Lessons in Love: V-day feast, Temp Tatts, Contest Win, Two Pies and a Tester

I love temp tatts, and I suggest you get 'em on for this post!  

Emory's Flaming Panther

 Daddy's Cobra

Mommy's BBQ Dragon

I love blueberries.  And lemon.

 Homemade Blueberry Lemon Compote

 Over Hoecakes!

Next...I really loved this recipe!

 DIY Bisquick from Betty Goes Vegan.  So useful! So fun to make!

I needed it to make the amazing...

Cheezeburger Pie (this is SO good).  I love savory pies!

A delicious, cheezy, doughy bite.

Onto another tester from Joni's upcoming book, 

The Sesame Sriracha Sauce:

I am in love with Joni's new book!  And, now I'm more into spicy stuff than ever (and that's saying a lot since I always loved spicy stuff).

Sesame Sriracha Sauce over Korean Fresh Noodles with Organic Baby Kale, "Heathy Food" Vegan Shrimp (:-) and Black Sesame Seeds.  SO GOOD.

I had never, ever seen baby kale before, but Wegmans had it last week in the pre-washed salad greens-in-boxes section.  It's DELICIOUS and super convenient.  I hope they will carry it on a regular basis.  I LOVE BABY KALE.  

A more traditional, Asian presentation.

And this year, I made a special Valentine's Day Dinner.  I used two recipes from The Inspired Vegan:

Beet Tapenade Crostini and (from scratch) Jerk Tempeh and Peppers over Coconut Lime Rice. 

Molded Beet Tapenade Crostini.

Unmolded! Served with a surprise olive oil (see below!). 

Jerk Tempeh:

This was a wonderful Jerk sauce, even though it had, like 1,000 ingredients!

For dessert, I was out of my Whoopie Pies, but, my friend had made a batch of her own (a GF version of the recipe in BGV!).  She had extras leftover and was nice enough to 

re-purpose some of them over to me :-)  

These were SO delicious.  She promises to give me her GF recipe for them, guys!

I love whoopies!

And, I got a big box on my porch earlier this week...

What could it be?

 Ah ha! My prize from winning The Urban Vegan's Colavita contest!  

I got both the Private Selection and the Argentinian Fruity Olive Oils. SCORE!

I love winning :-)

And here's an early birthday present to myself (to fill all those future whoopie pies I still want to make!):

I was a little tired of the pastry bag thing (they always have some kind of issue), so I thought I might try this gadget.  Got good reviews on amazon, so, we'll see...

My birthday is coming up (I love my birthday!!) and I'll have more exciting stuff to show you and recipes to share.  If you can't wait, here's my birthday post from last year! Gonna be hard to top that...

Anyhoo, have a great rest of your weekend, everyone.  

(I love Mondays off for President's Day :-)

XOXO

Remembrance and Renewal: Rosemary Salt, Spice Shakers, Cakes, a Pie, and lots of Gingerbread

Happy New Year, everyone!  

While my computer is behaving, let's catch up with some things I’ve been making, including my holiday projects. Then onward into 2013.

Handmade holiday gifts.  

I made the Rosemary Salt with my house organic rosemary and Kosher salt.  

For each cup of Kosher salt, add 1/4 cup of packed, fresh herbs.  

Process in a food processor a bit until flecked with green snow.

Now you need to dry it for a bit before packing and storing.  The fresh rosemary or other herbs will make the salt damp.  Spread out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (so you can easily pour it off later).

Dry for a few hours at room temperature, then stir up from the bottom (it will be stiff/dry and have caked a bit).  Or for quick drying, put in a 200 degree oven for ten minutes at a time until nice and dry.  Stir.  

Evergreen Snow.  

Pack in pretty jelly jars with tight fitting lids (I used my canning funnel so the salt didn't spill everywhere).  Keeps indefinitely.

If you want to do gift shakers of spices, order some in bulk (like from Penzeys) or use your dried herbs from your garden if you got a lot.  I got those cute shakers at Bed, Bath and Beyond for a very reasonable price.

Yeah, I know how it's starting to look.  No, I'm not making any money from this operation.

 I used a plastic funnel to load the jars with Za'atar or Zatar, or whichever spelling you like.

I had to make a special wax paper funnel for the cinnamon because it is such a fine powder, it wouldn't go through the narrow spout of the plastic funnel.

I did Rosemary salt for family, teachers and friends and added the spices for special family members.  

Here is another vegan food gift that I made:

Another batch of Soft Gruyere from Artisan Vegan Cheese!
My vegan friend (another mom at my son's school) got this.

We both made pasta with it!

YUM-O.

I also made my famous Tortilla Pie again recently:

I do need to do a recipe post for this one day.  I have done so many variations! 
I love Tortilla Pie!

And I've been doing a lot of pancakes lately...

Apple Walnut Cakes

Blueberry Flax Cakes, with a Strawberry Blend

Plain Maple Flax Cakes with Fresh Strawberries.

The apples (Organic Galas have been cheap!) and berries from Wegmans (Cali and Chile imports) have been really good lately.  And all the winter citrus is arriving!

I also did three rounds of gingerbread house crafts:

 My son and I made this at his school holiday party, my favorite one of the year...
The Cookie House Party!  Note the extensive landscaping (Landscaper's Daughter, here!).


And, to prepare for Santa's Arrival, a Sleigh Train of Santas:

A Swish Tail makes for a faster Santa Train.

The Slowest Santa!

Hope he made his way swiftly to all of you, perhaps with the help of
 Supergingerbreadman!

And a church:

Santa visits churches, right?

And little mini gingerbread loaves I made for more gifts:

These were so super tasty.  I can post the recipe if you guys want.  It was easy!

Here's a salad for good measure.  

Spinach Strawberry Salad with Chickpeas. Nekked.
I've been trying to eat a lot of greens lately, as post-holiday nutrient replacement!

Phew! And we didn't even get to see what Santa brought me this year...but, we will, yes indeedy.

Happy New Year, everyone!  

May you all eat well, cook well and be well in 2013.

XOXO