"twix" bars

One of my twitter buddies posted a link to a recipe for veganized twix bars a few days ago. I've been thinking about them ever since. Today, I attempted to make them, with limited success. At least they taste good. But, I think the effort to make them outweighs the result. This may be the only time I ever make these.


I struggled to get the shortbread to roll out properly.



Though the recipe suggests scoring the dough, I cut the squares into "fun-sized" pieces.



the squares, spread with caramel right before I popped them into the freezer.



the finished result.



after I bit into the bar, you can see the chocolate layer and the caramel underneath.

dinner at a Santa Cruz taqueria

We took our niece to Santa Cruz, for a fun beach outing. As there was nothing too vegan-friendly on the boardwalk, we stopped at this local taqueria and had a very good vegan meal. I ordered a taco plate which was larger than I thought it would be and slathered in creamy guacamole.

pizza pizza!

Mark, my talented hubby, baked these pizzas from scratch (that includes the dough & sauce). The result was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the addition of jalapeno pepper instead of bell pepper. It gave the pizza a nice kick.


a pizza waiting to be baked.



the first result, before I ate half of it.


the last pizza, with slivers of jalapeno pepper.

VF vegan bake swap 3/09

I've been in a funk this year & baking has not been one of the things I've been wanting to do. However, I did sign up to be in the VF bake swap and the deadline was looming. So, I was inspired to bake 3 items for my recipient. These two recipes, from La Dolce Vegan, are ones I had never used before and was happy with the results. The other item was my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, which I've posted on here before.


Cinnamon Doughnut Holes, still cooling & before I glazed them.



Wolffie's Chocolate-y Moist Brownies, prior to the drizzling of chocolate ganache.

bakery cupcakes

We had a vegan meetup at the end of February 2009. Martha brought these cupcakes from a bakery in Santa Cruz and we all decided they looked like boobs. I snapped this pic of Joe's hands about to grab some cupcake (it was funny, at the time). The cupcakes were tasty, if a bit dry. I think I'm spoiled by my own baking.

chocolate babka

In my search for a veganized brioche recipe, I found this chocolate babka recipe. Mark baked these and the result was delicious.


babka, in two sizes.

a cruelty-free thanksgiving (2008)

Since it was just Mark & I celebrating the holiday this year, we toned it down and kept just the essentials.




the pecan pie, fresh from the oven.


our simple meal of Field Roast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and veggies.



this year, there was no Soyatoo or Hip Whip to be found, so we had our pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla rice cream. It was yummy.

bite-sized cinnamon rolls

Mark likes to tweak this recipe nearly every time he bakes them. This time, he was inspired by a work potluck to make the cinnamon rolls smaller. Now, this is our preferred way to bake them.


proofing the cinnamon rolls, before they go into the oven.



the finished result: with "cream cheese" frosting, caramel, and pecans.

peanut butter chocolate heavencakes

a from VCTOTW, using the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe & adding a peanut butter cream and chocolate ganache frosting. I've never made a dessert that required piping the filling in and it showed. Next time, be more aggressive with filling.



filling the cupcake.


topping the cupcake with ganache.

soup & sandwich

Now that it's officially autumn, we can bust out hearty meals. This soup, Kathleen's Mom's Tortilla Chip Soup, is a recipe from La Dolce Vegan. It's the first time we've tried it. We modified it slightly (by adding extra black beans) but kept the full amount of chili. It was very good. Especially for my currently ill hubby.

The sandwiches are made with vegenaise, dijon mustard, spinach, cucumber, tomato, avocado, and Field Roast slices) with Tings and picle spears on the side.

Very hearty.

snobby joes & tater tots

We thought we'd try the Snobby Joe recipe, from Veganomicon. Mark baked the buns from scratch. We added slices of vegan rice cheese on top of the open-faced joes, with a side of baked tater tots.

It was okay. Very lentil-y.

celebration cupcakes

Technically, these are the Basic Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Buttercream Frosting, from VCTOTW. The red & blue sugar sprinkles and the fact that Barack Obama was elected President-elect are what makes them "celebration" cupcakes.

randomness to get caught up

This is just a small group of photos I forgot because they weren't in chronological order in iPhoto. That's what I get for using a cheap 2mp camera that my MIL gave me. Not to mention being without a printer to upload and having to add them to disc. What a pain.

Anyway, these are all from the fall of 2007 to early 2008. And, now, I'm officially caught up with my posts. Which is great because right now, Mark is baking some buns to go with the Snobby Joes from Veganomicon. Also, I'll be baking Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes today followed by Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes on Saturday. All of these are first-time recipes. I'm looking forward to seeing if they are worth adding to our repertoire. Sadly, that burrito pie, pictured at the bottom, was not a keeper.


a pumpkin loaf, courtesy of VegNews.



tiny bite-sized burgers.



the tiny burgers, served along with bean soup.



Lulz...



a burrito pie, from La Dolce Vegan.

not-so heavenly sweet potato cake (10.22.08)

This cake was from the latest issue of VegNews. I was going to bake two, one for the house and one for my co-workers but it ended tasting too "vegan". A bit dry and definitely not something I'd want to share with omnis.

seitan fajitas (10.16.08)

Another recipe from RFD. This time, using the chicken-style seitan. Who knew adding white beans to baked seitan could be this delicious?

seitan with veggies & mashed potatoes (10.13.08)

I was in the mood for American comfort food and this is what Mark came up with.


panko-crusted seitan, sautéed veggies, homemade mashed potatoes, with lots of gravy and Earth Balance-d rolls. So good!

chili & cornbread

Mark made this chili from scratch (no recipe) which lasted for quite a few meals. Tasty and economical.


fresh-baked cornbread.



chili topped with jicama and cilantro.

pizza & carrot cake cupcakes (9.24.08)

Pizza made from scratch, Mark's creation, and cupcakes from VCTOTW.



there's nothing better than homemade pizza.


little morsels of sweetness.

....and, because I forgot to post this earlier, I'm just going to tack it on here. This was another homemade pizza, made with pesto.


and it was good :)

seitan enchiladas with salsa verde & refried black beans (9.20.08)

Another recipe recreation from the RFD cookbook. Although, we didn't have time to fully cook the black beans from scratch, canned black beans worked in a pinch. Also, we added salsa rojo with the salsa verde and were pleased with the results.


baked seitan, an economical and easy way to prepare it.


cooking the seitan with the salsa verde.



et voila, dinner is served.

cinnamon rolls redux (9.15.08)

This is a result of Mark's baking. Each time he bakes these, the result is tastier. Now, he adds fresh caramel, pecans, and tofutti cream cheese icing.