Sunday, August 05, 2007

Back in the kitchen!

Well, it really is nice to be home, after so much travelling and busy-ness... but it's REALLY nice to be back in the kitchen!

Here are a few of my recent creations...

This sorry picture is a result of my batteries dying and me resorting to Musty's inferior camera. However, the dinner was a smashing success!!! I made up a batch of Vegan Tofu Ricotta from the "Voluptuous Vegan" cookbook. I L-O-V-E that recipe. Then I steamed a bunch of chard from my garden & some zukes and green beans from the farmers market. I pureed the ricotta, veggies, a big handful of parseley & basil, and about 1/2 c of chopped up almonds. OH YEAH! It was so tasty. I've got a lot leftover for future fun. Then I stuffed that yummy goo into the cooked manicotti shells, and covered it generously with some delicious homemade tomato sauce. That tomato sauce was something special. Onions, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, and LOTS of the highest quality dry-farmed tomatoes. mmm. Musty and I devoured these bad boys!

Back in June, when it was my birthday, my great aunt and her daughter gave me the wonderful cookbook "Vegan World Fusion Cuisine." I had been eyeing that book for a while, and I was pretty excited to get a copy of it. I was especially excited, after so many weeks of not really cooking for myself, to bust it open and start trying out some recipes. These *delicious* numbers were the Tempeh Kabobs with BBQ sauce. My, my. They were very tasty and we both loved them. We also had some fresh corn with these, which was a nice combo. Musty was crazy for this BBQ sauce recipe, so I will probably be making it again and putting it to use in other ways too.

Aren't they beautiful?


Here's another great meal from the "Vegan World Fusion" cookbook... it's called "Maple Glazed Seitan." I used some RFD chicken-style seitan that I had in my freezer. It was really rich and tasty. I know it looks like crummy dog food... sorry about that! I promise you that it was tasty - a nice balance of sweet and spicy and tangy. I served it up with a delicious veggie-stocked salad, and some yummy beans.

My first morning home from Tahoe, I celebrated my homecoming by making a giant stack of crepes. Oh Yeah!! One of my most favorite things to eat in the whooooole world. I like to eat them with all sorts of good stuff... this one was stuffed with Whole Soy Frozen Yogurt "Black Cherry" flavor. Oh, so good.


I also had a few filled with this magical apricot jam. Our wonderful friend Gil made this and gave it to us. It's got apricot kernels in it... which impart a very subtle bitterness and flavor. Very nice.


On Sunday we had another meeting of our yoga book club, and I always make some delicious homemade vegan goodies. These are the Chocolate Pecan Chocolate Chippers from "Vive Le Vegan". MMMM! My little nephew CW helped me make them, and we pre-tested a few to make sure they were good. Despite his insistence that he "hates cookies with nuts" he ate two in record time. They were a big hit at the book club too.

I know that a few of you out there also enjoy doing yoga. In case you're interested, we read a wonderful book called "Living Your Yoga" by Judith Lasater.



16 comments:

  1. Those cookies are such a beautiful shade of chocolaty.

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  2. Wow! So many posts to catch up on... All the food looks great! I'll have to try that ricotta recipe. We have Voluptuous Vegan but hardly ever use it.

    Oh, and your Florida pics look so familiar. I grew up in Port St. Lucie which is only 20 miles or so south of Vero Beach.

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  3. I love the kebabs, and will definitely be looking for the book.
    Thanks :)

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  4. Hi Chris,
    I also had Voluptuous Vegan for a long time before I started using it... but actually it's great! The ricotta recipe is part of a recipe for raviolis or something. I haven't made the whole thing ever. However, i have found that the recipes in there are actually fantastic, and not always so hard to make after all.

    Also, I think maybe Port St. Lucie is where we went boating... but I'm not sure. How cool that you are from that same part of Florida!

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  5. Hi Amey!

    It's so nice to have you back, and I know exactly what you mean about being happy to be cooking again.

    Those kabobs look so fantastic! I have a question: what's a "dry farmed" tomato?

    Ok, now I'm off to read all of your recent posts- cool!

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  6. Amey, I've missed your blog so! I'm glad you're back and you're fixing up all those gorgeous colorful dishes that you excel at--and the crepes, and the cookies... yum!

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  7. Gorgeous food! Cookies and yoga, what could be better? I want to try kabobs! I've been frightened, but they look so good.

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  8. Hi Bazu!
    Hi Laura!
    Hi Neva!
    it's so nice to hear from you all again. I missed my blogger friends! :)

    Neva, don't be scared of kabobs... they are actually really easy and quick. It's a fun, summery dinner - especially if you have a barbecue.

    :)

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  9. Welcome back, Amey! What a wonderful summer you are having. I don't have Vegan World Fusion, but I think it's the most beautiful cookbook out there. Your food looks fabulous! Those cookies look extra chocolatey good!

    I have a question about the ice creme tasting, which I can't believe you found time to do. If you raised money, you certainly deserve it for your efforts, but I was wondering if you donated it.

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  10. Your happiness to be back in your kitchen shows with all this yummy food! I wish some of your apricot jam would spill onto one of those chocolate cookies!!

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  11. Hey there again! I just read your comment, and yes, let's start planning our secret plan! :)

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  12. What a coincidence, I made a manicotti with tofu (and cashew) ricotta on Sunday! Yours looks excellent. I'll have to check out that recipe. Your kebobs look wonderful as well, I'll have to check out Vegan World Fusion....so many cookbooks out there!

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  13. Anonymous12:34 PM

    great to have you back!!

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  14. I should have been more tactful in asking my question. I apologize. I should have asked if this was a fundraising event or just something of your own doing to raise vegan awareness.

    Sorry if I offended you. I certainly didn't mean to.

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  15. Hi Diann!
    I'll put this comment in both places, so you'll be sure to see it.

    Oh my! You certainly didn't offend me... it takes an awful lot to offend me! But I think maybe I just forgot to answer you. Sorry!

    No, it's not really a fundraiser... it's mostly just something we do to raise vegan awareness. Our main goal is to break even, and then if we make any extra income we save it for our next vegan event. Does that make sense?

    We have thought about doing some explicit fundraisers though... but at this point it's just a matter of time and energy.

    :) xo!
    Amey

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  16. Those cookies look especially delicious - what a good compliment to such a great book! I'd love to start a yoga book club someday - that sounds like a lot of fun.

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