The Post That Concludes VeganMoFo 2008

Today is the last day of VeganMoFo and I decided to wait until the evening to post. It's still October 31 in all of the U.S., but I apologize to those of you in time zones that have pushed this post to November 1. I'm really pleased that I accomplished my goal of posting every single day during the month of October. I'll miss the urgency of posting immediately before leaving for work in the morning, I think. I'll definitely miss the deep orange VeganMoFo logo adorning all of my posts! I've learned a lot about those of you reading and those of you whose blogs I read and I thank you all for participating by either reading or writing. Hopefully, VeganMoFo will have given me the push to post more than I used to pre-October 2008. We'll see!

I'm leaving you with a sweet treat to celebrate Halloween and the end of VeganMoFo: These are absolutely delicious Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons from the upcoming Sweet Freedom cookbook. It's due out in 2009, so check the Sweet Freedom blog for updates.

Happy Halloween to all! Be safe and have fun!

Cornbread and a Vegan Athlete

While I'm not a cornbread connoisseur, I do know that this Happy Herbivore test cornbread is the most flavorful, moist, and healthful cornbread recipe I've ever tried.

In other news, John Salley, of NBA fame, appeared on an episode of Rachael Ray's daytime talk show last week. He openly discussed his VEGANISM (edited clip here), explaining that he "decided not to die at a young age because I love my life" and became vegetarian in 1991 when he was diagnosed with high cholesterol. Unfortunately, the clip doesn't show the part when he talked about going vegan, so I can't recall exactly how long he has been vegan. When asked where he gets his protein, his answer is: "You get your protein the same place animals get it from; green leafy vegetables." On top of touting veganism on national TV, he was hawking his own line of foods, which are organic, vegan, and kosher. Way to go, John Salley!

Oh, I also have to mention that Rachael's cooking segment that came later in the show was for a chicken club quesadilla, but she was so rattled by having a vegan on the show that she constantly reiterated the fact that any animal product in the dish was easily replaced with a vegan or vegetarian alternative. :)

Crispy Fruit Chews

Oh, yes, I was a whirling dervish in the kitchen this weekend. I baked up a storm and then some! I don't even want to think about the number of hours my oven was on, but I'm sure next month's gas bill will be a bit higher than usual. I have a feeling this coming weekend will be similar, so it's a good thing that I truly enjoy baking and cooking.

Like many of you, I find my time in the kitchen to be therapeutic at best or a fantastic distraction at the very least. Sometimes, I'll just turn the TV up in the other room to have some background noise. More often, I rock out while I'm cooking and baking. Of course, sometimes, I just need to be alone with my thoughts and my recipes.

The entire process is so satisfying to me; meticulously reviewing a recipe and then following the steps, messing up the kitchen along the way, but cleaning it as soon as the hands-on preparation is complete. I love the feeling of looking around my once-again spotless (well, close enough) kitchen just as my meal or baked good is ready. Above all else, though, the most pleasurable part of cooking and baking is sharing the final product with someone else. While it's not often that I have the opportunity to cook a meal for another, I always share my baked goods. It's a great way to create good will in the office or to show someone I care.

These outrageously delicious Crispy Fruit Chews were the result of a test recipe for the upcoming Sweet Freedom cookbook. I shared them with my mom and my guitar teacher (after I sampled them, of course). They were a huge hit!

I have so much more to share with you from my weekend baking extravaganza. Don't worry; I made a few savory dishes, too!

Apple Cake Cupcakes

These Happy Herbivore test recipe cupcakes were surprisingly good! They disappeared in minutes when I took them to my office yesterday morning. Your wait is almost over; I believe the e-cookbook is due to drop on November 1.

Thank you for all your cricket advice and anecdotes from the last post. It's nice to have someone to ask!

Sunday Brunch at Madeleine Bistro

I spent the afternoon with my mom yesterday. When she suggested lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Madeleine Bistro, I was very pleasantly surprised.

After perusing the menu (I don't see the brunch menu online, sadly), I chose a sandwich I'd enjoyed before. I believe it's called the Cajun Caesar Sandwich, but I can't verify that without the menu. On the side, I had a Caesar salad. The sandwich is composed of delicious, juicy, spicy, Caesar dressing-marinated seitan, romaine lettuce, and tomato on sourdough. It's one of those sandwiches that requires careful attention or else yummy, spicy juices will be dripping down your arm. Interestingly, they now offer the sandwich in either a half or a full size. I ordered full so I could save half for another meal, but I thought that was an excellent idea.

Chef Dave's Caesar dressing is really wonderful. It has just the right amount of garlic and is creamy without being heavy.



To drink, I chose something suitable autumnal: Apple Cinnamon Caramel Juice (or something like that). Madeleine's fresh-squeezed apple juice is superb and this was a fun and yummy variation on the original.

Oh, and guess who else was dining at Madeleine's this afternoon? None other than Emily Deschanel of Bones. Oh, and one of my mom's former colleagues and his family was there, too. :)

We went on a Target shopping spree after lunch and my mom bought me some fun new kitchen toys (thanks, Mom!), including a fine-mesh sieve (finally, I won't lose 3/4 of my quinoa while rinsing it!), a muffin tin that has a plastic cover for transportation (useful for taking cupcakes in to work), cupcake liners, a cute new camera case (I just might photograph it so you can see what it looks like), and some filters for my Brita pitcher.

I spent a significant amount of time in the kitchen this weekend, making up for lost time since I wasn't able to test any recipes last weekend. I believe I made 10 separate recipes! I'll be sharing photos with you this week and next.

One final thing before I end this post: Crickets have taken a liking to my home. I've escorted three outside on three separate occasions (usually after chasing them around the kitchen and/or family room for a while first) and there is another one currently hiding under my oven. He was on my dishwasher last night, hopped away before I could get him, just showed himself on the kitchen floor, and hid under the oven before I could grab a mug to cover him. While I appreciate that they are gracing me with their presence, I really don't want crickets in my home, especially in my kitchen. Does anyone have any humane ideas that would stop them from coming in? I have no idea where their entry point is because I rarely open the front door (I come in through the garage, which is on a separate level from the kitchen/family room). I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Cinnamon Buns

Never in my life had I made cinnamon buns before tackling this test recipe for the upcoming Sweet Freedom cookbook. I'd never made them from scratch nor had I made them from one of those tubes in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I'd also never tasted cinnamon buns this delicious until I tried one of these straight from the oven!

Pumpkin Muffins

Please accept my heartfelt "thank you" and enormous hugs for all of your sweet and thoughtful comments about my grandpa's passing. Being on the receiving end of your support, having not met some of you in person, is such a powerful experience. I feel truly blessed to be part of this community and I appreciate each and every one of you.

Now, if only a vegan blogger would create vegan cold cuts so I could have eaten something other than veggies and hummus between last Friday and last Monday, I'd be set. ;) Seriously, though, as much as I love hummus and veggies and rye bread, 4 full days' worth can become a bit tiresome!

Fortunately, in addition to the Quinoa Coffee Cake from yesterday's post, I baked these incredibly delicious Pumpkin Muffins from the soon-to-be-released Happy Herbivore holiday cookbook. I did eat several of these over those 4 days when I ate lunch and dinner at my mom's house while preparing for the funeral that was held on Monday.

By the way, these muffins are also fool-proof, which I discovered after accidentally omitting a seemingly key ingredient. So, there's another incentive to buy Happy Herbivore's new cookbook; even if you make a mistake, the recipes still turn out great!