Merry Christmas (Eve)!!!

Don't you guys think that Christmas Eve is even more fun than Christmas? I mean, Christmas Eve is filled with excitement and anticipation, but on Christmas, once the last present has been opened, it's basically all over. In light of all that anticipation, I made a whole bunch of cookies today. After all, what's Christmas without baking? All of my recipes came from Chocolate Covered Katie. Seriously, this girl is a wizard when it comes to vegan baking. I made her chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, and chickpea(!) flour chocolate chip blondies. All were basically heaven-sent. Some will undoubtedly go to Santa this evening, who I'm sure will be thankful for some wholesome(ish) vegan treats after billions of egg and butter laden lard cakes. That and some Silk nog and he'll be a happy fellow. And don't forget the reindeer, who receive a big plate of carrots every year!

Blondies pre-mixing. The funky yellow stuff is my homemade chickpea flour.

Blondies post-mixing. The raw batter for these things is wicked! And egg free, so you can eat all you want.

Blondies getting ready for some oven action.

Finished blondies with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Mmmm...these things are so gooey and good. There's not even any chickpea favor!

Nommy chocolate chippers. I was way too excited to take pics of the process.

Snickerdoodle dough! Too cute.

Finished snickerdoodles. These thing are like pillows of awesome, no joke.

And I leave you with my kitteh striking a terrifying (but adorable) pose. I don't think he realizes that he's not an old man. Anyway, happy holidays, guys! Hope it's awesome!

A Very Vegan Thanksgiving...

Hi guys! Guess what? I'm back on Blogger! We sorted out our problems and have decided to accept our differences and live in harmony. Besides, it's way better than Wordpress. :P Anyway, as it has taken me about a month to get my technical problems worked out, I bring you a very belated vegan Thanksgiving, soon to be followed by a very vegan Christmas (hopefully less belated). 

Here I am making some (veganized) 'stuffin' muffins,' the original creation of the culinary genius known as my mom. Basically, they are just stuffing in muffin pans, but don't muffin pans make everything more fun? The madre was very cool about using Earth Balance and veggie stock instead of butter and chicken stock and even reported that there was no real difference in flavor.

These are some super cute turkey place cards I made for our Thanksgiving table. The turkeys are happy because they aren't being eaten (well, by me at least!). Notice my vice, Coke Zero, chilling seductively in the background. I know aspartame kills, but I eat pretty darn well most of the time, and if I die of an aspartame overdose I'll die happy. So there, haters.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for: the Thanksgiving plate! Left to right (ish): roasted brussels sprouts, mashed rutabega with EB, stuffin' muffin, steamed corn with EB and ground pepper, homemade yeast roll, sweet potato casserole with Dandies, mashed taters with mushroom gravy, and cranberries chillin' in the middle. I know, you guys probably notice the lack of turkey substitute. To be honest, I'm pretty cool without it. I know a lot of people need something meaty to make it really feel like Thanksgiving, but the turkey's never really been the centerpiece of the meal for me. I'm weird, I know.

As for Xmas, I have put in the word to the big guy in red that I REALLY want a copy of the Happy Herbivore Cookbook and a gift card for Pangaea. We'll see if he comes through!! Happy holidays, guys. See you after Christmas.