KitchenAid Mixer!

This is a pre-post for whatever I make tomorrow in my new KitchenAid mixer! Can't believe I got one. A real beaut.

Iggy's Canine Cakery Cooking Show!

My sister (of Pie Dance Productions) filmed a cooking show on how to bake mini cupcakes for your dog. If you would like to find out how to view the menu of goods from Iggy's Canine Cakery, please visit the website.

Above is a still from the frosting section of the video that cut off. For the dog- friendly frosting recipe, visit Sweet Soy Vegan Blog.

Muffin Tin Sunday/ Biscuit Month!

I realized why my biscuits have been turning out so well lately. I have been putting TWICE as much earth balance in them as the recipe calls for. 1/2 Cup Earth Balance for SIX biscuits. That is 1.3 Tablespoons of margarine in each biscuit. Plus I've been using water instead of soymilk. I believe soymilk sometimes weighs down a recipe. I made some peanut butter oatmeal muffins this evening. (Pictured above) I put some baking scraps in them: leftover ground walnuts, prunes, and some maple syrup. Thank you to the muffin man. I'm thinking of re-naming this blog Everyday Biscuits or Biscuits Too. Since last month had a theme, I hereby declare December internetional Biscuit Month. Now if I could only make gravy without having a nervous breakdown.

Angel Hair Pasta

Sometimes very simple old staples are the best things to eat. Old rusty staples. Actually I'm talking about PASTA. More specifically ANGEL HAIR PASTA. Something about angel hair is just different. Maybe it's the texture. Maybe it's the name, but we cooked some good old fashioned tomato sauce with angel hair today and it was the most satisfying meal I've had in a long time. The snow was also pretty magical. A day off with snow and angel hair.

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving plate: Tofurkey and gravy, red pepper salmon, brussels sprouts, kale w/ pumpkin seeds, cornbread stuffing, eight grain bread, corn.

Vegan Hardee's Biscuits

I made some biscuits the other night that were the best biscuits ever made in a home kitchen. I've had this recipe for a couple of years, but this time I was out of my normal ingredients and had to substitute. They turned out to be (see above). Honestly, the reason they were so good is that they tasted exactly like Hardee's Biscuits. (Hardee's makes biscuits with a capital "B." Properly.) Here is the recipe:

2 C flour

3 tsp baking powder

3/4 C water

1 stick Earth Balance marge (1/2 C), not softened

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix or sift together dry ingredients. With your immaculately clean, germ free hands, cut the butter into the dry stuff until it is well incorporated but not melty. Add water and mix with hands until it expands a little bit. Drop into 6 equal spoon or spatula fulls into lightly greased muffin tins. Set your timer for 10 minutes and check with a toothpick. Enjoy alone or with friends.

Nutritional Yeast Month

November is nutritional yeast month. On this blog. My friend Dylan blew my already over-yeasted mind tonight at work. Popcorn, one of my favorite things to eat next to cornbread, now is being paired with nutritional yeast! Here it is:

Pop some popcorn. Melt margarine. Pour however much marge you like on your popcorn. In the bucket you popped it in, shake in nutritional yeast, a little salt, and a little SUGAR. Believe me. I know you don't believe me, but don't leave out the SUGAR. This popcorn is so good that if I ate it at the movies I would sit backwards and watch it instead.

The picture above is the recognized "Biggest Popcorn Ball in the World." Gross. It looks like it's in a dirty warehouse.

Nutritional Yeast Sandwiches

Nutritional Yeast is really really good. I'm hoping nothing shitty will be found in it. I love nutritional yeast as much as I loved my Nalgene bottle before it was discovered #7 plastic had Bisphenol A's. I could just see some scientist recalling nutritional yeast: "I am sorry, Daun Fields, but nutritional yeast has a known carcinogen that has given you a really heinous form of something we don't even know to exist. Those sandwiches were too good to be true."

Nutritional Yeast Sandwiches (Safe For Now)

Butter both sides of two pieces of good ole wheat bread. Putting one down in a hot skillet, sprinkle a good amount of nutritional yeast on the bread. I would say approx. 2-3 T. Assemble the top bread onto the yeasty. Grill like a grilled cheese, taking care when you flip it. Dip it. (in ketchup). Anyone who doesn't believe in ketchup dipping is a food snob and a liar.

Quinoa & Wisconsin Cheeses

Went to get a Kombucha on Sunday and decided I would get some fall veg to put in some quinoa. I spent an unmentionable amount of time reading my new Martha, and there was a special article on ancient grains. I had some dry quinoa in the cabinet. I had a pot. I put them all together and this is what I got: Fall Quinoa. Very clever.

Into the cooked quinoa went: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Sweet Potato, Yellow Squash, Onion, Parsley, a bit of dried mint. The veg were roasted with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

My dad went to Wisconsin and came back with some aged cheddar and cheese curds for me, along with my favorite fresh smoked salmon from Bearcat's. I believe I am going to have a pilgrimage to this very place next month. I plan on eating nothing but smoked whitefish and herring, and breathing my pescabreath on my sister. It will be fun.

Ren Faire Frites/ Hot Dog Chicken

The Renaissance Faire was really fun. I spent about five hours there just walking around and getting burnt from the sun reflecting off suits of armor. After a couple of hours we became extremely ravenous. There were a few funnel cake type stands, along with a local deli that served gyros and such, but one eatery stood out. In front was a big wooden pirate sign advertising things like Shepherd's Pie, Baked Potatoes, Fried Rice, Chicken Alfredo, and Stir Fried Noodles, amongst other things. There were three workers dressed as pirates? behind the counter, serving drinks, frying things, dipping out of crock pots. Just outside the tent were four bubbling cauldrons of oil manned by a dude in flame decorated Zoobaz, who happed to be cutting entire potatoes into curly fries in seconds with the aid of a rig powered by a Black and Decker drill. I watched all of this from the end of a line that extended all the way back to the archery range and living statue. Chris was intrigued by a menu item called "Dirty Kinky Fries" which we saw other people carrying away from the stand. It was an enormous mound of thick curly fries covered in fragrant crumbled hamburger and nacho cheese. That was enough to wait in line for about 45 minutes, after which we finally got up to the window and ordered from a sweaty disheveled pirate lady of a certain age who had probably dropped her fake accent when we decided to get in line. She said, "God, I'm too old for this, all of you are killing me" and proceeded to fill Chris' plate with tiny brown strings of potato, fork a burnt little hamburger patty on top, and ladle on a half spoonful of crockpot cheese.

My friend Eric made some chicken and BBQ sauce at work today that smelled exactly like hot dogs.

Dog Cakery/Turkey Leg

I took some pictures of a canine cake for my new doggie business. I have to say that my dog's tongue is the longest I've ever seen. It can be coaxed out to great lengths when it comes to cream cheese. I am creating a new site just for the cakery.

I have been practicing my curtsy and am going to a Renaissance Faire on Saturday. Hopefully I will come back with photos of giant turkey legs. I would also like to bring home a jousting pole. or the Queen's favorite pony....I heard they will also have Quizno's subs and funnel cakes.

CornTheme/Dead Chipmunk

Grilled corn on the cob is very good buttered and sprinkled with cayenne pepper.

My sister and I made a delicious salad last night with a nice La Brea brand wheat loaf. It was very enjoyable, as noted in the picture to the left. She actually whipped up a dressing that was fu&*in fantastic: Sabra classic hummus+flax oil+dijon mustard+honey+soy ginger dressing.

I dislike pancakes very much, but this might help. My friend Alex sent me this advice:

"Daun:
I saw your food blog ... AWESOME. So, I thought I'd share with you a tip for Vegan pancakes that I figured out this weekend. It's just a word. And the word is "Polenta." Just 1/2 cup of cooked polenta for every 1.5 cups of flour, not extra liquid needed." (Alex is a lawyer and will be disbarred if he lies, so I might try it.)

When I got home from the flea market today, there was a freshly killed chipmunk on my kitchen floor. Poor little dude.

Two Fat Ladies and Dog Cakes

"Your produce is good, but you are IDIOTS! Let's get out of here." -Jennifer Paterson, to chickens at Halstead House Farm in Hallaton, Leicestershire.

I am currently testing recipes for cakes in the doggie way. I would like to have a good carob recipe which I haven't found yet. A good one for PB carrot has popped up though. The frosting is also taken care of. Still searching. I'm having a hard time with rising, both with cakes and from bed early enough to test all the recipes. I will find one soon, and a website should follow.

Two Fat Ladies is required viewing!

Chili 'n' Biscuits/Cat Puke

I made some black bean chili yesterday from a recipe in "La Dolce Vegan." It was appealing to me because it called for apple juice. My sister sent me a Martha Stewart recipe card for Cornmeal Biscuits so I whipped up some of those. Today I went to the flea market and ate some grilled corn on the cob. When I got back home, I found that the cat had puked on my sandals.

Sherri's Black Bean Chili (from La Dolce Vegan)

1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 T olive oil
1- 3.8 oz. can green chilies
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1- 19 oz. can black beans
1 C water or veg stock
1- 5.5 oz. can tomato paste
1 C apple juice (a good quality organic one)
1/4 C Basmati rice
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt

In a large saucepan on medium heat, saute the onions in oil until translucent. Add the red peppers and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add the water, juice, oregano, cumin, salt, cayenne, and green chilies. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, tomato paste, and rice. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is done, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Stir in the cilantro and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Fixin' to Make Some Chili

I'm bout to go off and make some chili today. Yesterday at work I assembled and decorated Freddy's 91st Birthday cake. I've never met Freddy but I hope he likes his cake and has many more birthdays to follow. I was kind of sweaty decorating it, like, this might be a person's last birthday cake. Or maybe it was his 61st birthday. It could be. I'm dyslexic with sixes and nines. I don't have a picture of the real cake I did, so I Googled "Fred's Birthday Cake" for images and this picture of Fred the Spoiled West highland Terrier came up. It also had an irresistible link to a picture of him in his Halloween outfit as Superman.

Stellar Organics South African Cabernet Sauvignon

blah blah fart blah blah blah, farts.

Scottish Oatmeal Fer Four

I would like to say that if Bob's Red Mill Brand would like to advertise on this site it would be fine and welcome. Bob's serene, hardworking face is an inspiration to all of us who aspire to healthy BMs. I have only encountered fine quality products under his name. This morning I had a bowl of Bob's Scottish Oatmeal, which I accidently made four servings of and had to throw to leftovers away under a tree in my backyard.

MotherF*$%in' Biscuits N Gravy

Here is a picture of the Biscuits and Gravy I made this morning. Well, if you look really close, the vegan baking powder biscuits are in the yellow cloth on the stove. I forgot to take a picture of my plate. I was hungry. We had biscuits with Gimme Lean sausage patties (I'm not a huge fan of fake meat but this stuff is very porky and delicious), eggs (when I said a week of veganism I meant a week of no dairy...dammit I love eggs), and nutritional yeast gravy, which is the recipe that follows:



Nutritional Yeast Gravy

1/2 C Nutritional Yeast

1 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Tamari

2 T Flour

1 C Water

2 tsp Olive Oil

Whisk all ingredients together, bring to a gentle boil. Turn down to a simmer and keep whisking until desired consistency is reached. It thickens quickly. Pour over everything.

Pie Failure and Ganache!

Easy Vegan Ganache:

3 C Vegan Chocolate Chips

1 C Silk Soy Creamer

Put chips and creamer in a microwavable vessel and heat for about 2 minutes. Stir together briskly until the two become incorporated into a shiny ganache. It's all about temperature, so you want it to be warm enough to drip off your stirring utensil. When ready, pour over cake or other ganache-worthy dessert and smooth with an icing tool or butter knife. Cool in fridge, and eat secretly at night. You can even use leftover ganache, heated up, to decorate aforementioned cooled cake. People will think you are professional.


Today I made 4 blueberry lemon pies at work that were runny. I blame it on a tornado warning. They had little cut out crust hearts all over them. When I checked them it looked like it took about 50 minutes for them to fall out of love. Why have I missed out on pies dammit? I will be the pie masteress by the end of the year, mark my words. Coming tomorrow from the Lemon Meringue Kitchen: Motherfu*&%n Biscuits 'n' Gravy.

Scone Redemption Day

I am doing a week of veganism starting today, since I heard dairy makes allergies more annoying. It is time for a batch of vegan scones at work today since the last ones I made were dairy-ful and didn't turn out the exact way I wanted. A bit crumbly. Think I'll go with my favorite, vegan blackberry. Maybe add a little cardamom in honor of Kate's Blackberry cake w/ Peanut Butter Cardamom Frosting. And dip them in peanut butter! Wait, I guess peanut butter dipped scones wouldn't be for everyone. It's Friday so I'm going to make something special for the weekend crowd. Maybe another batch of Whoopie Pies. I've never done anything with coffee in baking so that's an idea. This weekend I am going to GET DOWN with baking in my own kitchen. I'm telling you now I make a mean biscuit.

Oh, my public!

Vegan survey! (from my sister's blog, vegan-ed.blogspot.com)

1. Favorite non-dairy milk? Silk unsweetened

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook? 1. Contrary to my royal title I have never made a tart. 2. Baked Alaska. 3. Queen Elizabeth's coronation cake.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn? Topping? Weird.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? My rock biscuits last night, which I immediately redeemed myself from.

5. Favorite pickled item? Kim chee, for real. All the way.

6. How do you organize your recipes? Brian Froud's Pressed Fairy Journal.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? My backyard...

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)? Saltines, Brie, and PB and J Smoothies.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? Biscuits and Gravy, Fried Chicken at Mamaw's.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream? Vanilla Tofutti.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance? my pink KitchenAid Timer

12. Spice/herb you would die without? Parsley

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? "Cookies." by someone.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? seedless Blackberry jam!!!

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend? vegan Biscuits and Gravy w/ gimme lean sausage.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? Tofu for sure, but not overload. Don't want to get them kidney stones!

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)? All day and all night. I'm always up to bake something. Chopping onions is a different story...

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? a fake cake (see picture above) and a shopping bag.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. peas, spelt buns, old ice.

20. What’s on your grocery list? cayenne, soymilk

21. Favorite grocery store? the Good Earth (Broad Ripple) Bloomingfoods (Bloomington) Seward's Co-op (Minneapolis)

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet. Salmon and shrimp Kabobs

23. Food blog you read the most. vegan-ed.blogspot.com

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? Rittersport's Marzipan flat things w/ dark chocolate

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? A five dollar wheel of brie. I am officially kicked out of this survey.

26. Veganaise or Nayonaise? Veganaise. The number one over-the-counter addictive substance.

27. What is one recipe or ingredient or cooking technique that you’ve become familiar with in the last year that you can’t imagine you ever lived without? Homemade Biscuits.

28. What are your plans for Thanksgiving? I am going to try my hand at making a Tofurky. Also would like to do a nut pie, some pumpkin whoopie pies, and a big potato souffle of some sort.

29.What is one really weird food that you enjoy, and probably no one else does? Probably no one else interested in this survey enjoys salted fish as much as I do. Now I'm really kicked out.