Bake Sale Bonanza!!!

We had our Vegan Bake Sale for Japan this weekend, and we raised a grand total of $1860!! Such an amazing turnout of support from our team of bakers and from our hungry community! Here in Santa Cruz, much of our downtown was completely decimated by a large earthquake in 1989. That earthquake was such a scary experience, and it took such a long time for each of us to heal as individuals, and collectively as a community, and even longer to finally rebuild where buildings were destroyed... As a result of living through that earthquake, and the long slog of recovery afterwards, I always feel a special empathy for other communities affected by disasters. Obviously, what's happened in Northern Japan is on a level far beyond what we experienced here in Santa Cruz, and frankly it's hard to fathom the pain and loss. It's so maddening to know about so much suffering and not be able to do much about it... So, I guess us vegan bakers take to the kitchen and do what we do best - make delicious treats!

I didn't manage to photo document everything that made its way to the table, but between my mom, one of charming bakers & my new pal Carrie, and me, we did get some great pictures to share... the goodies were absolutely gorgeous! You can tell which ones are Carrie's pictures because they are the beautiful ones! ha. She's a great photographer!

So many delectable goodies to choose from!

I did most of my baking on Friday, and I also did most of my baking gluten-free. I don't mind baking gluten-free, and I usually get pretty great results, so I figured I may as well. Plus, this way all the gf folks could have some sweeties too! I'm always so stoked when I find a vegan treat out there in the world, so I know how the gluten free folks must feel. First up I made these Almond-Anise Seed Biscotti from Veganomicon (gf). They turned out beautifully!

These cuties are the Lime-Coconut Cookies (gf) from Vive Le Vegan... They were super delicious, but not very limey or coconutty. So, after some consultation with Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats, we came up with the name "Old Fashioned Sparkle Cookies," because that is what they tasted like. One must have truth in advertising! You'll be happy to know that I made Mr. VE&T donate to the cause before he could sample all the treats I was baking.

It went something like this:

Mr VE&T, walks into kitchen, sees trays of cookies - "Ooooh, are these my cookies??"

Me - "Only if you want to steal from the people of Japan!"

ha ha! A generous donation was given, and snacking rights were happily granted!

One of my favorite cookie recipes ever! Mary's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies... I love love love this recipe. The cookies always turn out perfectly and crazy delicious. If you are unsure of gluten free baking, this recipe is a great place to get started!

Chai Spice Cupcakes!

I used the Chai Latte cupcakes recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and added a buttercream frosting with vanilla bean flecks from 1 1/2 vanilla beans, a bit of vanilla extract, and a dash or two of cinnamon. So tasty!

In my constant quest to understand what sells well at a bake sale, I noticed that these were quite popular...

Triple Ginger Cookies!!

I love this recipe from my friend Talya's upcoming cookbook. They've got SO much ginger in them, they're perfectly moist, gluten free, and they are totally delicious! One fellow even came back to the table to discuss the recipe with me, which was very cute!

Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies - from Vive le Vegan! This is another one of my favorite cookie recipes - quick, easy, fail-safe, delicious, chunky looking... I just love 'em! This batch was Gluten free, which I've done before, and this recipe is really easy to make gluten free.

Japanese Flags!

I used the lemony vanilla cake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and made square cakes instead of cupcakes... then I cut them into little rectangles and iced 'em up like Japanese flags. There were some scraps left over (yippee!), so I got to taste these and they were so delicious! So lemony! When I was a little girl, I remember really loving lemon cake... maybe I'll make myself a lemon birthday cake this year. :)

After all those sweeties, I wanted to make sure there was at least a little something savory on the table... so Saturday morning I made this Asparagus-Tofu Tart with an Oat-Sesame Crust. I used a combination of two recipes from Vegetarian Modern Kitchen and Real Food Daily... Sort of a mash up! I saw something like this recently in a magazine, and I knew I wanted to veganize it for the bake sale! Somewhat to my surprise, this was the first thing to sell out. Now I'll have to make another one, just so I can have a bite and see how it turned out.

Here we are, just getting set up!

Nikki brought along a HUGE and glorious platter of espresso truffles - so chocolatey! so espresso-y! They were super delicious. They got a little melty in the sun after a while, so we hardened them up in the shade for a bit.

She also brought along Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and Mandarin Slices. GREAT IDEA! These were super popular item, and are definitely a good idea for future bake sales!

One more thing from Nikki - delicious Welsh Fruit Buns... featuring dried fruits soaked overnight in tea. Oooh la la! It was nice to have some things on the table that weren't super sweet, because apparently not everyone wants all-chocolate-all-the-time (??!! confusing?!). Ha!

Espresso Cookies!! I love the swirlies of chocolate in there... Nic made a TON of these (plus two loaves of banana bread), and they were very popular, so I'll remember for next time that coffee-enriched treats seem to go over well!

Dina busted out the moves, and made almond croissants and pain au chocolate. Amazeballs!

These were "Reesey Cupcakes" - chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, but filled with peanut butter on the inside! I like the carefully arranged peanuts on top. I was already quite distracted by these beauties, but I didn't even know about the peanut butter on the inside until the last one sold, which completely made me freak out! (baked by Dina!)

Dina's beautiful iced pumpkin cookies (so orange!), and Kristen's lovely peanut butter cookies - sprinkled with Big Sur sea salt!

Dina also made some great gluten free options: Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies and Pecan Pie Bars. I keep thinking we should make a list of what sold the best - and the Pecan Pie Bars would definitely be on that list, they were a big hit!

Love this picture! Keepin' Santa Cruz Weird! Purple hair + Vegan bake sale = perfect Santa Cruz moment. As you can see, we had great weather too... not too hot, not too cold... just right!

Laurie's Cowboy Cookies - coconut, pecans and chocolate chips were decadently HUGE and were seriously amazing looking. We didn't want to short-change our bake sale, so I didn't actually taste almost any of this good stuff... but those cowboy cookies were making eyes at me all afternoon.

Check it OUT. Isn't that just amazing? So gorgeous! Autumn's flat bread had Butternut Squash, Spinach, and apple with a roasted garlic and white bean spread. Man o man. I think we were all secretly hoping that no one would buy this and we would all be forced to eat it. But - fortunately for our fundraising endeavors and unfortunately for our tummies - this did not come to pass. Just looking at this picture is making me crazy all over again.

Can you even believe it? I wanted one of Autumn's soft pretzels so badly!! I couldn't believe how beautiful they were. I haven't had a soft pretzel in years... and these were just so fluffy and golden and I couldn't stop staring at them. I also received reports from happy customers that they were every bit as delicious as they looked. Amazing!

So, these cinnamon rolls were A-Mazing. Amazing amazing amazing! There was a scrap left in one of the pans, & we all got a taste... and seriously - the flavor was positively stunning. Gooey, sugary, perfect rise... I was totally in awe. Between these and the flatbread and the soft pretzels, Autumn pretty much rocked the yeasted goodies. She's got some mad skillz!

Cinnamon Rolls, Macaroons, Vanilla Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting!

I loved how the cupcakes looked like Japanese flags with the raspberries on them (did you do that on purpose, Laurie??). Hanna brought loads of delicious cookies - which somehow escaped documentation - but luckily these macaroons were captured! She brought macaroons (some dipped in chocolate, some plain), beautiful ginger cookies (*recipe on her blog!), and huge oatmeal raisin cookies... AND she did two emergency runs for us when we ran out of paper plates and napkins. Bonus thanks for that, Hanna!

I love this picture of Nikki with our table stocked full... and that sweet little girl contemplating all her delicious options!

Some of our friendly bakers and our vast array of goodies. I had only ever met these three gals online (over at the PPK forums), and it was so awesome to meet them all in person! Not only did we have a super successful fundraising endeavor, but I also made some super great new buddies. SO great!

Also, big thanks to Bookshop Santa Cruz for letting us set up out in front. It was such a great location - bustling with happy people! Bookshop is always my number one destination downtown, and I know I'm not alone because there were people streaming in and out all afternoon. Thanks so much, Bookshop!!

YUM! What would you choose??

Blondies! Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies!

Brownies! Oreo Brownies!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Blondies!

I was totally spellbound by the bounty and abundance of this platter - a CRAZY tempting array of cookies and bars to make you droooooooool! Most of these goodies were baked by Carrie... who deserves a special Baking Champ Award, considering her power went out for 5 whole hours on friday!!

Here she is snapping up all her beautiful shots. In addition to all the great goodies she brought, she was sort of like our official photographer! :)

It was really wonderful how many people helped bake... I think we had 10 bakers in all. So wonderful! One of the great folks who come to my yoga classes, Norah brought by two dozen chocolate cupcakes... with sprinkles!!

Here's a lovely close-up! As long as we are taking bake sale notes... let it be mentioned that EVERY single child picked out one of Norah's cupcakes. Apparently the small people are powerless against the magical allure of sprinkles. Good to know!

Huzzah! We stayed on one extra hour and sold out everything! This is our spontaneous eruption of joy upon selling our last two cookies!!

Thanks again to everyone who baked, who sent good vibes, and who came by to donate and purchase treats! It's so rewarding to put in so much work, and have the event be a huge success. Hopefully our contribution will help make a small, positive difference in the sea of need in Japan.

Gluten Free Baking

Recently I put together a little gluten-free Care Package of Love for my cousin. Of course there were some store-bought goodies in there... of both the sweet and savory varieties, but you know as well as I do that nothing beats homemade treats.

First up, I made these Maple-Flax Cookies from Ricki's blog. I didn't have any whole flax seeds, so I used a little extra ground flax and a little extra whole oats. Wow, these were so easy and came together quickly. They are crisp, like a ginger snap and have a great flavor. Sweet like a sweetie, but not overwhelmingly so. Sort of a grown-up cookie! Definitely something I'll make again!

I also made a batch of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Mary's blog. This is my absolute favorite "go-to" recipe for GF cookies. I LOVE these little buggers! This time, though, I didn't have a whole cup of peanut butter! Crisis in the homeland! How could this happen? In the midst of baking, I turned desperately to the fridge to see what I could find. In the end I settled for about 1/2 c. peanut butter, 1/4 c almond butter, and 1/4 cup tahini, and 5 scraped empty jars of nut butter. The good news? This was the most delicious and perfect batch EVER of these magical cookies! So next time, I think I'll make this accidental recipe change again. In fact, when the package arrived, I got a sweet message on the answering machine saying how great the package was... but especially those chocolate chip cookies... and that her husband thought they were the best cookies he'd ever had! Happiness!

And, finally, I made the Gluten-Free Blueberry Lemon Muffins, also from Ricki. These were incredible!! I couldn't believe they were gluten-free. This was my first experiment making GF muffins, and the total 100% success was very encouraging! They had a beautiful, light crumb... held together nicely, were moist, and had a gentle sweetness that was just right for a muffin - and not anywhere near cupcake territory. Perfect!

I did make a few of her suggested alterations based entirely on what was already in my pantry: I used sweetened dried blueberries instead of unsweetened. I used more brown rice flour instead of amaranth flour, which I don't have sitting around. Also, I used the agave instead of stevia - because, again, agave is something I keep in the cupboards and stevia isn't. Oh, I also added in about 1/2 tsp xantham gum, because I was a non-believer and wanted to be sure they would turn out. I will totally make these again, and I love knowing that I can make a delicious muffin for any of my GF loved ones.

Many thanks to my bloggy friends Mary and Ricki for doing the hard work on developing these delicious and reliable GF vegan recipes. And, three cheers for homemade goodies for all... even gluten-free vegans deserve a care package now and then!

The Escarole Situation, Soupy Week, Fancy Pants, and Convalescence Baking

Four Blog Posts all bundled into one!

As a follow up to my post about The Kale Situation, I'm finally following up with the promised "Escarole Situation." Late last fall, I decided to plant some escarole. I'd never had it, but I'd heard about it, and I never saw it at the farmers market so I could try it. So, I planted a whole row of it, from seed. Well, all these months later, I was having starting to have a serious Escarole Situation: about 10 HUGE, robust, abundant plants and me having absolutely no idea what to do with them. You can see my confusion!

Finally, I got a tip to just sauteed escarole with garlic, like any other green. So, I made up some of this delicious Roasted Seitan with Cipollini Onions and Balsamic Glaze (from Fresh Food Fast)...

... and served it up with a side of sauteed escarole. I thought it was okay to eat, but Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats took one bite and said "Yuck!" So, because I don't like to waste, I made myself eat his serving too - a solution I wasn't particularly eager to repeat. So, I gave away huge bags of the stuff to my friends who came to my Persian New Year party. That was a clever solution! But there was still a lot left over.

Finally, I got a tip that there was an escarole recipe in Veganomicon. It's funny because I looked through SO many of my international/Italian/mediterranean books looking for escarole recipes, when there was one in good ol' "Vcon" the whole time. So, I made up her dish, which is called something like "White Beans with Escarole," and - LO! - we both enjoyed it. Mr. VE&T did say "This tastes very healthy," with a slightly derogatory tone, but nonetheless he liked it enough to eat it. So I've got one more huge bag of escarole in the fridge and I think I'll whip this one up again. But, next fall, there probably won't be escarole growing in my garden!

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I've been really grooving on my kitchen time lately... and we had a week wherein I made a whole bunch of delicious soups. First there was the "Split Pea and Roasted Parsnips" soup from "Vegan World Fusion." This soup was really, really good. I don't use parsnips much, but they were a great addition to this soup.

Next up was the Cilantro-Asparagus Soup from the "Real Food Daily Cookbook," which I've made many times before. Love it love it love it. Simple, seasonal and very flavorful. Alongside the soup I made "Pasta alla Verde" (or something like that) from Vegan Italiano. Unfortunately, I just really can't say we liked that one. The pasta was a real dud, and it's pretty hard to make pasta no-fun-to-eat.

I also made a batch of this *delicious* Winter Minestrone with Parsley Pesto from "Modern Vegetarian Kitchen." It was a great soup - and the pesto really made it. Light and hearty all at once, somehow. It's funny to be eating "Winter" soup and also fresh strawberries from our garden all at once. Spring is crazy!

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One of my sweet pals broke her leg recently, which isn't very fun. So, in addition to bringing her lots of the aforementioned soups, I also wanted to make sure she had some sweeties to soothe the spirits. She's a real spelt and healthy-foodie gal, so I made the Ginger-Raspberry-Spelt Muffins from Vegan Brunch. YUM. These muffins were so quick and easy and so delicious, and were happily received!

After those muffins had been devoured, I made her another batch - Spelt Pistachio & Dried Cherry Muffins. I sorta based them off the Vegan Brunch recipe, but mixed it up quite a bit. I used some of my leftover homemade pistachio milk, added in a bunch of pistachios, some cardamom, and a big handful of dried cherries. They were SO successful, and I was pretty stoked! I don't switch up recipes too often, and it's exciting for me when my creative endeavors turn out well.

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I also had a little stint where I made recipes from Millenium Restaurant cookbooks two nights in a row on weeknights!! I was feeling like quite a fancy pants. First up, the Moroccan Crepes, from "The Millenium Cookbook." Pictured here is the delicious filling - made with a whole bunch of seasonal veggies, chickpeas, and many tasty spices. Beautiful, isn't it?

Then I made up the crepes, which were a cinch, and came out PERFECT. On top there, you see the very, very tasty "Tofu, Mint, & Cilantro Raita" (I made a 1/4 recipe). This recipe was all ready start to finish in under an hour, but really tasted top-notch!

The following night I made two recipes from "The Artful Vegan" - "Israeli Couscous Salad" & "Roasted Vegetables." These were two parts of a 4-part dinner menu, but together they made a lovely, quick and seasonal dinner meal. This Couscous Salad was out-of-this-freaking world! We loved it, and I most definitely look forward to making it again soon.

The Roasted Veggies were nicely spiced and more than just plain-ol-roasted-veg. It was a nice combo to have something fresh and something a little more hearty and savory.

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Last, but not least!, I made a batch of Mary's 5-Star Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for the yoga retreat I co-led this weekend. All the food at the retreat center is crazy delicious and vegan... and they make us amazing desserts at night, but some of us (you know who you are!) also like a little sweetie after lunch! So I made these delicious cookies, which were enjoyed by all! thanks again to Mary for such a flawless recipe!

Happy New Year! Happy No Rooz!

Happy New Year! Today is the Persian New Year, my most favorite holiday of the whole year. NoRooz is a beautiful holiday celebrating the arrival of Spring - full of symbolism about growth and rebirth and renewal. For many years now, I've celebrated NoRooz with family and friends, welcoming a new year at the moment of the spring equinox. This year was extra special because the equinox arrived here in California, quite conveniently, on a Saturday morning at 10:30, a perfect time for a brunch party! Of course, there were plenty of savory options, and plenty of sweeties too!

KukuSabzi, veganized! Kukusabzi is an omelette filled with LOADS of fresh herbs. In my efforts to veganize this classic dish, I've tried something a little different every year, but I think we finally have a real winner! I made a batch of the tofu omlette batter from Vegan Brunch, and mixed in: 1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 bunch dill, 1 bunch scallions, handful of fresh spinach leaves, about 1/2 cup fresh fenugreek leaves (all herbs must be minced and chopped to near-oblivion), 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/4 c zereshk/barberries (which need to be rehydrated in warm water for about 20 minutes before hand). Because of all the added moisture from the herbs, the kukusabzi took a bit longer to cook than the plain VB omelette regularly does, but MAN it was so delicious!

Ash-e-Reshteh - special soup for the new year (recipe here). I love love love this soup. It's PACKED full with good stuff - greens, beans, lentils, broth, herbs, noodles... mmm. I made a huge batch to ensure plenty for everyone and some leftovers for later! You can't tell from the picture, but this is my special GINORMOUS pot... just for special occasions.

Sabzi Polow - persian rice with fresh herbs. I mostly followed this recipe here (minus the fish, obvs) This was - by far - my most successful "tah digh" thus far in life. Tah Digh is the special crispy golden part of the rice on the bottom of the pan. It still needs a little more work, and I need a little more faith that it won't burn... but I'm so happy to finally make SOMETHING resembling genuine tah digh. Also, you'll notice that a lot of these New Year dishes are loaded with minced herbs - it's because the herbs are symbolic of Spring time... fresh little bursts of green!

This is "Hindu Kush Rice Bread," from "Silk Road, A Vegetarian Journey". The recipe was a bit confusing... but the final product was CRAZY GOOD. (And totally gluten-free for inquiring minds). The recipe said "form the dough into a ball" - but the batter was more like thick pancake batter. Hm.... befuddling. So, I added another cup of rice flour (I used half white rice flour, and half brown rice flour), and it was still not "ball-forming." I just heated up the griddle, used some spatulas to spread out flat-ish shapes and cooked it up. Turned out great! I used the spatula to press down a little after flipping, to make sure it would be cooked through. The batter had serrano pepper, black pepper, mustard seeds and scallions, so it packed quite a pretty little punch!

Classic Persian Salad - cukes, tomatoes, fresh red onion, fresh mint. Mmmmmmmmm. I even got to use the pretty little Persian Cucumbers that I bought on our international shopping expedition.

My aunt Laura brought along a super delicious fruit salad - berries, citrus (tangerines, blood oranges, and cara cara oranges!), pears, apples... mmmm.

Our friend Jasmine brought this GORGEOUS apple dish - apples, sugar syrup and rosewater. It was so, so, so good.

A pomegranate spritzer drink I concocted - two pints of fresh pomegranate juice from the farmer's market, with a big bottle of sparkling water, and a squeeze of fresh lime, with a few lime slices in there. So Good!!!

Special Chickpea Cookies. I followed this recipe.* I won't lie, this recipe was seriously irritating, but I think that's par for the course. These cookies are meant to be quite dry and crumbly, so working with the "dough" is pretty maddening at times. I cheated and added 1 extra tablespoon of rosewater, though I'm not sure it helped too much. But, they came out much better than my previous efforts based on other recipes, so I'm very grateful for that. *(For anyone interested, I roasted the flour myself - for about 10 minutes at 170 F. )

Pomegranate Walnut Cookies... these aren't traditional at all, in fact, I made them up! But, hey - with pomegranates and walnuts and cardamom, I'm sure no one would object. They turned out quite nicely indeed, and my little nephew Chris was especially into them.

Pomegranate Walnut Cookies

1/2 cup FINELY chopped walnuts (pretty much minced, almost a course meal)

1/2 c whole spelt flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 cup sugar

pinch salt

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1/3 cup pomegranate molasses

2 T canola oil

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2 Tbsp coarsely chopped walnuts or walnut halves

3-4 Tbsp raw/turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (chopped walnuts -> salt). In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the molasses and oil. Pour the wet into the dry and stir to combine. Have your raw sugar ready in a small bowl or shallow cup. Form into small walnut-sized balls and dip/roll the ball into the raw sugar, then place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or silpat. The cookies will spread, so place them about 3-4 inches apart from one another. After all the cookies are on the cookie sheet, take a walnut piece and gently press one walnut piece into the middle of each cookie - lightly flattening the cookie ball a little in the process. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the outer edges of the cookies are slightly darker. Yields about 20 3-inch cookies.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches!!! I was so stoked to find these wafer rounds at the Persian Market. I made up some pistachio-saffron ice cream, with a touch of rosewater for the filling. Not too heavy, and super fun to eat. I threw in some whole pistachios too, because I like nuts in my ice cream!

Sohan-as-ali, probably my most favorite new year treat of all! (recipe here) It's an almond brittle with rosewater and saffron... with chopped pistachios sprinkled on top. I used half brown rice syrup and half agave instead of the honey that is usually used. These sweeteners meant that the whole thing heated up a bit more slowly for some reason, but in the end I made a **perfect** batch of sohan. There are only 3 left!

And finally, I leave you with some scenes from the NoRooz decor... Beautiful Spring tulips from the farmers' market on the table...

... and here is the Haft Sin table that I set for this year - sprouts, candles, sumac, hyacinth, garlic, apples, jujubees, eggs (made of glass), ... all the essential elements to set the mood.

Happy New Year Everyone!