I Knew I Forgot Something

Welcome to today's VeganMoFo trip down Memory Lane. Back in 2008, I offered to bake for everyone who sponsored me in that year's AIDS Walk. It ended up taking me ages to make something for everyone and even longer to remember to blog about it. Even longer = until today = over a year. Oops. Sorry, Internet! Better late than never, here's a small sample of what I made to thank the people who contributed.

It may be hard to tell, because they're all squished together on the stackable cooling racks, but that's seven dozen chocolate chip cookies.  That's eighty-four cookies! Some were hand delivered in NYC, but most were shipped to far off lands like Los Angeles and Barbados.

That recipe from the PPK is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe so far. All the ingredients are very basic and the cookies come out nice and crunchy. The first time I made them, I had some crumbling issues, but making them a bit smaller took care of that. I'm pretty sure this recipe will be in Isa and Terry's upcoming book, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Several of my coworkers contributed, but wanted something healthier than baked goods. They often eye my lunches and express interest in trying some of the things I make. One thing that everyone agreed sounded good (because it is) is the Chickpea Broccoli Casserole from Vegan With a Vengeance. It's also incredibly easy and pretty cheap to make and relatively healthy (I often substitute vegetable broth for the oil, making it even lower in fat), so I made a giant casserole (or maybe it was two, I forget) and gave everyone portions large enough for a few meals. They all enjoyed it, and even though I often share vegan baked goods with my coworkers, it was nice to have the opportunity to share real food with them as well. Especially something so uncomplicated and soy free, breaking multiple vegan food stereotypes.

While I was doing all this baking, I was also testing for Vegan Brunch, so I used the giveaway as a chance to offload some Pumpkin Bran Muffins. They're lovely muffins, but I had to get them out of my house before I ate them all! I think these were the first bran muffins I'd ever tried. I always thought bran would taste like old hippie, but I was wrong and thoroughly enjoyed these. They taste just healthy enough to keep me from feeling guilty about eating two in one day (which may not be such a good thing, now that I'm thinking about it), and, of course, pumpkin makes everything awesome. I've also received reports that they aid with digestive issues, if you take my meaning.

I love when charity does good, tastes good and makes you feel good.