November 23, 2023
The big food holiday was here and I planned to make a 6-course all-vegan spread in my new kitchen! And I was surprised and pleased how easy it all went down… I even had time to do batches of dishes between prep tasks. With planning, this can be even more Read more…
March 13, 2021
It’s that time of the school year! Though I missed Pi Day in my classroom last year because of, well, you know, it was on the calendar eerily when I returned back to my classroom finally 6 months later. This year Pi Day would fall on a Sunday, so I Read more…
September 25, 2020
The next V.V. Nostalgic Classic would be the Charleston Chew, a childhood favorite deep-seeded in my memory–like all of my V.V. Nostalgic Classics (new tag!) Like those other treats, the texture and taste has remained vivid for decades. But more importantly, the associations and related details also pour back. I Read more…
May 9, 2020
The Vegan Gastronomy Culinary Academy has updated their informative vegan macaron Master Class on Youtube, incorporating their vegan egg white mix, Gerbet. Gerbet, a proprietary powder mixture of plant protein, fiber and gums, was created specifically for vegan macaron making. Having had a recent macaron fail with aquafaba, I really Read more…
May 1, 2020
This Angel Food Cake trial below is over 10 years old, but ranks #5 of my most popular posts to date! Since there are so many who still look at it, I feel I owe another, and perhaps better, attempt… Yes, vegan Angel Food Cake has been a quest of Read more…
November 28, 2019
And bam, it’s the biggest food holiday of the year! Just like that. Seems like not too long ago I clanked mini champagne bottles in a soaking wet Prospect Park at the stroke of midnight. The start of 2019. Now 2020 is coming. Like hindsight. So let us start eating Read more…
November 8, 2019
With an ever-growing field of vegan fried chicken at my fingertips, I made an addition to my brackets. I had to. After hearing the vegan fried chicken sandwich at Bushwick’s new all-vegan bar and event space Gradient was house made, I told my friend to meet me there… because unless Read more…
November 5, 2019
Airport knees. Because I still sit like a 10 year old. The tail end. Good for them! I like my tables etched with love. She’s clockin’ my Banh Me Salad at Black Mountain Wine House. Or the wine. I love my “new” hutch. Having to get it in two trips Read more…
August 29, 2019
Do you know how much I dislike the I-95? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s the worse kind of roadtrip driving. Direct but uninteresting, it eliminates half the magic of the road. Though South of the Border, an original gangster roadside attraction, has expanded a great deal since my last visit Read more…
June 25, 2019
How much would the world have beamed with an embrace of all love through history? …if it was treated with its value, sought out like power and wealth. Because it is powerful and enriching, if not one of the most powerful and enriching forces known to man. In this celebration Read more…
March 19, 2019
Sansa is all about the Lemon Cakes. Unfortunately Lemon Cakes were the only taste of happiness in a terrible string of horrific life experiences for Sansa. So let’s rejoice in Sansa’s simple pleasures before all hell breaks loose in Season 8. Candy Some Lemons 🍋 1 cup water 1 cup Read more…
January 26, 2019
With a brunch get-together happening, I decided to break in my new cookbook, a gift from my Secret Santa at work: Modern Vegan Baking, filled with next-level vegan baking challenges. I started with the lemon meringue… but improvised the throw down of some Mi-Del Lemon Snaps on the bottoms of Read more…
January 5, 2019
Looking back in my blog archives, J. Spaceman and his Spiritualized has served as my muse several times. And I am going to use him again for this foray into food coloring, partly because I’m finally able to listen to him again and partly because the trend of “galaxy” foods Read more…
December 25, 2018
I always bring cake. But this Christmas, I wanted to try a classic, kitschy Americana dish–Ambrosia. But I wanted to do it right. I made sour cream and marshmallow fluff from scratch and followed the traditional additions. I don’t know that my family will be up for the kitsch, sooo Read more…
December 3, 2018
For many years I have made the same chocolate chip cookies. But I’ve been meaning to try an aquafaba recipe since seeing this post. This, to me, is a big deal since I’m pretty particular about my favorite cookie, the chocolate chip cookie. But after needing chickpeas for my chili, Read more…
November 9, 2018
Take one look at the beautiful Pom Pom cake, as originated by adorable teacher-turned-baker Katherine Sabbath, featured in this video, and any confectionary aficionado would fall in love. But I couldn’t get veganizing it out of my mind. It’s a layer cake with lemon and raspberry curds between topped with a cream Read more…
September 16, 2018
My angel on Earth’s birthday requires a very special vegan cake. A cake I haven’t tried to make for like 10 years… the elusive, the delicate, the delicious… Angel Food Cake. Yes, I’ve only attempted it once and it resulted in: failure. So before the real day of celebration, here Read more…
July 24, 2018
Vandal is a hot spot night club and restaurant on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Part of the posh Tao Group and in partnership with chef Chris Santos, of Food Network’s Chopped judge fame, Vandal could be one of the places that Patrick Bateman might head to with his fancy friends. But they have got Read more…
April 24, 2018
First, Ovenly‘s salted chocolate chip cookie. Such a delicious cookie from this Brooklyn bakery. I dare say my favorite chocolate chip cookie? Well, maybe I’ll just have to do a chocolate chip cookie bracket! I treat myself with one or two on the way home when the middle schoolers are Read more…
April 20, 2018
Vegan macaron alert on Long Island! Compassionate Cookery vegan macs are stocked at Jessy’s Pastries in Oceanside. So I was treated with an assortment of 6 after a particularly grueling week of teaching middle school students. Oh, and there’s a macarooooon over there, too! I love photographing these delicate treats Read more…
March 25, 2018
I love Floral Frosting‘s macaron recipes. I may have said this before. Here is my version of them in my characteristic over-explanatory fashion. Note that the start of them are the same steps in creating the best marshmallow fluff (previous post). Vegan Matcha Macarons Meringue 3/4 cup aquafaba (liquid drained Read more…
In my youth, I had a thing for opaque white confections… marshmallow, nougat… To me, these were decadent treats far more alluring than chocolate and the multitude of brightly colored forms of cooked sugar. I knew them by brand names. Marshmallow Fluff and Charleston Chew (Not frozen, unless I’m at Read more…
May 14, 2017
Sometimes I make enough cupcakes, enough that I have to drive to work. With a staff potluck and a bake sale that I organized, this was the case this past week. Both events called for a special load of cupcakes. I opted for the nostalgic s’mores combination… Graham cupcakes, aquafaba marshmallow Read more…
July 12, 2016
I’ve written about these cookies before, a cookie so ingrained in my memory that I can still vividly experience them. From the shuffling through the brown paper grocery bag, as tall as me, in the backseat of my mother’s car to find and be the first to open them; to opening Read more…
September 5, 2015
Cereal was a huge part of my childhood. My siblings and I would race down to the kitchen in the morning to get the “fat spoon” (really the lone soup spoon with the bunch of teaspoons) and eat refill after refill of bright, colorful sugary cereals—mixing them, adding more sugar Read more…