Hobbits In Rivendell

Anything Upside-Down

May 22, 2013

11:42 am

People have their misty, water-colored food nostalgia; our Uncle Phil talked frequently about the cakes of his childhood, thus we ended up seeking out dusty bottles of rum, jars of scary-red maraschino cherries, and having myriad cans of pineapple (and we haven’t yet tested the theory that it’s better with fresh) on hand at all times, lest an upside-down mood should strike. Uncle Phil has been gone awhile now, but every once in awhile, we get the urge to upside-down something. Something red, yes, but not artificially so. And we did without the rum. Just a quick trip to the freezer netted us the ingredients for Cardamom-Cranberry Upside-Down Cake.

This was a traditional mishmash of two recipes – one from Kraft, and a borrow from our own brains, not surprisingly. Kraft recipes seem to fear the inclusion of, actual spices, so you know we had to add cardamom. We state the recipe we began with, and include what actually happened during the baking process… The word “whatever” is used a great deal (which probably drives our friend Lorne UP A TREE, but it is what it is, dear friend. You like us anyway, right?) Consistency in a cake of this kind comes from creaming the butter and sugar, not about the weight of the flour. It’s an upside down cake – don’t expect a high-rising bundt, because that’s just not how this cake goes. Okay?

Sleepy, sloe-eyed cardamom pairs beautifully with the piquant burst of wakeful zest that is cranberry, and their happy do-si-do begins in a saucepan, where the tartness is caramelized with lovely brown sugar. Who cares that we used berries that had been in the freezer since Thanksgiving? It’s fine to eat seasonally in terms of shopping, but yay for freezers and dragging out the typical flavors of fall. Plus, since it’s nearly eleven on a fine May morning and it’s a whopping 56°F/13°C, it feels autumnal in the shade, anyway (what IS this wind???).

Cardamom & Cranberry, Upside Down

Preheat oven to 350°F or 175°C

1/2 C margarine or butter PLUS 1/3 cup of margarine or butter

1 C brown sugar, well packed, PLUS one half cup

4 eggs, Flax or Chicken – we used flax*

4 Tbsp grated orange zest – we used about 7, but the Heavy-Handed With Spices among us do that

7 Tbsp OJ – we used Odwalla tangerine, because that’s what was in the fridge

1 Ground Cardamom pod – green hull, black inside bits, and all, We use a coffee grinder. No whole pod? Use 1/2 tsp.

2 C Whole Wheat AP flour. Or, just AP flour. Or, just whole wheat. Or, cake flour. Whatever

2 tsp Baking Powder

1.5 C cranberries, fresh or frozen, whole or chopped

If you’re using Flax Eggs, make them first. Much of the time we just grind our flax seeds, mix them with the required water, and just dump them into the cake with the wet ingredients. Non-dairy foodies probably grind their teeth, but remember that word “whatever?” Um, yeah. Here’s the right way to do Flax Eggs: The ratio is 1 Tbsp of ground flax to 3 Tbsp of water = 1 egg. Make up your eggs in a small bowl, and let them sit, covered, in the fridge for about fifteen minutes until you’re ready to add them. This allows the flax to absorb the water, appropriately thicken and get goopy, and better imitate the chicken egg effect you’re after, in terms of binding and raising. Or, you can be a heathen like us, and just dump them in – but foodies do say this way is better. Up to you.

Next, line the bottom of your springform pan with parchment, and give it a quick spray of some sort of cake release – PAM or otherwise. And yes, this may cause mild swearing and gnashing of teeth. We put the metal circle on the paper and trim it after we get the spring tightened. Because it’s just too annoying the nine other ways we tried it.

FINALLY, you can get to the easy bit – the cooking. In a small saucepan, bring together 1/2 C margarine, 2 Tbsp orange juice and 1/2 c brown sugar over a medium flame, until you’ve achieved a slow lava bubbling. Add 1/2 c. cranberries, and stir constantly. You’re looking for a caramelization effect, so you’ll want to keep this stirring thing going for about fifteen minutes – enough time to create a thickly bubbling, deeply brownish-red sauce that is thickening, but not burnt. Take this bit slowly; it’s annoying to have to start over. If you feel you’re too thick, add a little OJ, or lower the flames and set aside to cool slightly, even if fifteen minutes haven’t passed. When it’s reached perfection, spoon it into the center of your springform, and smooth it in an even circle.

In a small bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add your eggs, zest, and OJ

Bring your wet mixture together with your flour and baking powder and cardamom grounds a little at a time – since this is the cake method, you can beat the heck out of the stuff if you’d like, but small lumps are okay – you’ll have zest lumps, either way so stop when the batter stiffens

Finally, stir in your cranberries. Ours were still frozen, and stiffened the batter still further, which made it interesting getting it into the springform, but we got there.

SET YOUR SPRINGFORM ON A SILPAT OR OTHER OVEN-PROTECTOR. When you’re working with berries in a springform, that’s just the name of the game – it will leak, almost always. Bake 1 hr. and 10 minutes, until the top (or really, the bottom that you can see) is deep golden brown. We checked our cake with a bamboo skewer at the one hour mark, but you know your oven best.

There is something buttery and lovely about this purely vegan cake, which won approval from the vegan-leery in our group. It’s not “health food” by any means – cake is cake, people – but it provides a healthier choice in that the Smart Balance margarine has less cholesterol, and the flax brings a bit of added fiber. Plus those gorgeous cranberries – yum! Tart-sweet, butter, dense, moist crumb – a really lovely late-Spring treat. Best eaten outdoors, in the company of friends.

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Is Riz

by TadMack

May 15, 2013

10:26 am

2 Comments on Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Is Riz

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Thought we were joking about the lawn, didn’t you.

When you have a 4’x 12′ strip of grass that masquerades as a lawn, it’s hard to become too exercised over it getting longish. It’s full of crab grass and clover, and provides us with tiny yellow flowers, and we rather like it the tangle that it tends to be – but we also try not to scare the neighbor too badly, so we’re bound to try and weed and feed and shoo away the mushrooms that grow luxuriantly in a weird patch toward one edge.

Suburban gardens can be so gorgeous. We’ve got such plans for container gardens and bird feeders (high enough so Evil Squirrel Trio doesn’t eat them all again) and bird baths – as soon as we finish doing yard things for others, and get our deck fixed. OY, the deck has been a long project – made longer still by the fact that this is a rental house, and you have to do acrobatics and stand on one leg to get things done, even if they were promised to be done when you moved in almost a year ago. The project was started then apparently it was abandoned for other emergencies in the cold snap of October, so we’ve had to start over with our property manager, getting bids and such. It’s a real pain, but this time we’re going to follow through with the time-honored NAG so it gets done.

We’ll have late veg this Spring – but that’s what comes of having to rely on the schedules of others to get your garden in! We’re happy enough to go with containers on the deck, flowers and butterfly grasses and rosemary and such. The prevalence of soil sold in tidy bags (no longer called “compost,” and we’ll miss the John Innes, to be sure) makes it all so easy.

Meanwhile the roses are blooming and blooming and blooming. We’re a little amused and slightly worried that each bush is now rocking two kinds of roses… yes, the rootstock, despite our wholesale whacking back this winter, has grown out. One particularly thorny, scrappy white bush has produced such loveliness in terms of smell – and now the perfectly creamy white blossoms – still way too thorn-ridden for “nice” gardens – are pulling that sweetness into more uniformly perfect petals – somehow a slightly different shade of white. Bone white roses? Who knew. And the reds are showing purples and peach centers, white what were huge pink roses are now also… pink and white. Don’t know what to do about this, or if one must DO anything – we’re just deadheading as fast as we can, and taking pitchers of them to friends and the few family members not currently inundated. Our fig tree is leafing up, but no figs on it just yet – possibly because of The Trio of Evil always leaping around in the branches, but we’re not sure. We certainly have bottlebrush and hummingbirds enough for anyone! The aerial battles continue unabated, as do the nosy visitations – these little upstarts rather like hovering while one is near the roses, and woe be unto you if you don’t fill their feeder fast enough. Between the fox, the raccoon, the woodpecker and the tiny dive-bombing hummers, it’s an active yard.

We’re still in the stage of being aware of just how easy gardening is in these parts – the Isle of Albion has so many shades of green it dazzles your eyes, but we’re pleased with any bit of warmth that brings out the shades of golden brown – and also makes the tomatoes non-crunchy. ☺ Contentment in all things, yes? Yes.

& Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

by TadMack

May 13, 2013

8:04 am

4 Comments on & Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

California, Life, Uncategorized

Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine times out of one hundred, people are okay: definitely quirky, truly strange, undoubtedly weird, and yes, perhaps freakish, awkward, sometimes repellent — but not abusive, not cruel, not insane, not homicidal. Each time I leave the house, I want to remember that. Each time I interact with strangers, I want them to remember that. Each time my eyes meet those of a stranger’s, I want to remember kindness. To that end, I am going to do thirty-one things, ninja-sneaky, to keep faith with peace. Thirty-one things to remind myself that we are people of the light. If we walk in the light, not everyone is out to get us. If we light our lights, we make the night brighter for everyone.

At the New Year we determined that there was something better, perhaps, to focus on in our daily lives than the things the news media wanted us to look at – and while things have continued to happen in news cycles this year, it’s been good to look up and away from where our focus is drawn and to re-see that, around us, most of the time it’s not like that.

Case in point:

Last Thursday, T. was working on laundry, in a desultory fashion, and between folding clothes and reading realized that she was hearing loud voices and helicopters. She assumed that a.) there was some sort of traffic thing going on, and people were being med-evac-ed somewhere, and b.) that the yard guys for Mrs. Bingham had the radio up really loudly.

Imagine her horrified surprise to go out to get the mail and discover that it was c.) none of the above. There were, instead, nine sheriff’s cars slewed across the road at various angles, cutting off access to the street, and the SWAT team in the driveway of the house across the street.

Ironic that the neighbor had exchanged smiles with us about the turkey antics just the week before. It seemed so odd to now know his name, courtesy of the loudspeaker, and for hours T. heard over and over again, “We don’t want to hurt you. No one wants to go in and get you. Just follow our instructions, and come out with your hands up where we can see them.”

Oh, dear.

From about 2pm – 5pm, this went on, and then as what looked like a tank pulled up and disgorged men in camouflage and helmets, officers began running around. T. almost wanted to take pictures, but was torn between watching, and moving away, unhappy to see crowds gathering on the other end of the barricade that she could see, smoking, and talking in groups as if someone was filming. This is a person’s real life! she railed at them silently, but they didn’t move.

And then, a peremptory banging on her own door. An officer in sunglasses, carrying a rifle, gesturing at her to come out. Another man in camouflage, standing in her bushes, pointing a long gun at the neighbor’s house. A moment of hot panic as T. tried to hurry away, was redirected away from the sidewalk, and cut through side yards and the neighbor’s place, shadowed by an officer behind and an escort in front, still pointing that gun. Relief at seeing D. waiting impatiently at another barricade, in the car.

And, another long, long wait. At least this time we were together. And, D. had stopped by the library, so T. had a book. We sat in the car and cautiously met some of our neighbors, also sitting in their cars. We watched neighbors open their homes to each other, as bathroom and food needs wore on. The police went into homes and grabbed diabetes medication when one neighbor needed it, and spots on the front lawn were generously shared. And we waited. And we waited.

And we jumped – gasped – at the first flash-bombs. And heard the whistle of the gas as twelve canisters crashed through the windows. We waited on edge, in silence. And then… it was done.

The first of the neighbors were allowed into the house on foot at 9:45. We were the last in, at 10 p.m., and then were allowed to retrieve the car from the end of the block at 10:20. Suffice it to say that we were weary beyond bearing. T. slipped into bed and dropped like a stone, while D. prowled the house, watching the activity beyond the bright spotlights, as the officers cleared the scene.

One of us could barely rise the following morning. One of us rose all too early. And thus we have 4 AM Macaroons.

The craze for the 3 Ingredient Cookie has rolled from baby blogs to vegan challenge blogs, and we’ve had various variations on them – oatmeal, banana and raisin, oatmeal, banana, cranberry – even peanut butter. D. went a bit above three ingredients, but the spirit was the same – most of the sweetening comes from banana, and there’s a bit of fiber, a bit of sweet, and a simplicity that works well with a cup of tea.

4 AM MACAROONS

16 oz. – 1 lb. finely shredded coconut

2 lg. bananas

1 c. Sugar

1/2 c. Flour

1/2 c. Water

1/4 c. Canola

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Baking Pwdr

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ginger

Chocolate chunks, optional

The beauty of coconut is that it’s spiky, so it’s very easy to mash the ingredients together on this one. It creates a sticky paste, which D. rolled out and then scored with a pizza cutter into tiny, two-inch squares. He then topped each with a chocolate chunk, and baked them at 325°/170° for a half hour on a Silpat. Your time may vary. D. thinks next time he’ll let them brown a little more.

You may think that this story proves counter to the idea that the world is not as dark or bad as the media would have us believe – but it doesn’t. Though they left the house as neat as they could, sweeping the street and clearing away, things were broken when the neighbor was removed from his mother’s house. Friday morning, she stood in the drive and wept, as neighbors gathered round, hugged her, and, with face masks, buckets, and vacuums, took the first few steps to restoring the place to rights. By afternoon, the windows were boarded up, the carpets cleaned, and the beginnings of order emerged. Small doings, perhaps, in the scheme of a life. But, big things, when that life has been so brutally and publicly disrupted.

And though we neighbors were frightened, cowed, horrified and inconvenienced by turns, this was a minor blip in the landscape of our lives. Some people have to live this way all the time. There were dogs and robots and SWAT teams, and no one died. We are unimaginably blessed.

So, we walk on, with hope in our hearts.

EDITED TO ADD: Full story, since many are asking.

Gardening & …Guinea Fowl?!

by TadMack

May 3, 2013

11:54 am

2 Comments on Gardening & …Guinea Fowl?!

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From someone who routinely finds typographical errors in all sorts of media, the discovery that the paper misidentified a bird in Benicia as a guinea fowl was a little horrifying.

“But, that’s a turkey!” we protested. And then realized that maybe we’d better have some back-up for our protest, because, after all, we have no biology degrees. Still, the huge, crazy toms currently displaying all kinds of aggro-pretty at 6:30 in the morning on our street don’t look like any guinea fowls we’ve ever seen. And, we’ve actually seen some. In zoos and on conservation ranches, as those babies aren’t at ALL native to this continent – hello, Africa?.

Now, turkeys, oh, yes. They’re from around these parts.

Remember, they were nearly our national bird – eagles do seem a less ungainly choice.

And, anyone in a buckled shoe-and-hat outfit knows that the Pilgrims ate them. (Okay, so that’s a total lie, but work with us, here.)

At this time of year, turkeys are everywhere: moulting, displaying, and viciously protecting that clutch of eggs they MIGHT have secreted somewhere two blocks from here, but next to which YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY STILL WAY TOO CLOSE. All day long, we can hear them making little coughing-barking-chirruping noises, challenging stray dogs, passing cars, and scaring the crud out of pedestrians. Poor tetchy, crazed, irritable wee beasties, being bombarded by our hummingbirds and lambasted by our local skunk (oh, that’s another non-fragrant story. All sorts of excitement going on down our hill on these warm nights – all the windows open – gah!), and glared at by the neighborhood – even at their worst, which has got to be now – (although last summer when they were on everyone’s rooftops may be a close second) – no one’s bothering them. Either we’re all softies, or we can afford to ignore them, in favor of shooing away the non-existent guinea fowl…

You talkin’ to me? I didn’t think so.

The odd pattern of rain and weather, broken machinery and other annoyances mean that though the “field” had been turned twice, but none of our “crops” are in — STILL! It’s as if we’ve forgotten how to pull this off! Despite weeks of prep, we have no pictures of vigorously growing plants in our yard – and knee-high lawn and rampant weeds in our backyard, oy, but we’re hopeful that finally we can get that all squared this weekend so we can start enjoying the weekends again, and awaiting the fruits of our many labors. Or, D’s labor, anyway.

We’re looking forward to growing some lovely salad greens and some unusual onions and stuff – fingers crossed that we pull it together! Until then…happy weekend, May the Fourth be with you, and Viva Puebla Day, aka Cinco de Mayo, whereon we raise a well-guacamoled tortilla chip to the sound trouncing of French forces by Mexican soldiers in 1862. Outside we go! There is much to celebrate.

Cheers,

D&T

Word(less)-y Wednesday

by TadMack

May 1, 2013

6:05 pm

1 Comment on Word(less)-y Wednesday

Miscellany

Famous
By Naomi Shihab Nye
The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.

“Famous” from Words Under the Words: Selected Poems (Portland, Oregon: Far Corner Books, 1995). Copyright © 1995 by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Dirt, Water, Sun, & Time

by TadMack

March 31, 2013

12:40 pm

3 Comments on Dirt, Water, Sun, & Time

Uncategorized

For all that we’re citizens of this digital world, we don’t really trust it.

We’ve learned to deal with social media to the extent of ignoring it. We’ve realized that, between them, Google and Amazon have made a pact to swallow up the earth whole. As users, we make an uneasy peace with Craigslist – or Freecycle – and heed the warnings about meeting in busy parking lots and well-lighted places, just in case. Nine times out of ten, everything is fine, and the largely lawless digital world flickers on.

As non-supporters of social media, the Hobbits still view online dating with deep suspicion.

Which only makes sense. By nature somewhat introverted, the whole idea of meeting strangers is, to a Hobbit, somewhat daunting, and on a bad (READ: cynical) day, abhorrent. So, it’s a surprise to us to count the number of friends we’ve made online, despite our distrust of the digital world for making lasting connections.

There’s Elle, and her brilliant and funny “Sweetie,” with whom we truly enjoy spending all too infrequent time in the North Bay. There’s Kelly, down south, Kansas up north, and Jacquie even further north, with whom we’ve swapped seeds, stories, recipes, and more. There’s Bake My Day and Healing Hands. There’s Nami-Nami with whom we spent time with in Scotland (jet-lagged and dazed) and in Estonia (slightly less jet-lagged, still dazed), there’s Saints and Spinners who met us in an airport and waited with us between planes – the list goes on. We’ve shared so much of our lives with people we haven’t met, yet through swapping recipes or reminiscences about our slightly nomadic lives, we’ve made connections.

This isn’t even counting all of T’s colleagues and writer-friends who also blog. It’s a little crazy, when you count all of them – two of them have made room for us in their homes, sight unseen, and over we came. Just from knowing each other through our words.

So, it should not have been astounding to have a visit from a not-yet-met blog friend feel so much like having extended family over to visit.

We did all a Hobbit’s favorite things – baking, and eating. Watching things and eating. Playing with kites, and eating. And all sitting in the same room, silently reading … and eating.

We introduced a New Yorker to See’s. She introduced us to Hedonist. We fell into sugar comas.

We talked about all of the things we wish we could do, we hope to do, and we expect to do someday. And tried to put our dreams in some sort of sequence so that they could more frequently meet reality. And planned for our next trip to visit more friends we’ve never met.

We’ve pushed off our trip to Scotland again.

The plan was to go in May, but we’ll more likely visit in the autumn when the weather is probably not going to be as nice, but we’ll have gotten the garden set up to where we can leave it. It’s a little surreal that we can let go of our plans so easily – plans that, weeks ago, were sometimes all that kept us going, but the reality is that our friends and “family” in Scotland aren’t sitting still with baited breath, waiting for us. (Some of them are actually planning 2014 trips to the U.S.), and we’ve been digging in and trying to make our living here. Life can only go forward, so onward we go. We’re looking forward to outwitting the frequent showers and getting the garden settled in – as soon as the rototiller stops dying. We’re anticipating a few days in Yosemite at the end of the month, reacquainting ourselves with the ten thousand waterfalls sure to be melting and thundering to the valley floor by then, and we’re paging eagerly through seed catalogues and imagining our food dryers and canning jars packed full.

It’s hopeful, these anchors to reality, in the digital world. Some things are still true: friendships. Dirt. Water. Time. Growth.

Blog Reading (and, erm, writing)

by David T. Macknet

March 14, 2013

8:13 pm

2 Comments on Blog Reading (and, erm, writing)

Miscellany

First off, apologies are due to all of you who follow this blog. There isn’t really any excuse for not writing to you all, except that, well, life has gotten a bit busy: D. has begun a new job (which he’s enjoying very much), we’re trying to squeeze in time to prep the garden, we’re doing choir … and, well, we’re no longer “abroad” so are struggling a bit to find things to put up here. Yes, we could do food … and we like doing food … but we’d have to have time to do some baking other than just what we make all the time.

We’ll find our balance here soon, promise!

Now, on to the crisis du jour: idiot Google has decided that they are retiring Google Reader. For ~~some~~ most, this isn’t an issue, because you don’t even know what it’s for. For those who read lots of online content, though, it’s been the easiest way to manage to keep up.

So, without further ado, here’s how to switch from Reader to something else (we’ll be trying Brief, in FireFox).

Step 1: Export your Reader Subscriptions This is a needlessly complex process, at this point, because idiot Google decided that they had to change the process right when most people would be using it. It now takes quite a few steps, rather than simply going to “manage subscriptions” and choosing “export.” Still, start with that:

Then click “create archive” and wait for it to do its thing.

When it’s complete, click “download” and save your .zip file somewhere (or just open it – we only really want one file from it).

All we’re interested in is the “subscriptions.xml” file, which you should save somewhere convenient (and rename to be a “.opml” file, later).

Step 2: Install Brief. If you want to try Brief, download and install the Brief add-on from Mozilla. You’ll need to restart FireFox before using it.

Step 3: Set your FireFox preferences to use Live Bookmarks Brief isn’t necessary to use Live Bookmarks – they’re built into FireFox – but Brief gives you a different way of reading them.

Step 4: Open Brief Brief gives you another little icon, to the right of your search bar. Click it to open Brief.

Step 5: Rename your .xml file from step 1 to “subscriptions.opml” and import it. The initial Brief page will have asked if you wanted to import anything, but if you missed that, click the little “tools” icon in Brief to import the .opml file you’ve obtained from the perfidious Google.

You now have the ability to read feeds, via Brief.

This isn’t an ideal solution if you use the “Starred Items” feature in Google Reader, particularly if you rely on it as heavily as I do. I depend upon it to work up my “links” posts (more about that process here), and it’s quite laborious even with Reader in place. With Reader gone, well, I’ll be searching for another solution.

On the bright side: since I won’t be using Reader any longer, and I can’t use Google Chat from work, I now have no reason to sign into Google! Yes, they own FeedBurner, which powers the email subscriptions to our sites, but they’re gradually driving us away. I can’t say I’ll miss them, except for Reader

-D

Uncompromised (vegan) Excess

by TadMack

February 12, 2013

1:38 pm

2 Comments on Uncompromised (vegan) Excess

Recipe

Happy 12th! On this, the forty-third day of the Gregorian calendar, Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born, we arrived two days into The Year of the Snake (Gung Hay Fat Choy, incidentally), and the day was named Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, or Pączki (pronounced punts-key) Day, if you’re Polish or on the East Coast. If you’re in the UK or its Commonwealth nations, it’s simply Pancake Day.

It’s always interesting when traditional celebrations become unmoored from the facts of the tradition. The pancakes – pączki, doughnuts, blintzes or beignets – are symbolic. We’re supposed to be indulging in excess before the simplicity and austerity of Lent. What’s funny is that in the U.S., most people don’t do anything about Mardi Gras unless a.) they’re going to NOLA for the big parade/party/drunkfest, or b.) if they’re Catholic/otherwise liturgical, and it’s part of their religious observance. As we’re neither big on crowds, hedonism or New Orleans, nor are we liturgy people (more’s the pity), until we moved to the UK, we didn’t do the whole pancake thing. However! February in Scotland, with its relentless drip and endless dreich drove us to a great need for celebration. We were SO prepared for an excuse for sweetness and butter. On with the pancakes!

Hold up a moment, though. Even a planned excess has to come with a tiny compromise, or tomorrow will be more than regrettable. Today’s food of revelry is going to contain no eggs, and no milk… does that mean it’s no longer a celebration food? How on earth do you make pancakes without dairy? Or, worse, what if you wanted crepes or blinis, known for their thinness and egg-and-milk laden batter? Your answer, dear people, is FLAX SEED. (Or, opposite the pond, LINSEED.)

Flaxseed Crepes

2 cups flour

6 cups water

2 Tbsp flaxseed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon extract

1 Tbsp oil

Spray oil, like PAM, to lightly oil pan

Grind flaxseed

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth

Let mixture sit while your VERY lightly oiled pan is heating

Ladle out a serving of batter (ladle or 1/4 c. measure) and tilt the pan to coat surface with batter

Fry on one side until the edges start to peel up and the center

Flip and fry on the other side for about 1/2 the time you fried the first side

The vegan approximate of ricotta is a package of silken tofu, fork mashed, and chunkily blended with 1/3 tsp. almond extract, vegan sour cream (like Tofutti brand), and a pinch of sugar and salt. If you’re looking for a vegan filling for a savory blintz, here’s a tasty one. If you are merely avoiding eggs, regular cream cheese can be used as a filling.

We covered our blinis with hot orange or apricot syrup, which we got by popping a jar of jam into the microwave. The crepes/blinis were surprisingly light and delicious, and nobody who ate them missed the egg and milk at all.

So now, eat, drink, and be merry. Enjoy your vegan excess, for tomorrow… we diet!

Double Chocolate Cookies

by David T. Macknet

January 28, 2013

3:04 pm

4 Comments on Double Chocolate Cookies

Recipe

In the spirit of demonstrating that vegan baked goods can be just as good or better than the alternative (using eggs), D. decided to take advantage of the after-holiday sale on chocolate chunks. These cookies … well, they’re nearly gone, after the ravening hordes visited yesterday.

3 Cups Flour

1 Cup Cocoa Powder

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 Cups Sugar

1.5 Cups Margerine

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Instant Coffee

3 Tbsp Flaxseeds, Ground

1/4 Cup Water

1 tsp Orange Zest

1 bag Chocolate Chunks (12 oz)

Cream butter and sugar

Mix in wet ingredients and flaxseed

Mix in dry ingredients

Mix in chocolate chunks

Shape into balls using a scoop or a pair of soup spoons, leaving the space of one ball between each cookie

Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies

Cool on a wire rack until set

The coffee and orange zest are subtle enough that you can’t really tell they’re there unless you’re told (we tested this on everybody who tried them). The chocolate chunks are just a bit sweeter than the cookies themselves, adding enough of a blast of sweet to make these interesting rather than over-the-top in terms of sugar. All in all, this is a good recipe to hang onto, and very addictive!

-D & T

Ginger-Spice Crackle Cookies

by David T. Macknet

January 11, 2013

2:29 pm

2 Comments on Ginger-Spice Crackle Cookies

Baking, Recipe

These cookies are something of a combination of pfefferneuse cookies and ginger crackle cookies. They were going to be simply ginger crackles, but we didn’t have enough molasses (hence the honey in the recipe). Since the recipe was already going to be different, D. added more spices than called for, using the delicious Vietnamese Cinnamon our friends A & K gave us for Christmas (“true” cinnamon, rather than cassia – flavorful instead of just hot), and adding in some anise oil (also from A & K) just because.

These could probably have benefitted from some fresh and/or candied ginger, as well as the powdered. They are complex in flavor, and chewy (because of the honey). They’re also perhaps a tiny bit too sweet (also because of the honey). Also (note to self), “grease-proof paper” is not the same thing as “parchment paper” – if you use grease-proof paper, be sure to spray some non-stick cooking spray before putting down the cookies, as otherwise you’ll be fighting to get them to release.

One other thing to note: baking these on a cookie sheet gives them less lift and less “crackle,” plus turns the bottoms a bit too dark. If you have a silicone baking sheet, do use it. We’ve found it’s easiest to use parchment paper (so you can roll everything out all at once) and to slide that onto the baking sheet, leaving the baking sheet in the oven directly on the rack.

1 1/2 Cups margarine

2 Cups granulated sugar

2 Tbsp flaxseed, ground

2 Tbsp water

1/2 Cup molasses

1/2 Cup honey

5 Cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 tsp ground ginger

4 allspice berries, ground (grind with the flaxseeds)

4 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon (or 3 tsp “regular” cinnamon)

4 drops anise oil

dash nutmeg

Granulated sugar for rolling

Cream sugar and margarine

Mix in water, flaxseed, spices, salt, molasses, and honey

Mix in flour and baking powder

Shape into a round and divide into 8 pieces

Shape each piece into a round and divide into 8 pieces again

Shape each piece into a round and roll in granulated sugar – do not flatten

Bake on silicone baking sheet at 350°F / 165°C for 12-14 minutes

Let cool thoroughly before eating

We didn’t do so much in the way of baking this year, still having not quite settled into the kitchen. This is an effort to truly inhabit the kitchen for something other than simply sustenance.

-D & T

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