Nuss-Ecken (Hazelnut Triangle Bars)

After a few very failed experiments, I received a perfectly timed letter from my Oma in Germany, along with this recipe for Nuss-Ecken! I was so happy because I needed something to make that wouldn't turn out disasterously. The original recipe from my Oma uses butter and eggs, but hey, those things are easy enough to change!


This is a traditional Germany cookie/bar/pastry and my Oma would make them throughout the year, but around the holidays, these Nuss-Ecken were a staple (along with about 20 other cookies). Not only were these one of my favs because they tasted so darned good, but when I was little, I just loved helping my Oma out in the kitchen and being able to coat them with chocolate...it just seemed so awesome and fancy through the eyes of a 7 year old me! And to my surprise, I still like making them on my own now.

What you'll need for the dough:
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. vegan sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg equivalents of Ener-G (can sub w/ ground flax seed)
5/8 c. Earth Balance or your fav. butter substitute

In the middle:
apricot preserve (about 400ml)

On top:
1 c. Earth Balance
1 c. vegan sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. water
3 c. ground Hazelnuts
1 c. chopped Hazelnuts
7-8 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate

Start by baking the bottom layer of the bar, add your butter and sugar to your mixing bowl and mix until it is creamed together. Add and mix to incorporate your egg substitute, vanilla and baking powder. Then cup by cup, slowly add your flour and mix until the flour is well combined into the dough, which should be very smooth and does not stick to the side of your bowl. To make rolling out the dough a bit easier, wrap the dough in saran wrap or parchment paper and let chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Take the dough out, and either grease a 11x13 in. baking sheet or line it with parchment paper or a fancy shmancy Silpat mat. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to fit the sixe of the pan. It should be a fairly thin layer, maybe about a 1/4 in thick or so. Then grab your apricot preserves and spread a nice, even layer across your dough. It doesn't have to be a thick layer, just enough to cover the dough evenly.

Now to make the topping! To make the ground hazelnuts, I put about 1 c. hazelnuts at a time into my food processor and pulsed many times to get them ground up with some fairly small pieces chopped up. Do this a total of 3 times, or until you have just about 3 c. of ground hazelnuts. Next, chop 1 c. of hazelnuts into a rough chop, but making sure not to leave really huge pieces or whole hazelnuts. I found my mezzaluna worked really well for this part. Add those to your bowl of ground hazelnuts.

Next, melt your butter, sugar, vanilla and water in a pan and let cook until all of your sugar is melted and well combined. Take your pan off the burner, and add your hazelnut mixture to this and combine until everything is well incorporated and coated evenly. Spread this mixture over your dough and apricot layer.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees or until the sugary hazelnut mixture is a nice, caramelized golden brown color. Take out and let cool for a few minutes to let everything set. Take a knife and go around the edges of the pan to make sure non of the sides and stuck to the pan if you greased the pan. Cut into 2 1/2 - 3 in squares and then carefully cut each square in half to make the triangles.


Let the Nuss-Ecken cool completely before melting your chocolate, otherwise they might want to fall apart if this is done right away. Once cooled, temper your baking chocolate and use a spoon to coat half of the triangles, or any other way your heart desires.

Eat. Share with friends. Be happy and repeat!

Part Two: Caramelized Onion Swirl Bread

Ok...now onto the really good stuff...bread! And not just your ordinary bread, this is special because inside the crispy crust is a swirl of caramelized onions and rosemary...mmm. Perfect food for the season.

Here is what you'll need:

3 cups flour
2 tbsp vegan sugar
1.25 cups water
2 tsp salt
1 package of yeast
2 c. of finely sliced sweet onions (mine worked out to be exactly 2 medium onions)
3-4 tbsp. of olive oil
sprig of fresh rosemary


I started with a simple and very basic bread dough. Heat your water to around 100 degrees and add your packet of yeast. Stir and then let it rest for about 5-10 minutes, or until it gets pretty foamy. Add your salt, and about half of your flour and mix together for about two minutes. Then add the rest of the flour and mix/knead until all of the flour is nicely incorporated in the dough.

At this point, I usually set my oven on the lowest possible temp for a few minutes and then turn it off so I will have a nice and warm place to let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with the dough, and set it in your nicely warmed oven for about 45-60 minutes. At this point, your dough should look a lot bigger.

While your dough is rising, take your sweet onions and cut them into halves. Finely slice each half of the onion. Add the olive oil to a non-stick pan and heat your onions up to medium high for about five minutes. You just want your onions to soften up and start to turn translucent at this point. Turn your heat down to medium and let them slowly cook. Give them a stir every few minutes, you will start to see them turn a very rich golden brown color as they develop a yummy sweetness to them.


After the onions were done, I lined a 12x18 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure to liberally flour the surface of the parchment paper, as you will be rolling out your dough onto it. Take out your dough and lay it in the center of the sheet, sprinkle more flour onto the top of the dough and onto your rolling pin, and basically roll the dough out to fit the shape of the baking sheet. So in the end, you will have a nice, rectangular piece of dough. Add your onions in an even layer onto the dough, leaving one end where there is about a two inch section without the onions. This will serve as the part that closes the swirled bread, so there won't be onions gooping out of your bread. Sprinkle some fresh rosemary over your onions, or whatever other herbs make you really happy.


To roll the dough and onion up, I just grabbed the end of the parchment paper opposite of the onion-less two inch section. It took a bit of finessing the dough to begin the rolling process, but once it was started, you simply want to keep pulling up the parchment paper resulting in your dough rolling itself up jelly-roll style. Take that onion-less two inch section make press it against the outside of your dough. Then to that to each end as well, almost pinching each end shut.


I then transferred this rolled up dough to a new, clean sheet of parchment paper and formed the dough to my liking, heated the oven to 375 degrees and let it bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the crust is a golden brown color.


Let the bread cool, slice open and enjoy the amazement of what you have just made. Caramelized Onion Swirl bread just feels that good to make! It is especially yummy with the previous posting of Mushroom Soup! Eat lots and be merry!

Part One: Mushroom Soup

More comfort food is all what seems to be on my mind lately, and the other day while experimenting with some new ideas in the kitchen, I got not just one...but two successful results! Which works out great, because I feel like it has been a while since the last post. So, this time around, I have two things to share with you! Mushroom Soup and Caramelized Onion Swirl Bread! A perfect pair...the rosemary in each really ties the flavors together. And who doesn't like a slice or two of delicious, hearty bread as a side to their soup? For the sake of not having one never ending post, I am splitting this up into two parts. Part One will focus on the Mushroom Soup and Part Two, a separate post, will be all about the bread.

Ok, onto the soup. It is a really yummy, savory mushroom soup but a whole heck of a lot lighter than those gross, condensed, cream of whatever soups. The focus is more on the mushrooms in a savory broth with a hint of soy milk to give it some weight. But not fatty, condensed cream of soups kind of weight.

What you will need:

1 lb. crimini mushrooms
1 lb white mushrooms
1 oz dried mixed mushrooms (mine were porcini, shiitake, and oyster)
7 c. veggie broth
1 c. soy milk
4-5 garlic cloves
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. fresh, chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp. fresh, grated nutmeg
salt/pepper to taste

Begin by cleaning all of your fresh mushrooms, removing all of the stems. Slice or dice these guys up and set aside. Peel and chop your garlic. Add the olive oil to a large stock pot, 3 tbsp. or enough to coat the bottom of your pot. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they just start to turn golden brown. Add your fresh mushrooms and let cook, while stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes just to soften them up. Add the flour and mix it into the oil, forming a sort of haphazard roux. Add your seven cups of veggie broth to the pot and let it come up to medium heat.

Take your dried mushrooms, and rinse them in a bowl of lukewarm water. The package said to them put them into very hot water for 10 minutes, and that the water would have a lot of flavor you could use in a soup or whatnot. So after rinsing, I decided to simply add them to my soup and do both things in one step.


Add your chopped rosemary, nutmeg, soy milk, and season with salt and pepper to your taste and simmer for 30-40 minutes. At this point, all of the flavors have had enough time to make really good friends, resulting in a super yummy and savory soup.

Serve with fresh Caramelized Onion Swirl Bread (recipe in following post), and share with friends since this makes enough for at least four servings. Yay comfort foods!

Portable Pumpkin Pies

My need for pumpkin is still going strong right now, and I recently got these really amazingly cute Pumpkin Pie Pocket molds as a gift, which just fed my need for making more pumpkin baked goods around here. And I have to say, I kind of really love this pocket mold...it took a couple of tries to perfect the technique, but the end result is worth it! You have a portable, self contained pumpkin pie!

Here is what you'll need-

the dough:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
16 tbsp Earth Balance or your fav. vegan butter substitute
6 tbsp very cold water

the filling:
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 c. soy milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
3 - 4 tbsp. corn starch

Using a food processor, begin the dough by pulsing together the flour, salt, and sugar a few times just to mix everything together. Then add the butter and pulse until it is a bit coarse and crumbly. Add your cold water to the dough, and begin to pulse until the dough comes together. If it is still crumbly, add one to two more tbsp of cold water, and pulse again. The dough should not be too moist where it feels sticky, but it should hold it's shape when squeezed together. Take a piece of saran wrap or parchment paper, and flatten out the dough into a large disc, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Using the cold water, and then refrigerating the dough will make the dough bake into a layered, flakey pie crust. This process keeps the "butter" from melting into the dough, instead, it stays in little even layered chunks forming a flakey dough when baked. Even when rolling out the dough, you might notice it is almost layered and not rolling out in one smooth piece.

While your dough is in the refrigerator, you can whisk together all of your ingredients for your pie filling, and place in the refrigerator until the dough is ready. And if you don't feel like having a pumpkin pie for your pockets, experiment and add anything your heart desires for your filling. I think it would be super with little diced up apples and cinnamon as well....might need to try that out...very, very soon.


Ok, back to the pies....fast forward 2 hours, take out the dough and let rest for about 5 minutes. I found taking about a handful of dough and rolling it out was easier than rolling out the whole thing at once. Roll out your dough until it is about 1/8" thick, and for these molds, you use the bottom part of each side to cut out the top and bottom layer. Then you place the bottom layer onto the matching bottom part of your mold, and press down to fit it to the edges. Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of your filling, set your top layer over your filling, and then press down on the mold. In my case for the mold I was using, it crimps down the edges nicely so everything is sealed and ready to go, just repeat this process until you run out of dough (this should make enough for 8 portable pies).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees while you finish up your little pies, and then bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the pies are a golden brown color. Let cool, and then enjoy!

Side Note: If you don't have any molds to use, you could easily use anything circular to cut out simple shapes, fill one layer, and then place another later on top, and simply use a fork to crimp the edges of your pies.

Apple Cider Donuts

Somehow, I feel like I am never quite ready for things lately. Especially holidays. Before I new it, Halloween was here and gone, and I felt completely unprepared and like I had not done my usual routine of visiting pumpkin patches, going to the corn maize, pumpkin carving....I don't know what is going on, but I just feel like I am a few steps behind the rest of the world.

And then it hit me, one very important piece of my fall ritual had not been completed....apple cider donuts! I knew I had to do a bit of research and make them right away. And by right away, I meant the weekend.

So here is what you will need for the dough:
3 1/2 c. flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tbsp Earth Balance or vegan butter substitute
1 cup vegan sugar
2 egg equivalents of Ener-G
1/2 c. soy milk
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 c. apple cider

for frying:
36 oz. of vegan shortening
candy thermometer

Since 1 c. apple cider is too much liquid for a standard recipe, what we are going to do is reduce this cup down to about 1/4 cup apple cider. This way, the flavor is extra concentrated into the smaller, correct amount of liquid. Use a small pot, and on medium heat, let this simmer down to a 1/4 c, this might take somehere around 20 - 30 minutes, so make sure to start this step first. Then, when you have about 10 minutes left, take your 1/2 cup soy milk and add your 1 tbsp vinegar and let sit for the remaining 10 minutes that the apple cider is reducing. The vinegar and soy milk combo creates a liquid similar to buttermilk. I discovered this trick during my research where something said you can use regular milk and vinegar to create "buttermilk" in a pinch. So I thought...hey, why not try it out with soy milk? You will notice that almost right away the soy milk will thicken up quite a lot. While all of this is going on, you can also grab an additional bowl and mix your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

When you have the apple cider reduced, and you soy "buttermilk" ready, begin to make the batter by mixing your sugar and butter until it is smooth, light and almost a tiny bit fluffy. Add about half of the Ener-G mixture and mix well until incorporated, then add remaining Ener-G mix. At some point you might have to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add your 1/4 c. apple cider, then slowly add your soy "buttermilk," then turn down the setting on your mixerslowly and carefully add your bowl of dry ingredients to the batter and mix until everything is a nice and smooth dough.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle flour onto it, toss your dough onto the flour coated parchment paper and knead a few times. Add a bit of flour if your dough is still really sticky. Using you hands, press out the dough until it is about a 1/2 inch thick and set in the freezer for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Now for the fun part! Take your flattened out dough out of the freezer and using a circular cookie cutter about 3 inches wide, cut out donuts and place onto another baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly sprinkled with flour. After you have cut out as many donuts as you can get out of your dough, knead it together and flatten back out to a 1/2 inch thick sheet and repeat. Once you have gone through all of your dough and cut out all of your donuts, use a circular cookie cutter that is 1 inch wide, and use it to cut out the center of each of your donuts.


Throw these guys back into the freezer for about 20 minutes. While they are in the freezer, prepare your workspace for frying your donuts. I used about 1 1/2 tubs of vegan shortening, each tub containing 24 oz. I also used a medium sized sauce pan and fried 2 donuts at once. I did it this way, because to get a large pot or pan with enough oil for frying, you would need a huge amount of oil or shortening, and I did not want to go that way, and I found my mini-frying station set up I had worked just fine. Onto the kind of gross part, put your 36 oz of shortening into the pan, and heat until it is liquid and reaches 350 degrees, try to keep your frying liquid at this temp.

Take your donuts out of the freezer and using a slotted metal spoon or sorts, or something that will not melt in hot oil, VERY gently place 2 donuts into the frying liquid. They will sink to the bottom and then slowly float up to the top. After about a minute and a half, flip each donut and let it fry for the same amount of time on the other side.


When done, take your slotted spoon, and place on some paper towels to drain. Repeat with each donut and all of those cute donut holes! I found I could fry about 5-6 donut holes at once without the temp dropping and keeping everything consistant.


I also make a little bit of cinnamon glaze for about half of my donuts by mixing together 1 c. powdered sugar with a few tbsps of soy milk to get it to the thickness of frosting you like, and adding 1 tsp of cinnamon. I poured this onto a plate, and then dipped each donut into the frosting and let them harden up.


I have to say, these are probably one of the most delicious things I have ever had the pleasure of creating in my kitchen. They are so so so good, and really hit the spot for that fall time, apple cider craving. I made about 20 donuts and 20 donut holes.

The only thing keeping me from making this every weekend is that 36 oz of shortening I needed to fry these up in! Also, speaking from experience, be VERY CAREFUL when frying these, taking care to gently place them into the oil. A little donut hole accidently slid off too quickly, and I immediately got a burn on my hand with a blister that formed right away from oil spattering from the falling donut hole. SO BE CAREFUL! But if you take this journey, you will be rewarded with delicious, fluffy, beautiful Apple Cider Donuts!

Tofu Scramble Pockets

I woke up this morning, feeling a bit bummed out for sleeping in....and by that I mean 9:00 am. I check my phone...and it is magically 8:00 am! Totally forgot about Daylight Savings Time, but having gained that extra hour and riding a wave of good feelings, I was inspired to make these Tofu Scramble Pockets a reality. I have had this idea in my mind for a while, and this morning, well, let's just say it was time.

Here is what you'll need for the dough:
1 packet active yeast
1.5 c. water
4 cups flour
1. 5 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
corn meal (to sprinkle on bake sheet)

The Scramble:
12 oz. package of firm tofu
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
4 oz. mushrooms
1 tsp. curry powder
olive oil
salt/pepper

Since you will have to let the dough rise for 45 minutes, start with that first. Warm your water up to about 100 degrees and add the yeast. Let the yeast do its thing for a couple of minutes, and then add half of your flour, all of your salt and olive oil. Mix until it is incorporated. Add the rest of the flour and knead together. The dough will still be quite sticky. Let rise for 45 minutes.

While the dough rises, start to get your scramble together. Cut your tofu into little cubes, and toss into a non-stick pan. I like to let the tofu cook without oil for a while, this way the moisture of the tofu steams away and it is a bit easier to fry everything up when it is a drier texture. This will take about 10 minutes. Use a spatula to crumble the tofu into smaller pieces. Add your oil, onions, garlic, mushrooms, curry powder and any spices that your particularly love. Let it cook on medium heat for another 10 - 15 minutes, taking care to stir every few minutes.

The addition of curry powder is something I discovered on a whim once, and I love adding just a tiny bit to tofu scrambles. Not only does 1 tsp. of curry powder give the tofu that golden, yellow color, but it also adds a certain savory flavor to the dish. Just enough to add a bit of depth to it, but not enough to make it a curry scramble.

When I made this, somehow everything aligned just right and my tofu scramble finished up within the last few minutes of my dough rising. Onto the dough....I took about a handful sized piece of dough and kneaded a bit of flour into it, to make it easier to handle (not as sticky). I used a smaller cutting board as reference as I rolled out about a 12x8 inch rectangle of dough. I added the scramble into the middle section, folded over each side, and then pressed down the ends on both sides. Poke holes into the top of your pockets with a fork so they don't explode or grow giant bubbles while in the oven...and Voila!


Place each pocket onto a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal, kind of like when you make pizza, it seems to not make the dough stick to the pan as much. Also, preheat your oven at this point to 400 degrees. Finish making your additional pockets, placing them side by side onto your baking pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. I would keep an eye on the pockets after about 15 minutes, as oven temps can vary greatly.


I made 5 pockets total, and I probably had enough dough for at least 2 more, but I ran out of scramble. I just put the leftover dough in the freezer, which will be super for a quick, home made pizza later on this week.

Enjoy with friends and loved ones!

Chocolate Truffles!!!

I have been wanting to make truffles since forever. And seeing as my life has been way too busy to cook, take pictures and write on this website (believe me, pictures of food after 9pm with a flash = no good)...I finally made myself take on this challenge.

I did a bit of research on truffles in general, and it seemed like the filling was normally melted chocolate whipped with heavy cream and sugar. So I got to thinking, well...I have used Tofutti cream cheese in a pasta sauce instead of cream before....so maybe that would work out ok. I did a bit more digging, and it I found several instances of vegan truffles where cream cheese and powdered sugar had been used. Three cups of powdered sugar to be clear.....not what I had in mind.

So I used the basic principles of truffles, and experimented a bit, only using 1 cup of powdered sugar, and it turned out fantastic! And I must say, I cannot even imagine these any sweeter. In fact, I was worried the chocolate filling would be too sweet as it were, which is why I used unsweetened baking chocolate for the outside layer....I liked the idea of having a somewhat dark, non-sweet outer layer with a sweet and creamy inside.

Also, having the truffles not be little balls of sugary, chocolately goo....it doesn't leave you with that....oh my gosh, I just ate a 1/4 cup of sugar, my stomach hurts kinda feeling. You might even feel up to having another one, in fact!

Here is what you will need for the filling:
8 oz. of semi sweet chocolate
1 - 8 oz tub of Tofutti cream cheese, plain
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

For the outside:
8 oz Unsweetened chocolate
any toppings that you love!

Also, make sure to have parchment paper on hand!

You start by making the filling, since this will need to be in the fridge and cool for about 2 hours to harden up a bit. This allows you to shape them into tablespoon sized balls. Begin by putting the Tofutti cream cheese into a food processer and mix it until it becomes smoother, and a little less stiff. Add your powdered sugar to this and mix, it will turn into a thick, paste almost. I was a bit surprised at how the powdered sugar changed the cream cheese, but it is normal. Add your vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Set up a simple double boiler, and add your 8 oz of semi sweet chocolate, and stir until it is all smooth and melted, no clumps. I used baking chocolate, which came premade into 1 oz squares, which easily allows you to half the recipe. Also, it made the melting go a whole lot faster having 8 squares of chocolate.

Add your chocolate mixture to your sugar/cream cheese mixture and combine in a bowl. Mix very well, it took a bit of work to combine them and make sure there were no chocolate or white chunks. Put in the fridge and let chill for about 2 hours.

Sugared Cream Cheese & Chocolate Filling

You can do something fun now, take a break, relax. But only for about 2 hours. Fast forward and you are ready to make your truffles! Take a long sheet of parchment paper, and lay it out next to where you are working in the kitchen. Use a tablespoon sized spoon to scoop out your filling, and roll them into balls.

*eta: Once you have finished rolling up your chocolate filling, place them back in the freezer while melting the next batch of chocolate for the coating. This will help the balls keep their shape and are much easier to handle* Set up a double boiler again, and this time, melt your unsweetened chocolate, stirring as it starts to melt so all the clumps get melted away too. Once you have a smooth mixture, take each little rolled up filling mixture and drop it into the chocolate in the double boiler. Make sure the whole thing is coated and set it back down onto the parchment paper. After you do maybe 4 or 5, take a second and add any toppings to the truffles.

Once you have finished all of your truffles, put them into the freezer for 20 minutes, if you want a quick fix to see how amazing your truffles taste. Or simply put them in the fridge until the the chocolate shell has hardened.

Eat, enjoy, repeat!

Here are some toppings I put on my truffles:

Sea Salted Truffles


Purple Sprinkled Truffles


Spotted Truffles


Pink Sprinkled Truffles

Nutmeg Cake

For the past couple of months, I have had a growing obsession with nutmeg. I add it to almost everything I make lately, especially anything tomato based. The flavor of nutmeg with a slow, simmering pot of fresh tomatoes make the most excellent pasta sauce.

So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a recipe for Nutmeg Cake! I had to try it out right away. This vegan version is adapted from "The Herb and Spice Bible" along with my own Pumpkin Spice drizzle.

What you will need for the cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 cup Earth Balance, or your fav. vegan butter
1 egg equivalent
1 1/4 c. soy milk

Pumpkin Spice Drizzle:
1 c. confectioners sugar
2-3 tbsp soy milk
1- 2 tsp pumpkin spice

Preheat your over to 350 degrees and mix together 1/2 of your flour, all of your sugar, cinnamon, allspice and coriander. Add your 1/2 c. Earth Balance or vegan butter to the mix, and crumble the pieces of butter with the mixture. It will be somewhat coarse and chunky, and that is a-ok.

Spread a bit of Earth Balance onto the bottom of your pan. I used a bundt pan, but an 8 inch round cake pan will work nicely as well.

Sprinkle the flour, sugar, spice, butter combo onto the bottom of you pan to coat it. Whatever you have leftover, add your other 1 cup flour to this mixture, add your baking powder, salt, nutmeg, soy milk and egg equivalent and whisk together.

Pour this batter over the crumbs in your pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes. Depending on what kind of pan you use, your baking time will vary slightly, so keep an eye on your cake at around the 50 minute mark. The cake is done when you can insert a fork into it and it comes out clean, it should also feel springy to the touch.


While you let your cake cool in the pan, prepare your Pumpkin Spice drizzle. Mix all ingredients together, and adjust the amount of soy milk until you get a somewhat thick liquid. Set aside.

Remove cake from pan, and drizzle the Pumpkin Spice drizzle over the cake. And if you are feeling festive like I was, decorate your nutmeg cake with autumn colored sprinkles!

German Knäckebrot

I brought home some delicious Knäckebrot when I came back from Germany at the end of the summer, and I knew right away that this would be something I would have to tackle, and try making myself. The word Knäckebrot literally translates to "crisp bread" and that is pretty much what it is. A thin, crispy bread that is amost like a cracker.

The Knäckebrot I brought was something the bakery down the street at my Oma's house made daily, and it had lots of good seeds on it. It is super good with things like hummus.


Here is my own version of it, for which you'll need:
1/2 c. rye flour
1 1/2 c. white flour
2 tbsp. Earth Balance
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. water
sesame seeds
raw sunflower seeds

Mix all of the ingredients, minus the seeds, until the dough is smooth, yet a tad sticky. Add 2 tbsp. sesame seeds to the dough. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Let rest for 20 minutes. Take about a handful sized ball of the dough and roll out into a 1/8 thin rectangular shape. Sprinkle on the sunflower seeds, and make sure to press them firmly into the dough. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top, and press those into the dough firmly again. If you do not do this step sufficiently, your Knäckebrot will bake, and the seeds will simple fall off. And you do not want that to happen.

Also, be sure to take a fork and poke lots of holes into the dough, that way it stays flat while baking, and you don't end up with a flat bread that has lots of puffy areas.

Bake for about 18 minutes, and check on your Knäckebrot, let it bake until the edges are golden brown. You might end up baking them for a total of 20 minutues, but towards the end, you want to keep an eye on them, so they do not burn.


Serve plain, with jam, hummus, any sort of spreadable goodness and enjoy!

Vegan Mofo - Pantry Raid

Today I decided to make something really delicious, something that would use up odds and ends in my pantry, and something that falls into the "comfort foods" category. And what happened was a Chili Soup....something that almost wants to be chili, but is a bit more soupy.

What you'll need:

24 oz. canned diced tomates

24 oz. veggie broth

1 small can of tomato paste

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cups of your favorite beans

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

salt/pepper to taste

hot sauce!

Also, out of extra comfort foodiness, I made this all in my crock pot. And this is the easier thing ever to make. Just add all of your ingredients into the crock pot, set it to high, and about 4-5 hours later...voila! A meal, ready for you and your loved ones! And it tastes extra good, since it has been simmering all day long, basically.

This is also a great basic recipe, since you can add whatever veggies you have on hand, whatever beans you have sitting around (I used garbanzo and black beans in mine...just what I had hanging around my kitchen). Each time, it can be totally customizable to use up your leftover veggies, as long as you have some canned tomatoes around. Which I always seem to have on hand too.

And I like the fact it has almost a double comfort food aspect to me...chili...and soup. Become one. Amazing!

Spiced Chai Concentrate Mix

First, I have to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that watched and enjoyed the Cookie Love! animation! It was a lot of fun, and I have to say thanks to Chris for helping out and doing the wonderful and amazing music for the animation!

Also, a few people were wondering what recipe I used for the cookies. I used the chocolate chip cookie recipe out of Vegan with a Vengeance. I did use carob chips for the cookies though.

So, here in the Northwest it is really starting to change seasons here, the weather outside feels brisk and it gets dark super early! Along with my notorious pumpkin spice anything addiction, I also feel the need to drink chai non stop.

Those concentrate mixes sure add up though at around $4-5 per box. So I decided to do some reading, and try my hand at making my own concentrate. The first batch was ok. I didn't have cardmom, and it was a bit on the bland side. I like my chai a bit spicy!

Here is what you will need:
(makes 6 cups concentrate, enough for about 12 cups of chai w/soy milk)

6 black tea bags
6 cups water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp cardamom
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
5 tbsp agave nectar

Start by bringing your water to a boil and steep the tea bags for a few minutes. Keep the water on medium low heat. Add your spices and the agave nectar, and for the next 20 minutes, keep an eye on your mix, making sure to stir it several times a minute. It should start to thicken up a little bit. I did however take my tea bags out after maybe 10 minutes.

After you have cooked the concentrate for 20 minutes, take a fine mesh strainer to get out all of the spice gunk, so you will only be drinking the delicious chai you have been working so hard for.

Pour your mixture into a larger container, and now, add the vanilla to the mix. Refrigerate. And enjoy whenever you want! Just mix 1/2 of the chai with 1/2 of your fav non-dairy milk, drink it cold or hot, either way, it tastes great.

Spice Tip: buy a little bit of the cardamom from your bulk section. You only need a little bit for each batch, and I think a jar of cardamom sells for around $15!! crazy, right? So buy bulk to save even more money.

Also, if you are thinking about leaving out the cardamom, thats ok. I made my first batch without it too, and it tasted pretty good. Adding the cardamom really brings home the true chai flavor though, it is hard to explain without having your very own personal taste test. But experiment, and adjust to your taste!

One more thing, even though this takes a bit of time, it smells amazing while you are making it, and makes the whole house smell wonderful and cozy, perfect for the fall.

Cookie Love!

Here is an animation I made today, in honor of Vegan Mofo, with original music by Chris.

Enjoy!

Cookie Love! from jenny konopinski on Vimeo.

Vegan Mofo!

Today officially marks the beginning of the Vegan Month of Food, woohoo! Vegan Mofo is in its third year this year, with over 300 participants, where bloggers from all over the word try and blog about as much vegan food and other related topics as possible. So prepare yourself with a month of food awesomeness, and hopefully lots of it! This is my first go along with the Vegan Mofo team, so we will see how things go.

Also, if things work out as planned, stay tuned for some sort of cooking/baking stop motion animation I will be working on over the weekend.

Caramelized Pear & Ginger Cake

I have envisioned this tangy, sweet and delish flavor combo for a while now. Ginger and Pears. I could not get this out of my mind, so I came up with a way to combine these two flavors into a sort of cobbler like cake. The cake has a bottom layer, then the fruit, and then topped again with small pieces of dough that was used for the bottom layered on top of the fruit.

Pears have such a great sweet and mild taste, the addition of the ginger and some other spices really are a nice addition to this cake.

Here is what you will need:
4 - 5 pears
1/2 c water
2 tbsp finely minced ginger
1 tsp fresh nutmeg
1 tsp fresh all spice
vegan sugar to caramelize pears

For the dough:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (i used the chunkier, kosher salt here)
1 cup vegan sugar
3/4 cup vegan earth balance
3 egg equivalents for Ener-G (use warm water)

Begin by making the dough, as it will need to set in the freezer for about 30 minutes for you to be able to handle it easier, and it won't be a sticky mess.

Begin by adding the earth balance and the 1 cup vegan sugar into your mixer, beat for about 5 minutes so it becomes a nice, light, fluffy mixture. In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Also mix 3 egg equivalents of Ener-G together.

When your sugar and butter mixture is nice and fluffy, slowly add about 1/3 of your ener-g mixture at a time, making sure each 1/3 is incorporated before adding your next 1/3. Add your bowl of dry ingredients slowly. Continue to mix until it comes together into a very smooth dough. It is going to be very sticky, wrap this up in plastic wrap and leave in your freezer for about 30 minutes.

While the dough is in the freezer, start to prepare your pears. I cut mine in half length wise, then in half again. Do this to all of your pears. Then, take a small plate and pour some of your vegan sugar onto it. This will allow you to place each pear section into the sugar to coat it.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium high, and place each pear slice into it, cut side down. They might be a bit smooshed in the pan, but that is ok. Cook for about 5 minutes, and then add your 1/2 cup of water, in addition to the ginger, nutmeg and all spice. Let this cook for another 10 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on this, you don't want the sugary syrup to burn. If it looks like it is getting too thick or burning, add a little bit of water to it. Set aside and let cool.

While the mixture cools down, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Take out your plastic wrapped dough, take 1/2 of the dough and use this to create the bottom layer of the cake. I used a pie pan for mine, but I think a 9" springform pan would work nicely as well. Spread out the dough to get a nice, even bottom layer.

Take your pear mixture, and spoon the pears over the bottom dough layer. Make sure to save the sauce, but feel free to scoop out all of the small pieces of ginger and add to the pears. Take your other 1/2 of the dough and layer the top with table spoon sized chunks of dough. Try to cover almost the whole layer, but there will be small spots where the pear layer peeks through. This is ok, as the dough will spread out during baking.

Now for the neat part. Take your sugary, syrup like sauce and cook it on high heat for about 2 - 3 minutes. It will bubble like mad, start to turn a caramely brown color and get thicker.



Pour this syrup over the top of your cake. This will make the top layer of your cake have a nice, really cripsy top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is baked golden brown.

Also, learning this from experience, put another pan, like a pizza pan, underneath your cake just in case there are some juices that bubble and spill over. Not fun to clean up.

Eat right away, or let cool and savor later.

Baked Mac and Cheese

Here is a sneak peek at a baked mac & cheese recipe I have been experimenting with. Gotta make it one more time, actually write down what I used and how much of each, and tweak a few things here and there.

This is a cashew based "cheese" sauce I am working with for this, look for this soon!

Carrot Ginger Soup

I did not have the faintest idea what to make for dinner yesterday, I checked the fridge and my cupboards, and then checked them again. And....again. Nothing. Then I realized I had a few key ingredients to make a really simple and delish soup...carrots and ginger. I have never made this kind of soup before, but I thought..."Hey, how hard can it be? You can figure it out!" So I did my best, and came up with a really tasty little soup.

This is a really nice, light soup but it is filling at the same time. I think normally this is made into a sort of cream soup, which is easy to veganize and do, but I wanted to avoid the heavy feeling of the creamy soups, and just have a really nice, clean and savory soup.

Here is what you'll need:
1.5 pounds of carrots
1 medium - large onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-4 tbsp of minced ginger (adjust to taste)
5 c. veggie broth (or use water with corresponding amounts of veggie bullion)
1 tsp of fresh grated nutmeg
2 tbsp Earth Balance or your fav. vegan butter sub.
salt
pepper

Start by slicing each onion, then chopping each sliced section into about thirds. The pieces will be kind of big, but you will be putting the soup into a food processor anyways. Add your Earth Balance or vegan butter to a large soup pot over medium high heat, and add your onions. While these cook, give your garlic a rough chop and toss them into the pot as well. Finely mince your ginger and add. Cook for 3 minutes longer, or until onions start to turn a golden color.

Add your veggie broth. While this comes back up to temp, start with your carrots. I used a mandolin slicer for mine, and sliced them at a 1/4 inch. Alternately, you can just roughly cut your carrots into slices. Just keep in mind, the larger pieces of carrots you cut, the longer you will have to let it simmer to soften them up. Add the sliced carrots as you go, and keep the soup at a simmer.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Check the tenderness of the carrots. If they easily come apart with a spoon or fork, you are good to go. If not, cook for 5 more minutes, check and repeat if neccessary.

You will notice at this state it just looks more like a vegtable soup than carrot ginger soup. Here is where the magic happens. Turn off your burner, so your soup can start to cool down a bit. With a slotted spoon or ladel, spoon out the slices of carrots, and if you get onions and garlic too, that is even better. Fill your food processor no more than 2/3 full, and pulse until it is a mushy mess and add it back into the soup. Spoon out the rest of the carrot/onion/garlic and food process again, add back into soup. I left some slices of carrots and onions in mine, I probably processed about 3/4 of all the carrots and onions in my soup.

Now, it should look more like a real carrot ginger soup. Since the consistancy is right where you want it, take the time to season your soup now. Add a bit of salt and pepper to your taste. Grate fresh nutmeg, and add to your soup. If you love nutmeg like I do, feel free do add maybe 2 tsp and adjust to your taste. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Ginger & Agave Eggplant

The latest addition to the cookbooks has been "The Spice and Herb Bible" by Ian Hemphill and it is such a great book! I love how it goes through poretty much everything under the sun, gives you a history of it, how to store and use it. It even has many spice combinations in the book, so I can do cool things like make my own curry powder! It has some really great flavo combinations and ideas that are almost counter-intuative but when you follow this guide, you will be really surprised by the results.



That being said, this appetizer is inspired by this book and I was not sure if it would be bad, or just ok. The combo seems a bit strange at first....smokey cumin...sweet agave....ginger...? What on earth would this become...but man, I am sure glad I went with it and tried it out. It is unlike anything I have ever had before, in a good way. A really good way. It is tangy, zesty, sweet and savory all in one taste. It does have a pretty intense flavor, so I would suggest making this as an appetizer, or maybe making some jasmine rice with it if you want to make it into a meal.

Here is what you will need:
1 medium to large eggplant
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
4 tsp fresh ginger, grated or finely minced
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 tsp. cumin
1 lemon, for juice and zest

Start by slicing your eggplant into at least 1/2 inch slices. Add oil to pan, and fry the sliced eggplant in batches until each slice is brown on both sides. I found doing this that eggplant absorbes a whole lot of oil, quickly, so you will need to add more oil as you go. You can also brush each side or eggplant and fry it that way if you want to cut down on the oil. Set aside on a plate and drain on a paper towl on plate.


After your eggplant is done, add a small amount of oil to your pan, just enough so the garlic and ginger can cook on a medium low heat for a few minutes. When the garlic is just starting to get a bit toasty/golden brown, add your: water, agave nectar, cumin, lemon juice and zest. Cook for 10 minutes, and then add in the eggplant you have already fried. Cover this and let simmer for another ten minutes.

Enjoy and have your tastebuds be amazed at what you just made!

Zucchini & Cherry Tomato Quiche version 1.1

So, for whatever reason, I had the biggest urge to try and make a vegan quiche the other day. It was an urge that stuck with me all day and dragged me out of the house and out to the store for supplies. I had never made a quiche before, but I knew of recipes that use tofu instead of eggs. So I just kinda added things until everything felt "right."

Having said that, this is more of a prototype recipe in this current state...and by that I mean: no amounts, no measuring, just a basic list of stuff I used. I will remake this very very soon because I want to eat more of it, and....I want to get a real recipe for this written down.

Ok, you have been warned! Enter at your own risk, but doing so may result in awesome deliciousness!

Things I used:
1 block of firm tofu
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
3 small zucchini
1 small onion
garlic - chopped
soy creamer
salt/pepper/all purpose veggie seasoning
nutmeg - fresh grated
nutritional yeast
grated veggie parmesan
1 tsp. curry powder
fresh basil
corn starch
olive oil
1 pie crust

ok...I hope those are all of the ingredients I used and am not forgetting anything. So, start out by chopping up your garlic and adding it to a hot pan with a bit of olive oil. While your garlic is cooking, slice your zucchini into about 1/4 inch slices, and then cut into halves. Add to your garlic. Finely chop up your onion, and add to garlic and veggies. Turn to a lower heat.

While veggies cook ( do not over cook since they are still going to cook in the oven), cut your tofu into managable sized chunks and put about 1/2 into the food processor. Or if you have a really big, fancy food processor...go ahead and throw all of the tofu in there. As if starts to look more like a paste, add your soy creamer....I would say I added maybe 1/4 cup to each half? Again...I'm sorry for my lack of amounts here...this was purely a test case! Back to the quiche.....add the soy creamer and blend so it is a nice, thick but creamy texture. Put this into a medium to large sized bowl, and repeat this for the rest of the tofu. Add to bowl. Turn off heat on the veggies and set aside.

I began by adding a tiny bit of curry powder, about 1 tsp, I mainly did this for the color and usually use tumeric for this, but I didn't have any and this worked fine. Season with salt, pepper, veggie seasonings to your taste. I also added a bt of italian seasoning for mine, which includes some hot pepper flakes...yum! Add your veggies to this mixture...and reseason if neccissary. Grate your nutmeg into the mixture, I would say I added about 1 - 2 tsp. to mine, but then again, I really like nutmeg....it's quite a strong flavor so be careful and try the mixture as you go.

I added maybe 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup of nutritional yeast. Stirred in maybe 1/4 cup at most of some grated veggie parmesan. Then I roughly chopped up about 6 or 7 large fresh basil leaves and mixed those in as well. And the final thing I did was add 2 tsp. of corn starch, so make sure it would thicken up as it baked. Mine turned out ok, but if you want yours a tab firmer, I would go ahead and add around 3 - 4 tsp. of corn starch.

As for a pie crust, mine needs some serious work and attention. I did however make a more savory pie crust using a mixture of flour and wheat flour, and adding spices and herbs into the crust as well. For things like this, I really like savory crusts a whole lot better than just a sweeter, store bought crust. Hopefully, I will soon have a good pie crust recipe to match my future, complete quiche recipe!

Anyways...back to the quiche......when everything is seasoned to your taste, pour it into your pie crust.


Also, you want to pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. I topped mine with some additional slices of cherry tomatoes that I had set aside for this. I sprinkled the top with some veggie parmesan and put it in the over. Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until the top of your quiche looks like it has an almost crispy layer.

Let cool for a few minutes so it has a chance to set, and won't be a runny mess on your plate. If you want it to look all fancy, add a bit of fresh basil to each slice of quiche served...it looks really, really pretty against the bright red of the tomatoes.

Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.

Red Pepper Pizza

Unfortunately, the past week went by way too fast with not enough cooking experimentation time, but I did end up making a pretty simple pizza! It is pretty basic, since I did buy the dough at Trader Joe's (...I know, I know, could have made it myself but it was a spur of the need for pizza)

Here is what I used:
1 batch of pizza dough
1 block of "Follow Your Heart" Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella
1 Pint of Cherry Tomatoes
1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes
1-2 red peppers
1 head of garlic
olive oil
vegan sugar
basil

Since I didn't do anything special for the dough, this is mainly for making a simple and verrry delicious tomato sauce for your pizza....the sauce is so so important in making or breaking a really yummy pizza for me, and this really hit the spot.

Begin by chopping up your garlic and toss it into a pan with some olive oil. Let this cook for 2-3 minutes, enough to let the garlic soften up but not burn. Cut your tomatoes into small slices and then add it to your garlic. Add about 1 tsp. of vegan sugar, this help cut the acidity of the raw tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 10-15 minutes, and then add your can of diced tomatoes.

Chiffonade your basil, and add this to the sauce. Also, add any salt/pepper and other spices to your taste. I added some of my really great italian seasoning I got from Italy, which includes red pepper flakes! yum!

Let this cook down for a while, so you don't get left with too much watery liquid, this might take another 15 minutes or so.



Roll out your dough, add sauce, grate the vegan gourmet cheese, add topping....you know the rest! For baking pizzas with the FYH Vegan Gourmet cheese, I found that it works best baking it at about 400 degrees for 12-13 minutes. Your cheese will look like it is starting to melt, but still in pieces and not really melting together. The trick here is take a flat spatula, and slightly smoosh your pizza down, and then set your over to broil for about 4 minutes. Keep an eye on your pizza once you do this, you don't want it to burn. But this is the best way to get vegan cheese to actually melt like regular cheese.

Let cool for a few, if you can and enjoy!

Peach & Plum Tea Cake

Ever since this month's Gourmet Magazine has been out, the Plum Kuchen has been popping up everywhere...I could not get away from seeing it. And when I finally caved and bought the magazine for myself, it was the opposite page that had a little section on a Stone Fruit Tea Cake! I knew that was the baking project for me...I mean, I am sure the Plum Kuchen is wonderful...but this Tea Cake really caught my eye.

It features a shortbread-like dough that is not overly sweet, which balances beautifully against the fresh fruit that is layered into it. I chose a mixture of peaches and plums. I really wanted a kind of sweet and tart to play off of each other, and the combination of the sweet peaches against the slight bitterness of the plums really adds a yumminess to this cake, in my opinion. However, you can use any combination of stone fruits, or go all out with your one and very favorite!


Peach & Plum Tea Cake (adapted from Gourmet Magazine, Aug. 2009)

you will need:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (i used the chunkier, kosher salt here)
1 cup vegan sugar
3/4 cup vegan earth balance
3 egg equivalents for Ener-G (use warm water)
3 cups fruit (I used 1 large peach, 2 large plums)
brown sugar (this will be sprinkled on top, so you will not need much)

Begin by adding the earth balance and the 1 cup vegan sugar into your mixer, and beat for almost 5 minutes to cream it. It should be a nice, light, fluffy mixture. While this is mixing up, I mixed together in a seperate bowl my flour, baking powder and salt. I also got my 3 egg equivalents of Ener-G together.

When you are done mixing your sugar/earth balance mixture, slowly add about 1/3 of your ener-g mixture at a time, making sure each 1/3 is incorporated before adding your next 1/3.

After all of your Ener-G is mixed together with your sugar and earth balance, add your bowl of dry ingredients slowly. Continue to mix until it comes together into a very smooth dough. The texture almost reminded me of sugar cookie dough while I was making this. Wrap this up in plastic wrap and leave in your freezer for about 30 minutes.

While the dough cools in your freezer (it will be easier to handle when cooled) roughly chop your fruit. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

After you have cooled the dough, take about 1/2 of the dough and spread it evenly in the bottom your pan. Add the fruit over this layer, and then crumble the remaining dough over the fruit. This does not have to be small crumbled pieces, I made mine about table spoon sized. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

The original recipe calls for a 10" pan, but I would recommend a 9" spring form pan. It almost seemed like my first half was not enough to spread out across the 10" pan.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.



I know this is the hard part, but you want to wait a little bit before cutting into this awesome tea cake. All of your fruit has released its moisture, forming a sticky liquid. As it cools, the liquid will thicken up and make it easier and neater for you to take out your cake.

Ok....now, enjoy!

Pasta Pomodoro e Carciofo

I have been visiting my family in Germany recently (where I got to spend 3 days in Paris...amazing!), and then when I got back to the Northwest, at work, we were getting ready for the awesome Sock Summit here in Portland! Dublin Bay Knitting Co. had a booth there, and the turn out was fabulous...so so so much fun!

The only down side to all of this knitting awesome time is the fact ever since I got back from my trip, I have had zero time to spend in the kitchen and really cook something! So today was my first real day off, and I went right to New Seasons so simply browse (...yes, I go grocery shopping to browse and look at all of the pretty food!) and get some much needed food inspiration.

That is when I came across this great display of these adorable, cute and colorful cherry tomatoes and I knew I had to use them. Tonight.

The pint of tomatoes I bought were a mixture of local, organic red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Take a peek!


Cute, right?? I really wanted something to show off the great taste of these tiny and flavorful, so I came up with a really simple and fresh recipe for what I am calling Pasta Pomodoro e Carciofo. On a side note, if artichokes are not your thing, I still think this sauce turns out amazingly as a simple pomodoro sauce sans the artichokes!

Here is what you will need:
1 pint of assorted cherry tomatoes, cut in half
5 large cloves of garlic
1 small jar of marinated artichokes
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. bragg's liquid aminos
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. italian seasoning
1/2 pound capellini pasta

Begin with the garlic, and roughly chop them but not very fine. I wanted this to have somewhat a "rustic" feel so large, uneven chunks of garlic are a-ok with me! Drizzle olive oil to coat a large pan with raised edges (as this is the pan that will hold the sauce and pasta). Add garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until the garlic starts to turn a golden brown color.

As this was cooking, I began to cut my cherry tomatoes into halves, and give my artichokes a rough chop. When your garlic is done, set the pan aside off of the burner to let the oil cook for a minute, then add your halved tomatoes and artichokes.

If you add the tomatoes right away, the juices will mix with the oil and splatter like mad! Believe me....this comes from experience.

As the tomatoes begin to cook down, add the sugar. I find that this small amount of sugar takes away some of the acidity of the tomatoes. Add the Braggs, italian seasoning, and the additional 2 tbsp. of olive oil.

A note about italian seasoning: I got this fabulous seasoning straight from Italy on my trip, But you can make your own! It looks like it contains a mixture of basil. oregano, rosemary, thyme, maybe some marjoram, dried slices of garlic and lots of yummy crushed red pepper flakes.

Even if you have a generic italian seasoning mix at home, it will do, but you will probably have to add the crushed red pepper yourself, as this generally is not a component of the dried italian seasoning mix you buy. If you make the seasoning this way, simply add and adjust the crushed red pepper to your taste.

Let the sauce simmer while you bring your water to a boil for your pasta. I used capellini for this dish, and felt it worked well. Capellini pasta tends to grow and grow when it is cooking, so I suggest 1/2 a pound for the amount of the sauce you are making. If you are planning this for 3 or 4 people, I would double this recipe and make 1 pound of pasta.



Let the pasta cook until it is al dente. Drain and add to your sauce. Mix the sauce around until the pasta is coated, serve and enjoy!

Shooting Star Pops

I got these great Shooting Star Popsicle molds for my birthday, made by Tovolo. They are so cute, I just had to give these a try. Take a peek:


Now aren't those great? Here is what I used for my first pop concoction:
1 peach
1 1/4 c. mango nectar

I cut up the peach and threw it into a food processor until they were cut into really small pieces, but not pureed. I added a little over a cup of mango nectar, and voila!


You pour your filling into the molds, which very neatly and cutely snap onto the provided star shaped base. Just make sure to leave some room at the top, once it is in the freezer, it will expand.


Throw those babies into the freezer, try and wait for about 4 hours...I couldn't wait that long and tried one after about 3 hours and they were good to go.

I think this is the perfect way to experiment with different flavors and textures, getting just the right combo that you crave and might not be able to find. Also, you know exactly what is going into your delicious frozen treat, leaving behind all those artificial flavors and additives!

In this case, the power of the popsicle wins every time!