International Care Packages + More!!

Over at the PPK, from time to time, we have organized swaps. You enter in your name and what sorts of special goodies you can't find in your area that you'd like to receive... and also what kind of special goodies you have that you could share with others. Well I got paired up with the super awesome Efcliz of "Cooking The Vegan Books," and she sent me some awesome goodies!

Unpacked!! Mini super-cute papadams, Ras-el Hanout spice mix, HobNobs, Marzipan bar (chocolate covered and with orange!), marmite, white chocolate buttons, a yummy looking malt loaf with fruits, two white chocolate bars, *rainbow candles!*, English mustard (yum!), gummy candies, marmite rice cakes (this was a good idea, because I have been a little scared of marmite, but these snacks were an easy introduction, and they are very yummy - so soon I will break open my marmite packet and try it on some toast!), Reggae nuts!, & caramelized cookies. It's so much fun. Most of all I am totally head-over-heels in LOVE with those white chocolate bars. Wow. They are really, really good. I thought I would use them for baking, but instead I think I will slowly nibble away at them and savor each and every bite. Thanks Efcliz!

Meanwhile, aside from my postal adventures, our tomatoes haven't petered out quite yet... so we're still on a high-tomato-consumption plan around here. I noticed last week at the farmer's market a dark and foreboding sign: "Last Week For Basil". AAAAAh! Say it ain't so! Well, it is so, and I can probably deal with it. One way I dealt with it was to purchase said basil and run home and make some delicious pizzas. In rainbow order, of course.

Also, I recently made these cuties. Some of you long-time readers may have noticed that I haven't been doing as much baking as I used to. Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats has really changed his diet and his efforts at watching calories have had a positive impact on the whole House of Good Repute*. But last week, in my Tuesday night yoga class, we discovered that we had four birthdays within about a week of each other... so I decided to have a little birthday celebration! We've got a couple gluten-free folks in that class, so naturally I wanted my treats to be enjoyed by all. I turned to the timeless classic, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and made a half-batch of both the gluten-free vanilla cuppers and the GF chocolate cuppers, and then marbled them. Because marbled is more fun and special than plain. I put chocolate frosting on them, but they looked prettier like this (my frosting piping skills apparently need a lot of work)! I think this was my first experiment with baking GF cupcakes and the results were so encouraging - great cupcakes loved and enjoyed by everyone! Hoorah!

* That's the name of our house. I like houses with names.

Finally... Last But Not Least! I am gearing up for round four of VeganMoFo. Starting in November, I will attempt to blog everyday for the whole month. Furthermore, I have big plans. I will be blogging "Around The World In 30 Days," featuring a different meal from a different country every day for the whole month. In geographical order! Because I am nerdy that way. I've been rifling through my extensive cookbook collection, and got a huge stack of books out of the library and I'm hard at work planning which recipes to cook and which countries to feature. It's hard to pick!