America, America

I was unsure what to make today. I almost did picnic food: hotdogs, burgers, potato salad, etc. Then I thought about a flag cake. Then I thought, let's make a mess! You know, because nothing says "God Bless the USA" quite like hot pink and turquoise cupcakes. Oh well, they taste delicious, at least. I used Jennifer's recipe for fluffy white cupcakes over at Schmooed Food, split the batter into thirds, and used food coloring. Apparently not enough of it. It doesn't mean I think any less of this country. However; if things keep getting worse around here, I may just be snowshoeing my way over the Canadian border by the end of 2012. Just sayin.

Some updates.

Sooo...I opened a new Twitter account. I can be tweeted/twat at @downhomevegan. So far, I haven't said much. I'm kind of bewildered when it comes to Twitter. All the posts look like hieroglyphics, what with the hashmarks and such. But, I figured I'd better get on it (that, and I snapped up @downhomevegan before someone else did), since the Oxford Concise has now added "retweet" to the dictionary. It has also decided that "cassette" no longer deserves an entry, which leaves me feeling OLD AS FUCK. Speaking of which, can anyone recommend a good vegan wrinkle cream?

This Saturday, Animal Rights Coalition will be holding the event "Cupcakes for Their Sake" at noon at Ethique Nouveau. Make sure you get down there early, because every CFTS event has seen all the goodies get swooped up pretty quick. I hear there are peanut butter cup cuppers this time. I am so there!

I haven't been doing a lot of cooking lately, but I'm planning to get back on that so I'm not burned out the first week of Vegan MoFo. I've already got ideas for a theme week. I'll bet you can't take the suspense!

The Minnesota State Fair starts tomorrow. Besides the Giant Naked Pickle on a stick, and the new category in the cooking competition, what the hell can a vegan eat there? I want to see some carnies and maybe ride the rapids, and barf after a trip down the giant slide. If there's something I'm missing, let me know. Otherwise, I think I'll stay home. I saw this billboard on the side of a bus and it bummed me the hell out:



There is so much I could say...that I'm speechless.

Back from computer limbo.

I'm actually still kind of in it, since the machine I'm working on now is just a temporary one on loan from the guy who has my Dell. A number of things happened in the span of a few weeks: First, my big fancy computer had a small fire and quite dramatically gave up the ghost. I was sitting right here, plugged in my cell phone to charge (this was in the Samsung Behold II days; that phone eats chargers and I was once again relegated to using the USB cord), and I suddenly smelled electrical burning and then *poof*, my computer just blinked off. I set up my old Dell, which isn't big and fancy, but it works (albeit a tad loudly), and gave the dead one to a friend to look at. Sure enough, burned a hole right through the motherboard and took out the memory and processor with it.

Then the Dell woke up one morning with a bad case of Blue Screen of Death.

So, while Matt is trying to recover what I had on it (namely brand new downloads of the Dessa and Adele albums), I will post all the foodie things I've been up to while suffering computer withdrawals.

Filed under "Totally Awesome," I'm testing for Alicia Simpson. Today I finally got some stuff and made her zucchini fritters. No, you can't have the recipe, but you can have a picture.



Last Easter Sunday was the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. I posted a gazillion pictures on Facebook, but here are a few of the things I brought:



Hannah Kaminsky's Root Beer Float cupcakes from My Sweet Vegan, Isa's Lemon Gem Cupcakes (made to look like little aquariums), and my own orange creamsicle cupcakes.



I think the aquarium ones went a little slower despite the cheap price due to 1. Hello? Blue food. And 2. I had to bring everything in a crazy old lady cart and when said cart fell off the bus, these guys got the worst of it. Note for future bake sales: bring extra frosting for spackling. Anyway, they had Fruit Pebbles in the bottom, so it looked like aquarium gravel! Super cute.

I was asked if I would give up the recipe for the orange cupcakes. Here you go:

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Makes 12-14

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup orange juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 stick vegan margarine
1 cup sugar
1 tsp orange extract
1 1/2 tsp bourbon vanilla extract (Trader Joe's has this)

Muffin pan, cupcake liners. 350° oven. You know the drill.

Sift together in a medium bowl all the dry ingredients. In a mixer, beat the margarine and sugar until soft and creamy and not melty. Quickly add the OJ, vinegar, and extracts. Beat until blended. Add dry mixture, and mix until moistened but don't overmix. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. If you go over (I did), either eat it raw or make additional ones in another pan. Be sure to fill any empty spaces in your muffin pan with water so your cuppers bake evenly.

Cool in pan for ten minutes, move to rack to cool completely. Frost with your favorite vegan buttercream frosting, but make it extra vanilla-y. Lazy vegans: Pillsbury Buttercream Frosting may be vegan. I am waiting for them to return my email about where the mono- and diglycerides are sourced. In the meantime, just whip up some Earth Balance with powdered sugar and vanilla. Frost. Decorate with candy orange slices and popsicle sticks.

Christmas 2009, my job clearanced out a bunch of crappy little appliances to 90% off, and I scored an omelet maker for $1. This thing makes bitchen vegan omelets. You can use the recipe in Vegan Brunch, or just experiment like I did with lite silken tofu, cornstarch, besan flour, kala namak (black salt) turmeric, and whatever else you like. I have found that my perfect omelet has fresh spinach blended in, mushrooms, green onions, and Daiya cheddar.



Here's one with some sweet potato frites (that got a little...brown...in the oven).



This is something I threw together because I love Ethiopian food, and had all this stuff in the house. Also, everything came from the corner store a block away! Those "vegan-meal-from-convenience-store-ingredients" challenges would be unfair if I participated. Anyway, It's a bag of yellow split peas (soaked, drained, rinsed)slow cooked all day on low with about six cups of water. Then add onion, green pepper, lots of grated fresh ginger, salt, cumin, turmeric, crushed dried red pepper, chopped carrots, a small chopped up head of cabbage, two minced cloves of garlic, and a bay leaf. Slow cook another hour or so, or until you can't stand it anymore and have to eat. No rules, no measuring. Just put in the stuff you like.



Now, filed under "Stunt Food," but not nearly as awful for you as say, a Luther or a Cherpumple...Lasagna Cupcakes!



Now, if you've made it through all that, I just want to remind everyone to subscribe to Midwest Vegan Radio on iTunes. Like it on Facebook. Bring it up on your pages, blogs, and in awkward silences in work meetings. Become a mentor, or, if you're a new vegan, find out more about getting a mentor!

Okay, kids. Hoping that isn't all for a while. I'm still testing, baking, and got a lot of irons in my vegan fire right now. I've also got a Big Birthday coming up, a possible trip...and all the while, trying to drop some weight. Look forward to some lowfat recipes!

It's that time again!

Twin Cities: Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale
317 West 48th Street (48th & Grand)
Easter Sunday, April 24, 1pm-5pm or until everything's gone, so GET THERE EARLY!

I'm making at least two kinds of cupcakes. I hear there will be vegan Cadbury eggs. As always, there will be lots of yummies, friendly faces, and no tables full of dead pig or baskets full of chicken periods dyed festive colors. Where would you rather spend Easter? I think Jesus would be much more down with a cruelty free holiday, don't you think?



Oh, and another thing. I bought these at Marshall's because I thought, "Whoa, no pan needed? I have a cookie sheet that could hold way more than 12 cupcakes!" No no no no no. Maybe three cupcakes came out looking normal. The rest either got HUGE, or baked around another cupcake. It's hard to describe. Just know this: When making cupcakes, use a muffin pan. That is all.

Happy World Vegan Day!

Oh, and Happy Vegan Month of Food! Day one!


I came home today after a long weekend with friends in Chicago. I'm pretty jealous because a) Chicago has way more vegan choices for restaurants, and b) the tap water is drinkable. I'm also in love with Ellie and Tim's beautiful house and pantry. A pantry! I now have a new prerequisite for future apartments.

Ellie picked me up at the airport on Friday, and we went straight to Demera. We have a tradition with Ethiopian Diamond, but this is a new place that deserved our gusto for all things served on injera. The tikle gomen was amazing. The ye-misir wot: heavenly. We destroyed our lunch before I had a chance to take a picture of it in it's whole form, so here's the damage:



Afterward, we hit the Asian market and Whole Foods. Once loaded up with provisions, we planned out the food and timing for the Haunted Housewarming. We caught a sliver of a show at The Empty Bottle, and headed home. Saturday was going to be busy as hell, so I insisted on brunch the next morning. We went to Lula Cafe in Logan Square. It got all kinds of raves on Yelp for it's vegan-ness, but I was stuck with one menu item. Tofu Scramble, which I wanted anyway. What didn't do it for me was the cubed tofu (I like my scramble scrambled), the goddamned cantaloupe in the fruit dish, and that stuff there on the right? Not Earth Balance.



The Gimme Lean sausage patties and the coffee were good, and it fueled us for our day in the kitchen.

I truly suck at life because Ellie and I made a TON of sushi, and I got no pictures of it. Two platters each of nori rolls and inari parcels. I made three batches of rice; one that was made pink with beets, one that was yellow with shiitake mushrooms and green onions, and one that was red with raw beet, carrot, and spinach. We rolled cucumber, bell peppers, green onion, and avocado. The inari pouches (plain fried, turmeric yellow, and spicy red) were stuffed with ginger and the different kinds of rice. I guess they were a hit, because they were inhaled.

Ellie whipped up a batch of my Mediterranean Red Lentil Iron Chef Soup:



And I finished making the cupcakes as people started to arrive. They are gluten free, chocolate with peanut butter caramel filling, and chocolate ganache. This picture sucks.



The weird holes on top are from filling them by hand. Chunky peanut butter + Wilton pastry bag = peanut butter caramel explosion. Which doesn't sound that bad, but it is when you have guests storming the kitchen.

Now, as for Mofo...I have been contemplating several themes. Magazine recipes veganized, candy week, squash week...but am looking for more. Tomorrow will be a late night post, I'm sure.

National Chocolate Cupcake Day

Even though I had an eggplant waiting in the wings, I decided that today had to be recognized. I would have made these this morning and brought them in for my coworkers, and a late Boss's Day gift (ha), but I can't peel myself off the sheets before 11:00am. It was a dead sprint to midnight to get these puppies done.



So, besides the obvious cheating by using food coloring for the frosting, where is the violet? Well, mixed right into the batter is a handful of culinary lavender that I picked up a few months ago. I'm a little worried that my cupcakes are going to make my coworkers sleepy. Or suddenly want a bubble bath and a glass of wine.



In case you're wondering, that's a Skittle on top.

Minty Birthday to me.

I may be home today, coughing up my lungs and going through fifty boxes of kleenex, but no one can deny me my cupcakes.