Baked

What is it about watching samurai movies that makes me want to bake? Or, what is it about baking that makes me want to watch samurai movies? It's hard to say which desire comes first, but these urges tend to arrive at about the same time.

The informal PPK poll listed Isa's peanut butter oatmel and ginger cookies as the absolute favorites for Isa cookie first-timers. Why fight the love, especially when you already have most of the ingredients?



The pictures are not misleading. These cookies are deadly. I was eating a ginger cookie as I made the pb oatmeal cookies. And then as I was eating pb cookie dough (or so it seemed). I was surprised to find that the ginger were my absolute favorites. This is no slight to the pb oatmeal, just that Ginger Snaps used to be my favorite cookie in a box and I've kind of missed them. No longer. I added chocolate chunks to half of the pb oatmeal. These cookies are normally gigantoid. I made them regular-sized and ended up with three dozen cookies. I planned on offloading some in my office today, but realized shortly out of the door that I forgot them. Tomorrow. The gingers, though? I've renamed them My Precious. Sivvie hasn't even had a chance to lick up a crumb.

Below is evidence of the what little real food I ate all weekend. Go figure. It was before I made the cookies. I knew I was going to watch The Prestige on Friday night so I tossed together a quick meal. I love stuff shoved in rice paper wraps. Particularly when accompanied by peanut sauce. Likewise, I've been eyeing the sesame-crusted oyster mushrooms "calamari" in one of the Millennium cookbooks for years. Of course, I could only find tree form mushrooms (mini chanterelles is what the Whole Foods sign called them). And I can't eat sesame. Oh, and couldn't be bothered to actually follow the recipe. In fairness, it had taken me nearly 20 minutes to find it which is about how long it should have taken me to make it. But here they are, hemp seed-crusted tree form mushroom "calamari." They were most excellent. Those Millennium folks are on to something.



But the rest of the weekend really did consist of nothing more than a few additional rice paper wraps, a bowl of soup, perhaps a dozen cookies (I'm being kind to myself I fear) and a couple of glasses of soymilk. I didn't even have a drop of alcohol this weekend, whatfor being to lazy to put on some real clothing and walk to the liquor store.

Perhaps if I had, I would have enjoyed Samurai Fiction more. I wanted to like this movie a lot. It was kind of funny. There were some halfway decent shots. But I think there were two problems. 1) It was the last samurai movie I watched that weekend so was being compared to the three above. 2) The movie really would have been much funnier if I had a few. But not having a few allowed me to knit lace and watch Japanese movies at the same time, so it was worth the sacrifice.



I kind of feel as if this cape will go on forever. It's daunting to have hundreds of stitches in one row of knitting. I have begun to wonder why I wanted to knit a cape to begin with. Capes are not practical. Where am I going to wear this? Why didn't I just pick a shawl? If this were a good, practical, superhero-style cape? Maybe. A Little, Red Riding Hood cape? Perhaps. But I don't plan on strolling through any Tuscan villas any time soon so I'm not sure what I'll do with it other than display it on my wall.

And this little bit of crochet pinned to my bathroom door? It's my first finished piece of crochet. I blocked it over the weekend and began the patchwork (sewn) back. I love the early days of a craft when you spend almost as much time figuring out how to cover your mistakes as you do making the object.

Breakfast for Dinner

When we were little, about once a month my father would go do his SAC duty which meant, as I understood it at the time, that he had to live on the air force base on the weekend. At nights, my mother would push a chair up under the knob of her door to make sure no burglers could get in. My brother and I would be . . . on the other side of that door. But the fact that my mom would use these weekends as an opportunity to make lazy dinners that I thought were great like boxed Mac 'n Cheese and frozen waffles and pancakes and scrambled eggs, more than makes up for that chair. The dinner above is just like that -- frozen buckwheat waffles with maple syrup (a food item I did not know whatfor during the SAC period) and scrambled tofu. The other thing that makes this the best? It's scrambled tofu made from leftovers of leftovers. Which I think is awesome. Tuesday night's quesadilla filling minus the soy cheese with some smashed sweet potato and spinach became the topper for some skillet socca.


This yarn isn't leftover, but it was the scraps from another ball of Cotton Glace that got me thinking about crochet again. And trying it.

I will be using leftover fabric to border and back it though, though I think.

And remember this sock? I mentioned it once -- my first failed attempt at completing a pair of socks. Definitely a leftover. I put it on and suddenly thought it might be worth finishing. Maybe that was the leftover wine talking.

Oh, and Mom. I remember that you let me watch Ten one SAC weekend.

In which I claim never to get sick

But then do. I went on a bit of a book buying spree last week. First, I allowed myself into Forbidden Planet for the first time in a few years since I can do as much damage there as in any yarn shop. I felt compelled to buy three volumes of Hellboy and two of Preacher and other miscellany (although I emerged toy free). And then continued this mindless rampage at Barnes and Noble where I discussed colds with the cashier and proudly complained that I never get to use my sick time because I never get sick (although it had been eleven years for her to my three).

Fast forward to Sunday when I felt a little less than 100%. But I figured it was hot in my apartment and what was the big deal if I didn't feel much like eating? And coughing? It's so dry in apartments in winter so that's not completely abnormal. I wake up on Monday a little later than usual. Feel a little less than, but still go to work. That's when everything falls into place, of course. The coughing, the sneezing, the aching, the can barely stand up. By evening, with the train running later than usual, I feel completely awful. But I still go home and make this soup.
Because I'm sick. And I want soup. And Amy's Unchicken Noodle is not gluten free. And there's no one to make it for me. You know, whine ad nauseum.

And I was clearly delirious given that I took pictures. Of my food. Even with my temperature at 101. So I had my soup and some tea and a good long sleep and by morning I was right as rain (and a tad disappointed, mind you). There it was. My one true sick day and I had squandered it. I had actually been looking forward to lazing around on my futon sofa watching trashy talk TV and reading comic books (the only options as, by the end of day one, I really felt to weak to knit or crochet), but the moment had passed me by.


But even though I had no one to make me soup and was too delirious to call in sick, I did get to enjoy one good post-sick ritual. The first return to real food. Mushroom-pepper quesadillas and a spinach salad. Sivvie-cat gave it two nose licks.

Hooked

I never thought crochet would take. I've had that Debbie Stoller book for ages. I've tried working from it a few times, but got frustrated and put it down. The problem, I found, was that since I already knit, I couldn't be bothered to crochet. While I've heard crochet can be faster than knitting, I was crawling along, none too sure I was doing anything right. But then it happened. Flipping through Simple Crochet again, I became inspired by the beauty of the crochet stitch. I had a tiny hook and some leftover Rowan Cotton Glace already on hand. So I brought it to work and started. Well, this time it stuck.

I've found I really love the rhythm of crochet. There's something about it that's soothing. It's much easier to do on the train. If your hook falls out, it's really no big deal -- you don't tend to lose too much work. It's easy to back up if you make a mistake. Some of the beauty of learning to crochet, though, is the fact that I'm learning. When knitting, I feel compelled to make everything perfect. But since I'm new to crochet, I'm allowed to make mistakes. That circle up above is a little wonky because I put in too many increases (I chose not to follow a pattern to really liberate me). That blanket for Sivvie -- the cat, who claimed it before I even told her it was hers -- is from a pattern. I don't think it's rippling quite as I expected and it's not a square as much as it is a trapezoid right now, but I'm learning and loving it.

Throw Out the Pot

Whether in books, film, art, I've always appreciated creative types who love to experiment. Even if the finished product isn't perfect, I still prefer it to something created by someone who always plays it safe. But when it comes to food, I've been hesitant to push things too far. Food has a different kind of purpose though, and the possibility that I might have to throw out a whole pot of something terrifies me. So, this past week involved a bit of food, both safe and unsafe.

BBQ Pomegranate Tofu with spinach and coconut-wasabi mashed potatoes. When I first noticed this recipe in Vegan With a Vengeance, I was all over it. Then I noticed the tomato paste. I decided to attack this recipe anyway since pomegranate is quickly becoming my favorite fruit. I subbed out about 1/4 c. of soaked, pureed chipotle peppers. Oh, my. While very tasty, it was incredibly spicy. Next time I think I have to add 1/2 cup of pureed roasted red peppers. And a note on the mashed potatoes -- I am to much of a baby to use full fat (and usually, even light) coconut milk. So I usually cheat and add coconut extract to soy milk.


Ancho Lentil Gravy with Flax Hemp Biscuits and Steamed Broccoli. I'm always on the lookout for a great lentil soup. The last one that really moved me was in Shape or Self magazine years ago. It's winning addition -- mustard and balsamic vinegar. So when I saw Isa's Ancho Lentil Soup, I had to try it. Not only is it a fantastic soup (the pineapple is genious), when I was down to the last little bit I was able to convert it into a great gravy with the addition of a little soy milk and nutritional yeast.


Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy (from Vegan with a Vengeance). Yes, there are other things on the plate, but the real star is the gravy. My disclaimer: I love gravy. I'm always on the lookout for good gravy. This stuff is the real deal. It lasted just over a day as I felt compelled to pour it on everything I ate. I will certainly be making this again. Soon. In a larger vat-like quantity.


Lemon-tarragon stuffed tofu with yukon potatoes, hijiki, asparagus and hazelnut picada. This was an experiment that didn't quite turn out as I initially imagined. Originally, I had wanted to boil the tofu in dulse flakes which, go figure, I couldn't find anywhere. So I dumped a package of hijiki and a few pieces of kombu in the water and let it simmer for an hour or so and then, due to a surprise visitor, ended up letting it sit in the liquid for 24 hours before baking. It turned the tofu a gorgeous bluish-purple color on the outside but the sea taste I was going for was subtle, to say the least. Despite that it wasn't what I was expecting, it was still pretty good. I tossed the thinly sliced potatoes on the bottom of a glass dish. Quickly breaded and pan fried the tofu, split it and stuffed it thinly sliced lemons and tarragon. Added lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt to the potatoes, covered them with the hijiki that had been soaking with the tofu and then placed the tofu on top. Covered the whole thing with aluminum foil and let it bake. The hazelnut picada topping came from a New York Times seafood recipe, but in typical NYT fashion, it appears to already be gone from their site. It was particularly wonderful, even though I used leftover gluten-free biscuits that had a shade too much baking powder.


Chickpeas and potatoes with chapati croutons and collard greens in a coconut-peanut sauce. The deli around the corner from me carries these little spice packages called simmer sauces. As I was feeling it was a lazy Friday evening, I decided to see how they worked up. The sauce package I used for the chickpea-potato dish contained amchoor, which I've only found at one hfs and in that case, it was made by one of the raw companies and was, I suspect, much more expensive than it would be at one of the Indian spice places. I had it with, ahem, chapati croutons. The recipe from the Food Allergy Survival Guide contains a nice bit of coconut oil for the fat, which I never have around because I'm iffy on adding that much coconut oil to my food. Usually, I bind them with olive oil which makes them tasty, if not puffy like the originals. Since I had bought some shortening to make cupcakes, I decided to make an attempt at using the palm oil-based shortening (no, I'm not real big on palm oil, either) in the chapatis, figuring it would be closest to coconut oil. When the first one broke into pieces in the pan, you think I would have learned my leason. These chapati croutons are from a second, independent attempt at subbing the shortening. Good, but yeah . . .
Brown basmati rice with fruits, veggies and cashews, tzatziki sauce and mint-cilantro chutney. The basmati rice also had the addition of a different simmer sauce packet. I bought mostly because it had rose petals in it. This was spicy, but the dried apricot and cashews in the rice and tzatziki sauce helped to balance it out.


Nachos: Because sometimes you're good and sometimes you're not. Does the fact that there's broccoli, spinach and red and yellow peppers tucked in here excuse the fact that these are nachos? I used the Follow Your Heart cheddar. I find this stuff odd. Microwave it and the "cheese" is all melty in 40 seconds or less. But put it in the oven . . . I even drizzled extra oil over top because I've heard that can help. Meh. I put some on my plate and popped it in the microwave. Perfection. I think in the future, though, I might just skip the FYH. It's expensive, has never done for me what it's supposed to do best, and I'm just as happy with the miscellaneous uncheese nacho sauces out there. It's just that the FYH lets you feel like you are being bad.

Anthropologie Lust

I will not try to pretend. I love Anthropologie. I love the life they try to sell me. Maybe because it helps me forgive the cracks in my bedroom and living room walls and the missing tile on the rise to my . . . picturesque bathroom. But right now it's all about the clothes. They're too pricey for me and a good lot of them aren't vegan (especially those winter sweaters), but a girl can dream.
I know better than to don a bubble dress. In fact, the only thing I have ever tried on at Anthropologie that I was kind of meh about was a bubble dress. I have hopes that the red one's name is just a pattern thing.
Similarly, I'm quite convinced that the blue jacket up left needs a rail thin chick and there's a possibility that the pantaloon-style dress would just look awful. But there's something about them.
And oh, the greens. I can't say that I love everything about the peacock tee, but it is so representational of the colors I've been feeling and knitting lately.

Mmmm. But red really is my favorite color. Rumor has it Drew Barrymore left the vegan flock because of the shoes. Why is it so hard to find vegan shoes in such fantastic colors? Outside of sneakers, they're mostly black, brown or olive green. I want head to toe color. I suppose this means a cobbling class for me.

And lastly, how much am I feeling all the yellow? I want to spend all summer in that sweet chemise on the bottom, sweating in the dank humidity of my air conditioning-free apartment. And drinking mint juleps. Or something like that. But that strapless black, white and yellow number is my all time absolute favorite of the new catalog. I told myself that even if I can afford nothing else from Anthropologie for the rest of the year, this was the one.

Sweets for My Sweet

In this case, me (as I have no delusions that I have any readers). And, to a certain degree, my office mates to keep the chub in check.

In early January, while wading through old Cream Puffs in Venice posts, I came across a link to a recipe for Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies from Emily Luchetti's A Passion for Desserts that sounded divine. I thought it looked as if it would veganize fairly easily. Unfortunately, I also thought I had read years ago that Rapunzel hazelnut chocolate spread was vegan. If it ever was, it is no longer. So this time through I used a simply ganache and stirred in chopped hazelnuts. Next time I'll be making my own Nutella.

But perhaps the most exciting sweet are these:



These are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Now, Isa said something about the mint icing really needing the ganache to pull it all together, but I have to say that I was piping the icing directly into my mouth. I'm not traditionally a fan of buttercream-style icings, but this stuff is awesome.