

2011 has been quite a year. I became a barista, went to Hawaii, got a "real" job in the tech industry, acclimatized to a new city, got married, updated this blog, opened an Amazon shop, bought a new camera, threw a second party to celebrate the marriage, went on a honeymoon, moved to a new house, completed a 5K, and hosted Christmas for eight. oh yeah, and made cupcakes, admitted to using boxes occasionally, celebrated birthdays, canned, baked my way through 20 lbs of peaches, learned how to roast beets and make ice cream, had all sorts of pumpkin hijinks, and generally went through a lot of flour.

2012 is shaping up to be pretty eventful as well. Mr Official Taster has accepted a new job that's moving us to the San Francisco Bay Area. He starts on Tuesday, and we'll both be down there in a couple weeks. As an unabashed nester, moving is not how I want to start the year. Unfortunately, I'll also be moving away from two of my favorite people in the world.

In my head, I know this is the right choice- we're moving to a wonderful city, for a good and stable job, and closer to family (well, some of them. we have a lot). But the rest of me is less than thrilled with the decision. I worry about finding a place we love, find a job I at least like and will pay some bills, being lonely, getting lost, and finding a good dog park.

So thank you, dear readers, for providing a (usually) silent constant and pushing me to take on seemingly insurmountable tasks (see paragraph 1). Posting may be slim in early 2012, but I will try to both keep my chin up and provide you with some deliciousness.

Best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful 2012!

Our fabulous photographer, Riz, is a former colleague of Mr Official Taster and I can not say enough good things about him (and his wife! she helped too). See more of his work here.

Sugared Cranberries - vegan & gluten free

2011-12-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I hope you are surviving the week in relative good cheer. My parents arrive for a week-long visit tonight, and Mr Official Taster's side arrives tomorrow. We'll be feeding eight people for the Christmas holiday (we're having these for breakfast). I think it'll be fun!

If you are one of the people still scrounging around for gift ideas, here are a few gift worthy sweets and welcome additions to any party:

Coconut Butter

Pumpkin Pie

Peanut Butter Dog Treats (for your furry friend)

Freezer Burritos (especially for new parents or any other caretaker)

Apple Cranberry Pie

Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

You could also take a look over at Smitten Kitchen's mouthwatering collection.

These cranberries are perfect for holiday gatherings. Not only are they vegan and gluten free, but they are free of just about everything, including fat. They also have a nice, refreshing "pop"when you bite into them, and aren't as sweet as almost everything else this time of year. The other handy thing about them is how little attention you can pay to them (mine actually soaked almost two days) and they stay good for a bit.

I think this will be my last post for several days (or a week). Best wishes to you and yours!

Sugared Cranberries

adapted from MyRecipes

2 C granulated sugar *
2 C water
2 C fresh cranberries**
3/4 C superfine sugar***

Combine granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over low or medium heat. Stir mixture until sugar dissolves and water is steaming. Remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Add in cranberries. Here you can either pour mixture into a bowl or simply leave it in the pot. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl (don't shake off excess liquid, as it helps the sugar adhere), reserving sugar water, if desired (I didn't know what to do with mine, so if you have ideas, please share!). Place some superfine sugar in a small zip top plastic bag. Add the cranberries, maybe 10 at a time, and shake them to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet (no need to grease or line sheet). Let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.

*I used superfine sugar here because, well, I had it,

**I used the what I had leftover from making these cookies, which was about 1/2 a bag. If you froze them, like I did, allow them to defrost before using them in this recipe.

***My there are a lot of stars for so short an ingredient list. Superfine sugar is available in the grocery store, and it usually hiding among the other sugars in what looks like a milk carton. I don't honestly know exactly how much I used, since I just dumped some in my plastic bag and added a little more when I was running out. But it wasn't very much

Peanut Butter Dog Treats - vegan & gluten free

2011-12-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

For the last two years, Mr Official Taster and I have told everyone who has mentioned the word "puppy" to never, ever get one. ever. never ever. Last month, we found out that our experience was not typical, so we're rethinking our advice.

The backstory: we got Roomba about two and a half years ago. She was a super adorable (is there any other kind?) 8 week-old puppy. The shelter thought she was a black lab, and while that is clearly not the case, it's probly better that she's smaller than lab-sized. It is good she was (and still is) adorable. She threw up all the time and peed on the couch all the time. The couch thing was not because I didn't take her out every hour and potty train her (I was uber unemployed. I had time.). It turns out she has a small incontinence problem that (thankfully) is easily managed with a daily pill, and is most likely due to being spayed too young. Since we'd never had a puppy before, we assumed it was normal for her to throw up on a regular basis. What? Human babies throw up all the time, don't they?

Fast forward to November. After several vet visits and many tests, our vet decided that the throwing up must be due to an allergy, and wheat was her first guess. Well, it was spot on. Dr. Marie, you are our new favorite. Roomba has not thrown up since before Thanksgiving. I'm positive that's a record.

Turns out that not only is our puppy trendy, it's not that uncommon among dogs. So, in case you are looking for a treat for your favorite four-legged friend this holiday season, this is what I'm bribing Buddy and Roomba with this week.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats - vegan & gluten free
adapted from Whisk Kid

1/2 C natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp peanut or canola oil*
1 C water
3 C gluten free flour**
Chopped peanuts, optional

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, oil and water until smooth. Add the flour and stir with a large spoon, spatula or your hands until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper. On a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch. Cut out as many cookies as possible and transfer them to the cookie sheet. Press in chopped peanuts, if desired. Re-roll remaining dough, cut out cookies, and repeat until you've used it all. If the dough starts to get too sticky to work with, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 350F. Refrigerate cookie sheets with cookies while your oven warms up. This will help them keep their shape. Bake them for 15-20 minutes, or until firm and set. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to wire racks to finish cooling. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

* I used peanut oil because I had some on hand, and also because I figured it would taste more delicious and help overcome the gluten free flour flavor.

**I used some of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour. You can also use all purpose or whole wheat. I think something like rice flour would also work, though I haven't tried it.

Sugar Cookies - vegan

2011-12-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

I think this one might be learning the word "cookie" too. That does not bode well for having conversations the rest of the week. "What kind of, er, baked dough are you making now?" or "I need to take the thingies out of the oven, but then we should take them out for a promenade." (They know "walk," too. It's sometimes inconvenient)

This is a great base recipe. You can dress it up like this or this or extra fancy like this, cover with frosting and sprinkles, or simply eat right out of the oven. I don't think Santa (or Mrs. Clause) is too picky about how they look, and, personally, I think they go pretty well with almond milk.

Sugar Cookies - vegan
adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking

1/2 C vegan butter

3/4 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg replacer (equal to 1 egg)

2 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 C flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg replacer, water, and vanilla and beat for at least another minute. Mix in the flour and baking powder. The dough will probably be somewhat crumbly, but will hold together if you press it together with your fingers. If necessary, add an additional 1-2 Tbsp water.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight.

When you're ready to make the cookies, remove one dough package from the fridge, and while it warms slightly, line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch. Cut out as many cookies as possible and transfer them to the cookie sheet. Re-roll remaining dough, cut out cookies, and repeat until you've used it all. If the dough starts to get too sticky to work with, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 350F. Refrigerate cookie sheets with cookies while your oven warms up. This will help them keep their shape. Bake them for 10-15 minutes, depending how crunchy you like them. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to wire racks to finish cooling.

To Frost:
In a small bowl, stir together some confectioners sugar and non-dairy milk, water, or juice. Start with a very small amount of liquid and gradually increase until you reach your desired consistency. Use a piping bag or a ziplock bag with a corner cut off to decorate as you please. If you just want to slather on as much frosting as possible, might as well just use a spoon.

Gingerbread Cookies - vegan

2011-12-20T22:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't been feeling terribly Christmas-y this year. I'm not sure why. Part of it may be that I'm not working any sort of retail or restaurant job this year, which has often been the case. Part of it may be that in the Pacific Northwest it doesn't really snow. Part of it may be that Mr Official Taster's and my life is somewhat complicated and in upheaval at the moment (more on that later).

Whatever the case may be, today it finally began to dawn on me that Christmas is on Sunday. And that we will be hosting six additional people for the holiday. And that we haven't done much, with the exception of finding gifts, to prepare for those people. Menu? vague. Cleaning? er, not yet. Figuring out how we're going to fit all of them? inconclusive.

But gingerbread men always taste and smell like Christmas. I think they may be Mr Official Taster's favorite cookie - unless it's snickerdoodles - and he would eat them every week of the year. If only I would make them every week of the year.

Parents and sisters: I can't wait to see you! There may or may not be any of these guys left. Odds are pretty low. Maybe you can make this poor guy feel better. He gets excited every time the work "cookie" gets mentioned, which, this week, is kind of a lot.

Gingerbread Cookies - vegan
adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking

1/2 C vegan butter, room temperature
3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer (equal to 1 egg)
2/3 C molasses
3 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg replacer and molasses and beat for another minute or so. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Beat until you have a smooth dough. You may need to add up to 4 tablespoons of water to get the right consistency.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight.

When you're ready to make the cookies, remove one dough package from the fridge, and while it warms slightly, line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch. Cut out as many cookies as possible and transfer them to the cookie sheet. Re-roll remaining dough, cut out cookies, and repeat until you've used it all. If the dough starts to get too sticky to work with, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 350F. Refrigerate cookie sheets with cookies while your oven warms up. This will help them keep their shape. Bake them for 10-15 minutes, depending how crunchy you like your gingerbread. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to wire racks to finish cooling.

To Frost:
In a small bowl, stir together some confectioners sugar and non-dairy milk, water, or juice. Start with a very small amount of liquid and gradually increase until you reach your desired consistency. Use a piping bag or a ziplock bag with a corner cut off to decorate as you please. If you just want to slather on as much frosting as possible, might as well just use a spoon.

Gingerbread Ice Cream - egg free & gluten free

2011-12-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

My car was in the shop today, which meant I was stuck at home. the week of Christmas. This meant lots of baking occurred (our house smells awesome). I'm hoping to have a week's worth of fun inspiration for you lovely folks, partly because I've been quiet lately, and partly because, well, 'tis the season.

We got a (purple) ice cream maker as a wedding present, so I was really excited to try making some for the first time. Looking around online and in various cookbooks, it sounded daunting, but it turned out to be relatively simple. The worst part was that it was pretty unsatisfying to make since I can't eat it. But Official Taster was very happy with it! Luckily, I still had some brownies hanging around to satiate my sweet tooth.

Gingerbread Ice Cream - egg free

2 C milk*
2 Tbsp molasses
1/2 C brown sugar, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch**
1 C cream
gingerbread cookie dough (optional)***

Add the milk, molasses, 1/4 C brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt to a small saucepan. Heat, whisking occasionally, on medium until steam rises from the milk. (It will take 3-5ish minutes) Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and a couple tablespoons of the cold cream in a small bowl. You want to whisk away as many of the lumps as possible.

Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the heated milk concoction, along with the remaining 1/4 C brown sugar. Heat, stirring constantly, until thick. This mixture is ready when it thickly coats the back of a spoon and a line drawn across with your finger remains intact. This should take 3-5 minutes. If you think there are lumps, strain the mixture before proceeding.

Cool completely (1-2 hours in the fridge or you can speed things up by sticking it in the freezer instead), then stir in the remaining cream. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

*Obviously, with all this dairy, this ice cream is for Official Taster. I have it from lots of good authorities that any combination of milk/cream or non-dairy milk should work just as well. I haven't tried yet, since this was actually my first experiment with our new ice cream maker (thanks, M! we need a phone date!)

**Cornstarch is a substitute here for 6 egg yolks. If you have a problem with eggs or just don't want to include them, cornstarch works really, really well.

***I added somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 C of cookie dough pieces (recipe here!) towards the end of the ice cream makers work, because that's what the machine's instructions said to do. I have no idea if you can add things like chocolate chips at the beginning or not. But I suspect that adding them in the last 5 minutes or so ensures they are well mixed in and don't just sink to the bottom.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies - dairy free

2011-12-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Yep, more pumpkin. It's like the fall version of peach week. But longer. I think this might be it, though. After all, it's Christmas this week, which is less pumpkin-y and more cookie-y, gingerbread-y, and cranberry-y. And, yes, those are the technical terms.

My plan this week is to post several recipes that might help you out for holiday gatherings. Let me know if you have any requests, and I'll try to work them in.

These brownies are somewhat complicated and create more dishes to wash than I usually like, but they were worth it. As brownies go, they are more on the cakey end of the spectrum than the fudgey end, but I like the combination of flavors (see? see?) and the pumpkin makes them nice and moist. They also look really impressive, so there's that.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies - dairy free
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

cooking spray
8 Tbsp (1 stick) vegan butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli)

1 1/2 C sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 C flour*
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 C solid-pack pumpkin**
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 C chopped hazelnuts or other nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (like you did for these brownies). Stir occasionally until smooth.

Beat together eggs, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy and well combined. Add flour and baking powder and mix in.

Pour half the batter (2 cups-ish) into a second bowl, add the chocolate mixture, and stir until combined. If you find that it is super thick, add a few spoonfuls of the plain batter in and mix well. It should be a pourable consistency.

Add the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the first bowl and mix until combined.

Pour about half the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan and smooth so it's basically level. Add about half the pumpkin mixture on top of that and smooth. Repeat once more, so you end up with four layers (chocolate - pumpkin - chocolate - pumpkin). Work quickly so the batters don't set.

Use a small spatula or table knife to swirl the batters until you think they look pretty and delicious. Make sure you get all the way to the bottom. If you like nuts, sprinkle them on the very top.

Bake until set, about 45-55 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack before attempting to slice and eat.

*I did half all-purpose flour and half white whole wheat. Official Taster has not noticed.

**You can use either canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix) or some homemade pumpkin puree. Yes, I still have some left so you may see yet another pumpkin recipe soon.

Pumpkin Muffins - vegan

2011-12-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

December is all about food. Whether you are making cookies for an exchange or stew to stay warm or cake for a holiday party, the focus is on eating. It's probably related to wanting to hibernate. Sometimes it's somewhat complicated, so this recipe is a nice balance.

You need one mixing bowl and just a whisk or a mixing spoon- no mixer required, so clean up is super easy and the results are delicious. I whipped these up on Saturday morning, and I wasn't even all the way awake. I hope you find them just as easy.

Pumpkin Muffins - vegan
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 C pureed pumpkin*
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice

1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 C plus 1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 C flour**
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with liners. In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon and 1 Tbsp sugar.

Whisk together the pumpkin, oil, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and 1 1/4 C sugar in a large bowl. Add in the vinegar and flour and whisk until just combined.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. They should be about 3/4 full. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture on top. Bake on center rack for 25-30 minutes. Muffins will be puffed and slightly golden, and a cake tester inserted into the middle will come out clean.

Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and allow to finish cooling on a rack.

*I used more of my baked pumpkin but you can also used a can

**I don't have any all purpose left because I made challah this weekend, so I used white whole wheat and they came out great.

Pillowy Pumpkin Cookies - vegan

2011-11-30T17:44:00.001-08:00

Before we dive into today's treat, I just wanted to let you all know that I've been collecting fun ideas for December (both Christmas and Hannukah) on Pinterest. You don't need to be a member to poke around, but if you want to like, or comment, or repin things, then you'll need to join.

~~~

If you have followed along lately, you are not surprised by a pumpkin recipe. This one is sweet and simple, and the results are comfort in a muffin-like cookie form. You can also add chocolate chips to up the ante, and I've been thinking about trying some dried cranberries next time. Because there will definitely be a next time. And I will definitely double the recipe.

Pillowy Pumpkin Cookies - vegan
adapted from Real Simple

3 Tbsp vegan butter at room temp
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C sugar
1/2 pumpkin puree (from a can or fresh)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp Ener G egg replacer
2 Tbsp water
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 375F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mat.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, and egg replacer and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice.

Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cookies will be slightly puffed and muffin-like in texture. Remove from oven, allow to cool a few minutes on the baking tray, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yeild: about 16 cookies

Red Bean Chili - vegan & gluten free

2011-11-29T17:19:00.000-08:00

It's the season for hibernating around here. It's the season when we bundle up - I wear a minimum of 3 layers these days - and wear galoshes with knee socks. It's the season when it's dark when we wake up and dark by tea time. It's the season when couch blankets are always in use.

It's also the season when I want to cook and bake and store my concoctions for winter. You know, in case of Snowpocalypse 2012. I've got a freezer with shelves of homemade tomato sauce and gnocchi and pumpkin bread. So chili is a logical step to me. It's warm, comforting, freezable, and stick-to-your-ribs.

This recipe turned out really well. It sounds like a lot of chili powder, and it is, but it's not spicy, unless you choose hot chili powder. The chili+cocoa add depth and the vinegar takes away some of the sweetness of the tomatoes.

Red Bean Chili - vegan & gluten free
adapted from Smitten Kitchen and my mom

1 or 2 large onions, diced
6 or so cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (most recipes don't say to do this, but my mom does. so I do)
2 cans light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes
1/3 C chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1-2 tsp salt, to taste
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 C frozen corn
1 C chopped frozen spinach

In a large dutch oven or other heavy pan, cook chopped onion in a small amount of olive oil over medium heat until the onion starts to become translucent (approx. 5 min). Stir periodically. Add minced garlic, and cook another minute or two. Stir a few times. Stir in beans, tomatoes, spices, cocoa, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to let it simmer.

At this point, add in the corn and spinach if using (I know spinach isn't very chili-y, but it's good for you and whatnot), and bring the whole thing to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Even better would be to simmer it for about 1 1/4 hours until it reaches a desired consistency, stirring occasionally. If it is too thin, take off the lid for a while to allow evaporation.

It always tastes better the next day, so if you cook it the day you eat it, let it sit for a few hours and reheat it; the chili will be better than right out of the pot.

Serve over rice, potatoes, squash, or right in a bowl. Top with shredded cheese, diced onion, sour cream, jalapeno, salsa, etc. to dress it up. A green salad is a good accompaniment, as is good bread or cornbread.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

2011-11-23T14:44:00.001-08:00

This will be my last post this week, but I'm leaving you with a quick lesson on toasting your pumpkin seeds. Because you've already baked your pumpkin and you're going to make that pie, right? Right. Roasting the seeds is very simple, and hardly a recipe.

I hope you have a good Thanksgiving with friends and family. If you're still looking for inspiration, try here or here or maybe here. And, if I do say so myself, these cinnamon buns and chocolate cake would also be lovely.

How To Roast Pumpkin Seeds

Once you've scooped out the seeds and goop from your pumpkin, separate the seeds from the strings.

Preheat your oven to 325F. In a small pot, bring a few cups of water to a boil. Add the seeds and boil for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, drain off the water, and pat the seeds dry with a towel. Toss the seeds with a tablespoon or two of your favorite vegetable oil and spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 25ish minutes, or until they look slightly toasted. Allow them to cool and store in an airtight container. Use them for garnishing salads or just for snacking.

Pumpkin Pie - dairy free

2011-11-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Since it's Thanksgiving this week, I thought, for once, I'd get up an appropriate recipe ahead of time. Not the day of or the week after, which is less than helpful.

Yesterday I showed you how I cooked my pumpkin, and today I'll tell you how I made it into delicious, delicious pie. If you try to eat vegan or dairy free, you may have noticed that pumpkin pie is tough. Almost all "regular" recipes I've seen use condensed milk or evaporated milk, and there's not an intuitive substitute that I can think of. However, in Devil's Food Cake Murder, I found a substitution recipe. The book itself is not good, but the recipes are mouthwatering. Anyway, thanks to this book, I was able to make a dairy free pumpkin pie without using tofu. and it was DELICIOUS. Seriously.

go forth and make pie.

Substitute for Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 eggs
1 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Beat the eggs together until they are a uniform color. Add the brown sugar and mix in well. Add vanilla and beat in. Add the flour and beat for another minute and make sure it's well mixed. Add the baking powder and salt and mix in.

This makes enough to substitute or one 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk.

Pumpkin Pie - dairy free
1 1/3 C smooth pumpkin
1 batch substitute for sweet condensed milk
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 C hot water

one 9 inch pie crust- vegan, gluten free, homemade, store bought, etc.

Preheat oven to 375F. Beat all ingredients together until just smooth. Pour into a prepared 9 inch crust and bake for 50-60 minutes. It's normal if the center is still somewhat jiggly, as it will set as it cools.

How to Cook a Pumpkin

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, I wanted to make a pumpkin pie as a rehearsal for Thanksgiving, and this year I wanted to make it from a real pumpkin, not a can. I had a sugar pie pumpkin to use (I've seen them both at Trader Joe's and farmers' markets, fyi), but I've never actually cooked a pumpkin before. So I did a little internet research and combined a few techniques I read about to bake my own little pumpkin.

Here's what I did, but there's definitely lots of other methods out there, including microwaving if you need to save some time.

How to Bake a Pumpkin

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Without trying to cut through the stem, cut the pumpkin in half. Use an ice cream scooper to scoop out the seeds. Save them for roasting!
3. Place the pumpkin halves face down in an oven-proof dish. Add enough water so that there's about half an inch covering the bottom of the pan. Cover pumpkin with foil.
4. Cook the pumpkin for about 90 minutes, or until tender.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To puree for use in baking, scoop out cooked flesh and blend in a food processor or blender. Alternatively, smash with a potato masher. If you're not using the pumpkin right away, refrigerate or freeze.

Cranberry Kitchen Cookies - vegan

2011-11-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned, Mr Official Taster and I moved into some new digs a couple weeks ago. Once enough boxes were unpacked and homes found for cutting boards and cake pans, I was able to start cooking dinners. That was a good first step to making this little house feel like a home, but it really took baking to make the kitchen feel like mine. I'm not sure if it's the routine of measuring and creaming, or the dance of finding bowls and spoons and dropping dough onto sheets, or the warmth of the oven, or the smell of delicious, or even the practical side of figuring out my cabinets need to be reorganized, but, somehow, baking changes a kitchen from one that I'm borrowing to one that is my domain.

Honestly, I liked these cookies a whole lot more than I expected to. I was wary of adding fresh cranberries, but there's enough sugar to counteract the tart, and the orange juice adds some nice dimension. They could certainly handle some orange or lemon zest, too. I think these may go into the regular cookie rotation, and maybe even into the Christmas repertoire.

Cranberry Kitchen Cookies - Vegan
adapted from All Recipes

1/2 C vegan butter*
1 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C + 2 Tbsp orange juice
1 1/5 tsp Ener-G egg replacer (equivalent to 1 egg)
2 Tbsp water
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 C fresh cranberries, roughly chopped**

Preheat your oven to 375F. Grease or line cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Mix in the orange juice, egg replacer, and water. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a spoon and your fingers, form rough balls of dough and place them on your prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes (14 minutes was my sweet spot), or a little longer for crispier cookies. Let cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 3 dozen. maybe 4? we were eating them before I counted them.

*if you use regular butter, add 1/4 tsp salt at the same time you mix in the baking powder and baking soda

**I measured about 2 C of whole cranberries and then chopped them. If you want to mix it up and add nuts (I think hazelnuts sound good) or chocolate chips or something else yummy, I would use less cranberries.

The Wedding - Part I

2011-11-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know I promised some stories of my busy October, but in order to do that, I have to first start in July. On July 22, 2011 Mr. Official Taster and I got married (yay!) on the beach in Southern California. It was an intimate affair- only immediate family attended (if you don't count the strangers on the beach!) -and it certainly fit the definition of "short and sweet."

The ceremony was really, really short. But I loved it. We wrote the whole thing ourselves, and a good friend officiated. What I remember is that he basically said "welcome" and "you may now kiss the bride." He said some other stuff, too, but I couldn't tell you what. Although I can tell you that I vetoed the whole "does anyone object?" part, not because I thought someone would, but because I just don't like it.

We promised, of course, to love each other, but also to fill our shelves with books, buy flowers, hold hands and be nice to each other. We also promised to have and to hold each other much the same way people have been doing for hundreds of years all over the globe. Having that feeling of continuity within our unique ceremony was really important to me. We laughed, he cried, but I didn't, much to my surprise.

Following our ceremony, and some pictures, we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with about 25 friends and family followed by delicious local pie and adorably delectable cupcakes from a a local bakery.

It was wonderful to catch up with friends we hadn't seen since we moved, and, frankly, to celebrate us. Dinner was a relaxed, couple-hour-long affair. We tried to talk with all of our guests, but, inevitably, felt like we didn't have enough time with any one individual. I'm pretty certain that's normal.

Finally, after the ceremony, photos, dinner, and drinks at a couple of bars, a friend drove us back to our B&B. After a wonderful, joyful, important day, we were able to relax and just be alone with each other. We talked about who we chatted with and how things went, and generally reveled in the beautiful day. I felt so lucky to have family (immediate and extended) who put up with our non-traditional wedding day and friends who came to dinner to celebrate with us.

You may be wondering why I titled this post "the" instead of "our." In the past year or so, I've become a devoted reader of A Practical Wedding (and I think you should be too, even if you're not planning a wedding), and one of its (many good) messages is that your wedding is not just about you. Not only do I think that's true, I think it's not talked about enough on most traditional wedding blogs.

Anyway, all weddings, and, I think, especially weddings that don't follow a "traditional" or the "Wedding Industrial Complex's"idea of normal, require a little extra give from those we love. I know that we hurt some people with our choices, but we tried our best to balance what we wanted, what we needed, and what others wanted or expected. So while it was technically OT+my wedding, it was also our parents' and siblings' and friends' etc. etc. etc. "Our" just seems like too little of a word to encompass the community that it refers to here.

Several of my (unmarried) friends have asked me if it felt any different to be married. At first, I didn't think so. But their queries made me think about it, and my answer changed to "yes." It seems like a little thing: I like having a respectable title for this other person in my life. I've never liked the term "boyfriend,"and "fiance" never really grew on me. I'm not comfortable yet with "husband," but it's a handy term. It sounds right to plead out of a social event because you need to spend time with your husband, or leave early from work to pick up your husband from the airport/doctor/county fair. Saying those same things about your boyfriend just doesn't sound as legitimate. In the general public eye, a "boyfriend" is just not as important or worth scheduling around as a husband.

That may seem like a silly benefit at first. But consider all the other people who don't get to have that official spousal term to use. I've always been pro-marriage equality or gay marriage or however you phrase it. But getting married actually made me feel more strongly about it because I got to get married. I'm glad to see the tide seems to be turning, but there's still miles to go before we sleep.

What did this day in July have to do with a busy October? Here's a hint: lots of flights were involved. and more friends, family, love, and mimosas.

For those of you who care about these things:

I put the flowers together at the local farmers' market a few days before the wedding. That's where the henna came from too.

My dress came from Ann Taylor.

We got our rings from the wonderful people at Minter & Richter.

Our fabulous photographer, Riz, is a former colleague of Mr Official Taster and I can not say enough good things about him (and his wife! she helped too). See more of his work here.

Sunday Flowers

2011-11-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

I have been away. awhile. whoops

I mentioned ~~a couple weeks ago~~ a month ago (where did the time go?!) that there were some big events in October that were making my brain track lots of details. Well, they were great, and I promise some more details and lots of photos soon. However, this past week Mr. Official Taster and I moved apartments, so it's been continuously a little crazy for a month now, and we still don't have internet in our new place, which makes talking to all you lovely people slightly more challenging. We get it on Wednesday (fingers crossed!), so at that point, I will be out of excuses, and hopefully in possession of some of the photos I want to share.

So you'll just have to be patient a little longer. thank you :)

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Coconut Butter - vegan & gluten free

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, just one ingredient can yield delicious results. I have this post labeled as "vegan & gluten free," but, in fact, it's free of everything - and every allergen - besides coconut. for real. The hardest part? Finding unsweetened coconut. I found plenty of sweetened coconut on the regular grocer's shelves, but this definitely needs unsweetened, which I found at Whole Foods. For some reason, the magic doesn't work on sweetened coconut.

1) Straight out of the bag and 2) briefly processed

I first saw this recipe for coconut butter on shutterbean, and then seeing it on Heather Eats Almond Butter strengthened my resolve. It really is as easy as it sounds, even with help. The result? yummyness. It's going to Mom, so she'll have to leave a review as well. I think this has great potential as a Christmas present...

three more stages along the way

Coconut Butter - vegan, corn free, peanut free, soy free & gluten free
flaked or shredded unsweetened coconut (I used about 6 oz, or 3-4 cups at a time)
dash of salt (optional)
splash (about 1/2 tsp) vanilla or almond extract (optional)

Process in your food processor for 15-ish minutes, or until the coconut has turned smooth and liquidy. Note that it's not going to be perfect; there will still be some grittiness. Scrape the sides down periodically to make sure you incorporate all the coconut. Add salt and agave or an extract to taste and pulse to mix.

The second time I made it, I added the salt and vanilla at the beginning, and I think it's easier that way. But I think for your first time, you should add any additional flavors at the end as well. That way you can taste what you made before deciding what you need.

Eat. Maybe on these? or these? or this? or simply on your ~~finger~~ toast.

see? it really does work!

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Under 10 Seconds

2011-10-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

I could hardly believe it when I saw that headline either. But over at Saveur, Executive Food Editor Todd Coleman does magic. This may not be super useful for peeling one or two cloves for your evening pasta-for-two, but for making big batches of things? yes, please!

Short & Sweets on Amazon

2011-10-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

You may have checked out the Contact tab when I did the big reveal a few weeks ago. And while you were there, you may have noticed the nifty graphic and link to my Amazon store - Make your own Sweet Life. It contains both items I have and love as well as items I want or think are somehow fabulous.

When you purchase something thru my store, I get a small commission. If you start in my store and find other products you then purchase thru links within Amazon, those commissions will also be included in my account. I'm not going to make millions with this, and that's ok. But I wanted to be able to share with you some of my favorite things as well as maybe buy a stick or two of vegan butter.

I'm really telling you about all this in the interest of full disclosure. I think it's important.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread - dairy free

2011-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last week my brain was a little explod-y with details. For some reason there seemed to be a lot more to keep track of than usual. Mr Official Taster is, shall we say....not know for his attention to details, so there are always some extra things I need to remember and/or remember to remind him about. In addition, we have some big events coming up in October which require lots of logistical details to be taken care of. And for some reason, there are more details to juggle at work lately, too.

Needless to say, by the end of the week I was ready to crash, and I did (I slept 12+ hours Friday night. delightful.) However, I also dedicated some time to baking, knowing that it would help me stop being distracted by the details and instead force me to focus on the task at hand. Making this chocolate chip pumpkin bread was not hard or time-consuming, but it took just enough concentration that I was able to forget about dates and times and menus and pen colors for a much-needed afternoon break.

I hope you found some time to decompress this weekend, too! And more details+photos later on these "events" in October. promise.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread - dairy free
2 C flour
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour*
3 C sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 C vegetable oil
2/3 C water
1 30-oz can pumpkin**
1 1/2 C high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
1 C nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans***.

Mix together all dry ingredients except the chocolate chips and nuts together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, and then combine well with oil, water and pumpkin. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

Divide dough evenly between loaf pans. Bake for 80-90 minutes (yes, really. it's a very wet dough) or until a cake tester/skewer/sharp knife come out clean. Cool completely before taking out of the pans an slicing.

Notes:
*Of course, you can use only regular flour if you'd like, or a different combination of all-purpose, whole wheat and/or white whole wheat. Just make sure it all adds up to 3 1/2 C flour.

**this is the large size can that you can find on grocery shelves this time of year. The small can is 15 oz, which is handy if you decide to go halvsies with this recipe.

***or 4 medium or 8 mini loaf pans. Cook times will vary with the sizes. I'm guessing that the medium or mini loaves will take 30-45 minutes, but I'm not certain since I don't have those sizes to play with. If you do, let us know, will you?

Since this recipe makes lots of bread, you'll be glad to know that it freezes well. Wrap each loaf you want to freeze tightly. Or you could just make half the recipe.

How to roast fresh beets

2011-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things at farmers' markets around Seattle that I don't remember from San Diego is fresh beets. San Diego friends, help me out. Did I just miss them?

Anyway, we've gotten them a few times this summer, and each time we get them I have to look up how to cook them. So I figure if I write it down, I'll remember it (just like moms and teachers always say).

First, cut off the leaves (you can eat them if you'd like) and give the beets a good scrubbing. Then, using either a single piece of foil that you then fold into a large packet or individual pieces, drizzle each beat in olive oil. Wrap with foil and seal the seams.

Bake at 375F for 45-50 minutes, or until the beets give a little when you squeeze them gently with tongs. If you already have the oven on for another project, stick the beets in with them and alter the time accordingly. For instance, I had mine in at the same time as these brownies and just baked them longer (more like 60-70 minutes)

Unwrap the beets and allow them to cool. At this point, the peels will come off pretty easily; you might not even need a knife except to get the tip off. If you're really on top of things, save the oil and add it to your salad dressing.

The peel even slips off the root, leaving a cute little (pony)tail.

Easy-peasy.

What new cooking techniques have you been trying lately?

Fudgey Brownies - dairy free

2011-09-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Not only does Mr Official Taster give my sweet tooth a fun for its (the Tooth Fairy's?) money, but he also requests brownies on an impressively frequent basis. I'm not ashamed to admit that until now, I've always just used a box mix (or told him to). A pretty high quality box mix, but definitely not from scratch. I've always heard how finicky brownies are, and the recipes I've seen usually call for lots of ingredients that I don't have on hand. (I never have unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate around)

But this weekend, perhaps inspired by the cool temperatures, I decided to tackle homemade brownies. I searched online, in cookbooks, and in my files, but didn't find anything perfect. So I sort of made up my own and hoped for the best. The first attempt? not so much. OT tried a piece and valiantly didn't grimace. They weren't bad, but they weren't very good, either.

For my second attempt, I used less flour and added darker chocolate and cooca. The batter tasted, erm, I mean, smelled much better than the first attempt. The result looked better too; it was a much darker both as batter and after baking. They are extremely fudgey, which I think is perfect.

Fudgey Brownies - Dairy Free
1/2 C vegan butter
5 oz (3/4 C) high-quality, dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
1 oz (2 squares) 70% cocoa chocolate (I used Lindt Intense Dark)
3 eggs
1 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour

Preheat oven to 325F. Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler* over medium low heat. If you chop it up, the butter will faster than the chocolate, but keep stirring periodically, and have some faith.The chocolate will melt and blend with the butter.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar together until well blended. Gradually add the chocolate mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Gradually add the vanilla, cocoa, and flour, beating until combined. **

Pour into a greased and floured*** OR parchment-lined 9x5 in. loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Notes:

*I don't have double boiler, either. You can either stack two pots on top of each other, or you can do what I do and use a small 1 or 2 qt. pot with a small or medium glass bowl sitting inside. Put a little bit of water in the bottom pot. The steam heat will melt your chocolate beautifully. Make sure the bowl/second pot doesn't touch the water.

**I did my usual sneaky way of making these more "healthy" and used 1/2 C all-purpose flour and 1/4 C white whole-wheat flour.

***I used cocoa instead of flour because when I take the brownies out of the pan, the residual cocoa powder blends in better than white flour.

I think if you use a normal brownie pan (square 8x8"), you should start checking for doneness around the 40 minute mark. I'd also recommend parchment paper if you don't want to cut your brownies in the pan. It's still a bit of a pain to get it out whole with just grease+cocoa.

Quiz: What pie flavor are you?

2011-09-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend! A little fun to get it started- find out what flavor pie you are. I am apparently a Key Lime Pie. I tried approximately twelve more times before I got another flavor: Apple. Then I tried again and ended up with key lime. I guess it's fate.

So can someone else take the quiz and let us know what the other flavor options are?

Do you know about Pinterest?

2011-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Pinterest? I'd read about it on a few blogs and had the idea of joining percolating in the back of my mind for a while, but what spurred me to act was wedding planning. It is a great way of visually keeping track of ideas and inspiration. This may sound a little redundant, but it's perfect for visual things you see online - decor, food, gift ideas, style, DIY, etc - because Pinterest allows you to organize your finds on virtual bulletin boards. You create, name, and categorize the boards however your little heart desires. In addition, you can see what other users like, too, and you can "repin" their finds to your board. You can also "follow" people to keep up-to-date on their pins. It's pretty fun.

Anyway, this little plug is to let you know you can follow me on Pinterest! (this is the same info as you may found in the Contact tab at the top) There is obviously some mouth-watering food-related boards (read: category), but I have a few others going as well. If you're not already a Pinterest member, you do need to join. You can request an invite from the home page, or you can ask me and I'll send you one.

What great stuff have you found?

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread - vegan

2011-09-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Last week in the Seattle area, it turned to fall. Cool and cloudy, with that indescribable fall feeling in the air. When I wasn't grumbling about Google, I was craving hearty, carb-loaded edibles. I wanted soft sweaters with hoods, warm socks, and blankets on the couch. I made risotto, breakfasted on burritos, and invested in some new galoshes.

For a friend's birthday on Friday, I attended a Chocolate Party. Every single dish had chocolate in it. There was salad with chocolate vinaigrette, white chocolate mashed potatoes, chicken mole, lava cakes, and homemade rocky road ice cream. Amazing. (also: why have I never thought of a Chocolate Birthday Party?!) I even saw chocolate wine, and I bet there was a chocolate stout or two. It was the perfect way to end the week, and it sent me straight into hibernation when I got home.

On Sunday, I wanted to bake and decided on this Rosemary Olive Oil bread. I've made it before successfully with Orange Peach Mango juice and lime zest. What I really wanted to make was some cranberry bread, but there aren't fresh cranberries available in grocery stores yet (the nice produce guy told me end-of-October). So it seems it's not really fall after all.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread - Vegan
cooking spray
3/4 C juice (apple or orange. I used lemonade)
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
2 C flour
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
3/4 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
zest of 1 orange (or lemon)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly grease & flour your loaf pan (mine is 10x5. 9x5 is also common).

Measure the juice into a liquid measuring cup. Add the olive oil (that brings you to the 1 1/4 C line) and vinegar.

In a medium or large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, rosemary, salt, and zest. Stir in the liquid mixture, adding a splash or two of addition juice if necessary. Turn into prepared baking pan, smooth top. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean (*when cookbooks and bloggers say this, it really means "until skewer inserted in the middle comes out without any uncooked batter stuck to it").

Remove pan and allow to cool. To speed cooling, you can remove the bread from the pan once it's cool enough to handle and allow it to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Notes:
Any juice will work. You can also use a sweet white wine, and I don't see why any variety of milk wouldn't work.

You probably don't have to flour the pan, but since this was the first time I used this shiny new loaf pan and didn't want to chance it.

You can use all-purpose flour for the entire 2 1/2 C if you'd like. I just like to sneak in whole wheat when I can.

Whenever I'm zesting an orange or lemon, I am OCD about using organic fruit. I also wash it thoroughly prior to zesting.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2011-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Change is hard. I get that. But I think this one is all for the better! Thanks for your patience this week while this blog-o-mine was kind of broken. Blame Google.

So...you may have noticed that this looks different. Here's a handy guide:

A new web address! www.KatesShortandSweets.com is the new domain name, but don't worry, you can keep your old bookmark with "blogger" in there and you'll just get redirected to the new site
New header! Mr Official Taster helped me put this together. I think it's pretty snazzy.
Tabs! Check out all new information as well as a handy-dandy recipe index organized by type as well as a DIY project list.
Subscribe! Whether you want to follow by email, add Short & Sweets to your Google reader, or other organizer, there are new buttons to help.

There's also a new overall look and layout.

What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Notice any glaring errors? Have suggestions? Let me know in the comments!

Freezer Burritos - vegan & gluten free

2011-09-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a secret: Mr Official Taster and I are lazy. At the end of the day, cooking doesn't always sound awesome, and at the beginning of the day, well, let's just say neither of us is at our best. Procrastination is also sometimes involved.

So I'm hoping that the 24 burritos I made and froze today will help us avoid some unhealthy and unsatisfying choices in the future. You'll notice that the recipe below isn't really a recipe, but more of a set of guidelines. That's because exact amount and specific ingredients are really not important here. It's more important that you use delicious ingredients that you love, herbs and spices for variety, and a nice blend of flavors. I made some burritos with egg, some without; some with peppers, some without; some with pesto, some without. You get the idea. There was only about 1 hour of time involved (not counting the rice cook time), so I think the payoff will be stellar.

Freezer Burritos
This is not so much of a recipe, and more of a general idea. fyi. Feel free to make it your own. I got inspiration from here and here.

Gather your materials:
Cook some rice. I used about 1 Cup uncooked rice, 1 can of tomatoes, 1 diced onion, and 1 clove garlic. Any kind of tomatoes should work. I used whole and them chopped them up myself, but you can also just get a can of diced. I also used a bit less water than normal because the tomatoes have liquid. As far as I know, rice is pretty forgiving. As long as you have enough liquid, don't overcook it and dry it out, you can't mess it up (i.e. it's hard to have too much liquid).

Drain and rinse a can of beans. I used black. You don't have to rinse them, but my mom always says they taste better that way.

Shred (or buy pre-shredded) any cheese. Chop veggies. If you're using eggs, scramble them. Get any other toppings - potatoes, sour cream, salsa, green onion, spinach, pesto - together and ready for assembly.

Wrap a stack of flour tortillas (I don't see why you can't use gluten free wraps here) in a damp dishcloth and microwave for a minute. This helps make them pliable and not rip when you roll the burritos. While they are microwaving, rip pieces of aluminum foil off the roll and put them in a pile. You can assemble each burrito directly on top of each piece.

Make the burritos:
Place one warm tortilla on the top of your pile of aluminum foil and re-cover the stack of tortillas with the damp towel. Add your ingredients of choice. Tightly roll the burrito, and then roll it in the foil. You can label and date them with a sharpie.

Freeze them!
When you're ready to eat them, unwrap them from the foil, rewrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave 2-3 minutes on high. You can also bake them for 40 minutes at 450F, remove foil, and bake for another 10 minutes. OR you can let it/them thaw, and bake for 350F for 10 minutes.

Citrus Olive Oil Cake & Chocolate Orange Glaze - Dairy Free

2011-09-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a good holiday weekend! Mr. Official Taster and I stayed very busy and spent a lot of time visiting friends (both in and out-of-towners), which was great. However, by Monday afternoon I was ready to lay in bed with a good book and read. alone. It was fabulous. (more on the book later this week)

Anyway, on Saturday this couple had a housewarming/anniversary bash, so bringing a cake seemed fitting. Plus I like cake.

This cake has lots of great qualities. It's light, sweet, and moist. It can be baked and served from the same container, which just makes things easier. It can handle lots of different frosting varieties, or none at all. It can also be made with fresh ingredients in winter or summer.

I chose a super simple glaze and decoration. If I had more time or inclination, I would have loved to have tried these candied orange slices or homemade gumdrops.

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Citrus Olive Oil Cake - Dairy Free
adapted from How to Cook Everything
cooking spray for pan
4 eggs, separated and room temperature
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 + 3/4 C sugar
2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C orange juice
zest of one lemon or orange

Separate your eggs when you first take them out of the refrigerator because it's easier when they are cold. Then allow them to come to room temperature for 30 min or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 (or thereabouts) pan with cooking spray (I used olive oil spray)

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs whites in a small bowl until they foam. Then sprinkle in 1/4 C sugar while still beating the whites. Continue beating until the whites hold soft peaks.

In a large bowl, add the olive oil and 3/4 C sugar and mix together. Add the egg yolks and beat until thick and fluffy (5-7 minutes). Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Next, mix in the orange juice and zest. The mixture will be very thick and/or crumbly. If it's crumbly, add in a splash more of juice. Don't despair.

Add the beaten egg whites to this thick mixture. As gently as possible, thoroughly mix together the batter and egg whites. You may think they will never combine, but they will.

Turn the mixture into your prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan, frost it if you'd like, and serve it directly from there.

Chocolate Orange Glaze - Vegan and Gluten Free
This is barely a recipe. I've mentioned before that I don't really measure for glazes. Here's a previous recipe. For this one, I mixed together some confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and orange juice until I had a good amount and the right consistency to just pour it on.

Notes:
I actually used lemon zest and Orange Peach Mango juice from Trader Joe's. It's delicious.

The decorations are also from TJ's. They are Citrus Gumdrops and the best gumdrops I've ever tasted.

Vegan Snickerdoodles

2011-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

It turned cool and fallish here this week. (not to complain. We're not on the hurricane coast!) Plus, this innocent looking (2 year old) puppy, Roomba,

did this

to Buddy, who's about 6 years old and a third of Roomba's size. They got in a fight over a bone. At midnight. He lost. We lost sleep.

So it's been kind of an eventful week with lot of visits to the pet emergency place. I needed cookies. These snickerdoodles are sweet and light, and, if you're like me and don't bake them very long, melt-in-your-mouth soft.

Vegan Snickerdoodles
4 1/2 tsp Ener-g Egg Replacer (equivalent of 3 eggs)
6 Tbsp water
1 C vegan butter, room temperature
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
cinnamon and sugar

Make the dough:
In a small bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the egg replacer and water together, until it's thick and foamy.

In a large bowl, use those same mixers to cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla together. Add the egg replacer mixture and thoroughly combine. Gradually add the flours, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined.

Chill the dough:
You have two options here. You can either chill the whole bowl of dough for an hour in the fridge, or you can chill each cookie sheet of rolled cookies for 10-15 minutes. Up to you.

Assemble the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Stir together cinnamon and sugar. I used 3 Tbs sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon. It's a pretty delicious ratio, but feel free to experiment, or even add in nutmeg or cloves. Use a tablespoon measure, scoop cookie dough and roll it in the sugar mix. Space about 2 inches apart on your parchment/silpat lined baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes 40ish cookies, depending ~~how much dough you eat~~ what size you make them.

Notes:
On a normal day, I would either make half the recipe or freeze half the dough for another day. It makes a lot of cookies.

Use a nice low bowl with a fairly wide mouth for your cinnamon+sugar. It's a lot easier to roll balls of dough in than one that's high and/or narrow.

Etsy Love - Summer, Preserved

2011-08-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Organic Tomato Pepper Basil Jam via

If you haven't quite worked your way up to canning, or you had to do it when you were younger and just don't want to do it anymore, or you don't have access to great produce, Etsy can take care of it for you. I've never heard of tomato pepper basil jam, but the photo and Mirasol Farm's description make me want to try it.

Blackberry Jelly via

There are many, many sellers to choose from. I haven't tried any of these personally, but they have beautiful photos and delicious looking products. The color of this blackberry jelly from The Summer Kitchen makes my mouth water.

Georgia White Peach Jam via

Peaches from Georgia? That's like apples from Washington or lobsters from Maine. Seems like DaniJamz has the right idea.

Strawberry Pineapple Jam via

HopesPantry claims these are a taste of heaven. Can't hurt to try! I imagine that any of these beauties would make a bagel or piece of toast much more exciting.

Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Tofu - gluten free & vegan

2011-08-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a beautiful week here in the Pacific Northwest. Some have even complained about the heat. I can't bring myself to complain about heat AKA too much sun because of how miserable it was all winter and spring. So I've been doing the merry dance that is opening and closing windows when it's cooler and warmer, keeping the blinds closed, and drinking lots of iced tea.

It's only been in the low 80s, so it's definitely not too hot to cook, and having sunshine certainly makes it waaaaaay easier to photograph. I know it's miserable other places, so all you people, use your imagination, and consider coming for a visit.

Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Tofu

Start the noodles:
soak 8-12 oz rice noodles in hot water for 15 minutes or so

Tofu & Peanut sauce:
1 package extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
hot red pepper flakes, to taste
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice*
3 Tbsp peanut oil, or a neutral oil like grapeseed or corn
1 C almond milk, coconut milk, stock, or water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce, or more to taste
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C chopped peanuts (optional)

Fry the tofu in about 2 Tbsp of peanut oil in a large frying pan. While the tofu is frying, put 1 Tbsp oil in another medium saucepan over medium hot. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, and 5 Spice and cook for a minute or two.

Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 10-15 minutes. Taste the sauce. sprinkle some salt to taste and add more soy sauce if it's too sweet.

Put it all together:
Turn the heat down to low on the sauce and add the tofu. Drain the noodles and saute them briefly in the tofu's frying pan.

Tongs work really well to serve the noodles. Spoon sauce on top.

Notes:
*I got this in the bulk section of a natural grocery store in Southern CA, and I have no idea what's in it. Turmeric is a good alternative.

You can use chunky peanut butter instead of creamy if you'd like, or, to make the sauce less peanuty, use either peanut butter OR peanuts.

The key to frying tofu is to get all the water out of it that you can. Usually I drain it really well and then wrap it in a clean towel and press down. Then rearrange the towel so dry parts are touching the tofu, and press down from the opposite side. voila.

A trip to the Ballard Farmers' Market

2011-08-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend I did not buy 20 lbs of peaches. In fact, I was on the east coast for a shower an aunt threw for me. It was a short trip, but it was lovely to see family and friends and feel "bridal." Yes, I know it's out of order. Are you really surprised?

Anyway, had I been here, Mr. Official Taster and I might very well have once again headed to the Ballard Farmers' Market. I took these photos a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd share them with you. Especially all you farmers'-market-deprived folks.

I apologize for the fuzziness of this one, but I really wanted to show you these Dragon Tongue beans. They're purple! and stripey/polka-doty! They taste just like regular green beans, but they add some pizzaz to your plate. fun times.

oh, the flowers. They're lovely.

The abundance of beautiful fruits and vegetables are almost enough to make up for the dreary winters. Almost. There's also plenty of other wares - meats, eggs, cheeses, milk, wine, cider, bread, foraged fungi, soaps, fresh (like fried in front of you) mini donuts (which were amazing), and many items I can't remember.

There was even live musical accompaniment. In fact, two street bands to entertain happy shoppers. We sat on the sun-dappled curb and listened to this one while eating juicy raspberries and fresh cinnamon-sugar mini donuts. good times.

Peach Pie with Almond Crumble - gluten free & vegan

2011-08-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Peach week continues! and finishes. It's been real. It's been tasty. It's been real tasty.

A couple weeks ago, when Mr. Official Taster and I went to the farmers' market, one of the things we brought home was 20 lbs. of peaches. I was excited! I love peaches, it was a great price, and I was envisioning all sorts of delicious treats.

Then OT told me he didn't like peaches. Wha? Now he tells me? sigh.

So peach week(s) was born. Jam and streusel and cake, oh my. oh, and pie. Which I made just in time for a certain anniversary. Lucky couple :)

Peach Pie with Almond Crumble - gluten free & vegan

Filling:
About 2 lbs of peaches, peeled and sliced (I used 9, but it could be less depending on size)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 C sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp instant tapioca (or 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch)
1 premade piecrust

Crumble Top:
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
2/3 C whole oats, ground to a flour in a food processor
1/2 C flour or gluten free flour
1/2 C sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C whole almonds
6 Tbsp vegan butter

Make the filling:
In a small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, toss the peaches and lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and toss to coat. Add the filling to the crust.

Make the crumble:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a small bowl. Grind the oats to a flour in a food processor. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and pulse until the almonds are coarsely chopped. Add the flour mix to the butter and stir together.

Assemble:
Add the filling to the premade crust. Cover the top with crumble.

Bake the pie at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350 and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is a lovely golden brown. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

Peach Cake - vegan

2011-08-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

I heart peaches.

Today's recipe was adapted from Gourmet magazine, and it's a winner (as usual). It is an unusual way of baking a cake, and the reviews on Epicurious reflect that. A common question asks if it's really a cake, or is it a pie. Maybe a tart?

It does take just about forever to bake, so it definitely requires some planning. I made this one yesterday and first tasted it for breakfast today (what? it's got fruit). The cake itself isn't very sweet, which is perfect, really, because the peaches make up for it.

Peach Cake
adapted from Gourmet via

For the pastry:
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp Ener-g egg replacer (equivalent of 1 egg)
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick vegan butter, cubed
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla

For the filling:
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
2 lb ripe peaches (I used about 7), thinly sliced
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Make the pastry:
In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, egg replacer, and baking powder to combine. Add the butter, and pulse just until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. There should still be lumps. Add the water and vanilla and pulse again, this time until the dough starts to come together.

Turn the dough into your greased pie plate or 9-in springform cake pan. Use your fingers to evenly spread the dough along the bottom and sides of your pan. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

Make the filling:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the sugar, flour, and tapioca in a large bowl. Add peaches and lemon juice and gently toss to coat.

Spoon the filling into the pastry, loosely cover with foil, and bake for 90 minutes (yes, really). Remove the foil and bake for another 15-30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. It'll firm up while cooling, so don't worry if it's still a bit liquidy)

Notes:
Gourmet's original recipe instructed, "Grind 2 tablespoons sugar with flour and tapioca in grinder until tapioca is powdery, then transfer to a large bowl and stir in remaining 6 tablespoons sugar." That's probably not a bad idea, but I don't have a coffee or spice grinder. If you plan ahead, you might be able to use the food processor for that step before you make the pastry in it. Or you could make the pastry, wash and dry the food processor, and then try, but, really, do you want to? It worked just fine without grinding the tapioca, but it definitely would look prettier (no tapioca lumps) if I had.

Do a better job of greasing your pan than I did. The picture above is post some scraping/eating of bits left behind.

Peach Plum Streusel - gluten free & vegan

2011-08-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

Last week and this, I have a plethora of peaches (like that? I do.) With the unbruised, not all the way ripe, and otherwise perfect fruit, I made some Peach Melba Jam that, I think, will be appreciated come winter. This week seems to be about baking them. (don't worry, I'm also just eating them) Baking them is a great way of a) using up a bunch before they go bad b) making them delicious in a different way than fresh and c) gifting.

I have some ideas to occupy myself for the rest of the week, but I'll keep those to myself in case I jinx it.

Fruit Filling
Wash, peel, and cut up your fruit. I used 3 plums and about 5 peaches, and I didn't actually peel the plums. I say "about 5" because I used some very ripe peaches and, sadly, some parts had to be discarded. I cut my fruit into slices/small chunks.

Streusel Topping
1 stick vegan butter, room temperature
1 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinbamon
1 C flour, whole wheat flour, or gluten free flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Stir or pulse in the remaining ingredients until combined and pretty crumbly. Remember, this is a streusel topping, so it won't hold together like dough.

Fill a glass dish or pie plate of your choosing with your cut up fruit. Sprinkle the streusel over the fruit. Bake the streusel for about 40 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

Eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Rinse and repeat.

If you have leftover topping (I did), put it in a freezer bag or airtight container until you want to use it. When that time comes, you don't need to worry about defrosting it. Just sprinkle over your fruit and bake.

DIY Paint Chip Canning Labels

2011-08-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the other day that I was canning this week. I did! It was fun! For inquiring minds, I made both Raspberry jam and Peach Melba jam, which is a pretty (and hopefully delicious) combination of peaches and raspberries. I've been using Well Preserved, which I like because it deals in small quantities, unlike the classic Ball book, which I also have.

These cute 4oz jars of raspberry jam are earmarked as gifts, so I wanted to dress them up a little. Apparently, these crafts got stuck in the back of my brain, so I took a trip and found samples that were both good colors and good names. The good names part was important for the fun part.

A shot glass is the perfect sized circle to trace, so traced circles onto the chips so that the names would be included, cut them out, and glued them to the lids. If I was fancy, I would have something like this to speed up the process. But cutting out circles while watching a movie was a pretty good time.

Anyway, I'm pleased with how they turned out, and I think they look pretty all together.

How do you like to dress up gifts?

Free Printable - Canning Labels round up

2011-08-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

via Sweet Preservation

I spent a couple fruitful (pun intended) hours this afternoon making some raspberry jam. Official Taster (now, Mr. Official Taster!) and I went to the Ballard Farmers' Market this weekend, and came home with a half flat of fresh, organic raspberries. Among other things. lots and lots of other things.

via How About Orange

Anyway, I thought other people might be getting in the canning swing of things about this time of summer, so I found a few places where you can download some free labels if you want to fancify your jars for gift giving or just for fun. Also see how I made my own!

via Wendolonia

Both the Sweet Preservation link and Wendolonia link have multiple designs available. If you simply do a search for "free printable canning label," lots and lots of options will appear at your fingertips.

What are you preserving this summer?

Rainbow Salad - vegan & gluten free

2011-08-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

Once in a (very great) while, it truly feels like summer here in the Pacific Northwest. On those days, I move away from pastas and risottos and towards light, fresh, and cool summer suppers. A big salad fits that description perfectly, but to elevate plain old salad, I decided to go for a rainbow (sensing a theme?). Plus, it's said that eating by color is a healthy way to go.

That, and rainbows make everything more fun.

Rainbow Salad
spinach, or other salad greens
pomegranate seeds
dried cranberries
tomatoes, chopped
carrots, chopped
orange or yellow pepper, chopped
cord
avocado, chopped
extra firm tofu, drained and fried

Start with a bed of spinach and then simply arrange your fruits and veggies in rainbow order and top with your favorite dressing.

There's lots and lots of possible variations here...beans come in lots of colors, as do peppers and tomatoes. If you like blueberries (I don't) then you can work in blue, and beets, eggplant, cabbage, or onions can be your purple. Hard boiled eggs can also fill the yellow slot, and nuts would be a nice addition as well.

Dairy Free Lemon Layer Cake with Vegan Mocha Frosting

2011-07-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

I hope that you have some fun weekend plans, and I think a layer cake can sweeten whatever they are! I have a pretty exciting weekend planned, actually. On Friday night Official Taster and I are celebrating our upcoming nuptials with some of our friends here, and then we'll catch a late screening of Harry Potter. I'm both excited and a little sad that it's the last movie. I also have some highly anticipated girl time scheduled. What about you? Big plans or just enjoying some sunshine? If you have any to spare, Seattle could use some.

If you made a Rainbow Cake, you may have some egg yolks in your refrigerator just crying out to be used. I know I did. So I dug through my books and ended up adapting a recipe for gold layer cake from the classic Joy of Cooking.

It was a significantly simpler process (2 layers instead of 6 makes quite a difference) that yielded delicious results. I'm not sure how long egg yolks stay ok in the fridge, but I used mine within 24 hours. If you choose to use real butter, you'll also need to add 1/4 tsp salt.

Lemon Layer Cake
2 C cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C vegan butter at room temperature
1/2 C sugar
3 egg yolks at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla or grated lemon rind*
3/4 C almond milk, or other non-dairy milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil and line your 9" cake pans with parchment paper.

Sift the cake flour and baking powder (and salt if using real butter) together into a bowl and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Beat in the egg yolks and then vanilla or lemon rind. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk.

Divide the batter evenly between two 9" cake pans and bake for about 18 minutes. When the layers are done, allow them to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Mocha Frosting - Vegan
1 stick vegan butter at room temperature
3 C confectioners sugar
1/3 C cocoa
1/4 C strongly brewed coffee at room temperature (ish. NOT an exact measurement)

Cream the butter and then add the sugar and cocoa a little bit at a time. Add the coffee slowly, until you've reached the desired consistency. It should take 10 minutes or so to combine everything and beat it enough to give it some volume.

When the cakes have cooled and the frosting is ready, layer the cake and frost! Raspberry jam would also make a great filling flavor.

*I actually used a 1/4 tsp Fiori di Sicilia (a little goes a long way. it's quite potent) and 3/4 tsp vanilla

Simple Summer Supper - Vegan Avocado Sandwiches

2011-07-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

It's summer (almost everywhere), so if it's too hot to cook, or you're too ~~lazy~~ tired after a long day, these no cook open face avocado sandwiches are a great solution. The best part is that you can pair the avocado with whatever you happen to have available. I combined mine with bbq sauce, hummus, and some romesco sauce.

Because there are so few of them, each ingredient really counts, so use good crusty bread and nice ripe, flavorful avocados.

These were really satisfying, especially when I followed them with the first peaches of the season.

Rainbow Birthday Cake with Mocha Frosting! {dairy free & vegan}

2011-07-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

I got my first sunburn of the summer this weekend while spending the day at the beach. Granted, I was wearing a sweater, and it took several hours to get a little bit of pink on my nose and forehead, but still.

Beach. Sunburn. Birthday cake. Good times.

Now, it was no ordinary birthday cake, but, then again, it was no ordinary birthday girl. E and I have been friends since high school, and she has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders, whether I want the attention or not. I hope you all each have someone (or a few someones) like that in your life.

Rainbow Birthday Cake
This cake is not as complicated as it looks, but you do need to have several hours to devote to it. I baked my layers on Friday afternoon and put the whole thing together on Sunday morning. If you do them in separate steps, wait for the layers to cool completely, then wrap them each tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until you're ready to layer and frost the cake.

I made mine dairy free, but the recipe works with the same quantities of real butter and milk. Please add 1/2 tsp salt to the cake batter.

I like this frosting because it is egg free, and avoiding raw eggs at a picnic seemed like a good idea.

~~White~~ Rainbow Cake - Dairy Free via Whisk Kid
2 sticks vegan butter at room temperature
2 1/3 C sugar
5 egg whites at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
3 C flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 C almond milk at room temperature
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring. liquid food coloring will make pastel layers

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Oil and line your 9" cake pans with parchment paper. Unless you have 6, you'll need to reuse them.

Sift together the flour and baking powder (and salt, if using real butter).

Weigh a large mixing bowl. Either note it's weight or tare the scale. Use that bowl to cream the butter and sugar, and then add your egg whites a little at a time (it's easier to separate them while they are still cold, so do that when you first take them out). Add the vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined. Then, alternating between the flour mixture and milk, add each in two parts (flour, milk, flour milk).

Now weigh your bowl + batter and determine the weight of the batter. Divide that weight by 6, and then separate 6 roughly equal amounts of batter into separate bowls. Add a good amount of food coloring to each bowl and whisk to incorporate.

Pour into cake pans and bake each layer for 15 minutes. When you remove each pan, allow the cake to cool in it for about 10 minutes, then flip onto your cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Mocha Frosting - Vegan
I used 2.5 batches of this on my cake, but unless you have a stand mixer (I think?), I would recommend making it at least the two separate times. If I had made it all at once, I'm pretty sure my hand mixer would have started to smell burny.

1 stick vegan butter at room temperature
3 C confectioners sugar
1/3 C cocoa
1/4 C strongly brewed coffee at room temperature (ish. NOT an exact measurement)

Cream the butter and then add the sugar and cocoa a little bit at a time. Add the coffee slowly, until you've reached the desired consistency. It should take 10 minutes or so to combine everything and beat it enough to give it some volume.

Assemble the Layers!
Stack the layers in whatever order you'd like, and frost just like you would any other cake. This and this are good tutorials if you need instructions or a refresher.

It should be fine at room temperature, but my frosting definitely showed signs of slipping when it was outside for a while, so refrigerate it before you do that and keep it out of the sun.

Tea Party

2011-07-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Did you know that it's really, really hard to find glass pitchers with lids? I needed a new iced tea pitcher, and I wanted to avoid plastic because, well, it's plastic and all that entails. I don't drink anything that comes in those nice glass half gallon jars (they're sort of rectangular shaped) to repurpose, and nothing suitable in my cabinets. I looked around at multiple stores, online and in person, with no luck. The best option (unless any of you lovely people have a better idea) was a litre-sized carafe found at my neighborhood thrift stores. with a plastic cup on top to keep out the bugs.

Why is a glass pitcher with a lid such a crazy idea? It seems very logical to me, especially with the research about BPAs and the overall superiority of glass to plastic.

So I just thought I'd share the ghetto tea party that's happening on our balcony right now. Mr. Hibiscus, who has miraculously survived Seattle, carafe 'o tea, and Buddy. He likes the sun.

Cake fun coming soon!

Free Printable - Patriotic Cupcake Wrappers

2011-07-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you're aware that it's a holiday weekend? Maybe you are going to whip up some appropriate cupcakes? Great! Now head on over to Food Art Party for some free 4th of July cupcake wrappers to elevate your cupcakes to the next level.

Have a great weekend!

Tour of Bob's Red Mill

2011-07-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

It turns out there really is a Bob and he really has a red mill. If you're one of the many fans of Bob's products, read the interview and tour over at the kitchn. Even if you're not familiar with Bob's Red Mill, I always find it interesting to see the inner workings of companies.

Romesco Sauce - Vegan

2011-06-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

It's probably warm and sunny where you are, so you may not be thinking of making saucy dishes right now. However, it's cool and usually cloudy here in Seattle, so it doesn't bother me to hang out in the kitchen cooking things (though I think you could even handle making this where it's legitimately summer. it doesn't take very long).

This recipe was recommended to me by a friend, and, I have say, it was a fantastic one. Fast, easy, and incredibly delicious. What more do you want? I only wished I'd made twice as much.

Romesco Sauce via
olive oil
2 1-inch thick slices of good, crusty bread, torn into pieces
1/2 C sliced almonds (raw, toasted, blanched, whatever you have)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 8-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained
1 Tbs paprika
2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Saute the almonds and bread in a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Stir often, and when they start to brown, add the garlic. Saute another couple of minutes, or until you judge the contents of your pan to be done.

Put the salt, tomatoes, red peppers, paprika, and vinegar in your food processor. Add the bread, almonds, and garlic. Pulse a few times, and then puree until smooth (or as smooth as you'd like it).

Lightly coat a rimmed sheet pan with the cooking spray, and then spread the sauce. Bake for 10-15 minutes so that the edges start to caramelize.

Use it right away, or let it cool and refrigerate.

Perfect for Summer Smoothies

2011-06-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

Blackberry-Cinnamon Smoothie

I've been on a serious smoothie kick lately. I've been combining banana, raspberries, and blackberries with acai juice, orange peach mango juice, soy milk, almond milk, or some combination thereof. However, this tempting collection from Whole Living may inspire me to change it up!

Chamomile-Banana Smoothie

I love the idea of freezing tea into ice cubes for an easy to make ahead addition. I'm also intrigued by adding spices like cinnamon and cardamom.

Chocolate-Almond Smoothie

What kinds of smoothies do you like? Are you like me and get stuck in a rut a lot, or do you have a different flavor for every day of the week?

Sunday Flowers

2011-06-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! I'm lucky enough to see mine today, which is the first time that's happened in a few years.

These pictures were all taken at Longwood Gardens this spring. It was spring bulb season at the time, so the tulips were just lovely. I thought they did a nice job with the swaths of color.

Are you doing anything special for Father's Day? We brought home some fresh raspberries and green beans from the farmers' market, and we are heading out for a good meal later today.

Have a great week!

Free Printable - Thank you Cards

2011-06-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to direct your attention to Olliegraphic's free thank you card available on oh my! handmande. You can download and print it to your heart's content (personal use only). It's super cute, fun, festive, and good for any grateful occasion.

Single Serving Sized Vegan and Gluten Free Fruit Crisp

2011-06-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. You know how people sometimes say, "I've had a day"? Well, I've had a...quarter year, a three months, a season. Between two jobs (and Etsy), illness, injury, life, and, oh yeah, planning a wedding in 8 weeks (T - 5.5 weeks), this blog just sort of got dropped. Something had to give and I didn't want to post crap.

So today I bring you a mini dessert. It's delicious and seasonal, but it's a nice small portion size and super easy to put together. Maybe 5 minutes of active time total, and I don't have a whole big dessert to eat afterwards.

Because, you know, some of us want some awesome arms in a month.

Single Serving Sized Vegan and Gluten Free Fruit Crisp

fruit of choice
1/3 Tbsp vegan butter
1 1/2 tsp flour or gluten free flour
2 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp quick oats

close approximations of these measurements are fine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill your ramekin with as much fruit of whatever kind you'd like
3. Using a fork and/or knife, mash together the butter, flour, and sugar until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add oats and mash until well combined.
4. Top your fruit with this mixture and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Delicious Gluten Free Desserts

2011-03-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

Real Simple has a tempting collection of desserts and recipes, and all of them are gluten free! I know my posting has been a little thin this month, but I've tried to at least point you toward some good sites via Short and Sweets on Facebook. So if you're not a fan already, go ahead and "like" the page to receive fun links on your news feed.

Sunday Flowers

2011-03-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today's water lily photos also come from our wonderful trip to Hawaii in January. This top photo isn't awesome, but it does show off a huge koi, so that's fun.

The bright sunshine made it relatively easy to take crisp, clear, pretty photos. Having that light is definitely something I've been struggling with since living in Seattle. Remember these whoopie pies? They were super stale when I finally had good light. Don't worry, though, we ate the rest before that. I just saved some pretty ones for you all.

What are you doing this weekend? Are you able to enjoy some sunshine? Official Taster and I are heading out to the farmers' market (there is one year round one here). It's kind of a hike, but we don't go every weekend and when we do, it's a treat.

Happy Sunday!

Sunday Flowers

2011-03-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday to all. I hope you're having beautiful weather, and that you get outside and enjoy Spring. All of these Hibiscus photos were taken on our trip to Hawaii in January. I had a lovely time hiking around one of the many botanical gardens with my parents.

There's been a lot of talk in the blogosphere about Japan, ways to help, and days of silence. I think that's as it should be. Americans have a long history of donating time and money in response to natural disasters. I don't really have anything to add to what everyone has been thinking and feeling about Japan, but I also am not sure it's fair to focus solely on the people of Japan without also focusing on the people of Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, and so many more places, including our nation's backyard.

So, while donating to Japan is a worthy cause, also consider making a donation to the general funds of organizations like The American Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders so that money can go where it's needed most at any given time. You can also simply click to give at Free Rice or The Hunger Site and it's partners.

Go out, enjoy the sunshine and daffodils, and have a great day!

Vegan Applesauce Cookies

2011-03-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

These cookies are comfort food. They're not fancy, they're not strongly flavored, and they are super easy to put together. They also happen to smell delicious while baking. So far, I don't really like March 2011, so comfort food cookies are my perfect antidote. I can also practically count them as a fruit (I totally could if I also made my own applesauce).

I'm not going to lie, I like the ones with chocolate chips the best (I made 3 kinds: plain, chocolate chip, dried cranberries. I don't do nuts). It's not really a fair fight, since chocolate is pretty much a rockstar. They are the most cookie-like. The plain and dried cranberry versions are kind of like mini muffins. So, not bad at all, and definitely breakfast-qualifying.

Vegan Applesauce Cookies
1/2 C vegan butter
1/2 C brown sugar (packed)
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
chocolate chips/chopped walnuts/dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the applesauce. Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and spices to your bowl and blend thoroughly. Stir in any add-ins.

Drop generous teaspoonfuls of the dough onto your parchment covered baking sheet 1-2" apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Let them cool somewhat on the cookie sheet, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:
If you use regular butter, add a pinch of salt.

Feel free to use some other ratio of the flours, all whole wheat, or 100% all purpose. I just like sneaking in the whole wheat.

If you're not going to eat all of these within a day or two, they can be frozen for later.

Earthquake Relief

2011-03-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

Donate!

Today, Living Social will MATCH 100% of your donation to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake & Pacific Tsunami Fund! Based on the timer on the site, it looks as though it will expire Friday at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern. In their fine print, they say they will match up to $1,000,000.

So what are you waiting for? go!

Sunday Flowers

2011-03-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Daylight Savings! Hopefully, you remembered to change your clock and you weren't late to something important. If you're like me, you rely on your cell phone automatically adjusting for you.

Today's theme can be summed up as Up Close and Personal. It's no secret (if you're a Sunday Flowers fan) that I like to take close-ups of flowers. However, these are really close, and, I think, pretty interesting. Looking at them is a little like hanging upside down as a kid and viewing the world upside down and imagining what it would be like to live in my room if the floor had glow-in-the-dark stars and the ceiling was carpeted with piles of books. Did you do that too, or do you just think I'm crazy now?

Anyway, I hope you're having a good weekend. I'm trying skiing for the first time ever today, so hopefully all goes well. Official Taster says I'll know if skiing is for me after my first downhill trip. I'm hoping I decide that it is since I'll already have bought the day pass and rented the equipment.

What are you up to this weekend?

Vegan Whole Wheat Oatmeal Molasses Whoopie Pies

2011-03-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a while. I'm aware.

I have been working beaucoup at jobs that actually pay the rent {unlike fun and delicious cookies}. On the plus side, cherry trees are starting to bloom and Spring is right around the corner.

These cookies are pretty tasty, and, if you care, I think qualify for the "healthy" column in the dessert hierarchy. Maybe that means those of you who celebrate Lent and gave up desserts can call these a healthy snack? Well, until you add the frosting. And we all know frosting makes everything better.

The molasses makes these reminiscent of of spice cookies and gingerbread, but the oatmeal and filling make them enough different to be worth a bite.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Molasses Whoopie Pies

Cookie Ingredients:
1/4 C vegan butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C applesauce
1/4 C molasses
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 C oats

Filling Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegan butter
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
1 C sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla

To make the cookies:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the applesauce and the molasses and mix well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. At this point stir in any chopped nuts you'd like to add {1/4-1/2 C}. Drop tablespoons of dough onto a greased/parchment lined baking sheet and bake 8-9 minutes.

To make the filling:
Beat the butter and shortening together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla at low speed. Once combined, turn the mixer to high and beat for another 1-2 minutes.

To assemble the cookies:
Put the filling in a pastry bag or a ziplock bag. Cut off the tip {or the corner of the ziplock} and pipe dollops of frosting onto one cookie. Use a similarly sized cookie to smoosh the frosting and make the sandwich.

Notes:
If you use regular butter, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt at the same time as the other dry ingredients.

These taste much better the second day. I don't know why.

Sunday Flowers

2011-02-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

Good morning! I hope you are having a good weekend, wherever you are. It has been really, really cold here. When I woke up Saturday morning I got up, turned the heat on in the living area, and went back to bed where it was warm. I had tea, a book, and my computer and I wasn't cold. ahhh, delightful.

My hope is that these yellow beauties will help fight the chill! I photographed all of these Hibiscus on our trip to Hawaii. Now there it was warm and lovely.

Official Taster and I didn't do anything too exciting this weekend. Mostly errands and general hanging around. How about you? What did you do to keep warm? Bake? Vacuum? Jumping jacks?

In other news, and this is important, Facebook has changed everyone's options. again. sigh. So if you're not seeing Short & Sweets' posts in your feed anymore, scroll down to the bottom of your home page, click "Edit Options," and then choose "Show Posts From All Friends And Family" instead of just those friends you interact with most often. That way you won't miss any of my brilliant thoughts.

It's All a Facade

2011-02-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

I, and I suspect many other food bloggers out there, want you, the reader, to believe that I always make my own bread, cinnamon buns, and cake. We want you to trust our authority, make you feel like you can do it all (sometimes feel like you should do it all), believe that the recipes we share with you aren't one time things. They are part of our normal, day-to-day lives, and, gosh darn it, we love it.

But there's a dirty little secret in the world of blogging (or at least my world). Sometimes, we make cupcakes from a mix. {insert astonished intake of breath}

It's shocking, I know.

I'm not super-woman, and sometimes I just want a cupcake. Like now. With very little effort.

Enter: the box.

I do admit to helping the box a little, though. This time I added some almost-ready-to-be-done raspberries and blackberries to my batter. Fruit + cupcake = healthy breakfast. Right? Any type of berries will work, as will chocolate chips, syrups, chopped nuts, and lots of other things your cabinets already hold.

So, please, know that you don't always have to make cupcakes from scratch, and when you do use a mix, dress it up a little and then call it your own, because naming rights are half the battle.

DIY Wedding Cupcakes

2011-02-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Meringue Bouquet Cupcakes

Today's lovelies come to you via Martha Stewart Weddings. I can't think of too many better ways to start off a Monday morning than a whole gallery of pretty cupcakes! These all include recipes, too, so if you want to make these for fun, for a party, for a friend, or for your very own DIY wedding, you can. Recipes, directions, and helpful hints included.

Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze

Sunday Flowers

2011-02-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is brought to you by the color pink and the big island of Hawaii. I know there has been a lot of pink lately due to Valentine's Day, and, I'm sorry, but these particular beauties just jumped out at me as a great way to brighten a winter day.

This Presidents' Weekend, Official Taster's mom is visiting, so we're doing some Welcome to Seattle things, like visiting Pikes Place Market. Also on the agenda: good food. Hopefully I'll be able to share some about that.

What fun things are on your menu this weekend?

Etsy Love - Garden Finds

2011-02-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

First up, from my neck of the woods, a minimalist planter from andrewsreclaimed

It's about that time of year when gardeners start getting their collective acts together and figure out what they are going to plant this year. Start seeds, sketch layouts, redo layouts, pour over newly released gardening magazines, etc. So in that spirit, today's love goes out to some garden related items you can purchase via Etsy.

An adorable succulent necklace from WoodlandBelle

A packet of cheerful Gloriosa Daisy seeds from FlorentineGardens

24 lovely succulents from SucculentsGalore

Are you planning a garden this year? I had a lovely space in our last apartment, but, sadly, this time I don't. I'm going to have to wait to see where the sun goes before I can plan to grow even basic herbs. Hopefully you have a better spot!

Easy Upgrade

2011-02-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I read this post over at Whisk Kid, and it made me smile. When Official Taster asked for an explanation, I complied, and his response gave me an idea for a future present. "I love ugly cookies!" Wouldn't that be great on a tshirt? Maybe with a heart between I and ugly? Boys like tshirts.

I'm somewhat of a perfectionist about the treats I mail to my Etsy customers, and when I take pictures for blog posts, I'm also picky about which cupcakes have perfectly swirled frosting or which waffles look the most waffley. So OT has learned to lurk, or, when he runs out of patience, start reaching for one so that I hand him a different one to eat instead. He's smart like that.

I guess my point is a) for most people, it doesn't matter what a cookie looks like and b) there are quick and easy ways to make imperfect cookies fancier/better looking. Another theory of mine? Frosting makes up for a lot. The more the merrier.

This week, I had extra chocolate cookies, extra sugar cookies, and extra filling. My solution? Combine them and make cute and delicious sandwiches (mini always adds to the cuteness factors). Some of the leftover chocolate cookies are kind of falling apart, but frosting acts kind of like glue, and since it looks impressive and tastes delicious, no one cares.

So if your oatmeal cookies don't turn out quite the way you wanted, add some frosting, serve, and enjoy. Powdered sugar or drizzled chocolate also works wonders.

In other news, and this is important, Facebook has changed everyone's options. again. sigh. So if you're not seeing Short & Sweets' posts in your feed anymore, scroll down to the bottom of your home page, click "Edit Options," and then choose "Show Posts From All Friends And Family" instead of just those friends you interact with most often. That way you won't miss any of my brilliant thoughts.

Finally, I wanted to link you over to Cooks Illustrated's article about dark chocolate. It's got good information and ratings for several brands of chocolate to help you make decisions when you're standing with glazed eyes in the baking aisle.

Happy Valentine's Day! free printables and more

2011-02-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

via The Swell Life

I hope you're having a fun day, and if you're still scrambling, here are some free printables to help you out!

via My. Daily. Randomness.

This year I made a rule for Official Taster and I. Our presents have to be made by us. I was supposed to get a painting (he paints), but that didn't happen, so, instead, I got a super delicious dinner on Sunday night. Spinach salad with walnuts and goat cheese and roasted pears and fig chutney and a balsamic/fig/mustard dressing. Also, pasta with sun dried tomatoes and garlic and basil. AND cupcakes from Whole Foods. Yum :)

via Frog Prince Paperie

I can't tell you (yet) what Official Taster is getting from me, but I'll share later. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise! Also, if you now have a card and still need a present, try one of these goodies!

Chocolate Cake

The original recipe is for Chocolate Pumpkin cake, but if you substitute applesauce or mayonnaise for the pumpkin, you will have plain old delicious chocolate cake.

Red Wine Pasta with Broccoli

Don't forget, there were cupcakes a week ago! What do you do for food on Valentine's? Official Taster and I both hate the idea of going out to eat, especially (I think) because we've both worked in restaurants and know how un-fun working that dinner shift is.

Raspberry Pancakes

One Pretty Thing

2011-02-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

Literally! I was lucky enough to be included on yesterday's Valentine Round Up on One Pretty Thing. There you can always find daily crafty inspiration, and my cupcakes from Monday made the list! There's also One Pretty Wedding for those of us looking for nuptial inspiration.

Some of you Etsyers with eagle eyes may have noticed that I raised my shipping rates on Short & Sweets slightly recently due to cost increases. Well, the other pretty thing about today is that I figured out how to lower those, so my rates are back down to where they were before. Huzzah! It's too late for you to receive anything in the mail for Valentine's Day, but next week when you have a fudge or an oreo craving, come visit!

Vegan Valentine Cupcakes - Red Velvet with Raspberry Buttercream

2011-02-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

I had Thursday and Friday off last week. Thursday I ran errands, did laundry, took a nap, you know, the essentials. Friday, however, I found myself with some time on my hands and an urge to bake, since I haven't had a chance in a while. So after bumming around online for a while, I determined that I had a craving for red velvet cupcakes. It sounds like a strange desire, but I think they were just on my mind after seeing these and these. {I also saw these lovelies, but that's a different story.}

I remembered really liking the ones I made last year, so I went back to that recipe. For once, I also wanted to have a holiday treat posted well before the holiday in question so that you guys would have plenty of time to get yourselves together to make it.

So, red velvet cupcakes (which are chocolate, by the way) with....drumroll please.... raspberry buttercream! Yep, a classic combination rendered in vegan form. Chocolate + Raspberry = Delicious

I used fresh raspberries for my frosting, but I think you could use frozen if you thaw and drain them first. Also, a note on the cupcake recipe: this time I used soy milk rather than almond milk and only vanilla extract (as opposed to part almond extract). They were still yummy, but I missed having the hint of almond I had last time. Also, if you have picky or ambivalent-about-vegan-baking eaters, Official Taster thinks he can taste/feel the graininess sometimes associated with soy milk. I didn't notice, but I wanted to let you know.

This time, I made a combination of heart shaped and mini cupcakes. For the hearts, I used some Reynolds heart baking cups I had on hand. I'm not sure if they still make them, or if they are a seasonal item, but this is what they look like.

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

For cupcake recipe, please reread this post

For the frosting:
1/2 stick vegan butter
1/4 C fresh raspberries
splash of vanilla
2-3 C confectioners' sugar

In a small bowl, beat the butter until it's light and fluffy. Add the raspberries and vanilla and blend well. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and continue to beat until the frosting has become stiff enough to spread or pipe. Frost and enjoy!

Notes:
If you add the sugar slowly, the frosting blends beautifully and you avoid the slight graininess that occurs sometimes in quick buttercreams

If you use regular butter, I would also add a dash of salt.

Any other berry should work as well. Blackberries would make a pretty color!

Sunday Flowers

2011-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

...are back! I hope your weekend is going well. Do you have Super Bowl party plans? Official Taster and I are attending one and, of course, bringing a dessert. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you later this week.

These pictures are actually from back in the fall. I went on a field trip to Euro American Propagators. We saw how they grow their plants from seeds and cuttings, and the end of the tour was their display garden.

It changes twice a year, and is designed both to show current trends and to showcase their own plants, which is why those white plant tags are everywhere.

It was a lovely mix of succulents and flowering annuals and perennials in both sun and shade.

I have seen this a couple other places before, but I really like breaking up a patio with little groundcover succulents or other plants between the stones.

Even just having plants with different colors of green can create some visual interest.

I hope this little glimpse of sunshine helps keep you warm this weekend! Are you one of the many stuck under many feet of snow?

Valentine's Cards - Free Printable

2011-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you head over to One Charming Party's Valentine's cards post, you can download your very own set of these cuties and get them in the snail mail in order for your lucky recipients to get them by the 14th. Or you can give them to classmates, neighbors, roommates, coworkers, the mail main, you know, whoever you like :)

Scrumptious Valentine's Cookies

2011-02-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today, I want you to go here on HowDoesShe to admire, gaze, and drool over these awesome cookies. There are these sweet hearts I know my sweetheart would eat in an instant, and there are also a few racier cookies on display. Racier being a relative term. They're still cookies, people.

I love that she used a simple heart cookie cutter and then went crazy fun with it!

There are complete directions and lots of how-to photos to help you create your own fantasy cookies. Read on and get your icing ready!

Vegan & Gluten Free Winter Stew

2011-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Official Taster and I just got home from a week in Hawaii. Yep, Hawaii. Yep, it was awesome. Yep, that's all of us I'm going to show you. But, on the plus side, there will be lots of pretty flower pictures in the future.

It was warm, it was sunny, there were sea breezes and surfers. Pretty perfect. You may now be understanding why posting was kind of thin last week. Sorry, Blogger, but I had better things to do! There were rain forests, waterfalls, beaches, volcanoes, mai tais, and luaus. We also ate and drank a lot, visited with family, saw a rainbow, napped, absorbed some Vitamin D (to make up for cloudy Seattle), read, slept in, and admired the ocean. It was an actual vacation.

So when we arrived back in Seattle, I wanted to cook. After a week of excesses I wanted healthy, delicious, and not over the top. Because we came back to cool, rainy weather, I wanted warm and filling. This stew type thinger seemed like a good solution, and it goes over rice or pasta, and I also made some bread to go along.

Apologies for the lack of photos, but the weather is not cooperating properly with my work schedule (it's only been good light when I'm unavailable for photography).

Vegan & Gluten Free Winter Stew
olive oil
1 extra large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 vegan sausages, sliced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 C tomato sauce
1/2 C vegetable broth
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried Italian spices
bay leaf
salt to taste

In a medium or large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until starting to become translucent. Add garlic, celery, carrots, and vegan sausages. Stir occasionally. When the vegetables start to soften, add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Let everything simmer until heated through and serve over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, or anything else you can think of. The stew will have more flavor the longer it sits in its own juices, so cooking it in the afternoon and waiting until dinner to serve it will impart more flavor.

Notes:
As I've said over and over and over again, experiment with ingredients, flavors, spices, etc. and you can make the same general dish over and over again without it tasting the same.

DIY Wedding Cakes

2011-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart Weddings claims these beauties are DIYable for your (or someone else's) wedding. I think that might be true if you're already artsy, crafty, bakey, etc. However, as one of the recently engaged, I'm not so sure, even though I am already artsy, crafty, bakey, and kind of an overachiever. What do you think? Is it crazy for a bride to take on her own wedding cake?

I Love Birthdays!

2011-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

I really do! And so, in celebration of my own, I direct you to this collection from Martha Stewart. I would be happy to accept any of these (both pretty pictures and recipes abound). Also, because I heart Gourmet, I want to direct your attention to the Mile-High Chocolate Cake. What's not to love?

Gluten Free Week at The Kitchn

2011-01-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

Last week, I told you about Vegan Week, so I'm really glad to see that The Kitchn is now having Gluten Free Week! Again, they are filling their blog with tips, recipes, discussions, and more fun posts about being gluten free and cooking gluten free. Be sure to check it out!

Pesto Tomato Risotto

Project Help - Free Download

2011-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

I love this headline.

No measly to-do list for this. Conquest or bust! Marta Writes created this free printable last year, but it being the beginning of a new year and the beginning of a weekend, it still feels relevant.

Note the tagline.

How are you filling in the lines this weekend?

Vegan Waffles

2011-01-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

This is the nesting season. Once fall and the holidays are gone, this part of winter starts to feel like it's about hunkering down, staying warm, and getting by until spring. (Luckily for me, my birthday is next week, so there's another winter celebration to break up the short days. Not everyone gets this advantage)

So if you have a hard time in the mornings, aren't a morning person, hate waking up when it's dark, or don't really function for an hour after waking, making these waffles ahead and freezing them may be a good option for you. You can make a batch during your best time and have breakfast prepared for the week.

Basic Vegan Waffles
1 3/4 C soy milk
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 C flour
1/2 C rolled oats
3/4 C whole wheat
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp canola oil, butter, vegan butter, or another vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp egg replacer
4 Tbsp water

Combine the soy milk and vinegar (or lemon juice) in a small non-reactive bowl and let stand. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and vanilla, if using, and whisk to combine.

Brush the waffle iron with oil or use cooking spray and turn it on so it's heating. Add the soy milk and vinegar mixture your bowl and mix together lightly. Finally, whisk together the egg replacer and water until it's foamy and fold into the waffle batter.

Spread a bit of batter onto your waffle iron (it's going to depend on size. use your judgement. I trust it.); bake until the waffle is done (usually when the waffle iron stops steaming). Serve immediately or keep warm briefly in the oven (set at 200 degrees F).

You can also let your waffles cool completely on a wire rack (the wire rack it critical, otherwise they get soggy), freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and then transfer to zip top plastic bags and store in the freezer. To eat, simply pop them in the toaster and top as you like. I like mine with raspberry jam. Better tasting and better for you than the grocery store version! My iron made about a dozen waffles with this amount of batter.

Notes:
Next time, I'll use regular whole wheat flour rather than white whole wheat and brown sugar instead of white. I think overall, the flavors will be nuttier and richer.

Instead of the egg replacer and water, use 2 eggs, and add them when you add the milk.

Any kind of vinegar or lemon juice will work to turn milk or non-dairy milk into butter milk. You can also just use 1 3/4 C butter milk and omit 1/4 C of flour.

You can also use all-purpose flour to make up the entire volume of flours and oats. Play around with substituting flours, but aim to keep about half the total as regular, all-purpose flour. Also cinnamon and other spices, chopped or ground nuts, cheese, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc etc etc!

I need to re-spray my waffle iron between every batch, but I'm not sure if that holds true for all models. Mine is White-Westinghouse that came from the thrift store years ago.

I'm not sure if fresh fruit works in waffle makers. Does anyone know? To me, it seems like either a) it works beautifully a la pancakes or b) it makes a huge mess that takes for.ev.er. to clean.

Kate's Short and Sweets

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Guacamole - vegan & gluten free

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Oatmeal Bread - vegan

Tell me what you want, what you really, really want

Free Printables - 2012 Calendars Round Up

Black Tea-Blackberry Sorbet - vegan & gluten free

Year in Review

Sugared Cranberries - vegan & gluten free

Peanut Butter Dog Treats - vegan & gluten free

Sugar Cookies - vegan

Gingerbread Cookies - vegan

Gingerbread Ice Cream - egg free & gluten free

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies - dairy free

Pumpkin Muffins - vegan

Pillowy Pumpkin Cookies - vegan

Red Bean Chili - vegan & gluten free

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Pie - dairy free

How to Cook a Pumpkin

Cranberry Kitchen Cookies - vegan

The Wedding - Part I

Sunday Flowers

Coconut Butter - vegan & gluten free

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Under 10 Seconds

Short & Sweets on Amazon

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread - dairy free

How to roast fresh beets

Fudgey Brownies - dairy free

Quiz: What pie flavor are you?

Do you know about Pinterest?

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread - vegan

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Freezer Burritos - vegan & gluten free

Recommended Reading - The School of Essential Ingredients

Citrus Olive Oil Cake & Chocolate Orange Glaze - Dairy Free

Vegan Snickerdoodles

Etsy Love - Summer, Preserved

Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Tofu - gluten free & vegan

A trip to the Ballard Farmers' Market

Peach Pie with Almond Crumble - gluten free & vegan

Peach Cake - vegan

Peach Plum Streusel - gluten free & vegan

DIY Paint Chip Canning Labels

Free Printable - Canning Labels round up

Rainbow Salad - vegan & gluten free

Dairy Free Lemon Layer Cake with Vegan Mocha Frosting

Simple Summer Supper - Vegan Avocado Sandwiches

Rainbow Birthday Cake with Mocha Frosting! {dairy free & vegan}

Tea Party

Free Printable - Patriotic Cupcake Wrappers

Tour of Bob's Red Mill

Romesco Sauce - Vegan

Perfect for Summer Smoothies

Sunday Flowers

Free Printable - Thank you Cards

Single Serving Sized Vegan and Gluten Free Fruit Crisp

Delicious Gluten Free Desserts

Sunday Flowers

Sunday Flowers

Vegan Applesauce Cookies

Earthquake Relief

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Vegan Whole Wheat Oatmeal Molasses Whoopie Pies

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It's All a Facade

DIY Wedding Cupcakes

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Etsy Love - Garden Finds

Easy Upgrade

Happy Valentine's Day! free printables and more

One Pretty Thing

Vegan Valentine Cupcakes - Red Velvet with Raspberry Buttercream

Sunday Flowers

Valentine's Cards - Free Printable

Scrumptious Valentine's Cookies