VeganMoFo day #24 - Maple Bday Tidings & Pizza

Today was my buddy Kevin's bday, so I made him maple cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. We went to lunch w/ Kajal at Taco Del Mar.

I skipped the maple extract in the batter, probably a good move because the cupcakes were super mapley enough without it.

I tried making the maple frosting, but it was a disaster. Very gross, I'm not sure what I did wrong. If the frosting had been maple, it would have been a maple overdose - this is coming from somebody that could drink maple syrup from the bottle. They were perfect as is with VCTOTW's vanilla buttercream. I don't like the name buttercream, it sounds very unvegan, but it is. If you haven't made these yet, you gotta do it.

For dinner, we had Juliano's pizza. Juliano's is located in Seattle and he makes the best pizza. The cheese is follow your heart - somehow he can serve it up in thick slices and make it taste great. If you're ever in Seattle, stop by.

Calzone

Scoatt moved to VT to live with my brother last year. A couple of the cats and Kobie were picking on him. cat-cat-dog-cat-cat-cat-cat-cat dynamics are complex. He's now an only cat and he loves it. Mostly because he is the huggiest kissiest neediest cat ever. You gotta love a cat that can purr and growl in the same breath :) This pic is from this summer. Ok, now you've met everybody, though I sort of put the dog's pics in much earlier posts.

VeganMoFo day #12 - Like totally tacos all the time

Yet another day of sun and tacos. Recipe for shells here. These shells need to be eaten within a few hours after you make them - they taste best that way. You might be able to revive them by putting a damp towel over them and microwaving them for 10 seconds, but I don't know.

Andy made the shells. He adds more water to the shells batter and so he gets thinner taco shells. Good either way.

I made teriyaki tofu. The marinade contains sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, powdered ginger (lazy), Blazing Saddles hot sauce and agave. I marinate for about 5 minutes on each side, then fry them up. I don't have measurements because I wing it.

We filled the shells with the teriyaki tofu, refried black beans, fake cheese, avacado, lettuce, salsa, and red onion. This is the prefolded state. They were really great tasting - the traditional taco taste went well w/ teriyaki. I'd say it took about 10 minutes to prepare.

At some point today, I'm going to make some stuff for Canadian Thanksgiving and a big slop pot of soup for the week.

Here is a pic I took of Kobie today. It looks like he has on a fishnet bodysuit. He likes to carry that toy when he is barking at the really loud squirrels as they chirp in the cedar trees. I gotta get a pic of these squirrels some day. I don't see them very often, but I hear them all the time.

VeganMoFo day #6 - taco time - well better than that

I knew there was a reason I wasn't supposed to make tacos tonight, but I forgot. Then I remembered it was because the avacado wasn't ripe. oh well...

These are very simple, but consistently good tacos. I use refried black beans, tomatoes, fake cheese, onions, red peppers, lettuce and whatever else I can think of. oh yeah, avacado. ha ha.

The shells are nice because they are cheap and easy to make. Plus you get to eat them nice and warm. Their softness sort of reminds me of polenta. You want to eat all of them the same day - though leftovers have never been a problem with these. Who can you thank for these? The 1970's Betty Crocker, that's who. the pics look better if you don't have your monitor turned up super bright. otherwise they look like a big pasty disc.


Here's the recipe. makes 12 small/medium shells. if you're a huge taco lover, you can easily eat 6 on your own. plus you're going to ruin the first one.

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup corn meal - i use the kind that is like flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 egg replacers - I use Ener'G
• 3 cups water
  
• oil for frying

1. mix all of your dry ingredients


2. add water and whisk together


3. mix up your egg replacer (If it's Ener'G, whip w/ a fork until frothy/thick), then add it to the batter


4. cook them in a pan like you would a pancake - not too much oil. wipe any excess out w/ a napkin. I move the pan around in a circle to spread out the batter. you want it to be thin. When it's dry on one side, then flip it. The first one will come out sort of gross, just like pancakes. the pan is just getting ready ;-).


5. after that you're in business. don't add more oil to the pan after you do the first one.


6. you can make them all at once and keep them warm in the oven. or do what we sometimes do. 1 person cooks one, fills it, eats it while the next person is cooking theirs. fancy, huh?


7. eat while warm. that's it.

not ready to flip. you want the whole thing to be dry, like the edges are in this pic. If you flip too soon, you can always flip again. They are semi forgiving.

this is what it looks like when it's flipped.
This is what it looks like if you flipped it again. Just showing you so you know what it should look like.
I also had this drink w/ dinner. Thai dragon tonic by Heartsong pepper brews. It is sort of like a peppery lemonade. Not sure where I stand on it. But I'm still drinking it.