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 1, 2018
I took on the matzah challenge and let it help me to decide how to spell the word… which seems to have multiple acceptable forms. Like on the box below… different from the official hash tag of the official challenge. Either way, the challenge helps raise money for people in Read more…
March 25, 2018
1/4 cup raw cacao butter 1/4 cup organic coconut oil 1/2 cacao powder 3 TB maple syrup First: Raw cacao butter smells so. damn. good. Ok, onward. To make a delicious and versatile chocolate sauce that is rich and thick and chocolatey, melt the raw cacao butter with the coconut Read more…
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…
March 3, 2018
Sometimes I make a double batch of cookies, then I make a batch of cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, then I make a lemon bundt cake (not pictured). Then, I bring them to my Mom for her birthday. Then I run the dishwasher. VCTOTW basic chocolate, of course. I tried to make Read more…
January 1, 2018
Eating the same thing, especially a diet that is imbalanced with starches and sugar, leads to all sorts of health ailments. But big changes can also be difficult to sustain. That is why I resolve to welcome more healthful yet simple additions to my usual repertoire… to diversify my food Read more…
December 26, 2017
On the Winter Solstice our sun takes a nice long and potent look at the Tropic of Capricorn… and then turns around all poignant-like, tossing her golden rays–all resolved in beautiful definiteness. Winter comes and she seems farther away… but really it’s just because you’re leaning in the other direction Read more…
December 10, 2017
I made beautiful ombré holiday cookies a couple of years back, taking inspiration from Bon Appetit. This year I made Hanukkah Rainbow Cookies! And they are possibly the most beautiful cookies I’ve ever made, receiving lots of social media love. So here is a lot of pictures of them and Read more…
November 23, 2017
I love to cook for hours. It’s true. Give me time, space, and the radio and I’ll happily create numerous dishes from scratch with loving care. This Thanksgiving my goal was to use a lot of the ton of pumpkin puree I have. So I started with using it in Read more…
November 21, 2017
These nachos from Matthew Kenney’s new Latin place Bar Verde are spectacular: Butternut Queso. Black Beans. Pico De Gallo. Cashew Crema. Guacamole. Jalapeno. Radish. But we were underwhelmed by our other choices. But more so because the noise level of the space, the abrupt and slightly awkward service within the Read more…
November 12, 2017
Firstly, a giggling me photoshopped the picture above… but it is not that far off an idea that Cook’s Illustrated, my favorite print magazine, would soon contain a vegan or “plant-based” feature. To this point, the latest issue had write-up on the coconut whip, the well-loved easy-peasy pantry tip, in Read more…
November 4, 2017
With vegan options popping up and expanding all over the place, my vegan radar has a constant and continuous bleep-bleep. From new eateries to new options and special events, I wish my appetite can keep up. But when I saw the invite to The Refuge‘s Vegan Fest, I knew I Read more…
October 29, 2017
I had the chance to stop at La Bella Pasta in Kingston, New York to score some of their vegan pasta. Fresh made vegan pasta is a new blog reporting passion of mind. I hope as more accept plant-based as normal, other pasta makers will experiment with vegan options. Read more…
September 24, 2017
Anyone who hacks my Instagram would see that I love to look at vegan macarons. They are the epitome of pretty. Having experimented myself, I know they are labor-intensive. Vegan macarons are one of my favorite veganized treats and a testament to how far the vegan world has come in Read more…
August 23, 2017
I woke up in Cincinnati, Ohio and went to bed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This means that, likely, I will spend tomorrow evening in my own bed. New York. Though I am squeezing in brief stops as I pass through, this excursion is winding down. But I still need sustenance and Read more…
August 20, 2017
I arrived in Nashville in the early a.m. One, because of entering the Central Time zone and two, more so, because I left Sweetwater, TN at the crack of dawn. I just didn’t know what to expect as far as traffic. But it was smooth sailing and I arrived with Read more…
August 3, 2017
This picture was taken in June as a teacher pal and me rebelliously snuck out of a PTA-sponsored lunch for sundaes at Van Leeuwen. In some ways June seems like years ago. In other ways it remains piercingly vivid. I think I was in denial that the school year was Read more…
July 16, 2017
The variety of vegan options in Los Angeles is overwhelming. While meal destinations are carefully deliberated, there are some guidelines that can help differentiate a good vegan options with a meh vegan option. The first guideline: forget the eateries that have packaged foods on the menu. You’re not food shopping; Read more…
July 15, 2017
After a quick breakfast at Cafe Smitten in Bakersfield, California it would be time to see a third/fourth California national park: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. To start, a peanut butter and chocolate bar, real good black coffee, and National Park guidebooks. And a quick bite. The Vegan Burrito 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…
April 14, 2017
Are you really productive on Sunday? I am. There is something about the last day (of the weekend, in this example) that pushes me to action. Of course this ‘Sunday urgency’ exists today, Friday, as it is my last day here in Paris, France. With a full day at my disposal, I hoped Read more…
April 13, 2017
One thing that Europe does right is their train stations. Besides being within massive and ornate cathedrals, they are always wide open and airy, contain several flapping pigeons for effect, and are very easy to navigate. Like this here Amsterdam Centraal Station. Why are they so beautiful? Perhaps because the rails are so Read more…
January 29, 2017
How exciting to have even more vegan Girl Scout cookie options this year! That’s right, ABC Bakers–the Girl Scouts’ west coast cookie manufacturer–added a new 5th vegan cookie option to their repertoire. I reported on the first three options a couple of years back. The next year, the east coast (Little Read more…
January 1, 2017
Of all the vegan cupcakes I have tried all over the country, my favorite comes not from a vegan bakery but Sprinkles–the world’s first cupcake bakery! During a recent visit to a book store I perused their long-awaited cookbook, excited to see that my beloved vegan red velvet cupcake and vegan Read more…
October 22, 2016
After two days of walking about London, we bought an Oyster Card and went to the underground. Our room is just a couple of minutes from Baker Street station, of Baker Street (the song) fame, which plays eerily from some unknown source. The London Underground is a great system of transit Read more…
September 24, 2016
Tofu is only going to be as good as you make it. It’s ready to suck in flavor and build its texture–but that takes you. After creating a powerful marinade and letting these Lincoln logs bathe in it all day, I build texture, roasting each side 25-ish minutes. Good tofu is worth Read more…
