Daiya Cheese

Daiya is an unfortunate name for a spectacular cheese substitute. So far, I have had 2 grilled cheese sandwiches (using the cheddar) and 2 small pizzas (using the Italian/mozzarella). Pros: it does melt and stretch, is delicious, and the grilled cheese is EXACTLY like I remember. Cons: it is very expensive and hard to find (I got mine from veganessentials.com), and the mozzarella, while extremely good, is not a replica of the mozz I remember on pizzeria pizzas. That said, if you are a committed vegan, this 'cheese' is a dream come true. I highly recommend the splurge!

By the way, the photo shows a skillet pizza I made using the Mother Earth News recipe by Genie Dickerson. I doubled it.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

There are lots of vegan pumpkin pie recipes out there, but I'm in the process of developing my own because I have yet to find one with a somewhat creamy filling, that is not derived from silken tofu. This recipe, therefore, is in its beta form. Although it firms up nicely the day after it is baked (be sure to plan ahead), the unbaked filling is alarmingly liquidy. Also, although my daughter thinks it is just fine, I feel it is a little too sweet. So I may tweak it to include less soymilk and sugar, and a bit more cornstarch. Even with its slight imperfections, I can't seem to stop picking at the leftovers.

Pumpkin Pie

8 oz Tofutti cream cheese
2 cups pumpkin (or one 15oz can)
1/2 cup each white and brown sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch dissolved in 1 cup soymilk
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (we like Frontier)
-or- 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp each cloves, ginger, and nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add pumpkin and keep mixing until combined. Add remaining ingredients and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Cover pie edges with foil if they start to get brown. The pie may be a bit wobbly in the middle, but will firm up when cool.

I use the pie crust recipe from good old Betty Crocker:

2 cups flour
2/3 cups shortening (I use Earth Balance sticks)
6-7 Tbs cold water.

Put the flour and shortening in the food processor. (or cut in the shortening) until crumbly. Add water until a ball forms. Roll out and shape into 9 inch pie pan.

The Pomodoro Technique

Travel Formula

Unsure how long to stay in a spot whilst traveling? My cousin Lisa has a carefully constructed formula that will take all the uncertainty out of travel planning:

# of hours in car divided by 2 = minimum number of days to stay, excluding travel days. Anything over 5 hours in the car is considered a full day of travel. Add one day for each time zone crossed (for air travel) or add one week for crossing the Equator or International Date Line.

So there ya go!

One More Boat

I put most of the finishing touches on a 4' rowboat for Eliza this week and we took it out for a maiden voyage to Lake May - a small body of water in Fairfield. The boat plans are called "Peapod" and were free from Hannu's Boatyard on the internet. I built a rather stripped down version, but it floats and rows quite nicely. Eliza wants to call her boat "Thex" - we still need to paint the name on.

I plan to build one last boat next summer - probably something from the "Mouse" family of boats by Gavin Atkin. Then I'll be done. Really.

In the trees.

Not sure what got into me, but I built a tree platform this summer. It's very simple and much like one I built as a child. It is about 9 feet off the ground, but feels like 15 when you are up there. I'll use it for sketching and observing nature. And I have to admit I carelessly used an above-ground swimming pool ladder roped to a tree to stand on while I built it.

Vegan Gâteau au Yaourt (French Yogurt Cake)

 

This cake is often the first one French children learn to make. Typically, the yogurt pots are used as the measuring device. However, I bought the large tub, and while I'm SURE my family would like a huge cake, I opted for conventional measures. Our exchange student Marie requested this cake for her 16th birthday. I found the recipe at the Chocolate and Zucchini blog and veganized it. Très délicieux.

Gâteau au Yaourt
- 2 “eggs” (I used Ener-g egg replacer)
- 1 cup plain or vanilla soy yogurt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup light olive oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350° F . Oil and flour a 10-inch cake pan. In a large mixing-bowl, combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together -- don't overwork the dough. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

I served this with sauce made from wineberries we picked in the woods this July.

June 5 First Friday Show

I had a blast at the opening of our Reflections from the Fringe show last night. A big hug and thank you to Adrian, our marvelous curator and also all my friends and family who came out to see it. Here is my work from the show and also some great photos of the opening by Nanette Hatzes.

Eliza's Photography Show

I'm so excited that Eliza will be having a photography show at the Ragged Edge Coffee House gallery, The Finer Edge. (http://www.raggededgecoffeehs.com). Her show -which includes 2 other homeschooled teen girls -will be in the gallery for the month of May, then will be upstairs in the coffee shop during the month of June, which is when I will be one of 4 women having a show downstairs in the Finer Edge. So it is really cool that we will have art at the same place at the same time!

Here is a link to the cover of the show booklet and one to the booklet itself.

Eliza's Show

The Booklet - direct link to the PDF

Another Favorite Hobby

Yes I like to call it a hobby, NOT an obsession. I do love to create, re-do, and browse various organizers and their components. I'm rarely satisfied with pre-packaged ones like Daytimers, and I truly get in the zone when designing or re-doing one of my own. I'm actually a little particular about the components I require and making my own almost always insures I get what I need...until the next inspiration comes along!

This organizer was created because I needed something just the right size - and although I'm not usually drawn to square shapes, somehow this ended up 9x9 inches. There is a fine line between big enough to have a workable calendar size, but small enough to fit into my current bag/purse (another "hobby).

It is constructed from tapestry remnants gorilla glued to foam core. I just recently had to add the brown webbing spine because I didn't allow enough fabric in the original design and it gapped open. At the same time I added the closure system (which has to be quick and easy to use - velcro would have been better, but too noisy).

Eliza's VAGF Chocolate Cupcakes (vegan, agave, gluten-free).

These cupcakes are so yummy! They aren't as moist as some other recipes, but still delectable - just makes that coffee taste better. Also, they have a slight crunch from the flaxseed, but I think it is a nice texture. This recipe is a combination of 2 recipes out of Vegan Cupcakes take over the World. It is an excellent cookbook.

Eliza's VAGF Chocolate Cupcakes

2/3 cup soy milk, almond milk (or other milk substitute)
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup light agave nectar
1/3 cup canola or olive oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup white rice flour
2 TBS ground flax seed
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and preheat oven to 325. Mix the 'milk' and vinegar in a large bowl and allow to sit until curdled (about 2-5 mins). Beat in agave nectar, oil, and extracts. Sift in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until smooth. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out clean. These cupcakes improve as they cool in texture and flavor.

Frosting (optional)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2TBS water

Mix all ingredients together vigorously with a whisk. It will thicken as you mix it. The consistency ends up being somewhere between a glaze and frosting.