what to do when you've got a weekend of potlucks

This weekend I've been invited to three potlucks! All are school-related, as the new school year starts next week. Whenever I have to take food to a party, I don't stress over making something elaborate, but instead choose from the most foolproof recipes I know! It's a good sign if I've made the recipe so many times that I have it memorized. My top choices are chocolate chip cookies, salsa, or hummus.

I've been in the kitchen whipping up dozens of cookies this morning. I put this recipe together by taking bits and pieces of other chocolate chip cookie recipes I liked. I've been perfecting it for almost two years now. I typed the current version out for you on my new typewriter while waiting for a batch to bake.

When you have a lot of parties to go to and must take a dish to each one, choose something that you know others will enjoy but that isn't stressful for you to make. After all, there's going to be a table full of food for everyone to choose from. These cookies are easy, delicious, and affordable to make in a big batch. If the parties were spread out over the course of a week or two, I could freeze the dough and bake them right before each gathering. They tend to go fast, so I made a few extra to leave at home!

Edit! It appears I left off 2 things on my cute little typed up recipe (oops!). That would be 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, and 1/4 cup water + 1 Tbsp. ground flax (the water + flax is equivalent to one egg, if you prefer to use eggs).

new recipes

While I'm not in classes, it's my goal to try 3-4 new recipes a week. I tend to venture out in the dessert department but not as much with savory foods, so, this week excluded, I hope to remedy that. I've already been bookmarking a lot of recipes for next week, so I hope to share something really new and amazing next Saturday! But for now, here's what I've got.

First of all, lemony zucchini pizza from Smitten Kitchen. The recipe called for goat cheese to be spread on the crust, but rather than do that, I made a chickpea spread. In truth it was hardly altered from my normal hummus recipe, other than I cut way way back on the cumin (only a dash this time) and I used about three times as much lemon juice as usual to accommodate the recipe. The results were amazing! I never make pizza without tomato sauce, but I would totally make this again.

I almost feel that this is cheating, but I altered my tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe by using sliced up baking square chocolate instead of chips and throwing in a handful of walnuts and hazelnuts. Next week I'll try to really use all new recipes, but let me just say this was a delicious addition, and some bites taste like Nutella! Mmm.

And I finally got around to trying this chocolate beet cake in honor of Alex's birthday (my only substitution was flax + water for the eggs). I will say that no one would have guessed the secret ingredient if I had not told them, but I felt I could taste them since I knew they were in there, and that weirded me out just a little. The recipe's baking time is also WAY off (egg sub. could account for a few minutes, but not as much as it was), which probably explains my reluctance to say I was pleased with this cake, because the recipe called for 30 minutes, which I seriously doubted...but it became a big headache and even at 1 hour and 15 minutes (uh, yeah) with the bamboo skewer coming out cleaned, seemed a little too gooey in the middle for me. I still think that THIS is the best chocolate cake I have ever made, and I would recommend that recipe in a heartbeat (I leave out the food coloring and just make a velvet cake, minus the red!).

productive procrastination

Regular procrastinating is when you sit around watching hours of Gilmore Girls (did I say you? I think I meant "I"...) or surfing the internet...or blogging, perhaps? Productive procrastinating is when you do things that, while productive, could seriously wait until after the thing you actually need to do gets done. The things I actually need to do are finish a paper I'm writing and grade the last of my summer students' work. The thing I did instead was bake cookies. I ran out of chocolate chips for my standard quick treat, so I modified my "secret recipe" to accommodate a different flavor. The thing I love about baking is how it's all about ratios, so experimenting can be fun when you stop to think about what each ingredient really does for the recipe and how that ingredient can be changed (Good Eats, anyone?). If you decide to give these a try, maybe you'd better whip them up in the middle of the night, or early morning, given recent temperatures! I made my dough last night and stuck them in the oven while waiting for my morning coffee to brew (and may or may not have eaten a couple for breakfast). I used strawberry jam because it's what I had on hand, but I think these would be excellent in fall with some pumpkin butter. Mmm!

Oatmeal Thumbprint Cookies

1.5 c unbleached all purpose flour
.5 c old fashioned rolled oats
.5 c brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground flax + .25 c water (or use 1 egg)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
.5 c vegetable oil
2 Tbsp butter (I use dairy-free Earth Balance)
your favorite jam or jelly

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, butter, and brown sugar until the butter is broken up. Add in the egg or flax plus water. If using flax and water, for better results, heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds before adding. Stir in baking soda and salt and mix evenly. Finally, pour in the flour and oats and stir until everything is mixed, but do not over stir. Roll the dough into balls on a greased cookie sheet and press each one down with your thumb, then fill with jam. If the dough is too sticky to roll, add a pinch more flour or refrigerate for a bit. Bake 8-10 minutes, allowing them to cool and harden up on the pan after removing (the secret to a soft cookie!). I recommend experimenting to find your perfect cookie-baking time. It varies by oven and by how large you make your cookies. I aim for a consistent cookie size, and with my old oven the best cooking time for me was 8:45 while my oven here is 9:30.

cookies, cookies, cookies

I've been baking lots of cookies lately! A few days ago, I made these wonderful chocolate chip cookies from Natalie's blog:

I did make them vegan. All I did was substitute ground flax + water for the egg, Earth Balance vegan spread for the butter, and I uses unbleached flour and sugar, and vegan chocolate chips. Baking recipes are very easily adapted!

And these are some peanut butter cookies I made last week. They are displayed alongside one of my favorite coffee mugs and on my freshly repainted bedside table. It's now my favorite color of mint green. I love it! You can find the cookie recipe here, at 101cookbooks.com. The recipe is vegan.

Don't forget that until Valentine's Day, there is a giveaway going on in the post below this one!

never too busy to cook

1. sandwich on homemade bread with lettuce, onion, tomato, tofu, olives, and guacamole


2. wheat rotini with veggies stir fried in nutritional yeast


2. basmati rice, lentils, and stir fried veggies


4. pizza on homemade wheat crust, with tofu, bell pepper, onion, and mushroom


5. homemade pumpkin pie granola with soy milk


6. wheat rotini with stir fried veggies and tomato sauce

7. peanut butter chocolate chip cookies...cookie dough was vegan, the chips were not this time

8. salad with roasted red pepper hummus, sunflower seeds, and tofu


9. vegan chicken and dumplings...soooooo good...will write up a recipe asap!


10. amazing salad with homemade croutons and green olives


Amidst the busyness I have still had time for cooking (and these photographs are snapped awfully quickly with only available light from a window or a certain adjustable fluorescent lamp, let me tell you!) because I have put all of my other hobbies on hold until my senior show is up (sewing, reading, drawing, jewelry-making, the list goes on, oy...sometimes even laundry!). I still have to eat, however, and I just really don't believe in having premade, overly processed food at every meal. And so I continue to cook. Easy things, mostly. After my show is up, I have a ton of recipes I have been waiting to try.

stir fries and snickerdoodles

This weekend was my Fall Break...four days off from school should have been enough, right? Not at all! I worked some, did homework, caught up on chores...this word "break" means little to me right now! I got to have a little fun cooking and visiting one of my favorite parks with Corey, though. Here are just a few pictures...more soon.

On Friday night, we did one of our favorite activities...supermarket browsing. I know that might sound funny, but checking out different grocery stores happens to be a pastime of mine. We got some delicious stir fry ingredients including Japanese noodles, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, a special sauce (Corey is the sauce expert, so he picked it out, and it was delicious), nuts, and a few others, then cooked them up in my trusty green skillet.

And these are some vegan snickerdoodle cookies I made...fall is here! (recipe from vegweb.com) This season I am especially looking forward to...

- showing work in the senior art exhibit
- graduating college (eep!)
- turning 23!

And as always, I anticipate...

- cool weather--scarves, coats, and boots

- changing leaves

- overcast days perfect for picture-taking

- the holiday season

a peek into my kitchen

I've been perfecting my cracker recipe. I've almost got it. I'll be posting my findings soon.

Spitzbuben for my brother's 17th birthday.

Strawberry oatmeal brulee.

Fruit salad.

Stir fried veggies.

in the kitchen

Today I went to the dentist, got a lot of back-to-school shopping done, and spent some serious time in the kitchen. I re-made various recipes that I've already posted about this summer: sweet potato falafel and Peppy's pita bread, and happy vegan double chocolate cookies.

I also tried a little something new...making croutons from my week-old homemade bread! I used this tutorial as a rough guide (it's not rocket science but I just wanted to see how other people do it). I cut the bread up into cubes, drizzled it with a little olive oil, sprinkled it with garlic salt, and baked for 20 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Then voila! Delicious croutons from bread I was about to throw away.

The cookies I will be taking to work tomorrow...it's my last week of work at my internship!

cookies & plaid

Remember these cookies that I baked a few weeks ago? Happy Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies. I acquired the recipe from VegWeb but modified it, adding the "double" part.

Today I was in the mood for some regular chocolate chip cookies and used the same recipe. I also made a light chocolate glaze for the tops of the cookies...fancy, no? And I made them half the size because I thought they'd be cute as minis!

Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Cookies
2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c vegan chocolate chips
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c water

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (I baked the mini ones for 9 minutes). Makes about two dozen regular-sized cookies or 40 mini cookies.

I made the glaze using just powdered sugar, water, and cocoa powder until it reached the right consistency.

That bowl is one of my latest thrift-store finds. It came as a set of two (the other is a bit larger). The plaid fabric is a remnant from my stash...I have a pillow out of it on my bed!

chocolatey, cinnamony goodness

Today was my day off work, so I did a few of my favorite things...thrift store shopping, baking, and Gilmore Girls watching (oh, wait, it's summer, I do that last one every day...). I found a set of three glass canisters (with strawberries on them!) for flour, sugar, and...one more thing...to be decided...tea? brown sugar? ideas?

I also went to the store (I admit it, it was Wal-Mart) in search of seeds to get started on the miniature herb garden I am going to grow...but there were no more seeds! I guess it's too late in the season...but there were still plenty of pots and every other gardening tool you can think of! That's okay. I am not discouraged. There are plenty of other (better) places I can find seeds. I am determined to grow my own herbs (and strawberries!) for cooking. Two years ago, I took a seminar/in the field class called Organic Gardening...and ever since then, I have really wanted my own garden. The problem is that I have no place to grow it.

That brings me to my latest baking venture. Now, I found this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe and all the reviews said it was the best chocolate chip recipe ever, but I wasn't sure what all the hype was about. After making the cookies, I think I get it. They're delicious! I did vary the recipe somewhat though (of course, right? why can't I just leave any recipe as it is?). You can click the link for theirs, and here's my revised version:

Happy Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies
2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c vegan chocolate chips
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c vegan margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 c water

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen small cookies. Press cookie dough balls down with a fork--the dough will not expand when baked.

The ingredients I adjusted were...used whole wheat flour instead of unbleached flour, added cocoa powder + a little more water to compensate, used 1/2 as much sugar, and used less oil and added a little vegan margarine (a review I read said this was a good idea).