Showing posts with label muffins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label muffins. Show all posts
Monday, May 3, 2010
Bake Sale Week Wrap Up
Last week was the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale, and the New York area stepped up to the challenge magnificently.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
I Knew I Forgot Something
Friday, October 9, 2009
Asparagus Muffins
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Food and Friends
Whenever I see a food-related quote I like, it almost always says one of two things: Food is better when you share it with people you care for or food is a great way to show people you care.
Because of this, I try to cook and get people together for a picnic at least once a year. We spend loads of time together doing other things, including eating in restaurants and one another's homes, but it's not the same. Being outside on a nice day makes people happy and enhances the whole experience. It's an opportunity to eat and chat in a completely relaxed environment, without even the structure of table and chairs (if you sit in a different spot on the blanket when returning from the restroom, no one cares, but if you do that at the dinner table, your former neighbors will probably sniff their pits and check their breath).
My favorite type of picnic is brunch. For one thing, I just love brunch foods. I love to make them and I love to eat them. Another reason is that it's probably the most relaxed meal around. You eat brunch because you woke up too late for breakfast and are too hungry to wait for lunch. Late to start the day but eager to start the eating is my kind of deal.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Let Me Eat Cake
Damn. It's been months since I've posted about real food (i.e. not cake, sweets, the bake sale, or a combination thereof). That's probably because cake is pretty and I still haven't gotten the hang of making my savory food look good.
I guess that's my way of warning that today's post is going to be full of crap photos (especially given that it's monsoon season in NYC).
I guess that's my way of warning that today's post is going to be full of crap photos (especially given that it's monsoon season in NYC).
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Wrap Up
We held our second Brooklyn bake sale on Sunday and a wonderful time was had by all. We ate, drank, made merry, sang, danced and raised over $1000 for Farm Sanctuary and Sea Shepherd (and we're not done yet, so if you'd like to contribute, keep reading).
Oh yeah. There were also some cakes and things.
Photo by Ronit Tal
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Vegan Bake Sale Day 1
We held our first bake sale on Sunday and things went surprisingly smoothly. We started a bit late, the weather sucked, chocolatey things got a bit melty due to the humidity and we had a small coffee accident, but other than that, smooth as silken tofu.
Before I talk about the past, a quick reminder about the future:
Our next bake sale is going to be even bigger and better*, and it's this Sunday, June 28, starting around 11 AM**.
Open Source Gallery
Park Slope, Brooklyn
251 17th Street, right off of 5th Avenue, one block east of the Prospect Avenue M/R station and convenient from the B63 bus
Monday, November 17, 2008
Ummm...Hi
It's been a while. My only excuse is that I'm lazy. That, and most of what I've made over the past couple of months hasn't been all that photogenic. How can one possibly read a post without pictures in it, right? Over the weekend, I was actually rebuked by a friend for slacking off on this whole blog thing, so here I am.
So what's been cooking lately? Good question. I barely remember.
I've tested some more recipes for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming book, Vegan Brunch, and they pretty much rule. Hopped on and off the raw bandwagon a few times (currently dangling off the side). Baked some brownies. And some blondies. And some brandy fruit cake stuff. And some cookies. In short: lots of baking happened.
That there is a Lemon Poppyseed muffin from the aforementioned brunch book. I don't usually like lemon baked goods, but these muffins are great. They're both sweet and lemony and the crumb is perfect and I love them. While this may not be saying much, these are probably the best muffins I've ever made. My mother went so far as to say they're the best things I've ever made. Seriously good stuff.
I baked for Election Day. I decided to be non-partisan and just go with a patriotic red, white and blue...ish. Red and white came from the Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars from Vegan With a Vengeance and the blue came from the Veganomicon Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies. Yes. I know. They're brown, not blue, but they have "blue" in the name and they're tasty and one of the many things we've all learned from this election is that color does not limit what one can do or be.
Also, I think I've said this before, but I love those blondies SO. DAMN. MUCH. I've made them with different berries and they're always great. It pains me to share them. Really.
(OK, not really. The fun part of baking is the sharing.)
Close up shots of the brownies just looked like a load of brown (not so appetizing), so here are the blondies in all their chocolate raspberry glory.:
And then there's this: Sticky Spiked Double-Apple Cake with a Brown Sugar-Brandy Sauce. It's kind of ridiculous.
Baked in honor of my friend passing the bar (actually, Little Miss Genius Pants has now passed not one but two bars).
It was really easy to veganize. I used one tablespoon ground flax seeds dissolved in three tablespoons water and 1/4 cup applesauce to replace the eggs and MimicCreme for the heavy cream in the sauce. The recipe made me kind of nervous. When it said "Add the eggs and beat on medium speed until thickened and pale" I got jumpy. What if flax and apple sauce won't make it thicken and pale? What if I end up with a thin, dark mess of grossness? No worries, though, it totally worked. The cake was really interesting to make because it was more like a pan full of batter covered fruit and nuts than a batter with some fruit in it. It was cool to see how it all expanded as it baked and turned into a cake, not a mess. I didn't think I would like this much because I'm not a fan of brandy, but I was wrong. Some of it bakes off and the fruit and nuts overpower the alcohol enough for it to be tasty goodness.
I think that's all for now. Thanksgiving is coming and I'm in charge this year, so all of my food-related thought is going into that at the moment. I will report back on that before January, I swear.
So what's been cooking lately? Good question. I barely remember.
I've tested some more recipes for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming book, Vegan Brunch, and they pretty much rule. Hopped on and off the raw bandwagon a few times (currently dangling off the side). Baked some brownies. And some blondies. And some brandy fruit cake stuff. And some cookies. In short: lots of baking happened.
That there is a Lemon Poppyseed muffin from the aforementioned brunch book. I don't usually like lemon baked goods, but these muffins are great. They're both sweet and lemony and the crumb is perfect and I love them. While this may not be saying much, these are probably the best muffins I've ever made. My mother went so far as to say they're the best things I've ever made. Seriously good stuff.
I baked for Election Day. I decided to be non-partisan and just go with a patriotic red, white and blue...ish. Red and white came from the Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars from Vegan With a Vengeance and the blue came from the Veganomicon Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies. Yes. I know. They're brown, not blue, but they have "blue" in the name and they're tasty and one of the many things we've all learned from this election is that color does not limit what one can do or be.
Also, I think I've said this before, but I love those blondies SO. DAMN. MUCH. I've made them with different berries and they're always great. It pains me to share them. Really.
(OK, not really. The fun part of baking is the sharing.)
Close up shots of the brownies just looked like a load of brown (not so appetizing), so here are the blondies in all their chocolate raspberry glory.:
And then there's this: Sticky Spiked Double-Apple Cake with a Brown Sugar-Brandy Sauce. It's kind of ridiculous.
Baked in honor of my friend passing the bar (actually, Little Miss Genius Pants has now passed not one but two bars).
It was really easy to veganize. I used one tablespoon ground flax seeds dissolved in three tablespoons water and 1/4 cup applesauce to replace the eggs and MimicCreme for the heavy cream in the sauce. The recipe made me kind of nervous. When it said "Add the eggs and beat on medium speed until thickened and pale" I got jumpy. What if flax and apple sauce won't make it thicken and pale? What if I end up with a thin, dark mess of grossness? No worries, though, it totally worked. The cake was really interesting to make because it was more like a pan full of batter covered fruit and nuts than a batter with some fruit in it. It was cool to see how it all expanded as it baked and turned into a cake, not a mess. I didn't think I would like this much because I'm not a fan of brandy, but I was wrong. Some of it bakes off and the fruit and nuts overpower the alcohol enough for it to be tasty goodness.
I think that's all for now. Thanksgiving is coming and I'm in charge this year, so all of my food-related thought is going into that at the moment. I will report back on that before January, I swear.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Buncha Brunch
Testing is still going strong for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming vegan brunch cookbook, Crack of Noon. Most recently, I've been getting down with the muffins, artichokes and quiche.
As I think I've mentioned before, I'm not very good at making muffins. Despite passing the toothpick test, they almost always end up underdone in the middle when cut open. Until now. Enter Isa's Bakery Style Berry Muffins. They baked perfectly, puffed up nicely and taste amazing. They make bakeries completely obsolete in the morning.
From the outside:
Showing off the raspberries, blueberries and strawberries:
Being the savage muffin failure that I was until now, I would totally buy the book just for this recipe.
If sweet, fruity, yogurty muffins aren't your thing, how about Zucchini Spelt Muffins? They're one of your healthier muffins, but that doesn't prevent them from being damn tasty. I had to overbake them a bit to get them right, but that may just be due to my muffin disability. Despite being healthy, they're all kinds of sweet and awesome. The homeless guy in front of Grace Plaza really seemed to like them.
They're so cute and round:
If "real" food is more your thing, check out this Caramelized Onion Quiche:
When I first read the recipe, I thought "Onions? That's it? No garlic or anything? Snooze." I was so wrong. This stuff is so good. I've been eating it for lunch every day, so it's almost done and that makes me sad. It's very easy to make, though prepping the onions does take quite a while.
If you want something that looks (and sounds!) a little more impressive, how about Simple Stuffed Artichokes With Ginger And Chervil?
Ooooo steamy!
For those not in the know (like me a week ago), chervil is fancy pants, fairly hard to find, parsley. Look for it at greenmarkets. It tastes sort of like a cross between parsley and licorice (it's not strong; I hate licorice but like this anyway), and is smaller than regular parsley.
Artichoke prep is always a pain in the ass, but this isn't too bad. Removing the choke is definitely easier when you're artichoke is cut in half, but this still doesn't take a huge amount of time. It just looks like it does. The steaming definitely takes longer than the prep, and that's inactive, so if you're me, you can spend that time picking choke bits off the floor. The stuffing for these things is so good. I think I'm going to try stuffing zucchini or something with it. Something slightly less spiky than artichokes.
As I think I've mentioned before, I'm not very good at making muffins. Despite passing the toothpick test, they almost always end up underdone in the middle when cut open. Until now. Enter Isa's Bakery Style Berry Muffins. They baked perfectly, puffed up nicely and taste amazing. They make bakeries completely obsolete in the morning.
From the outside:
Showing off the raspberries, blueberries and strawberries:
Being the savage muffin failure that I was until now, I would totally buy the book just for this recipe.
If sweet, fruity, yogurty muffins aren't your thing, how about Zucchini Spelt Muffins? They're one of your healthier muffins, but that doesn't prevent them from being damn tasty. I had to overbake them a bit to get them right, but that may just be due to my muffin disability. Despite being healthy, they're all kinds of sweet and awesome. The homeless guy in front of Grace Plaza really seemed to like them.
They're so cute and round:
If "real" food is more your thing, check out this Caramelized Onion Quiche:
When I first read the recipe, I thought "Onions? That's it? No garlic or anything? Snooze." I was so wrong. This stuff is so good. I've been eating it for lunch every day, so it's almost done and that makes me sad. It's very easy to make, though prepping the onions does take quite a while.
If you want something that looks (and sounds!) a little more impressive, how about Simple Stuffed Artichokes With Ginger And Chervil?
Ooooo steamy!
For those not in the know (like me a week ago), chervil is fancy pants, fairly hard to find, parsley. Look for it at greenmarkets. It tastes sort of like a cross between parsley and licorice (it's not strong; I hate licorice but like this anyway), and is smaller than regular parsley.
Artichoke prep is always a pain in the ass, but this isn't too bad. Removing the choke is definitely easier when you're artichoke is cut in half, but this still doesn't take a huge amount of time. It just looks like it does. The steaming definitely takes longer than the prep, and that's inactive, so if you're me, you can spend that time picking choke bits off the floor. The stuffing for these things is so good. I think I'm going to try stuffing zucchini or something with it. Something slightly less spiky than artichokes.
Monday, June 2, 2008
All You Need is Brunch
Lately, all I've been eating is brunch. This is for two reasons:
1. It's yummy
2. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm helping test for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming vegan brunch book, Crack of Noon.
Let's take a little look at what I've been eating lately.
Like I already said, potatoes are the most important thing about brunch. Check these bad boys out:
Individual Baked Hashbrowns. Individual servings make everything cuter. Cute + potatoes = the best thing ever.
My favorite veg/spice combination is cauliflower and curry. My favorite meal is brunch. Guess how I feel about the Curried Cauliflower Frittata. Go ahead. Guess.
I like using purple cauliflower in this so you can actually see it and it doesn't just blend in with the tofu and curry powder.
I was never a big egg eater, even before I went vegetarian, so I never expected to eat an omelet ever again. I was wrong:
That there is an overstuffed Grilled Asparagus Omelet with Miso Tahini Sauce. The omelet is great and the asparagus is AMAZING. It's marinated in (among other things) balsamic vinegar and is damn tasty. The sauce (not visible because it's inside the omelet) is surprisingly good, given that I don't like tahini.
You know what I think I missed most this past Passover? Matzo brei. Well, I don't have to worry about that any longer.*
It seriously tastes just like my mother makes it. I mixed in a bit of raspberry preserves and was in heaven.
Brunch is never complete without muffins. These Toasted Coconut and Mango Muffins are really good (even though I'm still not so good at making muffins and they're not cooked all the way through despite passing the toothpick test):
Let's not forget dessert: a chocolate cherry variation of the East Coast Coffee Cake:
The longer that cake sits, the better it gets. It's even better if it sits out on the counter, instead of in the fridge. The cut piece looks a little flat because I brought it to a party and it got a bit squished along the way. Oops!
That's it for now, but testing is far from over. My belly is looking forward to more brunch.
* That's not 100% true; this recipe uses tofu, which I can't eat on Passover, but it's still totally acceptable the rest of the year.
1. It's yummy
2. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm helping test for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming vegan brunch book, Crack of Noon.
Let's take a little look at what I've been eating lately.
Like I already said, potatoes are the most important thing about brunch. Check these bad boys out:
Individual Baked Hashbrowns. Individual servings make everything cuter. Cute + potatoes = the best thing ever.
My favorite veg/spice combination is cauliflower and curry. My favorite meal is brunch. Guess how I feel about the Curried Cauliflower Frittata. Go ahead. Guess.
I like using purple cauliflower in this so you can actually see it and it doesn't just blend in with the tofu and curry powder.
I was never a big egg eater, even before I went vegetarian, so I never expected to eat an omelet ever again. I was wrong:
That there is an overstuffed Grilled Asparagus Omelet with Miso Tahini Sauce. The omelet is great and the asparagus is AMAZING. It's marinated in (among other things) balsamic vinegar and is damn tasty. The sauce (not visible because it's inside the omelet) is surprisingly good, given that I don't like tahini.
You know what I think I missed most this past Passover? Matzo brei. Well, I don't have to worry about that any longer.*
It seriously tastes just like my mother makes it. I mixed in a bit of raspberry preserves and was in heaven.
Brunch is never complete without muffins. These Toasted Coconut and Mango Muffins are really good (even though I'm still not so good at making muffins and they're not cooked all the way through despite passing the toothpick test):
Let's not forget dessert: a chocolate cherry variation of the East Coast Coffee Cake:
The longer that cake sits, the better it gets. It's even better if it sits out on the counter, instead of in the fridge. The cut piece looks a little flat because I brought it to a party and it got a bit squished along the way. Oops!
That's it for now, but testing is far from over. My belly is looking forward to more brunch.
* That's not 100% true; this recipe uses tofu, which I can't eat on Passover, but it's still totally acceptable the rest of the year.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Muffin Tops
Have I ever mentioned that any gathering of four or more people is an excuse for me to bake? It is. So when my friends and I got together to teach other to knit and make blankets for charity, I simply had to bring something. I'd never made muffins before, so I decided that was the way to go and ended up with the Best Pumpkin Muffins from Vegan With a Vengeance. If they weren't actually the best pumpkin muffins, it's only because I don't have proper muffinning skills yet.
I made these muffins twice: once for the knitting and once for my grandmother; she loves pumpkin and I had half a can left over.
The first time I made them, I left them in about ten minutes longer than the recipe indicated and they were still quite underdone. They tasted fine, but were chewy on the inside. I brought them to the party anyway, because it wasn't like there were eggs or anything in them that could make people sick.
The second time, I left them in forty extra minutes and they were overdone. Not burnt, just very well done. My family loved them (they love everything borderline burnt). The above picture is from the second batch.
The recipe was really easy and really tasty. For some reason, my oven just isn't very compatible with muffins, I guess (the cook times for other recipes from the same book are usually spot on and my oven timer was fine). There's only one solution to that: practice, practice practice!
Anyone care for a muffin or five?
First try:
Second try:
I made these muffins twice: once for the knitting and once for my grandmother; she loves pumpkin and I had half a can left over.
The first time I made them, I left them in about ten minutes longer than the recipe indicated and they were still quite underdone. They tasted fine, but were chewy on the inside. I brought them to the party anyway, because it wasn't like there were eggs or anything in them that could make people sick.
The second time, I left them in forty extra minutes and they were overdone. Not burnt, just very well done. My family loved them (they love everything borderline burnt). The above picture is from the second batch.
The recipe was really easy and really tasty. For some reason, my oven just isn't very compatible with muffins, I guess (the cook times for other recipes from the same book are usually spot on and my oven timer was fine). There's only one solution to that: practice, practice practice!
Anyone care for a muffin or five?
First try:
Second try:
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