Too much of a good thing

The boy and I are sugar addicts. We generally try to eat very healthfully, but when it comes to dessert, forget about it. Early in our relationship, we bonded over the fact that we both believe ice cream should not be reserved for warm weather eating. I had to fast the day leading up to my surgery last year. I confidently announced that, when I broke the fast after almost two days, I would no longer be eating processed sugar. I lasted two days before I gave in. We like our sweets.

It should come as no surprise, then, that one of our favorite christmas traditions includes loads and loads of cookies. Every year, I start in early December making batches of cookies to give away. They fill our freezer and we can't help but sample them. I make extras to account for the ones we eat, but there is always the worry that there won't be enough to give away. I never know until the containers are filled whether I'll be making emergency batches on christmas eve to make up for our December gluttony. I might also add that by the time the cookies leave the house, we are happy to see them gone. We've been eating them for weeks and are sick of them.

Today I packed up the cookies and there were enough to go around, with some to spare. We've enjoyed them all, pronouncing each new batch our favorites as we taste tested them and I think they look so pretty packed up in their little tins. Still, I have to say, good riddance!! I can't wait to get these things out of our house!

Merry Merry

I had a post written about drowning in christmas cookies with a picture to prove it (I left all my baking until the last minute this year and literally packed up the last batch of cookies to give away as the icing was still drying) but we left the camera at the boy's parent's last night. Entertaining picture or not, I'm wishing you all a happy winter holiday of your choice, surrounded by loving friends and family.

Thankful for Dairy

This pumpkin cheesecake has been my go-to thanksgiving recipe for as long as I can remember. Last year, when we were "most of the time vegans," we indulged on thanksgiving, so I can honestly say I haven't missed a year since I started making it (its really that good). This year, I had planned to try veganizing it, but ended up making the full-fat, full-dairy version, since we're off the vegan wagon for now. I usually make a few slight modifications to the recipe, and this year I also left the bourbon out of the topping, out of respect for the little one in my belly who will also be enjoying it (and hopefully won't be tasting bourbon for many, many years). The best part about this recipe is that it makes too much for my springform pan--just enough extra to fill two individual pans. The large cake will go with us to the sweetie's family tomorrow, the other two . . . well, I'm sure we won't be letting them go to waste.

As if that weren't enough, I also made one of the sweetie's favorite desserts for the long weekend. This cake is so incredibly easy to make that it really doesn't have any right to taste as good as it does. The main ingredient is Famous Chocolate Wafers. I never use these unless I'm making this particular cake and I don't know anyone else who does either, which makes me wonder how the company stays in business. Actually, every time I go to the store for them I expect them to be gone, but there they always are. (Google just told me that these are made by Nabisco, so I guess the company is safe after all). In any event, the recipe goes something like this: whip up some heavy cream (a pint or two will do), splash in some vanilla and a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Layer wafers with cream, chill overnight, et voila . . .

When I was growing up, my mother would make a version of this with mint flavoring in the cream and garnish it with maraschino cherries for Christmas. The sweetie is a purist, so we have the plain black and white version.

I threatened some time ago to share a picture of the blanket I'm working on for the bean, so I figured I'd surprise us all by actually following through! This is the Prairie Blanket by Oat Couture knit in some undyed wool we picked up at Rhinebeck this year. The picture really doesn't do it justice--the yarn is just stunning in person. I'm very happy with how this is coming out, despite the fact that it looks like a shawl at this point. It will someday grow up to be a real blanket!

Have a lovely holiday tomorrow. This year is especially meaningful to me because of all the many blessings in my life; thanksgiving is as good a day as any to remind myself not to take one second of it for granted.

Best (Vegan) Ice Cream Ever!

OK, maybe I'm getting a little bit carried away with the "best ever" posts, but still, this ice cream is darn good.

Last christmas, my sweetie and I were gifted with the ice cream maker attachment for our kitchen aid mixer. Since then, we've experimented with several different vegan ice cream recipes, but haven't been fully satisfied with any of them. Various flavors of the old standby (soy) and even a raw ice cream made from mashed bananas all left something to be desired.

So, when the boy brought home a recipe for coconut whipped cream from the New York Times (again with the Times!), I figured we had nothing to lose. Veganizing it was simple, but I did experiment with a couple batches trying to lower the fat content while maintaining the creamy texture. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Coconut Vegan Ice Cream

1 can cream of coconut

1 can light coconut milk

4 cups non-dairy milk

1 cup shredded coconut, optional

4 tbls agave nectar (or sweetener of your choice)

Whisk together ingredients in a large bowl. Freeze in an ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's directions.

This makes a double batch for my ice cream maker--I have to freeze it in two separate batches or else it overwhelms the poor bowl and doesn't freeze well (ask me how I know). If you prefer not to make two batches, I recommend using the leftover 1/2 can of cream of coconut for pina coladas and adding the coconut milk to homemade thai food.

This recipe can be varied endlessly. Leaving out the shredded coconut makes an ice cream with a less pronounced coconut flavor that lends itself well to other additives. For just a hint of coconut (and less fat) use a whole can of coconut milk and omit the cream of coconut altogether. This results in more of a sorbet textured ice cream.

For this batch, since I was freezing in two batches anyway, I made two different flavors. To the first batch, I added little pieces of frozen cookie dough leftover from the big cookie experiment of 2008. To the second batch, I added cocoa powder until the batter looked reasonably chocolately (it took about 3-4 tbls). They were the two best homemade ice creams we've made and this recipe will definitely become our standard from now on.

Best (Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!

I may be one of the last people to have read the New York Times article on chocolate chip cookies. (On a recent visit to Whole Foods, I found the recipe displayed alongside the recommended chocolate disks, just in case I hadn't already seen it all over the blogosphere.) Well, I already have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I love (even though its not vegan) and I didn't have much interest in switching, but I did want to try my hand at some of the recommendations in the article.

First, I veganized the recipe I already had. I love this recipe, because it calls for oatmeal to be ground to a fine powder--upping the nutritional content without sacrificing texture. I subbed out earth balance margarine for butter and egg replacer for the eggs, which got me close, but the recipe required a bit more tweaking to get the moisture content right.

Next up, there's this whole idea of resting the batter in the fridge for 36 hours before baking. This whole cookie experiment took place over two weekends and four batches of cookies. (I take this stuff seriously, people!) The first couple batches were baked at 0, 24, and 48 hours after mixing. 36 hours may be optimal for the cookies, but its darn inconvenient for me. If I mix up a batch of cookies in the evening, I sure don't want to be baking them for breakfast two days later! As the article suggests (and other foodbloggers have confirmed) the cookies definitely taste better after resting. 24 hours is better than 0, but 48 hours was even better. The cookies had a better flavor and took on a richer color after baking. Even the raw batter was better after resting!

Left to right: 0, 24, and 48 hours after mixing

I was also intrigued by the addition of sea salt in the NYT recipe. I'd already discovered the amazing combination of sea salt with caramel, but it wouldn't have occured to me to add extra salt to cookies. I mean, there's already salt in the batter, right? The second weekend (and next two batches) were dedicated to exploring the addition of salt, as well as continuing to work out the moisture issue with the batter. I can't tell you whether just upping the salt content of the recipe would work the same way, but there is something added with the extra sea salt on top of the cookie. I didn't measure the amount, but a more generous sprinkling did produce a better tasting cookie. I started out with a light dusting and ended up upping the amount a couple times.

In the end, the boy and I couldn't stop eating these things. They were really that. good. Go make them, but don't say I didn't warn you!

Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup Earth Balance margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal, then blend in a food processor to a fine powder)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 ounces chocolate chips
4 ounces dark chocolate, grated (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Blend the oatmeal and combine with flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the earth balance and both sugars until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add egg replacer, vanilla, and milk and mix until combined. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and grated chocolate, if using. Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets (I use a #20 scoop and divide each scoop into two balls). Flatten each ball slightly and liberally sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating sheets midway through cooking.

Even though the oatmeal makes me feel slightly less guilty indulging in these, they are still pretty outrageously high in fat and sugar. My next cookie experiment will involve lightening these up a bit, but I'm in too much of a sugar coma to think about that right now.

Like, out of this world good!

I was given a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for christmas and drooled over each and every recipe before deciding on this one--peanut butter chocolate heavencakes. These were amazing and not just "good, for vegan cupcakes." These were possibly the best cupcakes I've ever had--vegan or not. I used Vahlrona chocolate and organic natural peanut butter, which may have made a big difference in the flavor, but I'm sure this recipe rocks either way. Although they contain no animal products, they're far from healthy, so I made a half batch for me and my sweetie. We gobbled up these 8 in no time, though. Oops!

Over the holidays, my cookie baking was all-consuming, but now that things are settling down a little, I've gotten some cooking done too. I made a decent Thai green curry and I think I may have finally perfected my vegan palak paneer. I've been making all these vegan recipes, but you know, I still haven't managed to make the transition full-time. I travel a huge amount for work and I've struggled to maintain a vegetarian diet while eating out and I'm starting to wonder if the vegan thing is going to be just too hard. At least for now, I'm OK with falling off the wagon once in a while.

I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I've also had time to knit in this first part of 2008! I'm very excited to share my new projects. Soon, soon!